As the Environmental Protection Agency zeroed in on new emissions limits for existing coal and new gas-fired power plants, President Joe Biden had a decision to make. He could acknowledge the financial strain families are facing because of his failed policies and stop the bleeding, or kowtow to the “Enviro Left” and ratchet up the pain by making electricity more expensive and less reliable. He made his choice, and voters should remember it in November.
The new rules, dubbed “Clean Power Plan 2.0,” are even more stringent than originally proposed, reflecting the will of the White House’s Climate Policy Office and its army of so-called environmental justice warriors. The strategy is simple. They know the new limits cannot be achieved with currently available technology and under the short timetable they have laid out. As a result, many power plants will be forced to shut down or will never be built, taking power off the grid when it is needed most.
Grid operators around the country were already raising the alarm on the first version of the proposal before the cadre of activist bureaucrats got their hands on it. In comments filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, a group of grid operators who are collectively responsible for ensuring reliable electricity for around 154 million people said they were concerned the rule would “have the potential to materially and adversely impact electric reliability.”
Energy demand has grown exponentially in recent years and will continue to rise. With less power going into the grid, adverse effects from extreme weather events, such as what Texas experienced in the winter of 2021, could become more commonplace, putting our economy and, most importantly, lives at risk.
To understand just how poorly conceived CPP 2.0 is, consider it in the context of the Biden administration’s other major priorities. While the administration is trying to force people into electric vehicles, it is making it harder to generate the electricity needed to keep them on the road. Biden and his fellow Democrats tout the CHIPS Act as one of their greatest legislative achievements, but how do they think these new semiconductor factories, each of which uses as much power in a year as around 50,000 homes, will be able to operate?
As energy demand increases and supply dwindles, the basic rules of economics will kick in, and family budgets will take the hit. When the cost of electricity goes up, it does not just affect the monthly utility bill. It increases costs throughout the supply chain, especially in energy-intensive industries such as agriculture and manufacturing. If you think groceries are expensive now, buckle up.
If there is a silver lining in the White House’s ill-advised rulemaking, it is that, by catering to radical environmental activists, the proposal has landed on more shaky legal ground than it would have with a more commonsense approach.
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When the Obama administration’s Clean Power Plan was struck down in West Virginia v. EPA, the Supreme Court made clear that such a sweeping expansion of regulatory authority could only be done with “clear congressional authorization,” as Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the majority opinion. The courts will undoubtedly have the opportunity to weigh in on CPP 2.0, and they would be right to strike it down again.
If Biden had been serious about a clean energy future, he would have listened to the experts and taken a more pragmatic approach. Instead, he opted for a desperate ploy to mobilize disillusioned Democratic voters at the expense of hardworking people. Having reliable, affordable electricity is a basic necessity of modern life, not a luxury. Families should not have to scrimp and save to turn the lights on. Unfortunately, that is the direction we are headed in under CPP 2.0, and voters should bear that in mind come Election Day.
Daniel Turner is the founder and executive director of Power The Future, a national nonprofit organization that advocates for American energy jobs.