SaddleBrooke Republican Club » Energy and Environment

EPA’s Attack on Coal Hits Electricity Bills

Romina Boccia — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 20:56:48 +0000

The U.S. coal industry is facing a grim outlook in 2012, and the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) pollution rules are one big reason. The Mercury and Air Toxics Standards and the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule have contributed to the premature shutdown of several coal plants and the idling of coal mines across the country. The EPA’s attack on coal is sending electricity bills skyrocketing as more expensive sources of energy take coal’s place. While anti-coal protestors cheer, American families are paying the price. Alpha Natural Resources, a major Appalachian coal … More

Georgia Commissioner Seeks Reforms for Nuclear Waste Management

Rob Bluey — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 13:05:08 +0000

State public service officials are gathered in Washington, D.C., this week for the winter meeting of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners. One of shining stars involved in NARUC is a Georgian named Tim Echols, who hopes to transform America’s system of nuclear waste management. Echols won a statewide election in November 2010 to serve on the Georgia Public Service Commission. Today he leads the commission as its chairman. With nuclear energy making a strong resurgence in Georgia — two new plants are under construction — Echols has taken … More

One Group’s Strategy to Derail Oil Pipelines, Raise Energy Prices

Lachlan Markay — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 19:56:29 +0000

Details of a large non-profit’s plans to combat the Keystone XL pipeline have surfaced, and offer some insight into the strategies and tactics of groups looking to combat the use of fossil fuels. Canadian news channel Sun News uncovered of a PowerPoint presentation from the Rockefeller Brothers Fund detailing its work with other groups to derail the Keystone XL pipeline and other similar projects it deemed parts of “a globally significant threat.” The presentation, written in 2008, describes the allocation of $7 million to environmental non-profits for tactics that include … More

Transportation Agreement Seems Remote

Randal O'Toole — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 13:33:30 +0000

House Republicans and Senate Democrats remain at loggerheads over the future of federal highway and transit funding. Although House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee Chair John Mica introduced a compromise transportation bill this week, few are pleased with his proposal. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood, for example, calls it “the worst transportation bill” he has ever [...]

Transportation Agreement Seems Remote is a post from Cato @ Liberty - Cato Institute Blog

We Need Wind Subsidies Like We Need VHS Subsidies

Nicolas Loris — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 20:00:47 +0000

Remember VHS? Imagine this: VHS has been a staple of the American way of watching television and movies. VHS has supported countless manufacturing jobs, and even though there are better products out there, let’s face it: We need a variety of ways to watch our programs. The states and local economies that have VHS production facilities have experienced and benefited from VHS production, but without a little help from the taxpayers, jobs will be lost and the industry will atrophy. VHS production has bipartisan support, will be good for American … More

Time to End Energy Tax Subsidies

Nicolas Loris — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 18:15:10 +0000

Today, Senators Jim DeMint (R–SC) and Mike Lee (R–ID) introduced legislation that would move the United States a giant step forward in making our country’s energy market freer by eliminating targeted tax credits for energy sources and technologies. Their legislation, a companion to Representative Mike Pompeo’s (R–KS) bill, would force any tax policy that picks certain industries as winners and losers in the market to expire at the end of the year and expedite sunsets for tax credits extending multiple years. And it goes after all targeted tax credits: oil, … More

Clean Energy: Cap and Trade Lite

David Kreutzer, Ph.D. — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 12:00:57 +0000

In his State of the Union address last month, President Obama requested that Congress pass legislation mandating a national clean energy standard (CES). A CES targets the CO2 emissions from the electric power industry by setting minimum percentages of total power (electricity) generation that must come from sources that emit no CO2. (It should be noted that CO2 is colorless, odorless, and non-toxic. Therefore, it is a misnomer to call CO2 dirty.) Though this sounds less threatening than cap-and-trade legislation, it can end up being pretty much the same thing. … More

Businesses Blame Drilling Slowdown for Loss of Jobs, Revenue

Alison Meyer — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 21:57:36 +0000

More than 15 months after the Obama administration lifted its ban on offshore drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, oil and gas supply and service companies report they are suffering significant financial hardships from the government’s actions. The moratorium — as well as the slow pace of permitting that followed — have suffocated businesses, costing jeopardizing millions in business revenue and even forcing some to close their doors, according to a survey conducted by Greater New Orleans Inc. Louisiana, home to 88 percent of the country’s offshore rigs, has absorbed … More

The Fracking Truth on Government’s Role in Natural Gas Production

Nicolas Loris — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 18:00:22 +0000

President Obama has been on a kick to promote natural gas production. He said in his State of the Union address, “And by the way, it was public research dollars, over the course of 30 years, that helped develop the technologies to extract all this natural gas out of shale rock—reminding us that government support is critical in helping businesses get new energy ideas off the ground.” There are two very big problems with this statement. First, it makes it sound as if the government invented the technology, commercialized it, … More

Obama’s Words Don’t Match with Action on Oil and Gas

Romina Boccia — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 20:30:48 +0000

At this State of the Union address, President Obama proudly stated that “American oil production is the highest it’s been in eight years” and declared that his Administration would “open more than 75 percent of our potential offshore oil and gas resources.” While President Obama spoke favorably of the role that oil and gas development play in America, the President’s and his Administration’s actions don’t match with his words. There are several areas where the President and his Administration are unreasonably hindering access to more oil and gas for Americans … More