President Obama and the eco-left’s draconian federal scheme to regulate carbon emissions comes to an end, but Colorado still faces a similar dragon closer to home.
I don’t think I’ve ever written this, but thank goodness for the EPA! Well, actually, thank goodness for Administrator Pruitt’s announcement that he will “formally sign a proposal to withdraw the Obama administration’s Clean Power Plan,” as Politico reported.
Visitors to the E2P Web page and readers of our intellectual work know that we have worked on this issue since it was first revealed in 2014. If you want to travel back in time to refresh your memory, go here and enjoy! We used every tool, including legislative, legal, media, public comments, coalition building, and educational outreach, to spread the word on how the controversial carbon scheme that the Obama admin innocuously named the “Clean Power Plan” [CPP] would impact Colorado ratepayers. Colorado ratepayers didn’t like it as we found out in this poll.
Furthermore, there was a legal question as to whether or not the federal government even had the authority to seize control of each state’s electric grid. Clearly, the United States Supreme Court had concerns as well and issued an historic stay. Yes, we were part of the lawsuit challenging the EPA.
Fortunately, Administrator Pruitt is following through with one of President Trump’s most significant campaign promises, to kill the CPP.
What does this mean for Colorado? Well, first, the good news…
The announcement means that under the Trump administration, states have the authority to generate and transmit electricity as they believe is best for their respective states, not based on some arbitrary regulation from Washington, D.C. That’s where the authority should rest.
It also means that Colorado’s well-funded eco-left and their sycophants including Governor Hickenlooper, state legislators, and unelected regulators cannot use the EPA or the federal government or possible future federal regulations as their excuse for forcing bad electricity policy on ratepayers. They will have to own it.
Now for the bad news….
The announcement doesn’t mean that Governor Hickenlooper and the state’s largest predatory monopoly utility Xcel Energy won’t go forward with their own state version of the Clean Power Plan. In fact, they already have.
While we have slain one massive regulatory dragon, we still have another one – the four-headed Hick, Xcel, Eco-left, and state regulator dragon. So, our battle continues. Find out more here.
Still, we are thrilled they cannot rely upon the federal government for aid and comfort. So, again, thank goodness for the EPA under administrator Scott Pruitt and President Trump.
