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Refrigerants Debate Moves to House
American consumers dodged a bullet when the American Innovation and Manufacturing Act failed to become part of the larger Senate energy package, which has stalled on…
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Washington’s Latest Attack on Air Conditioning
Think air conditioning isn’t expensive enough? Then you’ll love a proposed amendment to the Senate energy bill that restricts the refrigerants used in millions of…
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Trump Wants Less Federal Meddling in Home Energy Use, but Some in Congress Want More
Federal energy efficiency standards have a long history of unintended adverse consequences, from more expensive light bulbs with questionable light quality to dishwashers that take…
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Trump Administration Better on Permit Approvals for Energy Projects than for Minerals Projects Like the Pebble Mine
The Trump administration is doing a good job reducing red tape and streamlining the permitting process for energy production and energy infrastructure projects, but on…
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Department of Energy Finalizes Process Rule for Appliance Efficiency Standards
There are a number of problematic Department of Energy (DOE) efficiency standards for home appliances. Perhaps worst of all is the one resulting in dishwashers…
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2019: A Great Year for Light Bulb Freedom
Whatever else one may say about 2019, it was a banner year for consumer choice when it comes to light bulbs, culminating in the December…
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Supreme Court to Hear Important Natural Gas Pipeline Case
Next February, the U.S. Supreme Court will review the 2018 decision by the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, Cowpasture River Preservation Association, et al. v. …
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Trump Can’t Do Much About Toilets, But Can Stop Other Anti-Homeowner Regulations
President Trump created more controversy than usual last week when he complained about water-saving faucets, shower heads, and—especially—toilets. “You turn on the faucet and you…
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House Committee Releases Tax Bill to Extend Electric Vehicle, Wind, and Solar Handouts
In what amounts to the tax component of the Green New Deal, the House Ways and Means Committee released a draft of its “Growing Renewable Energy…
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Environmental Protection Agency Revises Risk Management Program for Industrial Facilities
“First, do no harm,” is good ethical advice for regulators as well as doctors, but the Obama-era Environmental Protection Agency took a risk management program for…
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Congress Breaking Promises, Extending Tax Credits for Electric Vehicles, Wind, and Solar
It is not unusual for Congress to keep extending a supposedly temporary federal program, and that includes the tax credits for electric vehicles and wind…
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Environmental Protection Agency Proposes Appeals Board Reform
The Trump administration has placed a high priority on shortening the delays and cutting the red tape holding back many private sector development projects. The Environmental…
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Free-Market Groups Support Trump Light Bulb Reform
The Bush and Obama administrations imposed a number of restrictions on light bulbs, but the Trump administration is pushing back on behalf of consumers. Today,…
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‘Art of the Deal’ Meets Renewable Fuel Standard
It’s the ultimate dealmaker versus the ultimate dealmaking challenge. President Trump has again sought changes to the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) that he hopes both…
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Department of Energy Expands Consumer Choice in Light Bulbs
The Trump administration took a pro-consumer step today as the Department of Energy finalized a rule that will allow certain types of lower-cost light bulbs to…
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Climate Rent-Seeking Backfiring on Chemours
In perhaps the most egregious example of climate change-related rent seeking to date, chemical giants Chemours and Honeywell have joined forces with environmental activists to…
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New Rule to Limit State Government Abuse of Clean Water Act for Climate Activism
Making good on a promise made in an April 10th Executive Order entitled Promoting Energy Infrastructure and Economic Growth, the Environmental Protection Agency has proposed a rule restricting…
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Senate Highway Bill with First-Ever Climate Title Unanimously Clears Committee
On July 30th, the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works (EPW) passed S. 2302, America's Transportation Infrastructure Act of 2019. The vote was 22-0.
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House Democrats Announce Alternative to Green New Deal
Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ), chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, announced on July 23rd the start of a sweeping effort to legislate a 100 percent…
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Department of Energy Grants Petition To Speed Up Dishwashers
The Department of Energy (DOE) on July 2nd announced the first step in reversing energy efficiency standard that resulted in dishwashers taking hours to clean…
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Climate Policies, Not Climate Change, Are Bigger Threat to World’s Poor
The most recent United Nations climate report, this one from the Human Rights Council, is titled “Climate Change and Poverty” and asserts that “climate change…
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Electric Vehicle Tax Credits Not Popular with Americans: Poll
A recent survey conducted for the American Energy Alliance clearly shows that the public does not support congressional efforts to extend or expand federal tax credits for purchasers of…
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Union Gets Nasty over Natural Gas Pipeline Rejection
Friction between the trade unions that build energy infrastructure and the politicians who routinely block these projects has been growing for the last decade—especially as…
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EPA Streamlines Infrastructure Approval Process under Clean Water Act
Making good on its promise in Executive Order 13868 to combat the abuse of section 401 of the Clean Water Act by states seeking to block…
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Study Confirms China Cheating on United Nations Environmental Agreement
A study published in the journal Nature provides further confirmation of illegal production of trichlorofluoromethane (CFC-11) from China.
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California Leads Nation in Gas Prices, Climate Policies a Growing Contributor
The large gasoline price disparity between California and the rest of the country has jumped to nearly $1.20 per gallon. High fuel taxes and stringent clean…
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ConEd Expanding Existing Pipeline Capacity Amid Ban on New Construction
We have previously reported on Consolidated Edison’s recent restrictions on new natural gas hookups in the greater New York metropolitan area as a consequence of…
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Another Day, Another Blocked Pipeline into New York
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation on May 15th rejected a natural gas pipeline that would have brought supplies into the state via New York…
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Can Trump Save Your Air Conditioner from the Deep State?
It happens every spring—on the first hot day, homeowners switch on their air conditioners that have sat idle since September, cross their fingers, and pray…
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Congressional Democratic Leaders Meet with President on Infrastructure Bill
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and other congressional Democrats met with President Trump on April 30 to discuss an infrastructure package.
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Administration Takes on Anti-Infrastructure Misuse of Clean Water Act
President Donald J. Trump issued an executive order on April 10th that is intended to limit the misuse of the Clean Water Act of 1972…
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On Climate Policy, ‘Low-Hanging Fruit’ May Not Be So Tasty
On Wednesday, April 10, the House Energy Subcommittee will hold a hearing called Investing in America's Energy Infrastructure: Improving Energy Efficiency and Creating a Diverse…
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Despite Green New Deal Complaints, House Democrats Rush Vote on New Climate Bill
On Thursday April 4th, the House Energy and Commerce Committee marked up H.R. 9, the Climate Action Now Act, which was introduced only the week…
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Response to Conservative Supporter of Kigali Amendment
The Kigali Amendment is a United Nations environmental measure proposed by the Obama administration, and that ought to be reason enough for conservatives to be…
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Trump Administration Trying to Please Everyone on Renewable Fuel Standard
In trying to please both the supporters and the critics of the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), the Trump administration may end up pleasing neither. …
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Interior States Take on Coastal States over Climate-Related Project Approvals
When the state of Washington rejected a proposed new coal export facility in 2017, it probably expected the usual appeals from the project’s developers. But it…
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Washington Post’s Climate Alarmism Reaches the Sports Page
The news and opinion pages of the Washington Post have for years been filled with climate alarmism, but now it is spreading to the sports…
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Maryland Considers Another Anti-Gas Pipeline Measure
The abundant natural gas produced in Pennsylvania and West Virginia could do a lot of good for East Coast states—reducing electric bills, improving reliability, and…
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Three Reasons Kigali Amendment Favors China over America
Beginning in the 1970s, many policymakers became concerned that the refrigerants used in most air conditioners and refrigerators were leaking into the air and depleting the…
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House Democrats Take on Department of Energy over Appliance Efficiency Standards
The Department of Energy (DOE) has been regulating the energy efficiency of home appliances since 1987, ostensibly for the benefit of consumers, but the Obama-era…
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EPA Finally Initiates Air Quality Assessment of Renewable Fuel Standard
The Environmental Protection Agency recently announced that it is taking comment on the air quality impacts of the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) and will complete a study…
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More New England Natural Gas Pipelines Needed, But Unlikely
New England continues to struggle with barely-adequate electric reliability, especially during the region’s winter cold spells. This is due in large part to the retirements of…
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Appalachian Trail Should Not Block New Energy Development
The Department of Justice is pushing back against a federal court decision that could jeopardize the future availability and affordability of natural gas across America’s…
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EPA’s Wheeler Responds to Renewable Fuel Standard Questions
The Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works held its confirmation hearing for acting Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Andrew Wheeler on January 16th. The Renewable Fuel…
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Agenda for the 116th Congress: Energy and Environment
Wealthier is healthier—and environmentally cleaner as well. Despite the fact that the most prosperous nations are also the cleanest, and that prosperity is best achieved…
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EPA Takes on Costly, Unnecessary Wood Heater Regulations
The Obama-era Environmental Protection Agency cranked out so many bad major rules that it was hard to pay attention to all the also-bad, but relatively…
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Infrastructure Bill Should Attack Climate Red Tape, Not Increase It
Enacting legislation will be more difficult in next year’s divided Congress, but an infrastructure bill is something that could get done. Democrats and Republicans may be…
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Draft Legislation Proposes Transition from Renewable Fuel Standard to High-Octane Fuel
In a sweeping effort to change the way Washington regulates both fuels and vehicles, Reps. John Shimkus (R-IL) and Bill Flores (R-TX) of the House…
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Air Conditioning—Treating a Public Health Benefit As a Threat
A study by the International Energy Agency predicts that billions more people around the world will own an air conditioner by 2050. This is great…
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CEI Challenges Federal Rejection of Alaska’s Pebble Mine
Most job-creating projects don’t require government subsidies―the only thing private sector builders need is less federal red tape getting in their way. A good case…