American Exploration & Production Council’s Post

As America heads to the polls in two weeks, I had the opportunity to track and analyze both the Presidential and Vice-Presidential debates and assist Ariel Cohen, Ph.D. in authoring critical pieces for Forbes. The presidential debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump focused heavily on U.S. energy policy (supply chains & manufacturing prowess, fracking), highlighting its alignment—or lack thereof—with climate goals and global ambitions for climate action. Read more: https://lnkd.in/eRxPJZyj VP Debate between Senator JD Vance and Governor Tim Walz - News, with a focus on America’s energy future amid Hurricane Helene’s aftermath. They clashed over the U.S.‘s ability to compete with China’s dominance in renewable energy production, with Vance criticizing current strategies and Walz defending the IRA’s incentives as a means to strengthen American clean energy leadership. Read more: https://lnkd.in/ekkvYHqy #cleanenergy #USElections

“Competitive markets, which by the way were a bipartisan idea, have broken up these monopolies in many parts of the country and enabled electricity consumers to enjoy the benefits of competition. Lower prices, more reliability, and efficient investment. In contrast, in monopoly markets, and I looked at the state of Georgia, consumers end up on the hook for supposedly prudent investments even when there are significant cost overruns,” said Representative Ann Kuster (D-NH).    On February 14, the House Subcommittee on Energy, Climate, and Grid Security held a hearing on reliability and affordability. Witnesses included: Jim Huston, Chairman, Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission; Nick Myers, Commissioner, Arizona Corporation Commission; Tricia Pridemore, Commissioner, Georgia Public Service Commission; and Keith Hay, Senior Director of Policy, Colorado Energy Office.     Read more: https://lnkd.in/etnJs4aY  #gridreliability #energypolicy #competitiveenergy #competitivepower

Is decarbonisation of our industries an ENGINEERING problem, an ECONOMIC problem....or is it a COMMUNICATIONS problem? As a former engineer, former analyst and current marketer, I believe that the communications is AT LEAST as important as the other two. Sure, nobody is going to buy stuff that is uneconomic and badly designed, but it is easy to see how it would be possible that innovative products with great TCO do not scale because customers don't understand or desire them. The choice of words REALLY matters, and I loved this post on how we can choose more powerful phrases to communicate with clarity and impact about climate change, and thus about the solutions that we need to develop and deploy.

The Democratic Party has unveiled the most pro-clean energy platform in U.S. history. This platform solidifies the party’s commitment to blocking Republican attacks on clean energy, particularly their attempts to repeal the historic investments made during the Biden-Harris administration, like the Inflation Reduction Act. The platform emphasizes the party’s determination to prevent Donald Trump and congressional Republicans from undermining American clean energy businesses. Democrats are standing firm against efforts that could send thousands of jobs overseas and strip Americans of their access to cheaper, cleaner energy choices. “We will not allow the GOP to dismantle the clean energy industry’s progress,” said Andrew Reagan of Clean Energy for America Action. It is critical to defend the clean energy investments that have already led to billions in economic growth and the creation of over 300,000 jobs since 2022. “Our platform is about building on these successes, and we’re not going back.” https://lnkd.in/dCCX8zDG

2024 GOP GRID RANT (EVS RENEWABLES NGAS & RELIABILITY) TIS TRUER THAN 2016 COAL LIE LINKED TO TRUMP45: CAN 2024 RANT DELIVER TRUMP47? “The rapid phase-out of coal and the shift to renewables and battery storage are forcing another reckoning with the bulk power grid and the challenge of building transmission lines. This time around, President Joe Biden’s goal of zeroing out carbon pollution, and now serious electric reliability concerns tied to the threats of extreme weather, are every bit the driver as the growing economy. As a result, that push to green the grid is stirring opposition and legal threats from a coalition of Republican attorneys general and political operatives, many with ties to Donald Trump’s campaign for president.”

Language is so powerful. More effective/accurate words to use around Sustainability Thanks to Leo Rayman for sharing (and John Marshall) #Sustainability #drivechange #powerofwords

From Bad to Worse: #Energy Policy Would Shift Left In A Kamala Harris Presidency Now that Joe Biden has withdrawn from his re-election bid and #KamalaHarris is the presumptive nominee of the #DemocraticParty, it is important to examine what a Harris-led set of energy policies would look like. The Vice President has never really been involved in formulating and enacting energy policy, but her public utterances on the topic through her years in public office in California and Washington, DC make clear that she holds views that run to the left of even #JoeBiden. Here are some examples: While mounting her first run for the U.S. Senate in 2016, then-California Attorney General Harris endorsed the concept of bring her state’s costly cap-and-trade scheme with her to the nation’s capital. She also endorsed then-Governor #JerryBrown’s proposal to ban plastic straws. Climate Wire reported July 9, 2024 that, “One of Harris’ last acts as the California attorney general, just weeks before she entered the U.S. Senate, was to sue the Obama administration over its plan to allow fracking off the Pacific Coast.” Once elected to the Senate, Harris set about opposing most of #DonaldTrump’s energy plans, including the effort by Trump’s Department of the Interior to offer up to 90% of US offshore waters for oil and gas leasing. Also, while Senator, Harris chose to become a co-sponsor of the #GreenNewDeal, a radical plan to use climate alarm as the impetus to transform the entire US economy introduced by Congresswoman #AlexandriaOcasioCortez (D-NY) and Senator #EdMarkey (D-MA) in early 2019. That plan went nowhere in the congress, but some elements of the Biden/Harris suite of energy and climate policies may as well have used the Green New Deal as an instruction manual. As a candidate for the Democratic Party’s 2020 presidential nomination, Harris told a CNN Townhall that there is ‘no question I’m in favor of banning fracking,’ taking that concept further than even Biden was willing to do. That promise likely will come back to haunt her in key oil and gas states like Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Ohio in the coming general election campaign. There is so much more at the link below, you won't believe it. Warning: This is not for the faint of heart. Enjoy! #energy #energyabsurdity https://lnkd.in/gbtSB8Zc

“You’d be hard pressed to find a reputable industry expert or researcher who believes the most effective energy mix for the next four years entails completely abandoning or solely relying on one source, but many US voters find that campaign promises along these lines deeply resonate with their political views.” Read more on what we can do to avoid obstructing energy progress in this article from Upwing CEO, Herman Artinian: https://lnkd.in/gvtyA26C

The Energy News Digest is online with 26 stories today: https://lnkd.in/gkaUcGFc American Friendship Project – 42% of Americans Aren’t as Close to Their Friends as They Would Like: https://lnkd.in/g7s-MEhw Hotshots – Today’s Top Five Stories Biden Admin Announces $2.2 Billion in Grants to Boost U.S. Power Grid (Canary Media) https://lnkd.in/gTFnzS9J Oregon Drafts a Reboot of the State’s Flagship Climate Program (Oregon Public Broadcasting) https://lnkd.in/g6hFF3Ma Oregon: Coos County Voters to Weigh in This November on Opposition to Offshore Wind Development (Jefferson Public Radio, Ashland, OR) https://lnkd.in/gMEDzf7M More Than 3.4 Million Americans Used $8.4 Billion in Clean Energy Credits in 2023 (United Press International) https://lnkd.in/gTC6EV2i Google Antitrust Ruling May Pose $20 Billion Risk for Apple (Reuters) https://lnkd.in/gC_e4yif #MorePowerfulTogether #CommunityPowered #PowerOn #publicpower #NWPPA