Archive for the ‘Studies’ Category

“Don’t Know Much About Energy”

IER analyzes energy ‘plan’ proposed by the Speaker of the House

On Saturday, August 16, the Speaker of the House delivered a radio address focused on energy issues. The following analyzes some of the claims and proposal outlined by the Speaker in that address.
THE SPEAKER: “Over the past few months alone, Republicans have voted down [...]

Offshore Oil Production Estimate Illustrates Flaws in Forecasting

Politicians have a knack for citing statistics that support their positions. Those who are opposed to increasing domestic supplies of energy are especially adept at citing statistics that make it seem as though it is “not worth it.” Government reports, while not all wrong, can be rife with such statistics.
Recently, for example, some [...]

Subsidizing American Energy: A Breakdown By Source

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 subsidies for [...]

EPA Staff’s Attempt to Regulate Greenhouse Gases under the Clean Air Act

“An unprecedented expansion of EPA authority.” – EPA Administrator Johnson
Explaining EPA’s Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for Greenhouse Gases

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced that is it well on its way to regulating at least 85 percent of the energy used in America in the name of global warming (nevermind the fact that [...]

Pitfalls in the Pickens Plan

The “Pickens Plan” to reduce America’s dependence on foreign sources of oil by erecting massive wind farms and redirecting natural gas to the transportation market is fatally flawed.  IER has identified the following pitfalls:
Wind power is intermittent
Wind power is intermittent—electricity is generated only if and when the wind blows, and blows hard enough to spin [...]

Can America “Extrapolate” Its Way to Energy Security?

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 “68 million [...]

Speculators Not to Blame for High Oil Prices

A new study authored by IER economist Robert Murphy , Speculators Fixing Oil Prices? Don’t Bet On It , sheds some much needed light on the role speculation plays in the global oil market.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Record-high oil prices demand a target, and some politicians are increasingly pointing the finger at speculators in the commodities futures markets. [...]

IER Economist Murphy Takes on Nordhaus’ Case for a Carbon Tax

IER’s economist, Robert Murphy, takes on Nordhaus’ dubious case for a carbon tax with Rolling the Dice.  The Murphy study is currently under submission at a peer-reviewed economics journal.
 
 
 

Energy Lesson: Drilling vs. Production

As gas prices climb, opponents of increasing domestic oil production are touting the following statistic to bolster their ‘no new production’ postion:
“Since 2000, drilling on land has increased dramatically – climbing about 66 percent– while gas prices continue to increase.”
What’s misssing?  Here are the facts:
·         Exploratory and development drilling has increased across the board since [...]

Top Five Actions Your Federal Government Can Take to Lower Energy Prices

Congress Must Face the Law of Supply and Demand. Oil, gasoline, fuel oil, and heating oil and diesel fuel commodities traded in the world market and, therefore, their prices reflect the fundamentals economic principals of supply and demand. While much has been done to reduce demand for energy (CAFE, energy efficiency requirements in buildings, etc.) [...]