News

HOF won’t induct Charlie Hustle for betting on his team to win, but the HOF just placed a bet against American energy Mother Nature Network (3/29/11) reports: The hall of fame, based in Cooperstown, decided to support the Cooperstown Chamber of Commerce’s recent resolution opposing hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking” as it is commonly known. Fracking is a controversial method used by the natural gas industry where rig operators pump a mixture of water, sand and secret chemicals into the ground to extract isolated pockets of natural gas….Cooperstown is located in central New York, in the heart of the of the gas-rich Marcellus Shale region. The sleepy town is a picturesque tourist destination for baseball fans around the world, and is even a growing retirement community….A full transcript of the hall’s opposition to fracking was reprinted online over at pressconnect.com, and can be read below. The statement isn’t nearly as strong as the hall’s opposition to Pete Rose, but as far as I can tell, the natural gas has never bet on baseball.

President Obama’s interior monologue: “I made energy prices skyrocket, but still no one is buying my $40,000 Volt – what gives?” CNBC (3/28/11) reports: Last week, the Commerce Department revised real GDP up to 3.1 percent for the fourth quarter of last year. That was some cause for joy in the stock market. But today we saw a poor consumer-spending report for the month of February, which is picking up the rise in gasoline prices and the decline in consumer sentiment…Real income after-tax — known as real disposable income — actually fell in February. But the inflation rate jumped 0.4 percent, which is almost 5 percent annually. And while real consumer spending did rise, over the past three months it has gained by only 1.4 percent annually… The gasoline-driven inflation hike now puts consumer inflation as measured by the personal consumption deflator at 4 percent over the last three months. That’s higher than wage and salary income. So while energy prices are bulging along with food, real wages look to be falling — not a good combination.

Rent seekers panic that their gravy train is leaving the station, but something tells me Markey or Waxman New York Times (3/28/11) reports: There is growing angst over the pending end to a Department of Energy program that allows projects to claim cash grants in lieu of the tax credits that have been the mainstay of renewable-energy project financing for years. Insiders assume the production tax credits and investment tax credits will return next year, but most also agree the grants will end this Dec. 31. That raises a big question: Can projects shift from grants to credits?…Deals are getting done, but not at the rate that the industry would call robust, and many project developers are still dependent on temporary government support measures.

On the House side, we gave Barney this lesson and we will do the same for the Senate — when supply is restricted and demand remains constant, prices increase. This applies to snuggies and gas prices The Hill (3/28/11) reports: Five senators are pressing the Federal Trade Commission to use its powers under a 2007 law to probe whether recent oil price spikes – and the attendant rise in pump prices – stem from market manipulation…“We are writing to inquire whether the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is fully utilizing the regulatory authority granted to it by Congress to ensure American consumers are paying a fair price for gasoline. We urge you to use this authority aggressively to ensure that recent crude oil market price spikes and volatility are not the result of manipulative practices or anticompetitive behavior,” states a letter to the FTC from Sens. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.)…Rockefeller chairs the Senate Commerce Committee…The letter Friday is the latest example of lawmakers – mostly Democrats – essentially laying energy price increases at the feet of Wall Street, and comes as GOP leaders pressing for wider offshore drilling…It presses the FTC to use 2009 rules – which stem from a 2007 energy law – that give the regulators enhanced power to crack down on anti-competitive practices in wholesale petroleum markets.

Insanity is defined as repeatedly doing the same thing and expecting different results — are the inmates running the asylum in Florida? Miami Herald (3/28/11) reports: The Florida Senate unveiled its plan Monday to allow Florida’s electric companies to raise average customer bills $1.40 to $2.60 a month to build solar and biomass energy plants for the next five years…But because the measure also allows the electric monopolies to control the renewable energy market by earning as much as $377 million a year in additional revenue, the proposal drew warnings that it will stifle jobs and hurt customers over time…“We will go out of business,’’ said Scott McIntyre, president of Solar Energy Management of St. Petersburg. “The Senate bill will not attract renewable energy to the state of Florida. It will not employ people.”…By contrast, Josh Kellam of Global Energy United, a Virginia-based solar panel manufacturer, said his company will employ 250-300 people at its Rivera Beach plant if the bill passes…Kent Crook, president of Wire Masters of Miami, a residential and commercial electrician, said that he has received a Workforce Florida grant to retrain his employees in installing solar energy panels but has had to stop using it “because there are no jobs.”

Do you believe in magic? Professor Folbre commands wind and solar to be cost competitive with fossil fuels and to displace nuclear energy New York Times (3/28/11) reports: More important is the rate of change in the cost and utilization of these technologies, particularly those that rely on wind, water or solar power and will not contribute to global warming…The cost per kilowatt hour of generating electricity from wind and solar power has declined steadily in recent years and is projected to decline further. Energy Secretary Steven Chu predicted that they would be no more expensive than oil and gas by the end of the decade…The cost of nuclear power, by contrast, has increased, even without factoring in the huge social costs imposed by accidents. These costs include the disruptive effects of major evacuations such as those under way in the vicinity of Fukushima Daiichi, as well as ominous — and difficult to measure — health risks…In “Nuclear Power: Climate Fix or Folly,” Amory Lovins, a physicist with the Rocky Mountain Institute, and two colleagues argued that expanded nuclear power does not represent a cost-effective solution to global warming and that investors would shun it were it not for generous government subsidies lubricated by intensive lobbying effort.

In this case, you can call it a comeback because Statoil was set to drill before the moratorium, but that doesn’t stop the BOMRE from celebrating Fuel Fix (3/28/11) reports: The federal government today granted a permit to Statoil that allows the company to launch work on an offshore well halted by last year’s ban on deep-water exploration…The Norwegian company now will be able to begin drilling a well in its Cobra prospect in the Gulf of Mexico, about 216 miles off the Texas coastline, south of Texas City. According to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement, which issued the permit, Statoil will drill the well in 7,134 feet of water in Alaminos Canyon Block 810…Statoil made news in 2007 by bidding $37.6 million for the tract — the highest bid in the western Gulf of Mexico lease sale where it was up for grabs…Statoil was close to drilling the well last year — and had a key permit in hand and a rig under contract for the work — but those plans were halted by the oil spill and the administration’s subsequent ban on deep-water exploration.

Employment Prevention Agency rules and regulation is like creating a tax without the revenue Wall Street Journal (3/28/11) reports: But a vote for the McConnell amendment, which would permanently bar the EPA from regulating carbon unless Congress passed new legislation, is justified on democratic prerogatives alone. Whatever one’s views of Massachusetts v. EPA or climate science, no elected representative has ever voted on an EPA plan that has often involved the unilateral redrafting of plain-letter law…A vote to overrule the EPA is also needed to remove the regulatory uncertainty hanging over the economy. This harm is already apparent in energy, where the EPA is trying to drive coal-fired power out of existence. The core electricity generation that the country needs to meet future demand is not being built, and it won’t be until the EPA is bridled. This same dynamic is also chilling the natural gas boom in the Northeast, and it is making U.S. energy-intensive industries less competitive world-wide…As the EPA screws tighten, the costs will be passed along to consumers, with the same damage as a tax increase but none of the revenues. Eventually, the EPA plan will appreciably lower the U.S. standard of living. Hardest hit will be the middle-American regions that rely on coal or heavy industry, though the EPA bulldozer will run over small businesses too. The Clean Air Act, once the carbon doomsday machine has been activated, won’t merely apply to “major” sources of emissions like power plants or factories. Its reach will include schools, farms, hospitals, restaurants, basically any large building.

Death by a thousand barrels — the gradual decrease in oil flow through TAPS is causing mechanical issues and leadership in Congress doesn’t seem to notice Anchorage Daily News (3/26/11) reports: And on March 18 Barrett was back in Juneau talking to the House Finance Committee, reiterating his concerns about declining oil flow through the line and saying that the pipeline is already at a point where cooling of the slowly flowing oil as it travels from Prudhoe Bay to Valdez could lead to a major disruption in pipeline operations…”A lot of people have asked me at what point will the declining flow of crude oil become a problem for TAPS, for Alyeska,” Barrett said. “And the response is simple — the problem exists out there now. This is not something facing us down the road; it’s not theoretical; it’s an issue we confront at TAPS daily, today. And without increased throughput in the line, our challenges of operating the line safely will increase over time.” The problem is that the 48-inch pipeline was designed to carry much more oil than the 630,000 barrels per day that currently flow into the line from Pump Station 1. As a consequence, the length of time that it takes each barrel of oil to travel from the North Slope to Valdez has increased from four-and-a-half days during peak throughput in the late 1980s to about 15 days now. The increasing travel time causes the oil to cool as it flows south during the cold of the winter, thus raising the risk of water that is carried with the oil freezing, and increasing the potential for wax and sediments to drop out of the oil and clog the line.

Industrial Windpower Cometh, Once Supportive Locals “Lawyer Up” Human Events (3/24/11) reports: Wind energy took another blow—this time in Massachusetts…Wind One is the 400-foot-tall wind turbine owned by the town of Falmouth, on the southwestern tip of Cape Cod.  The residents of Falmouth initially welcomed Wind One as a symbol of green energy and a handy way to keep local taxes down.  Electricity generated by the turbine would be used to power the municipality’s infrastructure, thus shaving about $400,000 a year off its utility costs…Installed in the spring of 2010 at a cost of $5.1 million (with some $3 million derived through grants, government kickbacks, and credits), the huge turbine cranks out 1.65 megawatts of electricity during optimum conditions…The topography of Falmouth is stunningly beautiful.  Small ponds, creeks, pines, and oaks rest adjacent to the rocky beachfront.  What’s totally out of place is a monstrous pillar of white steel rising from the countryside, topped with its whirling three-bladed rotor.  However, proving that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, one local told a Public Radio reporter the turbine is “quite majestic.”

Energy crisis by design — the war against affordable and reliable energy will not go without casualties Washington Post (3/24/11) reports: Last month, Seahawk Drilling declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy and announced the sale of its assets to shallow-water driller Hercules Offshore. This devastating decision was the culmination of a long period in which we found our customers unable to secure permits for work in the Gulf of Mexico despite the fact that both our industry and our company have excellent safety records. In the 11 months after the Deepwater Horizon accident, it became clear that Seahawk’s greatest rival was no longer our industry competitors but the U.S. government…The government’s drastic slowdown in the issuance of permits for shallow-water drilling operations — in which companies work in familiar geological formations, typically in less than 500 feet of water, mostly seeking to produce natural gas — has all but crippled the industry. The survivors (for now) like Hercules are staying afloat largely thanks to revenue from operations outside U.S. waters. Put another way, a once-proud industry born in the gulf during the Truman administration can no longer survive on operations in its own back yard.

How would the Obama Administration respond to this question, “Do you think high gas prices are a good thing?” NRO covers the faux conversation National Review Online (3/24/11) reports: as is well over $4 a gallon in most places in California — and soaring elsewhere as well. But are such high energy prices good or bad?…That should be a stupid question. Yet it is not, when the Obama administration has stopped new domestic offshore oil exploration in many American waters, curbed oil leases in the West, and keeps oil-rich areas of Alaska exempt from drilling. Last week, President Obama went to Brazil and declared of that country’s new offshore finds: “With the new oil finds off Brazil, President [Dilma] Rousseff has said that Brazil wants to be a major supplier of new stable sources of energy, and I’ve told her that the United States wants to be a major customer, which would be a win-win for both our countries.”… That conclusion is not wild conspiracy theory, but simply the logical manifestation of many of the Obama administration’s earlier campaign promises. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu — now responsible for the formulation of American energy policy — summed up his visions to the Wall Street Journal in 2008: “Somehow we have to figure out how to boost the price of gasoline to the levels in Europe.” I think Chu is finally figuring out the “somehow.”

Jevons Paradox: As technology improves, more goods and services are consumed. For example, VMT will increase with more efficient engines or even EV’s, but Congress wants to know how you tax it The Hill (3/24/11) reports: “In the past, the efficiency costs of implementing a system of VMT charges — particularly the costs of users’ time for slowing and queuing at tollbooths — would clearly have outweighed the potential benefits from more efficient use of highway capacity,” CBO wrote. “Now, electronic metering and billing are making per-mile charges a practical option.”The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) this week released a report that said taxing people based on how many miles they drive is a possible option for raising new revenues and that these taxes could be used to offset the costs of highway maintenance at a time when federal funds are short…The report discussed the proposal in great detail, including the development of technology that would allow total vehicle miles traveled (VMT) to be tracked, reported and taxed, as well as the pros and cons of mandating the installation of this technology in all vehicles.

Winning the Future: China out innovates the world on nuclear technology while Congress holds hearings and threatens American energy New York Times (3/25/11) reports: While engineers at Japan’s stricken nuclear power plant struggle to keep its uranium fuel rods from melting down, engineers in China are building a radically different type of reactor that some experts say offers a safer nuclear alternative…The technology will be used in two reactors here on a peninsula jutting into the Yellow Sea, where the Chinese government is expected to let construction proceed even as the world debates the wisdom of nuclear power…Rather than using conventional fuel rod assemblies of the sort leaking radiation in Japan, each packed with nearly 400 pounds of uranium, the Chinese reactors will use hundreds of thousands of billiard-ball-size fuel elements, each cloaked in its own protective layer of graphite.

Lisa Jackson puts on a persuasive writing clinic — letter to farmers against dust regulation, but sets up back door for asthma campaign Fresno Bee (3/24/11) reports: On my visit to California this week, many people have offered thoughts and prayers for Japan and the earthquake and tsunami victims now facing threats from radiation. Many have also voiced concerns about radiation reaching the United States…The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and our federal partners are closely monitoring radiation levels and ensuring that all steps are taken to safeguard health, and we will continue to work closely with state and local officials and regularly update the public…One example is the resource conservation work here in the Valley, which is considered among the best in the country. Developed in collaboration between growers, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the local air district and the EPA, these cost-effective practices can be tailored to individual farms.

Take that, Hofmeister.  IER’s Pyle predicts $6 gas if Obama affordable energy war continues unabated News Max (3/25/11) reports: Although Pyle noted that both Democratic and Republican administrations have shied away from exploiting the country’s vast energy resources in the past, Obama’s policies in particular “have led to basically a shutting down of the oil and gas industry in this country…”Which, as the third-largest producer of oil in the world, is certainly going to send a signal to the marketplace that we are going to see a shortening of supply at a time when we actually need to be producing as much oil as possible not only to satisfy the growing demand in other countries but also in order for us to recover economically.”..The country is “on a path for not only $4.50 gasoline, potentially $5, even $6 gasoline if these policies continue,” said Pyle, former policy analyst in the U.S. House…However, just as Obama’s policies have sent a signal to the marketplace, a reversal will do the same with an immediate effect, he said

Chu said wind and solar will be cost competitive with oil by end of the decade, which makes sense because under the plan they promised,  the cost of energy would necessarily skyrocket Yahoo (3/24/11) reports: Clean sources of energy such as wind and solar will be no more expensive than oil and gas projects by the end of the decade, US Energy Secretary Steven Chu said Wednesday…President Barack Obama’s administration has been encouraging companies to invest in green growth, calling it a new source of jobs and fearing that other nations — led by China — are stealing the march…”Before maybe the end of this decade, I see wind and solar being cost-competitive without subsidy with new fossil fuel,” Chu told an event at the Pew Charitable Trusts…”So the country and the companies who develop those renewable energy and resources that become cost competitive without subsidy all of a sudden have a world market. And, boy, we can’t lose that world market,” he said…The US Congress has rejected attempts to mandate curbs on carbon emissions blamed for climate change, with many members of the Republican Party arguing that reducing dependence on fossil fuels would be too expensive.

Former Gov. Granholm plans on taking her economic success in MI to the national stage with PEW because the only thing holding us back is the right “energy policy” Detroit Press Former Gov. Jennifer Granholm will lead a campaign for a national clean energy policy that promotes and helps fund wind, solar and advanced battery industries in the U.S…Granholm has joined the nonpartisan Pew Charitable Trusts as a senior adviser on energy, and will visit states twice monthly to promote clean energy jobs and methods of reducing U.S. dependence on foreign oil…That’s in addition to a teaching job she will begin in April at the University of California-Berkeley Goldman School of Public Policy…Granholm also is a paid contributor to NBC’s TV show “Meet the Press.”..In an interview Wednesday from Washington, D.C., Granholm said she will use Michigan as an example of how to develop an advanced battery industry for an emerging market for electric-powered vehicles.

What’s in a “Clean Energy Standard”? Here’s a good recap given Sens. Bingaman’s and Murkowski’s recent white paper American Spectator (3/24/11) reports: The white paper questions that Bingaman and Murkowski ask only complicate matters. Because the president was vague on what a Clean Energy Standard would look like, Congress is left to navigate the rippling waters between what environmentalists and alternative energy rent-seekers want defined as “clean.” Free-marketers need not advise, but I will do so anyway based upon reality, instead of the fantastical answers the Senators are likely to get: Q. Is the goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, lower electricity costs, spur utilization of particular assets, diversify supply, or some combination thereof? A. None of the above, because it cannot do any of the above. Instead it will set up uninformed government meddlers as authorities to dole out favors and tax breaks to undeserving technologies that have capable lobbyists as the only thing going for them.

Democrats in New York are not letting the Japanese crisis go to waste even though Japan recently said they will continue with nuclear energy The Hill (3/23/11) reports: Two New York House Democrats are calling for congressional hearings to investigate the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (NRC) relicensing process for aging U.S. nuclear power plants…Reps. Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.) and Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.) raised concerns that decades-old U.S. nuclear power plants might not be able to withstand a terrorist attack or a major natural disaster like the one that hobbled nuclear reactors in Japan…The lawmakers called on House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) to hold hearings on the issue. Upton, who has previously called for streamlining the NRC regulatory process, has said he will hold hearings on the Japan nuclear crisis. But the lawmaker has stood behind his support for nuclear power…A meltdown in a plant that is close to a major population center would have catastrophic results, the lawmakers said. And they raised particular concern about the Indian Point plant in Buchanan, N.Y.

It’s too bad we can’t fit our political philosophy on a bumper sticker or even an internet ad Daily Caller (3/23/11) reports: The American Lung Association, a leading opponent of efforts on Capitol Hill to repeal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) efforts to regulate greenhouse gas emissions, has plastered one Republican lawmaker’s district with a particularly provocative ad…Residents in Michigan’s 6th District are being introduced to an ALA campaign that features billboards specifically targeting their congressman, Republican Rep. Fred Upton, who also happens to be the chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee. Upton has also been instrumental in congressional efforts to rein in the EPA’s regulatory authority and authored a bill that would do just that…The Upton bill passed the Energy and Commerce Committee earlier this month, while a companion bill in the Senate introduced by Oklahoma Republican Sen. James Inhofe has been attached as an amendment to a small business bill. It’s unclear, however, when the full House or Senate will vote on the measure.

It’s sad that a new coal permit is newsworthy — Sec. Salazar relishes the pomp and circumstance as he conducts what should be routine business Tribune (3/23/11) reports: Nearly 758 million tons of Wyoming coal will go up for sale in the coming months, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said Tuesday… The sale of the leases announced Tuesday could produce up to $21.3 billion when factoring in bonus bids and royalty payments, Salazar said. Just more than half of the total would go to the federal government, with the state getting the rest…Flanked by Gov. Matt Mead at Cheyenne South High School, Salazar said coal will continue to be a mainstay of U.S. energy consumption and an important contributor toward U.S. energy indepedence. Wyoming’s low-sulfur coal is a key part of that mix, he said…”Coal is a critical component of America’s comprehensive energy portfolio as well as Wyoming’s economy,” Salazar said…Mead joined Salazar for what Mead called a “great announcement.”…”Energy absolutely is critical to this state and absolutely critical to our country,” Mead said. “Particularly in these times when we’re coming out of what is called the Great Recession, we need energy, we need the jobs that come from energy, we need electricity.”

This permit was already issued to Exxon Mobil, but BOEMRE wants to redo the ribbon cutting to score political points while Americans suffer at the pump The Hill (3/22/11) reports: The permit BOEMRE approved will allow Exxon Mobil to drill a new well in 6,941 feet of water about 240 miles off the coast of Louisiana. It’s the first of the four deepwater drilling permits approved by BOEMRE since the spill that would allow new drilling…Exxon Mobil had received approval to drill the new well prior to the spill, but the project was halted in the aftermath of the disaster. The company had to receive approval from BOEMRE under a series of new safety standards put in place in the aftermath of the spill….The Interior Department announced Tuesday it has approved another Gulf of Mexico deepwater drilling permit under a series of beefed-up safety standards…It’s the fourth such approval for the type of project that was halted in the aftermath of last year’s Gulf oil spill…The approval comes a day after Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) approved the first deepwater exploration plan in the Gulf since the spill, a key step in moving forward with new drilling in the region.

Dem. Senators argue that cuts to Commodity Futures Trading Commission will increase gas prices — that’s weird, I always thought high gas prices were the result of the war on affordable and reliable energy The Hill (3/22/11) reports: Forty-five Senate Democrats have written a letter to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) arguing that the $56.8 million in cuts to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission proposed under House Republicans’ long-term government funding resolution could lead to higher gas prices…In the letter, which was spearheaded by Sens. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), the Democrats argue that the cuts to the regulatory agency “will condemn our country to continued reliance on foreign oil and allow market manipulation that could lead to gas prices rising unchecked.”

While Germany and Italy renounce nuclear energy in a fit of hysteria, Japan emerges as the voice of reason Bloomberg (3/22/11) reports: Japan remains committed to nuclear power after a tsunami crippled the Fukushima Dai-Ichi plant, leaking radiation, because the country needs non-polluting energy sources, the government’s nuclear safety spokesman said…“While people may become more cautious, renewable energy alone isn’t sufficient, so nuclear power is essential,” Hidehiko Nishiyama, a director general at the trade ministry, said in an interview in Tokyo yesterday…Workers have toiled round the clock to prevent Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s plant from leaking more radiation into the air and sea, after a tsunami triggered by the magnitude-9 earthquake on March 11 damaged auxiliary generators running its cooling systems. The world’s worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl in 1986 prompted officials in China and India and U.S. lawmakers to call for a review of atomic energy plans…“You can yell all you like about nuclear power, but sooner or later you’ve got to decide how we’re going to keep the lights turned on,” David Wark, a professor in high energy physics at Imperial University in London, said by phone yesterday. “You’ve got three choices: freeze, burn a lot of fossil fuels or build nuclear power plants. All those countries that are planning to build nuclear plants, in the end they don’t have any choice.”

Finally some good news — subsidies for renewable energy are getting chopped around the world as governments tighten their belts Forbes (3/23/11) reports: Many have lauded various nations for subsidizing alternative energy production as part of a concerted world-wide effort to wean humans off destructive carbon-based energy. But they forget that governments, especially when pressed by finances or fear, can change their minds rapidly…For example, much of the world is currently seeing a pull-back of government support for alternative energy, largely because governments are struggling with financial problems and are instituting austerity programs…This reduction in enthusiasm for pure green energy is most noticeable in Europe, where governments have been subsidizing–primarily solar–power producers for some time

Must be something in the water…President Obama encourages Brazil to develop their offshore oil fields but continues permitorium at home The Hill (3/21/11) reports: Republicans and the oil industry are working to translate President Obama’s weekend comments in support of Brazilian oil development into political ammunition in their battle against the White House’s U.S. drilling policies…The American Petroleum Institute, the country’s most powerful oil and gas trade association, and Republicans, including House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), said Monday that the administration should be doing more to develop U.S. oil-and-gas reserves…Here’s Sen. David Vitter (R-La.), who is among the lawmakers pushing for wider U.S. offshore drilling: “It’s ridiculous to ignore our own resources and continue going hat-in-hand to countries like Saudi Arabia and Brazil to beg them to produce more oil,” Vitter said in a statement. “We need to get serious about developing our resources here at home and working toward lower gas prices and long-term energy independence.”

A San Fran Superior Court Judge is the voice of reason in CA?! Translation of his opinion: “Really? You want to put a tax on carbon? Have you thought this out?” Reuters (3/21/11) reports: California did not adequately consider alternatives to its plan to create a cap-and-trade market for carbon emissions, a judge ruled on Monday, throwing a wrench into the most aggressive U.S. effort to combat climate change…The state’s regulator on climate change matters, the Air Resources Board (ARB), will need to consider other possibilities to meet state environmental law, San Francisco Superior Court Judge Ernest Goldsmith wrote in an opinion…In particular he said that the state had not made a thorough examination of putting a tax on carbon….”ARB seeks to create a fait accompli by premature establishment of a cap and trade program before alternatives can be exposed to public comment and properly evaluated by ARB itself,” he ruled…California has forged ahead with its climate change plan, arguing it will attract new “green” business as it improves the environment, and environmentalists see its success as key to any future U.S. federal effort. Key to California’s plan is to establish a limit on total greenhouse gas emissions and let companies and power plants trade for the right to pollute.

Western Energy Alliance comes out with a “Top Ten” that highlights how bureaucrats are slowly destroying American energy Washington Examiner (3/20/11) reports: America’s 13 original colonies revolted against King George III because among other things, according to our Declaration of Independence, the British sovereign “erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance.”…One might easily conclude that George’s descendants are now in charge in Washington, based on an examination by the Western Energy Alliance of how the federal government today is suffocating the U.S. energy industry with a flood of red tape and swarms of officious bureaucratic regulators…In a new report on the “Top Ten Ways the Federal Government is Preventing Onshore Oil and Natural Gas Production,” the WEA lays out in excruciating details why it takes years just to get the bureaucrats in Washington to give the go-ahead to drill a well that may or may not result in the production of oil or natural gas.

Salazar may have big plans for coal in Wyoming, but I heard a rumor he is heading up to cowboy country in order to get a new hat that fits his ego Business Week (3/21/11) reports: Interior Secretary Ken Salazar plans to make a “major energy announcement” with Gov. Matt Mead on Tuesday, prompting speculation of some kind of development involving the state’s vast coal industry…Interior Department spokeswoman Kendra Barkoff declined to say Monday what the announcement will be about. Mead spokesman Renny MacKay also declined to comment…But environmentalist Jeremy Nichols with WildEarth Guardians said he’s concerned that the talk he’s been hearing is true — that the announcement will involve “a fair amount of cheerleading for the coal industry.”…Wyoming produces about 40 percent of the nation’s coal, far more than any other state. Nearly all is mined from the Powder River Basin in northeast Wyoming…Wyoming also is a major source of oil, natural gas, uranium and wind power, all of which the Interior Department regulates in one way or another.

Relive your childhood comic reading by going to this link — it has to do with windmills, Al Gore and Don Quixote

What does the Obama Administration have against poor people? Increased energy costs means less disposable income for other goods or services Reuters (3/21/11) reports: Shoppers plan to wait until next year and beyond to spend generously again, a survey on Monday showed, in an early sign that rising gasoline prices could make the spring selling season tough for retailers…About three-quarters of Americans surveyed by America’s Research Group said they were shopping less due to rising gas prices, with more than 62 percent of the participants planning to spend generously only next year or beyond…Consumer spending accounts for about two-thirds of the U.S. economy…”The American shopper was extremely cautious before. And now I’d say they are extremely worried,” said Britt Beemer, president of America’s Research Group…”What we are going to see happen is that consumers will try and cut back on all discretionary purchases, until finally they are going to have to make a decision at some point what do I really have to give up?” Beemer said.

Rep. Markey, is that a challenge? It will not be easy, but Americans could produce an additional 5 million barrels of oil a day The Hill (3/21/11) reports: The United States military action against Libya is motivated by a desire for affordable and accessible oil, a top Democrat on environmental issues said Monday…Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.), the ranking member of the House Natural Resources Committee, said he agreed with President Obama’s decision to launch, along with allies, attacks against Libya and its leader, Moammar Gadhafi. But Markey said the attacks were primarily motivated by oil…”We are in Libya because of oil,” Markey said on MSNBC. “It all goes back to the 5 million barrels of oil we import from OPEC on a daily basis.”…”I think all Americans know why the president made this strike,” he said. “As long as no American soldiers are on the ground … then I think it’s a good decision for the president.”…Political unrest in Libya and other Middle Eastern nations with high oil production contributed to higher prices per barrel of crude oil, which translates to higher energy costs — particularly in gasoline. (Oil was up to above $102/barrel as of midday trading on Monday.

Captain CAAAAAVEMAAAAAAANNNN. Chu seeks to rescue us from high gas prices by returning to the stone age. How ’bout we just drill instead Fox News (3/20/11) reports: Reduced demand in Japan combined with uncertainty in Libya has caused short-term instability in the price of gasoline globally, but it’s nearly impossible to mitigate the long-term effects without changes in energy policy, President Obama’s point-man on the topic said Sunday….Energy Secretary Steven Chu, who in 2008 called for ramping up gas prices to those comparable to Europe in order to coax Americans toward green energy, said that as head of his department, he’s working on “developing methods to take the pain out of high gas prices.”…”The recent spike in gasoline prices following that huge spike in 2007, 2008 is a reminder to Americans that the price of gasoline over the long haul should be expected to go up just because of supply and demand issues. And so we see this in the buying habits of Americans as they make choices for the next car they buy,” Chu told “Fox News Sunday.”He said part of the Obama administration approach is to increase mileage standards and support the development of electric vehicles that could have batteries that last 200 to 300 miles on a single charge.

North to the Future: Having mastered the art of revoking permits they have already issued, EPA now sets it sights on killing projects before a permit is even filed E & E (3/18/11) reports: A large mining project proposed for southwest Alaska has sparked a lobbying battle between some area residents who say it would help the region’s economy and others who fear environmental degradation to nearby Bristol Bay and its major salmon run…The Pebble Project, located about 200 miles southwest of Anchorage, is believed to contain large quantities of gold, copper and molybdenum, an element used as an alloying agent in cast iron and steel…The Pebble Partnership, an alliance between London-based Anglo American and Vancouver-based Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd., is still in the advanced exploration phase for the mine and no permit applications have yet been submitted…This week representatives from Alaska Native Corporations were in Washington meeting with Obama administration officials and lawmakers, urging them to give full consideration to the project when an application is filed. They are trying to counter efforts from environmentalists who want to kill the mine. Project opponents will be in Washington later this month for lobbying of their own…”We believe in due process,” said Trefon Angasan, chairman of Alaska Peninsula Corp., which includes several villages in the state. He’s also a consultant for the Pebble Partnership on regional and Native issues.

Michael “The Fish” Bromwich wets our beak with third Gulf permit; wants $500 million to finish the job.  Pay up Congress or the gas tank gets it National Journal (3/21/11) reports: The Interior Department on Friday issued a deepwater drilling permit to ATP Oil & Gas, the third permit approved since the BP oil spill…The first two permits were issued to Noble Energy and BHP Billiton in the past several weeks. The ATP well is located about 90 miles south of Venice, La., and is already at a depth of 4,000 feet because of drilling activities in 2008 and ’09. The company was about to install a production facility at the well when the Obama administration banned all deepwater drilling in the Gulf of Mexico after the massive BP spill…Michael Bromwich, who directs the Interior Department’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation, and Enforcement, said after a House hearing on Thursday that additional deepwater permits were imminent, although he wouldn’t say when they might be issued…Reports throughout the week speculated that as many as four additional permits could be issued, and Bromwich has said to expect more. He also said on Thursday that a lack of resources and additional inspectors will hinder his agency’s ability to issue permits in a timely manner.

Sit back, relax and enjoy the flight.  Big Wind forced to defend itself — in Hollywood of all places Washington Post (3/18/11) reports: Faucets don’t spit fire in “Windfall,” making its local premiere Saturday at the Environmental Film Festival. But incendiary water may be the only side effect not associated with wind power in Laura Israel’s absorbing, sobering documentary about the lures and perils of green technology…With the Oscar-nominated “Gasland” (and its flame-throwing plumbing) enlightening viewers on the environmental and public health implications of natural gas drilling, and with nuclear power’s reputation in meltdown as a global community turns an anxious gaze toward Japan, some hardy souls may see hope in wind power. After seeing “Windfall,” those optimists will probably emerge with their faith, if not shaken, at least blown strongly off course…“Windfall” takes place in Meredith, N.Y., a once-thriving dairy-farming community of fewer than 2,000 tucked into a bucolic Catskills valley that is teetering between post-agricultural poverty and hip gentrification. When Irish energy company Airtricity offers leases to build windmills on some residents’ properties, the deals initially seem like a win-win. A little extra money in the pockets of struggling farmers, an environmentally sound technology, those graceful white wings languorously slicing the afternoon sky — what’s not to like?

Bill Withers solar energy subsidies remix: Ain’t no sunshine when the money is gone. It’s not warm when the money is away Green Tech Solar (3/18/11) reports: The Garden State, New Jersey, is the sixth-largest solar market in the world. If solar capacity were to be calculated on a per-square-mile basis, New Jersey would lead the nation…And it’s not because of ample solar resources, but rather because of political will and an informed renewable energy policy. In New Jersey’s case, it’s an SREC program as opposed to a feed-in tariff or California Solar Initiative-type rebate…As detailed by Shayle Kann, Managing Director of GTM Solar Research in his recent U.S. Utility PV Report, “New Jersey has long been the country’s second-largest state market behind California, but has only recently begun to develop a utility market. With a large RPS solar requirement that ramps up increasingly in later years the state is poised to lead the East Coast utility market…Growth in New Jersey solar is due to a number of factors, including state and federal incentives, the extension of the 1603 tax grant program, and the 100 percent bonus depreciation provision in the 2010 Tax Relief Act. The bonus depreciation allows companies to claim an immediate deduction of 100 percent of the eligible costs of a solar facility in the first year, instead of depreciating it over five years.

Even the NYT admits there’s no way around nuclear energy New York Times (3/20/11) reports: The three-pronged disaster in Japan — earthquake, tsunami and radiation leakage — has stirred a global outpouring of sympathy and good will. But the nuclear catastrophe is what really has the world on edge…People as far afield as Texas, fearing that a noxious plume will come their way, are raiding drugstores for potassium iodide to protect against radiation, despite experts’ assurances that the plumes will disperse over the Pacific Ocean. In Japan, some people are fleeing Tokyo, and there is grave concern for the workers heroically trying to bring the plant under control…Big nuclear accidents are rare, but their psychological effect is immense in terms of sowing fear in a broad population. “Radiation is something you can’t see, can’t smell, can’t taste,” said Dale Klein, a former chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission who is now associate director of the Energy Institute at the University of Texas at Austin.

We repeat: For Germany, there’s no way around nuclear energy Der Spiegel (3/18/11) reports: German Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke before the Bundestag, the lower house of the federal parliament, on Thursday, to explain why she had issued an official decree earlier in the week temporarily shutting down seven older nuclear power plants and subjecting all of Germany’s 17 plants to strict safety reviews…”We will use the moratorium period, which we set to be short and ambitious, to drive the change in energy policy and accelerate it wherever possible, because we want to reach the age of renewable energy as quickly as possible,” Merkel said…The controversial move comes as a response to worries that Germany could one day experience something similar to what is happening in Japan. It is also being viewed, at least temporarily, as backtracking from a law her government — a coalition made up of her Christian Democratic Union (CDU), its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), and the business-friendly Free Democratic Party (FDP) — passed last autumn that extends the lifespans of nuclear power plants in Germany by an average of 12 years. The law amended legislation passed in 2002 that mandated a nuclear phase-out in Germany by 2021…In her speech, Merkel stressed that “German nuclear power plants are among the safest in the world” and said that what Germany really needed was a withdrawal from nuclear power “with a sense of proportion.

IER’s Dan Kish explains that the beatings at the pump will continue until morale improves Human Events (3/17/11) reports: President Obama finally held a press conference on the subject of rising gas prices last week that required anyone who has been watching his administration’s war on domestic energy to suspend disbelief.  Instead of announcing a reversal of his anti-domestic energy policies, he explained that on his watch, oil production is actually up and imports are down.  What the President failed to explain was that his energy policies have nothing to do with this, and that the U.S. would actually be producing more oil today if his administration had not been doing everything in its power to stop domestic energy production since they walked into office in January of 2009 when gasoline was $1.80 a gallon…Imports of oil into the United States are down because the unemployment rate hovers near 10% and the economy is stagnating because of anti-growth policies pushed by the EPA, the Department of the Interior, and the alphabet soup of command-and-control agencies of the administration who have been sicced on the productive sectors of our economy.  In fact, in the President’s first year in office—2009—the U.S. used less oil than it did in 1978.  That means fewer imports, along with the fewer jobs Americans know all too much about.

IER’s Kish has clearly had enough. Calls Bulls#@t, literally, on Sen. Shumer’s resurrection of the bogus “use it or lose it” claim. Daily Caller (3/16/11) reports: The idea that oil companies that pay rent to the government for the right to look for oil are sitting on it for profit is “pure bullshit,” said Daniel Kish, vice president for policy at the conservative Institute for Energy Research…As oil prices creep back above $100 a barrel, Senate Democrats are dusting off a plan first unveiled in 2008 to take away federal leases from oil companies that rent federal land but don’t use it for drilling and exploration…The revived bill, which is co-sponsored by Sens. Robert Menendez of New Jersey, Bill Nelson of Florida and Charles Schumer of New York, would charge oil companies an extra fee on every acre they are not using for energy production and would force companies to show that they are actively seeking energy sources in the area.

And on to the next cat. Obama takes a break from killing oil production to concentrate on coal. Let the necessarily skyrocketing electricity prices begin. Wall Street Journal (3/16/11) reports: The Obama administration on Wednesday proposed requiring power plants using coal or fuel oil to reduce emissions of mercury and certain other hazardous pollutants by 91%, in a move that could accelerate the U.S. shift toward natural gas…If adopted, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson said, the standards would prevent as many as 17,000 premature deaths a year..The EPA says the annual cost to meet the new regulation will be about $11 billion in 2016, and that it will increase consumers’ electric bills on the order of three or four dollars a month…The announcement comes as some Republicans have targeted the EPA for budget cuts, saying regulations like the one proposed on Wednesday go too far…American Electic Power Co. and some other utilities have expressed concern they won’t have time to bring their coal-fired plants into compliance on roughly half a dozen regulations expected to be proposed or adopted by the EPA over the next 20 months that target pollution.

Washington has ruined your vehicle, your light bulbs, washing machines, you get the idea Wall Street Journal (3/17/11) reports: It might not have been the most stylish, but for decades the top-loading laundry machine was the most affordable and dependable. Now it’s ruined—and Americans have politics to thank…In 1996, top-loaders were pretty much the only type of washer around, and they were uniformly high quality. When Consumer Reports tested 18 models, 13 were “excellent” and five were “very good.” By 2007, though, not one was excellent and seven out of 21 were “fair” or “poor.” This month came the death knell: Consumer Reports simply dismissed all conventional top-loaders as “often mediocre or worse.”…How’s that for progress?…The culprit is the federal government’s obsession with energy efficiency. Efficiency standards for washing machines aren’t as well-known as those for light bulbs, which will effectively prohibit 100-watt incandescent bulbs next year. Nor are they the butt of jokes as low-flow toilets are. But in their quiet destruction of a highly affordable, perfectly satisfactory appliance, washer standards demonstrate the harmfulness of the ever-growing body of efficiency mandates.

Baby steps — onshore permits for energy production are issued out west Denver Post (3/16/11) reports: The federal Bureau of Land Management will boost permit approvals for oil and gas drilling on public lands 44 percent in 2011, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said Tuesday…Salazar said the bureau, one of the agencies he oversees, is set to approve about 7,200 permits in 2011, compared with 5,000 in 2010…”We are leaning into the production side onshore,” Salazar said at a media roundtable in Oklahoma City…The bureau is set to hold 33 oil and gas lease sales this year and a similar number in 2012, said Bob Abbey, the BLM director…The next lease sale in Colorado is scheduled for May 12, with 11 parcels in Garfield County and one in Rio Blanco totaling 7,045 acres being offered…”It is encouraging to hear they are addressing permitting (issues),” said Kathleen Sgamma, director of government affairs for the Western Energy Alliance, an industry trade group…”But that is only part of the process. Project approvals are at a standstill,” Sgamma said….Those approvals are being slowed by re-evaluations of existing plans and environmental analysis