THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Volume XIV, Issue # 30, February 11, 2012
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Government Committed to & Acting in Accord with Conservative Principles
Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity
AMERICA'S GREEN ENEMIES
By Alan Caruba
THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A NATION WITH A GROWING POPULATION & INCREASING NEED FOR ELECTRICITY TO POWER HOMES & BUSINESSES --
U.S. GOVERNMENT ENERGY & ENVIRONMERNTAL POLICY -- THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY AS A MAJOR OBSTACLE TO PROVIDING AMERICA WITH
THE ENERGY IT NEEDS -- THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION & ITS DRIVE TO CLOSE COAL-FIRED ELECTRICITY-GENERATING PLANTS ALL OVER THE COUNTRY -- THE
ENVIRONMENTALIST MOVEMENT & ITS PROPAGANDA ATTACK ON EXTRACTION & USE OF NATURAL GAS IN THE U.S.A. -- ENVIRONMENTALIST PROPAGANDA
AS AN ATTACK ON AMERICAN ENERGY &, ULTIMATELY, ON AMERICA
FULL STORY:
It was good news that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission approved the nation’s first nuclear power plants on February 9, 2012, clearing the way for the construction
of two reactors by Southern Company at its Plant Vogtle site near Atlanta, Georgia. The bad news is that these are the first new nuclear power plants since 1978!
In a nation with a growing population and increasing need for electricity to power homes and businesses, it is nothing less than insane to not include nuclear energy
in the mix of providers. Environmentalists immediately attacked the announcement using the usual scare campaigns.
Equally insane is the failure to provide the means to safely store the radioactive materials that result. Highly contested by environmentalists, the Nevada-based Yucca
Mountain deep geological repository storage facility for spent reactor fuel was cancelled in 2009. Nevada’s U.S. Senator Harry Reid, Majority Leader in the U.S.
Senate, played a major role in this disgraceful decision. The Obama administration terminated funding for the development of the site in 2011, leaving the nation with
no longterm storage site.
In a similar fashion, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has waged a long war on the provision of energy; most recently with the imposition of its Utility MACT
rule on plant carbon dioxide (CO2) and mercury emissions, neither of which pose any threat. Senator James Inhofe (Republican - Oklahoma), Ranking Minority Member
of the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, decried the rule as one “intended to undermine the viability of coal, one of our country’s most
abundant and reliable energy sources.”
Despite having spent billions to meet the demand for upgrades of the technology to trap such emissions, coal-fired power plants all over the nation are in the process
of being closed as a result of the MACT rule. These “greenhouse gas” rules are baseless, insofar as CO2 is not a pollutant and is vital to the growth of all vegetation
on the planet. There is no proof that minor mercury emissions represent any threat to public health.
The EPA use of bogus “computer models” to support wild health claims argues for an end to this agency and the return of its responsibilities to state environmental
agencies.
In January, 2012, the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), the leading authority, warned that “environmental regulations are shown to be the
number one risk to reliability over the next one to five years.”
The Institute for Energy Research has stated that “Beyond the 38 gigawatts of electricity capacity that has already been announced to retire, NERC estimates that
another 36 to 59 gigawatts of capacity will come off-line by 2018, depending on the ‘scope and timing’ of EPA regulations. Together, nearly a quarter of our coal-fired
capacity could be off-line by 2018, marking the first time in energy history that installed coal-fired capacity has declined.”
This is a threat to the viability and security of a nation that sits atop the largest deposits of coal in the world! It is a nation in which coal provides 50% of its electricity.
In a similar fashion, environmentalists, after a long propaganda war against coal, have launched an equally massive campaign against natural gas, attacking the use of
“fracking,” a technology that has been safely used for the last fifty years or more to access equally vast reserves of natural gas.
Likewise, the cost of automobiles has been systematically driven up by the wholly false EPA assertion that their CO2 emissions represent a threat to clean air. The
imposition of a mandate to mix gasoline with ethanol has resulted in greater CO2 emissions, while, at the same time, reducing the mileage of cars. In addition, the use
of food crops like corn for the production of ethanol, have driven up food prices.
Anyone who has lost electricity due to a blizzard or a hurricane knows how totally dependent the nation is on reliable and affordable electricity, and knows how totally
dependent the people are on its provision.
The simple fact is that the present and prior administration’s EPA, the U.S. Department of Transportation, and others have been lying to Congress and the American
public for years regarding their claims about air pollution and energy provision. The U.S. Interior Department just put uranium-rich acres of land off-limits to mining.
Environmentalist organizations and special interest groups like the American Lung Association are a fifth column of enemies within the nation.
The global warming hoax — now called climate change — is on its last legs. Nations around the world that have wasted billions on the claims made for “renewable”
energy, i.e., solar and wind power, are pulling back from further support. The “science” behind these claims has been totally and utterly refuted.
Even the United Nations, the source of the global warming hoax, is now switching its debased claims to a new hoax based on socalled "endangered species."
The loss of tens of thousands of jobs in the energy and transportation sectors, as well as energy-intensive industries, is incalculable. EPA demands and mandates are
deliberately undermining the nation’s economy.
The lives and safety of Americans are under attack by environmentalist organizations, and, if they are successful, the only outcome would be the deaths of millions
here and around the world from hunger and the lack of power to turn on the lights, heat and cool homes, and power industries.
The planet is not running out of oil, coal, or natural gas. It can use more nuclear power, not less.
We are witnessing an environmentalist attack on American energy and, ultimately, on America.
© Alan Caruba, 2012
LINKS TO RELATED TOPICS:
Political Environmentalism Versus Human Progress & Prosperity:
Policy Issues Relating to Energy, Environment,
& Natural Resources
Alan Caruba's commentaries are posted daily at Warning Signs, his popular blog -- and thereafter on dozens of other
websites and blogs. His monthly report on new books is posted at Bookviews.
A business and science writer, Caruba is the Founder of The National Anxiety Center, a clearinghouse for information
about "scare campaigns" designed to influence public opinion and policy.
Return to Top of Page
Go to the WEBSITE INDEX
Return to Beginning of
THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA,
Public Issues & Political Controversies
Return to Beginning of
THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
Most Recent Articles
Return to Beginning of
THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA,
Volume XIV, 2011
Return to Beginning of
THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA,
Subject Matter Highlights
Return to POLITICAL EDUCATION Homepage
CONTACT & ACCESS INFORMATION
This is not a commercial website. The sole purpose of the website is to share with interested persons information regarding civics,
civic and social education, political science, government, politics, law, constitutional law and history, public policy and political
philosophy and history, as well as current and recent political developments, public issues, and political controversies.
POLITICAL EDUCATION, CONSERVATIVE ANALYSIS
POLITICS, SOCIETY, & THE SOVEREIGN STATE
Website of Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr.
Government, Politics, Public Policy, Legal Issues, Constitutional Law, Government & the Economy, Cultural Values, Foreign Affairs,
International Relations, Military Defense & National Security, Geopolitics, Terrorism & Homeland Security, American National Interests,
Political Systems & Processes, Political Institutions, Political Ideologies, & Political Philosophy
INDEX FOR THE ENTIRE WEBSITE
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z
THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Conservative & Free-Market Analysis of Government, Politics & Public Policy, Covering Political, Legal, Constitutional, Economic,
Cultural, Military, International, Strategic, & Geopolitical Issues
Conservative Government Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity