Lugar: From START to ‘Stop!’

Fresh off selling us out on the START treaty, Indiana Sen. Richard Lugar is poised to introduced a “clean energy” bill in the 112th Congress, according to Carbon Control News. According to CCN,

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A number of policy provisions have already been floated for inclusion in such legislation, including a “clean energy standard” that would include renewables as well as coal with carbon capture and sequestration, along with nuclear [loan guarantees], energy efficiency standards and support for natural gas vehicles and infrastructure.

Renewable electricity and energy efficiency standards hurt consumers by raising electricity prices. Carbon capture and sequestration (CCS), and natural gas vehicles/infrastructure hurt taxpayers since they will be paying the upfront costs. Significant CCS isn’t even possible. Nuclear loan guarantees don’t guarantee that new nukes will be built so much as they guarantee that failure will be borne in large part by taxpayers. None of this will improve the environment in any discernible way. None of this will make us more energy secure/independent than we already are. These policies are just flat-out rentseeking by utilities like Indiana’s Duke Energy, Exelon, and NextEra, and a certain Texas oilman. The 78-year old Lugar is up for reelection in 2012. He ought to be primaried and hopefully put to pasture in 2013 — where he can ruminate over whether it really made sense to surrender America’s right to missile defense in return for worthless promises from the diabolical Vladimir Putin.