The lion goes after the easy targets first

NY Times headline E.P.A. Expected to Regulate Carbon Dioxide

Well here we are. Theoretically there is nothing that can stop the EPA from restricting just about any aspect of our lives . Think of all the regulations out there as a club in the arms of a man in a uniform. Is he the kindly Sheriff Andy in Mayberry who would only ever use it in self defense or to protect the public (as is the original intent of the rules which authorized it in the first place)
OR
Is he a aggressive agent of the Gestapo who will weild it unmercifully to cow you into submission?
The point
is it is up to him to decide and you are totally at his mercy. Of course you will aways have recourse ex post to address "abuse of power" but that is small recompense and you will need huge financial resources to pursue any remedy.

The EPA now has that club.

This announcement was roled out with the usual language that it will only be used in a manner to address "polluters emitting noxcious green house gases", excuse me...do you mean carbon dioxide, methane and water vapor?

This is like speed limits. It is against the law to exceed the speed limit. We all do and get away with it. Why? Because they (and I mean the authorities who are duly sworn to uphold th law) choose when to enforce.

Ditto cheating on your taxes (just a little extra deduction, no big deal)

Ditto crossing the street or throwing that flouescent light bulb (loaded with mercury) in the trash.

Ok, now back to EPA and CO2

Consider the extremes to bound the possibilities:

At the top of the list...

80% of electrical production by coal. In the US real pollutants (oxides of N and S, particulates are already regulated and controlled. The emission remaining are water vapor and CO2. NOW, they will mandate elimination of the CO2 which will mean HUGE expenditure on sequestration methods that are expensive and unproven. Some estimates predict a 30% rise in generation cost which will be passed on to the consumer. Remember during the election Obama said he would bankrupt the coal industry.



At the other extreme or what you might consider the bottom of the list:

Ban all burning - BAR-B-Q, fireplaces, matches and lighters.

Puta tax on cows and horses to discourage having them reduce methane from farts, ....



Do your own research and consider the possibilities.



Will they do all this. Maybe yes maybe no, BUT they will be able to strike anywhere they want with impunity guided maybe by shadow forces behind the scenes that are green on the outside and red on the inside. These forces have dep pockets and if the enforcement they expect does not follow they will sue the EPA for not enforcing.

So what do we do? We all emit noxcious green house gases, but like the bulk of the wildebeast in the herd we survive only because the lion goes after the easy targets first.

The irony of course is that the US will be the only significant world player to do this (because we must be seen as the leader)