Mike and Tom predict BIF's fate. Circle Back disses the JCT. Yellen rallies Wall Street to lobby the GOP. And China embraces Drill Baby Drill on the latest episode of The Unregulated Podcast. Now streaming wherever you listen to podcasts.
"As reconciliation advances in Washington, let’s remember any tax on clean, American natural gas is indeed a tax increase on working families, and one we just can’t afford."
"You look for the person who would benefit... and, uh... you know."
Reuters (9/27/21) reports: "Rising power prices could lead to metal producers moving operations away from Europe and undermine EU carbon-cutting plans, non-ferrous metals industry association Eurometaux has warned the European Commission. Governments across Europe are coming under pressure to help curb soaring energy costs for companies and households caused by a global surge in wholesale gas prices, as economies emerge slowly from the coronavirus pandemic. read more 'Rising electricity prices have already led to curtailments and could lead to further relocation of our sector outside Europe if not addressed,' said the letter from Eurometaux addressed to Kadri Simson, European Commissioner for Energy. 'We are also concerned that if electricity remains too expensive, it will disincentivize industrial electrification as a decarbonization route, undermining the EU’s Green Deal objectives.'"
One of the key reasons we see high energy prices in the UK, Europe, and China is because banks have cut investment to coal, oil, and gas projects around the world.
Yahoo (9/28/21) reports: "China, the world’s top coal consumer, is in dire need of more supply and is willing to pay any price -- a move that threatens to leave less fuel for energy-starved rivals. With winter on the way for much of the world and natural gas prices at record levels, economies across the globe are competing for a finite supply of coal. At the center of the scramble is China, where stockpiles are low and demand is at an all-time high. The dirtiest fossil fuel, which was struggling against cleaner energy sources, is now seeing its biggest comeback ever, complicating international climate talks set to begin in just a few weeks. China will expand coal procurement at “any price to ensure heating and power generation in winter,” the China Electricity Council said in a statement on Monday. While more than 90% of the fuel the country uses is mined locally, it’s difficult to raise local output at short notice. European coal has risen to a 13-year high, and Australian Newcastle coal has more than tripled over the past year to within range of the record set in 2008. Chinese thermal coal futures on the Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange rose as much as 3.6% Wednesday to reach an intraday record for a third straight session."
"The UK's current energy struggles remind us: Energy is not just another product--it’s what makes civilization possible."
Daily Mail (9/21/21) column: "This current crisis is a mere harbinger of the candle-lit future that awaits us if we do not change course Had it not been so exceptionally calm in the run up to this autumn equinox, one could call the energy crisis a perfect storm. Wind farms stand idle for days on end, a fire interrupts a vital cable from France, a combination of post-Covid economic recovery and Russia tightening supply means the gas price has shot through the roof – and so the market price of both home heating and electricity is rocketing. But the root of the crisis lies in the monomaniacal way in which this government and its recent predecessors have pursued decarbonisation at the expense of other priorities including reliability and affordability of energy. It is almost tragi-comic that this crisis is happening while Boris Johnson is in New York, futilely trying to persuade an incredulous world to join us in committing eco self-harm by adopting a rigid policy of net zero by 2050 – a target that is almost certainly not achievable without deeply hurting the British economy and the lives of ordinary people, and which will only make the slightest difference to the climate anyway, given that the UK produces a meagre 1 per cent of global emissions."
