Illustration by Greg Groesch for The Washington Times more >But here’s the thing: Electric companies are already phasing out coal because of the boom in cheaper, cleaner natural gas. They’ve been adding equipment to make coal-fired plants greener. So the process was well under way, but as Mr. Obama might say, “We can’t wait!”
In California, utilities and businesses are about to be sacrificed on the altar of a cap-and-tax scheme hatched back in 2006. That’s when the legislature enacted the Global Warming Solutions Act, which turns the California Air Resources Board into a regulatory Godzilla.
The crackdown will not only please the fringe environmentalists who dominate the Democratic Party but will bring an estimated $14 billion a year into Sacramento’s depleted coffers.
Given the heavy hand on utilities of not only the EPA but Sacramento, it’s only a matter of time before the Golden State experiences power brownouts. Actually, a “brownout” in California refers to the times between Gov. Moonbeam’s terms, so let’s use the word “blackout.”
The fact is, California is so besotted with liberalism that residents are getting numb to abuses of power, which liberals hope to export to the rest of America.
In December, state Sen. Ted Lieu, a Democrat, actually threatened to introduce legislation to force the Lowe’s home-improvement chain to advertise on a Discovery Channel/TLC television show, “All-American Muslim.”
To a liberal, apparently there’s nothing more “all-American” than using government power to force a private company to buy ads favoring a lawmaker’s chosen interest group.
Coercion is the addictive drug liberals swear they aren’t using - until they use it.
Robert Knight is senior fellow for the American Civil Rights Union and a columnist for The Washington Times.
Robert Knight is senior fellow for the American Civil Rights Union and a columnist for The Washington Times.
By Rand Paul
Obama acts as though we no longer have a Constitution
