Energy and the Olympics

Energy News Beat

Irina Slav
International Author writing about energy, mining, and geopolitical issues. Bulgaria
David Blackmon
Principal at DB Energy Advisors, energy author, and podcast host.Principal at DB Energy Advisors, energy author, and podcast host.
Tammy Nemeth
Energy Consulting Specialist
Stuart Turley
President, and CEO, Sandstone Group, Podcast Host

Energy and the Olympics

Irina Slav [00:00:13] Well. Hello everyone. This is the Energy Realities podcast, with Nemeth in the UK, Stuart Turley in wherever you are Stu, you know, the United States where.

Stuart Turley [00:00:27] You bet.

Irina Slav [00:00:29] And Blackmon in Texas, right?

David Blackmon [00:00:32] Yes, yes. As you can see.

Irina Slav [00:00:34] And me, Irina Slav in Bulgaria. And today we’re going to talk about energy and the Olympics, because, well, because of a lot of reasons, not least with the fact that Paris suffered a major power outage. I understand on the opening night of the Olympics, if you ask me, it’s a direct response to the opening ceremony, which to me is very similar to the energy transition. Make one thing seem like another thing, but failing repeatedly. Tammy what you think.

Tammy Nemeth [00:01:13] Yeah. You know, you said it there. Where really the way the, the Olympics have been organized and what they’re doing and everything is like the, the energy transition net zero in a microcosm. So on the one hand you’ve got like for example, all the, the, the train lines were shut down going into Paris and it was due to a bunch of sabotage. Lines were cut, the power cables were cut, some fires were started and everything else. So it stopped the entire major rail network, including the high speed rail from operating. And in the transition, we’re all not supposed to have cars. We’re supposed to be on trains or walking or biking or whatever. And it actually reminded me of, the importance of oil and gas and mobility and vehicles from Daniel Yergin book The Price, where he talked about what happened in World War One and, how they needed to move troops to the front line. The Allies and France commandeered the taxi drivers of Paris in order to move troops to the front. And Germany was unable to move troops because their rail lines had been destroyed. So Germany put all of their effort into rail and it failed them. And I’m thinking Germany’s putting all its faith and energy and money into wind and solar, and it’s going to fail. So here we have another example of of how these things, especially energy security, Paris is representing how poor this is, and vulnerable in the energy transition.

Irina Slav [00:02:57] David.

David Blackmon [00:02:59] Well, you just have to love this story. I. You know, the blackouts. On the first night, were, you know, just emblematic of the whole thing. After that demonic opening ceremony, which was really, really disgusting and disgraceful and, and it was so disgusting and disgraceful. The the Olympics organizing committee felt the need to delete the video of it on YouTube, because they didn’t want any more images of from the ceremonies floating around social media. But of course it was too late by then. My favorite energy related story about the Olympics, though, is, is the fact that, about two thirds of the delegations to the Olympics, the athletes, are bringing their own room, air conditioning units with them to Paris to stay cool during these Olympics, because Paris has had, hoped everyone would use a geothermal cooling system. That, apparently is widespread throughout the city of Paris, to keep them cool, but could only guarantee the rooms would get cooled down to about as low as the maximum low would be 78°F during the daytime. It. Of course it’s Paris. It’s, fairly southern latitude, in the context of Europe. And it does get hot in France during the summer. And so, many of the athletes were so concerned about staying cool in their rooms during the Olympics games that, the committees in the various countries, like the United States and most European countries, voted to send room air conditioning units along with the athletes to Paris. And you have to wonder if the load from all those room AC units, helped to result in the blackouts. An opening.

Tammy Nemeth [00:04:57] That’s what I was thinking. Yeah.

Irina Slav [00:05:00] Well, imagine that. And sympathy was was, you know, rejoicing that France is one of the greenest energy countries right now. On opening day of the Olympics, that almost all with electricity was being generated by renewable sources, most of which is nuclear. Stu what you think?

David Blackmon [00:05:22] Right. Yeah. Yes. And the nuclear is the key  in France.

Irina Slav [00:05:25] Exactly. Yeah.

Stuart Turley [00:05:27] Well, the nuclear fleet in France is around 52, nuclear reactors. I ballpark, I gotta fact check myself, but they’re only operating at 25% capacity to 30% capacity because of the lack of the maintenance dollars that they’ve been shedding away from it. So it has been absolutely horrific as far as their baseline ability to to do it. Tammy, I did manage to help us out, and I’ve got us a video. Right here. This is what I. That’s what I saw going on. I see the whole man. I saw people running from this guy and just absolutely doing it, but I do. I do have one show that I’ve got to show you. And, David, there is the Venezuelan, election going on right now. And I’ve got a video of David competing in, the elections in, all these politicians are taking lessons from David on how to run elections and how to win races. So, David, here you go. This is David.

David Blackmon [00:07:07] I dyed my beard for that video.

Stuart Turley [00:07:09] Yes you did, honey. So my honest take on this is I think that, when we take a look at the, false flag narratives that may be coming around the corner, I’m hearing that a lot. Iran is getting blamed for the, terrorist attacks, for the trains coming into the stations ahead of time. And so I, I saw an article saying that Iran was the one that blew up the, you know, the trains and all that, the leading into to Paris. This is going to be awful with everybody pointing fingers in Iran. And Iran may not have done it. I don’t know what’s causing it.

Irina Slav [00:07:53] Didn’t they say it was Russia, or was that just a knee jerk reaction of the Russians?

Stuart Turley [00:07:58] Do what.

David Blackmon [00:08:00] It’s always.

Tammy Nemeth [00:08:00] Said that it was Russia.

Irina Slav [00:08:01] Yeah.

Stuart Turley [00:08:02] Oh, I saw one that said it was. Iran, so I pick your favorite dictator, pick your vote and just say, oh, it was them. And so who knows how it was done. I think it’s me. Awful.

Tammy Nemeth [00:08:17] Well, one of the interesting things is that this is supposed to be the most sustainable games ever in the history of the world. And in due course, they put in, cardboard beds with mattresses that don’t have springs or anything like that. So they’re not really mattresses. And, and some of the athletes were complaining and they bought like toppers, memory foam toppers to put on their beds. Other athletes set their own beds because, like, I’m not sleeping on that thing. And the Japanese guy, apparently water got on here for some reason. His bathtub overflowed or something, and water soaked his cardboard frame and he’s, like, collapsed on there and it’s sinking beneath me. And, so other athletes, I think the tennis team from some country looked at their room and then went and booked hotel rooms instead. So much for sustainable look. And this also is the epitome of net zero where they’re going to tell you it’s sustainable. They’re going to virtue signal, it’s sustainable and it’ll be absolute rubbish. No one will like it. It’ll make you miserable. But hey, we’re saving the planet.

Stuart Turley [00:09:33] And Tammy, I also saw the the, violence on the athletes. There were several bike teams. They got their vans broken into, and the only reason they got there, they got their gear stolen, and they got everything else because of the migrant problems France is having. And, the, it is really causing some, some health issues for the, the athletes. In fact, when they got the massage table back, they said, we don’t want to use that massage table because we don’t know what happened to it. So it’s pretty bad with the violence and the break ins going on.

David Blackmon [00:10:14] Yeah. Well, I, you know, and then, then you have the issue of the triathlon becoming a biathlon because the swimming portion of it is probably going to have to be canceled because the same day they were going to do it in the same river, and it’s too polluted for the swimmers to swim in, and nobody can possibly seen that coming, right?

Irina Slav [00:10:35] Didn’t the mayor of Paris take a swim in the sand to to prove just how clean it isn’t that it’s you go. Oh, I didn’t smell something.

David Blackmon [00:10:44] Oh my God.

Tammy Nemeth [00:10:45] Yeah, but that was before the thunder storm.

David Blackmon [00:10:49] How did the thunderstorm clean it out?

Tammy Nemeth [00:10:52] Well, no, because it would have had all the runoff go into the river and make it really incredibly.

David Blackmon [00:10:58] I would think that would raise the ecoli bacteria levels. Yeah.

Irina Slav [00:11:03] Well, you know, guys, I’ve never been interested in Summer Olympics. I like the Winter Olympics because of the figure skating and stuff, but. But I couldn’t care less about Summer Olympics. This is a mistake. This is turning into it, really, as you said to me, swimming in it, turning into a microcosm of the transition, a spectacular failure in many different sense, and.

Tammy Nemeth [00:11:29] Saving the flag that is so great.

Stuart Turley [00:11:31] And you know what was great? I loved Joe Biden’s attendance. And when she saw the, ceremony, she said, what is the United States going to do?

David Blackmon [00:11:44] Oh, how are you going to top this?

Stuart Turley [00:11:46] Right. Yeah. Thank you. I’m like, that would be.

David Blackmon [00:11:48] Her reaction to it.

Stuart Turley [00:11:49] Right?

Irina Slav [00:11:51] Yeah. Well, you.

Tammy Nemeth [00:11:51] Know, what’s interesting is that, some of my family in Canada was watch the opening ceremony, but they didn’t broadcast that part. The mockery. Yeah.

David Blackmon [00:12:03] They censored.

Tammy Nemeth [00:12:04] Broadcast it.

David Blackmon [00:12:05] They had it on delay.

Tammy Nemeth [00:12:06] No they didn’t. Oh, they’re like, what are you talking about?

David Blackmon [00:12:09] Yeah, that that figures that that sounds about.

Stuart Turley [00:12:12] Right now, I did see I want to give a shout out to the French folks that I did see on, on a YouTube. They were, aghast and disgusted. And they go, how can we, as French, apologize to the rest of the world? So, you know, again, remember, it may be a world leader making a really lousy comment. You can’t judge a country’s people by a bad thing over here. You have to look at that. They were appalled. The people were like, this is embarrassing for France.

David Blackmon [00:12:46] So you can’t judge like you can’t judge all Americans. But by watching Jojo Siwa, right? You know, you get you can’t. Nobody else knows who Jojo Siwa is.

Irina Slav [00:12:59] Anyway, I learned that the French were apologizing to the world for this, but.

David Blackmon [00:13:05] Well, except they sent out as they sent out a spokesperson for the Olympics committee named. And the champ. There is a French lady who was headed up the organized organizational committee to make an apology yesterday. And the very first thing she said was obviously there was no intention to insult any religion, which is a bald faced outright lie.

Tammy Nemeth [00:13:30] That’s a lie.

Irina Slav [00:13:31] Or maybe they were so stupid they didn’t think that would offend people. David.

Stuart Turley [00:13:38] I I’m sorry there was no.

Irina Slav [00:13:41] Energy transition where we have a fence insult. You know, in this case, Christians and not just Christians, even Muslims were outraged. Yeah. And, then we have the people who see what’s happening and see that this doesn’t make sense. From what I saw from the video clips, it just just filth. It’s not at.

Stuart Turley [00:14:04] All right now. I wanted to poke my eyes out after I saw some of the. I saw some

Irina Slav [00:14:09] I’m sorry.

Stuart Turley [00:14:12] Sorry, Irina. I saw some people. Why do people do this? There was one guy with his man parts hanging out over a child’s shoulder.

Irina Slav [00:14:23] Young man part. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Stuart Turley [00:14:24]  And and I’m sitting there going, they put a big circle around it. And now every time I saw the thing, I’m like, there’s this man parts. I’m like, please.

Irina Slav [00:14:33] This is why I was actually the art director or the creative director of the whole thing. This. This guy with the hanging out men Park.

Stuart Turley [00:14:42] He was the director. Oh my.

Irina Slav [00:14:43] Gosh. Oh, so some sort of director? I think he was something. Wow. Yeah, yeah, it’s the same with the transition. Because why we are being so incessant. The wind and solar, our good wind and solar energy. Well, no they’re not. And there is evidence of this every day. Every day raising amounts of evidence. But they keep your brain working.

Tammy Nemeth [00:15:11] You’re right, Irina. Especially like, from what my perspective of of the organizers of the of the event, it’s the elites. And so you have the elites telling one thing and trying to push a certain agenda on everybody else. And the public is like, what is this crazy? We don’t want this, and nobody listens. And then they do a fake apology like, oh yeah, we’re really sorry. We didn’t mean to offend anyone, but hey, look how diverse it was. And it’s the same thing with net zero. We’re really sorry your heat pump doesn’t work, but we’re saving the planet, and you’re just going to have to suck it up. And it’s like, what the UK, treasury person and the energy person are saying. It’s like, sorry, Middle England, you’re going to have to suck up the beauty of your of your environment and, and tolerate wind panel, solar panels and wind projects. Sorry. Too bad we’re telling you this is how it’s going to be and we’re going to. Sorry if you don’t like.

David Blackmon [00:16:12] That is exactly right. Yes.

Irina Slav [00:16:13] Yeah, but at least they’re admitting part of the truth that people don’t want it and will have to be forced to endure it. You know, we were supposed to want it because it’s so much better than the one. Yes. Remember, it was supposed to be cheaper, equally reliable, but greener.

David Blackmon [00:16:35] Yes. And none of that is true. Literally no element of the energy transition is real or true. Not not a single element of it. And actually.

Stuart Turley [00:16:47] Batteries walking on the highway.

David Blackmon [00:16:50] Yeah. Well, we’ve we’ve got a video on that too.

Tammy Nemeth [00:16:54] And.

David Blackmon [00:16:54] I just want to go back to the Olympics for one last second. Robert made a good comment here. I blame only the Olympics and we’ll watch none of it. I’m in the same boat, except I have one exception to that rule. And that is any time Simone Biles is on television, I want to watch it because she’s the most incredible athlete of this century. She is the most amazing athlete alive today and has been for a decade now, and so I will always watch her regardless of what the opening ceremonies were like.

Stuart Turley [00:17:29] Well, I think, Robert brings up a great point in that as conservative Christian folk, I am, whatever you are, vote with your dollars in the sponsors of that, travesty, just like Bud Light. Got it in the US. Vote with your dollars. Vote with your time. And, David, there’s nothing wrong with you watching the part of the athlete that you want to watch. In my opinion, I think it’s Van Dam. No, I am boycotting it. Everything else as well. But I’m also boycotting any of the sponsors of the Olympics, and I am more aware of voting with my dollars now than I have been in all the years before.

Irina Slav [00:18:17] Yeah, well, there’s still that. Some sponsors are pulling out

David Blackmon [00:18:21] A Few.

Irina Slav [00:18:21]  which is really awkward. But well done. Them they, they think along the same lines is used you they know people vote with their wallets and they’ve learned a lesson from Bud Light. Yep. It’s a very valuable lesson. I think.

David Blackmon [00:18:42] It is. Absolutely

Stuart Turley [00:18:46] I do, I. Whoever did the art for this was fantastic. I love it.

David Blackmon [00:18:50] Is really good. Yeah.

Stuart Turley [00:18:51] And you have Michelangelo turning the light. The, you know, the hand, the touch of God, I believe. Close.

David Blackmon [00:18:58] Anyone from the Sistine Chapel? Yeah, yeah. Well, I think we beat this horse to death.

Stuart Turley [00:19:08] Yeah. Is that a new. Is that it? No. Is that a new Olympic sport? Beating a horse to death? Maybe.

Irina Slav [00:19:15] Oh. Come on. No.

Stuart Turley [00:19:18] Okay, so these are Tammy’s stories. Let’s get a UK update.

David Blackmon [00:19:26] No. Tammy.  We lost Tammy.

Tammy Nemeth [00:19:31] All right. I mean, my mind just kind of hang out here. Okay. Can you. You’re doing.

Irina Slav [00:19:40] Okay?

David Blackmon [00:19:40] It’s it’s just, very sporadic.

Irina Slav [00:19:46] It was fine until a second ago.

Stuart Turley [00:19:48] Yeah.

David Blackmon [00:19:49] Yeah. I don’t know what happened. It was all good until now.

Tammy Nemeth [00:19:53] Well, I try to sort out my internet here.

David Blackmon [00:19:55] Okay.

Tammy Nemeth [00:19:55] Yeah. Yeah.

Stuart Turley [00:19:56] I think the, Prime Minister is trying to get Ahold of her. These are Irinas.

Irina Slav [00:20:03] Yeah. Great stories. It was very hard to pick just two, but, first we have the, UN attacking company’s reliance on carbon credits to hit climate targets. Apparently, the U.N. believes that it’s much better to have companies reduce their own emissions instead of buying carbon credits. Which begs the question, why were carbon credits invented in the first place? Because companies couldn’t have cut their own emissions deeply enough or fast enough. But now the UN is having none of it. So it’s it’s shaping up to be a war. And I love this because there’s so many so-called climate advocates, including John Kerry and Jeff Bezos, who are big fans of carbon credits. And they have put a lot of effort into building a private market for carbon credits, privatizing non-government. But no, apparently this is not a good idea. You know, because they don’t work, which has been proven by research. It’s because it’s stopping companies from cutting their own emission is going to be glorious. And I love it. Yeah.

David Blackmon [00:21:16] Yeah. And those carbon credits systems are virtually all just scams, exactly like.

Irina Slav [00:21:23] Every other. People are making money. Yeah.

Stuart Turley [00:21:26] The argument in Canada was great. I loved Canada, and so we can pick on Tammy. Why she can’t talk. This is absolutely wonderful. And that was when if you take the number of trees that are in Canada in their whole forest area, they are net zero anyway for everything that they could possibly do. Canada is net zero. And so carbon capture schemes and and everything else and and is just hilarious for Canada. Sorry.

Tammy Nemeth [00:21:57] Well we’re not actually because of how they calculate the global carbon budget. So even though Canada does have all these trees and we have all the carbon sinks and bills because of how they’ve allocated the global carbon budget, it it gets distributed to somebody else. And we have to take our responsibility for however much we contribute or whatever. So. That’s unfortunately how how how it works. Not in Canada’s favor, of course. Like nothing works in our favor.

Stuart Turley [00:22:31] You know? But. But your leaders let it happen. Yeah.

Tammy Nemeth [00:22:36] Mean actually if can I. Can I add something about the carbon credits?

David Blackmon [00:22:42] Please.

Tammy Nemeth [00:22:44] So it’s like the moving goalposts. We were told that carbon credits were they’re kind of like as, the backstop, because there’s some industries where you could not get to zero. And therefore the carbon credit, they’re supposed to be a carbon credits system and offsets or whatever, because there’s some that you can’t debate, you can’t get you can’t get to zero. So now they’re moving the goalposts and saying, no, no, no, we can’t have them at all. We don’t want them. You shouldn’t have them. Which then begs the question, so how are we supposed to get to net zero and if things will. Well, sort of cancel each other out. Why can’t why can’t we use offsets or whatever? So once again, it’s a matter of we have to change how we live, our lifestyle and everything else in order to be zero, absolute zero, not net zero, because net zero implies that you could offset or, find some other means to balance it out.

David Blackmon [00:23:40] So question for the group. Doesn’t this then indicate and provide further proof that the real goal here by the pushers of this energy transition is not really net zero? It’s to d industrialize the Western world by putting all these companies out of business. If you can’t meet your carbon reduction goals with credits, the only way you can meet get to net zero is to stop doing your business. If you’re in a business that creates carbon emissions.

Stuart Turley [00:24:14] Yes.

Irina Slav [00:24:15] Yeah, it is the centralization of power because I still firmly believe that these people are so clueless, such idiots that their Jubilee businesses can actually be green buying by their measure of green. They think it’s possible. No amount of evidence will discourage them because, I think that the acting on the presumption that we are going to do it differently this time. Yeah. You don’t hear about what happened in Sri Lanka. We’re going to do it. So it works. We don’t care about what happens to Germany, which is you know, it’s going down fast. We’re going to do it right and it’s going to work. Yes. I think they are this stupid. But they like to centralize more power.

Tammy Nemeth [00:25:08] I say yeah, because they they tell the companies they’re not trying hard enough.

Irina Slav [00:25:12] Exactly. You can feel good about it.

David Blackmon [00:25:16] And the result of this, this religious exercise is that today we got the news that for the first time ever, the United Kingdom no longer ranks as one of the ten leading industrialized nations in the world.

Irina Slav [00:25:30] Exactly, I just wanted to to say hi to Joanna. And so a well done because she canceled her Netflix subscription because they’re backing. Kamillan.

David Blackmon [00:25:42] I guess that’s Kamala.

Irina Slav [00:25:44] Yeah, yeah, yeah. It works. Yeah. Even without that backing, I would have canceled a Netflix subscription. It’s worthless anyway, given how they rewrite history.

Stuart Turley [00:25:58] Isn’t that amazing? Isn’t it? I’m seeing that on. Sorry, David. They’re seeing. I’m seeing Google is eliminating conservative. I’ve been fighting Google for years, and I’m proud to be, censored by Google. That means I’m actually on to something. Right. And when you see them now eliminating Donald Trump and and Google and big tech is amazing. The one thing I want to give a shout out to X and Elon is that he’s posting it out there and saying, hey guys, this is really happening out there.

Irina Slav [00:26:34] What did you try? They’ve actually tried Google because I understand sometimes people amplify things that may or may not be true. I didn’t try it myself.

David Blackmon [00:26:42] So I tried it. It’s true. And it’s you. If you if you do a Google search on attempted assassination Trump, you will receive no returns about the Trump shooting. It’ll be it’ll go to Harry Truman or all other attempted assassinations in American history. You won’t get any results related to the Trump.

Irina Slav [00:27:05] Show, but that’s not the old country that these are the actual results.

David Blackmon [00:27:10] Yes. Yeah.

Irina Slav [00:27:12] This is really pathetic.

Stuart Turley [00:27:14] It is.

Tammy Nemeth [00:27:15] Yeah, I’m doing it right now. And they show they do the attempted assassination. Ronald Reagan, who survived worst attack in the UK in Victoria.

David Blackmon [00:27:28] And it’s not just Google Folks. You can try DuckDuckGo and you get similar results on DuckDuckGo.

Irina Slav [00:27:33] You better enable that’s what I was talking about stupidity. They never think about the consequences of this.

David Blackmon [00:27:43] Oh, I think they think about it. They think they just don’t care.

Irina Slav [00:27:45] Yeah. And they’re maximizing the consequences.

Stuart Turley [00:27:50] And they’re scrubbing the internet for facts. That’s the part that is even scarier.

David Blackmon [00:27:57] Yeah.

Irina Slav [00:27:58] Yeah, that is scary.

Tammy Nemeth [00:27:59] So, you know, a while ago they did a remake of Fahrenheit 451, and they did it as if it were happening in a digital realm. So instead of book burnings, you’d get a daily update, and the daily update would alter your book to scrub, or maybe books would be deleted. But I think mostly it was rewriting things, so you couldn’t say the different phrases. And that’s that concerns me when we have so many books in a digital format, like if you update your Kindle, how do you know that it’s not updating different books down the road? That is a possibility.

Stuart Turley [00:28:40] Yeah. Here’s some good ones here, Patrick.

Irina Slav [00:28:44] Good day.

Stuart Turley [00:28:46] Yes. The power of AI. Yeah.

Irina Slav [00:28:49] Probably. Yeah. Yeah, probably. Okay. Should we mention heat pumps?

David Blackmon [00:28:55] Yes.

Stuart Turley [00:28:56] Oh, yes.

Tammy Nemeth [00:28:57] Absolutely.

Irina Slav [00:29:00] Yeah. It’s tragic news. Heat pump sales collapse in Europe. And this is this is very bad for the Green New Deal because apparently they will have to force people to buy them if people don’t want to buy them on their own. And that’s a big problem because heat pumps were, you know. One of the pillars of the European transition. And our people don’t want them just like they don’t want EVs. You have to wonder what’s wrong with these people. Why don’t they want super expensive heat pumps that don’t work as advertised, and super expensive EVs that don’t work as advertised?

David Blackmon [00:29:42] Know it’s hard to imagine.

Irina Slav [00:29:44] It’s really it’s really hard to imagine why people would be acting so irrationally and counter intuitively.

David Blackmon [00:29:52] And this is the Olympic story, where all the athletes are bringing their own room air conditioning units because they know the geothermal system doesn’t work. Right? Right. So, I mean, all these green alternatives are not alternatives at all. They’re scams designed to transfer wealth from lower classes of individuals to upper classes of individuals.

Tammy Nemeth [00:30:13] And make us all uncomfortable and miserable.

David Blackmon [00:30:16] Right.

Tammy Nemeth [00:30:17] It’s like when when the pandemic started and the expectation was that everybody was supposed to be walking around grim. You know, you weren’t supposed to smile or be enjoying your day out where you were also.

Irina Slav [00:30:30] Supposed to be walking around at all Tammy.

David Blackmon [00:30:33] Well, that’s.

Tammy Nemeth [00:30:33] You had an hour in the UK, you had an hour. You were allowed an hour outside.

Irina Slav [00:30:39] You really had it bad. Yeah,

Tammy Nemeth [00:30:42] Actually wasn’t so bad. I think Canada was probably worse. But you know, Australia and enforced stuff in. Yeah, New Zealand was terrible. But in any event it was like you were supposed to be all grim and everything, and I swear that’s what net zero is. Just trying to make people be miserable because they get, you know, don’t enjoy your life or whatever.

Irina Slav [00:31:01] Because you don’t deserve to enjoy your life. You’re hurting the planet.

Tammy Nemeth [00:31:06] Exactly.

Irina Slav [00:31:07] So after this massive sin of hurting the planet.

Tammy Nemeth [00:31:13] However, I have to say, when we were driving through Germany, we noticed there were a whole many houses, had new, chimneys for, wood burning stoves.

Irina Slav [00:31:29] Are they going to make people buy carbon capture or, you know, emissions scrubbers or whatever they’re called to put in their chimneys? They might,

Tammy Nemeth [00:31:40] Know, be they might because originally they were going to ban the stoves. And then when the natural gas prices spiked and there was the supposed shortages and whatever else at the beginning of the Russia-Ukraine war, the people freaked out. What are you doing? This is the only way we have to heat ourselves and you want to take it away. And so the German government walked it back. But I mean, who knows, they could try it again. Okay. So these are the UK headlines. And the first one is that the Crown Estate that’s King Charles and Company. They’re set to make billions of pounds from Ed Miliband wind farms free. So Ed Miliband is the the Minister of Energy and whatever. However the department’s been renamed in the UK and their plan is to put all of these immense offshore wind turbines increase the number of them off the coast of, the UK. And of course, that’s Crown land and it’s money. They would be paying money directly to King Charles and, and the Crown Estate for the operation of these wind turbines. So is it the like? I understand King Charles is very much an eco nut and everything else, but wow, he sure will benefit from.

Irina Slav [00:33:06] From doing it. I’m sure they’ll think about it.

David Blackmon [00:33:10] Thinking of transfers, of wealth.

Tammy Nemeth [00:33:14] Yeah, exactly. Exactly like he needs more money. And then the second story, the headline is Ed Miliband picks leading Brexit critic as GB energy chairman. So they’ve set up this state company called GB energy, Great Britain Energy, where it’s unclear at first they were saying they were going to nationalize different assets and have it all run by GB energy. And then they said it was going to be just an investment fund. And Mark Carney was advising on what to do with this money, how to invest in the transition. So they were elected. He is. It’s really. Odd. So. And in any event, they they’re part of the thing. Was that they were going to invest in these wind projects and solar projects and all these different kinds of transition things. And now they’re going back to this idea that they’re going to own those assets. So it’s not just that they’re taking money from oil and gas companies through the windfall profits tax that they’ve increased and extended. So basically, I don’t see how we like gas companies any money because almost all of it goes to this windfall tax. And, then they’re going to take that money, put it into this fund, and then invested in wind and solar projects or whatever. So the guy who they named as the GBG chairman was the head of the Siemens, wind operations in the, in the UK. Wow. He was against Brexit. Okay. So you get a guy who is. Yeah, I mean, it’s. Typical. And so we’ve got five years of this. So it’ll be interesting to see how this evolves and, what sort of investments they do indeed decide to make. And in any event, King Charles is going to get richer.

Stuart Turley [00:35:06] Wow.

Irina Slav [00:35:07] Yay! So it will be worth it. If he’s going, do you think.

Stuart Turley [00:35:11] The UK will survive?

Tammy Nemeth [00:35:15] I don’t know. I don’t know.

Stuart Turley [00:35:19] I think we’re off to David here. There we are.

David Blackmon [00:35:24] Well, let’s start with the second one first. Kamala Harris. Operation fracking flip flop is underway. Kamala Harris famously endorsed a national ban on hydraulic fracturing in the United States during her 2020 presidential run. She repeated that time and time after time during the campaign.

Stuart Turley [00:35:45]  I don’t know that I. Can trust a single thing you say because you’re a Substack author. Do You have a video of that?

David Blackmon [00:35:51] Well, there is a video that. Let’s see it.

Video Speaker Kamala Harris [00:35:54] So starting and starting with what we can do on day one around public lands. Right. And, and then there has to be like.

Stuart Turley [00:36:03] She actually said, I will ban fracking.

Video Speaker Kamala Harris [00:36:05] On California. I have a. History of working on this issue. And to your point, and you know that. We have to just acknowledge that the residual impact of fracking is enormous in terms of the impact on the. Health and safety of communities. There’s no question.

David Blackmon [00:36:19] Play it, play it. That’s the key statement. Keep it. Play safe.

Video Speaker Kamala Harris [00:36:24] Yeah. And and and starting .

David Blackmon [00:36:26] We are back

Video Speaker Kamala Harris [00:36:28] and starting . In favor of banning fracking, ever banning fracking. So yeah

David Blackmon [00:36:32] Anyway, there’s no question I’m in favor of banning fracking. That’s that’s the key point. Yeah. And this week, of course, now that she’s the, presumptive nominee for the Democratic Party, her campaign spokesperson says og, she no longer supports a ban on hydraulic fracturing. Because. Why? Because to get elected president, she has to win Pennsylvania, Michigan and Ohio. And they’re all big oil and gas states now. They didn’t used to be, but they are now, thanks to what? Thanks to fracking and horizontal drilling into the big shale formations in the northeastern United States. So, yeah, so she’s backing off of that. But as soon as she’s inaugurated, folks is just going to go back the other way. Okay. Because that’s in her heart. She’s also a co-sponsor of the Green New Deal, which is a plan and basically a plan for to implement a communist government, communist takeover. The United States government is what it is. And, so that’s the truth about Kamala Harris. Then the other one, kind of ties back to a point Irina was making here earlier is that people don’t want to buy. And I think Tammy two people don’t want to buy electric cars. And suddenly, auto manufacturers in Europe, just like auto manufacturers in the United States, are finding out that people don’t want to buy electric cars and the market is collapsing. Okay. And that’s just going to continue. Donald Trump warned about this in April when he said, you know, if you reelect Biden, there’s going to be a bloodbath in the US automotive industry, thanks to all this focus on electric vehicles. He was absolutely right about that, which is why our propaganda media here in the United States lambasted and for saying, you’re not supposed to say these truths about the energy transition and these false alternative energy sources out loud. If you do, you’re going to be slandered and smeared by the news media. So those are my two. That’s a great piece in the Telegraph. Everyone should read it. It’s really well done. Klaus Schwab would correct you. You’re happy, damn it. Yes. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. And Bill gates, and, you know, and King Charles and and all these other billionaires who are the real people profiting from all this. I’ll go again. Yeah.

Stuart Turley [00:39:06] All right. I got to give a shout out to the, Cowboy State, daily on this one.

David Blackmon [00:39:11] They do great work there.

Stuart Turley [00:39:12] I love them. Support. You need to go support them. But the fight over 500 million rail tie wind farm in southern Wyoming is far from over. The guy in there on the picture, actually or not, invented the OtterBox for the phones. And so, the article really goes in. It’s a, a menu for a wind manufacturing group, an energy company out of Spain. And the map of this thing is devastating to the farmers in and in the amount of damage that it is going to do to Wyoming and absolutely bring almost no benefit in electricity except higher prices.

David Blackmon [00:39:56] So at most of the power it generates is going to be exported to California.

Tammy Nemeth [00:40:02] Yeah, exactly.

Stuart Turley [00:40:04] And so, it’s a scam. And, hats off to them for bringing this to light. I’ve got a video, in a segue, but, this is how bad wind is. Let’s see. How are we on time? This is probably even more important than that story. And it says Yellen says 3 trillion is needed each year to fund climate transition. And this is probably the most important thing I can say in, in and in a while. They have taken the energy transition and the climate crisis and merged these together. And this is so important. It is now the climate transition in order to go through this even more faster and more violent, unbelievable.

David Blackmon [00:40:58] And even.

Irina Slav [00:40:59] Worse.

David Blackmon [00:41:00] I think it’s important to point out on the Wyoming story that is a heavily Republican state where that’s happening, right? Just that’s doing this. Texas has more wind power, more solar now than any other state. Heavily Republican state. These Republicans are as guilty as the Democrats.

Stuart Turley [00:41:18] Exactly.

David Blackmon [00:41:19] For virtue signaling over this nonsense.

Stuart Turley [00:41:22] And and I want to show this one, like two minute video because, this is about the most disgusting thing that needs to be told about wind and solar, offshore wind, but how these things really, impact.

Video Narrator [00:41:40] Charged and nasty looking substance into Narragansett Bay shore wind vessel. The connector discharged a nasty looking substance into Narragansett Bay. Initially described as oil. The Rhode Island Dem later corrected the report, calling the substance soot is as soot as any better than oil. Falling turbine blades and potentially cancer causing soot might be the least of our problems. The public should also know that the nine projects off our shores will contain 34 million gallons of coolants, fuels, oils and lubricants, 34 million gallons offshore and at risk. As we now know, machines break blades, drop oil spills. These projects threaten the health of our ocean bays. Beaches. Us without helping combat climate change. How is this good for the environment? Keep it wild. Act now. Ask questions. Demand answers.

Stuart Turley [00:42:36] And, David and I looked to be interviewing Captain Carey. Kelly, this week. And he has removed billions of pounds of plastics out of the ocean. And so we’ll be going into, deeper dive on, on this issue. The microplastics that we talked about off the Nantucket wind farm, and the blades, the amount of plastics and microplastics that get into the fish and into us as humans is disgusting and is a major health issue. This is about pollution. This is not about.

David Blackmon [00:43:19] It’s real pollution. Not quite.

Stuart Turley [00:43:22] That exactly.

Irina Slav [00:43:23] So it’s good to see that there are still actual environmental activists who care about the actual environment and, sounding the alarm about offshore wind and onshore wind, given the amount of concrete and iron and, you know, landscape destruction that goes into building these huge turbines. It’s good to see that still alive. And I wish them all the luck in the world.

David Blackmon [00:43:53] Yeah, those real environmentalists we used to call Democrats. Now our news media calls in far right as activists. Yeah, right. Same people.

Tammy Nemeth [00:44:04] So with. Can I just ask you about Janet Yellen statement of 3 trillion. Because these numbers are always changing. Right. And so I’m wondering is her 3 trillion estimate global for global investment or is it U.S..

David Blackmon [00:44:22] And it’s total investment. It’s not just government spending, it’s total investment.

Tammy Nemeth [00:44:27] Yeah. Just that she. I think she said something like, private has to be private money coming in or something, but, I mean. 2 To 3 years ago, they were saying globally it was 3 trillion. Now it’s just for America.

David Blackmon [00:44:41] Because, I mean, that’s.

Irina Slav [00:44:44] Changing upwards.

David Blackmon [00:44:46] And it’s a massive understatement for the United States, by the way. I mean, you know, that’s just ridiculously low estimate of what it’s going to cost.

Tammy Nemeth [00:44:55] Yeah. And even so, it’s a ridiculous. People don’t even understand what a trillion is Trillion.

David Blackmon [00:45:01] It can’t comprehend it.

Tammy Nemeth [00:45:03] Yeah. Can’t comprehend it. Yeah.

Irina Slav [00:45:04] No I have to. This  million or billion.

David Blackmon [00:45:08] Right.

Tammy Nemeth [00:45:09] Exactly. Exactly. Yeah.

David Blackmon [00:45:13] Thanks, Patrick.

Tammy Nemeth [00:45:14] By Patrick.

David Blackmon [00:45:15] Yeah. Yes, Joanna. You’re right. It is.

Tammy Nemeth [00:45:19] With respect to like the the wind turbines and some environmentalists actually being concerned about the impacts on the environment. When we were in Germany, we were shocked to see that there there were a few wind projects in forest, and they were wanting to build a whole bunch of new wind turbines throughout the forest of the Hartz Mountain area. And, this environmental group of the of Germany called Nabu, had posters up all over where, you know, no wind turbines in our forest, save our forest and everything. You know, it’s bad enough when they put wind turbines on open hills or fields or whatever, but to put them where bird’s nest and where animals nest, I think that’s just insane. It’s insane.

David Blackmon [00:46:06] It is insane It’s like the Biden administration wanting to put these massive wind farms in the center of the Gulf of Mexico, which is what the government itself calls the migratory bird superhighway, where billions of migratory birds every year fly back and forth from Central America to North America on their migration routes. And they want to put 900 foot tall turbines with 350ft foot long blades out in the Gulf of Mexico. It’s just it’s just it has to be an intentional effort to kill birds. I mean, it’s inexplicable that you would actually ever want to put a single wind turbine out there. And it’s also, by the way, the part of the Gulf of Mexico that most frequently has to be shut in all the oil platforms for hurricanes.

Irina Slav [00:47:05] Yeah, that’s what I was going to say. Okay, let’s forget about birds. Let’s continue denying that wind turbines, Gilbert. Although they do. The first hurricane will take a little while for us.

Stuart Turley [00:47:21] Yeah. And then all that, all that pollution goes into the,

Irina Slav [00:47:28] into the ocean.

Tammy Nemeth [00:47:30] yeah, yeah. So if if one is bad off the coast of Nantucket. What’s what’s it like if you have a whole entire installation in the Gulf of Mexico when a hurricane comes through?

David Blackmon [00:47:43] Right? No. That’s crazy. It’s just. It’s insane. It is literally, literally insane. Yeah.

Irina Slav [00:47:50] It is.

Stuart Turley [00:47:51] David, well, we got just a few minutes left. You guys, the email chatter that you guys were doing was fabulous. We can just show this video and keep talking.

David Blackmon [00:48:02] Oh, yeah. This is the lithium ion battery. It shut down I-15 between Las Vegas and Los Angeles. The only freeway that goes between those two major cities through Death Valley. This is on the edge of the hottest part of North America. Right there where this happened, there were thousands upon thousands of people sitting in cars backed up for miles and miles that eventually had to be rerouted over to Interstate 40. Here’s. Yeah, here’s the, a photo of just a tiny sliver of what it was. And this was on Friday. Because that truck overturned. It was carrying lithium ion batteries, and you can’t put the far out. And so that freeway was shut down for hours upon hours waiting for this burn itself out.

Stuart Turley [00:48:56] Look at that.

Irina Slav [00:48:58] This is one of my biggest nightmares, you know, to to find myself, you know, in a huge traffic jam. And they could not reroute the traffic earlier. I mean, what?

David Blackmon [00:49:10] Well, you know, they they were hoping that it would be faster to put far out and get it all off. They were waiting.

Irina Slav [00:49:16] To put out the fire. They did not put it out. How long it takes to put out a lithium ion battery? Yeah. That’s great.

David Blackmon [00:49:24] You can’t extinguish the fire with water. And so they just had to let it burn itself out. Wow.

Tammy Nemeth [00:49:32] Can smell the water just to cool it down because it burns so hot. And that would the work. I guess the way you try to stop or slow the thermal runaway is to cool it down, because it’s like 900 degrees or some incredibly high temperature. And it’s interesting because some of the if you have smaller fires, they talk about using CO2 suppression. And I think, I think it’d be kind of cool if they had got to use dry ice or something in order to, to lower the temperature. And of course, dry ice is, called CO2.

David Blackmon [00:50:06] Yes it is. That’d be. We’re not supposed to. Is that supposed to be bad? Isn’t it?

Irina Slav [00:50:10] So embarrassing.

David Blackmon [00:50:13] Yeah, it really is embarrassing.

Stuart Turley [00:50:16] What a fun.

David Blackmon [00:50:16] But don’t worry, I was assured by a reader on LinkedIn that that all those lithium ion batteries are going to go away. And we’ve just got this miracle. New battery technology, solid state battery that’s going to take it all over.

Tammy Nemeth [00:50:30] That for you.

David Blackmon [00:50:30] Oh, that for 30 years.

Irina Slav [00:50:31] Yeah. Well, they keep being on the brink of taking over. Right.

David Blackmon [00:50:36] It’s just around.

Tammy Nemeth [00:50:37] The clock fusion. It’s like.

Irina Slav [00:50:39] Yeah, well, I’m saying hear that?

Stuart Turley [00:50:41] Usually it’s right near that fusion where.

Irina Slav [00:50:44] It’s like it’s. Not going to go. So I think.

Tammy Nemeth [00:50:51] It’s kind of like climate catastrophes always just around the corner. Yeah. You know, we just have five more years. Four, seven, ten, just five more years.

David Blackmon [00:51:01] King Charles needs more money.

Tammy Nemeth [00:51:04] Absolutely.

David Blackmon [00:51:06] And Larry Fink

Irina Slav [00:51:09] Right back. I don’t know what will. I mean, the man is likable.

Tammy Nemeth [00:51:15] He is. And he’s refitting his super Bentleys to be to run on biofuel or something.

Irina Slav [00:51:24] Oh, will he be producing the biofuel himself and with his wife, you know, in the new.

Tammy Nemeth [00:51:31] Well from the, the, the estates, because they produce a lot of, fruits and vegetables and grains that they sell at Waitrose. It’s called Duchy Organic.

Irina Slav [00:51:43] And people buy it. Don’t sell me. People probably buy it.

Tammy Nemeth [00:51:46] Yeah, people buy it

David Blackmon [00:51:47] Jeremy. Jeremy Clarkson can, open a biofuel manufacturing plant on his farm in season five of Clark Clarkson’s farm.

Irina Slav [00:51:56] Yeah, yeah.

Tammy Nemeth [00:51:57] Yeah, well, he’s, I’m sure next year going about his pub opening, so.

David Blackmon [00:52:03] Yeah. Yeah, yeah. That’ll be I can’t wait.

Irina Slav [00:52:06] You should go and send those pictures.

David Blackmon [00:52:10] Yeah, I’ve been just.

Tammy Nemeth [00:52:12] I’ve been to the farm shop and. My husband.

David Blackmon [00:52:18] Oh, you’re cutting out on us again?

Tammy Nemeth [00:52:22] That’s a.

Stuart Turley [00:52:25] She’s starting to sound a little more like me.

David Blackmon [00:52:32] I think maybe it’s time to win this. Now we’re almost at an hour.

Stuart Turley [00:52:36] All right. It was a lot of fun. I mean, it was always.

David Blackmon [00:52:40] You got us off on 17 irrelevant tangents. Today was great.

Irina Slav [00:52:45] As usual. Well, have a great day, everyone who’s watching. And all of you.

David Blackmon [00:52:53] Yes. Thanks, everyone, for joining us.

Irina Slav [00:52:54] We’ll see you next Monday.

David Blackmon [00:52:57] Bye

Stuart Turley [00:52:58] Bye, guys. See you guys.

 

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Red States, Blue States: A Tale of Two Economies

Energy News Beat

The latest employment data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics for June 2024 offers a compelling snapshot of the divergent economic fortunes of red and blue states. The national unemployment rate remained steady at 4.1 percent, a modest increase of 0.5 percentage points from June 2023. Yet, beneath these headline figures lie significant contrasts between states, particularly economically vibrant red and struggling blue states, with Texas and California as prime examples.

Texas: A Beacon of Prosperity

Texas continues to exemplify the benefits of more free-market policies, evidenced by its impressive employment growth and relatively low unemployment rate. Over the past year, Texas added 267,400 nonfarm jobs in a pro-growth environment and favorable regulatory climate.

According to the Texas Workforce Commission, the state’s civilian labor force now exceeds 15.3 million, highlighting the ongoing expansion of job opportunities. This growth is supported by a diverse economy encompassing technology, energy, and healthcare industries. The unemployment rate in Texas stood at 4.1 percent in June, mirroring the national average but significantly lower than California’s 5.2 percent rate.

Texas’ economic model emphasizes fiscal responsibility, including adopting more sustainable budgeting practices. This has helped the Lone Star State claim the 7th best fiscal freedom according to the Cato Institute’s Freedom in the 50 States. The state also ranks 20th in regulatory freedom and 17th overall when considering economic and personal freedoms. Texas ensures that its budget remains manageable by limiting government spending growth to less than the rate of population growth plus inflation over much of the last decade. This approach keeps taxes low and promotes long-term economic stability and growth. However, the current irresponsible budget, which increased by more than 20 percent, challenges past budget successes in Texas and should be addressed in the next session in 2025.

 

California: A Contrast in Economic Management

California, on the other hand, presents a stark contrast. Despite adding 223,600 jobs over the year, California’s unemployment rate rose to 5.2 percent, the second highest in the nation, just behind the District of Columbia at 5.4 percent. This increase underscores the state’s challenges, including high taxes, stringent regulations, and a high cost of living, which collectively stifle business growth and job creation.

According to the Freedom in the 50 States report, California ranks 48th in fiscal freedom, 49th in regulatory freedom, and 48th in overall freedom. The Golden State ranks poorly compared with Texas and all but two states, New York and Hawaii, regarding overall economic freedom. California’s economic struggles are not a recent phenomenon. Over the years, the state’s policies have created an environment less conducive to business investment and innovation. High-profile businesses and individuals have been leaving the state, seeking more favorable conditions in states like Texas, further exacerbating the economic divide. The Wall Street Journal recently reported the Internal Revenue Service’s latest migration data for net adjusted gross income by state in 2022 showed California had the largest net loss of $23.8 billion while Texas had the second largest net gain of $21 billion, next to Florida of $36 billion. This is yet another example of how people and businesses move from high-tax to lower-tax states.

 

Unemployment Trends Across the States

The broader employment trends in the June 2024 report revealed that eight states saw an increase in unemployment rates while only one state experienced a decrease. The majority of states, however, saw no significant change in their jobless rates. South Dakota boasted the lowest unemployment rate at 2.0 percent, followed closely by North Dakota and Vermont at 2.1 percent.

In contrast, states with more interventionist economic policies, like California and Nevada, struggled with higher unemployment rates of 5.2 percent. This trend highlights the broader pattern where states with more market-friendly policies enjoy better employment outcomes.

 

Job Growth and Economic Policies

The BLS data also shows that nonfarm payroll employment increased in eight states in June 2024, with North Carolina, Massachusetts, and Virginia leading in job gains. Over the year, 27 states saw employment increases, with Texas, California, and Florida posting the largest gains in absolute numbers. These large job gains often reflect the fact that these states have the largest populations, but what’s revealing is that the percent increases over that year were just 1.3 percent in California while a more robust 1.9 percent in Texas and 2.0 percent in Florida.

The nuances become clear when considering these states’ economic policies and environments. States like Texas and Florida, prioritizing low taxes and minimal regulation, have created environments where businesses can thrive. This is reflected in their strong job growth and relatively low unemployment rates. In contrast, states with higher taxes and more regulatory burdens, such as California, face more significant economic challenges despite adding jobs.

 

The Flat Tax Revolution

A significant aspect of the economic success seen in many red states, including Texas, is their embrace of the state flat tax revolution. This movement, which simplifies tax codes and lowers rates, has been crucial in attracting businesses and encouraging investment. By moving toward flat taxes, states can reduce the complexity and burden of taxation, making them more competitive and appealing to businesses and workers.

This revolution is part of a broader trend towards sustainable budgeting, where states aim to maintain fiscal discipline while ensuring they do not overburden their citizens with high taxes. The success of states like Texas in implementing these policies demonstrates the potential for other states to achieve similar economic prosperity by adopting these principles.

Policy Implications and Recommendations

The stark differences in economic outcomes between red and blue states underscore the importance of policy choices. Red states like Texas continue demonstrating that free-market principles lead to more robust economic growth and better employment outcomes. For policymakers, the lessons are clear:

Reduce Regulatory Burdens: Streamlining and eliminating regulations can make it easier for businesses to operate and expand, fostering job creation.
Pass Sustainable Budgets and Lower Taxes: Implementing sustainable budgeting practices and reducing the tax burden on businesses and individuals support more economic activity and attract investments.
Promote Economic Freedom: Ensuring a business-friendly environment that supports entrepreneurship and innovation is key to sustainable growth.

As we look to the future, it is crucial that states learn from these examples. By adopting policies prioritizing economic freedom and reducing government intervention, states can create environments where businesses flourish, and jobs are plentiful for widespread prosperity. The contrasting fortunes of Texas and California serve as a powerful reminder that policy decisions have real-world consequences.

States can pave the way for a prosperous future by examining these trends and implementing effective policies.

Source: Aier.org

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Taiwan Shuts Second-to-Last Nuclear Plant in Controversial Shift

Energy News Beat
Decision could make island more dependent on energy imports
Taiwan aims to decommission last reactor by May next year

Taiwan will shut down its second-to-last nuclear plant on Saturday in a move likely to make the island at the center of US-China tensions even more dependent on the outside world for energy.

The closure of reactor No. 1 at the Maanshan Nuclear Power Plant on the southern tip of Taiwan comes amid a continuing debate among lawmakers about whether to extend the lives of the island’s existing atomic energy facilities. Nuclear currently accounts for about 5% of Taiwan’s energy use, which is dominated by coal and liquified natural gas.

Energy security is a critical issue for Taiwan and its chipmaking industry, led by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. The issue has taken on added importance as Beijing, which views the democratically-run island as its territory, exerts more pressure on Taipei. The tensions are stoking concerns that China could potentially interrupt Taiwan’s energy supplies through a military blockade.

Yet the 2011 meltdown at a nuclear plant in Fukushima, Japan, helped turn popular opinion in Taiwan against the industry. The island’s government said it wouldn’t rule out boosting nuclear’s share of the energy mix in the future, but said the technology needs to improve.

Taiwan’s last reactor, Maanshan No. 2, is set to close in May 2025. Both it and the reactor closing this weekend are planned retirements after about 40 years of use.

“If new nuclear energy technologies can address issues of nuclear safety and nuclear waste, and are accepted internationally, of course, we will be very open to discussing the matter,” Premier Cho Jung-tai told reporters July 17. He said the government will focus for now on expanding the use of natural gas and reducing the consumption of coal.

Taiwan’s moves buck a global trend of renewed interest in nuclear energy, which produces no greenhouse gas emissions but results in toxic waste that can remain radioactive for millennia. Lawmakers spent hours in debate this month over whether to reverse course on the government’s plan to completely phase out atomic power, although no vote was taken.

The use of nuclear energy has long been a source of contention between the ruling and opposition parties in Taiwan. When the Democratic Progressive Party took office in 2016, then-President Tsai Ing-wen said her goal was to make Taiwan nuclear-free by 2025, setting a target energy mix of 50% natural gas, 30% coal and 20% renewables. Opposition parties, on the other hand, have advocated restarting nuclear reactors.

Taiwan now expects renewable energy to comprise a quarter of its energy mix by 2030, up from about 12% this year. Power consumption is forecast to grow by an average of 2.8% a year through 2033, driven by the AI sector. While the island currently has a surplus of electricity, according to Cho, that growth could crimp the excess supply in the years ahead.

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Yellen says $3 trillion is needed each year to fund climate transition

Energy News Beat

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Saturday the world’s transition to a low-carbon economy requires $3 trillion in new investment annually through 2050, and that filling the financing gap to reach that level of funding represents the biggest economic opportunity of the 21st century.

Yellen spoke in Belem, a Brazilian city known as the gateway to the Amazon, after meeting with G-20 finance ministers in Rio de Janeiro on Thursday and Friday. She said reaching net-zero carbon emissions goals remains a top priority for the Biden-Harris administration, but that doing so requires leadership from around the world.

“Neglecting to address climate change and the loss of nature and biodiversity is not just bad environmental policy. It is bad economic policy,” Yellen said. “But being so close to the magnificent Amazon is also a reminder that the transition to a lower-carbon global economy is also the single greatest economic opportunity of the 21st century. The transition will require no less than $3 trillion in new capital from many sources each year between now and 2050.”

Wealthy economies around the world provided a record-setting $116 billion in climate finance for developing countries in 2022, about 40% of which came from multilateral development banks (MDBs). Yellen said the banks, which include the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), were setting new financing targets.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said $3 trillion in new financing is needed each year through 2050 to fund the global green transition. (Dado Galdieri/Bloomberg via / Getty Images)

She explained that the financing need is “the single-greatest economic opportunity of the 21st century,” and can be harnessed in supporting sustainable, more inclusive growth – including for countries that are starved for investment.

In Belem, Yellen met with finance ministers from countries in the Amazon basin and IDB President Ilan Goldfajn. The treasury secretary reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to the IDB’s Amazonia Forever program, which takes a holistic approach to sustainable development in the region by providing financing as well as project preparation and collaboration.

“We are hopeful that this program will incentivize greater private sector investment in the region that supports nature,” she added.

Yellen and G-20 finance ministers discussed ways of funding low-carbon investments in developing economies. (Alessandro Falco/Bloomberg via / Getty Images)

Yellen said the banks should also help spur new business models capable of mobilizing investment that supports nature and biodiversity, as well as strengthening economies and aiding the climate transition.

Earlier on Saturday, Yellen launched a new initiative with Amazon basin countries including Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru and Suriname to combat nature crimes – like illegal logging and harvesting of wildfire and minerals – that pose a threat to biodiversity and the Amazon ecosystem.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Brazilian Finance Minister Fernando Haddad shake hands during the G-20 meeting in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Friday, July 26, 2024. (Dado Galdieri/Bloomberg via / Getty Images)

Nature crimes generate hundreds of billions of dollars of illicit revenue while harming local communities and threatening critical ecosystems,” Yellen said. “These crimes fuel corruption and destabilization wherever they occur. By launching this initiative, we will help protect the integrity of the international financial system while also fighting back against a major threat to local economies and the environment.”

Source: Foxbusiness.com

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BRICS vs SWIFT

Energy News Beat

Daily Standup Top Stories

BRICS Officially Announces Financial System Similar to SWIFT

The BRICS alliance is looking to bypass the Western SWIFT system and replace it with its own financial mechanism. The creation of a new financial messaging system similar to SWIFT will allow BRICS to reshape […]

Potential increase in gas bills for UK households

Households that delay switching to heat pumps may face a £2,000 increase in energy bills. This is because the cost of maintaining the gas network’s 174,000 miles of pipes and pumps will spread to fewer […]

Vital Energy nearing a deal to buy Point Energy for $1.1 billion, sources say

NEW YORK, July 28 (Reuters) – Vital Energy (VTLE.N), opens new tab is closing in on an all-cash deal to acquire private equity-owned Point Energy Partners for $1.1 billion, people familiar with the matter said on Sunday, […]

Highlights of the Podcast

00:00 – Intro

01:27 – BRICS Officially Announces Financial System Similar to SWIFT

05:42 – Potential increase in gas bills for UK households

10:41 – Markets Update

13:40 – Rig Count Update

14:34 – Vital Energy nearing a deal to buy Point Energy for $1.1 billion, sources say

17:03 – Outro

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Video Transcription edited for grammar. We disavow any errors unless they make us look better or smarter.

Michael Tanner: [00:00:14] What’s going on, everybody? Welcome into the Monday, July 29th, 2024 edition of the Daily Energy News Beat stand up. Here are today’s top headlines. First up, it’s officially here, folks. BRICs officially announces financial system to compete with Swift. Unbelievable. Folks, we have a lot to dive into on that one. Next up, a potential increase in gas bills for UK households. This one’s going to hurt if you’re in the United Kingdom. Will then quickly jump over and cover what went on with oil and gas prices last week. Unfortunately, we did see kind of a rough week for prices. I mean rough in a in a pejorative sense. We’re still at $75 or $77, so nothing to complain about there, but I think some interesting tidbits. We also did see rig counts, which actually up a little bit. So it’ll be interesting some context around that. And then finally Vital Energy kneeling a deal to buy Point Energy for 1.1 billion, according to sources. Not quite official yet though. As you listen to this on Monday it might be official, so I will cover all that in a bag of chips. Guys. As always, I am Michael Tanner rocking a solo show today. Stu,  out on assignment, so we will keep up the show in his absence, but let’s go ahead and kick this off. [00:01:26][72.4]

Michael Tanner: [00:01:27] BRICs officially announces financial system similar to Swift. Unbelievable. I’ll read a few quotes here from the article. The BRICs alliance which who is in BRICs? I think it’s Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia and the United Arab Emirates. Okay, so this BRICs, which is kind of like almost like NATO, but not really. There’s no real army associated with it. But these countries they’ve created and are looking to bypass the Western Swift system and replace it with his own financial mechanism. The creation of this new financial messaging system will be similar. Swift will allow BRICs to basically settle trades and settle transactions without incorporating the US dollar. This is un unbelievable. Local currencies will be used for trade settlements, ending the reliance on the US dollar once and for all. The BRICs payment system will be similar to Swift can break the global dominance of the US dollar. We’ve talked about this at nauseum on this show. Here’s a quote from Deputy chairman of the Russian State Duma, Alexander Baba. I don’t really know how to pronounce his name, so I’m sorry about that. The financial agenda of BRICs is the main initiative for building a new economic reality. It solves both major cracks creating our own financial messaging system for BRICs countries, similar to Swift, based on state owned banks capable of clearing clearing settlements of counterparties from BRICs countries and the related role of the same bank. He also went ahead and said it is necessary to create new financial institutions. This is where it gets spooky. The new system must be technically compatible with the existing financial infrastructures of the participating countries, which includes integration of national payment system banks and other financial actors. At the same time, systems which ensure a high level of security and data protection prevent cyberattacks and unauthorized unauthorized access to the financial information. Folks, we’ve been talking about this on the podcast for over a year now. They’re coming for the dollar. And what I mean, coming for the dollar, the petrodollar is, is it may or may not be around here in a while. We’ve known that they want ever since Russia invaded Ukraine and the sanctions that the United States put on Russia specifically, basically getting them off and not giving them access to Swift, which is a payment system that allows countries to do international banking. But things are then settled on the dollar and the rely on the dollar. And why the dollar sometimes is the national or is the reserve currency of the world. It also has a little bit to do with the petrodollar, but this strikes at the heart of it. Now these BRICs countries are going to be able to do inter-country commerce without touching the dollar. This is crazy. The reserve status of the dollar is slowly dwindling in this. This is critical because this ties directly into energy again with the petrodollar right now, if you want to trade oil, generally it’s being it’s settled in dollars, but not ever since Russia invaded Ukraine. We placed a bunch of sanctions on them. They’ve been settling trades with China. They’ve been they’ve they’ve not been using the dollar with China. They’ve not been using the dollar with India. They’ve been accepting rubles in return. They’ve been doing some other interesting stuff. So this is an all out, you can call it an assault. You can call it a swift, but it’s a global realignment of the underlying financial institutions. You’re going it’s again, all of those countries I just mentioned. Let’s go ahead and read them again. Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia and the United Arab Emirates. I mean, you’re talking about Russia, India, China, UAE is huge countries involved with both the buying and selling of oil and gas. Now they can explicitly go around the US dollar. It’s not good if you are somebody who is of the mindset that we are coming into a recession here in the United States, this doesn’t bode well because this attacks the heart of. The idea that while the dollar will always be around because it’s a global reserve currency, well, are we sure about that? Are we sure about that? So huge story here. When Stu gets back, we’ll definitely have to talk about. Well, we have been following this one for a while and we’ll continue to follow Bric getting off Swift if you have any. If you have any, I wonder what it’s going to be called in the first place. It’s got to be called something cool. So feel free to leave a comment on YouTube if you if you think you know what it’s going to be called, I don’t know if I have any good comes, I guess is right now, but it’s got it’s got to have a good name. So we’ll be interesting to see what it is. [00:05:42][254.7]

Michael Tanner: [00:05:42] Let’s move over to the UK folks. This is unbelievable. Potential increase in gas bills for UK households. Households that delay switching to heat pumps may face a $2,000 increase in their energy bills. And I’m going to read now straight from the article. This is because the cost of maintaining the current gas network of 175,000 miles of pipes and pumps will spread out to fewer and fewer customers as more people switch to low carbon heat systems. Okay, so that’s that’s the top line quotes here. If you just read the first couple lines. This is hilarious though. Okay. So according to these OFDM projections these gas charges are going to it’s going to slowly happen throughout 2020 into the 2030s, but will significantly increase in 2040 and could potentially reach $2,000 per year. This is funny okay, so right now they’re saying basically, hey, got to switch to heat pumps because it’s going to be cheaper. And they’re saying, wow, it’s going to be spread out to fewer and fewer people because everybody is switching to heat pumps. But then you get deeper down in the article here. Okay. Industry statistics show that in four years between 2020 and 2024, the UK installed a paltry 250,000 heat pumps, while 25.5 million homes still use oil or gas boilers. It’s why you can’t just read the headlines, folks. You read the headline, you said, oh great, everybody switching to heat pumps real good. No no no, no one switching to heat pumps. Just like nobody’s really driving EVs even though they want you to know that. So this cost that’s going to be it’s why not keeping up with your infrastructure is critical. Because if you if you invest on a yearly basis and keeping your infrastructure, sometimes this stuff doesn’t happen because then you have to go in all at once and fix it all, according to an Ofgem’s spokesperson. He told Energy News Energy Live news decision on the future of the gas network for the government. Our role to ensure the transition away from natural gas is spare and the lowest possible cost to the current and future covers the transition away from natural gas is there. To me, that seems like an oxymoron. How can you transition away from the lowest cost fuel and expected to be fair and lowest possible cost? Very interesting final to see. Here’s another quote from them. Final decisions of the gas network. Investment expenditure for the period of 2026 to March 30th, 2031 will be taken next year following the current consultation. We know what the new pretty, pretty insane government Liberal government that got elected in the UK. You know, they’re probably going to try to make this number as high as they can, just gouge as many people. Department for Energy Security and net zero. What a day. What a Department of Energy security and net zero. Now what is that. We need that. What was that famous video of the Argentinian president where he’s just he’s just pulling all of the the departments off and firing whole departments. This is one. We’re in a Fuego. We need to get. You’re in the UK. You need to get rid of the Department for Energy Security and net zero. But this spokesperson told I mean that he just a spokesperson for this and this. Someone’s getting paid to do this by the way is is just cracks me up. We are on a mission to make Britain a clean energy superpower to cut bills, create jobs, and deliver energy security with cheaper, zero carbon electricity by 2030. Good luck. We hope you don’t freeze to death up there. Let’s go ahead and jump over into oil and gas finance guys. Before we do that, I want to just say thank you to energy newsbeat.com. The best place for all of your energy and oil and gas news is doing. The team do a tremendous job making sure that website stays up to speed. Everything you need to know to be the tip of the spear when it comes to the energy and the oil and gas business. All the news and analysis you just heard is brought to you by said website. And I also want to tell you about an awesome partnership that we’re that we’re excited to launch here. We are partnering up with our friend Rey Trevino over to Crew Truth and Pecos Country Operating help you guys get a sneak peek and help you guys get access to investing in oil and gas. I’m a big believer right now that, you know, if you’ve listened to this show at nauseam, you know that I personally love oil and gas. [00:09:37][235.4]

Michael Tanner: [00:09:38] I think the arbitrage between oil and gas and other alternative investments is absolutely incredible. Right now. There’s a big opportunity to get in. That’s why we’re partnering up with Pecos. They have an awesome oil and gas project that they have been rolling out. We’ve been working with him for, for for months now to get this thing up. It’s been up. We’ve been talking to a bunch of people, but I want to bring it specifically to you guys at the Daily Energy News. Beat go ahead and hit the description below for a little sneak preview at the project. You leave your name, email, and we will get you and you will be able to download and look at the exact. Summary. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out whether it’s in the YouTube comments or connect with me on LinkedIn. But we look forward to talking to you guys about that. It’s an awesome project. We’re a part of it, and it’s none other. Sponsored by Rey Trevino and the folks over to CrudeTruth and Pecos Country Operating. Love the stuff. We were out there at the drill site yesterday. We’re recording this Saturday afternoon. I was out there all day making hole. Folks. There’s nothing funner going out and drill well, so go ahead, check that out guys. Really excited about this opportunity to invest in oil and gas. Check it out. [00:10:41][63.1]

Michael Tanner: [00:10:41] Let’s go ahead. And you know speaking of oil and gas let let let’s look at prices here overall. Before we do that though let’s look at the overall markets. S&P 500 actually rebounded a little bit after a fairly rough week. It was up 1.1 percentages on Friday Nasdaq up 1.03 percentage points two and ten year yields actually fell about a percentage point with the ten year a little bit worse, about 1.2 percentage points on the downside dollar index very flat Bitcoin after you know what we heard on you know Thursday Friday strategic bitcoin reserve. All the stuff that went on that the Bitcoin Nashville conference only up about three three quarters of a year. Excuse me a quarter of a percentage point. Still $68,000 a coin. It’s going to be interesting to see what that strategic Bitcoin reserve looks like if and when President Trump does get reelected. Crude oil didn’t have a great day on Friday. Things got slashed about 1.5 percentage point settled at 7716. And as we open here shortly as we record this Sunday afternoon, it’s probably going to open a little bit less. Hopefully we see some overnight rotation. But you know, in my opinion you guys listen to this. On Monday morning we will probably be trading a little bit less than where we currently currently are. Main reasons for that. Again, a lot to do. You know, right now where I think people have priced in a little bit what’s going to happen in November? Obviously, you know, from all indications it looks like President Trump will win, even though it looks like some of the polls tend to be slipping a little bit, with Vice President Harris now coming in and replacing. And I think that’s everything settling out around kind of the craziness we saw with Joe Biden dropping out. But we did see some, some, some Chinese demand numbers that come out that both one China total fuel imports dropped about 11% in the first half of 2024, which really raises a bigger concern about the overall wider demand outlook on what’s going on in China. Again, we’re in a world of supply and demand. We you know, supply might be heading in the right direction, but we don’t if the demand numbers aren’t going to be there might be interesting. So here’s George Curry he’s head of education and research at CFR. I quote yesterday’s better than expected U.S. GDP growth figures initially supported the crude markets. However, these gains were overshadowed by concerns that declining Chinese oil demand. Bobby Yeager he’s one of our favorite guys, director of energy futures over at Mizuho in New York. The Chinese demand situation is going down the tubes here, and crude oil prices are going down with it. And that is about the worst possible scenario for a country that the largest importer of crude oil and the planet. So pretty, pretty. You know, I’m not totally doom and gloom. I, I, you know, I was talking with some friends last week. You know, you can make an argument one way or the other that as China demand goes, so do oil prices, especially if the Saudis decide to increase production. But all indication is the Saudis really need higher oil prices to continue to balance budgets and support the investment they’re making. Ironically, in trying to shift their economy away from oil and gas. So I’m not necessarily worried that Saudis all of a sudden now going to go to war with us like they did back in 2014, 2050. But you you never know. Looks like there could be a cease fire. And Gaza seems to be claiming momentum so that could drill down. [00:13:40][179.1]

Michael Tanner: [00:13:40] We also did see rig counts drop on Friday. And we’ll go ahead and throw that chart up here. Rig counts up to 589. That’s an increase of three week over week. Still down 75 year over year candidates on increase of 14. Go Canada go I mean it’s pretty funny Canada for his joke is they’re going right there 14 rigs. We got to love it. internationally we saw four rigs come up. So again you know rigs are a little yes. Rigs are tied to oil price, but they’re also a little bit. But you know, these numbers are also a little bit behind. So some of these rigs were picked up maybe back when oil was looking like it was going to maybe go above 85. So you can’t necessarily say well oil was down on Friday. Why are people increasing rigs. It’s a little bit more nuanced than that. But but I do think that it’s good to see kind of that that turnaround with with rig counts. And again, if we’re going to want to maintain whatever our supply is now, maybe because of the Chinese demand situation, the supply does maybe naturally need to come down. [00:14:34][53.8]

Michael Tanner: [00:14:34] So could be interesting there. I did see this guys. This this actually just dropped right before the show. Vital energy nearing a deal to buy Point Energy for 1.1 billion. Yeah, super interesting point Energy Partners is a is an exclusive Delaware producer. They’re owned by Fortis Investments and vital is looking at acquiring them with about 1.1 billion according to people who quote according with people familiar with the matter said and blah, blah, blah. What’s also interesting is the is I’ll read now, Steve new article, the deal for the Permian Basin, a focused producer point energy could be announced soon, possibly as early as Sunday, assuming talks do not have a last minute saga. The sources requesting anonymous nominees. This is also interesting. Some of Point Energy’s assets will also be sold to a different buyer that is participating in the transaction, alongside vital. According to sources, those assets are low growth but produce steady amounts of oil and gas. If you go look on Point Energy Partners website, they’re pretty much an exclusive Delaware producer. They’ve got about 20,000 acres in the Delaware and do about 40,000 barrels a day. So it’s going to be pretty honest. You know, it’s boe. So we I need we need to, you know, hard to know what that what that oil and gas split is. You can go check out our friends at well database. They’ll be able to tell you haven’t had necessarily an opportunity to dive in and do that. But I promise you if this thing happened, this may be a great a great another deal spotlight for us to cover. But yeah, so I think this is the wave of M&A we’re now in. And consolidation is mainly along side. And you’re not going to see these smaller companies. And I think a lot of what these private equity companies are doing are maybe they see the writing on the wall and they feel like $80, $75 oil is going to be as high as price is going. They’re trying to cash out. Maybe you know, a lot some of this stuff just falls along their traditional five year investment cycle. So they need to cash out. But this would be an all cash deal which again obviously we need. So so you know M&A still around here folks we love vital energy there. You know in my you know from what I’ve seen from them the one of the the most technology focused and and make it a point to be it and technology focused. so we love our friends over at Vital Energy. We wish them well. And, you know, again, anybody who takes technology seriously, we are a fan of but looks like vital energy going to Super Point energy partners for 1.1 billion. Man. We’ll see if it wraps up. Maybe we’ll hear about this. Hear about this as you listen this Monday morning. Maybe you’ll take a few more days. I’m interested who this other smaller player is. Obviously it’s you. You you wonder who it is to be honest with you. If if it’s it’s probably not a big it’s buying on a larger company. It’s probably a, you know, a smaller guy depending on where they’re be. [00:17:03][148.4]

Michael Tanner: [00:17:03] But you know, when this all wraps up, we will definitely come back and bring you all of the details. Guys. It’s really all I’ve got. I appreciate everybody checking us out here on the World’s Greatest website, who will be hopefully back in the chair tomorrow. So we’ll be able to to cover everything, but I’m holding it down otherwise thanks for checking us out guys. We will be back tomorrow. We’ll see you then. [00:17:03][0.0][1006.8]

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Africa’s Top Oil Producer Aims to Fight Soaring Inflation with Gold Reserves

Energy News Beat

Nigeria, the biggest oil producer in Africa, is considering ways to curb soaring inflation, including by giving the central bank powers to use gold to boost reserves.

Nigerian lawmakers are discussing a bill to create a so-called Gold Reserve Authority and give the central bank the powers to be the automatic off-taker for all the gold produced in Nigeria, according to a draft document seen by Bloomberg.

Lawmakers are also proposing boosting the share of gold of Nigeria’s foreign reserves to a minimum of 30%, compared to 4% at present.

Nigeria is heavily reliant on oil and gas for its budget revenues. So far, it has failed to boost significantly oil output to get more revenue, or to diversify its economy to make it less dependent on oil production, exports, and prices.

Inflation in the country has been running high over the last year, since Nigeria’s central bank dropped the peg of the local currency to the U.S. dollar. The Nigerian currency, the naira, has lost 70% of its value against the dollar over the past year.

Nigeria’s inflation hit a new 28-year high in May, and was at an annual rate of 33.95%, with food and non-alcoholic beverages – which make a large part of the inflation basket – the biggest contributors to inflation, as in previous months.

The IMF said in May that near-term risks in Nigeria are tilted to the downside. [if !supportLineBreakNewLine] [endif]

“Adverse shocks to oil production or prices would hit growth, the fiscal and external position, and exacerbate inflationary and exchange rate pressures,” the IMF said.

Meanwhile, Nigeria’s national oil company NNPC Ltd has declared a state of emergency on production in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry as the country struggles to boost output. NNPC believes that Nigeria needs to take urgent action to address the challenges that have plagued the oil and gas industry for years, NNPC Group Chief Executive Officer, Mele Kyari, said at an industry event last week.

Source: Oilprice.com

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The Left’s $7 Trillion Lie: Biden Far Outpaces Trump in Racking Up the National Debt

Energy News Beat

Projection is blaming someone else for your own bad behavior.

We saw a classic case of projection in Thursday’s presidential debate, when President Biden—who is overseeing annual budget deficits of $2 trillion—asserted that his predecessor, Donald Trump, added more to the federal debt than anyone else.

It’s part of the latest leftist argument: that if Trump wins the election, he will run deficits twice as large as Biden would.

Debate moderator Jake Tapper joined the chorus of federal finance falsehoods when he claimed Trump had “approved $8.4 trillion in new debt,” while Biden’s actions will increase the debt by (merely) $4.3 trillion over a decade.

Tapper was referencing a recent report by the left-leaning Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, which twisted and turned the debt statistics in every contortionary way it could to reach its incredible conclusion.

CRFB, by the way, is a group that opposed the successful Trump tax reform in 2017—yet supported several of Biden’s multitrillion-dollar spending bills.

It’s not nonpartisan, but a front group for the policies of the political left.

The fundamental flaw of the CRFB analysis is revealed if we examine the projections of the Congressional Budget Office.

The CBO’s projection for 2021, the last fiscal year of the Trump administration, forecast the federal debt to reach about $35.3 trillion by 2031, that is, over the next decade.

Today, 3½ years into the Biden administration, the latest estimates from the CBO project the debt will hit over $42.5 trillion by 2031.

The Congressional Budge Office forecasts an increase in debt.

In other words, the CBO now expects the debt to be $7.2 trillion higher than it had projected when Trump left office—all because of Biden’s reckless spending policies.

Treasury Department figures also show the debt growing much faster under Biden.

Over Trump’s entire term, including the 2020 spate of emergency COVID spending, the debt increased by $7.7 trillion—a staggering total, to be sure.

However, about 15% of that debt total was the result of Treasury’s choice to keep additional cash on hand during the pandemic.

Former Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, unsure how much tax revenue would be collected, borrowed well over $1 trillion—but kept it in reserve, without ever spending it.

Biden, however, spent that reserve, then borrowed another $7 trillion on top of it.

Instead of simply allowing that one-time emergency COVID spending to expire, Biden and the Democratic Congress continued spending at that same COVID-era level, thus institutionalizing multitrillion-dollar deficits.

Accounting for the changes in cash balances at the Treasury, the debt actually rose $6.5 trillion during Trump’s entire term—and is up $7.9 trillion in less than four years of Biden’s tenure.

Worse, the Treasury has announced that it anticipates needing to borrow another $800 billion from July through September of this year, followed by hundreds of billions more from October to December as federal finances further deteriorate.

All told, Biden will likely oversee a net increase in the debt of more than $9 trillion in a single term—a new record.

Biden wanted to spend $2 trillion more in the last year and a half, but conservatives in the House blocked the added bloat.

You can bet the farm that if the radical left wins the White House and Congress in 2024, that $2 trillion outlay will be first on their legislative agenda.

Biden’s other big lie, backed by the CRFB analysis, is that extending Trump’s tax reform will drown the economy in debt.

Yet federal tax revenues have increased since that tax reform was enacted—and federal revenues as a share of GDP have not fallen.

All of the increase in today’s debt has been due to massive, out-of-control federal spending—by both parties.

Trump spent and borrowed too much, full stop.

But with a debt headed to $50 trillion if reelected and a political agenda that stifles economic growth, Biden has set America on an unsustainable fiscal path that will lead to financial oblivion.

Source: Heritage.org

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BP Shares Plummet on $2 Billion Impairment Warning

Energy News Beat

Shares in BP fell by as much as four percent this morning after it warned it was expected to post an impairment of up to $2bn (1.6bn) and was operating under “significantly” lower refining margins.

The FTSE 100 oil major, which in April surprised investors with a better-than-expected oil and gas trading performance in the first three months of the year, maintained much of its momentum in the second quarter, but said that “onerous contract provisions” meant it was setting aside up between between $1bn (£780m) and $2bn (£1.6bn).

BP shares were down 3.5 percent in early market trading at 9 30am BST.

In a trading update published this morning, the company said upstream production was flat compared to the prior quarter, and realised oil prices had a favourable impact on its bottom line.

However, BP was still hit by “significantly” lower realised refining margins—which had been unexpectedly healthy in the first quarter—due to narrower North American heavy crude oil differentials and weaker middle distillate margins.

The energy giant expects these to have an adverse impact of up to $0.7bn (£0.55bn).

BP also said its second-quarter results expected on July 30 will include the post-tax adverse adjustments from the firm’s ongoing review of its Gelsenkirchen refinery in Germany.

Analysts at Jeffries said the trading update should result in an earnings downgrade of approximately 20 percent, “mainly driven by a lower trading contribution” and the negative revisions in refining.

Source: Oilprice.com

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US electricity prices rise again as AI, onshoring may mean decades of power demand growth: BofA

Energy News Beat

Dive Brief:

The year-over-year inflation rate for U.S. electricity prices reached 5.9% in May, up from 3.8% in January, according to Bank of America Institute, a think tank utilizing proprietary data to develop insights into consumer behavior and the economy.
Utility payments — including electricity, gas, waste removal and water — declined 1.4%  in the early months of 2024, but growth in electricity demand from artificial intelligence and industrial onshoring means any bill respite is likely short-lived, BofA analysts said in a July 2 research note, “Powering the revolution.”
Electric vehicles and heat pumps are driving consumer electricity demand higher, while industrial onshoring and the rise of data centers and artificial intelligence are also putting upward pressure on prices, the analysts said. BofA Global Research estimates AI computing will require an additional 18 GW to 28 GW of generation capacity by 2026.

Dive Insight:

Consumers got some relief on utility bills early this year but electricity prices are expected to continue rising, according to BofA.

“Electricity demand is actually increasing, pressuring supply, and it may continue to do so for a long time as industrial onshoring and the AI revolution are both turbo-charging the need for generating capacity,” analysts wrote. “This demand for significant investment in generation and related distribution infrastructure could be a headwind to consumers’ utility bills for the foreseeable future.”

U.S. electricity demand stagnated over the last decade, but the U.S. Department of Energy says some grid operators are now expecting annual demand growth of 5% to 6%.

And there is little consumers can do to reduce power consumption because electricity “is not really a discretionary item for households,” BofA said. “And usage is also being driven by some trends such as the need for increased cooling in response to longer and more frequent heatwaves.”

Industrial onshoring, driven in part by incentives in the Inflation Reduction Act and the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors Act, is raising U.S. manufacturing capacity and its demand for electricity. “Given the long timelines in building large plants there is probably much more to come,” analysts said. “The AI revolution and industrial onshoring are likely to be multi-year — perhaps multi-decade — trends, so the demand for electricity may continue to ramp up from these sources for a long while yet.”

Rising demand means investment in new generation capacity and distribution infrastructure “will need to be sustained,” BofA analysts said. And despite fluctuations in fossil fuel prices, “the need for extra capacity in the electricity generation system may well act as a headwind to any prolonged drop in their utility bills.”

Data centers could consume 9% of the United States’ electricity generation by 2030 — double the amount consumed today, according to research from the Electric Power Research Institute. That rise is being led by AI queries and generation, which requires about ten times the electricity of traditional internet searches, according to EPRI.

AI, however, “can also be part of the solution to rising electricity demand, helping drive ‘smarter’ power grids that distribute electricity more efficiently to regions where demand is highest,” BofA said.

AI can help lower grid costs and reduce emissions from electricity generation, according to DOE — but the technology also poses significant risks if deployed “naïvely,” the agency said in an April report. Four categories of grid risks have emerged, including adversarial attacks against AI systems, unintentional failures of AI models, the use of AI to execute cyber or physical grid attacks, and supply chain compromises, the agency said.

Source: Utilitydive.com

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The End of Chevron Deference: Tapping the Brakes on the Road to Serfdom

Energy News Beat

The desire to control so much of other people’s lives is inconsistent not only with liberalism, but with the U.S. Constitution.

Government has controlled so much of our lives for so long, it now seems normal, even rational. Where we live. Where we work. Whom we hire. What becomes of our labor. What we eat. The precise share of our contraceptives bill that our health insurance will coverPrices and other terms of innumerable economic exchanges.

Congress has passed so many laws, regulating almost every aspect of our lives, that it cannot possibly manage them all. Most governments are even worse, mind you: According to the Cato Institute’s Human Freedom Index, only 16 countries have more overall freedom than the United States. Only four have more economic freedom. Yet Congress still has not the time, knowledge, or other resources necessary to specify the precise rules it demands the people follow. Like every legislature throughout history, Congress relies on executive agencies to fill in the details.

But the more rules a legislature imposes on the people, the less able it is to specify the details itself, and the more it must abdicate to executive agencies its power — its duty — to write the laws.

Likewise, the more rules a legislature imposes on the people, and the more executive agencies fill in the details, the more often people will dispute an agency’s interpretation of exactly what duties or benefits the law creates. Under the U.S. Constitution, when there is a dispute over what the law says, it is the duty of Article III courts — the judiciary — to decide.

In Chevron and subsequent cases, the Supreme Court abdicated that duty. It chose to let executive agencies decide what the law says, even if the agency’s interpretation was not the best, so long as the courts found that interpretation “reasonable.” The Supreme Court responded to Congress abdicating its essential legislative duty by abdicating the Court’s essential judicial duty.

Chevron thus shifted massive power from elected legislatures and unelected (but independent) judges to unelected (but often explicitly political) bureaucrats. It so accustomed agencies to getting their way, one agency thought little of claiming that the U.S. government counts as a “State” — even though the statute defines “State” to mean “each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia.”

That absurd interpretation, by the way, would just happen to allow the agency to tax and spend billions of dollars that it otherwise could not. Straight-faced government lawyers then argued that the Supreme Court should defer to that interpretation. (Nuts, right? Keep reading.)

In Loper Bright, the Supreme Court finally discarded Chevron. The Court held that judges must discharge their constitutional duty to say what the law is.

Those who advocate massive government intervention in the economy are apoplectic. They believe that if Congress cannot delegate such massive powers to executive agencies, then the federal government cannot competently direct the economy, redistribute income, and enrich their favorite special interests.

And they are right.

The uncomfortable truth that Chevron supporters do not want to admit is that their desire to control so much of other people’s lives is inconsistent not only with liberalism but with that most magnificent manifestation of liberalism, the U.S. Constitution. In Loper Bright, the Supreme Court faced a decision between liberalism and the rule of law on the one hand, and an anti-liberal ideological agenda on the other. It made the right choice.

And not a moment too soon. In his 1944 book The Road to Serfdom, Nobel Prize–winning economist Friedrich Hayek explained that when legislatures attempt to direct the economy, their incompetence will increasingly lead to calls to concentrate power in the hands of government officials who have increasingly less regard for liberal values such as individual liberty, the separation of powers, the rule of law, or democratic accountability. Loper Bright restores the separation of powers and thereby strips power from any bureau-cum-auto-crats.

Loper Bright does not dismantle the administrative state. It does not even mean we are no longer heading down the road to serfdom. But it does tap the brakes.

Or maybe it won’t even do that. In King v. Burwell, the case where the agency said the federal government is a state, the Supreme Court discarded Chevron — but nevertheless adopted that absurd interpretation.

Requiring judges to do their job is no guarantee that they will do it well. But it’s a start.

Source: Nationalreview.com

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