Oil & Energy News

The first shipment of American crude oil has reached European markets. This comes only a month after Congress took a big step toward a more sensible energy policy by terminating the crude oil export ban. The crude oil export ban, an antiquated and misguided regulation that dated back four decades, had tied the hands of oil…

It’s hard to take seriously an article with a contradictory title such as “The Conservative Case for Solar Subsidies.” The words “subsidies” and “conservative” do not belong in the same sentence together The words “subsidies” and “conservative” do not belong in the same sentence together when discussing energy policy, unless “eliminate” is in the mix….

Emanuel Lutchman was arrested Dec. 30 for his support of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and his planned attack New Year’s Eve in Rochester, N.Y. Authorities said Lutchman, a resident of Rochester, planned to attack a local restaurant/bar armed only with a machete, knives, and supplies to take hostages. This marks the…

Proponents of energy subsides argue that they are necessary for any number of reasons, such as business certainty, to stimulate the economy, to preserve jobs, to combat global warming, to compete internationally, and the like. But in the long run, subsidies actually hurt the very industries they’re supposed to help by disincentivizing innovation and making…

It’s deal-making time in Washington, and as end-of-the-year funding deadlines approach, lawmakers are scrambling to make sure their priorities and pet projects are funded. Policy riders—or statutory language that essentially puts policy parameters around the money Congress intends to spend—have long been an important part of the congressional spending process. A well-known rider, for example,…

The repeal of two costly federal restrictions would lower the price of gas by 31 cents a gallon and save a typical American family $247 per year. One of the restrictions is the ethanol mandate. Officially known as the “Renewable Fuel Standard,” it requires that massive amounts of corn be processed into ethanol, which is…

The House of Representatives recently voted to the lift a decades-long ban on exporting crude oil. Bipartisan legislation introduced in the Senate would do the same. Lifting the ban would generate more jobs for Americans, supply the United States and the world with more affordable energy, and provide important geopolitical benefits for Washington and its…

Critics of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Power Plan say the new regulation will cost up to $292 billion and potentially raise electricity prices in 47 states. “States should be braced to pay higher costs,” said Laura Sheehan, senior vice president for communications for the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity. “Consumers only lose in the Clean…

The House Energy and Commerce Committee has passed a bill to lift America’s decades-long ban on crude oil. Three Democrats joined all of the Republicans in passing the bill out of committee, 31-19. The bill now goes to the full House for passage. The White House opposes the bill, with spokesman Josh Earnest saying: This…

The Department of Energy released its annual Wind Technologies Market Report last week, and the headline is roughly the same as years past: wind is great…and getting greater, but it needs more federal subsidies. In fact, the Department of Energy and the wind industry have all but acknowledged the long-term un-competitiveness of wind. The DOE’s…

Earlier this year, the Young Conservatives for Energy Reform (YCER) co-hosted a “National Security and Energy Independence Reception” on Capitol Hill with the American Wind Energy Association. Four guest speakers, including two current senators, shared one thing: a desire to see continued government subsidization and favoritism in the energy markets. At last week’s annual Young…

After 80 years of exclusive state control, Mexico is finally liberalizing its oil industry. On July 15, the Mexican government began auctioning several shallow water oil blocks on the Gulf coast to investors, both domestic and foreign. Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto has made economic structural reform one of his primary objectives and these first…

No doubt, the recent oil pipeline spill in California is a real mess, but it isn’t the end of the world or a reason to end use of petroleum. In fact, oil spills are not even the worst source of water pollution. The Environmental Protection Agency notes: “In the 2000 National Water Quality Inventory, states…