Statement of Robert E. Murray, Chairman, President, and CEO of Murray Energy on
June 24 before the House voted on this bill.
----
Perhaps the most destructive legislation in our country's history will, as soon
as this week, be voted on in the United States House of Representatives - the
Waxman/Markey Tax Bill in the guise of addressing climate change.

It will have adverse and lingering consequences for every American. It will
raise the cost of electricity in our homes, the fuel for our cars and the energy
which produces our manufacturing jobs, with little or no environmental benefit.
Further, independent experts estimate that it will cost Americans more than $2
trillion in just over eight years.

All Americans in the Midwest, South and Rocky Mountain regions will be most
drastically affected because the climate change legislation will destroy the
nation's coal industry and the low-cost electricity it has provided to these
regions for generations. Wealth will be transferred away from almost every state
to the West coast and New England.

The most abundant and by far least expensive energy source in our country for
generating electricity is coal. America's coal reserves rival the energy
potential of Saudi Arabian oil.

Unfortunately, the proposed climate change legislation in the House of
Representatives, the Waxman/Markey Bill, forces America to throw away this
tremendous resource, and our low cost electricity with it.

The legislation discards coal and low-cost energy with it by setting an
unattainable cap on carbon dioxide emissions by 2020, with the first reductions
due by 2012. Under the program, businesses that emit carbon dioxide would be
required to purchase or obtain from the government special carbon dioxide
credits. This carbon dioxide cap will force utilities to switch from lower cost
coal to natural gas or other more expensive energy sources.

Reliable estimates show that this bill will cost each American family at least
$3,000 more in energy costs each year, notwithstanding the $2 trillion cost to
the economy in just eight years. The chief executive of one of the nation's
major utilities recently said it best in The Wall Street Journal stating, "The
25 states that depend on coal for more than 50 percent of their electricity will
have to shut down and replace the majority of their fossil fuel plants as a
result of the climate change legislation."

The supporters of this ill-conceived legislation point to two provisions that
they claim will help coal. The first is that they give electric utilities free
credits.

However, those credits are worth millions of dollars, and the utilities will be
free to sell the credits and use the proceeds to build more expensive natural
gas or nuclear power plants, and not use our lowest cost fuel - coal. Second,
the authors of the legislation invest money in carbon capture and storage
technology, claiming that this will save jobs. But, this technology will not be
commercially available for at least 15 to 20 years, long after the reductions
are required in 2012 and long after our coal plants are shut down and our
manufacturing jobs are exported to China, India and other countries. All of
these countries have stated that they will not place any restrictions on carbon
dioxide emissions. China alone, which has surpassed the United States in carbon
dioxide emissions, brings a new 500-megawatt coal-fired power plant on line
every week. They will have low-cost electricity and America will massively
export more jobs to them.

It is not too late to tell Congress to kill this flawed bill. Everyone should
call your representative in Congress and ask him or her to vote "no" on the
Waxman/Markey climate bill (otherwise known as cap and tax) and support
affordable energy, American jobs and our quality of life.

(Murray, a resident of St. Clairsville, is chairman, president and chief
executive officer of Murray Energy Corp., the country's largest privately owned
coal company.)