The Biden administration will allow gasoline with a higher ethanol content to be sold this summer. Senator Joe Manchin (D.W.Va.), has proposed a rebranded Keystone XL pipeline.
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Biden allows summer gasoline to be made with more ethanol
President Biden formally announced a waiver on Tuesday that will allow fuel with higher ethanol content to be sold during the summer months, an action he said would help lower soaring gas prices.
Due to concerns about the fuel’s effect on smog, and other forms of pollution, current regulations prohibit its sale between June and September.
Advocates claim that the regulations were written for fuels containing 10 percent ethanol, rather than the E15 type which contains 15 percent ethanol.
Officials from the Administration announced Monday night that the decision would save the average family 10c per gallon. Biden also cited this figure in his remarks Tuesday afternoon.
The President said that biofuels from home have a role to be played right now, as we work to bring down prices and lower costs for families.
All this comes back down to Russia: Biden stressed the Russian invasion in Ukraine’s energy market and blamed Vladimir Putin, the Russian President, for the recent rise in fuel prices.
The president stated that he was doing all he could to lower the price and stop the rise in Putin’s price.
He also said that Putin’s actions were genocide.
Find out more about the move.
Manchin floats ‘rebranded’ Keystone XL
Swing vote Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) floated the idea of a rebranded or rerouted Keystone XL pipeline during a visit to Canada on Tuesday.
Manchin stated that the brand of the XL pipeline is likely gone when asked by reporters about the chances of a revival. Can it be rebranded? Can it be routed?
He stated that it was not clear whether the Biden Administration will entertain this, but said that it would be foolish for them not to.
What say you, WH A spokesperson for the White House said that the U.S. is working with oil-producing countries to address the current imbalance in supply, but also pointed out that the Keystone pipeline would have no effect on current supply.
President Biden killed a critical border-crossing permit to allow the Keystone XL Pipeline to transport Canadian tar sands oils to the U.S. on his first day in office.
Manchins latest comments also follow a Wall Street Journal report that said that the administration was looking for ways to import more Canadian oil after Russias invasion of Ukraine drove up fuel prices.
The Republicans have intensified their criticisms of Keystone’s decision in recent weeks, despite the fact that the pipeline was only 8% complete when it was cancelled last year.
The company behind the pipeline, TC Energy, said in 2020 that the vessel would not have delivered oil until 2023.
What else did he say? Manchin also proclaimed an all-of the-above energy strategy during his visit to Alberta.
My definition of “all-of-the above” is everything we can do to reduce our carbon nuclear.
Learn more.
TUNE-IN TORISING,now available as apodcast.It’s politics without the screaming
GREEN REECOVERY GETS MORE IN WEALTHY COUNTRIES
The gap is expanding for planned renewable energy spending on the COVID-19 recovery between wealthier and lower-income nations, with less wealthy countries constrained by the cost of commodities like fuel and food, according to a report released Tuesday by the International Energy Agency (IEA).
The report revealed that advanced-economy government are on track for spending $370 billion on renewables in the next year. This is consistent with what IEA calls necessary to reach net zero emission by 2050. The IEA found that these governments devoted more money to the issue than those of emerging and developing countries.
Government spending on renewable energy in emerging or developing countries is projected to be $52 billion by 2023. That’s less than 25 per cent of the necessary trajectory to achieve zero-emissions targets. The report states that many of these governments have had to reduce their financial resources to counter rising fuel and food prices. They will likely remain low in the months ahead.
The possibility of reaching net zero emission by 2050 is still possible for countries where clean energy is a core part of recovery plans. However, challenging economic and financial conditions have hampered many of the rest of world’s public resources, Fatih Birol, IEA Executive Director, said in a statement. International cooperation is essential to reverse these investment trends in clean energy, especially in emerging and developing countries where they are most needed.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and subsequent rises in fuel prices has forced governments to concentrate on reducing energy costs. Since the beginning of winter 2021, the Northern Hemisphere’s northern hemisphere has seen an increase in government support for energy affordability to around $270 billion.
The report states, however, that these efforts did not include many of the strategies that could be most effective in reducing fossil fuel demand such as heat pump installation and public transport expansion.
Learn more.
NOTEQUOTES
In a wide-ranging discussion hosted by the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) weighed in on climate change and a potential Democratic reconciliation package:
Climate: We are going to continue to make great strides in climate mitigation, but not through production control. McConnell responded to questions about the Biden administration’s energy policies, saying that they must have a practical approach in order to move in this direction.
On Build Back better:You guys remember the old movie ‘Fatal Attraction?’ Build Back Better reminds me of Glenn Close in ‘Fatal Attraction.’ Every time I think its gone, it kind of keeps bouncing back.
WHAT WE’RE READING
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