First off, my favorite quote from testimony by the undoubtedly honorable Mr. Barry T. Smitherman Commissioner Texas Railroad Commission:
If allowed to go forward, CSAPR will require a 47% decrease from current SO2 levels in less than six months.
The punchlline: He thinks that's a Bad Thing...
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I'll admit it, I was one of those who pitched a serious fit a couple weeks ago when, on an affront to green progressivism everywhere, the WH decided to delay implementation of ground level ozone mandates at the executive level as if they were unnecessary regulation (nay strangulation) of True American Job Providers. The admin version of the story was that this stuff would be duplicative to actions that would be coming online in 2013 anyway.
Hogwash... Obama's (once again, said with a screeeech) cow-towing to the Tea Party. How can this guy call himself a Democrat?
How about a real life Cap and Trade based on CO2 emissions that would kick in next year and quickly put 20% of our nations coal power plants to pasture? It's called the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR) and it's effective date is next month with implementation to start in January '12. I didn't see any mention of this over the weekend and I certainly apologize if I missed it's mention, but POTUS gets dumped on so vociferously when he pauses, I think he deserves a hat-tip when he does come threw for us tree huggers.
via Cleantechnica:
Starting in January 2012, the EPA will implement the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR) cap and trade program that will put a cap on ground-level ozone (smog) nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide that cross state lines. The EPA cap and trade program will achieve similar results to last year’s climate bill, making coal less attractive financially than clean energy.
Source: Clean Technica (http://s.tt/...)
I'm not going to go into a lot more detail because I think it's an article worth your click and two minutes to read in toto. The bottom line is that the EPA (no wonder the Koch's hate them so...) is going to do by regulation (yep, they hate these too... ) what Markey/Waxman wanted to do by legistlation: take the $$$ out of dirty coal.
Here's some RIGHT NOW evidence of this strategy being a winner:
(Reuters) - Kentucky power companies Louisville Gas and Electric (LG&E) and Kentucky Utilities (KU) said new, stricter, federal environmental regulations will force them to retire three older, coal-fired power plants.
Yes, they want to replace them with a gas-fired plant (somewhere T. Boone Pickens smiles) but the environmental benefits will be enormous. Retiring plants is a permanent change we can believe in. Here's a perfect example of how reg-yuh-ley-shuhn-s will create thousands of jobs immediately because LG & E, along with the rest of the Master Of The Universe will have to deleverage some cash and pay 'Mericans' to build them first class, environmentally modern power plants. They will have lawyers to explain just how green they will need to be in the next decades so they will push the envelope in a good way.
What makes this even better than Markey/Waxman is that this is real and now. Repubs and Blue Dogs will have to sit back and watch as our children's future becomes significantly better despite their worst intended efforts.
This is why it is sooooooooo important to have a good man and a Democrat, in the White House. Trust him, he's not so bad.