Everybody and his brother are reporting yesterday’s cloture vote on Sen. Tom Coburn’s amendment to repeal the ethanol tax credit as a widespread rejection by GOP lawmakers of the Taxpayer Protection Pledge, conceived and administered by Americans for Tax Reform (ATR). This is spin.
Many in Washington would like nothing better than for Republicans to disown their chief product differentiator, their promise in writing not to raise taxes. That may happen. Raising taxes is what politicians do, especially those who claim we have a deficit problem rather than an overspending problem. But repudiating the Pledge is not what went down in the Senate on Tuesday. [click to continue…]
Some GOP House Members may see no problem in pushing H.R. 1380, the Boonedoggle, Pickens-Your-Pocket Bill, which would hand out tax credits up to $64,000 apiece for the purchase of natural gas vehicles, because, after all, chief beneficiary T. Boone Pickens is a major donor to Republican candidates.
According to Investor’s Business Daily, however, H.R. 1380 would also confer windfall profits on the Left’s patron-in-chief, billionaire George Soros. IBD explains: [click to continue…]
Birds Aren’t Celebrating Global ‘Wind Day’
George Fenwick, The Michigan View, 15 June 2011
Obama Concedes His Energy Policy Is a Mess
Alexis Simendinger, Real Clear Politics, 15 June 2011
Federal Energy Policy for America
Robert Bradley, Jr., Master Resource, 15 June 2011
Christie’s Blind Spot
Paul Chesser, American Spectator, 15 June 2011
The UN’s Earth Summit Has Its Head in the Clouds
Larry Bell, Forbes, 14 June 2011
Great news! Yesterday, four more Republicans—Reps. Cory Gardner (CO), Scott Tipton (CO), Rep. Mike Coffman (CO), and Larry Bucshon (IN)—withdrew as sponsors of H.R. 1380, the New Alternative Transportation to Give Americans Solutions Act (a.k.a., the NAT GAS Act, a.k.a., “The T. Boone Pickens Earmark Bill,” a.k.a., the “Pickens-Your-Pocket Boondoggle Bill”), legislation that was manufactured by billionaire T. Boone Pickens in order to make himself even richer. The bill would subsidize the use of natural gas as a fuel for the transportation sector, in particular for the trucking industry. Pickens is a gas tycoon, and it goes without saying that legislation to increase demand for gas is good for his bottom line.
Pickens counted on his long history of GOP fundraising to win Republican votes for this boondoggle, and shortly after the introduction of H.R. 1380, it appeared he would get the support of conservatives in the House, as nearly 80 Republicans signed up to sponsor the bill. (They joined almost 100 Democrats.)
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The California Air Resources Board (CARB) boasts that its greenhouse gas (GHG) emission standards save more fuel than the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards – but denies that GHG standards are fuel economy standards. Huh?
Well, of course, CARB denies it, because the Energy Policy Conservation Act (EPCA) prohibits states from adopting laws or regulations “related to” fuel economy.
But CARB has to trumpet the fuel savings from its GHG standards to attack H.R. 910, the Energy Tax Prevention Act. H.R. 910, says CARB, would make America more dependent on foreign oil by prohibiting CARB and EPA from adopting tougher GHG standards.
H.R. 910 opponents talk as if policymaking were a game in which the regulatory option with the biggest fuel savings wins. By that criterion, why not just let EPA and CARB impose a de facto 100 mpg CAFE standard and declare America to be “energy independent”?
If Congress thinks NHTSA’s standards don’t go far enough, there is a simple fix. Pass a law! What H.R. 910 opponents want is for EPA and CARB to legislate in lieu of Congress. That is neither lawful nor constitutional. [click to continue…]
Last week’s New York Times announcement: “Sen. Cornyn’s Amendment Would Pre-empt Listing of Southwestern Lizard,” has received little attention as the media has been more focused on Congressman Weiner—but this is big news, too. For those in Southeast New Mexico and West Texas who’ve been working to draw attention to a little lizard with the potential to kill jobs and hurt the region’s economy, Senator Cornyn’s (TX) actions represent a giant step toward rational thinking.
For the past few months, since around Christmas time last year the Fish and Wildlife Service announced the proposed listing of the sand dune lizard as an endangered species, Permian Basin residents have been up in arms about the potential economic damage the listing could have on the area’s two major sources of jobs and revenue: ranching and oil and gas development. The feared impact would be especially hard hitting in the current fiscal crisis and could increase the price of gas as the Permian Basin accounts for about 20 percent of our domestic production.
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The Green Jobs Fantasy
Mona Charen, Patriot Post, 14 June 2011
Primer: Court Challenge to Endangerment Finding
Chip Knappenberger, Master Resource, 13 June 2011
Don’t Get Burned by Global Warming Alarmism
Jay Ambrose, News Chief, 13 June 2011
Energy 2011: Abundant, Not Scarce—But Highly Politicized
Carl Cannon, Real Clear Politics , 13 June 2011
Alarmists Outraged Olympic Torch Isn’t Low Carbon
The Australian, 10 June 2011
By all accounts, President Barack Obama has embraced ‘fracking,’ a.k.a. hydraulic fracturing, the American-made technological breakthrough in natural gas production that has roughly doubled known North American gas reserves in only the last five years. However, the President’s assault on American coal production has been so pervasive that he has given environmentalists the tools to block fracking from being applied to the most promising gas plays, despite his apparent support for the drilling technique. By warring with coal, the President has boxed himself in on gas.
In his 2011 State of the Union Address, the President set a target for America to generate 80% of its electricity by 2035 from “clean” energy sources, including wind, solar, clean coal, and natural gas. Three months later, in March, the White House issued an energy policy strategy, titled “Blueprint for a Secure Energy Future,” in which it was stated that, “we must focus on expanding cleaner sources of electricity, including renewables like wind and solar, as well as clean coal, natural gas, and nuclear power…” In a speech to promote the Blueprint, the President noted, “The potential for natural gas is enormous.”
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Reuters is reporting that the White House has given its seal of approval to the EPA’s proposed label for E15 (85% gasoline, 15% ethanol). The picture above is of an earlier draft label, no actual images are public yet (to my knowledge) of what the final image ended up being. I suspect the label will be quite similar though it will change 2007MY to 2001MY.
Despite cheers from the ethanol industry, its not clear where the path goes from here. The EPA has suggested that E15 could be sold across the country by September, but a number of gasoline stations are in opposition. Here is a letter (.pdf) sent to Lisa Jackson from the National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS) and the Society of Independent Gasoline Marketers of America (SIGMA), whom together represent roughly 80% of retail fuel sales in the United States. In it they write:
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