WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released today its 2014 requirements for the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). The proposed rule scales back the ethanol mandate to the 2012 level of 15.2 billion gallons, down from 16.55 billion gallons in 2013. American Energy Alliance President Thomas Pyle released the following statement in response to the announcement:

"The American Energy Alliance welcomes today's better-late-than-never announcement that the EPA will scale back the...

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As we have explained on these pages before, the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) amounts to a massive subsidy for the ethanol industry. By forcing refiners to purchase and blend rising volumes of biofuels, regardless of whether it makes economic sense, the RFS provides ethanol producers guaranteed demand for their product. To protect their mandate, the ethanol industry tries to blame oil companies and refiners to deflect the public away from the fact that the RFS forces the public to buy...
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WASHINGTON -- Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott followed through today on a major campaign promise and introduced a bill to repeal Australia's controversial carbon tax. The carbon tax was a key issue leading up to Australia's Sept. 7 election in which Abbot defeated Labor Party candidate Kevin Rudd. AEA President Thomas Pyle released the following statement in response to Prime Minister Abbot's move:

"The American Energy Alliance welcomes Prime Minister Abbott’s effort to end...

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A recent story in the LA Times explains that government officials at various levels are keen on putting little black boxes in everyone’s vehicle. Civil liberties groups are concerned—and rightly so—about Big Brother being able to track everyone’s movements. Yet even the official reason is ominous: It will allow the government to tally a citizen’s mileage and then send him or her a tax bill. Here are the chilling details:

WASHINGTON — As America's road planners struggle to find...

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All energy sources involve tradeoffs. Ethanol production, for example, requires vast amounts of farmland and additional use of fertilizer can contaminate water supplies. As a new Associated Press investigation uncovered, the environmental tradeoffs associated with ethanol production have intensified as the federal ethanol mandate has expanded. The AP explains:

With the Iowa political caucuses on the horizon in 2007, presidential candidate Barack Obama made homegrown corn a centerpiece of his...

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The EPA recently released updated Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) data showing Renewable Identification Number (RIN) generation for the month of September. A RIN is a 38-digit number assigned to a gallon of ethanol that refiners use to demonstrate compliance with the RFS. The updated data show, once again, that the EPA’s mandate for the use of cellulosic biofuel is woefully out of touch with actual production levels. The 2013 Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) requires that refiners blend 6...
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WASHINGTON -- The American Energy Alliance joined today with over 100 organizations from across the nation in opposition to the wind Production Tax Credit (PTC). The organizations released a letter urging Congress to allow the wind PTC to expire. The letter states:
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The following is IER's response to the National Journal Energy Insiders question, "Is the (Energy) Price Right?" Especially since the breakup of the Soviet Union, Western intellectuals and government officials have acknowledged the flaws in top-down central planning, and have paid lip service to the wonders of a decentralized market process in determining prices and the allocation of resources. Yet as our recent policy debates illustrate, the central planner mentality is alive and well in...
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In a letter to EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy, members of Congress are urging the EPA to reduce the required biofuel volumes under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) for 2014. The letter, signed by more than 150 members from both parties, correctly points out that the RFS is a flawed policy, based on faulty assumptions, that hurts the economy and the environment:

“Unfortunately, despite the best intentions of the RFS, its premise and structure were based on many assumptions that no longer...

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