Higher Energy Prices Just Around the Corner

One way or another, the "progressives" are going to raise your energy bills.

Today the EPA declared "greenhouse gases" to be a threat to public health and safety, thus eligible for regulation without any further action from the United States Congress.

Meanwhile, House Energy & Commerce committee chairman Henry Waxman, D-CA, said he would not compromise on legislation mandating a 20 percent reduction in carbon emissions over the next ten years. Waxman would rather Congress legislate than the executive branch dictate.

Either way, my friends, you are screwed.

Electricity prices will rise. Natural gas prices will rise. The money will go from your pocket to the federal government, and from there who knows.

Gasoline prices will head skyward again. The price of automobiles will climb because of new, mandatory miles per gallon requirements. There is even a threat that you won't be able to hold on to a reliable older car if it is considered a carbon emissions villain, thus you may be forced to buy a newer vehicle.

Government officials are crowing about their plans to create the "smart grid" that will regulate power loads across the United States. Not only will this new computerized grid require billions in new spending, either by government or by the utility companies, but it will also require that you eventually give up control of your thermostat to bureaucrats. These "experts" will decide whether you are using too much juice.

One man, whom I consider an expert on home energy efficiency, recently told me that a minimum estimate of the impact on heating and cooling our homes would be about $600 to $1000 more per home per year. Are you ready for that? Can you squeeze that out of your budget?

All this to fix a "global warming/climate change" problem that may not exist and, if it does, may not be fixable. And who cares what happens to the economy as a result.

But this isn't really about climate change. This is merely the justification for socialist control of our lives and livelihoods.