The president of the United Mine Workers of America warns the Environmental Protection Agency could end up killing the coal industry in the United States.

In an interview Tuesday with West Virginia radio show MetroNewsTalkline, UMWA President Cecil Roberts criticized the EPA's proposed regulations to put limits on greenhouse gasses from new power plants.

"Coal is the fastest growing energy source in the world and they've decided at the EPA, well, we're going to control what goes into the atmosphere worldwide by halting the construction of coal-fired facilities in the United States," Roberts said.

"It doesn't work, for one thing, and, the second thing, it is just devastating for our economy," he said.

Roberts warned that the agency could end up preventing any new coal-fired power plants from being built in the U.S.
    
"The Navy SEALs shot Osama bin Laden in Pakistan, and EPA administrator Lisa Jackson shot us in Washington," he said.