Bud Weinstein

Given the media coverage of Tesla, the Chevy Bolt and the Nissan Leaf, one might think electric vehicles are a recent invention. In fact, they have been around for more than a century.

Electricity is the most important and convenient way to consume energy. Without it, we’d literally be living in the “Dark Ages.” However, we often forget that it takes energy to make energy.

The oil and gas industry has more than demonstrated its ability to operate safely in environmentally sensitive locations.

The southern United States has just experienced two of the most severe storms of the century: Hurricanes Harvey and Irma. The economic damage wrought by these disasters may approach $150 billion.

With less than a year left in office, President Barack Obama is upping the pressure on America’s fossil fuel industries with a slew of new regulations and tax proposals.

Even with prices 40 percent lower than a year ago, we remain the world’s No. 1 producer of crude oil and other liquid hydrocarbons. Imports of oil have dropped from 60 percent of consumption to about 35 percent just in the past five years. We’re also the world’s largest producer of natural gas.

For the past several weeks, falling oil prices and a likely veto of the Keystone XL pipeline by President Barack Obama have been commanding the headlines. But something more significant has been lost in the commotion. Last year, the United States produced more oil and natural gas than any other country, allowing us to achieve virtual energy independence which has been an expressed goal of public policy since the 1970s. What’s more, American consumers are reaping a fiscal windfall as lower energy prices reduce the costs driving their cars and heating and powering their homes. Most American industries are benefiting as well, especially energy-intensive manufacturing companies that use oil and gas both as fuels and feed stocks.

Thanks mainly to the shale revolution, oil production in the U.S. hit a 28-year high last month while imports were at their lowest levels since 1995. Consequently, prices have fallen 15% since June, and Saudi Arabia has cut production by 400,000 barrels a day — providing further evidence that OPEC no longer has the power to set prices.

Despite a slight contraction during the first quarter of this year, the American economy has been expanding slowly but steadily since the end of the “Great Recession.” And America’s newfound…

It’s now been six years since TransCanada first applied for a permit from the U.S. State Department to construct the Keystone XL pipeline from the Alberta oil sands to the…