They will be hardest hit
(MRC) While discussing the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Power Plan, administrator Gina McCarthy admitted who would be hit the “hardest†by the federal climate regulations.
“We know that low-income minority communities would be hardest hit,†McCarthy said.
She prefaced her statement by saying that the cost increases to Americans as a result of the regulations would be, “at most, a gallon of milk a month increase out the gate which tapers off to incredible savings by 2013 (WT note: that’s a typo, she said 2030).â€
Ms. McCarthy didn’t explain how she came up with that particular assessment.
No, she didn’t. One estimate from NERA, which opposes Obama’s Clean Power Plan, has energy costs rising 12-17%. The Energy Information Administration estimates a 4% increase by 2030. Remember, any increases in energy costs circulate through the economy. The end user isn’t just paying more for energy at home, but also in the cost of goods and services, as they pay more.
Now, in worse case scenario, this could make the average bill rise $240 a year. Cult of Climastrology members will certainly think this is no big deal, as they sip cocktails at fancy parties, but, for poor people, this is real money. Especially as other costs rise.
(Prospect Magazine) But energy efficiency programs won’t save low- and fixed-income families. While the median family spends about 5 cents out of every dollar on energy costs, low-income families spend about 20 cents of every dollar.
It should be noted that, first, things never seem to work out as well as government employees and politicians say they will. How many times has a government program exploded costs? How many times has a project suddenly exploded into cost over-runs? In 1965, Medicare was estimated to cost $9 billion a year by 1990. The actual 1990 cost? $67 billion. All the social net programs, such as Welfare and SNAP (food stamps), had estimates much lower than originally thought. Rarely does a government program, rule, and/or regulation actually end up cost what they estimate, or lower.
Second, it should be noted that much of the CPP plan anticipates that consumers will use much less power. Probably because it will have become much more expensive, not because of efficiency.
Oh, and the overall outcome for this power plan? A supposed global temperature reduction of fifteen one-thousandths of a degree by 2100.
