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Last week, the House Science Committee Environment Subcommittee held a hearing regarding the Environmental Protection Agency’s new methane regulations. The hearing highlighted the dangers of these regulations and the Administration’s continuing attacks on domestic natural gas and oil production. The EPA finalized new source performance standards for methane emissions earlier this spring. Unsurprisingly, the rule has a hefty price tag. EPA pegged the cost at $530 million in 2025 (using...
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The Dakota Access Pipeline is a 1,170 mile pipeline project currently under construction in the northern plains. The pipeline, spanning four states, would transport oil from North Dakota, through South Dakota and Iowa, onto its terminus in Patoka, Illinois. However, what should be a standard, albeit significant, infrastructure project, has come into the national limelight as a hot button debate over energy transportation. Announced in 2014, the DAP was intended to be a safe alternative to...
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In 2008, President Obama famously said “...if somebody wants to build a coal-powered plant, they can; it’s just that it will bankrupt them…” With Labor Day earlier this week, it’s a reminder of how President Obama’s anti-energy policies have affected employment. The Daily Caller reports that since President Obama came into office, America has 83,000 fewer coal jobs with the coal mining sector having lost nearly 11,000 jobs in 2015 alone. In addition, The Daily Caller also...
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President Obama will likely "join" the Paris Climate Agreement during his upcoming trip to China. What does this mean? In reality, not much. That’s because the administration knew that a binding climate treaty would need to be voted on in the Senate. Instead, they worked hard to create a non-binding agreement, which they argue would not need to be ratified by the Senate (despite President Obama's recent attempt  to portray the agreement as a treaty). However, non-binding agreements by...
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This week, the White House announced that it was designating 87,000 acres of land in northern Maine to as a national monument, once again demonstrating the Obama administration’s anti-democratic tendencies and their disdain for the wants and wishes of state and local leaders. The new Katahdin Woods and Waters monument surrounds Baxter State Park and Mt. Katahdin in rural northern Maine, bordering the Penobscot River. These lands were gifted to the federal government by a private donor....
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Next week, Advanced Energy Economy (AEE)—a group co-founded by billionaire environmental activist Tom Steyer—will host its annual event titled “Pathway to 2050.” The name of this conference is in reference to California’s renewable energy mandate that requires the state generate 50 percent of its electricity from renewable sources by the year 2050. California already has high electricity rates and rates are only going to increase. California already has high electricity rates...
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The House will soon vote on the FY 2017 Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations bill. The underlying legislation is a step forward and includes several promising policy provisions. Two amendments provide significant improvements to the bill. One amendment, offered by Rep. Boustany, will further improve the bill by blocking funds from being used to implement the Administration’s proposed offshore well control rule. Another, offered by Rep. Ratcliffe , will prohibit...
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Today, the House will vote on H.R. 4768, the Separation of Powers Restoration Act (SOPRA). This bill will reel in the power of executive agencies and marks an much needed step towards regulatory reform. The American Energy Alliance supports H.R. 4768 and urges all Representatives vote YES. In Chevron v. NRDC , the Supreme Court held that courts should defer to agencies for the interpretation of statutes unless the agency’s interpretations were unreasonable. Known as “Chevron...
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On April 11^th, Chris Mooney and Juliet Eilperin of the Washington Post wrote that the Paris Climate agreement could enter into effect earlier than many think. But now, more than two months after their article, only 17 countries which represent only 0.04 percent of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions have officially ratified the Paris agreement. In the PR campaign for the run-up to the signing ceremony for the Paris agreement, it sounded like more countries would quickly move to...
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