Energy & Climate Change Policy News

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…