Tilting At Climate Windmills

U.S. Workers Pay For President’s Anti-Energy Efforts, While Foreign Nations Scoff

PRESIDENT OBAMA’S CLIMATE CRUSADE: 224,000 Jobs ‘Eliminated,’ ‘Electricity Bills Up,’ ‘$50 Billion In Annual Costs’

“The heart of the U.S. commitment consists of proposed EPA power plant regulations that industry groups and congressional Republicans are already trying to undercut, both by pursuing court challenges and by urging states not to comply.” (“Obama Pledges Greenhouse Gas Emissions Cuts,” Politico, 3/31/15)

“LOSERS: - YOUR POWER BILL … The National Association of Manufacturers, the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity, the National Mining Association, the American Energy Alliance and the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association all predicted the rule would drive electricity bills up.” (“Who Wins And Loses Under Obama's Stricter Power Plant Limits,” AP, 8/3/15)

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce “warned Wednesday that the Obama administration’s proposal to impose new limits on greenhouse gas emissions from power plants could eclipse $50 billion in annual costs through 2030.” (“Chamber: Costs Of EPA Climate Rule Could Top $50 Billion A Year,” The Hill, 5/28/14)

“The Chamber’s study says as many as 224,000 jobs would be eliminated annually through 2030 under the proposal.” (“Chamber: Costs Of EPA Climate Rule Could Top $50 Billion A Year,” The Hill, 5/28/14)

THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH: Trillions In Anti-Energy ‘Reparations’ Demanded, ‘Take Down Industrial Civilization’

JOHN STERMAN: “The pledges countries have made ‘are a big step forward, but not sufficient — not even close,’ said John D. Sterman, a professor of management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.” (“Limited Progress Seen Even As More Nations Step Up On Climate,” The New York Times, 9/28/15)

“Bruising fights are still expected at the Paris conference, especially over money. Poor countries … are demanding billions from rich countries to help them manage.” (“Limited Progress Seen Even As More Nations Step Up On Climate,” New York Times, 9/28/15)

“As part of any agreement, poor nations, such as Brazil and India, want wealthier countries to pay them a lot of money… and in Paris, poor nations seem poised to demand far more, perhaps even trillions.” (“Climate 'Reparations' For Poor Nations? Not So Fast,” Bloomberg, 9/29/15)

PRAKASH JAVADEKAR, Indian Environment Minister: “‘Historical responsibility cannot be wished away by any new parameters. It will always remain,’ Javadekar said. He argued that this is particularly true when it comes to delivering finance. ‘Others are responsible. We are not. We are the sufferers,’ he said. We are the vulnerable countries, and they [developed nations] are paying part of it. I can call it reparations.’” (“India and Brazil Will Not Follow China's Pledge To Donate To Poorer Nations' Climate Efforts,” E&E, 9/28/15)

“In a just world the United States would pay back the $4 trillion dollars it owes, according to new research, for trashing the climate. … Now, if you calculate the debt using the US’s own social cost of carbon—the dollar value damage each ton of CO2 pollution does, currently pegged at $40 a ton—then the climate debtors’ total is damage is massive. There are 250 billion tons of carbon debt accumulated since 1990, Matthews figures, so that amounts to $10 trillion. Yes, trillion—$10 trillion that polluting industrial nations owe climate creditor nations like India, China, and Nigeria who have stayed under their carbon budgets.” (“The US Owes The World $4 Trillion…” Motherboard, 9/9/15)

“At a meeting in Cancun, Mexico, in 2010, climate negotiators from nearly 200 countries agreed that they would try to limit the warming to 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit, or 2 degrees Celsius, above the preindustrial temperature, a level that would require that emissions from fossil fuels largely cease within a few decades.” (“Limited Progress Seen Even As More Nations Step Up On Climate,” The New York Times, 9/28/15)

Environmentalist Demand: ‘take down industrial civilization’ “A new book called Deep Green Resistance, by Aric McBay, Lierre Keith and Derrick Jensen, says that we likely won't have enough people interested in saving the planet before we run out of time. So, they're calling for a change in strategy. … The culprit is industrial civilization, say the writers. ‘This culture destroys landbases. That's what it does,’ writes Jensen. ‘And it won't stop because we ask it nicely.’ And so how do we save the world (and along with it ourselves)? Well, naturally we take down industrial civilization, they say.” (“Do We Need A Militant Movement To Save The Planet (And Ourselves)?” Alternet, 8/5/11)

OBAMA ADMINISTRATION: ‘A War On Coal Is Exactly What’s Needed,’ ‘Make Examples Out Of People’

DANIEL P. SCHRAG, White House Climate Adviser: ‘A war on coal is exactly what’s needed’ “The one thing the president really needs to do now is to begin the process of shutting down the conventional coal plants. …a war on coal is exactly what’s needed.” (The New York Times, 6/25/13)

Obama EPA Official: ‘Make examples out of people’ “The Romans used to conquer little villages in the Mediterranean. They’d go into a little Turkish (sic) town somewhere, they’d find the first five guys they saw and they would crucify them. And then you know that town was really easy to manage for the next few years. And so you make examples out of people...” (Forbes, 4/26/12)

‘Examples’ Made In Kentucky: 20,000+ Impacted By Democrat War On Coal Families

“…in coal country, the changes have meant layoffs. Nowhere has been hit harder than eastern Kentucky, where more than 6,000 miners have lost their jobs since January 2012. For each mining job, there are estimated to be at least three directly related jobs, like trucking, that also disappear.” (Fox News, 1/16/14)

“According to [Bill] Bissett, [the president of the Kentucky Coal Association] the coal industry has lost more than 6,000 direct jobs, and 18,000 people indirectly connected to the coal industry are out of work. Coal production in Eastern Kentucky is down 30 percent...” (Commonwealth Journal [KY], 1/7/14)

GARY LOCKHART, Coal Miner: “Our biggest worries now are just trying to keep a roof over our heads, food on the table, telling your family that this was all caused by the EPA, directed by our President for his political agenda.” (Coal Listening Session, Kentucky, 12/6/13)

HOWARD ABSHIRE, Coal Miner: “I say to you, Mister President of the United States… We're hurting. You say you're the president of the people? Well we're people too. No one loves the mountains no more than we do. We live here. We crawl between them. We get up every morning and we go on top of a mountain in a strip job in the cold rain, snow, to put bread on the table.” (Coal Listening Session, Kentucky, 12/6/13)

ABSHIRE: “Come and look at our little children, look at our people, Mr. President. You're not hurting for a job; you've got one. I don't have one.” (Coal Listening Session, Kentucky, 12/6/13)

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Related Issues: Coal, Economy, Energy, Regulations, EPA

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