BOULDER, Colo. | EPA chief Gina McCarthy said Wednesday that the Obama administration is finished waiting for Congress to act on climate change and plans to bypass the legislative branch in developing a federal response.
Ms. McCarthy, who was confirmed last month as Environmental Protection Agency administrator, cited President Obama’s June 25 speech at Georgetown University, in which he unveiled his Climate Action Plan and vowed to make combatting climate change a priority of his second term.
Mr. Obama gave “what I really think is a most remarkable speech by a president of the United States,” said Ms. McCarthy in remarks at the University of Colorado Boulder.
“Essentially, he said that it is time to act,” she said. “And he said he wasn’t going to wait for Congress, but that he had administrative authorities and that it was time to start utilizing those more effectively and in a more concerted way.”
She insisted that reducing greenhouse-gas emissions could be accomplished without harming economic growth, calling the tension between the two priorities a “false choice.”
“We’re going to do this this year, next year, the following year, until people understand these are not scary things to do, these are actions we can all do, they’re actions that benefit everybody, that will grow the economy, and they’re actions that will protect the health and safety of individuals,” Ms. McCarthy said.
The president’s Climate Action Plan has come under criticism from Republicans, led by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who said in June the plan amounted to a “war on coal” and a “war on jobs.”
Unilateral efforts to "combat climate change will only result in lost jobs and send the wrong message. In case Lord Obama doesn't realize this we the people are governed by a democracy, not a demon crazy!
ReplyDelete"The president’s Climate Action Plan has come under criticism from Republicans, led by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who said in June the plan amounted to a “war on coal” and a “war on jobs.”"
ReplyDeleteThis is basically what I was getting at on a previous post, our only energy plans at the moment involve staying the course on burning fossil fuels. But your post here also highlights something else I said in another post TD which is that gridlock is not fixing anything, is not stopping anything and is only ceding power to the POTUS. McConnell wants it both ways, he wants to publicly declare on Obama and vow to make him a one term POTUS and then turn around and demand that the same twice elected POTUS bow to him. Honestly, I don't understand your deep dislike of Obama, but I understand expressing it is important to you. Fair enough. But at some point, do you not see any need for Republicans to be held accountable for their complete unwillingness to do anything BUT dig their heels in and say NO?
I keep wailing about all or nothing, and you kind of keep making my point. It seems like the response of many on the right is, "if there is not 100% irrefutable proof of climate change caused by increased C02, then we must immediately abandon every initiative that may lead to alternatives to fossil fuel. People like McConnell care about jobs lost in HIS coal district and is not interested in the thousands of jobs that might be gained across America. So, to protect his few, we can't help anyone else. That, to me, is why gridlock is bullshit.
As I see it, the alternative energy plan today is Bull Shit. The sun doesn't shine at night and the wind doesn't blow all the time.
DeleteHow is that a replacement plan when the same power plants are sitting in standby mode and a fast start creates more pollution that running the plant full throttle for a month.
Personally if I ran a power company, I would turn down all the coal fired plants and let people sweat in the dark so they can see first hand the folly of this goofy administration.
as a side note, we are not the worlds largest polluter. Should the EPA make it difficult for business with a carbon tax, business/manufacturing will move north or south to a business friendly country as this isn't one.
lou,
DeleteDidn't the Kyoto Accords exempt some countries, i.e., China, from some or all of its requirements when they were bandied about in the (?) '90s? And here we have China building quite a few. I was a bit surprised. This list
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_coal_power_stations
is for 2,000 MW capacity. Sort the country field, and see how many China has lsited. This somewhat speaks to the last paragraph in louman's 9:04 p.m. point, in the sense of 'controlling' CO2 emissions here . . . rather like trying to squeeze a balloon to keep it from getting bigger as you blow in more air, no?
Jean
China built coal fired power plants as like the US they have an abundance of coal. Unlike the US they do little to control emissions. In Colorado we have the cleanest coal fired power plant in the country. Should the EPA tax coal, they power company will shut it down. Most power companies spend millions every year to control emissions yet the government continues the war on coal.
DeletePerhaps it would be best for the power companies to just turn them off tomorrow and let Americans sweat it out in the dark. Of course the government would blame the power companies not accept the blame for more regulation.
Max, a few points on why you like Obama, thanks.
DeleteNope. I've seen the light TD. And the earth is flat as well.
DeleteLet me see if I have this right.
ReplyDeleteThe President wants action on climate change. The house does not see a problem. The Senate would never pass anything contrary to what the president wants. As the House says no, the Senate does nothing, the president assumes he can do what ever he wants.
Seems the president is circumventing the constitution by executive order. The house files a lawsuit against Obama, he ignores the outcome, i.e. the labor board decision.
Seems like we have an dictator in chief.
"Seems like we have an dictator in chief."
DeleteWe had the same thing under Bush, and when a Republican inevitably wins the white house again, they will do what you are complaining about right now if they face the same situation Obama does.
Fear not though Lou, the voter id laws that Republicans are ramping up will work. Enjoy the outcome when Republicans have complete unchecked power.
Attorney General Eric Holder, a liberal in a hurry, ordered all U.S. attorneys to simply stop charging nonviolent, non-gang-related drug defendants with crimes that, while fitting the offense, carry mandatory sentences. Find some lesser, non-triggering charge. How might you do that? Withhold evidence — e.g., about the amount of dope involved.
DeleteIn other words, evade the law, by deceiving the court if necessary. “If the companies that I represent in federal criminal cases” did that, said former deputy attorney general George Terwilliger, “they could be charged with a felony.”
But such niceties must not stand in the way of an administration’s agenda. Indeed, the very next day, it was revealed that the administration had unilaterally waived Obamacare’s cap on a patient’s annual out-of-pocket expenses — a one-year exemption for selected health insurers that is nowhere permitted in the law. It was simply decreed by an obscure Labor Department regulation.
Laws by executive order. Maybe the laws are broken like the immigrations laws. Then again maybe they just don't like the.
DeleteWhich followed a presidentially directed 70-plus percent subsidy for the insurance premiums paid by congressmen and their personal staffs — under a law that denies subsidies for anyone that well-off.
DeleteWhich came just a month after the administration’s equally lawless suspension of one of the cornerstones of Obamacare: the employer mandate.
Which followed hundreds of Obamacare waivers granted by Health and Human Services secretary Kathleen Sebelius to selected businesses, unions, and other well-lobbied, very special interests.
Nor is this kind of rule-by-decree restricted to health care. In 2012, the immigration service was ordered to cease proceedings against young illegal immigrants brought here as children. Congress had refused to pass such a law (the DREAM Act) just 18 months earlier. Obama himself had repeatedly said that the Constitution forbade him from enacting it without Congress. But with the fast approach of an election that could hinge on the Hispanic vote, Obama did exactly that. Unilaterally.
What’s the point of the whole legislative process — of crafting various provisions through give-and-take negotiation — if you cannot rely on the fixity of the final product, on the assurance that the provisions bargained for by both sides will be carried out?
DeleteYou betcha ...
ReplyDeleteFor your reading pleasure,
Deletehttp://epa.gov/climatechange/pdfs/EPA-climate-change-adaptation-plan-final-for-public-comment-2-7-13.pdf
Cha-ching it as you read it. Talk about far-reaching and expensive . . .
Jean
Bureaucrats now make law. How far we have fallen from the constitution.
Delete"Bureaucrats now make law. How far we have fallen from the constitution."
DeleteNo, they don't make the law and respectfully, the constitution comment is histrionics. I know you have a personal boner with the EPA. I get it. Still, that doesn't make your statement here true. The EPA makes plans, or creates standards. The congress then has the power to fund or to defang them, which they do with regularity. Do you want us to be as lax as China? If you had a lobbyist Lou, you would still be in business with exemptions. THAT is where we have fallen from the constitution. Smaller businesses like yours are held to standards that big business is not. I see that as a bigger problem.
Do you deny the HHS are interpreting and making law as the PPACA was only a framework? Will the IPAB decide what will be cut and who will be paid less? Of course the EPA has it's own deal going. Why is it that every regulation has to be followed with a new bigger more restrictive regulation? Yes, the past air and water regulations were necessary, when is enough?
DeleteCongress no longer makes laws, they produce a framework, Dodd/Frank a perfect example and now the Bureaucrats decide what and how to implement the frame work creating regulations that will govern banking.
"The EPA makes plans, or creates standards."
DeleteThat's an overly simplistic statement, yes, so let me make a simple statement that more accurately reflects the actual process.
Barring gross negligence, it's more like some company is targeted for some political reason or other. The EPA gives them some new pre determined mandate and then suggest a company managed by someone's brother-in-law to consult for them to engineer a resolution on their dime.
The EPA itself only gives you the what, not the how.
I'm at the point where I'm convinced "Climate Change" is about intentional economic destruction. There are no viable replacements proposed. Just remove fossil fuels and, Deus Ex Machina, everyone is happy and heathy?
ReplyDeleteOn a side note, the EPA showed up at my workplace for a suprise impromptu from their haz waste dept. The last time they showed up Clinton was president and we got a consent decree which costed $100s of millions in monitoring equipment which became industry standards. This time, they want cash while there is still a little left for them to get.
Intended destruction. The EPA is a tool for tyrants, not nature.
It certainly is about the further destruction of the US economy. Does anyone think for an instant any business moving it's operations will be not be welcomed with open arms?
DeleteAs I stated before, the electric companies should just turn the coal plants down and let Americans see what their new lives under the EPA will be like.
It's happening here already. All the coal plants in SC will be phased out by (I think it's) 2016.
DeleteWe have 2 new nukes that got permitted several years ago but those are mysteriously way behind schedule now.
Meanwhile, the power companies petition the state for rate hikes seemingly every year now. People are getting what you're talking about, but its a slow frog boil and theyre too dumb to notice.
We are also having similar issues.
DeleteFrom May through October we have a base of 500KW's of elect. After that it's times 2 for usage. 500KW will support an 800 sq. ft. apt with out air.
One neighbor received a 500 dollar electric bill for July.
Ouch.
Electricity rates will necessarily skyrocket....
DeleteDidn't some jackass we know tell us right to our face this would happen?
And we voted for him anyways.....twice!