View this email in your browser
MORNING ENERGY NEWS  |  7.24.2019
Subscribe Now

Foreign influence worthy of an investigation. 


Washington Free Beacon (7/23/19) reports: "The Natural Resources Defense Council held close ties to the Obama administration, providing advice on joining the Paris Agreement while simultaneously maintaining ties to China, according to attorneys and policy analysts who have reviewed email records obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request. While many of the emails are heavily redacted, they provide insight into how the NRDC, a nonprofit environmental advocacy group, and its close associates in Beijing, sought to maneuver the United States into an international climate change accord that has all the 'hallmarks of a treaty' without the 'advice and consent' of the Senate, Bonner Cohen, a senior fellow with the National Center for Public Policy Research, explained in an interview."

"It's just economics. Texas has the wind resource, and Texas decided to invest in the transmission backbone. It's like 'Field of Dreams.' If you build it, they will come. Texas built the transmission, and they sure have come."

 

– Joshua Rhodes,
University of Texas

More "environmentally friendly" wind power on display in Washington. 


KEPR (7/21/19) reports: "KLICKITAT COUNTY, Wash. — The Juniper Fire is now 40 percent contained, according to a press release. The fire is mostly burning in the Pine Creek Drainage area south of Bickleton, WA. As of Sunday evening, the fire has burned 242 acres...Officials said the cause of the fire is under investigation but witnesses say the fire started by a broken wind turbine."

If you can't rely on solar in paradise, where exactly can you count on it?


Utility Dive (7/23/19) reports: "Kaua'i officials describe a perfect storm of events that led to the weekend blackout, ultimately culminating with actual clouds cutting off the island's solar production. While the utility is hoping to reach 70% renewables later this year, its generation has historically been supplied by diesel. Hawaii as a whole is targeting 100% renewable energy by 2045. The recent addition of solar and battery storage helped KIUC maintain power Sunday and Monday, but with clouds obscuring the sun officials say they have been forced to turn off customer power in waves...The utility said it turned to rolling blackouts Monday, with most customers experiencing a 30 minute outage every three to four hours. 'The lack of sun today was a real challenge, as we had virtually no production from our large solar facilities,' said Bissell. 'On top of that, we have increased demand from residential and commercial rooftop solar customers whose systems aren't producing.'"

Scrutiny of government bureaucrats is good, but a little consistency would be nice.


Daily Signal (7/22/19) reports: "Major news outlets, seemingly more prone to investigative reporting in the Trump era, are much more aggressive in seeking records from the Environmental Protection Agency than they were in the final years of the Obama administration, The Daily Signal has learned...The Washington Post, which added the slogan 'Democracy Dies in Darkness' to its home page after Trump’s election, submitted just one FOIA to Obama’s EPA in 2014 and none in 2013, 2015, or 2016. But during the first two years of the Trump administration, the Post submitted 43 FOIA requests to the environmental agency, jumping from nine in 2017 to 34 in 2018.  'Based on The Washington Post’s failure to seek transparency during the Obama administration, it is clear that if democracy does die in darkness, then it died during Obama’s eight years in office,' Rick Manning, the president of Americans for Limited Government."

As if we needed another reason why the government needs to get out of the biofuel business. 


Bloomberg (7/22/19) reports: "Four family members belonging to a Utah polygamist group admitted defrauding the U.S. of $512 million in renewable-fuel tax credits, with the leader saying the mastermind was an Armenian immigrant who owns a small oil and gas empire in Southern California. That businessman now faces trial alone. The leader, Jacob Kingston, who was the chief executive officer of Washakie Renewable Energy LLC, pleaded guilty July 18 in federal court in Salt Lake City. He said his company falsely claimed that it produced or blended biodiesel fuel to qualify for tax credits." 

The selfless comrades of Venezuela demonstrating to the world the benefits of socialized energy. And DeBlasio wants to follow their lead.


E&E News (7/23/19) reports: "The lights were returning to life across Venezuela today following a massive blackout that crippled communications, froze the Caracas metro and snarled rush hour traffic, officials said. Energy Minister Freddy Brito said power had been restored in the capital of Caracas and at least five of the South American nation's 23 states...The outage hit shortly after 4 p.m. yesterday, and officials blamed an 'electromagnetic attack' against the nation's hydroelectric system. Government opponents say years of mismanagement and corruption have left the grid vulnerable to failure. 'They tried to hide the tragedy by rationing supplies across the country,' opposition leader Juan Guaidó said on Twitter. 'But their failure is evident: They destroyed the system and they don't have answers...Venezuela was once a wealthy oil nation, but an estimated 4 million residents have emigrated, tired of shortages of electricity and water, as well as food and medicine.'"

Energy Markets

 
WTI Crude Oil: ↑ $56.96
Natural Gas: ↓ $2.28
Gasoline: ↓ $2.75
Diesel: ↓ $2.99
Heating Oil: ↑ $192.50
Brent Crude Oil: ↑ $63.93
US Rig Count: ↓ 977

 
Friend on Facebook Friend on Facebook
Follow on Twitter Follow on Twitter
Forward to a Friend Forward to a Friend
Our mailing address is:
1155 15th Street NW
Suite 900
Washington, DC xxxxxx
Want to change how you receive these emails?
update your preferences
unsubscribe from this list