Read the latest Washington Times editorial about Russia Drilling off Cuban Coast.

March 15 (Bloomberg) — The Obama administration is considering a carbon-trading system under existing law if Congress doesn’t pass cap-and-trade legislation that allows companies to buy and sell the right to pollute, a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency official said today.

The existing Clean Air Act “could enable us to include emissions trading” within agency regulations aimed at reducing carbon dioxide and other gases that scientists have linked to climate change, Anna Marie Wood, a senior policy analyst at the EPA, said at an event in Washington hosted by the American Bar Association.

Read the entire article here.

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“Governor McDonnell and the Virginia General Assembly should be commended for taking legislative action to position the Commonwealth of Virginia as the “Energy Capital of the East Coast. Alaska, the Gulf and western states have long enjoyed the revenues from developing natural resources such as oil and natural gas within their boundaries and offshore.

The Commonwealth of Virginia has an abundance of coal, coal bed gases in the southwest and great potential reserves of natural gas and oil offshore. Exploration and extraction can be done safely with current technology. The federal bureaucracy in Washington has delayed access to these resources which can meet the demand for our always-on, ready-to-go, high tech society.

“Virginia is calling for the federal government to move forward and release our country from the bondage of high priced fuels that hinder economic growth. This is a good first step in decreasing our dependence on imported fuel from foreign cartels.”

“This legislation is representative of a good commonsense energy policy that will bring in millions of dollars in revenue and provide thousands of jobs that will restore our economy and establish a significant investment for future business growth.”

George Allen, Chairman

Congress makes U.S. energy policy
Sen. Rockefeller’s warning letter to the Obama EPA is long overdue

West Virginia Sen. Jay Rockefeller led a group of coal state senators in warning the head of the Environmental Protection Agency that Congress, not unelected bureaucrats, will make comprehensive energy and climate legislation.

As chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, Rockefeller said in a press release that he is drafting legislation to suspend the EPA’s regulatory authority until Congress can consider “the nation’s larger energy policy and economic needs.”

The EPA, using the Clean Air Act, issued a determination that greenhouse gases could reasonably be anticipated to endanger public health and welfare – the first step in the rule-making process.

In a letter signed also by Democratic Sens. Robert Byrd of West Virginia, Sherrod Brown of Ohio, Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, Claire McCaskill of Missouri, Carl Levin of Michigan, Mark Begich of Alaska and Max Baucus of Montana, Rockefeller wrote:

“We strongly believe this is ultimately Congress’ responsibility, and if done properly, will create jobs, spur new clean energy industries, and greatly advance the goal of U.S. energy independence. If done improperly, these opportunities could be lost.”

The EPA recently listed carbon dioxide, methane and other gases as endangering the public.

Congress, not the EPA, should deal with those questions, said the coal-state senators.

In a recession that has killed trillions in wealth and millions of jobs, ill-considered environmental regulation is the last thing Americans need.

Rockefeller is correct.

Members of Congress, elected by and accountable to their constituents, have the responsibility for determining how to regulate carbon dioxide and other gases.

But talk is cheap.

If the Obama administration proceeds on its own, West Virginia expects its senators to block that move.

Republicans, major business groups and a handful of coal-state Democrats are launching a barrage of attacks against the Environmental Protection Agency, hoping to stop new rules that would regulate greenhouse gas emissions across the economy.

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Enormously costly capital intensive Nuclear is a more reliable source for electricity than the expensive intermittent sources of wind and solar. But beware that electricity sourced by nuclear is significantly more expensive than power from hydroelectric and clean coal technology sources.

Maybe that’s why this Administration continues its attack on our plentiful, job-creating American coal via proposed draconian EPA regulations, harmful cap and trade energy tax schemes, and UN Climate change regulations.

A few months ago, didn’t this Administration say they were against energy subsidies? And they have shut down the national radioactive waste repository in Nevada. Thus, all nuclear reactor sites will continue to store high level radioactive waste. We must allow reprocessing and recycling of spent radioactive fuel a la the French if nuclear is to maintain or expand its desirability in the US.

The bottom line: Notwithstanding subsidies, our American coal remains the best job creating, most affordable and reliable source for electricity, And coal is available as a source throughout the US and world.

-George Allen

February 13, 2010

The Obama administration’s planned loan guarantee to build the first nuclear power plant in the U.S in almost three decades is part of a broad shift in energy strategy to lessen dependence on foreign oil and reduce the use of other fossil fuels blamed for global warming.

Ben Feller

President Barack Obama called for “a new generation of safe, clean nuclear power plants” in his Jan. 27 State of the Union speech and followed that by proposing to triple loan guarantees for new nuclear plants. He wants to use nuclear power and other alternative sources of energy in his effort to shift energy policy.

Associated Press

Obama in the coming week will announce the loan guarantee to build the nuclear power plant, an administration official said Friday. The two new Southern Co. reactors to be built in Burke, Ga., are part of a White House energy plan that administration officials hope will draw Republican support.

Obama nuke plant loan reflects new energy strategy

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By Bryan McKenzie
The Charlottesville Daily Progress

Drivers around the country and the world will be getting a charge out of Albemarle County-based Aker Wade Power Technologies, if the company has anything to say about it. The manufacturer of fast-charge devices used to repower forklifts and other battery-operated equipment in manufacturing plants and industry has entered into an agreement with Japanese carmakers and power companies to build quick-charge devices for electric cars.

Read the full article at the Charlottesville Daily Progress.

The harmful energy proposals in Washington will exacerbate the problems for people to have access to affordable electricity and energy. Many Virginia and American families are presently having a hard time paying electricity bills. The counterproductive energy mandates and regulations proposed in Washington would increase electricity costs and exacerbate these energy problems for lower income people. -George Allen

Record numbers of households struggling to pay their utility bills
By Maegan Smith
The Daily Press
January 6, 2010

For the second year in a row, record numbers of households across the nation are receiving heating assistance, according to a study released last month. That’s because as frigid temperatures set in amid the lingering effects of the economic crisis, more and more people can’t pay their utility bills.

In Virginia, the number rose just over 13 percent, from 108,040 in 2008 to 122,625 in 2009, according to the National Energy Assistance Directors’ Association.

Social services departments around Hampton Roads have said those numbers are likely to keep rising this winter.

“People are starting to understand that it’s there,” Charlene Collins, chief of eligibility for James City County social services, said of funds for heating assistance. “It’s becoming more and more popular.”

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