Weekly Opinion Editorial
FREE MARKET DETERMINES
WINNERS & LOSERS!
by Steve
Fair
In 2015, President Obama and the EPA put
into place his ‘Clean Power Plan.” It placed
federal standards on the amount of carbon emissions from power plants. The Supreme Court, in a 5-4 vote, struck down
the regulations. Writing for the
majority, Justice Antonin Scalia wrote: “It
is not rational, never mind ‘appropriate,’ to impose billions of dollars in
economic costs in return for a few dollars in health or environmental benefits.
Statutory context supports this reading.” Obama, in a parting shot at the coal
industry, signed an executive order placing stricter regulations on the coal
industry regarding waterways and streams. That regulation was through the
Department of Interior. Clearly the
former president was no friend to the coal industry, but he never said he was
going to bankrupt the coal industry as is widely reported. Hillary Clinton, on the other hand, did say
she was going to put coal miners out of work by moving America to renewable
energy.
Currently 65% of the electricity generated
in the United States is produced from fossil fuels (coal, natural gas,
petroleum). Coal is nearly 40% by
itself. 20% is produced from nuclear energy. 15% is from renewable energy (wind, solar), both
of which fail when policymakers decrease government subsidies. Most wind and solar operations are not
economically viable on their own. They
have to have taxpayer support to be profitable.
Great Britain has pulled their subsidies for renewable energy- and
America should!
On Monday, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt
said, ”The war on coal is over,”
after declaring he will sign a new rule overriding Obama’s Clean Power
Plan. “No
federal agency should use their authority to declare war on any sector of our
economy,” Pruitt said. Environmental groups immediately said they
would challenge the rule change in court. When he was AG of Oklahoma, Scott
Pruitt sued the federal government to stop the overreaching EPA regulations.
Pruitt’s action is the fulfillment of a promise
then candidate Trump made during the campaign.
Appearing with Pruitt in Hazard, KY at the announcement of the rule
change, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, (R-Ky) said "A lot of damage has been done. This
doesn't immediately bring everything back, but we think it stops further
decline of coal fired plants in the United States and that means there will
still be some market here."
The fact is coal, as a generating source
for electricity, has been steadily losing annual market share to natural gas
and nuclear. But coal is still is the
most used source for electric generation.
The future for coal fired plants doesn’t appear too bright, but Pruitt
is correct- no industry should be targeted by the federal government. Picking winners and losers is not the job of
the government.
In a capitalist economic system, the free
market dictates the winners and losers, not bureaucrats with a pencil. Pruitt’s rule change puts the free market
back in control.
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