Abstract Various legislative and other proposals have promoted policies that would tax or place a price floor on petroleum-based transportation fuels such as gasoline because as President Obama stated in his recent address, “we’re running out of places to drill on land and in shallow water.”[1] Their object is to spur conservation and promote the [...]

In 2009, China surpassed Germany as the world’s biggest exporter, adding to the list of economic areas where it ranks number one. According to China’s customs agency, the country’s 2009 exports totaled more than $1.2 trillion. Germany’s foreign trade organization estimated that that country’s exports were $1.17 trillion for 2009. This is yet another sign [...]

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 [...]

PDF Fact Sheet Executive Summary Full Study Executive Summary The massive energy-regulating bill (H.R. 2454) the House of Representatives passed in June 2009 is now before the Senate. Though the cap-and trade program has received most of the media and public attention surrounding Waxman-Markey, the rest of the bill (at least 628 pages) could create [...]

New analysis reveals cap-and-trade would provide windfall profits to politically connected firms, redistribute wealth Who Benefits From Free Emission Allowances? (PDF 358 KB) WASHINGTON – With Sens. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and John Kerry (D-Mass.) expected to reveal a draft of the Senate’s climate bill this week, free-market think tank Institute for Energy Research (IER) released [...]

Statistics In 2008, solar represented 0.09 percent of all energy consumed in the U.S. [1] and 0.02 percent of all electricity generated in the U.S.[2] In 2008, solar generating capacity in the U.S. totaled 514 megawatts and generated 843 million kilowatt hours.[3] Solar turbines generated only a percentage of their theoretical maximum output due to [...]

PDF (869 KB) Coal-fired electricity generation is far cleaner today than ever before. The popular misconception that our air quality is getting worse is wrong, as shown by EPA’s air quality data. Modern coal plants, and those retrofitted with modern technologies to reduce pollution, are a success story and are currently providing about 50% of [...]

Updated February 2nd, 2010 Download PDF (289KB) The Energy Information Administration (EIA) produces forecasts of energy supply and demand for the next 20 years using the National Energy Modeling System (NEMS)[1]. These forecasts are updated annually and published in the Annual Energy Outlook (AEO).[2] All sectors of the energy system are represented in NEMS, including [...]

The Siren Song of Wind and Solar Energy Despite advocates’ claims to the contrary, wind and solar continue to be the most expensive sources of electricity. The New York Times recently reported that “wind power is currently more than 50 percent more expensive than power generated from a traditional coal plant.” [1] Energy Secretary Stephen [...]

Download as PDF The most popular way to regulate carbon dioxide emissions is through a cap and trade program. President Obama and many policymakers support some form of this regulatory policy. Cap and trade aims to cap emissions of carbon dioxide at a politically-determined level and then have the users and producers of oil, coal, [...]