The Patriot Post® · Biden Lives Up to a Ruinous Promise

Remember that upcoming energy spike we warned you about last week — the news that Joe Biden would soon be placing some untenable carbon dioxide restrictions on our fossil fuel energy providers and thereby jacking up our energy costs? Well, Joltin’ Joe is making good on it.

The Washington Free Beacon bears the bad news: “President Joe Biden’s Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday morning unveiled the standards, which force coal and gas power plants to slash their carbon emissions a whopping 90 percent between 2035 and 2040. To meet those strict standards, the agency is advising the plants to use carbon capture technology to store the emissions underground before they hit the atmosphere.”

Around 60% of the electricity our nation generated last year came from burning fossil fuels at those 3,400 coal- and gas-fired power plants, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. But to hear Biden’s EPA talk about it, these new ruinous restrictions are all gain with no pain.

“By proposing new standards for fossil fuel-fired power plants,” said EPA Administrator Michael Regan, “EPA is delivering on its mission to reduce harmful pollution that threatens people’s health and wellbeing. EPA’s proposal relies on proven, readily available technologies to limit carbon pollution and seizes the momentum already underway in the power sector to move toward a cleaner future.”

We’re not sure what “momentum” Regan is “seizing” in the power sector, but any intimation that “green” energy sources such as wind and solar can make up for what will surely be a radically reduced supply of coal and gas is sheer madness.

The EPA’s 681-page rule is “a death sentence for fossil-fuel power plants,” warns the Wall Street Journal editorial board.

“Carbon capture technologies are so expensive,” said Jason Isaac, an energy expert at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, “that the result will be the sudden retirement of reliable generation, and there will be nothing to replace it.”

Isaac continued, “This is a prime example of an unelected executive agency run amok, with a single-minded agenda of eliminating fossil fuels and controlling how we produce and consume energy regardless of the costs or consequences, all while doing nothing to mitigate a changing climate.”

Let’s see: The guy is jacking up our energy prices under the false pretense of “fixing” “the climate crisis.” That sounds like a terrible twofer.

This administration’s war on fossil fuels, in fact, is one of the main reasons for Bidenflation — that is, our grindingly persistent and stubbornly high level of inflation. As former Trump labor secretary nominee Andrew Puzder wrote in the April issue of Hillsdale College’s Imprimis:

Energy and labor impact virtually everything in our economy. Thousands of products have a petroleum component, and even those that don’t have to be delivered, which requires oil and gas. And you can’t build, manufacture, deliver, or install anything without labor — labor affects the price of everything. So if your goal were to fight inflation, you would implement policies to drive down energy and labor costs.

Cheap and abundant energy is fundamental to a thriving economy. And, clearly, it’s one of the reasons why the Trump economy roared and the Biden economy is once again flirting with recession.

Elections have consequences — especially rigged ones. But you already knew that.

Is there any hope that this attack on our energy industry can be beaten back? Well, maybe. As the Free Beacon reports: “The administration’s optimism could be dashed by impending legal challenges to the rule. Energy and Environment Legal Institute senior fellow Steve Milloy said the ‘illegal’ rule ‘has no chance of withstanding legal scrutiny’ given a recent Supreme Court ruling that limited the Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to regulate fossil fuel power plants.”

It might be instructive to think about how we got here — because there were many moments from the 2020 presidential campaign that should’ve caused the American people to reject Joe Biden’s candidacy and give Donald Trump another four years. But, looking back, one in particular now stands out.

“Kiddo,” Joe Biden said to what looked to be a teenage girl at a rare campaign stop, “I want you to just take a look. Okay? You don’t have to agree, but I want you to look in my eyes. I guarantee, I guarantee we’re going to end fossil fuel.”

And whaddya know, kiddo? Ending fossil fuel has been one of the few promises that this miserable president has actually delivered on.