Joe Biden and Democrats like to tell anyone who will listen that their party represents “ordinary Americans” who are simply trying to make a decent living, but in reality, Democratic policies — especially when it comes to energy — are crushing low-to-middle income earners who are the vast majority of the country.
No sooner than Biden took office with a Democratic congressional majority than he signed into law massive spending for a ‘green new deal-like investment’ into electrifying the country’s transportation sector, despite the fact that a) our country does not have the electrical infrastructure to support the transition away from fossil fuel-powered vehicles; and b) electric vehicles are prohibitively expensive.
Now, Biden is entering the next phase of this expensive ‘green energy’ transition in a way that will explode energy bills.
The administration is in the process of finalizing a proposal that would mandate significant reductions in emissions from fossil fuel-fired power plants or require them to use expensive carbon capture technology, Fox News reported.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is expected to release a proposal that will mandate coal- and natural gas-fired power plants to significantly reduce or capture the majority of their carbon dioxide emissions by 2040, according to officials who were briefed on a draft of the plan. The New York Times reported on Saturday that the proposal, which is expected to be released soon, would mark the first federal action to limit power plant emissions.
And in another move to increase fuel prices and sustain #Bidenflation, the Biden Administration will increase costs for natural gas power plants. Higher electricity prices push all prices up. https://t.co/7rf5VCEcm6
— Gregory Hicks (@GregoryNHicks) April 23, 2023
“EPA cannot comment because the proposals are currently under interagency review,” EPA spokesperson Maria Michalos told Fox News Digital. “”But we have been clear from the start that we will use all of our legally-upheld tools, grounded in decades-old bipartisan laws, to address dangerous air pollution and protect the air our children breathe today and for generations to come.”
According to a filing from the Office of Management and Budget in late 2022, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is expecting to propose a rule in spring 2023 that would limit greenhouse gas emissions from existing fossil fuel-fired plants. The rule is aimed at regulating emissions from existing electric generating units, and if everything goes as planned, a final rule is expected to be promulgated by summer 2024, just ahead of the presidential election. Currently, there are no EPA regulations in place that limit emissions from these sources, Fox News Digital added.
The most recent federal data indicates that there are 3,393 fossil fuel-fired power plants located throughout the country, with the majority of them being natural gas plants. These power plants are responsible for producing over 60 percent of the electricity consumed in the United States. By contrast, wind and solar projects generate approximately 14 percent of the country’s electricity.
Data from the EPA reveals that the electric power sector is responsible for approximately 25% of the total greenhouse gas emissions in the United States. This puts it behind only the transportation sector and slightly ahead of the industrial sector in terms of emissions output.
As such, fossil fuel power plants have become a focal point for far-left environmental extremists and Democratic lawmakers who claim that reducing emissions is critical in mitigating the impact of climate change.
In Biden's America:
Groceries prices are ↑ placing a burden on household budgets across the country.
Gas is ↑ making it more expensive for Americans to commute to work or travel.
Energy is ↑ which is driving up costs for heating & cooling homes and paying electricity bills.
— Senator Bill Hagerty (@SenatorHagerty) April 17, 2023
But if these changes go through, it’s nearly guaranteed that electric bills will increase and substantially. Throw in a rising number of electric vehicles that will need to be charged and it’s hard to say how high prices will go.
The fossil fuel industry has opposed such efforts, contending that the U.S. power grid is still heavily dependent on coal, natural gas, and petroleum-based sources of energy.
“The expected EPA regulation is just the latest in President Biden’s anti-fossil fuels agenda, coercing the retirement of electricity sources that are needed during the grid transition,” Michelle Bloodworth, the president and CEO of America’s Power, a coal power trade group, told Fox News Digital in a statement.
“EPA’s actions are contrary to the concerns of grid operators and other energy experts who have warned about possible electricity shortages,” she continued.
In June 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court determined that an Obama-era regulation that restricted power plant emissions under the Clean Air Act was unconstitutional. The Court’s decision was based on the fact that Congress had not explicitly granted the EPA the authority to establish such regulations.
However, two months after the ruling, the Inflation Reduction Act was passed, granting the EPA the authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions.
