Everybody Agrees that CAFE Standards Are Inefficient

Often in the policy debates on government regulations, you will have free-market people decrying inefficient impediments to business, while the other side will tout the (alleged) benefits to the environment or whatever the social goal happens to be. Yet a new MIT study—from a group that is very sympathetic to carbon regulatory policies—documents how inefficient […]

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In the Pipeline: 1/22/13

We normally reserve this space for satire, mockery, and comic relief.  Like I said, we normally reserve this space for satire, mockery, and comic relief…  Politico (1/22/13) reports: “President Barack Obama promised in his inaugural speech to take on climate change in his second term, setting the stage for a series of bruising policy battles over energy, […]

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In the Pipeline: 1/2/13

The trusty “we’re running out of oil!” pundits are now “sure, the US will overtake Saudi Arabia and lead the world in oil production…but maybe only for a decade or so” pundits. IER(1/2/12) reports: “For decades, the proponents of so-called green or alternative energy sources have bemoaned the United States’ alleged ‘dependence on foreign oil’ as […]

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Cass Sunstein’s Garbage In, Garbage Out on Cost/Benefit Analysis

  In a recent NYT op ed, Harvard Law professor and former Obama official Cass Sunstein cited Ronald Reagan, of all figures, as inspiration for more federal regulation on the transportation and energy sectors. Sunstein’s angle was to say that Reagan endorsed the cost/benefit analysis arguing for the US agreement to fight the “ozone hole,” […]

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In the Pipeline: 9/17/12

Brother Tom and his merry band continue to preach on. AEA (9/17/12) reports: “Go behind the scenes with the American Energy Alliance’s 2012 Bus Tour.”   What a surprise.  EPA does something destructive and contrary to the national interest deep on Friday afternoon.  AFPM (9/14/12) reports: “EPA’s decision to increase the biomass diesel volumes is wholly discretionary and irresponsible. […]

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