Awww HELL NO! - Obama outlaws fertilizer
From the
White House:
Executive Order -- Improving Chemical Facility Safety and Security
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered as follows:
Section 1. Purpose. Chemicals, and the facilities where they are manufactured, stored, distributed, and used, are essential to today's economy. Past and recent tragedies have reminded us, however, that the handling and storage of chemicals are not without risk. The Federal Government has developed and implemented numerous programs aimed at reducing the safety risks and security risks associated with hazardous chemicals. However, additional measures can be taken by executive departments and agencies (agencies) with regulatory authority to further improve chemical facility safety and security in coordination with owners and operators.
Sec. 2. Establishment of the Chemical Facility Safety and Security Working Group. (a) There is established a Chemical Facility Safety and Security Working Group (Working Group) co-chaired by the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Secretary of Labor or their designated representatives at the Assistant Secretary level or higher. In addition, the Working Group shall consist of the head of each of the following agencies or their designated representatives at the Assistant Secretary level or higher:(i) the Department of Justice;
(ii) the Department of Agriculture; and
(iii) the Department of Transportation.
(b) In carrying out its responsibilities under this order, the Working Group shall consult with representatives from:(i) the Council on Environmental Quality;
(ii) the National Security Staff;
(iii) the Domestic Policy Council;
(iv) the Office of Science and Technology Policy;
(v) the Office of Management and Budget (OMB);
(vi) the White House Office of Cabinet Affairs; and
(vii) such other agencies and offices as the President may designate.
And the meat of the matter - hidden more than halfway down the page in Section 6, paragraph (b):
Within 90 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Secretary of Labor, and the Secretary of Agriculture shall develop a list of potential regulatory and legislative proposals to improve the safe and secure storage, handling, and sale of ammonium nitrate and identify ways in which ammonium nitrate safety and security can be enhanced under existing authorities.
Emphases mine. This expansion of each of the named Government Agencies is totally outside the scope of the Constitution and the laws currently on the books.
This is all about ammonium nitrate. Sure, it has been used to make some bombs. It is also used for fertilizer -- as a source of nitrogen for most of the larger agricultural operations in the world. It is also used as a safe and effective explosive for mining and quarrying.
The website
Western Rifle Shooters turned me on to this and the blog author had this to say:
From Over The Transom
Obama issued an Executive order on August 1, 2013 that will effectively ban Ammonium Nitrate in the USA. It will become too expensive and create too much possible civil and criminal liability to manufacture, store, or transport it. Clinton did the same thing to Anhydrous Ammonia dealers in 1999. It put most Anhydrous dealers out of business. Obama is imposing the same regs and adding explosives regulations on top of OSHA and EPA regulations. It�s all there if you know how to read bureacratese.
Tannerite will probably be banned outright as soon as DHS & BATFE finish making policy based on this E.O. Whether or not they can criminalize it I don�t know. You can count on it being taken off the market though. The government has had it�s sights on Tannerite for a long time now.
Food and Fuel prices will skyrocket because Ammonium Nitrate forms the basis for almost all nitrogen in granular fertilizers used in American farming. There are no cost and ease of manufacture/use equivalents for ammonium nitrate. Supply and demand economics are going to be the harsh lesson of the day. Crop yields will go down. Corn is the basis for the American food supply and the fuel additive ethanol. A.N. is critical in corn production.
Hope everyone is ready for $12/gallon gasoline and $20 a box corn flakes.
Be sure to read the comments -- this is a very big and stupid bit of Executive malfeasance. A perfect poster child for Obama's grasp of unintended consequences.
I would be interested in following the money -- does Monsanto have a non-explosive nitrate fertilizer in the wings???
Posted by DaveH at August 13, 2013 9:30 PM