Take me, take me to the riot.

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MORNING ENERGY NEWS | 7.23.2019

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Yellow Vest Ballad

Foreign Policy (7/21/19) column: "In the parlance of economists and political scientists, carbon taxes are highly salient, meaning that people will do more to avoid paying the tax than they would in response to the same increase in the market cost of energy. But that salience also makes carbon pricing politically toxic; taxes often stoke an outsized reaction even when they are very modest. One response to a carbon tax is to wrap your hot water heater in a thermal blanket and install double-paned windows. Another is to riot."

"On the matter of climate change, politicians have reached a point where they will throw anything they have at the problem without a thought to the economic consequences or, for that matter, the actual effects on climate change."

– D avid G. Tuerck, Beacon Hill Institute

Stop and smell the cleanest, most tremendous air in our nation's history.

E nergy In Depth (7/19/19) reports: "Key U.S. air pollutant emissions continue to decline, according to the Environmental Protection Agency’s annual Our Nation’s Air report. Combined emissions of six common pollutants dropped by 74 percent from 1970 through 2018, even as energy use and population increased, according to the report. Perhaps even more impressive is that since 1970, when the Clean Air Act was passed, these emissions have declined while the U.S. economy grew by 275 percent and the American population, energy consumption and vehicle miles traveled all increased."

And they have to gall to call it "progress."

Grounded In Fact (7/19/19) blog: "In a stunning admission in front of a reporter from The Washington Post, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s chief of staff, Saikat Chakrabarti, said that the real reason Rep. Ocasio-Cortez introduced the Green New Deal was to overhaul the 'entire economy.' 'The interesting thing about the Green New Deal, is it wasn’t originally a climate thing at all,' Chakrabarti said. 'Do you guys think of it as a climate thing? Because we really think of it as a how-do-you-change-the-entire-economy thing.' That same week, 350.org founder Bill McKibben admitted in an op-ed that, 'Progress on the climate fight in its own right can help drive systemic change...If we replace fossil fuels with sun and wind, the effect will inevitably lead to at least some erosion of the current power structure.' Even student activist Greta Thunberg has invoked the climate-change battle cry of 'system change, not climate change' saying, 'If solutions within this system are so difficult to find then maybe we should change the system itself.'"

It's a tough job, but somebody's gotta bill at a thousand bucks an hour, right?

R ealClear Markets (7/18/19) column: "The House Subcommittee on Investor Protection, Committee on Financial Services, held a hearing earlier this month on environmental, social, and governance disclosure rules and possible legislation requiring the Securities and Exchange Commission to mandate ESG standards for all publicly-traded firms. This would include a requirement that companies disclose in their annual reports the financial and business risks created by climate change, thus supposedly improving the information environment within which investors, future retirees, and fund managers make investment decisions...The resulting impacts on business risks extending far into the future would be deeply speculative, and the level of detail and the scientific sophistication that would be needed to insulate firms from future shareholder lawsuits is far from clear. One could easily imagine that such self-protective 'disclosures' might run thousands of pages, with references to thousands more, and the idea that this 'disclosure' requirement would facilitate improved decision making by investors is difficult to take seriously. It is clear, however, that this kind of requirement would create a full-employment system for the attorneys."

And how long do you figure this would stay "voluntary?"

I ndependent (7/22/19) reports: "The government is considering adding an opt-out carbon tax to flights as part of a new call for evidence. Launched by Transport Secretary Chris Grayling, the Department for Transport campaign is inviting people to share their views on whether it should be mandatory for companies selling tickets for flights, ferries, trains and coach travel to be transparent about carbon emissions and offer offsetting options at the point of sale...'One way to increase uptake could be to follow an opt-out rather than opt-in model, under which the cost of offsetting carbon emissions would be automatically included for consumers, unless they selected not to pay to offset their emissions,' suggests the DfT. However, it stresses that any such initiative should still be 'voluntary'."

Shot

Bloomberg (7/21/19) reports: "After two major power failures involving Consolidated Edison Inc. in eight days, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio is suggesting that the government take over the investor-owned utility. 'We don’t depend on a private company for water or for policing or for fire protection,' de Blasio said at a press conference Monday. 'If they can’t handle the job, it’s time to look at new alternatives.'"

Chaser

NBC News (7/23/19) reports: "The lights went out across much of Venezuela, reviving fears of the blackouts that plunged the country into chaos a few months ago as the government once again accused opponents of sabotaging the nation's hydroelectric power system. The power in the capital went out after 4 p.m. Monday and immediately backed up traffic as stop lights and the subway stopped working during rush hour. As night fell in Caracas many were wondering how long they would be left in the dark. 'This is horrible, a disaster,' Reni Blanco, a 48-year-old teacher, said as she joined a crush of people who flooded into the streets of the capital trying to make it home before nightfall."

Energy Markets

WTI Crude Oil: ↓ $55.92
Natural Gas: ↑ $2.32
Gasoline: ↓ $2.76

Diesel: ↓ $3.00
Heating Oil: ↓ $189.08
Brent Crude Oil: ↓ $62.82
US Rig Count: ↓ 995

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