WASHINGTON, D.C. – Yesterday the Federal Railroad Administration published its Rail Integrity and Track Safety Standards final rule in the Federal Register.
This week, the National Transportation Safety Board released its findings into the oil train derailment and fire that caused $1.2 million in damage in Lynchburg, Virginia almost two years ago on April 30, 2014 - and concluded that a broken rail was the probable cause of the accident.
It’s no secret that infrastructure is the backbone of this nation, from roads to bridges to airports and more – America relies on its infrastructure to keep people and our economy moving.
COVID-19 upended energy markets. Demand disappeared and producers scaled back. Now that economies are reopening, and the demand for goods and services is rebounding, the demand for energy all along the supply chain is increasing, driving up not only the cost of the feedstocks and fuels refineries and petrochemical manufacturers use, but also the cost of the energy used at every step of the supply chain.
If the Biden Administration is serious about helping consumers, it needs to adopt policies that promote U.S. energy production and refining. A good place to start would be right-sizing RFS mandates.
Limiting California’s access to the exact types of crude oil its facilities need will only increase prices for the state’s consumers and travelers. Drivers are already dealing with gasoline prices in excess of $5 per gallon and the highest fuel taxes of the 50 states. Confining energy producers and consumers to a smaller pool of crude oil will make a very sensitive price environment that much worse.
The renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) provides an important opportunity to preserve and strengthen NAFTA’s investor protections, specifically the investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) mechanism.
Today kicks off National Infrastructure Week, which recognizes voices from industries spanning the U.S. economy, all of which will be advocating for increased investment into American infrastructure.
