Research Library

Political, market and geopolitical headwinds have slowed down Biden’s ambitious climate plans, write energy experts Anna Mikulska and Michael Maher. In this brief, they explore why progress on decarbonization is likely to be more gradual than initially envisioned.

Despite U.S. officials’ attempts to persuade Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador to change course on his energy policy, which violates key provisions of the USMCA, his administration has not backed down, the authors write. They explain where the disputes between the U.S. and Mexico currently stand and what they mean for other aspects of the binational relationship.

As the European Union develops a carbon border tax and the United States considers its own, this report argues for the need to track cross-border carbon trade comprehensively — including trade in fossil fuels.

Although Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador is confident that measures implemented in the first half of his tenure will help Mexico to achieve energy self-sufficiency, his optimism must be weighed against the evidence, writes nonresident scholar Adrian Duhalt. In this brief, Duhalt explains the flaws in López Obrador’s plan and why Mexico is unlikely to achieve energy self-sufficiency anytime soon.

Though the OPEC+ group has agreed to accelerate planned oil production increases, the move will likely do little to reduce prices at the pump, despite a major U.S. concession, writes author Mark Finley — and Russia appears to support the plan. Read more on the Baker Institute Blog.   This article originally appeared in the Forbes blog on June 6, 2022.

The Saudi leadership has repeatedly rebuffed requests from President Biden and leaders of oil-importing countries to accelerate production increases. But recent price differentials could signal an intent to quietly steer crude into Europe to replace Russian supplies, writes the author. Read the post on the Baker Institute Blog.  This article originally appeared in the Forbes blog on May 4, 2022.

The authors take a realistic look at what's needed for the global energy transition to succeed and warn that moving away from fossil fuels too quickly could backfire — stranding climate progress in the so-called “valley of death.”

Why did Mexico’s state-owned PEMEX buy a Houston-area oil refinery this week, when many other oil companies are moving away from fossil fuels? Post-doctoral energy fellow Adrian Duhalt explains in the Baker Institute Blog.