Oil Companies Urge White House to Lift Oil Export Ban

In 1973 during the Arab oil trade embargo, the U.S. banned oil companies from exporting oil overseas in an attempt to retain as much oil as they could in the U.S. The Arab embargo, a halting of oil exports, occurred in response to the U.S.’s involvement in the Yom Kippur War and drove up the price of oil as a result. An oil shortage occurred in the U.S. so the export ban was established to keep whatever oil remained in the U.S. at home and prevent it from being shipped abroad.

But now, 40 years later, the market for oil has changed significantly and the U.S. is in the midst of an oil production boom. We are now producing 8.653 million barrels of oil per day and a large portion of that oil is going into storage as demand has curtailed. U.S. oil companies are pushing for the Obama administration to lift the ban to allow them to sell their oil overseas where they can get an extra $10 per barrel than they can here.

Proponents say that this can add thousands of jobs and billions of dollars to the U.S. economy and that the ban is outdated legislation. They also want to repeal the Jones Act of 1920 that says ships that transport goods to and from the U.S. must be manufactured in the U.S. The White House has yet to respond publicly to pressure from oil companies to lift the ban.

Republican 2016 Budget Includes Medicare/Medicaid Reform and Obamacare Repeal

Republicans in the House of Representatives released their budget for 2016 that includes reforms of Medicare and Medicaid and a repeal of the Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as Obamacare. The budget also aims to be balanced within ten years and save $5.5 trillion over that time.

Representative Paul Ryan of Wisconsin said that the budget is a “a plan to get Washington’s fiscal house in order, promote a healthy economy, protect our nation and save and strengthen vital programs like Medicare.”

This is the first budget that Republicans have presented since they took control this year and does not include any tax increases. Nearly $40 billion has been added to the emergency war fund, supposedly meant for dealing with ISIS and possibly Russia, and more than $1 trillion reduction from welfare and entitlement spending.

It contains a full repeal of the Affordable Care Act as well as the taxes that came with it. Republicans have yet to announce a formal health care policy plan but many have said that one is in the works for 2016. Medicaid will be turned into block grants sent to states and Medicare will be partly privatized if the budget goes through and is passed for 2016.

While there is little change in taxes beyond the Affordable Care Act, it does urge the Ways and Means Committee to come up with a “fairer, and simpler tax code.”

Solar Eclipse Could Send Parts of Europe Into Darkness

Friday’s solar eclipse is expected to disrupt power for Europe’s vast solar power network, unless the proper countermeasures are taken. The drop off in production when the moon covers the sun could be as much as 34,000 megawatts. The sun is expected to be covered from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm but only some parts of the world are expected to see it. The shadow that the moon will project onto the earth will go from Greenland to across Ireland, England and Germany then leave earth around the north pole. Slooh.com will have live views of the eclipse as will many new sites.

This is one of the concerns many have about the use of solar power. We now generate 100 times as much power from the sun as we did in 1999 and thus are more affected by solar eclipses. However to most this is not a concern since total solar eclipses where the moon completely covers the sun are rare and only last for a short period of time.

Creative commons photo source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/thomashawk/16621857297