The Environmental Protection Agency’s new rule that requires a 30% reduction in CO2 emissions from fossil fuel-burning power plants is fully justified, according to Administrator Gina McCarthy, because the coal industry is destined to go under anyway. During a speech at Georgetown University, McCarthy asserted: “The coal industry has been in some difficulty regardless of whether this rule moves forward. Coal as a fuel source for power plants is really not competitive in most of the United States.” That’s preposterous – coal still accounts for 40% of the nation’s electricity, and the reason the infrastructure is suffering is because it’s being stifled by government regulations. Without coal, millions of Americans would be devoid of electricity, a life-saving resource – though the regulatory effects are already evident in your electricity bills, and, most alarmingly, the crackdown may ultimately lead to an energy crisis. Even if we assume coal eventually will be replaced, it is absolutely essential right now, and it’s beyond government’s role to facilitate that exchange. If the EPA would end its war on the economy, the free market would have the liberty to develop cost-effective alternative methods. More…