Political Quotes

“I rise in opposition to the amendment. President Obama has already threatened to veto this legislation because it circumvents the longstanding process for reviewing the potentially dangerous Keystone XL pipeline. The McKinley amendment would add another extraneous provision to the underlying bill. This amendment would prevent EPA from regulating toxic coal ash and would put our Nation's drinking water and public health at greater risk. On December 22, 2008, a coal ash impoundment in Kingston, Tennessee, burst, releasing 5.4 million cubic yards of toxic sludge, blanketing the Emory River and surrounding land and creating a Superfund site that could cost up to $1.2 billion to clean up. At hearings in the Energy and Commerce Committee, we heard testimony about the devastating impacts contamination from coal combustion wastes can cause. We learned of contaminated drinking water supplies and ruined property values. We learned that improper disposal of coal ash can both present catastrophic risks from ruptures of containment structures and cause cancer and other illnesses from long-term exposure to leaking chemicals. Two years ago, EPA proposed regulations to ensure stronger oversight of coal ash impoundments in order to prevent disasters like the one at Kingston and to protect groundwater and drinking water from the threat of contamination. The agency had proposed two alternatives for regulating coal combustion residuals.…”