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Climate Clashes Resume in Washington

Washington’s climate wars are heating up, with the White House and congressional Republicans both making moves this week that counter the other’s agenda. The Environmental Protection Agency released a report Monday highlighting the economic benefits of cutting carbon emissions, the first in a series of actions the administration is taking this week to bring attention to President Barack Obama ’s climate-change agenda. The focus comes two years after Mr. Obama first laid out his intentions to make acting on climate a legacy of his time in the White House during a speech at Georgetown University on June 25, 2013, where he directed EPA to write regulations cutting carbon emissions from the nation’s power plants, which at 30% are the largest source of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. Other actions this week include a summit at the White House Tuesday linking climate change to public health. Mr. Obama’s climate agenda faces […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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EPA defends controversial biofuels program at Senate hearing

WASHINGTON The U.S. environmental regulator on Thursday defended its handling of the nation’s controversial renewable fuels program at a congressional hearing, the first since its new biofuels targets last month provoked a furor among corn farmers and oil refiners. At the hearing by the Senate subcommittee on regulatory affairs and federal management, U.S. lawmakers criticized the agency for years-long delays to quotas and for last month setting unattainable targets for the amount of corn-based ethanol and other biofuels that must be used in the nation’s motor fuel supply over the next two years. They also questioned the future of the decade-old Renewable Fuels Standards (RFS), which critics say has inflated prices of food and fuel at the pump. The panel will likely increase congressional attention to the pitfalls of the decade-old biofuels policy as it faces a fresh wave of criticism from policymakers, the oil industry and environmentalists. But […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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U.S. House mulls arctic drilling

House committee hears testimony on the wisdom of exploiting the potential reserves held in the arctic waters off the coast of Alaska. Photo by ziggysofi/Shutterstock WASHINGTON, June 17 (UPI) — Drilling offshore, particularly in arctic regions offshore Alaska, won’t do much to wean the United States off foreign oil, a U.S. House committee heard. A House subcommittee on energy resources held an oversight hearing on reserves thought to be in arctic waters and how they could potentially impact U.S. leverage overseas. Sen. John Cornyn , R-Texas, said in early June that moving more domestic oil to the global market could "strengthen the strategic hand of the United States." Michael LeVine, a senior counsel on the Pacific region for advocacy group Oceana, told the House committee that arctic waters alone weren’t enough to protect the U.S. economy from overseas shocks. "Offshore drilling in the United States, particularly in the Arctic […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Peak Oil in the Congressional record

Even the most ardent techno-optimists and economists admit there are limited supplies of fossil fuels, but that we don’t need to worry for a long time. It appears they have succeeded in convincing the government they’re right, because there are only 2 documents about planning for peak oil that I’m aware of at the federal level (several cities have peak oil task force recommendations): Hirsch, R. L., et al. February 2005. Peaking of World Oil Production: Impacts, mitigation, & risk management . Department of Energy. GAO. 2007. Crude oil. Uncertainty about future oil supply makes it important to develop a strategy for addressing a peak and Decline in Oil Production . U.S. Government Accountability Office. Congress is very aware of our energy situation, they just don’t call it “peak oil” very often. You’ll get a lot of hits on “energy security” or “energy crisis” at http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/ The problem is […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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U.S. should ditch ‘outdated’ oil export ban: Harvard

BOSTON The United States must lift an "outdated" ban on oil exports to take full economic and geopolitical advantage of its hydraulic fracturing boom, according to a study by Harvard Business School and Boston Consulting Group released on Wednesday. Lifting the 40 year-old ban imposed after the Arab oil embargo and easing restrictions on liquefied natural gas export terminals would add $23 billion to the economy by 2030, create tens of thousands of jobs, and provide the United States with additional clout overseas, the paper said. "Our energy resources have given the U.S. important new diplomatic tools that can aid allies and counteract the ability of unfriendly countries to use oil and gas access to achieve political aims," according to the research authored by Harvard Business School Professor Michael Porter and Boston Consulting Group’s David Gee and Gregory Pope. "Today, the ban on crude exports … is reducing market […]

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Heitkamp Urges Repeal of Oil Export Ban

U.S. Senator Heidi Heitkamp (ND) Heidi Heitkamp, U.S. Senator from North Dakota is urging lawmakers to repeal a 1970’s era ban on oil exports. Related: Oil Export Ban May Hurt Economy Taking the Senate floor last month, Heitkamp said that the existing restrictions on U.S. oil producers are harming America’s competitiveness. Heitkamp hopes to level the playing field by doing away with restrictions that hinder America’s economic growth and that threaten our long-term goal of becoming energy independent. Not everyone is in favor of lifting the ban, however. Athan Manual, the director of the Lands Protection Program at the Sierra Club, said his biggest concern is how increased oil consumption around the world will impact climate change. “We don’t think we should be exporting global warming, basically, to other countries,” he said. “We think all the countries in the world should do what the U.S. is doing and dramatically […]

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House energy chair supports lifting oil export ban

WASHINGTON The Republican chairman of the House of Representatives’ energy panel on Tuesday said he favored lifting the 40-year-old ban on U.S. oil exports, a move that could boost support for legislation in the chamber. "Oil exports can be a win for the American people and a win for our allies," said Representative Fred Upton of Michigan in prepared remarks at a hearing. Upton’s backing could clear the path for other representatives to support a bill in the House to overturn the trade restriction Congress enacted in the 1970s after the Arab oil embargo. The measure currently has 40 co-sponsors in the 435-member House. Lisa Murkowski, an Alaska Republican who chairs the Senate Energy Committee, introduced a bill to overturn the ban last month. It has 13 co-sponsors, including one Democrat. Oil producers eager to ship to markets in Asia and Europe say the ban would cause a glut […]

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Chevron shareholders vote for political spending

SAN RAMON, Calif., May 28 (UPI) — Chevron’s top executive said the company would vet the shoot down of proposals to spend less on political maneuvering and more on environmental issues. Chevron stockholders voted on 13 items , with just under half of them tied in part to political or environmental issues. More than 70 percent of the shareholders voted against reports on lobbying and nearly all of them voted against an end to using corporate funds for political purposes. On environmental issues, 91 percent voted against a proposal to cut greenhouse gas emissions and 80 percent voted against a move to consider an independent director with environmental expertise. "The board will consider the final voting results carefully," Chairman John Watson said in a statement. Chevron has pressed for expanded options for exports of natural gas produced from domestic U.S. resources. A special permit is required to send liquefied […]

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Senate likely to vote on allowing crude exports in 2015, Hoeven says

WASHINGTON, DC, May 20 Ending the US crude oil export ban will produce such significant energy, economic, and geopolitical benefits that it appears likely to come to a Senate vote during 2015, Energy and Commerce Committee member John Hoeven (D-ND) predicted. “Low prices or high prices, we’ll be in a better place economically if US producers can compete globally,” he said in keynote remarks at a May 20 forum sponsored by the American Council for Capital Formation. “We’ll need the right mix of pipelines, rails, and roads, but it will be a net win for the country and for consumers.” Other speakers at the event, where ACCF released a new report, “ Crude Oil Exports: Economic and Geopolitical Impacts ,” said it’s difficult to determine the White House’s actual stand on the idea of repealing the crude export ban which was imposed 2 years after the 1973 Arab oil […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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What would it take to free U.S. oil exports?

WASHINGTON Lawmakers pushing to repeal the 1970s-era ban on U.S. oil exports face a steep obstacle: The Obama administration sees no need to fully remove the restriction while the country is still importing part of its oil supply. And many politicians are wary of a voter backlash if gasoline prices go up just as they open the door to exports. However, Senator Lisa Murkowski, the Republican head of her chamber’s energy committee, is expected to introduce a bill as soon as Tuesday night that would lift the ban Congress passed in 1975 after the Arab oil embargo created fears of global shortages. While there is plenty of resistance in Congress against lifting the ban, the prospects for a reversal could improve under some of the following conditions: THE US OIL PRICE DROPS FURTHER Mainly because of the U.S. oil glut, domestic crude producers now get about $6 a barrel […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple