CEI Today: new EPA e-document dump, cost of carbon tax, and Virginia's pension reforms

EPA EMAIL SCANDAL, CEI FOIA REQUEST - CHRISTOPHER HORNER

At about 4:55 p.m. on Monday, the Environmental Protection Agency finally complied with a court order to deliver the first of four sets of emails in response to a lawsuit filed by Christopher Horner, a senior fellow in the Center for Energy and the Environment at the Competitive Enterprise Institute.

EPA owed CEI a cache of identified emails to or from EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson (by pure coincidence, that’s now "outgoing Administrator Jackson”...), using one or more of four keywords: coal, climate, endanger/endangerment and/or MACT ("war on coal" emails).

Horner shared his initial analysis of the data dump here.

> Interview Christopher Horner

> View A Timeline of the EPA's "Richard Windsor" Email Scandal

> See also: EPA releases more than 2,100 emails from agency chief Lisa Jackson’s ‘alias’ account

 

CARBON TAX - MARLO LEWIS Globalwarming.org: One Million Fewer Jobs Created by 2016 under ‘Modest’ Carbon Tax   Heritage Foundation economists David Kreutzer and Nicolas Loris have posted an assessment of the economic impacts of a carbon tax that starts out at $25 per ton and increases by 5% annually (after adjusting for inflation). Here’s what they found. A ‘modest’ carbon tax, as described above, would: Cut the income of a family of four by $1,900 per year in 2016 and lead to average losses of $1,400 per year through 2035; Raise the family-of-four energy bill by more than $500 per year (not counting the cost of gasoline); Cause gasoline prices to increase by up to $0.50 gallon, or by 10 percent on an average gallon price; and Lead to an aggregate loss of more than 1 million jobs by 2016 alone. [click to continue…] > Interview Marlo Lewis

PENSION REFORM - IVAN OSORIO Openmarket.org: Worthwhile Pension Reform Proposal in the Old Dominion The Speaker of the House of Delegates has proposed shifting state employees from defined benefit to defined contribution retirement plans, such as 401(k) accounts. Government employee unions are their legislative allies are certain to fight such a change, and their opposition is bound to be fierce. But lawmakers who are serious about securing the Old Dominion’s fiscal future should not be deterred from pursuing far-reaching pension reform, which is a fight worth having.  > View the full commentary at Openmarket.org > Inteview Ivan Osorio

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