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Update: See a video recording of the event here OurEneryPolicy.org’s high-level panel discussion, moderated by Chief National Correspondent for the Fox News Channel Jim Angle, and featuring James Connaughton, General James L. Jones, and Timothy Wirth, had an overall tone of optimism for energy policy for next four years and beyond. Here are some event highlights: The panelists saw hydraulic fracturing as presenting an economic, energy security, and emissions reduction opportunity, but agreed that smaller “mom and pop” operations engaging in substandard industry practices could turn public opinion against fracking. However, there is an opportunity for industry leaders, such as… [more]
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Last year, significant growth in natural gas production combined with low demand – due to a warm winter – caused natural gas prices to plummet below US$2 per thousand cubic feet. This benefited consumers, but forced some energy companies to abandon gas drilling programs and put significant pressure on their budgets, most notably Chesapeake Energy Corp. The decade-low prices also facilitated a transition in electric power generators from coal to gas, and in some cases nuclear to gas. However, according to EnergyWire, some analysts, like James Sullivan of Alembic Global Advisors, believe that this short-term electricity fuel transition has maxed… [more]
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A new report from the Bipartisan Policy Center calls for a “National Energy Strategy Council” that would coordinate and oversee the efforts of the multiple federal agencies, such as Energy, Commerce, Defense, and Interior, that generate our national energy policy. Chaired by the Secretary of Energy, the council would be “responsible for leading cross-agency coordination for all major energy-related decisions… and for resolving interagency disputes.” The “energy renaissance” taking place has made such a council all the more important, as opportunities for the economy and national security will be wasted by the current fragmented policy making apparatus, according to the report. The report also calls for… [more]
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NRDC’s recently released report ranks states in two critical areas related to our nation’s continuing addiction to oil: gas price vulnerability – calculated as the percentage of personal income spent on gasoline by the average driver in each state – and state’s adoptions of solutions to reduce oil dependence. The report yields some conclusions: All states are impacted by oil dependence, but some states’ drivers are hit harder economically than others. The top 6 states most vulnerable to gas prices are Mississippi, West Virginia, South Carolina, Kentucky, Oklahoma and Texas, with the average drivers in these states spending 7.3-9% of… [more]
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As the US nears the “fiscal cliff,” the idea of a revenue-neutral carbon “tax swap,” which would see revenue from a carbon tax used to reduce other taxes, while driving innovation in energy efficiency and alternative energy, has been proposed by a number of policymakers and academics. A new report from the Institute for Energy Research argues against the carbon “tax swap,” pointing to technical and pragmatic flaws, such as the probability of emissions “leaking” to other, less regulated regions, like China. A report from MIT, however, found that a carbon tax would have multiple benefits, such as reducing emissions,… [more]
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According to the “World Energy Outlook 2012,” report recently released by the International Energy Agency, the U.S. will overtake Saudi Arabia as the largest global oil producer by 2020, and become a net oil exporter by 2030. The report also predicts that by 2015 the U.S. will surpass Russia as the biggest producer of natural gas. These predicted shifts are driven by the recent increases in U.S. oil and gas production, which were spurred by upstream technology developments like hydraulic fracturing. Fatih Birol, chief economist at IEA, told New York Times, “the agency’s prediction of increasing American self-sufficiency was 55 percent… [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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The burgeoning U.S. shale industry that has helped reduce natural gas prices to record low-levels now may benefit U.S. commuters and the transportation sector. Oxford Catalysts Group Plc and Sundrop Fuels Inc., backed by Chesapeake Energy Corp., are planning to build factories in the U.S. to make more affordable diesel, gasoline and jet fuel from cheap gas. This gas-to-liquids technology has proven successful at locations like Royal Dutch Shell’s Pearl GTL plant in Qatar, where gas feedstock prices are also relatively low. According to Bloomberg, with access to gas at $3.89 per mmBtu, Oxford Catalysts would be able to produce premium… [more]
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A new report from RFF points out that despite the absence of cap-and-trade legislation, the United States is on course to reach the same emissions reduction goal – 17 percent fewer emissions from 2005 levels by 2020 – that would have been mandated under the Waxman–Markey cap-and-trade proposal [H.R. 2454], if it had become law in 2010. The report identified three factors contributing to the emissions reductions projections: Regulations under the Clean Air Act that were set to take effect without cap-and-trade legislation, particularly expected operating performance standards for new and existing stationary sources and vehicle efficiency standards; trends in fuel… [more]
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Proponents of algae biofuels have stressed its low environmental impact, reduced greenhouse gas emissions, reduced dependence on foreign oil, and utilization of marginal lands. However, a recent report from the U.S. National Research Council has found that algae biofuels cannot currently be produced on a large scale without using unsustainable amounts of energy, water, and fertilizer – exactly the kinds of impacts algae biofuel production was intended to avoid. Notwithstanding this, the report’s authors do not write off the technology. Jen Stutsman of the Department of Energy said in a statement “[The] report outlines the need for continued research and… [more]
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