By Taylor Kuykendall

A spokesperson for the U.S. EPA said a "small group" selectively edited out-of-context remarks by EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy regarding a "war on coal" that was broadcast on a June 13 edition of HBO's "Real Time with Bill Maher. "

Several media outlets reported McCarthy's response to a question from host Maher as confirmation that the EPA was waging a "war on coal," a phrase the industry has used to describe President Barack Obama's energy policy. In the video clip being circulated, Maher asks if the administration's newly introduced effort to blunt the effects of climate change by reducing carbon dioxide emissions, dubbed the Clean Power Plan, is a "war on coal."

“Can't be more clear: there is no war on coal. Clean Power Plan is about reducing pollution and fighting for public health.”

 Gina McCarthy, administrator, U.S. EPA

"Actually, EPA is all about fighting against pollution and fighting for public health," McCarthy replied. "That's exactly what this is."

Her reply has been interpreted by some to mean the EPA's efforts are, as Maher said he hopes it is, a "war on coal." Others have said the second half of McCarthy's statement referred to the first half of her statement — that "fighting against pollution and fighting for public health" is "exactly" what the Clean Power Plan rule is.

The rule is expected to significantly erode coal demand, prices and employment, and has prompted outrage from several officials in coal-producing states. U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell, a Republican in Kentucky, a top-producing coal state, referred to the Maher-McCarthy exchange in a June 17 news release as "recent confirmation that the administration is waging a war on coal."

"Imagine my surprise this weekend when I learned that she found the time Friday night to appear on an HBO late-night comedy show, where she admitted that the Obama administration is in fact waging a war on coal," McConnell said in a news release. "Why does Administrator McCarthy have the time to appear on HBO, but not to appear on WYMT-TV in Hazard [Ky.], so she can explain her war on coal to the people it is most directly affecting?"

EPA Press Secretary Liz Purchia said in an email to SNL Energy that a small group "is selectively editing [McCarthy's] remarks to take them out of context and spur up their own agendas."

"The administrator was referring to the Clean Power Plan when she said EPA is all about fighting pollution and fighting for public health, which is exactly what this plan is about," Purchia said. "She has always said that coal will continue to be an important part of our energy strategy and in the future it will continue to be about a third of our energy mix."

In a tweet sent out June 17, McCarthy wrote: "Can't be more clear: there is no war on coal. Clean Power Plan is about reducing pollution and fighting for public health."

“[McCarthy's] remarks on the Maher show probably leave her some room to deny specific reference to a 'war on coal' even though it's quacking and is covered with feathers.”

 Chris Hamilton, senior vice president, West Virginia Coal Association

Purchia also pointed out an analysis by Media Matters for America, a nonprofit research organization that generally supports liberal causes, that says the "war on coal" phrase is empty political rhetoric and McCarthy's response was consistent with her previous responses to the question. The post highlights that McCarthy has said the EPA is serving a public health mandate and is not targeting any one energy source without regard to facts.

Bill Bissett, president of the Kentucky Coal Association, said he found it surprising that McCarthy would be caught "breaking script" in her characterization of the EPA's efforts as a war on coal. While he says it is clear that the administration is not supportive of the production and consumption of coal, McCarthy probably "misspoke."

"While I think it's possible that she might have misspoke, she was also on what some would call a comedy program," Bissett told SNL Energy. "The stakes are too high right now for someone in that position to misspeak about coal."

West Virginia Coal Association Senior Vice President Chris Hamilton said that "every word" and "every policy" dating back to Obama's pre-election remarks on coal has "consistently served to inhibit coal's role in our domestic energy mix." He was skeptical of those defending McCarthy's response.

"[McCarthy's] remarks on the Maher show probably leave her some room to deny specific reference to a 'war on coal' even though it's quacking and is covered with feathers," Hamilton said. "Call it what you want, but the current regime cannot deny a strong bias against coal that has been laced throughout every single initiative they have undertaken throughout the past five and a half years."

Anna Oman, national communications strategist with the Sierra Club, said the organization believes McCarthy is "focused solely on carrying out its charge of protecting public health from dangerous pollution." Oman said that they applaud the EPA's efforts to close "regulatory loopholes" that exempt the industry from clean air and clean water laws. She said the Clean Power Plan "may scare the coal industry," but it is "welcome news" to most Americans.

"War is an inappropriate metaphor for the work of community members across the country who are engaged in bringing an end to dangerous coal pollution," Oman wrote in an email to SNL Energy. "They use all the peaceful instruments of democracy, petitioning at the state, local and national level, taking legal action when agencies are unwilling or unable to act, and winning at the ballot box (such as in Bellingham on coal exports) when politicians favor special interests over the public good."

Nancy Gravatt, senior vice president of the National Mining Association, said it is untruthful to suggest the EPA rule is about public health. She said that carbon dioxide does not cause asthma or respiratory illnesses and that the EPA should not have included them in their benefits analysis of the Clean Power Plan.

"Claiming these same health benefits for its climate rules is a textbook case of double-counting, a bogus way to invent benefits in an effort to make the climate rules appear cost-effective. EPA invents health and economic benefits and exaggerates others because its climate rules provide negligible environmental benefits. Its climate rules would cut global concentrations of greenhouse gases by less than one percent," Gravatt told SNL Energy. "A one percent reduction will reduce rising global temperatures by a small fraction of one degree Fahrenheit."

Gravatt said it is not clear to viewers of the Maher show who the EPA is at war with, though Texas Gov. Rick Perry called it a "war on American energy" and she calls it "war on our wallets." Gravatt said the proposed rule would eliminate the lowest-cost and most reliable source of electricity in the country.

"It's important for the public to be informed accurately about the impact of the rules because American families and businesses are the ones who will bear the brunt of the sizable electricity cost increases that will result," Gravatt said. "In particular, this is a regressive energy tax that will hurt the most vulnerable in society — retirees, seniors and people living on fixed incomes — the hardest."