In the Pipeline: 2/5/13

It’s good to get out the whetstone and sharpen the sword.  And while the fight is never won or lost on the study field, this is where we like to begin the battle. IER (2/5/13) reports: “This paper illustrates that Congress has chosen to evaluate only one small piece of the economic effect of opening federal tracts to oil and gas leasing. By ignoring the investment phase, the CBO — upon the instruction of Congress — substantially underestimates the economic effects of current policy choices. Moreover, by focusing on lease revenue and ignoring the potential for increased tax revenue, Congress has doubly downplayed the fiscal effects of such a policy. By failing yet again to analyze jobs, wages, and output, Congress ignores the crucial economic reality that freeing resources can help our economy grow beyond the recent recession and its continuing drag upon economic growth.”

There always has been something about that girl Mary in Florida… IER (2/4/13) reports: “IER Distinguished Senior Fellow and former acting EIA administrator Mary Hutzler will testify on Tuesday, February 5, 2013 at 10:00AM before the House Subcommittee on Energy and Power. The hearing will focus on “American Energy Security and Innovation: An Assessment of North America’s Energy Resources”. Hutzler’s testimony will evaluate North America’s vast energy resources and assail the federal energy policies that continue to deny access to those resources and stifle economic growth and job creation. Highlights from the testimony include:”

In other news, water remains wet. Reuters (2/4/13) reports: “Are electric cars running out of juice again? Recent moves by Japan’s two largest automakers suggest that the electric car, after more than 100 years of development and several brief revivals, still is not ready for prime time – and may never be… In the meantime, the attention of automotive executives in Asia, Europe and North America is beginning to swing toward an unusual but promising new alternate power source: hydrogen.”

The Obama administration’s entire economic plan exposed – “Study: Global Warming Can Be Slowed By Working Less”. U.S. News (2/4/13) reports: “Want to reduce the effects of global warming? Stop working so hard. Working fewer hours might help slow global warming, according to a new study released Monday by the Center for Economic Policy and Research.”

Richard Windsor would have spent more time in rural America?  One thing the next EPA chief should keep in mind about rural America: people there use their real names to do business. Reuters (2/4/13) reports: “Jackson’s deepest regret, she said, is that she failed to reach out to rural, often conservative regions of the United States. As a result, she said, opponents were able to generate politically damaging rumors of looming regulatory crackdowns, such as a fictitious EPA plan to treat bovine excretions as dangerous pollutants.”

Apparently Lisa Jacobson – relation to Richard Windsor unknown – thinks there are no drags on the economy.  I guess in our new European state, we’re chugging right along if we hit 1% growth. E&ENews (2/4/13) reports: “By the end of 2012, CO2 emissions had declined 10.7 percent compared with 2005 levels. The drop brings the United States more than halfway toward President Obama’s 17 percent emissions cut target for the next decade… The findings challenged the conservative argument that acting on climate change would be a drag on the economy, said Lisa Jacobson, president of the Business Council for Sustainable Energy. Instead, carbon emissions declined even as gross domestic product was going up, she added.”

Is anyone left over there?  Is there no future in trying to cannibalize your colleagues? Washington Guardian (2/4/13) reports: “America’s Natural Gas Alliance said President and CEO Regina Hopper will leave the interest group at the end of February, and a search is to be conducted for a successor.”