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...

  • Oil Prices Drop on Eurozone Uncertainty

    By PAMELA SAMPSON, Associated Press

    Oil prices fell below $98 per barrel Friday in Asia as uncertainty surrounded the outcome of a critical meeting of Europe's leaders aimed at solving the continent's debt crisis. Benchmark crude for...

  • High Oil Prices Could Wipe Out the Tax Cut

    By Merrill Goozner, The Fiscal Times

    Overlooked in the jousting between President Obama and Republicans on Capitol Hill over how to pay for the payroll tax cut is the unpleasant fact that a substantial portion of last year’s reduction...

  • Life and Death Dispute Over New Air Regulation

    By Merrill Goozner, The Fiscal Times

    The Obama administration in mid-December is likely to approve a rule requiring coal-burning utilities to put scrubbers on dozens of the nation’s dirtiest coal-fired electricity generation plants...

  • Solyndra: Congress Grills Energy Sec. Chu on Loans

    By STEVEN MUFSON, The Washington Post

    Energy Secretary Steven Chu, testifying Thursday before a House subcommittee, vigorously defended his department’s loan guarantee and grant programs against charges of poor judgment and political...

  • Inflation Worries Ebb as Gas Prices Drop

    By CHRISTOPHER S. RUGABER, The Associated Press

    Americans paid less for gas, cars and computers last month as overall prices fell for the first time since June.