Consulting by RPM || Free Advice Blog

Having Conquered Health Care, Feds Turn Turret to Energy Sector

Just when you thought we’d escaped New Deal II–“this time, it’s personal”–here’s an announcement today from the EPA:

WASHINGTON – Under a final decision issued today by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) no stationary sources will be required to get Clean Air Act permits that cover greenhouse gases (GHGs) before January 2011. EPA has pledged to take sensible steps to address the billions of tons of greenhouse gas pollution that threaten Americans’ health and welfare, and is providing time for large industrial facilities and state governments to put in place cost-effective, innovative technologies to control and reduce carbon pollution. Today’s announcement is the first step in EPA’s phased in approach to addressing GHG emissions laid out by Administrator Lisa P. Jackson earlier this month.

“This is a common sense plan for phasing in the protections of the Clean Air Act. It gives large facilities the time they need to innovate, governments the time to prepare to cut greenhouse gases and it ensures that we don’t push this problem off to our children and grandchildren,” said EPA Administrator Jackson. “With a clear process in place, it’s now time for American innovators and entrepreneurs to go to work and lead us into the clean energy economy of the future.”

Today’s action determines that Clean Air Act construction and operating permit requirements for the largest emitting facilities will begin when the first national rule controlling GHGs takes effect. If finalized as proposed, the rule limiting GHG emissions for cars and light trucks would trigger these requirements in January 2011 – the earliest model year 2012 vehicles meeting the standards can be sold in the United States. The agency expects to issue final vehicle GHG standards shortly.

EPA has committed to focusing its GHG permitting requirements on the largest sources. The agency will make a decision later this spring on the amount of GHGs facilities can emit before having to include limits for these emissions in their permits.

Somebody explain what the heck happened. After the inauguration, Obama & Friends were going like gangbusters (or -sters). But then I thought we stopped them in the summer with the townhalls. They backed off health care, and they didn’t bring cap & trade to a vote in the Senate.

Then we had ClimateGate, the nothing burger in Copenhagen, and the Scott Brown win that allegedly killed ObamaCare.

So I repeat: Somebody explain what the heck happened. Was this really a nail-biter that we lost at the buzzer, or was the economy toast all along?