Murray Energy Corp. in Ohio sues Obama administration over new ozone standards

An Ohio-based energy company is suing the Obama administration over new ozone standards it says will harm the coal industry.

Murray Energy Corp. says the new standards, which decrease the threshold for ground-level ozone to 70 parts per billion, set the levels so that even some of the country’s national parks will be out of compliance.

“For the past seven years, the Obama Administration has waged a regulatory rampage against the United States coal industry, and the thousands of high paying, well-benefitted jobs which it provides,” said Robert E. Murray, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Murray Energy. “This Ozone Rule is yet another illegal and destructive action aimed at killing these jobs.”

The standards have been attacked by industry groups, as well as Democrats and Republicans alike. The Obama administration, meanwhile, has defended the ozone standards, as well as a new proposal known as the “Clean Power Plan” to limit carbon emissions from power plants, as beneficial and ultimately cost-effective for the country.

In a new study, the National Mining Association also said a Stream Protection Rule proposed in July by the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM) risks costing between 40,038 and 77,520 mining jobs and between $14 billion and $29 billion in annual value of coal lost to production restriction.