"Your Voice That Bridges The Area Communities Together."
Submitted by Mike Rowe
Now that Enfield has been put on the map (temporarily) with it’s very own traffic light that has three different colors, it is time to go all out and fly all our colors. That traffic light coming in from the south on Hwy 45 is just past the place where we tore down the very first college in Illinois. We have commemorated that hallowed ground with a gas station that serves a mean pizza and shrimp basket. [Read more...]
Submitted by Seth Whitehead <seth@iprb.org>
When it comes to energy, rhetoric sure seems to get a lot more attention than reality.
If many politicians and media outlets were to be believed, the “green” energy transition is just around the corner and the permanent cancellation of our hydrocarbon fuel-driven society is imminent. But in reality, we are going to need even more traditional energy sources such as oil and natural gas than we are currently using in the near future. And it’s not just the fossil fuel industry making that assertion. [Read more...]
Submitted by Seth Whitehead, Executive Director, Illinois Petroleum Resources Board
As gasoline prices soar to unprecedented levels, the narrative that oil companies are price gouging at the pump is becoming quite prevalent. But as Politico recently reported, though many are blaming oil companies for high prices, “the facts don’t back them up.”
Facts are indeed a stubborn thing. [Read more...]
Submitted by Seth Whitehead, Executive Director, Illinois Petroleum Resources Board
One of the few positive developments of 2020 was surprisingly overlooked. The United States was a net petroleum exporter for the first time since the Truman administration that year. In other words – America achieved its long-coveted goal of energy independence, an objective pursued by every president dating back to Richard Nixon. [Read more...]
Submitted by Seth Whitehead, Executive Director Illinois Petroleum Resources Board
Affordable, reliable energy. It’s something we all depend on. And it’s something most Americans have probably gotten used to taking for granted. That was especially true from about 2009 to 2019, as record U.S. oil and natural gas production led to energy costs dropping sharply at the same time food, education and healthcare costs soared.
But that changed in a big way last year, as policies aimed at decreasing traditional American energy production and distribution contributed to energy costs soaring more than 33 percent. As a result, two in 10 American households couldn’t pay at least one monthly energy bill in full. Another 18 percent kept the temperature in their home at an unhealthy or unsafe level. And more than a quarter of Americans sacrificed food or medicine in order to pay an energy bill. [Read more...]
By Seth Whitehead
After many months of denial, the Biden administration now admits something that was apparent to many Americans at the start of the year: We need more oil from U.S. soil. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm told attendees at a recent industry gathering, “I hope you will hear me say that please, take advantage of the leases that you have, hire workers, get your rig count up.” [Read more...]
USA Today reported on New Year’s Day 2020 that “$3 gas is becoming a distant memory” and “the main reason is the nation’s oil boom.” My how things have changed in just 23 months. U.S. oil production has fallen by about 1.5 million barrels per day since then and gasoline prices approaching $4 a gallon have angry motorists remembering all too well sky-high pump prices they thought they’d never see again. That’s especially true here in Illinois, which has the second-highest gasoline taxes in the country. [Read more...]