Category Archives: The New Religion

CEI Podcast for May 17, 2012: Ethanol’s Overstated Benefits

Posted on May 17, 2012 | Leave a comment

Senior Fellow Marlo Lewis takes apart a study claiming that ethanol lowers gas prices by more than a dollar per gallon in some regions. Unrealistic assumptions and dodgy methodology make the results less than trustworthy. Ethanol, Lewis argues, is widely used only because the federal government requires it to be. If it had to compete on a level playing field like most other products, it would be a flop.

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Posted in CEI Podcast, Economics, The New Religion

Tagged e10, ethanol, ethanol subsidies, marlo lewis

CEI Podcast for March 22, 2012: Human Achievement Hour

Posted on March 22, 2012 | Leave a comment

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From 8:30 to 9:30 pm on Saturday, March 31, buildings in major cities around the world will go dark in observance of Earth Hour. The point is to show that modernity and the environment are incompatible. At the same time as Earth Hour, millions of people will leave their lights on to celebrate Human Achievement Hour. Michelle Minton, CEI’s Fellow in Consumer Policy Studies and also the founder of Human Achievement Hour, explains.

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Posted in CEI Podcast, Technology, The New Religion

Tagged achievement, dynamism, environmental quality, hah, human achievement hours, innovation, optimism, technology

CEI Podcast for February 23, 2012: Global Warming and Mass Movements

Posted on February 23, 2012 | Leave a comment

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In 1841, the Scottish writer Charles Mackay observed, ” the cup of life is not bitter enough to our palate, and we distill superfluous poison to put into it, or conjure up hideous things to frighten ourselves at, which would never exist if we did not make them.” CEI Warren Brookes Fellow Matt Patterson believes this glass-half-empty aspect of human nature applies directly to today’s global warming debate.

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Posted in CEI Podcast, Mankind's Doom, The New Religion

Tagged charles mackay, climate change, climate change debate, global warming, global warming debate, matt patterson

CEI Podcast for November 23, 2011: The Most Expensive Regulation of All Time?

Posted on November 23, 2011 | Leave a comment

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What is the single most expensive regulation of all time? Energy Policy Analyst William Yeatman has one candidate: the EPA’s proposal to regulate mercury emissions from coal-powered plants. If it passes, the regulation would cost at least ten billion dollars per year to benefit a very small group of people: pregnant women who have subsistence-level income, and eat mostly large fish caught in inland freshwater bodies.

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Posted in CEI Podcast, regulation, The New Religion

Tagged costliest regulation, epa, mercury regulation, most expensive regulation, regulation

CEI Podcast for September 15, 2011: Solyndra

Posted on September 15, 2011 | Leave a comment

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Myron Ebell, Director of CEI’s Center for Energy and Environment, takes a look at the brewing Solyndra scandal. Solyndra is a company that makes solar panels and recently declared bankruptcy. In 2009, the federal government gave Solyndra a $535 million loan even though its own analysts predicted the company would go bankrupt in 2011. The company’s cozy relationship with political figures, including a major political donor with an investment stake, make the loan — and its low interest rate — look rather suspicious.

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Posted in CEI Podcast, Spending, Stimulus, The New Religion

Tagged crony capitalism, green jobs, Myron Ebell, rent seeking, solar panels, solyndra, stimulus scandal, subsidies

CEI Podcast for August 18, 2011: How the EPA Makes Electricity Less Affordable

Posted on August 18, 2011 | Leave a comment

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Energy Policy Analyst William Yeatman tells the story of how the EPA is forcing a power plant in New Mexico to install $370 million worth of equipment to improve visibility in a nearby park. Peer-reviewed research says the visibility improvement has a 35 percent chance of being perceptible to the human eye. New Mexican electricity consumers, meanwhile, will be able to perceive their bills going up by an average of $82 per year.

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Posted in CEI Podcast, regulation, The New Religion

Tagged clean air act, electricity, electricity regulation, epa, New Mexico

CEI Podcast for July 14, 2011: The Incandescent Light Bulb Ban

Posted on July 14, 2011 | 1 Comment

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Earlier this week, GE CEO Jeffrey Immelt gave a speech at a conference on free enterprise. Energy Policy Analyst William Yeatman points out the irony of a career rent-seeker extolling free markets. GE spent $47 million in 2007 lobbying for an incandescent light bulb ban, cap-and-trade carbon regulations, and other government policies that would tilt the playing field in GE’s favor; its compact fluorescent and LED bulbs offer a higher profit margin.Yeatman also discusses a bill currently winding through Congress that would repeal the lightbulb ban.

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Posted in CEI Podcast, The New Religion

Tagged brian williams, free enterprise, jeffrey immelt, light bulb ban, nbc, rent seeking, rep. joe barton, William Yeatman

CEI Podcast for June 23, 2011: Bunker Fuel

Posted on June 23, 2011 | Leave a comment

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Bunker fuel is a heavy fuel used by large ships around the world. Oil tankers, container ships, and more rely on bunker fuel because it’s cheaper than other kinds of fuel. Land Use and Transportation Policy Analyst Marc Scribner takes a look at new environmental regulations in California intended to reduce bunker fuel usage. The rules are actually causing many ships to use more bunker fuel, not less. If proposed fixes succeed, the result would essentially be a tariff on most global trade — a $16 trillion industry.

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Posted in CEI Podcast, The New Religion, Trade

Tagged bunker fuel, california, carb, containter ships, environmental regulations, marc scribner, oil tankers, shipping