The long-awaited emission rules governing coal-fired powerplants should arrive before the end of the month. I spent a few hours perusing the coal industry's trade press to get a sense of how they have been coping. Much of what I found was boilerplate "war on coal" claptrap, but this editorial deserves its own pedestal. Enjoy:
From the August, 2013 Coal People Magazine (page 8):
Where is Will Rogers when America desperately needs him?
by Geno Lawrenzi, Jr
Will Rogers, America’s beloved humorist and political commentator from the red hills of Oklahoma, had various sayings which he used to entertain his audiences and make them think. For example, if the President was vacationing, Will would praise him for his absence, pointing out that the longer he was away from Washington D.C., the less damage he could do to the American public.
We were thinking those same thoughts when Barack Obama, before leaving on a trip to Africa, told reporters he was implementing a new global warming policy that would make it much more expensive for energy plants and especially coal-fired energy plants to operate in the US.
Will was a Democrat and a close friend of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Indeed, it was Rogers who suggested the Works Progress Administration that FDR adapted to put Americans back to work after the Great Depression. But for all his liberal ideas, Will believed in free enterprise and in creating jobs. We seriously wonder how he would have reacted to Obama’s decision to bypass Congress and use his Presidential powers to issue Executive Orders that may destroy America’s coal industry.
Excuse me, but did voters elect a President or a dictator in November 2012?
Coal companies have spent billions of dollars to make coal burn more cleanly. Their efforts have been costly but effective in eliminating mercury, sulfur, arsenic and other toxic emissions from the environment.
Why is Barack Obama bypassing our nation’s elected representatives in Congress on this important issue? Does he want to destroy even more jobs while saddling the average American family with higher electricity bills they cannot afford to pay?
Or as Will Rogers might have said in his Oklahoma drawl, “Mr. President, why didn’t you just stay in Africa a spell longer. We were getting along pretty well before you came along.”
[...]
To be clear, this is not a fringe publication. Ads from every major coal mining company and hundreds of coal-related equipment and service companies fill their pages.
This was labeled "Editorial". It is the official voice of the publication.
Should have stayed in Africa? Really? In 2013?
My God.