The Latest Target for Obama's Executive Actions: Global Warming

RedState readers who have been paying attention ought to be well aware by now of the Obama administration’s impending and Unconstitutional actions on illegal immigration, but that’s not the only area where he plans to unilaterally exercise his presidential powers. Now, he’s looking at what he can do on global warming. As The Politico reports:

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The coming rollout includes a Dec. 1 proposal by EPA to tighten limits on smog-causing ozone, which business groups say could be the costliest federal regulation of all time; a final rule Dec. 19 for clamping down on disposal of power plants’ toxic coal ash; the Jan. 1 start date for a long-debated rule prohibiting states from polluting the air of their downwind neighbors; and a Jan. 8 deadline for issuing a final rule restricting greenhouse gas emissions from future power plants. That last rule is a centerpiece of Obama’s most ambitious environmental effort, the big plan for combating climate change that he announced at Georgetown University in June 2013.

Obama announced yet another initiative Wednesday in Beijing, where he and Chinese President Xi Jinping jointly committed to targets for the two nations to curb their carbon emissions during the next two decades. And on top of all that, the administration is expected in the coming weeks to pledge millions of dollars — and possibly billions — to help poor countries deal with the effects of climate change.

[…]

On deck are even more climate actions that will stretch well into 2015. In June, EPA is due to put out a final version of its rule for cutting greenhouse gases from the nation’s existing power plants — the linchpin of Obama’s entire climate effort.

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As the article notes, this is the most ambitious agenda of climate regulations in Washington since the Clean Air Act during George H.W. Bush’s term. While Republicans in Congress should use the power of the purse to rein in Obama’s actions, we should also ramp up investigations into the EPA’s abuses of power. We should not let the threat of a presidential veto deter us from passing laws that defund or repeal these programs.

But it’s not just the EPA that’s trying to rollout new regulations. As the article explains, he Interior Department is trying to get in on the action as well. They appear to be pushing forward with Obama’s war on coal by putting the finishing touches on a regulation that would tighten limits on mountaintop-removal coal mining.

All of these things are mentioned, more or less, in the article, but there’s something I think they hit on without fully realizing it. They say:

With so much action rolling through the pipeline, Republicans will have to choose their battles carefully if they want to make headway while proving they can govern.

It’s entirely possible, indeed plausible, that this onslaught of executive actions, including the coming one on immigration, is being sent at Congress to force Republicans to pick their battles. The theory might be that Republicans will focus their energies on a couple of initiatives, but they’ll let the others slide. It might be an issue of time. It might be an issue of being afraid of looking like they have a reactionary vendetta against the President, with the possible accusations of racism that might accompany it. I’m not saying these criticisms are legitimate, but it’s entirely possible that things will unfold this way. We know well enough that the media will try to do this.

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Obama knows he’s been rejected at the ballot box. Now, he’s trying to force all these things on us and dare the Republicans in Congress and conservatives across the nation to oppose him. We have to be vigilant, and we have to hold Congress’s feet to the fire. These regulations will greatly burden our economy in the name of a pseudo-scientific political agenda.. We can’t let that happen.

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