Will this presidential election be the most important in American history?
In its article, “Big Coal’s Big Problems,” Rolling Stone outlines President Obama’s war on coal.
In addition to the EPA’s proposed greenhouse gas rule that would essentially ban construction of new coal-fired power plants, the story cites a Wall Street Journal article that speculates Obama will announce a plan to regulate carbon dioxide from existing power plants during his State of the Union speech.
Obama is not stopping there – new regulations on coal ash, the byproduct of the combustion process, might cost as much as $20 billion a year.
The story concludes, “Opponents have called such regulation a ‘war on coal,’ but the simple truth is that the environmental realities of burning coal are finally catching up to the industry. U.S. coal just doesn’t make economic sense.”
In my book Blacklash, I described the elements of Obama’s regulatory onslaught on coal and that his reelection will doom the industry along with thousands of jobs.
Elections have consequences and the unfortunate consequences of Obama’s war on coal will be felt by the coal industry, its affiliated industries and consumers.
