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5/12/2008
Wind ($23.37) v. Gas (25 Cents)
Congress seems ready to spend billions on a new "Manhattan Project" for green energy, or at least the political class really, really likes talking about one. But maybe we should look at what our energy subsidy dollars are buying now. Some clarity comes from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), an independent federal agency that tried to quantify government spending on energy production in 2007. The agency reports that the total taxpayer bill was $16.6 billion in direct subsidies, tax breaks, loan guarantees and the like. That's double in real dollars from eight years earlier, as you'd expect given all the money Congress is throwing at "renewables." Even more subsidies are set to pass this year. more>
5/8/2008
Bill Targets Oil Firms and OPEC
Democratic leaders in Congress unveiled energy legislation yesterday targeting big oil companies and members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. The package drew sharp criticism from Republicans, oil firms and foreign policy experts. The legislation, dubbed the Consumers First Energy Act, features a 25 percent windfall profits tax on oil companies operating in the United States, a rollback of existing tax breaks for oil and gas companies worth $17 billion over 10 years, and an authorization for the U.S. attorney general to bring price collusion charges against OPEC members. more>
5/6/2008
With food costs rising, ethanol benefits now questioned
WASHINGTON -- Just months ago, ethanol was the Holy Grail to energy independence and a "green fuel" that would help nudge the country away from climate-changing fossil energy. Democrats and Republicans cheered its benefits as Congress directed a fivefold increase in ethanol use as a motor fuel. President Bush called it key to his strategy to cut gasoline use by 20 percent by 2010. But now with skyrocketing food costs _ even U.S. senators are complaining about seeing shocking prices at the supermarket _ and hunger spreading across the globe, some lawmakers are wondering if they made a mistake. more>
5/3/2008
Don’t Rush to Praise Sugar-Cane Biofuels
Re “Bring On the Right Biofuels,” by Roger Cohen (column, The New York Times on the Web, April 24): Biofuels contribute to deforestation and global warming regardless of which plant matter is used to make the fuel. Even if ethanol is made from sugar cane and that sugar cane is grown miles away from the Amazon rain forest, the resulting shifts in where other crops are grown will lead to deforestation. more>
4/28/2008
Higher energy costs from climate bills
WASHINGTON -- People will be paying higher energy prices under a Senate bill to limit greenhouse gases, but how much will depend on how well the country can shift away from burning fossil fuels, an Energy Department analysis said Tuesday. The Energy Information Administration said annual energy costs could increase on average of as little as $30 or as much as 10 times that much by 2020. The projected cost increases per household ranged from $76 a year more to as much as $723 a year more by 2030. more>
4/22/2008
Ethanol's Failed Promise
The willingness to try, fail and try again is the essence of scientific progress. The same sometimes holds true for public policy. It is in this spirit that today, Earth Day, we call upon Congress to revisit recently enacted federal mandates requiring the diversion of foodstuffs for production of biofuels. These "food-to-fuel" mandates were meant to move America toward energy independence and mitigate global climate change. But the evidence irrefutably demonstrates that this policy is not delivering on either goal. In fact, it is causing environmental harm and contributing to a growing global food crisis. more>
4/22/2008
Food-to-Fuel Leaves Less to Eat
Recently enacted federal mandates requiring the diversion of foodstuffs for production of biofuels are a significant source of the harmful global effects of U.S. policies on biofuels ("Food Inflation, Riots Spark Worries for World Leaders," page one, April 14). These "food-to-fuel" mandates were supposed to reduce dependency on foreign oil and mitigate global climate change. By any measure, that hasn't occurred. Instead, corn and food prices have skyrocketed, and the effects are being felt around the world. more>
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