As Congress wrestled with the $700 billion bailout program, Google has come up with another massive spending program. Google wants the Federal government to spend $4.4 trillion to subsidize renewable energy. Eric Schmidt, Google’s CEO quipped, “Given the apparent willingness of the U.S. government to write big checks in a crisis, we can do this on [...]

The first oil well in the U.S. was drilled in 1859. Do you know where? Titusville, Pennsylvania. While historical records indicate that naturally occurring seeps of petroleum were collected and used for a variety of purposes as early as the 1600s, Colonel Edwin Drake was the first to devise a mechanical system to drill into [...]

On Saturday, September 27, the “Green Jobs Now” campaign is fielding what it calls a National Day of Action to “build the new economy.” Their goal is to repower “America with 100% clean and renewable electricity within 10 years.” The goal sounds laudable, but repowering America in 10 years comes with a hefty price tag [...]

by Andrew Chamberlain Fiscal Economics, Inc. Commissioned by the Institute for Energy Research (IER) September 2008 PDF (248KB) Abstract The recently released “Gang of Ten” energy proposal includes revenue offsets that would exclude domestic oil and gas companies from the Section 199 deduction for domestic production activity. Using a simple input-output model, we estimate the [...]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 31, 2008 CONTACT: Brian Kennedy (202) 434-8200 Earnings Week Intensifies Silly Season on Capitol Hill Does podium pounding lower prices for consumers? Washington, DC – Record oil prices have led to record-high earnings for oil companies, which in turn leads Washington politicians to podiums and news cameras to declare their ‘outrage’ [...]

by Mary Hutzler American taxpayers footed a $16.6 billion bill for energy subsidies, tax breaks, loan guarantees, and the like in 2007 alone, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). That’s more than double the Federal subsidy level from eight years earlier.  In fact, on an energy fuel basis, Congress has increased [...]

IER takes a closer look at the “68 million acres” legend   Washington, DC – In the last few weeks the phrase “68 million acres” has become nearly ubiquitous in the national “debate” over energy policy. From its birthplace on the second page of Congressional “report” to the front page of major world newspapers, the [...]