Cooler Heads Digest 1 March 2013

1 March 2013

In the News

State Department: Keystone XL Would Have Little Impact on Climate
Juliet Eilperin & Steven Mufson, Washington Post, 1 March 2013

California’s Green Jobs Bust
Conn Carroll, Washington Examiner, 28 February 2013

Green Movement Has Turned into a Death Cult
Dennis Prager, Investors Business Daily, 27 February 2013

The Green Energy Religion Is Based on a False Premise
Bill Frezza, Beaufort Observer, 27 February 2013

Keystone XL: A No-Brainer
Rep. Fred Upton, National Journal, 27 February 2013

Dominion Virginia’s ‘Green’ Solar Program: Bad Economics for a Misplaced Cause
Charles Battig, Master Resource, 27 February 2013

Is Presumed EPA Nominee Gina McCarthy Trustworthy?
Anthony Ward, GlobalWarming.org, 26 February 2013

What Climate Consensus?
Peter Glover, Energy Tribune, 26 February 2013

We Should Defund the IPCC
Larry Bell, Forbes, 24 February 2013

News You Can Use
Carbon Tax Costs

According to a study published this week by the National Association of Manufacturers, a $20 per ton carbon tax would reduce household consumption by $340 in 2033, in addition to lowering employment by 2,520,000 job-equivalents. For more on advocates of a carbon tax, including AEI and Exxon Mobil, see Inside the Beltway.

Inside the Beltway
Myron Ebell

Sequester Begins With Devastating Spending Cuts

The automatic reductions of $85 billion in federal spending, known as the Sequester, which were agreed to by President Obama, Senate Democrats and House Republicans when the Budget Control Act was passed and signed into law in 2011, started going into effect today, March 1.  As President Obama has warned over the past several weeks, the consequences of cutting federal spending by 2.2 percent already are calamitous.  Bloomberg News reported that the Bureau of Labor Statistics was going to have to discontinue its survey of green jobs. 

Here’s what Bracken Hendricks, a senior fellow at the ironically named Center for American Progress and the author of a book on green energy told Bloomberg: “It’s a huge loss.  This means the U.S. will be flying blind on the growth of a very, very important sector in the U.S. economy.” 

It may be the White House agrees with my CEI colleague John Berlau, who told Bloomberg that he was glad to see the green jobs survey go.  That’s because President Obama promised in the 2008 campaign his policies would create 5 million new green jobs within a decade.  The White House later claimed $90 billion in stimulus funding had created 225,000 green jobs (at $400,000 per job).  So the president may be happy not to have be reminded by the BLS’s survey of how far he is from keeping his promise. 

For a Carbon Tax: ExxonMobil, AEI, Brookings and RFF
Against: NAM

It was a busy week for promoting and opposing a carbon tax.  Two studies on the economic effects of a carbon tax that draw opposite conclusions were released by the National Association of Manufacturers and the Brookings Institution.  Kevin Hassett, Ph.D., director of economic policy studies at the “pro-business” American Enterprise Institute, continued his advocacy of a carbon tax at a Resources for the Future forum.  And most interestingly, former EPA Administrator William K. Reilly, said at a conference that, “The strongest advocate on our task force for a carbon tax was ExxonMobil.  I had previously thought that was a public relations thing — I didn’t think they were quite interested in it.”  

The National Association of Manufacturers released a study by NERA Consulting on the Economic Outcomes of a Carbon Tax. The NAM study concludes that a tax starting at $20 per ton of carbon dioxide emitted and increasing by 4 percent per year would have a range of negative effects that would ripple through the economy.  In particular: “The negative impact of a carbon tax on total manufacturing output would be significant, with output from energy-intensive manufacturing sectors dropping as much as 15 percent and output from non-energy-intensive manufacturing sectors dropping as much as 7.7 percent.”

The NAM study also argues that: “A carbon tax would have a net negative effect on consumption, investment and jobs, resulting in lower federal revenues from taxes on capital and labor. Factoring in lost revenue from reduced economic activity, the net revenue from a carbon tax available for deficit/debt reduction and lower tax rates is relatively small.”

The Brookings Institution released a study by Adele C. Morris on The Many Benefits of a Carbon Tax.  The Brookings study proposes a tax starting at $16 per ton of carbon dioxide emitted and increasing by 4 percent per year to reduce the deficit and to lower the corporate income tax rate from 35 percent to 28 percent.  The study proposes 15 percent of the revenues from a carbon tax go to benefits for poor people who would be hurt most by higher energy prices.  Morris also argues in the study a carbon tax would make at least some EPA regulations of greenhouse gas emissions redundant and unnecessary. 

The details of a carbon tax were discussed on Feb. 27 at a Resources for the Future seminar on Comprehensive Tax Reform and Climate Policy.  A video of the seminar can be viewed here.  Participants included Kevin Hassett of the American Enterprise Institute, Billy Pizer of Duke University, Joe Aldy of Harvard University, Larry Goulder of Stanford University, Rob Williams of the University of Maryland, and Ian Parry of the International Monetary Fund.  Aldy worked as an adviser on climate policy in the Obama White House.  Pizer worked in the Treasury Department during the George W. Bush (when Henry Paulson, former CEO of Goldman Sachs, was Treasury Secretary) and Obama Administrations to devise a model carbon tax.

William K. Reilly was one of the speakers at the Climate Leadership Conference this week.  The conference was hosted by the Climate Registry, the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions and the Association of Climate Change Officers.  It was sponsored by a long list of companies and organizations, including Bloomberg BNA News.  The “headline sponsor” was the Environmental Protection Agency.

Erica Martinson filed several short reports for Politico Pro, which is available to paid subscribers only.  In one of Politico Pro’s e-mails to subscribers dated 2/28/13 12:01 PM EST Martinson wrote:

Oil companies are expecting — and sometimes advocating for — a carbon tax, former EPA Administrator William Reilly said today. Two companies, ConocoPhillips and Shell, “have a virtual tax they append to their [internal rate of return] calculations when making new capital expenditures,” he said. “It’s $25 a ton for Conoco; $75 a ton for Shell. So Congress may not be acting, but companies are anticipating somebody will someday,” Reilly said.

The George H.W. Bush-era EPA leader recently participated on an energy policy task force and found ExxonMobil’s position interesting, he said. “The strongest advocate on our task force for a carbon tax was ExxonMobil. I had previously thought that was a public relations thing — I didn’t think they were quite interested in it,” he said.

The task force Reilly refers to is the Bipartisan Policy Center’s Strategic Energy Policy Initiative, which released its report at a press conference on Feb. 27.  Reilly was one of four speakers at the press conference, along with his three fellow co-chairmen: former Sens. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., and Trent Lott, R-Miss., and Gen. James Jones, former National Security Adviser to President Obama.  Other members of the task force include William Colton, vice president of ExxonMobil, and Ralph Cavanaugh of the Natural Resources Defense Council. The task force’s 50 incoherent energy policy recommendations can be read here.

In other carbon tax news, Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, asked Treasury Secretary nominee Jacob Lew during his confirmation hearing about the Obama Administration’s position on a carbon tax.  Lew responded, “The administration has not proposed a carbon tax, nor is it planning to do so.”   The Senate confirmed Lew by a vote of 71 to 26 this week.  Senator David Vitter (R-La.), ranking Republican on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, followed up on Lew’s statement by sending a letter to President Obama asking him whether he opposes the carbon tax bill introduced by Senators Bernie Sanders (Independent Socialist-Vt.) and Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.).

Across the States
William Yeatman

Maryland Legislature Poised To Pass Empty Offshore Wind Bill

By a 7-4 vote, the Maryland Senate Finance Committee passed SB 275, the Maryland Offshore Wind Energy Act of 2013. The legislation, which was proposed by Governor Martin O’Malley, was approved by the House last week, and it is expected to soon win passage in the full Senate.

The bill would cap the amount that Maryland ratepayers would pay for offshore wind at about 13 cents per kilowatt hour. To date, the cheapest proposed offshore wind project, off the Massachusetts coast, is priced at 20 cents per kilowatt hour. Simply put, the price ceiling established by Maryland’s offshore wind legislation is almost 40 percent less than the price floor established by the market. As a result, it is highly unlikely that the Maryland Offshore Wind Energy Act will lead to wind turbines off Maryland’s coast.

Around the World
Anthony Ward

EU Financial Transaction Tax to Fund Climate Change

The European Union’s Commission has proposed a financial transaction tax (FTT) on bonds and stockholdings, and is considering using the tax revenues generated to combat climate change. The tax is currently being supported by 11 members of the EU.  Andris Piebalgs, the EU’s Commissioner on Development, said he  “wants member countries to really take [the idea of using tax revenue for climate change] seriously.”   

The FTT proposal coincides with European Climate Commissioner Connie Hedegaard’s  visit to Washington D.C.  Hedegaard is the EU’s top climate change official and has been an outspoken opponent of the Keystone XL pipeline.  At a press conference on Thursday, The Hill reports  that Hedegaard told reporters that rejecting the Keystone XL pipeline would “be an extremely strong signal from the Obama administration.”  She went on to characterize the pipeline as a harmful investment that would not “pay off  in the world we are living in.”

The Cooler Heads Digest is the weekly e-mail publication of the Cooler Heads Coalition. For the latest news and commentary, check out the Coalition’s website, www.GlobalWarming.org.

Cooler Heads Digest 22 February 2013

22 February 2013

In the News

The Electric Car Is an Abomination
Robert Tracinski, RealClearPolitics, 22 February 2013

Biofuel Mandate Destroys Grasslands
Ronald Bailey, Reason Hit & Run, 21 February 2013

Steven Chu’s Legacy of Waste and Failure
Terrence Scanlon, Washington Times, 20 February 2013

Power Density Separates the Wheat from the Chaff
Kent Hawkins, Master Resource, 20 February 2013

Climate Fear-Mongers’ Blind Faith in Suspect and Shoddy Science
Tom Harris, Washington Times, 20 February 2013

‘Gore Effect’ Strikes at Global Warming Rally
Marc Morano, CFACT, 19 February 2013

No Winners in Obama’s Green-Energy Trade War
Tim Carney, Washington Examiner, 18 February 2013

EPA’s Secret and Costly ‘Sue and Settle’ Collusion with Environmental Organizations
Larry Bell, Forbes, 17 February 2013

News You Can Use
Poll: Americans Want Keystone XL

According to a new poll by Harris Interactive, 69 percent of sampled American voters support construction of the Keystone XL pipeline. Only 17 percent oppose the project.

Inside the Beltway
Myron Ebell

Secretary of State Kerry Sees Global Warming as Biggest Threat

John F. Kerry gave his first speech as Secretary of State on 20th February.  Instead of discussing how he intends to deal with the major foreign policy challenges the United States faces, Kerry concentrated on the threats posed by climate change. Jeffrey T. Kuhner notes in an op-ed that this is a strange first signal to send to America’s enemies abroad.  

“We as a nation must have the foresight and courage to make the investments necessary to safeguard the most sacred trust we keep for our children and grandchildren: an environment not ravaged by rising seas, deadly superstorms, devastating droughts and the other hallmarks of a dramatically changing climate,” Kerry told his audience at the University of Virginia, which included many students.  He also said he would promote green energy technologies and exports by the American companies that produce those technologies. 

Having led with the need take action to stop global warming, it will be interesting to see whether Secretary Kerry advises President Obama to grant or deny the permit to build the Keystone XL Pipeline. That decision recently was put off until June. 

In the longer term, it’s pretty clear Kerry plans to take a prominent role in negotiating the successor treaty to the Kyoto Protocol.  The first compliance period to achieve mandatory reductions in greenhouse gas emissions was due to expire at the end of 2012 but was extended at COP-18 (the eighteenth Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change) in Doha, Qatar, in December.  The plan is to conclude negotiations by COP-21 in 2015 and, after allowing four years for ratification, to put the new protocol into effect in 2020.      

Richard Windsor Makes Her Appearance in Second Batch of EPA E-mails

The Environmental Protection Agency released to Chris Horner of the Competitive Enterprise Institute late in the evening on Friday, 15th February, part of the second of four batches of e-mails that respond to a Freedom of Information Act request.  EPA was forced to turn over the approximately 12,000 e-mails only after CEI filed suit in federal court.  On 20th February, the EPA released some more e-mails in order to get close to the 3,000 they promised the court they would release each month for four months.  All the e-mails have been posted on the web by the EPA and may be seen here.

Since EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson recently left office, the EPA no longer needs to guard her Richard Windsor alias e-mail address.  Thus Richard Windsor now appears as the recipient or sender of the e-mails.

Many of the e-mails are heavily redacted.  The reason claimed by EPA for most of the redactions is that they are part of the pre-decisional deliberative process and therefore exempt from FOIA.  CEI will be going back to court to challenge many of these redactions as improper and some as laughably so.  The judge will have a lot of fun reading to do.

Two e-mails that were not redacted concern the Coal Ash Rule.  The first e-mail, dated 15th December 2009, is from Allyn Brooks-LaSure in the Administrator’s office and is addressed to Jackson and several other EPA officials.  It can be found as numbered document 476 in Part B of the second release.   Brooks-LaSure writes:

Administrator, you have your own Christmas carols...

And then copies a December 15, 2009 blog post by Rob Perks, Director of the Center for Advocacy Campaigns at the Natural Resources Defense Council:

Call it a gift or a curse, but I have a thing for song parody. I'm like the Weird Al Yankovic of environmentalists. Usually my peculiar "talent" gets displayed at the office holiday party. Who can forget my odes to coal belted out last year by NRDC's in-house carolers?

Unfortunately, I missed this year's party due to travel. But never fear, I give to you the 2009 coal carol—ba-rumpa, bum, bum.

Coal Ash Regs Are Comin' To Town

She's making a list/Priority: High/Gonna find out who's wet or dry

Coal ash regs are comin' to town!

Yes, Lisa Jackson/Is making all haste/EPA's cracking down/On combustion waste

Coal ash regs are comin' to town!

She knows which landfill's leaching/She knows which pond might break/She knows they all lack liners/Close 'em down, for goodness sake!

One-thirty million tons/Ev-ery year/Spew from coal plants/Far and near.

Coal ash regs are comin' to town!

So, you better watch out/Coal waste fly/A high hazard/Either wet or dry.

Coal ash regs are comin' to town!

Apparently, putting companies out of business and workers out of jobs adds to the holiday spirit just as much at the EPA as it does at environmental pressure groups.

The second e-mail (document 506 in Part B) regarding the Coal Ash Rule is dated 30th December 2009 and lists the attendees at a forthcoming meeting to discuss the rule.  Eleven EPA officials and staffers are listed as attending along with Lisa Evans and Marty Hayden of Earthjustice, Eric Schaeffer and Jeffrey Stant of the Environmental Integrity Project, Bruce Niles and Mary Ann Hitt of the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign, Scott Slesinger of the Natural Resources Defense Council, Patrice Simms of Howard University, and Jackie Kruszewski of the Southern Environmental Law Center.  To be fair, the very next e-mail reminds Jackson of a fifteen minute phone call scheduled with Steve Leer, CEO of Arch Coal. 

Across the States
William Yeatman

New Mexico Governor Caves to EPA; Ratepayers Suffer Consequences

Last Friday, New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez (R) snatched defeat from the jaws of victory in a fight with EPA.

At issue was a Clean Air Act regulation known as Regional Haze, the purpose of which is to improve the view at National Parks. In August 2011, EPA imposed Regional Haze controls on a New Mexico power plant that would cost ratepayers in the state almost $375 million, in order to achieve an imperceptible “improvement” in visibility. The State objected to EPA’s plan, and sued in a federal appeals court. That case is pending. Due to the way that the Congress structured the Regional Haze program—such that States were made the lead decision-makers—New Mexico’s litigation was likely to succeed. Oral arguments were heard in October, and a decision was expected soon.

However, just when it appeared that a legal victory was imminent, state officials last Friday unexpectedly announced that they’d reached a deal with EPA. The compromise entailed a fuel switch from coal to gas for almost 800 megawatts of electricity generation. PNM Resources estimates that the capital costs of the settlement are $400 to $430 million, which is greater than the costs of EPA’s original, draconian plan. And this doesn’t account for fuel costs—according to PNM Resource’s regulatory filings, coal is twice as expensive as gas in New Mexico.

It’s entirely unclear what the Martinez administration was thinking. It sued EPA because the original Regional Haze plan was too expensive. Then, the administration negotiated an alternative to litigation that was more expensive than the EPA’s draconian plan. One possible explanation is that natural gas companies, which carry a great deal of weight in New Mexico politics, persuaded the Martinez administration to cave on the lawsuit, and agree with EPA to switch fuels.

The Cooler Heads Digest is the weekly e-mail publication of the Cooler Heads Coalition. For the latest news and commentary, check out the Coalition’s website, www.GlobalWarming.org.

Cooler Heads Digest 15 February 2013

15 February 2013

Announcements

On Sunday, February 17, the Sierra Club, 350.org, NRDC, and scores of other environmental groups will lead what they are billing as ‘the world’s largest ever climate rally,” on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The purpose of the Forward on Climate rally is to agitate against the Keystone XL pipeline. Click here to learn more.

At the same time and place, the Center for Industrial Progress and the Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow will hold a counter-rally, which they are calling the Light Brigade, in order to “debunk false claims, open people’s eyes and underline the importance of energy to our economic recovery.” Click here to learn more.

In the News

There’s No Reason To Oppose Keystone XL
Paul Driessen, Washington Times, 15 February 2013

Green Battery Factory Used Stimulus To Pay Employees to Play Board Games
Daniel Halper, Weekly Standard, 15 February 2013

Lessons from North Dakota’s Oilfields
John Hoeven, American Spectator, 14 February 2013

Wanted: Business Leaders To Aid President on Climate
Darren Goode, Politico, 13 February 2013

GOP: It’s Time To Look into Dodgy Wind-Credit Business
Erika Johnson, Hot Air, 13 February 2013

Obama Must Drop Green for Real Energy
Diana Furchtgott-Roth, Real Clear Markets, 12 February 2013

Taxpayer Millions and Green Batteries Don’t Mix Well
Paul Chesser, National Legal & Policy Center, 12 February 20013

Solar Industry Grapples with Hazardous Wastes
Jason Dearen, Associated Press, 10 February 2013

News You Can Use
Interested in Buying a Tesla?

The average electric vehicle gets less than 100 miles on single charge, and this limited range is a primary reason sales have fallen well short of expectations. The $79,000 Tesla Model S was supposed to be the antidote for such “range anxiety.” In addition to the Model S’s extended range (265 miles), the company is building a network of “supercharger” stations along coastal highways, in order to facilitate refueling.  At the behest of Tesla Motors, New York Times reporter John Broder last week took a long road trip in the Model S. According to his review of the experience, the Model S ran out of power 14 miles short of a Connecticut supercharger station, leaving him stranded on a freezing winter day. Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla Motors, disputed Broder’s account in a rebuttal. Broder’s response is here.

Inside the Beltway
Myron Ebell

State of the Union Raises Hope for America

President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address to Congress on 12th February gives me new hope for America’s economic prospects.  The fact that a president who is so thoroughly misinformed and misguided has not been able to totally wreck our economy is evidence of the resilience of America’s institutions and of the entrepreneurial spirit of its citizens.  This does not mean that I expect our current robust one percent economic growth will continue; on the contrary, I expect a colossal recession in the next few years as a result of the disastrous policies being pursued by the Obama Administration and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke.

The President spent more time talking about energy and climate than any other issues.  He noted that greenhouse gas emissions (which he called “dangerous carbon pollution that threatens our planet”) have declined in the past four years, but did not mention that economic stagnation is one of the major causes.  Nor did he mention that global greenhouse gas emissions have continued to increase rapidly because of robust economic growth in China and other industrializing countries.

He went on to say: “But for the sake of our children and our future, we must do more to combat climate change. Yes, it’s true that no single event makes a trend. But the fact is, the 12 hottest years on record have all come in the last 15. Heat waves, droughts, wildfires, and floods – all are now more frequent and intense. We can choose to believe that Superstorm Sandy, and the most severe drought in decades, and the worst wildfires some states have ever seen were all just a freak coincidence. Or we can choose to believe in the overwhelming judgment of science – and act before it’s too late.”

These claims are contrary to the scientific literature.  There has been no increase over the twentieth century average in the incidence or intensity of heat waves, droughts or floods.  Sandy was a big storm, but far less powerful than many hurricanes that have hit New York City in the past century.  There have been some big wildfires in the West due to criminal mismanagement of the National Forests and other federal lands.  And as Roger Pielke, Jr. (who is not a global warming skeptic) has demonstrated from the data, Atlantic hurricanes are currently in a low phase.

But the President is making these claims because this year the global warming alarmists have decided to make “wacky weather” their featured catastrophe.  Any severe weather event is now being pushed by the alarmists as caused by global warming.  Since the global mean temperature has not increased noticeably in the past fifteen years, their claims are a notable instance of effects preceding cause.

In terms of policy prescriptions, the President called on Congress to “pursue a bi-partisan, market-based solution to climate change like the one John McCain and Joe Lieberman worked on together a few years ago.”  Since cap-and-trade legislation is dead for the foreseeable future, the President went on to add, “But if Congress won’t act soon to protect future generations, I will.  I will direct my Cabinet to come up with executive actions we can take….”  It is not clear what further actions he has in mind beyond all the new EPA regulations designed to kill coal that are already in the pipeline. Federal regulation of hydraulic fracturing is perhaps a likely new initiative.

The President then sketched out several specific anti-energy proposals.  Full speed ahead on subsidizing windmills and solar panels.  Divert an unspecified amount of federal oil and gas royalties to a new Energy Security Trust to fund more boondoggles in the miracle fuels and electric vehicle sector.  And make an expensive new push for higher energy efficiency in buildings. 

President Obama also provided some humor when he said, “That’s why my administration will keep cutting red tape and speeding up new oil and gas permits.”  His delivery was so deadpan that the Members of Congress in the House Chamber who were listening (and some of them probably were) didn’t laugh out loud.  But I’m sure anyone trying to drill on federal lands and offshore areas who was watching the teevee broadcast guffawed heartily.

Senators Sanders and Boxer Introduce Carbon Tax Bill

Sens. Bernie Sanders, Independent Socialist-Vt., and Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., on Feb. 14 introduced the Climate Protection Act, which has as its centerpiece a new tax on carbon dioxide emissions.  S. 332   would set an initial tax of $20 per ton of carbon dioxide emissions or equivalent and increase the tax by 5.6 percent per year.

Since Sen. Boxer is chairman and Sen. Sanders is a member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, it is quite possible their bill will get a speedy hearing and mark-up.  The Democratic majority can pass the bill out of committee by a straight party-line vote of 10 to 8.  I’d like to see a vote on a carbon tax by the entire Senate, but it is unlikely Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., will allow it.  Even Democratic Senators who support a carbon tax want to get re-elected.

A carbon tax will raise the price of energy and of all products and services that involve the use of energy.  The sponsors of the legislation estimate that it would raise $1.2 trillion in federal revenues in 10 years.  It would not measurably lower global greenhouse gas levels.       

Across the States
William Yeatman

ALEC Making Progress in Campaign to Repeal Green Production Quota

Over the last decade, 29 States have enacted Soviet-style green energy production quotas, known as renewable electricity standards, that force consumers to use increasing amounts of expensive, intermittent renewable energy. This year the American Legislative Exchange Council—a nonpartisan partnership of America’s state legislators, non-profit organizations, and businesses—is leading a campaign to try to roll back these mandates in a number of states. In Kansas, ALEC’s efforts are starting to meet with success.

ALEC member and Kansas State Rep. Dennis Hedke (R) this week introduced HB 2241, a bill that would effectively freeze the state’s renewable production quota. The legislation is schedule for a hearing before the House Energy and Environment Committee next Thursday. A similar bill, SB 82, this week was passed by the Senate Utilities Committee, and is now before the full Senate. According to ALEC, Rep. Hedke is confident that the legislature will enact one of the two bills. Unfortunately, Kansas Governor Sam Brownback (R) is a staunch proponent of wind power, and it is unclear whether he would veto such a bill.

The Cooler Heads Digest is the weekly e-mail publication of the Cooler Heads Coalition. For the latest news and commentary, check out the Coalition’s website, www.GlobalWarming.org.

Cooler Heads Digest 1 February 2013

1 February 2013

In the News

Expect More EPA Power Grabs on Climate
Marlo Lewis, National Journal, 31 January 2013

Enhanced Review of Coal Exports Would Set Dangerous Precedent
Nicolas Loris, The Foundry, 31 January 2013

Obama’s Path toward Energy Poverty
Tom Harris, Washington Times, 31 January 2013

Entertainment Meets Energy: Yoko’s Magical Mystery Frac Tour
Thomas Shepstone, Master Resource, 30 January 2013

Hidden Costs of Expensive Electricity
Marita Noon, Energy Tribune, 30 January 2013

Special Interests Trying To Stop Gas Exports
Daniel Simmons, Institute for Energy Research, 29 January 2013

Richard Windsor Redux
C.J. Ciaramella, Washington Free Beacon, 29 January 2013

EPA Email Scandal Worse Than Originally Thought
George Landrith & Peter Roff, Big Government, 27 January 2013

Obama Still Chasing Green Jobs
Washington Examiner editorial, 24 January 2013

New You Can Use
Gore Hijinx

Al Gore’s new book, titled The Future, hit bookstore shelves this week. In it, Gore writes that television is poisoning democracy because, “virtually every news and political commentary program on television is sponsored in part by oil, coal and gas companies.” Only three weeks before the publication of this charge, Al Gore reportedly made $100 million selling his television network Current TV to Al Jazeera, a cable network which was founded and owned by the Emir of the oil-rich nation of Qatar. Although Al Jezeera was sold in 2011, it reportedly still receives substantial government funding from Qatar, which proves Al’s point.  

Inside the Beltway
Myron Ebell

Chu Resigns

Secretary of Energy Steven Chu announced his resignation on 1st February.  He said in a long letter to Department of Energy employees that he intends to return to California and to academic life. My CEI colleague Marlo Lewis called for his resignation three years ago.

Before becoming Secretary of Energy in 2009, Chu was director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and a professor of physics at the University of California at Berkeley.  He won the Nobel Prize in physics in 1997 for developing methods to cool and trap atoms using laser light.  His involvement in energy issues was not primarily professional, but rather was based on an amateur’s enthusiasm for new renewable energy technologies.

The 2009 economic stimulus bill gave the Department of Energy a total of $35 billion in additional funding, which was considerably larger than its 2011 department budget of $27 billion.  Chu oversaw the distribution of huge grants and loan guarantees to hundreds of renewable and alternative energy companies.  Many of these companies have since gone bankrupt, most notably Solyndra.  A California-based solar panel manufacturer, Solyndra in 2009 received a $535 million loan guarantee from DOE before going bankrupt in August 2011.

Chu was a cheerleader for cap-and-trade legislation and other energy-rationing policies in order to address the alleged threat of global warming.  He also pushed DOE to adopt higher energy efficiency standards for a whole range of appliances and devices.  Before he became Secretary, he remarked that the U. S. needed to get its gasoline prices to European levels.

Chu’s resignation comes on top of the resignations of Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson.  President Barack Obama has not yet nominated successors to Salazar or Jackson.

Senate Approves Kerry for State Department

The Senate on 29th January confirmed President Barack Obama’s nomination of Senator John Kerry (D-Mass.) to succeed Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State by a vote of 94 to 3.  Senators James M. Inhofe (R-Okla.), Ted Cruz (R-Tex.), and John Cornyn (R-Tex.) voted No.

In an interview with the Boston Globe, Kerry said that one of his biggest regrets of his twenty-seven years in the Senate was the failure to enact cap-and-trade legislation.  Kerry said, “Probably the finest piece of legislation I did didn’t get enacted into legislation yet.”

In his confirmation hearing, Kerry promised to be a “passionate advocate” for action to address climate change.  As Secretary of State, Kerry will oversee the ongoing UN negotiations on a successor treaty to the Kyoto Protocol. 

Sen. Vitter & Rep. Issa Press EPA on Transparency

Senator David Vitter (R-La.) has hit the ground running as the new ranking Republican on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.  This week Vitter and Representative Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, sent a letter to James Martin, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Region 8, asking whether Martin had used a secret, private e-mail account to conduct official business.

As Vitter and Issa note in their letter, “The use of personal, non-official e-mail accounts raises concerns that you could be attempting to insulate this and other e-mail correspondence from a Freedom of Information Act request. Moreover, your actions may also constitute violation of the Federal Records Act.”  It may also be used to evade congressional oversight of federal agencies.

Several of Martin’s private e-mails were released by the EPA as a result of a lawsuit by the Competitive Enterprise Institute.  The efforts of CEI’s Chris also revealed that EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson was using an alias official EPA account in the name of Richard Windsor. 

Sens. Vitter & Alexander Ask AG Why Oil Is Prosecuted for Killing Birds, but Not Wind

Senator David Vitter (R-La.) and Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) this week asked Attorney General Eric Holder to explain the Department of Justice’s selective enforcement of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918. Oil and gas producers have been prosecuted for unintentionally killing small numbers of birds, while windmill owners are never prosecuted for killing thousands of birds protected under the legislation and underlying treaty.

Vitter and Alexander argue that the legislation was never intended to cover incidental killings of protected birds, as occurs frequently with windmills and rarely with oil and gas production.  “Owning a cat could be subject to criminal prosecutions if this precedent is set.” 

Sen. Vitter Objects to EPA’s Absurd Mandate for Non-Existent Fuel

Senator David Vitter (R-La.) this week also made a statement objecting to the EPA’s 2013 requirements for the Renewable Fuels Standard.  The EPA is proposing to require refiners to use 14 million gallons of advanced biofuels, primarily cellulosic ethanol.  Fourteen million gallons is a huge increase over the 2012 requirement of 8.65 million gallons.  A few thousand gallons of cellulosic ethanol were produced in 2012.

Last week, the federal Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled that the EPA must base its requirements for advanced biofuels on reasonable estimates instead of on pie-in-the-sky hopes.

Vitter has replaced Sen. James M. Inhofe (R-Okla.) as ranking Republican on the EPW Committee.  Inhofe has replaced Sen. John McCain (R-Az.) as ranking Republican on the Armed Services Committee.

Across the States
William Yeatman

Pennsylvania Fracking Royalties Surpass $1 Billion

According to an Associated Press analysis published this week, Pennsylvania landowners last year received roughly $1.2 billion in royalty payments from natural gas production on their property. AP’s article focused on how the royalties are improving welfare in poor rural communities. This same theme—that the boom in natural gas production can help revive rural communities—was the subject of an excellent documentary produced by the Foundation for Land and Liberty, titled The Empire State Divide. Click here to watch the film.

Audit of Colorado Energy Office Demonstrates Mismanagement of Stimulus Subsidies

In a scathing review published last month, the Colorado Office of the State Auditor determined that the Colorado Energy Office grossly mismanaged green energy subsidies from the 2009 Stimulus. The Energy Office received almost $144 million in federal stimulus funds to promote energy conservation and renewables, yet it didn’t could produce a budget for the programs that were supposed to distribute the money.

This is the second straight week of bad news for Colorado’s green energy initiatives. Last week, the Cooler Heads Digest reported that former Colorado Governor Bill Ritter’s suite of energy policies, collectively known as the New Energy Economy, cost Xcel electricity ratepayers $484 million in 2012.

Around the World
Anthony Ward

Schwarzenegger Wants Us To Buy Biofueled Hummers

Former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, speaking at the R20 Regions of Climate Conference in Vienna, recommended a new approach for the environmental movement.  Schwarzenegger suggested abandoning the talk of “doom and gloom”, instead advising people to adopt a “sexy and hip” attitude towards climate change.  To reinforce this new idea, Schwarzenegger remarked, “I still drive my Hummers but now they are all on hydrogen and biofuel.”

China's Coal Consumption Nearly Equal to that of All Other Countries Combined

On Tuesday, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported that coal consumption in China increased 9 percent in 2011, continuing the country’s rapid growth of coal use. Indeed, China is now driving global coal consumption: Of the 2.9 billion tons of global coal demand growth since 2000, China accounted for 2.3 billion tons (82%). In 2011, EIA estimates that China consumed 3.8 billion tons of coal, compared to 4.3 billion tons for the rest of the world combined. If China’s coal use continues to average 9 percent annual growth—as it has since 2000—then the country’s coal consumption will surpass that of all other nations sometime this year.

The Cooler Heads Digest is the weekly e-mail publication of the Cooler Heads Coalition. For the latest news and commentary, check out the Coalition’s website, www.GlobalWarming.org.

Cooler Heads Digest 25 January 2013

25 January 2013

In the News

Sen. Whitehouse vs the ‘Deniers’—Addendum on Ocean Acidification
Marlo Lewis, GlobalWarming.org, 25 January 2013

Nature, Not Only Mankind, Saved by Fossil Fuels
Indur Goklany, Master Resource, 25 January 2013

The Real Obama Climate Deal
Kimberly Strassel, Wall Street Journal, 25 January 2013

Stupid Grids
Lachlan Markay, Washington Free Beacon, 25 January 2013

“The Final Ploy of the Desperate” Natural Gas Opponents
Tom Shepstone, Energy in Depth, 24 January 2013

Ethanol Making Super Bowl Party More Expensive
Associated Press, 23 January 2013

Mr. President, Approve the Keystone XL Pipeline
Washington Post editorial, 23 January 2013

Does Green Energy Invite Corruption?
Veronique de Rugy, National Review Online, 23 January 2013

Sting Operations Reveal Mafia Involvement in Green Energy
Anthony Faiola, Washington Post, 22 January 2013

How to Keep Promises to Expand Energy Production and Create Jobs
Nicolas Loris, Katie Tubb, & Jack Spencer, Foundry, 22 January 2013

Putting the Lie to EPA’s Scare Tactics
Steve Milloy, Washington Times, 22 January 2013

News You Can Use
Secretary of State Nominee John Kerry Puts His Money Where His Mouth Isn’t

Senator and Secretary of State nominee John Kerry (D-Mass.) is an outspoken global warming alarmist. Yet Kerry does not put his money where his mouth is, according to information obtained on the Center for Responsive Politics website. Included among Kerry’s estimated $230 to $320 million in assets are investments in more than 20 fossil fuel companies, including ExxonMobil, Transocean, Noble Energy, Southern Energy, and Suncor. Notably, there wasn’t a green energy producer on the list.

Inside the Beltway
Myron Ebell

President Obama Talks Big on Global Warming, But Delivery in Doubt

Global warming alarmists are still glowing with excitement over President Barack Obama’s second inaugural speech on 21st January.  The longest discussion of second-term policies in the speech was about climate change. 

Here is what the President said:

“We, the people, still believe that our obligations as Americans are not just to ourselves, but to all posterity. We will respond to the threat of climate change, knowing that the failure to do so would betray our children and future generations.  Some may still deny the overwhelming judgment of science, but none can avoid the devastating impact of raging fires, and crippling drought, and more powerful storms. The path towards sustainable energy sources will be long and sometimes difficult. But American cannot resist this transition. We must lead it.

“We cannot cede to other nations the technology that will power new jobs and new industries. We must claim its promise. That’s how we will maintain our economic vitality and our national treasure, our forests and waterways, our crop lands and snow capped peaks. That is how we will preserve our planet, commanded to our care by God. That’s what will lend meaning to the creed our fathers once declared.”

This contrasts with Obama’s presidential campaign, in which global warming was barely mentioned.  The President instead campaigned on an “all-of-the-above” energy policy, and the campaign actually ran ads in Appalachian coal country that claimed the President was more pro-coal than Republican nominee Mitt Romney.  Soon after the election, President Obama said that he would focus on climate policy only after he had concentrated on reviving the U. S. economy.   Since his policies are slowing the anemic recovery, my inference is that he’ll never get around to proposing new energy-rationing policies.

However, there are many energy-rationing policies that are already in EPA’s regulatory pipeline.  Soon after the inauguration, the White House suggested that finalizing and implementing these regulations would fulfill the President’s pledge.  International negotiations on a treaty to succeed the Kyoto Protocol is another area where the President might try to make progress in the global war against affordable energy. 

The nomination of Senator John Kerry (D-Mass.) to be the next Secretary of State is significant in this regard.  Kerry was the chief sponsor of the cap-and-trade bill that died in the Senate in 2009-10.  At his Senate confirmation hearing this week, Kerry called global warming “a life-threatening issue” and promised to be “a passionate advocate” for drastic international action as Secretary of State.

My CEI colleague Marlo Lewis provides a detailed commentary at GlobalWarming.org on the President’s inaugural climate vows. 

Nebraska Approves Keystone Pipeline Route, Now It’s Up to Obama

Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman (R) announced this week that the State had given final approval to a new route for the Keystone XL pipeline that avoids the Sand Hills.  One of the utterly bogus reasons for opposing the pipeline was that it threatened the “ecologically sensitive” Sand Hills in north central Nebraska.  The new route would skirt the eastern edge of this pristine and delicate area.  It will still cross the Ogallala Aquifer, as thousands of miles of other pipelines already do.

Heineman’s decision removes the last formal obstacle outside the Obama Administration to approving TransCanada’s proposed pipeline from Alberta’s oil sands to refineries on the Texas Gulf coast.  Keystone XL would carry over 800,000 barrels of oil a day from Alberta and also from North Dakota’s booming Bakken shale field. 

The State Department quickly responded that their continuing review of the application by TransCanada to build the pipeline would take at least three more months.  This means that the next Secretary of State will make the final recommendation to President Barack Obama.  Senator John Kerry (D-Mass.) said this week at his Senate confirmation hearing to be the next Secretary of State that he would be in charge of making the decision.

Kerry’s nomination should send a chill through TransCanada and Alberta’s oil industry.  As should the White House announcement on Friday, 25th January, that President Obama has chosen Denis McDonough to be his new chief of staff.  Greenwire’s E and E News PM called McDonough, a former staffer to Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-SD) and to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar when he was a Senator (D-NM), a “climate hawk.”  Surprisingly, TransCanada shares reached a record high price this week on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

My guess is that President Obama’s focus on climate change policies in his inaugural speech was a challenge to environmental pressure groups to build public and media opposition to approving Keystone in the next few months, which is also why the State Department isn’t going to make a recommendation until April at the earliest.  If they can demonstrate significant opposition, then the President can deny the permit on the grounds that it conflicts with his sacred commitment given on the steps of the Capitol in front of the entire nation to save the planet from global warming.  On the other hand, if polls continue to show overwhelming public support for the pipeline, then the President can say, Sorry, I was counting on you guys and you just didn’t do your job.

Across the States
William Yeatman

Federal Court Refuses to Reconsider Rejection of EPA’s Cross-State Air Pollution Rule

Last August, by a 2 to 1 decision, a three judge panel of the D.C. Federal Circuit Court of Appeals vacated the EPA’s Cross-State Air Pollution Rule, a Clean Air Act regulation that would have required power plants in 33 primarily eastern States to participate in a costly cap-and-trade scheme for certain emissions. The Court rejected EPA’s regulation because it was excessively onerous, in that it required many States to reduce emission below what is necessary to protect public health. Yesterday, the full D.C. Circuit Court refused to reconsider the August decision. EPA has yet to indicate whether it will appeal the decision to the Supreme Court.

Maine Regulators Approve Absurd Offshore Wind Project

The Maine Public Utilities Commission this week approved a $203 million ratepayer investment in an offshore wind farm that would generate a measly 12 megawatts of electricity at full capacity. A conventional natural gas plant typically costs anywhere from $900 to $1,500 per kilowatt capacity. By comparison, Maine’s offshore wind would cost an astounding $16,900 per kilowatt capacity.

New Report Calculates Big Costs of Colorado’s New Energy Economy

On Monday, CEI and the Independence Institute published a report by CEI’s William Yeatman, titled “2012 Cost Analysis of the New Energy Economy,” which provides a line-item cost of the green energy policies championed by former Colorado Governor Bill Ritter (D). The results were eye-popping: In 2012 alone, the New Energy Economy cost ratepayers $484 million, or $345 per ratepayer. To read the report, click here.

Around the World
William Yeatman

Europe’s Carbon Market Crashes Again

The price of carbon in the European Union’s Emissions Trading System on Thursday plummeted to $3.79 per metric ton—a record low—after the European Parliament failed to approve a policy that would have boosted the market by extracting allowances from the market and reinvesting them later. The European Trading Scheme needs a bailout because the weak economy has collapsed demand for the carbon coupons. This is the second time that the market has crashed. It also did so in 2007, after regulators over-allocated the carbon shares. My CEI colleague Marlo Lewis has more here.

The Cooler Heads Digest is the weekly e-mail publication of the Cooler Heads Coalition. For the latest news and commentary, check out the Coalition’s website, www.GlobalWarming.org.