In the Pipeline: 1/11/13

This boggles even me. Washington Examiner (1/10/13) reports: “A new video game featuring a black alien female superhero delivered to Earth to fight global warming is about to hit the market thanks to a $100,000 grant from the Obama administration… The National Endowment for the Arts is funding the Spelman College of Atlanta, Ga.’s multi-episode game called “HERadventure.” In the grant announcement made last year, the NEA said the story ‘focuses on a young female superhero sent to Earth to save her own planet from devastation because of climate changes caused by social issues impacting women and girls.’”

The Keystone Cops of the Obama Administration succeed.  Their horsing around means china will get more oil from Alberta than Keystone XL would send to the US. Financial Post (1/10/13) reports: “The Canadian arm of Dallas-based Kinder Morgan Energy Partners LP is upping by 20% the capacity of its proposed Trans Mountain pipeline expansion to Canada’s West Coast, extending its lead over transportation rival Enbridge Inc.’s Northern Gateway project in the race to deliver Alberta oil to new markets… Kinder Morgan Canada Inc. said Thursday it has enough support from shippers to boost capacity on the Pacific-bound line to 890,000 barrels per day, up from a previous target of 750,000 barrels daily.”

Why does this remind us of the proctologist with both hands on your shoulders who keeps saying, “everything will be fine.” E&ETV(1/10/13) reports: “How would a bottom-up approach to environment policy help engage conservatives and promote the conservative environmental agenda? During today’s OnPoint, Ed Schafer, former secretary of Agriculture and former governor of North Dakota, and Gale Norton, former Interior secretary, discuss their work with the Conservation Leadership Council and explain why they believe limited government is the best approach to managing the United States’ environmental challenges.”

Come on, guys.  Everyone can see your hands (yes, both hands) reaching into the cookie jar. Politico (1/10/13) reports: “Dow Chemical denied Thursday that it’s trying to corner a potential natural gas export market while urging the Energy Department to limit its approval of other companies’ applications to export liquefied natural gas.”

Yea, sure we have nice competitive advantage right now in the U.S.  But wait, who is the “we”?  Because usually it’s “we the people” who take it in the shorts when the bad guys and good guys start to play footsie with each other in Washington.  Politico(1/10/13) reports: “What does the Sierra Club have in common with chemical company Dow Chemical?… They’re both opposed to exporting natural gas, even though it’s for different reasons… ‘The concern is that you have this tremendous competitive advantage in the U.S. right now — don’t squander that. Don’t give that away,’ Biltz said.”

“The Unwelcome Renaissance”?  Really?  Energy that your average Joe can afford is awesome, and a rare change from the dreary plight most humans suffered through over the course of our existence.  Why are humans so ashamed of being awesome these days? The Economist (1/5/13) reports: “WHILE coal production and use plummet in America, in Europe “we have some kind of golden age of coal,” says Anne-Sophie Corbeau of the International Energy Agency. The amount of electricity generated from coal is rising at annualised rates of as much as 50% in some European countries. Since coal is by the far the most polluting source of electricity, with more greenhouse gas produced per kilowatt hour than any other fossil fuel, this is making a mockery of European environmental aspirations. How did it happen?”

This is a little scary, a little weird, but totally worth the read. Mother Jones (1/9/13) reports: “It was the kind of meeting that conspiratorial conservative bloggers dream about… A month after President Barack Obama won reelection, top brass from three dozen of the most powerful groups in liberal politics met at the headquarters of the National Education Association (NEA), a few blocks north of the White House. Brought together by the Sierra Club, Greenpeace, Communication Workers of America (CWA), and the NAACP, the meeting was invite-only and off-the-record. Despite all the Democratic wins in November, a sense of outrage filled the room as labor officials, environmentalists, civil rights activists, immigration reformers, and a panoply of other progressive leaders discussed the challenges facing the left and what to do to beat back the deep-pocketed conservative movement.”