The Heartland Institute

A group of Idaho lawmakers is considering legislation demanding the federal government turn over millions of acres of land to the state government in Boise. Idaho legislators say they are increasingly frustrated over being denied access to federal lands within their state’s borders. Legislators in Arizona and Utah passed similar ...

The first southern state to enact renewable power mandates may be the first to repeal them. North Carolina Rep. Mike Hager (R-Rutherford) introduced legislation, the “Affordable and Reliable Energy Act,” to freeze renewable power mandates at current levels and repeal escalating future mandates. Hager’s measure would freeze North ...

An exhaustive study by the United States Geological Survey has uncovered no groundwater contamination from natural-gas drilling in the energy-rich Fayetteville Shale in Arkansas. No Significant Effects Found The United States Geological Survey (USGS) report, Shallow Groundwater Quality and Geochemistry in the Fayetteville Shale Gas ...

A wind energy company is seeking federal approval to kill several bald eagles each year within the Mississippi River Flyway in southeastern Minnesota in the process of providing intermitten wind power for local electricity consumers. Eight to 14 Kills Each Year U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) officials report the proposed ...

Hydraulic fracturing is safe for human health and the environment as long as proper safeguards are in place, the New York Department of Health concluded in a much-anticipated report. No Significant Health Effects “Significant adverse effects on human health are not expected from routine HVHF,” or high-volume hydraulic fracturing ...

Ohio state officials struck a severe blow to a plan to construct the largest solar-panel array east of the Rockies when the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio found utility American Electric Power “did not prove that the project is needed.” Solar Surcharge Rejected Developers proposed constructing the 49.9 megawatt Turning Point ...

Two U.S. Senators sent a letter to Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar asking why the Department of the Interior is open to permitting wind farms in federal waters off the Atlantic Coast but opposes oil and natural gas production in the same region. Apparent Double Standard Sens. David Vitter (R-LA) and Lamar Alexander (R ...

In the latest confirmation of what is perhaps the most stunning energy-related development in decades, the Paris-based International Energy Agency predicts the United States will become the world’s top oil producer by 2020. IEA says the same advances in hydraulic fracturing technology that recently unleashed the shale gas revolution ...

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo missed a Nov. 29 deadline to finalize long-awaited hydraulic fracturing regulations. The missed deadline left state residents uncertain whether and when they would join the current shale gas revolution that is creating jobs and wealth in nearby states such as Pennsylvania and Ohio. Panel Studies Health ...

Republican Chip Cravaack pulled off one of the most shocking election stunners in 2010, narrowly defeating longtime Democratic Congressman Jim Oberstar in Minnesota’s 8th Congressional District, described by the Daily Kos as “one of the safest Democratic seats in Congress.” Cravaack quickly made his mark in Congress, leading a ...

Two wind farms in Maryland, one proposed and the other one already in operation, are running into stiff resistance from local authorities and residents, conservation groups, state officials, and the U.S. Navy. Threat to Naval Radar Plans to build a giant wind farm on 10,000 acres in rural Summerset County on Maryland’s Eastern ...

Consol Energy announced it will lay off 145 workers because the company is unable to get the permits it needs from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for a surface mining project in southern West Virginia. The Pittsburgh-based company said it will shut down three coal mines, a preparation plant, and an administrative facility ...

In the latest setback for the renewable-energy sector, the Weld County District Attorney’s Office in Colorado is investigating Abound Solar for possible criminal violations. Although the District Attorney has yet to file charges, investigators are looking into whether the company engaged in securities fraud, consumer fraud, and ...

Texas and Arizona are poised to reap the benefits of domestic natural gas production, as Mexico is building new pipelines to import natural gas from the two U.S. states. Central Economy Stifling Production Mexico is blessed with some of the largest natural gas deposits in the world. Nevertheless, Pemex, the government-owned natural ...

A bipartisan group of seven governors petitioned the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to waive its ethanol fuel mandate until corn prices recede. Rising Prices Hurt States The governors of Arkansas, Delaware, Georgia, Maryland, New Mexico, North Carolina, and Texas petitioned EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson to issue the waiver ...

Kansas residents and businesses are paying higher electricity prices as a result of the state’s renewable power mandate, the Beacon Hill Institute and the Kansas Public Policy Institute report in a newly released study. Rapidly Rising Mandates In 2009 then-Gov. Mark Parkinson (D) signed the renewable power mandate into law. The ...

With its September 18 announcement that it is laying off 615 employees, or one-third of its U.S. workforce, Siemens AG joined a growing number of wind-energy firms that are shedding workers in the face of low natural gas prices and mounting uncertainty over the future of a controversial federal subsidy. Widespread Layoffs Encouraged ...

For the second time in a year, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie vetoed legislation that would return the Garden State to the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a cap-and-trade scheme encompassing several states and provinces in the Northeastern United States and Eastern Canada. Cites Unnecessary Tax Explaining his veto, Christie ...

Pesticides have helped farmers salvage much of their crop despite this year’s persistent drought in the American Midwest, agriculture expert David Bridges reports in the Des Moines Register . Variable Weather Threatens Crops Agriculture has long been at the whim of fickle weather—droughts, floods, hail storms, wildfires, hot spells ...

The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service is considering a dramatic expansion in the length of permits allowing wind power operators to kill bald eagles and other protected bird species. Wind power currently enjoys a unique exemption from Endangered Species Act protections and other federal restrictions protecting animals from deliberate ...