As the thermometer dips lower and snow begins to pile up, the need for cheap and efficient power for heat and light is essential. But the Obama administration’s war on fossil fuels is making it increasingly unlikely that the nation’s poorest citizens will be comfortable this winter. (more)
On Sunday, The Washington Post ran a long article noting (gloating?) that in 2010, “Construction did not begin on a single new coal-fired power plant in the United States for the second straight year,” with plans for 38 new plants dropped and even more older plants scheduled for retirement. Apparently we’re leaving that to our supposed “green” model, China, even though we have enough coal to last for centuries. This is reckless, the result of policies, threats and uncertainty out of Washington all tied to “global warming.” (more)
Cap and trade may be dead, but Massachusetts Democratic Sen. John Kerry recently told an audience he intends to push legislation in the 112th Congress that will have a similar effect on the nation’s carbon emissions. (more)
If you are (a) an environmentalist, and (b) a Burkean, how do you establish a position on global warming? Are you conflicted, confused? It so happens I am (a) an environmentalist and (b) a Burkean, and I am neither conflicted nor confused. To the contrary, the precepts of Edmund Burke provide me with a position on the issue that I take to be both sound and clear. Moreover, Burke provides a useful guide to remedial action. (more)
Sunday, as the Son-of-Copenhagen was about to kick off in Cancun to try and salvage a Kyoto II treaty, the Washington Post had yet another item, “Climate change talks face crucial test,” noting that the administration’s various ways of imposing global warming regulations include ignoring the Constitution’s treaty process — a process alternately described by champions of this approach as “broken,” as shown by the fact that Kyoto died in the Senate, or something never intended to apply to instruments as complex as Kyoto, once again proved by virtue of the fact that Kyoto died. (more)
It is clear that voters across America sent Washington a message on Election Day. The pundits will debate the exact meaning of that message for weeks to come, but there can be no doubt that the state of our nation’s economy was at the top of their minds in the voting booth. Americans want more jobs, less spending and a sounder, saner fiscal policy. (more)
Tuesday’s election codified what polls and candidates have been espousing for months: that cap-and-trade and similar Democratic proposals are enormously unpopular amongst the American people. Of the nineteen freshman Democrats who voted for the Waxman-Markey legislation, twelve of them were sent packing. All in all, a total of 41 Democrats who voted for the bill either lost or retired. (more)
Americans living in the most industrialized regions of the country have a special stake in the outcome of a California ballot initiative that would suspend implementation of that state’s global warming law until after unemployment drops, according to policy experts who favor a free market response to energy needs. (more)
Republicans will have President Barack Obama’s czars and his use of regulatory powers to circumvent congressional inaction on issues such as cap and trade in GOP crosshairs if the party takes control in January. (more)
After the past few weeks, supporters of cap-and-trade must feel like someone dumped a cold bucket of carbon on their heads. As soon as the Senate pulled the plug on climate change legislation, a loud wailing and gnashing of teeth commenced. Already, fingers are being pointed, excuses are being proposed, and believers in climate legislation can be seen wandering around Washington scratching their heads trying to figure out just what went wrong. “We control the White House. We control the Senate. We control the House. We control the media. It wasn’t supposed to be this way.” (more)
Despite the many energy plans proposed over the past year—ranging from carbon caps to renewable energy standards to gas taxes—it seems unlikely that an energy bill will be passed this year. Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) put the climate bill on hold until September, and by all accounts it will be nearly impossible to pass a comprehensive bill. Congress has realized that proposals like cap-and-trade or a federal renewable energy standard will not adequately address our country’s energy problems and will do more harm than good to the economy. (more)
Environmentalists went with an all-or-nothing strategy for the 111th Congress. Nothing won. (more)
Secrecy and greed are polluting the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, the nation’s first mandatory cap-and-trade system. Under the RGGI scheme, the smell of profiteering is powerful. New Jersey and nine other Northeast states have sold $662 million in carbon dioxide permits since 2008. (more)
“This is a very bad day for us.” (more)
U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham may no longer claim allegiance to the climate bill currently being debated in the Senate, but according to a new independent analysis released this week, the cap-and-trade proposal being advanced by Sens. Kerry and Lieberman does no better by the American consumer than previous iterations of the bill that bore his name. (more)
Let’s face it, “going green” is trendy. (more)
A bipartisan group of senators emerged Tuesday from a meeting with President Obama still divided over how to craft a climate and energy bill, with lawmakers predicting scaled-back legislation that would cap emissions from electric utilities rather than impose an economy-wide limit on greenhouse gases. (more)
Much of the current focus on the EPA these days surrounds its move to be the largest regulator of the nation’s economy by treating carbon as a pollutant under the Clean Air Act. As controversial and arduous a task as that may be, it hasn’t precluded the agency from finding time to go after the most prosperous state in the nation. After years of threatening to do so, the EPA recently announced plans to take over Texas’ air quality permitting system. (more)
Tim Carney has a column at the Washington Examiner detailing BP’s lobbying influence, which begs the following history lesson and first-hand account for voters, generally unaccustomed to such sleaze, to fully appreciate the game presently being played out in Washington. (more)
It’s getting difficult to keep track of all the energy proposals that are on the table. We’ve got Sen. Jeff Bingaman’s (D-N.M.) original American Clean Energy Leadership Act, as well as the Waxman-Markey American Clean Energy and Security Act that passed the House last year with a 20 percent renewable energy standard and ambitious emissions cuts. Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) and Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) released their CLEAR Act with a cap-and-dividends program shortly before Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) released their American Power Act with a cap-and-trade program. Not to mention, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is attempting to get in the game with greenhouse gas regulations, and Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and others are attempting to stop them. Who can keep track of all the legislative proposals in the chaos? (more)
