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If you are an industrialist who contributed to Democrats… [UPDATED]

here is your reward:

WASHINGTON – The Environmental Protection Agency has concluded greenhouse gases are endangering people’s health and must be regulated, signaling that the Obama administration is prepared to contain global warming without congressional action if necessary.

EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson scheduled a news conference for later Monday to announce the so-called endangerment finding, officials told The Associated Press, speaking privately because the announcement had not been made.

And by ‘reward’ I mean of course ‘betrayal.’  The intention here is to use the EPA to impose by executive fiat what the Senate has sensibly refused to do by legislative action: use the Clean Air Act to shut down businesses that they don’t like.  And, given that the dislike is based on religious grounds – and much, much, much worse; the people with the religious objections don’t see themselves as being religious – forget about trying to compromise.  The ‘compromise’ is that the industrialists don’t go to jail, a monastery, or the gibbet*.

In short: elections have consequences.  Here, have some.

Moe Lane

(H/T: AoSHQ)

*Obviously, being burned at the stake isn’t really carbon-neutral.

Crossposted to Moe Lane.

[UPDATE]: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R, KY) summed up my reaction to this pretty nicely:

“With double-digit unemployment and over 3.5 million jobs already lost this year, the administration inexplicably continues to push for a job-killing national energy tax—either through legislation or regulation.”

COMMENTS

  • 10ksnooker

    In 1972 the EPA did the same thing with DDT. And 30-40 million African children under the age of 5 died of malaria because of it.

    No shame when you talk about leftists.

    In 2006 WHO allowed DDT use again, as after 30 plus years they could not find one fact to say the ban was valid.

  • mkozikowski

    What are those ‘devastating’ green house gasses?

    Carbon Dioxide – CO2
    without this gas we would freeze to death
    without this gas, absolutely no plants would grow and we would suffocate.

    Water Vapor – H2O
    Yes, water vapor (clouds, rain, fog) is also a devastating green house gas.
    Without this all life on earth would die within about 7 days
    Without this much of our free (?) electricity would not exist
    Without this there would be no green lawns or food to eat.

    Methane – hydro-carbon
    Many people cook, drive and heat there house with methane.
    This is a natural byproduct of the life cycle.
    Solar and hydro electric are not solutions for very norther or very southern life. Methane is their protection from death.

    Ozone – O3
    O3 protects all life on earth from the sun’s ultraviolet rays. Without it most of us would die.
    this is a byproduct of nature. Sun’s rays hitting the earth and converting O2 into O3.
    It is also a byproduct of almost every electrical device we use. Motors, computers, TV’s, Generators. You name it, if it is electrical, it generates O3

    OK, so we can conclude that the EPA would like to see us all DEAD!
    Simple and to the point.

  • http://xmmlbchat.blogspot.com katesmith

    Some business interests have been behaving as if this were a foregone conclusion for years. Many have hooked up with climate lobbying firms in the Beltway, believing they are helpless and must accept this. This is entirely the result of the UN and media propaganda over many years, with 2 objects: the end of the United States, and control of a multi-trillion dollar carbon trading market. Gingrich was a noteworthy part of this effort. I’m sure Goldman Sachs and Soros appreciate the help. This didn’t have to happen, enough people just did nothing about it.

  • http://charlemagne-the-hammer.blogspot.com/ DerKrieger

    are loading the political guns of the GOP for them.

    This cries out for a political ad campaign. I’m eager to see what Se. Coburn does with this.

    The same fools that signed on for Obamacare in hopes of some rent seeking are now also regretting their actions.

    The Democrats are going to drive unemployment throught the roof. Were I an executive at an impacted company and I was forced to shut down or move overseas and thus layoff my workers I’d make sure every one of the knew what was going on throughout the process starting right now. I would educate my workers and enlist them in saving their own jobs. It might even be a good way to get them to rebel against the union leadership that is in bed with the Leftists.

    Union members you better sit up and take notice.

  • http://charlemagne-the-hammer.blogspot.com/ DerKrieger

    ..left in the business community that are willing to take on the ignorant, arrogant fools in DC. The biggest problem, IMO, with BIG business is that once they cross a certain threshold in terms of size they start to work against the free market and work with government to impose anti-competitive legislation on their competitors. Wal-Mart came out in support of Obamacare because it would hurt its competition more than WM itself. This kind of practice may be good for Wal-Mart but it’s bad for Wal-Mart’s employees and customers as well as the families of these rent-seeking executives themselves.

    There needs to be some kind of maximum size of minimum number of competitors legislation passed to prevent companies from becoming “too big to fail” or so big that free markets become a problem they actively seek to undermine.

    I used to work for Alltel and was opposed to the purchase of that company by Verizon on competitive grounds.

  • nateleyswhore

    Big international organizations, big government, big business, and big media are all openly colluding to enslave the American middle class with this hogwash of lies. Sadder still is the prospect of many members of that American middle class openly endorsing these fools and their agenda. Fortunately nobody can hide from the unemployment statistics that this lunacy will inflict upon us.

  • larueladue

    What can be done to reverse this? Action by Congress, or only through the courts?

  • izoneguy

    and freeze your butt off when they reduce the operation of those old coal powered energy plants. Black outs just in time for the 2010 elections. If there is no power to run the voting machines…..

  • izoneguy

    so you don’t freeze in the winter. Looks like the elites want to empty the NorthEast of all the undesirables. The CO2 will actually go way up when people resort to burning their furniture for fuel to stay warm and cook food.

  • Elizabeth

    The unemployment rate the public knows about is 10%. Factor in those who are underemployed or who have given up on finding a job and the real unemployment rate is closer to 17%. With the media in the pocket of the Dems, they can hide just about anything they want from large chunks of the population of this country.

  • drfredc

    ” *Obviously, being burned at the stake isn?t really carbon-neutral.”

    Ah, but it mostly is according to at least one contemporary AGW view. It’s the same way the Obamunists say it’s OK to provide deductions for putting in new wood stoves. Ditto for cornahol (so long as you don’t count the use of oil enegry necessary to plant and harvest the junk). Seems this also provides a loophole to let econuts off the hook for fighting common sense preventive actions to reduce or prevent large forest and brush fires.

    C02 produced by burning stuff that comes from ‘natural’ sources is OK. Only C02 produced by burning coal and oil is bad. Natural gas — well it’s OK. Apparently, as long as the word ‘natural’ is included in the name. Natural oil and Natural coal would probably be fine too, if the oil and gas industry started a marketing movement to support the name change and made an effort to buy off enough econuts with the silliness of it all.

  • dave_in_atl

    You do know that the U6 is not a new number. Both the U3 and U6 have been reported for YEARS.

    Each number means something a little different….

    * U1: Percentage of labor force unemployed 15 weeks or longer.
    * U2: Percentage of labor force who lost jobs or completed temporary work.
    * U3: Official unemployment rate per ILO definition.
    * U4: U3 + “discouraged workers”, or those who have stopped looking for work because current economic conditions make them believe that no work is available for them.
    * U5: U4 + other “marginally attached workers”, or “loosely attached workers”, or those who “would like” and are able to work, but have not looked for work recently.
    * U6: U5 + Part time workers who want to work full time, but cannot due to economic reasons.

  • Elizabeth

    I know, but I think your average member of the public, who gets all their news from the MSM, doesn’t. They’re very unlikely to know the context for any of the numbers they’re hearing. For example, I bet many people have no idea how much harder the current downturn in employment has been on men than on women. I bet most of them are unaware that unemployment levels among young, black men are already at Great Depression levels.

  • archer52

    I’m working my way through a book called Mao’s Last Revolution written by a couple of eggheads who spend far too much time researching the subject. However, they do a good job outlining a very complex situation during the 1966-1976 period of Mao’s rule.

    It is not an easy read, the names, positions and alliances of the players are hard to follow. But, the main jist of things is that Mao suffered two great fears; One- he feared being tarred and destroyed like Stalin, Two- he wasn’t content just to ruin his nation, but he wanted to undermine it with confusion, discontent and a constant upheaval of new and often falsely created enemies. The goal WAS the struggle as much as it was anything else. You could be an ally one day and an enemy the next.

    Another interesting and frankly frightening tool Mao used was the arts. He would commission posters, articles, plays and movies showing how someone was a traitor or a hero based on just a phone call. (NEA anybody!)

    The book was suggested to me by a friend who pointed out that as much as Obama’s people are compared to Chavez and Castro, that Mao may be a better fit as to the deconstruction of a culture and society.

    It doesn’t surprise me one bit if the “allies” of Obama are turned on and confusion is sowed intentionally. It works wonders in weakening a nation, here or in China.

  • merryj1

    This EPA power-grab was apparently “authorized” by a Supreme Court ruling, but I’m not clear on which ruling or why — 2007 I think.

    Does anyone have details and rationale?

  • Achance

    http://www.redstate.com/achance/2009/09/08/a-field-guide-to-communists/

    Lots of words were being thrown around carelessly.

  • JadedByPolitics

    lawsuits? ANYTHING?

  • izoneguy

    Let the American people suffer for their want of socialism and let’s see how long Mr. Obama will last. Lisa Jackson’s head will be served up just after Pelosi & Reid bite the dust.

    Suffer people – suffer…..revenge is a dish best served cold….

    And there will plenty of cold statists that will wish Obama was
    never born…..they sure don’t care where he was born.

  • http://moelane.com/ Moe Lane

    Although saying – loudly – that you intend to make sure that the GOP will be able to stop this in Jan 2011 might be helpful.

  • marilynchapman

    Is it possible to have the Supreme Court decision that allowed the EPA to regulate CO2 rescinded? It was decided on faulty science.

  • JadedByPolitics

    I didn’t get the government I voted for & I should suffer for IDIOTS? this so sucks! Can WE throw them ALL in jail after WE take over in 2010 for destroying our country?

  • izoneguy

    that we intend to stop this and the rest of the ObamaNation in Jan 2011……

    Even if they put out the edict today – it would take at least through 2010 before ANYTHING would happen……

  • larueladue

    we need to build a massive wall on our northern borders, to keep them out! Call it the Mason-Dixon Great Wall… We don’t need them bringing their corrupt culture and failed economy south!!

    /snark off

  • Menlo

    It’s apparently among the emanations and penumbras of the “Clean Air Act.”

  • dmartin

    That on the anniversary of Pearl Harbor we are attacked by our own President.

  • ehosterman

    you can thank the people’s republic of Massachusetts for this.

  • ehosterman

    you can thank the people’s republic of Massachusetts for this.

  • ehosterman

    to amend the Clean Air act to remove the EPA’s authority to regulate emissions of CO2.

  • ehosterman

    to amend the Clean Air act to remove the EPA’s authority to regulate emissions of CO2.

  • Lisa in Maryland

    what the middle class (uninformed folks) don’t realize is that we little people make rich people rich. We buy things–groceries, gas, energy, ect…They are still going to be rich, us little people just have to pay more, but rich people don’t really pay taxes. We pay it in the price of our goods and services. I have no more money–Let’s just call it what it is — Income change. Bye bye what manufacturing jobs we have left, hello high taxes, high cost of groceries, and GREEN Hell. Next we will all be forced to live in mud huts, and have no electricity.

  • Lisa in Maryland

    I wonder how many carbon credits they would have to buy?

  • Lisa in Maryland

    If they can tax it, they will let you do it.

  • Leopard1996

    Because the EPA is doing what most of them agree with instead of looking at the power grab from Congress by the Executive Branch.

    From what I can see, principle means nothing and a lack of balls is astounding from this congress.

  • izoneguy

    A day of leftist insanity…..

  • http://www.ssce.net/Web-Articles/Web-articles-indexed-authors.html#authors-l JLenardDetroit

    *as I’ve always said — it is just relevant in more ways now ;-) lol

  • http://www.ssce.net/Web-Articles/Web-articles-indexed-authors.html#authors-l JLenardDetroit

    huh?…. what?….. exactly…..

    I wish I could recall exactly which Lefty-loon whack-job was on which program (so I could try to track down Video) said it but here is the latest twisted/pretzel logic on the Climate Change paranoia bandwagon….

    When confronted with the ClimateGate FACTS and that since the turn of the Millenium we’ve been COOLING…. oh wait, further, the loon was setup that led into the rant, reminder that during the 70′s we had the WORLD IS RETURNING TO AN ICE AGE paranoia.

    Response: ‘The earth has heated and cooled and WE SHOULD BE CONTINUING IN THAT COOLING TREND.’ That we aren’t, he went on, ‘is evidence that we are warming or we’d otherwise be COOLER than we are now!’

    At the time I heard it I just rolled my eyes and shook my head knowing that this was is indeed more of the tortured CLIMATE RELIGION that no matter what happens, regardless of ANY FACTS (as we’ve heard this for years), we are WARMING….. This is just the latest ingenious way they have come up with to attempt to DISMISS the actual Science and those “Inconvenient” emails proving they “cannot depict the warming.” As we all know, the CLIMATE CHANGE FANATIC RELIGION FAITHFUL will shake their heads YES WE CAN in recognition that is close enough (a dismissal of, excuse to dismiss, the ClimateGate emails) for them to continue to believe the Gore-acle.

  • Leopard1996

    I never heard of one cause having numerous different effects. Logic always dictated to me that one cause = one effect.

  • http://www.ssce.net/Web-Articles/Web-articles-indexed-authors.html#authors-l JLenardDetroit

    that’s it…. One sentence…. No Amendments….. Up or Down VOTE!!!

    and had you’ve heard the latest: non-warming is proof of warming? — Climategate traction: new Lefty loon bent – ‘Fact that we aren’t cooling more is proof of Warming!’

  • http://www.ssce.net/Web-Articles/Web-articles-indexed-authors.html#authors-l JLenardDetroit

    hear that one too??? For once, there is something I can agree with Al Gore on…. but it applies to Him, and his cronies, DENIAL OF FACTS/SCIENCE in the whole Climate $cam that is indeed in its “Sunset phase.” All these tortured changes in rhetoric and need to constantly change their Pretzel-logic to fit the Facts, because they cannot any longer falsify the Facts to fit the agenda, is way too obvious to be ignored!

    I’d like to clarify the previous post, as I should have proof read it another time…

    1) The loon acknowledges the fact that the earth has countless times gone through Warming/Cooling CYCLES!
    2) Loon finally admits we may have indeed STOPPED Warming, and in fact now somewhat cooling again, since the turn of the Millenium
    3) Wants you to acknowledge the WE ARE HEADING FOR AN ICE AGE paranoia of the 1970′s WAS RIGHT and that we ‘really should be still in the cooling trend and returning to the next mini-ice-age’ (the Little Ice Age which had its ending just as our Nation was birthing)
    4) All of those things are to be considered the NEW FACTS AND UNDISPUTED SCIENCE
    ….. so ….. given those FACTS….. That we were Warming, but now not Warming, YET NOT COOLING AS FAST AS WE SHOULD BE (IF we are indeed in that supposed “ice-age return trend”) is proof that we are Warming.

    One might ask…. shouldn’t we be thankful we aren’t FREEZING TO DEATH?!?!? Of course not, silly…. you’re missing the point… The point is that this line of BS allows them to reset the doomsday clock on the Climate-Alarmist timetable!!!! They had 20 years ago warned we only had 20 years to act…. This now allows them to go on about WARMING and warn that if we don’t slow it now, when the next real NATURAL warming cycle comes it will get way too hot.

    So, we’re back to the original WE’VE GOT 20 YEARS TO AVERT DOOM yet again….. The same solutions for them to insist via CrapTrade with the new and revised twisted-logic behind it to give them a new few years timetable to ram it all through with continued Warming Paranoia — despite ANY science. They have conveniently positioned themsleves, with this BS, to continue the claim regardless of the Temperature data! Again, convenient language to dismiss those “inconvenient” emails that admit they cannot demonstrate the Warming with the Temperature data — UNLESS they are able to factor in this new slant that it really should have been colder!

  • http://www.thehayride.com MacAoidh

    I never thought they would go this far. But they have. Whatever happens as a result, it’s on their heads.

    http://thehayride.com/2009/12/obama-epa-declares-war-on-louisiana/

  • http://www.nighttwister.com NightTwister

    Congress votes to de-fund the EPA.

    No, it won’t happen, but it would be fun to see them threaten to do it…