Politics not Policy Guiding the RFS

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is required by law to set the amount of biofuel they will require to be blended with gasoline for the following year. They are tasked with doing this before December to give businesses some idea of what their mandates will be for the upcoming year. But we are more than […]

Continue Reading...

Cellulosic Ethanol Continues to Fail

In 2007, President Bush signed the Energy Independence and Security Act. The bill amended the Renewable Fuel Standard and mandated that increasing amounts of cellulosic ethanol be blended with gasoline and diesel every year, with the provision that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) may reduce the mandated amounts. But year after year, the technological advances […]

Continue Reading...

Obama’s Budget: A Masterpiece of Energy Wastefulness

President Obama just released his fiscal 2015 budget[i] that spends lavishly on his pet projects including his epically-misnamed “all of the above” energy program. But, instead of keeping miners in their coal jobs that historically supplied the nation with most of its electricity, he is putting his dollars on ‘clean coal and natural gas’; instead of opening […]

Continue Reading...

In the Pipeline: 8/16/13

You got to know when to hold ’em, know when to fold ’em… The Boston Globe (8/9/13) reports: “A group of environmentalists has dropped its campaign to place a so-called carbon tax on the next statewide ballot, citing the complexity of the issue, weak fund-raising, and potential constitutional challenges to the question. The group, the Committee […]

Continue Reading...

In the Pipeline: 8/15/13

Question: Would Warren & Co. go all in on wind if they weren’t able to feed themselves greedily from the public coffers?   The Daily Caller (8/13/13) reports: “A subsidiary of the Warren Buffett-owned MidAmerican Energy Holdings is looking to capitalize on federal tax subsidies by installing 448 wind turbines across five Iowa counties in order to […]

Continue Reading...

In the Pipeline: 7/30/13

Skittishly dancing around the issue is unbecoming and childish. Fred Upton is right. E&E News (07/29/13) reports: “The prospect of a House vote on a carbon tax turns Rep. Fred Upton, chairman of the House Energy Committee to thoughts of, well, love. He grasped a reporter by both shoulders last week and, when asked about […]

Continue Reading...

In the Pipeline: 7/18/13

Fighting the good fight. AEA (7/18/13) reports: “The American Energy Alliance launched two sets of radio advertisements today educating Americans on the harms of a carbon tax. The ads, which will run in Arizona, Florida, Illinois, New Jersey, and New York, ask listeners to contact Representatives Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), Patrick Murphy (D-Fla.), Bill Enyart (D-Ill.), Chris Smith […]

Continue Reading...

In the Pipeline: 7/11/13

It is sad that the Administration has been reduced to hiding behind Senator Boxer’s skirts. Sad and repulsive. Environment and Public Works Committee (7/9/13) reports: “U.S. Sen. David Vitter (R-La.), top Republican on the Environment and Public Works Committee (EPW), today was joined by fellow EPW Republicans in sending a letter to Chairman Barbara Boxer (R-Calif.) asking […]

Continue Reading...

In the Pipeline: 7/8/13

A fitting and ironic end. Unfortunately, the damage done by the peak oil disciples will not be unwound quite so abruptly. The Oil Drum (7/3/13) reports: “A few weeks ago the ISEOF board (The Institute for Energy and Our Future that facilitates The Oil Drum), Euan, Super G, JoulesBurn, and Myself, met to discuss the future of […]

Continue Reading...