Energy & Climate Policy News

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    • Opinion

    Why the Bloom is Off the Environmental Rose for Tesla and Other Electric Vehicles

    Things suddenly aren’t looking so good for what was supposed to be one of the hottest companies in America, namely, Tesla. As Tesla co-founder and CEO Elon Musk tangles with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission over his tweets and with a sales drop-off, the company’s stock price is tanking. Investors are fretting that the…
    Daniel Turner
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    • Opinion

    What Drives Gas Prices Up, and How We Can Steer Them Down

    As Memorial Day kicks off the summer season, hotdogs, cold beers, and pool openings aren’t the only things on the minds of Americans. AAA expects a record 37.6 million Americans to hit the road and drive more than 50 miles for the long weekend, which means gas prices are also on their minds. Nationally, gas…
    Nicolas Loris
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    • News

    ‘It’s Just the Weather’: Meteorologist Fact-Checks Ocasio-Cortez on Climate Change

    Democratic New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez suggested the tornado warning that hit the D.C. area Thursday was part of the “climate crisis” she has previously said humanity only has 12 years left to solve. “The climate crisis is real y’all,” Ocasio-Cortez said on Instagram Thursday, “guess we’re at casual tornadoes in growing regions of the…
    Michael Bastasch
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    • Opinion

    Australia’s Election Shock Shows the Perils of Moralizing Climate Change

    Heading into last Saturday’s election in Australia, Prime Minister Scott Morrison was a dead man walking. Polls showed the left-wing Labor Party pulling away from his conservative Liberal-National Coalition in what newspapers across the globe were calling “The Climate Change Election.” Polls were being thrown around showing that more and more Australians were prioritizing climate…
    Adam Brickley
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    • News

    Democrats Back Bill to Ban Sale of Gas-Powered Cars by 2040

    Democrats will introduce legislation to mandate zero-emissions vehicles make up all new car sales by 2040. The bill is co-sponsored by three Democrats running for president in 2020 who support the Green New Deal. The internal combustion engine has long been a target for environmentalists. Democrats will introduce legislation to completely phase out the use…
    Michael Bastasch
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    • News

    Over 100 House Democrats Demand Extending Billions Worth of Green Energy Subsidies

    More than 100 House Democrats are demanding legislation to extend billions of dollars worth of green tax subsidies to counteract the Trump administration’s energy agenda and to “prepare” the U.S. for global warming. Democrats called for extending tax subsidies for green technologies—including wind turbines, solar panels, electric cars, energy efficiency, biofuels, and energy storage—in a…
    Michael Bastasch
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    • Opinion

    Yes, Babies Are a Better Solution to Climate Change Than the Green New Deal

    One doesn’t bring posters of tauntauns, Aquaman, and President Ronald Reagan riding a velociraptor while firing a submachine gun to the Senate floor without expecting a little bit of controversy. If you are going to poke fun at the prevailing pieties of progressivism on a national stage, a little pushback should be expected. But what…
    Sen. Mike Lee
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    • Opinion

    3 Takeaways From Trump’s Energy Budget Proposal

    We can’t ignore the numbers when talking about the federal budget. Twenty-two trillion dollars in the hole is a scary place to be, and President Donald Trump’s budget proposes some good steps toward climbing up and out. But when we’re talking about the Department of Energy’s budget, there’s a lot more to be said. Congress…
    Katie Tubb
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    • Opinion

    Parents Embroiled in College Scam Gave Democrats Twice as Much as Republicans

    When the college admissions scandal first broke, we opined that this was most likely just the tip of the iceberg and that there was much more to come. We were right.  In the little more than a week since the indictments, during which several civil lawsuits were filed against the universities by former applicants, we…
    Cully Stimson
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    • News

    Obama-Appointed Judge Blocks Wyoming Oil Lease Sale Over ‘Climate Change’

    A federal judge temporarily blocked new oil lease auctions in Wyoming on Tuesday after finding the Department of the Interior “did not sufficiently consider climate change” when proposing the lease sales, The Washington Post reports. Washington, D.C., District Court Judge Rudolph Contreras ruled the government violated federal law and did not fully study the environmental impact of…
    Tim Pearce
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    • Opinion

    Media Touts ‘Clear Sign of Human-Caused Climate Change.’ Here Are the Facts.

    Associated Press reporter Seth Borenstein has made another attempt to convince the public of global warming, but his latest analysis has climate scientists once again refuting his claims. On Tuesday, Borenstein cited AP analysis that found hot temperature records in the U.S. were being broken twice as often as cold temperature records. He concluded that…
    Marc Morano
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    • News

    Ocasio-Cortez Blames Pipeline That Hasn’t Been Built Yet for an Oil Spill

    Democratic New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez blamed the Keystone XL pipeline for leaking about 5,000 barrels of oil in rural South Dakota about two years ago. There’s just one problem: The Keystone XL pipeline has not been built yet. During a House hearing Tuesday, Ocasio-Cortez claimed that “Keystone XL, in particular, had one leak that…
    Michael Bastasch
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    • Opinion

    Congress Should Keep Its Promise to End Energy Subsidies

    As Americans work to file their taxes, Congress is setting to work on a package of expired tax credits this spring to enrich a few energy technologies at the expense of federal taxpayers. Sens. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, and Ron Wyden, D-Ore., of the Senate Finance Committee last week introduced a bill that would retroactively renew…
    Katie Tubb
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    • News

    ‘Terrible Idea’: Michigan’s Democratic Governor Pushes an Enormous Gas Tax Increase

    Democratic Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is proposing what some opponents are calling a draconian gas tax increase to fix the state’s crumbling road infrastructure. Whitmer’s budget proposal will include a 45-cent gas tax increase, which would be phased in over three separate intervals, the governor’s spokeswoman Tiffany Brown told reporters Monday. The rate would begin increasing in October,…
    Chris White
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    • News

    New EPA Chief Implementing Trump’s Energy-Dominant, Environmentally Friendly Agenda

    Andrew Wheeler was confirmed by the Senate last week as administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. Wheeler previously served as deputy administrator before stepping into the role of acting administrator in July 2018. He visited the Conservative Political Action Conference last week and spoke to The Daily Signal. A lightly edited transcript is below. Rob…
    Rob Bluey
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    • News

    Ocasio-Cortez on Climate Change: ‘Is It OK to Still Have Children?’

    Democratic New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez posed a question to her supporters during a streaming conversation from her kitchen Sunday night: “Is it OK to still have children” because of global warming? There is a “[s]cientific consensus that the lives of children are going to be very difficult, and it does lead, I think, young…
    Michael Bastasch
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    • News

    Bernie Sanders Responds to SOTU: Trump Forgot to Mention Climate Change

    Independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders accused President Donald Trump of omitting one “of the most important issues facing our country and the entire world” from the Tuesday State of the Union: climate change. The Vermont senator and self-proclaimed socialist delivered his own response to Trump’s address to the nation after failed gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams delivered the…
    Tim Pearce
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    • Opinion

    We Hear You: Transgender Pronouns, School Discipline, the Russia Probe, and Climate Change

    Editor's note: Many readers admired the high school students who stood up for a teacher who was fired for declining to use male pronouns to refer to a transgender student who was born female. Those comments lead off this week's mailbag. Don't forget to write us at [email protected].—Ken McIntyre Dear Daily Signal: Bless the hearts…
    Ken McIntyre
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    • Opinion

    America’s Christmas Gift to the World: More Energy Freedom

    Over the past few months, Energy Secretary Rick Perry has been delivering an important message to our country’s allies: America’s energy renaissance is your gift, too. As Perry said at the beginning of the year, “The United States is not just exporting energy, we’re exporting freedom.” Now, he’s delivering that message in person. Perry has…
    Katie Tubb
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    • Opinion

    Electric Vehicle Tax Credits Another Form of Corporate Welfare

    If America’s auto manufacturers wrote letters to Santa, it’s not hard to guess what would be high on their lists: retaining the federal tax credit for electric vehicles. For several years now, Uncle Sam (who often acts like Santa’s U.S.-based cousin) has tried to encourage the public to buy electric vehicles by offering those who…
    Ed Feulner
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