Sunday, November 2, 2008

"I Will Bankrupt the Coal Industry"

Listen up, West Virginia, Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio, and Pennsylvania! Heads up, Indiana, Montana, Colorado, and the Dakotas! Why this has been kept under wraps until now is beyond me, but here it is, in Obama's own words and voice: he will BANKRUPT THE COAL INDUSTRY:



Check out the graph, people - we get almost HALF of our electricity from COAL (who knew?). HALF of it, so if you think this doesn't affect you, you are wrong. And hell, it affects you anyway insofar as it affects your fellow citizens in the above-mentioned states. It will also affect the economy in general in terms of rising energy costs, as well as the impact of coal employees losing their jobs.

THIS IS A BIG DEAL, PEOPLE. Watch it again. Tell everyone you know who lives in these states. It will impact them DIRECTLY, perhaps a family member or friend, and the rest of us in terms of increased costs. It is WAY past time to actually LISTEN to what Obama is saying. He has been given a pass over and over and over.

While I am at it, here is one of his most recent, Sexist-as-hell ads (H/T to Truthteller at NoQuarter):



We must stand up to the blatant sexism and misogyny that has marked this election season. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. Paln oversees a $11 BILLION dollar budget, 24,000 state employees, and has her state in the BLACK, for pete's sake. Enough of the belittling, sexist bullshit already. Women, STAND UP FOR YOURSELVES!!! And all you men out there - surely you have a mother, maybe a sister, a daughter, a niece, granddaughter, grandmother, partner, wife? Stop passively participating in the misogyny that has fueled this election season. ENOUGH. It is beyond enough.

4 comments:

Dr. Monkey Von Monkerstein said...

Oh my gosh! You're right! I remember how all that cap and trade stuff bankrupted American industry when they did it in respect to acid rain. This will be just like that! Oh no! I wish now I hadn't voted early for Obama, if only I had read this. Oh crap, now I bet he'll make us all install solar panels on our homes, businesses, schools, and churches to generate electricity. Dang him for thinking of the future! Dang him all the way to heck!

Rabble Rouser Reverend Amy said...

I see you got your Obama talking points for the day. I didn't know if you would still get paid after already bowing to The One with your early vote - is this gratis?

Dr. Monkey Von Monkerstein said...

Hey you forgot to put the rest of that coal quote in your post so here it is:

"But this notion of no coal, I think, is an illusion. Because the fact of the matter is, is that right now we are getting a lot of our energy from coal. And China is building a coal-powered plant once a week. So what we have to do then is figure out how can we use coal without emitting greenhouse gases and carbon. And how can we sequester that carbon and capture it. If we can’t, then we’re gonna still be working on alternatives."

No need to thank me. I'm just out to set the record straight.

Rabble Rouser Reverend Amy said...

I noticed that you consistently avoid the issue of Obama's blatant misogyny. Maybe you don't see it.

The quote you had was at the beginning of his statement. Here is how it all fits in: "I voted against the Clear Skies Bill. In fact, I was the deciding vote. Despite the fact that I'm a coal state. And that half my state thought that I had thoroughly betrayed them. Because I think clean air is critical and global warming is critical. But this notion of no coal, I think, is an illusion. Because the fact of the matter is is that right now we are getting a lot of our energy from coal. And China is building a coal-powered plant once a week. So what we have to do then is figure out how can we use coal without emitting greenhouse gases and carbon. And how can we sequester that carbon and capture it. If we can't, then we're gonna still be working on alternatives.

"But...[NOTE: here's where the Western Business Roundtable picked up the text.] let me sort of describe my overall policy. What I've said is that we would put a cap and trade policy in place that is as aggressive if not more aggressive than anyone out there. I was the first call for 100% auction on the cap and trade system. Which means that every unit of carbon or greenhouse gases that was emitted would be charged to the polluter. That will create a market in which whatever technologies are out there that are being presented, whatever power plants are being built, they would have to meet the rigors of that market. And the ratcheted down caps that are imposed every year. So if somebody wants to build a coal-powered plant, they can. It's just that it will bankrupt them because they're going to be charged a huge sum for all that greenhouse gas that's being emitted. That will also generate billions of dollars that we can invest in solar, wind, biodiesel, and other alternative energy approaches. The only thing that I've said with respect to coal--I haven't been some coal booster. What I have said is that for us to take coal off the table as a ideological matter, as opposed to saying if technology allows us to use coal in a clean way, we should pursue it. That I think is the right approach. The same with respect to nuclear. Right now, we don't know how to store nuclear waste wisely and we don't know how to deal with some of the safety issues that remain. And so it's wildly expensive to pursue nuclear energy. But I tell you what, if we could figure out how to store it safely, then I think most of us would say that might be a pretty good deal. The point is, if we set rigorous standards for the allowable emissions, then we can allow the market to determine and technology and entrepreneurs to pursue, what the best approach is to take, as opposed to us saying at the outset, here are the winners that we're picking and maybe we pick wrong and maybe we pick right." (http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/postglobal/energywire/2008/11/the_last_minute_obama-mccain_c.html)

Don't really see how that makes much of a difference, Dr. Monkey. He said what he said. And this has the bonus of including all kinds of hooey on nuclear energy since he was against it before he was for it. Like when he claimed he crafted a law against the nuclear power co. in IL, when he then took tons of money from them, and made a "suggestion" that they clean up their act. Real backbone there - NOT.

And, YOU'RE welcome for the full quote.