Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
Widespread displeasure ripples through the state’s leaders in Washington D.C.
President Obama, shown here at a 2012 campaign rally in Davenport, delivered a major policy speech on climate change last week, prompting Nebraska lawmakers to question its effectiveness and its long-term implications.
Last week, President Obama delivered one of his first major policy speeches in some time, focusing on climate change when much of Nebraska is anticipating a final decision on the Keystone XL pipeline.
“This is more than a war on coal and energy, it’s a war on family budgets and American jobs,” Nebraska U.S. Senator Mike Johanns said. “By imposing costly regulations, the President is in effect raising electricity costs for every home, small business and manufacturing company in America, who all depend on affordable energy.”
The brunt of the administration’s proposal focuses on reducing the nation’s reliance on coal-fired power plants, which currently accounts for “most of the electricity generated within Nebraska,” according to the Nebraska Power Association.
President Obama’s plan is expected to have “wide-ranging effects” on the United States’ coal industry, which currently accounts for 40 percent of the nation’s electricity. These proposals, which the president says he will implement through executive order, could have a particularly strong impact on the price of energy in Nebraska.
“Nearly two-thirds of all Nebraska electricity is produced from coal-fired plants, which are an integral part of our state’s public power system,” said Senator Deb Fischer. “The proposal outlined by the president today would increase compliance costs and jeopardize Nebraskans’ access to affordable, reliable electricity. Moreover, it is unclear what – if any – discernible impact the president’s plan would have on decreasing global greenhouse gas emissions.”
The other aspect of the speech that has ignited anger amongst Republican members of Congress is the president’s new criteria for his approval of the Keystone XL pipeline, which is plotted to run across eastern Nebraska, should it be approved.
“I’m also disappointed in the President’s announcement that he is again moving the goalposts on the Keystone XL pipeline,” said Johanns in a statement. “With so many Americans out of work and America in need of new energy supplies, it’s unfortunate the President is holding hostage a project that would bring both. There’s no reason to continue delaying construction of this important project.”
The administration’s proposal focuses on the approval of the pipeline hinging upon the condition that the pipeline not “significantly” increase greenhouse gas emissions, something that had not been an integral factor in past speeches.
A State Department study issued four months ago said the Keystone XL pipeline project, which will transport tar sands south from Canada, to a bevy of refineries in the southern United States.
“Our national interest will be served only if this project does not significantly exacerbate the problem of carbon pollution,” said Obama. “The net effects of the pipeline’s impact on our climate will be absolutely critical to determining whether this project is allowed to go forward.”
While the full price tag of the president’s plan is still unclear, estimates from the Natural Resources Defense Council – who put forward a proposal similar to the one Mr. Obama outlined last week – place the initial price tag in 2020 at $4 billion, but also claim that a long-term savings of between $25 billion to $60 billion through “saving lives, preventing illness and averting damage from climate change.”
Fossil fuel advocates counter these claims, saying that the proposal would cripple the still-struggling economy.
“If the Obama administration fails to recognize the environmental progress the industry has made and continues to adopt more regulations, coal power could cease to exist, which would be devastating to our economy,” said Mike Duncan, president of the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity.
Aside from the environmental proposal itself, Nebraska lawmakers are unhappy with Mr. Obama’s claim that he will implement it through executive orders, something they say is counterproductive to the way the country is supposed to be run.
“Instead of promoting a regulatory regime that decreases access to energy and increases consumer prices, the president and Congress should focus on ways to finally move toward the promised ‘all of the above’ energy strategy,” said Fischer.
“It is my expectation – and the expectation of Nebraskans – that the president will work with – not around – members of Congress on bipartisan solutions that lower energy prices for Americans and bring us closer to realizing true energy independence.”
