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SOURCE ROCK BLOG

Russian Influence Behind SEC’s Climate Disclosure Rule (Part 3)

7/26/2022

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​Russia’s attempts to influence American politics in recent years is no secret, particularly when it comes to energy production. Which is why you’d expect policymakers to ensure proposed regulations stay clear of any association with the oppressive regime, especially in the wake of Russia’s war in Ukraine.
 
However, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) apparently is failing with its proposed climate disclosure rule. The following continues our series reviewing the questionable sources cited within the commission’s rule.
​
Our recent analysis conducted in the course of drafting our comment letter shows that significant crossover exists among the organizations funding the seven major climate initiatives cited in the proposed rule. The global network of non-profits that are pushing climate change policies through financial regulation are backed by numerous well-known activist philanthropies and climate groups that have pushed Keep-It-in-the-Ground policies for several years, such as Bloomberg Philanthropies, Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), New Venture Fund (NVF), Rockefeller Brothers Fund, and William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.

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World Bank Agrees - U.S. Oil is Cleaner

7/20/2022

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  • U.S. flaring intensity is down 46% since 2012
  • Russian gas piped into Europe has 41% higher GHG emissions than U.S. LNG, even with the transportation emissions
  • Venezuela’s flaring intensity is 18 times higher than ours
  • Yet Interior Sec. Haaland couldn’t bring herself to admit that American production is more environmentally friendly.
 
A few years ago, France held up a U.S. LNG import project over alleged concerns about methane emissions, as if the alternative of Russian gas was cleaner. France was trying to make a point about Trump methane rules, despite the fact that every molecule of natural gas at the wellpad controlled by the Obama methane rule was captured by the Trump rule. But of course that was not the narrative in the media. We also now know more about how Russia funds antifracking activism in Europe as a means of crowding out U.S. competition and asserting its energy hegemony over the continent. That decision’s aged particularly poorly since the invasion of Ukraine.

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SEC’s Weak Climate Bedrock Includes BlackRock (Part 2)

7/7/2022

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The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) says its proposed disclosure rule is necessary to meet a growing demand by investors for information on publicly traded companies’  climate change risk. Yet only a small fraction of American asset managers are interested in such regulations whereas the majority of the pressure is from Europe. Today, we get granular to further show the weakness of SEC’s case.
 
The following continues our series based on our white paper that provides more detail.
 
SEC justifies the proposed rule as necessary to meet “significant investor demand for information about how climate conditions may impact their investments. That demand has been increasing in recent years.” SEC cites to a well-known letter to investors in 2020 from BlackRock Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Larry Fink as proof of investor demand. Fink wrote that, “BlackRock announced a number of initiatives to place sustainability at the center of our investment approach,” including exiting investments in coal.

​Absent from SEC’s discussion is any reference to the robust public debate and criticism of BlackRock’s letter and its continued investments in the coal and oil sectors. Mr. Fink’s letter is presented by SEC as though it is widely popular and uncontroversial, and that cannot be further from the truth.

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Great American Outdoors Month Reveals Biden’s Threats to Public Lands

6/30/2022

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​June is Great American Outdoors Month. It’s a great time to go outside and enjoy the incredible parks, forests, and wilderness areas our nation has to offer. It’s also a good time to acknowledge the threats to the health of our public lands. In the past 18 months, the Biden Administration has overseen an expansion in infrastructure deficiencies and threatened conservation funding that puts our protected lands at risk.
 
In the oil and natural gas industry, we’re proud to fund our nation’s largest federal conservation programs. Under the Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA), our industry almost exclusively funds the $2.8 billion annually provided for infrastructure in national parks, wildlife refuges, and other public lands. GAOA established a new National Park and Public Lands Legacy Restoration Fund while permanently funding the popular Land and Water Conservation Fund. The former receives over 90% of its funding from onshore oil and natural gas production and the latter receives 100% from offshore production.
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SEC Climate Disclosure Rule Advances Europe’s Agenda, Not America’s (Part 1)

6/17/2022

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​The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) claims its controversial climate disclosure rule is justified because demand is purportedly growing for standardized climate information among credible, non-partisan financial institutions and asset managers. Yet reality is quite different.
 
Analysis conducted by Western Energy Alliance reveals what SEC is not sharing: the proposed rule relies on the work of a global network of activist organizations—not a majority of American investors or institutions—that have been collaborating for several years to end the use of oil and natural gas around the world. In the course of developing our comments on the rule, we found that SEC is defending the rule based on the demands of mostly foreign investors with only a very small minority of American investment managers. 
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WHITE PAPER

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Alliance President Featured at Senate Hearing on Addressing High Gas Prices

4/7/2022

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Earlier this week, Alliance President Kathleen Sgamma testified at a hearing entitled “Ensuring Transparency in Petroleum Markets” before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Kathleen discussed the need for the president to reverse course to enable American producers to increase supply and bring down energy prices.
 
The following are excerpts from responses by Kathleen and Robert McCullough, Principal, McCullough Research, to questions from the senators. Her full written testimony is also available here
​Sen. John Thune (R-SD): In your opinion, what would be the single most effective step the federal government could take or stop taking to get the greatest volume of energy back online the fastest?
 
Kathleen: I think backing off the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) regulation meant to deny capital to the industry would be the biggest signal they could send.


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Responding to the White House Blame Game on Leases

3/4/2022

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On March 3rd, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki, in response to a question about increasing domestic oil production, attempted to shift blame to oil companies by citing “9,000 approved oil leases that the oil companies are not tapping into currently.” In subsequent press conferences, she adjusted that to 9,000 permits and went on a Twitter storm to shift blame.
 
While we may not appreciate the cynical attempt to deny the effects of the president’s own “no federal oil” policies, we appreciate the White House is suddenly messaging to “encourage” us to produce. When my tweet was picked up by a Fox News White House correspondent, it garnered more attention than usual, leading environmental groups to jump in and pound on the 9,000 approved APDs outstanding.
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Working like the devil to lower energy prices

2/23/2022

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As published in The Hill on February 21, 2022
By Kathleen Sgamma and Dan Naatz
Last week, President Biden said he would “work like the devil” to bring down gasoline prices. Somehow, after more than half a year of watching him beg Russia and OPEC to increase their oil production while making it more difficult for American oil and natural gas producers, we’re skeptical. But here are a few simple ideas to help the president channel his inner Lucifer and reduce energy prices.  ​​

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Interior Won’t Admit a “Game Changing” Conservation Program Relies on Oil and Natural Gas Royalties

2/10/2022

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​During a Senate hearing this week officials from the Biden Administration extolled the conservation benefits from the Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA). However, they failed to acknowledge the program is funded almost entirely by revenues generated from oil and natural gas production on public lands. If they did, they’d risk running afoul of Interior Sec. Deb Haaland, who’s keeping the financial benefits of federal oil and natural gas leasing on the down low while working to eliminate the program.
​
​Testifying before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on National Parks, Shannon Estenoz, the assistant secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks, celebrated the achievements possible under GAOA. She said the law combines “an historic financial commitment to conservation and recreation.” Speaking specifically about national parks funding, she called GAOA’s new Legacy Restoration Fund (LRF) “a game changing investment program that is helping us to make meaningful progress on protecting high-priority assets”
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Western Energy Alliance’s Top Three Differentiators

1/26/2022

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Oil and natural gas companies and associated businesses participate in many trade associations. Here’s what makes Western Energy Alliance unique:
  • Voice of the industry in the West
  • Robust Legal Defense Fund and strategy
  • “Guerrilla communications” that move the needle on our policy issues.
 
The oil and natural gas industry has a ton of trade associations. There’s at least one, often multiple, trade associations for each producing state; trade associations for each sector; those representing large companies and those representing independents; and trades associations that focus on national issues down to local issues. That makes sense, since we’re a highly complex industry and there are many levels of government and agencies with their fingers in the pie. No one trade association can handle it all, even the biggest. 


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