An Ol' Broad's Ramblings
Archive for Environment
EPA – Destroying Jobs and Lives
EPA regulations violate constitutional rights
By Sen. Rand Paul
Since its creation in 1970, the Environmental Protection Agency has done more harm than good. EPA regulations cost more than 5 percent of our annual gross domestic product – the equivalent of the costs of defense and homeland security combined. Since EPA regulations have expanded, unemployment in America has increased by 33 percent. This abuse of power by the implementation of regulations infringes upon our basic constitutional rights.
There have been too frequent reports of individual rights being violated by abusive and power-hungry EPA bureaucrats. These regulations have hampered landowners’ ability to manage their private property as they please and have impaired job creation. Americans are suffering from the overreach of regulatory agencies such as the EPA.
ZoNation – Up To Know Good
The Dust Police
I came across something in an email recently that made me scratch my head….vigorously! My first thought…this must be some kind of mistake. No one with an ounce of common sense could possibly think they had a chance of regulating…………..DUST! Oh, but I was wrong. I finally got around to looking it up!
Unpaved rural roads are a source of pollution. Erosion of unpaved roadways occurs when soil particles are loosened and carried away from the roadway base, ditch, or road bank by water, wind, traffic, or other transport means. Exposed soils, high runoff velocities and volumes, sandy or silty soil types, and poor compaction increase the potential for erosion.
Loosened soil particles are carried from the road bed and into the roadway drainage system. Particles most often settle out where they diminish the carrying capacity of the ditch, and in turn cause roadway flooding, which subsequently leads to more roadway erosion. Most of the eroded soil, however, ultimately ends up in streams and rivers where it diminishes channel capacity, causing more frequent and severe flooding; destroys aquatic and riparian habitat; and has other adverse effects on water quality and water-related activities.
You city folk sure are funny!
“If there’s ever been rural America, that’s what rural America is,” said Nebraska hog farmer Danny Kluthe. “You know? It’s dirt out here, and with dirt you’ve got dust.”
The Environmental Protection Agency is looking to tighten standards for the amount of harmful particles in the air, facing opposition from U.S. farming groups who call it an unrealistic attempt to regulate dust.
I’m sorry, but you just don’t control dust! Well, unless you want to make it mud, and then it’s not dust anymore. The complete lack of common sense within the EPA is nothing new, but I think even they have go completely over the deep end. You have farms. You have farm roads. You have dirt. Without dirt, you don’t have farms. With no farms, there would be no need for a farm road, but you’d get mighty damn hungry!
If Congress is serious about cutting spending, the EPA should be one the first to go! If you ever wonder why we never make any serious progress, on ANYTHING, you might want to take a real good look at the idiots who actually believe you can control DUST!
Gotta love this:
Environmental groups say these tiny elements could be harmful if not deadly for people, causing cardiovascular or respiratory problems.
More ignorant city folk! I wonder if they realize there has been dust ever since God separated the water from the dry land and called Earth! (Genesis 1:9-10)
But technically, EPA can’t use common sense if it clashes with science, as their assessments are required to be purely scientific and mindless of ramifications, said John Walke, clean air director at the National Resources Defense Council.
Well, technically, the EPA is full of idiots! Who truly believes you can’t mix science and common sense? Evidently, the environazis!
Fraud
BP’s money buys Gulf Coast some wild items
Tasers. Brand-new SUVs. A top-of-the-line iPad. A fully loaded laptop. In the year since the Gulf oil spill, officials along the coast have gone on a spending spree with BP money, dropping tens of millions of dollars on gadgets and other gear — much of which had little to do with the cleanup, an Associated Press investigation shows.
Hey…as long as it’s not their money, politicians don’t give a flip, and just LOVE to spend. The problem is….how does an iPad help clean up the mess? Can SUVs provide jobs for Gulf Coast residents? Did they have to taze oil covered birds to get the cleaned off?
In sleepy Ocean Springs, Miss., reserve police officers got Tasers. The sewer department in nearby Gulfport bought a $300,000 vacuum truck that never sucked up a drop of oil. Biloxi, Miss., bought 14 SUVs. A parish president in Louisiana got herself a deluxe iPad, her spokesman a $3,100 laptop. And a county in Florida spent $560,000 on rock concerts to promote its oil-free beaches.
There was, and is, a lot of inefficiency going on down there. Instead rock concerts, don’t they think that $560K could have put a lot of kids to work cleaning up the beaches? Maybe it’s just me, but I’ve of the mind that these communities that wasted money on so much BS needs to give it back. Not to BP, obviously, but put it back into a fund that actually is being used for clean up, helping those who have been affected by the spill, and apologize to the public at large for being such self serving assholes!
Some officials also lavished lucrative contracts on campaign donors and others. A Florida county commissioner’s girlfriend, for instance, opened up a public relations firm a few weeks after the spill and soon landed more than $14,000 of the tiny county’s $236,000 cut of BP cash for a month’s work.
Waste and fraud. A politician’s life blood! Is it any wonder that people are totally disgusted by ALL OF THEM?
Massive Regulations Killing The Economy
EPA global warmers’ power grab
At issue is the EPA‘s designation of “greenhouse gases,” e.g., carbon dioxide, as pollutants subject to EPA regulation in accordance with the Clean Air Act. The EPA ploy is the Obama administration‘s response to Congress‘ failure to pass a broad climate bill that would include provisions such as “cap-and-trade” to reduce carbon-dioxide emissions.
Has our public school system gotten so ineffective that so many aren’t aware that BREATHING is the #1 cause of carbon dioxide? Do they not teach that plants use carbon dioxide, and expel oxygen? Human inhale the ‘waste product’ of the plants. We have a symbiotic relationship.
Symbiosis is taken from the Greek words syn meaning ‘with’ and biosis that means ‘living’.
Without the carbon dioxide, there would be no plant life. No plant life, no humans. Or, is that their intention? Totally depopulate the planet?
There are many reasons for Congress to resist this abomination. For one thing, the term “greenhouse gases” does not appear anywhere in the Clean Air Act, confirming that Congress never intended this legislation to be used to regulate carbon dioxide emissions and the like. Certainly, no previous administration has interpreted the Clean Air Act as a mandate to regulate such emissions. In any event, a constitutional perspective suggests that Congress, not unelected bureaucrats, should be setting U.S. policy.
The EPA has over reached it boundaries, pretty much since its inception. The original purpose was to reduce the U.S.’s dependence on foreign oil. Well, done such a peachy job of that, haven’t they. As a matter of fact, their actions have made us MORE dependent. They have prevented exploration, and innovation. They have stopped the building of nuclear power plants, that IS a clean alternative. The regulations that continuously put in place prevents our independence. Why should it take 20 years to get a freakin’ permit?
But the main reason to resist this EPA power grab is the adverse impact it will have on the U.S. economy. The new EPA regulations will raise energy costs for companies and create additional investment uncertainty, reducing their competitiveness in international markets and driving jobs overseas. They will also drive up prices for consumers. Meanwhile, there will be little if any reduction of global greenhouse gas emissions.
If you own a business, and want to expand, to provide jobs for Americans, promote economic health, would you want to do so in this climate? Personally, I’d find a place that was more friendly to expansion. Such regulations have sent many businesses overseas, with the aid of outrageous union demands. Without companies, there are no jobs. With no jobs, we become totally dependent on the government for our sustenance. We, in effect, become slaves to the state.
The best alternative for Congress would be to deny the EPA the authority to enforce the new regulations at all. Unfortunately, such a proposal was defeated in the Senate in June. Under the circumstances, the next best approach is one that is favored by a number of Democrats, including Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV of West Virginia, Sen. Jim Webb of Virginia and Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska, to delay implementation of the new regulations for two years.
The absolute BEST alternative for Congress is to rid our nation of ALL the unelected agencies that have taken control, starting with the EPA!
We Prefer Clean Clothes!
Obama needs to smell the coffee on energy tax laws
Senate Democrats have finally smelled the coffee. The recent announcement that they will scrap the energy bill that was clogging up the end of this summer’s congressional session was a breath of clean air for all of us.
Much has been made of the ‘lame duck session’ that the majority of us is hoping will be coming this November. The problem with such a session is that I’ve no doubt that the Democrats will take full advantage while they still have the majority in both Houses of Congress to push through their agenda. What is their agenda? It appears to be the mass destruction of the economy. This bill may have been put aside for the moment, but will the Democrats honor the wishes of Americans, and NOT force feed the people anymore such bills before Congress changes hands?
Environmentalists may bemoan the step but, in this case, lawmakers demonstrated their ability to see the big picture and abandon what was a poorly timed and misguided energy bill. With unemployment still over 9 percent and families hurting from the long recession, the focus needs to be on jobs and economic development — not a new tax plan for carbon emissions.
Personally, I happen to like the environment. That said, I do not believe a mosquito, or fruit fly, or tiny fish has priority over the human race, and our ability to grow economically, and feed our nation. There is preserving a safe environment, then there is pushing an anti human agenda. The crap and tax….er….Cap and Trade is nothing more than a scheme to destroy jobs and make those who push it, rich…or, as the case may be….richer! (I thought libs hated the wealthy? Oh yeah…only the wealthy that create jobs, not the ones who destroy them. Oooops!)
Unfortunately, the smell of coffee is not permeating the halls of the White House. President Obama is insisting on changing the tax laws so the IRS can collect double the income tax on energy producers. His budget plan, if approved, would essentially give foreign oil and natural gas companies – like BP – an advantage over domestic companies because they would pay less in income taxes. The administration is pushing to remove what’s known as the dual capacity energy tax – a section of the federal tax code that allows companies to deduct the income tax they pay to foreign countries when conducting business there. If the president has his way, oil companies would pay income tax to both the foreign entity and to Uncle Sam.
I grew up believing that double taxation was illegal. Of course, that hasn’t stopped the Federal Government. Doesn’t allowing tax breaks for foreign oil companies seem a bit counter productive? A LOT of products are made from oil. I wonder if Mr Obama is aware: One 42-gallon barrel of oil creates 19.4 gallons of gasoline.
More than half of that barrel is used to make items like:
Golf Bags
Toilet Seats
Dresses
Sweaters
Shower Curtains
Telephones
Basketballs
Shoes
Sunglasses
And let’s not forget all the items used in the medical field, like:
Artificial Limbs
Anesthetics
Aspirin
Try to think of how many items are made from plastic. You do know that plastic comes from oil, right? If the administration wants to punish U.S. oil companies with ever increasing taxes, can you imagine just how much the cost of EVERYTHING is going to rise? From your kids toys, to the I.V. bag used to hopefully save your life…..EVERY SINGLE ITEM! Is there anything we use that doesn’t have some connection to oil?
Many people think that America’s largest oil and natural gas companies hold considerable sway in the global energy industry. But, that’s not the case at all. Compared to their foreign competitors, our “big three” rank 17th, 21st and 23rd worldwide. And, many of the most powerful and influential oil companies are state owned — adding to their market strength. Altering the tax laws to give these companies a market advantage means America will be forced to purchase more oil from unfriendly governments in order to ensure Americans have access to affordable supplies.
Serious question: When did Americans turn their future over to foreigners? Many American jobs are related to the oil industry, not just in the Gulf region, but all across the country.
The environmental lobby reminds us that we need greater investment into renewable energy sources. That is true. But what is often overlooked is that oil and gas companies are making significant investment in that area as well. For renewable energy to really begin making a difference, more money needs to be allocated to research and development. Our nation’s energy needs are growing. By the year 2035, experts believe that energy usage will grow by 14 percent over current figures. Keeping the power flowing is the responsibility of our energy sector. It is not reasonable to demand they increase output, increase investment in research and development and keep energy prices affordable while also demanding they double-down on their income tax payments.
How will American oil companies be able to invest in renewable energies if the administration wants to destroy them in the meantime?
Can someone please turn on the coffee maker at the White House?
And while you’re at it, remind him that the coffee maker is ALSO made from oil products!
‘Bout Time!
BP Says Oil Stops Leaking Into Gulf for First Time Since April
BP says oil has stopped leaking into the Gulf of Mexico for the first time since April, touting the success of its new cap on its broken well.
BP has been slowly dialing down the flow as part of a critical pressure test on its new cap, which it now believes is fully containing the oil for the first time since the crisis began nearly three months ago.
Gee, I wonder who is going to take the credit if this is a success? 
We ALL know who will be blamed if it fails.
Now, if the Obama minions would just get the hell out of the way, let the clean up go forward, listen to those who KNOW what the hell they are doing, and STFU, perhaps we could all see mass improvements in the conditions on the Gulf. Oh, and let the companies who do NOT have almost 600 safety violations continue their work, let the rigs get back to what rigs do! Support the economy!
As for BP? Well, no offense to the folks on that side of the pond, but personally, I don’t want them doing anymore drilling over here. Ignoring safety is not a real good way to stay in business.
And, don’t forget to pray that this works! NOT to ‘Mother Earth’! To the ONE that created her!
D’Bama
I can’t believe I’m actually posting this.
And then we have a few reactions:
Obama’s Oil Spill Speech: What Was The Point?
Palin Reacts to Obama’s Oval Office Address on Gulf Disaster
Stuck on stupid: Obama’s czar fetish
Obama’s Oil Spill Speech: Running On Empty
Drunkblogging Obama’s Oval Office Address
Can The One Drop the Buzzer-Beating No. 23 Act?
MSNBC Trashes Obama’s Address this evening
Obama disappoints from the beginning of his speech
What we didn’t hear from Obama last night
Weak Speech from an Indecisive Obama
Obama Asks America to Commit Suicide
Obviously, there are SO many more, but hey, you can do your own work once in a while! 
My reaction after stooping to watch the video? “Whut?” Seriously? Is that the best he can do after this long? There are people seriously hurting, blocked from acting by government red tape, and what is his response? “Why yes, let’s destroy the economy even more with my irrational plan to raise everyone’s bills, that the country can NOT afford!” The man has been sitting on his thumb, spinning, for nearly two months now, and the only thing he can come up with is creating another government bureaucracy? Jeeeeez! Yeah….that’s really going to help the economic recovery. /snark
A side note: (and totally irrelevant) That teeth whistle drives me bugshit! Just sayin’.
Ooops! Almost forgot!
(source)
D’Bama – You OWN This One!
A Crisis of Competence
The Foundry
Nearly 31 years ago, on July 15, 1979, President Jimmy Carter told the American people from the Oval Office: “Energy will be the immediate test of our ability to unite this nation, and it can also be the standard around which we rally. On the battlefield of energy we can win for our nation a new confidence, and we can seize control again of our common destiny.” Last night the American people heard almost the exact same speech from President Barack Obama: “I’ve returned from a trip to the Gulf Coast to speak with you about the battle we’re waging against an oil spill that is assaulting our shores and our citizens. … The tragedy unfolding on our coast is the most painful and powerful reminder yet that the time to embrace a clean energy future is now. Now is the moment for this generation to embark on a national mission to unleash America’s innovation and seize control of our own destiny.”
If He Wants To Destroy The Country….
…..wouldn’t nukes be quicker?
The Obama Energy Tax Game Plan
The Foundry
In February of this year, after Sen. Scott Brown’s (R-MA) victory put Obamacare on life support, health insurer Anthem Blue Cross announced a 39% rate hike for its individual market subscribers in California. Despite the fact that the President’s health care plan will only drive health insurance rates higher, the White House seized on this story to revive the government takeover of the health insurance industry. Two months later when the President’s financial regulation plan was stalled in the Senate, the Securities and Exchange Commission charged Goldman Sachs with fraud in marketing some of its subprime mortgage investment products. Again, the White House pounced on this news to get its preferred legislation through Congress.
“The Day Freedom Died”
The Senate just claimed the title of the world’s most delusional body by refusing to strip unelected EPA bureaucrats of the power to regulate carbon dioxide as a pollutant. This was the day freedom died.
One wonders why we have a Congress at all. The 53 profiles in cowardice that could not get a cap-and-tax bill through the U.S. Senate voted Thursday to let the Environmental Protection Agency keep the unprecedented power Congress did not expressly give it. It is power that the EPA arrogated to itself through regulation to control every aspect of the American economy and our very lives.
They might as well have taken the Constitution out on the on Senate floor, and started a fire, with what little we have left of it now.
All 41 Republicans, including newbie Scott Brown of Massachusetts, voted not to shred the Constitution. The motion attracted, for various reasons, the votes of six Democrats — Mary Landrieu, Blanche Lincoln, Ben Nelson, Mark Pryor, the departing Evan Bayh and even Jay Rockefeller, who for once chose jobs over ideology.
Perhaps there is a drop or two of common sense in a few of the Dems, and the Republicans KNOW they would get shredded. The first thing the new Congress, under Republican control, needs to do is dissolve the EPA. One less bloated bureaucracy is not a bad thing. We already have laws in place that deal with environmental issues. The arrogance of this Congress is mind boggling. They shouldn’t be surprised when they find themselves standing in the unemployment lines with the millions of Americans they’ve put out of work!
This is a Congress full of hypocrites who complain about executive branch power under Republicans but are willing to give the EPA unprecedented power because they don’t have the votes for cap-and-trade. “Who elected the Environmental Protection Agency?” asked Wyoming Republican John Barrasso. It is a question we, and the voters, ask too.
That’s a question they better find an answer to before the ‘peasants’ come to the Capital with pitchforks, and find a way to undo the damage they’ve done.
Tax The Hot Air Escaping D.C.!
Yeah yeah….I’m late on this, but I have a real good excuse!
What’s Worse Than Energy Taxes? Renewable Electricity Standards
The Foundry
On March 15th, appearing with labor and environmental leaders, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa unveiled a new alternative energy plan that he said would ensure the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power would meet his goal of securing 20% of its energy from renewable sources such as wind and solar by December 31st. At the time, he claimed it would create 16,000 jobs and only raise consumer electric bills between 8.8% and 28.4%. But less than two weeks later those energy rate hike estimates had skyrocketed with the DWP saying it needed to raise rates by 37% in order to meet the renewable energy standards. Los Angeles’ already shrinking business community revolted and by April Mayor Villaraigosa’s plan had been soundly defeated.
Another Stupid Giverment Idea!
I want a nice sun room, environmentally sound, of course. Gimme some of dat “Obama money”!
Cash for Caulkers: Another Subsidized Clunker
The Foundry
This week The House of Representatives is set to vote on a, $6.6 billion home energy efficiency bill commonly referred to as “cash for caulkers.” The plan would give rebates to homeowners willing to green their homes by installing new windows and retrofitting homes energy efficient upgrades. The legislation, H.R. 5019, is being sold as a win for the economy, the planet and consumers. Its supporters of say it will create jobs and lower both greenhouse gas emissions and electric bills through less energy usage. But the old “If it’s too good to be true” adage holds up again. Cash for caulkers is nothing more than a $6.6 billion, taxpayer-funded government program that of wealth that will be fraught with fraud and is another step in the direction in the creating a green bubble.
What Part Of ILLEGAL………
Immigration Advocates Vow to Fight Arizona Law
Arizona’s governor vows the state’s tough new law targeting illegal immigration will be implemented with no tolerance for racial profiling, but at least two advocacy groups were preparing legal challenges and Mexico has warned that the law could affect cross-border relations.
Gov. Jan Brewer on Friday signed into law a bill that supporters said would take handcuffs off police in dealing with illegal immigration in Arizona, the nation’s busiest gateway for human and drug smuggling from Mexico and home to an estimated 460,000 illegal immigrants.
The law makes it a crime under state law to be in the country illegally. It also requires local police officers to question people about their immigration status if there is reason to suspect they are illegal immigrants; allows lawsuits against government agencies that hinder enforcement of immigration laws; and makes it illegal to hire illegal immigrants for day labor or knowingly transport them.
With hundreds of protesters outside the state Capitol shouting that the bill would lead to civil rights abuses, Brewer said critics were “overreacting” and that she wouldn’t tolerate racial profiling.
“We in Arizona have been more than patient waiting for Washington to act,” Brewer said after signing the law. “But decades of inaction and misguided policy have created a dangerous and unacceptable situation.”
Let’s get this out there, right off the bat. I’m not a racist. Mexican is not a race. I do not hate Mexicans.
What I have major problems with is the fact there are people, sneaking into my home, and there’s not a damn thing I can do about it. I’m suppose to pay for their room and board, their health care, their children’s education, and get nothing in return. Well, I’m tired of it. I’m tired of reading about LEGAL citizens being murdered by these slime balls, while the federal government, sits on it’s thumbs and spins to the tune of their “advocates”. We see people killed by drunk drivers, no license, no right to be on the roads, with numerous offenses. We read about kidnappings in Phoenix, the “kidnap capital of the world”. We see the violence growing on the border, and that moron they call the Secretary of Homeland Defense is telling us all is well. Really? What planet is she on?
Government IS The Problem
EPA stands in the way of recovery
By Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.)
Not far from my district the Spring Hill plant sits idle. GM pulled out of Spring Hill, once the proud home to the Saturn line, in the wake of its bankruptcy last year. Reopening the plant, either for the production of cars or anything else, will be critical to jobs growth in Middle Tennessee. At a listening session with constituents who live in the 7th district and used to commute to work in Spring Hill, the message was clear: to get the plant up and running again, Washington is going to have to do … less.
