Schadenfreude

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DAILY ENERGY NEWS | 02/01/2024

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Attaining a non-attainable net-zero economy by 2045 instead of 2040 is not going to save the German Green Party. And it doesn't make them look reasonable either. This is going to be so fun to watch.

Daily Caller (1/31/24) reports: "The German Green Party wants to moderate the European Green party’s stance on how long they want the country to use natural gas and coal amid serious economic woes and political blowback. The European Green Party wants to move up its timeline for attaining net-zero emissions from 2050 to 2040, but the German Greens are advocating for a 2045 target date and seeking to cut out calls to end the use of natural gas by 2035 and oil by 2040, according to Euractiv. The German Greens are part of the country’s governing coalition, which has seen its popularity plummet as the country’s economy has performed poorly amid a prolonged energy crisis...The Alternative for Germany (AfD), the country’s right-wing populist party, has seen its popularity more than double since the Russian invasion of Ukraine started in February 2022, according to polling data from Politico. About 80% of the German population is unsatisfied with the current governing coalition, and more than half of the country wants elections before 2025, the currently scheduled date, according to Bloomberg News. 'So much wild stuff continues to be downstream of Germany’s insane nuclear phaseout in the face of not only the energy crisis but also the EU’s own climate goals. German Greens, part of a deeply unpopular coalition government, want a longer fossil phasedown to keep nuclear offline,' Mark Nelson, the founder and managing director of Radiant Energy Group, an energy consultancy, wrote in a post to X. 'This is because if they lose power too soon, their now-unpopular enforcement of Germany’s nuclear shutdown could be reversed as several reactors remain in pristine condition and a new German government without the Greens could quickly turn them back on.'"

"U.S. policymakers should heed warnings from Europe, and embrace a policy of making American electricity once again the most reliable and affordable on Earth."

– Mario Loyola,
The Heritage Foundation

Bring back the yellow vests.

Zero Hedge (1/31/24) reports: "Farmers in France, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Belgium, Romania, and other countries across Europe are protesting radical leftist governments by obstructing major transport networks with tractors. This widespread populist movement is sweeping Europe at a time when over-regulation, taxes, and the climate change agenda threaten the livelihoods of not just farmers but working-class people and comes several months before the European election cycle kicks off in June. Some countries hit hardest by protests have been Germany, Italy, Belgium, and France. Protests are expected to spread to Spain and Portugal. On Tuesday, France's new prime minister, Gabriel Attal, promised farmers emergency funds and stricter trade controls on foreign products to guarantee fair competition. However, that might not have been enough, as the farmer's union in France was unimpressed by concessions offered by the French government. They encouraged their members to continue the fight...EU farmers' complaints are very basic:

Out-of-control energy prices.
Disastrous carbon-cutting targets.
Overall inflation.
Bureaucracy from radicals in Brussels.
Ukrainian grain imports.

The demonstrations, which could soon consume Europe, come ahead of the June European Parliament elections. "

And to think I was worried that once John Kerry left we wouldn't have any more material to work with. This guy makes Don Vito Corleone look like a piker.

Politico (1/31/24) reports: "White House adviser John Podesta has been tapped to be the Biden administration’s top climate diplomat once John Kerry steps down from his post this spring, a person familiar with the move told POLITICO. Podesta is currently overseeing the implementation of the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, the Democrats’ signature climate law. The Washington Post first reported Podesta’s new role. Podesta will reportedly operate out of the White House rather than the State Department, where Kerry, a former Secretary of State, maintains an office. Podesta will also maintain his role overseeing the IRA rollout. The veteran Democratic strategist has a long history in climate politics, including on the international stage. Podesta will be the U.S. face at the COP29 negotiations later this year in Baku, Azerbaijan. But those international talks will come after the November U.S. election. That leaves U.S. positioning uncertain if President Joe Biden should lose to Republican frontrunner former President Donald Trump, who pulled the nation out of the 2015 Paris climate agreement when he was in the White House."

Big Wind should be paying the price for their big lies, not ratepayers.

Bloomberg (1/18/24) reports: "Dozens of British wind farms run by some of Europe’s largest energy companies have routinely overestimated how much power they’ll produce, adding millions of pounds a year to consumers’ electricity bills, according to market records and interviews with power traders. These extra costs are linked to a growing problem with Britain’s outdated electricity network: On blustery days, too much wind power risks overloading the system, and the grid operator must respond by paying some firms not to generate. This 'curtailment' costs consumers hundreds of millions of pounds each year. Adding to that expense, some wind farm operators exaggerate how much energy they say they intend to produce, which boosts the payments they receive for turning off, according to nine people — traders, academics and market experts — most of whom agreed to discuss this controversial behavior only on condition of anonymity. In effect, they said, the grid has paid some wind farms not to generate power that they wouldn’t have produced anyway."

Energy Markets

WTI Crude Oil: ↑ $76.63
Natural Gas: ↑ $2.11
Gasoline: ↑ $3.15

Diesel: ↑ $3.93
Heating Oil: ↑ $279.72
Brent Crude Oil: ↑ $81.21
US Rig Count: ↓ 649

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