In the Pipeline: 6/25/13

His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire. Politico (6/24/13) reports: “Barack Obama’s Tuesday speech on climate change puts Democrats on defense in coal country. Republicans see the president’s forthcoming announcement of new regulations to cut carbon emissions as an early gift going into the midterm elections, making a tough map for the other side that much tougher.The planned carbon emissions crackdown could make the president even more of an anchor on Democrats in deep-red states like West Virginia and Kentucky, where Senate candidates will have no choice but to distance themselves from unpopular policies pushed by the national party.”

You’d make a bad situation even worse if we followed a plan that could make energy prices necessarily skyrocket, but hey, it’s only money, right? CNN Money (6/24/13) reports: “Roughly three-quarters of Americans are living paycheck-to-paycheck, with little to no emergency savings, according to a survey released by Bankrate.com Monday. Fewer than one in four Americans have enough money in their savings account to cover at least six months of expenses, enough to help cushion the blow of a job loss, medical emergency or some other unexpected event, according to the survey of 1,000 adults. Meanwhile, 50% of those surveyed have less than a three-month cushion and 27% had no savings at all.”

We missed this last week, but apparently so did the President. Energy and Technology Magazine (6/18/13) reports: “German engineering firm Siemens is closing down its last solar energy business, thereby calling off a seven month search during which it failed to find a buyer. The company made plans to divest its solar business in October last year, after its investment in thermal solar installations company Solel from Israel proved unprofitable in a market heavily flooded by cheap Asian components. There were talks with potential buyers, but they led nowhere. “

What happens if those “greedy” poor folks want to open a coal plant so they can, you know, use electricity at some point in their lives? They won’t if His Majesty has his way. Rare (6/24/13) reports: “‘You’ve heard of Live Aid? Well, this is Drive Aid,’ an ardent young man says, as he approaches London pedestrians. ‘Greedy people in developing nations are eating huge amounts of food that could easily be turned into biofuel to power our cars. African acreage the size of Belgium is being used for food, and we’re saying it should go to cars here in the UK. Can we have your support?’ Londoners reacted with disbelief and outrage, the ActionAid UK video shows, and refused to sign his mock petition. The amusing stunt drove home a vital point: Biofuel programs are turning food into fuel, converting cropland into fuel production sites, and disrupting food supplies for hungry people worldwide. The misguided programs are having serious environmental consequences, as well.”

She’s just going to be executing His Majesty’s plan, which apparently isn’t something our Senate should consider. Energy Guardian (6/24/13) reports: “A day before President Barack Obama was to lay out a new national climate change strategy, the White House was forced Monday to defend his nominee to run the Environmental Protection Agency. White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said the new plan should not affect the confirmation of Gina McCarthy, currently EPA’s assistant administrator for air regulations whose nomination to run the agency has been blocked by Republicans for weeks.”