Cooler Heads Digest 30 July 2010

In the News

Brownback Mountain
William Yeatman & Iain Murray, National Review Online, 30 July 2010

The Carbon Footprint of Obama’s Detroit Trip
Henry Payne, Planet Gore, 30 July 2010

NOAA To Skeptics: We’re Right, You Can’t Deny It
Richard Morrison, OpenMarket.org, 29 July 2010

Has the BP Spill Been Overblown?
Michael Grunwald, Time, 29 July 2010

Energy Bills Could Include Trans-Atlantic Tax
Iain Murray & Matthew Sinclair, Washington Times, 27 July 2010

Muir Russell Findings Are No Solace for EPA
Chip Knappenberger, MasterResource.org, 27 July 2010

Desperate Days for Warmists
Christopher Booker, Telegraph, 24 July 2010

News You Can Use

Moratorium Impact

According to a new study commissioned by the American Energy Alliance, President Obama’s six-month moratorium on new offshore drilling would cost 12,000 jobs and $2.8 billion in economic activity.

Inside the Beltway

House Passes CLEAR Act

By a vote of 209-193, the House of Representatives this afternoon passed H.R. 3534, the Consolidated Land, Energy, and Aquatic Resources Act (CLEAR). The legislation, ostensibly a response to the BP oil spill, would increase taxes on oil and natural gas, raising prices for all consumers at a time of recession and high unemployment. Its regulatory changes would also drive smaller operators out of business, threatening hundreds of thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in tax revenue at a time when many states are already considering taxes hikes to cover budget deficits.

The House passed an amendment to the bill, offered by Rep. Charles Melancon (D-Louisiana), which would lift the economically devastating moratorium on offshore drilling, but only under certain circumstances. Republicans objected to Melancon’s limited amendment, but their effort to send the bill back to committee with instructions for a more comprehensive end of the moratorium were defeated.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada) plans on taking up a BP spill bill on Monday.

[Myron Ebell will return next Friday]

Across the States

California

In an interview this week with the San Jose Mercury News, California Attorney General and Democratic candidate for Governor Jerry Brown said that global warming policy is the “defining difference” between him and Republican candidate Meg Whitman. Economists agree that costly carbon controls are economically harmful, which is why Whitman has called for a year-ling moratorium on the implementation of AB 32, California’s 2006 climate law. Brown, however, told the SJMN that AB 32 is “the key” to job growth.

This isn’t the first time that Brown has been wrong about “green” energy. When he was last governor of the Golden State, during the late 1970s, Brown pushed for laws and regulations that made it virtually impossible to build new conventional energy generation within the state. This misguided policy made California reliant on out of state power, which was a major cause of the electricity crisis that plagued California during the summer of 2000.

Around the World

Europe Slashes Green Subsidies

As a result of the global economic downturn, Spain, Germany, France, Italy and the Czech Republic have all announced subsidy cuts to green energy, according to Climatewire.

The Cooler Heads Digest is the weekly e-mail publication of the Cooler Heads Coalition. For the latest news and commentary, check out the Coalition’s website, www.globalwarming.org.