Daily Policy Digest
Environment Issues
| Energy Efficiency and Climate Policy: The Rebound Dilemma People who install lighting that is 50 percent more efficient frequently leave the lights on longer, negating some of the energy savings from greater efficiency... |
| Solyndra and the Perils of Green Industrial Policy E-mails released by the Office of Management and Budget suggest that many of the green energy firm bankruptcies may have been avoidable if investigating officers were allowed time to perform their due diligence... |
| Cracking the Case against Hydraulic Fracturing The physics of the process illustrate that fracking is not inherently dangerous to groundwater sources... |
| The Defense Implications of Rare Earth Shortages While relying upon Chinese manufacturers to meet demand for rare earth elements may not be an inherently bad idea, Chinese trade practices lend little reliability to this supply line, says Jeffery A. Green, an adjunct scholar with the National Center for Policy Analysis... |
| Plunge In Carbon Dioxide Output Due to Natural Gas Fracking According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration's June report, energy-related carbon dioxide fell to 5,473 million metric tons (MMT) in 2011 -- down from a high of 6,020 MMT in 2007... |
| Irrational Infatuation with Biofuels Currently, about 40 percent of the U.S. corn crop is used in the production of ethanol, and this increased demand has resulted in higher prices for the crop... |
| Wood-Fired Plants Generate Violations Of 107 biomass plants that were operating since the beginning of the year, 85 have been cited for violating pollution standards, yet many still receive government subsidies... |
| Green Jobs Gone Bust The Department of Energy boasts that its "clean energy" initiatives loaned $34.7 billion and launched "nearly 60,000" jobs -- a staggering $578,333 per position... |
| The Paradox of Energy Efficiency Fuel economy increased by 60 percent between 1980 and 2006; during that same time period, however, the average curb weight of vehicles increased 26 percent while horsepower rose 107 percent... |
| United States Cutting Carbon Dioxide Production Dramatically The International Energy Agency recently reported that U.S. carbon dioxide emissions "have now fallen by 430 million tons (7.7 percent) since 2006, the largest reduction of all countries or regions"... |
