Following the Conservative Political Action Conference—known as
CPAC—it
has been reported that the faithful feel discouraged, dispirited, and
defeated. Dr. Ben Carson, who emerged from the Conference as the new
conservative darling, has stated that America is heading for failure.
Generally, I agree. However, I see a chink in the armor.
The alliance of the environmental lobby and big government advocates
have been winning—Obama is back in the White House, the new cabinet
members seem worse than the last, and the Keystone pipeline has become a
battle line. With the victory, however, they’ve perhaps gotten over
confident and pushed too hard. They’ve had a series of losses that have
put them on the
defense—and everyone knows, you win on the offense.
Their losses haven’t made headline news—making them easy to miss, and
the alliance is not likely to beat a hasty retreat, but looking at them
added together, I see an opening for a breakthrough.
In case you missed them, here are some of the recent reversals they’ve received:
· On March 20, the Supreme Court
shot down
“overzealous greens” that hoped to “hobble the logging industry by
reclassifying rural storm water runoff under the Clean Water Act’s
‘point source’ standards, which require costly federal permits.” The
Court ruled: “more effective regulation could be done by states and
state foresters.”
· On March 19, the Obama Administration
scrapped
“a series of graphic warning labels on cigarette packages that were
blocked by a federal appeals court”—a win for the “tobacco industry’s
free-speech rights under the First Amendment.” Howard Koh, assistant
secretary for health at the Department of Health and Human Services,
says the FDA won’t be deterred from implementing stronger warning labels.
· Senator Dianne Feinstein’s gun-ban bill became a victim of friendly fire when, in a
March 18 meeting,
Majority Leader Harry Reid notified a “frustrated Feinstein” that her
assault-weapon ban “wouldn’t be part of a Democratic gun bill.” The
exclusion means “almost certain defeat” but, according to the Coalition
to Stop Gun Violence’s Ladd Everitt,
it has “fired up gun violence prevention advocates.”
· On March 15, hyper-liberal Bill Maher had an epiphany on his HBO
show Real Time. In a conversation with MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow, regarding
Paul Ryan’s budget, Maher
announced
that rich people “actually do pay the freight in this country.” He
continued, calling the taxes the rich pay: “outrageous” and
“ridiculous.” He warned his liberal friends: “you could actually lose
me.”
· Facing the reality of a nuclear attack, on March 15 the Obama administration announced a
reversal
on missile defense. In 2009, Obama killed the Bush administration’s
plans for 14 US ground-based long-range missile interceptors—which are
now, in opposition to the “Democratic Party’s long aversion to any kind
of missile defense,” playing catch up. Missile Defense advocates are now
vindicated.
· Government overreach received a
setback
on March 11, when “a judge threw out New York City’s ban on supersized
sugary drinks.” Judge Milton Tingling said the soda ban “would not only
violate the separation of powers doctrine, it would eviscerate it.” And,
that has the “potential to be more troubling than sugar sweetened
beverages.”
The list could continue to include
NBC’s ratings fall and Obama’s
sudden shift in relations with Republicans, but you get the idea.
“Marita,” you might say, “this is an interesting list, and I get your
point, but you write on energy, and none of this has anything to do with
energy.”
Here are some similar setbacks to the left’s energy agenda:
· Going back a couple of months, on January 25, the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, in a unanimous
decision, found that the EPA was projecting far too much production of cellulosic ethanol and mandating the exaggerated fuel standards—
confirming that
“EPA’s renewable fuels program is unworkable and must be scrapped.” The
nonexistent-fuel requirement is costing refiners $8 million dollars in
fines paid to the federal government—which are passed on to consumer—due
to the unreasonable 2012 mandate.
· Last month, regulators met in
California
“hoping to hash out a solution to the peculiar stresses placed on the
state’s network by sharp increases in wind and solar energy.” The state
is “running low on conventional plants, such as those fueled by natural
gas” and now “it doesn’t have the right mix.” Utility executives are
predicting rolling brown outs as early as this summer. Other states with
high dependence on wind and solar resources face similar problems.
· “In a preemptive move to protect against possible court
challenges,” “an early step toward President Barack Obama's second-term
goal of cutting emissions linked to climate change has hit a snag.”
Reported
on March 19: “The Obama administration is weighing changes to a
proposed Environmental Protection Agency rule to limit emissions at new
power plants.” The EPA’s rule would “essentially ban new coal-fired
power plants”—which “may not withstand legal scrutiny.”
· On March 20, another Solyndra-esque, government-funded solar panel manufacturer embarrassment
came to light.
SoloPower began the first round of layoffs just months after opening
with a high-profile ribbon cutting and is now “selling some of its
equipment through a third party and is attempting to restructure its
$197 million federal loan guarantee.” The story shows that “politicians
are proving to be lousy venture capitalists with this and other green
energy subsidies.”
Again, this sampling of stories illustrates the cause for my optimism.
In war, and we are in a war, when one side sees signs of weakness, it
is time to act and exploit the vulnerabilities; go on the offensive. The
weapons we have are social media, email, and our telephones. Here are
some of the battles we could win if we join in the fight for American
jobs, economic growth, and affordable energy.
· The
Keystone pipeline
is in the news again due to the recently released State Department
report that concludes that it is environmentally safe. The pipeline,
alone, has the unique ability to
create jobs
without taxpayer monies, spur economic growth in the states it will
cross and other states that will participate in construction support,
and lower the cost of gasoline through increased supply. We all need to
add our “
comments.” Tell the State department to end the four-year delay and approve the Keystone pipeline.
· Anti-surface mining ads running in
Tennessee
on March 19 are just the latest in the war on coal. The war is raging
against coal mining—which provides good paying jobs for thousands of
Americans—and against coal-fueled power plants with 300+ scheduled for
closure in the next few years and no possible replacement. We need an
energy policy that works for each locale rather than one-size-fits-all
requirements. For example, in New Mexico, we have coal-fueled power
plants built right next to a coal mine, yet EPA regulations are
shutting down five of the nine units. Likewise, West Virginia has an abundance of coal, and they, too, are
closing plants. In the Pacific Northwest, hydropower is efficient, effective, and economical, but environmental groups are forcing their
removal. Call or email the
White House and
tell the Obama administration to make good on the “all of the above”
promise and not limit or mandate specific electricity sources.
· Due to the combination of new technology and new applications of sixty-year-old technology, America now has an
abundance of natural gas.
Many markets across the globe need our natural gas—which could be
liquefied and shipped worldwide and help the US trade deficit. In a free
market, companies should be allowed to sell their products to the
highest bidder, but due to trade agreements and the slow approval
process of applications to build new Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG)
terminals, this boost to the economy is being stifled. LNG exports are
one of the few issues that truly have
bipartisan support—yet, environmentalists oppose them and the Department of Energy has been dragging its feet on LNG export applications.
Contact your Senators and Representative and tell them to oppose legislation that would limit LNG exports.
There is more we could do, but together these simple steps—passed on to
everyone you know through Facebook, Twitter, and your personal email
list, and acted upon—can serve as our forlorn hope (the first wave of
soldiers attacking a breach in defenses). Let’s band together with a
common strategy, a surge, that can turnaround the current direction and
make America great again.