I trust you are aware that the Environmental Protection Agency is implementing new rules to cut carbon emissions, as they are legally empowered to do. Several Republican governors have stated that will employ Republicans’ favorite the deal with laws they don’t like. They plan to break the law.
At least five Republican governors, including two presidential hopefuls — Scott Walker of Wisconsin and Bobby Jindal of Louisiana — have indicated they may defy new federal rules that are part of President Obama’s climate change agenda. The rules — which are meant to reduce the nation’s carbon emissions and speed the transition to renewable energy and a low-carbon economy — require existing power plants to reduce their carbon emissions 30 percent by 2030 (from 2005 levels). This goal is to be achieved by federally-enforceable state plans submitted to the EPA.
The gubernatorial response follows Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell’s campaign, launched earlier this year, to get state governors to refuse to carry out the new regulations, which are slated to be finalized this summer.
In a March letter [Bought Bitch delinked] to the nation’s governors, Sen. McConnell issued a warning:
[S]ubmitting a plan exposes states to the real danger— allowing the EPA to wrest control of a state’s energy policy if they or any other federal agency becomes dissatisfied with a state’s progress in reaching federal emissions goals. As both the EPA and other environmental groups have noted, a state plan must be “federally enforceable.” The meaning of this language is clear: as the EPA sees it, a state-issued plan would give the agency broad new authority to control that state’s energy future — not to mention the ability to place the blame for future consequences squarely on the state itself.
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Here’s a description of the plan, as it was explained over a year ago.
I can only hope the the EPA follows through by referring The Fartfuhrer of Fitzwalkerstan, Squeaky Bobby, and the rest to DOJ for criminal indictments.
19 Responses to “Republicans Plan to Defy EPA”
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Since climate change issues are a matter of national security (in fact much more so than iraq, Iran, Cuba, and other rinky-dink foreign policy issues), is there any case for considering this to be sedition? I guess for treason we have to be at war with another government, which it is not possible to do with climate change, but does anyone know if that is true of sedition also?
I like that thinking JD!
JD, my understanding fron TC is that treason, as you said, requires the country to be at war with another. However, there is no such stipulation for sedition. This from Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sedition
Hope this helps.
Lynn's answer is spot-on. Let me add that armed insurrection to overthrow the government is also treason, but what republivans are doing now is criminal sedition.
Lynch is more independent of the power brokers than past AG's–hopefully she'll move swift once any take any actual action.
That's also my take on her. I hopw we're right.
I’ll bet you a dollar to a donut that Oklahoma is one of the states that are included in this “Plan to Defy the EPA”! They would have to be!
She is mentioned if you scroll down far enough. As you say, no surprise.
I wouldn't have taken that bet anyway.
If we could just get the Rethuglicans to insert an "i" between the "e" and "f" – the world could breathe a sigh of relief
D-e-i-f-y
They have already done that to money, plutocracy, ALEC,Grover Norquist, and the Koch brothers, and are running out of room in their pantheon.
The Republicans can't afford for the provisions to work, they would cost their owners, oil, gas and others, a lot of money. They will continue to fight it and with their majority in Congress right now, will probably defeat it. They don't care what kind of world our children will inherit. Kentucky has had Oregon weather for three weeks, and vice versa> If this doesn't signify climate change, what does?
It makes me ill to think of these bomastic money grubbers defying EPA regulations just so the fossil fuel and other sectors can make money. They'll destroy the planet and then whine that their profits are tanking!
Harper denies climate change and doesn't think additional measures are needed. Gov Jerry Brown of California called out Harper on climate action (sic inaction) during a conference as reprted in the Huffington Post. Harper didn't attend the conference nor did Federal Environment Minister Leona Aglukkaq. The premiers of Ontario and Québec however did attend. http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2015/07/08/climate-change-conference_n_7750776.html
Don't you dare export that Republican to the US.
This is definitely sedition. Climate change is a matter for national security according to the pentagon.
TY TC – sorry – back to bed with a pounding headache …
Hope you feel better.
Their response to the new rules was quite predictable.