Somebody gets the whole idea of subsidies . . . E&E News (4/26/11) reports: House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) today said that he could support eliminating subsidies for major oil companies "in a broader, broader sense" as part of a tax reform effort that would close loopholes while lowering overall rates…Pressed by Fox News on the apparent support for a rollback of oil industry tax benefits that Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) offered Monday, Cantor sought to reboot the...
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IER’s Dan Kish calls chicken shit when he see’s it Daily Caller (4/26/11) reports: Seizing upon comments made this week by House Speaker John Boehner that Congress should “be looking into” quelling subsidies for oil and gas companies, President Obama sent a letter to House and Senate leaders urging them to pass his proposal to end tax credits for oil companies and transfer them to other companies that produce energy through other means…Daniel Kish, senior vice president for policy...
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In the natural gas debate, check your emotional baggage at the door — we’ve been fracking for over 60 years and the only byproduct is cheap energy New York Times (4/23/11) reports: Texans pride themselves on being the heart of the nation’s oil and gas business. But even here, public concern about natural gas drilling is growing… On Wednesday, several dozen protesters marched through downtown Fort Worth, waving signs and chanting anti-drilling slogans that reflected concern over air...
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Happy Lenin’s Birthday…err Happy Earth Day! Also, this man only weighs the negative externalities without mentioning the benefits of energy Time (4/21/11) reports: It's Earth Day today—the 41st one—and it comes at a time when we've all been made aware of the environmental cost of the energy we use.  The BP oil spill caused ecological damage that scientists will study for years, and the partial nuclear meltdown at Fukushima may render large parts of the surrounding area...
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Year One: Economic costs of the Moratorium and Permitorium CFIF (4/20/11) reports: One year to the day after the dreadful BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the Obama administration’s responses to the crisis continue blowing holes in the regional and national economies. President Obama’s choices make George W. Bush’s responses to Hurricane Katrina seem like the epitome of competence and wisdom…Gulf Coast residents remember well that it took President Obama days to...
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For shame: Not once does this man address the issue of affordable and reliable energy being a moral issue — high energy prices are a tax on the poor The Hill (4/20/11) reports: For years, congressional Republicans have had a singular message on addressing gas prices, one made famous by former Alaska governor and #qwitterer Sarah Palin: Drill, baby, drill…It’s a simple and memorable phrase, delivers their idea of a solution in very few words, and resonates. The problem is...
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It’s amazing to watch the transformation of an entrepreneur into rent seeker Business Week (4/19/11) reports: Google Inc. has invested another $100 million in a clean energy project. The funding for the Shepherds Flat Wind Farm in Oregon brings Google's total clean energy investments to more than $350 million and represents the company's latest attempt to support reliable new ways to power its expanding data centers…Data centers, or server farms, are notorious power hogs. And Google has...
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The unstoppable can-do American spirit collides with the immoveable U.S. Government — Shell expects to drill in Alaska in 2012 Wall Street Journal (4/15/11) reports: Royal Dutch Shell PLC expects to start drilling in Alaska's Arctic waters in the summer of next year and have in place an oil-containment system specifically designed for the area ready at the same time, the head of the company's U.S. operations said Friday…"Our aspiration is to drill in the 2012 season," Marvin Odum,...
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Well, there's a first time for everything Houston Chronicle (4/14/11) The top U.S. officials in charge of offshore oil and gas exploration on Wednesday got a close-up look at the first deep-water drilling project approved since last year's oil spill…Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and his chief offshore regulator, Michael Bromwich, spent two hours examining new safety systems - including one spurred by the spill - on the Ensco 8501 rig that is about to begin drilling a bypass well for Noble...
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We imagine that they will bring the same diligence to this as they have to every other instance where affordable, reliable energy is involved E&E News (4/14/11) reports: The Interior Department tomorrow will launch a new evaluation of the effects of oil shale leasing across millions of acres of federal land in the West…The programmatic environmental review -- to be announced in tomorrow's Federal Register -- is Interior's first step to complying with a February settlement with...
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