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After three years, the Obama administration has more than doubled our gas prices at the pumps. The threat to have our energy costs skyrocket is proceeding at a faster pace than people (and Congress) would have expected. Today is another milestone was proposed by having coal plants cut CO2 emissions through new EPA rules. This is another example of Obama usurping the role of Congress to bypass the legislature and issue “rules” through the Environment Protection Agency (EPA).
As the price of energy trickles down through the economy, we will see higher prices especially for food. However, transportation costs will impact all consumer products and inflation will debase our currency and economy. I never believed that our economy was in a recover: you cannot print and spend trillions of dollars and include its measurement as part of a “recovery”. How bad will it get? We already know how bad the impact of gas and food is on our budgets. Unless you are part of the 47% who pay no taxes and do not have to worry about a budget.
David DeGerolamo
Government proposes first carbon limits on power plants
The Obama administration proposed on Tuesday the first ever standards to cut carbon dioxide emissions from new power plants, a move likely to be hotly contested by Republicans and industry in an election year.
The Environmental Protection Agency proposed the long-delayed rules that limit emissions from all new U.S. power stations, which would effectively bar the building of any new coal plants.
While the rules do not dictate which fuels a plant can burn, they would require any new coal plants essentially to halve carbon dioxide emissions to match those of efficient gas plants.
“We’re putting in place a standard that relies on the use of clean, American made technology to tackle a challenge that we can’t leave to our kids and grandkids,” EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson said in a release.
Republicans have already turned to the courts to forestall other EPA measures they say will drive up power costs for homeowners and businesses that are struggling to recover from the weak economy. Some Democrats from energy-intensive states are also likely to oppose the rules.
The EPA’s overall clean-air efforts have divided the power industry between companies that have moved toward cleaner energy, such as Exelon and NextEra, and those that generate most of their power from coal, such as Southern Co and American Electric Power.
Under the rules, coal plants could add equipment to capture and bury underground for permanent storage their carbon emissions. The rules would likely give any new coal plants time to get those systems running, by requiring that they average the emissions cuts over decades.
