Christmas is the time of year for giving. For example, I’ve been giving myself seconds and thirds at all the holiday parties I’ve gone to. (I’m still accepting invitations through the rest of this week). Amy Oliver and Michael Sandoval have been hard at work the past month giving the world a much needed dose of reality when it comes to “green” energy. Remember this article and this one? Those were just the tip of the iceberg. Amy and Michael have no plans to stop their crusade to give every green energy advocate a headache for Christmas. Their latest piece on Townhall.com goes further into the wilderness of green energy fallacies with, “Green Technology that Pollutes the Planet.” Turns out, green energy is the gift that keeps on giving.

Keeping with the theme of green fallacies, another great enviro-lie is that hydraulic fracturing is a boogeyman that sneaks into your house at night and contaminates your drinking water. As with all distortions of reality, a lie repeated often enough eventually becomes “true.” The latest opportunity for anti-fracking fanatics to re-tell their scare story came from an EPA report on groundwater contamination in Wyoming. Predictably, the enviros jumped on this AP story and screamed to the heavens, “SEE! We told you fracking is dangerous!!!!”

Umm…. guys, did you read the report?

Unfortunately for the loony Left, our intern Donovan Schafer did. He found that the Wyoming report did not indict fracking as the Left would have you believe, but rather, exonerated fracking. In this op-ed published in the Colorado Springs Gazette last week, Donovan goes into detail how the Wyoming report concluded that fracking is safe. Here’s a snippet,

So was any drinking water contaminated, and is anyone’s health at risk? The results from the 51 domestic wells respond with a resounding “No!”

There you have it folks. A couple more green energy gifts from us at the Independence to you.

Wow. Michael Sandoval hits a home run over on our Environmental Policy page. His latest work completely destroys the idea that green = clean. It’s the standard line we hear all the time. “Wind is clean!” “Solar is clean!” “Save our environment!” Well, sorry to let the cat out of the bag, but green is not clean by any stretch of the imagination. But don’t take my word for it, let Michael explain here.

Well, it’s that time again. Time for us at the Independence Institute to say, “I told you so.” It’s quite easy to say I told you so when you have FasTracks around. Anyone can do it really. All you have to do is this: read RTD’s cost estimates and completion dates and… not believe a word of it. They continue to underestimate costs and completion dates for every single one of their rail lines. And why shouldn’t they? It’s the best strategy for selling an inefficient, bloated public works project to voters. Unfortunately, we haven’t yet caught on that “X amount of dollars” really means “X times 5 amount of money.” And “completed by year 20XX” really means “completed by year 20XX + 30 years.”

It’s been the same story, full of lies and deceptions since the 1970’s. Check out this short video we made chronicling RTD’s lies over the years.

The question remains: will voters be fooled a third time? We know RTD will ask for more money. That’s for sure. We just don’t know when they’ll come groveling back to voters to fund the same project yet again.

How many times are you willing to pay for the same project?

In her newest article for Townhall.com, Amy Oliver asks an important question: can you be an advocate for the poor AND for “green” energy simultaneously? Her answer is: absolutely not.

Poverty rates have been rising over the last decade. Even in states like ours that claim to be renewable energy meccas.

…Colorado, home of the New Energy Economy and an aggressive renewable energy mandate, now has 40,000 fewer jobs than in 2000 with 900,000 more residents, the highest rates of unemployment in 28 years, and the median salary remains at the same level it was in 2000. The wage gap is considerable between black and Hispanic households, which make $20,000 less than the state’s median household income of $54,000.

No question, times are tough. Especially for the poorest folks among us. This makes for a rock/hard place situation for those on the Left. They promote themselves as champions of the poor and downtrodden. They claim to be the voice for the voiceless. Yet at the same time, they push aggressively for green energy in America. These positions become diametrically opposed when you consider the effects of our green energy policies.

Take for example our renewable energy mandate (RPS). The mandate in Colorado is 30%. This means that 30% of the electric power in our state must come from renewables. Whether you want it or not and whether you can afford it or not is beside the point. You’re paying a good chunk of your income for someone else’s wind and solar fantasies. This acts like a regressive tax on the poor. Why? Well, I’ll let Amy explain.

From 2011 to 2020, the RPS “will cost Colorado citizens an additional $11.78 billion over conventional power. By 2020, the RPS will force working families to an average of $337 more per year. By 2020, the RPS will cost commercial businesses an average of $2,360 per year. By 2020, the RPS will cost industrial businesses an average of $43,367 per year.

Renewable energy is simply not efficient. Unfortunately, our renewable energy mandate forces the least capable of us to fork over more of their money for energy. In many cases, it’s nothing more than a wealth transfer from poor to rich. How can you say you care about the poor when you force high energy costs on them en masse?

The working poor cannot afford this green agenda. The unemployed cannot afford this green agenda. If you want jobs in Colorado, the last thing you should want is green energy.

By 2020 “Colorado will lose an average of 18,380 jobs. Wages will be reduced by an average of $1,269 per worker. Total “annual real disposable income will fall by $1.87 billion.

That doesn’t sound very poor-friendly does it?

If you only read one article today, please read Amy Oliver and Michael Sandoval’s new Townhall.com article on the great “green” energy scam: A Stupid Energy Policy. They combine forces once again to thoroughly destroy the idea that government can efficiently create an entire industry based on their own fantasies of what’s good for the environment. Colorado is just one of many states that requires a certain amount of “green” energy production. In our case, it’s pretty high – 30%. This mandate, along with massive subsidies and protections, has enabled an entire industry to be built on a faulty foundation. As we’ve seen, the foundation is coming down… rapidly. Everyone knows the story of Solyndra, but do you know the story of Colorado’s Ascent Solar? What about the fact that Colorado ratepayers will be forced to pay an additional $100 million in 2011 to fund the renewable fantasies mandated by our government?

This new Townhall article is a MUST READ. It will blow your mind and leave you outraged. Additionally, Michael Sandoval appeared on Amy Oliver’s radio show on 1310 KFKA. They spent around 30 minutes talking about the article. Here is the 1310 KFKA audio.

Amy Oliver does a lot of incredible things around here. She is our transparency guru, or as we like to call her, the “Transparency Czarina,” and she’s the director of our Energy/Environmental Policy Center. She’s also responsible for some really cool catch phrases too. Some of them I can’t repeat on this blog, but one new one caught my eye this morning: “crony philanthropy.”

Amy and her intern were hot on the heels of a transparency scandal issue involving the Governor’s Energy Office (GEO). They poured through oodles and oodles of open records requests and published their findings in this Issue Paper: Governor’s Energy Office Needs a Dose of Sunshine. They uncovered a ton of suspicious expenditures from the GEO, including some charitable giving on behalf of us taxpayers (did you know that YOU contributed to making the Denver Zoo the “greenest” zoo on the planet??)

Furthermore, Amy also uncovered some “crony philanthropy” as well. For example,

Also notable is the total of $77,434.05 paid to the Boulder Energy Conservation Center (BECC), a non-profit for which former GEO Director Tom Plant served as executive director when he was in the Colorado state legislature. BECC since has changed its name to the Center for Resource Conservation (CRC). Other GEO funds have been directed to organizations to which CRC board members have had connections. Southwest Energy Efficiency Project, where CRC Vice President Mark Ruzzin once worked, received $222,162.29 from the GEO. Another $22,000 went to the Colorado Brownfields Foundation, on which CRC Secretary Polly Jessen once served.

First of all. It is impossible to be philanthropic WITH OTHER PEOPLE’S MONEY! I believe that goes against the definition of philanthropy. Secondly, it’s downright shameful to be generous with other people’s money when it serves your own naked self-interest! Double-fail! Luckily, the hard work Amy and her intern Kyle did will not be in vain. Rep. Cindy Acree is calling for an audit on the GEO. If and when we have an audit, I’ll be anxious to find out what other organizations I have been unknowingly charitable towards.

Because I know all my readers were anxiously awaiting the winners, here are the results from the Environmental Protection Agency’s “Apps for the Environment Challenge.”

Runner-up: Hoot-root. An app that allows you to get from point A to point B in the most environmentally friendly way! HOORAY!

and….. drum roll please…..

First prize: A “light bulb finder.” Yes, you read that correctly. A light bulb finder.

Great job EPA! Keep the good ideas rolling!

The idea has been rammed down our throats for ages now: We need energy independence! We need “clean” energy! So said Jimmy Carter. So says Bill Ritter. So says President Obama. But Amy Oliver, William Yeatman, and Michael Sandoval with our Environmental Policy Center want to prove that there is no such thing. It’s a myth. “Green” energy, “clean” energy, whatever you want to call it, is a myth. Don’t believe me? Read Amy and Michael’s new Townhall.com piece called, “Clean Energy’s Dirty Secret: Cancer.”

Putting aside the massive taxpayer subsidies to even get these green fantasies off the ground… putting aside the giant corporate welfare monstrosity that has been built around this ineffective industry… putting aside all the lies and empty promises… the Solyndra’s if you will. Putting aside all that, what do you get? You are left with an energy source that can barely charge a cell phone, that requires minerals from China and other foreign countries (where’s the “independence” in that?), that requires “dirty” energy backup sources to keep the lights on, causes pollution on an embarrassing large scale, and, according to the unfortunate people living at ground zero of the “new energy economy,” causes Cancer.

Mining in China has turned towns and hamlets into “cancer villages.” Rivers run murky white to shades of orange. Fish and ducks are dead. And villagers bury friends and neighbors who die of cancer in their 30s and 40s.

Turns out, “clean” energy is so incredibly toxic that it is killing the people in proximity to it. You want to see a wasteland caused by a fuel source, look no further than solar. Sheesh. The bottom line is this… Well, I’ll let Amy give you the bottom line:

The bottom line is that all energy sources come with some type of risk and to assume that solar panels are an economic and environmental panacea is wrong, despite what the Denver Post and other New Energy Economy cheerleaders would like us to believe.

Let me repeat. ALL energy sources come with risk and reward. It’s just that some are more efficient than others. And when it comes to the conventional lines that separate “dirty” and “clean” energy, what classifies as “dirty” is millions of times more efficient than the half-baked, “clean” energy we’re seeing these days.

It might be hard to hear this, but the green energy fanatics out there have to hear it from somebody: your clean domestic energy source has proven be none of those three things. It’s not clean. It’s not domestic. And it’s not an energy source. It’s no more an energy source than my cell phone charger is. It’s power is laughable. And it is killing people. This is our reality until the technology gets better.

Here are the last couple of episodes we’ve done on my TV show the Devils Advocate.

Scott Gessler joined me to talk about mail ballots and active vs. inactive voters:

Amy Oliver from our Energy Policy Center joined me to talk about NREL and the green jobs scam:

This past Friday, we had a lively debate about my town of Boulder’s municipalization dreams.

Hellooooo Intertube world! Things are exploding over here at Independence. It seems everyone around our little liberty village has something to say. First up, we’ve got some brand new Issue Papers. Under the guidance of Amy Oliver, Colorado’s Queen of Transparency, Kyle Huwa wrote Issue Paper number 6 titled, Governor’s Energy Office Needs a Dose of Sunshine. From the executive summary:

The Governor’s Energy Office (GEO) of the State of Colorado spent a total of $121,652,884.75 from January 2008 to November 2010. This report aims to clarify and provide transparency to the GEO’s spending. Despite best efforts, the exact nature of many of the expenditures remains unclear.

Indeed, the governor’s energy office’s spending remains unclear to the very people who made that spending possible – us taxpayers. Let us check the books!

Next up we have an extremely timely Issue Paper from Senior Fellow and ex-Professor of Economics at CU Barry Poulson. Along with co-author John Merrifield of the University of Texas, Barry wrote Issue Paper number 7, Proposition 103: What is the Cost to Colorado Taxpayers? It turns out (surprise surprise) that the estimated $2.9 billion tax increase known as Prop 103 will actually cost taxpayers closer to $6 billion. Not to mention over 11,000 jobs and a whopping $2,711 per household! But hey, it’s “for the children” right?

While we’re on the subject, I’d like to remind everyone about a free event coming up that will focus on our state’s budget issues with a long-term view. It’s called Colorado’s Long-Term Budget Dilemma: Two Perspectives. The event is this Tuesday the 11th, downtown at the Denver Press Club. So who are the two perspectives? One will be our very own Fiscal Policy Center Director Penn Pfiffner, who will talk about the findings from our Citizens’ Budget project. The other perspective will be Phyllis Resnick, principal economist for DU’s Center for Colorado’s Economic Future who will be presenting the findings from DU’s study, Financing Colorado’s Future: An Analysis of the Fiscal Sustainability of State Government. We hope you’ll join us for this informative and FREE event next week!

In other exciting news, Transportation expert and Independence Institute Senior Fellow Randal O’Toole will be in town next week! In case you are unfamiliar with Randal, you can check out his blog, The Antiplanner and his latest book, “Gridlock: Why We’re Stuck in Traffic and What to do About It.” Randal will be in town for just a couple days but in that short time he’ll be hosting three events. The first is on Tuesday the 11th at Gander Mountain in Thornton. Randal will be presenting to Hear Us Now on his book, “The Best Laid Plans.” The event is free and will start at 6pm. On Wednesday the 12th, Randal will be heading up to the Olive Garden in Boulder for a lunch event. Here are the details for the Boulder event found on the Land Use Coalition’s webpage. Finally, that same Wednesday the 12th, Randal is going to be the featured speaker at a special Liberty on the Rocks event. Here are the event details:

The True Environmental Impact of Rail ProjectsConverse and drink with fellow liberty enthusiasts on Wednesday, October 12 at Choppers Sports Grill in Cherry Creek from 7-9 pm!

Our special guest for this bonus happy hour will be Randal O’Toole of the CATO Institute, who will spend 10-15 minutes (followed by Q & A) discussing the harmful impact high speed rail has on the environment (despite claims that it is about “going green”).

When: Wednesday, October 12 from 7-9 pm
Where: Choppers Sports Grill | 80 S. Madison Street in Denver (in the back room)