Energy

Our mayor and city council... the bigger the price tag, the more they seem to like any proposal that comes to the chamber.

The Travis Monitor: Up in Smoke - Austin's BioFuel Boondoggle

Valleywag has more on T. Boone Pickens' energy scam:

Greenwashing: T. Boone Pickens proves where there's a drill, there's a way

Greenwashing — the practice of gussying up old-fashioned capitalism as newfangled Earth-saving — is an art form. I used to think local greenwashers Pacific Gas & Electric and spam-prone solar shill Steve Westly were the masters. But they look like rank amateurs compared to Oklahoma native T. Boone Pickens. The man is a case study in how to effectively cloak your greed in green. As a result, he's won plaudits, taxpayer money, and eminent domain over private property. The latest example?

Update: The Travis Monitor has more.

District 50 state rep. and uber-liberal Mark Strama extolled the virtues of the Democrats' "Drill nowhere. Drill never. Pay more" energy plan last at the Travis County Democratic Issues Policy Forum.

Sticking to the party talking points, Strama repeated the asinine "we can't drill our way out" meme (maybe not, but more drilling would certainly move us further toward energy independence than sitting on our hands) and claimed that even Republican T. Boone Pickens agrees. Blue Dot Blues has the real story on T. Boone's plan and it ain't altruism.

Predictably, Strama blamed Republicans for "making families suffer" because of their energy policy, but neglected to point out the fact that gas prices have risen 74% since the Democrats took control of congress.

Blue Dot Blues alerts us of a MoveOn.org stunt to deliver a "petition" to Congressman Michael McCaul's office today at noon opposing off-shore drilling. Liberals are watching what's happening with the Don't Go revolt and they're getting worried. Not only are conservatives beginning to embrace and make effective use of social networking technologies once the exclusive domain of the left, domestic drilling has real traction with voters.

Update: Voice in the Wilderness is on it.

After flip-flopping on ANWR...

... Noriega just can't seem to figure this whole energy policy thing out. From the Austin Chronicle:

You know those kids' puzzles where you have to find the four or five differences between two nearly identical cartoons? That's how Texas voters might feel as they try to distinguish between the energy plans of our incumbent junior U.S. senator, Republican John Cornyn, and his Democratic challenger, state Rep. Rick Noriega of Houston.

Noriega seems to be going for the "me too" plan. Take Cornyn's energy plan and throw in a silly threat to sue OPEC. Yeah, that'll show 'em.