Energy and Mining

Energy:

• Congressman Mooney cosponsored the Keystone XL Pipeline Act (H.R. 3) that passed the full House by a bipartisan vote of 266-153. Allowing the Keystone Pipeline will create good paying jobs for American workers and further enhance the countries energy opportunities.
• Congressman Mooney has focused on cracking down out of control environmental regulations from President Obama by cosponsoring, H.R. 427, the Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny Act, which will ensure that Congress has the opportunity to stop these job killing regulations.
• Congressman Mooney cosponsored H. R. 702 to lift the decades old crude oil export ban which will open American crude oil to the world market and ensure American energy sources remain globally competitive. This legislation has been long overdue and will be a boon to American energy producers.
• Congressman Mooney cosponsored H. Con. Res 105 that expresses the sense of Congress that the international climate change agreement in Paris should not go into effect until the world agrees to comply with the same standards as the United States. Congressman Mooney is also working to ensure that federal tax dollars do not go towards funding international projects to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
• Congressman Mooney is a cosponsor of the EPA Maximum Achievable Contraction of Technocrats of 2015, H.R. 3939, which will reduce the EPA’s workforce by 15 percent to prevent the agency from crafting more onerous job killing regulations. 

Coal:

• Congressman Mooney introduced and passed H.R.1644, the STREAM Act.  This bill would prevent the Obama Administration from implementing a new regulation intentionally designed to shut down mining in the Appalachian region and kill as many as 80,000 coal jobs. The full House passed the bill on January 19, 2016 by a bipartisan vote of 235-188.
• Congressman Mooney added two amendments to rein in the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA):
  • The first amendment would help strengthen transparency and oversight at the EPA by providing additional funding for rigorous oversight of the agency.
  • The second amendment would cut funding from the office at the EPA responsible for coming up with the agency’s regulatory policy.
• Congressman Mooney is an original cosponsor of the Coal Healthcare and Pensions Protection Act of 2015 (H.R. 2403) which will ensure that coal miners and their families receive the healthcare and pensions they deserve. This includes ensuring that black lung benefit claims are handled in a timely manner and those miners suffering with black lung receive the care they need.
• Congressman Mooney help lead the fight against President Obama’s so called Clean Power Plan which will have a devastating impact on West Virginia’s economy, the coal industry and raise energy prices on working families. He cosponsored and voted for Congressional Resolutions of disapproval for these new power plant rules which were vetoed by President Obama. 

Environment:

• Congressman Mooney cosponsored H. R. 1388, the Clean Air, Strong Economies Act which will ensure that West Virginia counties have the opportunity to comply with stricter air quality standards before more stringent regulations are put in place. Not only are the new standards nearly impossible to achieve, the stricter standards have not even been fully implemented.
• Congressman Mooney is a lead cosponsor of the Appalachian Forest National Heritage Area Act of 2015, H.R. 693, which will protect the open space, the environment and natural heritage in the Appalachian region. The heritage area will encompass lands in Braxton, Upshur, Randolph, Pendleton, Hardy, Hampshire and Morgan counties and will bring federal recognition to the regions forest legacy and mountain culture. 

Agriculture:

• Congressman Mooney has been fighting back against President Obama’s Waters of the United States regulation that will allow the federal government to regulate ditches or trickles of water on private property. This rule will disproportionately impact West Virginia Farmers. Congressman Mooney cosponsored the Waters of the United States Regulatory Overreach Protection Act, H.R. 594, which would prevent the EPA from implementing the Waters of the United States regulation from going into effect. 

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