By Kennedy Maize In acquiring control of the nation’s only rare earth mining company, the Trump administration has mimicked the model developed by China’s Communist Party government, according to an analysis by London’s prestigious Financial Times newspaper. On July 10, MP Materials of Las Vegas announced a deal where the Pentagon acquired a controlling interest … More Financial Times scopes out Trump’s rare earth communism

By Kennedy Maize The Interior Department has approved a tiny new strip mine in Tennessee, claiming hyperbolically that the action by the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE) would “strengthen America’s energy independence and create local jobs. The coal from this mine will support important industries like steelmaking and power generation.” The 635-acre … More Interior approves a strip mine, much ado about not very much

By Kennedy Maize Demand side management, or “DSM”, was a hot topic in the electric business in the 1990s. It was often seen as a magic elixir for how to reduce pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, and other bad “externalities” without burdening customers with either higher prices or reduced supply. DSM was often seen as no-cost, … More The dollars and sense of decreasing electricity demand

By Kennedy Maize The Trump administration last week (July 11) joined a groundbreaking ceremony at a new Wyoming coal mine, where the more important product is expected to be rare earth minerals. At the same time, the administration was buying a controlling interest in the only currently producing U.S. rare earth mine, in southern California. … More A rare flurry of rare earth news from Wyoming and California

By Henry Sokolski Of all the questions America’s bombing of Iran has generated, the one that’s received the least attention is how we got here. The US and Israeli assault on Iran’s nuclear facilities was the predictable result of persistent US and international unwillingness to draw the line properly between safe and dangerous nuclear activities … More Guest Commentary: The old nuclear rules won’t stop proliferation

By Kennedy Maize Do U.S. electric power suppliers looking to nuclear power to serve AI data centers need a new way to finance new plants? An analysis by the Haynes Boone law firm says the conventional U.S. approach to nuclear finance is likely a dead end. The analysis offers two European models for nuclear finance … More New ideas for nuke finance: follow Finland and France?

By Kennedy Maize One of the nation’s most important and least well-known environmental and energy wrangles could be headed to a conclusion. The clock is ticking on the multi-state discussion on how to manage the use of the water from the crucial Colorado River. The Denver Post reports, “After months of stalemate, glimmers of hope … More Will the Southwest reach a new deal on Colorado River water?

By Kennedy Maize “Dog’s dinner” is a Britishism signifying something messy, chaotic, badly organized. The massive legislation Congress passed, and the president signed into law on Independence Day, has all those attributes. That’s particularly true for the energy provisions, which include a whole lotta fakin’ goin’ on. Overall, the energy provisions are bad for the … More For energy, Trump’s law is a dog’s dinner

The U.S. Supreme Court Monday (June 30) refused to grant a petition from ExxonMobil Corp. seeking to reverse an appeals court loss in a massive, 15-year dispute over air pollution at the oil giant’s Baytown, Texas petrochemical complex. Exxon now faces a $14.25 million penalty, the largest ever in a Clean Air Act citizen suit. … More Exhausting Exxon air pollution suit expires at SCOTUS

A bogus presidential order and a feckless administrative agency has put the Trump administration in a nasty, complex dispute involving a private sector electric company, state regulators, a state governor, a multi-state electric grid management organization that includes a bit of Canada and runs to the Gulf of Mexico, a host of public interest groups, … More Commentary: Trump administration’s electric ignorance revealed