Indiana Governor Mike Pence (R) is certainly no stranger to controversy. Pence made national headlines earlier this year as he battled the LGBT agenda and fought to protect Indiana’s right to religious freedom. Now he’s at it again, insisting that unless there are big changes to the EPA’s proposed Clean Power Plan, his state will not be participating. He wrote a bold letter to President Obama informing the administration of his stance against the environmental regulations.
“If your administration proceeds to finalize the Clean Power Plan, and the final rule has not demonstrably and significantly improved from the proposed rule, Indiana will not comply. Our state will also reserve the right to use any legal means available to block the rule from being implemented,” Pence wrote.
As written, Pence says, the Clean Power Plan would only serve to make electricity more expensive and less reliable in the state of Indiana. Further, it would have a negative effect on statewide employment, endangering more than 26,000 Indiana citizens employed by the coal industry.
Indiana is only the latest state to take exception to the proposed regulations. 17 state attorneys have filed lawsuits against the administration in an effort to retain local control over the energy sector. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has even advised states to do exactly what Pence is doing and ignore the EPA’s rule. That would likely lead to federal enforcement, giving states the standing to sue. In April, Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin issued an executive order to prohibit her state from developing carbon-emission reduction plans.
If the EPA meets their own expectations, we should see the final rule as early as August. If it remains intact, it would aim to reduce carbon emissions in the U.S. by 30% by 2030. According to the EPA, this can be achieved by improving existing power plants, increasing renewable energy production, and increasing the generation of clean energy. According to critics, it will stifle the economy, kill jobs, and have a negligible impact on environmental protection.
State leaders aren’t the only ones fighting back. A study commissioned by the National Black Chamber of Commerce concluded that the CPP would increase black poverty by 23%, and cause the loss of 7 million jobs for black Americans by the year 2035. The economic impact on Hispanics would be even more severe.
Of course, that’s all part of the plan. Democrats don’t stay in power by lifting minorities out of poverty; they stay in power by keeping them dependent on the federal government. And considering the fact that the CPP’s environmental impact will barely amount to a drop in the bucket, we can safely surmise that this impact is central to the regulations.
“Burning the Constitution of the United States,” said Harvard Professor Laurence Tribe, “cannot be part of our national energy policy.”
But in the age of Obama, it’s part of every national policy.
Comments are closed.