CoalBlue

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kate s

<h1 class="title-news" style="list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 20px 0px 0px; border: 0px; text-decoration: none; overflow: visible; text-indent: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; line-height: 36px; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: left; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-weight: bold !important; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Democrats, Lobbyists Launch Pro-Coal Advocacy Group</h1>

<p style="list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-decoration: none; overflow: visible; text-indent: 1.5em; text-align: justify; font-family: Helvetica, 'sans-serif !important'; line-height: 16px;">Posted: 08/30/2013 7:30 am EDT

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<p style="list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-decoration: none; overflow: visible; text-indent: 1.5em; text-align: justify; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; line-height: 21px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal;">WASHINGTON -- Former and current House members, along with several former staffers who now work as lobbyists, have launched a new group representing pro-coal Democrats.

CoalBlue Project, which <a href="http://coalblue.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/CoalBlue-Launch-Press-Release-7.24.pdf" style="list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-decoration: underline; overflow: visible; outline: 0px; text-indent: 0px !important;">began operating at the end of July</a>, promotes itself as "Democrats committed to securing coal's place in America's sustainable energy future." The group includes Reps. Nick Rahall (D-W.Va.) and Bill Enyart (D-Ill.), and former Reps. Rick Boucher (D-Va.) and Tim Holden (D-Pa.). The group also includes current and former state elected officials.

CoalBlue's secretary, Stefan Bailey, said the group formed out of a desire to elevate Democratic pro-coal voices. "We knew there were a lot of Democrats out there that support coal and wanted to provide a forum for them to make their support known," said Bailey. The group's objective is to "identify, organize, educate, and mobilize Americans" in support of coal, Bailey said. The group plans to work with congressional, state, and local elected officials, he said. Bailey said he could not say the exact measures the group would push for, but it would generally work to advance coal technologies and find ways to keep coal in the energy mix.

The announcement of the group came weeks after the Obama administration <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2013/06/obama-climate-speech-georgetown" style="list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-decoration: underline; overflow: visible; outline: 0px; text-indent: 0px !important;">rolled out a far-reaching climate plan</a> that included a directive to the EPA to set emission limits for existing power plants and finalize limits for new power plants that would <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/blue-marble/2012/03/end-coal-we-know-it" style="list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-decoration: underline; overflow: visible; outline: 0px; text-indent: 0px !important;">end the construction of coal plants</a> unless they capture greenhouse gas pollutants.

BlueCoal will <a href="http://coalblue.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/CoalBlue-Brochure_FINAL.pdf" style="list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-decoration: underline; overflow: visible; outline: 0px; text-indent: 0px !important;">advocate the position</a> that "a clean, low-carbon economy cannot be achieved without clean, low-carbon coal."

CoalBlue is registered as a non-profit in the District of Columbia. Baily said the group is seeking IRS recognition as a 501(c)4 nonprofit. Bailey declined to name the group's funding sources.

Bailey was a congressional staffer for nine years, working for Rahall and former Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.). He is now <a href="http://www.prime-policy.com/talent/bailey" style="list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-decoration: underline; overflow: visible; outline: 0px; text-indent: 0px !important;">a director</a> at the government relations firm Prime Policy Group, whose <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/firmsum.php?id=D000045879&year=" style="list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-decoration: underline; overflow: visible; outline: 0px; text-indent: 0px !important;">lobbying clients</a> include energy companies such as Duke Energy, the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/04/business/energy-environment/duke-energy-merger-creates-largest-us-utility.html" style="list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-decoration: underline; overflow: visible; outline: 0px; text-indent: 0px !important;">largest electric utility</a> in the U.S. Bailey said that he's working with CoalBlue as a volunteer, and that the group is not affiliated with his firm.

CoalBlue Project resident Jon Wood is the former vice president of government and external affairs for Alpha Natural Resources, one of the largest coal producers in the U.S. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/firmsum.php?id=F26836&year=2013" style="list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-decoration: underline; overflow: visible; outline: 0px; text-indent: 0px !important;">Wood is still a registered lobbyist</a> for Alpha. He <a href="http://www.sseb.org/images/woodbio.pdf" style="list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-decoration: underline; overflow: visible; outline: 0px; text-indent: 0px !important;">worked previously</a> for the late Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.).

Senators representing coal states, Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.) co-authored a statement of support for the group, posted on the front page of <a href="http://coalblue.org/" style="list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-decoration: underline; overflow: visible; outline: 0px; text-indent: 0px !important;">its website</a>. "We are proud to support the important and worthy mission of CoalBlue Project, and welcome CoalBlue as a valuable and necessary voice in the national conversation regarding our nation’s energy future," the senators wrote.

Manchin spokesman Jonathan Kott said that the senator has "no official role" in the group, while he is "supportive of their agenda." (As <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/22/senate-obama-ferc-coal-binz_n_3796736.html" style="list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-decoration: underline; overflow: visible; outline: 0px; text-indent: 0px !important;">HuffPost reported last week</a>, Manchin is expected to go head-to-head with President Barack Obama over the president's nominee to lead the Federal Energy Regulatory Agency, coal foe Ron Binz.)

Heitkamp spokeswoman Abigail McDonough said the senator is not affiliated with CoalBlue, but is "supportive of efforts to find real solutions for coal."

Rahall's office confirmed the congressman's involvement with the group. "Congressman Rahall has worked throughout his entire tenure in Congress to promote the use of coal as a major component of the nation’s domestic energy portfolio and as a means to lessen dependence on foreign fuels," said Rahall spokesman John Noble in an email to The Huffington Post. "He has been proud to lend his strong support to CoalBlue, which is working with individuals from all levels of government to achieve a broad commitment to the use of coal as a sustainable fuel, while advancing the technologies that will allow for coal to be burned more efficiently and cleanly."

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WASHINGTON -- Former and current House members, along with several former staffers who now work as lobbyists, have launched a new group representing pro-coal Democrats.

CoalBlue Project, which <a href="http://coalblue.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/CoalBlue-Launch-Press-Release-7.24.pdf" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; outline: 0px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; cursor: pointer;">began operating at the end of July</a>, promotes itself as "Democrats committed to securing coal's place in America's sustainable energy future." The group includes Reps. Nick Rahall (D-W.Va.) and Bill Enyart (D-Ill.), and former Reps. Rick Boucher (D-Va.) and Tim Holden (D-Pa.). The group also includes current and former state elected officials.

The announcement of the group came weeks after the Obama administration <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2013/06/obama-climate-speech-georgetown" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; outline: 0px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; cursor: pointer;">rolled out a far-reaching climate plan</a> that included a directive to the EPA to set emission limits for existing power plants and finalize limits for new power plants that would<a href="http://www.motherjones.com/blue-marble/2012/03/end-coal-we-know-it" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; outline: 0px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; cursor: pointer;">end the construction of coal plants</a> unless they capture greenhouse gas pollutants.

BlueCoal will <a href="http://coalblue.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/CoalBlue-Brochure_FINAL.pdf" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; outline: 0px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; border-image-source: initial; border-image-slice: initial; border-image-width: initial; border-image-outset: initial; border-image-repeat: initial; cursor: pointer;">advocate the position</a> that "a clean, low-carbon economy cannot be achieved without clean, low-carbon coal."

CoalBlue is registered as a non-profit in the District of Columbia. Baily said the group is seeking IRS recognition as a 501(c)4 nonprofit. Bailey declined to name the group's funding sources.

Bailey was a congressional staffer for nine years, working for Rahall and former Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.). He is now <a href="http://www.prime-policy.com/talent/bailey" style=" color: rgb(57, 152, 0); text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; outline: 0px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; cursor: pointer;">a director</a> at the government relations firm Prime Policy Group, whose <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/firmsum.php?id=D000045879&year=" style=" color: rgb(57, 152, 0); text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; outline: 0px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; cursor: pointer;">lobbying clients</a> include energy companies such as Duke Energy, the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/04/business/energy-environment/duke-energy-merger-creates-largest-us-utility.html" style=" color: rgb(57, 152, 0); text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; outline: 0px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; cursor: pointer;">largest electric utility</a> in the U.S. Bailey said that he's working with CoalBlue as a volunteer, and that the group is not affiliated with his firm.

CoalBlue Project resident Jon Wood is the former vice president of government and external affairs for Alpha Natural Resources, one of the largest coal producers in the U.S. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/firmsum.php?id=F26836&year=2013" style=" text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(57, 152, 0); outline: 0px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; cursor: pointer;">Wood is still a registered lobbyist</a> for Alpha. He <a href="http://www.sseb.org/images/woodbio.pdf" style=" text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(57, 152, 0); outline: 0px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; cursor: pointer;">worked previously</a> for the late Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.).

Senators representing coal states, Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.) co-authored a statement of support for the group, posted on the front page of <a href="http://coalblue.org/" style=" text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(57, 152, 0); outline: 0px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; cursor: pointer;">its website</a>. "We are proud to support the important and worthy mission of CoalBlue Project, and welcome CoalBlue as a valuable and necessary voice in the national conversation regarding our nation’s energy future," the senators wrote.

Manchin spokesman Jonathan Kott said that the senator has "no official role" in the group, while he is "supportive of their agenda." (As <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/22/senate-obama-ferc-coal-binz_n_3796736.html" style=" text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(57, 152, 0); outline: 0px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; cursor: pointer;">HuffPost reported last week</a>, Manchin is expected to go head-to-head with President Barack Obama over the president's nominee to lead the Federal Energy Regulatory Agency, coal foe Ron Binz.)

Heitkamp spokeswoman Abigail McDonough said the senator is not affiliated with CoalBlue, but is "supportive of efforts to find real solutions for coal."

<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/30/democrats-coal-congress_n_3839660.html?ir=Green&ref=topbar" style=" text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/30/democrats-coal-congress_n_3839660.html?ir=Green&ref=topbar</a>

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WASHINGTON -- Rep. William Enyart, the environmentalists are calling, and they want their money back.

The League of Conservation Voters on Thursday <a href="http://big.assets.huffingtonpost.com/LCVenyart.pdf" target="hplink" sl-processed="1" style=" list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; color: rgb(57, 152, 0); outline: 0px; text-decoration: none;">sent a letter to Enyart</a>, a freshman Democrat representing Illinois' 12th District, asking him to return the $5,000 donation that its action fund gave in support of his 2012 election bid. The group is upset that Enyart signed on <a href="https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/113/hr3826" target="hplink" sl-processed="1" style=" list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; color: rgb(57, 152, 0); outline: 0px; text-decoration: none;">as co-sponsor</a> of <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/28/coal-epa-emissions_n_4171465.html" target="hplink" sl-processed="1" style=" list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; color: rgb(57, 152, 0); outline: 0px; text-decoration: none;">legislation from Rep. Ed Whitfield (R-Ky.) and Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.)</a> that would block the Environmental Protection Agency's <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/07/epa-greenhouse-gas-rules_n_4555576.html" target="hplink" sl-processed="1" style=" list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; color: rgb(57, 152, 0); outline: 0px; text-decoration: none;">new rules limiting emissions</a> from coal-fired power plants. LCV says in the letter that his co-sponsorship of that bill violates a pledge he made to the group while on the campaign trail that he would support the EPA's use of the Clean Air Act to address carbon emissions and oppose "efforts to block, weaken, or delay action."

LCV's letter to Enyart includes an excerpt from the questionnaire he filled out as a candidate affirming his support for EPA action under the Clean Air Act. "Based on this commitment and other responses to our questionnaire, LCV Action Fund contributed $5,000 to your 2012 campaign," wrote LCV President Gene Karpinski. "But we are disappointed that our contribution went to a Congressman that's broken his word."

LCV's press secretary Jeff Gohringer said that the group has not asked a politician for a refund before, at least not that any of its current employees can remember. "It's an unusual step for us to take, but it shows how strongly we feel about him breaking his word," said Gohringer. He acknowledged that the group isn't always going to agree with everyone it supports financially, but that "to do the exact opposite of what he said on our questionnaire is pretty disappointing."

Enyart is also <a href="http://coalblue.org/leaders/" target="hplink" sl-processed="1" style=" list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; color: rgb(57, 152, 0); outline: 0px; text-decoration: none;">one of the co-chairs</a> of a group of pro-coal Democrats <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/30/democrats-coal-congress_n_3839660.html?1377862213" target="hplink" sl-processed="1" style=" list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; color: rgb(57, 152, 0); outline: 0px; text-decoration: none;">known as the CoalBlue Project</a>, which formed last year.

Enyart's office did not respond to a request for comment. Regardless of how he chooses to address the group's request, you can probably bet he won't be getting any money from LCV this election cycle.

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