Obama energy policy slams Florida utility bills, may wreck Alaska resources

Commentary by Kay B. Day

In Jacksonville, Fla., consumers will soon see utility bills skyrocket, in accordance with the president's wishes.In The Sunshine State, Democrat policy on energy is having an impact on consumers and it also may wreck offshore development of oil and gas off the coast of Alaska.

President Obama and his fellow Democrats took up the mantle of energy policy immediately after gaining absolute power in Washington. After the House passed HR 2454, popularly known as Cap and Trade but more realistically known as an energy tax, the bill went nowhere. Then Deepwater Horizon exploded in the Gulf, providing left of center policy wonks, politicians and lobby groups an unrivaled opportunity to body slam the gas and oil industry.

No one has disclosed full details on what caused the rig leased by BP to blow.

Obama capitalized on the Deepwater Horizon crisis on Tuesday, pushing windmills and solar energy for Americans rather than focusing on concrete steps to speed up BP’s efforts to stop the Gulf oil leak and capture oil that has escaped. Some conservatives wonder if the lethargic responses by BP and Obama aren’t politically driven.

Hot Air said, “BP and its employees have given more than $3.5 million to federal candidates over the past 20 years, with the largest chunk of their money going to Obama, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Donations come from a mix of employees and the company’s political action committees — $2.89 million flowed to campaigns from BP-related PACs and about $638,000 came from individuals.”

No one disputes the value in a multi-pronged approach to energy, but it is obvious that leftwingers intend to drive up the cost of the energy resources Americans rely on daily. This will further tank an already tanking economy suffering from policies enacted by Democrats in Congress, many of whom have never had a job outside government, or in more than a few cases, have careers as trial lawyers.

SLAM TO FLORIDA
In Northeast Florida, JEA delivers electricity to more than 417,000 customers in the area. Those customers will see their bills rise by nearly 10 percent this fall. Part of the increase is a direct result of federal policy. The Florida Times Union quoted JEA on part of the cause: “[T]he possibility of new rules to make power plants reduce the effects of carbon dioxide emissions have troubled JEA officials, who fear high but undefined added expenses.”

SLAM TO ALASKA
In Alaska, a battle is brewing over polar bear habitat after the species was designated as threatened. News Channel 8 KGW in Portland (Ore.) said the federal government wants to designate more than 187,000 square miles as polar bear critical habitat. An Alaska Dept. of Fish and Game official said, “But the federal plan covers nearly the entire range of polar bears in U.S. territory, which is too large.” Alaskans believe the action will wreck offshore gas and oil development.

Behind the federal action is a so-called environmental group, the Center for Biological Diversity. Like many groups who adopt the broad term of environmental protection, actually a completely nonsensical term because each species has an environment that is local with different needs and circumstances, the center apparently overlooks humans as a species.

The Alaska decision is based on the center’s claims of melting sea ice and global warming. The science for those claims is questionable and politically driven, having recently been mired in the scandal now known as Climategate. That scandal has been largely under-reported by most national media.

LEFTWING EXTREMISTS DRIVE DEMOCRAT POLICY; MAIN STREET SUFFERS
The Center for Biological Diversity has used the courts and politically driven science to remove resources from human use. Range Magazine described the center founded by Kieran Suckling: “Their ‘manic’ guerrilla tactics have been efficient, damn efficient. The group's active litigation record-84 lawsuits in five years-on everything from waterways to woodlands to dams has attained national attention. The group says it has won 77 percent of final judgments. Suckling declares their success is built on what he describes as the two strongest forces of the environmental movement: science and law.”

What Suckling should have said: questionable science and politically driven law.

Rising energy costs in Florida and the removal of natural resources for human wellbeing in Alaska are facts of life now that the US is controlled by extreme left of center politicians.

The only recourse for Americans may be to seek redress via the courts, and it is obvious a concerted effort is needed as the US economy continues to struggle, and Main Street in Florida and Alaska suffer from the fallout from Obama’s energy policy driven by leftwing extremist groups like the CFBD. The environmental Puritans are in charge and they aim to slam our lifestyles.