The Heartland Institute

By a margin of 2 to 1, Pennsylvanians say the economic benefits of natural gas production in the Marcellus Shale deposit outweigh the potential environmental impacts, according to a poll conducted by Quinnipiac University. The poll showed 63 percent of Pennsylvanians support drilling, while 30 percent are opposed. Economic Prosperity ...

Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) is signaling he intends to promote affordable energy that will bring prices in the state down to a level that s more competitive with those of neighboring states. New Focus on Energy Scott spent most of his first six months as governor focusing on balancing the state s budget and reforming state ...

It has become a truism that environmentalists want alternative energy from wind, sun, water to replace our reliance on fossil fuels. The trouble with this truism is that it isn t true. Yes, in the abstract, environmentalists are all for so-called renewable sources of energy. But when it comes to specific projects it s another ...

Once seen as a potential bonanza by governments, investment bankers, and alternative energy proponents, carbon dioxide credits have become close to worthless in trading exchanges and are now being shunned by investors. Few Bidders for RGGI Credits A June 8 auction by the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), a cap-and-trade ...

New York State would benefit from more than $11.4 billion in new economic output, 100,000 new jobs, and $1.4 billion in new tax revenues if the state lifts its ban on natural gas production through hydraulic fracturing techniques, according to a new study authored by energy economists at the University of Wyoming, Penn State ...

State public utilities commissions (sometimes known as public service commissions) are largely responsible for rapidly rising electricity prices in many states. With the power to approve or reject proposed power plants, many state commissions are aggressively pursuing green agendas at the expense of affordable energy. Electricity ...

The 28-member International Energy Agency last week agreed to release 60 million barrels of oil from the world s reserves in the next 30 days. Half would be released from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in the United States, 30 percent from Europe and 20 percent from Asian countries. One day before that decision, Saudi Arabia ...

Hiking Taxes on Big Oil Won t Produce More Energy By Bernard L. Weinstein* America desperately needs a sensible, comprehensive, and domestically-focused national energy strategy. But some members of Congress would rather be entertained by political theater. Last month, the CEOs of the nation s five biggest oil companies were ...

Ohio Gov. John Kasich asked for it, and now he has it: evidence that so-called " renewable" energy mandates raise electricity costs, subtract jobs and harm the economy. In April of this year our organization released a study of Ohio's Alternative Energy Portfolio Standard, and the findings will not encourage citizens of a state ...

As oil prices continue to threaten all-time record highs, Shell Oil has announced it will have to cancel plans to produce oil this summer in a lucrative oil field off a remote portion of Alaska because the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has determined Shell's planned oil production will cause too much air pollution and ...

Energy Policy Since Macondo: A Year of Living Dangerously By Bernard L. Weinstein* The world has changed since the Macondo blowout in the Gulf of Mexico a year ago that cost the lives of 11 rig workers and resulted in the biggest oil spill in the nation s history. Not only has the federal government tightened its ...

Some federal programs are more damaging to the national economy than other federal programs. Accordingly, some federal spending cuts are more important to the U.S. economy than other federal spending cuts. By leaving intact Environmental Protection Agency funds to devise, implement, and enforce carbon dioxide restrictions, the House ...

On Friday my new paper on climate change science and economics was published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, a peer-reviewed journal. The paper is unusual from a number of different perspectives. From a policy perspective, the paper s conclusions include the following: The economic benefits ...

The U.S. Senate is preparing to vote on legislation that would delay or block the Environmental Protection Agency from imposing carbon dioxide restrictions on the U.S. economy. As our economy struggles to break free from a very difficult economic downturn, this may well be the most important vote these senators make when it ...

Renewable electricity mandates are causing electricity prices to increase and killing jobs in the states that have enacted them. As of January 2011, 29 states have enacted renewable electricity mandates and another seven have enacted renewable electricity goals. In addition to raising electricity prices, the majority of states ...

Montana's renewable power mandates will force state electricity consumers to pay an extra $225 million in 2015 versus baseline figures. In addition, the mandate will bring few environmental benefits, as it is unclear whether the use of renewable power sources such as wind and solar actually reduces overall greenhouse gas emissions ...

Will Frackophobia Kill America s Resurgent Oil and Gas Industry? *By Bernard L. Weinstein Last year, America imported almost 4.4 billion barrels of oil, much of it from countries that don't particularly like us. The tab totaled $260 billion and accounted for roughly half of our trade deficit. With the economy recovering and oil ...

Come New Year's, better strip the lights off the house and the Christmas tree ASAP. Customers of Pacific Power will see their electric rates spike 14.5 percent in January. The increase comes in a one-two punch: an 8.4 percent general rate increase state utility regulators approved Friday, and a 6.1 percent increase for increased ...

The UN-sponsored climate talks underway in Cancun are living up to or down to expectations. Proving once again that global warming is more a political issue than a scientific one at the UN, and that wealth transfer rather than warming mitigation is the true goal of UN action, Professor Kevin Andersen of the UK s Tyndall ...

Bjorn Lomborg (" Can Anything Serious Happen in Cancun?" , op-ed, Nov. 12) claims that government spending on global warming policies is wasted, but he assumes that global warming caused by carbon dioxide is a fact. It is not. We base this statement not on the opinions of 31,000 American scientists who signed a public statement ...