The Daily Dig: Killer Beemer Edition

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• The Energy Dept says the US can get 20% of its electricity from wind by 2030. That is, if between 2018 and 2030 we install as much wind power each year as we have in total right now. (EnviroCapital)
• Turns out paying more for airline tickets to buy carbon offsets is a total joke. Quantifying the emissions-reduction potential of those programs is impossible, and it distracts people from doing things like, you know, actually flying less. (NYTimes)
  
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• Airlines took a “pummeling” in the last year, as people simply refused to pay for business or first class seats. To make matters worse, airlines are telling their own employees to fly economy! (LATimes)
• Last week, Obama signed legislation that will drop “helicopter money” on the same home builders who way over-built and helped pave the way to a recession. The kicker? There’s such a surplus of homes, the money won’t even be used to create jobs. (NYTimes)
• Also last week, Sen. Schumer was all up in arms about the Chinese company that planned to build a wind farm in Texas and soak up US stimulus dollars. Well, that company, A-Power, now says it’s going to build a factory. In America. (NYTimes)

• A blogger breaks down the pros and cons of China’s massive infrastructure investments, comparing them to the way American stimulus funds have been used to bail out banks and insurance companies. (Seeking Alpha)
• Bikers are out of control in Philadelphia, wiping out pedestrians left and right. Over the next few weeks, the police will conduct a major crackdown on miscreant cyclists. (Inquirer)
• South Korea is taking the high road on carbon emissions: its government said Tuesday it would adopt a strict emissions-reduction target that would amount to a 30% cut from the expected 2020 level. (WSJ)
• According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, neither Toyota nor BMW make a single one of the 27 safest cars. Chrysler makes four. What? (Jalopnik)