By John Rosevear CNBC
While gas prices have soared in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, so have electricity prices – particularly in some parts of the U.S. that have been big markets for Tesla’s EVs.
So, is it still true that it’s much cheaper to “refuel” an EV? CNBC crunched the numbers.
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Cost of charging: EV vs. gas prices Read More »
“We’re not being allowed to do what we do best for what California needs most — local oil,” says Taft Mayor Dave Noerr, standing in an oil field in the city. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times)
By Louis Sahagún Washington Post
TAFT, Calif. — Here amid the dusty hills and deserted main streets of California’s oil country, the last three years have delivered “one kick in the gut after another,” some say.
The coronavirus, wildly fluctuating crude prices, lingering surface spills, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s pledge to transition to a “carbon-neutral” economy, and the recent closure of two local prisons have left many wondering just what the future has to offer in this sere corner of western Kern County.
In recent days, however, that grim outlook has given way to a potent mix of hope, anger and desperation following President Biden’s ban on the importation of Russian oil.
The executive order, which is intended to undermine President Vladimir Putin’s ability to wage war in Ukraine, has contributed to soaring gasoline prices. It has also given oil industry advocates a new cudgel with which to fight California’s pumping restrictions.
“We’re ready to meet this God-given opportunity with expertise and a critical natural resource we’ve got plenty of,” said Dave Noerr, mayor of Taft and a veteran oilman. “But we’re not being allowed to do what we do best for what California needs most — local oil.”
In the fields surrounding such historic oil centers as Taft and McKittrick, a labyrinth of steam pipes, fuel lines, diesel power generators, and dirt roads weave amid countless pump jacks. The air here smells like crankcase oil — as it has for decades — but there is far less activity now than there was just three years ago, and local communities are feeling the pinch.
State oil and gas regulators have denied most new permits to use hydraulic fracturing, commonly called fracking, and similar extraction technologies since 2019, when Newsom began calling for plans to phase out oil production in California, citing the increasingly harmful effects of global warming.
His actions raised ire in petroleum company boardrooms, enraged Kern County officials, and left small-town governments at the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley grappling with shrinking tax rolls.
Newsom has since been named a defendant in lawsuits filed by Kern County and the Western States Petroleum Assn., which accuse him of causing “irreparable harm” to roughly 23,900 people who, directly or indirectly, depend on Kern County’s 76 active oil fields to earn a living. The lawsuits want a judge to declare that his actions are “are null and void and exceed the bounds of the law.”
But now, some see the Russian oil ban as their last, best hope of forcing the state to expand production.
State and federal lawmakers backed by the oil industry have spent the last week pounding Newsom’s anti-oil stance.
Read the full story here
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Russian crude ban brings faint hope to California’s oil towns Read More »
It has been nearly a week since a massive cargo ship with thousands of containers on board got stuck in the Chesapeake Bay. And officials say it could be another 10 days before the ship is able to float again because it is a rare, complex mission.
On Friday morning, CBS Baltimore‘s Ava-Joye Burnett traveled out onto the bay with U.S. Coast Guard engineers and investigators as they tried to bring the vessel afloat.
“It’s rare for a vessel to run aground in the Chesapeake Bay,” Captain David O’Connell, the section Sector Commander of the Maryland-National Capital Region, said ahead of the excursion. He leads Coast Guard operations in the coordination of all maritime safety, security and environmental missions in the region.
“I’ve been here a year and it’s the first major incident we’ve had in the port. You’ll see when we go out there that it is an impressive sight to see and because of its size, it’s a very complex operation,” he said.
Massive cargo ship burrowed in Chesapeake Bay mud Read More »
“With beachfront views, two pools, two elevators, gas fireplaces, and attached garages, how can you go wrong?
More eat-your-heart-out photos
The condo duplex on Wesley Avenue in Ocean City also has 12 full bathrooms and two half-baths and is billed as “the most prestigious home built on the Goldcoast.”
Looking for a nice summer home at the Jersey Shore? This one’s yours for a modest $17.7M Read More »
By Jon Hurdle NJ Spotlight
New Jersey officials have found “forever chemicals” at above state health limits in water systems serving two schools and in more than 40 private wells in Mercer County.
The Department of Environmental Protection detected the chemicals at the schools and in another local public water system during tests at three sites in the Pennington/Hopewell area, the agency told NJ Spotlight News. Those discoveries have so far led to tests of 142 private water wells, 42 of which contained the chemicals at levels that exceeded newly enforced regulatory limits.
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The DEP is currently sampling residential and commercial private wells for PNFA, PFOA and PFOS, the three kinds of PFAS chemicals for which New Jersey has set strict health limits in drinking water over the last few years.
The DEP said Monday it is also investigating whether private wells are contaminated with PFAS in other parts of the state but did not immediately identify them.
The agency said it is working with property owners to install point-of-entry water systems that filter out the chemicals. It urged homeowners whose water exceeds the state limits to switch to bottled water and seek reimbursement for the cost of installing treatment systems from the New Jersey Spill Fund, a state fund that compensates householders for damage to property from hazardous substances and pays for their cleanup. It has not yet identified the source of the contamination.
‘Forever chemicals’ tainting schools, private wells in New Jersey’s Mercer County Read More »
By Tom Johnson, NJ Spotlight ‘
In what is turning into a hugely competitive bidding process, 13 developers have submitted proposals for 80 transmission projects to bring power from offshore wind farms to New Jersey customers.
The bids involve a range of projects dealing with upgrades to power lines on land, beach crossings, and efforts to connect offshore wind farms and facilities. The 80 projects are being reviewed jointly by the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities and the nation’s largest grid operator, the PJM Interconnection.
Upgrading the transmission grid is potentially one of the most critical components in whether the state succeeds in achieving the Murphy administration’s goal of having enough offshore wind turbines to generate 7,500 megawatts of electricity by 2035.
“Transmission is never the sexy part of energy, but it’s the most critical. It is hugely important to make offshore wind work,’’ said Doug O’Malley, director of Environment New Jersey and a strong supporter of developing more offshore wind farms.
The transmission upgrades are expected to be costly. In 2020, the Business Network for Offshore Wind projected that if all the offshore wind farms proposed by New Jersey and four other coastal states are built, it could result in offshore transmission costs of between $15 billion and $20 billion.
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Who’s bidding to move offshore energy to NJ shores? A bakers dozen Read More »
