obama posts, articles, and infographics

Are Republicans Turning Congress Into A Permitting Body?

February 1, 2012 by Frances Beinecke
with 128 views

House Republicans are once again talking about weighing down the tax relief bill with riders designed to force the approval of the Keystone XL pipeline and block clean air standards. But, even these lawmakers seem to recognize the public won’t like their political maneuverings. Despite the trouble they got into in December over holding... [read more]

Refinery Closures Lead to Rising Gas Prices and Job Losses

January 31, 2012 by Robert Rapier
with 120 views

Refinery Closures and the Keystone Pipeline There have been several announcements in recent months of refinery closures that will likely impact gasoline supplies (and prices) on the East Coast. Some of those closures have been on the East Coast. Others — such as the Hovensa refinery in the Virgin Islands and some European refineries —... [read more]

Keystone Rejection Highlights Need for Improved Safety in Energy Production

January 30, 2012 by Peter Lehner
with 158 views

On the day that President Obama rejected the Keystone XL pipeline, which would have brought corrosive Canadian tar sands oil through America largely for export, I was at an energy conference in Houston, listening to a tar sands representative talk about what the industry had done, and would do in the future, to reduce the impacts of tar... [read more]

NRC’s Waste Confidence Update

January 25, 2012 by Dan Yurman
with 357 views

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission announced in early January it is starting work on an update to the Waste Confidence decision. With the Obama administration’s successful bid to terminate the Yucca Mountain repository project, one of the agency’s key assumptions for the update is that interim storage of spent fuel will be the norm... [read more]

State of the Union Addresses All-of-the-Above Energy

January 25, 2012 by Geoffrey Styles
with 204 views

Anyone expecting the announcement of big new energy initiatives in this year's State of the Union address was disappointed last night. What was new, however, was a welcome shift in the President's emphasis on conventional energy--the fuels he referred to as "yesterday's energy" in last year's speech. Never mind that the resurgent oil... [read more]

The Environmental State of the Union

January 24, 2012 by Frances Beinecke
with 143 views

The annual State of the Union Address is a time for taking stock. Tonight President Obama will assess our nation's progress on a range of urgent issues of urgent issues, but today I want to look closely at one critical indicator of America's well being: the health of our environment. Is America's air getting safer to breathe than... [read more]

Are President Obama’s Policies Causing U.S. Oil Production to Rise?

January 23, 2012 by Robert Rapier
with 693 views

Question: What do President Barack Obama and ex-President Jimmy Carter have in common? Answer: Both presided over strong increases in domestic oil production that were a result of decisions made before they took office, as I explain in this post. [read more]

Playing Games with US Energy Security

January 19, 2012 by Geoffrey Styles
with 385 views

Well, that didn't take long. The administration issued its decision denying the Keystone XL Pipeline application today, rather than using the remaining 34 days in the Congressionally mandated timeline to attempt to find a better solution. This is a prime example of what frustrates so many Americans of all political affiliations about how... [read more]

Don't Believe the Fantasy Job Claims on Keystone XL: It's Not in Our Best Interest

January 13, 2012 by Nicole Lederer
with 448 views

Groups like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Business Roundtable say they speak for the country’s business interests. When it comes to the Keystone XL pipeline, they most definitely do not. Nicole Lederer explains why. [read more]

The Oilman in the White House

January 6, 2012 by Robert Rapier
with 343 views

No, I am not talking about George W. Bush. I just finished the chapter on politics for my book, and I created a number of graphics to show the behavior of oil prices, production, imports, and consumption through the last eight presidential administrations. Here is one of the more counter-intuitive graphics that you will ever come... [read more]

"Energy Reality"

January 5, 2012 by Geoffrey Styles
with 400 views

Earlier today I attended a luncheon and press conference rolling out the annual "State of American Energy" report from the American Petroleum Institute. API's President and CEO, Jack Gerard, also used the occasion to launch a new "Vote 4 Energy" campaign, which he described as a non-partisan effort intended to start a conversation about... [read more]

Where Do All The Presidential Candidates Stand on Transportation?

December 27, 2011 by Deron Lovaas
with 232 views

Last week in New Hampshire, and this week in South Carolina, Mitt Romney fielded questions about our deteriorating infrastructure. This is an important environmental issue, since potholes and traffic don’t mix well. Consequently, you get more congestion on our roads. And congestion means idling engines and more pollution. It’s also... [read more]

All I Want For Christmas Is …For Obama To Enact A Federal Climate Policy

December 23, 2011 by David Doniger
with 256 views

Smithsonian Magazine has posted some unusual portraits of jolly Saint Nick and asked readers to vote for the Scariest Santa. Here’s my choice: ... [read more]

The Nuts and Bolts of the New CAFE and GHG Vehicle Standards

December 16, 2011 by Charles Zhu
with 145 views

This is Part 2 of a series on the new EPA-DOT vehicle greenhouse gas (GHG) and fuel economy standards. Part 1 took a first look on the goals of the standards.These days, most cars can go from 0 to 60 mph in a pretty short time – but can the nation’s car fleet go from 27.3 to 49.5 mpg in 15 years flat?As we mentioned in Part I, a 49.5 mpg... [read more]