Oil jobs are coming back to the U.S. after three years of mass layoffs, according to new federal employment data. Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows the oil industry added 2,500 jobs so far this year, reversing a 27-month-long decline in oil employment. The industry shed 206,000 jobs after oil prices collapsed in summer 2014. Additional hiring seems likely as U.S. hydraulic fracturing companies are now efficient enough to compete when oil prices are low, according to a new report by the [Read more]
Study: US Will Be ‘Global Leader In Energy Exports’ By 2022
The U.S. is expected to be major natural gas exporter by 2022, according to a new projection by the International Energy Agency (IEA). The U.S. could account for roughly 40 percent of the world’s extra gas production by 2022, largely due to hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, according to the report. Production is growing faster than than domestic demand, so excess U.S. gas will likely be liquefied and exported abroad. “The US shale revolution shows no sign of running out of steam and its effects [Read more]
STUDY: US ‘Losing Ground’ To Russia And China On Nuclear Power
The U.S. is losing global influence to Russia and China by allowing its nuclear power industry to stagnate, according to a new study by the Global Nexus Initiative. The study argued nuclear power is a significant element of a country’s geopolitical influence. Technological exchanges and long timeframes involved in building and operating a nuclear plant create diplomatic relationships between nations, and those ties are threatened as the U.S. nuclear industry continues to decline. [Read more]
Small Towns Fight Back Against World’s Largest Green Energy Company
Two rural Michigan towns are holding a referendum Tuesday on whether or not block two of the world’s largest green energy companies from building wind turbines. The vote could stop the companies DTE Energy and NextEra Energy from building 70 new wind turbines in Huron County. The county already has 550 wind turbines, but residents opposed to more wind turbines hope the referendum will block new turbines. Anti-wind power activists got about 1,200 signatures to get a measure against turbines on [Read more]
Study: Selling US Natural Gas Abroad Could Create 136,000 Jobs
Selling Texas’ liquefied natural gas (LNG) to other countries will create more than 136,000 jobs nationwide and generate $145 billion in economic activity, according to a new report published Monday. The pro-industry group North Texans for Natural Gas commissioned the report, which touts the economic benefits of approving seven LNG export facilities in the state. Roughly 70,000 of these jobs will be created in Texas, and the state government will receive more than $20 billion in tax [Read more]
Trump Approves Natural Gas Export Terminal In Bid For Energy Dominance
The Energy Department gave a Texas-based energy company permission Tuesday to export liquefied natural gas (LNG) to countries with which the U.S. does not have free trade agreements. Golden Pass Products will build an LNG export terminal capable of shipping 2.21 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) of natural gas around the world. It’s the first LNG export terminal approved by the Trump administration, adding to the already 19.2 Bcf/d of exports approved by the Obama administration. The export [Read more]
Environmentalist: Immigration Is ‘Driving’ Destruction Of American Farmland
Immigration is a major driving force behind environmental destruction, according to an old school environmentalist who heads up an anti-immigration group. The group, Numbers USA, contends immigration puts more pressure on natural resources, further exacerbating many long-term environmental problems. “One of the issues that Numbers USA is most concerned about is the way that immigration is driving so much destruction of the environment and farmland in this country,” Roy Beck, CEO of Numbers USA, [Read more]
Saudi Arabia ‘Losing Its Grip’ On Global Oil Supply
Saudi Arabia is increasingly unable to control the global oil supply because of rising energy production in the U.S., Russia and Iran. “Saudi Arabia is under extraordinary pressure both internally and externally,” Dr. Jean-Marc Rickli, a risk analyst at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy, told The Wall Street Journal. The world’s biggest crude exporter is conceding ground to its rivals to enact a steep oil production cut to prop up the low global price of oil. This is causing the Kingdom to [Read more]
Coal CEO: ‘At Least We’ve Got A Shot Under Trump’
President Donald Trump may be the coal industry’s only hope after years of being hit with burdensome regulations. The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) regulation on power plants to tackle global warming, called the Clean Power Plan (CPP), could cost the U.S. economy a staggering $41 billion a year. Most of these costs will be born by the coal industry. “At least we’ve got a shot at it under Trump,” Jeff Keffer, CEO of the coal company Longview Power, told The Daily Caller News [Read more]
China Won’t Tax CO2 In Pollution Control Measures
A Chinese law passed Sunday places taxes on pollution, but doesn’t include carbon dioxide (CO2). The law will go into effect in 2018 and taxes air and water pollutants such as sulfur dioxide and sulfite at $0.17 and $0.20 per unit of emissions, respectively. Chinese officials said the law is intended to eliminate these pollutants, not to fight global warming. The anti-pollution legislation comes less than a week after China’s smoggiest cities were forced to close their schools due to six [Read more]