Energy Tomorrow Blog
Climate Lawsuits vs. Climate Solutions
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Mark Green
Posted September 22, 2017
Here are some of my thoughts after this week’s news that San Francisco and Oakland have filed lawsuits against five oil and natural companies, arguing that the companies should pay for sea walls to protect the cities in case ocean levels rise due to changing climate:
First, the courts aren’t the place to address climate change policy. This is a complex, global issue that requires global engagement in the public square, not in a courtroom. In this country, elected officials debate public policy issues and then take appropriate action. Lawsuits of the type filed this week tend to serve special interests, polarize people and hinder real solutions.
The second point is action. Contrary to the lawsuit’s assertions, our industry is a leader on climate action, working to reduce emissions as part of a broader solution to those challenges. Since 2000 our industry has invested nearly $90 billion in emissions-reducing technologies – almost as much as the rest of U.S.-based private industries combined and more than twice the amount invested by each of the next three industry sectors.Energy and Communities: Highlighting Industry Core Values and Community Engagement
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Kate Lowery
Posted June 1, 2017
Today, API releases a new report that highlights the tangible ways our industry protects the safety and environment – as it also helps local communities. It’s an important document, reflecting the premium placed on responsible energy development by natural gas and oil companies. From the report:
The safety, health and protection of people, the environment and communities are the top priorities for the natural gas and oil industry. Today, natural gas and oil not only power our lives, but are the building blocks for so many of the products that make modern life possible. But this energy and the amazing things derived from it – everything from clothing and cosmetics to state-of-the-art health care devices and medicines – aren’t possible unless responsible development is the centerpiece of everything the industry does.
The Natural Gas Model for Emissions Compliance
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Mark Green
Posted October 27, 2016
Using abundant natural gas offers states a path to meeting emissions reduction targets in a way that’s clean, reliable and affordable. That’s what ICF International modeling (on behalf of API) found. ICF analyzed each of the pathways under EPA’s proposed Clean Power Plan (CPP), as well as one in which market forces determine the fuel generation mix and new capacity additions – as opposed to government-mandated choices.
The Science of Emissions Progress
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Mark Green
Posted October 13, 2016
Vote For Conventions (Cleveland Edition) – Vote4Energy
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Mark Green
Posted July 15, 2016
When approximately 4,700 delegates and alternates gather in Cleveland next week for the Republican National Convention, energy will play a major role – powering the Quicken Loans Arena, transporting delegates and support staff to and from “The Q,” running television broadcast equipment, cooking food, supporting high-tech communications and much more.
Think about energy’s role this way: Without modern energy supplied by oil and natural gas, the event would bear a strong resemblance to the GOP’s 1860 convention, when Abraham Lincoln was nominated at the Wigwam in Chicago.
The ‘Energy-Climate Challenge’ – the Natural Gas Solution
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Mark Green
Posted July 13, 2016
John Holdren, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, had some important things to say at this week’s U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) conference – noting that fossil fuels will remain the world’s dominant energy for decades to come and that the idea of America leaving its oil and natural gas reserves in the ground is “unrealistic.” The first point is a fact-based projection by EIA. The second is a rational conclusion, given the first.
Now, on to something else from Holdren’s speech – his discussion of what he called the “energy-climate challenge.” Holdren:
“Without energy there is no economy, without climate there is no environment and without economy and environment there is no well-being, there’s no civil society, there’s no personal or national security, there’s no economic growth.”
The challenge – providing the energy we need in an environmentally responsible way – certainly is a complex task. The great news is the U.S. has found a model that provides both economic growth and advances climate goals: an abundant supply (thanks to fracking) of low-cost natural gas.
The States and the Right Regulatory Approach
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Mark Green
Posted July 12, 2016
The sound approach to energy regulation in the U.S. – one that provides appropriate oversight to oil and natural gas development without unnecessarily impeding progress – continues to be a major theme at the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) annual conference in Washington.
Tesoro President and CEO Gregory J. Goff raised the point with his Day 1 keynote speech, calling for transparency, fairness and accountability in federal regulation:
“Consumers, companies and the economy all benefit when government policies are well-reasoned and balanced. America is blessed with an abundance of affordable, reliable energy. It must not be squandered. Allowing the forces of the free market to operate will continue to benefit society. Government should be a facilitating partner in this positive economic force, not a roadblock to it.”
Innovation, Science, and Fracking
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Erik Milito
Posted June 9, 2016
Competitive forces and industry innovation continue to drive technological advances and produce clean-burning natural gas, which has led to reducing carbon emissions from power generation to their lowest level in more than 20 years, making it clear that environmental progress and energy production are not mutually exclusive.
Lucky and Good – The U.S. Energy From Shale Revolution
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Reid Porter
Posted May 31, 2016
Politico has an interview out today with Iain Conn, chief executive of the British energy and services company Centrica. Let’s look at a couple of the points that he makes.
Natural Gas = a 'Yes' on Emissions Reductions
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Mark Green
Posted May 9, 2016
With new government data showing that U.S. carbon emissions in 2015 were 12 percent below 2005 levels, it might be time for some to take “yes” for an answer – that yes, on reducing carbon emissions, the United States is showing the way for the rest of the world with abundant, clean-burning natural gas.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) says despite the fact the U.S. economy was 15 percent larger in 2015 than it was in 2005 (inflation-adjusted numbers), energy-related carbon dioxide emissions were lower last year than they were 11 years ago.