Free Republic

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WTVO) — A new bill under consideration in the Illinois House would allow individual municipalities to impose their own, local motor fuel tax on top of the state’s gas tax. House Bill 1283 would create the Municipal Motor Fuel Tax Law, allowing cities, towns and villages to impose their own gas tax, at a rate not to exceed 3 cents per gallon. The bill was introduced by Rep. Anthony DeLuca (D-80th). Illinois residents currently pay the second-highest gas tax in the country besides California, at 66 cents per gallon.

The Trump administration is wasting no time reversing President Joe Biden's disastrous energy policies and is already opening up new lanes of production less than two months after being sworn into office. Last week Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and Energy Secretary Chris Wright traveled to Louisiana to announce new liquified natural gas exports are back in business. Bergum and Wright were hosted by Venture Global, which committed to $18 billion in new energy investments. "Venture Global announced plans for a brownfield expansion at its Plaquemines LNG facility south of New Orleans, Louisiana. Joining Venture Global for the announcement was Secretary...

Russian special forces walked inside a gas pipeline to strike Ukrainian units from the rear in the Kursk region, Ukraine’s military and Russian war bloggers reported, as Moscow moves to recapture parts of its border province that Kyiv seized in a shock offensive. According to Telegram posts by a Ukrainian-born, pro-Kremlin blogger, Russian operatives walked about 15 kilometers (9 miles) inside the pipeline, which Moscow had until recently used to send gas to Europe. Some Russian troops had spent several days in the pipe before striking Ukrainian units from the rear near the town of Sudzha, blogger Yuri Podolyaka claimed....

Did you know that the European Union has sent more money to Russia in payment for petroleum products than they have provided aid to Ukraine. You read that right: the EU is funding both sides of the war. ... EU imports of Russian fossil fuels in the third year of the invasion surpassed the EUR 18.7 bn of financial aid they sent to Ukraine in 2024 ... All the virtue signaling from European leaders about standing with Ukraine is completely belied by this. They all continue to trade with Russia and import oil, gas, and coal. If they were really...

magine a state’s attorney general accepting staff who were paid by a foundation that was funded by an out of state billionaire who had financial and political interests he wanted advanced. These volunteer assistant attorneys general waste little time filing lawsuits against the billionaire’s adversaries in Minnesota. They pursue their actions knowing full well that even if they succeed, the only result will be higher prices for all Minnesotans. That’s exactly what is happening right now in the Minnesota attorney general’s office. Recently, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison’s office filed a lawsuit against the American Petroleum Institute, Exxon Mobil, and...

Germany hasn’t seen significant economic growth in five years. It’s a stunning turnaround for Europe’s biggest economy, which for much of this century had expanded exports and dominated world trade in engineered products like industrial machinery and luxury cars. Here are five reasons for Germany’s ongoing economic slump:

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Since his election, President Donald Trump has repeatedly expressed support for a major natural gas pipeline in Alaska — comments that have drawn fresh attention to a project that’s floundered for years despite support from state leaders. Trump mentioned the pipeline at a news conference with Japan’s prime minister earlier this month, drawing praise from Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy and U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan, both Republicans. As proposed, the nearly 810-mile (1,300-kilometer) pipeline would funnel gas from Alaska’s vast North Slope to port, with an eye largely on exports to Asian countries. Critics, however, see this...

"No pipelines exist to feed gasoline in from other states.".. If you thought that the LA wildfires exposed just how mismanaged California is, you ain’t seen nothing yet. Russia. China. Venezuela. Iran. More than a dozen countries make gasoline at state-owned refineries. Could California be next on the list? Let’s see what do all of those places have in common? Tyrannical regimes. Miserable lives for much of the population. High levels of migration. Radical politics. Sure, California belongs on that list. California policymakers are considering state ownership of one or more oil refineries, one item on a list of options...

The British paper The Telegraph claims to have has access to a draft of the ‘pre-decisional contract’, sent by the US to Volodymyr Zelensky, dealing with a demand for a $500bn ‘payback’ from Ukraine for the aid already delivered. The document, marked ‘Privileged & Confidential’ and dated Feb 7 2025, has caused ‘consternation and panic’ in Kiev, according to the Telegraph report. The writer Ambrose Evans Pritchard is ‘shocked’ by the draconian terms, calls it ‘economic colonization of Ukraine’, a ‘burden of reparations that cannot possibly be achieved’. (“It states that the US and Ukraine should form a joint investment...

Gas prices are soaring in California — again — thanks to a refinery fire that has choked supply, sending average prices to $5 per gallon, and even higher in the northern regions of the state. Los Angeles’ KTLA-5 reported: The average price of gas in California has skyrocketed in recent weeks, and is flirting with the dreaded $5 mark. According to AAA, the average price of regular gas in California was $4.84 on Saturday. That number was up about 25 cents from last Saturday and 44 cents from one month ago.

In a masterful strike against the eco-extremist agenda of the left, President Donald Trump, along with Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, have opened Pandora’s box of energy independence.They have reversed the absurd ban imposed by Joe Biden, opening over 625 million acres for oil and gas drilling and exploration.This move is nothing less than a declaration of war against progressives who want to see the United States on its knees.🚨BREAKING: President Trump and Doug Burgum announce they are opening 625 million acres of offshore territory for drilling, reversing Biden’s last-minute ban before he left office.pic.twitter.com/Fl2kh3K0db— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) February 14, 2025In...

European Union officials are considering the potential introduction of a cap on natural gas prices as part of discussions on a clean industrial deal policy to boost Europe’s industry.Europe is losing competitiveness due to the European gas prices which are up to four times higher than those in the United States.A cap on prices is being discussed at the European Commission ahead of next month’s release of the so-called Clean Industrial Deal or the related Action Plan on Affordable Energy Prices, sources familiar with the talks have told the Financial Times.The EU currently has a cap on gas prices, the...

BMW’s conservative approach to EV adoption, investing in platforms that can accommodate internal-combustion, hybrid, and electric powertrains, is now paying off as the company navigates the uncertain transition to electric vehicles. Inside EVs reports that as the automotive industry grapples with the challenges of transitioning to electric vehicles, BMW’s strategic decision to invest in flexible platforms is proving to be a wise move. Unlike some of its rivals, such as Mercedes and Audi, who have focused heavily on dedicated EV platforms, BMW has taken a more measured approach by developing architectures that can support multiple powertrains, including internal-combustion engines (ICE),...

President Trump signed an executive order overlooked by some in the media on his first day of office that experts tell Fox News Digital will play a critical role in developing mineral resources in the United States. On the first day of his presidency, Trump signed an executive order advancing the Ambler Access Project, a 211-mile industrial road through the Brooks Range foothills that enables commercial mining for copper, zinc and other materials in a remote Arctic area in Northwest Alaska. That executive order, one of dozens signed by Trump in the early hours of his administration, reverses a move...

"Andrzej Duda told the BBC that the Nord Stream gas pipelines, which have not been used since 2022, "should be dismantled". This, he said, would mean the likes of Germany would not be tempted to restore Russian supplies to boost its own struggling economy. "I can only hope that European leaders will learn lessons from Russia's aggression against Ukraine and that they will push through a decision to never restore the pumping of gas through this pipeline," he said. The Polish president, speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, insisted that economic sanctions against Russia were working and European...

NEW YORK, Jan 15 (Reuters) - Colonial Pipeline's main U.S. gasoline artery is expected to remain shut through Friday as the company continues to search for the source of a suspected leak in Paulding County, Georgia, the company said in a statement on Wednesday. Line 1, one of two mainlines on the more than 5,500-mile Colonial system, was shut on Monday night after Colonial received reports of a gasoline release. The pipeline moves gasoline from Texas to North Carolina and was earlier expected to resume service on Tuesday night, according to market sources. "Colonial continues on-site work to identify the...

Blackrock Inc. is the latest to announce it has left a United Nations-backed Net-Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA), among several within one month and not soon after Donald Trump was elected president. It did so as it and roughly 60 companies are being investigated by Congress for allegedly colluding as a “woke ESG cartel” to “impose radical environmental, social, and governance goals on American companies.” Last month, Goldman Sachs was the first to withdraw from the alliance, followed by Wells Fargo, The Center Square reported. Citigroup, Bank of America, Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan next announced their departure. According to the "bank-led...

Joe Biden is not finished sabotaging his successor before he finally leaves the White House in complete disgrace. As The Daily Mail reported, Joe Biden has officially banned ALL future offshore oil and gas drilling in an effort to sabotage President Trump’s vote to unleash American energy dominance, which includes offshore drilling. Trump has also vowed to ditch Biden’s environmentally damaging ‘green’ energy policies. Biden announced Monday morning he is utilizing his power under the 70-year-old Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to block all future oil and natural gas leasing in more than 625 million acres of federal waters. Established...

WASHINGTON — President Biden is moving to ban new offshore oil and gas drilling in most US coastal waters, a last-minute effort to block possible action by the incoming Trump administration to expand offshore drilling. Biden, whose term expires in two weeks, said he is using authority under the federal Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to protect offshore areas along the East and West coasts, the eastern Gulf of Mexico and portions of Alaska’s Northern Bering Sea from future oil and natural gas leasing. “My decision reflects what coastal communities, businesses and beachgoers have known for a long time: that...

Welcome to Germany’s green economic miracle. The year is 2025! Germany’s so-called Energiewende (transition to renewable energies) has had one unmistakable result: Germany now finds itself rapidly nearing the brink of a third world country where the power supply is no longer reliable and brownouts becoming more and more a daily routine. What’s happening is the opposite of what was once promised by the know-it-all climate wisemen: “Green energies would lead to a clean and prosperous country that would be the envy of the world. So much for their fantasies. The reality, as reported yesterday by Germany’s leading daily, Bild...