on March 24, 2020

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What Would a Joe Biden Fracking Ban Look Like? Part Four: Holy $1,325 Heating Bill Increase, Batman!

Written by Isaac Orr

in Climate, Energy, Environment, Minnesota Economy

During the Democrat debate between Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders and former Vice-President Joe Biden on Sunday, March 15, 2020, Vice-President Biden stated that he would allow “no new fracking,” but such a policy would cause the heating bill for the average Minnesota household to increase by about $1,330 every year because fracking is crucial for natural gas production. This article is the fourth installment in this series. According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce study, "What if Hydraulic Fracturing Was Banned?," a fracking ban would cause natural gas prices to increase from $1.80 per thousand cubic feet (MCF) today, to $12...

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on March 19, 2020

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What Would a Joe Biden Fracking Ban Look Like? Part Two: Devastating Economic Impacts

Written by Isaac Orr

in Energy, Environment

During the Democrat debate on Sunday, March 15, 2020, between Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders and former Vice-President Joe Biden, Vice-President Biden stated that he would allow "no new fracking," and touted his role in spending $90 billion on the solar industry as part of the Obama administration's stimulus package. As I explained in Part One of this series, banning "new fracking" is essentially the same thing as banning all fracking. Such a bad policy would have devastating economic impacts for the entire country. According to a 2016 study conducted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce entitled "What if Hydraulic Fracturing Was Banned?"...

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on March 18, 2020

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What Would a Joe Biden Fracking Ban Look Like? Part One: What is Fracking?

Written by Isaac Orr

in Energy, Environment

During the Democrat debate on Sunday, March 15, 2020, between Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders and former Vice-President Joe Biden, Vice-President Biden stated that he would allow "no new fracking," and touted his role in spending $90 billion on the solar industry as part of the Obama administration's stimulus package. While the Biden campaign is reportedly trying to walk back this claim, stating that the former Vice-President misspoke, no one can know for sure what Mr. Biden meant, but we can know a fracking ban would have a devastating impact on the American economy, increase the cost of energy, reduce our national...

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on March 17, 2020

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What Would a Joe Biden Fracking Ban Look Like? A Series

Written by Isaac Orr

in Climate, Energy, Environment, Uncategorized

During the Democrat debate on Sunday, March 15, 2020, between Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders and former Vice-President Joe Biden, Vice-President Biden stated that he would allow "no new fracking," and touted his role in spending $90 billion on the solar industry as part of the Obama administration's stimulus package. While the Biden campaign is reportedly trying to walk back this claim, stating that the former Vice-President misspoke, no one can know for sure what Mr. Biden meant, but we can know a fracking ban would have a devastating impact on the American economy, increase the cost of energy, reduce our national...

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on January 29, 2020

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The “How Do We Make This Bill Less Ugly?” – Proposed Changes to Improve Clean Energy First

Written by Isaac Orr

in Climate, Energy, Environment, Minnesota Economy

The last two days I've reviewed The Good and The Bad parts of the proposed Clean Energy First legislation currently circulating in the Minnesota States Senate. Today, in sticking with our Sergio Leone theme, I'll talk about a few ways to make the bill less Ugly. 1. Instead of Granting Cost Recovery for Prematurely Retired Assets, Require Utilities to Sell the Plants on the Open Market to the Highest Bidder Why should Minnesota families and businesses be forced to continue to pay for a coal plant that is going to be destroyed before the end of its useful lifetime? This should be...

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on January 28, 2020

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The Bad: Senate’s Clean Energy First Bill Would Probably Be A Blank Check to Xcel Energy

Written by Isaac Orr

in Climate, Energy, Environment

Yesterday, I wrote about The Good aspects of the Minnesota State Senate's Clean Energy First bill. Today I'll talk about The Bad aspects, and tomorrow I'll suggest ways to amend the legislation to make sure Minnesota families and businesses are not paying higher costs as a result of the bill. The Bad As a result of legalizing new nuclear, large hydro, and carbon capture and sequestration technology, the Clean Energy First bill could reduce more emissions for less cost than wind, solar, and battery storage. While this sounds great in theory, the legislation also contains problematic provisions that will essentially be a blank...

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on January 02, 2020

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South Carolina Has Much Lower CO2 Emissions and Lower Electricity Prices Than Minnesota

Written by Isaac Orr

in Climate, Energy, Environment, Minnesota Economy

Liberal politicians in Minnesota love to pretend that they are leaders in reducing carbon dioxide emissions from power plants, which they claim are fueling an existential climate crisis. The data, however, shows that conservative South Carolina has much lower carbon dioxide emissions per unit of electricity produced and lower electricity prices than Minnesota. The reason? South Carolina embraces nuclear power, whereas Minnesota liberals eschew it. According to the data, emissions of CO2 are 40 percent lower in South Carolina, per unit of electricity generated, than they are in Minnesota, according to the graph below which was constructed using 2018 data from the...

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on December 31, 2019

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This Year in Energy and Environment: 2019 Edition

Written by Isaac Orr

in Climate, Energy, Environment, Greater Minnesota, Mining, Minnesota Economy

With 2020 upon us, I'd like to reflect back on 2019 because it was a banner year for energy and environmental issues here at Center of the American Experiment. Here are some of the highlights from each month. In January, American Experiment submitted comments to the U.S. Forest Service in support of the lease renewal for the Twin Metals Minnesota mine. Since then Twin Metals has submitted its mine plan to state and federal agencies for review. We also covered the fact that wind and solar were not working during Polar Vortex in real time, highlighting the dangers of relying upon...

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on December 30, 2019

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Spare the Electric Space Heater (and Turn Up the Gas) to Save Money and Keep Warm this Winter

Written by Isaac Orr

in Energy, Environment

This article was written by me and originally appeared in the Monticello Times: Winter has come, and that means college students will be looking for ways to keep warm without breaking the bank. A common way students seek to do this is by using electric space heaters, but in general, using space heaters is more expensive than turning up the thermostat on your natural-gas powered furnace. Space heaters can be more affordable than gas if they are only being used in one or two small rooms while the rest of the house is cool, but beyond that they are much more expensive to...

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on November 18, 2019

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Our Perspective: Minnesota’s Days of Cheaper Electricity Seem Numbered

Written by Isaac Orr

in Energy, Environment, Minnesota Economy

This weekend, Mike Hughlett of the Star Tribune wrote an excellent article entitled "Minnesota's Days of Cheaper Electricity Seem Numbered," which details how Minnesota electricity prices have increased substantially in the last 15 years. The piece is an important acknowledgement that the energy policies pursued in Minnesota are causing electricity costs to rise, an argument Center of the American Experiment has been making since late 2017. I have included portions of the article below and added additional commentary to provide more context to help readers understand the topic in a more comprehensive manner. The article begins below: "Hefty rate hikes that Minnesota’s...

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