energy news stories on Newser

To Keep Eye on Its Oil, Iraq Buys US Drones

Matt Cantor — Mon, 21 May 2012 09:57:09 CDT

Iraq is looking to America to help it monitor its oil interests—sort of. The country is buying unarmed surveillance drones from the US that will scour Iraq's Persian Gulf waters, which Iran has spoken of blockading in the past and which the majority of Iraq's oil exports flow through,...

Vermont First to Ban Fracking

Kevin Spak — Thu, 17 May 2012 12:32:49 CDT

Vermont became the first state in the union to ban fracking yesterday, in what would be a landmark moment if any fracking were actually going on there. There was no drilling taking place in Vermont, no plans to drill, and no indication that there was even gas to drill for,...

Latest Global Warming Culprit: Wind Farms

Mark Russell — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 04:18:05 CDT

From the damned-if-you-do department: A new study has found that wind farms, those environmentally friendly sources of clean, renewable energy, could be contributing to global warming, reports the Telegraph . The problem is that the giant propellers cause the air to circulate more. That means that during the night warmer air...

Gas Prices Level Off, May Have Peaked

Mark Russell — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 06:19:00 CDT

Gas prices are holding steady at $3.92 a gallon, and that could be on the verge of coming down, reports USA Today . With a key benchmark falling to a two-month low yesterday and growing signs of a global economic slowdown, experts think pump prices will fall short of the...

Obama Slams ... Rutherford B. Hayes

Matt Cantor — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 14:17:05 CDT

President Obama has never shied away from attacking his Republican predecessors, but this time he's really going back a ways. Obama roasted our 19th president, Rutherford B. Hayes, for his "backward" thinking, Politico reports. "President Rutherford B. Hayes reportedly said about the telephone: 'It’s a great invention, but who would...

US Imports 1M Fewer Barrels of Oil Daily

Matt Cantor — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 09:41:05 CDT

The US is well on its way toward achieving President Obama's energy security goals as laid out a year ago, says an administration report out today. The White House is looking to cut oil imports by a third over the next decade, boost domestic oil and natural gas production, and...

$4.25 a Gallon? Gas Prices Could Be Trouble for Obama

John Johnson — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 13:07:55 CST

The AP is out with stats that will not be welcome news at the White House: Gas is at $3.53 a gallon, up 25 cents from Jan. 1. Worse, one forecast sees $4.25 a gallon by May. And as the New York Times reports, the GOP can't wait...

White House to Reject Keystone Pipeline

John Johnson — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 12:01:46 CST

The White House will not allow the controversial Keystone XL pipeline to be built as is: The State Department is expected to make the announcement official this afternoon, but it's spreading the word in the meantime via anonymous sources in the big news outlets, including the Washington Post , Politico , and...

Please, US, Don't Blow It on Shale Gas

John Johnson — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 12:59:05 CDT

David Brooks jumps on the the "fracking" bandwagon in a big way today, writing in the New York Times that "it would be a crime if we squandered this blessing." Fracking is the controversial method of extracting natural gas from shale. As Brooks sees it, the US is sitting on...