After all the drama in this end-of-year self-generated fiscal crisis, Congressional negotiators struck a deal on the omnibus spending and tax extender bills. In a nutshell – the democrats won, the republicans caved and the rest of us were screwed – unless, of course, you’re in big wind’s camp. In that case, you’re probably stunned at how much Congress is willing to give of taxpayer money so it can go home for the holidays.
Meaningless Gesture
After two weeks of bluster from both sides claiming the renewable tax credits posed the greatest obstacle to reaching agreement, we now know there was no debate at all. The wind industry secured its prized 2-year, $10 billion extension promised by the Senate Finance Committee with no questions asked. To appease the thousands of taxpayers who pleaded for the wind PTC to end, the backroom, spineless negotiators added phase-out language that would lower the credit in annual 20% increments after 2016.…
Continue Reading“As another financial/commodity trading scheme, [cap-and-trade] will find favor. As a means of changing the weather, I would not bet on it.”
Has my first letter-to-the-editor, published in the Wall Street Journal, in June 2007 stood the test of time? I’ll let you decide. But for me, eight years later, I feel a mixture of “I told you so” and bit of dismay.
Some background. A few years after moving to Charlottesville, Virginia, I realized that the University of Virginia here had been home to a several notables in climate science such as Professors S. Fred Singer, Patrick Michaels, and, of course, Michael Mann. I became emboldened by the power of my new computer and my enthusiasm to do something to counter the full blast of climate alarmism then being propagated by Al Gore, his disciples, and his film, An Inconvenient Truth.…
Continue Reading“If implemented, this agreement will do more to promote Enron’s business than will almost any other regulatory initiative outside of restructuring of the energy and natural gas industries in Europe and the United States. The potential to add incremental gas sales, and additional demand for renewable technology is enormous. In addition, a carbon emissions trading system will be developed.”
– John Palmisano, from Kyoto, Japan (1997)
A Hall of Shame crony memo just turned 18 years old. Dated December 12, 1997, it was written from Kyoto, Japan, in the afterglow of the Kyoto Protocol agreement by Enron lobbyist John Palmisano.
Global green planners such as Palmisano were euphoric that, somehow, someway, the world had embarked on an irreversible course of climate control (and thus industrial and land-use control). His memo reflects the train-just-left-the-station mentality, as well as the specific benefits for first-mover ‘green’ Enron.…
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