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An earlier article explained that for President Obama, the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA), and the national environmental lobby, the wind Production Tax Credit (PTC) is at the top of the to-do list for the lame-duck session that will close out the 113^th Congress. While lawmakers debate the PTC, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is finalizing its first regulation on carbon dioxide emissions from existing power plants—the foundation of President Obama’s broader...
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When Congress returns for the start of the lame duck session this week, they will discuss whether to approve a retroactive extension of the expired Production Tax Credit (PTC), which primarily benefits foreign and domestic wind companies. For a host of reasons, they shouldn’t. Most importantly, they shouldn’t because the PTC is inextricably linked to the proposed EPA regulation of carbon dioxide on existing power providers, and therefore a vote in favor of reinstating the PTC is a vote...
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Will EPA’s regulations on carbon dioxide emissions from power plants result in reduced reliability of the electricity grid? Yes, according to the national electricity grid overseer—the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC). NERC recently released an initial reliability review of the potential risks to reliability. Using the assumptions in EPA’s report, NERC found that “Essential Reliability Services may be strained” and that “more time for CPP [EPA’s...
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Radical environmentalists and the Democrats they support consistently and opportunistically denounce the Keystone Pipeline as a harbinger of environmental harm. Frankly, their claims are patently false. Even worse, the wait for Keystone’s approval has caused a great deal of economic instability in the regions dotting its proposed path. Montana’s floundering economy best exemplifies the consequences of the Obama Administration and State Department’s political posturing over the past...
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It turns out, $85 million just isn't enough to buy an election. Tom Steyer and his group NextGen Climate Action lost nearly every race they played in. As the Wall Street Journal reported:

This year’s environmental debate boiled down to Democratic support for Mr. Obama’s climate rules and green subsidies against full-throated Republican support for energy production of all sorts, including coal, oil and natural-gas fracking, more pipelines and greater fossil-fuel exports. These GOP...

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On Tuesday, the American people rejected not only President Obama’s energy policies, but also the energy policies of Senate Democrats. While this bodes well for America, expectations should be tempered by two realities. The first is that it remains to be seen how hard a Republican-controlled Senate will fight for free market energy policies. Energy issues are contentious and the Republican Senate leadership has not indicated they will fight hard for free market energy policies. Of course,...
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Despite $85 million from national environmental PACs and billionaires like Tom Steyer in this election cycle, voters still prioritize the economy over environmental issues. Even the left-wing magazine Slate had the good sense to point out the realities of voter priorities:

“What has all that green gotten these green groups? Not a whole heck of a lot. Steyer and his like-minded allies opened their checkbooks with the hopes of making climate change a front-burner issue. But as the most...

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For years we have explained the benefits of affordable energy including coal. Coal provides affordable, reliable energy in a world where 1.3 billion people do not have access to electricity and 2.4 billion people do not have clean cooking facilities. This means that coal is critical to helping billions of people have access to the energy that will make their lives better.

Some people think coal is a fuel of the past, but it turns out that since the early 1970s, coal use has outpaced all...

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