Who could have imagined the day would come when the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) crafted a report focused on relieving Americans’ “pain at the pump”? 

But there it is: the same group that once stated “there’s nothing we can do to control the price of gas in America” released a paper this week outlining the ways in which Keystone XL pipeline is apparently poised to make prices at the pump go higher – as if higher gas prices were something the group actually opposed. 

Of course, we know the truth about NRDC’s position on gas prices – that they support policies that increase the cost of fossil fuels to discourage their use. What’s tougher, though, is determining how the group came up with a methodology allowing it to argue, in effect, that greater supply of secure sources of... more »

The Congressional Research Service (CRS) added to the pile of conflicting well-to-wheels analyses with its report released this week, “The Life Cycle Assessment of Canadian Oil Sands,” written in the context of the Keystone XL project. Just like its predecessors, CRS wades into the world of assessment comparisons, choosing previously-published reports with seemingly common variables to come up with an emissions calculation slightly different from the rest. The problem, however, is that more often than not, apples are compared to oranges and policymakers are misled.

The report concludes that the Canadian oil sands emit 14 to 20 percent more greenhouse gases (GHGs) in a well-to-wheels (WTW) comparison with other crude oils imported into the United States “despite differences and input as... more »

TransCanada President and CEO Russ Girling has a letter to the editor in the New York Times after the newspaper’s recent editorial criticizing the Keystone XL pipeline. Main points:

• The Keystone XL would feature the strongest steel and would conform to the highest safety standards.
• TransCanada already has agreed to 57 special conditions laid out by the federal pipeline administration, including remotely controlled shut-off valves, increased inspections and burying the pipe deeper than originally proposed.
• The Keystone XL has successfully cleared three separate environmental reviews. The final, 10,000-page environmental impact statement said that measures taken by TransCanada would result in a “project that would have a degree of safety over any other typically constructed do... more »

Scroll down a bit in this wrap-up of last weekend’s G8 Summit from The Hill newspaper, and you’ll see that the president and other G8 leaders hinted that they might ask for a draw on the world’s oil reserves to offset disruptions in supply from Iran. Their statement:

“There have been increasing disruptions in the supply of oil to the global market over the past several months, which pose a substantial risk to global economic growth. … Looking ahead to the likelihood of further disruptions in oil sales and the expected increased demand over the coming months, we are monitoring the situation closely and stand ready to call upon the International Energy Agency to take appropriate action to ensure that the market is fully and timely supplied."

The Hill says the White House was mum on... more »

Just a thought, but how great would it be if one of this fall’s presidential debates focused solely on energy issues?

Past presidential debates have discussed the economy and jobs, national security and foreign policy, and of course all of those are important. Yet, when you think about it, energy is the nexus where all come together.

Energy runs our economy, literally, and the quest for it supports millions of jobs and could create hundreds of thousands more. Our need for reliable, affordable energy figures prominently in national security and foreign policy decisions. An America that meets most or all of its energy needs here at home would be safer, its prosperity less vulnerable to geo-political developments.

So, when the people who decide the topics for this year’s presidential... more »