Originally published December 26 2013
After destroying health care and economy, Obama now using EPA to destroy industry
by J. D. Heyes
(NaturalNews) It's not enough that President Obama has worked overtime to destroy the nation's healthcare system and muck up its financial sector (think the Dodd-Frank "financial reform" law), now he's focused on screwing up the only economic engine driving the American economy: the energy sector.
Over the past few years, the United States has become a major energy producer. New oil and gas extraction technology has given energy companies access to reserves that were unreachable and could not be tapped a decade ago.
Today, however, the U.S. rivals Saudi Arabia and other oil exporting powerhouses in terms of production. And that is a good thing, both for the country and for consumers.
"A higher level of U.S. oil production could significantly boost the U.S. economy, and could also reduce global oil prices through its effect on the global crude oil and product market balances," says the Energy Information Agency, a division of the U.S. Department of Energy, in an analysis.
A thriving U.S. economy? Obama says, 'we can't have that'
But Obama, the anti-business, anti-free market, anti-capitalist that he is, will do everything in his power to inhibit U.S. energy sector growth and the jobs and economic benefits that such growth would spur during his second term [http://www.theblaze.com].
Enter Obama's bogus "climate change" agenda. As reported by The Hill:
Gun control legislation is dead; immigration reform is on life support; and reaching a fiscal deal with Republicans appears to be a long shot.
To make matters worse, what was supposed to be his signature first-term achievement - ObamaCare - is suffering from a disastrous rollout.
But there's one thing that's going right for Obama: Executive action on climate change is moving full-speed ahead at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Yes, Obama plans to use the power of the bureaucracy, which falls under his control as head of the Executive Branch, to enact an environmentalist agenda that is focused not on "being green" but instead on killing off another U.S. industry.
And fellow Democrats couldn't be happier, because it plays right into their base.
"He may be able to do more through climate change [rules] because the EPA has the authority," Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) told The Hill this month.
What does the president have in mind? This:
The most far-reaching piece of Obama's climate plan is carbon emission standards for the nation's fleet of existing power plants, by far the largest single source of industrial carbon emissions. The EPA is also writing standards for new plants.
These standards, once in place, will further dampen economic growth - an Obama goal - by imposing high compliance costs on power companies, costs that will be passed on to consumers (who will then have far less money to spend on other things, like buying goods, eating out etc.).
Fearmongering? Hardly. Obama himself admitted that rates under his plan "will necessarily skyrocket" - watch here: http://youtube.com.
"I think climate change, immigration reform are both sort of legacy issues," Blumenthal said. "The measure of his presidency will be whether he has left changes in law and regulation, but also a heightened awareness, which I think he has been doing."
New EPA rules part of the 'fundamental transformation'
Obama's legacy is at stake, don't you see - although he's already established one as perhaps the most divisive, economically destructive president ever to sit in the Oval Office. So he must press on with "climate change."
But even this isn't assured.
Any major new EPA rules would have to survive legal challenges, as well as potential reversal by a future president and congressional majority not named "Democrats."
"[Administrative actions] don't have the same kind of impact in defining a president as big legislative accomplishments and they are more susceptible to being overturned," said Princeton University professor Julian Zelize, who teaches history and public affairs. "The next president can change them. That's always the problem."
You can be certain that coal and power companies will file challenges to any major new EPA rules in courts.
"Even if EPA is able to stay on schedule and sign the final ... rule by June of 2015, it is very unlikely that litigation over the rule will be resolved before the President leaves office," Jeff Holmstead, a partner at Bracewell & Giuliani who was the top air pollution regulator at the EPA under President George W. Bush, told The Hill.
I never thought I would see the day when a president hated his own country so much that he felt the need to "fundamentally transform" it.
Sources:
http://thehill.com
http://youtube.com
http://www.theblaze.com
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