Posted on 8/13/2011, 2:37:19 PM by Kaslin
Air quality has improved dramatically in America since 1980.
According to the EPA nitrogen dioxide emissions are down 40%, sulfur dioxide dropped by 56%, and lead emissions by a whopping 96%. And, these improvements happened while the population grew by 22% and energy consumption jumped 19%.
This would seem ample reason for the government to leave well enough alone, but that's not the case for the current Administration. The Obama EPA is preparing to implement two major new air quality regulations that will cost consumers hundreds of billions of dollars more in their energy bills and destroy great numbers of American jobs.
H. Sterling Burnett and Kenney Meier of the National Center for Policy Analysis have looked at the ramifications of the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule and the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards.
They concluded that because of higher costs and power plant closures by 2020 these two new regulations could destroy another 1.4 million jobs, and drive up electricity costs for consumers by 11.5% and some businesses could see as much as a 35% increase.
Environmental activists like the current EPA Administrator, Lisa Jackson, always claim improved air quality will translate to significant health benefits, but Burnett and Meier found those claims to be dramatically overstated. That's because very little of the targeted pollutants actually come from the air we breathe.
According to the researchers, "completely eliminating all U.S. power plant pollution would reduce hospital visits resulting from serious respiratory and cardiovascular health events by only 0.4 percent to 1.6 percent, according to estimates in a study commissioned by the Clean Air Task Force, an activist group."
With little to gain and considerable additional cost to be borne by business and consumers alike and with the U.S. economy in serious disrepair, Burnett and Meier say these new regulations are "arguably unnecessary." Reasonable people would likely arrive at the same conclusion, but don't look for the Obama Administration to back off any time soon – or ever.
After all, Obama declared war on the coal industry. In January of 2008, candidate Obama said, "If somebody wants to build a coal fired plant they can. It's just that it will bankrupt them because they will be charged a huge sum for all that greenhouse gas that's being emitted."
And, job destruction and higher energy costs won't stop him from his mission.
Electricity up by 11.5%???? Our bill went from $75.00 last month to $211.00 this month with very little increase in usage. Our neighbors bills also went up quite a bit.
They concluded that because of higher costs and power plant closures by 2020 these two new regulations could destroy another 1.4 million jobs, and drive up electricity costs for consumers by 11.5% and some businesses could see as much as a 35% increase.
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except that the EPA is killing us, not over real pollution (which has declined), but for regulating PLANT FOOD (CO2).
which SCOTUS declared is “pollution”.
all to fight “global warming”, that is NOT happening.
(the world has gotten colder since 2003, not warming.
which is why the Hadley greenies said “hide the decline”.)
and, even if it was, CO2 is a TRACE gas. (like 0.03)
and humans generate less than 4% of THAT tiny amount.
it is the most EXPENSIVE hoax in all of human history.
DEFUND/DISMANTLE domestic socialist collectives and their UNaccountable bureaucrats.
How often have we read about hundreds, even thousands, of human beings put out of work or placed in other varieties of disloacation because of some dipsh*t little frog or fish?
It gets ridiculous, and far in excess of anything ever envisioned by anyone of prudence or even sanity.
Killing jobs and destroying industry is the purpose of the obama EPA. Eventually, everyone of the pimple faced bastards that were grinning like a opossom eating briars on t.v. saying Go obama on election night will starve to death.
So my guess is net zero change AT BEST.
DEFUND EPA NOW!
Serial criminal Barack the Ripper is using everything in-and-beyond his powers to sledgehammer all things in his path that are productive, bright and beautiful about this country.
He's turning the juice on real hard now to do as much damage as he can before a possible defeat in the next election.
The head of the EPA, Michael Leavitt, and the entire EPA bureaucracy are mind-numbed robots, enablers and co-conspirators in Obama's criminal agenda to bring our country (and us) to its knees.
This totalitarian agency MUST be defunded and its apparatchik inhabitants swept away like the conscience-less, gnawing rats they are.
Leni
The EPA is lying and full of chit!! Where in the hell are they measuring these at??? I know Zippys mouth & microphone??
To the zealots of the left the job will never be done. The air will never be clean enough, the water will never be clear enough. Once they have completely shut down the economy they will demand funds to cap volcanos, extract water vapor from the atmosphere and block sun spot activity.
Well said!
Plus in addition to the increased cost of electricity you may well see rationed electricity if enough of these coal fired power plants close. How would you like to be without electricity for 6 hours per day? Especially in the summer.
The EPA has got to be shut down and with it the Dept of Energy. Two out of control and unnecesary agencies.
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