The American public is desperate for solutions, but a national energy tax is not the answer to address climate change. This week, House Republicans unveiled the American Energy Act—a better solution that offers more affordable energy, more good-paying jobs, more energy independence, and a cleaner environment.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that the cleanest way for utilities to control carbon emissions is to increase their supply of carbon-free nuclear energy. It is imperative that clean, safe nuclear power be at the forefront as we seek to solidify our nation’s energy supply and foster a new era of energy independence and reduced emissions. It defies reality that in the 1,000-page Waxman-Markey cap-and-tax bill focused on reducing emissions that nuclear, the source of 70 percent our nation’s emissions-free electricity, is only mentioned twice. We have got to get our priorities straight.

The American Energy Act charts a new course by laying down a national goal of licensing 100 new nuclear reactors over the next twenty years. With more than 31 announced reactor applications already in the pipeline, this goal can be achieved. Renewing our commitment to nuclear power will also revitalize an entire manufacturing sector, creating hundreds of thousands of jobs.

Our nation must also develop more of our own domestic natural resources, like oil and natural gas. Our bill opens up for exploration the Arctic Coastal Plain as well as environmentally-sound leasing for oil and natural gas in the Outer Continental Shelf and oil shale in the Mountain West. Revenues generated by the sales of leases would be deposited in an Renewable and Alternative Energy Trust Fund to encourage the development of clean, renewable and alternative energy technologies, like wind and solar. Finally, our bill encourages personal responsibility through conservation.

Our commonsense American Energy Act is aimed at more energy production, cheaper fuel bills, more jobs, and greater energy independence, which will also yield a cleaner environment and a more secure nation.

Hailed as a completely self-sustaining building, the solar house at the Troy Community Center in Troy, Michigan was set to open for tours and community use this Summer. Unfortunately, the systems failed to work over the winter, pipes froze, and water burst through the uninhabited structure causing the floors to collapse. As a result, the building sits unused after the hundreds of thousands of dollars wasted on it by government.

This is government waste and folly at it worst, but it is typical of the best government can do. Oh, it’s not the best because anything worked, it’s the best because failure is all one can expect from government when undertaking projects of this nature.

The model house was supposed to be an engineering marvel that would save the planet. But ended up being just a monstrous waste of the taxpayer’s money.

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I note with some interest (via a post from The Other McCain) that there are some Democrats still out there that are apparently seriously contemplating supporting the nomination of Governor Jennifer Granholm to the Supreme Court.

Granholm seen as possible fresh face

DETROIT, May 17 (UPI) — Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm would provide a fresh perspective to the U.S. Supreme Court if she is nominated by President Barack Obama, analysts say.

Yes, I suppose that the Governor would provide a ‘fresh perspective’ to the Supreme Court. To the best of my knowledge, no sitting Justice there has managed to almost double an entire state’s unemployment rate in five short years. Particularly when the national unemployment rate was trending downward for most of that time:

Michigan/USA Unemployment Rate

Or is it just a case of testing to destruction The Peter Principle once and for all? If so, I give full credit to the Obama administration for seriously contemplating rescuing the people of Michigan from one of its primary (and no doubt, well-meaning) tormentors… but must it be the Supreme Court? Surely they have not filled all the slots at Fish & Game yet? My father-in-law would vehemently object to that particular suggestion, but sacrifices must sometimes be made.

Moe Lane

PS: Interestingly, this line of thought suggests that Rep Conyers hates Michigan, and wishes for it to suffer some more.

Crossposted to Moe Lane.

Our friend from Detroit, Jacob Appel, thinks that gays need government reparations and the Detroit Free Press was so enamored of his idea that it published his plea in its April 7 issue. One has a suspicion that they missed a deadline because this story would have more properly been published on April 1, a day well known as April Fool’s Day. This one simply must be a joke.

Appel is so filled with absurd pronouncements, anti-hetero bias, and outright hatred in his piece that one simply cannot take his central thesis seriously. But his mode of thinking here does highlight the illogic of his position on the issue, so it is instructive to review it.

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GM’s auditors are talking about bankruptcy for the automaker:

General Motors Corp.’s auditors have raised “substantial doubt” about the troubled automaker’s ability to continue operations, and the company said it may have to seek bankruptcy protection if it can’t execute a huge restructuring plan.

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Well what do you know? Despite the rhetoric from President Obama and Congressional Democrats, it looks like the rich are set to reap more than their fair share from the Obama-Reid-Pelosi debt spending plan:

Billionaire Paul Allen is a Microsoft cofounder, the owner of the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks and the owner of the NBA’s Portland Trailblazers.

And, thanks to the stimulus bill President Obama signed this week, he’s also about to be as much as a billion dollars richer.

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The National Organization for Women has long had a low threshold for support of candidates for office and position. The criteria they use to judge worth generally consist of two requirements (1) Be Female (apparently 21st century androgeny and transgendered-rights haven’t yet caught on in this corner of Leftopia), and (2) Be Liberal.

Luckily enough for Democrat Michigan Senator Debbie Stabenow, she meets both of these requirements (despite her fence-straddling support of the Iraq war and her profiting from criminal and Democrat bundler Norman Hsu to the tune of $27,000), meaning she’s a natural to receive the active endorsement of NOW for the “NOW”-empty position of Health and Human Services secretary.

The following release hit my inbox just after dinner last night:

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Unable to defend the trillion dollar fiscal obscenity they deceitfully christened the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, hypocritical House Democrats are attacking the bill’s opponents – well, just the Republican ones.

Evidently, the hypocritical House Democrats are shocked Americans are disgusted by a trillion dollar fiscal obscenity that does much for hiking artists who are trying to stop smoking and avoid STDs, but does nothing – or worse than nothing – to create jobs for working families and respect taxpayers.

Launching a series of attack ads that the Washington Post called “cheap shots,” the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) waxed polemic against fiscally responsible Republicans who opposed this pork-fest at the expense of taxpayers and the unemployed.

But here is what Speaker Pelosi’s spokesperson hypocritically said about the eleven Democrats who voted against this trillion dollar fiscal obscenity:

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