An EPA power grab – NYPOST.com

An EPA power grab

By IAIN MURRAY & MARLO LEWIS

December 9, 2009

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson yesterday an nounced that the EPA has determined that global warming, allegedly caused by mankind’s burning of fossil fuels, endangers public health.

The finding paves the way for a huge power grab by EPA bureaucrats — indeed, more power than even they think they can handle: The likely regulatory cascade will end up with the EPA having complete control over the nation’s energy supply and its use.

Large apartment buildings and hospitals would need EPA operating permits to continue running their furnaces. Lawnmowers and aircraft alike would be regulated for fuel economy like automobiles. And as the EPA orders a retooling or even closure of the nation’s power plants, electricity prices would skyrocket, and blackouts would become common.

If you wanted to design an anti-stimulus package, you’d be hard-pressed to top this.

The EPA already holds massive power to stop energy projects. It has used its regulatory powers to hold up the construction of new coal, gas, nuclear and even renewable-power plants and electricity-transmission lines around the country. The US Chamber of Commerce’s Project No Project Web site details hundreds of energy projects that could be providing many thousands of good jobs, but are now held up by regulatory delay (typically initiated by environmental groups).

via An EPA power grab – NYPOST.com.