Next week the Obama Administration and EPA will release the final version of the Clean Power Plan (CPP). In support of the rule, the President and EPA routinely cite to the benefits the CPP’s carbon emissions regulations will have on the American public and environment.
Yet such “benefits” are tenuous at best, largely based on questionable science and seldom founded in reality. The EPA’s own projections show the rule would amount to a 0.02 degrees Celsius difference in world temperatures by 2100 and sea level reduction equivalent to the thickness of three sheets of paper.
However in stark contrast, the impact the President’s carbon regulations will have on Americans, especially the country’s most vulnerable are all too real. Consensus shows and the EPA has even agreed that the carbon regulations will lead to higher energy rates across the nation. Indeed double-digit increases are expected in over 40 states.
While the President and his Capitol Hill cronies may not be impacted by rate increases, many of the countries most vulnerable will not be so lucky. A recent report by the National Black Chamber of Commerce found that the President’s carbon regulations could prove devastating for minority communities.
The Chamber’s report looked at job losses, decreased household income and increased poverty rates due to the carbon rule. The report showed that 200,000 African-American jobs would be lost just in 2020. During that same period over 300,000 jobs would be lost in Hispanic communities. The cumulative impact by 2035 would be almost 7 million African-American jobs lost and over 12 million for Hispanics.
Additionally, the report projected that the carbon regulations would reduce median household income for African-Americans by more than $5,000 within the next 20 years. For Hispanics the impacts would be even worse, with reductions over $7,000.
However the most troubling finding of the report was the impact on poverty rates resulting from reduced income and job losses. For African Americans the poverty rate is slated to jump by 23 percent and Hispanic poverty would grow by 26 percent.
It appears that the Obama Administration and the EPA are more than willing to ignore such devastating impacts, all in the name of preserving the President’s legacy. In fact it is rumored the final rule may be released on President Obama’s birthday, August 4th.
Sadly, while the President is blowing out his candles next week, many of the country’s most vulnerable will be preparing for the worst. Thus on behalf of the millions of Americans soon to be teetering on the brink of poverty as a result of the Clean Power Plan…Happy Birthday Mr. President.
Photo credit: Steve Jurvetson