| Lisa Jackson, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency -- an agency created by President Richard Nixon by consolidating environmental protection functions otherwise spread around to other agencies, stepped down. Henry Payne sniffs a conspiracy. Jackson's holy war created a rogue agency unanswerable to Congress. Her CO2 and CAFE edicts were done without the input of America's elected representatives, creating a backlash that has led to endless hearings before Congressional Republicans. Despite the House revolt, Jackson's agency churned on with its wave of rules. The resulting job consequences were illustrated in a dramatic photo-op with coal miners and Mitt Romney during the 2012 campaign at a Murray Energy facility in Ohio - an event met with a near blackout by national media. Rumors abound that Jackson's resignation is the result of controversy over secret emails that Jackson authored exposing her War on Coal. But her public actions are scandalous enough. Having forced the shutdown of dozens of coal plants, the EPA chief dropped one final bomb before Election Day - announcing carbon caps that effectively end new coal plant construction in the U.S.
Actually, her CO2 initiatives did have the input of America's elected representatives. It happened when they passed the Clean Air Act and again when the Clear Air Act was reauthorized. And, it was given the seal of approval by the U.S. Supreme Court. The EPA had to issue its own standards not because Lisa Jackson didn't want Congressional involvement, but because Congress refused to do it. As to the "War on Coal," I'll let the fact that most of the coal plants Michigan utilities were planning to build were, in fact, shelved because the costs of building them were going way up all on their own. It's now cheaper and faster to build natural gas plants. But, let's not little things like facts get in the way of a good Henry Payne rant about the dark forces conniving to enslave him. |
