• Pinboard Links,  The Morning Flap

    The Morning Flap: February 27, 2012

    February 27, 2012 /

    Graphic from Brian Solis

    These are my links for February 24th through February 27th:

    • The State of the Twitterverse 2012 – Brian Solis – The first time I wrote about Twitter was March 2007. My, how time and Tweets fly. With 500 million registered users and 33 billion Tweets flying across the Twitterverse every day, Twitter has become a fabric of our digital culture. Twitter is now ingrained in our digital DNA and is reflected in our lifestyle and how we connect and communicate with one another.

      While many struggle to understand its utility or its significance in the greater world of media, it is the most efficient global information network in existence today. News no longer breaks, it Tweets. People have demonstrated the speed and efficacy of social networking by connecting to one another based on interests (interest graph) rather then limiting connections to relationships (social graph). Twitter represents a promising intersection of new media, relationships, traditional media and information to form one highly human network.

      I recently stumbled upon a well done infographic created by Infographic Labs to communicate the state of of the Twitterverse. It’s quite grand in its design. So, to help get the most out of it, I’ve dissected it into smaller byte-sized portions.

    • Southern California Most Infamous Murderers – And, why California needs to retain the death penalty.
    • Santorum maintains lead in Ohio –
    • Romney headed for an Arizona rout – Public Policy Polling –
    • Barbour: Romney Loss in Michigan Would be ‘A Real Setback’ –
    • Poll Watch: Santorum Back on Top Over Romney in Michigan –
    • Poll: Obama holds double digit leads over Romney and Santorum –
    • AP News: Romney-Santorum clash turns next to Ohio –
    • Swing states poll: Health care victories hurt Obama and Romney in 2012 –
    • Log In – The New York Times – U.S. Agencies See No Move by Iran to Build a Bomb
    • U.S. Agencies See No Move by Iran to Build a Bomb – Even as the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog said in a new report Friday that Iran had accelerated its uranium enrichment program, American intelligence analysts continue to believe that there is no hard evidence that Iran has decided to build a nuclear bomb.
    • Stages in Developing a Nuclear Nation – A report by international nuclear inspectors offers new details about Iran’s nuclear program. While Iran has increased production of a type of fuel needed to create the core of a nuclear bomb, it stops short of crossing that line
    • 55% Oppose Affirmative Action Policies for College Admissions – The U.S. Supreme Court last week agreed to hear a case involving the use of race as a factor in college admissions. Most voters oppose the use of so-called affirmative action policies at colleges and universities and continue to believe those policies have not been successful despite being in place for 50 years.

      The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that just 24% of Likely U.S. Voters favor applying affirmative action policies to college admissions. Fifty-five percent (55%) oppose the use of such policies to determine who is admitted to colleges and universities. Twenty-one percent (21%) are undecided.

    • Mexican Methamphetamine Replacing American Domestic Supply | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – Mexican Methamphetamine Replacng American Domestic Supply
    • Flap’s California Sunday Collection: February 26, 2012 » Flap’s California Blog – Flap’s California Sunday Collection: February 26, 2012
    • EPA Needs More Time to Reconsider Boiler MACT Rules – American workers and the industries that employ them face an ill-thought out and incomplete set of Boiler MACT regulations costing $14 billion to implement. Given current economic realities, these regulations place at risk the jobs of your constituents and 200,000 working Americans across the country. With the economic climate as it is now, we cannot afford to lose too many more American manufacturing jobs.

      The EPA asked for proper time to reconsider the Boiler MACT rules, and even attempted to stay the rules to have more time to clarify them. The forest products industry, for example, is compiling additional data at the EPA’s request, but may not have time to complete needed testing. The courts have made it clear that only Congress can give the EPA the time they have asked for and need to provide clarity. As a result, this legal uncertainty is a cloud over American businesses, which must be able to plan for the future in these uncertain economic times. Our communities deserve environmental rules that have been fully considered, and will hold up scientifically in the long term

    • President 2012: If Mitt Romney Loses Michigan – We Need a New Candidate Says Top GOP Senator | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – RE:  Romney and T-Paw – Wow!

      Even Mitch Daniels would look good.

      I’ll take any of the POLS you mentioned.

    • “Cutting the Bureaucratic Gridlock” by Senator Tony Strickland – While I was visiting Teixeira Farms to discuss agricultural issues, the owners told me that one state agency said they needed to recycle all their water, while another state agency said they couldn’t recycle any of their water. The owners of the farm told me they were happy to do whatever was needed, but they couldn’t recycle all their water and none of their water at the same time.

      Sadly, this isn’t the first time something like this has happened. Constituents and small business owners in my district often call my office, telling me that one state agency has given them the run-around about an issue and referred them to yet another state agency. Round and round they go, from agency to agency, until they finally give up.
      Cleary, California’s vast bureaucracy is not working. There has to be a way to make government more efficient and maximize your precious tax dollars that come to Sacramento.

      This is why I’ve authored Senate Bill 953. SB 953 would create the Bureaucracy Realignment and Closure Commission (BRAC). SB 953 is modeled and named after the successful Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) program, which was established by the federal government after the end of the Cold War. The Federal BRAC program successfully identified and closed obsolete military bases, saving an estimated $20 billion annually.

    • State party chief wants GOP candidates to rally around statewide theme – Tacitly acknowledging that the California Republican Party will likely be strapped for funds to support candidates in the tough new districts in which many of them will be running this fall, Chairman Tom Del Beccaro said Friday he hopes GOP candidates will rally around “statewide themes” to maximize the party’s efforts.

      “We need to make this a statewide election around an issue that coalesces voters,” he said at a news conference at the opening of the state GOP convention. “We can’t be the party of no. Parties become more attractive when they have positive ideas.”

    • President 2012: If Mitt Romney Loses Michigan – We Need a New Candidate Says Top GOP Senator | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – RE:  It will be worse than McCain in 2008 because we know more about Obama (and what he will do in his second term) a…
    • Day By Day February 26, 2012 – Privates | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – Day By Day February 26, 2012 – Privates
    • Flap’s California Blog @ Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-02-26 » Flap’s California Blog – Flap’s California Blog @ Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-02-26
    • @Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-02-26 | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – @Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-02-26
    • Flap’s California Blog @ Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-02-25 » Flap’s California Blog – Flap’s California Blog @ Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-02-25
    • @Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-02-25 | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – @Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-02-25
    • Co-founder Mark Meckler resigns from Tea Party Patriots – Mark Meckler, the co-founder of the Tea Party Patriots, has resigned from his role with the grassroots group over internal disputes about the leadership of the organization, The Daily Caller has learned.

      In an email obtained by TheDC, Meckler told the state coordinators of Tea Party Patriots on Thursday night that he “fought long and hard” to maintain the group “as an organization that is run from the bottom up, with the intent of serving the grassroots.”

      “Unfortunately, it is my belief that I have lost this fight,” Meckler said. “I probably fought the internal fight longer than I should have, but I wanted to give absolutely every possible effort to preserving what I believe was the unique nature of the TPP organization.”

      Since the organization’s founding, Meckler has shared the role of national coordinator with co-founder Jenny Beth Martin. But Meckler wrote in the email that he had lost “influence in the leadership of the organization, and it has been that way for quite some time.”

      Meckler said the board granted Martin “almost complete power over the day-to-day operations” in November 2011 after a “protracted fight in which I was complaining about the direction, operation (top-down) and finances of the organization.”

    • Poll Watch: Contraception Issue Divides Americans | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – Poll Watch: Contraception Issue Divides Americans
    • The Weekly Power List: 02.24.12: Death Race 2012: GQ on Politics: GQ – The Weekly Power List: 02.24.12: Death Race 2012: GQ on Politics: GQ
    • A talk with Scott Walker – For many conservatives frustrated with the Republican Party, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker has been a bright spot. After taking office last year in a bluish state, Walker set out to close a $3.6 billion budget hole, in part, by reforming public sector unions. His reforms, which gave workers choices as to whether they wanted to join a union and curbed union collective bargaining powers that were crippling local budgets, sparked a wave a protests. But Walker stood firm and prevailed. Now unions plan to spend tens of millions of dollars on a campaign to recall him, with an election anticipated by June.

      On Thursday, the Washington Examiner spoke with Walker by telephone about his reforms, the upcoming recall election, his decision to reject Obamacare funding, his views about the proper role of government and the extended Republican presidential primary.

    • California Field Poll: Millionaires Tax Out Polling Governor Jerry Brown’s Tax Increase Measure » Flap’s California Blog – California Field Poll: Millionaires Tax Out Polling Governor Jerry Brown’s Tax Increase Measure
    • California Assemblyman Tim Donnelly Charged Over Airport Gun in His Briefcase » Flap’s California Blog – California Assemblyman Tim Donnelly Charged Over Airport Gun in His Briefcase
    • Los Angeles Times Launches Paywall Subscription Service » Flap’s California Blog – Los Angeles Times Launches Paywall Subscription Service
    • (403) http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2012/02/24/abc-is-up-year-to-year-and-week-to-week-in-late-night-as-nbc-and-cbs-decline/121841/?utm_campaign=WP%3ETwitter&utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=twitter – RT @TVbytheNumbers: ABC is Up Year to Year and Week to Week in Late-Night, as NBC and CBS Decline
    • Los Angeles Times launches new membership program – The Los Angeles Times will begin charging readers for access to its online news, joining a growing roster of major news organizations looking for a way to offset declines in revenue.

      Starting March 5, online readers will be asked to buy a digital subscription at an initial rate of 99 cents for four weeks. Readers who do not subscribe will be able to read 15 stories in a 30-day period for free.

      Separately, The Times announced plans to launch a new weekly lifestyle section called Saturday for its print subscribers.

      Other news outlets that have begun charging for online journalism include the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and the Dallas Morning News. Gannett, the nation’s largest newspaper company, this week announced plans to launch a similar program at 80 publications, saying it could boost earnings by $100 million in 2013.

    • LA Times puts up a web paywall * – LA Observed – RT @LAObserved: LA Times paywall will settle in at base rate of $3.99 for 4 weeks, with 15 free stories first.
    • Untitled (http://twitter.com/CAGOP/status/173116438477934593/photo/1) – RT @CAGOP: The @CAGOP Press Room is open. Credentialed media can pick up their passes in Sandpebble D.
    • U.S. does not believe Iran is trying to build nuclear bomb – As U.S. and Israeli officials talk publicly about the prospect of a military strike against Iran’s nuclear program, one fact is often overlooked: U.S. intelligence agencies don’t believe Iran is actively trying to build an atomic bomb.

      A highly classified U.S. intelligence assessment circulated to policymakers early last year largely affirms that view, originally made in 2007. Both reports, known as national intelligence estimates, conclude that Tehran halted efforts to develop and build a nuclear warhead in 2003.

      The most recent report, which represents the consensus of 16 U.S. intelligence agencies, indicates that Iran is pursuing research that could put it in a position to build a weapon, but that it has not sought to do so.

      Although Iran continues to enrich uranium at low levels, U.S. officials say they have not seen evidence that has caused them to significantly revise that judgment. Senior U.S. officials say Israel does not dispute the basic intelligence or analysis.

    • Could California swing the Republican nomination? – If no clear front-runner in the delegate count emerges by the end of April, Texas and California will move to the center of the political universe. These two gigantic, expensive states could then hold the keys to the nomination and determine whether we are headed for a brokered convention.

      What would a hotly contested California Republican primary campaign, unseen in decades, look like? Certainly it would be very expensive, and waged almost entirely on television. The state is too big to quickly organize on a district level (ask anyone who has run for statewide office in California), making broadcast media critical. A quick bus tour, some fly-arounds and earned media stops would make up the rest. An insurgent candidate could also conceivably attempt to organize the small number of Republicans who live in heavily Democratic congressional districts in Los Angeles to score a few delegates.

      California’s primary is “closed,” meaning only registered Republicans may participate. This results in a more conservative electorate than in “open” primary states where voters of other affiliations may vote in the Republican primary.

      Although California votes late enough to be winner-take-all, it isn’t. Under rules adopted in 2000 and first put into effect in 2004, the California Republican Party will allocate delegates proportionally by congressional district. In 2008, John McCain won in 48 of 53 districts, with Mitt Romney winning in the remaining five.

    • The Morning Flap: February 24, 2012 | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – The Morning Flap: February 24, 2012
  • Pinboard Links

    Flap’s Links and Comments for September 12th on 15:03

    September 12, 2011 /

    These are my links for September 12th from 15:03 to 15:21:

    • Obama Seeks to End Tax Breaks to Pay for Jobs Plan – President Barack Obama would pay for his $447 billion jobs plan by ending a series of tax breaks for oil and gas companies, hedge-fund managers and people making more than $200,000, the White House said Monday.

      In total, Mr. Obama's plan would end about $467 billion of tax breaks over 10 years, said White House Office of Management and Budget Director Jack Lew. The president has previously proposed ending the tax breaks, but has faced stiff resistance from Republicans.

      By choosing to end the tax breaks, the White House is likely setting itself up for a fight with Republicans. Over the summer, Republicans said they wouldn't end tax breaks amid concerns doing so as the U.S. is coming out of a recession would hamper the recovery.

      Mr. Obama said he expects an uphill battle. "There's going to be enormous resistance," the president said during a surprise visit to a briefing White House officials were hosting with people from minority news websites.

      The president said he needed everyone's help to get the jobs package passed. "I want you guys to pump this up," Mr. Obama said. "Either Congress gets it done, or if Congress doesn't get it done, people know exactly what's holding it up," he said later. The president's remarks at the event weren't on his public schedule to reporters.

      "It would be fair to say this tax increase on job creators is the kind of proposal both parties have opposed in the past," said Brendan Buck, a spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner (R., Ohio). He continued, "We remain eager to work together on ways to support job growth, but this proposal doesn't appear to have been offered in that bipartisan spirit."
      The White House disputed the notion that raising taxes on the wealthy would hurt growth. The measures to pay for spending "are spread out so that there aren't negative impacts," said White House press secretary Jay Carney.he

      =======

      Read it all

    • Obama Plans to End Tax Breaks to Pay for Jobs Program – White House budget director Jack Lew outlined Obama's proposals for paying for the plan, targeting the rich and corporations as the president has in the past to no avail. A limit on itemized deductions and certain exemptions on individuals who earn over $200,000 and families who earn over $250,000, which would raise roughly $400 billion over 10 years.

      Lew said the "tax provisions" that Obama was proposing included:

      A limit on itemized deductions and certain exemptions on individuals who earn over $200,000 and families who earn over $250,000, which would raise roughly $400 billion over 10 years.
      A proposal to treat carried interest earned by investment fund managers as ordinary income rather than taxing it at capital gains rates, which would raise $18 billion.
      Eliminating certain oil and gas industry tax breaks that would raise $40 billion.
      A change in corporate jet depreciation rules that would raise $3 billion.

      ======

      Read it all.

      Note:Being rich to Obama just went down to $200K a year from $250K a year income.

      Will it be $150K next?

    • EPA Regulation forces closure of Texas energy Facilities, eliminates 500 Jobs – Texas energy company Luminant announced on Monday new burdensome Environmental Protection Agency regulations are forcing it to close several facilities, which will result in about 500 job losses.

      The company will be idling — stopping the usage of — two energy generating units. It will also cease extracting lignite from three different Texas mines.

      The EPA regulation Luminant cites as too burdensome is the new Cross-State Air Pollution rule, which requires Texas power generators to make “dramatic reductions” in emissions beginning on January 1, 2012.

      “We have hundreds of employees who have spent their entire professional careers at Luminant and its predecessor companies,” Luminant CEO David Campbell said in a statement. “At every step of this process, we have tried to minimize these impacts, and it truly saddens me that we are being compelled to take the actions we’ve announced today. We have filed suit to try to avoid these consequences.”

      The company said it has been trying to meet the new standards, but won’t be able to do so without closing down several facilities and eliminating 500 jobs.

      “As always, Luminant is committed to complying fully with EPA regulations,” Campbell said. “We have spent the last two months identifying all possible options to meet the requirements of this new rule, and we are launching a significant investment program to reduce emissions across our facilities.”

      =======

      More jobs bite the dust because of the Obama Administration

  • Pinboard Links

    Flap’s Links and Comments for September 2nd through September 6th

    September 6, 2011 /

    These are my links for September 2nd through September 6th:

  • Pinboard Links

    Flap’s Links and Comments for September 2nd on 14:59

    September 2, 2011 /

    These are my links for September 2nd from 14:59 to 15:08:

    • Black unemployment rate: Highest since 1984 – The August jobs report was dismal for plenty of reasons, but perhaps most striking was the picture it painted of racial inequality in the job market.

      Black unemployment surged to 16.7% in August, its highest level since 1984, while the unemployment rate for whites fell slightly to 8%, the Labor Department reported.

      "This month's numbers continue to bear out that longstanding pattern that minorities have a much more challenging time getting jobs," said Bill Rodgers, chief economist with the Heldrich Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers University.

      Black unemployment has been roughly double that of whites since the government started tracking the figures in 1972.

      Economists blame a variety of factors. The black workforce is younger than the white workforce, lower numbers of blacks get a college degree and many live in areas of the country that were harder hit by the recession — all things that could lead to a higher unemployment rate.

      But even excluding those factors, blacks still are hit with higher joblessness.

    • Texas power officials say new EPA rule could cause ’emergency events’ – The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, operator of the state's power grid, said in a report today that a new federal environmental regulation would reduce generating capacity and put the grid "at increasing risk of emergency events," including rotating power outages.

      The Jan. 1 implementation date for the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule, designed to curb air pollution from power plants, leaves ERCOT with "an extremely truncated period" in which to assess the impact of the rule and "no realistic opportunity to take steps that could even partially offset the substantial losses of available operating capacity," it said.

      The report outlined three scenarios, with even the "best-case scenario" expected to result in the loss of an estimated 1,200 to 1,400 megawatts of generating capacity during peak consumption periods, ERCOT said.

      "Had this incremental reduction been in place in 2011, ERCOT would have experienced rotating outages during days in August," the report said.

      Rotating power outages are implemented as an emergency measure when electricity demand is close to exceeding power supplies from generators.

      ======

      Read it all

  • Pinboard Links

    Flap’s Links and Comments for August 29th on 08:31

    August 29, 2011 /

    These are my links for August 29th from 08:31 to 08:55:

    • Workplace Notice Poster for Worker’s Rights – WORKPLACE NOTICE
      Worker Rights The National Labor
      Relations Board May Not Tell You About
      For additional information:
      www.workforcefairness.org
      The Right to Decide Workers have a right to decide whether or not
      they want to be represented by a collective
      bargaining unit.
      A Secret Ballot Workers have a right to a secret ballot vote to
      decide whether or not they want to form a
      collective bargaining unit.
      A Vote on Contracts Workers have a right to vote on contracts that
      affect their salaries, benefits and workplace rules.
      Workplace Fairness Workers have a right to know that penalties for
      violating their rights will be assessed equally
      against both employers and organized labor.
      The Right to Decertify Workers have a right to vote via secret ballot to
      decertify a collective bargaining unit.
      You Control Your Dues Workers have a right to prohibit their dues from
      going to organizations that use them for political
      causes they do not agree with.
    • An EPA Moratorium – Since everyone has a suggestion or three about what President Obama can do to get the economy cooking again, here's one of ours: Immediately suspend the Environmental Protection Agency's bid to reorganize the U.S. electricity industry, and impose a moratorium on EPA rules at least until hiring and investment rebound for an extended period.

      The EPA is currently pushing an unprecedented rewrite of air-pollution rules in an attempt to shut down a large portion of the coal-fired power fleet. Though these regulations are among the most expensive in the agency's history, none were demanded by the late Pelosi Congress. They're all the result of purely bureaucratic discretion under the Clean Air Act, last revised in 1990.

      As it happens, those 1990 amendments contain an overlooked proviso that would let Mr. Obama overrule EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson's agenda. With an executive order, he could exempt all power plants "from compliance with any standard or limitation" for two years, or even longer using rolling two-year periods. All he has to declare is "that the technology to implement such standard is not available and that it is in the national security interests of the United States to do so."

      Both criteria are easily met. Most important, the EPA's regulatory cascade is a clear and present danger to the reliability and stability of the U.S. power system and grid. The spree affects plants that provide 40% of U.S. baseload capacity in the U.S., and almost half of U.S. net generation. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, or FERC, which is charged with ensuring the integrity of the power supply, reported this month in a letter to the Senate that 81 gigawatts of generating capacity is "very likely" or "likely" to be subtracted by 2018 amid coal plant retirements and downgrades.

      That's about 8% of all U.S. generating capacity. Merely losing 56 gigawatts—a midrange scenario in line with FERC and industry estimates—is the equivalent of wiping out all power generation for Florida and Mississippi.

      =====

      Read it all….

    • Eric Cantor – Memo On Upcoming Jobs Agenda – As you know, we released The House Republican Plan for America’s Job Creators earlier this year. While the debt crisis has demanded much of our attention, our new majority has passed over a dozen pro-growth measures to address the equally troubling jobs crisis, such as the Energy Tax Prevention Act and the Putting the Gulf of Mexico Back to Work Act. Aside from repeal of the 1099 reporting requirement in ObamaCare, however, each House Republican jobs bill now sits dormant in the Democrat-controlled Senate. You can view the progress of our jobs bills at MajorityLeader.gov/JobsTracker.

      When we return next week, the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction will begin meeting to take an additional incremental step towards addressing our debt crisis. During this time, it is essential that the House continue our focus on the jobs crisis. Below are two areas of our jobs agenda that I want to bring to your attention for our upcoming fall and winter legislative schedule.

      REPEAL OF JOB-DESTROYING REGULATIONS TO CREATE MIDDLE CLASS JOBS

      Since passage of H.Res. 72 on February 11, our committee chairmen have been investigating and inventorying regulatory burdens to job creators. They’ve found many that have tied the hands of small business people and prevented job growth. By pursuing a steady repeal of job-destroying regulations, we can help lift the cloud of uncertainty hanging over small and large employers alike, empowering them to hire more workers.

      Our regulatory relief agenda will include repeal of specific regulations, as well as fundamental and structural reform of the rule-making system through legislation like the REINS Act, the Regulatory Flexibility Improvements Act, and reform of the Administrative Procedures Act (all three bills are expected on the floor in late November and early December).

      The following is a list of the 10 most harmful job-destroying regulations that our committee chairmen have identified, as well as a selective calendar for their repeal. These regulations are reflective of the types of costly bureaucratic handcuffs that Washington has imposed upon business people who want to create jobs.

      ======

      Read it all for the top ten job-destroying regulations

  • Pinboard Links

    Flap’s Links and Comments for August 26th on 06:03

    August 26, 2011 /

    These are my links for August 26th from 06:03 to 14:40:

  • Pinboard Links

    Flap’s Links and Comments for August 25th on 08:58

    August 25, 2011 /

    These are my links for August 25th from 08:58 to 09:02:

    • Texas Railroad Commission urges AG to challenge EPA cross-state pollution rule – The Texas Railroad Commission is asking Attorney General Greg Abbott to "bring a prompt legal action" to delay implementation of a new Environmental Protection Agency rule that state officials say would jeopardize electric reliability in the state.

      Luminant, the Dallas-based power generator, maintains that the planned Jan. 1 implementation of the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule, designed to curb air pollution from power plants, would force it to mothball some operations and would significantly lower revenue as a result of reduced electricity generation and wholesale power sales.

      The biggest impact is expected to be at Luminant plants in East Texas that burn lignite coal, which the company also mines in the region.

      The Railroad Commission, in a letter to Abbott dated Tuesday, said the rule "will have serious adverse economic consequences for Texas without demonstrable environmental and health benefits."

      The commission said the rule "threatens the viability of the Texas lignite mining industry, its jobs and associated economic activity" and "many coal-fired power plants may be forced to limit or shut down operations" as a result of the regulation.

      The commission noted that it regulates the surface mining of lignite coal.

      "About 45 percent of the electric power generated in Texas comes from coal, and almost 40 percent of that coal is Texas lignite, which provides Texans with jobs and a low-cost fuel," the commission said in the letter.

      The "potential loss of lignite for power significantly threatens electric reliability in Texas" and is needed "to keep the lights on," the commission added. The chairwoman of the Public Utility Commission and officials who run the state's power grid have expressed similar concerns.

      EPA officials could not immediately be reached for comment.

      ======

      Read it all

      But, the Feds don;t care. It is the environment and to hell with Texas and Texas business.

    • EPA’s Looming Blackouts – Energy: It won't matter which light bulbs we use as the administration's implementation of cross-state pollution rules shuts down coal plants across the country. Where will the jobs be when the lights go out?

      It's called the Cross-State Pollution Rule, announced last month, and its implementation over the next 18 months will likely result in the loss of a fifth of the nation's electricity-generating capacity.

      The result will be likely power shortages, skyrocketing rates and inevitable brownouts and rolling blackouts.

      Based on Bush-era EPA proposals that the federal courts threw out in 2008, this latest example of legislation is designed to usurp state powers to regulate their in-state emissions by making it a federal issue on the grounds pollution crosses state lines.

      The rule requires coal companies in 27 states to slash emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide by 73% and 54%, respectively, from 2005 levels by 2014. "Just because wind and weather will carry air pollution away from its source at a local power plant doesn't mean that pollution is no longer that plant's responsibility," says Environmental Protection Agency Chief Lisa Jackson.

      The targets are states such as Texas that not only resist federal encroachment on their powers but dare to try to balance environmental quality. The EPA claims huge health gains as its justification, but those claims are in doubt. Poverty and joblessness, which this and other EPA rules will create, carry their own health risks.

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      Read it all

  • Pinboard Links

    Flap’s Links and Comments for March 2nd from 14:05 to 14:10

    March 2, 2011 /

    These are my links for March 2nd from 14:05 to 14:10:

    • California Still Barking Up the Wrong Tree for Taxes – The Amazon tax is back for debate. Again.  Despite court rulings that the thing is unconstitutional, despite proven records of failure in those states who have tried it, California’s Democratic leadership is again proposing the online tax.

      None of the excuses for this wasteful proposal make sense. Some retailers claim that taxes are needed to even the playing field between brick and mortar stores that do collect tax, and online retailers who do not. After all, that is why our local WalMart is suffering, right? But a recent LA Times article shows that retailers such as WalMart are hurting, not because they compete with Amazon, but because they have scaled back their merchandise offerings, forcing customers to look elsewhere to complete their shopping lists.  In fact, WalMart is not losing customers to online retailers so much as they are losing their customers to even lower priced offerings such as dollar stores. 

      Meanwhile, retailers like Amazon, using technology to streamline delivery processes, and offering a wide variety of items,  just posted major increases in sales. In this video from CNN  executives claim Amazon shows 26-40% growth, from the same time last year, with 15,000 employees hired in 2010. And yet, California’s Dems want to effectively slap one of the major employers in the US who is actually offering good paying jobs, with benefits.

      ++++++++

      But, California Democrats in the state legislature have never met a tax they did not like – even if it does not involve capturing that much revenue.

      To the LEFT, it is more about punishing people in the marketplace in search of a social justice "fairness."

    • Koch Brothers Receive Praise From Obama Administration – Progressives may have decided that businessmen and libertarian political benefactors David and Charles Koch are the latest harbingers of the vast right-wing conspiracy, but they could be shocked to learn that several Koch Industries subsidiaries have been working closely and productively with…the Obama administration.

      Specifically, it’s with Obama’s Environmental Protection Agency that Koch Industries has been playing nice. In Texas last fall, for instance, the Koch-owned Flint Hills Resources helped forge an agreement between the EPA and the Texas Commission on Environmental Equality in a regulation dispute. The move got the company praise from the EPA, calling the agreement a “model for other companies.” (…)

      The EPA under President Obama has also praised Koch subsidiaries Georgia-Pacific and Invista for their cooperation with the agency. Georgia-Pacific even won an award from the EPA in 2009. Leftists may complain that these right-wing bogeymen are unfairly challenging federal environmental regulations so they can “keep pumping out pollution for free,” but it seems the Obama administration has a lot of positive things to say about the brothers Koch.

      ++++++

      The Koch Brothers are businessmen and it is in their interests to NOT pollute the environment and alienate/poison their customers.

      The LEFT is laughable in their conspiracy theories regarding the Kochs