45 item(s) were returned.
Member
U.S. House of Representatives
The United States is blessed with an abundance of natural gas and has been a net exporter since January 2018. Thanks to the Trump Administration’s increased de-regulation, we are reaping the fruits of this expanding energy sector. With this increase in energy production, Congress must make proper investments in infrastructure and effectively reform regulations to aid in the export of liquefied natural gas (LNG). To help accomplish this, I and Congressman Michael Waltz (R-FL-06) have introduced the Small-Scale LNG Access Act (H.R. 1836). Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA) has introduced a Senate companion bill (S. 816), which has two new cosponsors… [more]
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Chair, Energy & Commerce Subcommittee on Environment & Climate Change, U.S. House of Representatives
Co-Chair, Sustainable Energy & Environment Coalition
Americans are living, and dying, in the path of unprecedented flooding, raging wildfires, and battering storms driven by Earth’s changing climate. Regardless of the origins of our predicament, we have inherited these conditions. It falls to us to set aside past disagreements and rise together to meet this challenge through federal climate action. The principles outlined here, and in greater detail at Tonko.house.gov/climate, are meant to provide a framework that moves the lines of our agreement forward and help us build a comprehensive national climate action plan together. This is an appeal to everyone who takes solving the climate crisis… [more]
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Visiting Scholar
American Enterprise Institute
When last we joined hands around the ourenergypolicy.org campfire, roasting s’mores and singing songs of camaraderie, we told tales of one particular monster of the dark, to wit, the Obama administration analysis of the social cost of carbon, perhaps the most dishonest exercise in political arithmetic ever produced by the federal bureaucracy. But this is the Beltway: No perfidy goes unrewarded. And so it is with the SCC, now tailor-made for the justification of rules utterly preposterous. Consider for example the Environmental Protection Agency efficiency rule for medium- and heavy trucks, part of the administration’s climate action plan; EPA has… [more]
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Chair, Energy & Commerce Subcommittee on Environment & Climate Change, U.S. House of Representatives
Co-Chair, Sustainable Energy & Environment Coalition
On a hot day in August 2003, a stretched transmission line tripped after dipping into an overgrown tree in Ohio. Soon after, multiple transmission lines nearby also tripped beginning what would become the second-largest blackout at that time in history, impacting eight Northeastern states and Southern Canada. Since this massive blackout and concerns about grid reliability, power generation in the United States has changed dramatically both in form and quantity. In 2005, Congress recognized the need for mandatory grid reliability standards and expanded the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) authority to regulate the bulk power system. However, despite FERC’s efforts… [more]
View InsightAs midterm elections quickly approach, questions and predictions continue about which energy issues will garner the most attention over the next two years from Congress and other policymakers and influencers. While some new topics have emerged to dominate energy headlines more recently, other issues, such as nuclear waste management, continue to be relevant. Please share your input on what topics require attention from our federal policymakers. [poll id=”3″]
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Chairman of the Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy
U.S. House of Representatives
The House Energy and Commerce Committee recently released a policy paper entitled “Prosperity at Home and Strengthened Allies Abroad – A Global Perspective on Natural Gas Exports.” Over the past year, our committee has analyzed the effects of exporting U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) through a series of hearings and an international forum. This report is the culmination of our efforts, detailing the economic and geopolitical benefits of U.S. LNG exports and outlining the actions necessary to realize them. Through our analysis, we found that LNG exports offer the opportunity for the U.S. to improve the domestic economy while providing… [more]
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Executive Director
The Solar Foundation
There is an investment vehicle available to oil and natural gas development that is not available to renewable energy resource projects. There is a current effort in Congress to change that situation. Most political leaders today claim they support an “all of the above” energy strategy. Yet solar and other renewable energy resources are currently restricted by the lack of access to master limited partnerships (MLPs). MLPs are business structures that are taxed as a partnership, but whose ownership interests are traded like corporate stock on a market. MLPs have the advantage of avoiding double taxation. Projects done through MLPs… [more]
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Legislative Director
Congressman Matt Cartwright
The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) of 1976 requires the safe disposal of solid waste and hazardous materials. In 1980, RCRA was amended to exempt waste from the production and development of oil and natural gas (E&P waste). In 1988, the EPA issued a Regulatory Determination further exempting oil and natural gas producers from RCRA’s most stringent safety requirements. This left the task of regulating disposal of these wastes to states, which they have done to varying degrees. Recent reports show the extent of the problem and highlight the potentially fatal consequences. The regulatory determination was issued before fracking,… [more]
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A recent hearing of the Energy and Power Subcommittee discussed the regulatory, market and legal barriers to exporting Coal and LNG. Critical issues were the length of time associated with the permitting process as well as the economic and climate impacts associated with the exports. Christopher Smith, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary and Acting Assistant Secretary for Fossil Energy at the DOE, testified that most of the foundation has been built and that future approvals should be expedited. Jeff Wright, Director, Office of Energy Projects at FERC, stated that many of the delays experienced were the result of filers submitting incomplete… [more]
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The election is over. What comes next for energy policy? Some environmentalists have already answered that question by planning a demonstration outside the White House to press President Obama to prevent the approval of the Keystone XL pipeline. They’re also likely to push the President on continuing support for renewables and taking concrete action on climate policy. Meanwhile, Jack Gerard, President and CEO of API, offered this take : “Right off the bat, the president can approve the Keystone Pipeline and put thousands of Americans to work immediately. He can acknowledge the effective role states are already playing in regulating… [more]
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