Free Republic

In today’s edition of Getting What You Vote For, the dummies in California are about to get hit with a 50 cent per gallon gas tax. Remember, California voters have handed the Democrat party full power over the former Golden State. Democrats run everything from the governorship on down. Democrats not only hold majorities in the state legislature, they hold veto-proof majorities. In other words… Republicans are powerless in California. And so… According to Triple-A, the average cost of a gallon of gas in California today is $5.29. That’s nearly $1.70 more than the national average. In some parts of...

President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela is an exuberant dictator, a lover of military salutes who is being investigated for crimes against humanity, but he’s not reckless enough to invade neighboring Guyana, is he? Would the leader of a country in an ever-deepening economic crisis risk starting Latin America’s first interstate war this century? Well, maybe. For a century and a half, Guyana and Venezuela have quarreled over Essequibo, a stretch of the Amazon that both countries claim. Guyana has long governed the territory, but Venezuela also claims sovereignty over it, citing maps drawn in colonial times. Last year, Maduro expressed...

he Venezuelan government called the military drills of two U.S. planes in Guyana a "provocation" and said the country has "become a new colony" of the North American country. "The Bolivarian Navy strongly rejects the reiterated provocations by the U.S. Southern Command and approved by the government of Guyana, which has become a new American Colony," said Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López. He added that the country's defense systems are "activated against any attempt to breach the Venezuelan geographical space."

Guyana President Mohamed Irfaan Ali obliterated a BBC reporter who accused him of contributing to climate change by allowing oil drilling off its coast. BBC journalist Stephen Sackur slammed Ali for allowing the drilling, asking id he had the "right" to do so. "Let's take a big picture look at what's going on here. Over the next decade, two decades, it is expected that there will be $150 billion worth of oil and gas extracted off your coast," Sackur said.

Arecent discovery in Minnesota has unveiled a helium reservoir with astonishingly high concentrations of the gas, surpassing initial estimations and potentially opening doors for commercial extraction. Pulsar Helium, an exploration company, revealed the discovery of helium reserves in late February 2024, following drilling activities near Babbitt, northern Minnesota, reaching depths of 2,200 feet (670 meters). Initial findings displayed helium concentrations of 12.4%, described by Thomas Abraham-James, the president and CEO of Pulsar Helium, as “a dream” in an interview with CBS News.[1] The discovery represents an unprecedented opportunity to gain access to helium at concentration levels dramatically exceeding the normal...

The Biden administration Friday rolled out three decisions aimed at greatly restricting oil and gas drilling, as well as mining activities needed for renewable energy, on public land. The decisions include shutting down the Ambler Access Road project, which would have opened up part of Alaska to mining needed for renewable energy, and blocking oil and gas drilling on up to 13 million acres of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska. Conservation Leases The third action the Interior Department took Friday was the finalizing of the Public Lands Rule. According to a statement from the Department of the Interior, the rule is...

Soaring gas prices have risen to $7.29 in parts of California. That price per gallon is higher than the federal minimum hourly wage. Other parts of the U.S. have also fallen victim to rising fuel costs.

Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), who is up for reelection against Trump-backed Republican businessman Bernie Moreno, was silent on Capitol Hill Tuesday when asked if he thinks gas-powered cars “should be banned.” In a video released by the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), a man off-camera asks, “Sen. Brown, do you think gas cars should be banned,” as Brown and his staffers march on silently.

CNN — In a sweeping win for climate and environmental advocates, the Biden administration on Friday finalized a rule to ban fossil fuel drilling on nearly half of the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska, alongside other major conservation actions. The Interior Department will block oil drilling on over 13 million acres in the Western Arctic, including about 40% of the land of the NPR-A – a remote area that is home to protected animal species including polar bears and caribou. The reserve is more than 23 million acres of public land and an underground emergency oil supply for the US...

The New York HEAT Act might not make the final budget. The bill reduces the state’s reliance on natural gas and cuts ratepayer costs by eliminating certain rules. It was in both legislative chambers’ one-house budgets, but last-minute scrambling could remove it. New York League of Conservation Voters Policy Director Patrick McClellan said, aside from people’s preference for natural gas, other challenges have made the bill hard to pass. “I think that there has also been some irresponsible fear-mongering against this bill from some people who oppose it,” said McClellan, “basically telling people this means that their natural gas service...

The Interior Department on Friday finalized a rule making it more expensive for oil and gas producers to drill on federally owned lands. Several of the provisions in the rule — like raising the rent the government charges to oil companies for using its land and increasing the government’s share of the profits from that oil — were set out in law by the Democrats’ Inflation Reduction Act. The Biden administration will additionally make it more expensive for drillers to abandon their oil wells after use instead of cleaning them up. The administration argues that current bonding rates do not...

Inflation ticked higher once again in March, with consumer prices up 0.4 percent over the previous month and 3.5 percent compared to one year earlier. The latest data marks the third month in a row that the consumer price index (CPI), a closely watched gauge of inflation, has come in hotter than expected, likely throwing cold water on hopes that the Federal Reserve would begin cutting interest rates soon.

The nationwide average price for regular gas hit a reported six-month high of $3.60 a gallon on Tuesday, spiking more than 50 percent under President Joe Biden. In the past month, gas prices rose more than 20 cents. They are over a dollar more expensive ($2.38) than when Trump left office. Gas prices remain high and could go higher due to industry and political factors. Biden’s economic war on American energy independence during instability in the Middle East and in Ukraine are significant factors.

At first glance, nothing extraordinary jumps out about what’s happening in the Permian to depress Waha prices. Permian supply is in line with or lower than where it has been all winter, except for during the mid-January freeze-offs.Is it pipeline maintenance? Weirdly low demand?We’ve dug into it and determined that no single driving factor or event is to blame for the recent run of negative prices.Instead, it’s a combination of low demand (both within the basin and without), as well as pipeline work along several key routes, including El Paso Natural Gas (EPNG) and some of the newer greenfield pipelines...

The nationwide average price for regular gas topped $3.54 a gallon, a spike of more than 45 percent under President Joe Biden, AAA reported Wednesday. In the past month, gas prices rose 20 cents ($3.34), about one dollar more expensive ($2.38) than when Trump left office. Gas prices remain high and could go higher due to industry and political factors. Biden’s economic war on American energy independence during instability in the Middle East and in Ukraine are significant factors. According to Goldman Sachs, gas prices could reach $4 by May.

It's nationwide knowledge that in early May the Colonial Pipeline company suffered a severe cyberattack that shut down its pipeline connecting Texas to the East Coast. On June 1, JBS Foods suffered another crippling cyberattack. According to industry estimates, JBS controls 20 percent of the slaughtering capacity for American cattle and hogs. The JBS attack also generated headlines. The FBI and security officials believe two criminal organizations conducted the attacks. Their names sound a bit like those of the sinister super gangs found in James Bond novels. However, these gangs aren't fiction nor are their crimes. A crime group called...

CHICAGO — The debate over the future of gas stoves in Chicago has been heating up in recent months. Under one proposal, called the “Clean and Affordable Buildings Ordinance,” the City Council could ultimately ban gas stoves in all new construction projects. Chicago is not the only government agency looking at ways to limit gas emissions. Last year, New York became the first state to ban natural gas and other fossil fuels in new buildings. Prominent Chicago Chef Rick Bayless made the transition in his restaurants years ago. “We wanted to make everything as environmentally friendly as possible,” said Bayless,...

Oil and gas will play a role in the global energy needs for a "long, long, long time to come," said Shell chief executive Wael Sawan today. Sawan is working to move beyond a dialogue that "seems to fixate" on the notion one must choose between fossil fuels like oil and gas or renewables like solar and wind. "It's all. And we need them in abundance," Sawan told participants at CERAWeek by S&P Global conference in Houston today. Stable oil production is deemed necessary by Shell as it transitions its customers to lower carbon solutions over the course of decades....

TikTok have just discovered a very... unique gas station, centred around Barack Obama. On Ireland's M7 highway sits an Obama-themed gas station, named the Barack Obama Plaza. It contains bronze statues of both the former President and First Lady, souvenir coins, magnets, mugs, cardboard cutouts, and recognition of his ancestral heritage.

American drivers pay 45 percent more to fuel their daily commutes since President Joe Biden ascended to the White House, AAA data shows. The national average gas price on Monday was $3.46 per gallon, according to AAA, up about 20 cents from last month. When Biden assumed office, the national average was $2.38 per gallon, more than a dollar less than the current price. That is about a 45 percent increase since former President Donald Trump left office.