Let’s review.  More expensive cars ($3200 more expensive on average).  More deadly accidents (as many as 240 additional deaths every year).  No environmental benefit.  A corrupt federal government using its substantial leverage to keep private companies in line.  But other than that, this is a really good rule. American Products. American Power. (8/10/12) reports: “The Committee on Oversight’s report found that the administration “places ideology over science and politics over...
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For years we at the Institute for Energy Research have highlighted the problems with the Obama administration’s corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) mandate. We have written comments to the administration (here and here ) and explained how raising the fuel economy standard will reduce safety, price drivers out of the market, and reduce automobile choice and mobility itself. Today Rep. Darrell Issa, the Chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, released a report entitled...
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WASHINGTON D.C. -- IER President Thomas Pyle issued the following statement upon today's release of the House Oversight Committee report, entitled "A Dismissal of Safety, Choice, and Cost: The Obama Administration's New Auto Regulations." The investigation -- led by Oversight Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) -- reveals how White House officials misled the American public and circumvented federal agencies in rulemaking for fuel economy standards. According to the report, the administration...
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Tell me again how this Administration favors production from the shale formations. Free Beacon (8/9/12) reports: “The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Association (FMCSA) in June re-interpreted a 50-year-old rule limiting the amount of time trucks delivering water and sand to drilling sites can stay on-site… The change drew immediate criticism when it was discovered and prompted Rep. Jeff Landry (R., Louis.) to join 63 other congressmen in penning a letter to Transportation Secretary Ray...
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The American Products American Power bus tour kicked off in Dallas, TX on Tuesday. Former radio talk show host Michael Reagan spoke to the crowd about the importance of domestic energy production and manufacturing. Mr. Reagan quipped that to meet Californians he has to travel to Texas, because the regulatory environment in California has driven businesses out of the state. Michael Reagan’s dad, the President Ronald Reagan understood that one of the biggest threats to prosperity was an...
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If not us, then who? If not now, then when? And seriously, follow us on twitter @productspower. E&ENews (8/8/12) reports: “At an event in Dallas, activists were joined by Michael Reagan, son of the late President Ronald Reagan, to kick off the "American Products and Power" multi-state bus tour from the city's Flag Pole Hill Park. The tour is being promoted by the American Energy Alliance and will cover at least 16 states, including the energy-rich potential swing states of New Mexico,...
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This is the worst idea ever. Washington Post (8/6/12) reports: “The 18-year loans will be funded out of the U.S. Export-Import Bank, the government’s vehicle for promoting U.S. export sales by providing low-interest loans for services and goods produced by American industries. The funding could be applied to a variety of projects, including wind, solar and thermal power, said Fred Hochberg, the bank president and chairman.”   I don’t understand why everyone is surprised that Jim...
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Despite the recent hearing on massive fraud connected with the Renewables Fuel Standard, the Senate Finance committee has approved the friendly-sounding “Family and Business Tax Cut Certainty Act of 2012.” Among other provisions, the Act would extend the $1/gallon tax credit for biodiesel producers through 2013, a measure estimated to cost $2.1 billion (in forfeited tax receipts) over 10 years. Thus, the government continues to lavish massive support—both with tax credits and outright...

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We include this not to make fun of Brent Erickson or his band of rent-seekers.  We include it because we love the headline, “Ethanol groups form coalition to save federal support for biofuels.”  We were under the impression that the federal government does not “support” ethanol use (“Go Corn Growers!”).  It mandates ethanol use.  If you need the difference explained, you probably are already a shill for the corn growers. The Hill (8/5/12) reports: “Eight biofuels groups are...
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It is sad that we have to run this.  But the Sierra Club is sort of a collection of nitwits.  So . . . IER (8/2/12) reports: “In response to an error-filled report released today by the Sierra Club, entitled “Clean Energy Under Siege,” the Institute for Energy Research released the following statement and brief fact check that raises serious questions about the quality of scholarship and careful research that went into the report… “Sloppy ‘scholarship,’ half-truths, and...
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