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A recent Congressional Research Service report titled “Rising Gasoline Prices 2012” states that Congress has “limited short term options … to address gasoline prices.” The report identifies six short-run policy options – a Strategic Petroleum Reserve release, a gasoline tax holiday, relaxed fuel specifications, limits on refined gasoline exports, limits on commodities speculation, and diplomatic measures – and concludes that it is unclear “what the price impact of these short term options would be” and that they would involve policy tradeoffs which may include “national security, fiscal, and health priorities.” The report briefly addresses longer-term policy options, i.e. “measures that… [more]
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A paper by researchers at the University of Alberta, Edmonton found that the impact of Canadian oil sands mining, and subsequent land restoration, on carbon release has been significantly underestimated. This is due to the mining process’s destruction of peatland – bogs, swamps, etc. that host partially decayed organic matter – which, when destroyed, releases high levels of carbon. From the paper’s abstract in the Proceedings of the National Academies of Science: “We quantified the wholesale transformation of the boreal landscape by open-pit oil sands mining in Alberta, Canada to evaluate its effect on carbon storage and sequestration. Contrary to… [more]
View InsightSenate Energy & Natural Resources Chairman Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) has introduced the Clean Energy Standard Act of 2012, which would require electric utilities to derive increasing percentages of their supply mix from low-CO2 sources. The bill would take effect in 2015, and would require that by 2035 84% of power from large utilities come from low-CO2 sources. Sources eligible under the legislation include: renewables, such as wind and solar, “qualified” renewable biomass and waste-to-energy, hydropower, natural gas, and nuclear. Facilities with CO2 capture and storage, and some combined heat and power facilities, are also eligible. The bill establishes a market-based… [more]
View Insight“Jobs, the Energy Sector, and Government” February 16th, 2012 Capitol Hill, Washington, DC Opening Remarks: WILLIAM SQUADRON, President, OurEnergyPolicy.org Speakers: KENNETH P. GREEN, Resident Scholar, American Enterprise Institute JIGAR SHAH, CEO, Carbon War Room ROBERT H. TOPEL, Professor, Urban and Labor Economics, Booth School of Business, University of Chicago YOSSIE HOLLANDER (moderator), Founder and Chairman, OurEnergyPolicy.org MR. SQUADRON: Thank you all for coming. There’s still a few people outside coming in, in a little bit of a line, but we should get started, because I know all of you have busy schedules, and we appreciate your taking the… [more]
View InsightPresident Obama sent his requested FY2013 budget to Congress Monday, and requested, among other energy-related items, significant increases to energy R&D, renewable energy investments, and energy efficiency programs. From the request: “In light of the tight discretionary spending caps, this increase in funding is significant and a testament to the importance of innovation and clean energy to the country’s economic future.” Among the energy-related budget requests: $27.2 billion to the Department of Energy, a 3.2% hike over FY2012 $5 billion for DOE’s Office of Science $2.3 billion for DOE’s Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy office – a 29% increase –… [more]
View InsightThe Energy Information Administration (EIA) has lowered its estimates of U.S. natural gas resources. The EIA’s 2012 estimate for total U.S. natural gas is 482 trillion cubic feet, down more than 40% from its 2011 estimate of 827 tcf. [New York Times] Because of increased gas production throughout the U.S., EIA had more data available in making its 2012 estimates. For example, with additional data from increased production throughout the Marcellus shale – a geological formation stretching beneath West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio and New York – EIA adjusted its estimates for the Marcellus to 141 tcf, down nearly 66% from… [more]
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The high-profile and controversial collapse of Solyndra and Beacon Power has led critics to question the integrity and merit of DOE’s loan guarantee program. Energy Secretary Steven Chu was asked to respond to these criticisms before a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on 11/17/11. Rep. Stearns (R-FL), chairman of the subcommittee, said “it is readily apparent that senior officials in the administration put politics before the stewardship of taxpayer dollars” [NYT]. Dr. Chu denied this, arguing that a tough global market was to blame, that struggling loan recipients “got caught in a very, very bad tsunami.” He defended the value… [more]
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