Blog

Joe Biden’s administration and certain elements in Congress have a plan for American energy: make it harder to produce and more expensive to purchase. Our friends at the Institute for Energy Research have shown the juxtaposition between the administration's words and deeds on this topic in their latest video short.

Since Biden took office, his administration and allies in Congress have taken over 125 actions deliberately designed to...

Electric car manufacturers in Europe are slowing down production because battery cars have proven too expensive for the middle class and the supply of lithium for their batteries is too uncertain. Production in Europe this year is expected to be 12 million cars—a million less than previous estimates. Tesla, for example, is cutting prices to boost demand. Of more than 900 auto executives surveyed internationally, 76 percent  believe that inflation and high-interest rates will slow sales and...

During the holidays, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of the Army issued a proposed redefinition of the Waters of the United States (WOTUS) under Section 401 of the Clean Water Act (CWA).  The rule would expand the EPA and Army’s regulatory oversight to include traditionally navigable waters, territorial seas, interstate waters and, “upstream water resources that significantly affect those waters.”  According to the two agencies, the revised rule...

A Commissioner of President Biden’s Consumer Product Safety Commission (CSPC) wants a ban on indoor gas stoves. Richard Trumka Jr., a Biden commissioner on the CSPC, told Bloomberg the ban is justified because gas stoves increase respiratory problems such as asthma among children, which is a myth  promoted by environmentalists whose real agenda is not to reduce asthma but to ban natural gas. The American Gas Association notes that neither the CSPC nor EPA has cited gas stoves as a...

Biden’s Department of Energy will not be refilling the nation’s emergency reserves, the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, any time soon as the agency has rejected bids received for the February fill since the bids are above $70 a barrel. Today’s price for Texas Intermediate oil is $75.87 a barrel . Biden depleted the emergency oil reserve of 260 million barrels to keep gasoline prices down going into the mid-term election last year. Biden promised to refill the reserve starting this...

To Senator Manchin’s dismay, Biden’s Treasury Department is allowing the tax credit for electric vehicles to be claimed if the vehicle is leased  regardless of where the battery components and vehicle were manufactured. The intent of the Inflation Reduction Act was for the tax credit to be applied to electric vehicles that were manufactured from components made in the United States or its allies to develop those industries at home and not to be reliant on autocratic countries. Europe’s...

Coal generation worldwide is expected to increase to a new record in 2022, driven by robust coal power growth in India and the European Union and by increases in China. In Europe, high natural gas prices led to fuel switching to coal in electricity generation. However, both natural gas and coal generation increased due to lower hydroelectric and nuclear power production, low wind speeds in some European countries and insufficient growth in wind and solar power. Many thought global coal...

The European Union added 41.4 gigawatts  of solar capacity in 2022, increasing 47 percent from the 28.1 gigawatts added in 2021. It was led by Germany with 7.9 gigawatts of solar capacity added and Spain with 7.5 gigawatts. Other European countries also added solar capacity in 2022 as follows: Poland (4.9 gigawatts), the Netherlands (4 gigawatts), France (2.7 gigawatts), Italy (2.6 gigawatts), Portugal (2.5 gigawatts), Denmark (1.5 gigawatts), Greece (1.4 gigawatts), and Sweden (1.1...

Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) investing is all the rage among those who are frustrated that democracy and freedom are not making others do what the ragers want them to do.  It is also popular among some firms who repeat the chants and don the mantle of ESG in hopes that the ragers won’t try to cancel them.  However, these hardcore ESG advocates want to mandate their  version of ESG, dictate which firms can get bank loans, who, in addition to stockholders, directs the firm’s...

It is not enough for China to be the dominant economy in the electric vehicle battery supply chain and the biggest processor of critical minerals, but it is now making inroads in the liquefied natural gas (LNG) tanker business with nearly 30 percent of this year’s record orders. Local and foreign ship owners turn to China’s shipbuilders because shipbuilders in South Korea are fully booked by orders to service Qatar’s massive North Field expansion . Three Chinese shipyards, with only...