Energy & Climate Policy News

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    • Opinion

    Obama Believes Our Urgent Threat Is … Climate Change

    At the 2014 United Nations Climate Summit on Tuesday, President Barack Obama offered a stunning–in fact, deeply disturbing–insight into his views on threats to the United States and the American people. According to Obama, “For all the immediate challenges that we gather to address this week–terrorism, instability, inequality, disease–there’s one issue that will define the…
    Brett Schaefer
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    • Opinion

    Why Climate Change Is Not a Top Priority for Many World Leaders

    Seems world leaders are busy — too busy, in fact, to attend the U.N. Climate Change Summit in New York today. Apparently coalition building isn’t as easy as it used to be. The White House says addressing global warning and climate change is a top priority, but it has failed to sway some top world…
    Genevieve Wood
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    • Opinion

    Memo to Leonardo DiCaprio: Climate Change ‘Reforms’ Would Hurt People

    United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon recently designated actor Leonardo DiCaprio as a “U.N. Messenger of Peace” for climate change, touting him as a “credible voice in the environmental movement.” Upon receiving the designation, DiCaprio, who will give an acceptance speech at this week’s Climate Summit in New York City, said he feels a “moral obligation…
    Scott Blakeman
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    • News

    This One Policy Switch Could Make Gas Way Cheaper

    For nearly 40 years, there’s a been a ban on exporting crude oil from the United States to other nations in the world. Now, a just-released study from a liberal think tank says lifting the ban could boost the U.S. economy between $600 billion to $1.8 trillion and save motorists up to 12 cents a…
    Rob Nikolewski
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    • Opinion

    The Crazy Turmoil That Could Have Happened If Scotland Voted to Be Independent

    Great Britain can breathe a huge sigh of relief. The people of Scotland voted Thursday to remain a part of the United Kingdom. This is great news not only for Britain, but also for the United States. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is America’s closest ally on the world stage. The…
    Nile Gardiner
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    • Opinion

    Combating Climate Change with Sunshine and Fuzzy Math

    The White House yesterday released a list of executive actions to “combat climate change” with “solar deployment and energy efficiency” regulations that promise to cut 300 million tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 2030 and allegedly billions from electricity bills. For the most part, the list doesn’t consist of anything new or grand but…
    Katie Tubb
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    • News

    The Scary Amount of Oil Money ISIS Makes Every Day

    President Obama, laying out his strategy last night to defeat the Islamist jihadists known as ISIS, stressed that “it will take time to eradicate a cancer” such as the terrorist group represents in the Middle East. One hurdle in the way of Obama’s intention to work with allies to “degrade and ultimately destroy” ISIS (also…
    Kelsey Bolar
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    • Opinion

    The U.N. Is Releasing Scary Videos of Climate Change’s Effect in 2050. Why You Should Be Skeptical.

    We’re not all that surprised when weather predictions for next week—or even tomorrow—don’t pan out. So when the United Nations seeks to drum up support for this month’s Climate Summit by posting videos of “weather reports from the future” to show us what weather will look like in 2050 if we don’t change our carbon-emitting…
    Scott Blakeman
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    • Opinion

    Poverty, Not Climate Change, Bigger Concern for China and India

    According to a recent news story, President Xi Jinping of China and Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India will not attend the upcoming UN climate summit. The clear, but unsaid, implication is that the two most populous and still poor countries do not want to attend a bashing of CO2 emitters—of which they are major…
    David Kreutzer
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    • News

    Four Legs and a Life of Service: The Fight to Allow Military Working Dogs to ‘Retire’ on U.S. Soil

    For Army Staff Sgt. James Harrington,  it was a day he thought would never arrive. It had been two and a half years since he last saw his golden-haired, brown-eyed girl, and Harrington had made a point to keep track of the 7-year-old’s travels, even after their lives went separate ways. But standing at Armstrong…
    Melissa Quinn
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    • News

    State Gave $69 Million Loan to Green Energy Company on Verge of Bankruptcy

    Biofuel manufacturer KiOR’s financial struggles might leave Mississippi holding the title to another failed green energy project. According to the company’s quarterly report, without additional financing KiOR won’t be able to meet its financial obligations past Sept. 30. One of its biggest creditors is the state of Mississippi. The company owes the state $69.275 million on a no-interest loan…
    Steve Wilson
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    • News

    Would You Volunteer to Pay for Solar Energy? It’s Happening in Florida.

    TALLAHASSEE, Fla.—If you don’t use solar power, then you won’t have to pay for it. That’s what the Florida Public Service Commission, the state electric utility regulatory body, decided last week when it approved Florida Power and Light’s new solar energy pilot program by a vote of 4-1. The plan will expand customer access to solar power in…
    William Patrick
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    • News

    Raw Footage: Tear Gas Blasted at TV Reporters in Ferguson

    Police in Ferguson, Mo., fired tear gas at Al Jazeera America TV crews last night as they recorded footage of the violent protests over the shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Brown. According to KSDK.com, “police took down the crew’s light kit, and pointed their camera at the ground” minutes later. >>> Overmilitarization: Why Law Enforcement Needs to…
    Daily Signal Staff
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    • News

    Here’s How New Mexico Made the Leap Into Top 5 Oil-Rich States

    Move over, Oklahoma. New Mexico has regained its position as the fifth-highest state in terms of oil production in the country. In an annual report of the top 10 oil states put together by the financial website 24/7 Wall St., New Mexico supplanted Oklahoma with 965 million barrels of proven oil reserves. That’s an 11.4 percent increase…
    Rob Nikolewski
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    • Opinion

    Unlocking Energy Opportunity in Africa

    Visiting America for the U.S.–Africa Leaders Summit last week, heads of African nations had plenty to say about the need to increase access to reliable, affordable energy. Yet some are trying to dissuade African investment in conventional energy sources such as coal and natural gas in an effort to stave off global warming. Roughly 550…
    Katie Tubb
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    • Opinion

    We’d Have an Energy Boom … If the Government Got Out of the Way

    There’s been something of an energy boom taking place in the U.S. over the past few years, and it’s given the American economy a real boost. Now we just need the federal government to get out of the way and open opportunities to freely trade energy, and those benefits will grow substantially. U.S. coal exports…
    Nicolas Loris
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    • Opinion

    Ghana Woes a Warning to Other Oil-Rich African Countries

    African leaders are in Washington this week for the White House–sponsored U.S.–African Leaders Summit, a meeting of nearly 50 African heads of state meant to promote trade and investment. But for Ghana, the optimism surrounding the conference and a second U.S. aid compact have been drowned out by economic troubles at home. One of West…
    Ryan Olson
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    • Opinion

    Energy: U.S. Should Pay Attention to Mexico’s Reforms

    In recent years, the United States has seen a huge oil and natural gas boom fueled by hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) and horizontal drilling. Now, American energy companies may have the opportunity to put their expertise into practice in a new energy market: Mexico. Mexico recently passed a series of energy reforms that ended the 75-year-long…
    Andrea Rodriguez
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    • News

    Wind Farms Divide Environmentalists: Renewable Energy vs. Dead Birds

    ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.—Paul Domski is a falconer and a bird lover. And he seriously doesn’t like wind farms or the federal government’s recent decision to protect wind energy companies from punishment for 30 years for killing eagles. “If I was the country’s energy czar, I’d get rid of [wind farms],” said Domski, who also is the…
    Rob Nikolewski
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    • Opinion

    Dallas Fed Makes Case for Crude Oil Exports

    The Dallas Federal Reserve Bank made the case for why policymakers should lift the ban on crude oil exports: Removing the export ban would eliminate a variety of marketplace distortions by increasing the price of crude oil in the interior U.S. to better reflect global levels, leading to a more efficient economic outcome. While this…
    Nicolas Loris
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