Dozens Of Coal Factories Forced To Shut Down In Response To Strict EPA Regulation Re

[ForTehNguyen]

And these clueless politicians are dumbfounded why the unemployment rate keeps going up. I suppose our air can be a little cleaner when we are unemployed, in the dark with higher energy costs. BTW coal is by far the most plentiful and lowest cost energy source in the US. We have more energy units in coal reserves than Saudi has in oil.

http://www.businessinsider.com/coal-factories-shut-down-epa-2011-8


Electric utilities announced the closure of dozens of coal-fired plants today in response to new EPA regulations mandating facilities to lower toxic interstate emissions. Among them:

American Electric Power Company said it would retire nearly 6,000 MW of generating capacity.

Duke Energy said it would retire its 862 MW factory in New Richmond, Ohio.

Georgia Power, a subsidiary of The Southern Company, said it would close an 871 MW generator by 2018, 18 years before the end of its useful life.

The nation's utility and coal industries have been battling the EPA since July, after the the environmental agency replaced the Clean Air Interstate Rule with stricter standards requiring coal-fired power plants in 27 states to slash thousands of tons of pollutants that drift across state borders.

The Cross-State Air Pollution Rule has received nothing but negative feedback from the affected energy industry, which argues the stricter federal emission law will result in higher costs for electricity and massive loss of U.S. jobs. The plan will also require billions of dollars to retrofit power plants with clean coal technologies.

According to a study prepared by the National Economic Research Associates (NERA), the legislation is among the most expensive EPA rules ever imposed on coal-fueled power plants that will cause electric rates to skyrocket by as much as 23 percent and lead to nationwide employment losses totaling 1.4 million job-years by 2020.

Power-plant closures are expected to increase in the coming months, as utilities complete their cost analyses of complying with the Cross-State rule, according to Industrial Info Resources. The EPA rule has already forced coal facilities in Ohio, North Carolina, Georgia, and Texas to retire old units, rather than bare the expense of installing pollution-control equipment.

The coal industry maintains that the EPA doesn't seem to care about the economic damage new regulations will cause.

“Many of these severe impacts would hit families living in states already facing serious economic challenges,” said Steve Miller, president of the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity.

The EPA believes the annual costs to clean up the coal industry and improve air quality throughout the eastern United States are worth the health rewards. The organization estimates that by 2014, the new legislation will have achieved up to $280 billion in annual health benefits, in addition to preventing up to 34,000 premature deaths, 26,000 hospital and emergency room visits, and 240,000 cases of aggravated asthma. uh wtf? PROVE IT

Along with automobile exhaust, The Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), lists out-of-state emissions as one of the Northeast's most serious air pollution problems, according to a report by City Limits.

The EPA regulations are set to go into effect Oct. 7, 2011, with the first emissions reductions to be phased in as early as 2012.

[Abraxas]

Obama said he would do this.

[Belmont31R]

Obama said he would do this.




Exactly.



All part of the plan.



Google Texas sues EPA. We've been fighting them down here since they have been after refineries and such.

[Thomas M-4]

Great just ****ing great Jim Walter Resources sent me a employment application 2 weeks ago after I sent them my resume.

[VooDoo6Actual]

Brilliant leadership.
Let's deregulate the Banking system, rip off the homes on the low interest "NINJA" loans, give everbody raises in Finanacial Industry to keep them happy, employ the crooks w/ impunity, spend more & grow the government, alientate white males & stoke the fire w/ more racial tension tactics etc ad nausem and now lets shut down a symbolic tribute of the hard working American and make him suffer.

Wow, anything wrong with this picture ?

WTF Over ?
The hits just keep on coming...

[LOKNLOD]

Google Texas sues EPA. We've been fighting them down here since they have been after refineries and such.

We are battling the EPA as well over the new "regional haze" rules.

[Belmont31R]

We are battling the EPA as well over the new "regional haze" rules.




My list of agencies to shut down would be (in order)



1. EPA
2. ATF
3. DOE (educ)


They will destroy this nation faster than any other.

[Abraxas]

My list of agencies to shut down would be (in order)



1. EPA
2. ATF
3. DOE (educ)


They will destroy this nation faster than any other. Looks just like my list

[glocktogo]

My list of agencies to shut down would be (in order)



1. EPA
2. ATF
3. DOE (educ)


They will destroy this nation faster than any other.

I'd just add the other DOE and the FED (yes i realize it's not an agency, but I'd kill it with fire nonetheless).

[Moose-Knuckle]

Just another domino falling in it's place.

From the moment Richard Nixon (Republican) created the EPA in 1970, and signed the Endangered Species Act (ESA) into law, they have been the primary engines of social change used by leftists environmental elitists to destroy America. They have done so by infiltrating the EPA, and the US Fish & Wildlife (USF&W) the agency which decides what animals will be listed as endangered.

More smoke and mirrors and slide of hand. . .

[montanadave]

Does the EPA overstep their mandate and operate with a heavy hand at times? Absolutely. And there are legal remedies to challenge those actions.

But does anyone seriously think we would be better off to go back to the sixties in terms of environmental awareness? The Cuyahoga River ring a bell? Love Canal? PG&E in Hinkley? Take your pick, there's plenty of 'em.

Yeah, clean air and clean water. Who needs it, right?

Gimme a ****in' break.

[Abraxas]

Does the EPA overstep their mandate and operate with a heavy hand at times? Absolutely. And there are legal remedies to challenge those actions.

But does anyone seriously think we would be better off to go back to the sixties in terms of environmental awareness? The Cuyahoga River ring a bell? Love Canal? PG&E in Hinkley? Take your pick, there's plenty of 'em.

Yeah, clean air and clean water. Who needs it, right?

Gimme a ****in' break.
In some ways you are right, but your "overstep their mandate and operate with a heavy hand at times" comment is a little off. It happens all to often and the legal remedies come at a pretty good cost. Even if you win it takes a large amount of time and money. Most of which the business harnessed by the EPA don't have much. They are not all the huge business that most people think of.

[montanadave]

I don't condone abuse of power in either the public or the private sector. But without appropriate checks and balances, including government regulatory agencies and the judicial system, abuse occurs all too frequently. I live in a state where natural resource extraction has been a mainstay throughout our history and, while these industries have provided good jobs and a strong economy, they have also left some significant scars.

So let's not throw the baby out with the bathwater.

Clean air and clean water are in the public domain. They belong to all of us. And we have an obligation to protect those resources and preserve them for those yet to come.

[Belmont31R]

I don't condone abuse of power in either the public or the private sector. But without appropriate checks and balances, including government regulatory agencies and the judicial system, abuse occurs all too frequently. I live in a state where natural resource extraction has been a mainstay throughout our history and, while these industries have provided good jobs and a strong economy, they have also left some significant scars.

So let's not throw the baby out with the bathwater.

Clean air and clean water are in the public domain. They belong to all of us. And we have an obligation to protect those resources and preserve them for those yet to come.



A lot of businesses simply don't have the money to fight them or view the fines as part of a cost of doing business. Like banks getting fined for not lending to low income minorities. They just pay the million dollar fines and move on. Cheaper than fighting in a government court.


We can have a clean environment without the EPA, and I don't really get why we need a separate department for everything that exists. Do away with them and give that responsibility to USFWS or USDA-NRCS.

[montanadave]

I have no argument with consolidation of the regulatory agencies as long as the goal is greater efficiency and cost containment as opposed to lax enforcement of clean air and clean water standards.

[Abraxas]

We can have a clean environment without the EPA, and I don't really get why we need a separate department for everything that exists. Do away with them and give that responsibility to USFWS or USDA-NRCS.

The funny thing is, the argument is they dont want to give too much power to one agency. That is why they need one agency for each thing

[Belmont31R]

I have no argument with consolidation of the regulatory agencies as long as the goal is greater efficiency and cost containment as opposed to lax enforcement of clean air and clean water standards.



I would rather have lax enforcement than over enforcement to where it creates an entire legal shit storm, plants being shut down, states having to sue the gov, ect.

[Belmont31R]

The funny thing is, the argument is they dont want to give too much power to one agency. That is why they need one agency for each thing


We have agencies that overlap each other like crazy.

[Abraxas]

We have agencies that overlap each other like crazy.

I know, but that is the argument I was told when I asked someone why we don't condense a few agency's to save money.

[Moose-Knuckle]

Does the EPA overstep their mandate and operate with a heavy hand at times? Absolutely. And there are legal remedies to challenge those actions.

But does anyone seriously think we would be better off to go back to the sixties in terms of environmental awareness? The Cuyahoga River ring a bell? Love Canal? PG&E in Hinkley? Take your pick, there's plenty of 'em.

Yeah, clean air and clean water. Who needs it, right?

Gimme a ****in' break.

Give you ****'n break?

The EPA has NOTHING to do with protecting the birdies and the fishies. That is their ruse, their creation and implementation is about social engineering.

Trust me when I say no one loves the Earth more than me, and these bastards parade on that very love/concern for our HOME to bring about the end results for their betters.

[kmrtnsn]

I've been to countries without a version of the EPA and would hate to see this country turned into one of them. I'm sure it would be much better for business if chemical waste could be dumped directly into the sewers to maximize profits but no, thank you I can do without that. Smoke stack soot covering everything is something I can do without. Heavy metals buried out behind the warehouse, um no. The industry regulating themselves? No, we've seen how well that works on Wall Street.

[Belmont31R]

I've been to countries without a version of the EPA and would hate to see this country turned into one of them. I'm sure it would be much better for business if chemical waste could be dumped directly into the sewers to maximize profits but no, thank you I can do without that. Smoke stack soot covering everything is something I can do without. Heavy metals buried out behind the warehouse, um no. The industry regulating themselves? No, we've seen how well that works on Wall Street.



Has nothing to do with what the EPA is doing which is trying to shut down fossil fuel production and energy generation. Obama himself said he wanted to bankrupt the coal industry and cause energy prices to sky rocket. When Cap n Trade didn't pass Congress he said he was going to use the EPA to do it anyways. Now they are going after these industries and through regulation interpretation & using a heavy hand they are way over the top. They are like the ATF of the energy sector. Abuses of power and way over the top interpretations.

Obama was already held in contempt of court once over the drilling in the gulf.


http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-02-03/u-s-administration-in-contempt-over-gulf-drill-ban-judge-rules.html


Texas has been suing the EPA. The EPA did a "study", and then tried to regulate green house gases because they are a threat to public health. All without a law being passed recently. They are using mandates from a long time ago, and all the sudden are trying to shut down major industries that Obama said he wanted to. Convenient huh? They have been after refineries which Texas has a lot of them especially down in Houston...



Texas fired off another salvo in a struggle with Washington over environmental regulation Tuesday, filing a suit in federal court to prevent regulation of greenhouse gases.

Gov. Rick Perry and Attorney General Greg Abbott are trying to get the federal Environmental Protection Agency to back away from a finding last year that greenhouse gases are a threat to public health. The finding sets the stage for regulation of the gases, which scientists have linked to global warming.

http://www.statesman.com/news/texas-politics/texas-sues-to-stop-epa-from-regulating-greenhouse-245086.html


Im very against allowing businesses to dump chemicals and metals into rivers, lakes, and I don't want smoke stacks all over the place. For the most part we have cleaner air and water than we did 50-100 years ago. The industrial revolution was pretty bad. Rivers used to catch on fire they were so polluted. The EPA was created, and with some low impact laws we have cleaned most of it up. Rivers are pretty clean now, and air quality is better than ever in most places.

However we do have industry, and we do have needs like electricity and gas. Since Obama took over the EPA has been trying to shut them down and regulate them to death (literally for the business). Not just keep them from contaminating things but they want them shut down by reinterpreting things and creating studies that give themselves more power.

Congress really needs to STOP giving these agencies such sweeping power to interpret laws and create regulations (pseudo laws). Thats not how our rule of law is supposed to work. WTF do we vote for and how are we being represented in government if these two bit agenda driven agencies just create their own laws and do whatever the **** they want? Now states have to drag everyone into court to fight this BS because Congress won't do it. But Obama doesn't even care what the courts say...see above how he's been held in contempt once already for the Gulf Drilling.