For decades, the American presidents and congress have promised to reduce our dependence on foreign oil (as you can see in this video below): Promises were made to reduce imports  of foreign oil by everything from cellulosic ethanol to solar energy. None of these big-government programs worked. After the oil shocks of the 1970s, U.S. oil imports steadily increased from the mid 1980s through 2005 when high oil prices put a damper on U.S. oil consumption. But starting in about 2008,...
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On these pages, we have been chronicling the sad saga of alternative-fuel company KiOR, which is facing class action lawsuits and an SEC investigation because it allegedly misled investors about the plausibility of its biofuel production targets. In the present post we’ll summarize the latest developments, which show that KiOR is teetering on the edge of collapse but has gotten a last-minute stay of execution. Last month, KiOR stock fell 39 percent (the biggest drop on record since the...
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WASHINGTON – American Energy Alliance President Thomas Pyle issued the following statement responding to attempts to include the wind PTC in the Senate Finance Committee's tax extenders bill:
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For decades, principled defenders of free energy markets have pointed out the absurdities of government support for biofuels. The decentralized market system provides the proper feedback—in the form of the profit/loss test—to investors to determine the correct mix of various sources in the country’s overall energy output. If it really made economic sense produce over 14 billion gallons of ethanol in 2014, then it wouldn’t take government interference to force that outcome. The fact...
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This year marks the complete phase-out of the traditional incandescent light bulb. Starting on January 1, it effectively became illegal to manufacture or import the good old-fashioned light bulb in the United States, though stores are still allowed to sell down their pre-existing inventories. Specifically, provisions in the 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act phased in energy-efficiency standards for light bulbs of various wattages that incandescent bulbs can’t achieve. The...
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On March 21, the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM), the American Trucking Associations (ATA), and the Consumer Energy Alliance (CEA), filed a petition for writ of certiorari to the U.S. Supreme Court challenging the constitutionality of California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS). The LCFS came about in 2006, after the California Legislature passed and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed AB 32 , the Global Warming Solutions Act. AB 32 set a goal of reducing...
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Start Sending them Wind Turbines, Solar Panels, and the Tiny Cars that no Americans Want to Buy

“It’s about time we really help the Ukrainians out of their energy jam by restricting access to their own oil and gas and making them subsidize expensive and unreliable energy.”

Washington, D.C. – As the President and leaders in Congress continue to discuss steps to help the Ukrainian people keep Russian President Vladimir Putin in check, Thomas Pyle, President of the American Energy...
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U.S. oil production averaged 7.5 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2013, reaching the highest levels since 1989, according to new data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA). Domestic oil production hit 7.9 million bpd in December 2013, an 11 percent increase compared to December 2012. The following chart shows U.S. oil production between 1989 and 2013. Meanwhile, on the federal OCS, production again went down. Domestic oil output rose by 966,000 bpd—15 percent—between...
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The Institute for Energy Research (IER) has formally submitted its Comment  to the Office of Management and Budget on the Obama Administration’s use of the “social cost of carbon” as an input for federal regulatory action. This is a crucial topic that may significantly influence energy policy. Those who want the full details should click the link and read our full Comment, but in a series of posts I will walk IER readers through the most important points we raised. In our Comment, we...
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