Last week, federal Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt issued a directive aimed at reducing “sue-and-settle” lawsuits. For those who like voters to have input in the creation of environmental regulation, this is a great move. For decades, environmental advocacy groups have exerted outsized influence—and profited financially—from “friendly” lawsuits against the EPA. These lawsuits have been a conduit for activists inside and outside the EPA to get new regulations in … [Read more...]
Two Cheers for Trump Infrastructure Permitting Order
One of the biggest barriers to investment in infrastructure all across the United States is the long, costly, and unpredictable permitting process. If you have any doubts, just consider the Keystone XL pipeline extension. Proposed by TransCanada in 2008, approved by the Canadian government and the state of South Dakota in 2010, it floundered around in the Environmental Protection Agency, Interior Department, and State Department for another five years before President Barack Obama rejected it … [Read more...]
Trump and the end of Obama’s bitter ‘war on coal’
Cornwall Alliance advisory board member Dr. H. Sterling Burnett, who is also a research fellow on energy and environment at the Heartland Institute, published a great piece at The Hill a couple of days ago. Here are some excerpts: Before he was elected president, Barack Obama promised to bankrupt coal companies, and after eight years of his administration’s anti-energy policies, that pledge turned out to be one of the few promises he kept. Obama imposed regulations limiting coal mining near … [Read more...]
Blame Global Warming for Hurricane Harvey?
In the hallowed tradition of Rahm Emanuel's "You never let a serious crisis go to waste," ThinkProgress followed Emanuel's advice when it wrote, "As of 10 a.m. ET on Thursday, Trump had posted seven tweets from his personal @realDonaldTrump account. ... Not a single tweet mentioned the potentially devastating storm or warned Gulf residents to prepare for the incoming wind, rain, and possible flooding." A frequent visitor to Cornwall Alliance's Facebook page who excoriates us at every … [Read more...]
On global warming, the American public gets it!
This is simply amazing. After all the hype by media, politicians, entertainers, alarmist climate scientists, and even a Nobel Peace Prize-winning former Vice President, only 28% of Americans think climate scientists understand the causes of climate change "very well." That's one finding of a Pew Research Study on which Scott Rasmussen reports in his #Number of the Day for August 21, 2017, which begins: Twenty-eight percent (28%) of Americans think that climate scientists understand the … [Read more...]
Repairing, updating, and expanding infrastructure: The Trump infrastructure permitting order is a good start, but there’s room for strengthening
One of the biggest barriers to investment in infrastructure all across the United States is the long, costly, and unpredictable permitting process. If you have any doubts, just consider the Keystone XL pipeline extension. Proposed by TransCanada in 2008, approved by the Canadian government and the State of South Dakota in 2010, it floundered around in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Interior Department, and State Department for another five years before President Barack Obama … [Read more...]
Why do Bootleggers and Baptists Love Paris?
Huh? Does it even make sense to ask "Why?" if we don't know "if"? Do bootleggers and Baptists both love Paris? Well, yes---if "Paris" is the Paris climate accord, the "bootleggers" are industrial giants with a lot to gain from policies needed to implement the accord, and the "Baptists" are the environmentalists who support the accord because they think it'll save the planet. As I explained here and here: Corporations that stand to benefit from mandates and subsidies to renewable … [Read more...]
The Trump Effect: India’s Climate Juxtapose
The leader of the world's largest democracy met with President Trump this week. Prime Minister Narendra Modi became the first state guest to be hosted for a dinner with President Trump at the White House. Largely ignored by mainstream media, this state visit was of profound significance to the future of a billion people in India. For Modi, the change of guard at the White House could only have meant a renewal of hope for his country's ambitious energy goals. His correspondence with the … [Read more...]
Is the Trump Administration Brave Enough to Move Beyond “Energy Dominance”?
For half a century, Middle Eastern countries, many with Islamic fundamentalist regimes that have financed radical jihadi terrorists while oppressing women and persecuting non-Muslims, have dominated the world’s energy markets. More recently, Europe has been hostage to Russia for natural gas, crucial to its energy needs. In the last decade, revolutionary oil and gas drilling technologies have enabled the United States to change things. The Trump Administration is putting that historic … [Read more...]
Peoples Climate Movement—Not Science, Just Thuggery
This isn't science. This isn't even rational discourse. This is thuggery---typical of communist movements from the French Revolution through the socialist revolutions of the 1840s and the Russian and Chinese revolutions. Not sure? Read the press release from the "Peoples Climate Movement" for yourself: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Monday, May 8, 2017 Contact: Harrison Beck: Harrison.Beck@peoplesclimate.org or (617) 694-5128 Paul Getsos Paul@PeoplesClimate.org or (646) 732-0041 Protester’s … [Read more...]
