President Barack Obama arrives for an event announcing the nominations of MIT professor Ernest Moniz as Energy Secretary and Gina McCarthy to head the Environmental Protection Agency
(Win McNamee/Getty)
President Obama has nominated Gina McCarthy as EPA administrator and Ernest Moniz for Energy secretary -- and indicated that they will be empowered to push his environmental agenda with or without Congressional approval. Coral Davenport, Energy and Environment reporter for the National Journal, discusses the picks and what comes next.
Comments [6]
Davenport casually throws out how devastating these new EPA rules would be for the economy. Lehrer does not ask any follow-up about how bad it would be. We have been subjected to weeks of news on how the sequester will destroy the economy and must be stopped. Now the president wants to circumvent congress to create new rules - that supporters admit will harm the economy and it is all good. All bow before the Green God.
Jgarbuz
Yes electricity could also be made from logs, but in this country it IS made from coal and that’s not changing anytime soon.
On your second point I will ponder….
hjs11211
You missed A LOT! For one thing, electricity can be produced from fossil fuels, solar, windmills, hydroelectic,geothermal, etc. Electric cars means COMPETITION amongst many energy sources, while gasoline means only oil.
Second, since electic motors are 4 or more times efficient than internal combusions, you need less energy because they waste very little energy in the form of heat that has to be removed.
So every point of view, except maybe profitability of the industry as a whole, electric cars are the solution! But a solution that many industries do not want to see happen!
jgarbuz
how is electricity made? coal, a fossil fuel? did i miss something?
enlighten me please
The best answer is electric cars. They use a fraction of the energy a normal gas burner does. But the automobile industry is still reluctant for the most part for a number of reasons. In electric cars there is little to wear out, little maintenance required, and can last too long for the good of the industry. The best way to reduce fossil fuel use is to switch the fleet to electricity.
BNSF Railway to Test Switch to Natural Gas
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324539404578342540494619344.html
GOOD OR BAD?
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