American families, U.S. competitiveness shortchanged by shortsighted proposal

Washington, DC – Today, the U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee passed a global warming bill. Following the panel’s vote, Thomas J. Pyle, president of the non-partisan, pro-market Institute for Energy Research (IER), issued this statement:
“The winners today are rent-seeking corporations, Washington special interests and our global [...]

Senators John Kerry and Barbara Boxer have yet again released a new version of their cap-and-trade energy tax bill. Since the last version was released, the bill has grown by another 102 pages and now tips the scales at 923 pages.
Unlike previous versions, this one spells out which groups are politically-favored enough to receive preferential [...]

In advance of Senator Boxer and Kerry’s release of their energy regulation bill tomorrow, two advance drafts were released today. [Boxer-Kerry Draft 1 is available here. Boxer-Kerry Draft 2 is available here.] From these drafts it appears that the Boxer-Kerry bill will dramatically increase regulation, provide new entitlements to politically-connected groups, and give corporate rent-seekers [...]

The CBO has issued a new report [.pdf] that summarizes the economic effects of greenhouse-gas legislation, relying on previously published analyses. The report shows just how weak the case for the proposed cap-and-trade plan really is. In fact, the CBO demonstrates that the theoretical benefits of Waxman-Markey to the United States fall far short of [...]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 28, 2009
Contact:
Patrick Creighton, 202.621.2947
Laura Henderson, 202.621.2951
LOST IN TRANSLATION
Lawmakers who believe that passage of cap-and-trade legislation will encourage China, India, Russia to follow suit suffer from language barrier

Senator John Kerry (D-MA):”Yes, we want more than promises from China – the world’s largest emitter must eventually accept binding reductions. But it [...]

The Obama Administration and European governments continue to lobby developing countries, such as India and China, to reduce their carbon dioxide emissions. But India and China reject these calls because they understand that artificial restrictions on carbon dioxide emissions will harm their economies.
During her recent visit, India’s Environment Minister reminded Secretary of State Hillary Clinton [...]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 30, 2009
CONTACT:
Laura Henderson (202) 621-2951
Patrick Creighton (202) 621-2947
Bradley: Climate Bill a Public Policy Abomination
IER’s Robert Bradley to Testify at Houston Energy Summit
HOUSTON – Institute for Energy Research (IER) CEO Robert Bradley will deliver testimony and answer questions at tomorrow’s Texas Energy Summit, a conference Congressmen Barton, Culberson, Sessions, and Olsen will hold [...]

Later this week, the U.S. House will take up the Waxman-Markey global warming bill, the centerpiece of which is a cap and trade program that advocates argue will reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. The bill features a remarkably aggressive timetable, one that would force businesses to cut emissions by 17% (relative to the 2005 baseline) [...]

On Monday, Representatives Waxman and Markey released yet another version of their far-reaching energy tax bill. The bill has now grown to 1201 pages and is available here.
This will not the be the last version of this bill. Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson previously opposed the bill and sought some concessions to benefit farmers. But [...]

President Obama’s automobile choice shows that he cares about features other than fuel economy, so why is he forcing the American people to choose fuel economy first and foremost?
When President Obama took office, he got a new car—an 8 mile-per-gallon custom Cadillac limousine. The reason his car gets such poor fuel economy is that it [...]