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Congress created the Highway Trust Fund (HTF) in 1956 to fund construction of the Interstate Highway System. The HTF is funded primarily though an 18.4-cent per gallon federal excise tax on gasoline. Funding for the HTF expires May 31, and with the HTF facing a budget shortfall, some in Congress have proposed raising the federal gasoline tax. Below are 6 reasons why Congress should reject any attempt to hike gasoline taxes to pay for the HTF.

1. The federal gas tax has outlived its...

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Last week, AEA Economist Travis Fisher wrote a Letter to the Editor in The Charlotte Observer regarding North Carolina's renewable energy mandate. Fisher's letter outlines the importance of freezing an energy mandate that has proven to be costly for North Carolinians. Below is an excerpt from the piece:

Renewable energy advocates claim a bill to freeze North Carolina’s 2007 energy mandate “dramatically disrupts” the state’s energy goals.

In reality, freezing the mandate is a...

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Next week, the House will consider the FY 2016 DOE Appropriations bill. The Department of Energy has extended its reach into areas that are outside the bounds of the proper federal role with regard to energy. It should serve the public by providing basic research and development that is energy-source neutral and maintain the national laboratories to help advance innovation. Unfortunately, the DOE unfairly promotes and commercializes certain energy products and technologies, thereby stifling...
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This week, Reps. Kenny Marchant and Mike Pompeo introduced H.R. 1901 , a bill to eliminate the wind Production Tax Credit (PTC).This legislation has several important provisions. First, it repeals the inflation adjustment, which would save taxpayers approximately 35% for the reminder of the ten-year window. It slightly adjusts and tightens the “beginning of construction” language that determines whether a company qualifies for the subsidy. It also repeals the entire statutory framework on...
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WASHINGTON – Today, the American Energy Alliance lauded Representatives Kenny Marchant and Mike Pompeo for introducing H.R. 1901, a bill to eliminate the wind Production Tax Credit (PTC). The bill tightens eligibility requirements for new wind projects, ends an inflation adjustment provision—saving taxpayers about 35 percent—and repeals the underlying statute so the subsidies will stop flowing by 2025. "The wind lobby says it wants certainty on the wind PTC and that’s exactly...
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A growing chorus of opposition is emerging against the U.S. Export-Import Bank. The bank’s authorization expires June 30, but while President Obama and his corporate cronies are lobbying for reauthorization, a coalition of organizations representing millions of Americans sent a letter to Congress calling for an end to Ex-Im, which “unfairly hurts domestic companies and risks billions of taxpayer dollars.” The Ex-Im Bank is the official export credit agency of the U.S. government....
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Last week, AEA President Thomas Pyle penned an op-ed in the New York Post entitled "Lights Out, New York." In the piece, Pyle explains how former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and current New York Governor Andrew Cuomo are turning off the lights on New York's energy and economic future. Below is the text of the op-ed:  

Lights Out, New York By Thomas Pyle High electric bills. An undependable power supply. Withering jobs in an economy increasingly dragged...

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Last week, Robert Bryce, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, penned an op-ed discussing presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's convenient flip-flop on ethanol. Bryce points out that after voting against ethanol 17 times in the Senate, Hillary's presidential aspirations made her quickly change her tune in 2007. An excerpt from the piece follows:

As Clinton and her allies said back in 2002, the corn ethanol requirements are an anti-consumer government mandate. Between 2007 and...

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