The Energy Policy Act of 2005 requires the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to set mandatory levels of cellulosic biofuel for refiners to blend into transportation fuels. In order to restrain EPA, the law requires that the mandate be based on an estimate from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) as to how much cellulosic biofuel [...]
Prepare for Higher Gas Prices
EPA Will Increase Gasoline Prices and Reduce Fuel Economy with Its Bid to Further Reduce Sulfur in Gasoline The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has decided that the sulfur content of gasoline must be further reduced from 30 parts per million to 10 parts per million on an annual average basis by January 1, [...]
April 4, 2013 | Bus Tour, News, Threats, Tier 3 Standards
Regulating “Particulate Matter”: The EPA Doesn’t Even Believe Its Own Bogus Numbers
People who have watched environmental policy debates soon learn that the alarmist interventionists—the ones claiming that the government needs to act quickly in order to prevent catastrophe—are not afraid to throw around terrifying statistics that are absurd on their face. In a different forum, I walked through this phenomenon when it came to proposed regulations [...]
January 25, 2013 | Emissions Standards, Facts, Maximum Achievable Control Technology Standards, News
Dubious Arguments in Tier 3 Study
The EPA is planning to tighten its gasoline regulations from Tier 2 to Tier 3 standards, which would reduce permissible sulfur content from the current 30 parts per million (ppm) down to 10 ppm. (I have written a full overview of the economic issues surrounding Tier 2 and Tier 3 in this earlier IER [...]
December 5, 2012 | Bus Tour, News, Threats, Tier 3 Standards
The New “Benefits” of Environmental Regulation
The American Energy Alliance released today a new study authored by Scott Beaulier and Daniel Sutter that closely examines the purported “benefits” of environmental regulations. The following summary outlines the details of the study’s findings: The number of new regulations and estimates of the value of regulation have grown in recent years. Proponents of regulation [...]
October 11, 2012 | News
David Kreutzer on EPA and Oil Externalities
Sometimes in their zeal to exaggerate the “social benefits” of one of its programs, the number-crunchers at government agencies will stoop to absurd arguments that end up coming back to bite them. The Heritage Foundation’s David Kreutzer recently caught a great example of this, concerning the NHTSA’s and EPA’s analysis [pdf] of its new [...]
October 9, 2012 | Corporate Average Fuel Economy, News, Threats
“Stop the War on Coal” Bill and Regulatory Transparency
On Friday September 21, in its last action before the election, the House voted 233-175 to pass the provocatively titled “Stop the War on Coal Act” (H.R. 3409). Although it is given little chance of passing the Senate, the act contains several proposals to reduce federal constraints on energy production and job growth. The [...]
September 25, 2012 | Emissions Standards, Greenhouse Gases, Maximum Achievable Control Technology Standards, News, Threats
“A Refinery Rescue Reconsidered”
The incredible people we’ve met out on the American Products American Power bus tour know that you’re not a hero for calling the doctor after deliberately breaking someone’s legs. But that’s what the Obama Administration effectively did by driving a refinery out of business with regulations and then calling in a rescue operation. As [...]
September 19, 2012 | Corporate Average Fuel Economy, News, Renewable Fuel Standard, Threats, Tier 3 Standards
The President’s War on Coal
Representative Doc Hastings, chairman of the Committee on Natural Resources, published an op-ed in Politico today highlighting the Obama administration’s campaign against coal and affordable energy. While the administration certainly preaches an “all of the above” energy policy, their actions penalize and demonize coal and other affordable and reliable sources of energy. While the [...]
September 13, 2012 | Maximum Achievable Control Technology Standards, News
Ladies and Gentlemen, Start Your Engines
The American Products American Power bus tour was right at home this past weekend at the Richmond International Raceway for NASCAR. Thousands of fans flocked to the bus to sign the petition and to join the thousands of other Americans from all across the country fighting for sensible energy policies. As the current administration [...]
