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In the Pipeline: 12/14/12

  • 12/14/12
  • AEA
  • Blog
It’s like Dan always says: Let the kids play, ref! IER  (12/13/12) reports: “Persuaded by these claims, the Congress enacted the tax credit in 1992 obviously hoping that wind would become self-sufficient and not reliant on the U.S. taxpayer. That has not come to pass and the wind lobby is back in Washington, D.C. with its hand out. The law is fairly simple: it pays wind producers 2.2c per kilowatt hour for their electricity, whether the electricity is necessary or not. In some cases,...
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In the Pipeline: 12/13/12

  • 12/13/12
  • AEA
  • Blog
How do you like ‘dem apples?: “Hollywood wimps out and makes a formula film.” WSJ (12/12/12) reports: “If you somehow missed the twists and turns, Mr. Damon, who played a genius in "Good Will Hunting" and a master spy in the "Bourne" movies, has pled ignorance of the fact that financing for his movie came partly from Abu Dhabi, which, as the Heritage Foundation puts it, has a "direct financial interest" in fanning opposition to domestic energy development.”   Absolutely.  We...
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In the Pipeline: 12/12/12

  • 12/12/12
  • AEA
  • Blog
We realize that taking someone else’s money for your own purposes is always tempting.  Congress should resist. AEA  (12/12/12) reports: “The American Energy Alliance joined five other free market groups today in sending a letter to 158 members of the 112th Congress, urging them oppose an extension of the wind Production Tax Credit that would transfer taxpayer dollars from their states to other states that mandate renewable energy. AEA President Thomas Pyle signed the letter, along with...
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Coalition to 158 Members of Congress: Let the Wind PTC Expire

WASHINGTON D.C. -- The American Energy Alliance joined five other free market groups today in sending a letter to 158 members of the 112th Congress, urging them oppose an extension of the wind Production Tax Credit that would transfer taxpayer dollars from their states to other states that mandate renewable energy. AEA President Thomas Pyle signed the letter, along with Myron Ebell of Freedom Action, Michael Needham of Heritage Action, Phil Kerpen of American Commitment, Marlo Lewis of the...
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In the Pipeline: 12/11/12

  • 12/11/12
  • AEA
  • Blog
We could not have said it any better ourselves: “The Wind Production Tax Credit: Corporate Welfare at its Worst”. National Center for Policy Analysis  (December 2012) reports: “Americans will soon learn whether the political class in Washington is serious about cleaning up the dirty acts of favoritism and cronyism that are business as usual in the nation's capital. From loan guarantees for the well-connected to subsidies for the non-competitive, Washington specializes in feathering...
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In the Pipeline: 12/10/12

  • 12/10/12
  • AEA
  • Blog
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...
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PRO-PTC GROUPS NOT LIKELY TO TELL ALL THE FACTS

WASHINGTON D.C. -- As lobbyists, big labor unions and advocacy groups ramp up their efforts to push for another extension of the wind production tax credit, including a briefing today on Capitol Hill hosted by the Sierra Club, the BlueGreen Alliance, Oceana, and the United Steel Workers, Thomas Pyle, president of the American Energy Alliance, issued the following statement:
"The last thing Capitol Hill needs is another briefing that doesn't give all the facts about Big Wind's failure...
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In the Pipeline: 12/7/12

  • 12/07/12
  • AEA
  • Blog
This is all run by affordable, reliable electricity brought to you by hydrocarbons.  Sometimes by nuclear power. Slate (12/7/12) reports: “So it turns out the Internet really is a series of tubes. Last October, for the first time ever, Google posted dozens of rare photographs inside and around its data centers revealing the absurd level of organization, energy, and design that goes into powering some of the largest, most powerful systems plugged into the Internet.”

It’s probably...
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Dubious Arguments in Tier 3 Study

  • 12/05/12
  • AEA
  • News
  The EPA is planning to tighten its gasoline regulations from Tier 2 to Tier 3 standards, which would reduce permissible sulfur content from the current 30 parts per million (ppm) down to 10 ppm. (I have written a full overview of the economic issues surrounding Tier 2 and Tier 3 in this earlier IER post.) In contrast to those warning about the impacts on gasoline prices from even tighter regulations, a study  from Navigant Economics seeks to defuse these concerns, claiming that Tier 3...
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Cass Sunstein’s Garbage In, Garbage Out on Cost/Benefit Analysis

  • 12/04/12
  • AEA
  • Emissions Standards
  In a recent NYT op ed , Harvard Law professor and former Obama official Cass Sunstein cited Ronald Reagan, of all figures, as inspiration for more federal regulation on the transportation and energy sectors. Sunstein’s angle was to say that Reagan endorsed the cost/benefit analysis arguing for the US agreement to fight the “ozone hole,” and therefore Sunstein says, today’s conservatives should also support mandates on fuel efficiency and restrictions on greenhouse gas emissions....
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