Fueling U.S. Forward, the Koch-funded campaign to “rebrand” fossil fuels as “positive” and “sustainable,” has released a new video attacking the “Dirty Secrets of Electric Cars,” signaling a possible strategic pivot from straightforward fossil fuel cheerleading to electric vehicle (EV) and clean energy bashing. Continue reading “Fueling U.S. Forward Echoes America Rising Squared in Bashing EVs For Using Same Materials as Cell Phones, Laptops, and Gas-Powered Cars”
A few months ago, early in the state legislative sessions, we reported on how lawmakers in nine states had introduced bills that would penalize electric vehicle (EV) drivers by charging higher registration fees. Now that the state legislative sessions have mostly wrapped up, it’s time for a review of how these bills fared, and how many states have implemented this extra financial burden on anyone who buys or leases an electric car. Continue reading “Drive an Electric Car? One in Three States Now Charge You Extra”
A ne?wly-launched front group that is aggressively pushing ?????the Atlantic Coast Pipeline in Virginia is tied to the Koch funding network. Continue reading ““Your Energy America” Front Group Pushing Atlantic Coast Pipeline Has Koch Ties”
Guest post by Dave Anderson of the Energy and Policy Institute.
Before Donald Trump appointed Daniel Simmons to lead the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Simmons worked for special interest groups that called on Congress to eliminate the same Department of Energy program. Continue reading “Daniel Simmons, New Head of EERE, Worked for Groups That Tried to “Eliminate” It”
Guest post by Dave Anderson of the Energy and Policy Institute.
Travis Fisher, a Trump political appointee in the Department of Energy, wrote a 2015 report for the Institute for Energy Research that called clean energy policies “the single greatest emerging threat” to the nation’s electric power grid, and a greater threat to electric reliability than cyber attacks, terrorism, or extreme weather. Continue reading “Travis Fisher: Koch-Affiliate Author of Rick Perry’s grid study called clean energy policies a greater threat than terrorism”
President Donald Trump has reportedly tapped a longtime renewable energy antagonist with ties to the Koch brothers to lead the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE). Continue reading “Trump Picks Renewable Energy Hater to Run Renewable Energy Office”
Many car companies and utilities have been preparing for the inevitable transition to electric vehicles (EVs), but oil companies have been dismissive about EV potential.
Until recently. This week, at the Bloomberg New Energy Finance conference in New York City, the Chief Energy Economist of Total SA said that the company expects EVs to make up potentially 30-percent of all new vehicle sales as soon as the end of the next decade. Total is the world’s fourth largest oil and gas company and one of the world’s largest producers of crude, and hasn’t before forecast falling demand.
Yet he warned that demand for fuel oil “will flatten out” and “maybe even decline” at that point. Continue reading “Even Oil Companies Know that Electric Cars are Inevitable”
As federal support for electric vehicles (EVs) is expected to wither under the Trump administration, state-level policies will play the biggest political role in how quickly battery powered motors replace the internal combustion engine.
Yet, at this critical moment when state governments should be supporting zero-emission vehicles, many states are cutting their incentives, while others are penalizing EV drivers outright. Continue reading “States Ramp up Attacks on Incentives for Electric Vehicles”
This is a guest post by Marcia Yerman, cross-posted from Moms Clean Air Force.
You would think that with the former CEO of Exxon, Rex Tillerson and the climate denying Scott Pruitt, ensconced in Trump’s cabinet…Big Oil and Gas would be resting easy.
Not so. Continue reading “Koch Bros. “Fueling U.S. Forward” Takes Communities of Color Backwards”
Besides the flashy website and some social media efforts, the Fueling U.S. Forward campaign has been working on the ground to capture the “hearts and minds” of minority communities and promote the benefits of fossil fuels. We’ve been tracking their activities here on KochvsClean—activities that have included a gospel concert and scholarships to African American students.
The Daily Tar Heel, the student newspaper of the University of North Carolina, has a great article this week that highlights another strategy of Fueling U.S. Forward—using the promise of jobs to bolster the image of fossil fuels in minority communities. Continue reading “Fueling U.S. Forward Sells Minorities on the Hope of Fossil Fuel Jobs”
