In the Pipeline: 1/2/13

The trusty “we’re running out of oil!” pundits are now “sure, the US will overtake Saudi Arabia and lead the world in oil production…but maybe only for a decade or so” pundits. IER(1/2/12) reports: “For decades, the proponents of so-called green or alternative energy sources have bemoaned the United States’ alleged ‘dependence on foreign oil’ as a chief rallying cry to fire up the average citizen. Americans are very reluctant to pay higher electricity and gasoline prices for abstract concepts such as ‘fighting global warming,’ but they sure don’t like having to ‘fight wars in the Middle East for oil’ either.”

These guys at the EPA must have done poorly at their science fairs in elementary school, and now they’re passive-aggressively taking it out on the guys who actually understand things like science and technology. WSJ (1/1/13) reports: “The USGS also noted that in constructing the monitoring wells, the EPA used a “black painted/coated carbon steel casing,” and EPA photographs show that investigators used a painted device to catch sand from the wells. The problem is that paint can contain a variety of compounds that distort test results—so it is poor scientific practice to use painted or coated materials in well-monitoring tests.”

Buckle up.  It’s going to be a fun year. WSJ (1/2/13) reports: “The fiscal-cliff deal approved in the Senate included a $12 billion extension of a wind-power tax credit and other support for renewable energy, sparking opposition from House Republicans who said it was an example of the kind of government spending they wanted to cut.”

Unfortunately, the end of one era does not always mean the start of better era: “The reign of Jackson cannot end soon enough.”National Review Online (12/28/12) reports: “Today, thousands of coal miners are without work as her power plant regulations (backed by a president who embraced Jackson’s crusade, calling global warming “one of the greatest moral challenges of our generation”) have bankrupted mining companies such as Patriot Coal and forced others such as OhioAmerica and Alpha Natural Resources to downsize. An oil opponent, Jackson successfully lobbied the president to reject the transcontinental Keystone Pipeline, costing the U.S. some 20,000 jobs. Her global warming zeal extended to autos when she took the Corporate Average Fuel Economy Standards (CAFE) away from the Transportation Department — mandating that auto companies meet a pie-in-the-sky standard of 54.5 mpg by 2025 in an attempt to eliminate the internal combustion engine (the industry is spending millions on lobbying to water down the rules).”