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MORNING ENERGY NEWS | 08/13/2021

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Out of the trillions of dollars, a shockingly small amount is going to infrastructure. Find out how it happened on the latest episode of The Unregulated Podcast. Now streaming.

The show is available on all your favorite platforms including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Podbay, Blubrry, and TuneIn.

"Even assuming that the climate situation is as desperate as governments and their subsidized researchers proclaim, it is not clear if anything could be done without seriously compromising our already fragile liberties. If there is an endangered species, it is individual liberty and thus prosperity."

– Pierre Lemieux,
Library of Economics and Liberty

They know they can't pass the Green New Deal by itself, so they attached it to the biggest spending bill in U.S. history and hoped we wouldn't notice...

Bloomberg (8/12/21) reports: "The Senate’s $3.5 trillion budget framework sets the stage for a deluge of spending on electric vehicles, renewable power and clean energy initiatives meant to help combat climate change and wean the U.S. off fossil fuels. If adopted by the House and enacted through separate legislation to be written in coming months, the Senate-passed spending plan would impose a tariff on high-carbon imports and create a program compelling electric utilities to shift to emission-free power sources. It would build on tens of billions of dollars in clean energy spending in a bipartisan infrastructure bill that passed the Senate earlier this week. 'The Senate just opened the door to passing the most significant legislation to tackle climate change in the United States history,' said Dan Lashof, director of the World Resources Institute U.S. 'But the scale and scope of the investments we need is much greater.' The Senate passed the budget resolution Wednesday on a party-line 50-49 vote. And final adoption of the coming budget reconciliation package that would contain climate spending is far from guaranteed. It would require the Biden administration and Democratic leaders to satisfy the dueling demands of moderates such as Senators Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona as well as progressives such as Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York."

For the subsidy-dependent, it can never be enough.

The Hill (8/11/21) reports: "Rail advocates say that while transportation provisions in the Senate-passed infrastructure bill are an important first step, far more is needed to address both carbon emissions and gaps in public transit. The bipartisan bill passed Tuesday includes $66 billion for intercity rail transportation, which the White House has touted as 'the largest federal investment in passenger rail since the creation of Amtrak,' as well as $39 billion for public transit in general. The majority of the rail funds will go to Amtrak, instead of building out high-speed rail, a major wish-list item for climate and rail proponents. 'This is a large amount, even compared to what advocates have been looking for. But the funding does not necessarily seem oriented toward addressing climate change,' said Yonah Freemark, a senior research associate with the Urban Institute...Under the provisions of the bipartisan package, most trains will continue to rely on diesel fuel. While there is some funding for expanding intercity rail corridors, Freemark said, the amount allocated would be insufficient to build out a high-speed rail system akin to those in Europe and Asia."

About that "all renewable" future... At 5 pm, on one of the hottest days, of the year, the PJM grid is 70% nat gas, oil, and oil. 1.3% solar. 2.5% wind.

From the camp that screamed about "norms" and "precedent" for the last four years.

Real Clear Energy (8/12/21) column: "The Biden administration is at it again, frantically trying to erase Trump-era regulatory reforms without regard for their benefit to the American people. The latest red-tape gambit, a hasty and misguided attempt to delay and ultimately undo a major permitting reform, is not only bad policy, it’s a violation of the public’s trust. The Biden administration’s failure to follow proper transparency and public comment laws sets a dangerous precedent — and shows the White House’s priority is partisanship, not the American people’s best interests. The Trump administration’s reforms to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) were a critical step toward reducing draconian regulations on our nation’s responsible energy producers and infrastructure builders — restoring limited government and removing unneeded delays, complexities, and burdens...This blatant attempt to impose a partisan agenda behind closed doors is a violation of the public’s trust. These policy discussions should happen out in the open, not snuck through using procedural shortcuts. The Biden administration owes it to the American people to abide by the basic legal requirements and uphold the NEPA reform rule while it remains on the books."

The lies the regime tells the people prey upon the credulity of the ill-informed. We read through it so you don't have to.

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: ↓ $68.93
Natural Gas: ↓ $3.91
Gasoline: ~ $3.18

Diesel: ~ $3.29
Heating Oil: ↓ $209.86
Brent Crude Oil: ↓ $71.11
US Rig Count: ↑ 580

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