Pipeline Pipe Dreams

I don't know what Obama is smoking but if he thinks he can convince the American public that the Keystone XL Pipeline shouldn't be built then he'd better quit smoking. 60% Favor Building Keystone XL Pipeline. The administrations position is that

"The White House sent new signals Sunday that President Barack Obama may be forced to kill TransCanada Corp.'s Keystone XL oilsands pipeline if his administration is forced to make a decision on the project within 60 days. Gene Sperling, a senior economic adviser to Obama, told CNN that legislation requiring a final ruling on Keystone XL within two months could doom the pipeline because there's not enough time to complete a new environmental review."

Hat Tip: Small Dead Animals The frantic refusal to even consider the pipeline which could help businesses from all industries and create many jobs is puzzling. One assumes it is because pipelines are so unusual and need special environmental studies since they are so rare. ... Oh Really?

A quick google and you can see that nearly all the inhabited areas of the United States of America are riddled with pipelines. We need this energy. It is from a friendly neighbor and ally rather than a middle eastern dictatorship and as my husband explains in this article - Create wealth, not jobs. Keystone XL pipeline would boost prosperity, not government -

TransCanada's Keystone XL pipeline is a massive job- and wealth-creation project. The pipeline will snake its way 1,700 miles from Alberta to the Gulf coast with stops in Oklahoma and Illinois. Keystone will create $7 billion in investment without any additional congressional spending. It is exactly the sort of massive construction project Mr. Obama demanded from Republicans in September, with one important exception: It’s private.

Read the whole article, it's very good in my completely biased opinion. The long and short of it is, the Keystone Pipeline would be a huge help to the American economy and her people. That Obama wishes to stop it from helping us is unforgivable and hopefully makes him unelectable next year.

Daily Round-Up 05-03

Subversion Inc.: The Real Story of ACORN


THE GOOD NEWS IS...


Just Let The Economy Recover

A Look Inside the Foreclosure Pipeline



GENERAL BAD BEHAVIOR


Issa v. Holder

Subversion Inc.: The Real Story of ACORN

The curious case of the supply-defying rally in oil

Our Kind of Class Warfare



AND THE GOOD GUYS ARE...






BAD POLITICIAN BAD

President Obama Job Approval

Latest Election Polls

2012 Republican Presidential Nomination

True unemployment rate could sink Obama. Commentary: It’s far worse than Bernanke admits

White House Visitor Logs ‘Riddled with Holes’

Little to no bin Laden-Bump for Obama in early polls

Subversion Inc.: The Real Story of ACORN

Milwaukee Mayor, Mulling Another Run for Wisc. Governor, Hangs with Marxists, Trumka on May Day

Job Creation: How It Really Works and Why the Government Doesn't Understand It



IN ECONOMIC WOES


Here's an excellent idea - Sack 1 Regulatory Bureaucrat, Create 98 Private Sector Jobs

"The Fed may deny it, but Americans know that prices are rising. Inflation is back."

Which Drop-Dead Debt-Hike Deadline?

Why China Overheats

Reason-Rupe Poll: 96% Fear Federal Debt, 74% Want Spending Cap, & More


Fighting the depression, losing the war

Job Creation: How It Really Works and Why the Government Doesn't Understand It

Who Will Answer the Jobs Question?

Dollar dogma can be destructive.

High-Earning Households Pay Growing Share of Taxes

Overhaul Grows and Slows

US Debt Rating Should Be 'C': Independent Agency

True unemployment rate could sink Obama. Commentary: It’s far worse than Bernanke admits





JUNK SCIENCE


'Cause it's not like we need fuel for anything - EPA to Use New Regulations to Prohibit Hydraulic Fracturing?

The Great Green Gaffe

California Dreamin’ Why is Jerry Brown so eager to increase electricity rates when his state’s economy is in the dumps?

Peak Everything?

On Green Energy: Plainly Not Helping Spain



MEDIA BIAS


Team Six: From Cheney’s Secret Assassination Squad to Obama’s Super-Awesome Cleanup Crew Lots of links describing MSM hypocrisy here.






BIG UNION/LEFTIE GROUPS



MORE SHOCK VIDEO: U of Missouri ‘Labor Studies’ Course Teaches How to Shut Down Non-Union Companies

Subversion Inc.: The Real Story of ACORN

Radical Teachers Push Marxist Agenda and Shift Culture Leftward, Part II


The Battle for Wisconsin


PLANNED PARENTHOOD/ABORTION SCANDAL


Raped girl’s lawsuit against Planned Parenthood comes to a close

ADF dispels myths about Indiana bill that would defund Planned Parenthood



FIGHTING CORRUPTION/TEA PARTY NEWS


Pawlenty Builds Tea Party Support

Junk Science 04-26

Gallup: Majority of Human Race Does Not See Global Warming as Serious Threat

Stimulus to Fund 3 Huge Wind Turbines In Providence ... Made In China

In Search of Petrovillains



Shell Oil Lambastes Odd EPA Denial on Drilling

CDC gives money to city, state health departments to meet public health challenges caused by climate change

And if you believe her, I've got a bridge I'd like to sell you - Jackson: Climate regs ‘nothing to fear’

What Happens When Cars Use Less Gas? Their drivers must be punished:

U.S. to regulate electronic cigarettes as tobacco

Anti-BPA Packaging Laws Jeopardize Public Health, New Report Finds

Former Obama Adviser Van Jones Helping to Push 'Human' Rights for Mother Nature

Daily Round-Up 04-26

THE GOOD NEWS IS...


The American “Preference Cascade”

Public Pensions, Once Off Limits, Face Budget Cuts

The resurrection of school choice

Actually, Stuxnet Has Completely Paralyzed Iran’s Bushehr Plant. Iran may even have to junk it and start from scratch.




GENERAL BAD BEHAVIOR


Is the ‘Age of America’ Really at an End? By some reports, China's economy will surpass the U.S. in "purchasing parity" by 2016. Does this mean that the U.S. is on the way out as a superpower

The law protects those who seek to do us harm

Apple and their iPhone, not the customers. - Customers Sue Apple Over iPhone Location-Data Collection AND House Republicans question Google, Apple on consumer privacy



AND THE GOOD GUYS ARE...


Race and Economics

Boehner opens door to cutting U.S. oil tax breaks




BAD POLITICIAN BAD

President Obama Job Approval

Latest Election Polls

2012 Republican Presidential Nomination

The increasingly odd political optics of Barack Obama

Obama Rails Against Oil Subsidies, Gave ACORN $3 Billion in Stimulus

Thanks to Obama, Gas Jumps in a Flash

AP Exclusive: Judge's partner cited in Prop 8 case

Obama’s Sordid Past Back in the News

From Instapundit: Gov. Rick Perry sees Texas wildfires as statewide emergency. FEMA doesn't? Ten days have elapsed since Gov. Rick Perry (R) asked for a federal disaster declaration, to get more US help to fight Texas wildfires. Why a slow answer could backfire for both Obama and Perry.

UPDATE: Reader Steve Elmers writes: “Obama has given new meaning to ‘Scorched Earth Politics!’ I believed for a long time that POTUS Obama was just a bad president; I have now come to believe he is a bad person. This same scenario has played out over and over again. Remember the Nashville floods last year?”

States face $1.26 trillion shortfall in funds to pay retiree benefits

The left decides who gets lawyers

The First Adult -- AWOL

The Cult of Obama Bites Itself

Politicians, Not Public, to Blame for Debt Crisis






IN ECONOMIC WOES


I never got a job from a poor man. The Welfare State and the Selfish Society. Capitalism teaches people to work harder; the welfare state teaches people to want harder. Which is better?

I'd actually like to know the answer to that one! - Why Have Taxes at All?

Most Americans Think Deficit Caused by Spending, Not Low Taxes

What a Crisis Looks Like

Don't Forget the Unemployment Crisis

Who Said It?

Thank you, Standard & Poor's

Who's worried about NYSE jobs?

Poison for the whole economy, I'd say - Tax Increases Are Political Poison for the GOP

Americans raiding retirement funds early
A Pseudo-Taxing Debate

Raising the Debt Limit (or Not)

Officials find errors in previously reported loan default rates





OBAMACARE


The Administration’s Answer To High Healthcare Costs is…. Rationing

Obamacare Takes a Double Shot at the Economy and the American Dream

RomneyCare's Unhappy Anniversary. Higher costs and less accessible medical care has been the Massachusetts experience--and will soon be the nation's




JUNK SCIENCE


Gallup: Majority of Human Race Does Not See Global Warming as Serious Threat

Stimulus to Fund 3 Huge Wind Turbines In Providence ... Made In China

In Search of Petrovillains

What Happens When Cars Use Less Gas? Their drivers must be punished:

U.S. to regulate electronic cigarettes as tobacco

Former Obama Adviser Van Jones Helping to Push 'Human' Rights for Mother Nature






MEDIA BIAS



Gas Prices Top $1-a-Gallon Higher than Year Ago; Media Don't Blame Obama






BIG UNION/LEFTIE GROUPS


We must reverse "the long march" through our institutions now. $400 Million Taxpayer Funds For University Pushing Anti-American, Anti-Capitalist Course

The White House vs. Boeing: A Tennessee Tale Our auto industry took off because workers could choose whether or not to join a union.

The left decides who gets lawyers

Education Showdown. The irresistible force of school reform meets the immovable object of teachers unions

States face $1.26 trillion shortfall in funds to pay retiree benefits

Changes on the State and Municipal Pension Front




PLANNED PARENTHOOD/ABORTION SCANDAL


Five Truths about Planned Parenthood. Anyone who believes PP is primarily concerned with the health of women and girls needs to look at the record.






FIGHTING CORRUPTION/TEA PARTY NEWS


The American “Preference Cascade”

Rise of Populist Parties Pushes Europe to the Right

In Economic Woes 03-04

Gallup: Unemployment Rate Really at 10.3 Percent

Room to cut. New report illustrates wasteful, overlapping programs, including rules on vehicle fuels and highway safety

A nation of indentured servants

The New Underclass and Barack Obama

Obama’s helping hand hoodwinks homeowners. Government mortgage assistance can be worse than nothing

Why we need a balanced-budget amendment

The latest jobs report is good news, even if the overall jobs environment is still pretty bad.

Bill Gates On States' Accounting: 'The Guys At Enron Never Would Have Done This'

Employment Picture Makes Things Cloudy for Investors



The Fair Tax idea is worthy of debate

Guess Who Profits from Inflation?

Utah House Passes Bill Recognizing Gold, Silver as Legal Tender

Dollar's Global Fall Will Be 'Disastrous’ for US Living Standard

Tax Competition Is a Powerful Mechanism to Restrain the Greed of the Political Class


Economists: State, local pension funds understate shortfall by $1.5 trillion or more

Setting the Record Straight

Lawmakers Stuck in Stopgap Mode While Budget Problems Fester

Greenspan Says Government ‘Activism’ Hampering U.S. Recovery



Oil settles at highest level since Sept. 2008

Uncloudy day on the budget front

If he had a sense of shame, Geithner would have to have been embarrassed. As it is, one suspects that he is an easy tool, deferential, glad to be of use -- J. Alfred Prufrock landed improbably in the high office of the Secretary of the Treasury of the United States.

Calls for new VAT tax prove unpopular with both Dems, GOP

Republican congressmen demand documentation from NLRB on effects of proposed $50 million cut

Random Round-Up 02-19

President Obama Job Approval

Susan Rice's Illegitimate U.N. Folly AND UN-seemly Bam slam

House Roll Call: Spending Bill

Progressives In Front of WH Protest Effort Mad at Koch Brothers

GOP Defies Obama, Pushes Spending Cuts of $61 Billion Though House

The Importance of Fatherhood

TEACHERS IN WISCONSIN MAKE MORE THAN TWICE THE PER CAPITA INCOME OF THEIR FELLOW WISCONSINITES (UPDATED)

California’s Delta Smelt is Raising Your Food Prices

Students, faculty respond to CNN hire of local Tea Partier

Obama’s war on democracy. President’s campaign forces seize Wisconsin statehouse

ABC’s 1991 Outrageous Undercover Investigation of Crisis Pregnancy Centers

Fear of 'Catastrophic' Crash Rising Despite Bull Market

Michelle Obama Goes Skiing in Colorado

PBS Tweets Its Love for MoveOn.org Campaign Against Conservatives

Biden, wife spending holiday weekend in Fla. Keys



Networks that Railed Against Rhetoric of Tea Parties Offer No Comment on Hitler, Dictator Signs at Wis. Protests

Armed Services member: Emails point to illegal Pentagon lobbying

‘Financial Catastrophe Denialists’

Lara Logan and the Media Rules

House scales back mining protections, other enviro rules in spending bill

Another victory for science! House votes 244-179 to kill U.S. funding of UN IPCC! 'It no longer wishes to have the IPCC prepare its comprehensive international climate science assessments'

Environmentalist Fraud and Manslaughter

Retiring Boomers Find 401(k) Plans Fall Short

Churches Open Doors to Muslim Worship

Will Obama and Republicans reach a budget deal?

What Does Government Do? Apparently, cut checks.

Connecticut Attorney General Investigates Facebook Fraud

U.S. Has Cut Emissions ... Without Cap and Tax

Less Than Half of Southwest Border Secure, Government Report Says

Admissions Discrimination at Ohio State and Miami

The Sisterhood of Silence. A bad abortion clinic, a dead woman, and a wall of pro-choice denial.

GOP Spending Cuts Headed for Senate

Stimulus a Failure By Only Measure That Matters: Jobs

House Votes to Block Funds for Obamacare

Back in the Executive Branch, However

When the Cashier Asks for Your Zip Code

Ryan's Charge Up Entitlement Hill The GOP's fiscal leader explains why House Republicans will vote to reform Medicare and why the public is ready to listen.

States That Ignored Warnings on Unemployment Insurance Face Reckoning

Doctors Helping Teachers Lie about Being ‘Sick’

Freshmen spur GOP-run House on big spending cuts

Maddow messes up again - Rachel Maddow says Wisconsin is on track to have a budget surplus this year

Lila Rose among Deadly Thorns

Hundreds demonstrate for secular Tunisia

Looking dictators in the pocketbook

Millions of Dollars Owed Denied to Gulf Oil Spill Cleanup Crews

Green investment bank should make taxpayers see red

Documents Show Congressman David Wu's Staff “Threatened to Shut Down His Campaign

As the author over at Townhall.com put it, just remember this "protester" is teaching your children. "FOX LIES!!!" Reporter Confronts Disturbing WI Protester


BTW...in no MSM coverage I have seen is there ANY note that the crowd is "predominantly white".... Why is that?

There's still hope for dealing with our debt challenges

Immortal Fannie, Immortal Freddie The next bubble is built into our assumptions about housing ‘investments.

Teacher Resigns After Pleading Guilty to Prostitution

Illinois Home Schooling Bill Tabled -- But Fight Far From Over

Dems Ditch NASCAR Rep. Betty McCollum wants to yank $7 million a year in Pentagon funding for NASCAR sponsorships

Elections Have Consequences, BTW

[sigh] To Escape Blame, Be a Victim, Not a Hero, New Study Finds

Kill the Kill Switch!

More CR Amendments

Can Health-Care Waivers Be Justified?

Obama and unions: Many in labor movement frustrated with president

Lila Rose & the Planned Parenthood Vote

Big Union/Leftie Groups 02-18

Wisc. Superintendent Tells Teachers to Get Back to School AND Wisconsin update: Walker sends out rangers to fetch the Chicken Dems AND Wisconsin's Anti-Union Bill in Limbo as GOP Sends State Troopers After Missing Democrats

Poll - State legislators get to cast their vote on Gov. Walker's budget repair bill today. How would you vote? Results as of 1:45pm 2/18/11 - Approve it (59%) Kill it (41%) Total Responses: 72688 AND Poll: Public Sector Unions Shouldn't Exist

The case against public sector unionism

TN is on board - Bill OK'd To End Collective Bargaining With Schools

Ohio too - Thousands at Statehouse Face Off on Senate Bill 5

As in Wisconsin, So in Idaho

Could Minnesota See Similar Union Fights As Wisconsin?

Union chaos: Is New York next? AND Gov. Cuomo must lead push to give the city the power to fire incompetent teachers, reform pensions

Beyond Wisconsin: Other States Facing Union Protests

Not Just Wisconsin: Unions Held Accountable in Several States

Ya think? Wisconsin Labor Unrest Could Go National

Join Andrew Breitbart, Herman Cain & Jim Hoft at Wisconsin Freedom Rally to Support Scott Walker Saturday

Oh good Obama's getting involved. Is This How a President Should Act? AND DNC Helping WI "Protests" AND DNC, OfA aiding WI union protests

The Democratic National Committee's Organizing for America arm -- the remnant of the 2008 Obama campaign -- is playing an active role in organizing protests against Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker's attempt to strip most public employees of collective bargaining rights.

AND Obama rallies union base as budget standoff grips Wisconsin



Wisconsin Liberals Starve Children

An Assault on Taxpayers

Despite Budget Cuts, Layoff Fears, Milwaukee Teachers Fight for Taxpayer-Funded Viagra

CPAC Interview: How Public Sector Unions are Driving Us Bankrupt

Good question - Where Does the Left Get the Time?

Public employee unions or the common good?

Madison schools will close once again. The teachers take another day off to demonstrate at the capitol. What impression is this making around the state?

Walker to Dems: ‘You Can’t Have Conversations If You’re Not at Work’

BREAKING: Wisconsin Dems Hiding At Best Western in Rockford, IL …Update: TEA PARTY WINS! Chases WI Dems Out of Rockford …Update: WI Dem Says They’re Still in IL (Video)

Re ‘To Be a Republican Lawmaker in Madison’

Group targets Speaker Boehner’s (small-h) house

Public-Sector Union Bosses Fight to Stay in Control: What are YOU going to do about it?

Speaker Boehner’s home targeted by mob protest



Wis. governor: GOP won't be 'bullied' by union bill protesters

Athens in Mad Town A seminal showdown between public unions and taxpayers.

Who's been overreaching?

An Assault on Taxpayers

Wisconsin Senate Democrats Hiding at Resort in Illinois: Local Tea Parties Mobilizing UPDATE: Dems Flee Resort

Apocalypse Now: Wisconsin vs. Big Labor

The left's rejection of democracy in Wisconsin

More signs at the protest today. AND After all those efforts to paint Tea Partiers as using violent images and rhetoric, these pictures from Madison have got to hurt. The Wisconsin GOP made a nice montage

Wisconsin State Troopers Sent Out to Retrieve AWOL Dems …Update: Flee-Baggers Are Hiding In Chicago

Obama Says Wisconsin Governor Is Assaulting Unions; State Sen. Mark Miller Says 'This Is a Disaster'

Don't Like It? Riot

‘Winning the Future’ Means Winning in Madison



Left-wing bullies finally on the run

Auto union must look out for companies, too

Unions want to overturn election result

Union-busting in Wisconsin prompts mass protest

"Democrats believe in democracy - except when they lose".

One More Thing About Wisconsin

In Economic Woes 02-15

Obama Budget Doubles National Debt to $26.3 Trillion in 10 Years

The cynical and unrealistic White House budget. Basically, this budget isn't about helping America or Americans but about forcing fiscal conservatives (both democrat and republican) to make the hard decisions so when the howls of fiscal pain rise, Obama can claim he had nothing to do with it. Stinkin' sack of selfish ... In short, Obama is playing politics with both our national fiscal survival and our personal finances for his own personal ego.

Why We Should Reform Entitlement Programs Now

It's a Punt

The President’s budget: whistling past the graveyard

Consumer prices on most goods expected to rise in 2011

Companies Warn That Higher Prices Are Looming

Roubini’s Next Crisis Is Scary Food for Thought

Surging Food Prices Increasing Poverty

Obama is on a regulatory roll: Can Congress stop him?

Licensing Gone Wild: Government Bureaucrats Shut Down 82-Year-Old Barber


Top 5 silliest state tax hikes

Obama's sea of red. Another free-spending budget

The Obama Budget’s Magic Asterisks

Why the Unemployment Rate Has Become a Bad Joke

What Could You Do With $3.73 Trillion?

This Is An Incredible Bear-Market Rally

Wis. town reflects challenge for middle-class rebound

Opinion: Just How Deep Are Those Spending Cuts?


The War on Profit

Big Role for Tax Increases Fuels Criticism From Business Groups

This Is No Way to Win the Future

They all do - Kansas Liquor Laws Need Modernization

If Barney Frank hates it, then it had got to be good - Frank, Dems blast GOP, say cuts will impair Wall Street regulators

China Dumps More US Bonds, UK, Japan Buy More

The 800 Pound Debt Gorilla Looms Larger With President Obama’s Budget


Poll: Americans Unconvinced Economy on Rebound

Obama’s Fake Budget Spending Cuts

The True Cost of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Governorship

Hayek’s Top 10 Do’s and Don’ts in a Recession

China should enjoy its triumph while it lasts. For China finally to have overtaken Japan as the world's second largest economy is a moment more important for its symbolism than its underlying significance.

UK Inflation Surges to 4%, Highest Since Nov. 2008

If You Don't Laugh, You'll Cry

Awkward Ed Miliband Moments Mr. Miliband is a British MP but don't worry, he'll still remind you of 99% of Congress.

Governor, you're not helping Obama with this. I'm no birther but nor am I pro-Obama, so I find it quite amusing that this Obama-supporting governor is making things so much worse. Hawaii governor can't find Obama birth certificate. Suggests controversy could hurt president's re-election chances AND Hawaii governor claims record of Obama's birth 'exists in archives' but can't produce the vital document

Are You With Me, Doctor Wu? It's really his stand against "faux Klingons"

Random Round-Up 12-29

President Obama Job Approval

Closing the books on the worst Congress

Please Stop 'Helping' Us

According to TIME, Nothing Happened in 2010

Voters really don't like ObamaCare -- still



From the Wall Street Journal - Death Panels Revisited The left won't admit that Sarah Palin had a point about rationed care..

Woman Who Protested TSA Pat-Downs At OKC Airport Banned From Flying

IRS Declined to Audit 97% of Potential Tax Shelters Without Required Approval

Debunking That Study on ‘Mis-Informed’ Fox News Viewers

The Five Worst Op-Eds of 2010

Only one in five Americans want government to regulate the Internet

111th Congress Created More National Debt Than First 100 Congresses Combined

The top 10 violations of the Constitution by Obama and the 111th Congress



'Shall' D.C. Decide for Patients & Doctors?

Actually, Bush Vetoed Bill with ‘End-of-Life’ Provisions

Well, DUH - Health plans for high-risk patients attracting fewer, costing more than expected

The Dumbest Government Decisions

Hot Sensations Vs. Cold Facts

Things the chattering class got wrong

Population Patterns Show Rejection of Liberalism

A truce in culture wars as voters focus on economy

Carbon Rationing By Other Means

Dogma and the New Progressives

Thomas Sowell - Promises and Riots



The Obamacare tax hangover

Unlearning the Lessons Being Taught

Here’s how serious people transcend ideological differences

AP-GfK Poll: Baby boomers fear outliving Medicare

VDH - How Did All That Happen?

Sanitation Union Fires Back At Accusations Of Slow-Down

The Obamas Police Food and Football (Updated) Why their comments on Michael Vick and school lunches make us queasy

The ten most underreported studies from 2010



Mike's mosque myopia Bloomberg is such a tool.

Rationing Revealed at the Heart of Obamacare

Ken Blackwell - If We Don't Balance Books, Others Will

Global Warming Skeptic Predicts Brutal Winter, Warns “You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet

Is there any weather pattern that would cast doubt on global warming?

Local Government Stupidity Contest

Big Nannies of the Year

What the Health Care Bill Means for You in 2011

Global Food Crisis Aggravated by Ethanol

I think this is such an important article I am copying it - links and all - at my own site. Global Food Crisis Forecast; Aggravated by Biofuels and Global Warming Legislation

A global food crisis is “forecast as prices reach record highs [1].” “Rising food prices and shortages could cause instability in many countries as the cost of staple foods and vegetables reached their highest levels in two years.” “Global wheat and maize prices recently jumped nearly 30% in a few weeks while meat prices are at 20-year highs.” “Meanwhile, the price of tomatoes in Egypt, garlic in China and bread in Pakistan are at near-record levels.”

Drought is one factor in the price spikes. Biofuels and ethanol subsidies and mandates are another major factor. According to the UN, “large-scale land acquisitions by foreign investors for biofuels is squeezing land suitable for agriculture [1].”

Ethanol subsidies have resulted in forests being destroyed [2] in the Third World, and caused famines [3] that have killed [4] countless people in the world’s poorest countries [4].

These subsidies are expanded in the global warming legislation backed by the Obama administration. Its ethanol subsidies will result [5] in “damage to water supplies, soil health and air quality.” The Washington Examiner earlier explained how the global warming bill backed by President Obama would cause deforestation by expanding ethanol subsidies, and thus increase greenhouse gas emissions [6] in the long run. It was larded up with corporate welfare: 85 percent [7] of its carbon allowances were given away to special interests free of charge, thanks to lobbying that turned the bill into an orgy of corporate welfare.

Earlier, Ron Bailey wrote in Reason magazine about the “global food crisis” that has resulted in food riots across the world [8], in countries like Mexico, Pakistan, Indonesia, Yemen, Haiti, and Egypt. The crisis, he notes, is caused by “stupid energy policies” in the form of ethanol “mandates” and subsidies, which result in the world’s breadbaskets producing less food and more ethanol.

In 2008, two prominent environmentalists, Lester Pearson and Jonathan Lewis, published a Washington Post editorial, “Ethanol’s Failed Promise [9],” which explained how ethanol subsidies and mandates are destroying the environment and fueling hunger and violence worldwide [9].

Turning one-fourth of our corn into fuel is affecting global food prices. U.S. food prices are rising at twice the rate of inflation, hitting the pocketbooks of lower-income Americans and people living on fixed incomes. … Deadly food riots have broken out in dozens of nations in the past few months, most recently in Haiti and Egypt. World Bank President Robert Zoellick warns of a global food emergency.

Moreover, they noted,

food-to-fuel mandates are leading to increased environmental damage. First, producing ethanol requires huge amounts of energy - most of which comes from coal. Second, the production process creates a number of hazardous byproducts, and some production facilities are reportedly dumping these in local water sources. Third, food-to-fuel mandates are helping drive up the price of agricultural staples, leading to significant changes in land use with major environmental harm. Here in the United States, farmers are pulling land out of the federal conservation program, threatening fragile habitats. … Most troubling, though, is that the higher food prices caused in large part by food-to-fuel mandates create incentives for global deforestation, including in the Amazon basin. As Time Magazine reported [10] this month, huge swaths of forest are being cleared for agricultural development. The result is devastating: We lose an ecological treasure and critical habitat for endangered species, as well as the world’s largest ‘carbon sink.’ And when the forests are cleared and the land plowed for farming, the carbon that had been sequestered in the plants and soil is released. Princeton scholar Tim Searchinger has modeled this impact and reports [11] in Science magazine that the net impact of the food-to-fuel push will be an increase in global carbon emissions - and thus a catalyst for climate change.

In Human Events, Deroy Murdock explained how rising food prices resulting from ethanol forced Haitians to literally eat dirt [12] (dirt cookies made of vegetable oil, salt, and dirt), caused tortilla riots in Mexico, and fueled violent protests in unstable “powder kegs” like Pakistan and Egypt.

In 2008, finance ministers and central bankers called for end to ethanol subsidies and biofuel mandates [13]. South African finance minister Trevor Manuel called such subsidies “criminal [14].” Earlier, the Indian Finance Minister Chidambaram noted that [14] “in a world where there is hunger and poverty, there is no policy justification for diverting food crops towards bio-fuels. Converting food into fuel is neither good policy for the poor nor for the environment.”

The EPA is now ratcheting up [15] ethanol use, heedless of the fact that ethanol makes gasoline costlier and dirtier [16], increases ozone pollution [17], and increases the death toll from smog [18] and air pollution. Ethanol production also results in deforestation, soil erosion, and water pollution [19].