NCPA's Energy and Environment Blog

Westin Makes the Free-Market Green Choice

Todd Myers — Sat, 19 May 2012 18:11:10 +0000

If you have stayed at a hotel recently, you have seen a card in the bathroom exhorting you to help the planet by reusing your towels, thus reducing the amount of water, energy and detergent used by the hotel. Such appeals are typically based on guilt – you reuse the towels and the hotel receives [...]

On Energy, Brazil gets it, Democrats don’t

Sterling Burnett — Fri, 18 May 2012 22:34:18 +0000

Oil and gasoline prices are extremely high, though no where near record highs. High energy prices have historically been and remain a drag on economic growth. Brazil understands these two facts. By contrast, many Democrats in the U.S. apparently don’t, or don’t care. As reported by Reuters, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff intends to simplify and reduce taxes [...]

Reusable Bags: Bad for the environment and your health

Sterling Burnett — Wed, 09 May 2012 21:41:50 +0000

When environmentalists first began to attack plastic grocery bags, they offered paper bags as the green alternative. When researchers pointed out, leaving aside consumer’s desire for plastic bags over other choices, that paper bags were as or more harmful to the environment as plastic bags, environmentalists were temporarily stymied in their assault. Then they turned [...]

U.S. Congress Offers Environmentalism for Dummies

Todd Myers — Tue, 08 May 2012 17:55:26 +0000

In case you are visiting the Congressional gift shop, you might want to pick up the “Green Living” wheel which offers tips on how to live a more environmentally friendly life. Emblazoned with “U.S. House of Representatives” at the bottom, the cardboard wheel can be turned to reveal bits of environmental wisdom in a cutout [...]

ALEC’s Economy Derailed is a Disturbing Eye-Opener

Sterling Burnett — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 22:04:47 +0000

Presidential Administrations come and go, and one thing they all have in common, even the most parsimonious of them, is that they enact thousands of pages of costly regulations that do little or nothing to protect the public’s health or enhance its welfare. The Obama administration, however, has put this trait in hyperdrive: pushing enormously [...]

Smart Growth on Steriods: Sick Cities

Wendell Cox — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 22:41:24 +0000

Smart growth on steroids, or the radical densification policy of California, was the subject of my recent commentary in The Wall Street Journal — “California Declares War on Suburbia” (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303302504577323353434618474.html?mod=rss_com_mostcommentart). Regional transportation plans in the San Francisco Bay Area, the Los Angeles area and the San Diego area seek to force the vast majority of [...]

Solar Energy That Is Even Less Efficient Than Solar Energy

Todd Myers — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 22:23:01 +0000

With so much focus on the inefficiency of solar panels, few are aware of an even more costly solar technology called “thermal solar.” Like solar panels, the Obama Administration has offered billions in loan guarantees for thermal solar projects across the country. Also like solar panels, the thermal solar projects are starting to fall apart [...]

Canadian PM is Clear, Blame Obama for Higher Gas Prices

Sterling Burnett — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 22:05:19 +0000

Obama’s ongoing “I didn’t do it,” apologetic concerning energy prices would be laughable if the current price crisis weren’t so sad for the American public and dangerous for an economy still struggling to pull itself out of a recession. Obama touts the fact that America imports less oil than previously, ignoring the fact that the [...]

When Green Goes Bust, Obama Doubles Down

Sterling Burnett — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 21:41:31 +0000

Solar Millenium Solar Trust of America A123 Systems Ener1 What do these names have in common? Several things actually. They are all green energy companies, touted by President Obama as models for the new green economy. Each of them has received some form of federal help, tax breaks, direct grants and/or loan guarantees – cumulatively [...]

Obama’s EPA Takes a Beating in the Courts

Sterling Burnett — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 21:49:08 +0000

It has been a terrible month for the Obama administration’s overly zealous EPA in the federal courts. In ruling after ruling, the Administration’s unlawful, radical environmental rulings and regulations have been overturned. 1) The dominoes started to fall on February 18 when Judge Robert Hinkle of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of [...]