Energy

Budget Battles

  • usFILE PHOTO: A bulldozer moves coal at the Murray Energy Corporation port facility in Powhatan Point, Ohio

    Trump's Coal Job Push Stumbles in Most States

    By Valerie Volcovici, Reuters

    WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump's effort to put coal miners back to work stumbled in most coal producing states last year, even as overall employment in the downtrodden sector grew...

  • The massive Big John dragline works to reshape the rocky landscape in some of the last sections to be mined for coal at the Hobet site in Boone County

    Why US Coal Producers Are Having a Very Good Year

    By Tom DiChristopher, CNBC

    U.S. coal exports are rising this year, giving the fossil-fuel friendly Trump administration reason to cheer, but analysts believe the good times won't last. The surge in exports doesn't herald a...

  • Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro waves during a pro-government rally with workers of state-run oil company PDVSA, in Barcelona

    The Crisis in Venezuela Could Send Oil Prices Soaring

    By Nick Cunningham, Oilprice.com

    Venezuela’s deteriorating crisis is “going to be the biggest geopolitical story to watch in the oil markets," according to Helima Croft of RBC Capital Markets. The economic, political and security...

  • FILE PHOTO: A sign is painted on a parking space for electric cars inside a car park in Hong Kong

    The Battery Problem That Could Slow the Electric Car Revolution

    By Zandi Shabalala, Reuters

    Producers of processed lithium - an essential element for batteries used in electric cars - are agreeing long-term contracts with their customers to fund the investments needed to address a looming...

  • A prototype of the Tesla Model 3 is on display in front of the factory during a media tour of the Tesla Gigafactory which will produce batteries for the electric carmaker in Sparks, Nevada, U.S. July 26, 2016. REUTERS/James Glover II

    The Great Battery Battle: Tesla Sparks an Arms Race in Energy Storage

    By Ryan Browne, CNBC

    Elon Musk's car company Tesla appears to be leading the "arms race" for lithium-ion batteries — for now. Musk recently announced plans to build the world's biggest lithium-ion battery storage project...

  • High Gas Prices Help Automakers

    By Deepa Seetharaman

    While greater confidence in the U.S. economic recovery is helping to spur demand for new cars and trucks, analysts, dealers and auto industry executives point to another factor: Americans' need to...

  • Chu’s Performance Review: Way Below Expectations

    By Edward Morrissey

    Earlier this month, Energy Secretary Steven Chu testified before Congress after a series of bankruptcies from companies floated by green-tech stimulus loans. Rep. Paul Broun (R-GA) asked Chu what...

  • Obama's Approval Dips on Gas Prices and Economy

    By Dan Balz and JON COHEN, The Washington Post

    Disapproval of President Obama’s handling of the economy is heading higher — alongside gasoline prices — as a record number of Americans now give the president “strongly” negative reviews on the 2012...

  • The Greek Debt Deal: Austerity on Steroids

    By Patrick Smith

    What a week to be Greek—or Spanish, or Portuguese. The debt-swap deal that most of Greece’s private creditors accepted last Thursday evening is of historic importance. Greeks now have at least a...

  • The $50 Light Bulb that Can Save You a Fortune

    By Merrill Goozner, The Fiscal Times

    It’s hard to know exactly when the light bulb went off in Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann’s head, but on the campaign trail she targeted her most vitriolic scorn for the Obama administration...