UC Berkeley Econ Prof. Warns Newsom on Profit Caps for CA Refiners

Professor Severin Borenstein from the Energy Institute at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, one of the preeminent experts on California’s energy market, expressed reservations about a budding effort by California Governor Gavin Newsom to implement profit restrictions and penalties on California refiners.   Soaring gas prices remain a top concern for many Californians, with state

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Attorneys General and State Leaders Push Back on “Radical” Climate Policies, Lawsuits

Nineteen state attorneys general are challenging the “radical” climate policies of five Democrat-run states, alleging in a new complaint filed with the U.S. Supreme Court that the states’ climate lawsuits are jeopardizing access to affordable and available energy across the country.Nineteen state attorneys general are challenging the “radical” climate policies of five Democrat-run states, alleging

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CA AG Spotlights Politics of Climate Suit at San Francisco Event

California’s relentless war against oil and natural gas companies is poised to increase costs not only in California but also in the battleground states of Nevada and Arizona. But when California Attorney General Rob Bonta took to the stage at San Francisco Climate Week last month to promote the Golden State’s climate suit against the state’s energy producers, he had

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PA Senate Memo: Counties Pursuing Climate Litigation Will Reap Economic Consequences

A Pennsylvania state senator plans to introduce legislation prohibiting municipalities that file climate lawsuits against energy companies from reaping the economic benefits of the oil and gas industry. Announced in light of Bucks County’s recent climate lawsuit and the activist group Center for Climate Integrity (CCI)’s pitch to Allegheny County, the legislation marks the latest

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New Research, Same Flawed Methodology On Gas Stoves and Asthma

Researchers from Stanford University recently teamed up with Physicians, Scientists, and Engineers for Healthy Energy (PSEHE) on a new gas stove study (Kashtan et al.) that attempts to link the appliance to increased asthma risk. But like the team’s previous research, the findings relied on unrealistic cooking conditions to conclude: “Gas and propane stoves increase

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Rockefellers Have a Bad Day At The Senate Budget Committee

The Senate Budget Committee took the House Democrats’ political-theatre-esque investigation into energy companies and turned it into a complete political dud. At a hearing Wednesday intended to build off of the House Oversight Committee’s (HCOR) failed investigation into energy companies back in 2022, Democratic politicians and activist witnesses failed to produce anything of substance to

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*UPDATE* Senate Budget Committee Restarts Oil Industry Probe: Stay Tuned for More “Political Theater”

UPDATE (4/30/24): Today, Joint staff from the Senate Budget Committee and the House Oversight Committee released their long-awaited report concluding a “nearly three year-long” investigation into oil companies. Spoiler alert: as E&E News put it the first time around, the investigation continues to show that “oil and gas companies, for the most part, want to

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CCI Pitches Climate Litigation to Allegheny County, PA Amidst Local Resistance

Despite local resistance from Pennsylvania workers, on April 10, a Rockefeller-funded activist organization that recruits municipalities, cities, and states across the country to join the litigation campaign pitched their anti-energy playbook to the Allegheny County Council Committee on Sustainability and Green Initiatives. The Center for Climate Integrity’s (CCI) presentation came days after a wide variety

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New Hearing, Same Story: Biden Officials Struggle to Defend LNG Pause

This week, the Biden administration trotted out familiar disproven claims to justify their LNG export permitting pause. Testimony from Brad Crabtree, Assistant Secretary for the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management, at a House Oversight Committee hearing on the LNG export pause, failed to address or resolve widespread concern

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Europe Powers Ahead with New Natural Gas Plants as Energy Security Realities Set In

The increasing global demand for natural gas is being felt keenly in Europe, prompting billions in new investment and an uptick in the planning and permitting of natural gas plants. Amid geopolitically-driven commodity price spikes and governments’ growing energy security concerns, countries around the world are committing to build new natural gas power stations to

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Climate Superfund Bills Would Tax American Businesses, Spare OPEC+

Supporters of climate litigation are leaning into alternative strategies to extract dollars from the American energy industry. Last Tuesday, Vermont’s state Senate passed a “climate superfund” bill that would fine American energy companies to pay for the effects of climate change. Similar legislation has also been introduced in Maryland, New York, Massachusetts, and most recently

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Experts warn of “naive” LNG pause as House Hearing Highlights Education Ramifications

The indefinite U.S. LNG export pause by the Biden administration continues to raise experts’ eyebrows and spark reactions domestically and internationally. This week, JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon called the move “enormously naïve,” while a House Energy and Commerce field committee hearing highlighted the ban’s ramifications on education and workforce development. JP Morgan CEO Jamie

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