http://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...goal-in-climate-rule-with-new-solar-wind-push Obama's White House Twitter feed says incredible new power plant air quality EPA rules will be released in full tomorrow. What jumped out at me in this article is state plans are only due in 2018 to meet EPA stated goals by 2022. Never mind that Obama will be long gone (unless Biden is elected). The economies of the coal and natural gas states would be affected, and those Congressional representatives will have much to say. Add this to the Keystone Pipeline business. Undoubtedly this EPA stuff will distort the political debate, diminishing the focus on the loons idolizing the Alinsky-Cloward-Piven mores. A Republican executive and legislative would be distracied from unwinding the EPA regulations instead of cutting the >$18T debt. Don't get me wrong. I'm not against air quality improvements but I think air scrubber technology and other mechanisms are improving all the time. I'm not sure wind and solar panel farms are a complete answer. Naturalists will complain about the bird flyways' damage and pilots complain about being blinded by panel glare. So we'll wind up with sections of the country being ticked off at other sectons, the MSM will tilt at windmils, and someone will say "oops, foreign policy... ISIS... what about it?" And Obama's minions will step in with a solution... Nuts!,
The unsurprising follow up piece to the earlier artice about the announcement of EPA regulations details the some of the coal industry reaction. First guess doesn't count. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...heer-as-coal-vows-legal-battle-on-energy-plan Nuts.again!
There is some really interesting stuff going on in clean coal gasification. Ya'll know that the USA has the largest coal reserves on the planet right? Not many people do. I was watching a jeopardy like quiz show with MBA students one night, NONE of them knew that fact,
Well if the choice is between screwing the coal-burning industries and screwing over the planet...? Coal fired power is down to one third of our generation capacity and have been completely unregulated while Mr and Mrs Average American have to make sure their little can of hair spray and household refrigerator are less polluting (and pay for that from their own pockets). If the energy industry are taking a big hit now to bring in this technology it is only because they have been dragging their feet for over thirty years, and choosing more profit over less pollution. Not just at the expense of global climate but also the communities around them.
Well, I think we need to continue to search for alternative fuel sources. Coal is like an 1800's technology, and a dirty source of energy. Fracking is something that is highly destructive to the environment as well. We need to realize the future is not in fossil fuels and quit beating a dead horse so to speak.
Let's see what happens. Rant on. Coal-producing states go bankrupt as businesses, both mining and ancillary, close. Working families in those states wind up on social welfare rolls. The national debt increases as new proposals for shovel-ready jobs fail. Electric rates across the USA skyrocket, distorting household and municipal budgets. Steel prices rise as supply and demand push prices up, affecting costs of anything and everything manufactured or constructed with steel. Destruction of flocks of migrating birds by wind abd solar panel farms. Navigation problems for pilots of aircraft near or over blinding solar panel farms. The chase to lower emissions by a small percentage raises the costs of goods exported to the detriment of trade balances, while China and other countries continue pumping out massive amounts of emissions. . The USA is not the problem here. Rant off. <Sigh>
Coal producing states are not going to go bankrupt and more than they did when cities brought in smog controls. That is the usual hysterically hyperbole of billionaires who may have to cut back on their civet-poop coffee or number of Ferrari's in the basement. They are going to put some scrubbers in the stacks, paid for from their very large and healthy reserve accounts, and get on with business.
Penny, I'm well aware of scrubbers as I wrote in a earlier post. That's the whole point. Scrubber technology will continue to improve. The USA isn't the problem. Closing coal mines, in my opinion, will/has put severe financial stress on coal producing states. My wife and i were appalled at the poor infrastructure, towns and living conditions we saw away from the Interstates in eastern Kentucky, parts of Pennsylvania and West Virginia. But whatever you care to believe...
At least Obama did something great for the benefit of the people. Its time to forget about the war, and make a positive change..He's leading a good example anyway. Regarding about the complaints, that will soon be address if it is really an important matter.
