Paying at the Pump: A Timeline of U.S. Gas Prices
U.S. gasoline prices have historically mirrored crude‑oil movements, rising and falling as global supply and demand shift. However, abrupt disruptions—such as geopolitical crises, natural disasters, or pandemics—can cause sharp, short‑term spikes that break the usual trend. The article traces key moments from the 1970s oil embargo through the 2020 COVID‑19 price collapse to the 2024 hurricane‑driven surge, culminating in 2026 prices hovering above $4 per gallon. Understanding this timeline highlights how external shocks translate into everyday fuel costs.
We Cannot Build Without Permitting Reform
The United States is pouring unprecedented federal and private capital into infrastructure and energy, yet construction activity is lagging. Thomas J. Madison Jr. argues that the bottleneck is not funding, labor, or ideas, but a sprawling permitting system that stalls...
Norway at 99% EV Sales Rate
Norway set a new electric‑vehicle sales record in April 2026, with EVs accounting for 98.6% of all new registrations. The figure eclipses the 98.4% share recorded the month before, confirming the country’s near‑full electrification of passenger‑car sales. Legacy manufacturers Volkswagen...
Wright and Burgum: Trump's Energy Tiger Team
President Trump has formed an "Energy Tiger Team" headed by Wright and Burgum to overhaul federal energy policy. The group’s mandate is to reverse what Wyoming Senator John Barrasso describes as the Biden administration’s "regulatory rampage" that has driven up food...
Ford Teases Affordable EV of the Future
Ford announced it will still launch an affordable electric vehicle in the United States next year, despite scaling back broader electrification timelines after the $7,500 federal EV tax credit was eliminated. The automaker’s shift reflects a strategic focus on cost‑effective...
Coal: China Produces More Than Everybody Else
China produced 4.78 billion tonnes of coal in 2024, representing 51.7% of global output, according to the 2025 Statistical Review of World Energy. This single nation outproduces the rest of the world combined. The next five producers—India, Indonesia, the United States...
Huge Opportunity in Oil and Natural Gas Stocks
Rob Thummel, senior portfolio manager at Tortoise Capital, told CNBC that investors remain under‑exposed to oil and natural‑gas equities despite a favorable supply‑demand outlook. He highlighted that energy stocks have underperformed the broader market, creating a valuation gap. Thummel pointed...
Trump Blockade Squeezing Iran to Dump Oil Into the Gulf?
Satellite imagery from the Copernicus Sentinel program captured a 45‑square‑kilometer oil slick west of Iran’s Kharg Island, the nation’s primary oil‑export hub. The spill, observed over three days in early May, is being interpreted by analysts as a sign that...
Iran War Shows We Must Say the Course on Climate Change
The Iran war has driven a sharp rise in fossil‑fuel prices, prompting the EU to reaffirm its climate agenda. Dutch Climate Minister Stientje van Veldhoven urged Brussels to stay the course on climate laws and avoid heavy reliance on carbon‑offset credits....
Woodside Has an LNG Pricing Problem
Australia’s Woodside Energy is struggling to secure buyers for LNG from its newly commissioned Louisiana plant because it is charging higher liquefaction fees than rival U.S. exporters. Reuters, citing unnamed sources, says the pricing gap is deterring utilities and traders...
Community Solar "Discounts" Could Raise Bills
Community solar projects are gaining legislative traction in several states, with Virginia recently approving an expansion of shared‑solar capacity by hundreds of megawatts. Pennsylvania is actively debating a community‑solar bill, while Iowa entertained comparable legislation this year. Advocates tout the...
Trump and His Oil-and-Coal Oligarchy
The Guardian’s editorial links the ecological fallout of the US‑Israel‑Iran conflict—smoke, oil spills, groundwater contamination, and a surge in CO₂ emissions—to a broader environmental war driven by Donald Trump’s administration. It argues that policy decisions, including deregulation and renewed fossil‑fuel...
U.S. Oil Exporters Under Scrutiny
The United States has surged as a global swing supplier of energy amid the Iran war‑induced shortage, shipping 153 million tons of crude, gasoline, LNG, diesel, jet fuel and ethane from January to April 2026. That represents a 20% year‑over‑year increase...
Ethanol: Not the Energy Transition We're Looking For
The RealClearEnergy editorial argues that corn‑based ethanol is an energy sink, requiring more fossil‑fuel input than a gallon of gasoline. It cites two decades of subsidies that have propped up a biofuel industry despite its negative energy balance. The piece...
How China Killed Every Rare Earth Competitor
China has maintained its rare‑earth monopoly for over two decades by deliberately slashing prices whenever a Western firm attempts to develop independent processing capacity. The price‑undercutting destroys the economics of new projects, causing investors to pull back and companies to...
Oil Lawsuits and Rational Energy Policy
California’s gasoline prices remain the nation’s highest, a point underscored by Western States Petroleum Association President Jodie Muller. He attributes the cost surge to decades of overlapping regulations, including local air districts, the state Air Resources Board, legislative actions, and...
The Price of Darkness: A Look at Blackout Economics
The Energy Bad Boys outlet announced a forthcoming report titled “Social Cost of Blackouts.” The study urges the EPA and utility regulators to embed hourly reliability assessments—grounded in historical weather data—into power‑plant rulemaking and integrated resource plans. It further calls...
PJM: Over 800 Power Projects in the Works
PJM Interconnection, the regional grid operator for Pennsylvania and eleven neighboring states, announced it is reviewing more than 800 applications to build and connect new power projects—the first such review in four years. The surge in proposals reflects mounting electricity...
Yes, Nuclear. How Much? How Soon?
Robert Bryce’s May 8, 2026 column recaps a candid discussion with SMU Energy Outlook 2026 panelists Jim Burke and Ray Rothrock on the realistic outlook for U.S. nuclear power. The experts, both seasoned electricity‑market analysts, argue that while nuclear remains a low‑carbon option,...
California's Battery Array as Powerful as 12 Nuclear Plants
California’s grid discharged just over 12,000 MW from battery storage, matching the output of twelve large nuclear plants. The discharge covered more than 40% of the state’s electricity demand during a peak evening period in late March. This is the first...
Trump Paying Billions to Abandon Wind Power
The Trump administration announced it will spend nearly $1 billion to compensate energy firms for canceling two offshore wind projects off the U.S. coastline. The payment, approved by bipartisan lawmakers, aims to halt construction and avoid further regulatory hurdles. The move...
What's the Most Affordable Tesla EV?
In 2026 Tesla’s entry‑level Model 3 is the most affordable EV, with a base price of $39,990, keeping it under the $40,000 threshold. The slightly larger Model Y starts near $45,000, while older Model S and X variants remain well above $70,000. Federal...
Big Oil Resists Push to Prioritize Output Growth
Big Oil posted strong first‑quarter earnings as soaring oil and gas prices lifted profit margins in both Europe and the United States. Despite the price rally, major producers such as ExxonMobil and Chevron did not increase output, with Exxon reporting...
A Growing Grid: Five Principles for Transmission Policy
The North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) issued a rare Level 3 alert, warning that hyperscale data centers are creating volatile, hard‑to‑predict load swings that can drop gigawatts in seconds. Utilities lack the tools to absorb these rapid changes, raising a...
AI: Systemic Risk or Bogeyman?
The article frames artificial intelligence as either a systemic threat or a mythic bogeyman, citing high‑profile warnings from Senator Bernie Sanders and Elon Musk. It highlights concerns that unchecked AI could displace millions of jobs, widen inequality, intensify surveillance, and even jeopardize...
Chinese EVs Pull Into the Lead
Chinese automaker BYD surpassed Tesla in 2025 to become the world’s largest seller of fully‑electric vehicles, even though Tesla reclaimed a narrow lead in pure‑EV sales in early 2026. BYD’s dominance extends when hybrids are counted, keeping it ahead of...
The View Inside California's Last Nuclear Power Plant
Diablo Canyon, perched on the cliffs of San Luis Obispo County, remains California’s sole operating nuclear facility. The plant generates roughly 9% of the state’s electricity, feeding millions of homes and businesses. State regulators and utilities are negotiating its shutdown, with a...
Zap Energy: The First Fission-Fusion Company
Zap Energy announced it will develop a hybrid fission‑fusion reactor, positioning itself as the first company to blend the two technologies. The firm argues this approach can achieve net‑positive energy faster than traditional magnetic or laser‑inertial fusion designs. A recent...
War Puts LNG Future in the Spotlight
Asian imports of liquefied natural gas plunged to a seven‑year low as the Middle East war cut roughly a quarter of global LNG supply. The shortage drove spot prices to multi‑year highs and sparked a scramble for the limited cargoes...
Energy Security Is National Security
The American Gas Association argues that the United States’ abundant natural‑gas reserves are a core component of national security. Domestic production shields households and businesses from volatile global energy prices. The article highlights how this supply base enables the U.S....
El Paso Filling Up With Illegal Chinese Cars
Cheap Chinese automobiles are crossing the Mexico‑Texas border into El Paso despite a 100 % tariff and a ban on sales in the United States that took effect in January 2025. The influx is driven by lower prices and lax enforcement at border...
Iran War: Is the World Really Moving Back to Coal?
A new Ember analysis shared with Carbon Brief finds that 2026 will not see a significant return to coal, even as the Iran‑Ukraine war strains global gas supplies. While Japan, Pakistan and the Philippines are weighing modest coal increases to...
AI Safety Tips for Teens
The RealClearEnergy piece outlines practical AI safety guidelines aimed at teenagers. It stresses protecting personal data, recognizing deep‑fake and misinformation risks, and maintaining critical thinking when using generative tools. The article also recommends parental oversight and school‑based digital‑literacy programs. By...
Iran War: Why We Must Embrace Energy Development
The article argues that the Iran conflict highlights the direct link between energy independence and national security. Disruptions in Middle‑East oil markets immediately raise prices and strain supply chains, giving adversarial regimes leverage. It warns that current U.S. policies that...
Environment Not Getting Worse, Despite Poll
International Energy Agency (IEA) chief Fatih Birol warned that the world has lost roughly 13 million barrels of oil per day, citing major disruptions tied to the Iran‑Russia conflict and the ongoing closure of the Strait of Hormuz. He described the situation...
EU: Energy Crisis From Iran War Could Last Years
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen warned that the war in Iran could trigger an energy crisis lasting years for Europe. She told the European Parliament that the conflict’s ripple effects may strain consumers and industry well beyond the...
Coal: China's Data Center Boom to Double Power Demand
China is set to nearly double its data‑center capacity by 2030, adding 28 GW of new projects to the 32 GW already online. The expansion will push data‑center electricity use to about 289 TWh, roughly 2.3 % of the nation’s total demand. Annual growth...
New Quartz Tariffs Will Make Housing Crisis Worse
The U.S. is deep in a housing‑affordability crisis, with median home prices outpacing wage growth. The administration is reviewing a trade case that would impose tariffs on imported quartz, a material widely used in countertops and flooring. Analysts warn that...
CFS CEO Pooh-Poohs Claim Fusion Not Worth It
Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS) announced that its compact SPARC reactor, based on MIT’s ARC tokamak design, is approaching a critical development milestone. Simultaneously, researchers from ETH Zurich released a study questioning the economic viability of fusion power plants in a...
Energy and the AI Buildout: An Investor's Perspective
AI-driven workloads are triggering a historic surge in data‑center construction, prompting a massive need for new electricity capacity. Analysts estimate an additional 148 GW of power will be required by 2030, more than triple the 42 GW consumed by data centers in...
If Dems Take Power, Energy Security at Risk
The article argues that a Democratic return to the White House would jeopardize U.S. energy security. It credits President Trump, who took office in January 2025, with rolling back what it calls wasteful subsidies for wind and solar projects. The...
Fermi Air
The RealClearEnergy piece revisits a 24‑year‑old line from the author’s book Pipe Dreams, which described the flamboyant private‑jet habits of Enron’s top executives before the company’s 2001 collapse. It references the “Air Enron” chapter that documented how those executives treated expensive...
Iran War Pushing India Back to Coal, Off Gas
The escalating US‑Iran conflict has tightened global LNG supplies, forcing India to lean on coal to meet its summer peak power demand. Traditionally, Indian utilities boost gas‑fired generation during April‑June, supported by government subsidies that cap retail electricity rates. With...
These Asian Nations Have Returned to Coal
Asian governments are expanding coal use despite earlier pledges to phase it out, citing the Four As—availability, affordability, accessibility, and acceptability. The Russian invasion of Ukraine highlighted energy vulnerabilities, prompting several emerging economies to revive coal projects to secure grid reliability...
Texas Must Get Competitive on Transmission
Texas boasts the nation’s most competitive wholesale electricity market, with ERCOT‑run auctions driving low generation costs and a vibrant retail landscape powered by the Power to Choose portal. However, aging transmission infrastructure is increasingly limiting the flow of cheap power...
When Will Gasoline Prices Go Down?
Gasoline prices remain elevated as oil futures react to heightened geopolitical risk and a tightening global supply outlook. Uncertainty surrounding potential Iran‑U.S. peace talks and a recent halt in shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz have added volatility to...
Why the UK and EU Keep Doubling Down on Net Zero
UK Energy Secretary Ed Miliband announced a renewed push to accelerate the nation’s net‑zero agenda, branding critics as spreading “nonsense and lies.” In a strongly worded statement, he warned that abandoning climate targets would trigger “climate breakdown” and jeopardize the...
Unfounded Health Concerns Powering Solar Backlash
A Michigan township enacted an ordinance in 2023 that bans large solar projects on land zoned for agriculture, effectively blocking a lease agreement that farmer Kevin Heath had secured six years earlier. The ban was driven by local residents’ health...
Asia's Energy Buyers: Between a Rock and a Hard Place
Asia's energy importers are trapped between soaring commodity prices they cannot afford and a supply chain that may take weeks to restart. Ongoing negotiations, conducted remotely from Islamabad, involve high‑stakes posturing and game‑theoretic brinkmanship among regional buyers and sellers. The...
The Treasury Can Set Citgo Free
Citgo Petroleum, the U.S. refining arm of Venezuela’s PDVSA, remains under U.S. Treasury control after sanctions and a pending auction. Analysts say a single Treasury approval to sell the company to private investors could unlock roughly $10 billion of capital for...