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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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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"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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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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  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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  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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The great thing about a carbon tax is that it exposes the entire racket.  It is about expanding government; it has never had anything to do with the environment.   Only slow-witted people are confused about that. MasterResource  (12/3/12) reports: “Yep, that is it. For all the incessant talk as to how the highly consumptive U.S. lifestyle—from SUVs, to air conditioners, to big screen TVs and huge portion sizes—is leading climate catastrophe, the sum total of our contribution to...
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Everyone who cares about America should read all 39 pages of this report.  Because it kills. NDP Consulting (November 2012) reports: “As put by NERA’s Anne Smith, “Once one strips away the non-credible and inappropriate façade of coincidental co-benefits from reducing an already-regulated non-HAP pollutant, the MATS rule is left with almost nothing to justify its costs.””   Our Rob sets the stage, and he isn’t playing around: “The Theatrics of Fossil Fuel Critics”. ...
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Let’s be honest.  What happened in New York and New Jersey was an appalling lack of preparedness, in the media center of the planet.  When she came ashore Sandy was a Category 1 hurricane.  If she had hit the Southeastern United States (like hurricanes usually do), blowhards like Senator Whitehouse would have paid no attention (like he usually does).  Politico (11/30/12): “Senate Democrats used an emotionally charged hearing Thursday on the effects of Hurricane Sandy to make an...
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Earlier this week, the Institute for Policy Integrity (IPI)at the New York University School of Law announced they were threatening EPA with a lawsuit to increase the price of gasoline and diesel through a cap-and-trade system. They claim they want to increase the price of transportation fuel to “address climate change,” but they omit the fact that if the United States stopped using gasoline today, it would have an incredibly minor effect on the climate. Specifically, the faculty at New...
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