‘A War on Coal Is Exactly What’s Needed’

The Weekly Standard has picked up an interesting but not surprising quote from Daniel P. Schrag, adviser to the President. You can read the entire article by clicking here. Here is a block quote to back up my previous post on what is coming from this administration. 

“The one thing the president really needs to do now is to begin the process of shutting down the conventional coal plants. Politically, the White House is hesitant to say they’re having a war on coal. On the other hand, a war on coal is exactly what’s needed.

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Climate Change Tuesday

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On Tuesday, the President is announcing his “Climate Change” plan. For many years, various sections of our American population has latched onto a theory that 1) American individuals are responsible for weather patterns and earth’s temperature changing due to their pollution and 2) Man and government can somehow use their supernatural powers change weather patterns and cool the earth. 

Throughout history there has been all sorts of predictions of doomsday related to humans and pollution. Before I go into a 5,000 word diatribe I will just link you to a long but wonderful read from Matt Ridley titled, Apocalypse Not: Why You Shouldn’t Worry About the End Times. 

You can believe in this theory.  I personally don’t because in the end all the things proposed con people out of their money and make guys like this become uber rich. What I do have a problem with is taking this theory and applying it to government policy that has massive consequences to everyday activities in life. Energy is the best invention ever known to man. I personally want to shake the hand of the man who got fire going back in the day. People who founded oil and coal should be given a lifetime achievement award for making our lives better in almost every action we do in life.

On Tuesday the President is going to announce new “regulation” to combat Climate Change. Here is a brief synopsis of what is coming courtesy of The Blaze

“We’ll need all of our citizens to do our part to preserve God’s creation for future generations,” Obama noted in an online video the White House released Saturday. The president added that he’ll lay out his vision for reducing carbon pollution, preparing the U.S. for the effects of climate change and leading other nations in the global effort. Obama’s speech Tuesday afternoon at Georgetown University will come the day before he leaves for a weeklong trip to three African nations. “There’s no single step that can reverse the effects of climate change,” Obama says in the video. “But when it comes to the world we leave our children, we owe it to them to do what we can.”

So during this speech you will hear “Combatting Climate Change”. While this notion is silly like we are at war with some hidden force, what does it mean? When you turn on the news that night you will hear news anchors interview environmental groups packed full of lawyers saying the President hasn’t done anything to improve the environment. This is farthest from the truth in the sense of massive regulation that has been passed since he has been in office. I will give a few examples that has purposely flown under the radar by our truth telling media.

New EPA rules flying under the radar are making it so costly that possibly 280 coal plants will have to shutdown. Regulations have consequences and can be quite costly. Who the hardest hit you ask?

Coal-fired electric generating plants will be shut down across 32 states, with the hardest hit states being Ohio, Pennsylvania, Georgia, West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, Kentucky and Indiana, according to the coalition.

And yes, natural gas coming online is also making this possible but the enforcement of rules will be the most devastating. Just ask yourself, when you lose that much power, where else are you going to get it? Wind turbines and solar panels are not replacing it fast enough and have major limitations. If your a wind turbine supporter, just note that electrical and natural gas lines are hooked up to them so it can be powered when the wind’s not blowing. 

What else has the President been up too? Well, just recently while no one was looking his administration slipped a regulation into a little noticed rule on microware ovens that raises the price of coal per ton. Per Bloomberg.com

Buried in a little-noticed rule on microwave ovens is a change in the U.S. government’s accounting for carbon emissions that could have wide-ranging implications for everything from power plants to the Keystone XL pipeline. The increase of the so-called social cost of carbon, to $38 a metric ton in 2015 from $23.80, adjusts the calculation the government uses to weigh costs and benefits of proposed regulations. The figure is meant to approximate losses from global warming such as flood damage and diminished crops.

This money will not be used to “combat” or “help” the supposed fight in climate change. The government is broke and needs revenues. At the same time many within policy making has a disdain for coal as is and see this as a step to punish those who use it. Here is one example from the same article how radical or dangerous these groups are in feverishly wanting to price everyone using coal:

Laurie Johnson, chief economist for climate at the Natural Resources Defense Council says the administration should go further; she estimates the carbon cost could be as much as $266/ton.

Here is a perfect example of how this money will be used. California has their own mini model in pricing for “Climate Change” which is basically a tax. It is in the form of “Carbon Trade Auctions” and the cost gets buried in whatever good the consumer has to purchase. E&E Publishing is now reporting Gov. Jerry Brown is wanting to “borrow” up to $500 Million from this fund to help the overall general budget.  This money will not be used to “combat climate change”. 

California Gov. Jerry Brown yesterday proposed borrowing $500 million in revenues from the state’s landmark carbon cap-and-trade auctions and using those to help balance the general fund budget.

He also wants to break the state’s own law in doing this:

By law, the Golden State must spend the funds on efforts that reduce carbon emissions or otherwise meet the purposes of California’s climate measure, A.B. 32.

On a national scale, any implementation of pricing on the American public will just end up the same. Be fully aware of what is coming.