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Next week, Advanced Energy Economy (AEE)—a group co-founded by billionaire environmental activist Tom Steyer—will host its annual event titled “Pathway to 2050.” The name of this conference is in reference to California’s renewable energy mandate that requires the state generate 50 percent of its electricity from renewable sources by the year 2050. California already has high electricity rates and rates are only going to increase. California already has high electricity rates...
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The House will soon vote on the FY 2017 Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations bill. The underlying legislation is a step forward and includes several promising policy provisions. Two amendments provide significant improvements to the bill. One amendment, offered by Rep. Boustany, will further improve the bill by blocking funds from being used to implement the Administration’s proposed offshore well control rule. Another, offered by Rep. Ratcliffe , will prohibit...
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Today, the House will vote on H.R. 4768, the Separation of Powers Restoration Act (SOPRA). This bill will reel in the power of executive agencies and marks an much needed step towards regulatory reform. The American Energy Alliance supports H.R. 4768 and urges all Representatives vote YES. In Chevron v. NRDC , the Supreme Court held that courts should defer to agencies for the interpretation of statutes unless the agency’s interpretations were unreasonable. Known as “Chevron...
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On April 11^th, Chris Mooney and Juliet Eilperin of the Washington Post wrote that the Paris Climate agreement could enter into effect earlier than many think. But now, more than two months after their article, only 17 countries which represent only 0.04 percent of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions have officially ratified the Paris agreement. In the PR campaign for the run-up to the signing ceremony for the Paris agreement, it sounded like more countries would quickly move to...
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Truly great films have a way of transcending time and place, and certain characters and scenes have a way of popping up in our memories years after we see them. One such character is the warrant-wielding EPA lawyer Walter Peck from the 1984 film Ghostbusters, a character so despised that the actor playing him was allegedly harassed in public on more than one occasion. Indeed, Peck shined with such a brilliant, bothersome presence that each new run-in I have with a pointy-headed bureaucrat...
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This letter originally appeared in The Hill's Congress Blog.

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As early as this week, Members of the House of Representatives will face a very simple choice: support a tax that will make everyday life harder for their constituents, or take a stand for the American people and reject any new energy taxes. That’s the choice offered by a resolution from Majority Whip Steve Scalise, which opposes any carbon tax proposals and expresses the sense of Congress that a carbon tax would be...
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A recent Utility Dive article examines how the wind industry might cope without the wind Production Tax Credit (PTC), which is designated to expire in five years. The wind PTC is a subsidy that pays wind producers a significant sum just for producing wind energy. The Institute for Energy Research (IER) has outlined the ill effects of this subsidy here . In the Utility Dive Article, incoming American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) board chair and current president of Vestas Americas, Chris...
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At the College of Marin, located a few miles north of San Francisco, it would be foolish to take a class in finance. Tesla is receiving $5.3 million in state and utility incentives to install a battery array on campus to save at most $150,000 a year. The Marin Independent Journal explains:

Tesla will get $5.3 million in state and utility incentives and rebates covering site preparation, installation of lithium-ion battery packs, a liquid thermal control system, and software commanded by a...

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In an unexpected turn of events, the DC Circuit independently decided that the entire circuit court panel (11 judges) should hear the challenge to Obama’s carbon rule. The practical effect is that oral argument will delayed from June 2 until late September. For all intents and purposes, this is positive news for the challengers and should encourage states to safely put their pencils down if they haven’t already. Initially, both sides had viewed expedited review of the case positively....
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