Barack Obama & Sherrod Brown’s EPA Releases Their Job-Killing Cap-And-Trade Mandate

Sierra Club Claims This Will Put An End To Coal Fired Power Plants, Which Accounts For 86% Of Ohio’s Energy

As the Supreme Court continues to hear the oral arguments against Barack Obama and Sherrod Brown’s intrusive healthcare law, today the Obama Administration released their cap-and-trade mandate, which is expected to put dozens of coal plants out of business and kill 53,000 jobs in the Buckeye State.

Brown had an opportunity to reign in these unelected bureaucrats and their cap-and-trade mandate, but rather than standing up for Ohio, he decided to support the agenda of extreme environmentalists.

Additionally, the Sierra Club praised these new regulations because they claim it will ultimately put an end to coal fired power plants.  Given that coal accounts for 86 percent of Ohio’s energy, it’s no wonder the Ohio Manufacturers’ Associations has stated that these regulations will cause energy rates to increase by 13 percent in the Buckeye State.

As The Hill reports:

The Environmental Protection Agency proposed first-of-their-kind regulations Tuesday to limit greenhouse gas emissions from new power plants. … Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune was even more blunt. He told Bloomberg that the rules “will make it nearly impossible to build a new coal plant,” and added that the market has been moving that way, so the rule “captured the end of an era.”  The rules drew quick criticism from industry groups. The National Mining Association immediately called on Congress to scuttle the plans.  “Volatile natural gas prices will, once again, expose millions of households to higher utility bills, threaten hundreds of thousands of workers with unemployment and weaken both the competitiveness of basic industries and the reliability of the nation’s electricity grid,” said the group’s CEO, Hal Quinn.  (Andrew Restuccia and Ben German, EPA unveils long-awaited climate rules for new power plants, The Hill, 03/27/12)
Notably, Earth Justice – a fringe environmental group headquartered in San Francisco – has just purchased a large radio buy thanking Brown for voting against Senator Mitch McConnell’s amendment that would have thwarted the EPA from implanting their job-killing cap-and-trade mandate.

“The consequence of Sherrod Brown siding with extreme environmentalists instead of hard-working families in Ohio is simple: the EPA will now be able to implement their cap-and-trade regulation which will kill 53,000 Ohio jobs and increase energy rates by 13 percent,” said National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) spokesman Jahan Wilcox.

BACKGROUND …

Brown Supports The EPA’s Job-Killing Cap-And-Trade Mandate

Brown Voted Against An Amendment Which Would Have Blocked The EPA From Regulating Carbon Dioxide And Other Greenhouse Gasses. “McConnell, R-Ky., amendment no. 183 that would block the EPA from regulating carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act.” (S. 493, CQ Vote #54: Rejected 50-50: R 46-1; D 4-47; I 0-2, 4/6/11, Brown Voted Nay)

• Knowing Full Well That Obama’s EPA Regulations Could Be “Burdensome” And Could Harm Economic Growth. “A key Midwestern Senate Democrat on Monday called on the Obama administration to reconsider its approach to greenhouse gas regulation, as EPA critics weigh their legislative options for blocking the new rules. Ohio’s Sherrod Brown called the new permitting requirements for large emitters ‘burdensome’ and said they could harm economic growth, echoing the concerns of industry and GOP lawmakers.” (Geof Koss, “Ohio’s Brown Is Latest Senate Democrat To Criticize EPA Greenhouse Gas Rules,” Congressional Quarterly, 2/28/11)

Which Will Kill 53,000 Ohio Jobs

New EPA Rules Threaten 50 Ohio Jobs At Dayton Power & Light Plant. “Facing the prospect of having to shut down a coal-burning power plant that employs 50, Dayton Power & Light said it’s studying a plan to repower the O.H. Hutchings Station plant here with natural gas as a way to keep the facility along the Great Miami River operating.” (Steve Bennish, “EPA Rules To Force Old Coal Plants To Adapt, Close,” Dayton Daily News, 1/6/12)

• Dayton Power & Light Plant Is The Latest Among Ohio Coal Plants To Be Threatened By The Obama Administration. “Large Ohio coal plants will go dark within a few years. Duke Energy announced that the Walter C. Beckjord Generating Station in Clermont County east of Cincinnati will cease operating coal-fired units in 2015. … Other Ohio utilities have announced coal-burning power plants headed for closure, including American Electric Power in Columbus. AEP said it would close two West Virginia plants and one Ohio plant, Picway. Two other Ohio plants, Conesville and Muskingum River, would close generating units.” (Steve Bennish, “EPA Rules To Force Old Coal Plants To Adapt, Close,” Dayton Daily News, 1/6/12)

The EPA’s Regulation Will Shut Down The Muskingum River Coal-Fired Power Plant.  The Muskingum River coal-fired power plant in Ohio is nearing the end of its life.  AEP, one of the country’s biggest coal-based utilities, says it will cut 159 jobs when it shuts the decades-old plant in three years — sooner than it would like — because of new rules from the Environmental Protection Agency. (Jia Lynn Yang, Do regulations cost jobs?, Washington Post, 11/15/11)

And Increase Energy Rates On Families In Ohio By 13 Percent

OHIO MANUFACTURERS’ ASSOCIATION:  National Economic Research Associates, a firm that evaluates economic impacts for government agencies, associations and businesses, in a preliminary analysis for the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity projects that Utility MACT and CSAPR will result in 1.4 million lost jobs nationally over the next nine years, including 53,500 jobs in Ohio. And that’s net job losses, because the research takes into account jobs created by the two new rules as well those that will be lost.  Additionally, according to NERA, utilities’ compliance costs for the two regulations would total $17 billion annually and electricity costs in Ohio would increase by about 13 percent. (Kevin Schmidt, Ohio Manufacturers’ Association, Columbus Dispatch, 10/20/11)

Read more at NRSC