President Obama just gave an Earth Day talk in Iowa that builds on this statement: “The choice we face is not between saving our environment and saving our economy. It’s a choice between prosperity and decline.” Makes you wonder which choice Obama prefers. After all, his energy proposals generally aim at increasing the cost of energy, which will inflict pain on every sector of the economy. Remember what candidate Obama told the San Francisco Chronicle last year: “Under my plan of a cap and trade system, electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket.” He wants to replace coal-fired electricity production with power from renenwables like wind and solar that is far more expensive to produce. Higher prices — that’s the idea. Hard to see how that squares with notions of prosperity.