Fighting back against a massive bipartisan push to stop the EPA from regulating greenhouse gases, Administrator Lisa Jackson yesterday unloaded on critics who dare to claim that bureaucratically running the $14 trillion American economy would be dangerous.Jackson miraculously claimed that EPA regulation would be good for the economy, noting that overturning its endangerment finding would result in "serious negative economic consequences." The statement was intended to rebut the common argument from Democrats and Republicans that greenhouse gas regulation would kill jobs.
The EPA administrator also said that without regulation, industry would face a range of inconsistent signals, which in turn would be bad for business.
Apparently, Ms. Jackson believes Americans live in an Orwellian world where imposing new taxes in a recession is a pro-growth measure, while keeping the cost of doing business low is bad for the economy.
Even more damning is that Jackson deliberately referred to the so-called "clean energy" industry as needing support, which is why we need to tax and regulate America's most affordable and reliably sources of energy:
"Without a clear picture of greenhouse gas regulations, there will be little incentive to invest in clean energy jobs. America will fall further behind our international competitors in the race for clean energy innovation."To someone with any economic sense, this should tell us how utterly unviable these administration-favored technologies are. If they require new taxes to be imposed on competing industries to make them cost-effective, then how do they make economic sense? And more importantly, why is the administration pushing energy solutions that require endless government support (and skyrocketing energy prices) to exist?
This guidance-through-regulation approach should come as no surprise, however.
Since taking office, the Obama administration has been taking recommendations from "clean energy" lobbyists and venture capitalists and turning them into its own policy.
In fact, according to Time Magazine, the Obama administration has secured more than $80 billion in tax breaks and support for these so-called "green" industries. Dick Cheney's infamous deals for oil and gas companies in 2005, which the Left repeatedly excoriated as back-room politics, were one-sixth what President Obama has done thus far for the much smaller renewable energy industry.
So in that respect, it makes sense that Jackson pushed aggressively for punishing American energy producers. After all, the traditional Beltway model dictates that politicians and bureaucrats listen to lobbyists rather than American taxpayers.
