I'm going full on rant so for anyone who doesn't want to read it, look away now.
Yeah carbinemike you are absolutely right, and it has been the most restrictive 4 years that I have ever seen, and I've heard some of the old timers say it's the worst they've ever seen as well. Some of those old timers I'm talking about go back pre-WWII, so they've been around long enough to remember.
For one, a mine cannot LEGALLY operate without Federal oversight.
Not just fed. and state mine inspectors and taxes, and osha/msha, but the worst is the EPA.
The EPA has been against coal industry for decades, but it has really never been this bad ever.
The coal industry isn't even asking for de-regulation or a bail out, but they are needing Gov't to BUTT OUT. It's not like coal mining really needs all the oversight and reg's and red tape to operate anyway.
The Gov't is closing down entire industries and making it harder for local communities to continue to survive and provide the things that government is actually supposed to do like provide police and national guard, etc. This is not an exaggeration and is FACT.
Gov't regulation is why natural gas costs less. Not because it just magically does, but taxes and regulations are unfairly targeting coal on all fronts.
These cap and trade tax credits for pollution is a joke. And if you want to know the truth about it, Vernon Lemar was one of the main people behind that fiasco.
And a quick geography lesson, Vernon Lemar is the elected rep for Eastern Tn, which doesn't use coal and has several nuclear reactors around knoxville and Oak Ridge, and hydro by the TVA, so of course he thinks his power is better because it's what he has and the region of TN he is over stands to gain by those of us just north and east of him losing their a$$. So, I do hate to say it, but again, is mostly political.
Coal powered plants have carbon scrubbers and they are not allowed to use coal that has too high of a sulphur content (reference to Obama's clean coal comment), the majority of what is released out of those "smoke" stacks is STEAM. Not even smoke.
You touched on something I've been saying for a long time, and some day, will happen one way or another whether the coal suppy is eternally exhausted, or by regulation, but there are steps that will have to be taken before coal fired power plants are replaced.
You can't just "turn off" a power plant if there isn't some other means of producing that power.
If you don't have nuclear, or hydro or wind turbine, or solar, or whatever IN PLACE, then you are shooting yourself in the foot by over-regulating coal because all that does is turn into higher electric bills for the consumer, and for businesses, which again passes on the higher costs to their consumers, and is a trickle effect. People are going to pay for electricity before they'll pay any other single bill they have regardless of how much it costs because it is so much of a necessity now.
Like CarbineMike said, If you don't want coal fired plants, build enough alternatives to close down an entire industry and do it. But don't fool yourself to think it can be done all at once because it can't.
This President has done a great job on things that he wants. But is putting the screws to everyone else because of it.
This doesn't just apply to coal either. There are several other industries that Government regulations and oversight are destroying the infrastructure that has traditionally kept this country moving forward (sorry for the obama campaign slogan pun, it just strikes me as too ironic to pass up considering how hell bent or blind or stupid they are to not see or care that they are doing more harm than good for the majority.)
Sorry to outright call the President stupid, but that's exactly what he is if he thinks the majority of people are too stupid to not understand and see what's going on around them.
