HotAir

HotAirhttps://hotair.com/tags/erika-johnsen/feed/HotAir is the leading conservative blog for breaking news and commentary covering the Biden administration, politics, media, culture, and current elections.en-usWed, 10 Jun 2026 06:29:35 -0400That's all, folks!<![CDATA[Well, this is it, friends — my last post as a full-time blogger for Hot Air, and it is a bittersweet moment if ever there was one.]]>Fri, 27 Jun 2014 16:41:26 -0400<![CDATA[Erika Johnsen]]><![CDATA[Hot Air]]>https://hotair.com/erika-johnsen/2014/06/27/thats-all-folks-n190892Big Ethanol: The RFS can help mitigate gas prices! CBO: The RFS is going to cause higher gas prices.<![CDATA[Well, this is rich.]]>Thu, 26 Jun 2014 20:41:33 -0400<![CDATA[Erika Johnsen]]><![CDATA[biofuels]]><![CDATA[CBO]]><![CDATA[Environmental Protection Agency]]><![CDATA[ethanol]]><![CDATA[Gas Prices]]><![CDATA[Renewable Fuel Standard]]>https://hotair.com/erika-johnsen/2014/06/26/big-ethanol-the-rfs-can-help-mitigate-gas-prices-cbo-the-rfs-is-going-to-cause-higher-gas-prices-n190873Obama on climate change: How about these anti-science conspiracy theorists in Congress, amirite?<![CDATA[This week, the White House officially marked the one-year anniversary of the introduction of President Obama’s Climate Action Plan (and his accompanying grandiloquence, ugh), proudly touting the ostensible progress that the Obama administration has made on combating climate change even without Congress’s eager cooperation. It was the same tack Obama took in a speech to the ready-to-donate League of Conservation Voters last night — but there’s nothing like a little shared derision for Republican-obstructionism-cum-climate-change-“denialism” to really get the party started, via Politico:]]>Thu, 26 Jun 2014 16:41:34 -0400<![CDATA[Erika Johnsen]]><![CDATA[Barack Obama]]><![CDATA[climate alarmism]]><![CDATA[Climate Change]]><![CDATA[Energy]]><![CDATA[Oil and Gas Industry]]><![CDATA[Progressives]]>https://hotair.com/erika-johnsen/2014/06/26/obama-on-climate-change-how-about-these-anti-science-conspiracy-theorists-in-congress-amirite-n190866The EPA reports more lost emails as the House Oversight chair threatens contempt of Congress<![CDATA[If a certain fecal matter had been the only instance of disrepute revealed from within the ranks of the Environmental Protection Agency today, that would have been more than enough; alas… it wasn’t.]]>Wed, 25 Jun 2014 19:21:16 -0400<![CDATA[Erika Johnsen]]><![CDATA[Bureaucracy]]><![CDATA[Darrell Issa]]><![CDATA[Environmental Protection Agency]]><![CDATA[House Oversight Committee]]><![CDATA[Internal Revenue Service]]><![CDATA[Obama administration]]><![CDATA[Transparency]]>https://hotair.com/erika-johnsen/2014/06/25/the-epa-reports-more-lost-emails-as-the-house-oversight-chair-threatens-contempt-n190838The Obama administration ever-so-slightly loosens the U.S. crude oil export ban, sort of<![CDATA[Since the 1970s, energy producers in the United States have been disallowed from exporting crude oil to any country other than Canada — even though refined products like gasoline and diesel do not share those same export restrictions. It’s a policy that has never made much economic sense, and one that in this day and age of fracked abundance we preserve to our own outright economic detriment. The technological revolution that has only recently unlocked our vast underground energy reserves has mercifully landed the long obsolete export ban back on Congress’s docket, but at the glacial pace at which that debate is moving, it’ll be awhile yet before both chambers of Congress actually get around to legislating it — and in the meantime, the Obama administration actually made a tiny gesture this week that might help pave the way to eventually lifting the ban. Via the WSJ:]]>Wed, 25 Jun 2014 15:21:14 -0400<![CDATA[Erika Johnsen]]><![CDATA[crude oil]]><![CDATA[Economy]]><![CDATA[Energy]]><![CDATA[exports]]><![CDATA[fracking]]><![CDATA[Free Trade]]><![CDATA[Middle East]]><![CDATA[United States]]>https://hotair.com/erika-johnsen/2014/06/25/the-obama-administration-ever-so-slightly-loosens-the-u-s-crude-oil-export-ban-sort-of-n190830Make way for the next phase of ObamaCare: Implementing the employer mandate<![CDATA[When the Obama administration, ahem, extralegally delayed the implementation of ObamaCare’s employer mandate — pushing the original deadline for January 2014 back to January 2015 for businesses with 100+ workers, and all the way back to January 2016 for businesses with 50 to 99 workers — they were only delaying the inevitable, and purely for political time bonuses. The rough and costly processes that many businesses are going to have to go through to comply with the law are only just beginning, as the Washington Post mentioned in a report today:]]>Tue, 24 Jun 2014 20:41:41 -0400<![CDATA[Erika Johnsen]]><![CDATA[Economy]]><![CDATA[employer mandate]]><![CDATA[obamacare]]><![CDATA[premiums]]><![CDATA[regulations]]><![CDATA[Subsidies]]>https://hotair.com/erika-johnsen/2014/06/24/make-way-for-the-next-phase-of-obamacare-implementing-the-employer-mandate-n190815Is Venezuela thinking about lifting its longstanding gasoline subsidy? Does it have a choice?<![CDATA[They might be hard-pressed to find bottled water, flour, sugar, or even toilet paper in any of their local shops right now, but the availability of one basic necessity of which Venezuelans feel they are rightfully assured is the extremely cheap gasoline that the government has subsidized for a going rate of about 5 U.S. cents a gallon (which amounts to even less at the “unofficial” rate) for almost two decades. Venezuela has some of the largest oil reserves in the world, and the very idea of getting rid of or cutting back on the subsidy for domestic gasoline sales is pretty much the third rail of Venezuelan politics — its continuation is basically one of the promised pillars of the country’s socialized society. The subsidy costs the government at least $12 billion a year, however, and with the economy in the throes of so much centrally-planned-yet-not-planned turmoil, Nicolas Maduro might be running out of options. As the Financial Times notes:]]>Tue, 24 Jun 2014 18:01:51 -0400<![CDATA[Erika Johnsen]]><![CDATA[currency]]><![CDATA[free market]]><![CDATA[Gas]]><![CDATA[Inflation]]><![CDATA[Nicolas Maduro]]><![CDATA[poverty]]><![CDATA[Socialism]]><![CDATA[Subsidies]]><![CDATA[Venezuela]]>https://hotair.com/erika-johnsen/2014/06/24/is-venezuela-thinking-about-lifting-its-longstanding-gasoline-subsidy-does-it-have-a-choice-n190811House GOP leader-elect Kevin McCarthy: Let the Export-Import Bank die<![CDATA[Wow. Maybe the GOP leadership actually picked up on some of the anti-crony capitalism/corporate welfare sentiment reverberating off of Eric Cantor’s primary defeat after all, because back in 2012, McCarthy voted to reauthorize the Export-Import Bank — but this outright acquiescence to the growing campaign to let the bank’s charter expire for good on September 30th is not going to be a welcome development for a lot of K-Streeters. The relevant Export-Import question comes in just after the six-minute mark:]]>Mon, 23 Jun 2014 19:21:29 -0400<![CDATA[Erika Johnsen]]><![CDATA[cronyism]]><![CDATA[Export-Import Bank]]><![CDATA[free enterprise]]><![CDATA[GOP]]><![CDATA[Kevin McCarthy]]><![CDATA[Subsidies]]>https://hotair.com/erika-johnsen/2014/06/23/house-gop-leader-elect-kevin-mccarthy-let-the-export-import-bank-die-n190753Is Moscow "secretly working with environmentalists to oppose fracking" in Europe?<![CDATA[That’s what the chief of NATO suggested at a conference last week, and frankly, I wouldn’t put it past the Kremlin. Via the Guardian:]]>Mon, 23 Jun 2014 13:21:10 -0400<![CDATA[Erika Johnsen]]><![CDATA[Environmentalism]]><![CDATA[Europe]]><![CDATA[fracking]]><![CDATA[NATO]]><![CDATA[natural gas]]><![CDATA[Russia]]>https://hotair.com/erika-johnsen/2014/06/23/is-moscow-secretly-working-with-environmentalists-to-oppose-fracking-in-europe-n190748Virginia Gov. McAuliffe vetoes legislature's anti-Medicaid expansion amendment, vows to find a way<![CDATA[The White House will be so disappointed. Obama officials were really counting on McAuliffe to make this Medicaid expansion happen in good time, and McAuliffe in turn was really counting on his boozing-and-schmoozing skills to translate into his own made-up version of bipartisan governance. He has so far been remarkably unsuccessful at persuading either Republican legislators or Virginian voters to come around to his way of thinking on the proposed expansion, and there’s been some speculation that McAuliffe might keep up a budget standoff that could lead to the shutdown of the Virginia state government this summer — but the sudden resignation of a Democratic state senator earlier this month gave Republicans the full General-Assembly majority they needed to try to block Medicaid expansion for good. McAuliffe exasperatedly approved most of the state budget this week, but vetoed Republicans’ added anti-Medicaid amendment, via WaPo:]]>Fri, 20 Jun 2014 19:21:30 -0400<![CDATA[Erika Johnsen]]><![CDATA[Budget]]><![CDATA[Medicaid]]><![CDATA[Medicaid expansion]]><![CDATA[obamacare]]><![CDATA[shutdown]]><![CDATA[Terry McAuliffe]]><![CDATA[Virginia]]><![CDATA[White House]]>https://hotair.com/erika-johnsen/2014/06/20/virginia-gov-mcauliffe-vetoes-legislatures-anti-medicaid-expansion-amendment-vows-to-find-a-way-n190710Germany, of all places, is holding back the EU's emissions deal -- and France wants to follow suit for some reason<![CDATA[That’s gotta’ hurt. The Germans’ ambitious Energiewende plan to cut down on nuclear while subsidizing wind and solar was supposed to land them at the head of the Europeans’ green-energy cool-kids table, but their subsequently skyrocketing energy prices cutting into their competitiveness and their reversion to coal-fired power plants has the European Union worried that the Germans might mess up the whole arrangement. Via Bloomberg:]]>Fri, 20 Jun 2014 15:21:25 -0400<![CDATA[Erika Johnsen]]><![CDATA[coal]]><![CDATA[emissions]]><![CDATA[Energy]]><![CDATA[Europe]]><![CDATA[European Union]]><![CDATA[France]]><![CDATA[Germany]]><![CDATA[Green Energy]]><![CDATA[nuclear]]>https://hotair.com/erika-johnsen/2014/06/20/germany-of-all-places-is-holding-back-the-eus-emissions-deal-and-france-wants-to-follow-suit-for-some-reason-n190702Sessions, Upton: HHS "ignores rule of law" with ObamaCare's risk corridor program<![CDATA[The Obama administration is seriously struggling to come up with legal justifications for the risk-corridor program, even though ObamaCare didn’t include language appropriating any funds for the program? …So, what else is new?]]>Thu, 19 Jun 2014 19:21:28 -0400<![CDATA[Erika Johnsen]]><![CDATA[Congress]]><![CDATA[Department of Health and Human Services]]><![CDATA[legal]]><![CDATA[obamacare]]>https://hotair.com/erika-johnsen/2014/06/19/sessions-upton-hhs-ignores-rule-of-law-with-obamacares-risk-corridor-program-n190679Senate Energy Committee clears pro-Keystone XL measure, with Mary Landrieu pointedly leading the charge<![CDATA[In the face of the relentless dillydallying on the part of the Obama administration on the Keystone XL pipeline, Canada went ahead and starting exploring the potential of cutting deals with other markets in Asia — and yesterday, the Canadian government approved their own Northern Gateway pipeline to carry crude from the Alberta oil sands out to the Pacific Ocean for shipment via tankers. There has been some speculation about the possibility of the Obama administration approving the Keystone XL pipeline now that Iraq’s oil output is on seriously unstable footing (although, reality check: The Keystone XL pipeline by itself wouldn’t have enough of an impact on the global oil market to directly mitigate any future disruptions from the Middle East), but I have the gravest doubts that the Obama administration is going to say anything more about the pipeline until after the elections, come what may.]]>Thu, 19 Jun 2014 16:41:52 -0400<![CDATA[Erika Johnsen]]><![CDATA[Canada]]><![CDATA[Democrats]]><![CDATA[Energy]]><![CDATA[keystone XL pipeline]]><![CDATA[Louisiana]]><![CDATA[Mary Landrieu]]><![CDATA[Oil and Gas Industry]]>https://hotair.com/erika-johnsen/2014/06/19/senate-energy-committee-clears-pro-keystone-xl-measure-with-mary-landrieu-leading-the-charge-n190675Report: Obama admin congratulates itself on cutting subsidy-eligible enrollees' premiums by an average of 76 percent<![CDATA[The Department of Health and Human Services took on a quietly triumphant tone in releasing their latest ObamaCare report this week, gladly proclaiming that federal subsidies have helped to offset the prices of premiums paid by eligible ObamaCare enrollees by an average of 76 percent as evidence that ObamaCare is working. Since almost nine out of ten enrollees have been eligible for some amount of assistance, that’s a lotta’ discounts:]]>Wed, 18 Jun 2014 18:41:10 -0400<![CDATA[Erika Johnsen]]><![CDATA[CBO]]><![CDATA[Department of Health and Human Services]]><![CDATA[obamacare]]><![CDATA[premiums]]><![CDATA[Subsidies]]>https://hotair.com/erika-johnsen/2014/06/18/report-obama-admin-congratulates-itself-on-cutting-subsidy-eligible-enrollees-premiums-by-an-average-of-76-percent-n190636Canada just approved its own domestic version of the Keystone XL pipeline<![CDATA[And the exercise in futility that was the eco-radicals’ ludicrous mission to kill the Keystone XL pipeline reaches its inevitable, inglorious zenith. Via the AP:]]>Wed, 18 Jun 2014 15:21:51 -0400<![CDATA[Erika Johnsen]]><![CDATA[Canada]]><![CDATA[Energy]]><![CDATA[Environmentalism]]><![CDATA[keystone XL pipeline]]><![CDATA[pipeline]]>https://hotair.com/erika-johnsen/2014/06/18/canada-just-approved-its-own-domestic-version-of-the-keystone-xl-pipeline-n190632Report: The U.S. is about to become a "titan of unprecedented proportions" in the oil market<![CDATA[And a darn good thing it is, too. The International Energy Agency’s researchers have in previous reports noted that they were counting on an acceleration in oil production from Iraq as a pretty clutch factor in the global formula that determines oil prices; Iraq’s major energy hubs don’t seem to be in any immediate danger, but sans that hoped-for output acceleration or even just with stagnant output, growing global demand could start sending prices upward in a big way — and Iraq is hardly the only traditional supplier struggling with political instability and investment problems.]]>Tue, 17 Jun 2014 20:41:49 -0400<![CDATA[Erika Johnsen]]><![CDATA[Energy]]><![CDATA[exports]]><![CDATA[Middle East]]><![CDATA[oil]]><![CDATA[Oil and Gas Industry]]><![CDATA[OPEC]]><![CDATA[shale]]>https://hotair.com/erika-johnsen/2014/06/17/report-the-u-s-is-about-to-become-a-titan-of-unprecedented-proportions-in-the-oil-market-n190608Russia just cut off Ukraine's natural gas supplies<![CDATA[Even amid the escalating tension, officials from Russia, Ukraine, and the European Union were all huddled together as of Sunday evening still trying to work out some kind of last-minute deal to dissuade Russia from cutting off Ukraine’s gas supplies for the third time since 2006 — but nothing doing. As Keith Johnson at Foreign Policy reported:]]>Tue, 17 Jun 2014 18:41:12 -0400<![CDATA[Erika Johnsen]]><![CDATA[Energy]]><![CDATA[European Union]]><![CDATA[fracking]]><![CDATA[natural gas]]><![CDATA[Russia]]><![CDATA[Ukraine]]><![CDATA[Vladimir Putin]]>https://hotair.com/erika-johnsen/2014/06/17/russia-just-cut-off-ukraines-natural-gas-supplies-n190604Video: "The Kronies," the epic return<![CDATA[Too much of what goes on in our supposedly capitalist system — or, as I vastly prefer to call it, our free-enterprise system — is actually crony capitalism in which well-connected Big Businesses relentlessly seek rents in order to crush the competition through means other than providing a superior good or service, to the detriment of the wider economy. And heck, why shouldn’t they? Big Government enables the rent-seeking by making all of these extracurricular avenues available, and if one business declines to take advantage of them, another one will. There are too many perverse incentives at work to count, and with that in mind, The Kronies are back with their next video to reveal the real state of American “capitalism,” this time by drawing attention to that inglorious bastion of corporate welfare that is the Export-Import Bank.]]>Tue, 17 Jun 2014 16:01:08 -0400<![CDATA[Erika Johnsen]]><![CDATA[Big Government]]><![CDATA[Capitalism]]><![CDATA[crony capitalism]]><![CDATA[Export-Import Bank]]><![CDATA[free enterprise]]><![CDATA[Subsidies]]>https://hotair.com/erika-johnsen/2014/06/17/video-the-kronies-the-epic-return-n190593It's come to this: Venezuelans trying to manage a shortage of... coffins<![CDATA[Cross a mass shortage of basic goods and materials (induced by heavy central planning) with the world’s second-highest murder rate (induced by poverty and the weaksauce rule of law), and what do you get?]]>Mon, 16 Jun 2014 20:41:49 -0400<![CDATA[Erika Johnsen]]><![CDATA[Crime]]><![CDATA[Death]]><![CDATA[Economics]]><![CDATA[Murder]]><![CDATA[Nicolas Maduro]]><![CDATA[Socialism]]><![CDATA[Venezuela]]>https://hotair.com/erika-johnsen/2014/06/16/its-come-to-this-venezuelans-trying-to-manage-a-shortage-of-coffins-n190571Genetically modified super bananas might end up saving millions of lives<![CDATA[Amazing. Via AFP:]]>Mon, 16 Jun 2014 20:01:36 -0400<![CDATA[Erika Johnsen]]><![CDATA[activists]]><![CDATA[Climate Change]]><![CDATA[disease]]><![CDATA[food]]><![CDATA[Progressives]]>https://hotair.com/erika-johnsen/2014/06/16/genetically-modified-super-bananas-might-end-up-saving-millions-of-lives-n190578