Holding the torch

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DAILY ENERGY NEWS | 07/27/2021

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The world’s largest carmaker isn’t in favor of Congress’s special car subsidies.

The Verge (7/26/21) reports: "The US is slowing moving toward adopting policies that would put more electric vehicles on the road, but for Toyota, it’s not slow enough. The Japanese automaker, which is the largest car company in the world, has been quietly lobbying policymakers in Washington, DC to resist the urge to transition to an all-electric future — partly because Toyota is lagging behind the rest of industry in making that transition itself. According to The New York Times, a top Toyota executive has met with congressional leaders behind closed doors in recent weeks to advocate against the Biden administration’s plans to spend billions of dollars to incentivize the shift to EVs. The executive, Chris Reynolds, has argued that hybrids, like the Toyota Prius, as well as hydrogen-powered fuel cell vehicles should also be in the mix. In addition, Toyota is also pushing back against EV-friendly policy through the auto industry’s main DC-based lobbying group, the Alliance for Automotive Innovation. The group, which represents the major car companies and their suppliers and is chaired by Reynolds, has been arguing against the Biden administration’s plan to adopt the so-called California compromise as its official position, the Times reports."

"But when it comes to tackling heat and cold deaths, current climate reporting leaves us badly informed. It makes us focus on the costliest and least effective way to help future victims of heat and cold. It even risks exacerbating cold deaths by raising heating costs."

– Bjorn Lomborg,
Copenhagen Consensus

Cash for Caulkers 2.0. A program to give a new generation the skills, habits, and attitudes to ensure they are fit for only make-work government jobs.

Wall Street Journal (7/26/21) column: "As the U.S. recovers from a pandemic, with workers in services and manufacturing in short supply across the economy, here’s what no one sensible thinks America urgently needs: a huge new federal Civilian Climate Corps. Yet that’s exactly what Democrats want to create as part of their plan to expand government into every corner of American life. It isn’t enough to lecture Americans about the supposed perils of climate change. Now they also want to tax you and other Americans to pay your children to spend years lecturing you. President Joe Biden has requested $10 billion for the climate shock troops in his American Jobs Plan. Like so many other ideas in this Administration, the idea comes from the Democratic left, specifically the Sunrise Movement and Evergreen Action. Their idea was adopted by New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Massachusetts Sen. Ed Markey, who have proposed a Climate Corps that employs 1.5 million Americans over five years. The precedent is FDR’s Civilian Conservation Corps, which paid Americans to work when the jobless rate was more than 20% in the Depression. But Sunrise says that program had 'deep flaws, including exclusionary racist and sexist practices of hiring almost solely white men and its nonconsensual development on stolen Native American land.' Evergreen Action says the Climate Corps would 'confront the interlocking crises of climate change, environmental and racial injustice, and economic inequality.'"

Train-loving Secretary Pete ought to do a little Zillow surfing around Reston. Over a dozen 2-bedroom apartments within walking distance of the Metro for under $3k.

The bad news is New Zealand scared off gas producers and rainfall is way down. The good news is you can always count on coal.

New Zealand Herald (7/25/21) reports: "New Zealand is likely to import more coal this year than it has in any other year, in the midst of a government-declared climate emergency. Last year the country's main coal users imported more than they had in 14 years, and this year government officials expect even more to come in. Most of this coal is burned to power our homes and businesses. The Government expects an additional 150,000 tonnes of coal will arrive here, a 14 per cent increase on last year's total which was already over 1 million tonnes...Two main problems have caused the immediate issue. Lower than normal rainfall in recent years has hampered hydropower generation, which is by far the country's largest source of renewable electricity. In 2019, hydro contributed 58 per cent of the country's total electricity supply, and the first quarter of this year was down to 52.5 per cent. The hydro storage lakes are relatively shallow, and need regular inflows of water to produce electricity at capacity. The second problem is unexpectedly low natural gas supply, which has dropped from 13 per cent of the total supply in 2019 to 11 per cent in the first quarter of this year."

Energy Markets

WTI Crude Oil: ↓ $71.81
Natural Gas: ↓ $4.04
Gasoline: ~ $3.15

Diesel: ~ $3.27
Heating Oil: ↑ $215.17
Brent Crude Oil: ↑ $74.50
US Rig Count: ↑ 569

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