There are a number of articles today on how president Obama is trying to use environmental regulations from the EPA to shore up his legacy. After the failure of nearly his entire second term agenda to move forward and the disaster of Obamacare, Obama is supposedly looking to the EPA regulations on carbon emissions from power plants to make his mark on the future. The prospect of such an effort is very discouraging.
First of all, Obama on the surface has the ability to have the EPA issue regulations that cut back drastically on the amount of carbon dioxide given off by existing power plants. Regulations of this sort would have the effect of forcing the closure of most coal fired power plants across America. There would surely be lengthy litigation to determine the full extent of the power held by Obama through the EPA, but at least on the surface, the president can have such regulations issued.
Right now, coal remains the single biggest source of electric energy across the USA. The coal fired plants have been modified over the years so that they now produce only a small fraction of the pollution that the same sort of plant gave off forty years ago. Reducing carbon dioxide emissions, however, is another matter. There is no existing technology that would allow the plants to accomplish any large reduction in these emissions, a goal that is clearly the aim of Obama. That means that if the regulations go into effect and survive court challenges, the vast bulk of all coal fired plants will have to close.
There are alternative fuels to coal that could be used. The most prominent of these is natural gas. Of course, the problem with natural gas is that the environmentalists do not like it either because it is a fossil fuel. Forgetting the likes and dislikes of environmentalist Luddites for the moment, there is a much bigger problem coming from these contemplated regulations. If the coal plants are closed, then for the most part new gas fired plants will need to be constructed. Perfectly good coal plants will be junked and America will invest hundreds of billions of dollars, perhaps even trillions of dollars, in building new power plants. We will not get more power as a result. All that will happen is that less carbon dioxide will be given off. In order to pay the bill for all these new plants, however, electricity rates will rise. Higher energy costs will mean higher costs for American manufacturers. That will make American plants less competitive. That will mean jobs will be lost and the economy will grow even more slowly than it is now. We could have a permanent recession/sluggish growth economy.
All of this might make sense if there were actual proof that carbon dioxide gas is actually causing global warming. The problem is, however, that despite the oft repeated mantra about a supposed scientific consensus, the evidence is just not there to show that carbon dioxide increases are causing warming. The entire global warming movement was based upon computer simulations that showed the earth warming as carbon dioxide levels rose due to human activity. Now, we have decades of good data and it shows rising carbon dioxide but no temperature rise. The difference between the predicted temperature levels and the actual ones which have been measured is sufficiently large that a statistical analysis says the computer models are wrong. No one has been able to come forward with any explanation of why the models failed together with evidence to support that explanation. Let's translate that into simple English: the evidence shows that the scientists were wrong when they told us that increases in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere would lead to global warming.
Think about that! The scientists were wrong when they told us that more carbon dioxide would cause global warming, but Obama is going to destroy the coal fired power plants the reduce carbon dioxide. What will come next? Will Obama announce a plan to build a large fence at the edge of the world so that no one falls off the flat earth? Isn't it time that reality and actual science take over and quasi-religious groups that worship environmentalism are pushed aside before they do lasting damage to the country?
First of all, Obama on the surface has the ability to have the EPA issue regulations that cut back drastically on the amount of carbon dioxide given off by existing power plants. Regulations of this sort would have the effect of forcing the closure of most coal fired power plants across America. There would surely be lengthy litigation to determine the full extent of the power held by Obama through the EPA, but at least on the surface, the president can have such regulations issued.
Right now, coal remains the single biggest source of electric energy across the USA. The coal fired plants have been modified over the years so that they now produce only a small fraction of the pollution that the same sort of plant gave off forty years ago. Reducing carbon dioxide emissions, however, is another matter. There is no existing technology that would allow the plants to accomplish any large reduction in these emissions, a goal that is clearly the aim of Obama. That means that if the regulations go into effect and survive court challenges, the vast bulk of all coal fired plants will have to close.
There are alternative fuels to coal that could be used. The most prominent of these is natural gas. Of course, the problem with natural gas is that the environmentalists do not like it either because it is a fossil fuel. Forgetting the likes and dislikes of environmentalist Luddites for the moment, there is a much bigger problem coming from these contemplated regulations. If the coal plants are closed, then for the most part new gas fired plants will need to be constructed. Perfectly good coal plants will be junked and America will invest hundreds of billions of dollars, perhaps even trillions of dollars, in building new power plants. We will not get more power as a result. All that will happen is that less carbon dioxide will be given off. In order to pay the bill for all these new plants, however, electricity rates will rise. Higher energy costs will mean higher costs for American manufacturers. That will make American plants less competitive. That will mean jobs will be lost and the economy will grow even more slowly than it is now. We could have a permanent recession/sluggish growth economy.
All of this might make sense if there were actual proof that carbon dioxide gas is actually causing global warming. The problem is, however, that despite the oft repeated mantra about a supposed scientific consensus, the evidence is just not there to show that carbon dioxide increases are causing warming. The entire global warming movement was based upon computer simulations that showed the earth warming as carbon dioxide levels rose due to human activity. Now, we have decades of good data and it shows rising carbon dioxide but no temperature rise. The difference between the predicted temperature levels and the actual ones which have been measured is sufficiently large that a statistical analysis says the computer models are wrong. No one has been able to come forward with any explanation of why the models failed together with evidence to support that explanation. Let's translate that into simple English: the evidence shows that the scientists were wrong when they told us that increases in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere would lead to global warming.
Think about that! The scientists were wrong when they told us that more carbon dioxide would cause global warming, but Obama is going to destroy the coal fired power plants the reduce carbon dioxide. What will come next? Will Obama announce a plan to build a large fence at the edge of the world so that no one falls off the flat earth? Isn't it time that reality and actual science take over and quasi-religious groups that worship environmentalism are pushed aside before they do lasting damage to the country?
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