Institute for Energy Research

The Real Climate Conspiracy by Attorneys General for Hire

Keith Ellison and Karl Racine, attorneys general of Minnesota and the District of Columbia, respectively, filed fraud charges this June against fossil fuel companies and alleged co-conspirators for participating in public discourse on climate change. Ellison’s accusation is that Exxon Mobil Corp., Koch Industries, and the American Petroleum Institute have perpetrated “a conspiracy to deceive the public about climate change.” Racine’s accusation is that Exxon Mobil, BP, Shell, and Chevron have “systematically and intentionally misled consumers” about fossil fuel products’ climate impact. While one might expect that Ellison and Racine would have their sights trained on the social unrest within their jurisdictions and the justice reforms that are legitimately within their purview, the climate show must go on.

Climate Alarmists Eschew Alarmism

With data interpretation and general circulation models in open dispute, the climate debate has turned decidedly political. And it’s all about messaging in this election year. Climate activists hurl the pejorative “denier” at their critics—as in Holocaust denier. The more neutral term, skeptic, is avoided since the climate complex contends that the science is settled and the threat existential. “Climate change poses an existential threat to our future,” states Joe Biden, “and we are running out of time to address it.”

COVID, Climate, and Biden

Along with other topics in his bunker reports, Joe Biden weighed in on President Trump’s prophylactic use of hydroxychloroquine. “It’s like saying maybe if you inject Clorox into your blood it may cure you.” “Hydroxychloroquine” does contain all the letters in “Clorox,” but no serious medical person would equate the two. And though there are studies that fail to find hydroxychloroquine to be effective in combating COVID19, there are others that do. For example, the Henry Ford Health System recently published a peer-reviewed study of over 2,500 patients. Dr. Steven Kalkanis, Chief Academic Officer of the Henry Ford Health System, said, “Our analysis shows that using hydroxychloroquine helped saves lives…the data here is clear that there was benefit to using the drug as a treatment for sick, hospitalized patients.” Of course, one study does not end the debate and we may find that, indeed, hydroxychloroquine is an ineffective therapy for COVID19. On the other hand, hydroxychloroquine may become a standard (and cheap) part of the COVID19-fighting toolbox.

Biden Will Increase Energy Costs for Americans

Presidential candidate Joseph Biden describes the Green New Deal espoused by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and other Democrats as a “crucial framework” for his climate plan. Biden proposes a carbon tax on fossil fuels, which will be detrimental to America’s world-leading oil and natural gas production and continue to destroy America’s coal industry. Now that America is energy independent for the first time in 75 years, Biden proposes to return America’s energy production to oblivion, thereby affecting our national security, making the United States again dependent on Middle East oil. His new energy taxes would increase prices at the gasoline pump and raise utility bills, hurting American families just when President Trump has lowered taxes and produced a prosperous economy before the coronavirus pandemic hit.

A Global Green New Deal: IEA's Great Reset Plan

A new global energy plan has been unveiled by the Paris-based International Energy Agency. IEA's mission of "shaping a secure and sustainable energy future for all" can be seen as a vital part of what Klaus Schwab, the founder and head of the World Economic Forum, recently called a "Great Reset of Capitalism." Sound the alarm and set the energy gauges; consumer choice in 195 countries with seven billion people must be rescued by national and international government planning.

Biden Could Put a Damper on Pipeline and Other Infrastructure Projects

Presidential candidate Joseph Biden's official climate change plan proclaims "that every federal infrastructure investment should reduce climate pollution" and would require "any federal permitting decision to consider the effects of greenhouse gas emissions and climate change." That is an indication Biden would make it difficult for developers to obtain federal permits to build fossil fuel infrastructure such as pipelines and liquefied natural gas export facilities. To slow the permitting process, Biden could require onerous and lengthy reviews to evaluate whether a project's economic impact is outweighed by its potential emissions impact, i.e., he could make the process so burdensome and expensive for pipeline developers that they cancel the project.

As Natural Gas Demand Increases, Pipeline Approvals Remain Stagnant

Natural gas is being shipped by truck out of the Marcellus basin in Pennsylvania due to a shortage of natural gas pipelines. While it is cheaper and faster to move natural gas by pipeline rather than by truck, environmentalists are fighting the construction of new pipelines. The lack of pipelines is impacting the price of natural gas, which is selling at about a 25 percent discount in the Marcellus basin compared to the Henry Hub in Louisiana due to the inaccessibility of getting the natural gas to markets. To enable the natural gas to reach demand centers in New England and New York, the Trump administration just approved shipping natural gas by rail in chilled, liquefied form. As with truck shipment, the cost is greater by rail than by pipeline. Unfortunately, some natural gas producers have had to flare their gas (burn the gas into the atmosphere) due to the lack of shipping opportunities. Stopping pipelines and using truck and rail instead means increased inefficiencies and greater impact on the environment.

Arkansas Net Metering Order Issued

Arkansas will maintain its net metering policy. The state will continue to require that owners of rooftop solar arrays and other distributed generation are compensated at the regular retail rate of electricity for their net excess generation. This 1:1 compensation applies to both residential and non-residential customers.

Biden Will Revoke Keystone XL Pipeline Permit

Former Vice President and current Democratic Party presidential candidate Joseph Biden has committed to rescinding President Trump’s permit allowing the Keystone XL oil pipeline to cross the Canadian border into the United States if elected. In 2008, TransCanada filed paperwork for a Keystone XL pipeline, extending from Canada through Montana, South Dakota, and Nebraska, and connecting with the existing Keystone pipeline that would move 830,000 barrels per day of oil to refineries along the Texas Gulf Coast.

DOE Lab Finds Wind Output Plunges When Tax Credits End

Investor Warren Buffet once famously said: “For example, on wind energy, we get a tax credit if we build a lot of wind farms. That’s the only reason to build them. They don’t make sense without the tax credit.” A recent study by one of DOE’s premier National Labs seems to prove his point.

Virginia Governor Takes Advantage of the Coronavirus Pandemic to Implement “Green New Deal” Program

Virginia Governor Ralph Northam signed a number of bills into law on Easter weekend that include policies akin to the Green New Deal that some Democrats are pursuing in Congress. The passing and signing of the laws took place during the middle of the coronavirus pandemic, similar to the recent budget bill approved by Governor Cuomo in New York.

We Disagree with You, So Shut Up

A cage fight has recently erupted among the Environmental Left.  It pits those who want to eliminate affordable energy against those who want to eliminate all energy (and, while they are at it, eliminate people, too). Famous radical documentarian, Michael Moore, has co-produced an exposé on renewable energy with the director and ardent environmentalist, Jeff Gibbs.  The Planet of the Humans pulls the curtain back on the environmental impact and value of wind, solar, and biomass energies.  In a big non-surprise to those of us who have long questioned the logic of subsidizing these energies, the reward for Moore and Gibbs has been a vicious attack by the flag-bearers of the climate-industrial complex.

Biden Would Make the U.S. Dependent on Foreign Oil Again

Former Vice President Joe Biden promised to stop issuing leases for oil and natural gas drilling on federal lands and in offshore areas and he promised to ban hydraulic fracturing, known as "fracking". The logical result of these positions would be for the newly energy-independent United States to go back to importing much more of its oil from the Middle East for it is clear that it will be many decades before electric vehicles could replace gasoline engines and that substitutes could be found to replace products made from oil.

New York Needs Natural Gas But Bans Hydraulic Fracturing Technology

Several U.S. states—Vermont, Washington, Maryland, and New York—have banned the use of hydraulic fracturing technology to obtain oil and natural gas from shale basins, but among them, New York is the only state with enormous energy potential. Hydraulic fracturing technology spurred the energy renaissance in the United States and made the nation effectively energy independent in 2019 for the first time since the early 1950s.

Offshore Oil Drilling Safer Now Due to Industry Actions

On April 20, 2010, ten years ago, a “blowout” occurred on the Deepwater Horizon offshore rig, killing 11 workers and spilling millions of barrels of oil from BP’s Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico. Four million barrels of oil flowed from the damaged well over an 87-day period, before it was capped on July 15, 2010. Shortly after the accident, President Obama instituted a six-month moratorium on deep-water offshore drilling. On December 15, 2010, the United States filed a complaint in District Court against BP Exploration & Production and several other defendants alleged to be responsible for the spill. Settlements were made with several of the defendants, including the settlement with BP Exploration & Production for a $5.5 billion Clean Water Act penalty and up to $8.8 billion in natural resource damages. As of 2018, BP had spent $65 billion on the spill. Since the accident, the offshore drilling industry has taken significant preventative actions.

Energy Companies Are Donating Medical Supplies to Help Fight the Coronavirus

Companies are stepping up to help the fight against the coronavirus pandemic and are donating medical supplies and providing financial support. Marathon Petroleum donated 9,600 N95 respirator masks to the University Medical Center of El Paso and El Paso Children’s Hospital. Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Plymouth, Massachusetts donated more than 2,000 face masks and 14,000 nitrile examination gloves to the community’s local hospital, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Public Service Enterprise Group Inc., which operates the Salem and Hope Creek nuclear power plants in New Jersey, is donating more than 50,000 N95 masks to the state’s health care system.

Automakers and Other Manufacturers Help Fight the War on the Coronavirus

During World War II, American industrial giants retooled their operations to make the United States the “Arsenal of Democracy.” Today, in response to President Trump’s metaphorical call to arms against COVID-19, America is once again flexing its industrial muscles to answer that call and produce life-saving equipment to battle the virus.

Countries and U.S. States & Localities are Banning Plastics, but Plastic Products Help to Fight the Coronavirus

The Canadian government intends to designate plastics as toxic substances, which will allow them the authority to regulate and limit certain products. France prohibited single-use plastic plates, cups, and cutlery starting January 1, and England is enacting restrictions on plastic straws and stirrers beginning in April. Countries in Africa, Asia, and Europe either have bans on plastic bags or tax their usage. Eight U.S. states have placed a ban on single-use plastic bags—California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, New York, Oregon, and Vermont. Former Vice President and Democratic Presidential Candidate Joe Biden called for eliminating plastics during a town hall in New Hampshire where he specifically addressed single-use items such as straws but also seemed to call for a broader ban on the material.

Coronavirus Disrupts Supply Chains for Renewable Technologies

Solar has become a global technology and it is part of an increasingly intertwined global supply chain with China as the largest global producer of solar modules. The outbreak of SARS-CoV-2, the novel coronavirus that started in China, is expected to affect delivery times of solar products needed in the United States if the disease's spread stalls manufacturing production in China and other affected countries.

California's Natural Gas to Electric Future

Six local governments in California are allowed by state regulators to limit the use of natural gas in many new buildings, encouraging the installation of all-electric appliances (including HVAC systems). These natural gas bans are scheduled to take effect in January. Berkeley was the first city to pass a ban on natural gas appliances in new homes. Now, the cities of San Jose, Menlo Park, San Mateo, West Hollywood and Santa Monica, and Marin County will ban or limit gas appliances in many new buildings. Where natural gas is still allowed, the local governments may require new construction to be more energy-efficient than the state requires.