After budget-stricken Spain eliminated subsidies for new renewable energy this year, Germany is now following the example by making significant cuts to its solar subsidy program. Bloomberg reports: Incentives for solar units pushed capacity past government targets, prompting Merkel to cut subsidies even as she seeks to wean Germany off …
Energy Secretary Steven Chu may want the country to stop discussing the Solyndra scandal, but information continues to come to light that confirms the worst suspicions of the critics of DOE’s $535 million loan guarantee. According to a Treasury Department audit of the Solyndra loan, DOE pushed Treasury officials to expedite their …
In case you missed it, there was quite a performance in the U.S. Senate yesterday. Liberals put on an election-year show, with the personal encouragement of President Barack Obama, in which they attempted to impose higher taxes on the oil industry as punishment for their profits while gas prices are …
Congress is asking questions about a stimulus-backed electric vehicle company that received millions in taxpayer dollars even after the Securities and Exchange Commission opened an investigation into the company for insider trading. Ecotality, which manufactures charging stations for electric vehicles, was hit with an SEC subpoena in October 2010, a …
In response to a congressional inquiry regarding a Navy purchase of expensive biofuels, Secretary Ray Mabus made numerous claims that are either factually incorrect or misleading regarding federal energy policy and the nation’s oil reserves. Mabus was responding to concerns raised by Reps. Doug Lamborn (R-CO) and Mike Conaway (R-TX) …
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a new rule to regulate CO2 emissions from power plants, which would effectively ban new coal power plants, as its emissions standards are too low to be met by conventional coal-fired facilities. This stands in stark contrast with the President’s supposed “all of the …
As is frequently the case, petroleum futures markets are anxious about political instability in the Middle East. Of particular concern is the possibility that efforts to counter or eliminate Iran’s nuclear weapons capability will lead Iran to close the Strait of Hormuz, through which passes about one-fifth of the world’s …
Adding to a long list of energy-efficiency legislation, two Members of Congress—David B. McKinley (R–WV) and Peter Welch (D–VT)—recently proposed a federal energy-efficiency bill that gives tax rebates to homeowners who make energy-saving improvements to their homes. This bill and its predecessors reward consumers for saving money. Let’s propose a …
Thirty-two members of the House of Representatives have asked Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to remove a factually inaccurate environmentalist documentary from the list of featured films at a State Department event showcasing “contemporary American society and culture.” The documentary, Gasland, spread hysteria about the natural gas mining technique hydraulic …
