Free Republic

When President Obama suggested last week that we might eventually be replacing oil with algae, Mark Whittington of Yahoo suggested that the President had reached his "lunar base moment." It was an apt analogy... --snip-- After spending a year failing to pass cap-and-trade, the Administration has doubled down with the Environmental Protection Agency, turning it loose on the nation's coal plants. The Sierra Club just celebrated the closing of the 100th coal boiler, with more to come. Just what this will mean for the reliability of the electric grid will be revealed this summer when electrical demand peaks. Last August,...

At the close of 2012, the EPA dictated a politically calculated--oops, I mean, for the sake of the public welfare, issued a--huge new stack of emissions regulations aiming to force coal-fired power plant operators to choose between installing pollution control equipment, switching to cleaner natural gas, or shutting down their plants. Which is good, because in 2008, President Obama did promise to bankrupt the coal industry... so, that's at least one promise he's kept, right? Edison International (EIX) plans to shut down at least two aging coal-fired power plants in what could be a growing wave of retirements as low...

The United States’ rapidly declining crude oil supply has made a stunning about-face, shredding federal oil projections and putting energy independence in sight of some analyst forecasts. After declining to levels not seen since the 1940s, U.S. crude production began rising again in 2009. Drilling rigs have rushed into the nation’s oil fields, suggesting a surge in domestic crude is on the horizon. The number of rigs in U.S. oil fields has more than quad­rupled in the past three years to 1,272, according to the Baker Hughes rig count. Including those in natural gas fields, the United States now has...

Energy: When gas prices hit $4 a gallon in 2008, candidate Barack Obama said it was due to previous failed energy policies. Now that prices are heading still higher, President Obama calls it progress.

Snips from excerpt website: Japanese solar company Sanyo plans to lay off about 140 employees in California, or about 40 percent of its manufacturing workforce in the United States, as it shifts its strategy in order to compete with large rivals, particularly those from China. The company, which is part of Panasonic, is buiding a large factory in Malaysia that will make wafers and turn them into solar cells and then panels. Panasonic plans to invest 45 billion yen (about $580 million) in the new factory. A fellow manufacturer in Japan, Sumco, announced Friday it would get out of the...

Its a tough time for hundreds of coal miners across southwest Virginia. That's because they're getting pink slips from A & G Coal, which is owned by Southern Coal Company. Mark Whooten is a spokesman for Southern Coal. He told News 5 who made the decision. "These layoffs are a decision by our corporate headquarters. They are market driven due to metallurgical coal market fluctuating violently at the present time." The company wouldn't tell us how many jobs they have cut, but we do know its sizeable according to the manager of the local employment office, Gary Hale. "On Monday...

It’s well known that America’s dependence on foreign oil forces us to partner with some pretty unsavory regimes. Take, for instance, the country that provides by far the largest share of our petroleum imports. Its regime, in thrall to big oil interests, has grown increasingly bellicose, labeling environmental activists “radicals” and “terrorists” and is considering a crackdown on nonprofits that oppose its policies. It blames political dissent on the influence of “foreigners,” while steamrolling domestic opposition to oil projects bankrolled entirely by overseas investors. Meanwhile, its skyrocketing oil exports have sent the value of its currency soaring, enriching energy industry...

On the heels of President Obama’s own Jobs Council rebuking his Administration’s anti-energy policies, a new poll released this week illustrates overwhelming public support for increased U.S. oil and natural gas production. According to a Harris Interactive poll conducted last December, 70% percent of Americans support increased access to U.S. oil and natural gas. Below are a few other figures from the poll: 87% believe that more U.S. oil and natural gas development could lead to more American jobs. 83% believe that more U.S. oil and natural gas development could help the U.S. economy and reduce consumer energy costs 82%...

"In the Treasury we do not speak of tons of silver. Our unit is the troy ounce." That was the response from some bureaucrat when Leslie Groves, the man who oversaw the Manhattan Project, sought thousands of tons of silver to be turned into electrical wires. Groves got his silver. Why? Because completing the Manhattan Project -- and winning the war -- was America's top priority. For three years, the Obama administration and its cheerleaders have tried to claim that they stand for the same can-do spirit. Administration officials have a rare form of Keynesian Tourette's syndrome whereby they blurt...

In January, Hovensa entered into a consent decree with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Justice Department in which the company agreed to invest $700 million on pollution controls after a series of chemical releases affected people living downwind from the refinery. Hovensa also agreed to pay a $5.4 million penalty for violating the Clean Air Act. It is unclear how the agreement will be affected by the closure.

Oh my: Obama ready to cave on veto threat over Keystone pipeline provision?

La Marque, TX – On Tuesday, Republican Presidential Front-runner Herman Cain delivered a powerful speech thirty-two minute speech ranging from the economy to leadership and everything in between. This clip is my favorite:

The White House recently announced a “jobs plan” that will cost American taxpayers about $500 billion starting in 2013 for a government spending spree today. We knew what to expect: green-energy subsidies, tax breaks for people who already pay no income tax, further stimulus for non-shovel-ready projects, increased taxes on the wealthy — in short, most anything except what would actually create jobs, namely lifting the prohibitive regulatory and tax burdens on the nation’s job creators. Obama’s policies — particularly his heartless energy policies — promise to eliminate many more jobs than they create.In times of economic hardship, high energy...

These pointless monstrosities will continue to proliferate until the Government sees sense. Three separate news items on the same day last week reflected three different aspects of what is fast becoming a full-scale disaster bearing down on Britain. The first item was a picture in The Daily Telegraph showing two little children forlornly holding a banner reading “E.On Hands Off Winwick”. This concerned a battle to prevent a tiny Northamptonshire village from being dwarfed by seven 410-foot wind turbines, each higher than Salisbury Cathedral, to be built nearby by a giant German-owned electricity firm. The 40 residents, it was reported,...

Gas prices to blame for Obama administration releasing oil reserves? By: MJ Lee July 2, 2011 05:00 PM EDT President Barack Obama has pressed repeatedly for a long-term energy policy, devoting five weekly radio addresses to the subject in the past three months and blasting other politicians during a March press conference for pursuing short-term political fixes for high gas prices. “Every few years, gas prices go up; politicians pull out the same old political playbook and then nothing changes,” Obama said. “And when prices go back down, we slip back into a trance. And then when prices go up,...

The Obama administration is considering a fleetwide average of 56.2 miles per gallon for all new cars and trucks sold in the U.S. by 2025, two people briefed on the matter said. The proposal would roughly double current fuel-economy targets, and would likely raise the price of some cars by several thousand dollars. The proposal isn't final, and could be adjusted over the next several weeks as regulators prepare a formal draft to send to White House budget officials. The administration has said previously that it is looking at requiring cars average between 47 and 62 mpg by 2025. The...

WASHINGTON — A yearlong experiment with America's electric grid could mess up traffic lights, security systems and some computers — and make plug-in clocks and appliances like programmable coffeemakers run up to 20 minutes fast. The group that oversees the U.S. power grid is proposing an experiment that would allow more frequency variation than it does now without corrections, according to a company presentation obtained by The Associated Press. Officials say they want to try this to make the power supply more reliable, save money and reduce what may be needless efforts. The test is tentatively set to start in...

US commodity regulators were examining Friday whether word of a decision to coordinate a release of global oil stockpiles was leaked ahead of Thursday's announcement by the International Energy Agency, a person familiar with the matter said. Officials with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission as well as market participants have pointed to unusual trading in the oil futures market before the IEA's announcement that it would release 60 million barrels of oil, the person said. Member countries of the IEA agreed to take two million barrels of oil a day from their emergency stocks over the coming months, marking the...

On Thursday the President announced that he would release 30 million barrels of oil from the nation's Strategic Petroleum Reserve. The immediate effect on world markets was to knock the oil price down by over $4 a barrel. But many experts question the wisdom -- and the timing -- of the move. Clearly, the timing of the withdrawal was politically motivated. Any reduction in the price of gas at the pump is going to be popular, especially with Obama's political base and with independents who are key to his reelection. The problem is that, like every other form of stimulus...

Two new EPA pollution regulations will slam the coal industry so hard that hundreds of thousands of jobs will be lost, and electric rates will skyrocket 11 percent to over 23 percent, according to a new study based on government data. Overall, the rules aimed at making the air cleaner could cost the coal-fired power plant industry $180 billion, warns a trade group. [Check out a roundup of political cartoons on energy policy.] “Many of these severe impacts would hit families living in states already facing serious economic challenges,” said Steve Miller, president of the American Coalition for Clean Coal...