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In the Pipeline: 7/30/13

July 31, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Skittishly dancing around the issue is unbecoming and childish. Fred Upton is right.
E&E News (07/29/13) reports: “The prospect of a House vote on a carbon tax turns Rep. Fred Upton, chairman of the House Energy Committee to thoughts of, well, love. He grasped a reporter by both shoulders last week and, when asked about the prospect of a vote, poured out his heart: ‘I would love to vote on it,’ he exclaimed. ‘I would love to vote on it, because the House would send a very strong signal against imposing a carbon tax.’ Upton, a Michigan Republican, believes the House would approve a pending House resolution against a carbon tax, a move he thinks would scuttle discussions among Democrats, and some Republican policy groups, who think tucking what would amount to a lucrative emission tax into a broader tax reform package that Congress seems to be striving toward might just work. The notion that taxing carbon is acceptable to conservatives, as long as it’s used to lower rates on income and business, is an idea that some Republicans would like to swat down.”

We’d be more impressed if McKibben & company divested from fossil fuels in their personal lives first. Living like a caveman doesn’t leave much time for professional activism.
National Review (7/30/13) reports: “Comparing the anti-fossil-fuel movement to the anti-apartheid movement is shameful. The anti-apartheid movement fought to free oppressed South Africans from their racist government. The fossil-fuel-divestment movement, in contrast, isn’t fighting political oppression or racism. It’s fighting the energy Americans rely on to live their lives. It’s crucial to note that over the last decade, petroleum, natural gas, and coal provided 87 percent of our energy. Data from 2011 show that wind and solar power contributed less than 2 percent of our energy. We should call the fossil-fuel-divestment movement by its true name — the energy-divestment movement.”

Commissioner Binz is a disaster waiting to happen. Senator Landrieu needs to start paying attention.
The Wall Street Journal (7/29/13) reports: “President Obama’s rule-makers have amped up major regulators like the Environmental Protection Agency and now they’re turning to more obscure outposts. Take the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, or FERC, which oversees electric transmission and interstate pipelines. Or used to. Now FERC has deputized itself as a Wall Street regulator. This month the commission squeezed Barclays for $435 million for alleged energy-market manipulation, the largest penalty in FERC’s history and more than all of its previous fines combined. Another $410 million fine will soon hit J.P. Morgan, according to a Journal scoop. Yet that will seem minor if the next FERC chairman is Ron Binz—the most important and radical Obama nominee you’ve never heard of. An electric regulator in Colorado from 2007 to 2011, Mr. Binz is the latest Presidential nominee who doesn’t understand the difference between making laws and enforcing them.”

Usually we hate to say, “I told you so.” But this time, we kind of enjoy it.
The Miami Herald (7/29/13) reports: “After two years with low enrollment, New Hampshire’s largest electric utility is phasing out a program that allows customers to pay more to support renewable energy. Utilities are required by law to offer customers the opportunity to support renewable energy by paying a higher rate — usually about 30 percent. But if not enough customers sign up, a utility can get permission from the state Public Utilities Commission to pull the plug. That’s what happened with Public Service Company of New Hampshire’s EarthSmart Green program, reports New Hampshire Public Radio. The company says it would take just 1 percent of its total customers signing up to keep the program alive, but after two years, only 148 customers were enrolled, or about .04 percent.”

Not in my backyard, or in anyone else’s.
The Boulder Daily Camera (7/25/13) reports: “For U.S. Rep. Jared Polis, the battle over fracking just turned personal. Polis, a Boulder Democrat who represents Colorado’s 2nd Congressional District, was shocked to see a fracking operation start up last week on land just across the street from a rural getaway he owns in Weld County near Berthoud. Through the holding company that has title to the congressman’s 50-acre property, Polis this week filed a complaint in Denver District Court seeking a temporary restraining order. His goal is to shut the drilling down.”

Did anyone tell Henry Waxman (D-Riyadh) this news?
The Financial Times (7/29/13) reports: “Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, the billionaire Saudi Arabian investor, has warned that his country’s oil-dependent economy is increasingly vulnerable to competition from the US shale revolution, setting him at odds with his country’s oil ministry and Opec officials. In an open letter addressed to Ali Naimi, the Saudi oil minister, the prince called on the government to accelerate plans to diversify the economy.”

Do as I say, not as I do.
The Washington Free Beacon (7/29/13) reports: “Secretary of State John Kerry and his advisers have emitted more than 35.4 metric tons of carbon dioxide into the environment during their ill-fated attempts to restart the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, according to aWashington Free Beacon environmental impact study. After taking six trips to the region since February, Kerry and his crew have expended almost twice the amount of carbon that the average American emits yearly, according to an analysis based on statistics from the U.S Energy Information Administration.

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Free Market Coalition Supports Murphy Amendment

July 30, 2013 by Leave a Comment
WASHINGTON — The American Energy Alliance was joined today by eight other free market organizations in support of Rep. Tim Murphy’s (R-Pa.) amendment to H.R. 1582, The Energy Consumers Relief Act of 2013.
The Murphy amendment protects Americans by requiring the Environmental Protection Agency to follow public and transparent procedures when utilizing a “social cost of carbon” (SCC) metric to justify any significant regulation. The letter states:

“…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 regulation costs skyrocketing and consequently, their way of life destroyed.

“This amendment is made necessary by the potential for abuse. For example, in May, in a little-noticed rule regulating the energy efficiency of microwaves in standby mode, the Department of Energy mentioned that they were dramatically increasing their earlier estimates of the ‘social cost of carbon.’ They did so without public comment, without public participation, and in violation of Office and Management and Budget guidelines. The effect of this unprecedented move was to make it easier to justify ever-more-costly energy regulations and potentially, to provide a baseline level for a carbon tax.  All of this is being done without the consent of Congress or public input.

“The Murphy amendment is a common-sense approach to the administration’s actions. Until the administration explains their actions to Congress and the American people in an open and transparent public process, it should not be allowed to insinuate this concept into every action. This is consistent with President Obama’s statement that climate regulations should be developed ‘in an open and transparent way.’

“In addition to failing to present the ‘social cost of carbon’ to the American public in an open and transparent way, there are many problems with it. First, Congress has not authorized the Executive Branch to use ‘social cost of carbon’ as a mechanism to justify regulatory costs. In practice, the estimate of the ‘social costs of carbon’ has dramatically increased in just a few years—just as the administration needed to justify expensive new rules on energy. In 2009, the Department of Energy estimated the domestic impact of the ‘social cost of carbon’ at $2 a ton. The 2013 update calculated the ‘social cost of carbon’ at $12 to $129 a ton for the year 2020…”

The other signatories of the letter are:

60 Plus Association
American Commitment
American Tradition Institute
George C. Marshall Institute
Independent Women’s Voice
National Center for Public Policy Research
National Taxpayer’s Union
Positive Growth Alliance

To read the full letter, click here.

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REINing in Obama’s Regulatory Train Wreck

July 30, 2013 by 1 Comment

The House this week is considering two pieces of legislation designed to increase congressional oversight of the Obama administration’s jobs-killing regulatory agenda. One of the bills specifically targets the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) energy-related rules and mandates.

H.R. 1582, the Energy Consumers Relief Act, requires the EPA to submit to Congress a detailed analysis of the economic impacts of all energy-related rules costing more than $1 billion. The bill, introduced by Rep. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), would require the EPA to report the estimated impacts on jobs and energy prices before promulgating a final rule.

The Energy Consumers Relief Act also adds a layer of inter-agency review to the rulemaking process. The bill allows the Department of Energy (DOE) to prohibit EPA from promulgating costly rules if the agency determines the rule would have significant adverse effects on jobs and the economy.

Such oversight is long overdue, as the EPA has more regulatory actions pending review by the Office of Management and Budget than any other federal agency. The proposed Tier 3 rule, for example, increases gasoline costs for minimal environmental benefits, putting additional upward pressure on already high gas prices. Overall, federal regulations are estimated to cost $1.75 trillion per year.

The House may also vote soon on H.R. 367, the REINS Act (Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny Act), which increases transparency by requiring an up-or-down vote in Congress on any rule with an annual economic impact of $100 million or more. The House passed the REINS Act in 2011 by a vote of 241-184.

With the recent confirmation of Gina McCarthy as EPA Administrator, President Obama is expected to move forward with his recently announced “climate action plan” to regulate carbon dioxide emissions from new and existing power plants. These regulations will further distort energy markets, bankrupt coal-fired power plants, and impose higher energy prices on the American people. The Energy Consumers Relief Act and the REINS Act would go a long way toward protecting consumers from the EPA’s regulatory overreach.

Policy Intern Portia Conant authored this post.

 

 

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In the Pipeline: 7/26/13

July 26, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Call it whatever you want, it’s a growth limiting, prosperity capping, cost increasing, ineffective policy that expands the size and scope of the government. The New York Times (7/24/13) reports: “The headlines last week were dramatic: Australia abandons its carbon tax. The move seemed to confirm suspicions that putting a price on carbon dioxide emissions is politically toxic … Avoiding the term ‘carbon tax’ may make such policies a bit easier. In Australia now, ‘it will be possible for the government to say that it has removed a ‘tax,’ and avoid the unpopularity of that word,’ Mr. Pannell said. ‘The opposition is arguing that the new system will still be effectively a tax by another name. But the political effect of their arguments is diminished.’”

Watch as billions are lifted out of poverty. Unless McKibben has his way. Bloomberg (7/25/13) reports: “World energy consumption will rise 56 percent in the next three decades, driven by growth in developing countries such as China and India, the Energy Information Administration said. Demand will increase to 820 quadrillion British thermal units in 2040 from 524 quadrillion in 2010, the EIA said in the International Energy Outlook 2013, with the two Asian countries accounting for half the gain. One quadrillion Btu is equal to 172 million barrels of crude oil. China, which used 3.4 percent more energy than the U.S. in 2010, is expected to double U.S. demand by 2040.”

 A no brainer.

Typical of the subsidization of the wind (or any) industry. The Institute for Energy Research (7/25/13) reports: “One of the largest wind facilities in the world is benefiting from millions of dollars in state tax credits it is not qualified for and does not need, according to a recent series of investigative reports in The Oregonian. The 845 megawatt Shepherds Flat wind facility that opened in 2012 received final approval last month from the Oregon Department of Energy (ODOE) for three separate tax credits totaling $30 million. Caithness Energy, owner of Shepherds Flat, was able to secure the credits by defining the project as three separate wind facilities. But as the new reports reveal, Shepherds Flat likely qualifies for just one out of three Business Energy Tax Credits under explicit ODOE rules that determine what constitutes a “separate and distinct” facility.”

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In the Pipeline: 7/25/13

July 25, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Tough to tell whether they are cocky or just plain stupid. But the good news is that no one can keep pretending about the agenda of the bad guys anymore. They mean to stop the production and use of all affordable and reliable energy in the United States as soon as they can. The Center for American Progress (7/24/13) reports: “The impacts of climate change are already occurring: There were 25 climate-related extreme weather events in the United States in the period from 2011 to 2012 that each caused at least $1 billion in damages. Fortunately, U.S. carbon pollution from energy consumption is at its lowest point since 1994, in part because electricity generation by natural gas is replacing electricity generation by coal. The modern fuel-economy standards issued by the Obama administration have reduced emissions as well. Nonetheless, the U.S. Energy Information Administration, or EIA, predicts that U.S. carbon pollution will begin to rise again by the end of this decade.”

The Keystone Delay strategy, writ large. Happy anniversary. North Country Public Radio (7/24/13) reports: “New York today enters into the sixth year of a de facto moratorium on whether to allow hydrofracking in the state. Business and industry groups are expressing dismay over what they say is too long a delay. In the summer of 2008, then-Governor David Paterson and the legislature imposed an actual moratorium in New York on the gas drilling process known as hydrofracking. After it expired, Governor Cuomo’s environmental agency began an extended review. That study has never been completed.”

So let’s review. Your job is to destroy America’s enemies and keep the country safe. Now, thanks to some PR desk jockey, it needs to spend some chunk of its mindshare on worrying about whether it does so in an environmentally friendly way. The Daily Caller (7/25/13) reports: “The U.S. Army is taking the expression “get the lead out” quite literally and switching to lead-free, environmentally-friendly bullets. The Army’s Picatinny Arsenal is working on a “green” version of the M80A1 7.62 mm bullet, which troops are supposed to start being issued in 2014, according to an Army press release. The Army has been looking to “green” small caliber ammo for some time now. In 2010, the Army began switched to the greener 5.56 mm M855A1 Enhanced Performance Round.”

This just in, from the most transparent administration ever. The Washington Free Beacon (7/24/13) reports: “Energy Department officials prohibited subordinates from speaking with congressional investigators about their probe into illicit hiring practices and related whistleblower retaliation allegations, according to the lead investigator. Rep. Darrell Issa (R., Calif.), chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, revealed in a letter obtained by the Washington Free Beacon that the deputy secretary of energy issued the gag order following a scathing inspector general report last week. The report revealed that the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), a division of the Department of Energy (DOE), had violated DOE hiring guidelines in ways that disadvantaged military veterans.”

If the House Republicans were smart, they might give Mr. Holt’s colleagues a chance to vote on whether they agree with him. The Daily Mail (7/24/13) reports: “’Climate change is real, and humans are to blame,’ warns New Jersey Democratic Rep. Rush Holt in a 90-second YouTube campaign ad releasedMonday. And without a carbon tax, he warns in a shorter 15-second ad, ‘millions will die.’ Holt is running in an August Democratic primary, leading up to a U.S. Senate special election ordered by Gov. Chris Christie following the June death of long-time Sen. Frank Lautenberg. On his campaign website the eight-term congressman, one of two physicists in the House of Representatives, blames global warming on ‘the assault that corporate interests are waging on our planet.’”

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Congress Fights Back Against BLM Fracking Rule

July 24, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Rep. Bill Flores (R-Texas) recently introduced a bipartisan bill, H.R. 2728, the Protecting States’ Rights to Promote American Energy Security Act. The bill seeks to preserves state authority to regulate hydraulic fracturing on public lands—a right that has recently come under assault from the federal government.

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in May proposed creating an additional layer of federal bureaucracy to hydraulic fracturing regulation, even though states have regulated the drilling practice successfully for years without a single confirmed instance of groundwater contamination.

Even Interior Secretary Sally Jewell admitted recently that “fracking has been done safely for decades.” Former EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson also admitted, “I am not aware of any proven case where the fracking process has affected water, although there are investigations ongoing.” Just a few weeks ago, EPA ended one of these investigations in Pavillion, Wyoming after once again failing to find proof that hydraulic fracturing had contaminated groundwater.

Rep. Flores’ bill would block the Interior Department from promulgating this duplicative and unnecessary rule, recognizing the impressive safety record of states. Regulations already in place at the state level reflect local knowledge of geological and hydrological conditions. Adding an additional and unresponsive federal layer of bureaucracy is unwarranted and can only hinder domestic oil and natural gas production.

Technological advances in hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling have unlocked vast energy resources that were previously inaccessible, leading to the greatest domestic energy boom in U.S. history.  This boom, however, is not occurring on lands subject to federal oversight, but on state and private lands currently outside of Washington’s reach. According to a recent report, oil production fell 4 percent and natural gas production fell 33 percent on federal lands from 2007 to 2012. Over the same period, oil production on private and state lands grew by 35 percent and natural gas production grew by 40 percent.

Beyond the fact it is unnecessary and duplicative, the draft rule would also impose significant compliance costs on energy producers. According to a recent study, the BLM’s hydraulic fracturing rule would cost at least $345 million annually. This new layer of red tape would lead to fewer wells being drilled, fewer jobs being created, and less energy security for the country.

Policy Intern Monica Somandroiu contributed to this post.

 

 

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In the Pipeline: 7/24/13

July 24, 2013 by Leave a Comment

We don’t understand this. Who wouldn’t want to be rolling down the street, smoking indo, sipping on gin and juice, in a Leaf? The National Legal and Policy Center (7/23/13) reports: “Reports have trickled out lately that, all of a sudden, demand is so great for the all-electric Leaf that Nissan’s production just can’t keep up. ‘We’re going to be short on inventory all through the summer,’ said Erik Gottfried, director of electric vehicle sales for Nissan, to Automotive News. ‘It will be late fall before we can produce enough to satisfy everybody.’ Then the appropriate question from taxpayers should be, ‘What did we pay $1.4 billion for you to do in Smyrna, Tennessee then?!?’ That’s how much stimulus-backed money went to the Japan-based automaker to design a factory outside Nashville to crank out up to 150,000 Leafs and 200,000 Leaf batteries per year. The plant began production late in 2012, and according to the Department of Energy, was to create 1,300 permanent ‘green’ jobs, remove 11,000 gasoline-powered cars from the road annually, and lead to 51,000 tons of carbon dioxide ‘avoided’ per year.”

Storing spent nuclear fuel in a fractured well – it is going to be immense fun to watch the reaction from the enviro industry to this little number. The US Geological Survey (7/23/13) reports: “Shale and other clay-rich rock formations might offer permanent disposal solutions for spent nuclear fuel, according to a new paper by the U.S. Geological Survey. There is currently about 70,000 metric tons of this spent fuel in temporary storage across the United States.While no specific sites have been evaluated for storage potential in the United States, USGS scientists have looked at several research efforts, including projects that are underway in France, Belgium and Switzerland to confirm that shale formations in those countries are favorable for hosting nuclear waste repositories. Deciding how to safely dispose of spent nuclear fuel and other high-level nuclear waste is a very important issue that is not going to go away,’ said Chris Neuzil, the article’s author. ‘Although shales and similar rocks have not been considered for hosting nuclear waste in the United States, recent research points to them as a very promising option.’ Shale formations are attractive for nuclear waste storage for several reasons. First and foremost, they have extremely low permeability, meaning groundwater cannot easily flow through them. Most shale formations and similar rocks containing abundant clay are millions to tens of billions of times less permeable than aquifers that are used to supply water.”

After jacking up electricity bills for all those people, we’re not surprised he needs some PR help. E&E News (7/23/13) reports: “Clean energy advocates have hired a Washington, D.C.-based public relations firm to advocate for President Obama’s pick to head the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and thwart increasing attacks from Colorado’s coal industry and free market groups. Green Tech Action Fund, a San Francisco group that describes itself as a nonpartisan grant-making organization, has hired VennSquared Communications to advocate for Ron Binz as the next chairman of FERC. If confirmed by the Senate, Binz would have a five-year term and replace Jon Wellinghoff at the helm of the commission, which regulates the electric grid, gas pipelines, liquefied natural gas export terminals and hydroelectric projects. Sarah Elliott, senior vice president of VennSquared, said in a statement that the action fund believes Binz’s regulatory approach when he chaired the Colorado Public Utilities Commission from 2007 to 2011 was ‘sound’ and that the group supports his nomination. Binz was not aware that the group had hired the firm and was not involved in selecting VennSquared, she added. ‘Our support includes helping to make sure accurate information about Ron and his record are in the media as the Senate considers this important nomination,’ Elliott said.”

Fraud, extreme expense, job loss, higher food prices, engine damage, artificially propping up industry, and negligible if not negative environmental impacts? What more could you want from a government policy? The Daily Caller (7/23/13) reports: “Industries as wide-ranging as oil refiners, biofuel manufacturers, chain restaurants and chicken farmers sparred over the future of the federal ethanol mandate Tuesday. The Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) mandates that 13.8 billion gallons of ethanol be blended into gasoline this year, and 14.4 billion gallons in 2014. Refiners, however, are reaching the limit of what they can safely blend into the fuel supply, which is putting pressure on the petroleum industry.’The RFS isn’t just a relic of America’s bygone era of energy scarcity, it is a grave economic threat,’ said Jack Gerard, president of the American Petroleum Institute, in his congressional testimony.”

You just can’t hit on this enough. Forbes (7/23/13) reports: “In Gasland, Director Josh Fox ’s first fake documentary about hydraulic fracturing, or ‘Fracking’, the false claim was made that the oil and gas industry is somehow exempt from the Clean Air Act and other major federal environmental laws. Mr. Fox continues to make this false claim – often referring to it as the Halliburton Loophole – despite it having been completely and thoroughly debunked, even at liberal blog sites like The Daily Kos, which recently had this to say on the subject: ‘First, here is the actual truth of the matter … Dick Cheney didn’t do any harm to the Federal Clean Air Act because there is no ‘Halliburton Loophole’ statutory law amendment of the Clean Air Act contained in the Energy Policy Act of 2005,”

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In the Pipeline: 7/23/13

July 24, 2013 by Leave a Comment

She’s ready. Are you? The Daily Caller (7/22/13) reports: “In an address to staff, the newly confirmed Environmental Protection Agency chief stated that regulators had the ‘responsibility’ to take on global warming, per the president’s call to action. ‘We have a clear responsibility to act now on climate change,’ said EPA administrator Gina McCarthy. ‘That’s what President Obama has called on us and the American people, so that we protect future generations…This agency has the courage to act,’ McCarthy added. We can make it happen, but we need all hands on deck.’”


When bureaucrats are your biggest ally, you should likely reexamine your position. The Washington Examiner (7/19/13) reports: “Drama is high these days for ethanol makers, whose fate is on the line in Washington – fitting for an industry dependent on government. The oil industry has launched an assault on the ethanol mandate that drives demand for the plant-based fuel. The Senate recently confirmed an industry friend to head the Environmental Protection Agency. And the EPA is finalizing a controversial rule to allow higher blends of ethanol in gasoline. Ethanol is a fuel made from fermenting and distilling plant matter – mostly corn in the U.S. From the industry’s earliest days, government has subsidized the fuel. The most important benefit for the industry today is the Renewable Fuel Standard. The 2005 Republican-passed energy bill created the RFS, known as the ‘ethanol mandate,’ and the 2007 Democrat-passed energy bill expanded it. Under the law, oil refiners must purchase a set quantity of ethanol every year.”

Marginal improvements, but anything is better than being totally gutted. The Wyoming Business Report (7/22/13) reports: “A proposed national hydraulic fracturing rule could cost about $345 million annually to implement, according to a new economic analysis commissioned by the Independent Petroleum Association of America and Western Energy Alliance. This may be relatively good news for producers, though, since this cost estimate comes after the rule was revised from its original May 2012 proposal.”

Ignore the man behind the curtain, the science is settled. MG4W (7/19/13) reports: “Expert witnesses called by Sen. Barbara Boxer to testify during Senate Environment and Public Works hearings yesterday contradicted a key assertion made by President Barack Obama on climate change. Speaking at a Democratic fundraiser less than a month before directing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to impose costly new restrictions on carbon dioxide emissions, Obama said, ‘we also know that the climate is warming faster than anybody anticipated five or 10 years ago…I don’t have much patience for people who deny climate change,’ Obama added. However, climate scientists including United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) lead author Hans von Storch report temperatures have remained essentially flat for the past 10 years, and indeed for the past 15 years. Storch told Der Spiegel that 98 percent of IPCC climate models cannot replicate the prolonged pause in global warming, and IPCC may need to revise its computer models to correct their apparent warming bias.”

Beware, this is a no fly zone. Birdwatch (7/21/13) reports: “New research from the United States indicates that bird deaths from wind farm collisions may have been underestimated by up to 30 per cent. After the sad death of the White-throated Needletail on Harris, Outer Hebrides, on 26 June when it hit the shaft of a wind turbine on the island, some birders were vocal in their disapproval of the prominent energy generators, proclaiming them to be killers of bird in large numbers. While some of these claims were somewhat exaggerated, it turns out that they may indeed be more dangerous than thought previously.”

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In the Pipeline: 7/22/13

July 22, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Do you think the fractivists will drop it? Something tells us they have other motivations. The Associated Press (7/19/13) reports: “A landmark federal study on hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, shows no evidence that chemicals from the natural gas drilling process moved up to contaminate drinking water aquifers at a western Pennsylvania drilling site, the Department of Energy told The Associated Press. After a year of monitoring, the researchers found that the chemical-laced fluids used to free gas trapped deep below the surface stayed thousands of feet below the shallower areas that supply drinking water, geologist Richard Hammack said.”

Bud Weinstein is the man. The House Small Business Subcommittee on Agriculture, Energy and Trade (7/19/13) reports: “Yesterday, the House Small Business Subcommittee on Agriculture, Energy and Trade held a hearing to examine how small businesses would be affected by the President’s Climate Action Plan. The witnesses overwhelmingly agreed that the plan is an unnecessary attack on American energy and jobs. Dr. Bernard Weinstein, Professor, Southern Methodist University: The fact that America is rich, the fact that we’re abundant in energy, the fact that we have cheap energy is somehow a bad thing, and in fact, the availability of abundant and cheap energy is the basis for our international competitiveness. So why do we constantly talk about policies that are going to drive up the cost of energy.”

They can’t let the facts get in their way, otherwise we’d have nobody to beat up. The Associated Press (7/22/13) reports: “In the debate over natural gas drilling, the companies are often the ones accused of twisting the facts. But scientists say opponents sometimes mislead the public, too. Critics of fracking often raise alarms about groundwater pollution, air pollution, and cancer risks, and there are still many uncertainties. But some of the claims have little — or nothing— to back them. For example, reports that breast cancer rates rose in a region with heavy gas drilling are false, researchers told The Associated Press. Fears that natural radioactivity in drilling waste could contaminate drinking water aren’t being confirmed by monitoring, either.”
 
What happens when you can’t flip the switch and get the power you need? Reuters (7/19/13) reports: “New York State’s power grid operator said power usage on Friday broke a record set in 2006 as consumers cranked up their air conditioners to escape sweltering six day-long heat wave. The New York Independent System Operator (NYISO) forecast consumer demand use peaked at 33,955 megawatts on Friday, up from 33,450 MW on Thursday, breaking the state’s all-time record of 33,939 MW set in 2006. One megawatt powers about 1,000 homes. NYISO said it was possible that demand could continue to rise and the record peak load could change later on Friday.”

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In the Pipeline: 7/19/2013

July 22, 2013 by Leave a Comment

When Bill Nordhaus thinks a tax scheme is pointless, it is pointless. If we were Hill staff, this would go into our everyday talking points.Fox News (7/18/13) reports: “As President Obama last month launched a sweeping new national program to combat ‘climate change,’ including tens of billions of dollars in likely new subsidies for solar and wind power and bio-energy, a separate, groundbreaking study by the National Research Council has warned that those kinds of subsidies are virtually useless at quelling greenhouse gases. The study, which looks at the subsidies and other incentives embedded in U.S. federal tax law after the past several years of climate change initiatives, concludes that they have done little or nothing so far to cut U.S. contributions to global carbon emissions, and are unlikely to do much more before 2035, the project’s research horizon.”

We just saw this piece from across the pond, and you should too. The Telegraph (6/28/13) reports: “You’d think Greens would be delighted by the shale gas bounty under our feet. Here is a plentiful energy supply which does not emit soot (as coal does), nor jam estuaries (as tidal turbines do), nor starve Africans (as biofuels do), nor slaughter rare birds (as wind farms do). It does not require public subsidies (as both nuclear and renewables do). On the contrary, it will generate a healthy stream of tax revenue for the Exchequer. It will diminish our reliance on nasty regimes, from Tehran to Moscow – precisely the sorts of regimes that Greens march against. Oh, and it will reduce our carbon emissions, by displacing coal in electricity generators.”

Tom Pyle: very nearly always right. Politico (7/18/13) reports: “White House energy adviser Heather Zichal said Thursday that President Barack Obama has ‘raised the bar’ on taking into account the Keystone XL oil pipeline’s effects on climate change. But she declined to put the ultimate responsibility for the final decision on the controversial pipeline project on the president’s shoulders. ‘Again, the process is being run directly by the State Department, and I think the president certainly did raise the bar and make it clear that climate impacts should be part of that analysis. Beyond that, I would direct you to the State Department,’ Zichal said during POLITICO Pro’s Future of Energy Breakfast Briefing.”

There’s definitely been an increase in the hot air spewed around the subject. The Daily Caller (7/18/13) reports: “In a Senate hearing Thursday, environmental scientist Roger Pielke of the University of Colorado said it’s ‘incorrect’ to claim that global warming is spurring more extreme weather disasters. ‘It is misleading and just plain incorrect to claim that disasters associated with hurricanes, tornadoes, floods or droughts have increased on climate timescales either in the United States or globally,’ Pielke said in his testimony before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. ‘It is further incorrect to associate the increasing costs of disasters with the emission of greenhouse gases…Hurricanes have not increased in the U.S. in frequency, intensity or normalized damage since at least 1900,’ Pielke added. ‘The same holds for tropical cyclones globally since at least 1970.’”

Honestly, there aren’t that many instances where this dude can seek rents. Once he finishes making his money on Keystone, he might hang around for one or two things, then he will be gone. Politico (7/19/13) reports: “Tom Steyer, the San Francisco billionaire and former hedge fund manager, burst onto the national political scene this year, launching an aggressive campaign to raise the profile of environmental issues at the ballot box. And he is already looking ahead toward the 2014 election cycle to broaden the strategy he employed in the Massachusetts Senate race. Democrats and Republicans alike have their eyes on Steyer, who is emerging as an influential player in the world of money and politics.”

Put in his place.

 

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