A Free-Market Energy Blog

Dear Christian Science Monitor: Wind Is Not Sacred but a Sacrilege

By Mary Kay Barton -- January 11, 2013

I am writing in response to your recent article by Richard Mertens, “Wind Energy: Boom Sputters as Industry Tax Credit is Set to Expire.” This piece describes the plight of wind-industry workers and their families in the face of political uncertainty with the Production Tax Credit at risk. The implicit assumption of Mr. Mertens is that these jobs are worthy for a better environment and for a more sustainable energy future.

Please consider a very different view: that this industry is an artificial construct of cronyism; squanders resources at the expense of consumers and taxpayers; and toys with workers and their families who continually find themselves at the mercy of temporary political majorities.

Being a Christian myself, I am not sure how supporting a business that is based on mistruths and bilks taxpayers and ratepayers out of billions of their hard-earned dollars can in any way be considered “Christian.”…

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How the PTC was Extended (Obama to the rescue)

By -- January 10, 2013

It took a last minute change to a highly controversial bill and the last vote of the 112th Congress for Big Wind to eke out one more extension to the Production Tax Credit (PTC). With the dust now settling, it has become clear: President Obama rammed through the extension without debate or compromise.

Initial Negotiations

Following the November 6 presidential election, the wind industry anticipated a quick vote on the PTC that would provide a multi-year extension and remove the issue from the larger fiscal cliff negotiations. That did not happen and with 60+ tax provisions due to expire at the end of 2012 many parties are vying for the same dollars. With December 31 fast approaching, the likelihood of an extension was becoming more uncertain by the day.

On Thursday, December 21, just prior to Christmas and a full six weeks after the election, Speaker Boehner and House Republicans gave up trying to negotiate a fiscal cliff package with the White House and passed a bill that addressed spending cuts sufficient to avoid the sequester.

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Economic Failure at U.S. EPA: NAM Study Raises the Hard Questions

By -- January 9, 2013

A recent study commissioned by the National Association of Manufacturers critically assessed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s cost- benefit analysis with respect to six key regulations: Utility MACT, Boiler MACT, Coal Combustion Residuals, the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule, Cooling Water Intake Structures, and Ground-Level Ozone. The NAM study details the significant differences between EPA’s cost estimates and those of industry sources, while highlighting problems and inconsistencies with EPA’s methodology. Most importantly for manufacturers, the study estimates the impact of EPA rules on the manufacturing industry, directly and through indirect macroeconomic effects.

A key finding of the report is that “the annual compliance costs for all six regulations range from $36 billion to $111.2 billion (by EPA estimates) and from $63.2 billion to $138.2 billion (by industry estimates).”…

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Wind Energy Cost: Think Again ($0.15/kWh wholesale prohibitively expensive)

By Tom Tanton -- January 8, 2013
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Dishonest Land: Hollywood’s “Promised Land” Slanders the Frac’ing Revolution

By -- January 7, 2013
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Yes, in My Backyard: Why Richmond Should Value Its Oil Refinery

By -- January 4, 2013
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Wind Power’s Negative Externalities: Here Come the Lawsuits (Part II)

By Sherri Lange -- January 3, 2013
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Wind Power’s Negative Externalities (Part I: introducing www.windturbinepropertyloss.org)

By Sherri Lange -- January 2, 2013
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Global Climate Planning: Down But Not Out (Doha's 'bitter defeat' does not mean it's over)

By Craig Rucker -- December 31, 2012
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Hollywood's Fractured Logic

By Steve Everley -- December 28, 2012
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