gasoline

Climate science is not well developed but is quite clear on some matters despite the continued attempts by climate alarmists to obfuscate it.

For the first time since at least the 1940s, the United States is exporting more oil and petroleum than it imports, spurring economic growth.

In recent months, a number of proposals have been put forward to reduce the cost and complexity of complying with the RFS that requires American oil refiners and importers to blend biofuels, mainly corn ethanol, into gasoline and diesel fuel.

World fund managers predict a fall in the value of oil companies.

On the campaign trail, Donald Trump promised he would stimulate the economy by lifting job-killing regulations and mandates on the energy industry that hurt American workers and consumers.

Energy has long lost media attention; so we no longer think about ways we use energy and its effect on national policy or our pocketbooks. However, problems of energy supply we deemed a crisis in the 1970’s are still with us. U. S. warships still protect Persian Gulf supply of Middle East oil which accounts for one-quarter world’s oil production.

The Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS)—also known as the ethanol mandate—was passed by Congress in 2005 and expanded in 2007. Regardless of market conditions, it required ever-increasing quantities of biofuel be blended into the nation’s gasoline supply—though the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) does have the flexibility to make some adjustments based on conditions, such as availability and infrastructure.

In today’s edition of the Heartland Daily Podcast, Dr. Keli’i Akina, President of the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii, joins host H. Sterling Burnett to talk about the efforts to ban gasoline and diesel vehicles in the state of Hawaii and more.

The purpose of any economic exchange is to better one’s position, whether a person buys or sells something for money or barters for something else. This is the essence of free market capitalism, where all economic transactions are voluntary because they are of mutual benefit. They are all “win-win” situations in the minds of the participants.

Environmentalists like a good crisis. Spreading fear is a proven fundraising technique—with manmade climate change as the fear du jour. But, back in 2005, the “looming crisis,” according to the Kansas Sierra Club, was the end of cheap oil. The post concludes: “The end of cheap oil, followed by the end of cheap natural gas, threatens to cripple strong economies and devastate weak ones.” The author posits: “The world burns oil faster than new oil is discovered.”

Early in his campaign, now top-tier Republican presidential candidate, Ben Carson, supported ethanol—a position for which I called him out. It has long been thought, that to win in Iowa, a candidate must support ethanol.

Sustainability issues have been at the center of public discussion in Ohio since 2014, when the state became the first in the nation to freeze its renewable energy mandate. Discussions of state mandates for wind and solar power and policies requiring the use of ethanol in fuels are common in statehouses around the country.

It’s common for people to misunderstand or misconstrue the difference between acknowledging the failure of the ethanol mandate to deliver on its promises of materially increasing energy independence or lowering prices for consumers, and being “anti-ethanol.” It’s entirely possible to see advantages of using ethanol without believing it should be mandated, just as it is possible to see the advantages of having a health insurance policy without supporting Obamacare. All mandates have unintended consequences.