Energy Tomorrow Blog
Continuing the Work of Reducing Emissions
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Mark Green
Posted December 13, 2017
With last week’s launch of The Environmental Partnership, let’s take a more detailed look at the three emissions-reducing programs more than two dozen participating companies have announced as their initial focus: pneumatic controller upgrades, leak detection and well liquids removal. These sound a little technical, yet you don’t have to be a petroleum engineer to understand why the partnership has prioritized them at launch.
The Climate Success of the U.S. Model
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Mark Green
Posted August 31, 2016
In recent months we’ve posted a number of times on the “U.S. Model” of domestic energy and economic growth – coupled with greenhouse gas reductions (see here, here and here). Let that sink in: The United States is simultaneously the world’s No. 1 producer of oil and natural gas and the world leader in reducing emissions. Energy growth and climate progress together. That’s the U.S. Model. It’s important to grasp the impacts of the U.S. model – and also how it came about.
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.”
Energy and America’s Best Interest - #EIAConf
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Mark Green
Posted July 11, 2016
The U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) annual energy conference is under way in Washington, D.C. Here are a few highlights from the first slate of speakers, which included John Holdren, assistant to the president for science and technology, and Gregory Goff, Tesoro Corporation president and CEO.
Holdren went first, saying that the driver of technology in the future will be finding solutions to what he called the energy/climate challenge:
“Without energy there is no economy, without climate there is no environment and without economy and environment there’s no well-being, there’s no civil society, there’s no personal or national security, there’s no economic growth."
Energy Progress vs. EPA's Politics
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Mark Green
Posted April 19, 2016
Some important context before a discussion of a flawed emissions report from EPA, which follows below.
The United States is the world’s No. 1 producer of oil and natural gas – largely thanks to safe and responsible hydraulic fracturing and advanced horizontal drilling. Natural gas production reached a record high level of 79 billion cubic feet per day in 2015, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (chart), while total U.S. energy output increased for the sixth consecutive year.
The increased natural gas production and use is critically important, as it is the key factor in reduced carbon emissions during a period of U.S. economic expansion – a break with historic precedent noted by the New York Times. Indeed, the United States is leading the world in carbon emissions reductions, largely thanks to its energy revolution.
America’s Climate and Energy Success Story
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Mark Green
Posted December 1, 2015
This week’s climate summit in Paris will be filled with talk of ways to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions. That’s an important discussion for sure, but it’s one that should focus on achievable, real-world initiatives. A couple of starting points for an action agenda:
The first is an acknowledgement – that the availability of safe, reliable energy is fundamental to lifting people – and entire nations – from poverty. United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called energy the “the golden thread that connects economic growth, social equity, and environmental sustainability.” With the International Energy Agency telling us that more than a billion people around the world don’t have electricity, it would be a mistake for the Paris summit to do anything that impedes or blocks access to energy. The world needs more energy, not less.
The second point a realization by the summiteers that private markets, not command-and-control government interventions, offer the best avenue to advance climate objectives while growing energy supplies – progress without hamstringing economies and hindering individual opportunity.
Embracing Energy – For Jobs, Cleaner Air, Lower Costs
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Mark Green
Posted September 22, 2015
Today, API released a new report on investments in greenhouse gas-mitigating measures that illustrates the oil and natural gas industry’s leadership in innovating the technologies and efficiencies to keep improving air quality. We conclude a series of posts on the intersection of energy development and climate/environmental goals (here, here and here) with a look at the new report.
Key numbers from T2 and Associates’ new report on investments in mitigating greenhouse gases (GHG) by industry include $90 billion in zero and low-carbon emitting technologies from 2000 through 2014.
The RFS and Climate
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Mark Green
Posted September 21, 2015
The third in a series of posts on the intersection of energy development and policy and the pursuit of climate goals. Last week: The Clean Power Plan’s flawed approach in the energy sector and the role of increased natural gas use in improving air quality. Today: The impacts of the Renewable Fuel Standard and federal ethanol policy.
A decade ago Congress passed legislation creating the federal Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) – requiring escalating volumes of ethanol in the U.S. fuel supply – that was intended in part to help reduce crude oil imports while capitalizing the supposed environmental advantages of ethanol.
Crude oil imports indeed have been falling since 2008. But, as we’ve detailed before, virtually all of the decrease is due to rising domestic crude oil production, not the RFS. Thanks to vast domestic shale reserves and safe hydraulic fracturing, the U.S. is the world’s leading producer of oil and natural gas – which by far has had the most to do with reducing U.S. net crude imports.
Energizing Georgia
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Reid Porter
Posted August 27, 2015
Our series highlighting the economic and jobs impact of energy in each of the 50 states continues today with Georgia. We started the series with Virginia on June 29 and began this week with a review of Kentucky, Tennessee and Utah. All information covered in this series can be found online here, arranged on an interactive map of the United States. State-specific information across the country will be populated on this map as the series continues.
As we can see with Georgia, the energy impacts of the states individually combine to form energy’s national economic and jobs picture: 9.8 million jobs supported and $1.2 trillion in value added.
Energizing Tennessee
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Reid Porter
Posted August 25, 2015
Our series highlighting the economic and jobs impact of energy in each of the 50 states continues today with Tennessee. We started the series with Virginia on June 29 and began this week with a review of Kentucky. All information covered in this series can be found online here, arranged on an interactive map of the United States. State-specific information across the country will be populated on this map as the series continues.
As we can see with Tennessee, the energy impacts of the states individually combine to form energy’s national economic and jobs picture: 9.8 million jobs supported and $1.2 trillion in value added.