“Well, I don’t care what it costs, we need to save my grandchildren”, said the avid environmentalist with an agitated voice in response to someone who dared to say an offshore wind farm was too expensive. Never mind that there are other ways to lower pollution, reduce greenhouse gas emission, and actually lower electric cost. She could afford higher rates and didn’t care if it was a burden to the poor, the retired on a fixed income, or the unemployed.
It is this callous disregard for higher cost by the environmentally misguided that has Europe running away from green subsidies as fast as they can. Germany has cut subsidies six times in two years. The Netherlands has canceled green subsidies completely and will now build four nuclear plants.
Government regulations may double the cost of electricity and significantly increase car prices and those higher costs could eliminate millions of jobs. The impacts will fall hardest on the poor and middle class. Residential electric rates could be $1000 a year more than necessary and new cars could cost $7000 more.
· Delaware efforts to end local regulation of the electric generation industry and participate in a failed regional carbon dioxide cap and trade program already cost homeowners $400 a year in higher electric bills1
· Delaware requirements that 25% of electricity come from expensive solar and wind power could add $275 a year to electric bills over the next decade2
· New federal regulations to incrementally decrease air pollution from coal fired electric generating plants could add another $200 to $300 a year to residential electric bills over the next five years3.
· The misguided coal regulations could also shut down 10% of our electric generating capacity seriously impacting grid reliability4
Gallup does an annual survey comparing concerns for the environment versus the economy. In 2000, 70% put the environment first. The last decade saw that support erode steadily and the March, 2011, survey showed support for the environment over the economy has been cut in half to 36%.
Certainly, worsening economic conditions played a major role in the decline of environmental priorities. However, support by environmental groups for questionable claims of imminent environmental disaster and for hastily adopting extremely expensive technical solutions, such as offshore wind and solar, has also been important. Two hundred people participated in the Fuel Cell Tariff public comment sessions and almost unanimously opposed the program to no avail. Increasingly, the poor see environmental policy as a direct attack on them by a wealthier elite largely unaffected by unemployment and the cost of their policies.
Efforts to legislate tighter environmental laws have failed recently for good reason. Pollution levels have fallen and our air and water quality have improved dramatically relieving the public’s sense of urgency for added environmental regulation. For example, the 1990 Clean Air Act required individual electric generating facilities to reduce air pollution 90% over a twenty year period. The goals were exceeded and the cost was about $27 billion5. Reducing the next 5%, required by bureaucratic fiat, allowing only three to five years for compliance, will cost over $300 billion4. Jobs will be lost and electric grid reliability will be reduced.
Another example is the federal requirement that fuel mileage must double to 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025. The Center for Automotive Research expects this to add $6700/vehicle. We can see this impact today. A Honda Civic hybrid costs $7600 more than a standard Civic including loan finance charges. Over a ten year period the hybrid only saves half the added cost in gasoline and if the battery pack needs replacing the fuel savings would be wiped out. Sales of hybrid vehicles in America have fallen by half to 3.8% of new vehicle sales.
Some people buy the more expensive hybrid to save the planet. Many more simply are paying a “fee” to drive by themselves in the High Occupancy Vehicle lanes on busy urban roadways. The poor don’t have that option. They will drive in stop and go traffic or take the bus. If they are buying a less efficient used car they will pay more for it now because of the “Cash for Clunkers” program. The program removed inefficient vehicles from the fleet but also reduced the availability of used cars and drove the average price up by $1800 according to Edmunds.com.
The health benefits of expensive environmental regulations are questionable. Incidence of asthma and chronic bronchitis have doubled since 1980. Yet, air pollutants tied to illness have dropped by 30% to 90%, depending on the pollutant, showing a negative correlation6.
As a result the U.S. House of Representatives has already passed a budget that prohibits the EPA from spending money to implement new environmental regulations. Other bills have been introduced to prohibit an activist EPA from enforcing these new regulations. In Delaware, a bill is stalled in committee to force Delaware to follow the New Jersey example and withdraw from the regional cap and trade scheme. Public support is needed to overcome majority party resistance to these efforts and rein in high energy costs.
David T. Stevenson
No comments:
Post a Comment