Paul Driessen, Author at CFACT

About Paul Driessen

Paul Driessen is senior policy analyst for the Committee For A Constructive Tomorrow (www.CFACT.org) and author of books and articles on energy, environment, climate and human rights issues. PAUL DRIESSEN is senior policy analyst for the Committee For A Constructive Tomorrow (CFACT) and other public policy institutes that promote environmental stewardship, enhanced human health and welfare, and personal liberties and civil rights. He covers climate change, energy and environmental, human rights, corporate social responsibility, sustainable development, and renewable energy issues in articles and research papers, on radio programs and college campuses, and at professional and other conferences. His articles are posted regularly on Townhall.com, WattsUpWithThat.com and many other news and opinion websites and have been published in the Wall Street Journal, Washington Times, Investor's Business Daily, Risk Management, World Commerce Review, American Coal, other periodicals, and Greenhaven Press “Opposing Viewpoints” books used in high schools and colleges His book Eco-Imperialism: Green Power - Black Death documents the harm that environmental policies often have on poor families, by restricting access to life-enhancing modern technologies. It has been published in the United States, Argentina (Spanish), Germany (German), Italy (Italy) and India (English). He also wrote Cracking Big Green: Saving the world from the Save-the-Earth money machine (with Ron Arnold), Miracle Molecule: Carbon dioxide, gas of life, and Climate Hype Exposed.

More fraudulent science from EPA

The EPA is at it again -- using fraudulent science to justify lowering automotive sulfur content from 30 ppm to 10 ppm -- after already reducing the sulfur allowable from 300 to 30 ppm just since 2004. EPA makes the bold, fraudulent claim that the rules will cost consumers less than a penny a gallon. Meanwhile, EPA has doled out $181 million to 15 of its Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee members in grants since 2000, which hardly makes them independent. CFACT's Paul Driessen makes a strong case for ending million-dollar payoffs to advisory groups and much more effective legislative and judiciary oversight of unaccountable government agenices like the EPA.

By Paul Driessen |2014-03-31T14:58:18-04:00March 31st, 2014|Comments Off

Flight of the honeybees’ commercial keepers

Almond lovers must also be bee lovers, and it takes 1.5 million beehives to ensure the annual California almond crop -- 80% of the world's total. But risk, mites, and disease plague hives -- and the convergence of so many bees creates a hotbed of viruses and pathogens. This -- and not neonicotinoid pesticides -- is the most likely threat to bee populations in the U.S. Part 2 will explain this in more detail.

By Paul Driessen |2014-03-25T17:36:56-04:00March 24th, 2014|Comments Off

U.S. electricity system in regulatory and terrorist crosshairs

Nero fiddled while Rome burned, we are told. Will President Obama be playing golf when terrorists attack the U.S. power grid so as to force a massive, multi-state blackout? Or will he and colleagues like Secretary of State Kerry and EPA Administrator McCarthy remain wholly focused on their own efforts to shut down the power grid through regulations and (as they did with BenGhazi and the Fort Hood shooter) refuse even to brand such an act as terrorist?

By Paul Driessen |2014-03-24T12:52:29-04:00March 24th, 2014|1 Comment

Carbon benefits trump costs by up to 500 to 1!

EPA assumes zero benefits from the burning of fossil fuels while proclaiming heavy costs from increased carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere. Now, as Greens push for increasing the alleged "social cost of carbon" from the current 36/ton (up from $22/ton back in 2010) to an astonishing $43/ton, Roger Bezdek and Paul Driessen show that EPA is violating federal law (including Executive Order 12866) by ignoring the massive benefits to society (some $70 trillion in the U.S. alone) from fossil fuels use.

By Paul Driessen |2014-03-25T17:43:07-04:00March 20th, 2014|7 Comments

Will the Supreme Court permit EPA climate fraud?

If the Supreme Court allows this, by giving carte blanche authority to EPA, the battle will rage on countless other fronts, because voters are sick and tired of being lied to, manipulated, defrauded, and forced to pay outrageous prices for oppressive regulations.

By Paul Driessen |2014-03-11T22:33:23-04:00March 11th, 2014|14 Comments

It’s time to move forward on Keystone XL

The truly important decision is President Obama’s. Will Mr. Obama cut through the red tape, and help put our nation back to work? Will there finally be real hope and change, or just more hype and rhetoric? America is waiting.

By Paul Driessen |2014-02-28T23:19:34-05:00February 28th, 2014|2 Comments

Carbon benefits exceed costs by up to 500:1

To justify their steady stream of anti-fossil fuel “climate change prevention” regulations, the Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Energy and other federal agencies have invented the “social cost of carbon” concept. It attaches arbitrary monetary values to the alleged impacts of using hydrocarbons and emitting carbon dioxide – and thereby enables government agencies to say the energy that powers 80% of our U.S. economy imposes enormous costs on society … which expensive, punitive regulations will prevent. However, the entire exercise is arbitrary, of questionable merit and validity, illegal, and even fraudulent. Most ridiculous of all, in violation of an important 1993 executive order, the federal methodology does not even consider one single aspect of the countless benefits that hydrocarbon energy provides to modern societies. In fact, if they considered both costs and benefits of carbon and carbon dioxide, federal officials would find that the benefits of carbon outweigh the costs by as much as 500 to 1!

By Paul Driessen |2014-03-25T17:42:44-04:00February 16th, 2014|3 Comments

The ignorance and hypocrisy behind oil export bans

U.S. oil and gas production was already declining when the 1973 Arab oil embargo sent oil and gasoline prices skyrocketing and created block-long lines at gas stations. Increased domestic production could have eased the supply and price crunch, but the 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill had resulted in congressional leasing and drilling moratoriums on federal offshore and onshore lands. Though it voted 50-49 to build the Alaska pipeline, Congress refused to allow more drilling. Instead, it legislated a 55-mph speed limit, mileage standards for vehicles, and a ban on exporting domestically produced crude oil. The speed limit was eventually lifted, but [...]

By Paul Driessen |2014-02-10T12:01:17-05:00February 10th, 2014|4 Comments

Build the Keystone pipeline, already!

CFACT Senior Policy Analyst Paul Driessen suggests that President Obama's State of the Union address -- in particular, his promise to bring back jobs -- will be meaningless, bloviating nonsense if he does not approve construction of the Keystone Pipeline -- the nation's number one shovel-ready project. The State Department has once again given the pipeline project a green light -- and all but the Greens are on board. It's time to put up or shut up talking about helping the U.S. economy.

By Paul Driessen |2014-02-04T11:34:07-05:00February 3rd, 2014|10 Comments

America in lockdown

CFACT Senior Advisor Paul Driessen documents how the Obama Administration has put the lid on economic growth by locking down oil and gas and minerals production on federal lands and watyers, then imposing heavy burdens on existing and planned operations -- all the while promising jobs creation only through federal subaidies for so-called "clean" energy that in fact has its own downsides (dead eagles and other birds, the need for rare-earth minerals that must come from China since he has locked down U.S. deposits from production, etc.). Moreover, his EPA is on a mad mission to control nearly every aspect of American society. Things must change if the youth of America can rekindle real (rather than false) hope for their future.

By Paul Driessen |2014-02-10T10:38:00-05:00January 26th, 2014|3 Comments

The Iditarod on 12,000 calories a day

This is an amazing story about humans -- and sled dogs -- and their battle against a challenging environment. Something to think about when we complain about the weather.

By Paul Driessen |2014-01-21T11:37:02-05:00January 20th, 2014|3 Comments

Risking lives and property to promote climate change hype

Australian climate professor Chris Turney put the lives of his fellow scientists and a host of Russian seamen at risk by his foolish attempt to "prove" that manmade global warming is destroying the East Antarctic ice sheet. But he is hardly the first arrogant fool to have to be rescued from a botched global warming stunt. Yet Turney and his fellows can point fingers to their colleagues at the EPA and the UN's IPCC as co-conspirators in their doomed adventures. We need to stand up and stop funding this nonsense before someone really gets hurt.

By Paul Driessen |2014-01-10T11:34:55-05:00January 10th, 2014|3 Comments

Lies my President told me

We all know the President lied (or, more favorably, "misspoke") when he said, "If you like your doctor, you will be able to keep your doctor. Period." We know the Administration totally fabricated the story that a silly YouTube video was the reason four Americans died in BenGhazi. So why should we be surprised as real-world data and the uncovering of official mischief demonstrate that the "global warming" (or "climate change") hysteria was built on lies and that the real intent was to create a cause celebre for redistributing the world's wealth?

By Paul Driessen |2013-12-03T02:58:32-05:00December 1st, 2013|16 Comments

A climate of fear, cash, and correctitude

With their heads in the sand, University of Nebraska scientists (sic) are refusing to accept state money to focus on natural causes of climate variation. Driessen and Mitchell suggst they dare not tread far away from the "settled science" that the ONLY notable cause of climate change is human activity -- for fear of getting thrown off the federal government's gravy train. After all, the forebears of today's politicians found Galileo guilty of heresy.

By Paul Driessen |2013-12-05T19:09:46-05:00November 25th, 2013|11 Comments

The REAL costs of EPA’s laws and regulations

Far too often, the rules are based on speculative health and environmental claims, cherry-picked studies, dismissal of analyses that contradict agency assertions, and computer models that reflect unfounded assumptions and agenda-driven rule-making. They often impair our lives, livelihoods, liberties, living standards, life styles and life spans.

By Paul Driessen |2013-10-29T17:55:02-04:00October 29th, 2013|7 Comments