“Despite over 400 prosecutions on over 1,800 reported infractions, effective enforcement for service stations was never achieved. For every disputed violation there was a hundred more, and federal judges were as inclined to dismiss code violations as they were to side with the government.”

“[One case] concerned the Babe Ruth Contest held by Jersey Standard in 18 states. With extensive advertising featuring Ruth himself, coupons were dispensed at Esso stations redeemable by children 18 and under for free baseball equipment and grand prizes of a trip to Yankee spring training. Although highly popular with motorists, federal authorities asked Jersey to drop the campaign. The company refused, and a suit was filed on January 15, 1934, to enjoin the contest as in violation of rules 16 and 17 of the NRA code.

“No matter how ela­borate may be the statistical technique employed, no matter how conscientious and fair-minded may be those who apply it, no mat­ter how zealous may be the endeavor to conceal its naked arbi­trariness by such descriptive terms as `scientific,’ `legiti­mate,’ or `equi­table,’ there is no escape from arbitrariness in [federal] quota fixing [for oil refiners].”

– Myron Watkins Oil: Stabilization or Conservation? New York: Harper and Brothers, 1937, p. 97.

Part I yesterday on the real New Deal centered FDR’s edicts on US crude oil production. (The natural gas industry was in its infancy.) Part II today, taken from Chapter 19 of my Oil, Gas, and Government: The US Experience, looks at the petroleum refining industry. (Part III tomorrow examines oil retailing.)

The major takeaway is that the beloved New Deal of the Progressive Left, and currently in vogue re the Green Energy New Deal, was marked by rampant business/government cronyism at the expense of consumers and taxpayers.…

“What was FDR’s New Deal (1933–35) pertaining to energy? The real New Deal was centered on petroleum and coal. Second, it was an alliance of special business interests and power-hungry bureaucrats working against common consumers and taxpayers. Third, it was about a police state to try to enforce command-and-control edicts.”

What exactly is the ‘Green New Deal’? E&E News (November 16, 2018) described the Progressivist energy policy of forced energy decarbonization.

“In a Democratic clash on Capitol Hill, progressives are pushing an ambitious plan to wean the U.S. off fossil fuels, boost renewables and build a ‘smart’ grid,” states Hannah Northey. “The proposal, drawing inspiration from President Franklin Roosevelt’s Depression-era New Deal, is one that progressives — led by Rep.-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), a rising star on the left — want Democratic leaders to embrace.”…