| |
PRZOOM - /newswire/ -
Reynolds, GA, United States, 2013/06/27 - In a speech yesterday at Georgetown University, President Obama announced a broad new federal mandate to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from electric power plants - FlintEnergies.com.
|
| |
The President will instruct federal regulators at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to apply the Clean Air Act to carbon dioxide issued from power plants, effectively outlawing coal-burning facilities. The US Congress has not agreed on legislation to regulate carbon.
While the President’s scheme will impose a massive new climate tax upon all consumers, Georgia’s electric membership cooperatives (EMCs) are especially concerned about this proposal because low-income Americans already spend disproportionately more on energy than others.
“The President’s plan will hit cooperative-served families and businesses in Georgia awfully hard,” said Paul Wood, President and CEO of Georgia EMC, the statewide trade association for electric co-ops. “Rural and suburban communities have been put through an economic wringer for the better part of a decade; they’ve made incredible sacrifices. What sense does it make for the President to pile on with this climate tax?”
The President’s climate tax fails to take into account electric cooperatives’ existing efforts to integrate low to zero carbon-emitting, cleaner-burning sources like renewables, natural gas, and nuclear. Cooperatives like Flint Energies are also at the forefront of energy efficiency initiatives.
“Ultimately, EMCs are about keeping electric bills affordable, providing underserved communities the power they need to improve their quality of life,” said Wood. “The President’s proposal will make electric power more expensive, causing families and businesses to sacrifice on top of all the other uncertainty in our national economy. Without question, electric bills will get bigger for the Americans who can least afford to pay them.”
“If the President doesn’t see the importance of affordable electric power, Georgia’s co-ops will help bring it to his attention, he said.”
About Flint Energies
Flint Energies (flintenergies.com) is a not-for-profit cooperative owned by thousands of member in parts of 17 central Georgia counties. Flint directly employs 233 employees and serves more than 86,000 electric meters. We are 100% locally-controlled and democratically governed by 11 members elected from among the membership. In 1937, Flint Energies was created to bring people together to meet common needs like reliable electric energy, and our mission remains focused on improving the quality of life in Middle Georgia. Flint is a Touchstone Energy Cooperative, part of the nationwide family of electric cooperatives exhibiting the core values of integrity, accountability, innovation and commitment to community.
|
info[.]flintenergies.com 
