In the Pipeline: 4/25/13

No need to panic! The Obama Administration plays the market long. We’ll recoup these “investments” during His Majesty’s fourth term. Yahoo (4/24/13) reports: “The Obama administration was warned as early as 2010 that electric car maker Fisker Automotive Inc. was not meeting milestones set up for a half-billion dollar government loan, nearly a year before U.S. officials froze the financing after questions were raised about the company’s statements, newly released documents show.”

So are the green weenies pro-renewable or anti-carbon? It’d be interesting to see what their climate models look like when we start burning wood to stay alive during the winter. IER (4/24/13) reports: “Americans are led to believe that Europe is awash in wind and solar power, but the renewable most consumed is wood, says the Economist. According to the Economist, wood, the fuel of preindustrial societies, represents about half of all renewables consumed in the European Union in some form or another—sticks, pellets, sawdust. The European Union has a target of getting 20 percent of its energy from renewable resources by 2020. To get that much renewable energy, it cannot rely solely on wind and solar power. Unfortunately for its carbon reduction goals, the reliance on wood is not helping for it emits more carbon dioxide than coal.”

Let’s review. Oil from Canada, no. People from Mexico, yes. Politico(4/24/13) reports: “The backing from the nation’s oldest environmental group is a major shift that could help immigration reform supporters gain momentum as they try to push the measure through the Senate. It is another sign that some of the historical opponents to overhauling the country’s immigration laws, like evangelicals, are switching sides in this controversial debate… The powerful grass-roots group’s decision is expected to have an emphasis on keeping families together and frames the debate from the standpoint that undocumented workers are the most adversely affected by pollution, a source familiar with the Sierra Club plans confirmed.”

Don’t they realize that Mother Earth has already done the work for us? These scientists should have figured out by now that the Earth is just a massive solar panel that has been storing energy from the sun for millions of years. And we happen to live during the most peaceful and prosperous era in human history thanks to our ability to tap into this massive battery. NPR (4/10/13) reports: “It’s easy to feel dispirited about climate change because the challenge of dealing with it seems so overwhelming. But Miguel Modestino is actually excited about the challenge. He’s part of a large team hoping to make an artificial leaf — a device that would make motor fuel from sunlight and carbon dioxide rather than from fossil fuels.”

With the exception of John Broder, the New York Times runs an entire section on energy and says nothing of any interest. No mention of the trillion barrels of oil that the federal government won’t let its citizens recover. Nothing on the less than 3% of taxpayer land being available for production. Are we really sure they are the “paper of record”? NYTimes (4/24/13) reports: “After a flurry of environmental rule-making in Mr. Obama’s first term, including doubling vehicle fuel efficiency by 2025 and a stricter regime for policing drilling on public lands and waters, the engine of the regulatory state appears to have stalled… So what is Mr. Obama’s second-term energy and environmental agenda, and why is it proceeding so slowly?”

I’m glad someone other than the Chinese can still manage to build powerplants. Watts Up With That? (4/23/13) reports: “Germany’s dash for coal continues apace. Following on the opening of two new coal power stations in 2012, six more are due to open this year, with a combined capacity of 5800MW, enough to provide 7% of Germany’s electricity needs… Including the plants coming on stream this year, there are 12 coal fired stations due to open by 2020. Along with the two opened last year in Neurath and Boxberg, they will be capable of supplying 19% of the country’s power… In addition, 27 gas fired stations are due on line, which should contribute a further 17% of Germany’s total electricity generation. (Based on 2011 statistics, total generation was 575 TwH).”