65 item(s) were returned.
Tesla will not be able to sell their electric cars directly to consumers in Michigan after Governor Rick Snyder signed bipartisan legislation on October 21st that clarifies existing state auto sales laws. Tesla has been fighting with numerous states to maintain their preferred, and successful, business model of selling vehicles directly to consumers, as opposed to the traditional method of selling to franchised dealerships that sell to consumers. The Michigan legislation isn’t unique; forty-eight states have had laws in place for years that ban or limit direct sales of automobiles. In the early years of the auto industry, manufacturers needed… [more]
View Insight
Vice President for Policy Strategy
American Gas Association
There is currently no national standard for dispensing liquefied natural gas (LNG) as a motor fuel. In July, the National Conference of Weights and Measures (NCWM) will consider requiring retail natural gas dispensers to use kilograms as the primary unit of sale for liquefied natural gas (LNG). The same regulators and officials advocating for that approach are encouraging that CNG no longer be sold in gasoline gallon equivalents as well. This would be a drastic departure from the current practice of using diesel gallon equivalents (DGE) for the sale of LNG, since it primarily competes with diesel fuel for trucking.… [more]
View Insight
As the oil boom outgrows the US pipeline network, the oil industry is increasingly using alternatives such as rail to transport crude oil across the country. Between 2008 and 2013, annual crude oil transported by rail in the U.S. grew from 9,500 to 407,761 carloads (about 275 million barrels), according to the Association of American Railroads (AAR). During the same period, a debate about the safety of oil-by-rail has arisen in response to a few high profile accidents and spills, including the Lac-Mégantic derailment in Quebec on July 6th, 2013 that killed 47 people and destroyed half the town. At… [more]
View Insight
Member
U.S. House of Representatives
When we think of environmental policies that impact business, we don’t often think of increased profits. Too often the private sector is positioned at odds with efforts to address environmental issues through state and federal legislation. But alternatives to this false dichotomy exist and it’s important that we identify and act on these opportunities. As an example, let me point to the adjacent ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles, which together make up the busiest container port complex in the Western Hemisphere. Last year, the ports moved the equivalent of nearly 15 million 20-foot-long containers. The ports contribute well… [more]
View Insight
Director, Energy Project
Bipartisan Policy Center
The Bipartisan Policy Center’s (BPC) Energy Project seeks your input as part of a yearlong effort aimed at fostering constructive dialogue and action on reforming the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). BPC commissioned a series of background papers on various RFS topics. The last three papers, summarized below, approach the RFS from the perspectives of policy and law, considering both the Environmental Protection Agency’s authority as well as broader federal regulations. Inventory of Federal Regulations Affecting Biofuels other than the Renewable Fuel Standard [Read here] Van Ness Feldman “Although the RFS has been the key driver in the production and use… [more]
View Insight
Director, Energy Project
Bipartisan Policy Center
The Bipartisan Policy Center’s (BPC) Energy Project seeks your input as part of a yearlong effort aimed at fostering constructive dialogue and action on reforming the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). BPC commissioned a series of background papers on various RFS topics. The first two papers, summarized below, approach the RFS from the standpoint of technology and infrastructure, considering both vehicles and the fuels supply chain. Technical Barriers to the Consumption of Higher Blends of Ethanol [Read here] The International Council on Clean Transportation “Taking all of these studies together, we conclude that vehicles model year 2001 or later can safely… [more]
View Insight
Managing Director, Industrial & Environmental Section
Biotechnology Industry Organization
A recent editorial in the Wall Street Journal, co-signed by Rep. Patrick Meehan (R-Pa.), argues that growing renewable fuel obligations under the federal Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) have come into direct conflict with declining U.S. demand for transportation fuel. The editorial asserts that current fuel distribution infrastructure and automobile engine guidelines limit the amount of ethanol that can be blended into gasoline to 10 percent, creating a “blend wall” beyond which further blending of ethanol becomes economically unreasonable. Meanwhile, in response to high fuel prices, consumers have radically curbed their driving habits and sought out new cars that meet more… [more]
View Insight
A report, “Fuel Choice for American Prosperity,” recently published by the United States Energy Security Council (USESC), a group within the Institute for the Analysis of Global Security (IAGS), identifies challenges facing the United States’ pursuit of energy security. Despite oil imports expected to fall to their lowest level since 1987 (EIA), the total amount of money the U.S. spends on oil imports has increased. If energy security is defined as “reliable supply at an affordable price,” as the report’s authors define, the U.S. has improved the former, but failed to impact global oil prices, which have risen more than… [more]
View Insight
Advisor
Fuel Freedom Foundation
Last week, the Tesla Model S, an electric-powered car, received the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s highest mark in its history of ranking cars. Consumers Reports granted the Tesla Model S ninety-nine out of 100 points in their overall measure of vehicles and Motor Trend magazine named the Model S the 2013 Car of the Year. While Tesla’s increasing appeal may lead the way toward increasing market penetration for electric vehicles (EVs) in the future, real competition, at the present time and for some time to come, will depend upon opening up the present-restrictive gasoline market to alternative fuels, like… [more]
View Insight
The Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), which was recently amended to address numerous criticisms, is again under fire, this time for its potential effect on food prices. The RFS program requires an increasing volume of renewable fuel to be blended into transportation fuel each year and since its implementation in 2005, the US has become the world’s largest producer of ethanol fuel, a corn-based renewable fuel. Yet many RFS critics argue that the mandate is responsible for driving up food prices. The authors of this UC Davis study concluded that “Corn prices were about 30 percent greater between 2006 and 2011… [more]
View Insight