OPINION:
Invention is the engine of progress, but when President Obama claims that he “reinvented our energy sector,” he should say that he has put the engine in reverse. His scheme to keep coal in the ground to make alternative energy sources more price-competitive will only make the cost of living more expensive. It’s part of his war on the middle class.
Mr. Obama’s interior secretary, Sally Jewell, announced this month a three-year moratorium on most new coal leases on federal land, to enable a “review” of the impact of coal on the environment and public health. The president tipped his hand about the freeze in his State of the Union address when he said: “Rather than subsidize the past, we should invest in the future — especially in communities that rely on fossil fuels. That’s why I’m going to push to change the way we manage our oil and coal resources, so that they better reflect the costs they impose on taxpayers and our planet.” Whatever “review” Miss Jewell has in mind, it’s already well cooked to the president’s recipe.
The president didn’t say that his lease ban will impose extra costs. Although current coal-mining on existing leases is not affected immediately, the moratorium would gradually reduce production of America’s most plentiful and affordable fuels. Resource-rich Western states stand to get badly burned. “There seems to be no limit to the number of job-crushing regulations, executive orders and insults Secretary Jewell and President Obama will throw at America’s middle class,” says Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming, a Republican.
Half of the energy produced in the United States came from coal as recently as 2008, but the share has been falling for years and is projected to drop to 33 percent by 2017. The U.S. Energy Information Administration notes that while most fossil fuel costs are forecast to continue to decline through 2016, the cost of keeping the lights on across the nation is going up — an additional 3 cents to 13 cents per kilowatt-hour by next year. That may not sound like a budget-breaker, but compared to the breathtaking 34 percent drop in gasoline prices, which are expected to remain in place, it’s huge. Call it the Obama surcharge.
Despite the president’s claim that “in fields from Iowa to Texas, wind power is now cheaper than dirtier, conventional power,” the inexpensive renewable energy is still the exception rather than the rule. Calculating the “levelized cost of electricity,” which includes capital and development costs, interest on loans, and operating and maintenance fees, coal and natural gas are still the least expensive forms of energy, averaging $65 per megawatt-hour, according to Bloomberg News. Onshore wind energy costs $80 per megawatt hour. For the remainder of the Obama presidency, if his schemes survive, leveling the energy playing field will actually tilt it until “alternative sources” will, through sharp accounting, become less expensive.
All the administration’s efforts to reduce U.S. greenhouse gases are expected to reduce global warming only a minuscule 0.3 degrees Fahrenheit by 2100. If the fate of the planet hangs in the balance, as the global warmists insist, the president’s scheme for keeping coal in the ground won’t make a particle of difference. It will, however, cripple the fossil fuel industry and enable crony capitalists to cash in on the green revolution, so called. It’s the long-suffering American consumer who will pay for the good fortune of crony capitalists.
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