The Trump administration reached a deal with French energy producer TotalEnergies in which it would return almost $1 billion  to end its offshore wind farm projects in the United States. The $928 million reimbursement, which was what TotalEnergies paid for project leases, would instead be invested in U.S. oil and gas projects. According to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, “The era of taxpayers subsidizing unreliable, unaffordable and unsecure energy is officially over, and the era of...

Continue Reading...

President Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently announced that it would end the “off-cycle” credit that manufacturers receive for installing engines that automatically turn off when vehicles come to a complete stop and restart when drivers take their feet off the brake pedal or accelerate. The purpose of the stop-start feature is to improve fuel efficiency and reduce carbon emissions in internal combustion engines. In 2012, the Obama EPA instituted a credit  for...

Continue Reading...

The conflict with Iran is hitting Europeans very hard because energy prices were already higher there than in other regions due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, U.S. tariffs, European tax and climate policies, and bans/moratoria on fracking. Europe’s industries have faced years of high energy costs, enabling Chinese competition and leading to plant closures. Fears of deindustrialization were already common before the impacts of the Strait of Hormuz closure began to affect the continent....

Continue Reading...

In his March 16, 2026, floor speech , Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer accused the Trump administration of fueling an "energy affordability crisis" through canceled clean energy projects and foreign entanglements, particularly the conflict in Iran, which has indeed driven up global oil and gas prices. While the Iran situation has contributed to higher gasoline costs nationwide, Schumer's narrative conveniently sidesteps the deeper, pre-existing drivers of energy unaffordability in many...
Continue Reading...

Governor Gavin Newsom has been busy on X lately, posting repeatedly about gasoline prices and blaming the war in Iraq for driving them higher. He is correct that the conflict in Iran affects oil markets, but the governor has some explaining to do. Twenty percent of the oil California uses flows through the Strait of Hormuz, and that's a consequence of Newsom's own energy policies. Before California's governor lectures the rest of the country about gasoline prices, he should answer a simple...
Continue Reading...

California’s declining oil production and refinery closures, caused by the state’s energy policies, could create an “aviation fuel crisis.” An increasing dependence on imported aviation fuel could threaten national security. Several U.S. military installations, including Travis Air Force Base and Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake, rely almost entirely on California refineries for their jet fuel. According to the Energy Information Administration , California ranks first in jet...

Continue Reading...

While natural gas is preferred by data centers and manufacturers, the Energy Information Administration (EIA), in its Short-Term Energy Outlook, reports that solar power is expected to supply the largest increase in power generation over the next two years, increasing by about 20% a year in both 2026 and 2027, following the addition of almost 70 gigawatts  of new solar capacity. Solar and wind developers are rushing to bring online new capacity before the One Big Beautiful Bill Act phases...

Continue Reading...

This story is baffling. Bloomberg reports that California is starting to import gasoline from the Bahamas, while the state sits on enormous oil resources it refuses to develop. Bloomberg reports:

"US supplies of gasoline are being shipped out of the country to travel thousands of miles via the Bahamas before finally ending up in California, a state battling shrinking fuelmaking capacity and high pump prices. Shipments on the circuitous route are increasing. California imported more...

Continue Reading...

President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans ran on a plan for American energy: make it easier to produce and more affordable to purchase. On the eve of President Trump's State of The Union Address, his administration and congressional allies have taken 300 actions to unleash America’s energy potential. A list of those actions appears below.

---

January 20, 2025 

1. President Donald J. Trump had a whirlwind first day in office on January 20, signing some 200 executive orders ,...

Continue Reading...

Despite being an oil-rich state and ranking third in refining capacity behind Louisiana and Texas, California has surpassed even Hawaii, which imports practically everything, as the state with the highest average cost of a gallon of gas at $4.63 per gallon, and comes in third  for the highest cost of electricity rates per kilowatt-hour (kWh) at $32.41 per kWh. Most of California’s problems, including and especially high energy costs, are self-imposed and make the state a prime case...

Continue Reading...