Obama Pushes Forward With His Plans To Banrkupt The Coal Industry

America, obviously, is in the midst of a nasty recession. People are losing jobs. Economic growth is stagnant. The last thing we need is for power rates to go higher.
So that obviously means it’s the perfect time for the Obama administration to engage in a full-on assault on coal power. Which is not just the cheapest form of electricity in the American energy markets but also the most prevalent, powering no less than 51% of our national power grid.

While campaigning for the Democratic presidential nomination, Barack Obama said his cap-and-trade tax plans would “bankrupt” anyone building a coal-fired power plant. Although those taxes haven’t materialized, the Environmental Protection Agency has put the brakes on 79 surface mining permits in four states since he was elected.
The EPA says these permits could violate the Clean Water Act and warrant “enhanced” review. But the agency went even further last week, announcing plans to revoke a permit for the Spruce No. 1 Mine in West Virginia – a move that has caused anxiety among coal-state Democrats about the future of the industry under the Obama administration. …
Although his favored cap-and-trade bill hasn’t yet been passed, West Virginia’s Democratic Gov. Joe Manchin III, who supported Mr. Obama’s candidacy, called the EPA moves part of a stealth campaign to stifle the industry.
“Right now, my belief is that they’re trying to kill off surface mining through regulation what they cannot get done through legislation,” Mr. Manchin told MetroNews Talkline, a West Virginia call-in radio program, earlier this month. In West Virginia, 23 permits are being held up, with other affected states being Kentucky, Ohio and Tennessee.

Keep in mind that Obama’s heavy-handed approach to energy sector regulation has already set back the building of a big new coal-fired power plant on the South Dakota/North Dakota border, something I spoke with North Dakota Public Service Commissioner Brian Kalk about on the radio a while back. The plant was called Big Stone II, and while it’s not been killed off yet, as Obama tightens his fist on the coal industry I expect more and more investors will drop out of the project.
What that means for coal states like North Dakota is lost jobs and lost prosperity. What it means for the rest of the country is bigger utility bills at a time when the economy can scarcely afford it.
All in the name of phony-baloney global warming alarmism.