Obama’s Next Anti-Energy Trick: Shutting Down Dozens Of Coal Plants With New EPA Regulations
After announcing that he’ll continue to stonewall the development of the Keystone XL pipeline, which would not only facilitate the flow of Canadian energy into American markets but also provide crucial infrastructure to bring energy from states like North Dakota to market, President Obama’s next move is to shut down dozens of coal-fired electric plants which provide enough energy to power some 11 million homes.
An Associated Press analysis has found that more than 32 mostly coal-fired power plants in a dozen states will be forced to close because of the new, more stringent regulations. Another 36 plants are at risk of closing.
No lights will go dark. But the Environmental Protection Agency has estimated that 14.7 gigawatts — enough power for more than 11 million households — will be retired from the power grid in the 2014-15 period when the rules take effect. One rule curbs air pollution in states downwind from dirty power plants. Another sets first standards for mercury and other toxic pollutants from smokestacks.
The effect is greatest in the Midwest and in coal belt states such as Virginia and West Virginia, where dozens of units are likely to shut down.
Take Giles County, where American Electric Power’s Glen Lyn plant is located, and where 44 jobs are on the line.
County Administrator Chris McKlarney worries about the $600,000 tax-revenue hit his $40 million budget will take. But that’s just one concern involving a plant and workers whose community contribution is “hard to quantify.”
“They’ve done so much donation-wise for local causes … And they’re really good people working there,” he said. “They’re coaches in Little League sports, involved in the Parent-Teacher Organization — you lose those kind of people, it’s tough.”
And they’re good jobs — stable, well-paying positions with good benefits in places where such things can be hard to find.
This sort of energy scarcity may be just what Obama’s cronies in the “green” energy industry need to be competitive – wind and solar power just can’t compete in a free energy market – but it is certainly not what a stagnating economy needs.
Beyond the jobs lost at these plants, and the loss of jobs that supported those plants, is the higher energy prices which will make the cost of living and doing business higher for everyone in America.
All in the name of environmental standards that have more to do with cosmetics than air quality.
For you North Dakota readers out there, so far our state has dodged this bullet. The EPA has delayed a decision on whether or not to take over our state-run regional haze program.
Tags: air quality, Barack Obama, coal, coal power, electricity, energy, epa, regional haze
