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MORNING ENERGY NEWS  | 02/01/2021
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Surprisingly, this is a real fact check from WaPo:


Washington Post (1/29/21) reports: "'Before covid, the fastest-growing job in the United States of America was solar panel technician, and the second-fastest-growing job was wind turbine technician.'—Kerry, remarks on MSNBC, Jan. 28 This is clearly the favorite talking point of the former secretary of state, now tasked to spearhead President Biden’s efforts to build international support to mitigate climate change. But this is also a great example of how some “facts” can be misleading when taken out of context...For the purposes of this fact check, we’re more interested in how many jobs are represented by those percentages. After all, at the White House, Kerry mentioned these statistics in the context of coal mining jobs — “The same people can do those jobs” — which before the pandemic amounted to about 50,000 jobs (and about 30,000 below surface). Could these solar and wind jobs match that number? In sum, no. Wind turbine jobs are projected to go up by 4,300, from 7,000 to 11,300 in 10 years. The solar installer jobs are projected to go up 6,100, from 12,000 to 18,100. That’s a total increase of just 10,400 jobs — leaving 20,000 coal workers still toiling in the mines...According to BLS, the median wage of coal miners in 2019 was about $59,000. The median wage for wind turbine technicians and solar installers was about $53,000 and $45,000, respectively."

“Not only have command and control policies proven to be inefficient at lowering emissions, they are proven to take a toll on the economy and job market. In fact, U.S. carbon dioxide emissions decreased significantly due to the fracking boom-- an industry that Joe Biden now wants dead." 

 

– Adam Brandon, FreedomWorks

New Mexico voters baffled candidate they voted for is doing what he campaigned on; making their lives miserable.


Wall Street Journal (1/28/2021) reports: "Lance Wilbanks was looking forward to a rebirth for his trucking company, which saw its business hauling drilling rigs across southeastern New Mexico drop from around two dozen a month to just a handful during the pandemic. But with President Biden moving Wednesday to halt new oil and gas leasing on federal land, Mr. Wilbanks is worried that the bounceback might never come. The freeze is 'a gut punch to follow up the worst year we’ve had since the early 2000s,' he said, noting that he has already had to cut down from 300 to 100 employees over the past year. 'I expected there to be changes, but to move this fast, I didn’t expect it at all,' he added. Mr. Biden’s action, the start of a sweeping plan to tackle climate change, has raised concerns across New Mexico, where local officials, state representatives and businesses dependent on oil and gas are trying to size up the impact for an industry that made up roughly a third of the state’s general fund revenue last year."

Who could possibly have seen this coming??? 

You told us going green was free! 


OilPrice.com (1/27/21) reports: " Customers of Duke Energy in the Carolinas could end up paying more than $4.8 billion for planned natural gas-fired capacity that could become stranded as part of the company’s pledge to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, a report published by the Energy Transition Institute has found. The report, authored by Tyler Fitch, regulatory manager for the Southeast at advocacy organization Vote Solar, examined Duke Energy’s 2020 Integrated Resource Plans (IRPs) in North and South Carolina. These were the first plans the utility has filed with regulators since it pledged in September 2019 to reach net-zero carbon emissions from electric generation by the middle of the century. The IRPs entail the addition of 9.6 gigawatts (GW) of new gas-fired generation capacity in their baseline scenarios, which, the report’s author Fitch says, is one of the largest proposed expansions of fossil fuel generation capacity of any utility in the United States. However, in order to meet its net-zero goal, Duke Energy may have to remove a substantial portion of its power plant fleet by 2050, shortening the lifetime of what would be newly-built gas-fired power plants, according to the report."

You can push manufacturing out of your climate comfort zone, but somebody somewhere is going to continue to make stuff (and therefore emit carbon dioxide). It's a zero-sum game.


Wall Street Journal (1/31/21) editorial: "Here’s a story straight out of Portlandia. In the name of improving air quality and addressing climate change, the Rose City is considering penalties that could drive a recycling plant out of business and kill union jobs. Portland declared a climate emergency last year, and the City Council voted to achieve net zero CO2 emissions by 2050. To meet this goal that would have no effect on the climate, Portland’s Bureau of Planning and Sustainability wants to impose some $11 million in annual fees on city businesses...The carbon taxes would fall especially hard on Portland’s Owens-Brockway Glass Container plant, which handles all of the state’s glass-bottle recycling and processes the equivalent of 440,000 beer bottles a day on average...United Steelworkers Local 330 represents some of the plant’s 115 employees, and president Bob Tackett says he has 'a lot of concerns' about the consequences. These jobs were green jobs before it was popular to be a green job,' and they come with high wages and good benefits, 'so I’m having a hard time wrapping my head around why we’re trying to push these jobs away or penalize these jobs.'...The contradictions of progressive climate policy are multiplying, but one constant prevails: The costs fall on workers and consumers in return for no benefit for the climate."

Energy Markets

 
WTI Crude Oil: ↑ $52.56    
Natural Gas: ↑ $2.80
Gasoline: ~ $2.42
Diesel: ~ $2.65
Heating Oil: ↑ $161.52
Brent Crude Oil: ↑ $55.59
US Rig Count: ↑ 445

 
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