Many Americans may be surprised to hear that former President George W. Bush addressed wind energy advocates at Big Wind’s annual conference in Dallas, Texas this week.  After all, throughout George W. Bush’s presidency, his ties to the oil and gas industry were a subject of scrutiny; he was widely derided for not funneling enough [...]

Senate Committee seeks to make renewable energy handout “permanent” Washington, D.C. – Acknowledging that some sources of energy just can’t cut it on their own, the Senate Finance Subcommittee on Energy, Natural Resources, and Infrastructure held a hearing today to consider making the manufacturing tax credit for renewable energy technologies permanent. This program was created [...]

China’s economy is growing with dizzying speed, and the government is fueling the growth with plentiful energy. In fact, China’s electrification program and its ability to secure future oil supplies are second to none. By contrast, the U.S. economy is growing more slowly and its energy strategy is limiting that growth. The United States has [...]

In recent statements both President Obama and Senator Lindsey Graham have harped on the theme that giving subsidies to so-called “clean” energy while taxing fossil-based fuels at the same time are part of a “market-based” solution to the nation’s challenges. Besides the Orwellian idea that government intervention is market-based, Obama and Graham’s remarks underscore just [...]

Investigative journalists from Grist, the self-proclaimed “nation’s favorite independent source of green news and views,” recently tweeted some criticism about IER’s overview of the Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) 2010 Annual Energy Outlook. One criticism was that we focused too heavily on EIA’s estimate that fossil energy will continue to be the dominant source of U.S. energy [...]

Around the world, China is investing in oil and gas resources to fuel its booming manufacturing industries and transportation sector to continue its sky-rocketing economic growth. China is not endowed with very much oil and gas resources of its own. Thus, it needs to partner with countries around the world to ensure availability of future [...]

The Oregonian: “State officials deliberately underestimated the cost … to lure green energy companies to Oregon with big taxpayer subsidies, resulting in a program that cost 40 times more than unsuspecting lawmakers were told…” Washington, DC – According to a recent Oregonian investigative report, state government officials in Oregon intentionally misled the legislature by withholding critical costs estimates of [...]

We do not understand why IER gets the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) so spun up. Maybe it’s because of our opposition to government subsidies. Maybe it’s because we don’t believe that government mandates forcing people to buy energy from expensive, inefficient sources is good for the economy. Or perhaps it is because of our [...]

Economic impacts from the promotion of renewable energies: The German Experience (PDF 358KB) Washington, DC – Though proponents of so-called government-funded ‘green jobs’ often reference the ‘success’ European countries have enjoyed in their experiments with such regulations and mandates, a study released today in the United States sheds new light on Germany’s experience with renewable [...]

Energy is critical for our economy and our future and the real issues deserve to be debated. That is why we appreciated the initial response on the American Wind Energy Association’s website to the recent study, Wind Energy: The Case of Denmark. It appears that AWEA actually read the study and raised some questions related [...]