E.PA. turns on the cities – storm water tax coming our way

I am amazed that there has been little attention given to the massive over reach of the EPA into our lives by the GOP campaign.References to energy but few concrete examples that folks can wrap their mind around. Gas prices through the roof, and yet no outrage. We hear that there are massive regs coming down right after the election, but here is a story going down as we wait the outcome of our election. This has to be the most sinister part of Obama’s agenda. While we all know that most cities are on their last legs, this will cut the last vestige of hope of any recovery. Unfortunately, one has to pay for the full story at the WSJ, but enough is here to get the gist. I would be interested in which cities are on their agenda.

The Wall Street Journal reports:

Behold the Obama Administration’s new public works plan. Sue cities for polluting waterways and then as part of a settlement require them to spend, er, “invest” billions in extraneous sewer improvements. The White House doesn’t even need legislation to pour this money down the drain. The Justice Department and Environmental Protection Agency have taken enforcement actions against 25 cities over the last four years for allegedly violating the Clean Water Act, and there are another 772 on their list. In addition to imposing millions of dollars in penalties, the feds have forced these cities into consent decrees that will cost their local taxpayers $21 billion. The decrees spell out in detail what capital upgrades they must undertake—everything down to the size of their pipes. The EPA says this extraordinary intrusion on local sovereignty is justified because cities are discharging waste into waterways during heavy rains. Many older wastewater systems include a safety valve that releases untreated stormwater and sewage into lakes and rivers when underground tunnels are flooded. This is to prevent waste from backing up in basements. The EPA has ordered cities to limit such wet weather overflows to four per year, regardless of how much rain they receive or how little muck they discharge. Many cities have already taken concrete steps to reduce such overflows by developing “green infrastructure” (i.e., permeable pavements, rain gardens, catch-basins) that soaks up and diverts stormwater. Such solutions are easier and less expensive to implement than reconstructing their underground systems as the EPA wants them to do.

H/T: News Alert

Chilling Dinner Table ad – more to come from Obama

Two posts today, This one goes well together. DOE delays decision on Natural Gas export license. This is exactly what will happen to those who work in the Nat Gas field.

 

Obama Cuts Off Drilling in Half of Alaska’s National Petroleum Reserve

Why we are just hearing about this now, is unbelievable. Why the GOP is not out there beating on this is unbelievable as well. Obama’s intentions are clear. He wanted energy prices to skyrocket, he said so. He wanted to end Coal, and he is doing it.  He has plans in place after the election to shut down much of the fracking for natural gas as he can via the EPA. Laying in wait, Salazar has plans to lease Federal Lands to “green” companies to remove any chance of future drilling for gas, coal or oil. What is it the American People are not getting? Here we go:

Gateway Pundit:

Gas prices have more than doubled since Barack Obama took over the White House.
But that didn’t stop him from cutting off drilling in August in half of Alaska’s National Petroleum Reserve.

The Wall Street Journal reported, via FOX Nation:

President Obama is campaigning as a champion of the oil and gas boom he’s had nothing to do with, and even as his regulators try to stifle it. The latest example is the Interior Department’s little-noticed August decision to close off from drilling nearly half of the 23.5 million acre National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska.

The area is called the National Petroleum Reserve because in 1976 Congress designated it as a strategic oil and natural gas stockpile to meet the “energy needs of the nation.” Alaska favors exploration in nearly the entire reserve. The feds had been reviewing four potential development plans, and the state of Alaska had strongly objected to the most restrictive of the four. Sure enough, that was the plan Interior chose.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar says his plan “will help the industry bring energy safely to market from this remote location, while also protecting wildlife and subsistence rights of Alaska Natives.” He added that the proposal will expand “safe and responsible oil and gas development, and builds on our efforts to help companies develop the infrastructure that’s needed to bring supplies online.”

The problem is almost no one in the energy industry and few in Alaska agree with him. In an August 22 letter to Mr. Salazar, the entire Alaska delegation in Congress—Senators Mark Begich and Lisa Murkowski and Representative Don Young—call it “the largest wholesale land withdrawal and blocking of access to an energy resource by the federal government in decades.” This decision, they add, “will cause serious harm to the economy and energy security of the United States, as well as to the state of Alaska.” Mr. Begich is a Democrat.

The letter also says the ruling “will significantly limit options for a pipeline” through the reserve.

Obama’s Thursday Energy Executive Order will cost us Billions

Another executive fiat. Since this is the usual end of the week news dump, and while our attention is elsewhere, let us see what our “King Dictator” has been up to. This will insure that our costs will surely skyrocket. It will cost billions for the companies  to upgrade their infrastructure. So apparently he is moving on to handing out billions of our money to his new adventure. He tauts this as a “jobs creator” Since Obama cannot get his cap-and-trade, climate change legislation passed through congress, he does it the dictatorial way. Of course, the GOPers and the media are silent. I found this report from a “Progressive” blog.

BYPASSING GRIDLOCK

The Obama administration has been unable to get Congress to pass comprehensive energy and climate legislation that would set a price on carbon pollution and stimulate investment in renewable energy and CHP.

The administration has focused instead on devising direct regulations through cabinet agencies to help the U.S. meet the president’s goal to cut greenhouse gas emissions 17 percent below 2005 levels by 2020.

Thursday’s executive order came just two days after the White House finalized a rule – developed with U.S. automakers – that would double fuel efficiency standards for automobiles and light trucks to 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025.

The EPA said the car efficiency standards will be the most effective domestic policy in place to curb greenhouse gas emissions, cutting as much as 6 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent by 2025. Reuters

First, the Executive Order:

We can’t wait…

President Obama is smart enough to know that we can dramatically lower our dependence on foreign fossil fuels through energy efficiency and conservation. Yesterday, he signed an Executive Order intended to further that process by accelerating investments in industrial energy efficiency.

From the White House press release:

Today, President Obama signed an Executive Order to facilitate investments in industrial energy efficiency that will strengthen American manufacturing and help create jobs. These efforts to boost industrial energy efficiency, including combined heat and power systems, can save manufacturers as much as $100 billion in energy costs over the next decade, improving their bottom lines and strengthening U.S. manufacturing competitiveness. These types of efficiency measures will reduce energy consumption and reduce harmful emissions. {…} Today’s Order also establishes a new national goal of 40 gigawatts of new combined heat and power capacity by 2020, a 50% increase from today. Meeting this goal would save energy users $10 billion per year, result in $40 to $80 billion in new capital investment in manufacturing and other facilities that would create American jobs, and would reduce emissions equivalent to 25 million cars.

This is a smart initiative, one that will take our country FORWARD. It’s in sharp contrast to the Republicans’ “drill, baby, drill” mantra.

Here’s the relevant bit from the Executive Order (read the entire thing HERE [pdf]):

The Departments of Energy, Commerce, and Agriculture, and the Environmental Protection Agency, in coordination with the National Economic Council, the Domestic Policy Council, the Council on Environmental Quality, and the Office of Science and Technology Policy, shall coordinate policies to encourage investment in industrial efficiency in order to reduce costs for industrial users, improve U.S. competitiveness, create jobs, and reduce harmful air pollution. In doing so, they shall engage States, industrial companies, utility companies, and other stakeholders to accelerate this investment. Specifically, these agencies shall, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law: 

(a) coordinate and strongly encourage efforts to achieve a national goal of deploying 40 gigawatts of new, cost-effective industrial CHP [combined heat and power] in the United States by the end of 2020;

(b) convene stakeholders, through a series of public workshops, to develop and encourage the use of best practice State policies and investment models that address the multiple barriers to investment in industrial energy efficiency and CHP;

(c) utilize their respective relevant authorities and resources to encourage investment in industrial energy efficiency and CHP, such as by:

• providing assistance to States on accounting for the potential emission reduction benefits of CHP and other energy efficiency policies when developing State Implementation Plans (SIPs) to achieve national ambient air quality standards;
• providing incentives for the deployment of CHP and other types of clean energy, such as set-asides under emissions allowance trading program state implementation plans, grants, and loans;
• employing output-based approaches as compliance options in power and industrial sector regulations, as appropriate, to recognize the emissions benefits of highly efficient energy generation technologies like CHP; and
• seeking to expand participation in and create additional tools to support the Better Buildings, Better Plants program at the Department of Energy, which is working with companies to help them achieve a goal of reducing energy intensity by 25 percent over 10 years, as well as utilizing existing partnership programs to support energy efficiency and CHP

(d) support and encourage efforts to accelerate investment in industrial energy efficiency and CHP by:

• providing general guidance, technical analysis and information, and financial analysis on the value of investment in industrial energy efficiency and CHP to States, utilities, and owners and operators of industrial facilities;
• improving the usefulness of Federal data collection and analysis; and
• assisting States in developing and implementing State-specific best practice policies that can accelerate investment in industrial energy efficiency and CHP.

In implementing this section, these agencies should consult with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, as appropriate.

H/TLEclectablog

Lisa Jackson’s EPA puts $220 Billion of investments at risk

Having just concluded a mini-vacation which ended up costing me more is filling my gas tank than the vacation itself, I wonder to myself, are we just sheep? Where is the outrage? We all lined up like good foot soldiers at the gas pumps, no complaining, but I did leave a package label titled “Thanks Obama”. I encourage everyone to print up a bunch, and the next time you fill up, leave a label.  So Lisa Jackson continues unabated. Right in Sarah’s home turf. Hey, Mitt, how about letting us hear from the gal at the convention? How about talking about  this gas business?

“To be stopped before the process begins and subject it to a hypothetical is a new wrinkle, and that can chill capital, that can chill investment, and the jobs, in this particular economy, that we want to see,” he continued. “It’s going to have a very negative effect on the manufacturing process in the U.S.”

The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) preemptive assessment of the Pebble Mine in Alaska could have a “chilling effect” on $220 billion in investments, according to the Brattle Group, an economic and financial consulting firm.

In May, the EPA released its watershed assessment of large-scale mining by Pebble LP at Bristol Bay, which could be one of the largest copper and gold mines in the world, and expressed concerns over impact the mine would have on local salmon habitats and surrounding wetlands.

Under the Clean Water Act, operations that dump “dredge or fill materials” into wetlands, rivers, lakes, or streams are required to obtain a Section 404 permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The EPA can revoke this permit if there are “unacceptable adverse impacts on municipal water supplies, shellfish beds and fishery areas, wildlife, or recreational areas.”

Read more: Daily Caller

Obama’s war on coal hits our electric bill

Obama told us he was out to “get” the coal industry, and the first results of his efforts are here. The good news is that there is a bill - Inhofe Resolution, S.J. Res 37, that is filibuster proof that is coming up for a vote.. So there is a last chance to send a message to our Congress. Romney- you out there? You might just want to give a shout out  about this– hehehe.  Why am I laughing.

Last week the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported a shocking drop in power sector coal consumption in the first quarter of 2012. Coal-fired power plants are now generating just 36 percent of U.S. electricity, versus 44.6 percent just one year ago. It’s the result of an unprecedented regulatory assault on coal that will leave us all much poorer.

Last week PJM Interconnection, the company that operates the electric grid for 13 states (Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia and the District of Columbia) held its 2015 capacity auction. These are the first real, market prices that take Obama’s most recent anti-coal regulations into account, and they prove that he is keeping his 2008 campaign promise to make electricity prices “necessarily skyrocket.”

The only thing that can stop this massive price hike now is an all-out effort to end Obama’s War on Coal and repeal this destructive regulatory agenda.

The Senate will have a critical opportunity to do just that when it votes on stopping Obama’s most expensive anti-coal regulation sometime in the next couple of weeks. The vote is on the Inhofe Resolution, S.J. Res 37, to overturn the so-called Utility MACT rule, which the EPA itself acknowledges is its most expensive rule ever.

This vote is protected from filibuster, and it will take just 51 votes to send a clear message to Obama that his War on Coal must end.

Of course, Obama could veto the resolution and keep the rule intact, although that would force him to take full political responsibility for the massive impending jump in electricity prices.

There is a  form set up at http://action.americancommitment.org/6675/vote-yes-on-sj-res-37-to-stop-epas-war-on-coal/ to make it easy to contact your senators on this crucial issue.

 

Full story over at The party of know

D.O.E. wants to harness energy off of ocean waves

After  Pacific Gas & Electric gave up on its ocean ”wave machine” intended to produce energy because it was “unviable”– in other words, one big time loser- see picture below- have no fear. The Dept of Energy will happily poor in our bucks to continue the charade. That is what Obama says our government is for don’t you know. Venture capital bad. Government money good.

The U.S. Energy Department says it has half-a-million dollars to spend this year to test technologies that may be able to harness energy from ocean waves. The goal is to someday supply clean, renewable power to highly-populated coastal regions.

In 2007, Pacific Gas & Electric began examining the feasibility of using energy from waves as part of its shift to renewables. But a few years later, the utility announced it was suspending its project off the coast of Humboldt County, Calif. CNS news

“The decision was made after several major challenges made the project unviable at its proposed configuration and location,” PG&E said in a news release posted on its website. Moreover, “costs of the project were higher than projected.”

PG&E is suspending permitting efforts on the Humboldt WaveConnect Project. The decision was made after several major challenges made the project unviable at its proposed configuration  and location.

Smart Planet:

Many ideas for harnessing the ocean’s kinetic energy are floating around. Devices exist that mimic wind turbines, that rise and fall with wave crests, that rest on the surface like snakes, and that cut through the water like flying kites.

Testing the water for wave energy in Oregon. Just wait until we try and sail around thousands of these bad boys!

Bunkerville problem resolved- EPA annexes part of Alaska

I am trying to figure out Bunkerville problem and resolve. Please do not click on earlier post on Alaska. Here it the direct link to the Alaska story. http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2012/05/epa-shuts-off-major-chunk-of-alaska-to-mining-before-proposal-even-submitted/ So the EPA is now moving before anyone trys to get  permits.

EPA annexes part of Alaska mining before proposal submitted

China buying up U.S. energy reserves

First we heard last week that China was moving into our banking system with the Fed approving their first move. But that is not all, they are slowly buying up our oil and gas reserves. First, in case you missed the bank story, a refresher, then on to a story that should have all Americans up in arms. This is nothing less than treason. It is being touted that we have more energy than we know what to do with. So what do we do? We give it to China. Here we go: Feds clears China’s first U.S. bank takeover :

 The United States opened its banking market to China’s biggest bank ICBC, for the first time clearing a takeover of a US bank by a Chinese state-controlled company.

Just days after high-level US-China economic talks in Beijing, the Federal Reserve approved an application from Industrial and Commercial Bank of China to buy a majority stake in the US subsidiary of Bank of East Asia.

The transaction will make ICBC the first Chinese state-controlled bank to acquire retail bank branches in the United States.

End of the American Dream  brings us this good news, go to their full story if you want to be mad as hell.:

The Texas deal was particularly noteworthy.  The following is how a San Antonio news source described that deal….

State-owned Chinese energy giant CNOOC is buying a multibillion-dollar stake in 600,000 acres of South Texas oil and gas fields, potentially testing the political waters for further expansion into U.S. energy reserves.

With the announcement Monday that it would pay up to $2.2 billion for a one-third stake in Chesapeake Energy assets, CNOOC lays claim to a share of properties that eventually could produce up to half a million barrels a day of oil equival

The Chinese government is using two giant corporations to buy up these energy resources. The first is the China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC).  According to Wikipedia, this corporation is 100 percent owned by the Chinese government. The second is Sinopec Corporation.  Sinopec Group is the largest shareholder (about 75% of the shares) in Sinopec Corporation.  And as the Sinopec website tells us, Sinopec Group is owned by the Chinese government

CNOOC recently completed a 570 million dollar deal that gives it a one-third interest in huge oil and gas deposits in Colorado and Wyoming.  The following is from Wyoming Energy News….

Chinese energy company Cnooc Ltd. has agreed to pay $570 million for a one-third interest in Chesapeake Energy Corp.’s 800,000 leased acres in northeast Colorado and southeast Wyoming. The acreage is in the Denver-Julesburg (DJ) and Powder River basins. Cnooc is China’s biggest offshore oil and natural gas producer.

In fact, according to a recent Business Insider article, this deal gives the Chinese government the right to a third of any new oil discovered by Chesapeake Energy in the entire region….

The Niobrara Shale formation stretches over Colorado and Wyoming, as well as Kansas and Nebraska. Chesapeake Energy’s position is in Wyoming and Colorado. If Chesapeake find any more oil in this region, CNOOC has the rights to 33.3% of what is found.

But this is not the only area of the country where China now owns energy rights.  The following is an excerpt from a recent state-by-state breakdown that appeared in the Wall Street Journal….

Louisiana: Sinopec has a one-third interest in 265,000 acres in the Tuscaloosa Marine Shale after a broader $2.5-billion deal with Devon Energy.

Michigan: Sinopec gained a one-third interest in 350,000 acres in a larger $2.5 billion deal with Devon Energy.

Ohio: Sinopec acquired a one-third stake in Devon Energy’s 235,000 Utica Shale acres in a larger $2.5 billion deal.

Oklahoma: Sinopec has a one-third interest in 215,000 acres in a broader $2.5 billion deal with Devon Energy.

Texas: Cnooc acquired a one-third interest in Chesapeake Energy’s 600,000 acres in the Eagle Ford Shale in a $2.16-billion deal.