“The President used to say the right things about coal, now millions of Americans need him to do the right things about coal,” said Evan Tracey, Senior Vice President, Communications of ACCCE.  “Democrats and Republicans should agree that coal is critical to keeping electricity affordable and reliable.”

The video spotlights speeches from the 2008 campaign in which then-Senators Barack Obama and Joe Biden spoke of the importance of clean coal.  It then takes a brief look at the impact of recent EPA regulations that will shutter coal-fueled power plants and destroy American jobs.  The video concludes with the recent news that the Obama campaign updated their website to include “clean coal” in their energy strategy after criticism from lawmakers.

The video can be viewed online at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gt2rUgxzXwE&feature=youtu.be

But now, things are changing.

Last week, President Obama “set a 10-year goal to develop and deploy cost-effective clean coal technology.” And, a page on the president’s campaign website now lists “clean coal” as a piece of the American energy portfolio.

We’ve seen this before. During the 2008 election, Obama embraced coal, saying that America should “invest in renewable sources of energy and in clean coal technology.” But as president, his EPA has released regulations that hurt clean coal and stifle our country’s ability to use this natural resource.

Will he change his stance again? If President Obama is reelected, it will be essential for him to fulfill his campaign promises. The EPA must be reigned in and stopped from issuing job-destroying regulations.

It’s time for the president to understand that now is not the time to stop innovation, slow job growth or take measures that could raise electricity prices. Whoever is elected this November, the next president needs to embrace and utilize this country’s most abundant natural resource to produce baseload electricity—coal.

“We’re glad the Obama campaign finally included clean coal in its ‘all of the above’ energy strategy, but the President’s commitment to coal needs to be more than just a talking point.   The President’s EPA is using expensive and heavy handed regulations to regulate coal out of existence in America, making low cost and reliable electricity less certain in the future. We hope the President will reconsider these rules that only serve to make energy more expensive and destroy American jobs.”

Obama/Biden Campaign Energy Page, May 3, 2012:

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=cache:http://www.barackobama.com/energy-info

Obama/Biden Campaign’s Energy Page, May 11, 2012:

http://www.barackobama.com/energy-info

But it does not have to happen.

If left to the devices of the Obama Administration, EPA would lay the most expensive regulations ever imposed on utilities using coal—causing rates to potentially rise, hurting small businesses and families depending on affordable electricity.  When we’re struggling to regain our economic footing, unnecessarily raising what Americans pay for electricity is destructively bad policy.  As it stands already, states not using coal for a dominant share of their electricity generation pay higher rates than those relying substantially on coal.

Is this really the policy his Administration wants to pursue?  Candidate Obama frequently said that spreading the deployment of clean coal technology was a national imperative, but President Obama has allowed his EPA to push regulations that make it impossible to build new, advanced technology coal plants in America.  And what is worse, this does not have to happen.

Global consumption of coal for electricity is growing dramatically.  We hear elected and appointed leaders cite energy independence as a national goal, but if we effectively remove coal from the mix—despite America having centuries of reserves under our feet—we will not achieve that milestone.  Rather, we’ll cede the competitive advantage to other countries who will continue to build their economies on electricity from coal.  In the meantime, American businesses and families will be forced to pay significantly more for electricity in this new reality.

With leadership from Congress, there is an opportunity to fix one of the most destructive regulations.   Congress can vote to disapprove and nullify the Utility MACT Rule, a regulation that threatens to cause some of the problems laid out in the Bloomberg Government report.  The resolution of disapproval, along with any legal action, would be the only recourse for reversing this destructive and heavy-handed policy from going into effect.  At this time, it appears that the resolution will come before the full Senate for a vote in mid-June and, under Senate rules, only 51 votes are needed for passage.

You see, it doesn’t have to happen, and with leadership in Congress, we can see that it doesn’t happen.

Today, President Obama is speaking in New York about the importance of manufacturing in America. But new EPA regulations are threatening to compromise this affordable, reliable source of energy. Just last week, the National Association of Manufacturers said the following about EPA regulations:

…[H]igh costs placed on utilities will do far more harm than good. There will be substantial job losses in the utility and coals sectors. There will be a significant ripple effect as communities lose jobs and as electricity prices increase by double digits.

Coal helps keep American manufacturing competitive on a global scale. As NAM notes, EPA regulations threaten our standing globally:

Manufactures will not be able to compete in the global economy because of high energy prices… As these new regulations are implemented, those costs will go up significantly.

We need to provide manufacturers with affordable, domestic energy. Now is the time for coal in America.

In fact, Ohio gets nearly 78 percent of its electricity from coal-fueled plants, and Virginia gets more than 30 percent. Both enjoy below-average electricity rates compared to states that use less coal, which their governors know helps attract the businesses and people needed to grow their economies. Here’s what Ohio Governor John Kasich had to say about the future of coal in his state:

We are going to continue to work on cleaning coal, but I want to tell you, we are going to dig it, we are going to clean it, and we are going to burn it in Ohio, and we are not going to apologize for it.

But costly EPA regulations will hamstring the growth that these states want and need. The EPA has been so aggressive, that some, including the Washington Post, say the agency and President Obama are overstepping their regulatory boundaries:

The lesson for Ms. Jackson and her boss, President Obama… is clear: The agency’s officers must have a clear sense when to deploy its mighty power and when to exercise discretion. That’s true for the sake of the economy and to ensure that the EPA will be able to continue its necessary work for years to come.

As Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell writes, “When President Obama endorsed an ‘all of the above’ energy strategy in this year’s State of the Union address, he gave the impression that he was finally adopting an aggressive policy. Unfortunately, the president’s words are worlds apart from his actions…”

We’ll be listening to what the president has to say this weekend, and we hope you do, too. With more than half of U.S. households paying 20 percent of their families budgets on energy costs, now is the time to stop restraining growth, and unleash the power of America’s abundant coal resources.

Recent EPA regulations are threatening this though, as new rules target both future and existing coal-fueled power plants.

As former Missouri Senator Kit Bond said recently, the EPA’s new greenhouse gas rule will hinder those who depend on affordable electricity.

Unfortunately, this is just the latest of the EPA’s swath of regulations aimed at the heart of our energy future, which will increase families’ energy costs — forcing them to choose between paying their air-conditioning bill and saving for their kids’ college or investing in their retirement.

With more than half of U.S. households now devoting more than 20 percent of their family budget toward energy costs, higher rates are something many Americans cannot afford.

Bond adds:

It’s essential that elected representatives listen to the American people who no longer want unelected bureaucrats such as those at the EPA imposing onerous new regulations that block or reduce the production of domestic energy sources.

Help spread the word about our fight for affordable electricity.

]]> http://behindtheplug.americaspower.org/2012/05/sen-kit-bond-regulations-will-hurt-ratepayers.html/feed 0 http://behindtheplug.americaspower.org/2012/05/juggling-your-own-business-bills-and-home-life-marias-place.html http://behindtheplug.americaspower.org/2012/05/juggling-your-own-business-bills-and-home-life-marias-place.html#comments Tue, 01 May 2012 13:49:41 +0000 Steve Gates http://behindtheplug.americaspower.org/?p=2986 Meet Maria Tworek.  Maria unlocks the door every morning to the Brass Monkey Sports Bar—a family owned business in Omaha, Nebraska.

As you’ll hear from most restaurateurs and bar-owners, electricity costs consume a large and growing portion of already tight operating budgets. Running multiple coolers and refrigerators to keep her customers’ favorite brews ice cold, Maria’s small business couldn’t stay afloat without affordable, reliable electricity. For Nebraska, and much of the U.S., that means coal.

On average, states with more coal-fueled electricity have lower electricity rates.  Thankfully for Maria, Nebraska gets 71 percent of its electricity from coal. But an unexpected rate increase could mean Maria has to pass costs onto her customers.  To stay within budget, she depends on bills and expenses staying consistent from month to month. And Maria isn’t alone for worrying—nearly one-third of Americans spend 25 to 78 percent of their net income on energy bills.

“There are solutions out there,” says Maria. “They’re just not being taken care of. Something needs to be done and something needs to be done fairly quickly.”

She’s right. It’s time for America’s Power.

America is home to an abundance of domestic energy resources—including coal reserves that exceed that of any other country. As Steve says, President Obama “has the right rhetoric” about energy policy, but when listing energy sources, he regrettably continues to exclude coal.

Visit the America’s Power Facebook Page to learn how clean coal fuels our country and drives our economy.

Not only that, clean coal technology is providing thousands of jobs across the country. Just take a look at the John W. Turk, Jr. Plant, currently under construction. Upon its completion, it’s estimated that the plant will have supported at least 1,500 construction jobs. When the plant comes online, it will provide stable, affordable power to more than 500,000 residents of Arkansas and Louisiana—while being one of the cleanest, most efficient coal-fueled plants in the country.

Check out the video below to learn more about how clean coal technology works, and keep up to date with the Turk Plant here.