Keystone XL in 2012
The Keystone Pipeline System was, perhaps, the biggest environmental battle of 2011. The proposed $13 billion system would transport Canadian crude oil between Alberta, Canada and Port Arthur, Texas...
View ArticleKeystone Pipeline Likely to be Rejected
As I mentioned last week, the Keystone Pipeline System was the biggest environmental battle of 2011 and will continue to be in 2012. Reuters reports that the Obama Administration will likely reject the...
View ArticlePresident Obama Wrong on Keystone
On Wednesday the Obama administration denied the application to build the Keystone XL pipeline, the $7 billion project that would transport Canadian crude oil between Alberta, Canada and Port Arthur,...
View ArticleEPA Doesn't Want You to Know What They're Doing
On Wednesday December 21, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) unveiled its final plans to regulate emissions from American power plants. As I implied that day, EPA’s timing may have been...
View ArticleChecking the Facts on President Obama's "Energy Facts"
President Obama's re-election campaign went into full swing this month with the release of his first TV ad of the election cycle. Airing in six key battleground states, the ad defends the president's...
View ArticleWhat's Ahead for Keystone
President Obama denied the Keystone pipeline’s permitting last week. As promised, the fun has just begun.On Sunday, House Speaker John Boehner said “all options” are on the table when it comes to a...
View ArticleObama laughs over spilled milk but fines companies for not producing...
During his State of the Union address last week, President Obama joked about the absurdity of an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulation that could have forced dairy farmers to pay $10,000 for...
View ArticleEthanol Mandates and Energy Security
In my op-ed yesterday at the Daily Caller, I discussed the misguided policy of cellulosic ethanol mandates, writing:The question is: Why is the government pouring billions of dollars into the...
View ArticleA $1 Billion Prize for a 100mpg Car?
A U.S. Representative has introduced legislation that would offer $1 billion to the first auto company to sell a mass-produced car that gets 100 miles per gallon.The “E Prize Act of 2012” (HR 3872),...
View ArticleMore on Fairness
We have discussed a number of times on the blog the fact that complaints about the rich not paying their "fair share" lack a definition of fairness. Fairness in some ways is a subjective question. That...
View ArticleWhat Happens When You Diss Your Biggest Energy Importer?
They send their product to China instead.Last November, Canadian Prime Minster Stephen Harper called approval of the Keystone pipeline a "no brainer." Much to his chagrin, President Obama chose to deny...
View ArticleCrony Governmentism: Energy Edition
Not so sure this is crony capitalism as much as it is just straight up cronyism:Overall, the [Washington] Post found that $3.9 billion in federal grants and financing flowed to 21 companies backed by...
View ArticleGermany's Green Energy Policies Are Shutting Down Industry
President Obama often highlights the renewable energy policies of certain European countries, only to see those countries quickly abandon their policies shortly after. As I observed in my commentary...
View ArticleWeak Demand Slows Chevy Volt Production
General Motors has decided to shut down production of its plug-in electric hybrid, the Chevy Volt, so that demand can catch up to inventories, idling 1,300 workers for five weeks. According to TPM...
View ArticleFracking Cuts Greenhouse Gases
A decade ago, if the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) wanted to make realistic cuts to climate-changing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions they should have thought about pumping water, sand, and...
View ArticlePresident Obama Thinks He is the Christopher Columbus of Energy Policy
They dismiss wind power. They dismiss solar power. They make jokes about biofuels. They were against raising fuel standards. I guess they like gas-guzzlers. They think that’s good for our future. We’re...
View ArticleGet the Government Out of Solar
Could even higher energy prices be on the way for Americans?During his two-day, four-state energy tour last week, President Obama reiterated his strong support for tax-subsidized solar energy. The...
View ArticleTortoises and BrightSource Are Costing Taxpayers Dearly
Victorville Daily Press Last year BrightSource Energy received a $1.6 billion taxpayer-backed loan guarantee. It's the same type of loan that failed solar panel company Solyndra received but couldn’t...
View ArticleL.A. Becomes Latest to Pass Nanny-State Plastic Bag Ban
First, the environmentalists wanted to get rid of paper grocery bags because they were the result of destroying too many trees. Then the market developed a lighter, stronger alternative in the form of...
View ArticleObama Administration's Wind Energy Subsidies Have Birds Very Frightened
Forbes.com In his recent climate change speech, President Barack Obama once again pushed for more wind energy. "The plan I'm announcing today will help us double again our energy from wind and sun,"...
View ArticleLobbying, Cronyism and Section 1705 Loan Guarantees
Over the past decade, federal and state governments have significantly increased their support for nonconventional energy technologies, ranging from wind-powered electricity generators to...
View ArticleThe Department of Energys Stimulus Loans Went to Junk Grade Investments...
A new Reason Foundation study finds 22 out of 26 projects were rated as “junk” grade investments before they were awarded taxpayer-backed loans as part of the Department of Energy’s Section 1705 loan...
View ArticleThe State of the Birds 2014 Report is for the Birds: A Supposedly...
On September 9, The State of the Birds 2014 report will be released with much fanfare because the event typically features an announcement by the Secretary of Interior, and the report is widely seen as...
View ArticleAssessing the Social Costs and Benefits of Regulating Carbon Emissions
Atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases (GHGs), which include carbon dioxide and methane, have been increasing for more than a century. Rising human emissions of these gases, especially from the...
View ArticleOhio State University Approves $1.165B Energy Management PPP
Earlier this month, Ohio State University's (OSU’s) Board of Trustees approved a long-term lease with a private consortium to operate the school's power, heating and cooling systems over the next 50...
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