Stephen Moore On New Carbon Emissions Rules: Europe And Asia 'Dancing A Little Jig'
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – Chris Stigall talked to Wall Street Journal Columnist Stephen Moore on Talk Radio 1210 WPHT about new regulations from the Environmental Protection Agency on carbon emissions from power plants.
The Wall Street Journal's Stephen Moore
The new rules state that plants must reduce their 2005 emission levels by 30 percent by 2030.
Moore said the President is making a mistake implementing these new environmental standards.
"Let's not sugarcoat this, for coal states like Pennsylvania, like Ohio, like West Virginia, my home state of Virginia, within ten years, if these regulations stand, there will be no coal industry left in the United States," he said.
Moore believes the mandate will have to opposite effect of what is intended and will actually raise energy prices.
"How is it that when you make electricity more expensive -- that's what these regulations will do because they will make it much more expensive to produce coal, much more expensive to produce oil and natural gas, and of course it will be a big subsidy to the very expensive wind and solar power -- when you do that, you're basically sucking money out of the pockets of consumers. It means you're going to pay more for gasoline at the pump. It means you're going to pay more for your electric utility bills," Moore explained.
He also feels this will hurt America economically on the global stage.
"This puts America at a competitive disadvantage, because the rest of the countries in the world aren't doing this. I'll tell you this, the countries of Europe and the Asians, they're dancing a little jig here. They think this is awesome, because now the United States is going impose these new costs and taxes on themselves. It's like putting a tariff on your own goods and services. It's really distressing to me as an economist," he said.
