EPA on the Renewable Fuel Standard: Uhm, we’re totally just now realizing that this is unrealistic and inadvisable
POSTED AT 1:01 PM ON DECEMBER 11, 2013 BY ERIKA JOHNSEN
It is one heck of a bizarre, twisted role reversal when the Environmental Protection Agency is the one acting as the voice of reason in any of their countless political battles, but I take it as a testament to just how deeply messed up this entire Renewable Fuel Standard debacle really is. Big Ethanol flew into an almighty uproar last month when the EPA announced that they were finally planning to relent on their scheduled increases to the biofuel volumes that refiners are required to blend into the nation’s fuel supply, and the powerful lobby has been hinting that they will challenge the EPA’s legal authority to make any adjustments to the RFS other than ones that continue to expand the mandate.
In other words, ethanol producers would really like the EPA to just flatly deny the undeniable reality that refiners are running up against the “blend wall,” a.k.a. the point at which mixing the required volumes will exceed the 10 percent ethanol threshold that auto manufacturers deem acceptable for use in cars and trucks, largely because the RFS’s crucial assumption that Americans will continue to consume an ever-increasing amount of gasoline hasn’t actually panned out. Continue Reading at Hot Air
"Property rights of millions of Americans would be at stake”
EPA says taking over private property will benefit the economy
1:35 PM 12/09/2013
Can the EPA run your property better than you? The Environmental Protection Agency says that its proposal to extend its regulatory powers over wetlands and waterways would produce economic benefits.
Republican lawmakers warn that the agency is trying to extend its power to regulate private property.
The EPA’s rule would redefine the term “waters of the United States” to include all “tributaries, regardless of size and flow, and all lakes, ponds and wetlands within a floodplain” reports E&E News. Other bodies of water, “such as geographically isolated wetlands, would have to be shown on a case-by-case basis to have a significant chemical, physical or biological effect on larger waterways downstream — a major point of concern for environmental groups” E&E added. Read More at The Daily Caller
President Obama's pick of Gina McCarthy to replace Lisa Jackson to head the Environmental Protection Agency is, as political strategy, a cunning move. McCarthy has all of the ideological values on the environment of Obama, along with ties to some of the more prominent names in the GOP. How do I know that she is a left-wing environmental hack? Enviro-wackos absolutely love this pick.
The Wall Street Journal notes that McCarthy has been a "willful regulator" as one of Lisa Jackson's top lieutenants at the EPA, saying "Ms. McCarthy has been integral in abusing laws that were written decades ago in order to achieve climate goals that Congress has rejected, all with little or no political debate. Someone should ask her about her antidemocratic politics at her confirmation hearings." Her penchant for legislating from her desk at the EPA is perfectly in line with Obama's "if Congress won't act" on Cap and Tax, "I will". Obama using Executive Orders to bypass Congress, or the EPA issuing new regulations (laws) is a distinction without much difference. The goal is to ram through as much regulation as possible without any debate.
San Joaquin Valley, California
The long-term effects and unintended consequences are of no concern to these far-left enviro-wackos. Just as the protection of the non-native "delta smelt" in California's agricultural San Joaquin Valley has devastated farmers' ability to get enough water to irrigate their crops, creating a man-made dustbowl, the affect that the EPA's edicts will have on the energy industry are of little to no concern to them.
Water protest - San Joaquin Valley, CA
The problem for the GOP is that McCarthy has ties to one of the main movers and shakers in the establishment-side of the Party. McCarthy was an appointee of then Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney. The Romney that gave the Bay State RomneyCare, which became the blueprint for ObamaCare, also appointed a left-wing environmentalist as his "Green Quarterback" on environmental isssues. With Rino's currently holding the power in the GOP, it is unlikely that anything other than another rubber stamp approval of Obama's nominee will happen (think of the Elena Kagan SCOTUS confirmation lovefest), putting another far-left ideologue in charge of the EPA to replace the outgoing socialist Jackson. McCarthy's bona fides include "requiring all new power plants to emit less than half" the amount of so-called greenhouse gasses "of what the average facility currently churns out", effectively eliminating the building of any new coal-fired plants at a time that our nation's aging energy infrastructure requires additional cost-effective energy production. Under the new laws, even the most efficient coal plant exceeds the new requirements by 80%, while cleaner burning natural gas plants barely meet the 1000 pounds of CO2 per megawatt hour limit imposed by McCarthy's office. Nuclear plants can easily meet the requirement, but radical environmentalists place legal roadblocks in the way of every attempt to build a new reactor. In addition, McCarthy has "mislead" Congress (that's lied in non-politico speech) about the link between fuel efficiency standards and "greenhouse gas" emissions from motor vehicles. She'll fit in well with the self-proclaimed "most transparent administration in history". With the exceedingly clueless, big government RINO's controlling the GOP, Gina McCarthy is virtually assured of confirmation. This clears the way for Obama to further his radical agenda, using the EPA as a tool to further weaken the U.S. economy, driving us further down the road to the leftist socialist utopia.
The EPA's Lisa Jackson is stepping down, but not soon enough for Wisconsin workers losing their jobs due to her heavy-handed policies.
Lisa Jackson is leaving the Obama Administration, but not before she inflicts maximum damage on workers and the economy. Though rocked by scandal over using fake accounts on official government e-mail accounts, Jackson and the EPA are fining a Wisconsin power company $1.2 million for alleged Clean Air Act violations, in addition to forcing them to spend $300 million on upgrades to two plants, and mandating that they spend $6 million on "green" energy projects. Included in this is giving half a million to national parks, $300K to a community to build a manure digester for biofuels, as well as millions to windfarm companies to buy more wind turbines. The list goes on.
This folks is socialist re-engineering. Obama, through the Stasi-like tactics of the EPA, confiscates wealth from one company or industry ("evil" fossil fuel), and redistributes it to those that the Regime approves of ("good" green energy).
Of course, it's the consumer who will end up paying for all of this redistribution in the long run. The power companies will be forced to offset these fines and mandates in the form of higher prices on the one end, and by the fact that these biofuel products and wind energy cost much more to produce than conventional forms of energy. Either way, the people of Wisconsin are going to feel the effects in the wallets.
Obama EPA Forces Company to Cut Jobs, Spend $6 million on Green Agenda
By: briansikma (Diary) | January 11th, 2013 at 02:25 PM
A settlement forced by the Obama Administration’s Environmental Protection Agency on a Wisconsin power company has forced an employer to prepare to cut jobs and spend millions paying for the Obama Administration’s green energy agenda. The EPA has entered into a consent decree with the Wisconsin Public Service Corporation (WPS) after federal regulators alleged that two of the company’s coal-fired power plants were in violation of the Clean Air Act. The company disputes the claim.
Under the leadership of Obama appointed EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, the federal agency has been on a crusade to fundamentally reshape portions of the economy. In addition to using its regulatory power to wage war on coal fired power plants, the EPA has pushed an aggressive green energy agenda that has been criticized by some experts as long on politics but short on science. Continue Reading
This is getting to be a joke. Not "ha, ha" funny, but infuriating. In yet another incident of "the most transparent Administration in history" giving Americans the middle finger, the EPA released 2100 e-mails sent by EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson under a fictitious name. Or did they? The name is redacted on every one of the e-mails, so the question of whether these are the e-mails sent by Jackson is still in question.
Of course the mainstream media has virtually ignored the entire story of Jackson using the fake e-mail name, in violation of the law, being complicit in aiding the Obama Administration cover up every scandal from this lawless bunch. From Lisa Jackson's e-mail scandal at EPA, to Fast and Furious at Justice, to Benghazi, the press is uninterested or unconcerned that the Obama Administration stonewalls, hides, deflects, and flat-out ignores FOAI requests, Congressional subpoenas, and claims "Executive Privilege". Worse, they actively participate in the cover-up, "reporting" White House talking points , or poo-pooing each scandal as much ado about nothing, accusing conservatives of racism, McCarthyism, or being beholden to Tea Party extremists.
Meanwhile, the Obama Administration marches on with its socialist agenda, pulling America further down into tyranny.
Release of EPA Administrator’s Non-Public Emails Called ‘Deeply Troubling’
By Elizabeth Harrington January 15, 2013
(Update: CEI's Chris Horner tells CNSNews.com the next step is a meeting with Justice Department officials: "We will ask them to right EPA's ship, and if they do not agree, we will ask the court," he said. Horner says he wants a "straight answer" to a direct question: Did the EPA, as part of a FOIA request, search the "Richard Windsor" email accounts? Richard Windsor is the alias used by EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, apparently to shield some official communications from public view.)
(CNSNews.com) – Complying with a court order minutes before Monday’s 5 p.m. deadline, the Environmental Protection Agency yesterday released 2,100 emails received or sent by EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson on one of her non-public accounts. But which one? The name on the email account was redacted. Continue Reading
Transparency? EPA Under Investigation for Using 'Alias' Emails to Avoid FOIA Requests
By Susan Jones December 18, 2012
(CNSNews.com) - The Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Inspector General says it will investigate whether EPA officials -- including Administrator Lisa Jackson -- used alias email accounts to conduct official government business, thereby shielding those communications from Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests. Continue Reading
Obama EPA second term agenda revealed
POSTED AT 6:01 PM ON NOVEMBER 4, 2012 BY JAZZ SHAW
If you thought the War on Coal and various other job dampening EPA initiatives over the past few years were bad, apparently that was only a skirmish compared to what’s in store after this Tuesday. At the Examiner, Conn Carroll has the inside scoop on how Santa’s little elves at Obama’s Environmental Protection Agency have been very busy lately. But you might not care for the presents they have in mind for us all.
President Obama’s Environmental Protection Agency has devoted an unprecedented number of bureaucrats to finalizing new anti-coal regulations that are set to be released at the end of November, according to a source inside the EPA.
More than 50 EPA staff are now crashing to finish greenhouse gas emission standards that would essentially ban all construction of new coal-fired power plants. Never before have so many EPA resources been devoted to a single regulation. The independent and non-partisan Manhattan Institute estimates that the EPA’s greenhouse gas coal regulation will cost the U.S. economy $700 billion.
It appears there is an attempt by the Obama Administration and the EPA to hide new regulations, which are sure to affect power industry and consumers, until after the elections, so as not to inform American's of stranglehold they are getting ready to place on the coal, oil, and gas industries.
Mark Levin and his Landmark Legal Foundation are having none of it though, suing the EPA to release the documents so that voters can make an informed decision on the facts, and not just on Obama's flowery campaign rhetoric.
In the second debate, Obama hemmed and hawed on whether $4/gal gas is the "new normal" for Americans, and even saying that the $1.86/gal that Americans paid at the beginning of his presidency was due to the economy being so bad, apparently trying to make the case that the economy is so good now, that that is what has driven the prices to $4. What!? He is either the most economically illiterate man to ever hold the office, or he believes everyone else is so stupid that they will believe his crap (more likely the case).
Remember, this is the same man that said "under my version of cap-and-trade, electricity (energy) rates will necessarily skyrocket". His Secretary of Energy, Stephen Chu has advocated for $5/gal and higher gas prices. Ladies and gentlemen, this guy is just getting started! And he's hiding it from the American public. Because, if they had any idea how expensive it's going to be for them to drive their cars, heat and cool their homes, turn on the lights, cook their food, keep their foods fresh in refrigerators, take a hot bath, or any number of other things we take for granted, they would throw this jerk, and his cabal of green leftists out on their ass! And he knows it!
For that, I thank Mark Levin and his legal group for doing the yeoman's work in trying to get this information out to the American people before election day. Let's hope he is successful.
Levin Legal Group Sues EPA For Records Of Controversial Regs Delayed Until After Election
By David James October 23, 2012
Mark Levin says his legal group is suing the EPA to obtain records about the controversial regulations the EPA is "sitting on until after the election and ready to unleash."
On Monday's radio show, Levin announced and explained the importance of the lawsuit:
“As most of you know, I run a little legal foundation. And it is a little legal foundation. It’s called Landmark Legal Foundation. And today we filed a suit in Federal court in Washington D.C against the Environmental Protection Agency. Continue Reading
Lost in the fog of the 2012 Presidential campaign is what the state of power is going to be in less than three years.
This is one campaign promise that Obama has definitely fulfilled. In 2008, Obama stated "electricity prices would necessarily skyrocket" under his plan of cap and trade. Unable to get Cap and Trade legislation through Congress, Obama has unleashed the EPA on the coal industry.
The result? 212 coal plants shut down by 2015, eliminating over hundreds of megawatts of electrical production. Coal mines are being shut down all over the country. Ohio, West Virginia, and the other coal-producing states are being hit especially hard. Tens of thousands of jobs are being eliminated in the coal industry, and supporting industries. These coal mines, once abandoned, cannot be reopened due to deterioration of the mine. The loss of this power production will also have a devastating effect on the manufacturing industry as a whole. You can't produce goods if there is no power.
A recent capacity auction saw 2015 power go for $167 per megawatt. The price for 2012 was $36. An 800% increase!
Obama is sacrificing the industrial might of the United States for his core belief of the inherent unfairness of America in the world. What better way to "even the playing field" than removing our ability to compete economically on the world stage? His solar and windmill energy policy is risking America's future on the belief that the sun will shine, and the wind will blow 24/7.
The damage that Obama is wreaking on this country is now such, that some of it will not be able to be undone, as with the coal mines. It has never been more important to defeat Obama in November than it is now if we are to turn around those things which we are able to, and minimize the future damage of his policies.
Are you listening Ohio?
SUPREME COURT JUSTICES ‘BLAST’ EPA FOR TELLING IDAHO COUPLE THEY CAN’T BUILD ON ‘PROTECTED WETLANDS’ Posted on January 9, 2012 at 8:58pm by Becket Adams
Several conservative members of the Supreme Court criticized the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Monday for heavy-handed enforcement of rules affecting homeowners after the government told an Idaho couple they can’t challenge an order declaring their future home site a “protected wetlands.”
Justice Antonin Scalia assailed the “high-handedness” of the environmental agency when dealing with private property, and Justice Samuel Alito described some of the EPA’s actions as “outrageous,“ arguing that most people would say ”this kind of thing can’t happen in the United States.”
The EPA said that Mike and Chantell Sackett illegally filled in most of their 0.63-acre lot with dirt and rocks in preparation for building a home. The agency said the property is a wetlands that cannot be disturbed without a permit. The Sacketts had none.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency wants to change how it analyzes problems and makes decisions, in a way that will give it vastly expanded power to regulate businesses, communities and ecosystems in the name of “sustainable development,” the centerpiece of a global United Nations conference slated for Rio de Janeiro next June.
The major focus of the EPA thinking is a weighty study the agency commissioned last year from the National Academies of Science. Published in August, the study, entitled “Sustainability and the U.S. EPA,” cost nearly $700,000 and involved a team of a dozen outside experts and about half as many National Academies staff.
New EPA rules to devastate coal industry
Published: 6:07 PM 07/07/2011
The coal industry is crying foul over new Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations which they say will be among the most be costly rules ever imposed by the agency on coal-fueled power plants.
The result, industry insiders say: substantially higher electricity rates and massive job loss.
“The EPA is ignoring the cumulative economic damage new regulations will cause,” said Steve Miller, president and CEO of the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity (ACCCE). “America’s coal-fueled electric industry has been doing its part for the environment and the economy, but our industry needs adequate time to install clean coal technologies to comply with new regulations. Unfortunately, EPA doesn’t seem to care.”
Posted by Brian
Obama is finally keeping a promise that he made on the campign trail in 2008. The Obama EPA is causing electricity rates to skyrocket with new regulations on the coal industry.
Here is what he said:
For those of you who voted for him expecting free gas and that he would pay your mortgage with all that "Obama money", here is your hope and change..
Coal Regs Would Kill Jobs, Boost Energy Bills
By Paul Bedard
Posted: June 8, 2011
Two new EPA pollution regulations will slam the coal industry so hard that hundreds of thousands of jobs will be lost, and electric rates will skyrocket 11 percent to over 23 percent, according to a new study based on government data.
