The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee has held hearings on Obama’s WAR on COAL. Is GREEN ENERGY worth the cost?  It’s not the “Do Nothing” Congress – it’s the “Do Nothing Senate”

John Boehner’s Office sent the following email today:

 

Energy & Commerce Hearing Highlights Obama Administration’s “War on Coal,” Expected Job Losses

Posted by Katie Boyd | July 17, 2012 | Permalink

“Dozens of coal miners packed” a House Energy & Commerce Subcommittee on Energy & Power field hearing in Abingdon, VA yesterday, including Stephen Boggs, a local coal miner “worried the new regulations” coming from the Obama administration “could force him out of a job,” WCYB News 5 reports. “I’m 19 years old with a long time ahead of me. If it caves, my whole future is up on the air,” said Boggs.  Boggs’ fears were echoed by several witnesses at yesterday’s hearing that warned that the administration’s onslaught of excessive energy regulations is putting jobs and local economies at risk.  Here’s more: Donna Kessinger, a single mom and Virginia coal miner, said the coal mining jobs in her community “allow us to put food on the table, buy clothes for our children,” “provide our families with good health care,” and support “local businesses, which are the heartbeat that keep many small towns alive.” However, Kessinger is fearful that her job is “under attack” by the “decisions of federal regulators…blind to the real-world economic consequences of their actions.”  As Kessinger put it, “we are not asking for special treatment or a handout. We simply want to be allowed to work.” Dan Nation, Division President at Parkdale Mills, the world’s largest spun yarn manufacturer, warned that the Obama administration’s excessive regulations on energy plants “will increase energy cost for manufacturing to the point of job destruction in the U.S.” “If we have to turn lights off to conserve energy, we turn them all off, close factories and people start losing jobs,” said Nation. “These jobs then end up overseas and we never get them back. Putting higher energy costs on the back of manufacturing is one of the fastest ways I know of to kill more U.S. jobs.” “President Obama allegedly supports an ‘all of the above’ energy policy as he stated in his address to the American people in January,” said Joe Gary Street, Vice President of Sales for West River Conveyors & Machinery Co, “however, fossil fuels were left out of that policy.”  According to Street, layoffs that have already resulted from energy plant closures have his employees “worried about their jobs and how they will pay their bills and mortgages,” and “the continued war on coal makes the lay-offs the tip of the iceberg for the impact these regulations will begin to have on our communities.”  Street asked, “As a business owner, how do you explain to your employees why they are losing their job? Do you tell them it is because we have a government who forgot about the people of Appalachia and their livelihood?” Much of yesterday’s hearing focused on the Obama administration’s proposed rule that would impose a de facto ban on the construction of new coal-fired power plants, the latest move in the Obama administration’s anti-coal agenda that is shutting down plants, raising electricity costs and destroying jobs. The House-passed Transparency in Regulatory Analysis of Impacts on the Nation (TRAIN) Act (H.R. 2401) would put a stop to the new rule and require a study of the cumulative impacts of several Obama administration regulations on jobs, energy prices, and electric reliability.  The TRAIN Act is one of many bipartisan, House-passed jobs bills – passed as part of the Republican Plan for America’s Job Creators and the American Energy Initiative – aimed at curbing the Obama administration’s excessive regulations that are holding back private-sector growth and job creation. Unfortunately for the witnesses at yesterday’s hearing – and all American families and small businesses – Senate Democrats refuse to take action on these bills, allowing the administration to put even more jobs at risk while wages are stagnant and jobs are hard to come by.  The House will continue taking action next week on several bills that will help put the brakes on the Obama administration’s barrage of new rules and regulations.  It is up to Senate Democrats to act on these bills, and the more than 30 others they are blocking, to help put Americans back to work.  Learn more about the Republican jobs plan at jobs.gop.gov and follow the progress of the House-passed energy bills stalled in the Democratic-led Senate by “liking” the American Energy Initiative on Facebook.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

by:  Diane Benjamin

As usual, today the Pantagraph reported only the story they wanted to hear:  http://www.pantagraph.com/news/local/report-wind-farms-add-billions-of-dollars-to-local-economies/article_6225b134-d05c-11e1-882c-0019bb2963f4.html

Windfarms add billion of dollars, but at what cost?

In this report from 10/2011, the Manhattan Institute found the following:

http://www.manhattan-institute.org/html/ib_11.htm

Put another way, if the United States were to achieve the “20 by ‘30” goal, U.S. residential electricity prices in coal-dependent regions could increase by about 48 percent over current levels. If we use the lower range of wind costs outlined by NREL in its 2008 report, and assume that reducing a ton of carbon by 2030 will cost $45 per year, the increase in electricity costs in coal-dependent areas will amount to about $0.049 per kilowatt-hour. That would result in an increase of 40 percent over current levels for residential customers in those regions.

Are you willing to pay 40% more for electricity for only minimal improvement to the environment?  Read the whole report.

From a 2010 report by the Illinois Coal Industry:

http://www2.illinoisbiz.biz/coal/The%20Illinois%20Coal%20Industry%202010.pdf

Page 38

The coal mining industry is a valuable economic engine in central and southern Illinois. In a comparison of average monthly salaries in eight Illinois counties, it was found that mining, quarrying and oil and
gas extraction sector jobs average 42 % higher wages compared to all other sectors in the same counties.10 According to the National Mining Association, the average annual wage in the Illinois mining industry is $65,000. Each coal mining job supports 4.5 jobs in other sectors.

The average annual wage in the Illinois mining industry:  $65,000

From the same report – page 33

Illinois mining companies needed to find new markets or close. Illinois mines employed 10,129 persons in 1990. In 2009, the average annual employment at Illinois mines was 3,516.

According to ISU and the Pantagraph, wind farms are a valuable resource.

The rest of the story:

• Windfarms can only expand with subsidies from TAXPAYERS
• The electricity produced could cost 40% more than coal produced electricity
• Putting coal miners and employees of related industries out of business must not be important

Conclusion from the Manhattan Institute article:

Wind energy is not a cost-effective method of reducing carbon-dioxide emissions. Any effort—whether at the state level or the federal level—to dramatically increase the use of wind energy will result in a new tax on electricity consumers. If the United States were to achieve the “20 by ‘30” goal, the effective carbon tax of $45 to $54 per ton would far exceed any such tax regime currently in place. Further, if the stated goal were met by 2030, the likely reduction in carbon dioxide emissions would amount to just 2 percent of the expected global total.

By the way, at least some turbines in McLean County aren’t even owned by an American Company.  Some guys in Portugal bought them:  http://www.edp.pt/en/aedp/unidadesdenegocio/energiasrenovaveis/Pages/EnergiasRenovaveis.aspx