As a strong supporter of both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, Jason Kander has lined up behind his party’s relentless war on coal.
And it’s costing Missouri jobs. In April, Peabody Energy, the world’s largest coal company and a major employer based in St. Louis, announced it was filing for bankruptcy, with a share of the blame going to strict government regulations on coal production.
- “Weeks after signaling that a heavy debt load and weak coal demand could push it into bankruptcy, Peabody Energy surprised few when it filed for Chapter 11 protection here on Wednesday…As a hub for big coal, the St. Louis region has been at the center of several large coal bankruptcies in recent years. Peabody’s rival and the nation’s second-largest coal mining company, Creve Coeur-based Arch Coal, filed for bankruptcy protection in St. Louis in January.” (Jacob Barker, “Peabody Energy Files For Bankruptcy In Largest Coal Industry Restructuring,” St. Louis Post Dispatch, 4/13/16)
With Kander’s full support, presumptive Democrat presidential nominee Hillary Clinton promised she would “put a lot of coal miners and coal companies out of business.” It looks like Kander and Clinton got their wish:
- *“Peabody has been one of the more prominent corporate names in the region..In recent years, however, it has had to pare its giving and its downtown workforce from about 600 people to the roughly 375 who now work at its Market Street headquarters. The decline coincided with both the rise of cheap natural gas from fracked shale fields and environmental regulations that have discouraged investment in U.S. coal plants.” (St. Louis Post Dispatch, 4/13/16)
Kander has long been a supporter of radical environmental regulations that cost Missouri jobs and repeatedly sided with President Obama as he pushed his disastrous cap-and-trade legislation:
- In 2010, Kander voted three times against a resolution [HCR 46] to urge Missouri’s Congressional delegation to oppose a Democrat-proposed cap-and-trade bill [HR 2454]. Urges the Environmental Protection Agency to rescind its formal endangerment finding on greenhouse gases and urges our congressional delegation to vote against H.R. 2454 known as “Cap and Trade.” (HCR 46, 2010 Bill Summary; Missouri House Journal, March 23, 2010, Overall vote on HCR 46: 112-41, Kander vote: No; May 14, 2010, Overall vote to Concur to Senate Amendment to HCR 46: 114-38, Kander vote: No; Overall vote to Adopt HCR 46: 113-41, Kander vote: No)
According to the National Association of Manufacturers, the cap-and-trade bill would have cost Missouri up to 58,900 jobs, cut the disposable incomes of Missouri families by up to $1,301/yr., and increased gas prices by up to 24% and electricity prices by up to 64%. (National Association of Manufacturers, Missouri – Economic Impact of HR 2454, 2009)
Missouri simply can’t afford Jason Kander’s radical, job-killing environmental agenda – or his support for Democrats who have declared war on coal.