The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the Obama administration played “a central role” in encouraging a private equity firm to rescue a struggling refinery in Pennsylvania. This is rather ironic since part of the reason for the refinery’s financial troubles were the Obama administration’s burdensome regulations. Earlier this year, refineries on the East Coast were struggling. Sunoco’s northeast refining business had lost over $900 million over the past three years and was...
Continue Reading...

  Back in May, we posted a critique of a Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD) study that purported to show how ethanol mandates and subsidies had held down gasoline prices for American motorists. We pointed out that despite its fancy bells and regression analysis, the study—which was touted by the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) and other pro-ethanol groups—was based on a simple mistake: It assumed that the conventional refining sector would be exactly the same, with...
Continue Reading...

U.S. Senator Jon Tester (D-Mont.) joined thousands of other Americans in supporting the message of the American Energy Alliance (AEA), which is currently promoting affordable energy and manufacturing jobs in a nation-wide bus tour through major energy producing states. Stooping to sign his name on the AEA Products and Power bus, Sen. Tester encouraged AEA to "keep up the great work." Tester's name is now added alongside other leaders, including Michael Reagan, son of former President Ronald...
Continue Reading...

  We’ve all daydreamed about winning the lottery and imagined what we’d do with the extra cash—buy a home, retire early, donate to charity, upgrade to the Porsche. But in some areas around the country, winning the lottery doesn’t require a ticket from the local 7-Eleven. Farmers and ranchers in states like North Dakota are sitting on top of winning lottery tickets with the right combination of mineral rights and geology. If a company drills for oil on your private land, royalties...
Continue Reading...

  SIGN THE PETITION HERE.  The American Products and Power bus tour finished strong in New Mexico on Thursday with a visit to the Independent Petroleum Association of New Mexico’s annual meeting. The Director of the IPANM, Karin Foster, welcomed the bus tour’s presence at the conference following a speech that highlighted New Mexico’s battle against burdensome regulations that are negatively impacting the energy industry and consumers. As of 2009, more than $7.4 billion dollars of...
Continue Reading...

For years we at the Institute for Energy Research have highlighted the problems with the Obama administration’s corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) mandate. We have written comments to the administration (here and here ) and explained how raising the fuel economy standard will reduce safety, price drivers out of the market, and reduce automobile choice and mobility itself. Today Rep. Darrell Issa, the Chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, released a report entitled...
Continue Reading...

WASHINGTON D.C. -- IER President Thomas Pyle issued the following statement upon today's release of the House Oversight Committee report, entitled "A Dismissal of Safety, Choice, and Cost: The Obama Administration's New Auto Regulations." The investigation -- led by Oversight Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) -- reveals how White House officials misled the American public and circumvented federal agencies in rulemaking for fuel economy standards. According to the report, the administration...
Continue Reading...

The American Products American Power bus tour kicked off in Dallas, TX on Tuesday. Former radio talk show host Michael Reagan spoke to the crowd about the importance of domestic energy production and manufacturing. Mr. Reagan quipped that to meet Californians he has to travel to Texas, because the regulatory environment in California has driven businesses out of the state. Michael Reagan’s dad, the President Ronald Reagan understood that one of the biggest threats to prosperity was an...
Continue Reading...

Despite the recent hearing on massive fraud connected with the Renewables Fuel Standard, the Senate Finance committee has approved the friendly-sounding “Family and Business Tax Cut Certainty Act of 2012.” Among other provisions, the Act would extend the $1/gallon tax credit for biodiesel producers through 2013, a measure estimated to cost $2.1 billion (in forfeited tax receipts) over 10 years. Thus, the government continues to lavish massive support—both with tax credits and outright...

Continue Reading...

  WASHINGTON D.C. — On Tuesday, Aug. 7, the American Energy Alliance will launch a six week bus tour to promote affordable and reliable domestic energy sources, free energy markets, and less burdensome regulations on American job creators. Beginning in Dallas, TX, the "American Products and Power" bus tour will travel through New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Missouri, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Florida, Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Virginia,...
Continue Reading...