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Forum Post: EPA rejects tighter coal burning regulations

Posted 12 years ago on Dec. 31, 2011, 8:33 p.m. EST by timkerian (8)
This content is user submitted and not an official statement

News - Efforts by U.S. regulators to cut air pollution from coal-fired power plants faced a setback on Friday when a federal appeals court issued a last-minute order delaying their January 1 implementation.

Unfortunately many believe that the cost would be a significant burden to the energy companies thus cost jobs, while in reality - change, and policies to tighten emissions rules not only are necessary to improve our environment but their implementation creates jobs.

What we are seeing is EPA doesn't want to burden the energy companies - after all they have been such great and benevolent corporate citizens. Great - who needs to eat the fish from our waters anyway (here in Minnesota most lakes have consumption advisories brought on by mercury output of coal powerplants, some in canada), and if we have to build a few powerplants so I can plug in my air fresheners - hey - at least I can't smell myself when I'm inside!

As far as what the utilities have done in the nuclear realm: Utility: ",,,you know when we built that nuclear powerplant 40 years ago, (the one engineered to last for 30 years?) - we forgot to budget a replacement - so can we keep using it for another 30 years? We have a feeling it will be safe, and it would be a travesty of govt intrusion if you forced us to shut it down. Oh - and since we're doubling the useful life of the reactor and its related revenue stream, can we raise the rates we charge for its output as well? It's really expensive to keep good management!

EPA response: "Gosh - that would be a tough spot, no problem, hey did you see the 'honey badger' clip on You-tube? Hilarious!"

It goes on and on and...

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6 Comments


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[-] 2 points by timkerian (8) 12 years ago

Energy companies are essential and employ many - they are also utilities allowed monopoly power - but that comes with conditions to protect the economy and the consumer. The political contributions and lobby they and the financial / hedge fund industry employ to manipulate the energy market in all its forms through financial means, supply manipulation, govt intervention, (subsidy, (de)regulation), and misinformation is hugely detrimental to their customers, and the econonomy. This is the antithesis of free market capitalism.

When oil is 40$ a barrel - did we go to war to protect our supply of oil resulting in it going up to 150? Sure - its now only at $100 - only because vested interests decided that's the breaking point of the economy. They've tested this limit several times - and will again as soon as the economy moves. No watchdog group or politician will question it when they push it to 150 again, and they will soon enough, not because of 'Peak Oil', supply disruption, or change in demand.

So did we go to war to help the people? To help the American Economy? Obviously not - to help our strategic interests? Obviously not? WMD's? Because Saddam was a bad man? yeah that's it, because we cared about the Iraqi people and their freedom.

If then, our economy, foreign policy and lives of our soldiers is dictated by these interests, well, you have to question the established order. My conclusion is that the supply of oil and price of gas is more threatened by these interests then any mid east political threat.

Should one occur, it would be difficult to raise the price at the pump much - we are already paying as much for gas as the market will bear and are moving to alternatives. Even with the relative middle east stability the energy companies would now would be extacting more from our pockets if they could - after all, politically it is much easier than extracting oil from the ground.

Watch the Enbridge/Keystone deal, these will take oil in america, refine it and sell gas in the global open market - not necessarily a bad thing if there is a price gap, I'm not against arbitrage which is neccessary in a free market, but do we want to be the refinery of the world? Kind of a messy job. The oil diverted from US will then be replaced by tar sands oil piped in from Alberta. So really those with qualms about tar sands derived oil may as well give up - you can't differentiate the enbridge oil from the keystone tar sands oil, they are working around legislation and environmental arguments that limit tar sand oil access to the market.

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-11-17/enbridge-plans-to-reverse-pipe-between-cushing-and-houston.html

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-11-15/enbridge-s-oil-sands-pipeline-gains-from-delays-to-keystone-xl.html

[-] 2 points by LSN45 (535) 12 years ago

Another example of the people with the money making the rules.

Here's my 2 cents:

There are a lot of improvements that need to be made. The list of reforms Americans want to see is long and varied depending on who you talk to. That said, I believe there is one reform that would provide the American people the best chances of seeing other meaningful reforms actually happen - that is REAL, loop-hope free CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM! I have seen others on this site calling this the "fulcrum" or pivotal issue. Right now the current legalized bribery, pay-to-play system of campaign donations and paid lobbyists has disenfranchised the American voter. Until this is fixed, any other reform the politicians may try to placate us with (be it a change to healthcare, clamping down predatory school loans, new financial regulations, etc.) will be about as effective as a farmer putting a new roof on his CHICKEN COOP, but still letting the FOX guard it.

We need to go back to the original political currency. Instead of the current system of who can collect the most money from corporations and special interests it should be who has the BEST IDEAS to EFFECTIVELY RUN THE COUNTRY (we don't need "Wealth Redistribution," what we need is "Political Influence Redistribution")!

For the sake of our children and future generations of Americans, we need to take back our democracy from the rich and powerful who are using their vast sums of money to "speak" as if they represent millions of Americans. This "Corporate Personhood" that has crept into our laws is allowing them to manipulating our policies in their favor at the expense of the average American (the recent "Citizens United" Supreme Court ruling is a miscarriage of justice and must be reversed. The $50 or $100 a normal American may give to a political campaign becomes meaningless when corporations or other special interests are handing our millions to buy political access to the decision making process.

For decades now the corporations and special interests have had our "representatives" bought and paid for (both on the right and the left). Concentrating our efforts on getting the money out of our politics is the best way we can create an environment in which further reforms can be realized. Until we end the current system of legalized bribery (campaign donations) and paid lobbying our politicians will continue to be the LAP DOGS of the corporations and special interests. What we need first and foremost is real, loop-hole free CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM!!!! If the corruption is not dealt with first, the chance of any other meaningful reforms becoming a reality is almost zero - the special interests will just use their money to buy votes and put forward bills that create loop-holes or otherwise twist the law in their favor. If we want our children to live in a country where there vote matters, we need to get the money out of our politics, otherwise they will increasingly become the 21st century version of the "landless peasant." Spread the word - End the LEGALIZED BRIBERY!!! CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM needs to be THE main goal of the protests!!!

[-] 2 points by bensdad (8977) 12 years ago

End the LEGALIZED BRIBERY!!! CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM needs to be THE main goal of the protests!!!
We can continue,

a movement of demands
a movement of declarations a movement of marches OR


Are you ready
.....................FOR ACTION ?
Are you ready
.....................TO DO SOMETHING REAL ?
Are you ready
......................TO JOIN 83% OF YOUR FELLOW AMERICANS ?


We must not
DEMAND that we WANT THEM.to give to US
We must
DEMAND GOALS THAT WE WILL ACHIEVE FOR OURSELVES


Because of the Supreme Court's decision,
we cannot accomplish anything significant, without FIRST -

Overturning Citizens United !!!
Ending Corporate Personhood !!!


83% of Americans already agree on it
as stated in the ABC/Washington Post poll

.........................................

In the the PFAW Poll -

85% of voters say that corporations have too much influence over the political system today.
77% think Congress should support an amendment to limit the amount corporations can spend on elections.
74% say that they would be more likely to vote for a candidate for Congress who pledged to support a Constitutional Amendment limiting corporate spending in elections.


IT IS TIME FOR YOU TO ACT ----> JOIN US TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE


Our only immediate goal should be to pass a constitutional amendment to counter Supreme Court decision Citizens United (2010) , that enables unlimited amounts of anonymous money to flood into our political system.
“Corporations and organizations are not a persons &
have no personhood rights”

We don’t have to explain or persuade people to accept our position – we only have to persuade them to ACT based on their own position. Pursuing this goal will prove to the world that we, at OWS, are a serious realistic Movement, with serious realistic goals. Achieving this goal will make virtually every other goal – jobs, taxes, infrastructure, Medicare – much easier to achieve –
by disarming our greatest enemy – GREED.


IT IS TIME FOR YOU TO ACT ----> JOIN US TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE


THE SUCCESS STORY OF THE AMENDING PROCESS The Prohibition movement started as a disjointed effort by conservative teetotalers who thought the consumption of alcohol was immoral. They ransacked saloons and garnered press coverage here and there for a few years. Then they began to gain support from the liberals because many considered alcohol partially responsible for spousal and child abuse, among other social ills. This odd alliance, after many years of failing to influence change consistently across jurisdictions, decided to concentrate on one issue nationally—a constitutional amendment. They pressured all politicians on every level to sign a pledge to support the amendment. Any who did not, they defeated easily at the ballot box since they controlled a huge number of liberal, and conservative and independent swing votes in every election. By being a single-issue constituency attacking from all sides of the political spectrum, they very quickly amassed enough votes (2/3) to pass the amendment in Congress. And, within just 17 months, they were successful in getting ¾ of the state legislatures to ratify the constitutional amendment into law. (Others were ratified even faster: Eight —took less than a year. The 26th, granting 18-year-olds the right to vote, took just three months and eight days.)


If they could tie the left and right into a success - WHY CAN'T WE ??????????


IT IS TIME FOR YOU TO ACT ----> JOIN US TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE


I feel that we should stay with this simple text to overturn CU:
”corporations are not people”
for four simple reasons and one – not so simple:
1
83% of Americans have already opposed CU in the ABC/Washington post poll and the above
IS THEIR POSITION ALREADY.
2
We don’t have to work to convince people on the validity of our position.
3
Simple is almost always better.
4
This simple Amendment is REQUIRED to overturn CU.
And all other electoral reform can be passed through the normal legislative process. 5
OWS and these pages are chock full of ( mostly ) excellent ideas to improve our country.
All of them have strong advocates – and some have strong opposition.
None of them has been “pre-approved” by 83% of Americans !
Pursuing this goal – without additional specifics is exactly what Americans want.
What do we want? Look at that almost endless list of demands – goals - aims.
Tax the rich. End the Fed. Jobs for all, Medicare for all. So easy to state! Can you imagine how hard it would be to formulate a “sales pitch” for any of these to convince your Republican friends to vote for any of them?
83% of Americans have ALREADY “voted” against CU. And 76% of the Rs did too.
All we have to do ask Americans is to pressure their representatives – by letters - emails – petitions.

Wanna take your family on vacation?
Convince the 7 year old and the 10 year old to go to Mt Rushmore.
Then try to convince them to go to Disneyland.
Prioritizing this goal will introduce us to the world – not as a bunch of hippie radical anarchist socialist commie rabblerousers – but as a responsible, mature movement that is fighting for what America wants.


IT IS TIME FOR YOU TO ACT ----> JOIN US TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE


I feel that using the tactics of the NRA, the AARP an the TP – who all represent a minority – who have successfully used their voting power to achieve their minority goals - plus the Prohibition Amendment tactics – bringing all sides together - is a straight path for us to success that cannot fail to enable us to create and complete one task the MAJORITY.


Join the OWS Restore Democracy Working Group at
http://www.nycga.net/groups/restore-democracy
regular meetings 6-8PM @ 60 Wall St – The Attrium @ Wednesdays
Plan details with supporting documentation at:.... http://bit.ly/vK2pGI


IT IS TIME FOR YOU TO ACT ----> JOIN US TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE
TO END CORPORATE PERSONHOOD


Whereas --
The OWS Declaration of the Occupation of New York City states that
"a democratic government derives its just power from the people,
not from corporations."

and --
the ABC News/Washington Post poll found that 83% of the entire US population
opposes the Supreme Court Citizens United decision,
which affirmed that corporations are people.
and --
by supporting the overturning of corporate personhood,
OWS clearly aligns itself with the vast majority of the American people
who support ending the fundamentally flawed and anti-democratic concept
that corporations are people.
therefore --

We support a constitutional amendment to end corporate personhood.


[-] 1 points by timkerian (8) 12 years ago

While the EPA has caused me concern I must admit in this case it was a District Court that prevented the implementation of the new law. Our previous administration knew well the courts would outlast any elected administration, and preserve his legacy of an absent oversight.

[-] 0 points by Rowsdower (27) 12 years ago

Good.