“The Obama administration has riled up environmental groups by siding with big utilities in a lawsuit over whether states can sue power plant operators for contributing to climate change,” The Wall Street Journal reports today.

“We are appalled,” David Doniger, policy director of the Natural Resources Defense Council’s climate center, tells the Journal.

Has Obama finally seen the light and realized his radical green agenda is largely responsible for destroying our economy?

Not in the least.

In court filings, Obama is fighting the radical greens’ attempt to sue away America’s power plants for one simple reason — he’s already sicced the EPA on America’s employers, including power plants.

“It isn’t that the Obama administration is in favor of unfettered emissions. The Department of Justice brief, filed with the Supreme Court this week, says the Environmental Protection Agency is already on the job, and doesn’t need help from private plaintiffs,” the Journal reports.

“EPA has already begun taking actions to address carbon-dioxide emissions,” a brief filed by Acting Solicitor General Neal Katyal says.

In other words, “thanks for the help destroying jobs, but Obama’s already on this one.”

Undeterred by the fact Congress will not authorize him to shut down the nation’s coal-fired power plants, as he promised to do on the campaign trail when he vowed to “bankrupt” the coal industry, Barack Obama’s EPA will begin simply making up their own rules on carbon dioxide.  On the chopping block — the power plants that supply your home with affordable energy.

“EPA is preparing to tighten restrictions on interstate air pollution from power plants under its planned ‘transport’ rule. It will open a second front when it regulates greenhouse gas emissions from coal-fired generators, based on its endangerment finding on the threat posed by man-made greenhouse gases in the atmosphere,” The New York Times reports this morning.

The Obama administration is also using the lack of federal rules on so-called “greenhouse gasses” to issue their own intentionally draconian rules in a cruel bid to shut down power plants, forcing Congress to adopting jo-killing rules Americans don’t want – which isn’t much different than the Mafia torching a restaurant to bully its owners into paying protection money.

“NARUC is united that the uncertainty in Congress is hurting state regulatory commissions, and for that reason, we are supporting federal climate legislation to remove those uncertainties,” said Ron Binz, spokesman for the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, a group representing bureaucrats.

Yes, bureaucrats argue the “uncertainty” of not having free reign to impose national energy taxes and “caps” on carbon dioxide is worse than the crippling economic harms, thousands of dollars per family in higher prices for good and services and as many as 5.1 million jobs lost each year.

Well, WTP has a solution.  Eliminate the “uncertainty” by making the EPA’s powers clear.  WTP supports legislation stripping the radical greens’ federally-authorized goon squad of the authority to issue their own rules.  Federal regulations affecting civilians should never be created and enforced by unelected bureaucrats, but only by a recorded, stand-alone, affirmative vote of Congress.

You want certainty?  Strip federal regulators of any authority to police carbon dioxde.  That’s the kind of certainty our economy, our jobs, our property and our freedoms can live with.

Read the full New York Times article by clicking here.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, August 2, 2010
Contact: Donny Ferguson, donny.f@westerntradition.org or 703-200-3669

WTP challenges lawmakers to oppose lame duck energy tax plan – in writing
Written pledge faxed to every House, Senate office with Sept. 10 deadline

WASHINGTON — America’s largest grassroots advocate of property rights and sensible environmental policies has sent every member of Congress a written pledge committing them to oppose a plan by congressional leaders to use a “lame duck” session of Congress to impose a national energy tax.  Senators and representatives have until Sept. 10 to sign and return it.

“If Congress thinks Americans were angry about ‘deem and pass,’ just wait until WTP tells their constituents about the lame duck national energy tax plan.  American overwhelmingly oppose Barack Obama’s national energy tax, and they’ll hold accountable any lawmaker who goes along with plans to wait until after the election to use legislative tricks to impose one.  Any effort to impose a national energy tax during a lame duck session doesn’t just damage our economy, it damages what little trust Americans have for their lawmakers in the next few months,” said Donny Ferguson, Western Tradition Partnership Executive Director.

“Lawmakers have a duty to give their word, in writing, that they answer to their constituents and not Barack Obama’s radical green agenda,” said Ferguson.  “Between now and the lame duck session WTP will hold accountable lawmakers who refuse to return their pledge, by speaking directly to their constituents.”

WTP’s “’No Cap and Tax’ Lame Duck Pledge” was faxed to every House and Senate office beginning Friday.  Senators and representatives are asked to give their written promise to oppose proposed efforts to wait until after the November elections to impose a national energy tax plan.

The pledge reads: “I (name of lawmaker) pledge I will oppose any and all efforts to impose any form of cap, price, limit or tax on carbon or other so-called ‘greenhouse gases,’ including all procedural votes and motions, in any ‘lame duck’ session of Congress.”

Numerous experts and media outlets report Democrat leaders like Rep. Henry Waxman will take advantage of a conference committee that will hammer out differences between House and Senate energy bills to insert a national energy tax the Senate did not approve.  John Fund of The Wall Street Journal, for example, writes Obama “wants to pass a modest energy bill this summer, then add carbon taxes or regulations in a conference committee with the House, most likely during a lame-duck session.”

Supported by grassroots members, WTP is a fast-growing, grassroots-supported non-profit organization dedicated to fighting environmental extremism and promoting responsible development and management of land, water, and natural resources.  The citizens’ group educates the public and lobbies legislators on issues of environmental extremism and promotes responsible development and management of land, water, and natural resources.

For more information on WTP, go to http://www.westerntradition.org.  For more information on this issue, or to schedule an interview, contact Executive Director Donny Ferguson at 703-200-3669 or at donny.f@westerntradition.org.

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Hundreds of thousands of jobs in Texas and nationwide are in danger of joining millions of jobs eliminated by the Obama administration after a massive power grab by his Environmental Protection Agency.

“ The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday officially overturned a 16-year-old Texas air permitting program it says violates the Clean Air Act, leaving some of the country’s largest refineries in a state of limbo,” The Associated Press reports July 7.

“…The EPA’s decision, announced in a statement, will force some 125 refineries and petrochemical plants to invest millions of dollars to get new permits. Many of the plants may also have to invest in updates to comply with federal regulations, the AP story reads.

And Obama administration radical greens are gleeful.

“I can’t wait to take action on these permits,” EPA regional director Al Armendariz boasted to the AP.

The hundreds of millions, if not billions, of dollars in needless compliance costs are expected to drive up the price of gasoline and other products, most of which are made at one of the 125 affected Texas plants. 

Not only are those jobs also threatened by higher operating costs and potential government-ordered shutdown, higher prices and costs for goods and transportation will force employers nationwide to trim their budgets, meaning more layoffs in what the Obama administration promised would be “Recovery Summer.”

WTP shelves costly ballot initiative, puts the question to legislators
Expense of ballot process, strong public support compels group to pursue legislative fix

DENVER — With polls showing the public strongly supporting consumer choice and lower prices for energy, a Colorado citizens group announced May 7 they would shelve plans to pursue an expensive ballot initiative and instead pursue those issues in next year’s General Assembly.

“Polls show people overwhelmingly support affordable energy and consumer choice, but putting the issue on the ballot requires tremendous time and money,” said Dan Fuchs, Western Tradition Partnership’s Director of Government Relations and a former term-limited Montana state legislator.  “We can be just as effective without expending those tremendous resources by focusing on legislative action.”

“Rather than let them off the hook, we are going to hold legislators accountable.  They are the ones who stripped utility customers of voter-approved consumer protections,” said Fuchs.  “We’re going to make legislators fix this because they’re the ones who broke it.”

WTP will instead educate voters on how their representatives in the General Assembly stand on the issue, and compel legislators to take action on energy affordability issues in next year’s legislative session.  Focusing on legislative action saves the organization hundreds of thousands of dollars and frees it up to tackle multiple issues this year like preserving property rights and access to state lands, restricting frivolous environmentalist lawsuits and fighting various tax hikes.

“Why go through the colossal financial and manpower expense of collecting 76,000 signatures to put it on the ballot and run a statewide campaign when we have the broad public support to simply make legislators do their job and fix it themselves?,” said Fuchs.

“Now we’re putting the ball in every legislator’s court.  Will they side with hardworking Coloradans, or will they side with the radical activist groups who are driving up utility bills?,” said Fuchs.

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WTP launches ConsumerEnergyChoice.com
Popular measure would restore consumer choice stripped from Amendment 37

DENVER – A Denver-based grassroots group will launch ConsumerEnergyChoice.com Friday promoting a measure on the November ballot restoring the right of utility customers to choose between affordable traditional or higher-priced experimental energy sources. Western Tradition Partnership and its citizen allies and will begin collecting the 76,000 ballot signatures to place it on the ballot.

 “Voters don’t like the fact environmentalists lied to them and set up a no-choice, no-competition market tilted to more expensive energy,” said Dan Fuchs, WTP Director of Government Relations and a former Montana state legislator.  “We’re looking forward to collecting signatures above and beyond what we need, and then let the people decide.  This is not the year you want to be on the side of mandate-happy politicians and their backroom deals.”

“When consumers can freely choose their energy in an open market, everyone wins,” said Fuchs.  “Opposing consumer choice only leads to higher prices, less efficient energy and backroom deals for connected lobbyists.  People should choose their energy, not politicians.”

The “Consumer Choice in Energy” initiative was submitted by Parker resident Bob Kennedy and Greeley resident Kent Overturf.  Western Tradition Partnership (WTP,) a Denver-based citizens’ grassroots group promoting affordable energy, property rights and job security in the West, has been drafting the ballot language for a year and is working with citizens to pass it.

If approved, the initiative allows utility’s customers to submit a petition requesting an election among customers on whether to opt out of so-called “renewable energy standards, a right promised to voters as a condition of Amendment 37, passed by a narrow 52 to 48 percent margin in 2004.  It required many Colorado utilities to get three percent of their electricity from renewable energy resources by 2007 and ten percent by 2015 and won passage after voters were assured price increased would be capped and customers could vote to opt their utility out of the system.  Soon after, environmentalists pressured legislators to hike the price cap, increase the renewable standard and eliminate the right of consumers to opt out.

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