The conflict with Iran could lead to the construction of an Alaskan natural gas pipeline and export project. One project in the works since 2014 would entail an 810-mile pipeline  to bring natural gas south from wells on the state’s North Slope for liquefaction and shipment to Asian customers. The project is estimated at $44 billion. The effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz and Iranian attacks on Qatari liquefied natural gas (LNG) plants are driving soaring LNG prices in Asia and...

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The U.S. oil blockade on Cuba is contributing to blackouts across the island, with nighttime lighting reduced by as much as 50%. Last year, China provided Cuba with a gigawatt of photovoltaic solar panels. On top of that, Cuba will soon begin installing 5,000 2-kilowatt solar panels donated by China, which has also provided technical advice. According to Belly of the Beast , the panels will be installed in a wide range of locations, and many will not connect to the national grid. Just over...

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Maine may become the first state to ban new data centers, with its House passing legislation that would pause large data center construction until November 2027, applying to projects of at least 20 megawatts. The state wants the time to assess the impact of data center development on the environment and the electricity grid. Maine’s Governor, Janet Mills, supports a freeze. Other blue states, such as California and New York, are looking to block data center construction.

The hysteria...

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American oil executives told Trump administration officials that the energy crisis from the Iran war is likely to get worse — that the disruption to energy flows out of the Strait of Hormuz, where 20% of the world’s oil consumption flows through on its way to markets, would continue to create volatility in global energy markets. The Trump administration has implemented a number of measures to help mitigate the price increase, including a 30-day waiver of sanctions of Russian oil, a ...

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President Trump announced that America First Refining will build a 168,000-barrel-per-day refinery in Brownsville, Texas, a deep-water port with direct rail and sea access, supported by investment from India’s Reliance Industries. The facility — the first new major U.S. refinery project in roughly 50 years — will operate on light shale oil and help reduce the U.S. trade deficit with India by $300 billion . Many Gulf Coast refineries ‌are unable to process light, sweet oil from...

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On Friday, April 3rd, a coalition of twenty organizations dedicated to promoting property rights, free markets, and responsible environmental stewardship, including the Pacific Legal Foundation and the American Energy Alliance, sent a letter to Speaker of the House Mike Johnson and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise. The coalition urged them to pass H.R. 1897, the ESA Amendments Act of 2025. After more than 50 years of failure, it is time to modernize the Endangered Species Act (ESA) to...

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The Trump administration reached a deal with French energy producer TotalEnergies in which it would return almost $1 billion  to end its offshore wind farm projects in the United States. The $928 million reimbursement, which was what TotalEnergies paid for project leases, would instead be invested in U.S. oil and gas projects. According to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, “The era of taxpayers subsidizing unreliable, unaffordable and unsecure energy is officially over, and the era of...

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President Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently announced that it would end the “off-cycle” credit that manufacturers receive for installing engines that automatically turn off when vehicles come to a complete stop and restart when drivers take their feet off the brake pedal or accelerate. The purpose of the stop-start feature is to improve fuel efficiency and reduce carbon emissions in internal combustion engines. In 2012, the Obama EPA instituted a credit  for...

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The conflict with Iran is hitting Europeans very hard because energy prices were already higher there than in other regions due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, U.S. tariffs, European tax and climate policies, and bans/moratoria on fracking. Europe’s industries have faced years of high energy costs, enabling Chinese competition and leading to plant closures. Fears of deindustrialization were already common before the impacts of the Strait of Hormuz closure began to affect the continent....

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In his March 16, 2026, floor speech , Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer accused the Trump administration of fueling an "energy affordability crisis" through canceled clean energy projects and foreign entanglements, particularly the conflict in Iran, which has indeed driven up global oil and gas prices. While the Iran situation has contributed to higher gasoline costs nationwide, Schumer's narrative conveniently sidesteps the deeper, pre-existing drivers of energy unaffordability in many...
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