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Assistant Secretary of Energy Cathy Zoi said Thursday that the U.S. Department of Energy has a “mandate” to issue regulations to determine what household appliances are available to Americans in the future. Assistant Secretary of Energy Cathy Zoi (CNSNews.com photo/Penny Starr) Speaking at the inaugural meeting of the recently reestablished Secretary of Energy Advisory Board (SEAB), Zoi pointed to four tactics the Obama administration intended use to advance the “deployment of clean energy.” The first three were government subsidies for private-sector green energy projects, special tax incentives for green energy projects and low-interest government-backed loans for green energy projects.“The fourth one, which...

From Tuesday’s Energy & Environment Daily story, “Lawmaker ownership in BP, Transocean, Halliburton stirs controversy” (subscription required): At least two dozen lawmakers own investments in the three companies tied to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill as Congress investigates the disaster and considers reforms. “This is a serious conflict of interest,” said Craig Holman, government affairs lobbyist for Public Citizen, a watchdog group. “Only Congress exempts [itself] from this type of conflict of interest. “They should not be making decisions that affect their own personal well-being,” Holman added.

Conflicts Of Interest: Supporters of suspending California's climate-change law submit signatures for a November ballot initiative. Among the initiatives' opponents is an administration energy official who stands to profit from its defeat. Opponents of California's draconian global warming law, Assembly Bill 32, on Monday submitted 800,000 signatures, almost double the amount required, to put an initiative to suspend the law on the November ballot. They believe, as we do, that AB32 will, when implemented, cost California, a state with 12.6% unemployment, more jobs in an already bleak economy, while raising energy prices and driving away more business with its unfriendly...

Following up on last week's post about President Obama's weatherization czarina Cathy Zoi and her conflicts of interest, which was featured on John Stossel's show, yesterday Glenn Beck gave it his own special treatment. [Link to video]

Al Gore’s campaign against global warming is shifting into high gear. Reporters and commentators follow his every move and bombard the public with notice of his activities and opinions. But while the mainstream media promote his ideas about the state of planet Earth, they are mostly silent about the dramatic impact his economic proposals would have on America. And journalists routinely ignore evidence that he may personally benefit from his programs. Would the romance fizzle if Gore’s followers realized how much their man stands to gain? Earlier this year Gore experienced a notable public relations debacle. The Tennessee Center for...