June 28, 2013

Obama Saves the World

By William L. Gensert

Dear Leader gave a speech the other day on climate change. Having solved all of America's problems, he is now going to save the planet. You can tell by his tone and typically snide derision for those who disagree with him that he's serious.

"I don't have much patience for anyone who says this problem isn't real. We don't have time for a meeting of the flat-Earth society."

If you object to destroying America's economy to prevent something that might happen 100 years from now you are a Luddite.

His renewed efforts to heal the planet and halt the rise of the oceans have resulted in his "national plan to reduce carbon pollution, [and] prepare our country for the impacts of climate change and lead global efforts to fight it."

With climate change, there will be no leading from behind. We will go it alone, while the rest of the world and China, the world's largest producer of carbon and biggest all around polluter, does nothing. Which means, whatever we do will have absolutely no impact.

It will probably destroy our economy and reduce us to third world status, but, that's a small price to pay for Barack's vanity. This is about his legacy, and he is after all, a great man.

Elements of his plan to save humanity include:

New Carbon Restrictions on Power Plants

He couldn't pass cap and trade even when he had control of both houses of congress. Instead, the EPA will institute regulations and fines to restrict the carbon produced by power plants.

This will effectively kill coal generated electricity, now between a third and 40% of total electricity generation. The EPA website pegs it at almost half, but they are using 2005 data -- you can't expect a government agency to stay current -- they're too busy spending millions on conferences at luxury hotels in exotic locales so they can congratulate themselves on how well they are doing their jobs.

Think about that, not too long ago coal was producing half our electricity. Now it's producing a third and in a few years it will probably be producing none. Some of the decline has to do with the fracking revolution. Coal has always been the cheapest source of energy, but natural gas production has exploded in recent years and prices have fallen. The rest of the decline is the EPA and its war on coal.

Coal is also essential in the production of steel, as well as cement and paper. But, we don't need those industries, right? We can buy all those things from China, where of course, they will be produced using coal.

Maybe, Barack can come up with a plan to get us to stop using steel, cement, and paper. Otherwise, we are just switching from carbon here to carbon there.

We can probably export our coal to China, where they will use it to make all the steel, cement, and paper we will no longer be allowed to produce here. After all, the recent increase in coal exports has been one of the few bright spots in the depressed Obama economy.

Wait and see, exporting coal will be next on the president's list. If we don't send it to them, they can't burn it. It will probably raise prices dramatically for electricity, steel, cement, and paper and destroy tens of thousands of American jobs, but that's the price you have to pay to realize the dreams of a great man.

More Subsidies for Green Energy

The president wants $8 billion in loan guarantees for green energy production and is "directing the Interior Department to green light enough private, renewable energy capacity on public lands to power more than 6 million homes by 2020." At 3 people to a home, that's 18 million people out of a nation of more than 300 million. What a plan, give it a century or so and we'll get there.

He's also insisting the Department of Defense "install 3 gigawatts of renewable power on its bases." I was surprised he didn't say "my bases," he does have an affinity for personal pronouns.

Forcing renewable energy on the Defense Department will help compel those guys tasked with defending the nation to get their priorities straight. All that 'strong defense' stuff is so pre-Barack. Hasn't he told us "the tide of war is receding," and climate change is the "global threat of our time?"

How much do you want to bet that much of that green energy money finds its way to friends of Barack?

Increasing Energy Efficiency Standards

He wants increased fuel efficiency levels for heavy trucks, saying we'll "partner with truck makers for the next generation of vehicles." Barack's idea of 'partnering' is telling people what to do.

Trucks are the way the nation moves almost everything whether produced in America or imported. Make it more difficult to ship and the EPA can control all production and the carbon it produces. That shouldn't hurt industry or raise prices, right?

He wants increased efficiency from appliances. He's coming after our air conditioners and our refrigerators. Plainly, we are too comfortable in the summer and our refrigerators are too big and too cold.

Infrastructure to Protect Against the Affects of Climate Change

He claims his "plan will also protect critical sectors of our economy and prepare the United States for the impacts of climate change that we cannot avoid."

This is just another excuse to spend our money rewarding his crony capitalist friends. Remember the stimulus, a trillion dollars flushed down a green, low-flow toilet, but all his buddies made money. Look for this to be the same.

Let's be realistic -- Barack Obama has been conducting a war on fossil fuels since he became president. He's been successful in his attempts to kill the coal industry, but not so much with the oil and natural gas industries, because most of the record increases in production have happened on private lands and were out of his control.

He talks a good game on oil production and natural gas, but you have to watch what he does, because what he says doesn't really matter. Sooner or later, the man is going to come after fracking, putting a halt to increased oil and natural gas production.

The nation is looking forward to $10 gasoline, electric bills triple what they are now and most likely, daily blackouts -- that's what happens when you close down 40% of your electricity generating capacity, while replacing it with... nothing.

There has been no global warming for more than a decade; America's carbon output has been declining as the fracking revolution has increased the use of natural gas.

From a Wall Street Journal article signed by 16 scientists:

"There is no compelling scientific argument for drastic action to "decarbonize" the world's economy. Even if one accepts the inflated climate forecasts of the IPCC, aggressive greenhouse-gas control policies are not justified economically."

Killing the engine of the nation's prosperity in pursuit of some monomaniacal dream of a green world and a legacy as the savior of humanity is foolish, if not insane.

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