Gettin' It Done - 22

Lotsa hand-wringing and pearl-clutching over this one, but here's what I don't get when I hear "conservatives" bitchin' about it:  isn't this what you always refer to as "Creative Destruction"?  If we decide to move from one way of doing something to another way of doing it, we generally welcome that as progress.  You guys have been saying exactly that for 35 years.

22. Created Conditions to Begin Closing Dirtiest Power Plants: New EPA restrictions on mercury and toxic pollution, issued in December 2011, likely to lead to the closing of between sixty-eight and 231 of the nation’s oldest and dirtiest coal-fired power plants. Estimated cost to utilities: at least $11 billion by 2016. Estimated health benefits: $59 billion to $140 billion. Will also significantly reduce carbon emissions and, with other regulations, comprises what’s been called Obama’s “stealth climate policy.”

It just makes good sense to acknowledge that an economy that's all Dig It Up, Burn It Up, Chop It Down, Break It Down is not something that can go on forever.  So y'know what?  Call it whatever you wanna call it - re-tooling for an economy that's pointed more towards sustainability is one of the best job-creating policies there is.