Welcome to the O-zone—where economic development is a zero-sum game

Included in the Obama Administration's "Unified Agenda" for 2015 are new, job-killing standards for ground-level ozone that are the product of a friendly lawsuit from the Sierra Club. These rules the President put on hold in 2011 in an effort to reduce “regulatory burdens and regulatory uncertainty, particularly as our economy continues to recover" -- or maybe for fear they would harm his reelection chances in 2012. The new regulations will mean that, depending on the final rule, 76% to 96% of the country—including some national parks where the natural background levels for ozone are 65 to 67 parts per billion—will be out of compliance. This will deal a crushing blow to U.S. economic recovery -- and the Sierra Club and the President know and heartily approve of this tragic outcome.

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|2014-12-09T10:01:23-05:00December 9th, 2014|4 Comments

Dear Northeast, How’s that solar working out for ya?

New Englanders are gambling with the weather, and they may soon be paying a heavy price -- both in dollars for heating their homes in very cold winter weather in 2014-15, and in loss of power due to brownouts or blackouts should even one remaining power plant experience any problems (or in the case of exceedingly high demand on a given day). The chief reason: Green enmity that shut down coal and nuclear power plants and has slowed construction of new natural gas fired power plants, together with the severe unreliability of wind and solar, especially in extreme weather conditions.

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|2014-11-28T02:18:14-05:00November 24th, 2014|2 Comments

Six energy policy changes to watch for in a Republican-controlled Congress

CFACT advisor Marita Noon suggests six major areas of confrontation and change now the the Republican Party controls both the House and Senate: the long-awaited (and perhaps too late) approval for the Keystone XL pipeline; a major expansion of oil and gas and minerals development on federal lands; lifting the current ban on U.S. oil and gas exports; reining in the EPA's power, especially as it applies to the proposed Clean Power Plan and the expanded Waters of the United States regulations; major reforms to the Endangered Species Act that would turn landowners from enemies to protectors of threatened and endangered species; and an end to climate alarmism as official U.S. Congress policy. Nearly all of these changes are expected to be vigorously fought by President Obama and the White House.

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|2014-11-17T15:28:17-05:00November 17th, 2014|2 Comments

Congress’ job: “Reins” in the runaway EPA

Now that he no longer has to face the public, President Obama may soon unleash a torrent of radical executive orders with far-reaching consequences, but his regulatory bodies are advancing an all-out war on the U.S. oil and gas industry that can only be curtailed through Congressional action (at least for now). The chief problem is that the EPA's regulations constitute “s power without accountability — a useful formula politically but an abysmal one for policy-making." The REINS Act would end this shell game.”

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|2014-11-10T19:44:42-05:00November 10th, 2014|1 Comment

From the battlefield to the oilfield, it is all about employing veterans

A quarter million veterans a year reenter civilian life, and many are looking for jobs in perhaps the worst labor market since the Great Depression. The oil and gas industry, which has been growing rapidly with the advent of fracking, provides an opportunity for these veterans to find meaningful work.

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|2014-11-10T16:48:50-05:00November 10th, 2014|Comments Off on From the battlefield to the oilfield, it is all about employing veterans

The oil price election connection

According to CFACT advisor Marita Noon, while the U.S. oil shale boom (the result of fracking) has dramatically increased domestic oil and gas production, the Middle East is still playing a significant role both in the current drop in oil prices and down the road. ISIS is selling oil at below-market prices to willing rogue customers, and Saudi Arabia has increased its own production, even as the price of oil falls below the amount needed to sustain the Saudi economy. The Saudis are hoping to push both American and Canadian oil prices down below the cost of extraction from both shale and tar sands in hopes of slowing down or even stopping expansion of North American exploration and production.

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|2014-11-03T15:40:19-05:00November 3rd, 2014|2 Comments

Environment benefits from free enterprise prosperity

The biggest problem isn’t that the Earth has too many rich people, or too many people altogether. Rather, is that there are so many poor tragic victims of largely UN-orchestrated, climate-crisis premised, anti-carbon energy starvation policies.

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|2014-10-13T23:40:59-04:00October 13th, 2014|2 Comments

Phony “environmental justice” at EPA

Ms. McCarthy should base environmental policy on sound science – and check her phony justice rhetoric at the door.

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|2014-09-26T07:45:21-04:00September 24th, 2014|6 Comments

Colorado Dems frack backtrack is all about November

CFACT Advisor Marita Noon points to a primary election in New Mexico as the impetus for Colorado Democrats to back away from legislation to curtail hydraulic fracturing (fracking), a measure that would hurt Colorado's economy and quite likely the chances for Democrats there to win elections this fall. Cynical? You betcha! If they should win in November, will these measures be back on the table?

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|2014-08-11T18:54:34-04:00August 11th, 2014|Comments Off on Colorado Dems frack backtrack is all about November

Needed: U.S. natural gas exports

The U.S. today has the resources to counter such moves as Russia's recent cutoff of natural gas shipments to Ukraine and the ISIS surge in Iraq that threatens that nation's oil and gas deliveries. The simple changes in law and policy needed to expedite the growth of the U.S. LNG business are to (a) open up federal lands and waters to drilling, and in particular, hydrofracking, and (b) expedite approval by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the Department of Energy of LNG export plans that would bring jobs for out-of-work Americans and tax revenues to state and local governments.

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|2014-06-23T20:55:43-04:00June 23rd, 2014|Comments Off on Needed: U.S. natural gas exports

What’s really behind anti-Keystone fanaticism?

CFACT Senior Policy Advisor Paul Driessen reports that Big Green sees the Keystone XL pipeline as THE symbol of its anti-hydrocarbon crusade -- and that wealthy liberal foundations, billionair Tom Steyer, and Hollywood elites have poured hundreds of millions -- even billions -- of dollars into ensuring that the pipeline will never get approval. They are in for the kill and smell the blood of anyone with ties to coal, oil, and even natural gas. And this is what is killing the U.S. economy.

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|2014-06-13T14:10:16-04:00June 13th, 2014|Comments Off on What’s really behind anti-Keystone fanaticism?

Was stopping Nevada’s fracking rush behind the Bundy Showdown?

There are a lot of theories as to the real reason the Bureau of Land Management has chosen this time to try to seize Cliven Bundy's cattle and shut down his ranch. The most easily disproven theory is that the cattle are threatening the desert tortoise. Others suggest that Senator Harry Reid, whose lieutenant now runs the BLM, has a secret deal with the Chinese to build a huge solar array on the property. Marita Noon believes she has uncovered a third possibility -- that the BLM wants to control the mineral rights to oil and natural gas in the area.

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|2014-04-15T12:31:47-04:00April 15th, 2014|1 Comment

If the goal is “energy independence,” what issues should be a priority in America?

Marita Noon rates the value of the options listed by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee for achieving U.S. energy independence, and then lists several options that might really make a difference.

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|2014-04-07T22:21:42-04:00April 7th, 2014|2 Comments

Putin’s gift to America’s energy independence

James Rust, taking a note from Peter Glover's article about Russian energy imperialism, suggests the U.S. should step up its own energy production and liberalize our oil and gas export laws to provide Europe with the means to thwart Russia's bold geopolitical strategy. Of course, the Europeans might do well to reverse their own anti-energy-production policies. The key is to remember that fossil fuels production is a manufacturing process that drives economic growth.

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|2014-03-25T16:29:43-04:00March 24th, 2014|Comments Off on Putin’s gift to America’s energy independence

The ignorance and hypocrisy behind oil export bans

U.S. oil and gas production was already declining when the 1973 Arab oil embargo sent oil and gasoline prices skyrocketing and created block-long lines at gas stations. Increased domestic production could have eased the supply and price crunch, but the 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill had resulted in congressional leasing and drilling moratoriums on federal offshore and onshore lands. Though it voted 50-49 to build the Alaska pipeline, Congress refused to allow more drilling. Instead, it legislated a 55-mph speed limit, mileage standards for vehicles, and a ban on exporting domestically produced crude oil. The speed limit was eventually lifted, but [...]

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|2014-02-10T12:01:17-05:00February 10th, 2014|4 Comments
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