Behind the Trump-Total wind deal; a new revenue source for oil giants
OpenAI chooses sides in fusion race, picking Sam Altman's horse
In today’s edition:
— Oil companies will line up to take White House bribes after the Trump-Total wind deal
— OpenAI chooses sides in fusion race, picking Sam Altman’s horse
— NASA’s mesmerizing view of Earth’s underwater highways
— Nation’s first critical minerals mine nears approval
— Oil spills remain a risk, but number of spills from tankers plummets
The Trump administration’s plan this week to pay French energy giant Total almost $1 billion to abandon two offshore wind projects and instead invest in oil and natural gas hit all the predictable political pressure points between energy security and obscene corruption. But from a business standpoint, it made sense for Total.
From the point of view of Patrick Pouyanne, CEO of TotalEnergies, the company either faced years of costly legal harassment from the White House for proceeding with the two wind farms offshore of New York and North Carolina or complete reimbursement of the funds it spent to lease the farms in 2022 under the more climate friendly Biden administration.
The promise to reinvest the money in liquified natural gas from one of its Texas plants, and oil development in the Gulf of Mexico, is simply just a promise, subject to business conditions and energy demand. Pouyanne said that while Total concluded that conditions in the U.S. were not conducive to wind development now, it would continue to invest in the form of renewable energy in other countries.
Since last year, when the White House stunned the market by directly investing in rare earths developer MP Materials MP 0.00%↑, and demanded a cut of revenue from Nvidia NVDA 0.00%↑ chip sales to China, energy and tech executives have clearly known that the White House is open for business as long as they play by its rules.
This deal is another extension of that. A dangerous extension into using taxpayer money to support its anti-climate, pro-oil policies, but an extension nonetheless. Perhaps BP can now convince the White House to invest in its shift back to oil and gas from renewables. The line for funds forms to the right.
If you have ideas or suggestions for us, contact me directly at
dcallaway@callawayclimateinsights.com.
Tuesday’s subscriber insights
OpenAI chooses sides in early fusion race with Altman’s horse
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