Hey, guess who just saved you from the global warming you don’t believe in anymore, if you ever did?
The Environmental Protection Agency will issue the first limits on greenhouse gas emissions from new power plants as early as Tuesday, according to several people briefed on the proposal. The move could end the construction of conventional coal-fired facilities in the United States.
The proposed rule — years in the making and approved by the White House after months of review — will require any new power plant to emit no more than 1,000 pounds of carbon dioxide per megawatt of electricity produced. The average U.S. natural gas plant, which emits 800 to 850 pounds of CO2 per megawatt, meets that standard; coal plants emit an average of 1,768 pounds of carbon dioxide per megawatt…
National Mining Association spokesman Luke Popovich said the proposal shows that Obama is following through on his pledge to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through means other than legislation.
“After Congress refused to pass carbon caps, the administration insisted there were other ways to skin the cat, and this is another way — by setting a standard deliberately calculated to drive affordable coal out of the electricity market,” Popovich said.
So maybe it’s a good thing that nobody’s buying electric cars. They won’t be able to afford to charge them anyway. But hey, this was the plan all along:
Fewer jobs. Higher prices. Whether Congress likes it or not. Obama 2012.
(Hat tip: Ace of Spades)
P.S. More great news from unicorn-strewn Utopia: GM is replacing almost all Chevy Volt power cords.