Obama EPA regulations kill 15 power plants, 480 jobs in Georgia
Conn Carroll, Washington Examiner, January 8, 2013 | 10:20 am
Georgia Power asked state regulators for permission to shut down 15 power plants yesterday, claiming new regulations from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) make the plants too expensive to run.
The 15 coal-, oil- and natural gas-fired power plants currently produce 2,061 megawatts (MW) for Georgia energy consumers. Georgia Power plans to close 11 of the plants on the exact day the EPA’s new mercury regulations are set to take effect, April 16, 2015. Georgia Power will seek waivers from the EPA to keep four of the other plants open for a single year, and then shut those down too on April 16, 2016. It is unclear how the Georgia energy sector will make the 2 gigawatts up.
While there is no such thing as a government agency that never makes a dumb or self-serving bureaucratic decision, one of the things that average citizens and their quality of life are so often up against is what has been called 'privatizing profits while socializing costs.' Whether it is energy production, clear-cut logging, over-fishing or what have you, after the profits are amassed by individuals, companies or corporations, the often very serious environmental damage that has been done only becomes fully evident later and can be incredibly expensive to undo, such as underground drinking water pollution or coal's ghastly mountaintop removal, which destroys fishing and downstream water quality, or energy or other industrial air or water pollution.
Often the companies or corporations involved have by that time removed themselves from the scene, frequently declaring themselves bankrupt as various lawsuits are beginning to be filed against them by injured parties, and so the enormous cleanup bills are of course eventually picked up by hapless taxpayers.
In addition, we could put a captain of industry or Mother Nature herself in charge of the EPA, but pollution and natural resource shortages will continue to become ever worse as U.S. in-migration-driven population numbers continue to redouble forever, thanks to the voter-unapproved policies of our ruling political and media elites.
Often the companies or corporations involved have by that time removed themselves from the scene, frequently declaring themselves bankrupt as various lawsuits are beginning to be filed against them by injured parties, and so the enormous cleanup bills are of course eventually picked up by hapless taxpayers.
In addition, we could put a captain of industry or Mother Nature herself in charge of the EPA, but pollution and natural resource shortages will continue to become ever worse as U.S. in-migration-driven population numbers continue to redouble forever, thanks to the voter-unapproved policies of our ruling political and media elites.
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