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Obama Administration Cheats Virginia Out of Jobs & Americans Out of New Energy Production to Lower Gasoline Prices

March 30, 2012 By Carol Greenberg

Obama Administration Cheats Virginia Out of Jobs & Americans Out of New Energy Production to Lower Gasoline Prices
THEN: President Obama Cancels 2011 VA Offshore Lease Sale
NOW: Boasts About Studying Possible VA Sale After 2018
WASHINGTON, D.C., March 28, 2012 – House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04) released the following statement regarding reports that the Obama Administration will today announce plans for seismic studies for possible future drilling lease sales off Virginia and the Atlantic Coast. President Obama is responsible for delaying and then outright canceling the Virginia lease sale that was scheduled to take place in 2011. Today’s announcement continues the President’s policy of postponing a Virginia lease sale until at least 2018—seven years after it was supposed to happen. According to a study, the Virginia lease sale, which is included in House Republican’s bipartisan energy plan, will create 2,000 jobs and produce 750 million barrels of oil, 6.65 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

“First President Obama cancels offshore drilling leases off Virginia that were to begin in 2011, and now he wants credit for a study to maybe let them start sometime after 2018. The President’s actions have closed an entire new area to drilling on his watch and cheats Virginians out of thousands of jobs. This press conference continues the President’s election-year political ploy of giving speeches and talking about drilling after having spent the first three years in office blocking, delaying and driving up the cost of producing energy in America. As gas prices climb higher and eat away at the pocketbooks of American families, this President is focused on trying to talk his way out of what he’s done, rather than taking real steps to boost American energy production.

“If President Obama truly wanted to support energy production in the Atlantic, he would immediately reinstate the lease sale that he canceled. The fact the President is not announcing that today means he’s more interested in headlines than moving forward with a real plan to develop our American energy resources. While President Obama has no problem taking credit for the successful energy policies of his predecessors, he is stubbornly opposed to creating any successful energy policies of his own.”

Background:

  • The current five-year plan (2007-2012), established by the Bush Administration, included a lease sale (#220) off the Virginia Coast in 2011.
  • In May 2010, the Obama Administration cancelled the Virginia lease sale.
  • Later, the Obama Administration released a draft plan for offshore drilling through 2017. This plan places the entire Pacific Coast, the entire Atlantic Coast, the Eastern Gulf and parts of Alaska off limits to future energy production.
  • This means that the earliest a lease sale could even occur off Virginia is 2018.
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Filed Under Uncategorized Tagged With energy, House Natural Resources Committee, Obama, offshore lease sales, Rep. Doc Hastings, Virginia

RSC’s Questionable Constitution Authority statement of the week

March 30, 2012 By Carol Greenberg

Each week, the RSC, Rep. Jim Jordon (R-OH) Chair, will be highlighting a bill that uses questionable constitutional justification in its authority statement. Please find the bill we highlighted this week below.

· Bill: H.R. 4190, Straw Purchaser Penalty Enhancement Act

· Introduced by: Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-CA)

· Constitutional Authority Statement: “The Straw Purchaser Penalty Enhancement Act is constitutionally authorized under Article I, Section 8, Clause 18, the Necessary and Proper Clause. The Necessary and Proper Clause supports the expansion of congressional authority beyond the explicit authorities that are directly discernible from the text. Additionally, the Preamble to the Constitution provides support of the authority to enact legislation to promote the General Welfare.”

Why this is an inadequate explanation: This statement attempts to justify the legislation through two separate and equally inadequate lines of reasoning. First, it cites the Necessary and Proper Clause, which allows Congress to pass legislation which might be necessary and proper for carrying into execution one of the powers otherwise granted to it by the Constitution. This clause is not in and of itself a power; instead, it modifies one of the foregoing powers granted to the Congress. This clause cannot be cited as a justification alone because it is dependent upon a separate power granted by the Constitution. However, no such separate power is offered.

Second, the statement tries to supplement this argument by suggesting that the “Preamble to the Constitution provides support of the authority to enact legislation to promote the General Welfare,” but this is inaccurate. The Preamble to the Constitution does not legally grant Congress any particular power or support of particular powers; it is instead a broad and general introduction to the Constitution.

How to fix this statement: A better Constitutional Authority Statement would need to explain from where in the Constitution the Congress derives the authority to pass this particular legislation above. It could do so by citing another section of the Constitution which specifically grants Congress a relevant power. At this point the Constitutional Authority Statement could include the “necessary and proper” clause if need be. Ideally such a statement would also be accompanied by at least one sentence of explanation.

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Filed Under Constitutional authority Tagged With Constitution authority, H.R. 4190, Rep. Adam Schiff, Rep. Jim Jordan, Republican Study Committee, RSC, Straw Purchaser Penalty Enhancement Act, U.S. Constitution

AEA launches “Nine Dollar Gas” Ad

March 30, 2012 By Carol Greenberg

March 29, 2012 · No Comments · Press Releases

WASHINGTON D.C. — The American Energy Alliance launched today a multi-million dollar nationwide initiative to educate the public about energy policies that are causing gas prices and other energy costs to skyrocket. The first phase of the initiative includes a 30-second television ad that begins airing this week in eight states across the country.

“The failed policies of the Obama administration are laid bare by the rising cost of energy in America, despite the fact that we have 200 years of domestic oil supply to meet our current needs without imports. For several weeks now, the administration has been on a deceptive energy charade — running from the president’s abysmal record, attempting to take credit for production increases due to Bush and Clinton-era policies, pretending to support fossil fuel development, all the while pushing new laws and regulations that close off American access to the natural resources that drive our economy,” AEA President Thomas Pyle noted.

“We cannot afford these policies any longer, and AEA is committed to telling the truth to the American people about the vast supply of oil resources that are available, but for the Obama administration. This initiative is the first component of our determined effort.”

The eight-state cable and network advertisement is scheduled to run for the next two weeks in New Mexico, Colorado, Nevada, Iowa, Florida, Ohio, Virginia, and Michigan. An initial buy of $2.5 million will be followed by an additional $1.1 million buy to make the largest effort of its kind in AEA’s history. Future phases include radio, Internet, and print media advertising, as well as grass roots education and mobilization efforts to promote free market energy policies.

You can view “Gas Price Myths, Courtesy of the President” here.

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Filed Under gasoline prices Tagged With American Energy Alliance, gasoline prices, Thomas Pyle

Obama escalates his War on Coal with new EPA regs

March 27, 2012 By Carol Greenberg

One of the few promises Obama has kept: he would bankrupt the coal industry. Remember his words below:

“So if somebody wants to build a coal-fired plant they can. It’s just that it will bankrupt them…”

Back in December he and the EPA announced the mega-nuke bomb that would bankrupt the coal industry and the Institute for Energy Research had this to say:

“The utility MACT will increase the cost of electricity for American families, and in some places where coal-fired generation is the prevailing source of power, the prices will necessarily skyrocket just like President Obama promised. It will result in the loss of jobs, both in places where power plants will close and among small businesses that employ more than 60 percent of our workforce.

But Obama must believe coal plants are like cockroaches & can survive a nuclear blast, because it wasn’t enough to simply *bomb the industry,* today he and EPA’s Lisa Jackson announced they intend to bury the industry:

EPA Proposes First Carbon Pollution Standard for Future Power Plants/Achievable standard is in line with investments already being made and will inform the building of new plants moving forward.

So what does this “government double-speak mean”? Funny how bureaucrats can make something so malignant sound so benign.

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.

The CEO of the National Mining Association, Hal Quinn had this to say:

EPA’s proposal for controlling greenhouse gas emissions from about half the nation’s electric power supply is a poorly disguised cap-and-tax scheme that represents energy and economic policy at its worst. Higher utility bills and fewer jobs are the only certain outcomes from this reckless attempt to override Congress’s repeated refusal to enact punitive caps on carbon dioxide emissions.

“Requiring coal-based power plants to meet an emissions standard based on natural gas technology is a policy overtly calculated to destroy a significant portion of America’s electricity supply. This is a movie we have seen before, and the script remains unchanged. Volatile natural gas prices will, once again, expose millions of households to higher utility bills, threaten hundreds of thousands of workers with unemployment and weaken both the competitiveness of basic industries and the reliability of the nation’s electricity grid.

“This proposal is the latest convoy in EPA’s regulatory train wreck that is rolling across America, crushing jobs and arresting our economic recovery at every stop. It is not an “all of the above” energy strategy; it does not create jobs; and it does not make it easier for Americans to pay their mortgages. Instead, the proposed New Source Performance Standards would deliberately push America to abandon coal, its most abundant and reliable energy source in favor of costlier fuels—even though Congress has repeatedly rejected this policy.

“NMA urges Congress to assert its authority over an agency that disregards the public need for affordable electricity and ignores the overwhelming costs of its regulations.”

So let’s take a look at where your electricity comes from. I’m going to pull out a few states from this interactive map from America’s Power and show you the states that rely heavily on coal:

  • Ohio: 82%
  • Indiana: 90%
  • Kentucky: 93%
  • Wyoming: 89%
  • West Virginia: 97%
  • Utah: 81%
  • Missouri: 81%
  • New Mexico: 71%
  • North Dakota: 82%

Let’s hope these states know what to do come November 6.

But all is not lost. EPA Chair Lisa Jackson has provided for a 60 day public comment period.

Crossposted at Unified Patriots

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Filed Under war on coal Tagged With coal, EPA, Lisa Jackson, Obama

EPA gets smack down from federal judge over coal mine decision

March 26, 2012 By Carol Greenberg

Finally, one for our side.

Early last year the EPA revoked a permit for an already-in-use coal mine in West Virginia citing violations of the Clean Air Act and the endangerment of a disgusting little insect known as the mayfly. The decision sent shock waves and fear not only through the coal, oil and natural gas business but business in general. After all, if a company which had already invested $250 million in a project could summarily and with no warning have it shut down by the EPA or another government entity the incentive for investment is gone.

But several days ago Obama’s War on Coal lost a battle when U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson declared Arch Coal’s permit in West Virginia was valid. Jason Bostic, Vice President of the West Virginia Coal Association had this to say:

“The judge accurately equated EPA’s actions to that of a ‘disappointed player’s threat to take his ball and go home when he didn’t get to pitch,’”

Of course environmental groups such as the Sierra Club, Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition and Coal River Mountain Watch are distraught to the point of asking the EPA to appeal the decision. The EPA ruled Arch Coal’s mountain top coal removal process was a danger to the area and would cause environmental damage however the judge felt differently about the permit given to Arch Coal by the Army Corps of Engineers:

“to unilaterally modify or revoke a permit that has been duly issued by the corps” is incorrect and unreasonable, the judge wrote. “This is a stunning power for an agency to arrogate to itself when there is absolutely no mention of it in the statute.”

House Natural Resources Chair Rep. Doc Hastings (R-WA) also applauded the judge’s decision:

“This is a common sense victory of American jobs and American-made energy over the out-of-control job-destroying actions of the Obama EPA. The forcefulness and clarity with which the federal judge beat back this unprecedented abuse by the Obama EPA is warranted considering its shocking attempt to proactively destroy high-paying jobs at a coal mine that had already been officially approved, permitted and underway. President Obama can criss-cross the country making speeches trying to dodge responsibility for rising gasoline and energy costs, but it’s the President’s own policies and agencies that are driving up prices by driving down energy production.”

West Virginia receives 90% of its electricity from coal and is the second largest coal producer in the nation behind Wyoming.

“It is clear that Friday’s decision was a victory, but the bigger fight remains,” said Bill Raney, president of the West Virginia Coal Association. “We have to bring an end, once and for all to the EPA’s regulatory war against the West Virginia’s hard working coal miners. We applaud the decision because it supports our assertion that the EPA is an out-of-control agency single-handedly destroying tens of thousands of jobs across the country and thousands of jobs right here in West Virginia. We hope that Congress, specifically the U.S. Senate, will take note of this decision as well and take action on H.R. 2018, the “Clean Water Cooperative Federalism Act” (co-sponsored by Congressman Rahall and passed by the House in July 2011) to return appropriate balance on EPA’s relationship with other federal agencies.”

Now the folks of the great state of West Virginia can get on with their lives and coal mining jobs will no longer be at a standstill. I applaud this federal judge doing her part to halt the Obama administration’s regulatory onslaught.

Crossposted at Unified Patriots

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Filed Under EPA coal mine permit revocation, war on coal Tagged With Arch Coal, Army Corps of Engineers, Bill Raney, Clean Water Act, coal, EPA, Judge Amy Berman Jackson, Obama, Spruce Mine, West Virginia Coal Association