Coal, we don't need no stink'n coal

It is now, my firm belief that this Administration will not rest until we are all living in caves wearing bearskins and using flint knives. Another, and possibly mortal, blow to our ever increasing energy crisis from the EPA. The One has now decided to not only put hundreds of thousand energy workers off the job, but also make rolling blackouts in the mid-west an absolute certainty. This from The New York Post (emphasis mine):

Start with a proposed regulation under the Clean Air Act that's set to be finalized in November. The Utility MACT ("Maximum Achievable Control Technology") rule seeks to cut US power plants' emissions of mercury from 29 tons a year to just five. Yet EPA itself estimates that cutting even as much as 41 tons out of total emissions of 105 tons "is unlikely to substantially affect total risk."

Let me say that again. The EPA itself (not a crazed right-wing climate-change-denier-group the, freaking agency itself) said that cutting these emission won't do a damn thing! SO WHY DO IT? So:

For zero benefit, the Utility MACT is one of the most expensive federal regulations ever. In comments submitted to the EPA, Unions for Jobs and the Environment, an alliance of unions representing more than 3.2 million workers, estimated that this needless regulation
would jeopardize 251,000 jobs. 

Oh, that's why, so we could drive unemployment up to 10%. Wait, say what? It is evident that the EPA has turned into an out of control far left-wing activist agency, which thinks that their time has finally come to show those big oil and coal companies who's boss. But wait it gets better, and by better I mean worse:

Then there's EPA's out-of-the-blue ruling last month, ordering Texas to cut emissions of sulfur dioxide by 47 percent. This, when the draft version of the Cross State Air Pollution Rule had exempted the state entirely. The excuse for the change? A supposed need to slightly reduce emissions as monitored 500 miles away in Madison County, Ill. -- a locale that meets the EPA air-quality standards in question.

And the EPA only gave Texas just six months to comply -- when it takes three years to build the necessary controls.

 

In order for Texas to comply with this draconian nonsense, they will have to effectively shut down coal burning plants with literally nothing to replace them with. So, that means rationing of service just like in North Korea. Oh, and by the way there's another 15,000 new unemployed workers. Thanks Barry.

I don't mean to sound like a conspiracy theorist (well maybe I do), but this looks like payback for Texas making The One look bad. Texas, if you will remember, was responsible for add half of all new jobs in the country over the last years by NOT practicing the government approved Keynesian eco model. That, and while the U.S.'s credit rating is downgraded, Texas' is upgraded. I'm not say'n, I'm just say'n.

But what about the coal miners. Hell their union right? They should be safe. Nah, they're screwed too. You see there are Unions and then there are unions. Coal miners fall into the latter:

The EPA is also attacking coal mining, by (for example) trying to stop the technique known as mountaintop removal. Endless environmentalist lawsuits have lost in the courts, but the Obama EPA now claims that salt runoff from the process violates the Clean Water Act because it harms a short-lived insect (not an endangered species) -- and has proposed a rule that EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson concedes would effectively outlaw an industry that employs more than 15,000 miners in Appalachia. 

Not satisfied to just put a company out of business, hell no, Overlord Lisa Jackson will put an entire industry out of business. Guys where does this nonsense stop? You have to realize that Obama was not kidding when he said to the San Francisco Examiner that he wanted to "bankrupt" the coal industry (at least he kept one campaign promise). I have no doubt that in his delusional world-view killing coal and oil is necessary. Once these pesky folks are out of the way, He can get on to the more noble business of creating and using, so called 'Green' power. As if it will suddenly become a viable resource. Sorry Barry, to replace the power that your policies are eliminating would require a wind farm the size, well, of Texas.

Look, I don't mind the thought of alternative energy sources but you can't force it on people when it is not even close to being viable . We've been promised solar and wind power since Carter. It's just not happening folks. And until it does we have to have coal and oil if we expect to grow the economy.

You could overtly try to mess up the country's energy policy more than these cretins and not done a better job.

Doh!

The unions were dealt another blow yesterday when the republicans in Wisconsin retained control of the senate. They survived by winning four of six recall races. This is significant due to the incredible amount of money that poured into the state from both sides. Estimates ranged from $30 to $40 million. Okay, what does this mean in general to the unions?

First, they lost a do over. Meaning that it was the union's view, that the voters in Wisconsin didn't really mean to give control of the Senate to the Republicans during the last election cycle. They were just hoodwinked. So, being the strong believers in democracy, they gave the voters another chance to see the light, as it were.


Second, the loss shows just how ineffectual the national union machine has become. But be careful here, don't blame the unions for this. It isn't their fault. They've simply done what they've always done. Get sympathetic politicians elected and reap the benefits of favored status from the Capital. No the fault lies in this new breed of candidates like Scott Walker and Chris Christie. These guys have the gall to call BS on the public sector unions in general and the exalted teacher's union specifically.


Walker, Christie and their ilk simply looked at their respective fiscal budgets and discovered that dirty little secret the unions didn't want the public to know. The unions effectively have direct access to the treasury via their Democratic allies in the state legislatures. See it works like this. Dems pass laws that favor union over the private sector, such as collecting dues from union members automatically so the unions have a nice little nest egg. Then come election time, the Dems suddenly find themselves in need of cash. And who do they turn to? Need I say more?


This is why the recall election was so important to the unions at a national level. Loss of clout is one thing, but losing access to the treasury across the country is permanently debilitating. Now, union members will have to write a check to the union rather than automatic deduction. It will be interesting to see what percentage of the workers will actually write those checks every month.

Lastly, if the unions fail in Wisconsin, a traditionally Blue state, what will happen in the blue/purple states?

Haliburton!

(Editor's note: In order to give this site more balance (take a drink) content we have invited a guest blogger to give us the Liberal perspective. So without further adieu I give you Larry the Lounge Liberal).

Thank you 6079 Smith, W, I am honored to participate in marketplace of ideas with you and your readers. And speaking of the time honored tradition of debate in this country, whatever happened to Haliburton? You remember, way, way, way back when Dubb-ya was in office. Back then when a Liberal was cornered by the evil conservative pundits' ravings, all he had to do was scream HALIBURTON, cross his arms smugly, then sit back and watch the conservative cower in the glow of the liberal's argument. What argument is that you ask? Uh, no idea, I just know that everyone thought that Haliburton was bad because the sith lord Dick Chaney had something to do with it and that meant it must have been really, really bad. Heady days indeed.

Yep, those were the good ol' days. If your argument was hollow, all you had to do was yell racists or Nazi then watch with triumph as conservatives ran for cover. But alas my friends, those days of sparked debate are over. Now, they just laugh at you when you call Tea Party folks terrorists for example. And get this; the media is actually calling our Liberal brethren on it now. Sorry my fellow Liberals I see dark days ahead. Days where we might actually have to have an argument instead of innuendos and platitudes.

Thank you 6079 Smith, W for allowing me to guest blog. I look forward to blogging again sometime, in the meantime: HALIBURTON!

'nuff said

HT: Ka-Ching

The new Ford F-150!

The Hill is reporting today that the Obama administration is set to unveil the first-ever federal fuel efficiency standards for a range of heavy-duty trucks (emphasis mine):   

The standards mark the latest effort by the Obama administration to ratchet up vehicle fuel-economy rules. Late last month, Obama announced a plan to set an average standard of 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025 for cars and light-duty trucks. The standard builds on rules finalized last year for model-year 2012-2016 cars and light-duty trucks.

This is absolute insanity. Obama'sideology, again, trumps what is in the best interest of the country. Ostensibly, this is to cut the country's dependence on foreign oil imports, and cut carbon emissions. Utter nonsense, if he wanted to decrease dependency on foreign oil, he could simply lift the moratorium in the Gulf, and instantly create up to 1 million jobs as well. And as for the carbon emission, do you really think he cares about carbon emissions? No, this is Obama, kowtowing to his base.

So how is the auto-industry supposed to accomplish this innovative marvel? I, and I'm sure the auto-industry, have no freaking idea. Hell, Obama, why stop at 54.5 MPG, go for 60 or 70, pick any number it's all fantasy. Do you, for one moment, think that if one of the car companies had the ability to build a truck that could do the job it was intended to do, AND, get 54.5 MPG that it wouldn't already be on the market? My guess is that a truck that can do its job AND one that gets over 50 MPG are two mutually exclusive products. But that's not going to stop this crew from mandating it. Where the hell is congress on this?