Increasing allegations of corruption and profiteering are raising serious questions about the UN-run carbon trading mechanism aimed at cutting pollution and rewarding clean technologies By Patrick McCully The world’s biggest carbon offset market, the Kyoto Protocol’s clean development mechanism (CDM), is run by the UN, administered by the World Bank, and is intended to reduce […]
By Peter Robison, Alan Ohnsman and Alan Bjerga The U.S. Postal Service purchased more than 30,000 ethanol-capable trucks and minivans from 1999 to 2005, making it the biggest American buyer of alternative-fuel vehicles. Gasoline consumption jumped by more than 1.5 million gallons as a result. The trucks, derived from Ford Motor Co.’s Explorer sport- utility […]
By David Mercer Not long ago, the fledgling ethanol industry was the darling of investors, farmers, the federal government and a lot of Americans who liked the idea of turning corn into fuel. But suddenly, it doesn’t have nearly as many friends. Rising worldwide food prices and shortages have spurred calls in Congress to roll […]
Richard Sandor is cashing in on carbon “crops.” Mr. Sandor is the CEO of the Chicago Climate Exchange, a firm that is already making big-money deals with major companies to buy and sell paper representing non-carbon. Companies, like Ford Motors, who ostensibly aren’t emitting as much carbon as they could, sell their “crop†of non-carbon to […]
Chad Johnson has had enough of global warming hysteria shaping public policy and he wrote a letter to his state senator that has since been passed around to other legislators. His letter expresses the frustration of ordinary citizens. With Mr. Johnson’s permission, a portion of his correspondence is reproduced below. Senator, I appreciate your political […]
An opinion piece by Steven F. Hayward for the Wall Street Journal, April 28th: The usual chorus of environmentalists and editorial writers has chimed in to attack President Bush’s recent speech on climate change. In his address of April 23, he put forth a goal of stopping the growth of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by the […]
The move away from coal-fired power generation in favor of wind and solar power is already impacting energy costs. Xcel Energy estimates Minnesota’s renewable energy mandates will lead to an average household electric bill increase of $300 to $400 per year. Adding to the cost problem is an increasing reliance on natural gas for electric […]
Minnesota legislators concerned with reducing automotive emissions of greenhouse gasses have devised a drastic plan. Evidently, state lawmakers don’t trust themselves to establish pollution standards for Minnesota, because the bill they’ve crafted abdicates that authority to the California Air Resources Board (CARB). CARB is a division of the California Environmental Protection Agency and consists of […]
Two independent studies announced in a press conference today find serious fault with a set of climate change mitigation policy recommendations being used by Minnesota legislators to craft economic, energy and pollution control policies. The Minnesota Climate Change Advisory Group (MCCAG) partnered with the Center for Climate Strategies (CCS) produced recommendations aimed at reducing greenhouse […]
Margo Thorning is senior vice president and chief economist of the American Council for Capital Formation. As Congress considers far-reaching federal climate-change legislation, there has been far too little discussion on the economic costs such policies would impose at the state, local and household levels. Make no mistake: From a financial standpoint, the burdens for […]
Here’s a copy the remarks made by Václav Klaus, president of the Czech Republic, delivered at the 2008 International Conference on Climate Change. Mr. Chairman, ladies and gentlemen, I would like first of all to thank the organizers of this important conference for making it possible and also for inviting one politically incorrect politician from […]
The global-warming panic agenda is all about government growth and lifestyle control, couched in more pleasant-sounding terms like “incentives,” “efficiency” and “climate-friendly.” They are anything but innocuous. This is becoming clear in the Gopher State. Minnesota’s Climate Change Advisory Group (MCCAG) recently approved its recommendations for Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who appointed its members, and for […]
Biofuels are generally an expensive and ineffective way to cut greenhouse gas emissions when compared to other policies and are likely to cause increasing food prices and insecurity, concluded a UK government report yesterday. It also criticized the British and EU governments for pursuing targets for increased use of biofuels without putting in place ‘robust’ […]
Current proposals by global warming advocates will likely cost billions of dollars and require a wholesale transformation of the nation’s economy and society. Americans could be paying 30 percent more for natural gas in their homes and even more for electricity.  The cost of coal could quadruple and crude oil prices could rise by an additional […]
