Obama's continuing war on fossil fuels

Kit Bond

The Obama administration's war on fossil fuels, particularly coal, continues, as former Missouri Senator Kit Bond tells us.

From the Southeast Missourian:

Last week the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency fired the latest shot in its bombardment of regulations that will increase the cost of energy for every American, kill jobs, and stall our nation's already struggling economic recovery.

With its latest new regulation, the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule, EPA is mandating further reductions in the amount of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides power plants can emit -- a rule that will really hit Midwestern states that depend on coal-fired power plants.

Many utilities began investing in clean energy technology long before government bureaucrats began writing new regulations and could accommodate the cost of millions of dollars per plant this new mandate will impose if this rule were the only one coming down the pike. Unfortunately, that's not the case. This latest new mandate is just the first of nearly 30 major regulations and more than 170 major policy rules the EPA has in the works.

Recent analysis from the National Economic Research Associates shows that by 2020 the cost of just two of the coming onslaught of regulations the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule and the Utility Maximum Achievable Control Technology rules -- will be the loss of 1.4 million jobs and an average utility bill increase, of 11.5 percent -- and in some cases, more than 20 percent.

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