We had to recheck the calendar to make sure it wasn’t April 1st.Washington Free Beacon (3/28/13) reports: “After bankruptcy, a buyout by a Chinese firm, and more than a hundred million dollars in taxpayer money, the lithium-ion battery maker A123 Systems, Inc., is getting a new name: B456 Systems, Inc… A123, which produces batteries used in electric cars, has changed its name to B456, the company announced Thursday in a regulatory filing.”
What’s the price of gasoline in California, again? Only 38.9 cents higher than the national average. But hey, at least the car companies can have a uniform standard. The White House (3/22/13) presents:
As we have noted before, Senator Blunt did a great job. So did Downey. And so did Neil Chatterjee, who kept the whole thing between the ditches and moving forward. WSJ (3/28/13) reports: “Proposals for that hardy Al Gore perennial, a carbon tax, are making a comeback. But if last weekend’s votes in the Senate are any guide, the idea is going to require a lot more political persuasion… The media ignored Harry Reid’s budget vote-a-rama, but along the way Senators were allowed to declare on a pair of amendments related to energy taxes. First up was Rhode Island liberal Sheldon Whitehouse, who wanted to reserve any carbon-tax revenues to reduce the deficit or redistribute to certain voters. Apparently Mr. Whitehouse sees a carbon levy as inevitable and wants to make sure he’s the middleman.”
It is pretty cool that the earth is a massive repository of organic compounds that we can use to make life somewhat enjoyable and interesting as we cruise through space on what is otherwise just a tiny speck of dust in the universe. But it’s also pretty cool that as our use of these organic compounds (oil, gas, coal) has increased, so has our ability to care for the environment. The bad guys think life is a zero-sum game. They are wrong. Think Progress (3/21/13) reports: “The planet we live on is valuable only as a repository for natural resources, according to Rep. Steve Stockman (R-TX). Stockman, a lawmaker best known for bringing Ted Nugent to the State of the Union and opposing the Violence Against Women Act because it protected “change-gender” individuals, went on an extended Twitter rant Thursday afternoon accusing environmentalists of hating science.”
The following think tank chiefs are opposed to a carbon tax. Please contact us at nocarbontax@energydc.org if you wish to join our growing ranks. We are thinking about starting a new list – trade association heads. We fear, however, it will be pretty small.
Tom Pyle, American Energy Alliance / Institute for Energy Research
Myron Ebell, Freedom Action
Phil Kerpen, American Commitment
William O’Keefe, George C. Marshall Institute
Lawson Bader, Competitive Enterprise Institute
Andrew Quinlan, Center for Freedom and Prosperity
Tim Phillips, Americans for Prosperity
Joe Bast, Heartland Institute
David Ridenour, National Center for Public Policy Research
Michael Needham, Heritage Action for America
Tom Schatz, Citizens Against Government Waste
Grover Norquist, Americans for Tax Reform
Sabrina Schaeffer, Independent Women’s Forum
Barrett E. Kidner, Caesar Rodney Institute
George Landrith, Frontiers of Freedom
Thomas A. Schatz, Citizens Against Government Waste
Bill Wilson, Americans for Limited Government
Wayne Brough, FreedomWorks
Rich Collins, Positive Growth Alliance