Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said today that windmills off the East Coast could generate enough electricity to replace most, if not all, the coal-fired power plants in the country. “Our report found there’s 1,000 gigawatts of (wind) power … developable off the Atlantic Coast,” Salazar said, according to NorthJersey.com. “That’s the equivalent of the energy from 3,000 medium-sized coal-fired power plants.”
A coal industry group dismissed Salazar's statement as a bit of windy rhetoric and challenged his numbers as being "overly optimistic." Half the nation's electricity currently comes from coal-fired power plants.
Salazar's comments came during the first of four public hearings to be held around the country to discuss how energy resources including oil, gas, wind and waves should be used as the new administration formulates its energy policy. It was held at the Atlantic City Convention Center, whose roof-mounted solar energy panels are the largest in the nation. The second hearing will be held Wednesday at Tulane University followed by hearings in Anchorage (April 14) and San Francisco (April 16).
Senate hearings for Kathleen Sebelius to be confirmed as the Secretary of Health and Human Services began today in the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, a mostly friendly panel for the Kansas governor to face.
Sen. Ted Kennedy, a long-time advocate for health care reform and chair of the committee, kicked off the proceedings by praising Sebelius.
"I’ve benefitted from the best of medicine, but we have too many uninsured Americans. We have sickness care and not health care. We have too much paperwork and bureaucracy. Costs are out of control. But today we have an opportunity like never before to reform health care," Kennedy, who is battling cancer, said. "And we need a secretary of health who has the vision, the skill, and the knowledge to help us get there. Governor Kathleen Sebelius has those traits and more."
Sebelius said in her opening statement that she would fight to achieve one of President Barack Obama's campaign promises and early initiatives.
"Should I be confirmed, health reform would be my mission--as it is the president’s--along with the tremendous responsibility of running this critical department," she said.
But Sebelius also said she would work to improve the Centers For Disease Control and the Food and Drug Administration, which has been much criticized after several disease outbreaks caused by tainted food. (Read about the latest recall of pistachios.)
"As Americans focus more on prevention and leading healthier lifestyles, HHS must live up to its responsibility to protect the public from health risks," Sebelius said. "It is a core responsibility of HHS, through the FDA, to ensure the food we eat and the medications we take are safe."
More and more of us having trouble paying the bills--whether they're from the mortgage, credit cards, or car loans--and it doesn't look like there is a bailout in store for individual consumers. But all of our tough times being talked about in Washington.
The head of the FTC told the House Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection that his agency is trying to protect regular folks, but it needs more funding and more authority.
"The agency has used its traditional consumer protection tools of law enforcement, broad-based research and policy development, and consumer and business outreach to provide important protections for consumers of financial services," FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz said. "However, the Commission must do more. To enable the FTC to perform a greater and more effective role protecting consumers, it recommends changes in the law and resources to enhance its authority to promulgate needed rules, prosecute cases against law violators, and conduct critical research. If given more authority, the Commission certainly will use it to protect consumers."
The Senate hearing focused on one area of personal finance over which the FTC chief said his agency had very little authority: credit cards.
Senators on the Judiciary Subcommittee on Administrative Oversight and the Courts heard about how credit card companies--some of which have taken billion-dollar bailouts from the government--are treating their customers.
"The standard credit card agreement gives the lender the power to bleed their customer through evolving and ever more crafty trick and traps," Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse said. "Under this business model, the lender focuses on squeezing out as much revenue as possible in penalty rates and fees, pushing the customer closer and closer to the edge of bankruptcy."
Whitehouse is sponsoring legislation that would limit interest rates that credit card companies can charge consumers who are in bankruptcy proceedings.
The proposal would change bankruptcy laws to dissolve claims for repayment of debt carrying interest over a certain level, now 18.5 percent, according to the Associated Press. It could affect millions of dollars in claims made by credit card companies from consumers who have filed for bankruptcy protection.
Edward Liddy, the chairman and CEO of AIG, appeared for a House subcommittee hearing Wednesday and was greeted with much of the pent up outrage that politicians--and many Americans--feel toward the troubled insurance giant.
"You know, as far as the American people are concerned, I think AIG now stands for arrogance, incompetence and greed," Rep. Paul Hodes said, summing up the tone of the House Financial Services Capital Markets Subcommittee.
Liddy, who took over at AIG six months ago, did offer some concessions to the Congress. He said that AIG would likely not ask for more government money.
"I do not anticipate asking the federal government for more money," Liddy said. "I would like very very much if we did not have to draw on the $30 billion."
On the topic of millions of dollars in bonuses paid to executives and derivatives traders, the company chief said some employees had already given the money back.
"I have asked the employees of A.I.G. Financial Products to step up and do the right thing," Liddy said. "Specifically, I have asked those who received retention payments of $100,000 or more to return at least half of those payments."
He did repeat the need for the "retention" payments.
"Americans are asking quite simply, Why pay these people anything at all?" Liddy said. "Here's why: I am trying desperately to prevent an uncontrolled collapse of that business."
Liddy also said that officials at the Federal Reserve knew about the bonus payments well before Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner talked about them last weekend.
President Barack Obama commented on the AIG situation as well. He again expressed his anger over the bonuses.
"Obviously, the whole issue of AIG and these bonuses that have been paid out have been consuming a lot of attention--and rightfully so, because they represent what I think all of us consider an inappropriate use of taxpayer funds," Obama said.
But the president tried to move on from the venting of anger to fixing structural problems in the economy.
"What I think is also important and just as outrageous is the fact that we find ourselves in a situation where we're having to clean up after AIG's mess," Obama said. "And so I just had a meeting with my economic team, but also spoke with Chairman Barney Frank of the Financial Services Committee about the importance of giving ourselves tools to prevent ourselves from getting in a situation where an AIG can pose such enormous vulnerabilities to the system as a whole."
The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection held a hearing this week to examine the challenges facing consumers in the used car market.
Chairman Bobby Rush compared the problems plaguing the used car
market to those that imperiled the housing market.
"Evidence suggests
that fraudulent practices with regard to both the condition and
financing of used cars are on the rise," Rush said. "When it comes to
the condition of vehicles, consumers are too often unaware of previous
damage inflicted on the vehicle.”
Last year a lawsuit forced the Department of Justice to develop
a National Motor Vehicle Title Information System (NMVTIS) to provide
consumers with instant access to the salvage history of their potential
vehicle. Only 13 states are taking full advantage of the system, while
14, including California, provide data to the federal government but
bar their citizens from using it as a resource.
The Subcommittee questioned the effectiveness of the Federal
Trade Commission's rulemaking process. The FTC is responsible for the
Used Motor Vehicle Trade Regulation Rule, otherwise known as the Used
Car Rule, which requires to dealers to disclose on a sticker basic
information including whether or not they provide a warranty.
Rush was particularly interested in the effects of the digital
divide, and whether low-income consumers would be able to access and
benefit from the database. As a remedy, Rush suggested that the FTC
include a provision in the Used Car Rule requiring dealers make vehicle
history reports available at the time of sale.
Rush also probed the relationship between dealers and
creditors, which can often burden consumers with higher prices and
unfavorable terms. "Too often the dealership and the creditor work
together to needlessly saddle customers with high interest loans or
exorbitant fees," he said. "Such discretionary practices known as “loan
packing” and “dealer markups” have a disparate impact on people of
color, particularly African American and Latino consumers."
The industry defended the practices as beneficial to "credit-impaired" consumers.
