In the Pipeline: 12/10/12

Does anybody really think the Supermajority is going to let CA refiners stay in business by allowing them to export their product to less crazy states instead of supplying the CA market?  This story is not going to end well.  For anybody. Sacramento Bee (12/9/12) reports: “Regulators have imposed cap and trade, seeking to use market forces to reduce carbon emissions, and created the low-carbon fuel standard, to force refiners to reduce the carbon footprint of fuel. There are rules to increase the use of hydrogen fuel and electric cars… As the list grows, industry representatives wonder if they’d be better off agreeing to a direct tax in exchange for getting out from under some of the regulations. Referring to the talk of a federal carbon tax, Reheis-Boyd said a “reasonable carbon fee” probably ought to be “on the table” in California, too.”

 

I am not sure this was even reported in the larger media outlets, but it is pretty simple.  Less than one-fifth of participating nations (37 out of 194) signed on to an extension of Kyoto.  Everyone else bailed.  This show is pretty much over everywhere except the United States Environmental Protection Agency. NoTricksZone (12/8/12) reports: “For those calling for rapid reductions in CO2 emissions, the result in Doha can only be described as an utter disaster. The Doha agreement will do absolutely nothing to curb CO2 growth, let alone cut net CO2 emissions.”

 

What is it with Utah governors? E&ENews (12/7/12) reports: “The bipartisan Western Governors’ Association is urging Congress to immediately extend the wind production tax credit for projects that begin construction next year as a first step to eventually eliminating all federal energy subsidies.”

 

This looks like a standard lose-lose situation, and not because the U.S. is ceding the ‘green’ arms race to China.  It’s because the Chinese also aren’t interested in buying obnoxiously expensive electric vehicles despite obnoxiously wasteful government subsidies. Chicago Tribune (12/9/12) reports: “Chinese firm Wanxiang emerged as the winning bidder of bankrupt battery-maker A123’s assets in an auction that ended Saturday… The sale of A123 Systems, which was awarded a $249 million federal grant and tens of millions in tax credits from Michigan, has been the subject of intense political debate, with military leaders and politicians arguing that U.S.-funded technology should not be transferred to a foreign company.”

 

I wonder if they’d say this about food. Or water. Or communist manifestos. HotAir (12/8/12) reports: “Chris Hayes: We’re talking about the massive, extractive energy boom happening in America right now and how it’s transforming our politics and how that can be made to work with a sane climate policy, which is really the difficult question. Before the break I left the question on the table about the price of energy being too low right now. Basically we see this massive amount of supply has come onto the grid thanks largely to natural gas. The price has come down, and I think we generally think, “Oh, lower prices are better.” But it seems to me there’s a lot of problematic stuff about the price coming down sharply as it is right now in terms of incentives for efficiency and et cetera.”

 

We sincerely apologize for missing this last month (!).  I think we were expecting the most prosperity to be somewhere near lots of wind turbines.  Guess not. USAToday (11/26/12) reports: “Small-town prosperity is most noticeable in North Dakota, now the nation’s No. 2 oil-producing state. Six of the top 10 counties are above the state’s Bakken oil field.”

 

This ninja better be careful sneaking around at night, lest he forget that many Americans still care very deeply about their 2nd amendment rights. SJSU (2/19/12) reports: “The Green Ninja, a climate-action super hero created at SJSU, continues to draw support… The project has received a $390,000 grant from NASA to support professional development for teachers, and $20,000 from PG&E to pilot an energy reduction contest for Santa Clara County middle schoolers.”

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