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The Fate of the Renewable Fuel Standard
As this article in Wired notes, the U.S. has effectively hit the “blend wall” for domestic ethanol production in the short term. Given current…
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Declining Access to Non-Ethanol Fuel
Via EENews ($ubscription required), and a letter (PDF) from Senator Inhofe and Senator Snow to the EPA on the declining availability of pure…
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Update on D.C. Metro Bag Inspections
Last night, a crowded audience gathered at the WMATA headquarters to discuss the recent decision to begin randomly screening passengers bags for potential explosives. It…
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Paris Contemplates SUV Ban
Paris is looking to potentially ban “gas-guzzling” vehicles from city limits. The proposal, still in its infancy, lacks important details but nonetheless appears to…
Citation
‘New’ ethanol not commercially viable
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Ethanol and NASCAR
The ethanol industry earlier this year teamed up with NASCAR in order to better promote expensive, highly subsidized, not so environmentally friendly…
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Compare and Contrast Biofuel Predictions
From the Ethanol Producer Magazine: For years, cellulosic ethanol has been five years away from commercial viability. With several companies making significant progress in…
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Update on D.C. Metro Bag Checks
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Pennsylvania State Lottery Commission Opposes Internet Gambling
When a government agency is threatened, it will inevitably lash out in efforts to keep the government jobs safe and the tax money flowing. This…
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Security Theater, D.C. Metro Edition
Everyone wants our transportation systems to be safe. But safety must also be balanced with respecting the privacy of citizens, and not wasting money on…
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There are No Victors in Trade Wars
Today the World Trade Organization issued a decision confirming that the United States did not break any of its obligations with China over the…
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The Extension of Ethanol Subsidies
Despite opposition from academics, environmental organizations, libertarian organizations, editorial boards across the country, and dozens (PDF) of other…
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Senator Grassley Supports Selective Tax Increases
A press release from Senator Grassley (R-Iowa), “U.S. Sen Grassley: Tax revenue doesn’t grow on Christmas trees”: The mid-term elections delivered a clear message. Americans…
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The Censuring of Charles Rangel
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Bob Barr Still Supports Ethanol Subsidies
In a piece on The Hill’s Congressional Blog, former Republican congressman and the 2008 Libertarian Party presidential candidate Bob Barr expresses support for the…
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Obama’s Federal Pay Freeze That Wasn’t
No one seems happy with President Obama’s announcement that he plans to freeze pay rates of the federal work force. The right claims that…
Citation
Brian McGraw on China’s Green Economy
Competitive enterprise Institute research associate Brian McGraw discusses China's lead in producing energy technologies such as wind and solar equipment and contends that fossil fuels…
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Unions Still Hampering Free Trade
Watching politicians stammer on in attempts to justify short-sighted policy never gets boring. The interview referenced by Wall Street Journal columnist Mary Anastasia O’Grady…
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A New Course for Wild Tigers
A New York Times editorial highlights a struggle faced by the wild tiger, noting its population is down to approximately 3,200 from a high…
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Al Gore Backtracks on Corn Ethanol
Whoops. Turns out Gore thinks he made a mistake; it wasn’t such a good policy in the first place. Who would have known that politicians,…
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Obesity Letters Assume Parents Can’t See Their Children
A school district in Arizona is implementing a controversial program that has the world talking: they will be weighing students and sending notes home…
Op-Eds
It’s Time to End the Ethanol Boondoggle
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TSA Regulations Likely Increase Travel Deaths
As air travel becomes increasingly expensive or more inconvenient, travelers on the margin will choose driving rather than flying. For example, the TSA began requiring…
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Charles Rangel: Swamp Still Full
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Last Call for Ethanol: Biofuel Lobby Out in Full Force
With 2011 a month and a half away, the ethanol industry is pushing full steam ahead for a renewal of the tax credit and tariff…
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Spitzer, Seoul, and Wall Street
Eliot Spitzer, who occasionally publishes over at Slate, wrote yesterday about President Obama’s “disastrous Asia trip” and decried America’s fall from grace as a world leader.
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TSA versus America
The TSA doesn’t have very many friends these days. Do they deserve any? In an interview (halfway down on the left sidebar), John…
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Confessions of a Gasoline Call Girl
Marc J. Rauch, Executive Vice President/Co-Publisher of The Auto Channel, posted a lengthy diatribe on the American Petroleum Institute’s recent lawsuit on the EPA’s approval…
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A New Face for High-Fructose Corn Syrup
Via The Huffington Post, an update on Big Corn’s quest to continue fueling our tasty beverages: The makers of high fructose corn syrup want…
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Hillary Clinton Angers Greens
A number of environmental groups asked Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to remove herself from the decision process in whether or not the TransCanada oil-sands…
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Ethanol Mandates Meet Reality
The EPA again lowered its projection in meeting the 2011 “mandate” on cellulosic ethanol. (Is it really a mandate when the end result meets 1.5…
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Willfull Ignorance from Ethanol Proponents
A study soon to be released by the Department of Energy, titled “Empirical Data and Decomposition Analysis of U.S. Corn Use for Ethanol Production…
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Billboard to Nowhere
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Marlo Lewis on Hyundai’s Zero Emission Advertisment
Hyundai’s newest advertisement features their attempts at producing a “green” commercial. One of Hyundai’s slogans is “Prepare to want one,” yet as Marlo Lewis notes…
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Ethanol Shills Never Tire
This time it’s retired general Wesley Clark. The language is anything but honest, and unfortunately very convincing to the average reader. It’s an $821-million-a-day…
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Ethanol in The Wall Street Journal
The editorial staff at The Wall Street Journal have not been kind to ethanol over the past months. They ran two editorials (one in July…
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The Chevy Volt: Just Another Hybrid
It turns out GM wasn’t being completely honest when they touted the Chevy Volt as an all electric vehicle. From Edmunds: GM Lied: Chevy…
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Ethanol and Energy Efficiency
The U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack spoke today at the National Press Club on the future of biofuels in the United States. His…
Op-Eds
Biofuel or Bust? Ethanol Subsidies Should be Dropped
The long struggle to make ethanol a viable and relevant auto fuel in America got a boost recently from the Environmental Protection Agency, but allowing…
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China Might Halt Rare Earth Exports
The New York Times reports: “China Said to Halt Some Mineral Shipments.” HONG KONG — China, which has been blocking shipments of crucial minerals…
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China Mocks U.S. Over Subsidy Investigation
An update to Friday’s post: Bloomberg (and the The New York Times) reported this weekend on China’s response to U.S. accusations…
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“Illegal” Green Energy Subsidies
In a move that surprised no one, The New York Times reported today that the U.S. agreed to go ahead and formally investigate…
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Food vs. Fuel? Part Deux
Last week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture lowered its estimate on yields from 2010 corn crops to 12.7 billion bushels for 2010…
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Ethanol: Following the E10 to E15 Debate
The ethanol industry was patiently waiting for the EPA to approve an increase from 10 percent ethanol blends to 15 percent in gasoline. They…
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An Unpaid Internship at the White House
@whitehouse on Twitter alerted me this morning that applications for internships at the White House are due by October 3. I couldn’t help but look…
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Bob Barr, [un]Principled Supporter of Ethanol
Bob Barr, the 2008 Libertarian Party presidential nominee, had a piece in yesterday’s Huffington Post titled Extending Ethanol Tax Credit Makes Sense. It’s…
Op-Eds
Trading on the Recession
China recently overtook Japan as the second largest national economy in the world. Thirty years ago, when China began liberalizing its economy under the leadership…
Op-Eds
No More Ethanol for America, Please
In “Ethanol for America,” Jim Nussle accuses opponents of subsidized ethanol of misleading the public, while trumpeting ethanol’s alleged success story. As is the case…
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Biofuels and Tax Expenditures
One of the claims that the renewable energy groups continue to make, as their tax credits approach the chopping block, is that the U.S. is…
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The Ethanol Industry and Competition
Growth Energy, an ethanol trade group, released a blog post yesterday titled “In An Open Market, All Fuels Can Compete.” The…