Commentary

Freedom, opportunity, prosperity, and a civil society have made America exceptional. But without energy—secure and affordable energy—many of our great accomplishments would not have been possible.

Moving into the election season, President Obama has again pointed to the number of green jobs supposedly created by his administration in a recent campaign advertisement, although the claims are not supported by available data. Now, other government authorities are using the same poor data as an excuse to increase spending.

A lot of attention has focused recently on federal regulation of hydraulic fracturing through the Environmental Protection Agency. But EPA’s ineptitude in air regulation makes a case for state-by-state regulation of oil and gas drilling.

Is a changing climate producing greater economic losses from weather events? Or could it be a simple matter of inflation?

We always talk about project management but rarely discuss project leadership.  There’s a difference.

When the Soviet Union’s Chernobyl nuclear power plant exploded in 1986, the response of the Western nuclear industry was, “It can’t happen here.” And then there was Fukushima Daiichi disaster in 2011. Was one disaster worse than the other?

As our seasons transition, so may the fire and deflagration hazards from coal and combustible dust that once were visible and now may be out of sight. Yet often, what is out of sight presents the greatest hazard and risk.

Whatever your role in gas-fired power, there’s one constant these days: You probably aren’t bored.

With the 2012 election year upon us, it promises to be an interesting time for energy politics and policy. Here are 12 (really 13 because of some creative headline writing) issues that will keep the sector hopping this year.

At year end 2011, as Americans emptied their wallets at the gas pump and crude oil reached almost $100 a barrel, OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia reported an $81.6 billion 2011 budget surplus.