Respecting the rule of law, sometimes

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DAILY ENERGY NEWS | 07/02/2024

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For all the hullaballoo about no one being above the law, it appears Team Biden doesn't have a problem ignoring the rules when sticking it to energy producers.

Alaska Beacon (7/1/24) reports: "A coalition of North Slope local and regional governments, tribal governments and Native corporations has sued to overturn new environmental protections in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska. The lawsuit, filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Anchorage by the organization Voice of the Arctic Iñupiat, claims that the rule enacted by the Department of the Interior on April 19 should be invalidated because it resulted from a flawed process. The new rule, which the Bureau of Land Management proposed last September before making final in April, makes some incremental changes in the Integrated Activity Plan that was issued in 2013 by the Obama administration. That plan put about half of the reserve off-limits to leasing and identified five 'special areas' as sites closed to development because of their ecological and cultural importance...In its lawsuit, which names the BLM, the Interior Department, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland and BLM Alaska Director Steve Cohn as defendants, Voice of the Arctic Iñupiat contends that the new rule was enacted improperly because of several legal shortcomings. Among them were the agency’s failure to conduct a full environmental impact statement, the diversion from four decades of NPR-A management that emphasized oil development and a lack of 'meaningful' engagement with the people of the North Slope, the lawsuit said."

"[California's] plan is to stop the use of fossil fuel energy to power trains, planes, and automobiles. Like California’s law barring the sale of gas-powered cars in 2035 – a policy already copied by a dozen other states. To them, the fact that interstate commerce is involved does not mean policies must be federal. It just means they can railroad the rest of the country, like an unstoppable locomotive. And that is the crux of the problem. What happens in California doesn’t stay in California."

– Greg Walcher, Heartland Institute

Big Green Inc. sure got a return on their investment with Commissioner Clements...

The Hill (6/27/24) reports: "What would be the nation’s largest export terminal for liquefied natural gas won approval from a federal commission Thursday, although when the Louisiana project will be completed remains unclear in light of a Biden administration delay announced this year on such projects. Venture Global’s Calcasieu Pass 2 southwestern Louisiana project, often referred to as CP2, was approved with little discussion by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission during a livestreamed meeting. However, the project, which would be Venture Global’s second such facility in the area, still needs Department of Energy approval, and its immediate prospects are uncertain, given the administration’s January pause. The DOE issued a statement saying the project’s application at the department 'remains pending.'...Outgoing FERC member Allison Clements spoke against the projects Thursday morning. 'These projects will have enormous emissions of greenhouse gases, equivalent to putting more than 1.8 million new gas-fueled cars on the road each year. The order does not meaningfully assess those emissions,' Clements said."

Does it hurt, or help the DOE's efficacy that President Biden isn't talking to Secretary Jenny?

Big Tech says 'Wind and solar for thee, but not for me!'

Wall Street Journal (7/1/24) reports: "Tech companies scouring the country for electricity supplies have zeroed in on a key target: America’s nuclear-power plants. The owners of roughly a third of U.S. nuclear-power plants are in talks with tech companies to provide electricity to new data centers needed to meet the demands of an artificial-intelligence boom. Among them, Amazon Web Services is nearing a deal for electricity supplied directly from a nuclear plant on the East Coast with Constellation Energy, the largest owner of U.S. nuclear-power plants, according to people familiar with the matter. In a separate deal in March, the Amazon.com subsidiary purchased a nuclear-powered data center in Pennsylvania for $650 million. The discussions have the potential to remove stable power generation from the grid while reliability concerns are rising across much of the U.S. and new kinds of electricity users—including AI, manufacturing and transportation—are significantly increasing the demand for electricity in pockets of the country. But instead of adding new green energy to meet their soaring power needs, tech companies would be effectively diverting existing electricity resources. That could raise prices for other customers and hold back emission-cutting goals."

Energy Markets

WTI Crude Oil: ↓ $83.28
Natural Gas: ↓ $2.43
Gasoline: ↑ $3.50

Diesel: ↑ $3.82
Heating Oil: ↑ $263.90
Brent Crude Oil: ↑ $86.71
US Rig Count: ↓ 618

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