WASHINGTON – The Institute for Energy Research released today a list of the Obama administration’s actions that are aimed at increasing the cost of energy for American families. The list includes over 100 actions taken by the administration including:
- An Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) plan that closed the vast majority of the OCS from future energy production.
- Solyndra, the poster-child for President Obama’s “green” energy policies, filed for bankruptcy, despite receiving a $535 million loan from U.S. taxpayers.
- A plan to close off 75 percent of Western oil shale—70 percent of which is on federal lands—to development.
- The Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (also known as Utility MACT), which will force plant closures, cause 33 gigawatts of electric power to go offline and raise electricity rates for all ratepayers.
- A Renewable Fuel Standards (RFS) proposal that calls for 17 million gallons of cellulosic biofuels in 2014. As of August 2014 producers have only been able to generate 72,000 gallons due to cost and complexity of the process.
- A rule to regulate carbon dioxide emissions from existing power plants. EPA says costs will be about $8.8 billion, while other estimates of similar plans predict costs as high as $480 billion.
- New IRS guidance which expands the expired production tax credit (PTC). The PTC requires that “construction” commences before the end of 2013. However, the IRS’s new definition of “construction” reduces the need for actual physical work to occur, relying more on mere financing.
IER President Thomas Pyle released the following statement:
“American families depend on affordable and reliable energy, yet since day one of this presidency, the Obama administration has led our country down a path towards higher energy costs—a path grounded in the promise he made to ensure that under his plan ‘electricity prices would necessarily skyrocket.’
“An abundant, affordable, reliable supply of natural gas, oil, and coal has helped the U.S. become the most prosperous country in human history. And yet, this administration’s strategy is to block access to these resources onfederal lands, bankroll unreliable energy, and shut down coal power plants. The government should be encouraging the responsible development of these reliable energy resources, not taking them away from American citizens.
“Despite the administration’s actions, the U.S. has experienced dramatic growth in domestic energy production from reliable sources like natural gas and oil. While the President has tried to take credit for this boom, it has occurred almost entirely on state and private lands that are largely out of his executive reach. The numbers speak for themselves. Production of our reliable energy supplies has plummeted on federal lands, while increasing on state and private lands.
“As the president preps for another one of his lectures on global warming at the upcoming UN Climate Summit, it’s important to consider the actions he has already taken to make reliable energy a luxury good.”
Click here to read the full list.
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