New pain for seniors resulting from EPA 'Climate Crusade'

A new report by the Southwest Power Pool warns of dire short-term and long-term consequences, including power outages and blackouts, for 15 million consumers in nine states if the EPA imposes carbon dioxide emission restrictions on power plants. The news comes in the wake of widespread concern that the Environmental Protection Agency's plan to severely restrict the use of coal for power generation is bound to sharply increase the cost of electricity. Coal is used to produce about 41 percent of our electricity and is our cheapest source of power. "The elderly on low and modest fixed incomes, already reeling from the prospect of higher utility bills, will also be hardest hit by the threat of these cascading power outages. They are not equipped to deal with the unexpected loss of power nor with the anticipated spikes in the cost of electricity. They will have to choose between heating their homes or having enough money for food and medicine," according to Dan Weber, president of the Association of Mature American Citizens. The impact assessment report produced by the Southwest Power Pool focuses on customers in Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas. The report concludes that users in those states face major blackouts and serious reliability problems due to the rapid pace of capacity reductions required by the EPA's proposed rule to limit carbon dioxide emissions from power plants...more