A wind turbine at one of the largest wind farms in the country collapsed during a massive windstorm in western <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/oklahoma">Oklahoma</a> Tuesday.
According to <a href="https://www.foxweather.com/weather-news/oklahoma-wind-turbine-fire">Fox Weather</a>, the incident took place at the Traverse Wind Energy Center on State Highway 47 in Custer County, Oklahoma, Tuesday. First responders arrived on the scene at around 4:30 p.m. local time Tuesday afternoon, where they found the wind turbine mangled and on fire. The turbine was apparently knocked over by severe thunderstorms that swept through the area, including multiple lightning strikes.
Video taken at the scene by <a href="https://www.news9.com/story/62f3a9fbae9d10072a28dc29/wind-turbine-catches-fire-collapses-after-storms-move-through-custer-county-">News 9 Oklahoma City</a> storm tracker Jeromy Carter shows crews responding to the scene. The video shows the turbine badly twisted and bent, with the top section of the tower folded in half and the generator housing on fire, while smoke billows out from inside the housing and around the structure. &#8220;This is a windmill struck by lightning,&#8221; someone in the video claims.
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Large wind turbine down and on fire in Texas due to lightening" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/aGxVugmT4Qg?start=1&#038;feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
A spokesperson for the Public Service Company of Oklahoma (PSO), which co-owns the Traverse wind farm, said in a statement, via Fox Weather, that as of Tuesday afternoon, the site had been secured and no injuries had been reported.
The company said that the cause of the collapse is still under investigation, but Fox Weather reported that there were a large number of lightning strikes in the Custer County area. Doppler radar from the area showed that the strikes were in a band between the towns of Putnam and Thomas. Someone in the News 9 video said that the scene was located just southeast of Putnam. The Public Service Company of Oklahoma did not report damage to any other part of the facility from the storms.
The Traverse Wind Energy Center is the single largest wind power farm built at one time in North America, and one of the largest in the world, according to a <a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/traverse-wind-energy-center-begins-delivering-savings-to-customers-301506631.html">press release</a> from American Electric Power, which owns PSO. The 998 megawatt facility came online in March, and is expected to produce 3.8 million megawatt-hours of energy annually. It includes a total of 356 turbines, spanning across Custer and Blaine counties, and is co-owned by PSO and the Southwestern Electric Power Company.
The collapse in Custer County comes just a few weeks after another turbine collapsed in northern Oklahoma. Video from local news outlet <a href="https://www.koco.com/article/oklahoma-wind-turbine-collapses/40395218">KOCO</a> showed the turbine folded over itself in a field in the town of Ames, in Major County.
Another wind turbine collapsed during a thunderstorm in <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/watch-windmill-blazes-disintegrates-after-being-struck-by-lightning">Crowell, Texas</a>, in late July, after it was struck by lightning, as The Daily Wire reported. Video from the scene showed the windmill with one of its blades on fire, sending huge smoke circles into the skies behind it. The blade then disintegrated while the windmill was still spinning, before it fell limp onto the generator housing, setting the generator on fire. Another video taken by the Crowell Fire Department showed the windmill blade collapsing to the ground while the generator catches fire. Fire crews responded to the scene, but were unable to respond to the fire because there is no equipment or training to handle such a scenario.

Windfarm

Video Shows Wind Turbine Collapsed, Mangled After Thunderstorm In Oklahoma

Energy

Fire

Fox News

Oklahoma

Weather

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/coal">Coal</a> industry leaders blasted Senator <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/joe-manchin">Joe Manchin</a> (D-WV) for his agreement with Democratic leadership on a climate and tax-focused reconciliation bill that they say would &#8220;severely threaten&#8221; the industry.
In a <a href="https://s3.amazonaws.com/wvmetro-uploads-prod/2022/08/Consolidated-Opposition-Manchin-Schumer-FINAL.pdf">statement</a> Wednesday, America&#8217;s State Coal Associations, a group of eight state trade organizations in the coal industry, blistered <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/manchin-stands-by-democrats-tax-and-spend-plan-nothing-inflammatory-in-that-piece-of-legislation">Manchin</a> for endorsing the so-called &#8220;Inflation Reduction Act.&#8221; The group said that Manchin&#8217;s support for the package, which has been lauded by the Biden administration and praised by climate activists like Biden&#8217;s climate czar John Kerry, leads the coal industry to question the &#8220;motivation and sincerity&#8221; of Manchin&#8217;s interest in protecting fossil fuels.
&#8220;The more you read and digest the provisions found in over 700+ pages of legislative digest, the more it becomes abundantly clear this legislation will serve to severely threaten American coal and the $261 Billion of annual revenues that it produces for the nation&#8217;s overall economy and attendant 381,000 American jobs,&#8221; the coal associations wrote.
&#8220;This legislation is so egregious, it leaves those of us that call Senator Manchin a friend, shocked and disheartened. Senator Manchin has seemingly fought against numerous climate measures advanced over the past year by the national democratic establishment insisting that America’s Coal assets be protected and allowed to continue to operate as carbon reduction strategies are developed and proven to be effective within reasonable cost and performance parameters. The current Schumer-Manchin draft agreement on climate and energy frankly leaves us questioning the motivation and sincerity of Manchin&#8217;s previous stance and his repeated chant: we must &#8216;Innovate not eliminate.’”
The group went on to blast the bill itself, pointing out that it was praised by President Joe Biden, who called it &#8220;the most significant legislation in history to tackle the climate crisis&#8221; in <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2022/07/28/remarks-by-president-biden-on-the-inflation-reduction-act-of-2022/">remarks</a> last week. The statement also pointed out that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) have &#8220;signed off&#8221; on the bill, &#8220;which alone speaks volumes to the extreme and deadly scenario it brings to our nation’s coal industry.&#8221;
<a href="https://www.speaker.gov/newsroom/8222-4">Pelosi</a> endorsed the bill in a letter to Senate leadership Tuesday; <a href="https://www.sanders.senate.gov/press-releases/prepared-remarks-sanders-calls-on-senate-to-improve-the-inflation-reduction-act-and-address-the-needs-of-the-american-people/">Sanders</a>, meanwhile, gave a floor speech outlining what he thought were the merits and shortcomings of the plan, and suggested amendments to be added when the Senate takes it up for consideration.
The group also points out several specific provisions that will hurt coal production.
&#8220;By turbocharging the lofty incentives that already extend to renewable energy, our nation’s &#8230; coal electric generation assets will continue to be devalued and thrust into rapid decline as will the thousands of miners, plant workers and the 371,000 American families who household incomes depend on these jobs,&#8221; the group said. &#8220;The Schumer-Manchin bill doubles the current tax on coal and subjects mining companies to the highest tax of any other American business effectively costing mining companies tens of millions of dollars in new taxes and adding to the complexities of keeping state fuel and household energy costs stable and competitive. More disturbing, the Schumer-Manchin proposal provides President Biden&#8217;s EPA with the clear and unbridled ability and expanded budget to regulate greenhouse gases and state coal assets however they deem appropriate or in the most punitive manner possible.&#8221;
&#8220;It is incomprehensible why any miner would support the Manchin-Schumer legislation which will not only put an immediate stop to the investment and financing behind our states coal and electric generating assets but forever foreclose on America&#8217;s coal industry!&#8221; the group concluded.

West Virginia’s coal country

Coal Industry Leaders Blast Manchin For Supporting A Bill That Threatens To Kill Industry

Climate Change

Coal

Democratic Party

Joe Manchin

spending

Fresh revelations from <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/death-row-or-wanted-for-murder-the-cursed-lives-of-hunter-bidens-associates">Hunter Biden</a>&#8216;s laptop raise new questions about his possible effort to buy a stake in a Russian oil company, and what President Joe Biden knew about his son&#8217;s dealings.
They also underscore the profound dishonesty of the &#8220;Steele dossier&#8221; created by ex-British spy Christopher Steele and funded by the Democratic National Committee: With a Russian oil company preparing to sell shares, the dossier claimed a Donald Trump official had set up a secret deal to make favorable Russian policy in exchange for the shares. In reality, it was a Chinese firm <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-family-sought-to-make-money-by-giving-china-preferential-access-to-us-energy">paying the Biden family</a> that ultimately tried to buy them.
&#8220;But amidst all of that and the NYTs calling about the major article they are doing on me and discussing with dad about what I need to get in order before he runs for president I spent an equal amount of time dealing with&#8230; your sh&#8211;,&#8221; read an August 2, 2018, text from Hunter Biden to Elizabeth Secundy, the sister of Beau Biden&#8217;s widow, who Hunter began dating after his brother&#8217;s death. Another text indicates that Hunter believed the Times was probing whether he did deals with Russia.
Hunter Biden&#8217;s involvement with Chinese energy firm CEFC first came to light in a December 12, 2018, New York Times story. The company&#8217;s chairman, Ye Jianming, was imprisoned in China at the time, and Patrick Ho, another top CEFC official, who was Hunter Biden&#8217;s &#8220;client&#8221; who was arrested on corruption charges in New York. Shortly after the Times story was published, Joe Biden left his son a voicemail saying: “I thought the article released online, it’s going to be printed tomorrow in the Times, was good. <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/joe-biden-spoke-with-hunter-about-dealings-with-chinese-oil-tycoon-voicemail-reveals">I think you’re clear</a>.”
Other messages culled from the laptop and reviewed by The Daily Wire provide more clues about what that reassurance might have meant.
Two days after the story ran, Hunter Biden texted his sister-in-law-turned-girlfriend Hallie Biden that he was &#8220;dealing with the aftermath of the abduction and likely assassination (that’s what NYT’s suspects) of my business partner the richest man in the world, the arrest and conviction of my client the chief of intelligence of the people’s republic of China by the U.S. government, the retaliation of the Chinese in the ouster and arrest of US suspected CIA operatives inside China, my suspected involvement in brokering a deal with Vladimir Putin directly for the largest sale of oil gas assets inside Russia to China&#8230; And Dads running for president.&#8221;
A Times reporter, Mathew Goldstein, had reached out to Hunter about his story by May, laptop materials show. The eventual Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/12/business/cefc-biden-china-washington-ye-jianming.html">story</a> did not say that Ye had been assassinated, only that he &#8220;disappeared into the custody of the Chinese authorities.&#8221; Hunter Biden&#8217;s message suggests that a Times reporter discussed additional information or impressions with him that were not included in the article. It also implies that it was the Times that &#8220;suspected&#8221; Biden of brokering a deal with Putin. The Times ultimately reported only that Ye had &#8220;bought a $9 billion stake in Rosneft, Russia’s state oil giant,&#8221; but did not implicate Hunter Biden &#8212; a possible reason for his father&#8217;s relief.
The “largest sale” of Russian oil referred to by Hunter Biden likely refers to the fact that in September 2016, Vladimir Putin said state-owned oil company Rosneft hoped to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-rosneft-privatisation/russia-aiming-for-over-11-billion-from-rosneft-stake-sale-idUSKCN1181A9">sell</a> a 19.5% stake, valued at some $11 billion, to “strategic” private investors by the end of the year.
The <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-top-steele-dossier-source-arrested-charged-with-making-false-statements-to-fbi">discredited</a> Steele <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/3259984-Trump-Intelligence-Allegations">dossier</a> commissioned by Democrats &#8212; which ironically involved engaging with Russians to falsely assert that Trump was engaged with Russians &#8212; claimed that Trump official Carter Page met with Rosneft President Igor Sechin in July 2016 and that Sechin &#8220;offered Page/Trump&#8217;s associates the brokerage of up to a 19 per cent (privatised) stake in Rosneft&#8221; if Trump would lift U.S. sanctions on Russia. &#8220;Page had expressed interest and confirmed that were Trump elected US president, then sanctions on Russia would be lifted,&#8221; it claimed.
But it was associates of Hunter Biden, not Trump, who ultimately made a deal for Rosneft shares. In late 2016, Rosneft <a href="https://www.caixinglobal.com/2018-11-21/failed-rosneft-deal-costs-cefc-china-a-quarter-billion-101350092.html">sold</a> the 19.5% stake <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2016/12/11/qatar-glencore-to-buy-195-percent-stake-in-russia-state-oil-major-rosneft.html">to</a> a partnership between the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) and Glencore. Less than a year later, in September 2017, CEFC made arrangements to <a href="https://www.nsenergybusiness.com/news/deals/glencore-qia-consortium-scarps-9-1bn-worth-stake-sale-in-rosneft-to-cefc/">buy</a> a 14% stake, valued at $9 billion, from the pair.
That deal fell apart after Ho&#8217;s arrest, as did another deal Hunter was working on for CEFC in the U.S.
The Daily Wire did not find evidence of Hunter Biden brokering a “deal with Vladimir Putin directly” in a review of his laptop materials. However, the materials do suggest that Hunter Biden was used by CEFC and others to facilitate top-level introductions for deals, and that he might have been in a position to play such a role for a deal involving Russian oil and China.
Glencore is a mining and commodity company founded by Marc Rich, the Democratic Party super-donor who was pardoned by President Bill Clinton on his last day in office in 2001. Rich exited the company in 1994, but Hunter Biden&#8217;s associates had numerous ties to Glencore alums.
Devon Archer, one of Hunter Biden’s closest business partners, cultivated a relationship with a former Glencore executive named Jonathan Dimitry, who he called &#8220;our little Glencore PM,&#8221; an email showed.
Archer also had a relationship with oligarch Mikhail Gutseriyev, who with Glencore co-owned <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/exclusive-glencore-sells-stake-russias-russneft-cap-20-year-partnership-2022-02-15/">RussNeft</a>, a different Russian oil company unrelated to Rosneft. In 2013, Archer forwarded a news article on Glencore&#8217;s involvement with RussNeft, saying &#8220;This could be useful down the line with our O&amp;G play.  As you know Gutseriev is our guy.  Keep in mind for when we get out of AAA ball.&#8221;
Hunter Biden also had a relationship with Mohammed Bin Hamad Khlaifa Al-Thani, who was at one point in charge of QIA and is the brother of Qatar&#8217;s Emir. &#8220;Let me know if you need anything with regards to QIA, I would be more than happy to help,&#8221; Al-Thani wrote to Biden in 2014. Biden&#8217;s partner Eric Schwerin contemplated deals to do with the Qataris, saying &#8220;Thinking big but with QIA you have to.&#8221;
A lawyer for Hunter Biden did not return a request for comment.

World Food Program USA’s Annual McGovern-Dole Leadership Award Ceremony

Steele Dossier Falsely Linked Trump To Russian Oil Shares Actually Sought By Biden Associates

Christopher Steele

Fusion GPS

Hunter Biden

Russia

Firefighters were powerless to respond after a wind turbine in <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/texas">Texas</a> was struck by lightning and caught fire Friday.
The turbine was struck during a thunderstorm in Crowell, Texas, Friday afternoon. Video taken by witnesses at the scene show the windmill on fire, belching smoke into the air, before coming to a complete halt and continuing to burn. Firefighters arrived on scene later, but were unable to do anything because there is no equipment or training to handle such an occurrence.
Mike Collier, a meteorologist for Tulsa-based NBC affiliate KJRH, tweeted a video of the incident Friday. The video, taken by a witness named Brent Havins, shows the wind turbine continuing to turn while one of the blades is on fire. Flames blaze along the center of the blade, while a trail of black smoke billows from both the tip of the blade and the fire, sending rings of smoke spiraling out behind the turbine.
At around the 16-second mark, the blade disintegrates into flaming strands of metal. The turbine continues to spin, dragging the destroyed blade around with it. One of the strands lands on the generator housing, and at around the 28-second mark, the entire housing turns bright orange as it begins to burn as well. At around the 40-second mark, the windmill finally comes to a halt, still ablaze.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
This is near Cromwell, OK. Brent Havins shot this video of a wind turbine that got struck by lightning. <a href="https://t.co/jBjUNas0yc">pic.twitter.com/jBjUNas0yc</a>
— Mike Collier (@MikeCollierWX) <a href="https://twitter.com/MikeCollierWX/status/1550578309947342850?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 22, 2022</a></blockquote>
Another video posted to Facebook by the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/755958217751650/videos/5915444265150092">Crowell Fire Department</a> shows part of the turbine blade collapsing to the ground, while the smoke and flames billow out from the generator housing and the other two blades begin to catch fire.
Doppler radar images from <a href="https://www.foxweather.com/weather-news/texas-wind-turbine-fire">Fox Weather</a> showed that dozens of lightning strikes were recorded in the area of Crowell, Texas, during a thunderstorm that passed over the area Friday between 11 a.m. and 12 noon Central Time.
Fire crews responded to the scene, but Crowell Fire Chief Perry Shaw told Fox Weather there was little they could do. &#8220;We’re not equipped to handle that kind of fire. Nobody in the area really is to speak of,&#8221; Shaw said.
He said he had previously seen videos of wind turbines on fire, but this was the first such incident in Crowell. &#8220;We’ve done training with the wind farm company, and they are not safe to approach during that scenario. There weren’t any people in danger of being hurt, so we let the fire do what it is going to do,&#8221; Shaw said. He said the source of the smoke was likely the hundreds of gallons of lubricants inside the turbine; Shaw estimated that there were some 800 gallons of oil in the gearbox and another 1,300 gallons of mineral oil in the transformer on the ground.
Innergex Renewable Energy, the company that operates the 31,000-acre, <a href="https://www.windpowerengineering.com/350-mw-foard-city-wind-farm-officially-operating-in-texas/">350 megawatt-generating</a> wind farm, said that all personnel at the facility were safe, and that only one of the 139 General Electric wind turbines were impacted.
The collapse of the turbine comes just days after another turbine collapsed in Sweden, just a few weeks after it was commissioned. The turbine, owned by a German company called RWE, collapsed suddenly last Saturday. Residents in the area were urged to stay away, as gearbox oil was suspected to have leaked from the generator.
“The area around the affected wind turbine is closed and we urge the public not to try to approach this place,&#8221; RWE said in a statement, via <a href="https://www.windpowermonthly.com/article/1793389/nordex-turbine-collapses-new-rwe-wind-farm-sweden">Wind Power Monthly</a>. “We suspect that oil from the gearbox may have leaked and the relevant authorities are informed.&#8221;

Wind turbines lightning

WATCH: Windmill Blazes, Disintegrates After Being Struck By Lightning

Texas

As Texas experiences a record-shattering heat wave, residents are being asked to conserve not only energy, but now water.
”We’re seeing a stress on our system because of peak demands with peak weather conditions. We are enduring a long, hot, dry summer,” <a href="https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/plano-north-texas-municipal-water-district-asks-residents-conserve-water-through-wednesday-july-20/287-fc180be0-d408-4c9f-9617-c8f6c497518f">said</a> Wayne Larson, the director of communications for the North Texas Municipal Water District (NTMWD). “The forecast doesn’t seem like it will change. We are trying to manage and meet the rising peak demands of our customers.”
The NTMWD last week asked customers to cut down on their use of water immediately, specifically outdoor watering.
One of its water treatment plants had to be unexpectedly shut down on Saturday. The water district pointed out that the call for conservation was due to the quantity produced, not the quality of the water.
The utility issued a press release <a href="https://news.ntmwd.com/ntmwd-issues-call-to-action-for-reduced-outdoor-water-use-as-a-wylie-water-treatment-plant-undergoes-unscheduled-maintenance">saying</a> it still can purify enough water for basic needs and safety uses, but the ongoing drought, along with the uptick in outdoor watering and irrigation, has put a lot of stress on its systems.
The company <a href="https://www.ntmwd.com/services/">services</a> 2 million residents in ten counties.
According to the <a href="https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/CurrentMap/StateDroughtMonitor.aspx?TX">U.S. Drought Monitor,</a> more than 51% of Texas is in an extreme drought, and over 75% is in a severe drought.
Texas has also had some serious problems in the past with its electric grid, and some of this involves green energy sources.
Last week, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), an organization that operates the grid in Texas, issued an appeal to all residents to conserve energy. The company blamed “low wind” and “forced thermal outages” for its inability to meet demand. ERCOT <a href="https://www.ercot.com/news/release?id=8926f1a4-4e8f-9dfb-e393-7d6609eda6a3">added</a> that there are also clouds in certain areas restricting solar power.
While the push for renewable or green energy sources continues in many states, they aren’t always reliable. Tesla joined ERCOT in asking electric vehicle owners not to charge their vehicles during peak periods. In June, the energy demand reached a record in the state, and ERCOT <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/texas-grid-urges-electricity-conservation-amid-record-breaking/story?id=86598838">said</a> that it wouldn’t need to ask people to conserve, but that record was <a href="https://www.ercot.com/">again broken</a> in July. The grid is holding up at this point, and ERCOT hasn’t had to implement rolling blackouts.

069A05CE-FC65-4B72-A166-06623E6C35A3_1_201_a

Texans Face Calls For Water, Energy Conservation

ERCOT And Water District Ask Texans To Conserve Energy, Water

Beznau <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/nuclear-power">nuclear power</a> plant in <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/switzerland">Switzerland</a> is slowing production in the middle of an <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/energy">energy</a> crisis to protect local <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/animals">fish</a> populations.
The facility relies upon the Aare river to control temperatures rather than a cooling tower, leading to increases in water temperature between 0.7 and 1 degrees Celsius, according to the <a href="https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/swiss-nuclear-power-plant-reduces-output-to-protect-fish-during-heatwave/47761010?utm_campaign=teaser-in-querylist&amp;amp;utm_medium=display&amp;amp;utm_content=o&amp;amp;utm_source=swissinfoch">Swiss Broadcasting Corporation</a>. In the interest of preserving freshwater fish populations, production at Beznau is decreasing such that water temperatures do not rise above 25 degrees Celsius — the equivalent of roughly 77 degrees Fahrenheit.
Beznau produces 6,000-gigawatt hours of electricity per year — twice the consumption of the city of Zurich — and has avoided 300 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions since its founding, according to <a href="https://www.axpo.com/ch/en/private/experience-axpo/nuclear-power-plant-beznau.html">Axpo</a>, the company which runs the facility.
An Axpo spokesperson told <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/07/19/nuclear-power-plant-lowers-output-to-protect-fish-.html">CNBC</a> that there were “regulations regarding water protection, which restrict the operation of the Beznau nuclear power plant at high water temperatures in the Aare.”
According to the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation, Switzerland produces 30% of its electricity from its three nuclear plants. However, in reaction to the 2011 nuclear meltdown in Fukushima, Japan, the nation decided to phase out nuclear power by 2034 — a deadline that was recently nixed in light of uncertainty about future energy supply.
The Axpo spokesperson explained that the output of Beznau is toggled during the course of the day to manage river temperatures. “This is a routine procedure that becomes necessary from time to time during the hot days of summer,” the spokesperson said. “Due to the heat, we assume that further power reductions will be necessary over the next few days.”
Like <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/europes-gas-prices-are-even-higher-than-americas">other European countries</a>, Switzerland is experiencing decreased Russian fuel supply as the nation invades neighboring Ukraine. As a result, the cost of gasoline is presently <a href="https://www.globalpetrolprices.com/Switzerland/gasoline_prices/">$8.47</a> per gallon in Switzerland, while the national average gas price in the United States is $4.50 per gallon as of Tuesday, according to <a href="https://gasprices.aaa.com/">AAA</a>.
The slowdown of energy production at Beznau occurs as the Biden administration’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) recommends <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/white-house-suggests-breaching-dams-to-save-endangered-salmon-even-though-it-would-worsen-energy-and-supply-chain-issues">breaching dams</a> in the Pacific Northwest to ensure the survival of endangered salmon.
A <a href="https://media.fisheries.noaa.gov/2022-07/icrb-salmon-steelhead-recovery-summary-draft-v2.5.pdf">draft report</a> from the agency released last week suggested that four Snake River dams should be breached to cut salmon travel time and reduce stress on juvenile fish and encounters with powerhouses. The “earthen portion of each dam would be removed, and a naturalized river channel would be established around the concrete spillway and powerhouse structures,” according to the report.
The dams, however, provide 3,033 megawatts of capacity to the Pacific Northwest, according to a 2016 <a href="https://nwriverpartners.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/BPA-Snake-Dams-Fact-Sheet-2016.pdf">fact sheet</a> from the Bonneville Power Administration. The entity <a href="https://www.bpa.gov/-/media/Aep/power/hydropower-data-studies/e3-bpa-lower-snake-river-dams-power-replacement-study.pdf">added</a> this month that replacing the dams would cost $415 million to $860 million per year until 2045, amounting to a total cost of up to $19.6 billion and increasing electricity costs for households by up to 18% over the same horizon. The replacement is made more expensive over time “due to increasingly stringent clean energy standards and electrification-driven load growth.”
The region <a href="https://apnews.com/article/climate-change-government-and-politics-business-environment-and-nature-6a66be20ed86ad18ed131156c9f7a517">faced</a> rolling blackouts — intentionally induced to preserve capacity in the long run — amid an historic heatwave, leading to roughly one dozen deaths. A North American Electric Reliability Corporation reliability assessment warned earlier this year that much of the United States is at a “high risk” or “elevated risk” for rolling blackouts this summer.

Nuclear power plant Beznau (KKB), Switzerland

Swiss Nuclear Power Plant Cuts Production In Middle Of Energy Crisis To Protect Local Fish

Swiss Nuclear Power Plant Cuts Production To Save Fish In Middle Of Energy Crisis

Fish

Nuclear Power

Switzerland

As the <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/stock-market">stock market</a> goes down the tubes, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/wall-street">Wall Street</a> investors are reaping the whirlwind of their addiction to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/woke">woke</a> investing.
Environmental, Social, and Governance (<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/esg">ESG</a>) investing, which is in vogue among leading corporations and financiers, has suffered the most in the current downturn. ESG investors tend to select stocks from growth industries like technology, which often favor short-term yields over long-term results. Though tech companies are well known for bankrolling social justice initiatives in reaction to national events like the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/one-year-after-george-floyd-americas-biggest-corporations-earmark-37-billion-for-racial-equity">death of George Floyd</a> or the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/here-are-the-woke-businesses-vowing-to-cover-travel-costs-for-employees-abortion-tourism">overturning of Roe v. Wade</a>, they were the first to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/recession-fears-lead-big-tech-companies-to-pause-hiring-cut-jobs">lay off</a> large portions of their staff as the stock market began its months-long tailspin.
For instance, iShares’ <a href="https://www.ishares.com/us/products/308574/ishares-esg-msci-usa-leaders-etf">ESG Aware MSCI ETF</a> — which has its largest holdings in companies like Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, and Tesla — is down over 21% since the beginning of 2022, slightly lower than the overall S&amp;P 500 index. Meanwhile, iShares’ <a href="https://www.ishares.com/us/products/239741/ishares-global-energy-etf">Global Energy ETF</a> — dominated by oil and gas conglomerates like Exxon Mobil, Chevron, and Shell — has risen nearly 16% over the same time period.
“The ESG movement&#8217;s realization that shunning traditional energy companies sacrifices profits proves what everyone else already knew: virtue signaling isn&#8217;t free,” entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, who recently <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/americans-want-companies-to-stay-out-of-politics-ceo-launches-fund-to-take-on-woke-asset-managers">launched</a> an asset management firm centered upon “excellence capitalism,” told The Daily Wire. “Large asset managers are desperate to go back to the days of investing money to make money, but their hands are tied by the ESG rope of their own making.”
Asset managers BlackRock, Vanguard, and State Street — which, on average, control a combined 20% stake in every Fortune 500 company and manage $21 trillion — have <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/how-three-investment-firms-are-turning-companies-like-disney-woke-and-what-you-can-do-to-fight-back">advanced</a> ESG efforts within the ranks of their portfolio companies. By adopting ESG goals, companies commit themselves to pursuing green energy adoption, appointing a certain number of racial minorities to serve as executives, or otherwise mingling profitability with progressive politics.
Investor and author Jerry Bowyer, who serves as a senior fellow at the Center for Cultural Leadership, told The Daily Wire that recent stock market outcomes prove that “ESG is not a serious approach to investing for return.”
“If ESG vendors would openly admit that they were moving their gaze away from the pursuit of returns for their clients, it would be more defensible,” Bowyer argued. “Clients would then know that they’re likely making a little offering to the gods of social responsibility in the form of lower returns. But what has happened is that the ESG industry has pretty consistently denied the return sacrifice and engaged in highly speculative arguments that ESG is good for shareholders.”
A November 2019 <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/~/media/McKinsey/Business%20Functions/Strategy%20and%20Corporate%20Finance/Our%20Insights/Five%20ways%20that%20ESG%20creates%20value/Five-ways-that-ESG-creates-value.ashx">report</a> from consulting firm McKinsey, for example, argues that companies which intentionally lower their energy consumption can benefit from cost reductions and reap higher returns by avoiding investment opportunities that “may not pay off because of longer-term environmental issues.”
Bowyer said that state treasurers are currently noticing that “arbitrarily excluding a major center of value creation such as oil, gas, and coal companies is not consistent with their fiduciary responsibility to pension investors.” Indeed, several Republican state treasurers have <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/wall-street-is-trying-to-punish-middle-america-for-religious-and-cultural-views-through-woke-investing-republican-state-treasurers-warn">sounded the alarm</a> over Wall Street’s efforts to use ESG metrics as an excuse to discriminate against public financing efforts from states with conservative values.
“The world of retirement funds is waking up to the problems earlier because the law is clearer regarding obligations to put investor interests first,” Bowyer remarked. “But in general, those people in the industry who are closest to investors — for example, financial advisors — are more aware of ESG problems than the top-down part of the industry in gigantic institutional money management.”
While large asset managers continue to push ESG, an exclusive <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/poll-by-two-to-one-margin-investors-reject-woke-companies-pushing-political-causes">Daily Wire poll conducted by Echelon Insights</a> recently indicated that there is a desire among American investors for more opportunities apart from progressive investing. Respondents recognized that ESG tends to promote “more liberal positions” than “more conservative positions.” While 50% believe the former and 16% believe the latter, only 21% believe that ESG investing is neutral.
David Bahnsen, the founder of Manhattan-based wealth management firm The Bahnsen Group, told The Daily Wire that “the pendulum will swing” away from “ESG insanity” in light of recent stock market trends.
“But along the way, will there be ongoing damage from those who have already dug their heels in? I am sure that is true, too,” he added. “The objective must be for markets to punish the ESG zealots enough that market forces usher in a reasonable pivot. Here, I do not merely mean stock prices, but rather the response of employees, managers, vendors, suppliers, and more.”
Indeed, the pendulum may be swinging among the broader American population. While 29% of respondents to The Daily Wire’s poll agreed it is a “good thing” for companies to leverage their financial power for political or social means supported by executives, 58% — twice as many — said it is a “bad thing.”

Times Square As U.S. Stocks Climb On Earnings

‘Virtue Signaling Isn’t Free’: How Woke Investing Fell Apart Once The Economy Got Bad

ESG Fails To Weather The Current Stock Market Storm

Readers Pass

Stock Market

Wall Street

Wokeness

Tesla is asking all Texas-based customers to avoid charging their electric vehicles during certain times of the day as <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/texas">the Lone Star State</a> is currently experiencing a massive heatwave that is straining its electrical power grid.
On Wednesday, The Verge <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2022/7/13/23207428/tesla-texas-ev-charging-heatwave-off-peak-grid">reported</a> that Tesla recently sent a notice to the screens inside Tesla vehicles in Texas saying, &#8220;A heat wave is expected to impact the grid in Texas over the next few days.&#8221;
&#8220;The grid operator recommends to avoid charging during peak hours between 3pm and 8pm, if possible, to help statewide efforts to manage demand,&#8221; the alert added.
On Monday, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) — which operates the state&#8217;s power grid — asked residents to conserve energy between the hours of 2:00 pm and 8:00 pm local time by not using heavy appliances during that timeframe.
Texas uses a mix of fossil fuels and renewables to keep its electrical grid running. When major heat waves move through the state, wind power is often decreased due to a change in pressure in the atmosphere. Thus, the state&#8217;s wind turbines are failing to produce the necessary amount of energy to keep the grid operating without significant problems.
Texas has experienced similar issues in recent years due to extreme weather — including winter storms. The state so far has been able to avoid rolling blackouts during the latest weather calamity — which some say is because of voluntary cutbacks on energy. While others argue that the problem is overly relying on wind power or insufficient investment in the energy infrastructure.
Daniel Turner, the founder of Power the Future, told The Daily Wire that the recurring energy problems illustrate one of the major drawbacks of transferring to green energy. In recent years, Texas has<a href="https://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2021/04/26/after_the_texas_blackouts_follow_the_wind_and_solar_money__all_66_billion_of_it_774468.html"> spent billions</a> increasing the capacity of its wind farms.
&#8220;Texas has spent $66 billion of taxpayer money on renewable energy with the promise of 30,000 MW of capacity,&#8221; he said in an emailed statement. &#8220;According to ERCOT for the last few days it has generated far less than that.&#8221;
On Monday, ERCOT <a href="https://www.ercot.com/news/release?id=90030206-5cf5-db8e-13d1-f8fe2bd0128f">announced</a>, &#8220;While solar power is generally reaching near full generation capacity, wind generation is currently generating significantly less than what it historically generated in this time period. Current projections show wind generation coming in less than 10 percent of its capacity.&#8221;
&#8220;This is the ongoing lie about green energy,&#8221; Turner continued. &#8220;Capacity is not a valid metric since it is dependent on unknowable wind and sun. The electric grid requires constancy yet it is being sourced with a persistent variable. This is the application of the social sciences, political philosophy, and equity studies to the hard science — not engineering and physics.&#8221;
Turner explained further, saying that despite rhetoric emphasizing that green energy is beneficial — it can severely impact your day-to-day habits.
&#8220;Texans are sent warnings to raise their air condition temperature and not use appliances like washing machines,&#8221; Turner clarified. &#8220;These are the messages sent to the developing world, yet in the name of &#8216;progress&#8217; Texans are taking steps backward in their quality of life.&#8221;
Turner also pointed out that the state is currently being assisted by fossil fuels — the kind demonized by leftists — to keep the grid afloat.
Others, like the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), argue that the state&#8217;s ongoing problems point to the fact that more investment is needed in the grid to ensure it can run smoothly.
Texas&#8217; grid largely relies on its own power structure  — meaning that it is essentially incapable of using energy from neighboring states during times of need.
&#8220;Texas suffered the worst outcomes in large part because most of the state is an electrical island with very limited connections to neighboring states,&#8221; NRDC <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/experts/christy-walsh/texas-storm-proved-need-grid-investments">said</a> in a February 2022 press release while discussing a 2020 winter storm that caused several days of blackouts in Texas. &#8220;With no transmission crossing state lines, it could not lean on its neighbors for power.&#8221;
NRDC says the solution is to have a diverse power grid capable of maximizing its energy potential in conjunction with other energy providers.
&#8220;No single power source is infallible, but a nimble and resilient grid can deliver electricity across the country from the producers that have it to the areas that need it,&#8221; NRDC <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/experts/christy-walsh/texas-storm-proved-need-grid-investments">added</a>.
Tesla, led by the world&#8217;s richest man Elon Musk, moved its headquarters to Texas from California in late 2021.

Tesla Asks Texans To Limit Charging Cars During Heat Wave As Wind Power Slows

Elon Musk

Solar Power

Tesla

The <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/biden-administration">Biden administration’s</a> National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) recommended breaching dams on the Snake River to ensure the survival of endangered <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/animals">salmon</a> — a move that could jeopardize <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/energy">power</a> supplies in the Pacific Northwest and worsen the <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/supply-chain">supply chain</a> crisis.
A Monday <a href="https://media.fisheries.noaa.gov/2022-07/icrb-salmon-steelhead-recovery-summary-draft-v2.5.pdf">draft report</a> from the agency suggested that the four lower Snake River dams should be breached to decrease travel time for salmon, as well as reduce stress on juvenile fish and encounters with powerhouses. The “earthen portion of each dam would be removed, and a naturalized river channel would be established around the concrete spillway and powerhouse structures,” according to the report.
The dams, however, provide 3,033 megawatts of capacity to the Pacific Northwest, according to a 2016 <a href="https://nwriverpartners.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/BPA-Snake-Dams-Fact-Sheet-2016.pdf">fact sheet</a> from the Bonneville Power Administration. The entity <a href="https://www.bpa.gov/-/media/Aep/power/hydropower-data-studies/e3-bpa-lower-snake-river-dams-power-replacement-study.pdf">added</a> this month that replacing the dams would cost $415 million to $860 million per year until 2045, amounting to a total cost of up to $19.6 billion and increasing electricity costs for households by up to 18% over the same horizon. The replacement is made more expensive over time “due to increasingly stringent clean energy standards and electrification-driven load growth.”
Indeed, lawmakers from the region — including Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) — are calling for President Joe Biden to nix the proposal, noting that the administration issued a <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/06/06/declaration-of-emergency-and-authorization-for-temporary-extensions-of-time-and-duty-free-importation-of-solar-cells-and-modules-from-southeast-asia/">declaration of emergency</a> last month with respect to the nation’s grid capacity.
“Today, with the release of these draft reports, one thing is clear: the Biden administration is talking a big game on carbon goals while simultaneously engaging in actions to undermine valuable clean, affordable, and renewable power resources on the Columbia River System, thus compromising energy stability across the region,” the lawmakers’ <a href="https://mcmorris.house.gov/posts/mcmorris-rodgers-pnw-lawmakers-blast-potus-for-cherry-picking-science-to-justify-breaching-lsr-dams">statement</a> said.
Citing <a href="https://www.cbr.washington.edu/dart">data</a> from the University of Washington, the lawmakers noted that salmon returns have been increasing since 2019, with spring Chinook salmon returns rising 31% above the 10-year average. “We urge this administration to consider the facts, prioritize transparency, and utilize sound science and input from all tribes, industry groups, and the ratepayers themselves before coming to an outcome in any final report that would be catastrophic to the communities we represent,” the statement added.
Last summer, the Pacific Northwest <a href="https://apnews.com/article/climate-change-government-and-politics-business-environment-and-nature-6a66be20ed86ad18ed131156c9f7a517">faced</a> rolling blackouts — which are intentionally induced to preserve capacity in the long run — amid an historic heatwave, leading to roughly one dozen deaths. A <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/rolling-summer-blackouts-expected-across-united-states">reliability assessment</a> from the North American Electric Reliability Corporation said earlier this year that much of the United States is at a “high risk” or “elevated risk” for rolling blackouts this summer.
Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-WA) <a href="https://newhouse.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/newhouse-introduces-bill-protect-four-lower-snake-river-dams-clean">introduced</a> the Federal Columbia River Power System Certainty Act in June to ensure that the lower Snake River dams are not breached.
“Amidst a national energy and supply chain crisis, it is unconscionable that dam-breaching advocates … repeatedly attempt to force a predetermined, unscientific conclusion that will put our communities who are already struggling at risk,” Newhouse said. “In the Pacific Northwest, not only do we depend on this critical infrastructure for clean, renewable, and affordable energy, but transportation for 60% of the nation’s wheat. The Snake River Dams are integral to flood control, navigation, irrigation, agriculture, and recreation in Central Washington and our region cannot afford to lose them.”

Joe Biden

White House Suggests Breaching Dams To Save Endangered Salmon, Even Though It Would Worsen Energy And Supply Chain Issues

White House Suggests Breaching Pacific Northwest Dams To Save Endangered Salmon

Animals

Biden Administration

Supply Chain

Relatives of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/joe-biden">President Joe Biden</a> worked to give <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/china">China</a> “preferential access” to American gas following a Chinese energy magnate&#8217;s pledge to lend millions of dollars to the Biden “family,” materials on <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/hunter-biden">Hunter Biden</a>’s laptop reviewed by The Daily Wire show.
The shocking bid to transfer American liquid natural gas (LNG) to an adversarial communist nation came in 2017, when Hunter and James Biden — the now-president’s son and brother — and their business partners sought to help build an LNG facility in Louisiana called Monkey Island using Chinese materials, then sell the gas to China. In May of that year, Hunter Biden met with <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/death-row-or-wanted-for-murder-the-cursed-lives-of-hunter-bidens-associates">Ye Jianming</a>, the founder of corrupt Chinese energy giant CEFC Energy, who gave Hunter Biden a large diamond, the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/12/business/cefc-biden-china-washington-ye-jianming.html">New York Times</a> reported in 2018.
A document sent to Hunter Biden by JiaQi Bao, who advised the future president&#8217;s son on energy deals, said the cooperation set up to run Monkey Island wanted a Biden-linked firm called Hudson West to invest between $350 million and $1.5 billion in the project, but that onerous U.S. government review process made the investment less attractive.
Monkey Island CEO Greg Michaels told the Biden group that &#8220;as an owner in MILNG, Hudson West will have preferential access to all LNG prior to other customers.&#8221; That arrangement would have allowed the investors to sell Monkey Island’s gas to China in large quantities.
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-406771" src="https://www.dailywire.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/mi.png" alt="" width="1758" height="230" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/07/mi.png 1758w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/07/mi-300x39.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/07/mi-1024x134.png 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/07/mi-768x100.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/07/mi-1536x201.png 1536w" sizes="(max-width: 1758px) 100vw, 1758px" /></div>
Michaels also sent Hunter and James Biden &#8220;talking points&#8221; that said that the facility’s equipment would be built in China, then assembled on-site, which would “put billions of dollars into the Chinese economy and support thousands of construction and procurement jobs for Chinese workers.&#8221;
In October 2017, Bao told Hunter Biden he was now in a position to steer American liquid natural gas from other projects to Ye&#8217;s company.
&#8220;Through you and Uncle Jim&#8217;s connection, with Monkey Island/Magnolia/Project ABC as a starting point/talking point, we can check out a lot of all other interesting Louisana/Taxes/Gulf of Mexico U. S. projects,&#8221; Bay wrote to Hunter Biden. &#8220;You are the best person to help your friend Ye to do that, because you know a lot of folks in the area and you have the access to decision-makers.&#8221;
Another proposed joint venture called Sinohawk would bring together CEFC with Hunter and Jim Biden and three other partners. It was the project in which a &#8220;provisional agreement&#8221; said that 10% of the equity would be &#8220;held by H for the big guy?&#8221; One of the partners, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hunter-biden-business-partner-a-pro-democrat-navy-veteran-hunter-asked-dad-to-sign-off-on-deals">Tony Bobulinski</a>, said that was a reference to Joe Biden. In a proposal for Sinohawk to the Chinese, the group boasted that Jim Biden &#8220;remains a personal advisor to his brother.&#8221;
The Chinese side was generous to what it called the Biden “family.” In July 2017, a CEFC official <a href="https://int.nyt.com/data/documenttools/2018-10-12-14/774c89ef75794566/full.pdf">wrote</a> that &#8220;Chairman Ye and Director Zang fully support the framework of establishing the JV [joint venture], based on their trust on BD family.&#8221; It said a wire of $10 million had been delayed by details including: &#8220;$5 million is lent to BD family in the 10 million charter capital. &#8230; But if the 5 M is used up, should CEFC keep lending more to the family?&#8221;
In August, CEFC wired $5 million to a Hudson West III bank account, which was later transferred to Hunter&#8217;s firm, and some from there to a firm controlled by James Biden and his wife Sara. A bank asked Sara Biden about the transactions, and she refused to provide any supporting documentation, leading the bank to close the account, according to a <a href="https://www.hsgac.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/HSGAC_Finance_Report_FINAL.pdf">Senate report</a>.
In September, a credit line under the name Hudson West III was established by a Chinese man named Gongwen Dong — who Hunter Biden called “Chairman Ye CEFC emissary” — and Hunter Biden, and credit cards linked to the line of credit were sent to Hunter, James, and Sara, which were used for personal expenses, according to the Senate report.
On November 8, 2017, Hunter drafted a letter to a Chinese CEFC partner that said, &#8220;This framework would fill the short term needs of CEFC by providing off take contracts for large quantities of LNG at very competitive rates while also advancing the long term goals of CEFC through a partnership or acquisition of a promising LNG terminal project in Louisiana.”
The same month, Hudson West produced presentations advertising America’s gas reserves to a Chinese audience.
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-406773" src="https://www.dailywire.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/hw5.png" alt="" width="1547" height="885" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/07/hw5.png 1547w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/07/hw5-300x172.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/07/hw5-1007x576.png 1007w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/07/hw5-768x439.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/07/hw5-1536x879.png 1536w" sizes="(max-width: 1547px) 100vw, 1547px" /></div>
The deal fell apart only because key figures were arrested. On November 18, 2017, CEFC official Patrick Ho was <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2018/12/05/asia/patrick-ho-bribery-conviction-intl/index.html">arrested</a> in New York on corruption charges involving seeking to bribe African leaders. The first call he placed was to Jim Biden, <a href="https://news.yahoo.com/china-wants-new-world-order-u-n-china-linked-ngos-secretly-paid-cash-promote-beijings-vision-145746181.html">reported</a> Yahoo! News. Hudson West III later paid $1 million to Hunter&#8217;s law firm, purportedly for Hunter serving as Ho&#8217;s lawyer, as <a href="https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2022/mar/29/gop-senators-explore-chinese-companys-1-million-pa/">reported</a> by The Washington Times.
Soon after Ho’s arrest, CEFC top executive Ye was imprisoned by China, leading Hunter Biden to lament, “My business partner is now a prisoner on death row in China.” When a New York Times article that mentioned Hunter Biden&#8217;s involvement with Ye came out, Joe Biden <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/joe-biden-spoke-with-hunter-about-dealings-with-chinese-oil-tycoon-voicemail-reveals">called him and left a voicemail</a> about the article saying, &#8220;I think you&#8217;re clear.&#8221;
The Monkey Island deal was only one instance of Hunter and Jim Biden attempting to enrich themselves by steering large amounts of America’s energy resources to China.
Their associates frequently discussed how China had invested in another Louisiana LNG facility through Cheniere Energy, which runs a plant in Sabine Pass. Also in 2017, through a Louisiana-based lawyer named Bob Fenet, Hunter and Jim Biden attempted to arrange for five million tons of LNG per year to be sold to China for at least five years — about a quarter of the Sabine Pass plant’s capacity at the time.
Hunter Biden explored connecting China with LNG from Alaska beginning in 2014, while Joe Biden was vice president, but apparently eventually concluded that it would be too expensive.
Hudson West also explored another LNG deal in Louisiana called Magnolia, as well as investing in constructing a port called Port Cameron for &#8220;oil export through the Gulf of Mexico.&#8221;
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-406772" src="https://www.dailywire.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/hw6.png" alt="" width="1536" height="888" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/07/hw6.png 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/07/hw6-300x173.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/07/hw6-996x576.png 996w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/07/hw6-768x444.png 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1536px) 100vw, 1536px" /></div>
 
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China energy map

Biden Family Sought To Make Money By Giving China ‘Preferential Access’ To US Energy

Hunter, Jim Biden Sought To Make Money By Giving China ‘Preferential Access’ To US Gas

China

Gas Prices

The California legislature passed its Democratic Governor <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/gavin-newsom">Gavin Newsom&#8217;s</a> new <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/energy">energy</a> strategy to keep the grid operating in the state, all while introducing an economic package that some say will not help the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/economy">economy</a>.
According to the Los Angeles Times, the legislature <a href="https://www.latimes.com/environment/newsletter/2022-06-30/california-passes-polarizing-energy-bill-that-could-help-rescue-gas-plants-boiling-point">passed</a> a <a href="https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB205">bill</a> on Tuesday night giving the Department of Water Resources (DWR) the ability to bypass the regular procedure of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), which includes an opportunity for public commentary when making decisions, to give money to gas-powered plants and diesel generators. The measure passed the Senate 27 to 8, and passed the Assembly by 57 to 13.
It also has funding to keep the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant open longer than 2024 and 2025, securing up to $75 million in reserve resources, per <a href="https://calmatters.org/environment/2022/06/california-nuclear-power-pge-diablo-canyon/">CalMatters</a>.
State Senator Henry Stern (D) observed that the legislation will permit state authorities to purchase “some emergency fossil fuel resources,&#8221; but Newsom&#8217;s administration has said that will only be utilized as a last option.
Newsom&#8217;s team also told Stern that the measure won&#8217;t permit four gas plants in Southern California to remain open after 2023, but climate advocates don&#8217;t agree. Government regulators could potentially take more steps in order to keep the plants running.
According to a prior <a href="https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2022-06-28/newsoms-energy-bill">article</a> from the Los Angeles Times, other agencies and air quality districts will also not be able to give their consent to the DWR’s choices on which suppliers to fund. A separate measure would permit corporations constructing some renewable energy sources to bypass approval from county governments.
Last month, Newsom asked legislators to greenlight a $5.2 billion “strategic electricity reliability reserve” that would fund emergency energy sources over the coming few years. If signed by the governor, this measure would make it so that the DWR gains the funds through this separate review procedure with the California Energy Commission.
EJ Antoni, a research fellow for Regional Economics at The Heritage Foundation, told The Daily Wire that a lot of Democratic governors’ “Green New Deal vision is bumping up against reality in a very hard way.”
“California already was having blackout and brown out problems to the point where they&#8217;re now predictable, and the green energy nonsense is just adding insult to injury,” he said.
Antoni added that they are aware that no matter how much these sources are subsidized, “they&#8217;re not going to generate enough electricity.”
“So now,” he added, &#8220;they have to go back to the tried and true fossil fuels, nuclear, hydro, et cetera, to try to meet their state&#8217;s power demands.” He said Newsom is realizing they “don&#8217;t have enough electricity from all of this newfangled green energy stuff that we were promised. … they’re basically having to go hat in hand to the very people they tried to shut down” and ask them to keep producing enough electricity.
In a joint <a href="https://www.gov.ca.gov/2022/06/26/governor-newsom-senate-president-pro-tempore-atkins-and-assembly-speaker-rendon-announce-budget-agreement/">statement</a> <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/newsom-california-democratic-lawmakers-claim-true-pro-life-agenda-in-budget-announcement">earlier</a> this week, Newsom, along with California Senate President pro-Tempore Toni G. Atkins (D) and Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon (D) said the blueprint for the 2022-2023 budget was reached and will have $17 billion in inflation relief, giving tax refunds to people in the state. Twenty-three million Californians will receive direct funds of up to $1,050, and the state sales tax on diesel will be temporarily stopped. The package will also provide more money to assist with utility and rent payments.
Antoni, however, said “it looks like they&#8217;re helping Californians, but all they&#8217;re really doing is taking money out of investment,” adding, “they’re just decreasing investment to increase consumption. That&#8217;s a formula for slower growth in the long run. So they&#8217;re really not helping anybody.”

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California Legislature Passes Newsom’s New Energy Policy That Could Allow Easier Funding For Fossil Fuels

California Lawmakers Pass New Energy Proposal Giving Department Of Water Resources Easier Process To Provide Funding To Fossil Fuel Plants 

California

Fossil Fuels

Gavin Newsom

Nuclear

Gas prices have driven many a voter to the polls in our nation’s history, but Americans are feeling pain at the pump now more than ever as the average national gas price <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/06/11/1104364665/gas-prices-5-high-inflation">breached $5 for the first time in history</a>.
President Biden is busying himself with non-solutions like a temporary gas tax break — something <a href="https://nam11.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Frumble.com%2Fv19b73j-real-america-dan-ball-w-jason-isaac-biden-regime-making-way-for-the-green-n.html&amp;data=05%7C01%7Cjisaac%40texaspolicy.com%7C30684a4262ab4db5b6c408da54b10e3f%7Ca09e2cb6dde84dd8ae3df1e84f57dd50%7C0%7C0%7C637915416677719031%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=ZGqd6D4Esc1IpC8gdeFPoQeqpJLHZ4lse5fQNLWmQiQ%3D&amp;reserved=0">even former President Obama called a &#8220;gimmick&#8221;</a> — in an attempt to show some concern for the lower- and middle-class families he claimed to fight for on the campaign trail. But a bevy of mandates handed down from his administrative state indicate his real priorities lie elsewhere. President Biden’s <a href="https://nam11.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.whitehouse.gov%2Fbriefing-room%2Fstatements-releases%2F2022%2F06%2F06%2Ffact-sheet-president-biden-takes-bold-executive-action-to-spur-domestic-clean-energy-manufacturing%2F&amp;data=05%7C01%7Cjisaac%40texaspolicy.com%7C30684a4262ab4db5b6c408da54b10e3f%7Ca09e2cb6dde84dd8ae3df1e84f57dd50%7C0%7C0%7C637915416677719031%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=O7fh3YPqFgATUY1nxSpqNe15W8En3vFepbcG87H6NIM%3D&amp;reserved=0">bizarre abuse of the Defense Production Act</a> for inexpensive and unreliable renewable energy — and his continued injection of climate politics into financial regulations — suggest the president’s leftist agenda takes precedent over our well-being.
If only President Biden knew how simple it would be to solve $5 gas and restore economic prosperity to the nation.
Biden’s exploitation of the Defense Production Act to prop up the renewable energy industry may be his most out-of-touch move yet. With <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/05/11/two-thirds-of-americans-live-paycheck-to-paycheck-as-inflation-climbs.html">two-thirds of the nation living paycheck-to-paycheck</a> — not to mention serious crises like the baby formula shortage still ongoing — Biden is giving special treatment to energy sources that have never yet proven to be worth the taxpayers’ hard-earned dollars. <a href="https://lifepowered.org/new-research-examines-last-decade-of-federal-energy-subsidies/">Decades of subsidies measuring in the hundreds of billions</a> haven’t made renewable energy more reliable or affordable, despite its advocates’ bold claims. The Defense Production Act won’t either; it will just drive energy prices even higher.
The Trump administration’s pro-energy policies created real savings for families — and continued <a href="https://lifepowered.org/for-a-cleaner-earth-invest-in-dont-divest-from-fossil-fuels/">our track record of global environmental leadership</a> — but President Biden’s war on fossil fuels has already erased that progress. The average family is now paying nearly $3,000 more on gasoline per year than under the previous administration, on top of sky-high inflation causing higher prices for other essential goods.
And it’s not just that President Biden favors wind and solar over fossil fuels. His legion of bureaucrats are actively working to destroy the American energy industry by imposing draconian financial regulations. A new proposal from the SEC will <a href="https://www.thecentersquare.com/alabama/governors-pan-sec-climate-disclosure-proposal-as-unprecedented-federal-overreach/article_7bb8624c-e11b-11ec-8503-7be3b284c3da.html">impose massive compliance costs on energy producers</a> and force them to spend time and money on “greenwashing” instead of on harvesting and delivering the energy we need.
We need only look across the pond to the European Union to see how such a deliberate anti-energy agenda will work out for America. The EU is <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/info/news/focus-reducing-eus-dependence-imported-fossil-fuels-2022-kwi-20_en">now dependent</a> on Russia for 40% of its natural gas, 27% of its oil, and 46% of its coal — and electricity prices are skyrocketing. America can and should be a world superpower in energy, but President Biden’s policies have already made us energy dependent once again.
President Biden will continue to blame Russian President Vladimir Putin and oil companies, but he needs to man up and accept responsibility. He told us he was going to do this: “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Slszva6kk90">I guarantee you we’re going to end fossil fuel</a>,” he said. The president knew there would be pain inflicted by forcing the American people to give up the prosperity provided by oil, gas, and coal. In the last 150 years that humanity has had access to fossil fuels, <a href="https://lifepowered.org/daily-wire-the-debilitating-pessimism-of-climate-change-alarmists/">every measurement of quality of life has improved</a> as poverty has declined, health has improved, and our environment has gotten cleaner.
It’s an injustice that President Biden is forcing poverty onto the American people to appease ruling-class elites who prioritize climate catastrophism over improving human lives. Fossil fuels and nuclear energy need to be embraced to improve the global environment, lift billions out of poverty, and promote economic prosperity in America and abroad.
The views expressed in this piece are the author&#8217;s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
Jason Isaac is Director of Life:Powered, a national initiative of the Texas Public Policy Foundation to raise America’s energy IQ. Jason has appeared live on Fox Business Network and other national news shows, and his commentaries have been published in Fox Business, The Hill, The Washington Examiner, The Daily Caller, and other publications.

Biden’s Abuse Of Defense Production Act Will Drive Gas Prices Even Higher

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