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Organizations Warn Congress: Watch Your Back, Sue-and-Settle Is in the Air

April 19, 2021 by Leave a Comment

Behind Biden’s Earth Day announcements and Climate Summit are plans to circumvent legislative jurisdiction and sneak in transformational change. 

WASHINGTON DC (April 19, 2021) – Today, nineteen organizations issued letters to Members of Congress warning of an apparent Biden administration end-run around the legislature to impose the Green New Deal through a regulatory back door, as part of what would be the biggest “sue-and-settle” arrangement ever attempted. The letters were organized by the American Energy Alliance (AEA), the country’s premier pro-consumer, pro-taxpayer, and free-market energy organization.

Pointing to email records obtained from state attorneys general (AGs) by Energy Policy Advocates, over the course of several months a plan was hatched to fundamentally transform the Clean Air Act’s National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) provision into an unrecognizable and never intended framework for economy wide decarbonization – something that has never been authorized by Congress.

The emails show that for two years state AGs and the now-acting head of EPA’s Air & Radiation Office responsible for these rulemakings plotted to litigate this agenda into place. What was then a desperate ploy has turned into “sue-and-settle” with the AGs as partners.

This complicated legal maneuvering away from the democratic process and into the regulatory shadows is driven by the considerable political risk of promoting this agenda openly, the organizations’ letters to House and Senate leaders reads. They also cite the politically catastrophic 2009 cap-and-trade legislation, and failed Green New Deal vote of 2020, as the reason behind extremists’ search for a more discreet, backdoor strategy to sneak a transformational agenda into law.

The letters arrive days before “Earth Day” and President Biden’s international summit on climate change which is expected to announce expensive, ineffective and impossible goals.

AEA President Thomas Pyle made the following statement:

“Affordable energy won at the ballot box, not climate change. We already know the outcomes of Biden’s failed green jobs programs and since extremists can’t trick Congress into pushing through the Green New Deal, they may attempt to go around them. This is their warning.

“The swamp has been refilled and this kind of secretive effort – only revealed via lawsuit – demonstrates the worst elements of Washington DC. Unelected and unaccountable bureaucrats are again cycling through the revolving door of government and special interest groups to circumvent the will of the people all in the name of greater government control.”

View the letter and list of signatories sent to House leaders.

View the letter and list of signatories sent to Senate leaders.

Additional Resources:

For media inquiries please contact:
[email protected]

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The Unregulated Podcast #32: Tom and Mike discuss G-10 Staffers and Climate Conundrums

April 16, 2021 by Leave a Comment

Tom and Mike discuss G-10 staffers and Covid/climate conundrums. Plus the GOP’s three-day climate event, the Clean Future Act, Bloomberg in China, and climate spending.

Links:

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The Unregulated Podcast #31: Tom and Mike Discuss Rob Manfred’s All-Star Error

April 9, 2021 by Leave a Comment

Tom and Mike sit down to discuss the MLB moving the All-Star Game out of Atlanta. Plus, everything is infrastructure, AOC’s take on the border crisis, and Biden makes another error on green jobs.

Links:

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The Unregulated Podcast #30: Tom and Mike Discuss Biden’s First Press Conference and the Infrastructure Bill

March 31, 2021 by Leave a Comment

Tom and Mike sit down to discuss President Biden’s first press conference and the infrastructure bill. They also discuss problems with the Jones Act and the future of the filibuster.

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Ban North Face. Wait, Strike that. Reverse It.

March 26, 2021 by 1 Comment

Sometimes it feels impossible not to get frustrated during this pandemic. 

If you work in the American oil and gas industry and went from a president who is an energy hero to one that’s an energy zero, those times are increasing in frequency. 

According to the 5th annual Global Energy Talent Index (GETI) report, 78 percent of oil and gas employees feel less secure in their jobs than they did a year ago.  Gee, I wonder why.

But ask many of them, knowing what they know now, would they still enter the oil and gas industry for a career if they all had to do it all over again and the answer is a resounding yes. 

So, they feel insecure about their industry but love what they do for a living, even among these challenging times, what are their concerns or frustrations?  

An informal survey of oil and gas industry employees we at AEA conducted points to hypocrisy among the climate elite as one of the most frustrating issues of all. 

Put aside the open hostility of President Biden’s executive orders, they say; it’s the aloof comments from people like White House climate czar John Kerry about the need for the U.S. to cut emissions and for oil and gas workers to get re-educated and relocate to build solar panel as he steps on to his private jet – which is built by and powered by oil – that seems to aggravate them the most.

And it isn’t just politicians, current or former, like Kerry, they find fault with when it comes to hypocrisy, or irony for that matter.  For years, the industry has highlighted environmental protesters who flip on their microphones and loudspeakers (powered by oil and gas), organize their rallies through mobile phone technology and social media (powered by oil and gas), and travel by the busload (powered by oil and gas) to challenge the very industry that got them there (literally.)

The blatant hypocrisy against oil and gas has gone corporate, too.  For years, companies like New Belgium, maker of delicious craft beers such as Fat Tire (at a minimum are delivered by oil and gas), or trendy clothing companies like Patagonia (literally made from petroleum products) have also taken a page from the John Kerry virtue signaling playbook.

North Face, an outdoor recreation clothing maker, delivered a high-profile rejection to Innovex, a Texas-based oilfield service company, when it denied the company the rights to put their logo on an order of four hundred North Face jackets—an employee gift Innovex planned on issuing.  Innovex CEO Steve Rendle fired back at North Face via LinkedIn.

One might think the industry would call for a universal ban of North Face, right?

Instead, one brilliant oil and gas company flipped the script and praised North Face, going so far as to issue them an award. 

Do tell, right?

Chris Wright, President and CEO of Liberty Oilfield, and outdoor enthusiast, took the time to dig through North Face’s online catalogue to discover every product the company sells includes nylon, polyester and polyurethane, all of which come from petroleum. That means North Face is a huge customer of the oil and gas industry, so Wright, along with the Colorado Oil and Gas Association (COGA), issued North Face an “Extraordinary Customer Award” via a safe, social-distanced press conference. Kudos to Shaun Boyd at CBS Denver, one of the largest television news outlets in Colorado, who covered the award and ceremony. 

But petroleum’s lack of appreciation doesn’t stop with the outdoor gear and recreation like North Face or Patagonia, or New Belgium.

The Institute for Energy Research joined Chris Wright and COGA to highlight the enormous contribution oil and gas has made in addressing the coronavirus pandemic. These miracle vaccines would not be possible without the huge contributions of America’s first-in-the-world supplies of oil and natural gas, which are the basis of organic chemistry which in turn makes plastics that are used in the production of vials, screening and protective gear, and thousands of other applications throughout the medical logistics chain.

Hospitals are loaded with protective equipment, syringes, tubing, polypropylene masks, gowns and goggles all made with hydrocarbons. And each item is aimed at helping protect our first responders and patients. Or think about the cooling and filtering of air to keep our doctors and nurses healthy, and to help patients heal. The power for our hospitals is also critical. Hydrocarbons provide 63 percent of electricity nationwide, including power for emergency rooms, urgent care centers, and pharmaceutical production facilities.  The two most common types of back-up generators used for hospitals are natural gas powered and diesel fueled combustion engines.  A full tank of diesel fuel can maintain power for an entire hospital for about 8 hours.  Depending on the size of the hospital and the amount of fuel stored on site, these types of generators can maintain power for at least 24 hours.  

Can you imagine if Pfizer and Moderna could not rely on that power?  Or, if they could not keep their vaccines stored at the necessary cold temperatures to ensure their effectiveness?

Our care providers and patients require ready and reliable access to power the life-saving machines supporting our most vulnerable, regardless of the weather conditions happening outside. 

Lastly, reliable access to affordable transportation is also critical. 95 percent of our transportation fuels – gasoline, diesel and jet fuel – transport all the personnel, component parts and eventually the vaccines themselves.

In short, we’re fortunate as a country to have access to these important fuels to support our life saving medical care and preventative opportunities. 

With their value higher than ever, you’d expect oil and gas workers to be celebrated. Instead, their facing all-time high contempt from the hypocritical climate elite. It’s a frustrating time indeed, but it’s refreshing to see someone like Chris Wright and COGA come in with a new take to a longstanding problem.

For more in depth information, consider listening — The Plugged In Podcast #72: Tom Pyle Speaks to the Colorado Oil and Gas Association.

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A Tax on Carbon is a Tax On Everyone

March 26, 2021 by Leave a Comment

Call it whatever you like, it’s still the most regressive tax imaginable.

WASHINGTON DC (March 26, 2021) – Today, the American Energy Alliance (AEA), the country’s premier pro-consumer, pro-taxpayer, and free-market energy organization, reiterated its opposition to a carbon tax – in any form – in reaction to the news that the American Petroleum Institute has endorsed a “price on carbon.”

AEA President Thomas Pyle issued the following statement:

“Let’s be clear. A price on carbon is a tax on energy. A national energy tax is an easy position for big, multi-national companies to embrace because it gives the federal government what it wants (more tax revenue); attempts to appease the greens (it won’t); and compels customers to pay more in taxes to the federal government in the false hope of avoiding additional future regulations (the progressives have already ruled this out).

“Those who are left out of the conversation are consumers, small businesses, the poor, seniors, and those on fixed incomes – basically everyone.

“I have been advocating for years that the House and Senate should debate and vote on a clean bill to create a federal carbon tax so that the American people can clearly see where their elected representatives stand on this issue. I look forward to a robust public discussion about how the Biden Administration, Congressional Democrats, and big business, including some integrated oil companies, are united in support of imposing the most regressive tax imaginable on American voters.”

Additional Resources:

For media inquiries please contact:
[email protected]

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The Unregulated Podcast #29 Tom and Mike Discuss the Early Days of the Biden Administration with Mandy Gunasekara

March 26, 2021 by Leave a Comment

Tom and Mike discuss the early days of the Biden administration with guest Mandy Gunasekara, the 13 states challenging Biden’s oil leasing ban, and Dana Carvey’s Biden and Fauci impressions.

Links:

“He’s Kind Of A Tough Guy” – Dana Carvey On His Dr. Fauci Impression 

13 states challenge Biden oil leasing plan

Global Energy Inequality Goes Deeper Than Bitcoin 

An SUV packed with 25 people at the border. A horrible crash, an unthinkable toll

Biden clip 1

Biden clip 2

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WSJ Outlines Biden Admin’s Backdoor Climate Agenda

March 19, 2021 by Leave a Comment

The Wall Street Journal published an editorial March 18 discussing the Biden administration’s “backdoor” plan to advance climate regulations. As the editorial outlines, it appears that the Biden EPA plans to use the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) to move forward with climate regulations in order to avoid the political costs of voting on any such regulations in congress. 

Some history

In Massachusetts v. EPA (2007) the Supreme Court ruled that the law’s general definition of the term “pollutant” covered greenhouse gases, but the Court didn’t tell the EPA how to regulate carbon dioxide under the law. This set the stage for the Obama EPA’s endangerment finding, which declared greenhouse gases a threat to public health and welfare. 

In the wake of the endangerment finding, green groups pressured the Obama EPA to include carbon dioxide as a criteria pollutant and to set National Air Ambient Quality Standards for it. Because carbon dioxide doesn’t produce any direct negative effects on public health, Obama EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson advised against the idea of regulating it as a criteria pollutant. Instead, the Obama EPA used its Clean Power Plan to try to force states to reduce emissions from power plants. However, the Clean Power Plan was eventually blocked by the Supreme Court. 

The New Plan

The climate lobby now appears to have a scheme underway by which it will use a replacement ozone rule to regulate carbon dioxide. The Biden administration has tapped Joe Goffman, a former Obama EPA official, to oversee NAAQS as principal deputy assistant administrator of the Office of Air and Radiation. As the Wall Street Journal’s editorial explains:

“Emails obtained by Chris Horner at Energy Policy Advocates, which were shared with us, show Democratic AGs in 2019 consulted Mr. Goffman, then at Harvard Law School, on using the NAAQS to regulate CO2. Mr. Goffman connected the AGs to former EPA officials and environmental attorneys. As his new EPA profile slyly explains, Mr. Goffman at Harvard ‘led a team of attorneys and communications specialists providing information and analysis to stakeholders, government decision-makers and the media.’

Consultants referred by Mr. Goffman told the AGs that regulating CO2 as a criteria pollutant wouldn’t fly. But they proposed using ozone NAAQS as what one called a ‘backdoor.’ Fossil fuel combustion, motor vehicle exhaust and industrial emissions contribute to ozone. So the EPA could make states reduce CO2 emissions by tightening ozone standards. States might have to outlaw natural gas-powered appliances, gas stations and internal combustion engines to meet stricter ozone standards.”

On January 19th, sixteen Democratic AGs challenged the EPA’s current ozone NAAQS in a one paragraph lawsuit that says the current standards are “unlawful, arbitrary and capricious and therefore must be vacated.” With Joe Goffman now in place in Biden’s EPA, it appears their goal is to construct a replacement ozone rule that would provide de facto regulation of carbon dioxide emissions. 

In short, it appears as though Democratic AGs, green groups, and a top EPA official are working in unison to impose the Green New Deal on states through the backdoor because, as the Wall Street Journal puts it, “they know they can’t pass it through the front in Congress.”

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CLEAN Future Act Puts Ratepayers On The Hook For EV Infrastructure

March 18, 2021 by Leave a Comment

In early March, the House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), Environment and Climate Change Subcommittee Chairman Paul Tonko (D-NY) and Energy Subcommittee Chairman Bobby L. Rush (D-IL) introduced the Climate Leadership and Environmental Action for our Nation’s (CLEAN) Future Act. The bill aims to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, with an interim target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 50 percent from 2005 levels no later than 2030.  

Taken as a whole, the bill would impose overbearing regulations on the production of our most reliable energy sources, which would raise costs on energy consumers and destroy jobs in the energy industry. Here, I want to focus on one particular section of the bill that aims at encouraging the deployment of electric vehicle charging stations in the name of environmental justice. Here is the summary language for the relevant section of the CLEAN Future Act:

“Sec. 435. STATE CONSIDERATION OF ELECTRIC VEHICLE CHARGING.

Amends PURPA section 111(d) to require states consider authorizing measures encouraging deployment of electric vehicle charging stations; allowing utilities to recover from ratepayers’ investments that further deployment of electric vehicle charging networks; and excluding from regulation as electric utilities entities selling electricity to the public solely through electric vehicle chargers.”

Under rate-of-return regulation, utilities are allowed to recover their cost to do business and earn a guaranteed return on invested capital. Under this system, there is little incentive for the utility to reduce operating costs. As long as the rate-of-return is above the cost of debt, the rate base can be inflated by spending more capital than is necessary. If passed, the CLEAN Future Act would allow utilities to rate base the construction of electric vehicle charging stations, meaning that the cost of these charging stations will be passed on to utility customers as a whole. 

As we have noted elsewhere, EVs are already heavily subsidized and those subsidies are costly, unnecessary, and unfair. Electric vehicles are mainly subsidized through tax credits, which are the result of the Energy Improvement and Extension Act of 2008 (H.R. 6049) and The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). These provide federal income tax credits for new qualified electric vehicles of up to $7,500. 

According to a report by the Congressional Research Service, the majority of people who claim the electric vehicle tax credit earn a much higher income than the national average. As the report notes:

“In 2016, 57,066 individual taxpayers claimed $375 million in plug-in EV tax credits. EV tax credits are disproportionately claimed by higher-income taxpayers. Most of the tax credits (78%) are claimed by filers with adjusted gross income (AGI) of $100,000 or more, and those filers receive an even higher proportion (83%) of the amount of credits claimed. About 7% of credits claimed, and 8% of the total amount of credits, were on returns where the taxpayer’s AGI exceeded $1 million.”

That same report found, based on estimates provided by the Joint Committee on Taxation, that under current law tax expenditure (forgone revenue) for the plug-in EV tax credit would be $7.5 billion between 2018 and 2022. 

In other words, American taxpayers are already spending billions of dollars to subsidize electric vehicles that are mostly being purchased by high-income earners. On top of that, this new bill would ensure that the costs of building out EV infrastructure will be paid by utility ratepayers in the form of higher electricity prices. This follows a familiar pattern where policies that are enacted in the name of ‘environmental justice’ disproportionately benefit wealthier individuals while the costs are passed on to everyone else.

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The Unregulated #28: Tom and Mike Discuss Biden’s Remarks on the American Rescue Plan

March 17, 2021 by Leave a Comment

Tom and Mike sit down to discuss Biden’s remarks on the American Rescue Plan as well as the Andrew Cuomo scandals and the petition to recall Gavin Newsom.

Links:

Subscribe to AEA’s ‘In The Pipeline” daily energy newsletter

Remarks by President Biden on the American Rescue Plan

Biden Tells the Nation There is Hope After a Devastating Year

Fauci CNN Interview

Gavin Newsom Recall: National Democrats Rally Behind California Governor.

Sens. Schumer and Gillibrand call on Cuomo to resign over the sexual harassment scandal.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo accuser speaks with investigators for 4 hours.

Dingell to propose $4.5 billion annually for electrification infrastructure.

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