Is Environmentalism Making Americans Poorer?

Is Environmentalism Making Americans Poorer? | Somewhat Reasonable
A few days ago, EPA Chief Gina McCarthy penned a post on Mic.com, claiming to make the “economic case” for clean energy, asserting that carbon pollution, like that produced by coal-fired power plants, is cutting into economic stability and growth.
McCarthy called for support for the Clean Power Plan, a reconfiguration of carbon emission standards that would put weight on coal-fired power plants to clean up their acts or face the consequences.
...There are also other economic consequences to McCarthy’s plan that she hasn’t considered: whether Americans can afford clean energy on an individual basis.
As the EPA and the Obama Administration has increased their pressure on so-called “dirty” energies, like coal, they’ve driven up energy costs for individuals, and according to a study released this week by the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity, that’s having a disparate effect on lower-income Americans.
Yesterday the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity released a report that documents how the Obama administration’s war on coal (and on cheap energy generally) has hurt poor and middle-class Americans. 
...This simple chart tells the story: while energy costs account for only 7% of expenditures by those who earn over $50,000 per year, those making less than $30,000 pay an astonishing 23% of their after-tax income for energy.
...According to the ACCCE study, many Americans sacrificed in other areas in order to meet rising energy costs, some even forgoing prescriptions, medical care and food in order to simply heat their homes.
But while they struggle, ultimately because of the EPA’s heavy regulatory hand, the companies the EPA favors – and their millionaire investors – are profiting at suffering Americans’ expense. Alternative energy bigwigs like Al Gore and billionaire environmentalists hedge fund operators like Tom Steyer, are using the Obama Administration’s push for alternative energy to get rich off of grants and loans the EPA and DOE dole out to alternative energy projects, and off of climate-altering investments.
The poor get poorer (and colder) while the rich get richer.