The Alliance for Wise Energy Decisions (AWED) is an informal coalition of individuals and organizations interested in improving national, state, and local energy and environmental policies. Our premise is that technical matters like these should be addressed by using Real Science (please consult WiseEnergy.org for more information).
A key element of AWED’s efforts is public education. Towards that end, every three weeks we put together a newsletter to balance what is found in the mainstream media about energy and the environment. We appreciate MasterResource for their assistance in publishing this information.
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Some particularly good articles in this issue are:
Wind Energy More Expensive and Pointless Than You Thought
Electricity from New Wind is Four Times More Costly than Existing Nuclear
Bill Gates: Cost of switching to renewables is “beyond astronomical”
Radio interview: Living with Wind Turbines
German Energy Plan Based on Unexamined Green Movement Beliefs
Nobel Prize-Winning Scientist Says Obama Is ‘Dead Wrong’ On Global Warming
Whatever Happened to Common Sense Regarding Climate Change?…
Continue Reading“The PTC offsets the high price of wind energy, giving the false impression that wind is competitive with other resources. But with capacity factors under 30%, project operation costs likely exceed the average wholesale price of energy in most areas of the U.S. Wind only appears to be a ‘cheaper competitor’ because it’s subsidized to a point where economics have no meaning in the wholesale market.”
We learned this week that the Senate Finance Committee plans to mark-up a new tax extender bill. This news comes just seven months after Congress enacted the controversial $42 billion tax credit (HR 5771) giveaway. Apparently, the promise of long-term broad base tax reform has again been pushed aside in favor of short-term relief for select taxpayers.
Over the coming months, a tidal wave of lobbyists will descend on Capitol Hill with countless reasons for why their industry deserves special consideration.…
Continue ReadingYesterday, the Institute for Energy Research (IER) asked all 50 state public utility commissions to prioritize the interests of electricity ratepayers above the Obama Administration’s controversial Power Plant Rule. Already, the governors of several major states–Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Indiana, and Wisconsin–have said NO to Obama’s EPA. Kentucky might become the sixth state on this list.
Will state public-utility regulators, charged to protect consumers from unnecessary costs, seize the day and stand up? Doing so would not only help consumers but also push back against the growth of the Bootleggers-and-Baptists dynamic in electricity policy. A let-the-market-decide policy, not a let-the-feds-decide policy, is the best way to allocate electricity generation resources at the state level.
The letter, signed by IER president Tom Pyle, follows:
… Continue ReadingDear Chairman,
Recently, we witnessed a historic ruling by the Supreme Court in Michigan v.