Joe "Wimpy" Manchin

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DAILY ENERGY NEWS | 08/03/2022

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Joe gladly traded away our economy today for a hamburger on Tuesday.

Wall Street Journal (8/2/22) editorial: "West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin says Democratic leaders have agreed to consider permitting reforms to complete the Mountain Valley Pipeline. That’s nice of them. Alas, these mooted reforms even if enacted won’t help much since the Democratic Party’s green allies will continue their legal warfare. Mr. Manchin on Monday released a summary of environmental permitting changes that he’s proposed in return for his vote for the Schumer-Manchin bill. Count us skeptical that Democrats will back any substantive reforms that could ease fossil-fuel development, but even those on the table seem to be small beer. The Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) illustrates how the climate left uses litigation to keep fossil fuels in the ground. The pipeline is a priority for Mr. Manchin because it would expand markets for West Virginia’s natural gas and enable more production...Mr. Manchin wants Congress to give the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals jurisdiction over future litigation related to the pipeline, but that won’t help with existing lawsuits before the Fourth Circuit. It also won’t help other pipelines, and the left-leaning D.C. Circuit may be as hostile as the Fourth Circuit judges. What’s needed is a wholesale reform of environmental laws that fossil-fuel opponents have weaponized. Perhaps they should be forced to pay the costs of their obstruction if project developers prevail, as two pipelines did at the Supreme Court in recent years only to be scrapped by investors amid more lawsuits. The incentives have to change. Will Democrats agree to legislation that stops their allies’ legal barrage against fossil fuels? Unless they do, Mr. Manchin’s reforms will do as much to save fossil fuels as the League of Nations did to stop World War II.”

"We need to improve our regulatory and permitting processes, unlock American resources, and leverage innovation. Reliance on China and other authoritarian governments must come to an end. Instead, the U.S. needs to refocus its attention on promoting our domestic mining and production capabilities, along with encouraging the technologies of the future."

– Representative Carol Miller
(WV, 3rd District)

Manchin delivers on what American families have been clamoring for...higher gas prices.

Fox Business (8/2/22) reports: "Lawmakers are poised to reinstate a decades-old fee on oil imports, though some critics say that would violate President Biden’s pledge not to raise taxes on anyone making less than $400,000. The proposal, included in a $433 billion tax and climate bill, would reinstate a 16.4 cents-per-barrel tax on crude oil imports and taxes on imported petroleum products. President Biden has tried three times to reinstate the tax but has been unsuccessful thus far, according to a Fox News analysis. The Washington-based conservative group Americans for Tax Reform says the tax 'will be paid by consumers in the form of higher gas and energy costs,' Bloomberg reported. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., announced an agreement last week on legislation boosting taxes on huge corporations and wealthy individuals, bolstering fossil fuels and climate change efforts and curbing pharmaceutical prices. Overall, it would raise $739 billion over 10 years in revenue and spend $433 billion, leaving over $300 billion to modestly reduce federal deficits. But a Penn Wharton analysis found that the bill would probably increase inflation slightly for its first two years, before possibly reducing inflation later. The tax on imported oil and petroleum products would seemingly break President Biden’s pledge that tax hikes will affect only those Americans earning $400,000 or more per year. Manchin has said the Democratic package honors that pledge."

The government wants to know where you are at all times, but they'd NEVER use that information...

Real Clear Investigation (8/2/22) reports: "The environmental impact of electric cars may still be unknown, but leaders are growing concerned about the threat they pose to the financing of the nation’s highway system. Because freeways and bridges are funded, in large part, through federal and state taxes on gasoline and diesel fuel, the battery-powered future will test whether roads can just be paved with good intentions. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are trying to devise new ways to raise that fuel tax revenue, which in fiscal year 2020 delivered $35 billion to the federal government and an additional $51 billion to state and local governments. But experts say that proposed fixes to the anticipated highway funding shortfall – involving charging drivers for the miles they travel by tracking their movement – pose a significant threat to personal privacy and liberty. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, passed with bipartisan support last year, authorized the Department of Transportation to launch new pilot programs to test ways to collect necessary fees. These include a range of high-tech means such as accessing location data from third-party on-vehicle diagnostic devices, smart phone applications, telemetric data collected by automakers, motor vehicle data obtained by car insurance companies, data obtained from fueling stations, and 'any other method that the Secretary [of Transportation] considers appropriate.'"

Let's be clear: A statement from Hank Paulson and four OTHER Democrats does not make it bipartisan.

Axios (8/3/22) reports: "Five former Treasury secretaries — including Hank Paulson, who served under President George W. Bush — signed a statement strongly backing the 'Inflation Reduction Act' brokered by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.). Why it matters: The bipartisan support will help the White House and Democrats push back against the Republican contention that millions of Americans who make under $400,000 a year would see their taxes rise. The others who signed on are Robert Rubin and Larry Summers (President Clinton), Tim Geithner and Jacob Lew (President Obama). Senate votes are expected to begin later this week on the health, climate and tax plan. 'As former Treasury Secretaries of both Democratic and Republican Administrations,' the statement says, 'we support the Inflation Reduction Act which is financed by prudent tax policy that will collect more from top-earners and large corporations.'"

Energy Markets

WTI Crude Oil: ↓ $94.24
Natural Gas: ↑ $7.71
Gasoline: ↓ $4.16

Diesel: ↓ $4.61
Heating Oil: ↑ $345.08
Brent Crude Oil: ↓ $100.46
US Rig Count: ↓ 826

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