Green Hell Blog writes: The Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit refused late Friday to stop the EPA’s greenhouse gas rules from going into effect on January 2, 2011. The litigation over the rules will continue, but the court will allow them to go into effect pending the outcome of the litigation.
From WaPo
A U.S. appellate court Friday turned down a request from utilities, oil refiners and the state of Texas to delay the regulation of greenhouse gas emissions by the Environmental Protection Agency.
As a result, the EPA and state agencies can begin to insist that companies use the “best available control technologies” to restrict emissions of carbon dioxide to obtain air permits.
The companies and Texas had sought a court order blocking the EPA from moving ahead until the end of a lawsuit challenging the agency’s finding that greenhouse gas emissions from U.S. power plants and large industrial facilities endanger the health of Americans.
The companies contend in that lawsuit that the EPA regulations would be too costly.
But the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia said that the companies “have not shown that the harms they allege are ‘certain,’ rather than speculative.”
h/t to Green Hell Blog
full story at the WashingtonPost
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Give us a few more years of cold eastern winters and the skepticism of voters where it counts may reach the tipping point. California is leading itself over the cliff. The rest of the country will get to see that self-destruction and learn from it.
Unfortunately, there is some mandatory compliance legislation coming from the feds regarding green energy. The more pain the feds inflict on the people, the stronger the reaction will be when they realize they’ve been duped.
People will get sick of paying 2x, 3x and even higher energy bills. All else being equal, people will push back. The only ‘hope’ for the feds is if joblessness stays high, more of us will be dependent on government programs and forced to support them.
In California, voters still like the nanny state. However, they are selfish little liberals. When the power went out and they became uncomfortable, the Gov. Gray Davis was recalled.
California politicians tried to blame our problems on Enron, but the power shortage was mainly due to their own policies. The CA ISO ensures the utilities are not operating independently. The politicians broke the system on purpose to use non-free market mechanisms in order to shape the system to their liking.
Enron is to blame for other reasons. Notably, Cap-and-Trade. Ken Lay needed a way to make Enron Wind profitable. Texas was suckered. Texans now pay 50% more for power since Texas invested in wind generation and produces more wind power than any other state.
Gov. Jerry Brown set up the Energy Commission around 1975. Since then it has done some good and a lot of damage. People have fought off some of the CECs efforts, like the Programmable Communicating Thermostat requirement (part of Smart Grid) in Title 24 building codes.
The CEC assumes energy consumption is inherently bad. It isn’t. But they need to demonize CO2 to ram through their agenda. It’s all about control. The CEC pays for ‘research’, like climate modeling to justify their regulations. We pay for those studies through a Public Goods Charge on power. It’s like being forced to purchase the rope they will hang you with.
The CEC couldn’t get the job done quickly enough. Looks like Jerry is back to finish off the state. The collapse of California might just save the rest of the country.
I guess that the only way to make certain that future occurrences will happen is to let them happen.
So, if the economy free-falls because of the EPA regulations then the court will be happy to reverse its findings of “speculative” and bring the deceased back to life!
What’s the point of having expert witnesses give their opinion as to any future when you can cite the “not certain but merely speculative” defence if you disagree with their views.
This isn’t law, this is dictatorship!
Seems like what is the rule of thumb here in good ole “fortress Europa”: Why not centralize everything by letting big daddy decide what’s best for everyone?
And people wonder why politicians are scared of direct democracy where apparent big issues for the people are decided directly by the people on any given issue on any given day. Of course in practice this would just mean going back to the good old days, so to speak, when the majority of local governments actually still had a say.
But the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia said that the companies “have not shown that the harms they allege are ‘certain,’ rather than speculative.”
Well then, has the EPA shown that the harms they allege are ‘certain,’ rather than speculative?
Just wondering.
Dave in Canmore says:
January 31, 2011 at 4:10 pm
Regardless of what side of the science debate this judge may be on, it seems totally impossible to not see the “harms they allege.” In the meantime, Canadians will gladly sell you some extra electricity if regulations stall new power projects in the US.
Sell? HA! More like we’ll pay them to take it! Over the new year Ontario Power Generation paid Quebec and New York $1.5 million for our excess power. That’s right, we paid them to use our power. What a country!
Hoser says:
January 31, 2011 at 4:57 pm
People will get sick of paying 2x, 3x and even higher energy bills.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
It has gone beyond than that. I work at a small electric utility. My job there is to implement “smart grid” technology. The cost of electricity has steadily risen since I’ve started work there, 5 years ago. We’re small, so on occasion, to help out, I’ll answer the ‘phones. Today, was one such day. I received a call from a confused elderly lady. She had failed to pay a bill last billing cycle and incurred a late fee. She paid it the other day, only to receive an overdue notice(and the accompanying late fee) for the current billing cycle. She didn’t understand how she could be paid up a few days ago, only to be overdue today. She didn’t understand why the cost keeps going up. By the crack in her voice, she did understand her choices. Tomorrow is forecast for a blizzard in this area. The next day the temps are suppose to get down to -10 F (-23 C). She paid the bill with a credit card. I know this lady. She is the wife of a retired preacher. His last church usually had the attendance of about 20, man, woman, and child. They’ve no money.
Beer just isn’t cutting it, tonight. They wonder why vitriol is interjected in the conversation? They are forcing choices that should never have to be made. Bastards.
Did anyone notice that on or about December 27, 2010, the Obama regime overturned the 1993 Bush limitations on the BLM. The BLM now has full jurisdiction on who can and can’t use the public lands they administer right down to who gets to ride/bike/hike/boat or anything else on public land. So EPA regulates the air you breath and BLM regulates everything else. Welcome to Obamaland. Can’t ride a horse on public land without a permit now. Great.
What would be exciting would be if the electricty and gas companies, on mass, just said “f… you”. Would the EPA have the balls to shut them all down ?
Larry:
“I agree zeroing out the EPA budget should be the first order of business in the efforts to cut the federal budget. It should be easy to show they are “non-essential workers” and provide no beneficial service to the people, and are in fact parasites that suck the life out of our economy.”
Look, I’m damn conservative, but you are going WAY too far here. EPA has done a LOT of good, but they have picked all the low-hanging fruit and are now getting stoooopid, in the never-ending saga of organizations trying to perpetuate and enhance themselves. They are now screwing around with issues that have a cost/benefit ratio that is infinitely large. Congress should simply freeze their budget at 2000 levels. If they take a sufficiently large hit, the employees will actually have to do something besides manage consultants!
Some things you can count on from Leftists-Liberals-Dems:
1. Overreach. Including Obamacare, the EPA CO2 endangerment ruling, and others.
2. A Tin Ear for the Public: Including failure to see that the public hates Obamacare and the failure to recognize public pain such as increasing energy costs and promises of huge increases for the non-reason of fighting climate change.
3. Lawyering: Going for the cheap and dirty win rather than well-considered laws that most can embrace.
Please add your own.
jae says:
January 31, 2011 at 6:15 pm
Larry:
“Look, I’m damn conservative, but you are going WAY too far here. EPA has done a LOT of good, but they have picked all the low-hanging fruit and are now getting stoooopid, in the never-ending saga of organizations trying to perpetuate and enhance themselves. They are now screwing around with issues that have a cost/benefit ratio that is infinitely large.”
That was then, this is now. Now EPA is run by “take no prisoners” Lisa Jackson who has not one clue about energy but is totally sensitive to the demands of Big Environment. The only way Republicans can leave EPA standing is to replace Lisa.
Andy G says:
January 31, 2011 at 5:58 pm
That would be something to see Andy.
And this is one of the major reasons I have turned my back on my life-long association with the Democratic Party (and I wasn’t just a borderline liberal, I was all the way left). The appointment of liberal judges lasts much longer than a presidential term. The damage is done and will hound our recovery for many, many years. I will never vote the Democratic ticket ever again. I only wish I had come to my senses before now.
What happens if Texas just refuses to go along? Would the Nat’l Guard ring the border looking outward? America has more to lose by excluding Texas than Texas does by losing America, in my opinion. Would the EPA start injunctions against any companies doing business with Texas companies? What if several other energy producing states sided with Texas and told the EPA to hang it in their ear? If the EPA lost the support of the governed could their whole house of cards come crashing down?
People who live in central Texas say that the nice thing about living there is the neighboring states; North Texas, South Texas, East Texas and West Texas. Don’t get me wrong, I am not from Texas. But I am a contrarian (that is why I am on this site) and it really waters me off when wrong-headed ideas are are able to be crammed down the throats of people who really do know better than the pointy-headed elitists who instill the rules to begin with. I am really hoping that Gov. Perry sticks to his guns and we end up with a constitutional crisis. It is time that some sanity prevails and we, as Americans, stop the self-immolation.
Here, this was just announced:
http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/jan2011/2011-01-31-091.html
Folks, this is some high-stakes poker! USEPA will use both the Clean Air AND Clean Water Acts in this fight, & they have a Supreme Court judgement on their side.
Interestingly, the power industry as a whole isn’t fighting this very hard. Oil & Gas are, however. Follow the money.
Andy G says:
January 31, 2011 at 5:58 pm
What would be exciting would be if the electricty and gas companies, on mass, just said “f… you”. Would the EPA have the balls to shut them all down ?
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The big suppliers and generators have positioned themselves to spot where they advocate the actions of the EPA…………..
http://www.alstom.com/
http://www.duke-energy.com/
http://www.exeloncorp.com/
http://www.nexteraenergy.com/
http://www.nrgenergy.com/
http://www.pgecorp.com/
http://www.pnmresources.com/
All power companies. In partnership with other major global market players, they’ve come up with a position statement in regards to “climate change”.
This is their quote, “Welcome to the U.S. Climate Action Partnership (USCAP) Web Site
United States Climate Action Partnership (USCAP) is a group of businesses and leading environmental organizations that have come together to call on the federal government to quickly enact strong national legislation to require significant reductions of greenhouse gas emissions. USCAP has issued a landmark set of principles and recommendations to underscore the urgent need for a policy framework on climate change.”
http://www.us-cap.org/
The operative word there is “has”, they solved most of the problems they were created to attack and are like any organism looking for some other means to grow and gain power and influence.
Large bureaucracies always take on that “feed me!” approach when they run out of real problems to deal with.
They always have three prime directives.
1. survive at all costs
2. gain power and influence
3. grow if possible
The only way to control them is the same way your control your rose bushes, prune them back HARD and let them grow back.
Larry
Civil war somebody said? The officer core is mostly from the South and the Midwest. It would be a short war.
“corp” not “core”
Obama’s finger prints alone are on this one. Gasoline prices are already on the way up. Wait until this hits. He will try to shift the blame for higher energy costs but it will all be at his feet.
Is the Admin. and the EPA really that stupid?
Maybe so. I see a tangle of soaring prices and failed deliveries.
Think about it. Last time oil topped out, the consumer economy nearly shut down.
Now, with oil prices soaring due to the Egypt Panic, the Admin. wants to dump on the energy sector. Brilliant.
Only this time, the oil companies won’t be the bad guys, the Executive Branch and assorted minions will be.
This is scarier than a Doomsday novel, because they really do mean to go through with it.
I just wrote to Sen Barrasso (my Senator) and thanked him for the bill and all his hard work in the Senate. He has represented me exactly as I wish since he has been in office.
Wyoming ships about 400 million tons of coal annually, primarily to midwestern utilities. It is very clean, low ash low sulfur coal. Most utilities keep only a few weeks of coal reserved on their stockpiles. Should Wyoming and Texas jointly tell the EPA to hang it in their ear and Wyoming stop shipping coal to the midwest, how long would it take the midwest and east to brown out and black out from utilities shutting down? You can not make up 400 million tons from all the other producers in the U.S. Were Wyoming a country all its own it would be the fifth largest coal producing country in the world. I for one am damn proud of it!
Earth First! We’ll mine the rest later!
Even Obama’s foreign policies boost oil prices
And the push for bio fuels from Obama and the EU pushes food prices.
This is the core cause for the riots in Egypt.
As a next step Obama and the EU have turned their back’s on Mubarak practically eliminating the peace treaty with Israel and jeopardizing the control over one of the biggest and best equipped army’s in the M.E., thus further increasing M.E tensions resulting in a further rise of the oil price.
The UN, US and EU are run by crooks and a traitors.
“The Barrosso bill would repeal the endangerment finding, overriding the Supreme Court’s decision in Massachusetts v. EPA. The bill would bar the President and federal agencies from using the science, published by the National Academy of Sciences and others, on which the endangerment finding is based for policy, guidance, or regulations.”
Good luck with all of THAT!!
In British Columbia the government is following along with everything California is doing. Carbon tax, eletcricity rates increases big time to pay huge costly contracts to Independent Power producers and windpower. If you look into these companies they are run by friends of provincial government and ex managers of the electrical utility. The media for the most part overlook this as they are also in the pocket of the government.