You are here: Home » Archives »

Green Mandates Destroy NC Economy

April 5, 2013 06:37

NC became “a leader in unemployment, a leader in job stagnation and a leader in economic misery” after adopting renewable energy mandates that neighboring states did not adopt. NC industries spent $215 MILLION more for energy than they would have without the mandates. States with renewable energy mandates average 38% higher electricity rates for consumers with some like New York paying double.

29 states have renewable energy mandates and 7 others have renewable goals. Some states are even paying more for electricity they don’t receive to subsidize renewable energy projects in other states. Michigan will receive no benefits from a wind surtax but will have to pay as much as a billion dollars in increased rates. This is part of Obama’s different way to ’skin the cat’ and have agencies implement his energy policy without congressional approval.

What could possibly be the purpose of all this ‘alternative’ and ‘green’ energy manipulation? Brian Sussman at Human Events explained it well describing the motives behind cap and trade:

“Concurring green interests perceive cap-and-trade differently. Environmentalists envision it as a progressive engineering tool that will coerce both industry and individuals to emit less CO2. Wind and solar companies see it as an instrument to manipulate the market, which they hope will force their companies to grow. Socialists regard it as a way to redistribute wealth by offshoring America’s manufacturing sector to the Third World. The elite identify cap-and-trade as a means to acquire control of the population (because if they can govern the amount of energy the people use, they can better control those people).”

Even if you believe in man caused global warming (AGW) (40% of legitimate scientists do not) all of these mandates, higher rates and CO2 regulations won’t make a discernible difference in the earth’s temperature. EPA’s Own Estimates Say Greenhouse Gas Regs Could ‘Slow Construction Nationwide for Years’ — and Take a Century to Reduce Temperature 0.0015 Degrees.

An ally of the EPA anti-energy action, The Sierra Club, brags that it has stopped 100 new coal plants since 2001. “Stopping one hundred coal plants is a huge milestone in our fight to end global warming, but the coal industry is still pushing forward with plans for dozens of new plants in places, like Michigan and Kansas, and pouring money into slick advertising campaigns and lobbying efforts,” said Nilles. “As we celebrate this amazing milestone, we must redouble our efforts to stop new plants and replace the existing coal plants with clean energy.” ~ Sierra Club press release. The Sierra Club is a powerful Washington lobbyist spending $1,580,000 on lobbying in the last three years according to OpenSecrets.org. Environmental groups as an industry have spent $14,746,646 on lobbying in 2010, $22,458,950 in 2009 and $17,953,057 in 2008 for a total in the last three years of over $55 MILLION!

In a recent article describing the progressive/socialist/green/Democrats theft of your green and their fascist power grabbing (Government of, by and for the activists) Ron Arnold hits on the real meaning of environmentalism:

“They all share the same goal: enrich and empower activists, bureaucrats and liberal politicians – while controlling and impoverishing the rest of us – all in the name of protecting the environment.”

And don’t forget before his election Obama promised his plan would make electricity rates ‘skyrocket’. Obama’s anti-energy secretary, Chu, who is infamous for saying we need higher gas prices like those in Europe doubled down on his goals of using less oil not lowering gas prices. When asked if the goal was to lower gas prices he said “No.”

Obama’s Energy Secretary Chu has said “Somehow we have to figure out a way to boost the price of gasoline to the levels in Europe.” Now that’s an energy policy!

Dallas Woodhouse in the NC case is absolutely right.