Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Obama Puts Rural America In The Cross Hairs
Townhall.com ^ | August 4, 2015 | Matt Vespa

Posted on 08/05/2015 4:28:04 AM PDT by Kaslin

Yesterday, the president announced his Clean Power Plan, which is aimed to tackle the phantom threat of global warming. In doing so, the president has put rural America, black Americans, Hispanic Americans, and those on fixed-income seniors in the crosshairs. First, let’s go to what Obama said:

Now, not everyone here is a scientist -- (laughter) -- but some of you are among the best scientists in the world. And what you and your colleagues have been showing us for years now is that human activities are changing the climate in dangerous ways. Levels of carbon dioxide, which heats up our atmosphere, are higher than they’ve been in 800,000 years; 2014 was the planet’s warmest year on record. And we've been setting a lot of records in terms of warmest years over the last decade. One year doesn’t make a trend, but 14 of the 15 warmest years on record have fallen within the first 15 years of this century.

Climate change is no longer just about the future that we're predicting for our children or our grandchildren; it's about the reality that we're living with every day, right now.

The Pentagon says that climate change poses immediate risks to our national security [I guess the CIA didn’t get the memo].

[…]

With this Clean Power Plan, by 2030, carbon pollution from our power plants will be 32 percent lower than it was a decade ago. And the nerdier way to say that is that we’ll be keeping 870 million tons of carbon dioxide pollution out of our atmosphere. (Applause.) The simpler, layman’s way of saying that is it’s like cutting every ounce of emission due to electricity from 108 million American homes. Or it's the equivalent of taking 166 million cars off the road.

By 2030, we will reduce premature deaths from power plant emissions by nearly 90 percent -- and thanks to this plan, there will be 90,000 fewer asthma attacks among our children each year. (Applause.) And by combining this with greater investment in our booming clean energy sector, and smarter investments in energy efficiency, and by working with the world to achieve a climate agreement by the end of this year, we can do more to slow, and maybe even eventually stop, the carbon pollution that’s doing so much harm to our climate.

Well, NASA is only  38 percent certain that 2014 was the warmest year, out air quality has never been better, according to the EPA’s own studies; and the price tag for this will be millions of jobs. The Clean Power Plan aims to cut these greenhouse gas emissions by nearly 30 percent from 2005 levels. They know this is tough. They know they’re going to face political obstacles in trying to get this plan implemented. Hence, the emphasis that health, specifically children’s health, will improve. The narrative will be if you’re against this, you’re anti-science and you want children to die. Nevertheless, it doesn’t negate the fact that rural America will be devastated (E&E News):

Rural America stands to lose more than urban America if U.S. EPA's Clean Power Plan drives power prices up, according to a paper released today by the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association.

The trade group for rural electricity nonprofits argued in its report that rural economies are more sensitive to rate fluctuations because they tend to run on energy-intensive industries like agriculture and manufacturing, rather than the service and financial sectors that tend to locate in urban areas.

Businesses in what the paper dubbed "Co-op Nation" -- areas of the country that are served by rural co-ops because they are too sparsely populated to entice for-profit utilities -- required 34 percent more power than industry elsewhere, the report said.

This means that if electricity prices climb 10 percent or 25 percent between now and 2040 -- as the paper suggests they will, in part because of the rule -- that would have a proportionally larger impact on rural regions than it would on urban areas. Those losses would trickle down to local businesses, reducing the tax base and impacting public-sector jobs, it said.

The study holds that a 10 percent increase in electricity prices would mean 1.2 million jobs lost in 2021 nationwide, with nearly 500,000 of those located in rural communities.

[…]

Lisa Johnson, CEO and general manager of Seminole Electric Cooperative in Florida, said after her own meeting with OMB and other administration staff earlier this month that the rule as proposed would force 27 of her state's 30 coal-fired power plants to shutter by 2020 to meet a tough interim target of 794 pounds of carbon dioxide per megawatt-hour.

What about fixed-income seniors? Obama is going to toss them of the fiscal cliff, according to a study conducted by The 60 Plus Association. Sixty-three percent of America’s 65+ households have gross annual incomes of less than $50,000. In fact, on average, seniors 65+ and older make 41 percent less than the median $57,353 of younger households, according to the study. They also represent almost a quarter of the 116 million households in the country, and almost two-thirds of these households had a pre-tax income of just $24,842, or $2,070 per month before state and federal taxes. In short, a surge in electrical prices will leave these folks open to financial disaster. As for blacks and Hispanics, Clean Power will show no mercy; the plan is projected to gut millions of jobs for them.

In July, White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough made no qualms about that fact that the power plant rule was going to be stronger. To no one’s surprise, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has been advocating states to reject the new rules, setting up another policy battle between GOP governors and the president. The Wall Street Journal described the Clean Power Plan as “regulation without representation,” and, of course, this new agenda favors green energy initiatives that are inefficient, won’t be able to keep up with our energy needs, and above all a complete waste of time and money.

Rarely do American Presidents display the raw willfulness that President Obama did Monday in rolling out his plan to reorganize the economy in the name of climate change. Without a vote in Congress or even much public debate, Mr. Obama is using his last 18 months to dictate U.S. energy choices for the next 20 or 30 years. This abuse of power is regulation without representation.

The so-called Clean Power Plan commands states to cut carbon emissions by 32% (from 2005 levels) by 2030. This final mandate is 9% steeper than the draft the Environmental Protection Agency issued in June 2014. The damage to growth, consumer incomes and U.S. competitiveness will be immense—assuming the rule isn’t tossed by the courts or rescinded by the next Administration.

[…]

Coal-fired power will be the first to be shot, but the EPA is targeting all sources of carbon energy. As coal plants have retired amid seven years of EPA assault, natural gas recently eclipsed coal as the dominant source of electric power. This cleaner-burning gas surge has led to the cheapest and fastest emissions plunge in history, but the EPA isn’t satisfied.

Thus the new rule’s central planning favors green energy sources like wind and solar. The plan expands their quotas and funding, while punishing states that are insufficiently enthusiastic. The EPA estimates renewables will make up 28% of U.S. electric capacity by 2030, up from less than 5% today.

[…]

As for the home front, the point is to bull-rush states into making permanent changes to their energy systems. The investments and lead times in new power plants and transmission lines on this scale are generational. Yet state compliance plans are due in September 2016, and most of the carbon reductions must be complete by 2022.

The White House and EPA know they are distorting the law beyond recognition and that this rule will be litigated for years. But they figure that if they can intimidate the states into enacting as much change as fast as possible, a legal defeat won’t matter because the outcome will be a fait accompli.

Oh, and as Morgan Chalfant of the Washington Free Beacon wrote today, the optics of this whole things are muddied when it’s been discovered that environmentalists and EPA officials have met in secret for years over these new carbon emission rules.  Additionally, the carbon tax debate could be resurrected thanks to Clean Power Plan.

Exit Question: Knowing the detrimental economic impact this clean power agenda will have on the Hispanic community, why do they support this plan? Do you think these numbers will shift as more information comes forward?



TOPICS: Culture/Society; Government
KEYWORDS: barack0bama; cleanenergy; epa; globalcooling; globalwarming

1 posted on 08/05/2015 4:28:04 AM PDT by Kaslin
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: Kaslin

Just wait until we get the majority in both houses, then we will show him.

John Cornyn is the worst RINO in the Senate. He spent 10 million dollars running radio ads 24/7 on every talk radio station in Texas for 9 months before his election.


2 posted on 08/05/2015 4:34:03 AM PDT by hadaclueonce (It is not heaven, it is Iowa. Everyone gets a "Corn Check")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: hadaclueonce

And just what is John Boehner doing about this? Going on a golf talk show, complaining about “partisanship” and his inability to go golfing with Pres. Obama, demeaning talk radio, complaining about the fact that there are cable news networks that actually show both sides of an issue. In other words, he isn’t doing a damned thing to help the base of the Republican Party or advance its issues; he is a paid slave of the US Chamber of Commerce.


3 posted on 08/05/2015 4:37:11 AM PDT by laconic
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: hadaclueonce
Yeah, I remember that. During the GOP primary, he talked about "fighting Obama EVERY DAY, PUSHING BACK!"

In the General election, he never mentioned the big-eared one. Since he's gotten back to Washington, he's been Obama's little poodle.

Question- Does a back rub count as "pushing back"?


4 posted on 08/05/2015 4:52:20 AM PDT by MuttTheHoople (Ob)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: laconic

Psst..John Borehner, you are demeaning talk radio?? Why don’t you resign from the House. The voters in your district could have elected an untrained monkey, and could get better results.


5 posted on 08/05/2015 4:53:19 AM PDT by ExCTCitizen (I'm ExCTCitizen and I approve this reply. If it does offend Libs, I'm NOT sorry...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: laconic; hadaclueonce
"And just what is John Boehner doing about this"

Boehner, Cornyn, or anyone in congress has little authority over this because SCOTUS told EPA to use the Clean Air Act to regulate CO2. EPA needs nothing from Congress.

But Congress did have chance in 2009-10 to pre-empt EPA and enact legislation to regulate CO2. Remember the House Cap and Trade bill?

So today, if the GOP wanted to, they could shut down Obama/EPA by enacting legislation to regulate CO2, but they would need 6 dem votes for cloture and Obama could veto.

That's not the strategy. Instead, numerous lawsuits will be filed and they will try to get an injunction blocking EPA from moving forward until all the lawsuits have been heard by the courts. And then win the presidency and hold onto both houses in 2016, after which they will be in the driver's seat.

That's what they tried to do in 2012 but Romney lost and the dems picked up a seat in the Senate. In 2014 the GOP won back the senate so now all they need is a gop prez.

6 posted on 08/05/2015 5:35:21 AM PDT by Ben Ficklin
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: ExCTCitizen
The voters in your district could have elected an untrained monkey, and could get better results.


7 posted on 08/05/2015 5:59:54 AM PDT by smoothsailing
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin
This means that if electricity prices climb 10 percent or 25 percent between now and 2040

Yeah, up only 25 percent by 2040... and every family will save $2000 a year on health care costs.

8 posted on 08/05/2015 6:19:32 AM PDT by Dr.Deth
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin
we’ll be keeping 870 million tons of carbon dioxide pollution out of our atmosphere. (Applause.)

While 870 million tons will sound impressive to many people, they fail to consider that the total mass of CO2 in the atmosphre is approximately 3,000,000 millions tons (3 x 1012 tons) - all of which amounts to just 0.04% - and 870 out of 3,000,000 is not a whole lot. (As an aside, calling CO2 'pollution' is just daft.)

Anyone still whining about CO2 emissions should be committed to the loony bin.

9 posted on 08/05/2015 7:01:59 AM PDT by Moltke
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson