March Madness is upon us. For those not living in the United States, it’s the two weeks where college men and women’s basketball teams battle it out on the court until the last team is standing and crowned champion. Now that the NCAA teams have been announced and the brackets determined, people are filling out their official tournament forms with …
Rail Problems Impacting Ethanol Supplies
One impact of the long, cold winter across the nation has been weather-related rail disruptions that are taking a toll on ethanol supplies and production. The record winter weather patterns that have caused repeated snowstorms have resulted in stalled trains, frozen controls and increased demand for rail cars. All that has made it difficult to move ethanol to the Northeast. …
New Budget Would Roll Back Oil Subsidies
The recently proposed Obama administration Fiscal Year 2015 Budget includes $4 billion a year in cuts to oil industry subsidies, notes Americans United for Change (AUFC), which calls that “a big win for taxpayers and consumers.” Under the Department of Energy section, the budget calls for elimination of “Unnecessary Fossil Fuel Subsidies” stating that as “the Nation continues to pursue …
The Sorry State of Corporate Taxes
Citizens for Tax Justice has released a new five-year, comprehensive study of 288 profitable Fortune 500 companies finds that 26 paid no federal corporate income tax over the five-year period; 111 paid no federal corporate income tax in at least one of the last five years, and one-third paid a U.S. tax rate less than 10 percent over the same …
Marathon Exec Keynotes Ethanol Conference
It is often said that the goal of a keynote speaker is to set the tone for a conference but the goal of the address given by Dave Whikehart of Marathon Petroleum Company at the National Ethanol Conference was more to allow the ethanol industry to hear the perspective of a fuel refinery partner. Whikehart tried to explain why the …
Keep Our Tax Breaks: We Only Make $93B in Profit
Dear Congress, Please keep our millions of dollars in tax breaks in place. We only make $93 billion in collective profit per year. This is not enough money to operate our businesses and overcharge our customers. We’re sure you will make the right decision. Yours truly, Big Oil This is what a letter to Congress might look like from Big …
New Study: Corn Ethanol Reduces GHG Emissions
According to a new study, that compared the greenhouse gas emission reductions of corn ethanol and those of crude oil production and fracking, corn ethanol’s carbon intensity is declining while the carbon intensity of petroleum is increasing. The study was conducted by Life Cycle Associates and found that the carbon impacts associated with crude oil production continue to worsen as …
Radio Disney Dumps Dirty Energy Road Show
Climate Parents has announced that after more than 100,000 people signed petitions the organization began, Radio Disney announced it will withdraw from a controversial program that promotes fossil fuel extraction to school-age children in Ohio. Climate Parents is a national organization comprised of parents taking action on climate change. “We are pleased that Disney responded to our request to stop …
API’s State of American Energy Same Old, Same Old
Yesterday American Petroleum Institute (API) President and CEO Jack Gerard outlined “The State of American Energy” and the role the oil and natural gas industry in economic growth, job creation and energy security. During his speech, Gerard stressed the role that oil and natural gas would play in the country’s energy policy but he cautioned that the country must “get …
RINS Had No Impact on 2013 Gas Prices
Despite all the “RINsanity” caused in early 2013 when gas prices spiked and the oil industry pointed fingers at volatile Renewable Identification Numbers, a report out today exonerates RINS from blame. The detailed statistical analysis conducted by Informa Economics and released today by the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) finds that retail gasoline prices were “unaffected by the erratic surge in …