Cheer up Kentucky! Bloomberg Business Week for November 30th (Catching up on reading today.) says the EPA will not cripple your state too bad. They first make the argument that you will not have to go far to reach the new emissions standards. They then address what is really important. They admit that the EPA will slash coal usage nationwide to 31% from 39% (Others estimate both figures are much higher.). They said this will slash demand and means probably fewer jobs for the industry. No probably about it; Ive been there, followed it, have my people there and it is costing jobs big time. They then say, well, the industry was already in decline, Eastern Kentucky coal production has fallen 63% since 2000, and this is probably because natural gas and cheap coal elsewhere is hurting. They admit that the EPAs rules will accelerate the drop in coal production and jobs. They leave out entirely the scorched earth policies of the EPA there. The magazine then claims it is the EPAs job to prevent pollution, not protect a single industry. How foolish. It is the EPAs job to curb pollution but the war on coal goes far beyond pollution concerns. We have been blessed with 3 to 5 hundred years of a cheap resource for power needs. The EPA is a political tool that hammers free enterprise and shackles a whole industry for political purposes and to shift power to the government. And what hypocrisy! They say nothing of the government propping up states like Iowa in the corn belt and the ethanol hoax. It takes 4 times as much energy (much of it coal fired or natural gas fired) to produce one gallon of ethanols energy. It drives up food costs and adds to food insecurity world wide.
Posted on: Sun, 28 Dec 2014 22:22:17 +0000
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