EPA’s New Proposed Regulations to Restrict Emissions from Existing Fossil Fuel-Based Electric Generation

Today is the day when EPA unveils its regulations intended to solve a minor or more likely non-existent problem by placing restrictive government regulations intended to bias the electric supply business away from seeking the lowest cost source of energy (often coal) at the expense of all American ratepayers, but particularly lower and middle income Americans. As outlined on this blog for over four years there is no reason for EPA or any other government agency to impose such controls. They will have no measurable effects on anything other than the US economy. What will happen as a result is quite predictable: Greatly increased rates for electric power, decreased availability of the electric power so vital to our way of life, decreased reliability of the electric grid, a lower standard of living, decreased competitiveness of US products in world markets since most countries do not have such regulations, and Communist-style central control of the electric generating industry by a Washington-based bureaucracy with no understanding of the industry.

Fortunately, there is an election coming up this fall where voters can express their views on the Obama Administration’s proposal to take effective control over the electric power industry despite their less than sterling performance on health care and veterans’ medical needs. Apparently nothing short of an electoral defeat will prevent the Administration from pursuing its green energy ideology/religion. What is required is a Republican majority in the US Senate if these regulations are to be stopped. Electing Democrats who claim they are opposed to the new EPA regulations will do very little if anything to prevent them from coming into effect since the Democrats would still control the US Senate and would be able to circumvent any effort to kill the EPA regulations.

It is important to note that the EPA proposals are not only attempts to circumvent Congress and the provisions of the Clean Air Act but also the separation of powers enshrined in the US Constitution. The separation of powers were built into the Constitution for a reason–to keep ideologues of any persuasion from being able to impose their views on the nation merely by controlling one branch of Government. The new EPA proposed rules are not based on any act of Congress but rather on an outrageous rewriting of the Clean Air Act by EPA on the basis of green ideology with all its bad science, bad economics and bad law. This is a direct outcome of the Endangerment Finding I opposed in 2009–and unfortunately about the worst possible outcome. Unless voters act this fall it may too late to avoid this outcome, which will directly affect the economic well being of all Americans with no benefits whatever except for those that will profit from it, like windmill and solar manufacturers.