flacracker's Diary

Obama throws the Teamsters under the “Truck”

The administration just announced emissions and fuel efficiency standards for Heavy Trucks, making long haul trucking a much more expensive proposition. They are demanding a 20% reduction in CO2 emissions and fuel consumption by 2018 – yeah, right.

Curious that this story is buried or nonexistent from traditional media outlets.

http://bulktransporter.com/news/feds-propose-first-commercial-truck-efficiency-rules-1026/

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Department of Transportation (DOT) announced the first US national standards that target greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and fuel efficiency in heavy-duty trucks. Unveiled October 25, the new standards begin to take effect in 2014 and are expected to boost the price of a new truck by several thousand dollars

“Several thousand dollars”, a study in understatement there, and of course there will be the obligatory rise in the cost of everything delivered by trucks – which is just about everything.

The EPA and DOT have proposed new standards for three categories of heavy trucks: combination tractors, vocational vehicles, and heavy-duty pickups and vans. For combination tractors, the feds are proposing vehicle and engine standards beginning in model year 2014 and should achieve up to a 20% reduction in CO2 emissions and fuel consumption by model year 2018. On the vocational side (which would impact many tank truck fleets), the feds want up to a 10% reduction in fuel consumption and CO2 emissions.

Rep. Posey on the Attack

I think Charlie Crist is under the Obama bus as well.

“Just weeks before the 2008 election, then-Senator Obama came though Central Florida promising the nation and the residents of Brevard County that if elected President, he would close the space gap and keep America first in space. If this news report is even half right, this plan, if you can call it a plan, would be a devastating reversal of that commitment.”

Florida’s unemployment rate is already at 11.5%, with 5 Shuttle flights left. Not that many shovel ready jobs in the Sunshine State.

“This Administration has thrown hundreds of billions of dollars into a failed stimulus bill, but when it comes to keeping America first in space his ‘plan’ is to cancel the development of America’s next human space vehicle, outsource our good-paying Shuttle jobs to the Russians, place all of our hopes on a yet unproven commercial adventure, rush/force the transition to yet unproven commercial alternatives, and shifts money from human space flight to global warming research.”

Nations with manned space programs over the next decade will include India, but not the United States.

“My biggest fear is that this amounts to a slow death of our nation’s human space flight program; a retreat from America’s decades of leadership in space, ending the economic advantages that our space program has brought to the U.S., and ceding space to the Russians, Chinese and others. I will do all that I can to stop this ill-advised plan.”

“Bizarre”?, try ‘predictable’. Another campaign promise hits the dumper.

“The President’s U-turn on this issue is both bizarre and misguided. I will continue to work with my House colleagues from both parties and from across the country to keep America first in space. This issue is far from over.”

http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_space_thewritestuff/2010/01/rep-posey-obamas-reported-space-plan-is-ill-advised.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+news%2Fspace%2Fspace_blog+%28Space+Blog+The+Write+Stuff%29

Crist’s stacked PSC kills new Florida Nuclear Plant expansion

Soon to be ‘former‘ Gov Charlie Crist’s stacked PSC halts rejects $10 Billion in FPL projects and acts like its a good thing. Chief among these crucial projects was the construction of two new units at the Turkey Point commercial Nuclear Power Plant, and calls it a “win” for the consumer. I suppose building two Nuclear Power Plants that represent a Supertanker a day of oil we don’t have to import doesn’t help Floridians as much as all those Shovel Ready jobs from Obama’s Stimulus package:

Florida Power & Light has suspended work on an estimated $10 billion in projects — including the controversial expansion of Turkey Point nuclear plant – after state regulators rejected the utility’s proposed rate hike.

Gov. Charlie Crist said he doubts there will be layoffs and called the rate decision a “win for the consumer.”

Crist had opposed FPL’s rate hike and appointed two outsiders to the five-member commission last year after some critics said it was too “cozy” with utilities.

Since then, the commission rejected FPL’s proposal for a $1.5 billion natural gas pipeline, required the utility to beef up energy conservation goals and all but rejected the utilty’s base rate increase. When asked last year about investors’ concerns that Florida is moving away from a state that’s considered utility friendly, Crist shot back, “To one that’s people friendly?”

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/fl-fpl-scalebacks-20100115,0,6703079.story