Drain the Swamp

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DAILY ENERGY NEWS | 11/25/2024

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Maybe it's time for the autos to abandon their customer-last strategy.

New York Times (11/21/24) reports: "Three of the nation’s largest automakers, Ford, General Motors and Stellantis, are strategizing with other car manufacturers on how to make a delicate request of President-elect Donald J. Trump: Don’t scrap the federal regulations that compel the industry to sell electric vehicles. The conversation would require diplomatic finesse. Mr. Trump has railed against the E.V. rules, which strictly limit the amount of tailpipe pollution while also ramping up fuel economy standards. They are designed to get carmakers to produce more E.V.s and have been a cornerstone of President Biden’s fight against climate change. Mr. Trump sees them differently. He has falsely said the rules amount to a Democratic mandate that would prevent Americans from buying the gasoline-powered cars of their choice — a concern of his campaign donors from the oil industry. And Mr. Trump still holds grievances against some of the automakers, whom he views as having betrayed him because during his first term they supported Obama-era auto emissions rules."

"It is morally wrong to take the earnings of working families and give it to motor companies so that someone else can get a better deal on a second car. It doesn’t become right just because progressives do it in the name of climate change."

– J oshua Antonini

The Unregulated Podcast #208: God-Tier Level Trolling.

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Who decides?

Cato Institute (11/6/24) blog: "In 2025, the new Congress and incoming Trump administration should reassess the sprawling 2022 Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which handed out vast subsidies for green energy. One reason to reassess is that the cost of the law has ballooned from $390 billion over 10 years to more than $1 trillion. The budget cost of green energy is not the only cost. In the effort to reduce CO2, the IRA subsidies for wind power, solar power, batteries, and electric vehicles are creating negative side effects, including harm to the environment. One concern is the vast land area the Biden administration plans to cover with solar photovoltaic (PV) panels. In August, the administration proposed a Western Solar Plan, which 'would make over 31 million acres of public lands across 11 Western states available for potential solar development.' Many Americans have put PV panels on their homes and businesses, which seems like a good use of rooftop space on private properties. But do Americans know that the government is planning to smother a huge area of our Western public lands with metal and glass PV infrastructure? Of the 31 million acres of Bureau of Land Management (BLM) lands, the administration proposes that PV panels cover 700,000 acres, which is 538,000 football fields. As I understand it, those acres will be bulldozed to set up the PV structures, thus pushing aside plants and animals. For example, a new PV project in the Mojave Desert in California threatens thousands of Joshua trees and habitat for desert foxes. The project’s power will be consumed a couple hundred miles away in Silicon Valley... Solar power sounds green, and in many ways it is. But there is also a physical reality to it that is becoming more apparent as its negative footprint expands. What is the best solution for solar power in the West? That should be for Westerners to decide. Most federal lands should be transferred to the ownership of state governments. They are better placed to make environmental and economic trade-offs for their residents than the distracted government in faraway Washington."

Another one bites the dust.

Wall Street Journal (11/24/24) reports: "Northvolt was one of the world’s most valuable battery startups. Now it has run out of charge. Over the past week, the Swedish company filed for bankruptcy in the U.S. and said its co-founder was stepping down as chief executive, after a turbulent year of production problems and job cuts. The move marks a stark change in fortunes for a company that was once vaunted as Europe’s best hope for competing with China’s dominant battery makers. Northvolt’s collapse also underscores the difficulty Western companies face in establishing a foothold in the industry. Northvolt has struggled with a challenging market for electric vehicles, difficulties scaling up and management missteps, departing chief executive Peter Carlsson said Friday."

Energy Markets

WTI Crude Oil: ↓ $70.96
Natural Gas: ↑ $3.34
Gasoline: ↓ $3.06

Diesel: ↓ $3.53
Heating Oil: ↑ $227.67
Brent Crude Oil: ↓ $74.97
US Rig Count: ↓ 611

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