In the Pipeline: 3/30/11

Obama positions his green pivot on national security and we all know OPEC is far more stable than the U.S. Politico (3/30/11) reports: President Barack Obama will try yet again Wednesday to make his case for major energy reforms, a mission he’s so far struggled to accomplish, thanks to global and domestic challenges often beyond his control…Senior White House officials said the speech at Georgetown University kicks off a “concerted effort around energy security” that will occupy the president and several Cabinet officials in the coming weeks…Pivoting off Middle East unrest and spiking domestic energy prices, Obama plans to set a goal of reducing the nation’s foreign oil imports by a third over the next decade. To get there, he will describe a range of executive tools and call on Congress to advance several pieces of energy legislation.

Couldn’t happen to a nicer rent seeker — T. Boone says he has the votes to pass his crony natural gas legislation Fuel Fix (3/30/11) reports: After spending nearly three years and more than $80 million of his own money to tout his energy plan, T. Boone Pickens says he finally is about to have something to show for the effort…On April 6, a bill, known as the Natural Gas Act, which he has championed, will be introduced – again – in Congress. And this time, the billionaire oilman says the legislation has the votes the pass…“I think we got the deal done,” Pickens told reporters after a luncheon speech at the Petroleum Club of Houston, hosted by the Society of Petroleum Evaluation Engineers and Society of Independent Professional Earth Scientists…“I think we’ll get it through the House before the summer recess.”…The Natural Gas Act would dramatically expand the use of natural gas as a transportation fuel among heavy-duty truck fleets, including 18-wheelers and garbage trucks. Pickens sees the legislation as a key first step in broader adoption of natural gas in the transportation sector and weaning the U.S. from foreign oil.

It’s not the energy policies of command and control causing setbacks for green energy, it’s that Obama doesn’t have the right people CNN Money (3/30/11) reports: President Obama has had some pretty lousy luck with his energy plans…Last March he proposed opening up new areas of the country for offshore oil drilling. A month later BP’s rig blew up in the Gulf of Mexico…This year he asked for $36 billion to help build new nuclear plants. Within weeks at least three reactors at a Japanese nuclear plant were on the verge of a meltdown…His capstone plan to regulate greenhouse gas emissions failed in the Senate. Governors are giving back his high speed rail money. His energy czar is gone…”He picked the three losers right from the start,” said Kevin Book, a managing director at the research firm ClearView Energy Partners, referring to the greenhouse gas law, oil drilling and nuclear power. “His timing couldn’t be worse.”

Obama wants a third less oil consumed in a decade, wants a million electric vehicles, and wants every man, woman and child to use a winged Pegasus to get to work

Maybe Keynes was right, we are all dead in the long run — CA increases their renewable energy goal to 30% Green Journal (3/30/11) reports: California has further underlined its position as the leading clean energy hub in the US after lawmakers voted yesterday to beef up the state’s renewable energy goal. It will now require energy firms to source a third of their energy from renewable sources by 2020…The State Assembly voted 55 to 19 to approve bill S.B. 2, which requires the state to generate 33 per cent of its energy from renewables. The bill has already been approved by the state senate and will now move to governor Jerry Brown’s desk where it is expected to be approved…California has had its renewable energy target in place since September 2009 when former governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed an executive order requiring the target to be met. Since then, regulators have put in place a series of measures designed to ensure the goal will be met.

Governments create the incentive to invest in green energy with tax credits and subsidies, but real question is who is buying the product and I don’t think it’s China New York Times (3/30/11) reports: A study released Tuesday by the Pew Environment Group suggests that investment in clean energy among the world’s 20 leading economies, a k a the G-20, is generally on the rebound after a grinding global recession…It also suggests that the narrative in the United States, which has been marked by partisan bickering and general paralysis over energy and climate policy, continues to weaken its position as a locus for investment…China drew 22 percent of the $243 billion in clean energy investments last year, or $54.4 billion — up from $39.1 billion in 2009. Coming in second place, and nudging the United States down a rung over last year, was Germany, which drew $41.2 billion, up from $20.6 billion in 2009…The United States drew $34 billion, up from $22.5 billion over 2009.