May 22, 2013

Posts

Kerry may trade Keystone approval for nasty carbon tax

March 3, 2013 By Carol Greenberg

A recent National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) report on the impact of Barbara Boxer and Bernie Sanders’ proposed carbon tax bill, which the White House is playing coy about, is fueling suspicions that Obama may be preparing to back a carbon tax as political cover for approving the Keystone XL pipeline.

This is a bill Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) introduced two days after Obama’s 2013 State of the Union address. Even after driving stakes through Cap and Trade and other such schemes, the idea of a Carbon Tax in some format has never died and Boxer and Sanders have made the “Phoenix arise” again.

The bill would add a $20-per ton tax on carbon polluters which supposedly are driving climate change. Democrats, environmentalists and progressive actors have blamed the droughts, floods, high temperatures and even Hurricane Sandy on “climate change” which we all know has been debunked.

Greg Knox, of Knox Manufacturing in Dayton Ohio had this comment:

“I just think that it’s national suicide,” said Greg Knox, CEO of Franklin-based Knox Machinery. “In talking to my customers, we’re just appalled by the fact the government would choose to consider some of this legislation in light of how many problems we have now in our economy.”

One of the states hardest hit by this would be Ohio. According to the National Association of Manufacturers:

  • Natural gas cost to increase by over 40% in 2013
  • Gasoline prices to increase by over 20 cents per gallon in 2013
  • Electricity rates to increase an average of 13% in 2013
  • 55,000-69,000 jobs impacted in 2013, 99,000-123,000 by 2023
  • Coal loses 43.4-50.3% in economic output, energy-intensive manufacturing loses 2.1%, non-energy-intensive loses 0.6-1% by 2023

Where Obama stands in all this isn’t clear. Senator David Vitter (R-LA) wrote him a letter asking for his stance and apparently Jack Lew, Obama’s former Chief of Staff has said President Obama has no plans to support it, but we know how things change.

Anyone wishing to read the full study by NAM (National Association of Manufacturers) it can be found here. And they issued this salient remark: Click on the link at the left to get a list of states hardest hit, and click that state to get its study.

Any revenue raised by the carbon tax would be far outweighed by the negative impact to the overall economy. A carbon tax would lead to lower real wage rates because companies would have higher costs and lower labor productivity. Over time, workers’ incomes could decline relative to baseline levels by as much as 8.5 percent. The increased costs of coal, natural gas and petroleum products due to a carbon tax would ripple through the economy and result in higher production costs and less spending on non-energy goods.

If this backdoor “Cap and Trade” scheme becomes a reality the states hardest hit would be Arkansas, Indiana, Louisiana, Montana, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia.

On March 1 the State Dept, which had originally nixed Keystone, came out with a new “study” saying we aren’t so sure it’s a bad thing after all, but all conclusions are premature. 

Rumors on the street are that Obama and Kerry may try a quid pro quo and trade the unions and oil companies the rights to Keystone but get their carbon tax in place to pacify the environmentalists who have gone wild over Keystone.

Let’s hope we get Keystone but not this nasty carbon tax which will destroy more jobs and raise prices for consumers.

Crossposted at Unified Patriots and Grumpy Opinions

Share
Filed Under carbon tax, environmentalism, Keystone Pipeline Project Tagged With carbon tax, environmentalism, Jack Lew, John Kerry, Keystone XL Pipeline, NAM, National Association of Manufacturers, Obama, Senator Barbara Boxer, Senator Bernie Sanders

Kennedy Curse continues: 2 arrested at Keystone protest

February 15, 2013 By Carol Greenberg

Image at right from AP.

Conor Kennedy has been having a really bad year.

First Taylor Swift dumps him and then yesterday he, his father Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., civil rights activist Julian Bond, Daryl Hannah, two prominent members of the Sierra Club and about 40 others were arrested in front of the White House after chaining themselves to a fence. The purpose was to protest the building of the Keystone XL pipeline.

Also arrested was former NASA climate activist James Hansen.

A couple weeks ago I reported the Sierra Club intended to go *lawless* and create “civil disobedience” on February 17 at a huge rally in D.C. billed as the “largest climate change rally in history.”

But for whatever reason a group decided to show on Valentine’s Day instead but it seems it turned out to be the “smallest climate change rally in history.”

Democracy Now has an 11 minute video interview of some of the miscreants, but I won’t subject you to it in its entirety but instead pull out a few salient remarks.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is confident Obama will kill Keystone because:

Because I think it’s the right thing to do, and I think he knows that. And I think he—you know, I think he has a strong moral core, and I think John Kerry does, too. And I think, ultimately, he would not do something that is—that is this catastrophic and irresponsible and reckless.

Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune had this to say:

And it might sound a little surprising that an organization like the Sierra Club, that’s been around for so long and has been a part of so many important fights, that it’s the first time we do civil disobedience. But we look at this project, the tar sands pipeline, and it’s a boondoggle. It’s such a—it would contribute to such a climate disaster that we realize we have to use every single tool of democracy in order to fight this thing. We’ll fight it in the courts. We’ll fight it in statehouses and here in the Beltway, in the streets. But we realize that we have to do every single thing that we can to make sure that instead of putting $7 billion into a dirty oil pipeline, that we’re investing in clean energy instead.

And not to be outdone by the others Julian Bond remarked:

This is a decision that affects all Americans, and we want to make sure he does the right thing, which is to say no to the pipeline. It’s a great deal for Canada, great deal for Mexico; doesn’t do much for the United States.

Of course no mention of all the jobs the pipeline would create or that Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman recently approved the new route of the pipeline through his state.

But not to worry: Connor and his dad escaped jail time and got off with just a $100 fine.

The Kennedy Curse may get them into troubles, but some how it always manages to get them out of troubles.

But Sierra Club vows as/of the writing of this article the “biggest climate change rally in history” will still go on February 17.

Crossposted at Unified Patriots and Grumpy Opinions.

Share
Filed Under environmental protests, Keystone Pipeline Project Tagged With Conor Kennedy, Daryl Hannah, Julian Bond, Keystone protests, Keystone XL Pipeline, Michael Brune, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Sierra Club

Sierra Club to go *lawless* with Keystone protests

January 24, 2013 By Carol Greenberg

There have been many radical environmental groups protesting the Keystone XL Pipeline.

First we had the tree sitters, who called it quits after the pipeline was erected around them:

Then we had the “Tar Sands Action” group:

Code Pink showed their “support and solidarity” for those protesters who went on hunger strikes or were arrested:

But readers, *Save the date*. February 17 in D.C. For the first-time in its illustrious history, the Sierra Club is going to break the law to try and stop the Keystone pipeline.

With Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman approving the pipeline’s route through his state Tuesday, Sierra Club President Michael Brune hopped onto Facebook to announce that the San Francisco-headquartered Club is “for the first time in our 120-year history….be engaging in peaceful civil disobedience to help stop the dirty and destructive Keystone XL tar sands pipeline. We’re all in!”

Below is their tweet announcing this:

This must be a really, really big deal because they actually went to their Board of Directors to get this approved:

“The recent decision made by the Board of Directors is not one we take lightly,” said Allison Chin, Sierra Club President. “As a nation, we are beginning to achieve significant success in the fight against climate disruption. But allowing the production, transport, export and burning of the dirtiest oil on Earth now would be a giant leap backwards in that progress. The Board is answering the urgency of this threat with our decision to engage, for one time, in civil disobedience.”

What that *civil disobedience* will actually be, well, they haven’t told us. Yet.

Back in July of 2011 NYC Mayor Mike Bloomberg announced he was donating $50 million out of his own pocket to help the Sierra Club *dump coal.* But this writer doubts Sierra Club separates their donations and Bloomie’s money will be helping to aid and abet this *civil disobedience.*

February 17 is a Sunday folks, so maybe some of us off work can catch the show and start a bet pool on how many will be arrested.

Crossposted at Unified Patriots and Grumpy Opinions.

Share
Filed Under environmentalism, Keystone Pipeline Project, Sierra Club Tagged With civil disobedience, Code Pink, Gov. Dave Heineman, Keystone Pipeline, Keystone XL protests, Mayor Mike Bloomberg, Sierra Club, Tar Sands Action Group

Ground swell of support for Keystone reroute

December 6, 2012 By Carol Greenberg

You’d think common sense would’ve won the argument for the Keystone XL pipeline a long time ago, but President Obama needed support from environmentalists to win an election. Now that he got his 2nd term, he is feeling pressure to make good on job creation promises, and the necessary re-route through Nebraska has been outlined, everyone from elected officials to business owners to labor unions are saying that its time to get this show on the road. Obama’s refusal to approve the pipeline has halted job creation before it could even start and opened the doors for reliable energy to go to China. From Bryan Preston of the PJ Tatler:

But TransCanada has proposed a new route for the pipeline that avoids the Nebraska Sandhills, and the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality is seeking comment before it drafts its report on the new route. Port-To-Plains Alliance, which is made up of more than 100 local elected officials and community leaders, has today offered its “strong support” for the Keystone XL Pipeline.

Energy sector experts are lauding the reroute as a safe and practical solution. From Michael Whatley of the Consumer Energy Alliance: 

This report clearly demonstrates that the Keystone XL pipeline will be one of the safest pipelines ever constructed. We commend the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality for its dedication to a thorough, scientific-based evaluation and for its consistent engagement with landowners and the public throughout this process. Naysayers will be hard-pressed to find any legitimate flaws in either this process or in this report.

Referencing the report, Mr. Whatley also noted:

CEA is pleased to see that the re-route process has clearly and effectively resolved concerns about impacts to the environmentally sensitive Sand Hills region. Not only does the report reaffirm that the project with have no significant environmental impact, the report also concludes Keystone XL will be a boon to the Nebraska economy. Workers and taxpayers across the state will benefit from the jobs-and-revenue combo that will help stimulate growth for years.

The pipeline enjoys broad-based support in Nebraska as can be seen by this petition. Everyone else is ready to move ‘forward,’ but where’s President Obama? On the sidelines, saying nothing. Doesn’t he know the election is over?

Obama put off final decision on the pipeline until after the 2012 elections. He has not reopened discussion of the pipeline since he was narrowly re-elected…President Obama campaigned promising an “all of the above” approach to energy, but has yet to state whether he will instruct the US State Department to approve or deny TransCanada’s permits to construct the pipeline. The State Department has to approve the construction because the pipeline crosses an international boundary.

For those who may not be aware, protesters of the pipeline for weeks have been dressing up as owls and chaining themselves to out-of-use-equipment. Some have even shown up at the White House. Unfortunately, right now, this is the only thing “blocking” Keystone:

Crossposted at Unified Patriots and Grumpy Elder

Share
Filed Under environmentalism, Keystone Pipeline Project Tagged With environmentalists, Keystone Pipeline Project, Nebraska, Obama, oil, TransCanada

Romney/Ryan energy plan is “drill, baby drill”

August 25, 2012 By Carol Greenberg

Update 8/29/12 12:30 pm EST

With Hurricane Isaac raging in the Gulf, Obama is thinking of raiding the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in order to lower gasoline prices. All rigs in the Gulf have been shut down and evacuated. Since Obama has BANNED drilling in all off-shore areas except the Gulf, we have all our eggs in one basket. Had Romney’s energy plan been in place we would not be facing this possibility. GWB did open the SPR after Katrina but there were far more dire circumstances. 

Original article begins below. 

Image at the right, titled “Romney’s inner Palin” courtesy of WaPo.

Finally it’s happened. Romney/Ryan has unveiled their plan to make the U.S. energy independent, and as you can see to the excitement of this writer and millions of others, it’s “Drill, baby. Drill.”

The full 21-page plan can be found here, and his campaign should be lauded for all their extensive research. The executive summary is:

A crucial component of Mitt Romney’s Plan for a Stronger Middle Class is to dramatically increase domestic energy production and partner closely with Canada and Mexico to achieve North American energy independence by 2020. While President Obama has described his own energy policy as a “hodgepodge,” sent billions of taxpayer dollars to green energy projects run by political cronies, rejected the Keystone XL Pipeline as not in “the national interest,” and sought repeatedly to stall development of America’s domestic resources, Romney’s path forward would establish America as an energy superpower in the 21st century.

His goal is for the U.S. to become energy independent by the year 2020.  Along with energy independence comes increased national security, millions of jobs, an estimated $1 trillion in revenue, lower energy prices, a stronger dollar and a reduced trade defecit.

The Agenda is:

  • Empower states to control onshore energy development;
  • Open offshore areas for energy development;
  • Pursue a North American Energy Partnership;
  • Ensure accurate assessment of energy resources;
  • Restore transparency and fairness to permitting and regulation; and
  • Facilitate private-sector-led development of new energy technologies

We all know what Obama’s energy “plan” is and has been: destroy the coal industry, regulate the energy industry into oblivion, kill jobs, create 5-year off-shore drill moratoriums, ban uranium mining on federal lands, kill the natural gas fracking industry, dump the Keystone Pipeline Project and throw taxpayers dollars into wind and solar companies who then go bankrupt.

Romney has laid out a “everything is on the table” unlike Obama, who has taken everything OFF the table except wind and solar.

Crossposted at Unified Patriots. 

Crossposted at Grumpy Elder

Share
Filed Under drilling moratorium, EPA, government regulations, Keystone Pipeline Project, war on coal Tagged With drill baby drill, drill moratoriums, energy independence, energy plan, Jobs, Mitt Romney, Obama, Paul Ryan, war on coal