The Biden administration is proposing to tighten energy efficiency standards for new residential water heaters--the second-largest energy-using appliances in most households. Heating and cooling are the largest residential use of energy with water heating accounting for about 13 percent of both annual residential energy use and consumer utility costs. If finalized, the proposal would take effect in 2029 . Under the Department of Energy’s proposal, the most commonly-used electric water...

WASHINGTON DC (08/07/2023) – Last week, the Biden administration’s Department of Energy (DOE) released its latest Critical Minerals Assessment, which included uranium as a near-critical supply risk for the United States both in the short term and the medium term.

And yet, this week The Washington Post is reporting that President Biden is planning a trip to Arizona to reportedly designate a vast area near the Grand Canyon as a national monument to safeguard it from uranium...

On this episode of The Unregulated Podcast Tom Pyle and Mike McKenna discuss former president Trump's legal battles, the regulatory death of the incandescent light bulb, new attacks on America's energy producers and more.

Links:

• Bernie Sanders: Another Strongly Worded Letter to the Fossil Fuel Industry
• RIP Incandescent Light Bulb
• UK Ups Their Subsidy Game
• Reuters: US Sees Price Cap on Russian Oil Working Despite Upturn in Prices
• Ford Diesel Generator
• NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist Survey
• Winner:...

First Solar, an Arizona-based solar-panel manufacturer, expects to receive as much as $710 million this year—nearly 90 percent of its expected operating profit—from federal subsidies meant to encourage domestic renewable energy production. Those incentives could be worth more than $10 billion  for the company over the next decade. The incentives were approved by a Democratic Congress and President Biden last year and taxpayers will be paying the bill. Ten billion dollars is 20 times more...

Last week, the Biden administration issued a proposal by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to increase the average fuel economy of vehicles sold in the United States. Under the proposal, automakers would be required to increase the average mileage of the passenger vehicles they sell by 2 percent  a year for passenger cars, and 4 percent a year for light trucks, between 2027 and 2032. If implemented, the plan means new autos sold in the United States would achieve an...

On this episode of The Unregulated Podcast Tom Pyle and Mike McKenna discuss the latest doomsday proclamations from climate-cultists, and headlines from a busy week in Washington.

Links:

• Fed lifts rates, Powell leaves door open to another hike in September
• Hunter Deal Derailed. AP
• Clean energy push in New Jersey, elsewhere met with warnings the government is coming for your stove
• California Looks to the Future and Sees Fewer Californians
• California: Revenue flees as well
• Manatee

The Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has proposed increasing royalty rates for oil and natural gas drilling on federal lands from 12.5 percent to 16.67 percent—about a third higher–and raising the minimum bond paid upon purchasing an individual drilling lease from $10,000 to $150,000. To top it off, they propose raising the minimum bond required for a drilling lease on multiple public lands in a state from $25,000 to $500,000—a 20-fold increase . Developers must...

On this episode of The Unregulated Podcast Tom Pyle and Mike McKenna discuss Special K's trip to China, the continued implosion of the legal system, and give an update on the looming appropriations battle.

Links:

• Detroit Free Press
• CNBC
• John Kerry goes to China and Chip Roy’s Bill
• No agreements: E&E News
• Dictate to the Dictator
• Is Big Oil Turning on Big Auto? New Republic
• Shell Financial Post/Bloomberg News

So far this year, there have been 108 lithium-ion battery fires in New York City, which have injured 66 people and killed 13, up from 98 fires that had injured 40 and killed two at this time last year. The most recent was a fire at an e-bike shop that killed four people near midnight on the morning of June 21 and left two individuals in critical condition and one firefighter with minor injuries. According to Fire Commissioner Laura Kavanagh , it was “very clear” that the fire was linked...

On this episode of The Unregulated Podcast, Tom Pyle and Mike McKenna are joined by guest-co-host Travis Fisher, of the Heritage Foundation, for a wide-ranging discussion.

Links:

• American Energy Alliance Releases 10 Questions for Special Envoy Kerry

• Read the latest from Travis

• Follow Travis on Twitter

• Read the latest from Tom

• Follow Tom on Twitter

• Read the latest from Mike

• Follow Mike on Twitter