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MORNING ENERGY NEWS  | 06/18/2021
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Red ink for green investments.


Wall Street Journal (6/17/21) reports: "Enthusiasm for SPACs, especially green ones, has waned in recent months. Since late last year, shares of green-focused companies that have announced acquisitions but have yet to close their deals have fallen by an average of 24% in 90 days after the deals were announced; shares of other SPACs have fallen by an average of 9%. The weak performance may point to a deeper problem with SPACs and specifically green investments: There is too much money chasing too few good companies."

"While U.S. President Joe Biden preaches a net-zero emissions goal for 2050 to slow global warming, and activist shareholders force Exxon Mobil Corp. to embrace solar and wind power, Saudi Arabia sees a bright future for what it knows how to do best: pumping oil."

 

– Ellen Wald and Jonathan Ferziger

Straining credulity.


Bloomberg (6/16/21) column: "Even if negotiators in Washington reach an agreement on a package to improve the nation’s infrastructure, paying for it will prove a major obstacle. This week, a bipartisan group of 10 moderate senators has advanced a $1.2 trillion, eight-year spending proposal on roads, bridges, tunnels and other projects, and is trying to win over President Joe Biden, along with skeptics in Congress in both parties. To cover some of the costs, the group proposes repurposing unused Covid-19 relief funds and tapping the owners of electric vehicles for revenue since they aren’t paying much in federal gas taxes. The senators are opposed to raising taxes on corporations — the centerpiece of the president’s plan to finance the spending. Some of these proposals make sense. But another potential source of revenue — a carbon tax — was not even discussed, even though it should appeal to several Republican lawmakers as well as most Democrats...The carbon tax, though, has unique advantages. Republicans should favor it because it bypasses regulation, encourages innovation and offers an alternative to a higher corporate tax. For Democrats, it would be a needed source of revenue that also helps the environment. It’s the obvious way forward."

Lordy, lordy.


New York Post (6/17/21) reports: "Electric-truck maker Lordstown Motors , which recently raised concerns about its ability to remain in business, on Thursday backtracked from earlier comments made by the startup’s president and said it has no binding purchase orders. At an Automotive Press Association event in Detroit on Tuesday, Lordstown President Rich Schmidt had said, 'currently, we have enough orders for production for 2021 and 2022…Those are firm orders we have for those two years.' However, in a filing with the U.S. securities regulator on Thursday, the company said, 'although these vehicle purchase agreements provide us with a significant indicator of demand for the Endurance, these agreements do not represent binding purchase orders or other firm purchase commitments.'"

When I think environment...I think...Hummer?


Scientific America ( 6/17/21) reports: "General Motors Co. said yesterday it will pour more resources into electric vehicles, in the form of $8 billion and two new factories to build batteries. The news comes amid a busy week for electrification at GM. On Monday, the company announced new support for electric autonomous vehicles and said it would furnish batteries and fuel cells for electric trains. The new money demonstrates how America's largest automaker is quickening its move toward EVs. In the last 15 months, GM has upped its investment from $20 billion to $27 billion and now to $35 billion, an overall increase of 75%. Paul Jacobson, GM's chief financial officer, said yesterday that channeling the new $8 billion was a relatively easy call based on the response to the new EVs it has unveiled recently, including the Hummer SUV and the Cadillac Lyriq."

If you oppose a carbon tax, take a stand and contact us.
Tom Pyle, American Energy Alliance
Myron Ebell, Competitive Enterprise Institute
Phil Kerpen, American Commitment
Andrew Quinlan, Center for Freedom and Prosperity
Tim Phillips, Americans for Prosperity
Grover Norquist, Americans for Tax Reform
George Landrith, Frontiers of Freedom
Thomas A. Schatz, Citizens Against Government Waste
Richard Manning, Americans for Limited Government
Adam Brandon, FreedomWorks
Craig Richardson, E&E Legal
Benjamin Zycher, American Enterprise Institute
Jason Hayes, Mackinac Center
David Williams, Taxpayers Protection Alliance
Paul Gessing, Rio Grande Foundation
Seton Motley, Less Government
Nathan Nascimento, Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce
Isaac Orr, Center of the American Experiment
David T. Stevenson & Clint Laird, Caesar Rodney Institute
John Droz, Alliance for Wise Energy Decisions
Jim Karahalios, Axe the Carbon Tax
Mark Mathis, Clear Energy Alliance
Jack Ekstrom, PolicyWorks America

Energy Markets

 
WTI Crude Oil: ↑ $71.94
Natural Gas: ↓ $3.24
Gasoline: ↓ $3.07
Diesel: $3.02
Heating Oil: ↑ $209.30
Brent Crude Oil: ↑ $73.58
US Rig Count: ↑ 531

 
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