With the pope visiting America, the Obama regime has been adamant in pushing the message that climate change will hit the poor the hardest. They’re omitting one small but critical word, though. It’s climate change *policies that will hurt the most vulnerable citizens. And not just in the United States, but around the world.
In the U.S., the federal government is embarking on a troubling regulatory path—one that will drive up energy costs for families and businesses, drive out employment opportunities, and have a minuscule impact, if any, on the global climate system.
Take the administration’s recently finalized Clean Power Plan. It will require drastic cuts in the carbon dioxide emissions of 47 states, and will shift America’s energy economy away from affordable, reliable energy to more expensive, politically preferred sources.
The higher costs will adversely impact poor minority families and seniors on fixed incomes the most, because transportation and residential energy costs represent a larger portion of their budget. Energy bills represent approximately one-fifth of low-income Americans’ budgets, disproportionately affecting black and Hispanic communities.
When their costs rise from heavy-handed regulation, it takes away opportunities to put food on the table or provide basic health care. According to a 2011 National Energy Assistance Directors poll of low-income families, 24 percent went without food for a day, and 37 percent forwent medical and dental coverage to pay for higher energy bills. Nearly 1 in 5 had a family member become sick because their home was too cold. The real-world implications of regulations that increase energy costs are nothing to scoff at or dismiss.
Keep in mind, the federal government’s carbon dioxide regulations have nothing to do with reducing pollution or addressing a health concern. Carbon dioxide is a colorless, odorless, non-toxic gas. The Clean Power Plan is predicated solely on carbon dioxide’s alleged impact on the climate.
In fact, the name “Clean Power Plan” is misleading in and of itself. America’s power plants are largely clean of the pollutants that we know have adverse health effects.
Read the rest here:
https://archive.is/0BJ64
http://dailysignal.com/2015/09/25/clean-poor-plan/