The obama administration's assault on the economy, consumers, and capitalism in general, through the use of the militant EPA continues and now appears to be ramping up further if you can believe that:
[h=3]EPA Clean-Power Plan Draws 1.6 Million Comments.[/h]
MarketWatch (12/1, Williams) reports that the EPA had received “more than 1.6 million comments” on its proposed Clean Power Plan by the time the public-comment period expired Monday.
The Hill (12/2, Cama) says the large number of comments submitted before Monday’s deadline “highlights the intense interest” from environmental groups that consider the rule a “historic effort to curb climate change,” and business and energy groups that “argue the sweeping regulations will choke the economy.” The article notes that “business groups opposed to the rules cited an industry-commissioned study from October” that concluded it would cost “at least $366 billion” to implement them, even though they “would have almost no impact on global greenhouse gas emissions.”
Ohio Regulators: Power Plant Goals Aren’t Achievable. The
AP (12/2, Smyth) reports that Ohio regulators told the EPA on Monday “that new federal goals for reducing mercury and other hazardous air pollutants from power plants are unachievable, costly and based on flawed assumptions.” The state Public Utilities Commission and the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency “were among hundreds of stakeholders around the country that filed responses to the proposal by President Barack Obama’s administration to regulate certain pollutants from coal- and oil-fired power plants.” A Federal review from earlier this decade “found roughly a third of tall smokestacks of coal-fired plants — structures that tend to send more emissions across state lines — were concentrated in five states along the Ohio River Valley, including Ohio.”
Walker Says Wisconsin Would Be Hurt By EPA Rules. The
AP (12/2) reports Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker sent a letter to the EPA “warning” that new air pollution regulations would hurt his state and the nation. Compliance with the Obama Administration’s proposed rule for cutting carbon dioxide emissions by 30% by 2030, Walker wrote, could cost Wisconsin’s Public Service Commission up to $13.4 billion.
The
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (12/2, Bergquist, Content) reports that the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources said the rules “would penalize state power companies with a mandate to curb greenhouse gas emissions nationally” under the proposed 30% cut.
Texas PUC Also Critical Of Proposed Rules. The
Dallas Morning News (12/2) reports that, according to Texas Public Utility Commission “comments submitted” to the Federal agency on Monday, the “new EPA law capping carbon dioxide emissions by power plants” is “unworkable” and an “unlawful intrusion.”
Utilities Claim EPA Carbon Plan Could Put Reliable Power At Risk. Bloomberg News (12/2, Drajem) reports that in comments submitted to the EPA regarding its proposed Clean Power Plan, the Edison Electric Institute, which represents utilities including Southern Co. and Exelon, argued that the power-generating industry needs “a ‘glide path’ to cut greenhouse gases” from power plants over the next 15 years, “to avoid endangering affordable and reliable power.”
