| Energy Realism this past week looked at the obvious problems that more wind and solar bring to the power system, and why the need to support traditional fuels like oil and gas will clearly remain essential. Ask Germany and California. Jude Clemente got us off and running last week: the natural intermittency and higher costs of wind and solar are even pushing the Biden administration – the “most climate conscious administration in history” – to approve more and more fossil fuel projects. Indeed, David Williams argues that those trying to destroy the oil and gas industry in Alaska are doing nothing but hurting U.S. taxpayers. Alaska's leaders must reject these reckless tax hikes on energy production and focus instead on strengthening Alaska’s energy economy, encouraging the creation of good paying jobs, and protecting America’s national security. Oil and gas export projects in Alaska, for instance, are critical because they are closer to fast-growing, energy-starved Asia than our mushrooming projects along the Gulf of Mexico (not just farther away, but also having to pay the pricey toll of passing through the Panama Canal). The reality is that wind and solar do indeed have a growing role to play but fossil fuels are nowhere near replaceable at scale. This is why Brigham A. McCown makes the obvious case for permitting reform in the U.S., a solvable problem that has strong bipartisan support. Not only for more oil and gas pipelines, but also to get the power transmission lines to enable more wind and solar to come onto the grid. Heather Reams makes the exact same point: without major permitting reform to “make America build things again,” the goal for a much cleaner power grid has zero chance of materializing. Our Essential Reading this week then looks at the grid integration costs of wind and solar. As perfectly shown here, these incredible expenses are blocking many wind and solar from having any shot at completion. This study proposes a framework to analyze and quantify integration costs for such intermittent resources. In the News James Durso, Oil Price Dylan Matthews, Vox Yahoo Finance Yahoo Finance John Kemp, Reuters Coin Telegraph Patrick Gibbons, Financial Review Brigham A. McCown, RealClearEnergy Michael J. Roman, RealClearEnergy Iddo Wernick, RealClearEnergy Gary Meltz, RealClearEnergy Hiroko Tabuchi, NYT Kenneth P. Pucker, Andrew King, Harvard Business Review Robert Rapier, Oil Price William Kim, ABC News Forbes Breaking News At today's Senate Budget Committee, Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS) slammed Democrats for their climate change-focused legislation and claims about the debt limit. Tim Hains, RealClearEnergy Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm announced a "major scientific breakthrough" at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory on December 13, where an experimental fusion reactor prod... Tim Hains, RealClearEnergy Via Kite & Key -- Wind power. Solar power. Electric cars. That’s the future envisioned by many advocates of getting the U.S. to net zero carbon emissions. Translating this vision int... Fox News Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., grilled Biden's deputy energy secretary during a congressional hearing Wednesday over the Biden administration's energy spending CNBC Television Helima Croft, RBC Capital Markets global head of commodity strategy, joins 'Squawk Box' to discuss the latest energy prices, when the effects of OPEC+ oil cuts will be felt, and more. | 