The oil party in Houston is missing one key guest - oil prices
Plus, how wind, solar and battery energy in Texas is quietly leading the nation.
In today’s edition:
— The oil-is-back party in Houston would be a lot more fun if oil wasn’t plunging
— The dirty secret at CERAWeek: Texas renewable energy is soaring
— Neil deGrasse Tyson on the new normal in climate change
— U.S. Supreme Court blocks efforts by red states to halt climate suits against Big Oil
— No, the polar vortex isn’t caused by climate change
The oil-is-back party in Houston for CERAWeek is in full swing, with none other than new Energy Secretary Chris Wright himself declaring the Trump Administration will destroy all vestiges of the Biden team’s agenda to fight climate change.
But as the booze flows and energy executives bask in a new era of “energy pragmatism” that ignores the harmful impacts of oil and gas production in favor of profit, one guest is conspicuous in its absence — higher oil prices.
Like every other security in recent weeks — stocks, bonds, bitcoin, commodities — oil has plunged since the Trump gang came in with an economic wrecking ball. West Texas crude oil (CL.1) is trading in the below $67 a barrel today, vs. above $80 before Inauguration Day in January.
Oil company shares are also lower, as are shares of other energy providers, as shown in the chart above. Forgetting the chaotic tariff policy, which is crushing everything, the investment theme of the past three years that dictated the world needs as much energy as possible from any source to power its industrial needs has shifted dramatically with the fortunes of the big AI developers, such as Nvidia NVDA 0.00%↑, or Amazon AMZN 0.00%↑ or Alphabet GOOGL 0.00%↑.
Energy stocks always ride the wave of economic uncertainty, as demand comes from economic action, not stagnation. Until we start to see a return to some form of certainty in the markets, it will be difficult to stand a case for even more global oil and gas development, and less renewable energy.
But let’s not allow economic reality to stop a good party. . . .
Don’t forget to contact me directly if you have suggestions or ideas dcallaway@callawayclimateinsights.com.
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Texas’ dirty little energy secret might be its renewables promise
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