Last week, we noted that President Obama’s campaign website had jumped the gun on some power plant regulations that have not yet been finalized. At the time, the site read (emphasis added):
Under President Obama’s watch, the Environmental Protection Agency has set up the first national standards for mercury emissions and other dangerous chemicals from coal and oil-fired power plants.
Today it reads (emphasis added):
Under President Obama’s watch, the Environmental Protection Agency has proposed the first national standards for mercury emissions and other dangerous chemicals from coal and oil-fired power plants.
At first the new regulations were supposed to come out this Friday, but hat date has already been pushed pack to next Monday. As we reported last week, here are the stakes:
These new power plant regulations will be a disaster for the economy according to the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC). NERC released a study last week predicting that “the nation’s power grid will be stressed in ways never before experienced” if the regulations go into effect.
“Early retirement of multiple units in the short-run could stress the bulk power system if plans are not in place to add additional resources to cover the loss of generation from facilities affected by EPA regulations,” the NERC report reads. NERC warns that grid operators may see “reduced system stability, tighter flexibility margins, and problems with deliverability of resources.”
If the EPA has already made the decision to adopt the proposed rule, as evidenced by the Obama campaign website, then they could not have possibly taken into account the concerns raised by NERC’s recent report.
Just as with the Keystone XL pipeline, Obama’s political operation is making a clear choice to choose environmentalist votes and money at the expense of working-class voters. The Utility Workers of America, which is affiliated with the ALF-CIO, says the Utility MACT rule will EPA rules will “devastate Michigan’s economy.”
“Early retirement of multiple units in the short-run could stress the bulk power system if plans are not in place to add additional resources to cover the loss of generation from facilities affected by EPA regulations,” the NERC report reads. NERC warns that grid operators may see “reduced system stability, tighter flexibility margins, and problems with deliverability of resources.”
If the EPA has already made the decision to adopt the proposed rule, as evidenced by the Obama campaign website, then they could not have possibly taken into account the concerns raised by NERC’s recent report.
Just as with the Keystone XL pipeline, Obama’s political operation is making a clear choice to choose environmentalist votes and money at the expense of working-class voters. The Utility Workers of America, which is affiliated with the ALF-CIO, says the Utility MACT rule will EPA rules will “devastate Michigan’s economy.”
