Yesterday, Natalie Tennant put out a press release saying that she supported a bill that passed the House of Representatives that would limit EPA regulations:
“West Virginia Secretary of State and U.S. Senate candidate Natalie Tennant is supporting legislation passed by the U.S. House of Representatives today that would block President Obama’s plans to regulate emissions on new coal-fired power plants.”
In the same press release Tennant said she would fight Obama’s attempts to undermine coal:
“I Will Fight President Obama And Anyone Else Who Tries To Undermine Our Coal Jobs.”
But Tennant was defending Obama’s energy policy, specifically on coal as recently as 2012 according to Greenwire:
“Although many of the state’s top officials stayed away from this week’s convention, West Virginia delegates in attendance proclaimed themselves proud Democrats and defended President Obama’s stand on coal issues. … But Natalie Tennant, the West Virginia secretary of state, attended as a delegate and said the number of coal jobs has increased under Obama.”
And last year, Tennant said that the reason West Virginians don’t like the EPA because the EPA doesn’t communicate well:
“What I want to see is better communication between everyone involved. Today’s meeting is a great first step toward resolving a lot of unanswered questions and a lot of mistrust. Given the lack of communication and outreach from the EPA, it is hardly surprising that people in West Virginia have assumed the worst about the EPA.”
So what is behind Natalie Tennant’s change of heart? The Obama administration hasn’t changed their stance on coal over the last few years. What has changed is that Tennant is now running for the U.S. Senate and she realizes that West Virginia voters don’t agree with the Obama policies that she has defended in the past.