The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania faces a situation that must look strange to the uninitiated. It has obtained land to expand U.S. 219 south of Meyersdale, Somerset County. It has everything in place, including $300 million, to start expanding the highway this spring. Except . . .
Environmental Protection Agency approval.
The highway is part of the gradually expanding Appalachian Corridor system created in the 1960s under John F. Kennedy (prior to the establishment of the EPA.) Corridor N, as it has been designated, will be the most extensive highway project in Pennsylvania, once started.
Pennsylvania officials expect that timbering will take thirty days. A spring start cannot happen if the tree removal process gets pushed back farther into the unpredictable weather of November.
Even worse, the EPA blocked a plan to use coal mining to clear land for a planned expressway in Mingo County, West Virginia. The King Coal Highway, which would follow the present U.S. 52, planned to let CONSOL Energy mine the proposed path, then help to smooth it out for the road. Officials had praised this as a strong example of how public and private sector entities could combine for the profit of both.
West Virginia's entire delegation, both Democrats and Republicans, condemned the move. Senator Joe Manchin commented through a press re;ease from his office:
“As a West Virginian, I watched this project come together one
partnership at a time for the past two decades,” Senator Manchin said.
“As Governor, I made sure that the state supported the project’s
permitting and funding requests. Now, as Senator, I am incensed and
infuriated that the EPA would intentionally delay the needed permit for a
public-private project that would bring so many good jobs and valuable
infrastructure to communities that so desperately need them. The EPA has
lost court case after court case for its overreach, and it should be
using better judgment by now. I vow to work with the Governor’s office,
our entire Congressional delegation and members of both parties to make
sure that this vital project will move forward.
Republicans made the Environmental Protection Agency's increasing aggressiveness an issue in the campaign. Conservative victories may take some teeth from the tiger and restore many public and private sector projects.
Monday, November 5, 2012
News! 100th Post Obamacare May Be Unraveling, Post-election Regulations Aimed at Coal, Farms, and Manufacturing, 900k jobs per year at stake
Obama's Coming Regulation Bomb
Could cost almost 900,000 jobs per year
Obamacare: Courts Tugging on the Thread to Unravel the Sweater
Of Superstorms and Politics
Congresswoman Capito Blasts Administration on Jobs
Congressman McKinley Frustrated Over Jobs, King Coal Highway Debacle
Manchin Urges Federal Government to Act More Quickly In Storm Response
International Trade Rulings Diminish Sovereignty
Wind Energy Subsidies in Colorado
Chinese Interested in Atlantic Base
The Hot Dog Lover's Hot Dog, In Keyser W. Va
Thursday, November 1, 2012
News! World Health Organization Latest to Propose World Taxes, Blue States Fail
Obamacare Forces Closure of Practices
More From the Global Warming Causes Blizzards Crowd
Benghazi Details Continue to Drip Out
Media Ignores Benghazi Tragedy
Blue States' Economic Policies Fail
Caveat to this. West Virginia's state government is technically "blue." Governors Manchin and Tomblin received an A and a C respectively from Cato on spending. So they have Democratic Party control with conservative spending.
World Health Organization Latest to Propose Global Tax On Something
Supreme Court Not Entirely Convinced of Dangers of Wireless Wiretapping
Could George Patton Survive In Today's Military?
American Spectator Reviews Atlas Shrugged II
British Historian Recreates World War I Trench
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