Blog

Here’s the thing. Even if Congress passed us a law that gave us cash to become tall and good-looking, we would still remain balding, overfed, leaping gnomes. So it is with physics. The federal government can’t just incentivize things into existence. The Atlantic  (5/26/13) reports: “Electric car infrastructure company Better Place's move to file bankruptcy today marks the end of the road for a billion-dollar bet that Silicon Valley-style technological disruption could wean the world...
Continue Reading...

Did Tesla pay back their loan, or did other people. Wanna guess? WSJ (5/23/13) reports: “Tesla's biggest windfall has been the cash payments it extracts from rival car makers (and their customers), via its sale of zero-emission credits. A number of states including California require that traditional car makers reach certain production quotas of zero-emission vehicles—or to purchase credits if they cannot. Tesla is a main supplier… A Morgan Stanley MS -1.82%report in April said Tesla...
Continue Reading...

We suspect foul play. The birds are fighting back. E&ENews (5/21/13) reports: “Wind turbine manufacturer Siemens AG confirmed that a 170-foot blade fell off a wind turbine at a power plant east of San Diego, causing the company to cease operations of the same type of turbine globally… Residents near the Ocotillo Wind power plant discovered the fallen blade Thursday morning.” The birds are taking out the turbines. We’re taking down the ivory towers (metaphorically speaking, of...
Continue Reading...

Guns don’t kill birds; turbines kill birds. IER  (5/20/13) reports: “Besides receiving federal subsidies and other financial incentives, the wind industry is getting special treatment from the Obama Administration: wind farms are allowed to kill protected bird species. The Associated Press has found that the Obama Administration has never fined or prosecuted a wind farm for killing eagles and other protected birds, thus shielding the wind industry from liability. Further, the Obama...
Continue Reading...

We’re not surprised, but that doesn’t make this any less unsettling. Washington Examiner  (5/17/13) reports: “Two powerful congressional Republicans want to know more - a lot more - about why and how Environmental Protection Agency officials have for several years erected multiple obstacles to conservative think tanks, media outlets and non-profit activists filing Freedom of Information Act requests with the agency… ‘According to documents obtained by the Committees, EPA readily...
Continue Reading...

A senior adviser to McCain 2008 wrote this piece, arguing (I kid you not) that a carbon tax is a good thing because it is "relatively hidden." Since when did hiding taxes from the American people become fashionable for conservatives? RealClearEnergy  (5/14/13) reports: “Enter the carbon tax. Besides its intended purpose of reducing carbon emissions, it is politically advantageous, in that it is a tax that is relatively hidden. If phased in over a decade, the annual increase in gas prices...
Continue Reading...

We had to recheck the calendar to make sure it wasn't April 1^st.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...
Continue Reading...

It’s not enough to help us sleep at night, but at least 53 Senators disagree with His Majesty's newest court jester. Washington Examiner (3/25/13) reports: “President Obama’s Energy secretary nominee regards a carbon tax as one of the simplest ways to move the energy industry towards clean technologies, though he notes that government would have to come up with a plan to mitigate the burden this tax places on poor people, who would pay the most.”   It would be great if the House...
Continue Reading...

Show me the Moniz. ProPublica  (3/20/13) reports: “When President Obama nominated Ernest Moniz to be energy secretary earlier this month, he hailed the nuclear physicist as a “brilliant scientist” who, among his many talents, had effectively brought together “prominent thinkers and energy companies” in the continuing effort to figure out a safe and economically sound energy future for the country… ‘His connections to the fossil fuel and nuclear power industries threaten to...
Continue Reading...

The brains of this operation are hard at work. IER  (3/21/13) reports: “IER President Thomas Pyle sent letters to all 50 U.S. governors this week, detailing how pro-growth policies for energy development on federal lands could redound to the economic prosperity of their states… The letters represent the next phase of IER’s nation-wide strategy to educate policy makers and the American people about the opportunity for economic prosperity that more oil and gas leasing on federal lands...
Continue Reading...