The ethanol compromise did not make it into any debt ceiling negotiations and its future is now looking bleaker than ever before. The Congressional ‘super-committee’ established by the debt ceiling negotiations will have to decide by November 23rd some manner to reduce the deficit by $1.5 trillion or face potentially unpopular automatic spending cuts to defense and discretionary spending (though USA Today writes that these “threats” have failed in the past). None of the rumored super-committee members seem to be from regions that would require their support of the ethanol industry
The ‘ethanol compromise’ had legs because it funneled money into the domestic ethanol industry while still maintaining a facade of deficit reduction. It would have collected $2 billion in revenue from the ending of the domestic tax credit as of July 21 and used a small amount less than that to spend on items near and dear to the ethanol industry (mainly ongoing support for cellulosic ethanol and money for the installation of blender pumps at fueling stations), hence their support.
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Debt Deal Warnings for Energy Subsidies
Gary Hunt, Master Resource, 9 August 2011
New York Times vs. Natural Gas Industry
Talia Buford, Politico, 8 August 2011
Green Beatle Gas Guzzler
Henry Payne, The Michigan View, 7 August 2011
A Couple of CRU Stations
Steve McIntyre, Climate Audit, 1 August 2011
Senate Testimony: The Question of Green Jobs
Kenneth Green, AEI, 26 July 2011
Sen. Inhofe Calls on EPA To Drop Proposed Ozone Rule
Senator James M. Inhofe (R-Okla.) on Friday asked the Environmental Protection Agency to drop its plans for a new Clean Air Act ozone rule. Inhofe also sent a letter to the EPA’s Inspector General requesting him to investigate whether the EPA’s Clean Air Science Advisory Committee is improperly constituted and has acted improperly.
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I’m a mild mannered guy. But nothing gets my goat like crony-capitalism. So when I was asked by Freedom Action to man a bull horn at a protest of General Electric CEO Jeffrey Immelt—America’s #1 rent-seeker—I couldn’t resist.
Here’s the background: On July 11, Mr. Immelt was invited to keynote a luncheon given to the topic of “free enterprise.” Mr. Immelt was an ironic choice, in light of the fact that he has spent his corporate career trying to get government to pass laws that force people to use GE products and, to add insult to injury, also subsidize the production of those products. (To read more about Mr. Immelt’s rent-seeking ways, see here, here, and here.) Of course, having America’s leading crony capitalist speak about free enterprise is beyond the pale. This outrage prompted about 30 free-marketeers, myself included, to demonstrate outside the venue where Mr. Immelt was invited to speak. The video is below. I’m the bald sweaty guy with the bullhorn.
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I would loathe global warming alarmists less if I could find one who is willing to walk the walk. For example, I would like Al Gore, if he lived like a pauper. I wouldn’t agree with him, but I would respect him. Instead, he preaches sacrifice for the world, while he lives the life of a glutton. That’s annoying.
I think that Mr. Gore’s two-faced approach to the “climate crisis,” as he calls it, is indicative of the green movement as a whole. To be precise, middle and upper class white Americans want “to do something” about the supposed problem of climate change, but they don’t want to be the ones to do it. Instead, they want “polluters” to pay, apparently not realizing that they themselves are the “polluters.”
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There are many reasons to dislike wind power. For some people, giant wind turbines mar scenic vistas. Others don’t like it because it’s an unreliable, expensive source of electricity. I hate it reflexively, because the government forces us to use it, but that’s only an ancillary explanation of my anti-wind beliefs. To me, wind power is most objectionable because it kills things that I enjoy, like human beings.
Yesterday, the Los Angeles Times reported that there were 281 occupational health “incidents” in the wind power industry last year. Since the late 1970s, wind power has killed 78 people. It is ironic, in the Alanis Morissettian sense of the word, that global warming has yet to kill anyone, but wind power—a global warming “solution”—has taken out nearly 4 score humans.
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Now that Republicans feel that they have won a minor victory over Obama on the debt deal, they might be more likely to make concessions on non-debt/spending related issues like the confirmation of Commerce Secretary nominee John Bryson. It is more important than ever that fans of the free-market pressure the Senate to oppose the nomination of this rent-seeking, radical environmentalist. In a Kansas City Star op-ed published this morning, I show why his corporatist past is reason enough to block Bryson’s nomination.
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Environmentalist special interests run the sleaziest attack ads in the business, as has been noted before on this blog, and also by my colleague Marlo Lewis. It doesn’t matter if you are a Republican (like Sen. Scott Brown) or a Democrat (like Sen. Mary Landrieu)—if you don’t toe the green line, then environmentalist advocacy groups will go for your jugular. Almost always, these enviro organizations try to pin an allegation of child abuse on those with whom they disagree. Classy!
Case in point: The American Lung Association’s tasteless new television ad campaign, which I’ve posted at the end of this blog. Here’s how the ALA described the spot in a press release:
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Last week, President Barack Obama announced that his administration would again increase fuel efficiency standards for new cars and trucks. According to one knowledgeable source, these auto regulations are pie-in-the-sky. Nonetheless, environmentalists are dissatisfied.
Usually, when environmentalists oppose environmental policy, it’s because the measure in question isn’t green enough. In California, for example, environmentalists oppose to solar power in the Mojave Desert, based on the fact that the installation of solar panels might hurt a tortoise. However, in the case of the President’s new fuel efficiency standards, environmentalists oppose the policy because it isn’t free-market enough. Seriously. Consider this amazing excerpt, from the Associated Press’s weekend write up of the new fuel efficiency regulations,
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