It is finally over. In the end, it appears that the two major candidates running for presidential election in the United States collectively spent somewhere around two billion dollars. Since most people had made up their minds who they would vote for some time ago, that money basically was spent to influence approximately two million voters.

Now comes the part where the so-called, and sometimes self-proclaimed, experts will tell us how the next four years will impact our lives. I listened to some and read some of the opinions most of today. I did hear a couple of statistics and rumors that should hold the interest of our audience. One significant thought was that the EPA has nearly 90 regulations that are planned to be released over the next year. We do know that some regulations – such as the Boiler MACT – are ready for release but have been on hold for one reason or another until the election was completed.

Right now, congressional leaders and the administration are touting how important compromise and negotiations are to moving the country forward. Both sides are proclaiming they are willing. At the same time, both sides are saying that they will not be pushed around. Sen. Harry Reid just said that he did not like the use of the filibuster by republicans and that there would be changes to the rules for the 113th session.

 

That just reminds me of the old saying that the more things change, the more they stay the same.

 

While the country has proclaimed in polls that they are fed up with the lack of progress in Washington with the lowest approval rating of Congress in memory, the voters returned a huge number of incumbents to their plush offices. As my kids often say, “go figure.”

Here is a rumor that I just picked up on this morning. According to sources that I have not yet been able to confirm, Lisa Jackson, the EPA administrator, is planning to leave her post this next year. Additionally, there will be an exit of a number of her top officials as well. No specific reasons were given for the anticipated changes, so we will have to stay tuned to see if anything develops. Again, more rumors.

I think that we will see a number of regulations issued over the next few months. There will be a focus on controlling anything and everything that could possibly impact issues concerning potential atmospheric temperature trends. There will be a push to perform additional research and development in such areas. There will be additional research and development in alternative energy sources. I just hope it will be research in technologies and not handouts to specific companies.

 

Typically, people do want clean energy but they do not want to simply spend more for their energy needs. An example took place in Michigan, where a ballot proposal would “require electric utilities to provide at least 25 percent of their annual retail sales of electricity from renewable energy sources, which are wind, solar, biomass, and hydropower, by 2025” and would increase electric utility rates 1 percent annually by “charging consumers to achieve compliance with the renewable energy standard.”

 

It was not that the people did not want wind farms; it was that they did not want to pay the enormous cost and be stuck with guaranteed rate increases for the foreseeable future. They did not want their rates to necessarily skyrocket. More so, Proposal 3 was to amend the state constitution – something many constituents were adamantly against (all six ballot proposals in Michigan were knocked down on Election Day).

So, I expect we can fully anticipate that there will be more regulations coming. I also expect the Congress to take up new environmental issues. I think that there will be (slightly) more compromise than we have seen over the past six years, but it will be like pulling teeth. It will not be what both sides want, but will get us moving again. It will be a good idea to make sure your computer data is backed up as additional requirements are coming and you do not want to miss a step.