Free Republic

Joe Biden and his administration’s extreme energy policies have predictably resulted in sky-high costs for American families. Biden has become increasingly desperate to shift blame and he is reportedly considering a new plan: raise energy taxes. ... Biden’s solution for high prices is raise taxes on energy producers, who will then pass that cost onto American consumers. Higher taxes do not bring prices down. Daniel Turner, our founder, and executive director was quick to blast the president’s plan. “Out of time and answers, the Biden Administration is trotting out another policy straight out of the 1970s in a transparent attempt...

High energy bills may top the political agenda in the UK, but households all over Europe are feeling the squeeze. Since 2010, both gas and electricity prices have risen markedly, largely due to rises in wholesale prices on the back of the tentative global economic recovery and expectations of higher demand. Electricity prices fell in the first half of the year, but this was simply a case of energy suppliers cutting prices after large increases in January. The dip in gas prices has lasted longer, but even they are on the up again. But as the chart below shows, Europe...

The recent debt ceiling debate has prompted increased focus on deficit reduction, with President Obama and congressional leaders proposing various cuts and tax increases aimed at moving the budget towards balance. As has become typical, for President Obama and his friends in Congress, this means targeting the oil and gas industry with proposals to nix tax credits and deductions that are broadly available across industries well beyond oil and gas. But a resumption of drilling would pour $44 billion into the American economy, create 230,000 jobs and, what’s more, increase tax revenues from American oil and natural gas companies by...

About 11,000 dead people in seven states, including Maryland, have gotten government heating aid over the past year or so, according to congressional investigators. They say that the grave is cold, but it's illegal to receive energy subsidies when your address is six feet under. Plenty of other Marylanders may also be ripping off the $5 billion Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, to judge from last month's report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office. In the seven states, the GAO found households receiving more than $100 million in benefits even though recipients weren't sufficiently documented on state records as being...

The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released its analysis of the Waxman-Markey bill, the proposed Democrat cap and trade national energy tax. The CBO report confirmed that every American will pay energy taxes, with “relief” being offered only to families earning less than $42,000 per year and individuals earning under $23,000 per year. The median household income in the United States is $50,233. The CBO has made official what Republicans have been saying all along: the Democrats’ new planned carbon tax will have a staggering impact on the middle class. What happened to that “no new taxes” on the middle...

<p>President Barack Obama wants to end $26 billion in oil and gas industry tax breaks, calling them ''unjustifiable loopholes'' in the tax system that other companies do not get.</p> <p>Obama's proposed fiscal 2010 budget, details of which were released Thursday, also more clearly spells out his intention to shut down a proposed nuclear waste dump at Yucca Mountain in Nevada and calls for ending a government subsidy that helps utilities license and plan for new nuclear power plants.</p>

It is gradually dawning on Washington that cap-and-trade legislation won't pass anytime soon--certainly not this year, and probably not next year either. One reason is public opinion: a Gallup survey released last week revealed that "for the first time in Gallup's 25-year history of asking Americans about the trade-off between environmental protection and economic growth, a majority of Americans say economic growth should be given the priority, even if the environment suffers to some extent." Just four years ago, protecting the environment enjoyed a 17-point edge; today, the advantage goes to the economy, 51-42. The second reason is regional politics....

Jim Rogers is not happy with the Obama administration. Ever since the White House unveiled its costly climate program, the CEO of Duke Energy has been arguing the proposals amount to nothing more than a tax. Indeed. Mr. Rogers belongs to the U.S. Climate Action Partnership, about 30 companies that decided to [cooperate on] global warming legislation. The group demanded a "cap-and-trade" system, figuring they'd craft the rules so as to obtain regulatory certainty, with little upfront cost. At the time, Mr. Rogers explained: "If you don't have a seat at the table, you'll wind up on the menu." ......

[Obama's stimulus plan includes a large government investment in green energy.] But the administration and Congress will have to forcibly change consumer habits, and spend billions of dollars more, if relatively expensive green energy is to become a viable alternative to less-expensive power sources such as coal and oil. They are about to try. The Environmental Protection Agency is drafting rules that will make it unprofitable for utilities to build new coal- and crude-fired plants, and for car makers to manufacture gas-swilling models like sport-utility vehicles and luxury sedans. Separately, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada has pledged to...

WASHINGTON -- The chief executive of Duke Energy Corp., one of the nation's biggest power companies and a major source of greenhouse gas emissions, said Friday that a proposal by President Obama to place a price on carbon emissions would drive up electricity rates in some areas of the U.S. by 40% and warned that it could also lead to "a redistribution of wealth" from Midwestern industrial states to coastal states. Duke Energy CEO James Rogers said he was also concerned that some of the roughly $646 billion that Mr. Obama hopes to raise by making companies pay for the...

It would be a tragedy if falling prices were to extinguish such alternatives and — given the time lag inherent in energy development — leave the country vulnerable to a yet another round of shocks. There is no disputing, as Ben Bernanke said, that recently falling oil prices are giving the economy a shot in the arm. But new energy projects also create jobs, and though oil prices impose a cost, Europe has lived with high prices (because of the imposition of taxes) and adjusted to them. ... What the country doesn’t want is to remain dependent only on oil...