New CO2 regulation ignores energy needs and evolving understanding of climate
As a Presidential candidate, President Obama promised to bankrupt the coal industry and now, despite his administration’s protestations to the contrary, he seems set to deliver on that promise. The new CO2 regulation that the Environmental Protection Agency is issuing today, if it stands, could be the final nail in the coffin of future coal-fired electric power generation.
In its initial stage the new regulation would require any new coal-fired power plants to install expensive technology to capture carbon dioxide and bury it underground. Eventually the rule would expand to limit emissions from the existing coal fired power plants. The problem is, these technologies aren’t just expensive, they haven’t been shown to work. Commercial success with carbon capture is a long way off. And over the long-term, even if carbon capture becomes feasible, there is limited reservoir space – we pump out far more CO2 than we have space to store it. Thus, carbon-capture is neither a short-term nor long-term solution for the problem of carbon emissions; which means it’s also not solution that makes coal-fired electricity viable.
It seems the Obama administration is bent of following Germany’s lead in making electricity a luxury item. Germany has already constrained coal power, is closing its nuclear power plants and is propping up expensive, unreliable renewable power sources, and in doing so is creating a crisis for electric power users. Do without power or do without other basic material goods.
In order to gin up support for their costly energy rationing schemes leaked e-mails have shown that the German and U.S. governments tried to get the IPCC to suppress its findings that global warming seems to have halted for 16 years. Climategate II anyone?
It’s hardly surprising that governments would step in in an attempt to censor science – since for years they’ve argued the science is settled – and suppress the inconvenient truth of the collapsing evidence of catastrophic human caused climate change. After all, it undercuts the need for big government solutions and greater centralized control over the economy and peoples personal choices, something most politicians and bureaucrats have craved since time immemorial.
All of these political shenanigans come in the face growing public skepticism concerning the need to “do something” about global warming in the face of continued missed predictions concerning the harmful impacts of climate change.
“But if developers want to build new coal plants, which account for about a quarter of U.S. carbon emissions, they’ll have to develop new technology to pass the EPA’s muster.”
In other words, congratulations coal indsutry. Here is a guideline that at the current time is absolutely unattainable.
According to http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Coal_and_jobs_in_the_United_States
There are approximately 174,000 permanent jobs in the coal industry. Not including those indirectly supported by the coal industry. Why not wait for the market to move out coal before making so many families homeless?
Because they don’t care about people, it is all about control.
Let the free market dictate if the coal industry should live or die, not our president or EPA.
What a sad comment on Obama and those that backed him and those that voted for him that a presidential candidate could get away with promising to bankrupt any legitimate bisiness! Once again the lack of wisdom of Obama backers and voters is proven.
IMHO, the only other possible explanation is that they are hell bent on ruining America and are taking any and all actions possible to do so.
They think that government is necessary and beneficial, so any excuse to ensure it’s position is what is right, no matter who gets hurt. The ends justify the means…
“The problem is, these technologies aren’t just expensive, they haven’t been shown to work.”
This is typical. So, we’ll be stuck with no electricity. Great.
Probably, but don’t worry, the government will swoop in and save us.
save us….. from the government.
“In order to gin up support for their costly energy rationing schemes leaked e-mails have shown that the German and U.S. governments tried to get the IPCC to suppress its findings that global warming seems to have halted for 16 years.”
Wow. We know so little about the climate, yet we want to shackle humanity in its name.
The terrible part is that because the climate is always naturally changing, it doesn’t matter how much we sacrifice, they can always say that it isn’t enough.
Is this going to be a big problem for Texas and other states that get a large percentage of their electricity from coal-fired generation?
There are many, many books discussing the close relationship between Hitler’s Germany, industry and Wall Street banks. When it became clear that Hitler’s goal of “world utopia” was failing his financial advisors moved billions of dollars to foreign multi-national corporations with the notion that eventually, the Fourth Reich would rise up. The Fourth Reich is nothing more than the NWO – same agenda under a different name. It’s startling: history repeating itself while a historically ignorant population looks on. 90% of the American people disapprove of the way Congress is operating, making it clear that we do not have representative government. We are simultaneously, increasingly coming under the thumb of a surveillance/police state. At what point will our leaders “awaken the sleeping giant” – the American public?