A first-of-its kind study from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce reports that stalled energy projects are costing the New York economy $36.2 Billion and More Than 60,000 Jobs. (Progress Denied: A Study on the Potential Economic Impact of Permitting Challenges Facing Proposed Energy Projects).
Category: Climate & Energy
EPA GHG regs put biomass plant at risk
Thanks to EPA’s new greenhouse gas permitting authority, a proposed Wisconsin biomass plant has come under fire from green activists. According to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel report:
It doesn’t make sense to issue a permit for the project because it would add emissions of carbon dioxide at a rate much higher than a natural gas-fueled power plant, said Mary Booth, an ecologist who is researching biomass projects for a national coalition called the Partnership for Policy Integrity.
“We looked at the permit numbers, and the emissions of greenhouse gases are six times higher from biomass than in the natural gas boiler,” she said. “It’s right there in the numbers, and yet they say we’re not going to consider any further use of natural gas as a way to make this facility cleaner because this is a biomass project.”
Penn State's Integrity Crisis Heats Up
Penn State’s “exoneration” of hokey stick inventor Michael Mann is not improving with age. As thoroughly reported today at WattsUpWithThat.com, Climategate figure Eugene Wahl confessed to deleting e-mails at Mann’s request — a discovery that not only raises further questions about Mann’s honesty to Penn State investigators, but one that should also focus attention on the school’s shoddy investigation of Climategate.
Oregon Dems attack climate skeptic’s children
Democrat-run Oregon State University is apparently retaliating against climate skeptic and Republican congressional candidate Dr. Art Robinson by taking action without cause against his three graduate student children.
Robinson put together the petition against climate alarmism signed by 31,000+ U.S. scientists and unsuccessfully challenged Rep. Peter DeFazio in OR-4 last year.
Shocker: EPA air chief ignorant of atmospheric CO2 level
At today’s House Energy and Power Subcommittee hearing on EPA’s job killing greenhouse gas regulations, Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX) asked panel witness Gina McCarthy — chief of EPA’s air programs, including the agency’s greenhouse gas regulations — whether she had any idea of what the atmospheric level of carbon dioxide is, SHE ADMITTED THAT SHE DID NOT! Continue reading Shocker: EPA air chief ignorant of atmospheric CO2 level
Is Obama With Eye On ’12 Mulling An EPA Rollback?
By Steve Milloy
March 1, 2011, Investor’s Business Daily
It looks as though President Obama may have decided that getting re-elected in 2012 is more important than saving the planet from the much-dreaded global warming. Continue reading Is Obama With Eye On ’12 Mulling An EPA Rollback?
Is Obama prepping the left for bad news on EPA?
The coincidence of:
- Sen. Sherrod Brown’s letter to Obama about EPA regs;
- Pew Center chief Eileen Claussen’s “prediction” in today’s Guardian about Obama; and
- Grist.org’s howling about the Brown letter,
may be signs that Obama is preparing his base for the impending news that the EPA will be delaying implementation of its greenhouse gas regulations by two years.
And, no, a two year delay is most certainly not good enough — it’s just a ploy to help Obama skate through the 2012 election.
Senate Dem writes Obama about EPA job-killing
Greenwire reports that Ohio Democrat Sherrod Brown has complained to President Obama about the threat to jobs posed by EPA greenhouse gas regulation. Brown’s letter to Obama stated,
“…Without careful consideration, the unintended consequences of imprudent regulation could ultimately undermine our shared objectives of reducing GHG emissions and spurring economic growth… It is disconcerting that, to my knowledge, the EPA has neither a plan in place nor the authority to provide these protections to U.S. manufacturing, a sector of the economy critical to the continued economic recovery of my state and so many others…”
If enough Senate Democrats get antsy about the EPA regs, Obama will be forced to give up his dream of advancing socialism through greenhouse gas regulation.
Click for Brown’s media release and letter.
Click here for the greens’ meltdown.
First sign of Obama caving on EPA regulation?
In “Barack Obama may be forced to delay US climate action” (The Guardian, Feb. 28), prominent green activist Eileen Claussen is quoted as saying,
“If I was predicting, I would say that [Obama] might sign a delay provision, to delay the EPA effort for two years or something like that. It probably depends on the particular circumstances… I would bet that if it was a delay, and it was part of a money bill that was really important, he would sign it.”
If Obama really is considering this move, it would merely be a ploy to help get him past the 2012 election, after which time, his EPA could then get back to regulating greenhouse gases.
Republicans ought not fall for a trick that doesn’t help our economy (a two-year delay simply extends energy sector uncertainty), and possibly helps Obama’s re-election chances.
Wimp & Sellout Watch No. 7
While we have high hopes that the newly empowered Republican Members of Congress will make every effort to fight the socialization of America, we are also aware that the GOP has an ignominious history of wimping- and/or selling-out, especially on environmental issues. Wimp & Sellout Watch is GreenHellBlog’s effort to spotlight the GOP’s weak links because:
In the 112th Congress, it should take more courage for GOP-ers to retreat than to advance.
Today’s update on potential wimps and sellouts to watch:
House GOP leadership. Greenwire reports,
House Republicans are preparing a two-week government funding bill for debate next week that amounts to a short-term version of the $60 billion in federal cuts they approved last week — but without that longer legislation’s restrictive riders on U.S. EPA and other agencies…
A House GOP aide confirmed that the two-week CR will not include language barring EPA from implementing its politically volatile greenhouse gas emissions rules, its transition to a higher ethanol blend in transportation fuels, its pending limits on water pollution from coal mining operations and other riders that Republicans attached to their seven-month CR before its final passage early Saturday.
Cantor, House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and their lieutenants today repeatedly said the newest CR amounts to the GOP’s second attempt to avert a shutdown, compared with the lack of action on a CR in the upper chamber.
“If they walk away from this offer, they are then actively engineering a government shutdown,” Rep. Peter Roskam (R-Ill.) told reporters, describing his conference’s new CR as “a commitment to keep the government open” beyond the current funding bill’s expiration. [Emphasis added]
Yeesh…..
Don’t forget to check out previous editions of Wimp & Sellout Watch:
- No. 6 — Spotlighting Rep. Mike Simpson.
- No. 5 — Spotlighting Rep. Fred Upton.
- No. 4 — Spotlighting Rep. Fred Upton.
- No. 3 — Spotlighting Rep. Mike Simpson.
- No. 2 — Spotlighting Sens. Lindsey Graham and Rob Portman.
- No. 1 — Spotlighting Sens. Chuck Grassley, Rob Portman, Lindsey Graham and Scott Brown, and Rep. Fred Upton.
NYT: Solar Energy Faces Tests On Greenness
“Just weeks after regulators approved the last of nine multibillion-dollar solar thermal power plants to be built in the Southern California desert, a storm of lawsuits and the resurgence of an older solar technology are clouding the future of the nascent industry.” (New York Times)
Ever thought the greenies are just plain anti-energy?
Marcellus shale gas 'dirtier' than coal?
That’s what Cornell scientists claim, but two times a non-detectable effect is still a non-detectable effect. Baltimore Sun