In The News
WSJ: Survey Says: Americans Not Worried About Global Warming
Thursday October 22, 2009
The survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press finds a sharp decline over the past year in the percentage of Americans who see solid evidence that global temperatures are rising. According to the survey, conducted between Sept. 30 and Oct. 4 among 1,500 adults reached on cell phones and landlines, fewer respondents also see global warming as a very serious problem; 35% say that today, down from 44% in April 2008.
The survey also points to a decline in the proportion of Americans who say global temperatures are rising as a result of human activity. Just 36% say that currently, down from 47% last year.
Not everything in the poll is bad news for those that favor capping U.S. emissions. According to the survey, a majority (56%) of Americans think the United States should join other countries in setting standards to address global climate change, while 32% say that the United States should set its own standards. And half of Americans favor setting limits on carbon emissions and making companies pay for their emissions, even if this may lead to higher energy prices.
Barrasso, 'Secret Person' to Join Inhofe on Copenhagen Trip
Thursday October 22, 2009
Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) will join Inhofe during the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference 2009 in Denmark in early December, the Oklahoma conservative said Thursday.
Inhofe said that the Wyoming freshman and a third "secret person" would attent the summit during an appearance on the conservative "Morning in America" show hosted by Bill Bennett.
Inhofe's office would not say Thursday who the third person is, but anticipates an announcement in the "coming days" as to a potential third participant.
The traveling delegation marks some growing momentum for Inhofe's trip, during which he is expected to make the case for his long-standing skepticism of global warming science.
Oklahoma Choir for Gas Gets Bigger, Capitol Hill Hearing Shows
Thursday October 22, 2009
The hearing was organized by the newly formed and quickly expanding Natural Gas Caucus, a group of House members from all parts of the country, that plans to push natural gas to the forefront of debates about clean energy and job creation in the United States.
"The decisions Congress makes today will determine the stability of our domestic energy industry and the future of our nation," said Rep. Dan Boren, the Muskogee Democrat who is co-chairman of the caucus.
"It is our job to help our colleagues in Congress understand the great success story there is to be had here with natural gas."
Chicken and egg?
Much of the testimony focused on how to expand the use of natural gas to take advantage of huge discoveries made in the United States.
Pickens, the legendary oilman and investor who has been pitching natural gas as a bridge fuel until wind power and other alternative sources can be developed on a broad scale, said the United States can cut in half its dependence on OPEC just by retooling some 6.5 million trucks to run on natural gas.
He said the service stations and other infrastructure needed to support a major conversion would spring up naturally as the vehicles hit the roads. But some lawmakers seemed perplexed, wondering if there wasn't a chicken-and-egg question involved with producing natural gas vehicles before there were enough places available to fuel them.
Ronald W. Jipson, president and chief executive officer of Questar Gas, said lawmakers should target "the low-hanging fruit" first, trucks and fleet vehicles, to allow for the natural gas delivery system for vehicles to develop.
Sens. Hutchison and Bond: Democrat's Hidden Gas Tax
Wednesday October 21, 2009
The goal of this climate-change legislation is actually to increase the price of traditional forms of carbon-based energy such as coal, gas and oil so that consumers will respond by using less of it. Some lawmakers call this "setting the price on carbon." Economists refer to this kind of policy as a price signal. But the bottom line is that the price of energy will go up. Ultimately, all Americans will pay directly or indirectly for the higher fuel prices the cap-and-trade legislation will cause.
A Call for Transparency
Wednesday October 21, 2009
We'd do it too. But we can't. According to Congressional Quarterly, the senators "produced a ‘semi-final draft' of the legislation -- including the critical formula for distributing billions of dollars' worth of pollution credits to different industries and interest groups." But that draft is unavailable to the public. It has only been given to the EPA to model the economic impacts.
President Obama, in his memorandum for the heads of executive departments and agencies, wrote that "Government should be transparent. Transparency promotes accountability and provides information for citizens about what their Government is doing. Information maintained by the Federal Government is a national asset. My Administration will take appropriate action, consistent with law and policy, to disclose information rapidly in forms that the public can readily find and use."
Bill Beach, the director of The Heritage Foundation's Center for Data Analysis, wrote a letter to Senator Boxer (CCing Senator Kerry, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson and Senator Inhofe) asking for a copy of the semi-draft legislation to model the economic effects of the bill.
Inhofe: On Cap-and-Trade, ‘Day Of Fear Is Over' for GOP
Wednesday October 21, 2009
Inhofe, who outlined his concerns in an op-ed in Roll Call on Monday, says that Democrats have recently been urging GOP senators in private conversations to consider supporting the "Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act," the 821-page climate bill introduced on September 30 by Sens. John Kerry (D., Mass.) and Barbara Boxer (D., Calif.).
The Kerry-Boxer bill aims to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions by 20 percent from 2005 levels by 2020. It also includes a cap-and-trade system, or as the bill terms it, a "Pollution Reduction and Investment" program.
Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina is one Republican who has signaled that he's interested in working with Democrats on the issue. Though not a co-sponsor, Graham did co-write, with Kerry, a supportive op-ed in the New York Times entitled "Yes We Can (Pass Climate Change Legislation)." Inhofe declined to comment on Graham's article, though he did say that "he had some questions to ask [Graham], since there is a very clear, true side to this issue."
The Oklahoman: Senate Climate Bill Would Place U.S. on Wrong Path
Wednesday October 21, 2009
MultimediaPhotoview all photos Still, when liberal Democratic Sens. Barbara Boxer of California and John Kerry of Massachusetts launched their global warming bill three weeks ago, they got the endorsement of conservative Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina - reportedly lured to the bill by provisions calling for new nuclear power plant construction. Might cap and trade rally in the Senate?
Let's hope not. As Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Tulsa, noted recently, Boxer-Kerry is still a bad idea at its core. Tacking on a few nuclear power provisions, which are needed, "doesn't cancel out or eliminate a national energy tax," Inhofe said.
Indeed, Boxer-Kerry would dramatically change life in America - as would the House-passed bill - if it became law.
The bill's chief feature would mandate a 20 percent reduction in U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by 2020. Kerry said the bill is a "pollution reduction bill," resisting the cap-and-trade label that refers to the government setting limits on emissions of carbon dioxide. Generally, businesses and industries that are under the caps can sell or trade their excess to those that are over the caps.
* * MEDIA ADVISORY * * Senators Hutchison & Bond to Join a Family Farmer & Trucker to Release Report
Tuesday October 20, 2009
Media Contacts:
Charles Chamberlayne (BOND) 202.224.7627
Courtney Sanders (HUTCHISON) 202.224.5520
* * MEDIA ADVISORY * *
CAP & TRADE = $3.6 TRILLION GAS TAX FOR AMERICAN FAMILIES AND SMALL BUSINESSES
Senators Hutchison & Bond to Join a Family Farmer & Trucker to Release Report
WASHINGTON, D.C. - On WEDNESDAY, October 21, 2009 at 11:00 AM, While Democratic lawmakers and climate change proponents continue to push cap-and-trade bills through Congress, U.S. Senators Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) and Kit Bond (R-MO) will join a farmer, small business and trucking company owner tomorrow to discuss and release their report, Climate Change Legislation: A $3.6 Trillion Gas Tax, which explains how the proposals will levy a massive new national gas tax on American farmers, workers and truckers. They will detail their report at a press conference on Wednesday.
WHO: U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison
U.S. Senator Kit Bond
Barbara Windsor, President & CEO of Hahn Transportation, Inc.
Richard Cortese, Central Texas Grain and Livestock Producer
WHAT: News Conference & New Hutchison-Bond Report Media Briefing
WHEN: TOMORROW, Wednesday, October 21, 2009 11:00 AM EDT
WHERE: The Senate Swamp
Corner of New Jersey & Constitution Avenues, NW
(Between Robert Taft Memorial & Senate Swamp)
# # #
Does Nuclear Fit The Bill? - Inhofe Response
Monday October 19, 2009
Such opposition, of course, is unsurprising. Consider that some of the same senators who now talk of nuclear compromise have plainly identified themselves as staunchly anti-nuclear. During the debate on the McCain-Lieberman bill in 2005, for example, Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) said, "Nuclear power is not the solution to climate change, and it is not ‘clean.'"
But let's assume that the industry's opponents have a "road-to-Damascus" conversion, and agree to support provisions that can encourage construction of new nuclear power plants, including, to name a few, further streamlining the regulatory process, support for reprocessing, and loan guarantees for new plants. These are steps that Congress can and should take. But we can't forget the essential point: attaching them to a national energy tax doesn't cancel out or eliminate a national energy tax.
Inhofe: Climate Bill Is a Costly Non-Solution (Roll Call Op-Ed)
Monday October 19, 2009
We need to remind the American public, for example, that the 1,400-page Waxman-Markey monstrosity is a monument to big government that will make food, gasoline and electricity more expensive, increase mandates on small businesses, and increase the size and reach of the federal bureaucracy - all while doing nothing to affect climate change.