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MORNING ENERGY NEWS  |  8.22.2019
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Probably not what Elon had in mind...


Ars Technica (8/21/19) reports: "Walmart filed a multi-million dollar lawsuit against Tesla on Tuesday. The retail giant says Tesla's 'negligent installation and maintenance' of solar panels caused fires on the roofs of as many as seven Walmart stores since 2012. Most people think of Tesla as an electric car manufacturer, but Tesla also sells other products related to renewable energy. Since the 2016 acquisition of SolarCity, Tesla has had a substantial solar panel business. Walmart hired SolarCity to install and manage solar panels on the roofs of more than 240 Walmart stores. Unfortunately, Walmart says, these solar installations had a habit of catching fire...Walmart's investigation 'revealed that Tesla had engaged in widespread, systemic negligence and had failed to abide by prudent industry practices in installing, operating, and maintaining its solar systems,' Walmart claims."

"Climate change has become ethics for the wealthy; preaching planetary salvation to justify their privileged position in society and telling the rest of us what we shouldn’t do, while forcing us to pay more for it into the bargain."

 

– Rupert Darwall, The Spectator

It's hip to *drill* square!


Wood Mackenzie (8/21/19) reports: "As the tight oil sector continues to mature, producers are looking for ways to optimize their operations, improving efficiency of both production and costs. It's a battle to win back investor confidence. New research from Wood Mackenzie underscores the fact tight-oil operators are no longer chasing growth at all costs. Development strategies have firmly shifted to focus on the scale: drilling sections instead of wells, with compressed paybacks, at the lowest possible cost. Many are favoring a 'cube' development strategy, viewing it as the most efficient way to capitalize on cost savings."

Only Donald Trump could get the left to applaud corporations colluding with regulators to charge higher prices. 


Fox Business (8/21/19) reports: "President Trump slammed 'politically correct' automakers Opens a New Window.  on Wednesday, defending his plan to roll back Obama-era carbon emissions standards. 'My proposal to the politically correct Automobile Companies would lower the average price of a car to consumers by more than $3000, while at the same time making the cars substantially safer,' Trump tweeted. In June, 17 major auto companies called on the Trump administration and the state of California to compromise on emissions standards. Then in July, four automakers came to an agreement with California on gas mileage and emissions standards, side-stepping Opens a New Window.  the Trump administration. 'Engines would run smoother,' Trump continued. 'Very little impact on the environment! Foolish executives!'"

How convenient... 

"Do as we say, not as we do."


Forbes (8/20/19) column: "British Royal couple Prince Harry and Princess Meghan Markle triggered widespread outrage recently after lecturing the world about climate change while flying around the world in private jets...BBC calculates that those two flights alone produced six times more emissions than the average Briton does each year and over 100 times more than the average resident of the African nation of Lesotho...Al Gore wouldn’t have been busted by Associated Press for living in a 20-room home that used 12 times more energy than the average home in Nashville, Tennessee had he not claimed that 'we are going to have to change the way we live our lives' to solve climate change. Prince Harry wouldn’t have been in trouble for private jetting around the world had he not claimed: 'every action makes a difference.' And the media wouldn’t be having a field day with Greta Thunberg’s carbon-intensive yacht trip had she not represented herself a paragon of climate virtue. The problem for Greta, Harry, and Gore is that moralizing isn’t incidental to their climate advocacy but rather central to it. They are famous not simply for sounding the alarm but for claiming to be morally superior and setting an example."

Just as the corn clowns were given hope... 


E&E News (8/21/19) reports: "Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D) released today his plan to marshal farmers and rural communities to fight climate change, building on his five earlier proposals to reshape the U.S. economy...Its key planks include expanding biofuels, federal financing of rural infrastructure, and paying farmers to improve their soil and sequester carbon...Inslee frames biofuels as a way to 'break Big Oil's stranglehold on our political system.' While biofuels aren't yet cutting emissions, he says they're key to future clean-energy systems and should get government support. The next presidential term could transform the renewable fuel standard as the White House and EPA gain more discretion over the standard in 2022. Inslee wants to leverage that new control into more aggressive carbon performance for biofuels, while also undoing the Trump administration's RFS waivers to 31 oil refineries." 

Inslee let them down one last time. 


E&E News (8/22/19) reports: "Jay Inslee withdrew from the 2020 Democratic presidential race yesterday, ending the first major climate change-centered candidacy for the White House. The progressive Washington governor and former congressman, who frequently stated his belief on the campaign trail that it's necessary to make climate 'job one' or 'it won't get done,' announced his decision in a live interview on MSNBC's late-night 'The Rachel Maddow Show,' a major venue for liberal candidates in the 2020 election cycle...He used the appearance to take credit for the prioritized role that climate has played in the race to run against President Trump next year...'I think we started a kind of an arms race of candidates to see who can raise their ambition level, and that's helped them become more ambitious. I think that we've now advanced the dialogue to have debates,' he said. 'So we clearly have raised the profile on this.' Inslee's decision came slightly more than a week before the deadline to qualify for the September Democratic primary debate. He reached the required 130,000 donors days ago but was a far cry from hitting 2% in four major polls in the last two months." 

Energy Markets

 
WTI Crude Oil: ↑ $55.99
Natural Gas: ↓ $2.15
Gasoline: ↓ $2.60
Diesel: ↓ $2.94
Heating Oil: ↑ $186.20
Brent Crude Oil: ↑ $60.64
US Rig Count: ↑ 966

 
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