I've been thinking if we had full employment and a robust economy and you wanted to put our economy in the dismal shape it is in today how would you go about doing that?
* One, you would restrict the use our carbon-based fuels of coal, oil and natural gas as a source of energy. Even though use of these fossil fuels made it possible for the United States to win two world wars and to develop the most successful economy the world has ever seen.
* Two, you would turn to wind, solar and biomass (ethanol) as our main sources of energy. Though with all of their government subsidies solar and wind supplies less than 2 percent of our energy. You would mandate that 10 percent of our gasoline come from ethanol which is made from corn. Because of this mandate the price of corn has been substantially increased. This has resulted in increased food prices not only in this country but all over the world.
* Three, you would not take advantage of economic opportunities such as building the Trans-Canadian pipeline (providing as many as 20,000 new high paying jobs).
* Four, because of concern for the environment, you would make it nearly impossible to get a permit from the Environmental Protection Agency to build anything.
* Five, you would permit the EPA to have total enforcement authority (without any congressional oversight) over the Clean Air and Clean Water acts. The most recent EPA attack on our economy was the farming industry. The EPA claimed dust, feathers and other materials from a ventilation system on a farm building had the potential to discharge harmful materials into U.S. waters. Therefore, under the Clean Water Act, farmers were required to get a permit from the EPA. This issue is now in federal Court. The EPA revoked a permit to mine coal which had been issued by the U.S. Corps of Engineers. This issue went before a Federal Court which ruled that the EPA had exceeded its authority. Not only was this ruling overturned but 14 issues of a similar nature and for the same reason have been overturned by the courts.
This Obama administration has made other attempts to restrict the use of carbon fuels. From putting a tax on carbon (which could have amounted to trillions of dollars in new taxes) to fostering carbon capture and trade and to the sequestering and storage of carbon dioxide.
Frank Deem
Vienna
