 |
|
|
The International Clearinghouse for Hydrogen Commerce www.hydrogencommerce.com |
|
"We'll just earmark this hydrogen budget for our
favorite programs!" |
Hydrogen Politics |
|
WIND, SOLAR,
WAVE, GEOTHERMAL,
AND OTHER NEW CLEAN ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES THREATEN THE
FOSSIL AND
NUCLEAR MONOPOLY THAT OWNS MOST
SENATORS AND CONGRESSMEN. |
|
"[John MaCain
thinks] Americans are so stupid — so bloody stupid — that if you just
show them wind turbines in your Olympics ad they’ll actually think you
showed up and voted for such renewable power — when you didn’t." |
|
BY ESTABLISHING THE
GREAT ETHANOL FRAUD, THE IDIOTIC BURNING OF PRECIOUS FOOD FOR FUEL, IN
PLACE OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF REAL RENEWABLE ENERGY - UNTAPPED, ABUNDANT,
FREE ENERGY THAT WOULD THREATEN CENTRALIZED FOSSIL AND NUCLEAR ENERGY'S
STRANGLEHOLD ON THE WORLD - THE U.S. GOVERNMENT, AT THE BEHEST OF
ITS OIL MASTERS, HAS SET INTO MOTION AN ECONOMIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL EVIL SO
SOULLESS AND UNCONTROLLABLE THAT IT THREATENS TO DRIVE STRUGGLING HUMANITY
INTO A CHAOS THAT MAY RIVAL OR EXCEED THAT OF THE WORST OF THE
PREVIOUS CENTURY. - RDM |
|
Abu Dhabi Aims to Build First Carbon-Neutral City
Siphoning Off Corn to Fuel Our Cars THE GREAT ETHANOL FRAUD BEGINS TO CRUMBLE |
|
|
|
Governor Rell Urges President, Congress to Tackle |
|
Governor M. Jodi Rell today announced
she is urging President Bush and Congressional leaders to temporarily
waive the federal Renewable Fuel Standard and lift a 54-cents-per-gallon
tariff on imported ethanol. The Governor said these two steps could reduce
the pressure that families in Connecticut and across the nation are facing
from endless increases in energy prices and the costs of staple foods. Governor Rell also called on Congress and the President to pass a second, energy-related stimulus package to help families keep up with food and energy costs. “Connecticut residents and business owners, squeezed from one side by energy prices and on the other by food prices, are trapped in a vise,” Governor Rell said. “The pressure is relentless and mounting ever-higher. It is time for the federal government to take some strong, definitive action to address these issues.” The Governor noted in her letter that a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline currently costs an average of $3.787 in Connecticut. A month ago the average was $3.35; a year ago the average was $3.06. A dozen eggs costs around $3, while a gallon of milk runs about $4. A box of Kellogg’s Corn Flakes costs $4.29 while a top round beef roast and chicken breasts are both priced at $4.99 a pound. “As unrelated as the cost of a gallon of gas and a gallon of milk might seem, these price increases actually have a common link: corn,” Governor Rell said. “The demand for ethanol – either as an additive to gasoline or as the primary component in fuels such as E85 – has increased sharply in recent years. Since most ethanol is made from corn, that demand has meant there is less of the crop for use as food for people and animals. Moreover, many farms are opting to switch from crops such as wheat to corn because of the higher price commanded by corn. “Every day the families of Connecticut – like their counterparts in every other state – face difficult decisions and diminishing choices,” the Governor said. “They are struggling to cope with the epic upward spiral of energy prices, struggling to avoid the worst effects of the current economic slump and struggling to make ends meet. Their struggles have been made all the more difficult because the prices of basic staples such as eggs, cereal, bread and milk have shot up by double digits even as more and more of our household budgets are consumed at the pump or burned to heat our homes.” Governor Rell recommended two specific actions to ease the demand pressure on corn prices:
|
CONNECTICUT
GOVERNOR |
ASK A KID, THEN ASK AN ETHANOL ADVOCATE, |
|
WALL STREET BIOFUEL PUSHES THE WORLD'S POOR TO THE BRINK |
|
In Haiti, where three-quarters of the
population earns less than $2 a day and one in five children is chronically
malnourished, the one business booming amid all the gloom is the selling of
patties made of mud, oil and sugar, typically only consumed by the most
destitute. "It's salty and it has butter, and you don't know you're eating dirt," said Olwich Louis Jeune, 24, who has taken to eating them more often in recent months. "It makes your stomach quiet down." |
|
|
"This is silent mass murder. |
|
|
|
SACRIFICING GREEN JOBS FOR OIL |
|
|
|
"...the packages
offered thus far do nothing to address the long-term needs for economic
and jobs growth. There are investment incentives in the tax code that will
expire at the end of 2008 - for research and development, alternative
energy and energy conservation - and Congress should extend these
important incentives in order to avoid choking off critical investments
that can have tremendous long-term economic benefits." |
|
A CONGRESS OWNED BY THE FOSSIL AND NUCLEAR LOBBY IGNORES REAL ECONOMIC STIMULUS TO WAGE WAR ON RENEWABLE ENERGY -- RDM |
"While a stimulus bill is welcome, it
is a major disappointment that, at least as proposed, this package does
not extend the renewable energy incentives which expire at the end of this
year. We estimate that the slowdown in the wind industry from
a failure to extend the renewable
tax incentives will place 75,000 jobs at risk and undercut a
singular bright spot in the American economy--the booming renewable
electricity sector that is creating tens of thousands of manufacturing and
construction jobs annually. Last year we saw more than $20 billion in
investment in renewable electricity in the U.S.--
today,
investors are holding back on
decisions regarding wind and solar power projects
that will not come on line until next year. Immediate Congressional
action is essential if wind and other renewable energy industries are to
continue to grow, attract large-scale manufacturing investment and create
jobs for Americans across the country."
|
|
IS THIS THE END OF AMERICA? |
|
|
| ...Rhone Resch, President of the Solar Energy Industries Association, tried simplifying it for lawmakers: "Do you want to write them (consumers) a check, or do you want to give them a job?" Resch highlighted 80 utility-scale solar projects on the drawing boards collectively representing about 56,000 megawatts (MW) of electricity generating capacity, more than 20,000 permanent jobs and hundreds of thousands of construction jobs. "None of these projects will be built unless the investment tax credit is extended," he said. For workers in Michigan where the automobile industry continues to unravel, the risks are in sharp focus for solar companies such as Hemlock Semiconductor, which Resch said has invested one billion dollars to expand plant capacity in Midland; ditto for Unisolar, a thin-film manufacturer that is creating hundreds of new jobs for six plants planned in Greenfield. Randall Swisher, Executive Director of the American Wind Energy Association, said "major wind farm development companies are telling us that investment is drying up and they are being forced to put large projects in the pipeline for construction next year on hold." Swisher told reporters that AWEA estimates about 75,000 jobs are now at risk, including more than 32,000 in the direct manufacture, construction and operation of wind energy facilities. more |
|
$100 a Barrel!! |
|
|
|
SO IT GOES. AMERICA FOLLOWS ITS SO-CALLED "LEADERS" LIKE LEMMINGS LEAPING OFF A CLIFF, WILLING TO ACCEPT ANYTHING, IT SEEMS, TO AVOID RENEWABLE WIND, GEOTHERMAL, WAVE AND SOLAR ENERGY -- THE CHEAP BUT GENUINE SOLUTIONS THAT THREATEN RAPACIOUS FOSSIL ENERGY PROFITS. THIS WAS CLEARLY DEMONSTRATED BY THE WILLING FAILURE OF THE FAUX SENATE, THE MAJORITY OF WHOM REPRESENT THE INTERESTS OF OIL COMPANIES, TO HELP LEVEL THE RIGGED PLAYING FIELD FOR ENTRY OF OUR STRUGGLING RENEWABLE ENERGY COMPANIES BY SIMPLY EXTENDING THE PRODUCTION TAX CREDIT FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF GREEN ENERGY. |
|
BECAUSE OF REDUCED
EXTERNAL COSTS, IT WOULD HAVE COST THEM
NOTHING TO TAKE THIS SIMPLE STEP TOWARD FREEING AMERICA FROM THE SHACKLES OF
MIDDLE EAST OIL DEPENDENCE, FROM OPEC, FROM SPIRALING FOOD PRICES, FROM
SACRIFICING OUR SONS AND OUR DAUGHTERS DYING BY THE THOUSANDS IN FOREIGN
LANDS FOR WHAT WILL TURN OUT TO BE LESS THAN NOTHING, TO STOP THE ASTHMA
EPIDEMIC IN OUR YOUNG CHILDREN, TO STOP THE MERCURY POISONING OF THE
NORTHEAST, TO FORESTALL THE HORRIBLE BURDEN OF UNSECURED RADIOACTIVITY ON
OUR FUTURE GENERATIONS. BUT EVEN THE "ARIZONA IS THE SOLAR STATE" HYPOCRITE JOHN MCCAIN, ONE OF MANY, WOULDN'T
GET OUT OF BED, WOULDN'T LIFT A FINGER WHEN HE COULD HAVE CHANGED THE COURSE
OF HISTORY. NOW NEW HAMPSHIRE CROWNS HIM THE REPUBLICAN FRONTRUNNER. NEVER HAS THERE BEEN A PEOPLE AS STUPID AS
THIS. GOD HELP US ALL OR GOD DAMN YOU ALL. I DON'T KNOW WHICH. PROBABLY
BOTH. |
|
|
THE WAR FOR OIL & THE WAR TO BURN THE POOR'S FOOD FOR FUEL |
|
|
|
|
"Why
have you stopped sending food?" THE GREAT ETHANOL
FRAUD|
Forget Oil, the New Global Crisis Is Food |
|
A new crisis is emerging, a
global food catastrophe that will reach further and be more crippling than
anything the world has ever seen. The credit crunch and the
reverberations of soaring oil prices around the world will pale in
comparison to what is about to transpire, Donald Coxe, global portfolio
strategist at BMO Financial Group said at the Empire Club's 14th annual
investment outlook in Toronto on Thursday. ...Mr. Coxe warned U.S. corn exports were in danger of seizing up in about three years if the country continues to subsidize ethanol production. Biofuels are expected to eat up about a third of America's grain harvest in 2007. more |
|
“By bowing down to
corporate interests, the Bush Administration is thwarting the will of the
citizens of more than a dozen states and the Supreme Court of the United
States.” "A
horrendous decision." "Incomprehensible!" |
|
|
|
WASHINGTON (December 19, 2007) - The same day the president
signed a ground-breaking fuel economy bill, his administration reversed
course and denied California a waiver to regulate global warming pollution
from vehicles, the first time in the history of the Clean Air Act that the
federal government has denied the state a waiver. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) denied the waiver despite clear guidance from the U.S. Supreme Court that miles-per-gallon standards and the global warming pollution standards required under the Clean Air Act are “wholly independent.” A recent Fresno, California, federal district court ruling added that “it would be the very definition of folly” to prevent the implementation of vehicle global warming emissions standards. Likewise, the EPA denied the waiver despite the fact that the Bush administration has touted the California standards as evidence that the United States is meeting its international commitments on climate change. While California and the 12 other states that have adopted California's tailpipe standard will pursue legal avenues to overturn the denial, the announcement today could delay the implementation of the standards, undermining potential benefits. The goals of a fuel economy standard and a vehicle global warming emissions limit are different. The Department of Transportation (DOT) sets fuel economy standards to reduce oil use. The DOT is not an environmental agency. The EPA regulates motor vehicle global warming emissions limits according to Clean Air Act requirements to protect public health. Under the Clean Air Act, California has the right to set higher standards for pollution reduction from automobiles, and recent court cases clarify that states have the authority and obligation to regulate vehicle global warming pollution. The Bush administration is illegally preventing California from exercising its right, under the Clean Air Act, to set pollution standards for automobiles. The following is a statement by Clean Vehicles Program Director Michelle Robinson: “In the eleventh hour of this presidency, the administration is still doing what it can to throw roadblocks in the way of progress in combating global warming. California has the legal right to set stringent pollution standards and has historically led the way for the rest of the country. But the EPA is blocking California and a dozen other states from protecting their residents. Administrator Johnson has sadly chosen politics over his responsibility to protect public health and the environment.” |
|
|
|
| ...Democrats could have refused to take the bill forward when they knew that revenue-raising from oil & gas was an insurmountable obstacle for Republicans. The total collapse of the bill would have made it clear that the GOP was joined at the hip to Big Oil, and that nearly half the U.S. Senate existed merely to do the bidding of the fossil fuel industry. Going into an election year, this might have been a powerful tool in many Democratic candidates’ favor. Had Democrats done this, of course, it would have meant abandoning CAFE standards for the sake of an electioneering ploy, which might well have rebounded on them in other ways. Instead, Congressional Democratic leadership put the country on notice that they would reintroduce those provisions that were stripped from the bill at an early stage next year. But we have yet to hear an unequivocal statement from Democratic leadership to the effect that their attempt at social justice—redirecting a sliver of Big Oil’s obscene profits to the renewable sector of the energy industry—was blocked by corrupt politicians on the other side of the aisle. Playing nice still seems to be a priority in the nation’s capital. more |
|
BIG OIL WINS!
GET LITTLE JOHNNY READY FOR THE OIL WARS |
|
|
Yesterday, the U.S.
Senate dealt a losing hand to all those who believe in solar power as a
vital component of our energy future. By a vote of 59-40, just one vote short of the number needed to cut off debate, the Senate failed to include a tax title in the 2007 energy bill that would have provided investment and production tax credits for renewable energies. Many people have worked long and hard this year to secure a government commitment of support for solar and other nascent renewable industries, including solar citizens like yourself, Congressional Democratic leadership, environmental and conservation groups, industry associations, and scientific bodies. And although representatives and senators were left in no doubt about the importance of the legislation to America's future, the peculiarities of the American way of politics trumped common sense and hope. Senators from states where the oil and gas industry lobby is strongest voted to continue support for the industry, even though the proposed tightening of tax breaks would have amounted to only 1%-2% of its net profits. To see which senators voted against the tax title measure, check the list at the end of this message. (Look closely and you'll find one Democrat who voted 'nay', and one presidential candidate who failed to vote at all). Late yesterday evening, the Senate finally voted on what was left of the bill. Absent investment tax credits, production tax credits and a national renewable electricity standard (RES), the bill sailed through by a vote of 85-12. It will now go back to the House, then on for signature by President Bush. And what the President signs will contain CAFE standards for automobile mileage standards, a renewable fuels mandate, and provisions for energy efficiency in federal government departments. For renewables, there is practically nothing. The timing of the vote may strike historians as curious in years to come; half a world away in Bali, attendees at the UN global warming conference were working toward final agreement on long-term measures to mitigate climate change while the U.S. Senate was rewarding the oil and gas industry for its long-term support. more |
|
|
|
|
|
THE WAR ON RENEWABLE
ENERGY |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 FLORIDAMel Martinez $135,347 2004 Dirty Dozen Energy & Natural Resources; Foreign Relations |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 IDAHOLarry Craig $335,711 Palm up for BP EXXONMOBIL Energy & Natural Resources |
|
|
|
|
Commerce, Science |
KENTUCKY
"Support our |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
NORTH CAROLINA |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
NEW MEXICO |
NEW
HAMPSHIRE
"Support our |
|
|
|
 PENNSYLVANIAArlen Specter $380,378 "Support our troops in the Middle East!" Appropriations |
|
|
|
"Support our |
|
SOUTH
CAROLINA
"Support our |
|
|
|
TENNESSEE
"Support our |
|
|
|
|
|
Appropriations |
|
|
"Support our |
|
WYOMING
"Support our |
|
|
Republican Senators
Not Voting on Energy Bill Cloture Vote |
|
|
|
"There's no living American that's not in favor of [wind, solar and tide]. I'm in favor of it. I come from the great state of Arizona where we have more days of sunshine than any other in the United States of America." |
|
Democratic Senators
Voting 'Nay' on Cloture Vote |
|
 LOUISIANAMary Landrieu $407,044 Energy & Natural Resources; |
|
ALABAMA
ARIZONA
ALABAMA
GEORGIA
COLORADO
GEORGIA
KANSAS
IDAHO
KANSAS
LOUISIANA
MISSOURI
KENTUCKY
NEBRASKA
MISSISSIPPI
MISSISSIPPI
NORTH
CAROLINA
NEW
HAMPSHIRE
NEVADA
0HIO
SOUTH
CAROLINA
OKLAHOMA
TENNESSEE
TEXAS
TEXAS
UTAH
WYOMING
ARIZONA|
Washington, D.C. – Citizens for
Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) today sent a complaint to
the Department of Justice, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District for
Louisiana and the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas, asking
for an investigation into whether Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) violated
federal bribery law by including a $2 million earmark for Voyager Expanded
Learning in a bill a mere four days after receiving $30,000 in campaign
contributions from company executives and their relatives. CREW also asked
the Senate Ethics Committee to investigate the matter. Randy Best, a top Republican donor and Bush pioneer, founded Voyager, an educational products company and rather than selling the company’s reading program to school districts, hired lobbyists to obtain earmarks for it. Although the House had appropriated $1 million for his program for the D.C. public schools, Best still needed a Senate sponsor. A lobbyist arranged a meeting with Sen. Landrieu, the chair of the Appropriations subcommittee responsible for the District of Columbia, to press for an earmark. Shortly after Sen. Landrieu met with Best, a member of Sen. Landrieu’s staff asked him to hold a fundraiser for her and he agreed. After the fundraiser, she received $30,000 in campaign contributions from individuals associated with the company -- donors who had never before contributed to her. Four days after she received the money, she inserted an earmark into a D.C. appropriations bill, giving D.C. schools $2 million to buy Best’s reading program, which was unproven and had not been requested by the school system. Federal law prohibits public officials from directly or indirectly demanding, seeking, receiving, accepting, or agreeing to receive or accept anything of value in return for being influenced in the performance of an official act. Accepting a contribution to a political campaign can constitute a bribe if a quid pro quo can be demonstrated. Given that Sen. Landrieu asked Best to hold a fundraiser for her, which he did, and then inserted the Voyager earmark only four days after receiving contributions from individuals connected with the company, it certainly appears she traded the earmark for the contributions in violation of federal criminal law. Sen. Landrieu also may have violated the Senate rule prohibiting “improper conduct which reflects upon the Senate.” Melanie Sloan, CREW’s executive director, said today, “Senator Landrieu appears to have traded a $2 million earmark for $30,000 in campaign contributions. It was a win-win situation for Best and Senator Landrieu, but a lose-lose for the taxpayers and D.C. school children.” Sloan continued, “the Department of Justice and the Senate Ethics Committee should look into this matter immediately. Members of Congress need to understand that trading earmarks for campaign funds is illegal -- no exceptions.” UPDATE: Melanie Sloan, CREW’s
executive director, responds to
Senator Landrieu’s release today
on CREW’s complaints: “Sen. Landrieu’s response to CREW’s Department of
Justice and Ethics Committee complaints fails to address the key
allegation: that she inserted an earmark in return for campaign
contributions. According to a document just provided by Sen. Landrieu, the
District of Columbia apparently asked the senator on April 25, 2001 to
include an earmark for Voyager in the D.C. appropriations bill.
Nevertheless, by September 24, 2001, when a House committee included a $1
million earmark for Voyager, the company still had not attracted a Senate
sponsor. Sen. Landrieu has not explained why she didn’t follow through on
the District’s request until November 6, 2001, four days after Mr. Best
and his associates contributed $30,000 to the senator’s campaign.” |
|
|
|
Wholesale Prices Spike As Ethanol Gobbles Up Crops |
|
A number of local restaurant operators have been tracking hikes in
wholesale food prices. Restaurants: Nino's, Vincent's, Grappino's, Pronto.
Owner: Vincent Mandola.
|
|
Europe's Biodiesel Drive Sputters |
|
Since January, prices
for the crops that make most biodiesel have doubled, driving the cost of a
ton of biodiesel up 50%, to around $1,440 a ton, or about $4.80 a gallon.
Prices for regular crude-oil-based diesel have risen sharply, too, but
only to $840 a ton, or $2.80 a gallon. Biodiesel has become more expensive
for oil companies to buy than fossil fuel, and they are cutting back. ....Europe's governments are finding it difficult to adjust policy to a new and volatile market. In 2006, when commodity prices were low and margins were fat, Germany decided to trim the tax breaks it offers to biodiesel producers. Earlier this year, France raised taxes on biodiesel. Now that producers are in trouble, governments aren't giving the tax breaks back. |
|
|