The Environmental Protection
Agency’s new Clean Power Plan (CPP) requires that states reduce their electric
utility sector carbon dioxide emissions an average of 32% below 2005 levels by
2030. Over 1,560 pages dictate returning CO2 emissions almost to 1975 levels,
while our population
grows by 40 million.
Some 30 states will have to slash
their power plant CO2 emissions by more than 32% and at least 12 will have to
implement 40-48% reductions. That is a
tall order, since all those states now get
50-96% of their electricity from coal, and all of them depend on coal plus
natural gas for nearly all their electric power. Imposing that transition and a
conversion to 20% or more expensive and unreliable wind and solar energy
by 2030 will be disastrous. It will bankrupt families, businesses, industries,
communities and even states.
Electricity rates will rise not
merely to the 15-17 cents/kWh in “green energy” states like California,
from the 8-9 cents per kilowatt-hour currently paid in coal-reliant
states. They could skyrocket to the 36-40 cents/kWh now paid in
Denmark and Germany (70-80 cents when taxpayer subsidies are
included).
That will hammer everything we make,
grow, ship, eat and do. It will impair our livelihoods, living standards,
liberties and life spans. And these destructive rules are being imposed by
callous, imperious, unelected, unaccountable federal bureaucrats who are
circumventing our laws and Constitution; disregarding the clear will of
Congress, which has rejected
nearly 700 climate bills; and colluding
regularly with radical Big Green pressure groups on sue-and-settle lawsuits and
new regulatory edicts.
Under the CPP, everything business
owners, workers, families and communities strived for their entire lives will
be at risk. Millions of workers will lose their jobs, leaving more families
destitute and welfare dependent, their sense of self-worth destroyed. Many will
have to choose between buying food and gasoline, paying the rent or mortgage,
going to the doctor, giving to their church, or saving for retirement.
Families will face severe sleep
deprivation, greater stress and depression, and more drug and alcohol abuse,
spousal and child abuse, theft and robbery. Nutrition and medical care will
suffer. More people will have strokes and heart attacks. More will die
prematurely or commit suicide. More elderly people will perish from
hypothermia, because they cannot afford to heat their homes properly.
Instead of acknowledging any of
this, EPA employs a “social cost of carbon” scheme that places arbitrary
inflated costs on damages it claims result from alleged climate risks from
using carbon-based fuels. It includes every imaginable and imaginary cost of
using fossil fuels – even absurd claims that its anti-energy plan will reduce
asthma rates, which have been increasing while pollution rates
are going down.
Meanwhile, the EPA and White
House ignore even the most obvious benefits of
using fossil fuels.
EPA keeps its questionable data and
analyses secret, refusing to share them even with Congress or
governors. It ignores the fact that global temperatures haven’t budged in 18
years, and no category 3-5 hurricane has hit the USA in a record 9-3/4 years –
contrary to all climate alarm predictions. About the only thing EPA does admit
is that slashing America’s CO2 emissions, and causing all this economic havoc,
will prevent less
than 0.03 degrees F of global warming 85 years from now.
These green dictators refuse to
debate any of this. Indeed, they do not want anyone to talk
about it.
The intolerant Left is “killing free
speech,” says liberal commentator Kirsten
Powers. It is committed to tolerance,
pluralism and reasoned debate only for itself, and only to advance its agenda.
Otherwise, it applies “authoritarian demands for intellectual conformity,” and
relentlessly vilifies and tries to silence anyone who speaks up, asks
inconvenient questions or challenges the “progressive” worldview.
“Free speech,” says George
Will, “has never been … more
comprehensively, aggressively and dangerously threatened than it is now. Today
they are attacking the theory
of free speech … the desirability
of free speech … and indeed the very possibility of free speech….”
As if on cue, the IRS targeted
numerous conservative groups – and the Milwaukee prosecutor and police
monitored emails, invaded homes, seized computers and records, and threatened
jail for anyone who disclosed these abuses, to intimidate and silence Wisconsin
Gov. Scott Walker’s supporters.
Their actions destroy our
fundamental First Amendment rights of free speech, assembly, association and
debate. Worse, they severely impair the unalienable rights of
people to enjoy affordable, reliable energy and the quality jobs, living
standards, health and welfare it brings.
“The ruling class demonizes any
questioning of its demands,” says Boston University professor
emeritus Angelo
Codevilla. “The pretexts differ” from issue
to issue,” he notes. “But the reality is the same: Bow or be persecuted.…
Consequently, if we wish to remain who we are in the face of threats and
declamations meant to force us to honor intellectual and moral falsehoods, we
have no alternative but clearly and loudly to distinguish between true and
false, and fully make the case for what we believe to be right.”
We must not mince words
regarding the evils that energy and climate totalitarianism inflict on
families, industries, communities and nations. We must confront the deceit
and deceivers, abuses and abusers – and present the hard, ugly realities of
what life would be under conditions imposed by the eco-extremists.
Right now, we have too many taxes
and regulations, too much secrecy and fraud, too many extremists, and far too
little accountability in EPA. There is too much eco-religious fervor, too
little science and humanity. Poor and minority families are hurt
most of all. Our governors, state and
federal legislators, attorneys general, courts, next president, and citizen,
industry and scientific groups need to take action.
Gain access to thus far secret EPA,
NOAA, IPCC and other data, computer codes, models and studies – and subject
them to full review by independent experts, to determine which assertions,
policies and regulations are valid, and which are based on serious error, deceptive
claims or outright fraud.
During the review process, suspend
and defund implementation of regulations and programs that raise serious
questions about their honesty and validity. Terminate rules and programs found
to be based on fraud, junk science, doctored data or concocted evidence – and
penalize or terminate agency personnel who have engaged in deceptive or
fraudulent practices.
Curb the excessive power and
representation of environmentalists and bureaucrats in our government. End the
sue-and-settle lawsuits between government agencies and radical
environmentalist pressure groups. Cut agency budgets, especially the billions
of dollars that EPA and other agencies give to anti-energy advocacy
organizations and biased advisory panels.
Ensure that regulatory agencies and
their advisory councils are honest and transparent; that they represent a
broader spectrum of expertise, viewpoints and interests than they do now; and
that they fully assess evidence for and against proposed regulations, as well
as their true benefits and costs.
Restore federalism and the
separation of powers for Congress and state governments, and end the deference
that courts too often give to agency discretion and authority for even
outrageous actions and power grabs by federal agencies.
Present true stories of workers and
families whose jobs and businesses have been threatened or destroyed by EPA and
other government policies, programs and diktats; how these citizens have fought
back; and their victories over energy, environmental and economic
totalitarianism.
These vital actions will almost
certainly be opposed by President Obama, Democrats, environmentalist pressure
groups, and other members of the Climate Crisis and Renewable Energy Complex.
But they are absolutely essential if the United States is going to have an
economic and employment revival, and poor, minority and blue-collar families
are to be protected from fraud, regulatory excess and ruling elites.
http://www.cfact.org/2015/08/10/epas-punitive-fraudulent-clean-power-plan/?utm_source=CFACT%20Updates&utm_
campaign= 20d19b1927-EPA_s_electric_power_grab8_
10_2015&utm_ medium=email&utm_term=0_a28eaedb56-20d19b1927-270308565
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