Search anytime by typing below

Thanks for joining the AEA efforts to help combat rising energy prices. We don’t want to bug you that often, so let us know what energy issues interest you, and we’ll keep your inbox happy.

*Please fill in all items

EV Mandates Play To China’s Plans For Global Domination

March 5, 2024 by Leave a Comment

Western carmakers in the United States and Europe have been warning about the threat of Chinese rivals upending their markets. This threat exists because the politicians in these countries have forced automakers to go electric before they were financially and technically ready to do so. President Biden, who has elevated China’s dominant role in the renewable and EV energy markets through his push to reach unrealistic climate goals, called Chinese-made electric vehicles a national security threat and announced that the Commerce Department would open an investigation to assess the impact. The fear is that low-cost electric vehicles made in China, or assembled by Chinese companies in Mexico, could flood the U.S. market. While Chinese carmakers are subject to a Trump-era 25 percent tariff plus a 2.5 percent import duty, assembling those vehicles in Mexico would result in only the 2.5 percent import duty or none at all. Chinese-made electric vehicles are much cheaper than U.S.-made electric vehicles because of low-cost labor and the benefit of availability to parts and minerals that China produces. For example, currently many U.S. manufacturers depend on China for EV battery technology.

THE THREAT IS LOOMING

In February 2024, Chinese auto giant Build Your Dreams (BYD) unveiled a fully electric crossover sport utility vehicle priced at a very low $14,000 to $20,000. The BYD Yuan Up (see below) will be powered by a single electric motor and will be available in three different versions, all of which will deliver 249 miles of range. BYD was able to produce the vehicle by keeping costs down and making many of its own components. This ultra-cheap electric vehicle could very well be the death of the U.S. auto industry. BYD beat Tesla in EV sales in the 4th quarter 2023 and poses a looming threat to EU and U.S. markets as it wants to extend its reach abroad. The company has been scouting locations in Mexico for a factory, from which it would consider exporting cars to the United States. Last year, China became the world’s biggest auto exporter, shipping an estimated 5.26 million domestically made vehicles overseas. Part of that growth came in the electric-vehicle market, where the country sold more than one million China-made electric vehicles overseas.

Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk said Chinese car companies have already had much success outside of China and that they are now the “most competitive” globally. “If there are not trade barriers established, they will pretty much demolish most other car companies in the world.” Clearly, China protects its own companies. In 2021, China restricted the use of Tesla vehicles by military staff and employees of key state-owned companies, saying the car’s cameras record images constantly and obtain data, including when, how and where the vehicles are used. Tesla’s privacy protection policy, however, complies with Chinese laws and regulations and, according to Musk, the company attaches “great importance” to securing user information.

Biden’s investigation will also look at whether internet-enabled vehicles expose Americans’ data to Chinese authorities. “Connected vehicles from China could collect sensitive data about our citizens and our infrastructure and send this data back to the People’s Republic of China,” Biden said in a statement. “These vehicles could be remotely accessed or disabled.” The investigation could lead to restrictions on the use of certain parts in cars in the United States.

According to the Alliance for American Manufacturing, a lobbying group for carmakers, and the United Steelworkers union, cheap Chinese electric vehicles pose an “existential threat” as Chinese rivals are building manufacturing capacity in Mexico to get around the Trump levies. Chinese manufacturers, led by SAIC’s MG and BYD, are about 5 years ahead of the rest of the world in making electric vehicles, and can do it up to 30 percent cheaper, according to investment bank UBS. Interestingly, Biden’s perception of climate change as an “existential threat” is his justification for pushing car sales of electric vehicles to two-thirds of models sold by 2032.

European Carmakers Are Already Feeling the Pressure

While U.S. auto industry has been somewhat insulated by the Trump tariffs, Chinese cars are being sold in the European Union in increasing numbers. For instance, China is making inroads in Germany where EV imports from China have more than tripled in the first quarter 2023 as China controls the lower-priced segment of the world’s EV market. Since EU and US electric vehicles are so much more expensive than internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles, lower-priced Chinese electric models provide individuals looking for personal transportation an electric option amid political opposition to ICE vehicles. EU politicians have decided that electric cars must account for just over 20 percent of the new car market this year, about 80 percent by 2030 and 100 percent by 2035, making China’s entrance with low-cost electric vehicles a market contender.

Last year China sold just over 350,000 sedans and SUVs in Europe, mainly electric ones. SAIC’s MG sold 239,000 vehicles, mainly electric, and BYD sold 16,000. With Hungary seemingly set as its location for EV production for the European market, BYD appears determined to break through the car market currently occupied by legacy EU automakers like Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen while remaining price competitive with its most prominent rival, Tesla.

The European Commission started an investigation into Chinese imports last year, but some manufacturers warn that it may not be enough. According to Luca de Meo, C.E.O. of Renault, governments may need to create a state-backed, pan-continental entity like Airbus to put the brakes on the Chinese threat. Airbus Industrie was set up in 1970 to help Europe compete with airliner market leader Boeing Co. of the United States. It consists of the German-French-Spanish-owned European Aeronautic Defense and Space company with 80 percent interest and Britain’s BAE Systems with 20 percent interest. However, there are probably too many barriers for this to be the solution to protect EU legacy automakers against Chinese competitors.

Biden’s Tailpipe Emission Rule

Even with this existential threat, Biden’s EPA is moving ahead with its tailpipe emissions rule, which is a de facto ban on new gasoline cars. Last year the EPA unveiled proposed emission standards for light-, medium- and heavy-duty vehicles starting with the model year 2027 to accelerate the transition to electric vehicles. Due to criticism from the United Auto Workers Union, EPA backed off on the rate of EV sales required through 2030, but retained the 2032 target, requiring 67 percent of new light-duty vehicle sales and 46 percent of new medium-duty vehicle sales to be electric. According to the American Petroleum Institute, “The mandate would restrict Americans’ freedom to drive how they choose and restrict continued innovation in the automotive sector to one technology primarily sourced from China”.

Biden’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has proposed a new corporate average fuel efficiency standard that has a similar EV sales outcome to that of EPA’s tailpipe emissions rule in 2032. NHTSA is proposing to raise the fuel economy standards for passenger cars at a rate of two percent a year and light trucks at a rate of four percent per year for models with year designations that fall under 2027–31. For heavy-duty pickup trucks and vans with model years 2030–35, the planned increase is 10 percent per year.

Conclusion

Biden’s climate policies are pushing the U.S. manufacturing industries in competition with China where its manufacturers have had years to gear up amid favorable government subsidies. China moved to EV manufacture because of its dependence on foreign oil which made it the largest importer, and because of its control of the supply chains for EV essential parts and minerals.

Because of the speed that President Biden wants to implement his climate agenda, American industry is having a hard time being competitive with Chinese firms. While a Trump-era tariff is currently keeping Chinese-made electric vehicles out of the country, opening a factory in Mexico could mean that low-cost Chinese-made electric vehicles would flood the U.S. car market. And, with Biden’s regulations being a de facto ban on gasoline vehicles, where the United States has a step up from China, it is inevitable that the Chinese will have a major presence in the United States and that taxpayers will again have to rescue the U.S. automotive industry. All this could be avoided with the right policy changes by the Biden administration.

*This article was adapted from content originally published by the Institute for Energy Research.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: , , , , ,

The Unregulated Podcast #171: Learn to Mine

March 1, 2024 by Leave a Comment

On this episode of The Unregulated Podcast Tom Pyle and Mike McKenna discuss shake-ups in the Senate, how the pending spending deal is shaping up, and what recent events in the 2024 presidential race mean for November. Later they are joined by Yaron Brook, Chairman of the Ayn Rand Institute, for a discussion on his recent work and the Biden administration’s relationship with Israel.

Links:

 

Filed Under: Podcast Tagged With: , , , , ,

China Building Factories In Mexico To Cash In On Biden’s EV Mandates

February 23, 2024 by Leave a Comment

BYD, China’s largest EV auto maker, which recently surpassed Tesla as the world’s biggest seller of electric vehicles, is reviewing potential locations for a plant in Mexico that would allow it to bring its low-cost electric vehicles into the United States. Mexico offers close proximity to U.S. markets, relatively low labor costs and the opportunity to take advantage of low or zero tariffs on made-in-Mexico vehicles. Some of the locations BYD is considering are near the U.S. border. At least a dozen Chinese electric-car component suppliers have also announced new factories or added to their existing investments in Mexico in recent years. They are responding to a U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade deal that encourages carmakers in North America to use locally sourced materials.

BYD is looking to expand globally as it has an excess domestic EV inventory. CEOs at rival automakers have warned about the potential threat from China, with some suggesting the need for more government action to avert such competition in the United States as Chinese automakers have a big cost advantage in the electric vehicle market with China’s dominance of the battery supply chain and processing of essential minerals. Through engineering, government subsidies and lower labor costs, BYD and other China-based EV makers have been able to entice customers with stylish and technologically advanced electric vehicles at attractive prices. If China can lock buyers into electric vehicles dependent upon its dominant supply chains, it would strengthen its position as the world’s leading car manufacturer.

BYD’s low-price electric vehicles have gained traction with buyers in places such as Europe and Southeast Asia. Europe, where Chinese EV imports are strong due to their lower price and Europe’s net zero carbon goals, is conducting an investigation into whether China provided subsidies to the industry unfairly, making it more difficult for European EV carmakers to compete. The investigation could result in new tariffs if EU officials find the Chinese companies are receiving unfair subsidies. The Biden administration is monitoring Chinese investment in Mexico amid concerns Chinese businesses could take advantage of North American free-trade agreement rules.

Carlos Tavares, chief executive of Chrysler-parent Stellantis, likened China’s potential entry in the United States to the arrival of the Japanese automakers in the 1970s and South Korean firms in the 1990s, calling their expansion as “very Powerful.” Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk also expressed similar concerns, saying the Chinese companies have already had significant success outside of China and are now the “most competitive” in the world.

Currently, Chinese-built electric vehicles are subject to a 27.5 percent tariff when imported into the United States that is composed of a 2.5 percent tariff that generally applies to imported cars plus an additional 25 percent tariff on Chinese-made cars that was introduced by the Trump administration in 2018. The Biden administration is debating whether to raise tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles further, and the Inflation Reduction Act limits eligibility for a $7,500 consumer tax credit for cars built with batteries made by Chinese companies.

In comparison, cars made at a Chinese-owned factory in Mexico would only be faced with the 2.5 percent tariff upon entering the United States and could possibly pay no tariff if they met stringent standards for local content under the U.S.-Canada-Mexico Agreement adopted in 2020.

Executives at Toyota estimated that Chinese companies had a 25 percent to 30 percent cost advantage over global competitors when manufacturing electric vehicles—more than enough to overcome the small 2.5-percent U.S. tariff. Pushing EV adoption too quickly would serve, however, as an invitation for Chinese EV companies including BYD, Geely and NIO to enter rigorously into the U.S. EV market. President Biden has a goal of electric vehicles making up 50 percent of new car sales by 2030, and his EPA and Department of Transportation have proposed rules that would effectively force electric vehicles to make up two-thirds of new car sales in 2032. The Biden Administration is pushing electric vehicles upon manufacturers and consumers and enticing them with subsidies for vehicles and charging stations.

BYD sees other potential uses for the plant in Mexico, including using it as an export hub for shipping cars to South America or sending batteries and other car parts to the United States. In China, BYD makes many EV parts in-house, including its EV batteries, to reduce costs—advantages it may or may not be able to replicate in Mexico. In North America, the company currently sells electric buses and trucks made at its location in Lancaster, California.

Conclusion

Chinese companies are looking into building EV car factories in Mexico to take advantage of the Mexico-U.S.-Canada trade agreement and avoid hefty tariffs on imports of electric vehicles coming directly from China. In particular, BYD, China’s largest EV automaker that recently surpassed Tesla in sales, is looking at locations in Mexico near the U.S. border. Chinese companies have a 25 to 30 percent cost advantage over U.S. competitors because of dominance in the EV battery supply chain and processing of critical minerals as well as low-cost labor and attractive energy prices. CEOs of U.S. automakers are worried that China could make a serious dent in the EV market as Japan and South Korea have done in the conventional auto market previously. With onerous proposed EV rules by Biden administration agencies on U.S. carmakers, the competition could be disastrous for legacy car makers, who are currently losing vast sums on meeting Biden’s EV goals.

*This article was adapted from content originally published by the Institute for Energy Research.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: , , , , , ,

The Unregulated Podcast #170: Frustration. Anxiety. Discouragement.

February 23, 2024 by Leave a Comment

On this episode of The Unregulated Podcast Tom Pyle and Mike McKenna discuss the growing fatigue of the #TeamBiden and highlights from the world of energy.

Links:

Filed Under: Podcast Tagged With: , , , , ,

Biden Slows, Not Reverses, Unpopular EV Mandates In Election Year Gimmick

February 21, 2024 by Leave a Comment

In a concession to automakers and labor unions during an election year, the Biden administration plans to relax elements of its regulations to limit tailpipe emissions that are designed to get Americans to switch from gas-powered cars to electric vehicles.  Biden’s EPA is planning to give automakers more time to ramp up sales of electric vehicles. The revised regulations would not require a sharp increase in EV sales until after 2030. The final rule is expected to be published by early spring. The auto industry and unionized auto workers backed Biden in the 2020 election but they now worry that Biden’s abrupt transition to electric vehicles would result in a loss of jobs. Further, consumer demand for electric vehicles has been waning, with potential buyers put off mainly by high vehicle prices and associated costs as well as the lack of charging stations.

Last spring, the Environmental Protection Agency proposed the toughest-ever limits on tailpipe emissions, forcing car makers to sell a huge number of zero-emissions vehicles in a relatively short time frame or pay stiff penalties. The EPA designed the proposed regulations so that 67 percent of sales of new cars and light-duty trucks would be all-electric by 2032, up from 7.6 percent in 2023, a radical remaking of the American automobile market. The regulation was designed to match Biden’s goal that 50 percent of new car sales must to be electric by 2030. EPA’s plan for the final regulations, however, is to have electric vehicle sales increase more gradually through 2030 but then to rise sharply.

The change is to mollify automakers who want more time to build a national network of charging stations and to bring down the cost of electric vehicles, and to labor unions that want more time to try to unionize new electric car plants that are opening around the country, particularly in the South. Biden needs auto union backing for this election, which was threatened last spring, when the Environmental Protection Agency proposed the new limits on tailpipe emissions. Soon after, Shawn Fain, president of the United Auto Workers, wrote that the union was withholding its endorsement of Mr. Biden’s re-election bid over “concerns with the electric vehicle transition.” The union has been wary of electric vehicles since they require fewer workers to assemble and many electric vehicle plants are being built in states with few unions. In public comments it filed regarding the proposed rule, the United Auto Workers pressed the Biden administration to relax the compliance timeline so that it “increases stringency more gradually, and occurs over a greater period of time.” In early January, the EPA sent a revised version of its auto emissions rule with the longer time frame to the White House. After receiving it, the United Auto Workers endorsed Mr. Biden. The EPA’s decision was clearly political, rather than based upon science as it had claimed.

Despite a record 1.2 million electric vehicles that were sold in the United States last year, EV growth is slowing, making the nearly tenfold increase in sales within just eight years that EPA regulations would require infeasible. The slowdown in EV sales is to be expected, as the market for early adopters — typically wealthier, coastal urban residents who have bought an electric vehicle as a second car — is saturated.

While buyers of new electric vehicles are eligible for up to $7,500 in federal tax credits, only 18 models are currently eligible for the full credit, down from about two dozen last year. One of those eligible models, the Ford F-150 Lightning, an all-electric pickup truck that once had a waiting list of 200,000, last year saw sales of 24,000, far short of the 150,000 sales projected by Ford. And while construction of EV chargers is expanding, nearly doubling from about 87,000 in 2019 to more than 172,000 last year, more than two million chargers will be needed by 2030 to support the growth in electric vehicles required by the proposed rules.

Auto companies have invested about $146 billion over the past three years in researching and developing electric vehicles. If the regulations as currently defined were implemented, auto companies would face billions of dollars per year in fines if the emissions associated with their auto sales exceed the limits set by the regulators.  These costs are being covered by price increases for vehicles consumers actually want, driving their prices higher.  This is already happening as new car prices have hit record highs. Even non-EV purchasers are paying the price for Biden’s EV dreams.

Source: Cox Automotive

EPA models show that postponing the sharp increase in electric vehicle sales until after 2030 would eliminate roughly the same amount of auto tailpipe emissions as the original proposal by 2055. According to Ali Zaidi, Biden’s senior climate adviser, Biden’s climate policies, combined with record federal investment in renewable energy, would still reach the president’s goal of cutting the country’s greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030.

Conclusion

President Biden is reacting to an election year situation when he decided to slow the push for EV sales required by his regulations because he needs the votes of union members to get reelected. Not only does the EPA have a tailpipe emissions regulation that requires two-thirds of new car sales in 2032 to be electric, but the Department of Transportation’s Corporate Average Fuel Economy proposed standards require the same outcome and will need to be changed in concert with the EPA rule. This clearly shows that both science and safety are no longer relevant to either EPA or the NHTSA, and instead, their decisions are purely political.

Car manufacturers recognize that sales growth in electric vehicles is slowing and that more time is needed for consumers to adjust to the EV transition. Further, for more adoption of electric vehicles, prices need to come down, more charging stations need to be built, vehicle range needs to be improved as well as the battery technology that guides it, and insurance costs need to be more commensurate with those of traditional vehicles.

*This article was adapted from content originally published by the Institute for Energy Research.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Qatar and Mexico Big Winners of Biden’s Attack on American LNG

February 16, 2024 by Leave a Comment

The $2 billion conversion of Mexico’s Energia Costa Azul gas terminal into an LNG export facility will open a new, faster means for U.S. natural gas producers to access Asian gas markets, circumventing the Panama Canal. Costa Azul’s conversion is the first of several gas export projects proposed in Mexico, but President Joe Biden’s recent pause on LNG export approvals casts uncertainty over their timelines and development, as these ventures need Energy Department authorization to ship U.S. gas abroad.

By next year, American natural gas could start flowing by pipeline from the United States to a major export terminal on the Mexican Pacific coast, be converted to LNG and shipped to Asian markets. The new route could cut travel times to Asian nations roughly in half, bypassing the drought-ridden Panama Canal. The U.S. hydraulic fracturing boom has made the United States the world’s largest natural gas producer and exporter and world demand for U.S. natural gas has risen as the world has begun using more gas in power plants, factories and homes, substituting for coal in some cases. Natural gas demand is growing in China, India and Southeast Asian countries.

Mexico’s Energía Costa Azul, located between Baja California’s agave-covered mountains and the Pacific Ocean, was originally operated  as an import facility to supply gas to California and Arizona for electricity production. It is undergoing a $2 billion conversion into an LNG export facility for U.S.-produced gas to be shipped to Asia. It is the first in a network of gas exporting facilities planned along Mexico’s West coast.

Source: New York Times

Last month, the Biden administration paused the approval process for new export-terminal projects in the United States while its Department of Energy considers the effects of gas on greenhouse gas emissions. The pause affects several proposed Mexican LNG projects because they would be exporting U.S. gas. Costa Azul is not affected as it already has its approvals and is mostly complete, following an agreement between President Trump and Mexico’s president in 2020 under the United States-Mexico-Canada (USMCA) trade agreement. If all five planned terminals in Mexico were eventually built and operated at their proposed volumes, Mexico would become the fourth-largest exporter of gas in the world with each terminal theoretically operating for decades.

Besides being closer to Texan gas fields than states along the U.S. West Coast, Mexico’s less arduous environmental rules and cheaper construction costs are some of the reasons these export terminals are being proposed there rather than along the U.S. West Coast where states have opposed them. Mexico will get the investment and jobs instead. The terminals are essentially American as they are mostly owned, operated and supplied by U.S. gas companies. The United States has seven operating LNG export terminals and five more under construction, and is forecast to double its export volumes within the next four years.

Up until recently, tankers could make it through the Panama Canal relatively quickly, and journey times from U.S. Gulf of Mexico export terminals to Asia were reasonable. But drought in Panama has severely curtailed the number of ships passing through the canal each day.

Despite gas being cleaner to burn than oil or coal, environmentalists note that the emissions from liquefying the gas, which is energy intensive, and shipping it long distances around the globe should be considered. Despite that, state and federal officials in Mexico have touted the proposed export terminals as job creators.

Projected demands for gas in Asia have attracted investors from around the world and proposals for new export terminals have proliferated. Well before construction even begins, gas contracts have been signed for deliveries decades into the future.

According to Muthu Chezhian, the C.E.O. of LNG Alliance, a Singaporean company planning to build an export terminal in the Mexican state of Sonora, Biden’s directive has made potential Asian buyers nervous. Previously they had been excited about this LNG project and had felt assured of ample supplies due to nearly a decade of reliable U.S. gas expansion. Biden’s directive, however, sent shock waves through Asian demand markets. Because Chezhian’s project already has Department of Energy approval, there is a good chance it still will be built as long as its investors do not back out or unless it cannot meet a 2028 deadline to start operation. Missing the deadline would require applying for an extension from the Department of Energy, as extensions are also part of Biden’s pause directive.

The biggest proposed export terminal along the Gulf of California, called Mexico Pacific, faces tough odds. It would be roughly 10 times as large as Costa Azul if all its proposed phases were to be built. But while it also has Department of Energy approval, its deadline to start exporting is next year. Since construction takes years and has not yet begun, the project most likely would need to apply for an extension. If all of Mexico Pacific’s proposed phases were to be built, it would be even larger than the largest proposed project on U.S. soil, Venture Global’s CP2 project that caused environmentalists to push Biden into the pause to LNG approvals.

Since LNG projects are enormously expensive and need investment certainty, delays to construction are major problems and could result in huge cost increases. The ripple effects on the global gas market by President Biden’s directive are still shaking out. And it is unclear how long the pause will remain in effect, though some are speculating it will remain until after the election. Because the LNG industry often sells its product through long-term contracts decades in advance, investors are likely to look toward U.S. competitors in the gas market or to current operators in the United States and Mexico that have room for growth. Biden’s pause will help other big LNG producers like Qatar and Australia, placing the United States last. Within the United States and Mexico, projects that have received approval and do not need an extension will see a rush of interest because the unapproved projects will probably have at least a year of delay.

House Bill on LNG

The House of Representatives has a proposed bill to reverse the pause on LNG export approvals. H.R. 7176, Unlocking our Domestic LNG Potential Act of 2024, would give the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, an independent agency, exclusive jurisdiction to approve LNG facilities. The bill is up for a floor vote. House law makers argue that the pause could have deleterious effects on national security and the climate. The bill is sponsored by Rep. August Pfluger (R-Texas) and Democrats Henry Cuellar of Texas and Mary Peltola of Alaska, along with 17 other House Republicans.

The White House has expressed strong opposition to the bill, but stopped short of issuing a veto threat. According to European Commission Executive Vice President Maros Sefcovic, U.S. LNG supplies to Europe will be unaffected for the next few years, but emphasized the U.S.’ responsibility for energy security beyond Europe. Sefcovic said the United States is now the “global guarantor of energy security” and its responsibility goes beyond Europe. Southeast Asia, India, Latin America and Africa need gas supplies to phase out reliance on coal. Biden’s pause directive could result in more coal being burned instead of natural gas.

Conclusion

The world is looking to American natural gas as the United States is now the largest producer and exporter of natural gas due to innovations in production through hydraulic fracturing and directional drilling. LNG export terminals are being constructed in the United States and in Mexico to ship LNG abroad. But President Biden has put a pause on approvals from the Department of Energy (DOE) so that that agency can evaluate the climate impacts of approving such projects.

DOE approvals not only affect the United States but also Mexican export terminals as they are fueled by U.S.-produced gas. Biden’s pause has the world worried and exporters troubled by the length of the delay, increases in costs, and prospective buyers going elsewhere for supplies such as to Qatar and Australia. President Biden is clearly not putting U.S. interests first. The House of Representatives has a bill that would put all approvals on the jurisdiction of FERC, which is an independent agency. The White House opposes the bill, but has not yet said that Biden would veto it.

*This article was adapted from content originally published by the Institute for Energy Research.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: , ,

The Unregulated Podcast #169: This Is Gratuitous

February 16, 2024 by Leave a Comment

On this episode of The Unregulated Podcast Tom Pyle and Mike McKenna go over the recent shake-ups at FERC brought on, in part, by the FOIA requests made by the Institute for Energy Research, and other energy stories in the headlines. Later, Ryan Walters, the Superintendent of Public Instruction of Oklahoma, joins the show for a discussion on the state of American education.

Links:

Filed Under: Podcast Tagged With: , , ,

House Rightly Reverses President Biden’s Harmful Ban on U.S. LNG Facilities

February 15, 2024 by Leave a Comment

WASHINGTON DC (02/15/2024) – Today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 7176, the Unlocking our Domestic LNG Potential Act of 2024 by a vote of 224 – 200. This bill, introduced by Rep. August Pfluger (R-TX), reverses President Biden’s ban on approvals of exports of liquified natural gas (LNG). Increased U.S. exports reduce global emissions, restore U.S. reliability as an energy supplier to our allies, and lower energy prices for American consumers.

Following passage of this legislation, AEA President Thomas Pyle issued the following statement:

“President Biden’s recent decision to side with his base of out-of-touch environmental activists is yet another attack on American consumers and the energy security of our allies. We applaud this effort to reverse one of the administration’s growing list of more than 175 wrongheaded decisions and unlock the energy potential of the U.S. energy industry.”


Additional Resources:

For media inquiries please contact:
[email protected]

Filed Under: Press Releases Tagged With: , , , ,

Key Vote YES on H.R. 7176

February 15, 2024 by Leave a Comment

The American Energy Alliance support H.R. 7176, Unlocking our Domestic LNG Potential Act, which would remove restrictions on approvals of exports of liquified natural gas.

The restrictions targeted for repeal by H.R 7176 are antiquated procedures left over from the days of energy scarcity. Fears that the United States was running out of natural gas prompted special approval requirements for any exports. This is not the world we live in today. Domestic natural gas production has nearly doubled in the last 15 years and the United States has become the world’s leading exporter of LNG. Despite fear-mongering when LNG exports first began a decade an ago, domestic gas prices have not increased as a result of increasing exports, and remain far lower than the highs reached in the 2000’s. Increased export markets have further encouraged investment in domestic production, fueling a virtuous cycle of abundant, affordable energy for Americans, domestic economic growth, and increasing American energy supplies to our friends and allies around the world.

Today these restrictions only serve as political tools. In the early days of LNG exports, the Obama administration used these procedures to unreasonably delay approvals of LNG terminals. Eventually the overwhelming weight of evidence of positive economic, environmental, and national security benefits from LNG exports forced that administration to relent. Recently, the Biden administration has again sought to delay approvals for political reasons.

It is long past time to eliminate these restrictions on LNG exports. Their original justification has long since been superseded by natural gas production growth. The restrictions serve only to increase costs and uncertainty in the LNG industry, undermining domestic economic investment and weakening America’s geopolitical position.

A YES vote on H.R. 7176 is a vote in support of free markets and affordable energy. AEA will include this vote in its American Energy Scorecard.

Filed Under: Scorecard Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

The Unregulated Podcast #168: You Know Who You Are

February 9, 2024 by Leave a Comment

On this episode of The Unregulated Podcast Tom Pyle and Mike McKenna provide a rundown of the the latest deals going down in Congress and the state of EV sales in America. The team are joined by Greg Sindelar, the CEO of the Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF) for a discussion on what’s happening in the great state of Texas.

Links:

Filed Under: Podcast Tagged With: , ,
Previous
Next