Institute for Energy Research

Stop Ignoring Obvious Solution to Economic Woes

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Just days before the Department of Interior begins public hearings on expanding America’s offshore energy access, theWall Street Journal reports that the U.S. economy experienced its largest decline in 26 years at the end of 2008. IER President Thomas J. Pyle released the following statement on this disturbing economic news:

Running of the Bull: U.S. “Green Jobs” Rhetoric Runs Smack Dab Into Hard Lessons From Spain

WASHINGTON, DC --As evidence continues to mount of the potential for a "green jobs"-focused recovery plan to raise energy prices here at home and cost American workers their real jobs in the process, a new study released this week in Spain found that for every "green job" created by the Spanish government over the past decade, 2.2 other jobs were killed as a result.

Climate Bill Envisions Future with Less Energy, Fewer Jobs, Worse Economy

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Institute for Energy Research president Thomas J. Pyle issued the following statement today after the chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee formally released a draft of legislation that seeks to affect the world’s climate by rationing Americans’ use of carbon dioxide:

Seven Myths About Green Jobs

- Andrew P. Morriss, William T. Bogart, Andrew Dorchak, and Roger E. Meiners The full paper is available here. Overview An aggressive push for a green economy is well underway in the United States. Policymakers now routinely assert that “green jobs” can simultaneously improve environmental quality and reduce unemployment. Our team of researchers from universities around the nation surveyed four often-cited reports (the “literature”) that were sponsored by interest groups, industry associations, and international NGOs.

Erecting Trade Barriers: The Return of Smoot-Hawley

Free trade is one of the greatest forces for positive change the world has ever seen. It opens new economic frontiers for American good and services, allows America access to the best the world has to offer, and promotes peace between nations. But free trade is coming under increasing assault as some in Washington, including the Obama administration, promote restricting free trade in the name of limiting carbon dioxide emissions. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu recently advocated using tariff duties as a “weapon” to restrict free trade, and some policymakers have also advocated increasing tariffs to “protect” some politically connected U.S. businesses.

Lessons from Exxon Valdez Teach Us That Better Technology, More Production Reduces Chances of Spills

WASHINGTON -Twenty years to the day after an oil tanker bound for Long Beach, Calif. struck Bligh Reef and simultaneously spawned the modern-day environmental movement, the Institute for Energy Research (IER) issued the following fact sheet to mark the anniversary of the spill, offer some context on its effects, and update the public on steps being taken to ensure it never happens again.

Obama Mobilizes EPA Troops for War on Coal

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Institute for Energy Research President (IER) Thomas J. Pyle issued the following statement today in response to the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) decision to place a strict and indefinite moratorium on new mountaintop mining projects—a decision about which Democratic Gov. Joe Manchin (W.Va.) and others in the Appalachian region are “very concerned.”