{"id":410018,"date":"2010-03-10T00:33:18","date_gmt":"2010-03-10T05:33:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.szone.us\/f95\/lugar-s-practical-energy-plan-means-more-government-less-consumer-choice-40602\/"},"modified":"2010-03-10T00:33:18","modified_gmt":"2010-03-10T05:33:18","slug":"lugar%c2%92s-%c2%93practical-energy-plan%c2%94-means-more-government-less-consumer-choice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/410018","title":{"rendered":"Lugar\u0092s \u0093Practical Energy Plan\u0094 Means More Government, Less Consumer Choice"},"content":{"rendered":"
On 03.09.10 02:27 PM posted by Dan Holler<\/p>\n

\n\"\"<\/p>Kudos to Sen. Richard Lugar (R-IN) for recognizing that current \u0093rhetoric and legislation [which] are focused primarily at climate change\u0094 are out of step with the concerns of most Americans. A January poll by <ahref="http:\/\/people-press.org\/report\/584\/policy-priorities-2010">Pew Research Center found \u0093dealing with global warming ranks at the bottom of the public\u0092s list of priorities; just 28% consider this a top priority.\u0094 The Senator frames his new <ahref="http:\/\/www.lugar.senate.gov\/energy\/">approach in this way:<spanid="more-28417"><\/span><\/p>\n

I am proposing practical steps that save money and that everybody can support. Threats to our economy and security are of paramount importance. We can best face these threats by reducing our dangerous dependence on foreign oil and creating U.S. jobs in new energy and conservation efforts.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

However rhetorically pleasing that may sound, Americans and policymakers should realize that such a plan would mean more power for the federal government and less choice for Americans. When viewed through that lens, the Senator\u0092s proposal is similar to Obamacare, cap-and-trade and the EPA\u0092s proposed global warming regulations. All three are wildly unpopular with the American people.<\/p>\n

Let\u0092s briefly walk through Senator Lugar\u0092s policy outline.<\/p>\n

First, he proposes \u0093national building performance standards,\u0094 government incentives for retrofitting, and strengthened appliance and lighting efficiency standards. The truth is that government intervention is not needed to achieve these sorts of advancements. They happen naturally as consumers gravitate towards better products and services, which is why, as Heritage\u0092s David Kreutzer <ahref="http:\/\/www.heritage.org\/Research\/Economy\/bg2365.cfm">points out, the current \u0093trend toward greater energy efficiency is expected to continue.\u0094 Such mandates also come with perverse unintended consequences. Don\u0092t believe me? Think about the CFL light bulbs that <ahref="http:\/\/www.heritage.org\/Press\/Commentary\/ed031908b.cfm">contain mercury and how <ahref="http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/opinion\/columns\/How-GE_s-green-lobbying-is-killing-U_S_-factory-jobs-8162035-55422792.html">the mandate to buy them killed manufacturing jobs in America.<\/p>\n

Second, the Senator proposes a \u0093clean energy standard,\u0094 <ahref="http:\/\/www.heritage.org\/Research\/EnergyandEnvironment\/wm2277.cfm">enhanced loan guarantees and early retirement for some coal plants. As my colleagues Ben Lieberman and Nick Loris <ahref="http:\/\/www.heritage.org\/Research\/EnergyandEnvironment\/wm2378.cfm">point out, a clean energy standard \u0093is proposed only because renewables are too expensive to compete otherwise. In effect, Washington is forcing costlier energy options on the public. Since renewables are lavished with substantial tax breaks, a national mandate will cost Americans both as taxpayers and as ratepayers. Any incentive proposed by government should in truth be read as a handout.\u0094 Since when did expensive energy mandated by the government and subsidized by the taxpayer become a good idea?<\/p>\n

Finally, the highest ranking Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee suggests we reduce our dependence on foreign oil by increasing CAFE standards, continuing the severely flawed ethanol mandate and enhancing “domestic oil production.\u0094 The latter is a great idea, which Heritage supports vigorously, but only in the context of free markets, not energy security. Unfortunately, the other measures Lugar identifies are not helpful: 1) the partially enacted <ahref="http:\/\/www.heritage.org\/Research\/tradeandeconomicfreedom\/bg2151.cfm">ethanol mandate has already severely distorted markets and 2) <ahref="http:\/\/www.heritage.org\/Research\/EnergyandEnvironment\/wm1729.cfm">CAFE standards will force consumers to buy smaller, more expensive vehicles.<\/p>\n

Policymakers must realize that empowering the federal government, spending more taxpayer dollars, and taking away consumer choice is not sound energy policy. Its not sound policy, period. Our nation\u0092s energy policy needs change, but those changes should favor consumer choice and free enterprise, not government bureaucrats.<\/p>\n

http:\/\/blog.heritage.org\/2010\/03\/09\/…nsumer-choice\/<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On 03.09.10 02:27 PM posted by Dan Holler <\/p>Kudos to Sen. Richard Lugar (R-IN) for recognizing that current \u0093rhetoric and legislation [which] are focused primarily at climate change\u0094 are out of step with the concerns of most Americans. A January poll by <ahref="http:\/\/people-press.org\/report\/584\/policy-priorities-2010">Pew Research Center found \u0093dealing with global warming ranks at the bottom of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4292,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-410018","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/410018","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4292"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=410018"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/410018\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=410018"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=410018"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=410018"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}