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