“Hello, Goodbye” is one of the Beatles most popular and widely recognizable songs of all time. The song begins: “You say yes, I say no. You say stop and I say go, go, go. Oh, no.”
While is this at all relevant? Well, today 11 northeastern governors signed an economically-devastating memorandum of understanding (MOU) that paves the way for a job-killing regional Low-Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS).
The Hill’s Ben Geman reports this under the headline “Governors sign low-carbon accord”:
The governors of 11 states in the Northeast said Wednesday they would work to develop a low-carbon fuel standard to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from cars and trucks despite objections from the oil industry.
The memorandum of understanding sets an early 2011 deadline for a proposed framework to be completed, and piggybacks on California’s controversial effort to reduce the carbon footprint of transportation fuels. The governors of Connecticut, Maine, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont signed the MOU.
As we know, however, LCFS proposals – like California’s – aims to ban our most affordable and secure fuel supplies. Today, nearly 20 percent of nation’s fuel comes from Canada, our closest and most strategic trading partner and ally. Under an LCFS, Canadian fuel supplies – because they are more energy-intensive to produce – would be effectively banned from reaching US consumers, families, seniors, manufacturers and small businesses.
The winners under an LCFS? Are you sitting down? Some of the most unstable and unfriendly regions of the world who produce oil that is lighter, and therefore favored under an LCFS.
Oh, and China — our chief competitor in the global marketplace.
Talk about irony. On the same day that 11 US governors gave their blessings to block Canadian energy from reaching consumers in their states, China and Canada formally announced an agreement to increase Canadian oil sands production and exports to China.
In a statement entitled “Industry Minister Clement Approves the Petrochina-Athabasca Oil Sands Corporation Transaction”, Tony Clement, Canada’s Minister of Industry, says this after officially inking the deal with China’s state-owned energy company, PetroChina:
“To successfully compete in a globalized economy, we need to attract international investment, which can create jobs, raise our level of competition, and develop Canada’s long-term economic prospects. Our future prosperity relies on open markets and two-way trade and investment flows that will benefit Canada and Canadians. After a thorough review of the individual merits of this transaction, I have concluded that it will benefit Canada.”
At least an LCFS would reduce greenhouse gas emissions, right? Nada. We know gas prices for consumers would spike under this scheme, and studies also find that overall global greenhouse gas emissions would increase too. Heck, even one of President Obama’s top energy gurus has said as much.
So as China says yes to secure, affordable, North American energy reserves, nearly a dozen US governors join California in saying no.
[...] the recent agreement by 11 Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states to begin the formal process of implementing a job-killing Low-Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS), Energy [...]
[...] recent agreement by 11 Northeast and Mid-Atlantic state governors to begin the formal process of implementing a job-killing Low-Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) [...]
[...] across the nation that are working to pass LCFS proposals, particularly in the Mid-West, the Northeast and the [...]
[...] energy, does that mean global greenhouse gas (GHS) emissions will decrease? Absolutely not. China – our chief competitor in the global economy – is working aggressively to secure access to [...]
[...] benefits associated with access to stable and reliable energy reserves. So it’s no wonder why Petrochina – the Chinese government-owned energy firm – has aggressively invested in Canada’s oil sands. [...]