The January 11 edition of 60 Minutes featured a segment on oil speculation. Correspondent Steve Kroft interviewed hedge fund manager Michael Masters and others who blamed the run-up in oil prices on hedge funds and other investors. Unfortunately, Kroft failed to interview a single person who explained the benefits of hedging and even speculation on [...]
GREEN JOBS: Fact or Fiction?
An Assessment of the Literature
January 2009
By Robert Michaels and Robert P. Murphy
Download as PDF
Introduction and Executive Summary
I. Green Recovery, Center for American Progress
II. Job Opportunities for the Green Economy, Political Economy Research Institute
III. Current and Potential Green Jobs in the U.S. Economy, Global Insight
IV. Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency, American Solar [...]
Less Supply, More Regulations and Higher Prices
for American Consumers
Before Wall Street’s implosion and the sharp economic downturn, energy policy dominated the headlines on the Presidential campaign trail. An overwhelming majority of Americans demanded access to offshore energy resources to help increase supplies and lower prices for everything from gas at the pump to groceries [...]
Synopsis (104KB)
Complete Analysis (60KB)
The following comparison of Barack Obama’s and John McCain’s energy and environmental plans comes from the statements of their plans on their official web sites. The text first indicates what the respective plans say on each topic, and then provides IER’s analysis of each topic within the program.
Table of Contents
CAFE
Advanced Vehicle R&D
Electricity [...]
On Friday, October 3, the California Air Resources Board is scheduled to formally release its Scoping Plan pursuant to AB 32, the “California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006.” AB 32 calls for the state of California to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020. One of the primary means to achieve [...]
Robert Bradley (President) & Thomas Tanton (Senior Fellow),
Institute for Energy Research
December 19, 2005
Executive Summary
U.S. petroleum refining experienced an unprecedented disruption when a tight crude-oil market was joined by major infrastructure damage from hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Suddenly, less supply was available to meet strong demand, and prices spiked for petroleum products, particularly gasoline.
The price [...]
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 state-by-state impact of this proposal on [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]