CEA’s David Holt joined Nevada Newsmakers to discuss America’s fundamentally broken energy policy.
Listen here – Nevada Newsmakers
CEA’s David Holt joined Nevada Newsmakers to discuss America’s fundamentally broken energy policy.
Listen here – Nevada Newsmakers
Consumer Energy Alliance called out the grandstanding by Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer for attempting to prevent a disruption in the affordable energy Michiganders deserve from a refinery closure while simultaneously attempting to shutdown Line 5
Shutting down Line 5 could cost Michigan consumers $2.2 billion a year, according to a study from the Consumer Energy Alliance, a group representing energy, business and labor interests.
Despite the green energy dreams of its politicians, Michigan still runs on oil and gas. When supplies of those resources are restricted, either through natural causes or policy decisions, it hurts Michiganians in their wallets.
Read more – The Detroit News
CEA’s recent report on the consequences of shutting down Line 5, which would lead to increasing fuel costs on Michigan families and businesses by more than 10%, was discussed in The Detroit News.
According to a study recently conducted by the Consumer Energy Alliance, closure of Line 5 would cost Michigan families and businesses an extra $1.8 to $2.2 billion for gasoline and diesel each year. That is unacceptable under any circumstances, but especially now with inflation reaching 40-year highs.
The extremist push to stop a safe energy infrastructure project is actually an extremist push to make you pay more at the pump. Remember that the next time you fill up the tank.
Read more – The Detroit News
With Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer attempting to shut down Line 5 and increase costs on Michigan consumers for almost four years, CEA Midwest Executive Director Chris Ventura called out the political grandstanding and hypocrisy of her new found concern for keeping Michiganders supplied with the affordable energy they deserve.
“It is beyond ironic that the governor would grandstand about an accident that is now controlled and will only temporarily limit energy supplies, while she repeatedly attempts to thwart a vital piece of infrastructure needed for sustained, affordable energy without delay,” alliance Midwest Executive Director Chris Ventura said in a Saturday statement. “This should be a wakeup call for the governor to stop her political crusade to shut down this vital pipeline.”
Read more – The Detroit News
COLUMBUS, OH – Today, Consumer Energy Alliance (CEA), the leading energy and environmental advocate for families and businesses, in response to Governor Whitmer’s Executive Order following the electrical fire at a refinery in Indiana threating fuel supplies in Michigan, issued the following statement from Chris Ventura, CEA Midwest Executive Director:
“It should not take an accident for Governor Whitmer to realize that Michiganders deserve continued access to affordable, reliable fuel, whether it be for transportation or home heating. This underscores the importance of the economic report CEA put out only a few short months ago warning the Governor and her Attorney General about supply disruptions like this.”
“While the accident at the refinery in Indiana is an unfortunate accident – it was just that, an accident. It was not a deliberate attempt to create fuel shortages and economic harm, much like we would have if Governor Whitmer and her Attorney General are successful at shutting down Line 5.”
“It is beyond ironic that the Governor would grandstand about an accident that is now controlled and will only temporarily limit energy supplies, while she repeatedly attempts to thwart a vital piece of infrastructure needed for sustained, affordable energy without delay.
“This should be a wakeup call for the Governor to stop her political crusade to shut down this vital pipeline.”
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Court Deems Attempt to Move Case to State Court ‘Forum Manipulation’
DETROIT, Michigan – Consumer Energy Alliance (CEA), the leading energy and environmental advocate for families and businesses, issued the following statement after the U.S. District Court for Western Michigan rejected Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s latest attempt to shut down Line 5. CEA Midwest Executive Director Chris Ventura said:
“Gov. Whitmer and her Attorney General’s ongoing crusade to shut down Michigan’s critical energy infrastructure once again has been proven to be frivolous and an incredible waste of taxpayer money. For the second time in a year, U.S. District Judge Janet Neff rejected the Governor’s attempt to move the case to state court, deeming it to be ‘forum manipulation.’”
“The governor knows that federal and international law have jurisdiction over Line 5. That has not stopped her from acting on behalf of special interests, and needlessly raising energy prices on families and businesses in Michigan with ripple effects across the region – all while doing nothing to improve our environment.”
“While the Governor’s political performance art may appease donors, it does nothing to alleviate the burdens faced by Michiganders who continue to pay historically high gas prices. All that these legal and procedural delays surrounding Line 5 and the Line 5 Tunnel Project have caused is further economic harm to Michigan.”
“With a 99.9999% safety record, our energy pipelines are a critical component in safely and efficiently delivering the energy Michigan needs to work. The tunnel construction will enhance safety and protect the Great Lakes. Delivering the energy that keeps Michigan moving through Line 5 helps avoid higher emissions from other forms of transportation while ensuring affordable, reliable energy is provided to families and businesses.”
“This new, state-of-the-art pipeline and tunnel will be an answer to our fuel needs now, and our changing fuel needs in the future. It is time for Governor Whitmer and her administration to prioritize people over political posturing to make energy affordable, grow Michigan’s economy, and safeguard our environment.”
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About Consumer Energy Alliance
Consumer Energy Alliance (CEA) is the leading voice for sensible energy and environmental policies for consumers, bringing together families, farmers, small businesses, distributors, producers, and manufacturers to support America’s environmentally sustainable energy future. With more than 550,000 members nationwide, we are committed to leading the nation’s dialogue around energy, its critical role in the economy, and how it supports the vital supply chains for the families and businesses that depend on them. CEA works daily to encourage communities across the nation to seek sensible, realistic, and environmentally responsible solutions to meet our nation’s energy needs.
Contact:
Bryson Hull
(202) 657-2855
bhull@consumerenergyalliance.org
With inflation reaching 40-year highs driven by increasing energy costs, CEA Midwest Executive Director Chris Ventura looks at how we can lower energy costs for families with commonsense energy policies.
The White House missed a clear opportunity to lower inflation while supplying current global energy demand when it released a proposed five-year leasing plan for offshore oil and gas drilling that could block all new Gulf of Mexico oil and gas activity.
Read more – The Columbus Dispatch
“The passage of the Inflation Reduction Act is a step forward for long-overdue compromise in U.S. energy policy and security. For too long, U.S. energy policy has been treated as an either-or matter, and this act demonstrates that it is not. Despite our lingering concerns on the impacts of some provisions, CEA is pleased to see historic investments in renewable technology, carbon capture, hydrogen, and the securing of commitments for future offshore oil and gas lease sales,” CEA President David Holt said. “All of these will help ensure consumers have reliable energy as we move toward a lower-carbon future, while recognizing the importance that oil and gas has to our economy today and in the coming decades.”
“Energy reliability is critically important to ensure there are no future brownouts or blackouts anywhere in America. At the same time, we must ensure that energy remains affordable for all as our energy systems evolve. With sensible and practical execution, this legislation can be implemented in ways that do not unduly burden families and small businesses with lasting, higher energy prices,” Holt said. “CEA looks forward to working with the Administration as elements of the IRA are more fully unpacked, executed and brought online. We also look forward to continuing our work with Congress and the Administration to ensure robust, predictable and steady oil and gas leasing opportunities for years to come.”
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About Consumer Energy Alliance
Consumer Energy Alliance (CEA) is the leading voice for sensible energy and environmental policies for consumers, bringing together families, farmers, small businesses, distributors, producers, and manufacturers to support America’s environmentally sustainable energy future. With more than 550,000 members nationwide, we are committed to leading the nation’s dialogue around energy, its critical role in the economy, and how it supports the vital supply chains for the families and businesses that depend on them. CEA works daily to encourage communities across the nation to seek sensible, realistic, and environmentally responsible solutions to meet our nation’s energy needs.
Contact:
Bryson Hull
(202) 657-2855
bhull@consumerenergyalliance.org
Mike Butler, Executive Director of CEA Mid-Atlantic, looks at how Pennsylvania’s energy industry is not only helping to combat rising energy costs, but also providing new revenue to local governments for much needed infrastructure projects, public safety, and social services.
At a time when our country – and the world – require additional natural gas supplies to fuel economic growth and keep us all cool and safe, it’s welcome news that Washington County and other Pennsylvania counties are benefitting from a rebound in energy drilling that sharply increases impact fee income from producing wells.
Read more – Observer-Reporter
Leading a nanny state is nothing to celebrate. Chinese Premier Xi holds the top honor for continually subduing personal choice. As for lifestyle choices, Norway is the most protective among 30 European Union countries, the five-year-old Nanny State Index concludes. Now the United States is being viewed as an emergent nanny state with an overriding influence on Americans’ freedom of choice.
We’re not necessarily talking about public health mandates. Or preventing a 20-year-old from buying liquor or cigarettes. Consider, instead, for the assault against freedom to keep the energy services you want. The current threat – Americans’ ability to benefit from abundant, reliable and affordable natural gas to cook with and heat their homes. It jeopardizes farmers from obtaining enough propane to dry their crops and heat the facilities where they raise animals. A city in California banned the construction of any new gas stations and as recent as July 2022, an L.A. City Council member is proposing that traffic-heavy Los Angeles do the same.
Across our country, traditional fuels like natural gas, oil and even coal are being used in cleaner ways than in decades past. Take natural gas, reformulated gasoline that reduces smog-producing emissions. Cutting-edge technologies and other advances are making the energy source much cleaner.
But you would never know that today under the accelerating drumbeat of opposition from anti-energy groups, regulators and some current policy officials. President Biden’s first actions in office were to freeze the sale of oil and gas leases on federal lands and waters and to cancel the Keystone XL pipeline, even after it underwent extensive environmental review for over a decade.
Worse, while the Department of the Interior has moved forward on its overdue five-year plan for offshore leasing in federal waters, no lease sales are among the options being considered. Equally problematic, CEA President David Holt says is that in the Department of the Interior’s statement there is no timing requirement to get a plan finalized. Soon, the current administration is expected to limit sales of U.S. drilling rights on federal land and raise the royalty rates oil producers pay to extract oil and gas fuels.
The Keystone XL pipeline ban illustrates the increasing move by legislators, regulators and judges to outlaw new fossil-fuel pipelines or halt projects on existing pipelines. Now with the controversial pipeline out of the way, opposition groups have continued to aim their growing ire against Enbridge’s Line 3 replacement oil pipeline, its Line 5 tunnel replacement project in Michigan, Mountain Valley in West Virginia, and Byhalia in Tennessee and many, many more.
Federal regulators are now taking the unprecedented step of reopening permits that were approved for natural gas compressor stations that have been in service for years. A federal court determined that a gas pipeline, which had all of its required permits, supplying energy to hundreds of thousands of customers in St. Louis had to be shut off. What were these people supposed to do in the meantime? It goes without saying that a lack of energy to a region can be extremely detrimental to its consumers. Look no further than the unexpected halt of the Colonial Pipeline last winter.
Yet, why isn’t there rising outrage by consumers to these nanny state tactics when it comes to their energy freedom? For one thing, consumers who lack knowledge about energy markets sometimes get bulldozed in matters of choice. It’s not that they don’t want to know; they may just not have any idea that it is occurring. While there are no current studies in the United States, 40% in the United Kingdom, according to a recent survey – don’t understand their energy bills and, among 18-to-24-year-olds, it’s only 22%.
Another reason is that most consumers haven’t grasped that it will be decades before renewable energy – from wind, sun, and biogas – can provide the reliable supply of energy the U.S. will need. And they can’t understand how it will affect them until the power goes out.
In the meantime, we must also ask what will meet our energy needs when the wind doesn’t blow and the sun doesn’t shine. As cliché and boring as it sounds in repetition, there must be a viable solution to meet our country’s energy needs during times of intermittency. Just ask places experiencing brown and blackouts. Simply ignoring the problem does not mean it will disappear or remove the fact that it occurs.
It seems obvious that we must avoid the nanny state when it comes to our energy policies. That means educating ourselves about our future power demands and what abundant, reliable and affordable energy sources must be available to meet those needs. Making good choices to avoid the worst effects of climate change is a must, but we also have to remember how intricate the energy problem is. Alienating choices, stressing our current systems and forcing extraordinary costs on our families, friends and businesses won’t help solve any problems or meet the mandates being set across the country.
There is a reason why environmental groups like Sierra Club used to recognize natural gas as a bridge fuel to a cleaner future, unfortunately, they forgot that you can’t abandon the bridge before you make it over.