“Using official government sources, the National Federation of Independent Business calculates there are more than 4,000 federal rules in the pipeline, and that just the 13 biggest ones would, if imposed in an Obama second term, cost businesses a total of more than $515 billion over four years.” [Investor’s Business Daily]
Month: September 2012
Legal challenges to MATS rule held in abeyance
“Legal challenges to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s controversial Mercury and Air Toxics Standards by developers of new power plants are held in abeyance, by order of a federal court, while the agency reconsiders aspects of the standards.” [State Journal]
War on Coal
“Kentucky, Ohio, West Virginia and Pennsylvania—the heart of Appalachia—have been hardest hit by nine regulations proposed or finalized by the Obama administration’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that critics say will cripple this region’s coal industry.” [Human Events]
EPA: Staff-wide Che Guevara email an ‘inadvertent error’
“Environmental Protection Agency staff opened their inboxes Thursday to find an agency-wide Hispanic Heritage Month email featuring a prominent picture of Marxist revolutionary Che Guevara, and largely plagiarized from the website Buzzle.com.” [Daily Caller]
Upton: Solyndra and Keystone pipeline present stark choice for U.S.
“An imposing wall prominently divides the visions of President Obama and congressional Republicans when it comes to economic growth and creating jobs. Solyndra is on one side and the Keystone pipeline is on the other.” [Rep. Fred Upton in the Washington Times]
Ten Lessons of the Solyndra Failure
“Today, the House of Representatives will vote on the Energy and Commerce Committee’s “No More Solyndras Act,” H.R. 6213. The legislation was authored by full committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) and Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Chairman Cliff Stearns (R-FL), drawing upon the lessons of the committee’s investigation into the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) $535 million loan guarantee to Solyndra, the California solar panel manufacturer that ultimately went bankrupt last September.” [House Energy & Commerce Committee Blog]
Rep. Morgan Griffith Questions EPA About Grants to China for Coal Production
Fossil Fuel Industry Ads Dominate TV Campaign
“When Barack Obama first ran for president, being green was so popular that oil companies like Chevron were boasting about their commitment to renewable energy, and his Republican opponent, John McCain, supported action on global warming.
As Mr. Obama seeks re-election, that world is a distant memory. Some of the mightiest players in the oil, gas and coal industries are financing an aggressive effort to defeat him, or at least press him to adopt policies that are friendlier to fossil fuels. And the president’s former allies in promoting wind and solar power and caps on greenhouse gases? They are disenchanted and sitting on their wallets.” [New York Times]
Russia will not cut emissions under extended Kyoto climate pact
“Russia confirmed on Thursday it would not make cuts in greenhouse gas emissions from 2013 under the U.N.’s Kyoto Protocol, joining Canada and Japan in rejecting an extension of the plan for fighting climate change.” [Reuters]
Gas glut threatens climate battle-IEA
“A new “golden age of gas” could derail global efforts to fight climate change as indebted governments mull a switch to the cheaper fuel, the International Energy Agency’s chief economist said on Thursday.” [Reuters]
Gore’s Climate Reality Project begs Debate Moderator Jim Lehrer: Ask Romney and Obama about Climate Change
A petition drive to con Lehrer into bringing up the issue with the presidential candidates appears to be banking on the flip-flops of Governor Romney’s position, but this could backfire in the most spectacular way if Romney issues a mea culpa on who gave him advice on global warming when he was governor, and if Romney asks why Lehrer’s PBS NewsHour has not told its audience about the skeptic side of the issue for 16+ years. Continue reading Gore’s Climate Reality Project begs Debate Moderator Jim Lehrer: Ask Romney and Obama about Climate Change
Magic: Moms' exposure to air pollution reduces vitamin D levels in newborns
“Maternal exposure to urban levels of nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter less than 10 micro meters during the whole pregnancy was a strong predictor of low vitamin D status in newborns.” Too stupid for words — serum vitamin D more reasonably depends on diet, supplementation and/or level of sunlight exposure. [Abstract]