Access to abundant, affordable energy is a key factor in economic growth, whether supplying the manufacturing plants of the 20th century or the server farms of the 21st century. Unfortunately, the federal government has placed unreasonable restrictions on domestic exploration and development, and foreign sources are sometimes actually hostile to our own interests.
New discoveries and innovative technologies have made possible the extraction of enormous new energy resources within the United States. The U.S. possesses not only enormous natural energy resources but also the technology to extract those resources in a responsible manner.
IPI believes that the United States should become as energy self-sufficient as possible, drawing upon a diverse energy base comprised of all possible energy resources. We believe that free people operating within a free economy using voluntary risk capital will out-innovate government-directed central planning funded by taxpayer dollars. The key to energy innovation is abundant capital, a tax system that rewards rather than punishes success, an intellectual property system that allows innovators to own the fruits of their research, and a regulatory environment that balances the needs of our economy with the protection of the environment.
Climate Alarmists Manipulate Data to Make 2015 Hottest Year on Record
A new paper is explaining why NOAA’s conclusions about 2015 are too hot.
Obama Rejects Clean Power Plan Limits
“The better hope for ending the federal power grab may come from the states, which have found lots of new reasons to embrace the Constitution’s federalism and challenge federal overreach,” said IPI's Merrill Matthews.
Ethanol Backers Mobilize Against Ted Cruz
The Renewable Fuel Standard has been a boon to corn growers but hardly anyone else, writes Merrill Matthews, a resident scholar with the Institute for Policy Innovation in Dallas.
Ted Cruz Passes on Principle
As IPI’s Merrill Matthews wrote for the Wall Street Journal, ethanol mandates increase the cost of driving, adds more carbon dioxide to the atmosphere than do fossil fuels, and was crafted at a time when the junk science of “peak oil” was scaring entrepreneurial Americans into developing hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling technology that has transformed the U.S. into one of the world’s largest energy producers. That Cruz could back this policy and remain at the top of the polls in the Hawkeye State suggested that the fever associated with addiction to federal subsidies was breaking.
Morning Editorial Report: Repealing Obamacare
The Environmental Protection Agency is mandating that more ethanol be blended into gasoline, but Merrill Matthews notes in our pages the inconvenient truth that “ethanol adds more carbon dioxide to the atmosphere than it eliminates by replacing fossil fuels.”
The Corn-Fed Albatross Called Ethanol
The renewable fuel has cost drivers an extra $83 billion to fill their tanks since 2007, and it does little or no good for the climate.
Obama Wants To Buy A Green Legacy With Taxpayer Money
Beware of politicians looking for a legacy—especially when they try to buy it with your tax dollars. President Obama will soon head to Paris for a climate change confab, where he hopes to get a standing ovation for leading the fight against fossil fuels.
U.S. Should Counter Russia With Mexico, Canada Oil Alliance
A free-nation oil-exporting alliance could lay the groundwork for a serious challenge to a Russian-led Middle East bloc and give our allies a viable energy alternative to Russia's effort to create an energy stranglehold.
Texas Fracking Battles Quiet For Now With Potential Storms Brewing
In Texas, more fracking ban battles are likely ahead with a state v. local control companion issue a new part of the mix. Denton’s fracking battle is, for now, resolved, but a larger ideological storm is undoubtedly looming.
Here's The Single Best Way To Counter Iran Without Going to War
With sanctions relief from the nuclear agreement, Iran will be trying to produce and sell even more oil. In that case, the least the president could do is let the U.S. compete against Iranian exports, perhaps mitigating Iran’s efforts to fund its political mischief.