In the Pipeline: 4/12/13

Thank goodness we have the money to spend on this sort of thing. I mean, it doesn’t seem ridiculous or pointless at all. The Hill(4/11/13) reports: “President Obama’s fiscal 2014 budget calls for using a satellite designed to track climate change that was originally pushed by former Vice President Gore… Obama proposed Wednesday spending nearly $35 million in his 2014 budget to refurbish a satellite, nicknamed GoreSat by critics, that’s been sitting in storage after it was shelved in 2001, months after Bush took office. It cost about $100 million by then with NASA’s internal auditors faulting its cost increases.”

Welcome to the party: “Wind power kills jobs and increases electricity costs”. Toronto Sun (4/11/13) reports: “Ontario’s pursuit of wind power has driven up electricity prices, is killing jobs and might even lead to more smog, a new Fraser Institute report says… Ross McKitrick, author of Environmental and Economic Consequences of Ontario’s Green Energy Act (GEA), says the Ontario government’s electricity plan is now 10 times more costly than installing pollution-control equipment on existing coal plants — an option he argues would have produced similar improvements in air quality.”

So can we assume the Blazers will ride bikes between the cities where they play? Or, will they wear unis and shoes made only from non-carbon based products like hemp? Or, more likely, their billionaire owner will buy carbon offset credits and all will be fine. Oregon Live (4/11/13) reports: “Businesses with strong Northwest ties, including the Portland Trail Blazers, Nike, Intel, Adidas and Starbucks, are among 33 companies signing a “climate declaration” that urges U.S. policymakers to take action to curb global warming… The Trail Blazers are the only sports franchise on the list.”

So easy to see even NPR understands it. We are, however, still bullish on wood. NPR (4/10/13) reports: “Until well into the 19th century, if you lived in the U.S. and wanted to heat your house, fire your forge, or whatever, you did what people had done for thousands of years: You chopped down a tree and burned it… Though renewables have risen sharply in the past few years, they still represent a tiny fraction of the energy used in this country.”
Not all news is bad news: “State Government Tax Revenue Hits All-Time High”. WSJ (4/11/13) reports: “North Dakota and Alaska, in particular, showed the strongest tax revenue gains, (47% and 27%, respectively), mostly because of higher collections from companies using state resources, the Census Bureau said. Overall, tax revenue collected from companies using natural resources was up almost 39%, or $4.2 billion, from 2011.”

The following think tank chiefs are opposed to a carbon tax. Please contact us at [email protected] 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

One last thing. The crew at the Pipeline wishes Cathy Anne a very Happy Birthday!