President Obama’s speech to the UN on climate change last Tuesday points to an interesting and fairly recent shift in the left’s environmentalist philosophy: the definition of “pollution” has changed. Even ten years ago, concerns for pollution centered around problems of smog, litter, and toxins in the air and water. However, such concerns for largely visible pollution have been trumped recently by a concern for invisible pollution which Obama claims is the most dangerous of all: “greenhouse gas pollution” and “carbon pollution.” While most visitors to the state of Wyoming …
In an otherwise fine article on how cap and trade legislation would lead to exploding energy bills that would hurt families and kill economic growth, the New York Times reports: But few pay attention to the origin of their little-noticed savings: 21 coal-fired power plants that emit more than 75 million tons of carbon dioxide annually and generate 80 percent of Missouri’s electricity. Even residents who endorse wind and solar energy have grown accustomed to the benefits of state policies that favor coal by putting a premium on low-cost electricity. …
The rest of the world may talk a good game when it comes to ending their use of carbon based energy, but the reality is a completely different story. While the European Union lectures us on global warming, Germany is busy building 27 coal-fired plants by 2020 and Italy plans to increase its reliance on coal from 14% today to 33% in just five years. In all of Europe, 40 new major coal power plants are set to be built in the next five years. The same realities are dictating …
Since 1973 U.S. energy consumption has grown 115%. Right now the U.S. has 760 gigawatts of power to meet consumption. Economists predict we will need 135 gigawatts of new capacity over the next decade to keep the lights on. Right now only 57 gigawatts of power are planned. And that number is falling fast. Yesterday an EPA appeals board denied a proposed coal-fired power plant in Utah the necessary permits to begin construction. The boars sent the permit back to the EPA regional office because the plant did meet all …
For all of Barack Obama’s trouble telling the truth, he always feels free to speak his mind whenever he is in San Francisco. In April, Obama told a room full of wealthy San Franciscans what he thought of rural Americans, calling them bitter people who cling to guns and religion. Now, in a recently discovered audiotape from his meeting with the San Francisco Chronicle editorial board, Obama admits he wants to bankrupt the coal industry, and that his energy policies will cause consumers’ electricity rates to “skyrocket.” Here are the …
Coal supplies almost half of our nation’s electricity and more than 20% of our nation’s total energy consumption. Without coal our entire economy would crumble. Despite decades of subsidies, wind and solar power contribute only 1% of our nation’s energy needs. Despite these facts, Joe Biden told a voter in Ohio today: “No coal plants here in America. Build them, if they’re going to build them, over there. Make them clean.” Watch below: [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rXyTRT-NZg[/youtube] Leaving aside the fact that Biden is, at best, forgetting that Barack Obama is on record …
The economy is by far the No. 1 issue on most Americans’ minds. Gas prices are a close second. The two issues are intimately related. But the spike in oil prices this year is just the tip of the iceberg. Due to similar developments in supply and demand, electricity prices are set to skyrocket next year. While American oil consumption has grown only 15% since 1973, electricity use has shot up 115%. Right now the U.S. has 760 gigawatts of power to meet consumption. We will need 135 gigawatts of …
NASA’s James Hansen is a hero on the left. He was among the first people to ask Congress to step up its control of the economy to decrease carbon emissions into the atmosphere. This week marks the 20th anniversary of Hansen’s first Capitol Hill testimony and he is on a media tour promoting his latest central planning solutions for the economy. Yesterday he told the House that although the left could stop all domestic oil drilling, it had no hope of stopping other countries from developing their resources: CO2 from oil is …
According to the Los Angeles Times today: “Every time a new coal-fired power plant is proposed anywhere in the United States, a lawyer from the Sierra Club or an allied environmental group is assigned to stop it, by any bureaucratic or legal means necessary.” And apparently they are winning. The coalition claims to have stopped 65 projects over the last three years (although industry disputes that number). While the parties may quibble over the number of power projects halted by the litigious enviros, industry lawyers are now advising clients to …
Today The Washington Post reports on the U.S.’s booming coal export industry which has freight cars in Appalachia brimming with coal set for the long journey to energy starved countries like China and India. The Post notes: In the United States, it is getting harder to license and borrow money to build new coal plants. But Peabody Energy’s chief executive Gregory H. Boyce says foreign demand will sustain mining output. “Coal is the sustainable fuel best able to close the gap of growing demand vs. scarce and expensive alternatives,” he …
