WASHINGTON – Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on Thursday said he is opposing President Barack Obama’s nominee to head the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, saying Ronald Binz was hostile to the coal industry.
McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, said Binz was “handpicked by the Senate Majority Leader (Harry Reid, D-Nev.) to be another foot soldier in his and this administration’s war on coal.”
“Like the majority leader, Binz has a proven track record of hostility toward coal and other traditional fossil fuels,” McConnell said in a statement.
Binz, who was chairman of the Colorado Public Utilities Commission from 2007 to 2011, is known as an advocate for wind farms and other types of renewable energy. He also is credited with helping to draft a Colorado energy law that led to the closure of older coal-fired plants in the state.
Obama nominated Binz in June, touching off fierce opposition from the coal industry and a number of conservative groups.
Environmental groups have come to Binz’s defense, but he is losing traction even among some Democrats, notably West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin.
Manchin announced he will oppose Binz, saying that Obama’s energy policies were beating the “living crap” out of West Virginia.
McConnell phrased his concerns differently.
“Representing the Commonwealth of Kentucky and thousands of hard working coal miners and their families, I cannot support Binz’s nomination as the next chairman of FERC,” McConnell said. “His nomination is yet another threat to American energy and jobs and I will work to defeat it.”
FERC is an independent federal agency that regulates the interstate electricity transmission, oil and natural gas pipelines, licenses and inspects hydroelectric projects and reviews the mergers of some electricity companies. The agency can enforce its regulations through penalties and other measures.
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