In the Pipeline: 8/1/13

You RFS advocates keep saying those words “free market.” I do not think it means what you think it means.

The National Journal (7/31/13) reports:  “Washington can clearly find agreement on the RFS. The answer is to repeal this harmful mandate. The biofuel industry should compete on the merits of their product, not because Washington mandates the use of those products. Furthermore, the RFS proponents fail to show the benefit to Americans of keeping the mandate in place. The lack of benefits promoted by ethanol advocates is glaring.”

Just come out and say it. You’re slow walking, blocking, and denying anything that doesn’t fit your little paradigm. Don’t worry, we already knew. It’s obvious.

The Providence Journal (7/31/13) reports: “Deepwater Wind has won both leases up for grabs in a federal auction for the rights to develop offshore wind power in a 257-square-mile area of waters off Rhode Island and Massachusetts. The Providence company emerged from the nation’s first competitive sale of offshore renewable energy leases on Wednesday as the sole winner, with a total bid for the two leases of $3.8 million. Deepwater beat out Sea Breeze Energy and U.S. Wind for the two leases. Nine companies had met the technical, legal and financial qualifications to participate in the auction, but Deepwater, U.S. Wind and Sea Breeze Energy were the only ones that lodged bids. The other potential bidders included Energy Management, the Boston company planning the 130-turbine Cape Wind project in Nantucket Sound.”

Next Step…Senators float bill to name post office After Keystone XL Pipeline. It will do about as much good.

UPI.com (7/31/13) reports: “Two U.S. senators Wednesday introduced a non-binding resolution declaring the controversial Keystone XL oil pipeline to be in the U.S. national interest. The resolution would call on the Obama administration to move quickly to grant the necessary permits to build the line, which would pump crude from Canadian oil-sands fields to refineries in the Houston area. The permit needed to build the line, which would run down the length of the Great Plains, is under review by the U.S. Department of State. Environmentalists say the risk of leaks coupled with increased greenhouse gas emissions from oil sands was too great. Supporters, however, contend the pipeline would create jobs and help keep a lid on gasoline prices.”

Sally Jewell steps right into Ken Salazar’s shoes as the self righteous bully at the helm of the Department of Interior.

GlobalWarming.org (7/31/13) reports: “DOI Secretary Sally Jewell told employees today that combatting climate change is a ‘privilege’ and ‘moral imperative,’ adding: ‘I hope there are no climate change deniers in the Department of Interior,’ E&E News PM reports. Such moralizing would be funny were it not for the chilling effect it is bound to have in an agency already mired in group think. What does she mean by ‘denier’ anyway? Is it literally someone who denies that greenhouse gas emissions have a greenhouse (warming) effect? Or is a ‘denier’ merely someone who thinks climate change is not a ‘crisis,’ or who regards the usual panoply of climate policies — carbon taxes, cap-and-trade, other market-rigging interventions – as a ‘cure’ worse than the alleged disease?”

Keeping the President honest is not an easy job. That’s why we leave it to this guy.

Arbitrary, broad, and destructive? Just the kind of thing this administration loves. The American Energy Alliance (PDF) (7/31/13) reports: “We write to express our strong support for the Murphy amendment to HR 1582, The Energy Consumers Relief Act of 2013. This amendment furthers the interests of Americans and the purposes of the underlying legislation by ensuring that the Environmental Protection Agency does not use a ‘social cost of carbon’ (SCC) metric to justify any significant regulation until they follow procedures which are public and transparent. If Congress does not act to rein in the administration’s continued use of the “social cost of carbon” to justify ever-more-expensive energy regulations, Americans may soon find their energy and regulatory costs skyrocketing and consequently, their way of life destroyed.”