News

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

Greenies rejoice after shutting down a coal port in WA and retreat to their tree houses to burn animal dung for heat while the poorest among us suffer Wall Street Journal (3/15/11) reports: Environmental groups claimed a victory Tuesday when a unit of Australia-based Ambre Energy Ltd announced it withdrew its permit application for a proposed export terminal to ship coal mined in Montana and Wyoming to Asia via the Columbia River port of Longview, Washington…Millennium Bulk Terminals LLC’s withdrawal follows months of protests by citizens opposed to construction of the terminal, which was permitted by Cowlitz County officials in November. Millennium Bulk Terminals said it would reapply for a permit to export from the Columbia River port after conducting a new environmental impact study. The project’s budget was about $100 million, the company said, and was one of several coal-exporting terminals coal producers are seeking to develop on North America’s Pacific coast to meet booming demand for U.S. coal in China…Opponents of the Longview coal terminal include The Sierra Club, Earthjustice and the Washington Environmental Council.

Of course the Obama Administration wants to keep nuclear, it’s the only energy source they endorse that works Los Angeles Times (3/15/11) reports: Energy Secretary Steven Chu on Tuesday restated the Obama administration’s commitment to keeping nuclear power in the mix of renewable sources under development in the U.S., but treaded carefully around questions of how the nuclear disaster in Japan might affect that effort…”The administration believes we must rely on a diverse set of energy sources, including renewables like wind and solar, natural gas, clean coal and nuclear power,” Chu said before a House subcommittee. “The administration is committed to learning from Japan’s experience as we work to continue to strengthen America’s nuclear industry.”…No new reactors have been fully developed in the U.S. since 1979, when the partial meltdown at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania made investors and the public skittish about the safety of nuclear power…As the memory of Three Mile Island faded and concern over fossil fuels and global warming increased, the nuclear industry seemed poised for a comeback.

Bipartisan effort to restore energy sanity — Energy Tax Prevention Act passes first obstacle in the House New York Times (3/15/11) reports: Moving on a central tenet of the Republican energy and environment platform, a House committee on Tuesday approved a measure to halt the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed program to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. Republican leaders promised a floor vote on the bill before the Easter recess…The House Energy and Commerce Committee passed the bill, known as the Energy Tax Prevention Act of 2011, by a vote of 34 to 19. Three Democrats, Representatives John Barrow of Georgia, Jim Matheson of Utah and Mike Ross of Arkansas, voted with the unanimous Republican majority…The bill would repeal the E.P.A.’s finding that carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases are a threat to human health and the environment and would bar the agency from imposing new rules to control them. Its Republican sponsors argue that new limits on greenhouse gas emissions from refineries, power plants and other major sources would drive up energy prices, depress the economy and hamper job creation.

You got to know when to hold ‘em, know when to fold ‘em and know when to walk away — Sen. Reid allows vote on EPA regs. Politico (3/15/11) reports: Senate Democrats are scrambling to combat a GOP-led offensive against the Obama administration’s climate regulations ahead of a possible Wednesday floor showdown…In a surprising move, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid signaled Tuesday he would allow a floor vote on a Republican amendment to nullify the EPA’s authority to regulate greenhouse gases…Minority Leader Mitch McConnell offered the amendment — authored by Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) — to the small-business bill pending on the floor. The language mirrors the anti-EPA bill the House Energy and Commerce Committee passed during a daylong markup Tuesday…Now, Reid and other top Senate Democrats who oppose the amendment are looking for ways to kill it. And they may have a tougher time than they expected, given the momentum after the Energy and Commerce vote and anti-EPA sentiment among moderate Senate Democrats.

The score: Salazar 1 American People 0 — 5^th circuit puts a stay on Judge Feldman’s court order to either issue or decline permits for the Gulf Bloomberg (3/15/11) reports: U.S. offshore regulators aren’t required to act this month on certain Gulf of Mexico drilling permits delayed by the Obama Administration’s ban, a federal appeals court said…A three-judge panel today granted the government’s request for a reprieve from a court-ordered deadline without comment…U.S. regulators threatened to deny the seven Gulf drilling permits that U.S. District Judge Martin Feldman in New Orleans singled out for quick action if they were forced to act by his deadlines. Feldman ordered government action by March 19 on five permits and by March 31 on two additional permits…The Interior Department had asked Feldman to delay his order so that the U.S. Court of Appeals would have time to review it. When Feldman didn’t respond quickly, the U.S. turned to the appellate court.

After two years of study and despite the fact that there are 55,000 miles of oil pipelines in the U.S., the State Department can’t figure out if the Keystone Pipeline is safe. Fuel Fix (3/15/11) reports: The State Department said Tuesday it will conduct another environmental study before deciding whether to approve a proposed pipeline to deliver oil sands crude from Canada to Gulf Coast refineries — but that a decision is likely this year…The plan for another environmental impact statement was a blow to oil and gas industry leaders who had been urging the Obama administration to approve the 1,700-mile pipeline swiftly as a way to strengthen America’s partnership with Canada, create jobs and lessen the United States’ reliance on oil imported from other continents…“This much-studied and much-needed pipeline would provide a critical link to our largest energy supplier — Canada — and its vast resources of nearby and available crude oil,” said Jack Gerard, president of the American Petroleum Institute. “It is past time for the administration to approve this important infrastructure investment.”…In a news release, the API emphasized that the pipeline already has been subjected to 32 months of scrutiny under a federal law called the National Environmental Policy Act.

Risk adverse: Germany guards against the next tsunami in the Pacific by shutting down their older nuclear plants — energy prices skyrocket Bloomberg European power prices rose, surging to their highest in more than two years in Germany, where the government decided to halt the country’s seven oldest nuclear reactors following explosions at an atomic plant in Japan…Baseload electricity for next quarter in Germany, Europe’s biggest power market, rose to the highest price since November 2008. The contract increased as much as 8.75 euros, or 16 percent, to 62.75 euros ($87.23) and was at 62.70 euros as of 1:20 p.m. Berlin time, according to broker data compiled by Bloomberg. Baseload is generated and sold around the clock…“There was a massive reaction to the decision to halt the nuclear plants and that caused an intraday rally,” Kevin McDermott, a Tullett Prebon director for European energy and commodities, said today by phone from London. Volumes are set to beat yesterday’s levels, the highest this year, he said…Germany, Europe’s biggest power market, will keep its seven oldest nuclear reactors off line during a three-month moratorium it will use to evaluate the safety of the facilities, Chancellor Angela Merkel told reporters in Berlin today. The plants were all built before 1980. E.ON AG (EOAN) is already preparing to take its 878-megawatt Isar-1 reactor built in 1977 off line, and will close it in the coming days, according to a company statement.

Great article that puts the nuclear situation in Japan in perspective New York Times (3/13/11) reports: The difference between a partial meltdown and a full meltdown at a nuclear plant is enormous, both in the degree of damage and in the potential release of radiation, experts in nuclear power said…A partial meltdown, like those suspected at two reactors in northeastern Japan over the weekend, may not necessarily mean that any of the uranium fuel in the core has melted, experts said. The fuel rods may be only damaged, a portion of them having been left uncovered by cooling water long enough to crack, allowing the release of some radioactive elements in the fuel…But in a full meltdown — which could occur within hours if all cooling water was lost and the rods became completely uncovered — melting is all but guaranteed, as thousands of fuel pellets fall to the bottom of the reactor and heat themselves into a molten pool at several thousand degrees Fahrenheit.

Natural disasters make for bad policy — the nuclear situation in Japan will have lasting consequences on energy policy Wall Street Journal (3/13/11) reports: After a once-in-300-years earthquake, the Japanese have  been keeping cool amid the chaos, organizing an enormous relief and rescue operation, and generally earning the world’s admiration. We wish we could say the same for the reaction in the U.S., where the troubles at Japan’s nuclear reactors have produced an overreaction about the risks of modern life and technology…Part of the problem is the lack of media proportion about the disaster itself. The quake and tsunami have killed hundreds, and probably thousands, with tens of billions of dollars in damage. The energy released by the quake off Sendei is equivalent to about 336 megatons of TNT, or 100 more megatons than last year’s quake in Chile and thousands of times the yield of the nuclear explosion at Hiroshima. The scale of the tragedy is epic…Yet the bulk of U.S. media coverage has focused on a nuclear accident whose damage has so far been limited and contained to the plant sites. In simple human terms, the natural destruction of Earth and sea have far surpassed any errors committed by man.

The one two punch — first he takes on ethanol and now President Clinton is saying we need to permit in the Gulf of Mexico Politico (3/14/11) reports: Former President Bill Clinton said Friday that delays in offshore oil and gas drilling permits are “ridiculous” at a time when the economy is still rebuilding, according to attendees at the IHS CERAWeek conference….Clinton spoke on a panel with former President George W. Bush that was closed to the media. Video of their moderated talk with IHS CERA Chairman Daniel Yergin was also prohibited…But according to multiple people in the room, Clinton, surprisingly, agreed with Bush on many oil and gas issues, including criticism of delays in permitting offshore since last year’s Gulf of Mexico spill…“Bush said all the things you’d expect him to say” on oil and gas issues, said Jim Noe, senior vice president at Hercules Offshore and executive director of the pro-drilling Shallow Water Energy Security Coalition. But Clinton added, “You’d be surprised to know that I agree with all that,” according to Noe and others in the room…Clinton said there are “ridiculous delays in permitting when our economy doesn’t need it,” according to Noe and others.

What do DC, LA, SF have in common? They are broke. Also, they rank as top green cities — coincidence? Greener Buildings (3/14/11) reports: More than 12,600 commercial properties in the United States now meet the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s standards as Energy Star buildings, and for a third consecutive year Los Angeles tops the agency’s list of cities with the most energy efficient buildings…For a second straight year, Washington, D.C., and San Francisco hold the No. 2 and No. 3 spots, respectively…The EPA released its annual list today of the 25 cities with the most buildings that have earned Energy Star status in the past year. To qualify for the energy efficiency rating, buildings must perform in the top 25 percent of a nationwide comparison of similar properties, and performance must be independently verified by a registered architect or a licensed professional engineer.

Champion of affordable and reliable energy — Congressman John Peterson explains what’s happening in the Gulf and the bureaucratic mess Salazar oversees Centre Daily (3/15/11) reports: Interior Secretary Ken Salazar found himself between a rock and a hard place as he begged for bureaucratic bucks before the House and Senate energy committees last week…Though called to defend his department’s request for a 50 percent increase in budget funds over last year, Salazar was also grilled about why his agency prolonged its permitting freeze for deepwater drilling projects in the Gulf of Mexico amid $100-per-barrel oil and escalating tension in the Middle East. It’s hard to feel sorry for the secretary, given that his agency’s bureaucratic permitting delays have produced an energy freeze that’s kept thousands of Gulf workers unemployed and supporting businesses across the country sitting idle…Though the secretary tried to deflect criticism by citing his agency’s first deepwater permit grant since the BP spill, the fact is, this coordinated move for political cover is too little, too late. Though it’s a step in the right direction, our government still has a long way to go to get our country where we need to be…Continued inaction in the Gulf threatens to force the United States to import an extra 88 million barrels of oil a year by 2016, at a cost of $8 billion. Truckers who transport goods, farmers who use oil to raise and harvest crops and working families are now paying more at the pump as a result of this energy freeze