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Minnesotans Ought to be Concerned by State’s Sweeping Energy Transformation

Via The Duluth News Tribune: Renewable energy has certainly been in the news of late, with a number of states announcing efforts to ramp up wind and solar power. Minnesota is now joining this green movement, thanks to legislation introduced by Sen. Nick Frentz, DFL-North Mankato, and Rep. Jamie Long, DFL-Minneapolis. The two are hoping […]

Natural Gas Exports Could Turn a Blessing Into a Curse

Via Real Clear Energy: If someone had suggested a decade ago that countries around the world could obtain large amounts of natural gas from the United States, the idea would have been dismissed as fantasy. Back at the turn of the century, American natural gas fields were thought to be depleted, and energy investors were […]

A “Very Scary” Situation in Texas

Texas got a taste of cooler than expected weather this week and it sent shockwaves across the state’s electricity market. The Lone Star State learned a valuable lesson about putting too much faith in intermittent renewables. Temperatures dipped Monday morning, increasing heating demand, and that cooler weather was accompanied by calmer than expected winds. Calm […]

US Labor Secretary Tours North Antelope Rochelle Coal Mine

Via The Gillette News Record: U.S. Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta is in Wyoming to tour some of the Cowboy State’s largest industries, hosted by U.S. Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyoming. Monday morning, the pair took a tour of Peabody Energy Corp.’s North Antelope Rochelle coal mine south of Gillette. Enzi said after the tour that […]

“The Surprisingly Sustainable Case for Coal”

Via The World Coal Association: Amid a fuel that is so often miscast as a Hollywood villain, I’d like to briefly lay out what I would call the surprisingly sustainable case for coal… with three key observations. First Observation: The story of global energy is not one of good versus evil.  It is a tale […]

Coal’s Decline Could Mean More Power Shortages

Via The Washington Examiner: As the need for electricity to power the nation’s digital economy grows, coal is no longer playing a primary role, and that’s problematic, because it undergirds the electric grid and is the most reliable source of energy. Without coal plants that supply base-load power on demand, large parts of the United […]

A Solution in Search of a Problem

It’s not uncommon to hear calls for rebuilding and transforming the electricity grid. In fact, renewable energy boosters say transforming the grid is an imperative if the nation is to reach their goal of 100 percent wind and solar power. But this call for transformation exposes some of the underlying problems with the proposed wind […]

Alabama Coal Industry Posts Record in Met Coal Exports

Via The Birmingham Business Journal:  Alabama’s coal industry posted a gain in 2018. According to the Alabama Coal Association, the state exported 11 million short tons of metallurgical (met) or “coking coal” last year. Valued at $2 billion, the met coal was shipped through the Port of Mobile to steel manufacturers in Europe, South America […]

Can Colorado Go Completely Green?

Via The Gazette: The clean energy movement got a big jumpstart recently with the unveiling of the “Green New Deal.” And even as critics took aim at the plan’s broad agenda and massive price tag, individual states started announcing similar goals. Colorado in particular has moved to the fore, thanks to Gov. Jared Polis’ goal […]