In the Pipeline: 3/19/13

I think it goes something like: “You give them an inch, and they come after you with a chainsaw for your puppies and freedom.” E&ENews(3/18/13) reports: “A group of leading economists — including Nobel Prize winners Kenneth Arrow, William Sharpe, Thomas Sargent and Joseph Stiglitz — called on President Obama to back a carbon price on aviation… In a letter dated Thursday, the experts urged Obama to support the market-based measure as the cost-effective way to promote more efficient technology and lower emissions.”

Forget Rachel Hunter; not everything the Aussies create is worthwhile. Yahoo (3/18/13) reports: “The federal coalition says reports that business insolvencies are at a record high in Australia are worrying and show the carbon tax is doing damage… The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has recorded more than 10,500 company collapses for the year to March, News Limited reports.”

This just in: Your car stinks because manufacturers need to please a bunch of bureaucrats in la-la land, not you the consumer who is going to drive the thing. The Guardian (3/14/13) reports: “A new report reveals that carmakers routinely manipulate official UN-backed miles/gallons tests, with a series of tricks including stripping the car down to weigh as little as possible, overinflating the tyres and testing in the thin air at high-altitude tracks… The tricks of the trade are listed in a report by the Transport & Environment campaign group (T&E), which suggests the official fuel consumption cited by car manufacturers is on average almost 25% lower than that achieved in reality, and in some cases 50% lower.”

Quod licet Jovi, non bovi. At least that is what my friend Octavian used to say. Fox News (3/18/13) reports: “Dozens of celebrities may be running afoul of the law as they unite under the banner of one group that is seeking to prevent a method of gas drilling in New York state… Artists Against Fracking opposes hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, and boasts members including Yoko Ono and actors Mark Ruffalo and Susan Sarandon.”

The Economist starts making the case for secession. The Economist(3/16/13) reports: “This fits a pattern. Pressed for cash, states are adopting sweeping reforms as they vie to attract investments and migrants. Louisiana and Nebraska want to abolish corporate and personal income taxes. Kansas has created a post called “the Repealer” to get rid of red tape and pays a “bounty” to high schools for every vocational qualification their students earn in certain fields; Ohio has privatised its economic-development agency; Virginia has just reformed its petrol-tax system… In this second, can-do America, creative policymaking is being applied to the very problems Congress runs away from, like infrastructure spending. While the federal government twiddles its thumbs, states and cities, which are much shorter of cash, are coming up with new ways to raise money for roads, bridges and schools.”

I wonder when the Sierra Club is going to launch its “Beyond Wind” campaign. The suspense is killing me. Natural News (3/14/13) reports: “Large British wind farms will actually release as much carbon dioxide as fossil-fuel power plants, according to a study conducted by researchers from Aberdeen University and published in the journal Nature… The source of the emissions is not the windmills themselves, but the land on which they are being constructed.”

Easy with the jokes there, tiger! WSJ (3/18/13) reports: “Institute for Energy Research senior vice president Dan Kish on how President Obama may hold up the Keystone XL pipeline and other energy and infrastructure projects.”