We Spent $13 Billion

And all we have to show for it is a hole in the side of a mountain.

That's the decision from our new Energy Secretary, Steven Chu. For years work has been ongoing in the Yucca Mountains to build a repository for spent nuclear fuel, coincenditally just north of Las Vegas, and Mr Chu has said no thanks. He is not going to allow any further work, even though it is almost complete. As for what nuclear power plants are supposed to do with the left over spent nuclear fuel his response is, "I'll get back to you."

The Obama administration and Energy Secretary Steven Chu have scrapped almost total funding for Yucca Mountain — the massive nuclear storage facility 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas that has been under construction for years. While almost all the funding was slashed for the facility, no definite plan was put into place, just the announcement that a permanent plan is in the works.

All of this is simply in keeping with the Obama administration's policy of riding America of any existing forms of power while they go tilting at windmills secure in the knowledge that the next big energy breakthrough is just around the corner. They are working on shutting down coal plants through the banning of CO2 emissions, they have imposed new restrictions on offshore drilling of oil and natural gas, and of course have leveled new emission standards on autos further hampering any attempts the auto industry has of digging out a hole they have dug.

While everybody in his administration is a global warming believer from HHS Kathleen Sebelius, to Treasury Sec'y Timothy Geithner and for sure all of his energy and environmental team, it had better become a reality real soon or I know a lot folks up north that are really going to be hating winter.

Treasury Secretary a Global Warming Acolyte

The one common thread all of the appointees the President In Training Pants have is they are global warming acolytes. From Steven Chu, the Energy Secretary, to his EPA chief, Lisa Jackson, and now even the Treasury Secretary.

U.S. oil and natural gas producing companies should not receive federal subsidies in the form of tax breaks because their businesses contribute to global warming, U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told Congress on Wednesday.

The absolute refusal of any of the liberals in congress and all of the inner circle of Obama advisers to allow us to pursue and process a natural resource we have at our fingertips to fuel our energy needs until any of these alternative energy sources become viable or sustainable is just plain nuts.

The Treasury Secretary coming out and saying he is against any incentives for oil and gas companies while the EPA chief is vigorously pursuing having CO2 declared a greenhouse gas in her efforts to shut down coal power plants like the new Health and Human Services Secretary, Kathleen Seblius did while governor of Kansas to Steven Chu who has reservations about nuclear power due to concerns about managing the waste material, his whole inner circle is working very hard to cripple this country.

Jobs and health care won't mean much if you don't have the power to light the workplace or handle all of the high tech medical equipment in hospitals to treat the sick.

This is just unbelievable and if I have said it once I am going to say it for the hundredth time, this administration is going to use its slavish devotion to the cult of global warming to wreck this economy, beyond the stage at which it may be possible to recover.

For all you folks all excited and jumping for joy at that $13 you are getting back in your paychecks, try this on for size.

The Obama administration's budget would levy an excise tax on oil and natural gas produced in the Gulf of Mexico, raising $5.3 billion in revenue from 2011 to 2019.

This new 13 percent tax on all oil and gas production in the Gulf would only affect those companies enjoying a loophole that allows them to avoid paying royalties on the energy supplies they drill. Companies already paying royalties would get a tax credit.

Obama's budget would also place a $4 per acre annual fee on energy leases in the Gulf that are designated as nonproducing. The budget proposal projects the fee would generate $1.2 billion from 2010 to 2019.

Those fees and taxes will be passed right on to the consumer who uses gas in their car or natural gas to heat their home.

The government giveth and the government taketh away. And taketh. And taketh.

For a real eye opener read this speech given by Todd Stern, Special Envoy for Climate Change from the State Department.

Cap and Trade Headed Our Way For Energy

Everybody knows that Barry O was up in Iowa, er Ottawa yesterday. What most people are not aware of is what the President in Training Pants said in response to a question posed to the 2 leaders, President Obama and Prime Minister Harper, in regards to energy policy.

The whole exchange was captured but unfortunately it is spread between 2 separate videos. The question is here along with Mr Harper's response starting about 4:25 mark. I am putting up the video that contains Obama's response which contains a portion which ought to scare you. In it he advocates for the United States to pursue a "Cap and Trade" policy in regards to coal power. Of course nobody in the news is reporting this little revelation.

Cap and trade is a policy which is designed to devastate an industry. Essentially it makes the price of doing business too prohibitive to be viable.

These measures would set a limit, or cap, on carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel use. The effect of such a cap would be to impose rationing of coal, oil, and natural gas on the American economy. Each covered utility, oil company, and manufacturing facility would be given allowances based on past emissions or some other formula. Those companies that emit less carbon dioxide than permitted by their allowances could sell the excess to those that do not; this is the trade part of cap and trade. Over time, the cap would be ratcheted down, requiring greater cuts in emissions.

In the video you will find Baracks' response starting at about the 2:19 mark. The environmental and energy team that Obama has are all big advocates of this sort of approach along with all the environmental progressive weenies. It was tried in Europe and it has failed. Of course if there is one thing this new administration has shown us they are not about to let failed policies of the past stop them from adopting or proposing them again. Whether those policies belonged to FDR, Jimmy Carter, or the Europeans.



For somebody who everyday is regaling with dire warnings of how bad our economy is he sure seems to be doing everything in his power to make sure it soon rivals countries such as Zimbabwe.

30 Years of American Energy Policy in 3 Minutes

Glenn Beck once again does the job that average Americans won't, or something like that. This is really no surprise to the vast majority of us, and you could probably put together a similar video in regards to Social Security, Medicare, Immigration, and Tax Reform. Every election cycle the same horror stories and after the elections the same results. Nothing!
Can we pleeeeeze get some fresh blood up in CONgress? Folks that did not know FDR personally. Maybe people who were not charter members of AARP. Keep the Iraq Vets for Congress in mind this election cycle. Adopt a anybody but the incumbent mentality.
Anywhere here is your video, enjoy!

No Energy Plant For You, Georgia

Yup, the enviro wackos win another one.

The construction of a coal-fired power plant in Georgia was halted Monday when a judge ruled that the plant's builders must first obtain a permit from state regulators that limits the amount of carbon dioxide emissions.

Fulton County Judge Thelma Wyatt Cummings Moore 's decision overturned a ruling that allowed the construction of the $2 billion Longleaf Energy Plant, which would become Georgia's first new coal-fired plant in more than two decades.
Environmentalists said the decision marks the first time that a judge has applied a U.S. Supreme Court finding that carbon dioxide is a pollutant to emissions from an industrial source.

Just add this one to the growing list of why you pay so much at the pump. All this week, we have brought you stories of one sort of energy or another being squelched by the enviro-Nazis, whether because of prairie chickens or some other environmental concern. Do you get the hint that the oh so compassionate tree huggers are trying to kill you with their kind of kindness? They seem hell bent on making humans become a member of the endangered species list.
It wasn't enough that last summer while Georgia was going through a drought in the Atlanta area that we were being forced to send water downstream to Florida to ensure the survival of mussels, a program that is still ongoing, but now they have any sort of energy production for this country squarely in their crosshairs. Liberals and Dems are working hard to cause you pain, only so that they can then tell you "they feeeel your pain" while retreating to their multimillion dollar, energy-hogging, Countrywide "sweet deal"-financed mansions to eat arugula salad while scheming to take oil company profits or, worse yet, make them a part of the government so that they will have even more money to spend on their grand, doomed-to-failure, social experiments.

The plant is expected to create more than 100 full-time jobs and give millions of dollars in tax revenues to Early County, where almost a quarter of the 12,000 residents live in poverty. It would power more than a half-million homes through utilities in Georgia, Alabama and Florida.

Of course, this cottage industry in America, environmentalists supported by zealous lawyers and activist judges, is becoming the perfect storm for the destruction of America's economy. What communism and Al Queda terrorists couldn't do now seems to be at the mercy of these activists.

Nilles said he and other environmental attorneys are preparing similar challenges to delay about 30 coal plants now in active litigation. "The issue is now teed up from Nevada to North and South Carolina," he said.

And of course the big boogie man is Al Gore's make-believe best friend and partner in crime, global warming.

"It's a scandal that energy companies are still trying to build coal plants even though they cause global warming," she said. "I can't be more thrilled. It's a huge ruling. This is a new day in the United States, and I'm thrilled."

View Of The Leftisphere

3 wood provides an excellent analysis.

Tale of Two Energy Policies

This summer we will have a tale of two energy policies, one from the Democrats and the other from the Republicans. Here is a synopsis of each:

Democrats

--Enact a windfall profits tax on oil companies.

--Create a law against energy price gouging and new rules to stem energy market speculation.

--Take on the OPEC oil cartel.


Republicans

--Pump oil from Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, now off limits.

--Develop vast amounts of oil and natural gas in offshore waters now off limits.

--Ease permitting for new refineries.

--Allow coal-based diesel be used as motor fuel.

Evaluation

The Democratic proposals are to punish the oil companies for making money, fix prices and demagogue OPEC. The upside is this will appeal to the socialist tree-hugger, business-hating base. The downside is that it will do absolutely nothing to improve the situation and will probably worsen it.

The Republican proposals are to increase supply of oil, refined product and coal-based alternatives. The upside is these will actually increase supply over time, and so should have a positive effect on prices eventually. The downside is it will take ten years to make an appreciable difference and the tree-huggers/socialists will lobby this to death anyway.

Both sides are, of course, ignoring the fastest way to improve the situation, which is to cut consumption by changing our behavior. But that is like telling an obese person that they need to eat less, a very unpopular move.

So, don't expect to see much actual improvement in the cost of fuel anytime soon. In the meantime, the price at the pump just keeps going up.