Energy & Climate Change Policy News

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  • opinion

    The Facts Show Louisiana’s Floods Not Caused by Man-Made Climate Change
    Is man-made global warming to blame for the heavy rainfall and flooding in Louisiana? Former Vice President Al Gore sure thinks so. And The New York Times ran a story with the title “Flooding in the South Looks a Lot Like Climate Change.” But the climate research suggests otherwise. Speaking in Houston to train more…
    Nicolas Loris
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  • opinion

    Why Low Oil Prices Might Increase Economic Freedom in the Persian Gulf
    The recent decline in oil prices has squeezed the finances of nations whose economies are dependent on oil exports. Even wealthy producers such as Qatar and Saudi Arabia have been forced to cut government spending significantly. Although that means their citizens will receive less free stuff from the state, it just might lead to more…
    Owen Morgan | James M. Roberts
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  • opinion

    Consumers Pay Because Regulators Allow Natural Gas Use at This Solar Plant
    Consumers are getting burned by a taxpayer-subsidized solar power plant in California’s Mojave Desert. An immensely wealthy consortium owns the plant. Government regulators approved a contract forcing consumers to pay four to five times the going rate for electricity produced by the plant. And the energy, because of an inordinate use of gas, turns out…
    Reece Brown | David Kreutzer
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  • news

    Secret Deal Among AGs to Prosecute Climate Change ‘Deniers’ Challenged in Court
    By signing a “secrecy pact” with fellow Democrat attorneys general preparing to prosecute climate change skeptics, Rhode Island’s top law enforcement officer jeopardized free speech rights and government transparency laws, according to two legal organizations that have taken him to court. "They sought to write themselves out from open records laws their legislatures saw fit…
    Kevin Mooney
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  • opinion

    A Workable Blueprint for Energy Freedom
    “Keep it in the ground.” That mantra of the Greens encapsulates the restrictive energy policies imposed by the Obama administration. But there’s a better approach: one that relies on the ingenuity of free enterprise to produce abundant, reliable, and affordable energy for all. That approach, rather than the restrictive, bureaucratically directed model favored by the…
    Nicolas Loris
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  • news

    Senate Liberals, Targeting Climate Change ‘Deniers,’ Demand to Know Donors to 22 Think Tanks
    Some of the Senate’s most liberal Democrats, demanding that 22 national and state-based think tanks disclose their donors, disparaged them as being part of a network of free-market policy organizations the senators accuse of “laundering” identities while denying climate change exists. The existence of the conservative and libertarian policy research and education organizations, Senate Minority…
    Kevin Mooney
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  • opinion

    What If the Government Actually Banned Coal, Oil, and Natural Gas?
    Xiuhtezcatl Martinez is not your typical teenager. The 16-year-old hip-hop artist and global warming activist with the nonprofit Earth Guardians has been dubbed the “anti-Bieber.” He “rallies supporters of every age and creed through school presentations, his unique brand of eco hip-hop, and heartfelt speeches,” according to the Natural Resources Defense Council. Xiuhtezcatl, from Boulder, Colorado,…
    Elayne Allen | Katie Tubb
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  • opinion

    These Climate Change Regulations Will Increase Your Electric Bill  
    Amid the summer heat, American households are thankful for affordable, reliable air conditioning. But the Obama administration’s war on coal is going to drive up energy prices for families who want to keep cool in the summer and stay warm in the winter. A recent study by Heritage Foundation economists estimates that the administration’s regulations…
    Elayne Allen | Nicolas Loris
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  • news

    ISIS or Climate Change: Which Worries Democrats More?
    PHILADELPHIA—As delegates and other attendees came and went outside the Democratic National Convention, The Daily Signal asked some of them what issue they are more concerned about this election season—climate change or the threat of terrorism. Here’s what they had to say.
    Kelsey Bolar
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  • opinion

    You Could Pay More to Fly Under This EPA Climate Change Rule
    Flying used to be a luxury only the rich could afford. Advances in the airline industry making travel more efficient and affordable have expanded the mobility of hundreds of millions of Americans. But a decision by the Environmental Protection Agency is likely to take air travel backward. The EPA on Monday released a final “endangerment…
    Katie Tubb
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  • news

    Lawyers Make Millions Off Taxpayers, Endangered Species Act as Ranchers Try to Live With Rare Bird
    Feathers are flying over whether the federal government is overprotecting a rare bird in Colorado, in what critics grouse is an example of lawyers making millions while abusing the Endangered Species Act. Trial lawyers who collect taxpayer-funded fees under the law file so many suits that they undermine local conservation efforts in Western states, according…
    Kevin Mooney
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  • opinion

    The Left’s Climate Change Hysteria
    In the latest bout of political theater, 19 congressional Democrats took the stage of the Senate floor Tuesday to attack free-market organizations for allegedly spinning a “web of denial” on global warming. Casting the right to free speech aside, the senators are spinning a web of climate hysteria and economic illiteracy. Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va.,…
    Nicolas Loris
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  • opinion

    The Lifting of This Oil Ban Could Add 800,000 New Jobs
    Since Congress lifted the long-standing ban on crude oil exports, U.S. companies are taking advantage and Americans are reaping the benefits. This example shows how free market reforms can transform the energy sector and provide a massive boon to consumers. In June, CNN reported that the U.S. reached a sevenfold increase in oil exports to…
    Nicolas Loris | Elayne Allen
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  • news

    House Science Panel Turns Up Heat on State AGs Over Ties to Climate Change Activists
    House Republicans are pressing efforts to safeguard the First Amendment rights of scientific skeptics who dissent from what they consider the Obama administration’s alarmist position on climate change, according to letters to 17 state attorneys general. The series of letters, sent Friday and signed by 17 of the 22 Republican members of the House Science,…
    Kevin Mooney
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  • news

    Rand Paul Waste Report Highlights $25 Million Climate Change Project
    Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., outlined the federal government’s decision to fund a multimillion-dollar Philippines disaster preparation project in a new edition of The Waste Report. According to the report titled, “Rising Tide of Waste in the Philippines,” “the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) plans to invest as much as $24.7 million as part…
    Faith Vander Voort
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  • news

    Virgin Islands AG Withdraws Climate Change Subpoena Against Think Tank
    The U.S. Virgin Islands attorney general has revoked his subpoena of the free market think tank Competitive Enterprise Institute as part of an investigation into ExxonMobil Corp. and the energy company’s research about climate change. Claude E. Walker, the the Virgin Islands attorney general, is one of a 17-member network of state attorneys general who…
    Josh Siegel
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  • opinion

    Costly Renewable Energy Regulations Prevent Our Military From Doing Its Job
    The Obama administration is aggressively defending costly renewable energy initiatives for the Department of Defense. By forcing its political agenda onto the military, the Obama administration prioritizes inefficient renewable energy initiatives at the expense of U.S. military strength and taxpayers. These requirements mandate that the Department of Defense produce or procure “not less than 25…
    Rachel Zissimos
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  • opinion

    Why the Left Is Wrong to Demonize Affordable Energy
    Innovation is a wonderful thing but can also serve as a reminder of just how good we have it. Take the journey of the solar-powered plane, for example. The Solar Impulse 2 is an airplane powered by solar panels and uses batteries at night. In promotion of weaning the world off natural resources like oil…
    Nicolas Loris
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  • opinion

    New York Times Promotes Myth That Man-Made Climate Change Refugees Exist
    The New York Times has declared the first American climate refugees. The article, published on May 2, tells the story of families living in southeastern Louisiana on the Isle de Jean Charles who will have to relocate (apparently due to man-made climate change). The article begins by warning that, “Around the globe, governments are confronting the…
    Nicolas Loris
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  • opinion

    Victim of AGs’ Climate Change Inquisition Fights Back
    The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) has launched a fierce counter-attack against Claude Walker, the attorney general for the Virgin Islands, who recently served a subpoena on CEI demanding documents related to CEI’s research on global “climate change.” On April 20, CEI’s attorney, Andrew Grossman, filed a long and extensive objection to the subpoena and made…
    Hans von Spakovsky
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