The Los Angeles Times reports on President-elect Obama’s selection of James L. Jones to be his National Security Advisor, “James L. Jones’ energy views worry some environmentalists“:

John J. Miller reacting to a story about the dearth of acorns here in the D.C. area:

Today’s Wash Post has a story on acorns—or rather the lack of them. Apparently oaks in the region aren’t producing very many this year:

The idea seemed too crazy to Rod Simmons, a measured, careful field botanist. Naturalists in Arlington County couldn’t find any acorns. None. No hickory nuts, either. Then he went out to look for himself. He came up with nothing. Nothing crunched underfoot. Nothing hit him on the head. …

“I’m used to seeing so many acorns around and out in the field, it’s something I just didn’t believe,” he said. “But this is not just not a good year for oaks. It’s a zero year. There’s zero production. I’ve never seen anything like this before.”

Sort of interesting, but not a matter of grave concern unless you’re squirrel. Oaks live a long time. They can deal with a low-acorn year. But this is a newspaper story about an environmental quirk. And so…

Wait for it…

Wait for it…

Yes! Paragraph #11:

You have to wonder, is it global warming?

Funny thing is, last year was the acorn crop was incredible, putting a crunchy covering on top of sidewalks throughout the city. Remarkable, truly, the heaviest crop we’d seen in 10-plus years in the city. You have to wonder, was it global warming?

And the answer in both case is, of course it’s global warming. Everything’s caused by global warming.

UPDATE (5:15 p.m.): More acorn reports from John’s readers. They’re abundant, even bumperish, in Missouri and South Carolina.

Friday is the deadline for public comment on the EPA’s Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR) on  whether carbon emissions constitute an “endangerment” to the environment and public health through November 28, 2008.  If the answer is yes, look for federal regulation of CO2, turning most industrial activity — human activity — over to the control of the EPA.

(EPA? At first. We can easily envision a separate Office of Carbon Control, with enforcement by the Carbon Cops, clad in those smart charcoal gray uniforms. No Fourth Amendment is safe from the Carbon Cops!)

For more background and a web engine that allows you to submit comments to the EPA, please go to this NAM page, “Express Your Concern to the EPA about ANPR.” How’s that for a call to action?

The Heritage Foundation has also been organizating comments on the carbon regulation scheme. From its Morning Bell blog:

There is something you can do today to prevent future job losses, and it will not cost you, or the American taxpayer, trillions of dollars. As you are reading this, bureaucrats at the Environmental Protection Agency are deciding whether to implement an all-encompassing plan to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. The EPA believes a 1990 amendment to the Clean Air Act gave the agency the unchecked authority to centrally plan our entire economy. The Advanced Notice for Proposed Rulemaking the EPA released earlier this year envisions federal regulations that would bring heavy burdens to one-fifth of all food service businesses, a third of all health care businesses, half of the entire lodging industry, and even 10% of all buildings used for worship. The EPA even claims the power to set speed limits and regulate your lawnmower.

Heritage’s Center for Data Analysis estimates the EPA plan will cause a net job loss of more than 500,000 by 2011, and will destroy 2.9 million manufacturing jobs by 2029. Obama energy adviser Jason Grumet signaled that the Obama administration would use the EPA plan as a job-loss cudgel to force Congress to adopt Obama’s equally pernicious job-killing cap-and-trade plan.

You can help stop the EPA dead in its tracks right now. As part of the regulatory process, the EPA must take comments from the public before issuing its final ruling. The Heritage Foundation has set up StopEPA.com to make it as easy as possible for you to let the EPA know what you think. But the EPA is not forced to listen forever. The agency will stop taking comments this Friday. Before it’s too late, click here to make your voice heard.

Absolutely.

A letter to the editor from Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) in today’s Washington Post, “A Gift to Energy Independence“:

The Nov. 13 editorial “Drilling in Utah” overreached with a headline that called President Bush’s decision to authorize the sale of oil and gas leases on 360,000 acres in Utah “one last gift to the oil and gas industry.”

It would be more accurate to characterize the president’s decision as a step toward energy independence. By opening up Utah land for environmentally responsible oil and gas exploration, the Bush administration is sending a clear signal that we must act to increase the nation’s domestic oil supply.

To place Utah lands off-limits for such exploration would not only cost jobs and be bad for the economy, it would also show we are not serious about weaning the nation off its dangerous dependence on foreign oil. We cannot afford to keep spending $700 billion every year to buy oil from foreign governments, many of which are not our friends and whose principles are antithetical to those of freedom-loving people around the world.

Developing alternative energy sources, as the editorial correctly points out, is a vital part of solving the energy crisis. I’m a strong advocate for solar, wind, geothermal and other energy alternatives. But that will take time. The last time I checked, 97 percent of our planes, trains, ships and automobiles ran on oil.

Our nation needs to ramp up efforts to increase production of domestic oil and alternative energy sources. The Bush administration recognizes that, and I applaud the president for his foresight and leadership on the issue.

The Post’s editorial to which Senator Hatch is responding is here. The Post’s editorial page is generally balanced and thoughtful on major policy issues facing the country, but on energy and climate change, the editorials tend toward rigidly ideological, pushing the anti-market, anti-fossil fuels agenda of the environmental left. “One last gift to the oil and gas industry?” That’s not thinking, that’s sloganeering.

That’s Bobby Bare there, singing “Detroit City.” Can imagine any number of people testifying before Congress last week recalling the line, “Oh, how I wanna go home.”

USA Today, “Officials say auto CEOs must be specific on bailout plans”

Auto executives need to provide more specifics about how they plan to spend taxpayers’ money and crimp their highflying lifestyles if they hope to get aid from the federal government, congressional leaders and key members of the incoming Obama administration said Sunday.
“What we can’t give is a blank check for an industry that isn’t prepared to retool itself,” David Axelrod, a senior adviser to President-elect Barack Obama, said on Fox News Sunday.

“I would hope they will come back to Washington in early December on commercial flights with a plan to do that.”

Milwaukie Journal-Sentinel, “Detroit’s fight hits home in Wisconsin“:

If Congress cannot agree soon on a plan to provide taxpayer-funded loans to the auto industry, the effects will be felt far beyond Detroit, Kenosha car dealer Andy Palmen said Thursday. …[snip]

Palmen, president of Palmen Motors, spent two days in Washington talking to members of the Wisconsin congressional delegation and attending hearings at which chief executives of auto companies testified.

“I felt it was imperative to go because I didn’t want the face of this situation to be misrepresented,” he said. “It was all about the auto executives and top union officials. I wanted to make sure our congressmen and senators saw the ripple effect across the nation would be far greater than their (auto) plants.”

Frank Beckman, WJR, in the Detroit News, “Members of Congress, not auto execs, deserve grilling“:

[Auto] execs Rick Wagoner of General Motors, Alan Mulally of Ford and Robert Nardelli of Chrysler, along with United Auto Workers boss Ron Gettelfinger, were grilled by the ultimate second guessers, the politicians, most of whom don’t have education degrees in economic fields or experience in making decisions on private employment, inventory and global competition.

One wishes the four could have asked the questions instead this week.

Why did members of Congress — such as House Banking Chairman Barney Frank, Senate Banking Chairman Christoper Dodd and others — raise fuel economy standards, adding more than $85 billion in costs as the industry was restructuring itself?

If the reason was forcing automakers to deal with higher gasoline prices, perhaps the politicians could explain why they have made fuel more scarce by blocking domestic drilling for oil and preventing new refineries from being built during the past three decades.

And more…

• New York Times, “Big Three’s Troubles May Touch Financial Sector”
  Detroit Free Press, “Detroit’s new plan: Drive point to Congress“
• Detroit News, “Distressed carmakers bank on lobbying“
• Los Angeles Times, The auto industry hits home for American families“

The Huffington Post is a good site for reviewing the thoughts of the left-leaning commentariat, slightly more sophisticated in its venting of spleen than more “community” blogs a la Daily Kos. On the topic of Rep. Henry Waxman’s selection to be Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee…

• Waxman Defeats Dingell, Blue Dogs Get Spanked

Jane Hamsher, 11.20.2008

This week the Senate voted to remain an exclusive club of self-protection and entitlement by letting Bush enabler Joe Lieberman keep his gavel, but the House has voted for progress.

Read Post | Comments (158)

• Will Waxman the Big Tobacco Fighter Take on Big Oil?

Kevin Grandia, 11.20.2008

Waxman is now in a position to haul the energy executives onto to the floor and expose this campaign just like he did with Big Tobacco.

Read Post | Comments (12)

• Obama’s Big Congressional Victory

Jacob Heilbrunn, 11.20.2008

Rep. Dingell, as the chair of the House energy and commerce committee, was nothing more than a shill for the auto industry, working overtime to suppress any attempts at controlling pollution or raising mileage limits.

Read Post | Comments

• Dingell to the Junk Yard: Henry Waxman Deposes John Dingell on House Energy Committee

Pete Cenedella, 11.20.2008

House Democrats voted 137-122 yesterday to elect Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, replacing the current chairman, Rep. John Dingell (D-MI. The move was significant in terms of practice, with Dingell’s seniority being trumped, as well as in terms of politics and policy, as Waxman is much more willing to aggressively regulate and direct the economy. So, a sample of the reaction…

• San Francisco Chronicle, “Waxman win boosts state’s clout in Congress“: “After years battling the Bush administration and Dingell over the state’s efforts to set the nation’s toughest limits on greenhouse gases, Californians now control both House and Senate committees that will be writing climate-change legislation. They will have key allies in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, and President-elect Barack Obama, who just this week pledged rapid action on global warming.”

• Detroit Free Press, “Dingell’s ouster as committee chair a sea change in Michigan’s clout“: “In a historic week that saw Michigan’s prestige in the nation’s capital rapidly dwindle with automakers spurned in their request for billions of dollars in aid, Dingell, the state’s most powerful voice in the U.S. House of Representatives, was stripped of a key committee chairmanship….For decades, the post had allowed the Dearborn Democrat to promote and protect Michigan’s interests — especially the automotive industry….Rep. Thad McCotter, a Livonia Republican, characterized it as ‘a body blow’ to Michigan families.”

• Detroit News editorial, “Dingell’s defeat a victory for California extremists“: “The Democrats didn’t choose Rep. Henry Waxman to replace Dingell because the California Democrat is more charming or politically persuasive. They picked him because he advocates a radical approach to combatting global warming and other environmental threats, while Dingell has insisted on a more deliberate approach that balances the needs to protect both jobs and the environment.”

• Wall Street Journal editorial, “The Waxman Democrats — What the coup against Dingell means for business“: “We should add that Mr. Dingell is hardly some business apologist. At Energy and Commerce in the 1980s and early 1990s, Mr. Dingell would burn the paint off the committee room walls with his interrogations of energy, insurance and drug company executives. The irony is that Democrats have found, in Mr. Waxman, an even more extreme antibusiness tribune, who will no doubt use his new powers to go after any concern that turns a profit but refuses to pay his party the obeisance of campaign cash and regulatory submission. In short, the Democrats have ousted the dean of the House for the spleen of the House.”

As Climate Action Now! holds a rally in Washington, D.C., today to encourage the end of advanced industrial civilization (see below), we note a major goal of the gathering of scores is to encourage President-elect Obama to attend the “crucial” U.N. Climate Conference in Poznan, Poland, in December.

And today, the weather conditions are nearly identical in both cities!

Thereby proving the global scope of the Gore Effect…

That the NAM building was emptied for a fire drill…

And the followers of Al Gore and other climate scientists have scheduled a rally on Capitol Hill. From the Climate Action Now! site and e-mail alert.

Join us on Tuesday, November 18th at 12 noon as hundreds come together on Capitol Hill to call for Climate Action Now! We’ll be hearing from climate movement leaders like Bill McKibben, Mike Tidwell and Gillian Caldwell as we welcome our newly elected leaders and call upon President-elect Obama to attend the crucial United Nations Climate Conference in Poznan, Poland, in December.

Hundreds, eh? Used to be you could organize thousands, if not tens of thousands, for this sort of gig. Or at least claim you could.

As Iain Murray notes, the sponsors are a diverse group.

1Sky, Chesapeake Climate Action Network, Energy Action Coalition, 350.org, Maryland Student Climate Coalition, Alaska Wilderness League, Pax Christi, USA, Oil Change International, League of American Bicyclists, Carbonfree D.C., Greenpeace, Oxfam America, Unitarian Universalist Association, Center for a New American Dream, Women’s Environment and Development Organization, Green DMV, Hip Hop Caucus, Friends of the Earth, Maryland League of Conservation Voters Education Fund, Sustain US, Chesapeake Physicians for Social Responsibility, International Rivers, Sojourners

Hip Hop Unitarian Bikers for Poznan!

In any case, it’s 35 degrees here in D.C., the coldest day of the season, thereby demonstrating empirically the “Gore Effect,” that is, all climate-related events invoking the spirit of Al Gore produce a substantial drop in temperatures.

From the Wisconsin Public Service Commission, November 11.

MADISON – In a unanimous decision today, the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin (PSC) denied Wisconsin Power and Light’s plan to build a new 300 megawatt coal-fired electric generation facility at either their Nelson Dewey Generating Station property in Cassville or the Columbia Energy Center in Portage.

The PSC decided that the $1.26 billion project was too costly when weighing it against other alternatives such as natural gas generation and the possibility of purchasing power from existing sources. Concerns over construction costs and uncertainty over the costs of complying with future possible carbon dioxide regulations were all contributing factors to the denial.

Purchase power from existing sources? Sure, we’ll just get the baseload electricity from Utah…

Oh, right.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Environmental Protection Agency was blocked Thursday from issuing a permit for a proposed coal-burning power plant in Utah without addressing global warming. The ruling by an agency appeals panel means the Obama administration probably will determine the fate of other similar plants.

How about Kansas?

WICHITA — State efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions could have an effect not only on Kansas power plants, but on agriculture and anyone who owns a vehicle, according to a state audit for the Kansas Energy and Environmental Policy group.

The audit for the group, which was created to find ways to combat climate change, said electric utilities would be most affected by changes, although other people would also likely feel the affects. David Springe, consumer counsel for the Citizen’s Utility Ratepayer Board, said any costs to utilities would just be passed on to customers.

“Ratepayers are going to pay for everything regardless,” Springe said.

In the final week of the campaign, there was quite a furor over the San Francisco Chronicle having (miserably) failed to report comments by candidate Barack Obama to the effect that, yes, utilities could build new coal plants but the costs from environmental regulations would “bankrupt” them.

But at least he envisioned the possiblity of new coal-fired power plants, which is more than you can say for a lot of decision-makers.

Meanwhile, back in the world of reality (from the Edison Electric Institute)…

In 2007:

48.6 percent of our nation’s electricity was generated from coal.