| Energy Realism this past week hit on the impossible EV dream, and where lost opportunities for Democrats on practical energy-climate policy open up doors for Republicans to gain ground. Duggan Flanakin got us started last week: for all this talk about EVS, mountains of obstacles remain. One of those is the insurance costs for such risky technologies. And yes, the word here truly is “risky.” EVs and their batteries are much more prone to combusting and incredibly expensive repairs even for minor fender benders. Already facing higher costs, less reliability, and inconvenience, it might just be insurance companies that derail the “EV revolution” that we keep hearing about. Indeed, we present the slides from RealClear’s webinar last week, where Mark P. Mills throws cold water on those demanding such a premature electrification revolution. In fact, “green energy” advocates should realize that their own policies are blocking the very energy transition they insist upon. Marty Durbin details how the U.S. Department of Energy is effectively now warning the IRS that pending federal policies present a risk to the clean hydrogen investment necessary to drive down prices and stimulate industrial demand. While not explicitly mentioned in a recent hydrogen roadmap report, the primary factor influencing these hydrogen supply risks is IRS implementation of the Inflation Reduction Act’s “45V” hydrogen production tax credit. And as pointed out by Pete Stauber and Danielle Butcher Franz, we cannot forget that the Biden administration has also been blocking essential U.S. mining projects from moving forward. A massive increase in domestic mining projects is an absolute necessity to have any chance at installing large amounts of green infrastructure: more wind, solar, and EVs. These lost opportunities for ruling Democrats are actually major opportunities for Republicans. In particular, Devin Hartman sees a chance for conservatives to advance electric transmission reform. No matter what happens to our sources of energy, both left and right agree that we need more transmission in updating and building a more modern power grid. The status quo is simply not cutting it. Costs are rising and reliability conditions are worsening. Enabling voluntary capital to flow is the path forward. Our Essential Reading then must come from Power the Future. “Green energy” mandates themselves are undermining the reliability and affordability of our electricity supply. It seems that everywhere we turn we see more reminders that an “all of the above” approach is not just wise but mandatory. In the News Saman Rizwan, RealClearEnergy Mark P. Mills, Manhattan Institute Daniel Zlatev, Notebook Check Ethan Brown, RealClearEnergy Robert Rapier, Oil Price Thomas Catenacci, Fox News Robert Bryce Bernard Weinstein, The Messenger Ben Riley-Smith, Telegraph Yujie Xue, SCMP Sue Surkes, Times of Israel Sanjay Dutta, The Times of India Kira Taylor, Euractiv Bloomberg Richard A. Muller, Elizabeth A. Muller, Centre for Policy Studies TalkTV Tory MP Gareth Bacon has told TalkTV that he thinks Net-Zero will cost a lot of money and impoverish "quite a lot of people." Fox Business O'Leary Ventures Chairman Kevin O'Leary discusses Elon Musk's ESG position and whether inflation will tick back up on 'The Big Money Show.' Forbes At today's Senate Budget Committee hearing, Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) questioned a Tulane professor about whether his own university should return money from its own fossil fuel-based... Bloomberg Weather is a critical factor impacting the price of natural gas. While natural gas plays an important role in electrical generation year-round, it’s amid winter heating demand that w... | 