Free Republic

By his reasoning, Obama needs to destroy the middle class in order to save it... --snip-- But this isn't just a job killer. It's a middle class killer. "According to EPA's Regulatory Impact Analysis, the final Utility MACT rule will increase electricity rates by up to 6 percent in some regions of the U.S. When combined with CSAPR, electricity rates are expected to increase by up to 23 percent in some areas. National Economic Research Associates projects that Utility MACT and other EPA regulations could increase electricity and other energy prices by $170 billion by 2020." And while your electricity...

In another triumph for government transparency, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson signed the final MACT Rule last Friday, but she’s been keeping it secret until a formal announcement planned for today. MACT stands for Maximum Achievable Control Technology. It covers emission rules for various industries, controlling the technologies the EPA finds achievable in the same sense that a choke chain controls a dog. The new MACT rules are going to come down hard on mercury emissions from coal-fired power plants, despite serious questions raised by critics about the EPA’s methodology for calculating costs and benefits from the rule. Many of the...

Attorneys general from nine states filed suit Tuesday over a final rule by the Environmental Protection Agency reversing its 2000 decision to regulate coal- and oil-fired generation for hazardous air pollutants under section 112 of the Clean Air Act. Section 112 would require utilities to install “maximum achievable control” technology. EPA’s final rule, published in the Federal Register and effective Tuesday, removes coal and oil-fired utility units from the section 112 source list. In pursuing a mercury rule wrought by litigation, the agency concluded in December 2000 that it was “appropriate and necessary” to regulate fossil units under section 112...