With gas prices hovering at $4 per gallon, politicians are trying to sell quick fixes that will inevitably end up hurting consumers. The latest attempt is an open fuel standard that would require a certain percentage of new vehicles to be flex-fuel (a combination of gasoline and ethanol or methanol), …
Ethanol subsidies that are set to expire at the end of this year continue to lose support among the public and in Congress. King Corn, understandably not too happy about this change in public attitude, has launched an extensive lobbying campaign targeting Capitol Hill and beyond. The Corn Farmers Coalition …
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is suffering policy schizophrenia. On the one hand, it has ordered automakers to increase fuel efficiency to save the planet from global warming. On the other hand, it is setting higher quotas of ethanol in gasoline, which will decrease fuel efficiency and increase emissions of …
The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) approval to increase the amount ethanol blended into gasoline from 10 percent 15 percent has been controversial. A previous decision by the EPA in October 2010 made the 15 percent blend allowable (but not required) in passenger cars, light-duty trucks, and SUVs that had a …
Congress isn’t the only entity that knows how to pick winners and losers for energy sources and technologies. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is doing its best to follow suit by imposing new rules on the natural gas industry and providing exemptions to the biomass industry. For natural gas, the …
“Don’t wanna lose it, it’s electric! (Boogie Woogie Woogie)” Those lyrics (from Marcia Griffiths’ song “Electric Boogie,” better known as “the Electric Slide song”) are quite indicative of the Obama Administration’s position on the electric car. No matter how much the market and consumers reject the electric car, the government …
According to a press release, Energy Secretary Steven Chu says that the billions of dollars in federal stimulus money directed toward solar-power will cut solar power costs in half by 2015. It’s a grand sounding prediction, but his own Energy Information Agency projects that electricity from solar cells will cost …
For a country that is still heavily dependent on coal power, news of a more efficient (read: lower-carbon-emitting) coal plant should be greeted with roaring applause from the environmental community. Unfortunately, under the Obama Administration, the U.S. Export-Import bank can’t see past the black and white idea that coal and …
