Segerblom Proud That EPA Regs Scrapped 3 Nevada Coal Power Plants

(Victor Joecks/NPRI) – In case you needed any more evidence that President Obama’s “all of the above” talking point on energy policy is a joke, Nevada Assemblyman “Tick” Segerblom, D.-Clark County, just wrote an op-ed bragging about how a recent ruling from Obama’s EPA will kill coal power.

Media analysts from left and right are predicting that the most recent EPA rule-making decision spells the ultimate end of Big Coal as utilities turn to cleaner, cheaper sources for energy.

In the five years since the Supreme Court made its ruling, Nevada has moved faster than many other states to accommodate a new regulatory situation. Simply put, we’ve got a lot to be proud of and our moves have helped generate thousands of jobs and contributed to a healthier environment.

Since 2007: …

• The state has set a goal of 25 percent of electricity to be generated through renewable energy by 2025 — a goal that electric utility NV Energy executives insist is the minimum, not the ceiling, for clean energy production. … • Plans for three coal-fired generating plants have been scrapped in our state. (Emphasis added)

So not only is Assemblyman Tick Segerblom “proud” that “plans for three coal-fired generating plants have been scrapped,” this move has “helped generate thousands of jobs”! Sadly, this typifies what liberals want our energy policy to look like:

1. Shut down profitable businesses through excessive taxation and regulations.

2. Funnel taxpayer subsidies to clean-energy business losers like Solyndra and Solar Trust.

3. Unknown.

4. Cheap energy and thousands of jobs.

If it worked for the underpants gnomes, it must be a good plan. In the real world, however, solar and some forms of wind power are decidedly more expensive, 21.07 to 31.18 cents-per-kilowatt hour (p. 77), than coal power, 9.48 to 13.62 cents-per-kilowatt hour. Nevada already has the highest commercial electricity rates in the Intermountain West, and the things Segerblom is bragging about will drive those prices even higher. Unfortunately, as Jonah Goldberg notes, this isn’t a bug in liberals’ plans. It is liberals’ energy policy.

Back in 2008, then-Senator Obama explained that under his energy plan, electricity prices would “necessarily skyrocket.” The explosion in costs wouldn’t be a bug of his plan either, but a feature. The idea under so-called cap-and-trade is that if you tax fossil fuels, you will, over time, reduce the use of fossil fuels. It’s really basic economics.