Wind

When last we saw the Murkowski-Manchin energy bill, it was March and the bill was stymied by arguments over amendments.  At the time we dubbed the bill the American Energy Bureaucracy Act, and that description is still apt.  We questioned, and still question, the need for the raft of new programs the bill is pushing.  Indeed, given that the economy is still recovering from the coronavirus shock, new layers of energy bureaucracy are the last thing needed right now.  Talk is now in the...

Hydraulic fracturing has made the United States the top oil and natural gas producer in the world and it has made the nation energy independent for the first time in 62 years. Yet, during stages in the campaign, potential Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and his running mate Kamala Harris advocated a ban on fracking and a ban on drilling, sometimes entirely and sometimes only on federal lands and waters. A recent study shows that banning federal leasing and fracking on public and...

This week the American Energy Alliance released its American Energy Scorecard for the House of Representatives.  The AEA scorecard scores voting and co-sponsorship decisions on legislation affecting energy and environmental policy, educating voters on how their representatives' vote and holding members accountable for those decisions.  This year’s scorecard compiles 18 votes and 2 co-sponsorship decisions from the 116^th Congress.  74 House members achieved a 100% score.

The American...

This week the American Energy Alliance released its American Energy Scorecard for the United States Senate.  The AEA scorecard scores voting and co-sponsorship decisions on legislation affecting energy and environmental policy, educating voters on how their representatives' vote and holding members accountable for those decisions.  This year’s Senate scorecard compiles 23 votes and 1 co-sponsorship decision from the full 6-year terms of the Senators up for reelection in 2020.  15 Senators...

After years of planning, China now dominates the world’s production of new generation batteries that are used in electric vehicles and most portable consumer electronics such as cell phones and laptops. As the demand for electric vehicles grows, it is expected that most of them will be built with Chinese batteries, and most of those batteries will be lithium ion , which are also popular for cellphones and laptops because of their high energy per unit mass relative to other electrical...

On energy, President Donald Trump has Made America Great Again. In 2019, after 62 years, the United States achieved energy independence, meaning that as a nation we produced more energy than we consumed. In 2019, the United States produced more oil and more natural gas than either Russia or Saudi Arabia. In fact, in June 2020, the U.S. actually exported oil to Saudi Arabia! 

The oil and natural gas renaissance came about with the introduction of hydraulic fracturing, which the Obama...

Biden has pledged to stop new drilling on federal lands and waters, which would have severe consequences for the nation’s oil and natural gas industry. A federal ban on drilling would hamper oil and gas production across much of New Mexico, North Dakota and Wyoming—three of the nation’s largest oil and gas producing states, as well as offshore in the Gulf of Mexico, which produces 2.3 million barrels of oil and gas per day. For perspective, the U.S. owns 2.46 billion acres of...

The statements above are an indication that Biden would make it difficult for developers to obtain federal permits to build fossil fuel infrastructure such as pipelines, forcing them to use more expensive,...

Both Biden and Harris have stated that they would ban fracking. Biden indicated that he would ban new hydraulic fracturing in his debate with Bernie Sanders in March 2020, although he would not admit to that declaration when campaigning in Pennsylvania this year. Also, in September 2019 during a CNN town hall event, Kamala Harris said “There is no question I am in favor of banning fracking.” Fracking accounts for about 80 percent  of our abundant and low cost natural gas, used for...

California set its first renewable portfolio standard in 2002 and currently requires 60 percent of its generation to come from renewable energy by 2030 with the next 40 percent of generation to come from zero-carbon sources by 2045. These non-carbon sources will likely be wind, solar, geothermal, and hydropower. California is shuttering its last nuclear plant in the next few years and new nuclear cannot compete economically with these other non-carbon sources.

During a recent heat wave,...