American Petroleum Institute

President Joe Biden signed what he called “one of the most significant laws in our history” last Tuesday. The energy provisions in the law that benefit oil and gas extraction exposed different perspectives within the industry on the law.

August 22, 2022 - Bloomberg News

America is not at war, but that didn't stop President Joe Biden from calling the largest release of oil from the nation's Strategic Petroleum Reserve that he authorized on March 31 to lower oil prices, a 'wartime bridge.'

April 6, 2022 - Washington Examiner

Cities around the world are demonstrating that net zero carbon buildings—including net zero low-income housing—can be built cost effectively.

January 21, 2021 - Joan Fitzgerald

The Trump administration's rollback on August 29 of an Obama-era regulation to reduce methane emissions in the production and distribution of oil and natural gas did not sit well with large oil and gas companies who see value in reducing emissions.

September 3, 2019 - The New York Times

President Trump made good on his promise last October to lift the E15 ban in time for the summer driving season. Not mentioned by the Des Moines Register are the downsides to allowing the higher ethanol blend to be sold during the summer, e.g., smog.

June 14, 2019 - Los Angeles Times

Big Oil companies are not all alike. Royal Dutch Shell is the first one to part ways with a major oil industry trade group over differences on climate change. It's also linking executive pay to goals to reduce the company's carbon footprint.

April 5, 2019 - The Washington Post

President Trump announced at a campaign rally in Iowa that he would lift the ban on summertime sales of a 15 percent blend of ethanol, expected to increase smog levels. Both environmentalists and the oil industry oppose the action.

October 14, 2018 - PBS NewsHour

Two days after a Nobel prize was awarded to William Nordhaus for his work on carbon taxes to address climate change, the largest American oil and gas company announced a $1 million contribution to a group promoting a carbon fee and dividend plan.

October 11, 2018 - The Washington Post

Last month the Trump administration directed Energy Secretary Rick Perry to require grid operators to purchase power from aging coal and nuclear power plants, enabling them to keep operating as a matter of "national security." Regulators disagree.

June 18, 2018 - InsideClimate News

Unlike Trump's suggested quarter-per-gallon gas tax, this 9-cents-per-barrel tax is real. Like the gas tax, it goes to a trust fund, to respond to oil spills rather than build and maintains roads. While small, it brings in $500 million annually.

February 19, 2018 - Washington Examiner

During a closed-door meeting Wednesday with Democratic and Republican lawmakers, President Trump endorsed hiking the gas tax by 25-cents per gallon to help pay for the $200 billion investment and restore solvency to the Highway Trust Fund.

February 18, 2018 - Politico

A one-year suspension of an Obama-era rule to reduce methane emissions from oil and gas drilling on Federal and Indian lands will increase global warming and reduce federal revenue. Trump took action after Congress failed to repeal the rule.

December 16, 2017 - The Washington Post

Those were the words President Trump expressed before his first trip to Texas while Hurricane Harvey was ravaging Houston. But experts worry that the rebuilding won't be better due to the recision of an Obama-era environmental regulation.

September 2, 2017 - NPR

Pennsylvania, the state that had the highest gas tax last year, saw the highest gas tax increase of 7.9 cents per gallon, the final increment of a 2013 law. Michigan's 7.3 cents tax increase, signed into law in 2015, is the second largest increase.

January 11, 2017 - Tax Justice Blog

In a precedent-setting action that supporters call creative and opponents view as abusive, President Obama has declared a permanent drilling ban off the Atlantic coast from Virginia to Maine and along much of the Alaska coast. But will it last?

December 22, 2016 - The New York Times

For the first time, electricity generated from burning natural gas will surpass coal, largely due to fracking of shale. While that means that carbon dioxide emissions will continue to drop, it also means that methane emissions will increase.

April 17, 2016 - The Washington Post - Energy and Environment

Climate change was front and center at a Thursday morning joint press conference at the White House, where U.S. President Barack Obama and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau agreed to several energy, environmental, and Arctic initiatives.

March 13, 2016 - Los Angele Times

Thanks to a 'must-pass' omnibus spending bill that President Obama indicated he would sign, the ban on crude oil exports, a relic of the 1973 Arab oil embargo, will be lifted. In exchange, energy credits will be extended for wind and solar products.

December 17, 2015 - CNBC

According to a new EPA draft assessment, fracking has not caused pollution of drinking water, though concerns are raised. The report has yet to be reviewed by the Science Advisory Board and is now receiving public comment.

June 6, 2015 - NPR

This has been an eventful week for gas taxes. To update two posts that appeared recently, Gov. Terry Branstad of Iowa signed legislation that increases the gas tax by 10-cents on March 1. In California, a board voted to decrease the tax by six cents.

February 27, 2015 - KCCI Des Moines