A Climate of Intimidation

The current political environment in Washington is extremely intolerant to opposing views.  For instance, The Hill reported that Representative Edward Markey (D-MA) (see photo) might have taken some retaliatory action against David Skol of MidAmerican Energy for taking a high-profile position against cap-and-trade.

Republican committee members concerned about Markey’s action sent a letter to the House Ethics Committee that said:

“Mr. Sokol and his company became the focus of apparent intimidation when Chairman Markey by letter dated the day of the hearing, asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to answer specific questions about investment and transmission-related activist of MidAmerican Energy and its partner, investor Warren Buffett.”

Separately, some critics suspect that Inspector General Gerald Walpin was fired by the White House for political reasons: Walpin’s team found “irregularities at St. HOPE, a California nonprofit run by former NBA star and Obama supporter Kevin Johnson.”

Unfortunately, these events may have a chilling effect on individuals willing to express their views and execute their job responsibilities.

Comment by Tom Borelli

GE Retaliates Against The Hollywood Reporter

In an update to its story from last week, LA Weekly's Nicki Finke’s Deadline Hollywood Daily is now reporting that a GE spokesperson did not deny allegations that the company pulled advertising from The Hollywood Reporter and its parent company Nielsen Business Media because of a story about the company’s annual meeting.

Here is the update:

“Gary Sheffer, GE's Executive Director of Corporate Communications, emailed me: ‘I just read your post on GE and NBCU. Jeff Immelt had no involvement in this matter whatsover. He did not call NBC Universal or anyone else about it. In fact, he had no knowledge of The Hollywood Reporter story in question.’ "

“The GE spokesman didn't deny the reprisals against Nielsen or THR, just Immelt's direct involvement in them. Yet Sheffer admits that he himself spoke directly to The Hollywood Reporter several times about the story. The spokesman refused to talk about NBCU vs Nielsen."

For more information on this topic read: GE’s Jeff Immelt Fights Back

This incident shows that GE is willing to use its advertising dollars as an instrument to influence media coverage of the company and it adds creditability to the claim that GE executives tried to silence criticism by its CNBC media unit of President Obama.

Comment by Tom Borelli

Obama Promotes NBC Program

The New York Times is reporting that President Obama promoted NBC’s new late night show hosted by Conan O’Brien though a skit he coordinated with news anchor Brian Williams.

“Mr. Obama was fully game and, referring to Mr. O’Brien’s succession this week of the former ‘Tonight’ host Jay Leno, joked, ‘This is something we discussed several times in the Oval Office, how to manage this transition between Leno and Conan. And I think he’s up to the task. But I just want him to know that there is not going to any bailout coming out from Washington if he screws it up.’”

Obama’s stunt is another arrogant display of the apparent
partnership between the president and GE CEO Jeff Immelt.

With GE’s NBC unit suffering, along with its parent company, it seems Obama is more than willing to lend a helping hand.

Comment by Tom Borelli

Kudlow Blasts Cap-and-Trade

CNBC’s Larry Kudlow blasted cap-and-trade on his program last week.

Even more impressive, he publicly disagreed with his boss, GE CEO Jeff Immelt, on this important policy matter.

Watch Kudlow’s commentary on YouTube

Global CEOs back greenhouse gas cuts, carbon caps

The global business community is calling for mandatory restrictions for emissions of carbon dioxide. 

AP is reporting that at the World Summit on Climate Change, business leaders “urged governments to order steep and mandatory cuts in greenhouse gases” and they favor “a cap-and-trade system instead of a tax” to compel a reduction in fossil fuel use.

Business leaders at the summit support cap-and-trade, even though they recognize that, “higher gas and other energy prices could be major factor at a time of a global financial crisis.”

Duke Energy CEO Jim Rogers, a proponent of the global warming bill moving through Congress, said, "We're going to have to fundamentally redefine our business models in a low-carbon world."

Rogers failed to mention that, under the current cap-and-trade bill, his company is going to be given a good amount of carbon credits free of charge, which means taxpayers are going to be paying for Duke Energy to change its business model.

Comment by Tom Borelli

Showdown at ConocoPhillips

Last week we confronted ConocoPhillips CEO Jim Mulva about his support of cap-and-trade legislation at the company's annual shareholder meeting in Houston, TX.

Corporate support of cap-and-trade is largely responsible for the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009, which was introduced by Congressmen Henry Waxman (D-CA) and Ed Markey (D-MA). The bill is going to be marked up in the Energy and Commerce Committee this week.

We believe the policy goal of cap-and-trade, which is to reduce consumption of fossil fuels, is bad for ConocoPhillips - the third largest oil and natural gas company in the U.S. - and our economy.

I urge you to listen to the audio of our exchange with Mulva, because it provides insight into the appeasement mindset that plagues many of today's CEOs. In this case, hearing is believing... 

Listen to the opening exchange where I tell Mulva cap-and-trade is going to preferentially harm ConocoPhillips.

Listen to Deneen Borelli of Project 21 challenge Mulva to agree to a claw back provision of his compensation if cap-and-trade proves to be harmful to ConocoPhillips. In the second part of the audio I urge Mulva to stop appeasing his critics and to aggressively defend his business. 

Big Oil Is Big Loser in Global Warming Bill

It looks like the oil and gas industry is one of the biggest losers in the cap-and-trade lobbying fest.

According to Bloomberg, the latest version of the Waxman-Markey global warming bill will force the U.S. oil refining industry to purchase billions of dollars worth of carbon credits while other industries get free emission permits.

Charles Drevna, of the National Petrochemical and Refiners Association, said “…refineries and their fuels account for about one-third of emissions. That would make them the biggest source of emissions that have yet to secure any free permits in negotiations on the bill.”

Ironically, at the ConocoPhillips’ shareholder meeting on May 14th , I told CEO Jim Mulva that his support of cap-and-trade was bad for his company. ConocoPhillips is part of the United States Climate Action Partnership – a coalition lobbying for a national cap-and-trade law.

ConocoPhillips is the third largest oil company in the U.S.

The Houston Chronicle wrote about the shareholder meeting and my opposition to cap-and-trade:

“At the shareholder meeting, Thomas J. Borelli, managing partner of Action Fund Management in Potomac, Md., blasted Mulva for participating in a group that supports a cap-and-trade solution for reducing carbon emissions, rather than working harder to defend the industry’s contribution to the U.S. economy.”

Comment by Tom Borelli

Duke Energy Bolts NAM Over Cap-and-Trade

Duke Energy, the third largest utility in the U.S., is leaving the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) over policy differences regarding cap-and-trade. 

Bloomberg reports that Duke Energy decided not to renew membership in NAM, “partly because of differences over climate policy.”

Duke CEO Jim Rogers said, “We are not renewing our membership in the NAM because in tough times, we want to invest in associations that are pulling in the same direction we are.”

Duke is a founding member in the United States Climate Action Partnership (USCAP) – a coalition of corporations and environmental activists that are seeking a national law to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. USCAP supports cap-and-trade legislation while NAM opposes it.

With 20 coal-fired power plants under its control that emit huge amounts of carbon dioxide cap-and-trade could prove costly to Duke. Yet despite this risk Rogers is pushing for legislation apparently in hopes of crafting it to benefit his company’s interests.

In a recent interview on 60 Minutes, Rogers said carbon emission regulations are “…inevitable in my judgment."

Unfortunately Rogers, like other CEOs, are embracing regulation instead of resisting government control.

Leaving NAM and supporting USCAP is a clear sign of this trend.

Comment by Tom Borelli

Johnson & Johnson Opposes the US Chamber on Cap and Trade

Johnson & Johnson – a member of the United States Climate Action Partnership (USCAP) – is trying to silence the US Chamber of Commerce’s opposition of the global warming bill moving in Congress.

As reported in a story by Lisa Lerer in Politico.com, Johnson & Johnson sent a letter asking “the Chamber to refrain from making comments on climate change unless they ‘reflect the full range of views, especially those of Chamber members advocating for congressional action.’”

The story adds that other companies might also try to influence the Chamber by threatening to deny the trade association’s funding “Lobbyists at business coalitions that support federal climate change legislation say other companies are discussing the possibility of sending their own letters to the Chamber — or of threatening to withhold dues from the Chamber in protest.”

The fate of global warming legislation will be largely determined by the posture of the business community. Unfortunately, as this story illustrates, some corporations are taking aggressive steps to enhance the chance of a global warming bill becoming law.

The alignment of corporate and business interests represents a serious threat to liberty.


Comment by Tom Borelli

Berkshire's Munger: Cap & Trade Won't Work

Charlie Munger, the second in command behind Warren Buffet at Berkshire Hathaway, says in an interview on CNBC that it’s "almost demented" to pass cap-and-trade given the state of our economy.

Since Berkshire Hathaway bought $3 billion of General Electric preferred stock Munger should express his views directly with GE CEO Jeff Immelt. GE is a member of the United States Climate Action Partnership (USCAP) that is actively lobbying for cap-and-trade.

Comment by Tom Borelli

GE Shareholders Take Note

Finally shareholder anger translated into action this week when Bank of America shareholders voted to strip Ken Lewis of his board of director position at the company’s annual meeting. Lewis was ousted because of a shareholder proposal to split the chairman and CEO positions received a majority vote.

According to the Wall Street Journal, “The vote marked the first time that a company in Standard & Poor's 500-stock index has been forced by shareholders to strip a CEO of chairman duties, according to RiskMetrics Group.”

Shareholders of GE should take note. Like Bank of America, GE shareholders have lost a significant amount of money due to Immelt’s failed leadership.

In addition to the financial risk, Immelt represents a serious threat to liberty and limited government. Not only is Immelt using the company’s vast lobbying resources to push for cap-and-trade legislation, GE’s media empire boldly promotes a left-wing bias.

Comment by Tom Borelli

The GE Smart Grid

Sign the Petition to GE


GE CEO Jeff Immelt continues to aggressively use the company’s media network to promote its products. In announcing its plan to develop a smart electricity grid in Miami, FL with Cisco Systems Inc. and FPL Group Inc.’s Florida Power & Light Co., Immelt was interviewed on NBC, CNBC and MSNBC. In the interviews Immelt delivered the company message points about the benefits of the new grid.

Importantly, The Swamp – a political blog of the Chicago Tribune – noted that GE and its partners will be looking for taxpayer dollars to subsidize the cost of the smart grid.

According to The Swamp, “GE will provide one million smart meters to kick off the project, which, if successful, will then be rolled out to the utility's 4.5 million customers in greater Miami. The initial cost for the project is estimated at $200 million while phase two is slated to cost another $500 million.”

The Swamp also comments that, “The companies are looking to $4.5 billion in federal stimulus funding to provide half of the project's funding.”

With GE being so dependent on government money for much needed revenue it’s no wonder that its media units are considered among President Obama’s biggest cheerleaders.

Victory at GE

Our active participation in General Electric’s annual shareholder meeting facilitated nationwide media coverage on shareholder outrage about the company’s performance and business strategies.

“Drama at GE Shareholders Meeting,” by The Hollywood Reporter, was the top story on the Drudge Report and Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly and Glenn Beck discussed the meeting on their top-rated cable TV programs.

In addition, details of the shareholder meeting were discussed in a radio interview with Glenn Beck.

CEO Jeff Immelt was questioned by shareholders on a number of topics including; censorship at CNBC, political bias at MSNBC, trading with Iran, his support for cap-and-trade and the company’s awful stock performance.

We played a central role at the meeting by questioning Immelt on important issues and recording the question and answer segment of the meeting.

Most important, we surfaced the risk GE poses to liberty. Specifically, we are concerned that GE is using its news division to influence public opinion to favor President Obama and his cap-and-trade policy in the hopes of boosting sales for its renewable energy products such as wind turbines and the so-called smart electricity grid.

Read Drama at GE Shareholders Meeting

Watch Glenn Beck and Bill O’Reilly on GE’s shareholder meeting

Listen to our interview with Glenn Beck’s radio show

Finally, our petition to Immelt has over 2500 signatures.

Here is your opportunity to send a message to Immelt: sign our petition

GE Chief Immelt Defends Notre Dame’s Invite to Obama

Reminder to sign our petition to GE CEO Jeff Immelt

Read the Hollywood Reporter story Drama at GE Shareholders Meeting

Every day the symbiotic relationship between GE CEO Jeff Immelt and President Obama becomes more apparent. Obama needs good press and Immelt needs cap-and-trade legislation to boost sales of GE’s wind turbines.

GE Chief Immelt Defends Notre Dame’s Invite to Obama, an article in Bloomberg.com by Ryan Flinn, informs us that Immelt recently wrote a commentary, in The Observer, Notre Dame’s school newspaper, supporting the administration’s decision to invite the president to deliver the 2009 commencement address.

In his commentary Immelt said, “You cannot bring about positive change in so diverse a world without working cooperatively with those who are different, who may disagree with you, but whose perspectives should be welcomed.”

Immelt gave the commencement address at Notre Dame in 2007 and justified his taking a stand in this issue “because of the company’s relationship with the school. GE employs 400 Notre Dame graduates, including Chief Financial Officer Keith Sherin.”

Immelt , by taking a position in the Notre Dame controversy, is lending credibility to the claim that he is using NBC’s media empire to protect Obama.

Comment by Tom Borelli

Drama at GE Shareholders Meeting

The Hollywood Reporter described the events at yesterday's GE shareholder meeting in its story Drama at GE Shareholder Meeting 

In addition, here is our first hand account from yesterday's meeting. Deneen is my wife.

Censorship and limited government was a theme at the General Electric (GE) shareholder meeting in Orlando, FL.

Deneen had the opportunity to ask the first question directed at GE CEO Jeff Immelt. She inquired whether he tried to silence anti-Obama criticism on CNBC as it was reported in the media. The New York Post reported that GE executives were concerned that CNBC was perceived as too critical of President Obama. Immelt responded that he does not interfere with the opinions of his networks even though he doesn't necessarily agree with them.

Deneen's concern is Immelt will do anything to preserve a favorable relationship with Obama in order to sell GE's green technologies. At some point in Deneen's dialogue with Immelt, Deneen's microphone was shut off.

I told Immelt he was not only a threat to shareholders but also to liberty and limited government. I reminded Immelt that the company's stock was underperforming the stock market before the economic crisis.

I advised Immelt that we have an online petition that encourages GE never to trade with enemies, to stop pursuing cap-and-trade legislation that would raise energy prices, and that he uses his media empire to advance his agenda.

I also told Immelt that "We surround you" and that it was time for a "GE Tea Party" to reign in this out of control corporation.

Comment by Tom Borelli

The GE Obama Partnership

“GE: A Great Bet On Big Government,” from The Business Insider, summarizes our concerns about General Electric’s government dependent business strategy. According to the article, GE CEO Jeff Immelt recently noted how the government stimulus plan was going to help its various business units including wind and the power grid.

GE’s lobbying for profits does not end with the stimulus plan. GE is now pushing for a government run green bank so the burden of financing green projects falls on taxpayers. And let’s not forget that GE is also lobbying for cap-and-trade legislation and that Immelt is on President Obama’s economic advisory board.

Of course, there is always a price when you make a deal with the “government devil” and in this case it might be free speech.

Last week The New York Post reported that Immelt was part of a high level meeting about CNBC regarding a “great concern that CNBC is now the anti-Obama network.” A key issue “was on-air CNBC editor Rick Santelli's rant two months ago about staging a ‘Chicago Tea Party’ to protest the president's bailout programs -- an idea that spawned tax protest tea parties in other big cities, infuriating the White House.”

In the spirit of the Tax Day Tea Parties, it’s time for all of us to take action regarding GE.

Please sign our on-line petition that puts Immelt on notice that “We Surround You.”

Click here to read and sign the petition.

Comment by Tom Borelli

CNBC SWEATS 'OBAMA-BASHING'

The New York Post is reporting our worst fears about GE CEO Jeff Immelt:

"THE top suits and some of the on-air talent at CNBC were recently ordered to a top-secret meeting with General Electric CEO Jeffrey Immelt and NBC Universal President Jeff Zucker to discuss whether they've turned into the President Obama-bashing network, Page Six has learned."

In addition to driving GE’s stock down, Jeff Immelt is now squashing free speech. GE’s board of directors must to stand up and send Jeff to the unemployment line.

Comment by Tom Borelli

Obama Repeats Support for Cap-and-Trade

In today’s speech on the economy President Obama made it clear that he is not backing away from cap-and-trade legislation.

Obama said:

“But the only way to truly spark this transformation is through a gradual, market-based cap on carbon pollution, so that clean energy is the profitable kind of energy… But we can no longer delay putting a framework for a clean energy economy in place. If businesses and entrepreneurs know today that we are closing this carbon pollution loophole, they will start investing in clean energy now.”

Earlier media reports made it seem Obama was backing away from cap-and-trade.

With the left-wing holy grail of penalizing fossil fuel use in his grasp it’s highly unlikely that Obama will allow sound economics to interfere with his liberal agenda.
 

Comment by Tom Borelli

GM plans to lose money on its electric Chevy Volt

USA Today’s Open Road’s blog has commented on an Automotive News interview with GM's new CEO, Fritz Henderson, about the troubled automaker’s admission that it expects to lose money on the Chevy Volt – the company’s electric car.

In the interview, Henderson said, “The Volt is the case study. We have been very clear with the task force, particularly in Gen-1 technology, like the Volt, the cost is high. And that means, it doesn't necessarily pay the rent. It actually consumes rent when it's launched."

Henderson goes on to explain that first generation projects (Gen-1) like the Volt frequently don’t return a profit but GM hopes to make money from developments in the next stages of the technology.

Perhaps Henderson’s views are heavily influenced by the invisible hand of the Obama administration, which is aggressively supporting the notion of an electric car.

For GM (which is on the verge of bankruptcy) to knowingly sell a car that will lose money exposes the problems of Obama-style central planning of the auto industry.

Comment by Tom Borelli

Congress, corporate lobbyists creating Green Bubble

It seems President Obama is backing away from a full auction of carbon emissions credits as part of his cap-and-trade plan. According to a April 9 story by Juliet Eilperin in the Washington Post, the administration is signaling some flexibility regarding the amount of carbon credits that will be auctioned to industry.

President Obama has long supported selling all carbon emissions allocations to the highest bidder. Industry, however, is pressing for a plan that would include an auction coupled with an initial allotment of free emissions credits. Industry claims free emissions credits are needed to prevent a rapid rise in energy prices.

The story quotes President Obama’s White House science advisor John Holdren:

"The idea, obviously, is to end up with a bill that reflects both the thinking of Congress and the administration, a bill that the president can sign," Holdren said, adding of a 100 percent auction, "whether you get to start with that or get there over a period of time is something that's being discussed."

Since industry has hired thousands of lobbyists to tackle cap-and-trade, it’s not surprising to see some flexibility from Obama regarding his high-profile energy policy agenda. Notwithstanding the haggling over the allocation method for emissions, cap-and-trade is terrible public policy that will loot citizens of their money and liberty.

Comment by Tom Borelli

In Areas Fueled by Coal, Climate Bill Sends Chill

Using Missouri as an example, an April 8 New York Times story by Felicity Barringer is highlighting the near-certainty that electricity prices will increase if cap-and-trade regulations are adopted. Like many mid-western states, Missouri residents benefit from low-cost coal-generated electricity.

The story estimates the impact of the recently-introduced Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade bill, if adopted, would have on the local utility.

An executive with that utility told the Times that his costs could double if federal legislation effectively prices emissions at $30 a ton (the Times said estimates have varied from $20 to $115). The executive added that "those costs probably would be passed on to customers."

At this point the last thing our economy needs is higher utility prices. Unfortunately, President Obama and liberals are putting their left-wing politics before the needs of Americans. (photo from Creative Commons)

Comment by Tom Borelli

'Green' banks sprout from ruins of economic crisis

A story published in the New York Times describes the growth of green banks. E3bank recently received approval from the Pennsylvania Department of Banking and if it gets the final ok from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp and by the commonwealth it will be ready for business.

E3bank will incorporate the principles of corporate social responsibility (CSR) to its lending practices in an effort to stimulate the green economy.

“Instead of following the industry standard -- basing loans on a borrower's ability to pay and the up-front costs of the building -- e3bank officers will be authorized to modify debt-to-income and loan-to-value proposals. Financial products would be tailored to account for the up-front costs of more expensive green projects but also factor in cost savings from lower energy consumption that would be netted over the course of the loan.”

By lowering lending standards for a social purpose the green banks are repeating the mistake made by the banking industry in pushing mortgages on low income households. Social purpose should not be the criteria for lending money – only the ability of the individual to repay the loan.

Comment by Tom Borelli

Obama Wants to Control the Banks

In an op-ed published in the Wall Street Journal (subscription required) Stuart Varney of the Fox Business Network claims the government is using TARP money to control the banks.

First, Varney says that the Bush administration forced a bank to take $1 billion of TARP money otherwise it would face a public audit that would have damaged the reputation of the company.

Then he alleges the same bank is now being prevented by the Obama administration from paying back TARP money. “The bank has also been threatened with ‘adverse’ consequences if its chairman persists.”

Varney’s account is based on a report by Fox News’ Andrew Napolitano who has firsthand knowledge of these events from an unnamed banker.

Varney believes the Obama administration wants to keep its hooks in the company so it can use the bank to advance its political agenda. “And since politics drives this administration, why can’t special loans be offered to favored constituents, favored industries, or even favored regions?”

It’s frightening to think that our government could be using such strong arm tactics to intimidate a company. Let’s hope the banking executive has the courage to go public with this information to shed light on these outrageous acts.

Comment by Tom Borelli

GE Lobbies for Green Bank

Fast Company is reporting that Congressman Chris Van Hollen introduced legislation to create a “Green Bank” – a government owned corporation that would lend money to facilitate investments in so called green technologies.

Not surprisingly, a lobbying group has sprung up supporting this legislative initiative. The new lobbying group, called “The Coalition for Green Bank,” includes some familiar members – GE, T. Boone Pickens and Morgan Stanley.

The last time the government got involved in banking we ended up with Fannie Mae and the housing bubble. Following that disaster, the last thing we need is taxpayers funding a green bubble.

Watch my interview on the Glenn Beck show

Read the legislation

Read about the lobbying coalition

Posted by Tom Borelli

Obama’s Treasury Secretary Geithner facilitated the economic crisis

An investigative story published in the Washington Post charges that Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner played a significant role in creating the economic crisis.

While in charge of the New York Federal Reserve, Geithner facilitated the trading of credit derivatives – exotic financial instruments – that magnified the banking crisis and he failed to adequately regulate the banks under his control.

Specifically, Geithner was aware that the banks had not properly assessed the risks – including those posed by credit derivates – from an economic down-turn and did not take strong measures to address these issues.

“Records and interviews show that Geithner and his colleagues did not employ some of the harsher tools at their disposal to bring the banks into line. From 2006 through the start of the credit crisis in the summer of 2007, they brought no formal enforcement actions against any large institution for substandard risk-management practices."

Had Geithner exercised his regulatory power, it’s possible we could have averted significant portions of the current economic crisis. Nevertheless, Obama promoted Geithner to head the Treasury Department. Clearly, Geithner’s selection calls into question Obama’s judgment.

Comment by Tom Borelli

Obama’s green stimulus talk is a marketplace failure

President Obama’s zeal for a new green economy, however, is falling on deaf ears in the corporate boardroom.

According to Politico.com Obama is promoting the potential of green jobs to gather support for his $ 3.6 trillion budget.

Today BP announced it was eliminating 620 jobs in its solar power business including 140 positions from its facility in Fredrick Md.

A press release said the solar market is being hurt by the current economic conditions and an “over-supplied market, increased competition and rapidly falling prices.” The jobs cuts were part of an effort “to reduce the cost of solar power to that of conventional electricity."

BP’s action follows a decision by GE to last week to reduce staff at its solar energy unit located in Newark, DE.

The marketplace is clearly saying now is not the time to sell expensive renewable energy products. Unfortunately, President Obama is putting his environmental agenda ahead of economic reality.

Posted by Tom Borelli

Overriding concerns expressed by his own auto task force, the Obama administration is refusing to pull the plug on GM electric car Chevy Volt.

According to a story from Bloomberg:

“While the Chevy Volt holds promise, it will likely be too expensive to be commercially successful in the short-term,” according to the March 30 report by President Barack Obama’s auto task force.

Despite these concerns it seems the president’s decision is being driven by the political goals of a fuel efficient electric car over market place reality.

While recently dismissed GM CEO Rick Wagoner failed to return profitability to the company, it appears Obama will fair no better.

Posted by Tom Borelli

Obama Fires GM CEO

According to media reports, the Obama administration forced GM CEO Rick Wagoner (see picture) to quit as a condition for the company to receive additional bailout money. GM’s board of directors will also be revamped.

An article in today’s Wall Street Journal describes the details of Wagoner’s dismissal:

"On Friday I was in Washington for a meeting with administration officials," Mr. Wagoner said in a statement released by GM. "In the course of that meeting, they requested that I 'step aside' as CEO of GM, and so I have."

The administration’s auto task force expressed disappointment in the restructuring plans submitted by both GM and Chrysler. Today President Obama is scheduled to discuss the auto task force view of the troubled auto companies’ future prospects.

The administration is planning on providing GM additional bailout funds for 60 days to allow the company’s new management team to detail an improved restructuring plan.

Chrysler is expected to be given government funds for an additional 30 days so the company can work on a merger with Fiat SpA, an Italian car maker.

Comment by Tom Borelli:

Wagoner’s firing and forced revamping of GM’s board of directors demonstrates President Obama will not hesitate to wield his power to micromanage decisions in the private sector. Now every CEO has to be over their shoulders looking for Big Brother to interfere with business decisions.

Central planning of any industrial sector is doomed to failure.

Banking Bailout Money in Lobbyists' Pockets: TARP Money Used to Push for a New "Green Bubble"

Washington, D.C. - Wall Street firms bailed out by the American taxpayer are now financing an extensive lobbying campaign to promote the costly federal regulation of greenhouse gases and putting the American public at risk of facing yet another costly economic "bubble," charges the National Center for Public Policy Research.

"Using TARP money to inflate another bubble is beyond outrageous," said Tom Borelli, Ph.D, director of the Free Enterprise Project of the National Center. "Not only are taxpayers being looted to subsidize Wall Street's latest risky scheme, but taxpayers will also bear the brunt of cap-and-trade through higher energy prices. Only in today's upside-down political world do two wrongs make a right."

A new report by the Center for Public Integrity (CPI) finds that the over 2,000 lobbyists, including representatives of the financial industry, pressing for a "cap-and-trade" scheme. Such a scheme would place federal caps on carbon emissions, thereby leading to the creation of an artificial carbon emissions trading market that could reach an estimated $2 trillion in paper value.

Critics of cap-and-trade counter than these regulations would also unnaturally raise energy prices and reduce supply, which would counteract efforts to revive the economy. Chillingly, because the new carbon "market" would be wholly artificial, the legislation could create another economic bubble.

Read More...

Washington, DC - Walt Disney Company CEO Robert Iger scowled at and said "f--- you" to Tom Borelli, director of the National Center for Public Policy Research's Free Enterprise Project, at Tuesday's annual Disney shareholder meeting.

Iger's remark came after Borelli told Disney shareholders about Iger's refusal to sell the DVD or the distribution rights of the miniseries "The Path to 9/11."

Borelli had just ended his presentation and was attempting to shake Iger's hand on his way back to his seat. Iger, who was sitting in the audience at the time, also refused to uncross his arms and shake Borelli's hand. Borelli, who had received applause from fellow shareholders after his presentation, went back to the podium and precisely reported to his fellow shareholders what Iger had just said, to gasps from the assembled crowd. Borelli then sat back down.

Read More...

Washington, D.C. - Wall Street firms bailed out by the American taxpayer are now financing an extensive lobbying campaign to promote the costly federal regulation of greenhouse gases and putting the American public at risk of facing yet another costly economic "bubble," charges the National Center for Public Policy Research.

"Using TARP money to inflate another bubble is beyond outrageous," said Tom Borelli, Ph.D, director of the Free Enterprise Project of the National Center. "Not only are taxpayers being looted to subsidize Wall Street's latest risky scheme, but taxpayers will also bear the brunt of cap-and-trade through higher energy prices. Only in today's upside-down political world do two wrongs make a right."

A new report by the Center for Public Integrity (CPI) finds that the over 2,000 lobbyists, including representatives of the financial industry, pressing for a "cap-and-trade" scheme. Such a scheme would place federal caps on carbon emissions, thereby leading to the creation of an artificial carbon emissions trading market that could reach an estimated $2 trillion in paper value.

Critics of cap-and-trade counter than these regulations would also unnaturally raise energy prices and reduce supply, which would counteract efforts to revive the economy. Chillingly, because the new carbon "market" would be wholly artificial, the legislation could create another economic bubble.

According to the CPI study, lobbyists for Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase are involved, and, in total, "the finance industry has as large a lobbying force on climate as the alternative energy industry, with about 130 reps working the issue last year..."

JPMorgan Chase got $25 billion in...

By Tom Borelli

Last night’s Super Bowl was a surprisingly entertaining contest with Pittsburgh pulling out the win in the last minute with a spectacular catch in the corner of the end zone.

Off the field I thought the funniest commercial was GE’s "Scarecrow" advertisement touting its smart technology for updating our power grid (see video). 

While watching the ad I could not help but think how the classic song’s lyrics applied to GE CEO Jeff Immelt – “If he only had a brain” GE’s stock would not be trading for about $ 11 a share!

According to the New York Times the addition of a second GE ad was a last minute substitution.

Also of interest, late last week GE’s NBC unit issued a press release touting how it had sold all the advertising space for the Super Bowl for a record $206 million in revenue.

But NBC failed to mention that a number of the ad slots were taken by NBC itself publicizing its own programs and its corporate parent GE pushing its ecomagination campaign.

Comment by Tom Borelli

Yesterday Caterpillar announced disappointing earnings and that it would cut about 20,000 workers - about 18% of its workforce because of poor sales.

Given Caterpillar’s horrible earnings report the company should abandon its support of economy killing global warming legislation.  But such a rational decision is beyond the capability of CEO Jim Owens.

Caterpillar is a member of the United States Climate Action Partnership (USCAP) – a coalition of companies and environmental activist groups seeking to pass cap-and-trade legislation to address global warming.

On January 15th USCAP members testified at a Congressional hearing in support of its cap-and-trade plan.

Economic studies have consistently found cap-and-trade will raise energy prices, reduce economic growth and contribute to job losses.  Importantly, these regulations would preferentially harm the coal industry a key customer of Caterpillar equipment.

At the 2007 shareholder meeting, Owens confessed he had not conducted a cost-benefit analysis of emissions regulation on his business. 

Owens needs to pull his head out of the sand and recognize his support of cap-and-trade is bad for his company and the U.S. economy.

Here is a Bloomberg story on Caterpillar's earnings:

Caterpillar to Cut 20,000 Jobs as 2009 Profit Slumps

In a speech today at the National Press Club, ConocoPhillips CEO Jim Mulva seems to be trying to put the global warming genie back in the bottle.  Now that global warming alarmism is taking over Congress and the Obama administration, Mulva is trying to slow the momentum of the green wave.
 
Here is what Mulva said:

"We agree that we must reduce the environmental footprint of energy production and consumption.  But we must be realistic about the cost of green energy ... (and) about its true potential and how long it will take for commercial-scale supply contributions... ."

Suddenly, Mulva is worried that Congress will move too fast in promoting green energy and reducing our use of fossil fuels.  Perhaps he should have thought about the consequences before he jumped on the global warming band wagon.

Comments by Tom Borelli
 

Comment by Tom Borelli:

Citi Director Bob Rubin (second from right) is taking heat for being richly rewarded while watching the company fall to the brink of bankruptcy. 

Despite his spin, Rubin is responsible for sitting back while Citi lost billions of dollars.

Because of his incompetence and the subsequent government bailout we are all involuntary shareholders in Citi.  As shareholders, we should exercise our rights and demand Rubin's immediate dismissal.

In a Wall Street Journal story, Rubin, Under Fire, Defends His Role at Citi, he tries to defend his lavish pay "Mr. Rubin said his pay was justified and that there were higher-paying opportunities available to him" while blaming the company's problems on executives that did  not conduct proper risk management.

Importantly, the story notes Rubin encouraged the bank to take more risk to increase its profit growth while at the same time he was saying in speeches "the only undervalued asset class in the world is risk."

According to the story Rubin made"$115 million in pay since 1999, excluding stock options." 

Read the full story (subscription required)
 

Comment by Tom Borelli: ConocoPhillips CEO James Mulva's push for global warming legislation is putting his company at risk.  

For additional information: 

Read the transcript of my dialogue with Mulva from the 2008 ConocoPhillips shareholder meeting   

Listen to our exchange at the 2008 shareholder meeting on youtube

and read my commentary below!

ConocoPhillips' Push for Global Warming Regulations Could Lead to the Next Government Takeover 

Bad decisions by CEOs are at the core of our economic crisis.

Throwing caution to the wind, chief executives in the financial industry took enormous risks by placing huge bets on financial instruments based on mortgages. Abandoning common sense and basic economic principles, CEOs failed to execute proper risk management by contemplating the consequences of a downturn in the housing market.

The harm caused by incompetent CEOs extends well beyond shareholders – it also threatens the conservative principles of limited government and free markets.

Failures of this magnitude frequently result in calls for increased government control. This crisis has led to a huge expansion of government through the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, which allows the Secretary of Treasury to purchase up to $ 700 billion of distressed assets from banks.  Read more

Comment by Tom Borelli:

Let’s add Exelon John Rowe (see picture) to the rankings of questionable CEOs. Exelon is one of the companies seeking to take advantage of possible cap-and-trade regulations to boost its profits.

As a leader in nuclear power, Rowe is banking on having excess carbon credits that Exelon can sell to companies burdened with high carbon dioxide emissions.

Rowe, however, is missing two key points.

First, cap-and-trade will result in slower economic growth and reduce the ability of his customers to pay their electricity bills. In fact, Exelon’s third quarter earnings were negatively impacted by an increase in unpaid bills.

Second, as reported in the Chicago Tribune, if Exelon acquires NRG – another utility – Rowe will also be obtaining NRG’s coal fired power plants. Increasing Exelon’s carbon emissions will jeopardize the company’s commitments to reduce its carbon footprint and also decrease its profit motive via cap-and-trade.

At some point Rowe will realize his global warming policy conflicts with generating profits.

Read the Chicago Tribune Article

Public Employee Pensions Endangered by State Officials Playing Global Warming Politics








Washington, DC - Already at-risk public employee pension funds are being placed at further risk by state officials who are lobbying for global warming regulation and by state officials who are ignoring the risks posed by such regulation, says a new report, "Pensions in Peril: Are State Officials Risking Public Employee Retirement Benefits by Playing Global Warming Politics?," by the National Center for Public Policy Research.

The report found that:

1. Global warming regulation is a key portfolio risk for state and local pension funds.

2. A substantial minority of state and pension fund administrators (15 states and local governments managing about $1.21 in assets or 45% of all actuarial assets of state and local pension funds) are actively promoting regulation that is likely to adversely impact their portfolios and beneficiaries. These states and local governments include: California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York City, New York state, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington.

The report is available at http://www.nationalcenter.org/NPA575.html

Comment by Tom Borelli: 

A new documentary "Blocking the Path to 9/11" describes how leading Democrats and left-wing activists successfully launched an intimidation campaign against the Disney/ABC miniseries "The Path to 9/11." (Watch the YouTube video trailer) 

The following story "Who was blocking 'The Path to 9/11'?" by Jeffrey Ressner of Politico describes the controversy.  

Over the past few years, perhaps no film controversy has inspired more outrage from conservatives than the Walt Disney Company’s handling of the ambitious 2006 miniseries “The Path to 9/11.” In the wake of Michael Moore’s 2004 anti-Bush documentary “Fahrenheit 9/11” and the 2003 CBS biopic “The Reagans,” the Disney censorship fiasco has been a frequent bone of contention on right-wing blogs, AM talk radio and other media outlets. In addition to making cuts in its ABC-TV telefilm after complaints from political forces, the company also shelved plans for a subsequent DVD release.

The miniseries, a $40 million dramatization of events leading up to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, was set for its network debut when several members of President Bill Clinton’s administration, including former National Ssecurity Adviser Sandy Berger and Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, insisted that several scenes were inaccurate or fictitious, and Clinton himself demanded the program be corrected or pulled. Five Democratic senators even sent a letter to Disney CEO Bob Iger that appeared to threaten the company’s broadcast license over the issue. Edits were made, a...

Comment from Tom Borelli:

A news report from Reuters says GE is not going to sell its NBC Universal business unit. 

Some investors are calling for GE to sell the news and entertainment business because they don't see the synergy between GE's infrastructure business that sells wind turbines and jet engines and the news and movie industry.

These investors don't see the synergy because it is largely invisible.  CEO Jeff Immelt shrewdly uses his NBC network to promote GE's products. For example,  during the July 20th broadcast of NBC's "Meet the Press," Al Gore used almost the entire hour to blast oil and tout his idea to generate the country’s electricity needs from carbon free sources in 10 years. 

Carbon free energy would be a boon to GE's investment in wind power. 

Cloaking advertising as news illustrates the synergy but it's something GE can't publicly acknowledge.  

Here is the Reuters story: 
 
BEIJING (Reuters) - General Electric Co (GE.N: Quote, Profile, Research) has no plans to sell its NBC Universal media unit and is on track to double its China annual revenue to $10 billion by 2010, a top executive said on Monday.

Some investors have said they would like Chief Executive Jeff Immelt to consider selling NBC after the Olympics because it is growing more slowly than GE's infrastructure businesses.

But Beth Comstock, GE's chief marketing officer, told Reuters: "I think Jeff Immelt has been very clear ... saying to the media, to internal audiences and to investors that he sees NBC as a part of GE's future."

Read full story

Comment by Tom Borelli:

Paul Gigot's The Fannie Mae Gang in the July 23rd edition of the WSJ is a MUST read. (Picture of Senator Dodd, former Countrywide CEO Mozilo and Senator Conrad)

Gigot explains how blending the liberal goal of home ownership, Wall Street profits and lobbying influence bought political and media protection for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. In this symbiotic relationship everyone wins - except the taxpayer.

What Gigot describes with Fannie and Freddie also applies to other public policy issues including efforts to control global warming. In this instance, once again, we find liberal goals meshing with corporate interests and Wall Street.

This also explains why T. Boone Pickens is now the hero of liberal politicians, the mainstream media and companies pushing wind power like General Electric.

There is nothing more precious to the Left than a convert from the Right.

For almost four years, the Free Enterpirse project has been battling corporations to break this cozy alliance and we're thrilled that Gigot gave this issue national prominence.

For the sake of liberty we must break the liberal industrial complex!

Here are the key quotes from Gigot's piece:

Their unique clout derives from a combination of liberal ideology and private profit. Fannie has been able to purchase political immunity for decades by disguising its vast profit-making machine in the cloak of "affordable housing." To be more precise, Fan and Fred have been protected by an alliance of Capitol Hill and Wall Street, of Barney Frank and Angelo Mozilo.

The abiding lesson here is what happens when you combine private profit with government...

Comment by Tom Borelli:


After years of poor leadership GE CEO Jeff Immelt (see picture) is having a fire sale of company assets including its Consumer & Industrial business.  Since Immelt took over the helm from Jack Welch in 2001 the stock is down about 30%.

In explaining the sale Immelt said "As we explored our options for Appliances, it became clear that the fastest, most efficient step we could take in completing the transformation of our Industrial portfolio would be to focus on a possible spin-off of the entire unit… This is consistent with the strategy we have been executing to transform the GE portfolio for long-term growth and makes sense for GE shareholders."

Immelt is also selling GE's credit card division.

The timing could not be worse for shareholders. In the midst of the economic turndown, these businesses are worth substantially less than if Immelt had recognized earlier that the conglomerate model he cherished was outdated.

Immelt might have anticipated the impact of the housing crisis on GE had he spent more time thinking about economics than lobbying for global warming regulations in Washington D.C.

The only green shareholders are seeing is in the GE logo…

Comment by Tom Borelli:

Today's front page story in the Washington Post shows the environmental movement and the beverage industry are on a collision course. 

With the planet in "peril",  activists view bottled water as a luxury that could easily be sacrificed for the common good.

As the story points out, global warming concerns and plastic disposal are the primary reasons to limit bottled water sales:

"Tons of carbon dioxide is emitted into the atmosphere each year to produce and transport a product thousands of miles from Place A to Place B, when an identical product is already available in Place B in a form that is typically much cheaper, rigorously tested and sometimes safer. And afterward, millions of plastic bottles end up in landfills."

Clearly, efforts to make friends with the activists including lobbying for global warming regulations has backfired on PepsiCo - the maker of Aquafina - the leading bottled water brand.

The beverage industry must soon realize that the environmental movement and in particular global warming alarmism should be feared and not embraced.

Read the entire article

Comment by Tom Borelli:

The NY Times Magazine published an in-depth article on Duke Energy CEO Jim Rogers’s failed effort to have Congress legislate limits on greenhouse gas emissions via a cap-and-trade regulatory scheme.

The article is important because it serves as a case study illustrating the pitfalls of the so-called “seat at the table” rationale for justifying company participation in supporting legislation on a contentious issue.

Rogers, who is given credit for selling cap-and-trade to Congress, had to lobby against the legislation after the elements of Warner-Lieberman bill were found to harm Duke Energy's business.

It’s amazing to observe how clueless a CEO can be when it comes to public policy.

Rogers really thought his coal dependent company would be treated fairly by left-wing Democrats and environmental activists.

For his unvarnished idealism Rogers deserves the Don Quixote Award for chasing legislative windmills.

The following is a segment of the article:

"Even in this era of green evangelism, Rogers is a genuine anomaly. As the head of Duke Energy, with its dozens of coal-burning electric plants scattered around the Midwest and the Carolinas, he represents one of the country’s biggest sources of greenhouse gases. The company pumps 100 million tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere each year, making it the third-largest corporate emitter in the United States.
Yet Rogers, who makes $10 million a year, is also one of the electricity industry’s most vocal environmentalists." 

Read the full article

Comment by Tom Borelli:

Oil executives faced another grilling in Congress this week. The Senate Judiciary Committee wanted to flex its muscle by conducting another show trial targeting oil company leaders – all because gasoline prices are hitting new highs. I can’t think of a more deserving crowd to feel the heat because of their failure to understand and manage public policy risk.

Oil executives’ enemy is high gasoline prices not global warming. Like it or not, they are the fall guys when gasoline prices go up. Instead of trying to avoid this risk by aggressively encouraging and promoting public policy to increase domestic supply of oil and natural gas, many of these companies are supporting global warming legislation that will only lead to higher energy prices.

By advocating for global warming legislation they are actually lobbying for further embarrassment at the hands of headline seeking Congressman.

The following NY Times story describes yesterday’s hearing:

"WASHINGTON — Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee vented their fury over high gasoline prices at executives of the nation’s five largest oil companies on Wednesday, grilling the oilmen over their multimillion-dollar pay packages and warning them that Congress was intent on taking action that could include a new tax on so-called windfall profits." Read article  

Comment by Tom Borelli:

The Wall Street Journal's Environmental Capital blog has an excellent summary on the debate surrounding the Warner-Leiberman Climate Change Bill.  Check out the links - especially the link to the WSJ's editorial "Climate Reality Bites."

Here is part of the blog:

"It’s shaping up to be a Dickensian summer on the Hill. What seemed just a few months ago like the best of times to pass ambitious climate-change legislation has suddenly turned into the worst of times. Nobel-prize momentum has given way to hand-wringing over the economy.

That makes the difficult balancing act of crafting politically palatable but still effective climate laws even tougher. The big worry now? By trying to sugarcoat the Lieberman-Warner bill enough to garner a fillibuster-proof majority in the Senate, proponents of climate-legislation run the risk of making the new law a paper tiger." Read full article

All in the Anti-Capitalist Family (picture includes Neva Rockerfeller, CT State Treasurer Denise Nappier and Peter O'Neill - great grandson of John D. Rockefeller)

The heirs of the Rockerfeller family are working with state pension funds and left-wing shareholder groups to split the role of chairman and chief executive at ExxonMobil. They feel current CEO Rex Tillerson should be doing more investments in alternative fuels and cutting back on greenhouse gas emissions.

It's interesting to note that Tillerson refused to get involved in biofuels like ethanol "I am not an expert on farming. I don't have a lot of technology to add to moonshine" and he recently called for more domestic drilling for oil.

This serves as an excellent example regarding the way the Left uses shareholder activism to advance their agenda. If fact, the Left has filed 15 shareholder resolutions at Exxon to intimidate the company.

Exxon is holding the line while other major oil companies like BP and ConocoPhillips caved under pressure.  Recall that politically correct business strategies proved a disaster at BP.

GE is taking well deserved heat for selling infrastructure equipment to Iran.  Monday's front page story in the Washington Post describes the media family feud between MSNBC - a GE company - and Fox News. 

The real story is why isn't there more outrage about GE CEO Jeff Immelt (see picture). Under his leadership GE stock has declined and now he is trading with a state sponsor of terror.

Let's not forget that Immelt is lobbying real hard for cap-and-trade legislation to address global warming concerns.  Immelt is an enemy of the free-market and a friend of Iran. With these accomplishments Immelt is the leading candidate for the Benedict Arnold CEO Award for 2008!

By Howard Kurtz
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, May 19, 2008; Page A01

Bill O'Reilly, the Fox News star, is mounting an extraordinary televised assault on the chief executive of General Electric, calling him a "pinhead" and a "despicable human being" who bears responsibility for the deaths of American soldiers in Iraq.

On the surface, O'Reilly's charges revolve around GE's history of doing business with Iran. But the attacks grow out of an increasingly bitter feud between O'Reilly and the company's high-profile subsidiary, NBC, one that has triggered back-channel discussions involving News Corp. owner Rupert Murdoch, Fox News Chairman Roger Ailes, NBC chief executive Jeff Zucker and General Electric's CEO, Jeffrey Immelt.  Read more

Aaron Barnhart's blog TV Barn discusses Clinton in Exile a new book that among other things talks about how Clinton and his gang tried to block the broadcast of the ABC miniseries "The Path to 9/11"

Here is part of the blog: 

"But the really eyebrow-raising story, and the one that may have legs if the primary battle between his wife and Barack Obama stretches into the summer, is how Team Clinton worked hard to kill off the "Path to 9/11" miniseries on ABC in 2006. Though even close advisors to the Clinton Administration have conceded shortcomings in their response to al-Qaeda — so well laid out in Lawrence Wright's magnificent account The Looming Tower — they all went into attack mode after some FOBs saw a preview of the first night of "Path to 9/11." Even though the script was from a veteran TV docudrama writer who had no real axe to grind, and had been reviewed carefully by 9/11 Commission icon Tom Kean, he was quickly demonized as a right-wing hack by Clintonites and their amen corner in the blogosphere. Read More

GE Bringing Terrorism to Life

GE is selling equipment to Iran and keeping the country's infrastructure intact.  In a letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission, GE lists its customers as the “Government-owned electrical utilities and the Ministry of Oil.” 

CEO Jeff Immelt defends this business decision by stating ". . . to conduct business in certain countries is complex – we must take into account not only the views of the U.S. Government but all relevant stakeholders.”

Only on planet Immelt does U.S. interests take a backseat to Ahmadinejad's "stakeholder" status.  

The Wall Street Journal makes it clear that Iran is transporting weapons to Iraq. 

By supporting Iran, GE is bringing terrorism to life. 

U.S. Says New Find Shows
Iran Still Sends Arms to Iraq
By YOCHI J. DREAZEN
April 25, 2008; Page A1

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. military says it has found caches of newly made Iranian weapons in Iraq, leading senior officials to conclude Tehran is continuing to funnel armaments into Iraq despite its pledges to the contrary.
Read more

Walt Disney CEO Bob Iger is blocking the sale of the DVD of the Path to 9/11 - the ABC miniseries based on the 9/11 Commission report.

Brit Hume of FoxNews covered the controversy in the Political Grapevine. 

Click to read more about Iger and The Path to 9/11.

An editorial in the New York Times blasts compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) because they contain mercury. 

After polluting the Hudson River with PCBs GE is now repeating the same mistake:  by selling CFLs the company is polluting millions of homes with mercury. 

GE's Ecomagination marketing strategy has blinded CEO Jeff Immelt to the business risks of riding the green wave.  

Here is the editorial:

That Newfangled Light Bulb

February 17, 2008

Across the world, consumers are being urged to stop buying outdated incandescent light bulbs and switch to new spiral fluorescent bulbs, which use about 25 percent of the energy and last 10 times longer. In Britain, there is a Ban the Bulb movement. China is encouraging the change. And the United States Congress has set new energy efficiency standards that will make Edison’s magical invention obsolete by the year 2014.

Now, the question is how to dispose of these compact fluorescent bulbs once they break or quit working.

Unlike traditional light bulbs, each of these spiral bulbs has a tiny bit of a dangerous toxin — around five milligrams of mercury. And although one dot of mercury might not seem so bad, almost 300 million compact fluorescents were sold in the United States last year. That is already a lot of mercury to throw in the trash, and the amounts will grow ever larger in coming years.  Read more 
  

The Wall Street Journal summarized the state of BP following the failed leadership of its former CEO John Browne. 

Turnaround Depends
On Reducing Its Risks,
Fixing U.S. Troubles

By MATTHEW DALTON
January 2, 2008

BP PLC is hoping to reach operational health in 2008, but questions remain about whether problems within U.S. operations could undermine its turnaround.

The oil giant's two largest U.S. refineries and its oil field at Prudhoe Bay in Alaska are expected to operate at capacity for most of the year for the first time since 2004.
But the main issue isn't whether the London-based company has fixed problems that several investigations said caused a deadly March 2005 explosion at its refinery in Texas City, Texas. The question is whether BP has diminished the risk of catastrophic events that all companies engaged in the exploration, production and processing of hydrocarbons face.

The refinery blast was the first and most serious in a string of disasters that included oil spills from BP's pipelines on Alaska's North Slope, costing billions of dollars in profit.  Read more

The following are The Five Worst CEOs for 2007.  The "winners" have allowed the liberal social agenda to drive their business decisions.

BP's John Browne. Browne resigned this year partly because his global warming strategy failed miserably.

GE's Jeff Immelt. "GE's Environment Push Hits Business Realities" -- a front-page Wall Street Journal story in 2007 -- highlighted the downsides of its "Ecomagination" marketing campaign.

Wal-Mart's Lee Scott. Scott's global warming strategy has the company appealing to the liberal elite while selling out shareholders and low-income customers.

PepsiCo's Indra K. Nooyi. The company sponsored Al Gore's Live Earth concert to appear in sync with the environmental generation." Bottled water, however, is the focus of activists and politicians seeking to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

Caterpillar's James Owens. The construction and mining equipment company's global warming strategy is jeopardizing its future earnings by working against its customers in the coal industry.

Read our press release

PepsiCo is actually lobbying against its own earnings!

PepsiCo's Aquafina is the leading brand of bottled water but its promotion of global warming hysteria is backfiring on its product line. 

PepsiCo sponsored Al Gore's Live Earth concert and it is part of a lobbying group seeking regulations to limit carbon dioxide emissions.  

Cities across the nation are looking for ways to limit bottled water consumption to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. 

Here is the story:

Our guilty gallons
BOTTLED WATER'S IMPACT ON ENVIRONMENT
By Mark Boslet
Mercury News
Article Launched: 12/16/2007 01:42:59 AM PST

Drinking a bottle of water might seem innocent enough, but each bottle has a downside many people overlook - a contribution to global warming.

That's because bottles create carbon dioxide, the most common greenhouse gas, when they are made, trucked to a store and disposed of in a landfill or recycled. Their impact can quickly add up.

"Bottled water is an energy-intensive luxury for Americans," said Peter Gleick, president of the Pacific Institute, an environmental think tank in Oakland. "It's certainly much less necessary than the other things we use energy for."

Last year, Americans consumed 8.3 billion gallons of bottled water, or the equivalent of 27.6 gallons a person, according to the Beverage Marketing Corp., a New York-based market research firm. Just making the bottles to hold all the water produced more than 2.5 million tons of CO, the Pacific Institute calculates. Read More...

Cap-and-Trade Could Cost Average Family $10,800 in Lost Income

WASHINGTON, Sept. 17 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A cap-and-trade scheme for controlling greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) would impose significant economic costs on the U.S. economy and is not a sound policy response to current concerns about global warming, says renown economist Arthur Laffer in a new study released today.

"Dr. Laffer's analysis is another death knell for the cap-and-trade approach to addressing concerns over carbon dioxide emissions," said Steven Milloy, executive director of the Free Enterprise Education Institute (FEEI), the nonprofit group sponsoring the study.

"The Department of Energy, Congressional Budget Office and, now, Dr. Laffer have all concluded that cap- and-trade would be disastrous for the U.S. economy," added
Milloy.

Laffer's analysis, entitled "The Adverse Economic Impacts of Cap-and- Trade" concludes that:

-- Cap-and-trade may reduce U.S. economic growth by 4.2 percent -- even to achieve the comparatively modest GHG reductions of the Kyoto Protocol i.e., GHG emissions 7 percent below 1990 levels by 2008-2012).

--The cost to reach the ultimate goal of some GHG control proponents (e.g., reducing GHG emissions to 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050) would be significantly greater. Moreover, these estimates may underestimate
the actual cost as they assume the government would auction the rights to emit greenhouse gases -- as opposed to simply giving them away, which is the approach often discussed in the Congress. 

Read more...

Read the study...

Lights Out for Old Bulbs?

When you play with activists --- you are going to get burned. This is the lesson that GE's CEO Jeff Immelt is learning. For years, Immelt has been teaming up with environmental activists to whip up global warming fears in the hopes of financial and reputational gains. Now this strategy is backfiring on his business.

Congress wants to phase out the incandescent light bulb(see Thomas Edison picture) and mandate the use of the more energy efficient compact fluorescent bulbs to save the planet. According to the article "manufacturers will have to scrap new multimillion-dollar investments in equipment and employees to meet 2012 standards." 
 
The WSJ reported on this topic today: 

WASHINGTON -- The House and Senate are working on legislation that over the next seven years would phase out the conventional light bulb, a move aimed at saving energy and reducing man-made emissions believed linked to climate change.

General Electric Co., Philips Electronics NV of the Netherlands and other manufacturers have been meeting with conservation and environmental groups and say they are close to agreement on the general terms of a phaseout. Bipartisan coalitions in Congress are likely to add these terms to a broad energy bill expected to be voted on next month.

While manufacturers voiced some concerns about producing enough bulbs to meet the new deadlines, they emphasized that they want prompt federal legislation that would prevent states from setting their own standards, creating a patchwork of differing requirements. Nevada has already set its own standard, and California is considering one. Read more...

Comment by Tom Borelli:

A story in the FT reports that Citi board member Bob Rubin has decided not to take a bonus. 

"A person close to Mr Rubin, a former US Treasury secretary, said he had told the board that, under the circumstances and at this stage of his career, he felt the funds that would have been used for his bonus could be better spent on other employees. Mr Rubin, who has earned more than $115m since joining Citi in 1999, also waived his bonus last year."

Don't be mislead, Rubin is not foregoing his bonus out of a concern for employees. He is giving it up before government officials take it away.  As part of the Citi bailout the government must approve the compensation of company executives. 

If he really cared about employees or shareholders Rubin would have been more involved in Citi's business decisions. 

CNBC is reporting that Rubin may leave Citi and that he may have violated the "good business judgement" responsibility of a board member. 

Read the FT story  

Comment by Tom Borelli:

Because of $ 4 gasoline, consumer backlash has some elected officals calling for more domestic drilling for oil.  The following LA Times story shows how some elected officials are beginning to recognize the downside risk of being "green."  Ironically, the success of environmental activists (see picture) in blocking natural resource development in the U.S. may have backfired.  

"With gas above $4, some who previously backed the longtime ban say it's time to start exploring."

By Richard Simon and Bob Drogin, Los Angeles Times Staff Writers
June 18, 2008

WASHINGTON -- The environmental movement, only recently poised for major advances on global warming and other issues, has suddenly found itself on the defensive as high gasoline prices shift the political climate nationwide and trigger defections by longtime supporters.

Opposition to offshore drilling -- once ironclad in places like California and Florida -- has begun to soften. Gov. Charlie Crist of Florida on Tuesday eased his opposition to new energy exploration off the coast.

"Floridians are suffering, and when you're paying over $4 a gallon for gas, you have to wonder whether there might be additional resources that we might be able to utilize to bring that price down," said Crist, a Republican.

At the same time, pressure to drill is mounting.

President Bush today is expected to call on Congress to lift the ban on new offshore drilling, and a House committee will consider a proposal to relax the moratorium. Read more...

Comment by Tom Borelli:

My commentary posted on Townhall.com describes why we need to fear CEOs as much as left-wing politicians.  This is especially true when they work together to loot us of our money and liberty. (Picture GE CEO Jeff Immelt on left)

"Last week’s Senate debate over Lieberman-Warner – the America’s Climate Security Act – brought to national attention an under-recognized yet rising threat to liberty and limited government: corporate America. Several of the largest corporations worked with environmental special interest groups and left-wing politicians to pass so-called “cap-and-trade” legislation to address global warming concerns.

By pushing for the legislation, these companies hoped to get revenue in the form of government subsidies plus accolades from the media for taking measures to “save the planet.” Never mind the impact on the everyday citizen, who pays for it all with higher taxes and increased energy prices, a loss of liberty, a reduced standard of living and fewer consumer choices." Read more...

Comment by Tom Borelli:

Tim Carney has a fantastic commentary on Lieberman–Warner - the climate change bill - that was debated in the Senate this week. 

Carney exposes GE as “a regulatory robber baron” by pointing out that “General Electric has created a new business called GHG Services, which plans to pick up Enron’s CO2-dealing business, including winning free allowances through lobbying efforts.”

Read Carney’s commentary: Enron’s favorite bill gets its day in the sun

It’s GE and other rent seeking companies that are driving Lieberman-Warner. 

On planet Immelt (see photo with Al Gore) GE increases its profits by increasing the size of government so it can leverage its huge lobbying budget to its advantage.

While GE gets free carbon credits from the government, we get higher energy prices and reduced economic growth.

In our view, Immelt is a threat to liberty, limited government and national security. This week we called for the board of directors to dismiss Immelt because:

- GE's stock price is lower today than it was when Immelt became Chairman and CEO in 2001;

- GE continues to do business with Iran, a state sponsor of terrorism;

- GE supports Lieberman-Warner

Read our press release: GE's Board of Directors should dismiss CEO Jeff Immelt 


Fox Business Channel interviewed us on our call for Immelt to go! Watch the video

Comment by Tom Borelli:

It's climate change week as the Warner-Lieberman bill is going to be debated on the Senate floor.  The legislation is the biggest threat to limited government and liberty since the Clinton Administration proposed universal government funded health care. 

Lobbying efforts from companies like General Electric (see picture of GE CEO Jeff Immelt with Al Gore) is the driving force behind the legislation - environmental special interest groups can't get it done without corporate money and influence.

To learn more about the consequences of the bill read the summary by the National Center for Public Policy Research.

The following is a story in today's Washington Post on the bill:

By Juliet Eilperin and Steven Mufson
Washington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, June 1, 2008; A12

When the Senate takes up landmark climate legislation this week, its backers can be sure of just one thing: The obstacles they face show how hard it will be to enact a meaningful cap on greenhouse gases -- probably under the next administration.

The next administration, not this one, because even supporters of the complex, extensively negotiated 494-page bill say that there is little chance that it will win Senate approval, less chance that the House will agree on a similar measure and perhaps no chance that President Bush will sign it if it reaches his desk. Read Article

Comment by Tom Borelli:

Quote of the day by Czech President Vaclav Klaus (see picture) on Climate Alarmism:

"Like their (communist) predecessors, they will be certain that they have the right to sacrifice man and his freedom to make their idea reality," he said. "In the past, it was in the name of the Marxists or of the proletariat -- this time, in the name of the planet," he said.

Klaus is promoting his book: "Blue Planet in Green Shackles -- What Is Endangered: Climate or Freedom?"

Also check out the press release "Overwhelming Majority of Americans Oppose Lieberman-Warner Global Warming Proposal, New Poll Suggests" Read More  

The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review printed a story on Klaus and his willingness to debate Al Gore.

WASHINGTON -- Czech President Vaclav Klaus said Tuesday he is ready to debate Al Gore about global warming as he presented the English version of his latest book that argues environmentalism poses a threat to basic human freedoms.

"I many times tried to talk to have a public exchange of views with him, and he's not too much willing to make such a conversation," Klaus said. "So I'm ready to do it."
Read Story

In a front page story, the Washington Times reports on Disney's failure to sell the DVD of "The Path to 911."


Investor: Disney shelved 9/11 film
By Christian Toto
March 22, 2008


Tom Borelli is so sure the Walt Disney Co. is suppressing the DVD release of the 2006 miniseries "The Path to 9/11" for political reasons that he is ready to put up money to prove the point.

Mr. Borelli, a Disney shareholder, accused Disney CEO Robert Iger at a March 6 shareholders' meeting of blocking the release of "Path" in order to protect Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign and the legacy of her husband's administration. Read more...