September 2nd, 2022

• Natural Gas is the most affordable, clean, efficient, and reliable fuel on earth. Europe and California are learning this the hard way, let’s not follow them blindly. TEA

• Environmental advocates are asking the Biden administration for a federal ban on new natural gas-powered heating appliances in homes and commercial buildings. The Hill

• Solar project in southwest Ohio in jeopardy. Ohio Capital Journal

• Energy chief says don’t increase fuel exports. Reuters

• Scientists debunk climate emergency. The Epoch Times

Which is it California? Pushing everyone into electric cars or rationing electricity? Make up your darn minds out there.

It’s ironic — but not really surprising — that the environmental activists’ answer to a warming climate is to strain the grid to the point of blackouts, so people have to turn off their air conditioning units and suffer from the heat. Yet here it is:

• California Gov. Gavin Newsom says turn your thermostats up to 78 degrees, while it’s 112 degrees Fahrenheit outside.
• The sweltering weather will put huge demands on the already-stretched power grid, especially when people crank up the air conditioners during the broiling hours after work and school.
• The call to limit electric vehicle charging between 4-9 p.m. comes a week after state regulators banned the sale of new petrol- and diesel-powered vehicles from 2035.

It doesn’t have to be this way. California leaders have helped create this crisis by aggressively closing down natural gas plants in recent years—forcing the state onto much less reliable sources like solar power that disappears at night and hydropower in midst of a drought. Natural gas would provide reliable power to the grid, while also helping to cut emissions by replacing plants like this that have been switched back on due to the emergency.

Bottom Line: California and its environmental extremists want it both ways. Save the planet, but do so by sweating it out on your couch, not watching your television and not charging the EV that they forced you to buy.

Stellantis CEO warns of electric battery shortage.

• Carlos Tavares said he expects a shortage of EV batteries by 2024-2025, followed by a lack of raw materials for the vehicles by 2027-2028.
• The possibility of shortages has been a focus of Wall Street analysts when rating automakers and predicting their ability to sell new EVs, which average $54,000.
• Tavares has warned of such a shortage previously and now he’s saying the industry is “moving too fast” in this direction without enough feasibility studies.

Even someone who heads up the world’s fourth largest automobile maker is concerned about the strong push toward EVs, citing supply chain and production capacities as potential problems.

Bottom Line: Maybe the green-at-all-costs movement needs to slow down a tad in its frenzy to make more battery-powered cars—when they might not even be able to make the batteries.

We’re going to take a break from U.S. gasoline prices for a week (although the national average is at $3.83 if you were curious).

This week, we take a look at what’s going on across the pond. Due to climate policies that shut down natural gas, coal, and nuclear plants, Europe was reliant on Russian natural gas for their energy. When Russia invaded Ukraine, that source was cut off and Europe turned to other countries around the world to supply gas. This shock in supply has caused future electricity prices to skyrocket by over 400% in some countries. Needless to say, this drastic leap will wreak havoc on the entire economy. Businesses are being served utility bills that will put them out of business, factories are shutting down, and civil unrest is on the horizon.

The solution? Ramp up American natural gas production, FAST. American LNG has the potential to ease the European crisis, but only if policies coming from the White House encourage production, not discourage it.

Hearing On Clean Air Act Bills: On Wednesday, September 7, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee will have a hearing on bills addressing provisions of the Clean Air Act.

Hearing On Wind Energy In The Pacific: On Thursday, September 8, the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources will have a hearing on offshore wind energy in the Pacific.

FERC Meeting On WI Pipeline Project: On Thursday, September 8, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission will have a forum “to discuss the electricity and natural gas challenges facing the New England Region.”

COMMON SENSE QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“Natural gas is responsible for 61% of CO2 reductions in U.S. electricity generation. It’s greener. It’s cleaner. And it’s abundant just beneath our feet, right here in Ohio.”

— Rep. Troy Balderson (R-OH) on Twitter.

PRO-TIP: The concern about Affordable Energy cuts across all party lines in 2022 which is why candidates should be talking about it. But don’t just talk about the problem…also talk about a positive solution as outlined by the eight-point Path to a Common Sense energy agenda.