GOP Transition Team Faces Heavy Task

By Ji Hyun Yoo - Talk Radio News Service

Rep. Greg Walden (R-Ore.), who is chairing the GOP Transition Committee, told reporters Tuesday that he his aware of the daunting task his team faces as Republicans prepare to assume Majority status. 

“We’ve got a lot of work ahead of us,” Walden said following a set of meetings with the 22 member team. “Our goal was to look at how we can make the U.S House of Representatives more open, more transparent, more accessible to the American people, public, press and us, in terms of how we improve our legislative policy.”



Is Cap-and-Trade the Answer?

Coffee Brown, University of New Mexico, Talk Radio News


At the Washington Post Company Conference on "Planning for a Secure Energy Future," Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.) said, "We are the Saudi Arabia of coal." It's harmful, he acknowledged, but we have it in abundance and we’re dependent on it. If we don't use coal, China and India will. We should have committed to alternative energy 30 years ago, "but American attention to these matters goes on and off like the light when you throw the switch," he said.
Clean coal is a relative term. We can substantially reduce emissions, but how and at what cost will involve serious debate, he said.
"The Europeans have had at least two fine messes" applying cap-and-trade, Dingell said, adding that there are many options, all having flaws, and Congress will have a huge fight over them.
Jay Inslee (D-Wash.) said coal is a great energy source, "but it has one bad feature: if we burn the coal reserves that we know exist in this country and in China, the planet will cook." He said the coal industry needs cap-and-trade, because if it does not become clean, it becomes unsustainable. Cap-and-trade revenue could fund the necessary research. "The future of this industry depends on the existence of that research," he said. "These are job-creating opportunities."
We have overestimated the cost and difficulty of such projects, according to Inslee. We had to commit to the Apollo project, and then we succeeded. "We are on the cusp of enormous technological transformation, but it cannot happen at the pace it has to happen unless we have (the pressure that cap-an-trade would exert),” he said. “As long as we can burn coal that is not sequestered, it strangles in the bed all of these new companies that are champing at the bit to start getting going." "This pace of global warming is not Al Gore's schedule,” he said, adding that it is a fact of nature and it is happening much faster than had been predicted even one year ago.

Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.) said, "By the year 2020, our country is expected to need 40 percent more electricity generation than we're using today. Coal has to be part of that picture." It's about 53 percent of total national energy generation.
We are not building new coal plants, and China is building many, he said, “and they're not using carbon capture.”
Pointing out that efficient carbon capture is 10-15 years away, but cap-and-trade starts immediately and benchmarks begin in 2012, Upton says that the technology should precede the regulations.

Rep. Greg Walden (R-Ore.) agrees: "This is like (anesthetizing) the patient while the researchers are still trying to figure out how to operate." He characterized cap-and-trade as a redistribution of wealth from businesses to individuals. "Far from being a job creator, I think this could be a huge job killer."
He said that when cap-and-trade decreased sulfur dioxide emissions, circumstances were different.
All of the participants at the conference agreed on the reality and the danger of climate change, but debated whether various alternative energies are practical, and whether cap-and-trade should drive the reduction of carbon emissions or await more cost-effective technology.

Fairness Doctrine blocked by U.S. Senate

By Suzia van Swol, University of New Mexico-Talk Radio News Service
During a press briefing on the fairness doctrine, Senator Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) said that,
“we can celebrate a victory of sorts today, after taking a message to the American people about radio censorship, the potential of muzzling radio talk show hosts. We were able to force a vote this week on the Broadcasters Freedom Act that would bar the FCC from bringing up what is misnamed the fairness doctrine.”

Democrats have offered an alternative to the bill which DeMint said, “closes the front door to the fairness doctrine, the democrat majority has opened the back door for additional mischief by allowing the FCC, and actually telling the FCC that they shall promote and encourage diversity and communication media.” The senator went on to state that, “right now the vote is going on on the floor , but because of the pressure from the American people, both parties are supporting the prohibition against this censorship of free speech and freedom of the press.”

Congressman Greg Walden (R-Ore.) said that fairness doctrine needs to be stopped from coming back because we don’t need the FCC “becoming the nanny police for freedom of speech in America.” Walden said that together with Representative Mike Pence (R-Ind.), he had a provision in the spending bill that “would have precluded the FCC from spending any money to put the fairness doctrine back in place.” However, this language was taken out when the omnibus passed in the house yesterday. Walden stated that he “calls on the House leadership to not strip the language” out of the senate bill.

Following today’s press briefing, the amendment passed by a large majority 87-11.

The blame game: What’s causing high gas prices?

The role of market speculation and its effect on the dramatic increases in the price of oil was discussed by the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Oversight and and Investigations Subcommittee. Rep. Michael Burgess (R-Texas) stated that the American economy will not be sustainable if high prices at the pump continue to climb.

Rep. Jay Inslee (D-Wash.) said a solution to inappropriate speculation would help to lower prices in the short term, contrasting this idea with calls to increase supply by drilling in the ANWR. Inslee said that these measures would affect future generations but have no immediate result now. Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) stated that speculation of future demand for oil has played a large role in oil’s price increase and that one can solve the issue of high prices by traveling to New York or Chicago.

Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas) said the cost of oil can be attributed to low supply, not market speculation. Barton suggested opening the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and selling two million barrels each day. Barton said this would return oil prices to under $100 per barrel. He noted that the Bush administration opposes this strategy and that its success would rely on an act of Congress. Rep. Greg Walden (R-Ore.) said supply and demand principles, as well as deflation and market forces cannot be ignored.

Michael Masters of Masters Capital Management said that investment firms are good at making profits but ignore the long-term consequences of their decisions, naming the subprime mortgage crisis as an example. Inslee recalled being told by Vice President Dick Cheney that he did not understand economics when he presented Cheney with information concerning Enron, comparing that experience with what he views as the Bush administration’s refusal to acknowledge the effect of futures markets on oil.