Posted on 05/23/2012 5:34:04 PM PDT by Kaslin
Energy: As coal use drops, job losses rise and electricity prices skyrocket, an electoral map of the 16 top coal-mining states does not bode well for an administration whose energy policy consists of algae and exploding electric cars.
Earlier this year, Houston-based GenOn Energy Inc. announced plans to close five of its older coal-fired power plants in Pennsylvania over the next four years, saying that tough new environmental rules make it unprofitable to operate the plants, which generate a total of 3,140 megawatts of electricity.
The plants are in Portland, Shawville, Titus, New Castle and Elrama. Two plants in Ohio and one in New Jersey will also be closed.
Based on current polls, Ohio is once again a battleground state and even Pennsylvania, full of bitter people clinging to their Bibles and guns, may also be in play.
Rising energy prices and lack of jobs will play heavily on the administration's fortunes in November, both affected by the administration's war on fossil fuels, particularly coal, being waged via regulations by what has become the fourth branch of government — the Environmental Protection Agency.
The good folks at RedState.com have put together a map showing the top 16 coal-producing states and their place on the electoral stage. Together they contain 182 electoral votes.
Of the top coal-producers Obama carried Colorado, New Mexico, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia. Illinois and possibly New Mexico are likely to remain in the Obama camp. The rest are arguably already gone, like Indiana, or seriously in play, comprising some 71 electoral votes.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.investors.com ...
The WV dumbocrats that have always marked an X by the (D) will not know what to do. Bet a lot of them will stay home. Cuidado there down ballot candidates.
Make that reason 10,001 for dumping his ass.
They had a chance to START helping themselves and still elected Manchin/an obammy butt boy.
Year over year, increased consumption of natural gas for power generation was ~10% greater than increased natural gas production. That demand wasjust combined and simple cycle turbines that were cost effective to run on $2.20 natural gas. That doesn't include the tidal wave of new NG demand from power, industrial, and institutional (read campuses, hospitals, etc.) that will occur under the new EPA regs.
Forget gold, if there isn't an R in the WH, an R Senate, and R Congress - I'm buying NG futures and getting a coal chute put into my basement...
A man that rose to power in a nation that affords those like him opportunity like no where else wants to destroy the system that affords these opportunities.
A man that lives in opulent luxury and talks of creating jobs and wealth, a nation that has a high standard of living possible through cheap, dependable energy wants to destroy this source.
On this issue alone, Obama is done in November. There is no amount of bull, no number of Bushes, venture capitalists, or river-burning,lung-searing, crippled baby killing racist Republicans that can “explain” a higher electric bill and stagnant wages, with the EPA and the famous “necessarily skyrocket” quote plain as day in the public view. The best and brightest in the USSR couldn't do it in their prime.
I would expect a LARGE NUMBER of rate hike requests to start hitting in the Au/Se/Oc timeframe; the proximity to the election will not be a coincidence.
Thanks Kaslin.
Romney should target the war on coal and the war on drilling as the war on our wallets. He is too mcCansian to be likely to do it.
The war on coal and on drilling affect the economy so I doubt that he will ignore this
” The best and brightest in the USSR couldn’t do it in their prime.”
You complained, you disappeared.
Well, in 2008, they didn't go for Obama. McCain did win that state.
Pennsylvania is a different story. It will be interesting what lies the corrupt union leadership will come up with this year to get miners to vote for a guy who wants to put them out of work.
I'm sure they will have some good ones, but I'm not sure they will work this time.
Just my informal Pennsylvania blue collar pole at the local watering hole says Obama is toast in PA.
He will be in Republican cross hairs if he favors coal energy. Flip flopper. And porteayed as the reason for high energy prices if he does not. After all, he said that energy companies could build coal generators, but they would be bankrupted from the emission tax. I like it that he is between two difficult sides that he set himself up for!
Energy ping
As a generalization, that's pretty accurate but to be fair, they already rejected Obama in '08, when the rest of the country was still in thrall, so give them a little credit.
I think WV went for Bush in 2000 (don’t know about 2004). As a friend from West By God Virginia told me in 2000, yes there’s alot of Democrats there, but they won’t vote Democrat if the candidate starts messin’ with their guns.
The primaries in AK, KY, and NC seem to indicate bad things for Obama among the white working class population that voted for him last time around.
Do you recall hearing Glenn Beck say that you always have to watch what Obama is doing with his left hand, while he is making obvious moves with his right?
Well, that applies to Obama’s war on coal, too. Obama is waging war on coal in the Eastern half of the country, and is subsidizing and support the sub-bituminous coal in the West, where the coal is mostly on Indian land, managed and leased by the federal government to the crony capitalist partners of the Obama administration, shipped via Warren Buffet’s RR, BNSF, through ILWU controlled terminals that are yet to be built by Goldman Sachs and paid for with your tax dollars through a bill that was submitted by Patty Murray, whose husband has been a life long employee of the terminal operating company that is owned by Goldman Sachs.
Got that? Oh, I forgot to mention that Richard Trumka, the head of the AFL-CiO is the former head of the United Mine Workers and has facilitated this deal with Obama and his crony partners in exchange for union support in the election. The East coast mining states have been sacrificed to the Green Global Warmers, which Obama is now disowning (temporarily)
Someone needs to talk the power companies into including an insert into their bills with an objective description of the projected rate increases due to Obama’s EPA regulations just before the election.
And Romney should create ads that explain both the rate increases and the expected decrease of jobs, and describe Romney’s plans for rolling back these regulations.
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