Day: January 2, 2011

Fred Upton = Henry Waxman-lite?

The chairman-designate of the House Energy and Commerce Committee said on Fox News Sunday today that he is in favor of regulating of carbon dioxide. According to a report in The Hill:

Asked whether he believes greenhouse gases are a problem in need of addressing at all, Upton replied, “we want to do this in a reasonable way,” and cited the need to boost development of energy sources like low-emissions coal, nuclear power and natural gas to meet growing demand.

I’m sure outgoing Energy Commerce Chairman Henry Waxman thought his plan to regulate CO2 was “reasonable” as well.

Prepare yourself for the coming GOP wimp-out…

Not too bright about coal at the Washington Post

The front-page of the today’s Washington Post Business section features a lengthy article about investors and utilities shunning coal (Coal’s Burnout: Have investors moved on to cleaner energy sources?).

This photo took up about one-fourth of the front-page:

The photo was captioned:

In the battle over coal’s place in U.S. energy policy, President Obama hopes to prod utilities and manufacturers to switch to natural gas to lower greenhouse gas emissions.

Sadly, that is not a photo of coal; it is charcoal. And charcoal is not coal. Not even close. This particular charcoal was obviously made from trees. It was not mined. It is not the same substance that provides nearly one-half of our electricity.

You may remember when, in March 2008, the Washington Post ran the image below of a hazy Beijing, attributing the haze to carbon dioxide — even though CO2 is invisible and plays no role in the formation of smog.

It kind of makes you wonder about the Post‘s opposition to coal since it seems to know little about it.

Memo to the Washington Post: The photo below is of the fruit known as grapes; but that does not mean they are grapefruit.

(h/t Johnny Lucid)

One cheer for Arizona…

There’s good news and bad news from Arizona, according to a report in the Arizona Republic.

The good news is that the state is refusing to implement the EPA’s new climate regulations, which go into effect today.

The bad news is that the state is allowing the EPA to enforce the rules since it is afraid the agency might otherwise move to stop construction projects and hurt the state’s economy.

But why not force the agency’s hand? Make it go to court. Force Obama to explain why he wants to hurt the state for no good reason. Make a federal judge rule against the state. Make the Supreme Court rule against the state. Put the rogue federal government on display for all to see. Light a fire under Arizona’s governor and its congressional delegation.

Let’s not just go gently into that good night.