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 Price Woes: Fewer School Buses, Police Cars

    By James Shell, The Fiscal Times

    State and local governments, which provide an array of fuel-dependent services, are feeling the oil-price pinch. Their already tight budgets may be stretched even further in the current environment.

  • Energy Magnate Pickens Defends Drilling Method

    By JUSTIN JUOZAPAVICIUS, Associated Press

    TULSA, Okla. (AP) — Billionaire energy magnate T. Boone Pickens on Wednesday defended a controversial natural gas drilling technique known as hydraulic fracturing, a day after President Barack Obama...

  • Oil Below $112 but Remains Near 30-Month Highs

    By PABLO GORONDI

    Oil prices dropped below $112 a barrel Monday but remained near 30-month highs, as traders continued to eye developments in the Middle East and ongoing weakness in the U.S. dollar.

  • Obama’s Faulty Fuel Gauge on Energy Policy

    By Liz Peek

    President Obama would like to reassure Americans that turbulence in the Middle East and soaring oil prices are not going to drive us all to the poorhouse. Moreover, he would like to appear on top of...

  • Japan: The Meltdown of Growth-At-Any-Cost

    By Patrick Smith

    Long before the worst earthquake in Japan’s history produced the worst nuclear accident in Japan’s history, nuclear power had acquired a menacing reputation among many Japanese. If the crisis in...