Much Ado about Nothing - Carbon Dioxide

    Cheryl Hogue again reports on EPA's actions with carbon dioxide in her Chemical and Engineering News, April 2 article.
    EPA has proposed that any power plants built after this year must control carbon dioxide emissions. Congressional Republicans attacked EPA's proposal on the basis that it is equivalent to a tax on energy. Industry groups are opposed on the basis that it bans construction of conventional coal-fired power plants in the US. Environmental and health groups are favorable to the proposal on the basis that the regulation would help create a cleaner, healthier and more modern energy future.
    The Congressional Republicans are correct in that additional mandated equipment would lead to increased energy costs, which are an indirect tax. Industry groups are correct in that the increased costs of electricity from the new, more expensive coal-burning plants would make them uncompetitive. Environmental and health groups are incorrect in that carbon dioxide has nothing to do with a cleaner and healthier environment and the term "modern energy future" is a pie-in-the-sky gobbledygook.
    EPA is making this proposal on the basis that carbon dioxide threatens the health and welfare by adding to human-induced climate change. On the basis of the Freedom of Information Act, I ask the EPA to supply information on how it comes to that conclusion.