Sen. Jim Justice praises coal miners and backs EPA deregulation push

Senator Jim Justice of West Virginia said federal moves to ease energy regulations would benefit coal miners and coal communities and welcomed initiatives aimed at reducing regulatory backlogs.

Justice framed coal miners as central to West Virginia’s economy and family life, calling them “absolutely the greatest people on the planet” and saying they had been “kicked all the time.” He said younger West Virginians who left coal country for jobs in other cities might return if incentives and regulatory changes make mining jobs more available.

Justice said the industry has improved safety and described the difficulty of the work: “when you're thousands of feet underground ... you're mining a 40 inch seam of coal, you can hardly stay you can't possibly stand up. You can hardly sit up, and you do that all day long for all of us.” He added, “These people are superstars at what they do in their job, and they're doing it safely.” Justice also referenced his time as governor, saying, “under my administration when I was the governor, we finally got back to where we were getting population growth,” and framed the policy changes as a way to reunite families separated by out-migration for work.

A recorded clip in the interview featured Lee Zeldin, identified in the program as the EPA administrator, describing agency backlogs and plans to accelerate reviews. “We inherited all sorts of backlogs, 14,000 pesticides review, hundreds of new chemicals, hundreds of backlog state implementation plans,” Zeldin said. He said the Office of Air and Radiation wanted to create “an office of state air partnerships to advance cooperative federalism to get more state implementation plans over the finish line,” and characterized some agency activity as not focused on “core missions.”

Justice told the interviewer he supports Zeldin’s approach and warned of broader energy risks if changes are not made: he said an energy “meltdown” could force trade-offs between household energy needs, job opportunities, and national-security concerns.

No formal federal or state actions were announced during the interview; the discussion focused on the potential effects of regulatory changes and on the coal industry’s workforce and local communities. The remarks combined Justice’s descriptions of mining conditions and community impacts with Zeldin’s characterization of EPA workload and proposed administrative changes. The program did not present new legislation or a vote on the proposals.

The interview concluded with Justice saying, “Well, times have changed,” and reiterating support for deregulation efforts aimed at boosting energy production and jobs.