Rand Paul: It’s Dangerous To Shut Down Coal Plants

Michael Bastasch

Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul took President Barack Obama’s global warming agenda to task Tuesday night, arguing rules to shut down coal plants in the name of the climate will endanger America’s energy security.

“It would be a mistake to shut down the industries in the coal fields,” Paul said during Tuesday night’s Republican presidential debates, adding that closing coal plants could leave people without reliable power in the winter — alluding to the “polar vortex” during the 2013/2014 winter that forced closing coal plants to be brought back online to keep the power on.

“It would be a big danger,” Paul said. “Let people drill, let ‘em produce, let ‘em explore.”

Paul also promised to repeal the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Power Plan — the centerpiece of Obama’s plan to cut U.S. carbon dioxide emissions. Obama is using the rule to build support behind a global climate treaty to be signed in Paris later this month.

Earlier in the night, former Gov. Jeb Bush promised to repeal major EPA regulations, including the Clean Power Plan and the Waters of the United States rule. The Clean Power Plan is projected to devastate the coal industry by forcing mines and power plants to shut down.

“The president is not only destroying Kentucky, he’s destroying the Democratic Party down there,” Paul said, also mentioning that Kentucky Democrats are trying to distance themselves from Obama’s energy policies.

Paul was responding to a question from Fox Business debate moderators on if America could keep producing coal, oil and natural gas while also tackling global warming. In response, Paul acknowledged mankind may have some impact on the climate, but stressed natural variability in Earth’s climate history.

“Nature also has a role. The planet’s 4.5 billion years old,” Paul said, adding there have been “times when the temperature has been warmer, times when the temperature has been colder.”

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