Posted on 06/02/2014 5:05:09 AM PDT by thackney
Payday is arriving for clean energy's diehard investors, those optimistic carbon-hating Robespierres who have survived repeated hope and despair, beginning with Bill Clinton's administration.
A proposal due from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Monday is expected to require huge cuts in power plants' carbon-dioxide emissions by 2025. Utilities heavily reliant on coal will be the losers, while those with lots of nuclear plants, like Exelon (ticker: EXC), or with solar or wind generation, will be in hog heaven. Small wonder that clean energy exchange-traded funds rose last week when details of the plan began to leak from the corridors of power. So, amazingly, did SolarCity (SCTY), which had resorted to a $400-off Groupon coupon deal to lease its rooftop panels to consumers. Discounting generally isn't a sign of robustness.
The EPA's plan is expected to give coal-reliant utilities credit for reducing CO2 system-wide, as opposed to plant by plant. If, for example, the utilities incentivize their customers to invest in energy-efficient products like smart thermostats and backyard solar panels, they will get credit for reducing CO2 emissions. Theoretically, efforts like this would cut energy demand and thus pollution.
States, which directly regulate the utilities within their borders, could also adapt a system of cap and trade, allowing the power producers to pay them for the right to spew CO2, instead of shutting coal-powered capacity pell-mell. The state would limit or "cap" greenhouse-gas emissions and then auction "permits" equal to the cap. The number of available permits would decrease in subsequent years, raising a plant's cost for using coal or oil. Cleaner energy would look more economical to install, owing to the cost imposed on fossil fuels. Some states already employing cap-and-trade regimes use the proceeds for greenhouse-gas reduction purposes, like building electric-car fueling stations.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.barrons.com ...
Get ready for the doubling or tripling of your electric bill. Think the economy is bad now? Just wait.
The way that's written, you'd think it won't afect you and me. Let's get a bit more realistic: Utilities and their customers (you and me) heavily reliant on coal will be the losers...
Once a coal-powered plant is shut down, it will never re-open, nor will any new coal plants be built. Even if a Republican president reverses the orders, they have no guarantees that some later Dem will resume the harassment. This makes capital investment in coal plants a bad financial risk.
Word for Today:
“ Fascism: Noun. - - - A system of Government characterized by rigid one-party dictatorship, forcible suppression of the opposition - - - “
Hitler, Hitler,
He’s our Man!
If he can’t do it,
Judge Roberts can!
Roberts, Roberts,
He’s our Man!
If he can’t do it,
Geithner’s IRS can!
Geightner, Geithner,
He’s our Man!
If he can’t do it,
BLM’s Reid can!
Reid, Reid,
He’s our Man!
If he can’t do it,
Soetoro’s NSA can!
Soetoro, Soetoro,
He’s our Man!
If he can’t do it,
Obama’s EPA can.
Obama, Obama,
He’s our man!
If he can’t do it,
Gestapo Holder can!
Holder, Holder,
He’s our Man!
If he can’t do it,
The Democrats
Damn sure will!
I’d like the person (Ted Cruz?) announcing the cuts to able to explain it this way...
“We’ve cut the agency by 90% in hopes they will learn to focus on actual clean air and clean water policies, rather than inventing problems, where none exist, for the sole purpose of justifying their existence.”
Oh yea - he screwed you on health insurance too didn't he?...... yep, enjoy yourselves!
That shrieking sound you hear is Alison Grimes realizing that Obama just screwed her out of a Senate seat.
If our electrical grid went down, what sources of energy would still be usable? Coal & Wood
Foresight is better than hindsight. Preserve coal as an energy source.
Yep, they all need lined up for a collective simultaneous nut kicking.
You think all of the coal industry voted for Obama?
Why do you think that? Heads of unions do not represent the values of all the workers.
DEFUND THE EPA!
The power plant I worked for is being rebuilt to add scrubbers to remove sulfur from the low sulfur coal we burned.
We already had precipitators to remove the fly ash, so new equipment is being added to remove what little fly ash is left.
The coal-mining state of West Virginia voted for Mitt Romney in the last election because of Obama’s strict environmental policies. However, Pennsylvania and Ohio voted for Obama
Ohio 50.67%
PA 52.0%
Those voters are not all of the coal industry members.
Obastard PROMISED that, before he was first elected. He said that you could build one but he would bankrupt you if you did. Damn smart voters, they. Looks like satan chose him to start the destruction. Gonna get nasty.
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