Over at the Washington Examiner, Kyle Feldscher reports that Trump does not plan to gut the country’s environmental regulations to get his infrastructure plans passed through Congress. The entire piece can be read here:

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/trump-does-not-plan-to-gut-environmental-laws-to-pass-infrastructure-plan-aide-says/article/2647322

E&E Climatewire carries a piece (behind the prescription paywall) on a report released last week by Moody’s Investors Service, which concluded U.S. coal production can’t survive at current levels without the development of carbon capture and storage technology.

https://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2018/01/29/stories/1060072165

At Forbes, Jude Clemente discusses how the rising demand for electric vehicles will grow electricity consumption, increasing the importance of coal to the grid. Read the entire article here:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/judeclemente/2018/01/24/more-electric-vehicles-mean-more-coal-and-natural-gas/#4ecd4e8a2a37

Over at the Independent, Jeremy White writes that France plans to shut down its coal-fired power plants by 2021, which is touted as an “ambitious” climate change agenda.  Talk about empty promises!

Of course, France only produces around 1 per cent of its energy from coal-fired plants. They have plenty of nuclear-fired power, which accounts for about 75 per cent of their energy generation.

Now, if they were shutting down all of their nukes and replacing them with wind and solar by 2021, THAT would be ambitious!

Read Mr. White’s article here:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/france-coal-power-station-emmanuel-macron-davos-shut-2021-a8176796.html

Today in the Detroit News, Hillsdale College Professor Gary Wolfram has a column discussing how the recent severe weather events highlight the need for coal-fired electricity. Read the entire piece here:

http://www.detroitnews.com/story/opinion/2018/01/25/coal-still-necessary/109784144/

Over at the Wall Street Journal, Bob Davis and Joshua Jamerson report that in the coal country of Virginia, things are looking up. Mines are beginning to reopen, and folks there are remaining loyal to President Trump for keeping his campaign promises. Here is the link to the full article:

https://www.wsj.com/articles/donald-trump-is-still-their-man-1516385256?mod=searchresults&page=1&pos=2

I will be on King Banaian’s Show on KYCR 1440AM,  Minneapolis-St. Paul, at 10 am Central. We will be discussing the recent cold snap and the resiliency of the electric grid in times of extreme weather.

Over at Real Clear Energy, William Murray has a great article about how New Englander’s anti-infrastructure pose on energy (specifically opposition to natural gas pipelines) has led to some of the highest electricity prices in the nation. Read the article here:

https://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2018/01/17/new_englanders_have_only_themselves_to_blame_for_energy_price_spikes.html

Over at the Daily Caller, Michael Bastasch analyzes Gov. De Glasio’s global warming lawsuit, and finds it riddled with factual errors:

http://dailycaller.com/2018/01/16/de-blasios-global-warming-lawsuit-is-riddled-with-factual-errors/

Over at Powerline, Steven Hayward reports on the closing of California’s last nuclear plant, Diablo Canyon: http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2018/01/the-devil-is-in-the-diablo.php

The Hill has posted an Op-Ed by Robert Priddle where he discusses the prospects for  US. coal in the coming year. In short, he says that the “prospects no longer are as bleak as they looked two years ago,” but are heavily reliant on the vagaries of government policy. Read the entire piece here:

http://thehill.com/opinion/energy-environment/368214-in-2018-coal-continues-to-be-a-smoldering-issue

Meanwhile, over at Hot Air, Jazz Shaw reports that the craziness continues….

NYC Mayor to sue “Big Oil” for causing Hurricane Sandy or something

Over at Legal Insurrection, Leslie Eastman has posted this interesting piece. Channeling my inner Les Nessman, looks like the turkeys are mounting a counterattack. It’s almost as if they were organized….

https://legalinsurrection.com/2018/01/exxonmobil-prepares-to-sue-california-cities-over-climate-change-claims/

Bloomberg reports that coal and nuclear industries are looking to a tax extension bill to aid certain plants, after FERC rejected a plan to subsidize some of those power plants in the wholesale energy markets. Here is the link:

https://bnanews.bna.com/environment-and-energy/nuclear-coal-groups-target-tax-bill-after-bailout-rejection

Reuters reports that in a recent interview, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt said his agency’s 2018 priorities include replacing the Clean Power Plan, rewriting the Waters of the United States rule and starting a national debate on climate change. He also said he hoped for “substantially needed and important” legislative overhaul of the U.S. biofuels policy because of the regulation’s costs to oil refiners.

The entire article can be read here: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-epa-pruitt-exclusive/exclusive-trumps-epa-aims-to-replace-obama-era-climate-water-regulations-in-2018-idUSKBN1EZ079

The Hill reports that EPA staffing has fallen to Reagan-era levels.

According to The Hill: “An EPA spokeswoman said Tuesday that, as of Jan. 3, the agency had 14,162 employees, down from about 15,000 at the beginning of last year. That’s even lower than the 14,400 employees the agency had in fiscal year 1988, Reagan’s final year.” Most of the reductions have come from employees voluntarily leaving without being replaced, including through early retirements and buyouts.

You can read the entire article here: http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/368090-epa-staffing-hits-reagan-levels

Over at Missourinet, Jason Taylor reports that Republican Senator Ed Emery of Lamar is bringing back a comprehensive energy bill for another attempt at passage in this year’s legislative session. Emery, who’s sponsoring the bill, has introduced similar legislation a number of times.  Its key components this year allow investor utilities such as Ameren and Kansas City Power & Light to invest more than $1 billion in infrastructure upgrades, while limiting rate hikes to three-percent a year. Emery says the bill is intended to encourage utilities to upgrade their power grids. Consumer groups are again lining up to oppose the proposed legislation. We can expect a robust debate.

You can read Jason’s piece here:

Contentious 2017 utility bill is back in Missouri Legislature

My good friend and former colleague, Bob Stump, is a candidate for Congress in Arizona’s 8th District. It has been said that he is “one of Arizona’s most articulate and eloquent champions of conservative ideals.” Among his many accomplishments, he is a former Arizona utilities regulator,where he worked hard for a common sense energy policy for Arizona and the United States. We here at Leading Light Energy wholeheartedly endorse Bob and wish him the best.

You can learn more about Bob at his campaign website here:

https://www.bobstump.vote/

Steven Hayward hits the nail on the head with this post in Powerline:

http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2018/01/drive-fast-freeze-a-yankee-the-sequel.php

Meanwhile, over at Powerline, Steven Hayward posted this entertaining and informative tidbit:

http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2018/01/drive-fast-freeze-a-yankee-the-sequel.php