Biden's Latest Regulations Will Crash the Electric Grid

Katie Pavlich reporting for Townhall 

On Thursday morning President Joe Biden announced new "climate change" regulations, put in place through the Environmental Protection Agency, that will shut down a number of coal powered power plants in states across the country. The rules claim carbon dioxide is a "pollutant," which is a stretch given it's what humans breath out and what plants eat as food to turn into oxygen. 

"These rules, finalized under separate authorities including the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, and Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, will significantly reduce climate, air, water, and land pollution from the power sector, delivering on the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to protect public health, advance environmental justice, and confront the climate crisis," the EPA detailed. "A final rule for existing coal-fired and new natural gas-fired power plants that would ensure that all coal-fired plants that plan to run in the long-term and all new baseload gas-fired plants control 90 percent of their carbon pollution."

The move comes as Biden also mandated private vehicle companies only produce electric cars, which rely on a number of coal powered plants for electricity, by 2030. It's also expensive for taxpayers. 

"In a study commissioned by the California Public Utilities Commission, grid analytics company Kevala forecasts that California alone will have to spend $50 billion by 2035 in distribution grid upgrades to meet its ambitious EV targets," CNBC reports. 

Lawmakers and energy experts are slamming the new regulations, which will likely be challenged in court with lawsuits. They're warning Biden's decree will result in the dismantling of an already overwhelmed grid. 

“The EPA’s rush to dismantle our nation’s baseload electricity generation will harm people’s lives and well-being. These policies undermine American energy security by forcing states to fundamentally change how they generate electricity," House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers and Environment, Manufacturing, and Critical Materials Subcommittee Chair Buddy Carter released in a statement. "At a time when more than half the nation is at elevated risk of forced blackouts, the administration’s unrelenting rush-to-green agenda is shutting down the types of generation needed to keep the lights on and raising costs across the board. We should be strengthening and expanding reliable power generation to build on America’s legacy of energy security and leadership, rather than dismantling it.”