House Considers 'No More Competing With Oil Companies Act'

Republicans in the House have introduced a bill called the "No More Solyndras Act." It may as well be named the "No More Competing With Oil Companies Act" or the "Hand Our Economy To China Act."

The "No More Solyndras Act"

The "No More Solyndras Act," H.R. 6213 [1], is just weird. It reads like something you'd get if oil company lobbyists, Chinese energy officials and World Net Daily editors pulled an all-nighter on methamphetamine to come up with a bill that would push their interests.

It begins, "President Obama took office amidst a weak economy and high unemployment, yet he remained committed to advancing an expansive ‘‘green jobs’’ agenda..." "Yet?"

The bill bans new loan guarantees for any non-oil or -coal project -- from the "findings:" "for projects that avoid, reduce, or sequester air pollutants or green-house gases" and "renewable energy systems, electric power transmission systems, and leading-edge biofuels projects" -- and states that any Federal official who issues a new loan guarantee will face suspension from duty without pay or removal from office; and be personally liable for a civil penalty in an amount of at least $10,000 but not more than $50,000 for each violation. The bill also states that all already-issued federal loan guarantees for non-oil or -coal projects must be reviewed and analyzed by the Treasury Dept.

Oil Interests Enthusiastic

Several oil-backed "think tanks," Taxpayers for Common Sense (See comment below), Heritage Foundation, National Taxpayers Union, and Competitive Enterprise Institute, have complained that [2] the bill does not go far enough, because it does not immediately end all existing government efforts to develop non-oil and -coal projects.

Daniel Kish, "Vice President, Policy" at the Koch and Exxon-funded Institute for Energy Research (its CEO was at Enron), writes at US News in Congress Must Pass the No More Solyndras Act [3] that government efforts to develop alternatives to oil and coal are an "illegitimate function of government that is inconsistent with the limits on federal power intended by the authors of our Constitution."

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