“Biomass” on The Daily Caller

So here’s the latest from our president’s erstwhile glorious peoples’ economic model — which he, oddly, no longer cites — socialist Spain, where a revolt is brewing. (more)

It is crystal clear that the United States is in the middle of a budget crisis. According to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, the past two reported federal budget deficits were the highest on record since the end of World War II. Everyone in America, with the possible exception of those folks working at the White House and within Pelosi’s caucus, understands that significant spending cuts must be made and that the government needs to get out of the business of picking winners and losers in the private sector. (more)

If you thought Congress had finally come to its senses and dropped its misguided plans for a federal renewable energy standard, think again. (more)

The pundits will be analyzing Tuesday’s election results until we’re counting down to the new year, but one thing is clear: the American people are fed-up with high unemployment, the weak economy, and the government’s continued overreach into energy policy that effects the everyday lives of American families and businesses. Regardless of politics, the election is a mandate to restore fiscally responsible policies and get jobs and the economy back on track. (more)

It’s less than two weeks until the midterm elections, and high turnover of the U.S. House is all but expected by many analysts. It’s clear that, political beliefs aside, many U.S. citizens are unhappy with the accomplishments — or lack of accomplishments — Congress has logged on a variety of pressing issues. (more)

Last week, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released new and dismal unemployment numbers. Although the national unemployment rate held at 9.6 percent, the country lost 95,000 non-farm jobs overall in September. (more)

I had the privilege of testifying yesterday here in Charlotte, North Carolina, at the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) public hearing on their proposed coal ash regulations. (more)

In his address to the nation on the response to the BP oil spill, President Obama played the “China card” – invoking fear of falling behind the emerging economic superpower – to spur support for more subsidies for renewable energy. The President said “countries like China are investing in clean energy jobs and industries that should be right here in America.” The use of China as an exemplar of green energy investment is odd. Most analysts are more concerned about the “environmental crisis” caused by China’s rapid, fossil fuel-based industrialization. Last December, China refused to sign on to the non-binding Copenhagen greenhouse gas reduction goals and in March 2010 was only willing to agree to reduce its “carbon intensity.” Were China a leader in green energy investment and employment, one would expect its government to exploit this competitive advantage by championing a global climate accord. (more)

It seems like every week there is a new story out there that touches on the challenges of adopting, on a national level, energy policy that has historically dealt with on a regional and state level. (more)

It’s a scorcher out there—not only for the hundreds of thousands of Americans who are experiencing a record heat wave, but for future electricity prices, as well. (more)

In his weekly address to the nation, President Obama today announced that — in the name of bringing “jobs back to the country” — the Department of Energy has awarded $2 billion dollars to two energy companies. (more)

According to Democratic leaders in the Senate, the 60 votes needed to pass a climate bill may be a lot more difficult to come by than they originally thought. Last weekend, Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.), chair of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said, “If you actually have a bill that puts in place a cap-and-trade system or a limit on greenhouse gases and a mandatory reduction in greenhouse gases, I think it’s difficult to see where we get the 60 votes to pass that legislation.” (more)

One should hold deeply mitigated expectations for a senator who, as lead author of a cap-and-trade bill, admits he doesn’t know what cap-and-trade means. But Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) is tempting me to think that, if he is merely uninformed, it must be willfully so. Or else he’s got an uncomfortable relationship with the truth and, it would seem particularly given the absence of specifics or examples, is making stuff up. (more)

President Obama keeps trying to make our electric bills skyrocket. (more)

It is not easy to talk about the importance of a strong domestic oil industry in the wake of the tragic incident in the Gulf of Mexico. We do not yet have all the information about what caused the explosion, but we do know that it could have and should have been prevented. (more)

In my long career working with low-income and minority families in Alabama and elsewhere across the South, I’ve seen first-hand how groups are disproportionately affected by the cost of rising electricity bills. (more)

With an ailing economy, nearly double-digit unemployment and a sense among Washington lawmakers that something, anything, must be done to “create” jobs, politicians of both political stripes have turned to “green” jobs as the panacea to cure all ills. (more)

MARTINSVILLE, Va. (AP) — Fifteen biomass and waste-to-energy projects in Virginia are sharing $10 million in grants as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act State Energy Program. (more)