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    Provide energy and environmental solutions to keep America safe, free, and prosperous.

    Congressional Budget Office Looks at a Carbon Tax

    The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) recently released its report on the impact of a carbon tax. (Disclaimer: I provided comments to the CBO on a draft of the report, earlier this year.) The economic parts were pretty sensible and conclude that (be sure you are sitting down)—there are no free … More

    Energy Efficiency Bill Is a Big Step in the Wrong Direction

    Senator Byron Dorgan (D–ND) told Greenwire (subscription required) that an energy efficiency bill that passed through the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee would be a necessary “first step” to more federal efforts to overhaul energy policy. The legislation, introduced by Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D–NH) and Rob Portman (R–OH), contains … More

    Farm Bill Wastes More Taxpayer Money on Green Subsidies

    Slapping the word rural in front of a bunch of green subsidies does not mean they’re not subsidies. But that’s exactly what the Rural Energy Investment Act section of the Senate version of the farm bill legislation does. The legislation includes direct handouts and loan guarantees for advanced biofuels and … More

    Keystone XL and Natural Gas Provide Energy Trade Opportunities

    In June 2008, presidential candidate Barack Obama said, “If we continue to let our trade policy be dictated by special interests, then American workers will continue to be undermined, and public support for robust trade will continue to erode.” That’s exactly what’s happening with respect to energy trade. Special interests … More

    Use South Korean Presidential Visit to Affirm the Bilateral Relationship

    South Korean President Park Geun-hye arrived in Washington on May 6 to meet with President Obama and affirm the bilateral alliance that has kept peace on the Korean Peninsula for 60 years. At the moment, the U.S.–South Korea military, political, and economic relationships are the strongest they have ever been. … More

    Solar Energy Embarrassingly Less Productive than Coal

    A map recently released by the Solar Foundation highlights the industry’s claim that 119,000 Americans are now employed in the solar industry. Its authors exclaim, “The United States solar industry employs more workers than coal mining.” What the map doesn’t touch on is whether solar energy is the most economical … More

    Senators’ Nuke Waste Plan Renovates When We Really Need to Raze and Rebuild

    Senators Ron Wyden (D–OR), Dianne Feinstein (D–CA), Lamar Alexander (R–TN), and Lisa Murkowski (R–AK) finally released a discussion draft of their much anticipated nuclear waste bill this morning. It essentially accepts the assumption that the federal government should be responsible for nuclear waste management and disposal and that waste producers … More

    Green Energy Companies Fisker and SoloPower Struggle Despite Government-Backed Loans

    One foot on a banana peel, the other in the grave. That’s where Fisker Automotive and SoloPower find themselves, struggling for survival despite generous government handouts in the form of loan guarantees and tax breaks. Should either company take a turn for the worse, a tombstone in Heritage’s “Green Graveyard” … More

    Earth Day: People Are Our Most Precious Resource

    Google is celebrating Earth Day with a doodle of sunny skies, mountain peaks, hills, and blue waters. Sure, it’s appropriate to celebrate this wonderful planet we call home. But Google—along with too many others—forgot the most important part of Earth Day: people. The best, most interested, and invested stewards of … More

    With Climate Change Science Unsettled, a Carbon Tax is Even More Useless

    Reuters’s environment correspondent Alister Doyle provides even more fodder for why a carbon (energy) tax or the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) regulation of greenhouse gas emissions is economically and environmentally foolish. Doyle writes: Scientists are struggling to explain a slowdown in climate change that has exposed gaps in their understanding … More