Paul Reynolds, Testimony for EPA Hearings 

Good evening. My name is Paul Reynolds; native 

Alabamian and founder ofReynolds Technical Associates, 

a family-owned broadcast engineering business located in 

Pelham, Alabama. It is my pleasure to serve as Republican 

National Committeeman for Alabama and as Chairman of a 

public policy organization called the Alabama Free Market 

Alliance. 

Thank you for the opportunity to testify today. I stand 

before you in full opposition to the new regulations the 

EPA is proposing to promulgate under the Clean Air Act. 

Speaking as one who first hand has experienced adverse 

federal regulations, it is my firm belief that if proper 

consideration is given to the effects these regulations will 
have on working families and our state economy, these 

regulations will be shelved and never revisited. Adverse 

effects from excessive government are both primary and 

secondary, a!kla intended and unintended. It is 

economically impossible to demonstrate one economic gain 

ever realized by an increase in Federal regulation of the 

free market. 

These regulations stand to have a crippling effect on the 

well-being of working families in Alabama on numerous 

levels. First, there are the more than 16,000 families who 

depend upon the coal industry for their livelihood. Coal is 

one of Alabama's most abundant natural resources, and we 

as a state - in the exercise of our sovereignty - should have 

the ability to make our own decisions on how we want to 

best utilize our God-given natural resources. Making 
villains out of the coal industry and the hard-working men 

and women who rely upon it may make great political hay 

at Georgetown cocktail parties of the liberal elite, but 

shutting it down completely is simply an unacceptable path 

for our nation. 

Second, eliminating coal as an option for electrical 

generation will make it virtually impossible for Alabama to 

maintain its low-priced utilities. In implementing these 

overly burdensome regulations, I hope that you are fully 

aware of the impact you will have on hundreds of 

thousands of family budgets in the state of Alabama, alone. 

The final pressure point that I wish to highlight will be the 

impact on the job creators. Whether it is a small, familyowned business like mine, or one of our fine manufacturers 
we are blessed to have in Alabama, the cost of doing 

business will go up with increased utility prices. What 

does this mean? Simple. There will be less capital to 

reinvest in businesses, which will mean less hiring and less 

jobs. 

A scary new concept has risen in the American free market 

economy. It is the misguided idea that government 

involvement through ever increasing regulation brings 

increased market value. This concept is only 180° out of 

phase. Today the free market struggles under the 

gargantuan load of a Federal Register that is daily packed 

with new government regulations. Electrical generation by 

means of coal must not be added to that mix. 
Whether it is the unrest in Ukraine, turmoil in the Middle 

East or the crisis at our border, President Obama should be 

more concerned about a potential world at war than a War 

on Coal. I implore you to allow the state of Alabama to 

make its own energy policy decisions so that we may 

implement our own all-of-the-above energy policy. 

Thank you for the opportunity to speak this evening.