Bank Failure, EPA Reports and the Future of Wind Power
Federal officials seize control of IndyMac bank in the second-largest bank failure in U.S. history.
An Environmental Protection Agency report casts doubt on whether greenhouse gas emissions can be effectively regulated via the Clean Air Act.
Famed Texas oilman T. Boone Pickens launches a campaign to encourage the expansion of wind power.
1. BUSINESS
Federal officials seize control of IndyMac bank in the second-largest bank failure in U.S. history.
CEI Expert Available to Comment: Special Projects Counsel Hans Bader on what’s behind the bank failure:
“IndyMac Bank was seized Friday by federal regulators after the ‘second largest U.S. bank failure in history.’ (The bank had $32 billion in assets). But rather than fixing what’s wrong with the financial system, the Senate chose Friday to pass a bloated, pork-filled mortgage bailout bill that will rip off taxpayers to pay off politically-connected lenders and give handouts to corrupt left-wing special interest groups like ACORN that engaged in the very practices, like ‘liar loans,’ that helped spawn the mortgage crisis. The bill also circumvents constitutional limits. IndyMac collapsed partly because borrowers with interest-only mortgages were able to just walk away from their mortgages, without any real penalty. Why? Because of California credit regulations, which permit only non-recourse loans.”
2. ENVIRONMENT
An Environmental Protection Agency report casts doubt on whether greenhouse gas emissions can be effectively regulated via the Clean Air Act.
CEI Expert Available to Comment: Director of Global Warming Policy Myron Ebell on the implications of the report:
“The EPA notice released [Friday] for public comment makes it clear that using the Clean Air act to reduce carbon dioxide emissions would create a regulatory train wreck. It would lead to burdensome regulations throughout the economy and decades of litigation. Although consumer energy prices would skyrocket, it’s not clear that it would reduce emissions very much.”
3. ENERGY
Famed Texas oilman T. Boone Pickens launches a campaign to encourage the expansion of wind power.
CEI Expert Available to Comment: Adjunct Fellow Steven Milloy on why wind is not a panacea:
“Wind farm-siting depends on the long-term forecasting of wind patterns, but climate is always changing. When it comes to wind power, it is not simply ‘build it and the wind will come.’ Even the momentary loss of wind can be a problem. As Reuters reported on Feb. 27, ‘Loss of wind causes Texas power grid emergency.’ The electric grid operator was forced to curtail 1,100 megawatts of power to customers within 10 minutes. Wind isn’t a standalone power source. It needs a Plan B for when the wind ‘just don’t blow.’”