In a recent post, I predicted that Japan is likely to turn from nuclear to coal in the wake of the Fukushima Daiichi disaster. This would have global ramifications, as Japan would become a major importer of coal at the very moment that China’s burgeoning demand for coal was creating export opportunities in the United States and Australia. For major coal companies, the global coal market is looking strong to quite strong.
In addition to being a boon for the international coal industry, there are repercussions in other energy markets. In Europe, where anti-nuclear sentiment already was high before the Japanese crisis, the nuclear industry is reeling. Plans for future nuclear power plants are being shelved; existing plants are being decommissioned. According to EUractiv,
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Obama’s Energy Policies Benefit the Powerful at the Expense of Everyone Else
Deneen Borelli, Fox News, 5 June 2011
Do GOP Hopefuls Trust Al Gore?
Steve Milloy, Washington Times, 3 June 2011
Latest Global Warming Alarm: Biodegradable Cups
Sheela Philomena, MedIndia, 2 June 2011
WalMart’s Support for Cap-and-Trade To Be Challenged at Shareholder Meeting
Peter Flaherty, National Legal and Policy Center, 2 June 2011
Don’t Fall for Socialist Global Warming Hysteria
Davis Patterson, letter to the editor The Bridgeton News, 31 May 2011
The vote is 18 months away, but the politics of re-election already are having a major impact on the President’s environmental policy-making. In an effort to woo the American Heartland, President Barack Obama is (temporarily) reining in the Environmental Protection Agency. However, in those States where the President has no chance of victory in 2012, the regulatory steamroller proceeds apace.
Politico Morning Energy reported today that the President is signaling that he intends to delay the Environmental Protection Agency’s issuance of New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) for greenhouse gas emissions from coal-fired power plants. They were supposed to have been issued in July. In essence, these NSPS standards act as the minimum threshold (the “floor”) for all pollution control mandates for greenhouse gas emissions from new coal power plants pursuant to the Clean Air Act. Although NSPS standards traditionally have applied only to new power plants, the Obama administration is interpreting the law creatively, so that it can regulate greenhouse gas emissions from existing power plants, too.
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Big, Bad Wolf Romm
Robert Bradley, Master Resource, 3 June 2011
The Inherently Ideological Interpretation of the GM Bailout
Jim Manzi, National Review Online, 2 June 2011
Sigourney Weaver: Climate Change Is Sexist
Noel Sheppard, News Busters, 2 June 2011
A Request for Light Bulb Sanity
Diana Furchtgott-Roth, Real Clear Markets, 2 June 2011
Climate Dictatorship of the Enlightened: More Great Ideas from Germany
Chris Horner, AmSpecBlog, 29 May 2011
The answer is three, the same number of licks it takes an owl to reach the center of a Tootsie Pop.
American Wind Energy Association CEO Denise Bode recently appeared on Fox Business News to promote wind power. At the 6:45 mark of her segment, she defended wind energy subsidies with a flurry of misinformation and wishful thinking. Here’s the exchange,
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Federal Asset Privatization, Not a Higher Debt Ceiling (SPR a good place to begin)
Robert Murphy, Master Resource, 2 June 2011
Twisted Scripture and Science
Paul Chesser, American Spectator, 2 June 2011
Michigan Target of EPA Diktat
Henry Payne, The Michigan View, 1 June 2011
Free up Oil Drilling in Alaska
James Baker, USA Today, 1 June 2011
UEA—General Ledger Summary Provided, Invoices Refused
Steve McIntyre, Climate Audit, 1 June 2011
Commerce Nominee Bryson Brings Long Green Tail
Darren Samuelsohn, Politico, 31 May 2011
Today, I participated in a telephone press conference on the Department of Energy Loan Programs Office and a proposed Clean Energy Deployment Administration. They are similar, in that they both are tasked with using taxpayer money to subsidize financing for “clean” energy sources. Each is intended to function like a green bank.
My colleagues on the call were: Ryan Alexander, President of Taxpayers for Common Sense; Henry Sokolski, Executive Director of the Nonproliferation Policy Education Center; Andrew Moylan, Vice President for Government Affairs at the National Taxpayers Union; and Jack Spencer, Research Fellow at the Heritage Foundation.
Here’s the attendant press release, with a link to audio from the press conference; here’s a coalition letter we (and others) signed to urge the Congress to shelve the proposed Clean Energy Deployment Administration, which is under consideration in the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. Below are my introductory remarks.
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A week ago, I poked fun at Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Beverly Hills) for acting the fool during a House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing on Republican legislation that would speed the permitting process for the Keystone XL Pipeline. Yet I also noted,
“While I disagree with everything he does, I nonetheless esteem Rep. Waxman as a master tactician. More than once, I’ve wished that the other party had someone as cunning as the Congressman from Beverly Hills.”
Last week, Rep. Waxman was off his game; this week, I’m sad to say, he has returned to form. Energy and Environment News (subscription required) reported this morning that Rep. Waxman and Energy and Commerce Ranking Member Bobby Rush (D-Illinois) yesterday fired off a letter to Committee Republicans, demanding the holdup of the “Transparency in Regulatory Analysis of Impacts on the Nation Act” (a.k.a., the TRAIN Act) over some arcane procedural matter. This sort of nitpicky stonewalling is classic Waxman.
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Skeptic Don Boudreaux Makes Climate Bet
Jonathan Adler, Opposing Views, 31 May 2011
The New Military War against Climate Change
Larry Bell, Forbes, 31 May 2011
What with Immelt Sounding a Little Squishy
Chris Horner, AmSpecBlog, 31 May 2011
California High Speed Rail All Strung out on the Outskirts of Town
Marc Scribner, Open Market, 31 May 2011
Palin: Eliminate All Energy Subsidies
Scott Conroy, Real Clear Politics, 31 May 2011
On Global Warming, Gov. Christie Needs To Visit a Doctor
Paul Mulshine, New Jersey Star Ledger, 30 May 2011
Someone alert the Guinness Book of World Records! In 2010, humans set a new all-time high for global greenhouse gas emissions, according to an International Energy Agency analysis released yesterday.
If you are an alarmist, then this is one of your many causes for concern. If, however, you are a global warming “denier” like me, then this is a cause for celebration, because more emissions translate into more wealth creation!
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