02.27.17

Grijalva Request for Information Leads DOI to Correct Bogus Job Number – Ranking Member Promises Ongoing Scrutiny

Washington, D.C. – After Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) sent a letter to Acting Interior Secretary Jack Haugrud on Friday questioning a Department of the Interior (DOI) blog post that falsely claimed repealing the Stream Protection Rule would save 7,000 “clean coal” jobs, E&E News reported today that the post’s reference to the bogus job figure had been quietly removed. Grijalva said the change is evidence that the Trump administration will need constant congressional scrutiny, and that such oversight can get results.

According to the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, the Stream Protection Rule would actually have created approximately 156 jobs and would have protected water quality across Appalachia.

“Lying to the public about the Stream Protection Rule is the tip of the iceberg, and unfortunately we all know it,” Grijalva said. “As long as President Trump is setting the tone, no fact is safe and no science is respected in this administration. Maintaining constant scrutiny will be the only way to get reliable information to the public, and my Democratic colleagues and I are here to provide it. I know and respect many people now doing good work at the Interior Department. Their politically appointed superiors should know that if they continue to politicize our environmental quality, it will not go unnoticed at this Committee.”

The Washington Post fact checker column today found that Trump administration claims of saving 77,000 overall coal miner jobs by repealing the Stream Protection Rule are “simply not credible.” The column pointed out, as many other analysts and news outlets have, that the coal industry’s decline is largely due to the low price of natural gas. Indeed, Republicans have never reconciled their empty claims of a “war on coal” and their promises to bring back lost coal jobs with the price of natural gas.

Press Contact

Media Contact: Adam Sarvana

(202) 225-6065 or (202) 578-6626 BlackBerry