Energy

Debating Energy Policy

By Dan Kotman on August 17, 2010 3:32 PM
Our very own energy guru Steve Everley (pictured, fittingly, on the right) participated in a debate on energy policy recently in Chicago.  The event pitted Steve against David Roberts of Grist.org and was moderated by Mark McGrath from the band Sugar Ray.  The debate was sponsored by Lexus and was the last of six debates they held across the country to discuss America's energy future.

Although we're a little biased on who won (hint: Steve), we hear it was light-hearted affair between two very well informed people.  Somehow, even Snooki made its way into the conversation.

The in-person debate in Chicago was an outgrowth of a substantive three-day debate hosted by Salon.com between Everley and Roberts over cap and trade.  Check out day 1 here, day 2 here, and day 3 here. more »
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A Tax-Free Energy Renaissance

By Jonathan Williams on July 29, 2010 12:32 PM
Almost everyone supports the development of new sources of energy. However, differing personal and political opinions on what constitutes "safe" or "economical" mean the requirements that these energy sources must meet are far from uniform. For example, many liberals focus on new energy technologies that emit less carbon while conservatives focus more on sources that would give our nation the ability to produce our energy domestically.

Both of these goals can be attained, but the question remains: what is the best path forward?

Many on the left want to see a tax levied on carbon, arguing that this will force the development of greener technologies.But at least one environmental researcher, highlighted in the July 2010 edition of Popular Science magazine, thinks that technology innovation, rather than government policies, will lead to new and greener energy sources... more »
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Why Is Obama Killing American Jobs In the Name of Clean Energy?

By Newt Gingrich on June 30, 2010 1:43 PM
In a 2008 interview with the San Francisco Chronicle, then-candidate Barack Obama explained that electricity prices would "necessarily skyrocket" under his ideal energy policy of capping carbon emissions from coal plants.

"So if somebody wants to build a coal-powered plant, they can," Obama said. "It's just that it will bankrupt them."

Senator Obama could not have been clearer: his administration's policy goal would be to make new coal plant construction in the United States economically impossible, regardless of the negative impact on American job creation.

Incredibly, President Obama now wants to punish American suppliers of new equipment for coal plant construction taking place overseas -- even if it costs thousands of American jobs.
more »
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Natural Gas Boom Could Be Saddled by Energy Tax

By Steve Everley on June 25, 2010 9:57 AM
Natural gas use will double in the coming decades, its share of the energy market expected to rise from 20% to about 40%.

That is the conclusion of a new report released today by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. This increase in market share, according to the authors, is due to "abundant supplies" of natural gas in the United States and increased investment in this plentiful and relatively clean source of energy.

One key example of this natural gas boom is in the Marcellus formation, which reaches from New York to West Virginia and is concentrated heavily in Pennsylvania. In 2002, experts believed the formation only contained about 1.9 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. By 2008, that estimate jumped astronomically to more than 500 trillion cubic feet... more »
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Louisiana Calls for End to Job-Killing Moratorium

By Steve Everley on June 16, 2010 2:40 PM
The President's six-month moratorium on offshore oil and gas drilling must be shortened to protect thousands of good paying Gulf coast jobs.

That is the message from the state of Louisiana, where Lieutenant Governor Scott Angelle, at the direction of Governor Bobby Jindal, has assembled a consortium of business owners and local officials to pressure President Obama to modify his ban on deep water drilling. The group, known as the Gulf Economic Survival Team, is calling for the moratorium to end by June 28th.

The team has a petition where people can add their name to a list of others who support the effort to save jobs in the Gulf. To date, GEST has collected over 115,000 signatures.

Energy in general, and offshore oil and gas production specifically, is a vital industry for southern Louisiana... more »
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TIMELINE: Gulf Oil Spill and the Government Response

By Steve Everley on June 15, 2010 1:31 PM
On April 20th, 2010, an explosion occurred aboard the Deepwater Horizon, a BP-operated offshore drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico. What follows is a day-by-day recap of events related to the spill and cleanup efforts, both in the Gulf and with the Obama administration in Washington, DC.

April 20

In the Gulf: An explosion occurs aboard a British Petroleum-operated rig in the Gulf of Mexico nearly 50 miles of the Louisiana coast.

In Washington, DC: The president returns to Washington from Los Angeles, where he was attending a set of Democratic fundraisers.

April 21

In the Gulf: The Coast Guard searches for 11 missing oil rig workers.

In Washington, DC: Obama discusses Supreme Court nominees with members of the Senate Judiciary Committee. He then hosts a reception for G20 labor officials... more »
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Obama Receives Bipartisan Rebuke on Nuclear Power

By Jonathan Williams on March 26, 2010 5:16 PM
In a political climate rife with partisanship, it is always a pleasant surprise to see lawmakers from both sides of the aisle coming together to solve our nation's problems. One of the issues desperately needing bipartisan attention is nuclear power, an issue that has become particularly critical after the administration's short-sighted announcement this year not to fund the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste storage facility.

Luckily, several House Republicans and Democrats have come together to introduce a resolution that would stop the Obama administration from ending the Yucca Mountain project.

Just days after firmly supporting the passage of Obamacare, Democrats like Majority Whip James Clyburn (SC) and John Spratt (SC) are taking a stand against President Obama's decision to end Yucca Mountain. Even Washington Democrat Jay Inslee, who was one of the chief salesmen for the Waxman-Markey energy tax last summer, joined in this rebuke of the president's energy policy.
more »
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The Regulatory Versus Iterative Approach To Nuclear Power

By Tom Shakely on March 23, 2010 3:29 PM
Bill Gates, head of the world's largest non-profit philanthropic charity, is now working with Toshiba and TerraPower, a company he controls, to develop compact, emission free nuclear reactors that would operate for up to a century without a need for refueling.

One struggles to find a more robust example of Joseph Schumpeter's concept of creative destruction in free markets than what TerraPower and Toshiba are now working toward in this area of energy research.

Newt Gingrich has illustrated the difference between the "world that works" (free people, free markets) and the "world that fails" (government bureaucracy and the cascading impact of regulation) by contrasting the speed and efficiency of FedEx versus the stagnant nature of centralized government.
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President Obama Pushes for More Nuclear Power

By Steve Everley on February 16, 2010 10:20 AM
The Obama administration will announce today a new major loan guarantee to aid in the construction of two new nuclear reactors within the next few years.

The reactors, to be located in Georgia east of Atlanta, represent a major landmark in modern U.S. history: They are the first nuclear reactors to win government support in three decades.

The two reactors are estimated to create 3,500 jobs during the construction process and 800 jobs when completed. They are both slated to be completed by 2017.

The loan guarantee is part of a broader plan by the Obama administration to expand nuclear power... more »
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IPCC Advanced Flawed Claim on Hurricane Intensity

By Steve Everley on February 16, 2010 9:53 AM
The 2007 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change claim that global warming is leading to an increase in the number of hurricanes is not supported by observational climate data, according to a meteorologist at the University of Kingston.

Dr. Les Hatton, also a fellow with the Royal Meteorological Society, analyzed hurricane data from 1999-2009 against data from 1946-2009. He discovered that while there was an increase in the number of hurricanes in the North Atlantic, there was a noticeable decrease in the East Pacific. When combined, the two changes offset, indicating no aggregate increase in hurricane activity.

And while the North Atlantic did see an uptick, the overall number should be treated cautiously because in one year - 2005 - an unusually high number of storms developed. more »
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Glimmerings

FutureGen coal-based power plant that uses revolutionary clean coal technology, hybrid cars with a supplemented battery that could drastically reduce the economic and environmental costs associated with driving, integration of biofuel, plug-in technologies to reduce our oil dependence and carbon emissions, and improve our national security, advancements in carbon nano-tube technology in the desalinization field to deliver significant operating cost savings.... full details

Success vs Failure

The EnergyXChange project in North Carolina used landfill gases to power a hanger, greenhouse, and other businesses. The project also helps provide energy for glass artists. The project is a partnership of businesses and nonprofits, such as the Maryland Community College... full details

Learn More: The American Solutions Energy Manifesto

The American Solutions Energy Manifesto, how you can help, suggested reading, and other resources... full details

Contributors

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Jonathan Williams

I am currently a student at the University of South Carolina in Columbia, SC.

Here, I write for BlatantReality.com, a website following political and energy issues, and SCStatehouseBlog.com, a webs... more

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Matt Lefkowitz
I am working as a summer intern for American Solutions. I am currently a student at Cornell University, with a major in history and minor in international relations.... more
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Michael Ciamarra

Michael Ciamarra is Vice President of the Alabama Policy Institute. He is a widely published columnist and frequent commentator on radio talk shows. He is a member of the Heritage Foundation Resource Bank and a fellow with Center for Health Transformati... more

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George Allen

George F. Allen served the Commonwealth of Virginia for over twenty years, as Governor, in both bodies of the United States Congress, and as a Delegate holding Thomas Jefferson’s seat in the Virginia General Assembly.

Sworn in as Governor in 1994 George Allen brought sweeping reform t... more

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Larry Kudlow

Lawrence Kudlow is host of CNBC’s primetime “The Kudlow Report” (7 p.m. to 8 p.m. EST) and co-host of CNBC’s “The Call” (11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. EST)

He is also the host of “The Larry Kudlow Show” on WABC Radio on Saturdays from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

... more
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Tom Shakely

I am a young student at Penn State University in State College, PA.

I serve as Web Editor for The Philadelphia Bulletin, where I also write a column on renewal in higher education.

At Penn State, I served as President & General Manager o... more

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Newt Gingrich

Newt Gingrich is well-known as the architect of the “Contract with America.” After he was elected Speaker, he disrupted the status quo by moving power out of Washington and back to the American people. Under his leadership, Congress passed welfare reform, passed the first balanced budget in a ge... more

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Lee Lukoff
I currently research energy and environmental issues at the American Enterprise Institute, where I have been an intern since January of 2009. I have spent significant time researching clean coal, offshore drilling, cap & trade and nuclear energy policy. I was born in Massachusetts and attended the U... more
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Steve Everley
I currently serve as Manager of Policy Research at American Solutions. Prior to joining the team here, I was a research assistant at the American Enterprise Institute, where I focused on energy and environmental policy. I was born in Kansas and attended the University of Kansas, where I graduated i... more
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Adam Waldeck

I currently serve as the Online Community Manager at American Solutions. Before joining American Solutions in 2007, I was a student at Trinity College in Hartford, CT. There, I majored in Political Science with a Concentration in American Government and Politics.

I first came to Washing... more

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Dan Kotman
Dan is currently the Director of Online Communications at American Solutions.... more
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Tim Cameron
Webmaster at American Solutions for Winning the Future. ... more

Research

Blog Home | Archives

Vision

We cannot expect American people already suffering from a bad economy to pay very high government-imposed prices for electricity, gasoline, and their other energy needs.

We support affordable and more abundant American energy that Americans need for a growing economy with more jobs and greater national security full details

Values

Prosperity

Prosperity expands the freedom of Americans to pursue happiness. As America faces energy and environmental challenges, some argue that the only way to address these problems is through big bureaucracy, regulation, and litigation - a sure recipe to limit the development of more American energy and more jobs. American prosperity has always originated in the entrepreneurial spirit and drive of entrepreneurs working within free markets and responding to incentives. We must develop energy solutions that create more jobs while protecting the environment.  We must reject the false choice between economic growth and environmental stewardship.
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Metrics

- The passage of a comprehensive 21st century energy bill that supports more American energy through innovation

- Defeat of burdensome taxes on energy, like the Markey-Waxman cap-and-trade scheme

- Prevention the EPA from regulating carbon by bureaucratic fiat

- Implementation of an open and honest offshore drilling leasing program

- Election of a pro-American energy candidate in both 2009 gubernatorial elections (Virginia and New Jersey)

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