While re-elected President Barack Obama says 2012 was his last election, he’s always preferred campaigning to governing. The big problems of the environment and related energy issues were not introduced or leveraged in the 2012 elections. However, the environment and its enviro followers still represent a significant partisan Democrat constituency of liberal-progressives.
With no more national elections looming, Obama is free to turn even further left in pandering to liberal-progressives, including environmentalists. His politics and ambitious legacy are to transform America from a leading capitalist free-enterprise economy into a centralized-government, Euro-style socialist, mediocre global conciliator.
We know that what liberal progressives lack in wisdom, they more than make up for in persistence and media enablement. Obama’s heretofore stalled environmental policy initiatives are the most radical and costly environmental regulations ever imagined for American government. Many of these progressive policies would require more wasted renewables subsidies, drilling moratoria, restrictions on fossil fuels and greenhouse gas climate controls.
Look for enviros to push the Obama Administration toward the following green initiatives:
• Block new energy resource development on public lands and energy infrastructure expansion such as the Keystone XL pipeline;
• Spend billions more for green energy jobs;
• Continue more restrictions on the use of coal;
• Continue limitations on oil and gas exploration in onshore and offshore federal lands;
• Hold restrictions on new oil and gas drilling permits;
• Regulate new oil and gas “fracking” extraction technologies;
• Resurrect greenhouse gas cap-and-trade regulations that have failed markets and the environment in the Euro Area.
All of these environmental initiatives would have the effect of expanding costly government, punishing taxpayers and killing job growth.
Subscribe free to this Column by clicking the blue-highlighted +Subscribe line below author's title.
Comments