Wednesday, August 14, 2024

Virginia Democrats do not support infanticide — but here’s why Trump keeps saying they do

Charlotte Rene Woods, Virginia Mercury
August 13, 2024

Former president Donald Trump keeps saying that Virginia Democrats support killing babies. Though the false allegation has been fact-checked numerous times, he’s made the claim multiple times this summer.

He said it in the June presidential debate, on a panel at the National Association of Black Journalists conference in July, and more recently during an Aug. 8 press conference at his Mar-A-Lago estate in Florida.

“Based on the [former] governor of Virginia, they’re allowing the death of the baby after it’s born,” Trump said of Democrat Ralph Northam, who was governor from 2018 to 2022.
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But infanticide is illegal in all U.S. states. Abortion, which terminates a fetus before it is born, is legal for any reason up until around 26 weeks of gestation in Virginia with limited exceptions for later abortions.

The infanticide allegation stems from a WTOP interview with Northam in which he described palliative care for babies born with severe complications and low survival rates — not abortion.

Palliative care is a type of care to keep dying patients comfortable. It’s typically applied to those dying of old age or terminal illness, but can be used for babies born with severe fetal anomalies.

Clips from Northam’s interview fed into the popular “no limits” or “moment of birth” narrative that abortion opponents have pushed over the years in Virginia and beyond.

“Because [Northam] never provided the full context of the issue, his comments were interpreted that way — and one could see why they were interpreted that way,” said political analyst Bob Holsworth.

How the national allegation took hold in Virginia


Flash back to the winter of 2019. Del. Kathy Tran, D-Fairfax had a bill that would have lowered the three-physician threshold of approval for abortions that occur later in pregnancy.

A sign outside a clinic that provides abortions in Richmond, Va. (Sarah Vogelsong / Virginia Mercury)

Abortions at or after 21 weeks of gestation are rare, making up 1% of abortions nationally. These types of abortions tend to happen later in pregnancy because severe fetal anomalies aren’t usually detected earlier through tests or ultrasound. They may also happen because a life-threatening emergency arises later in pregnancy.

Virginia law then and now also allows for instances where continuing a pregnancy would “irremediably impair” a person’s mental health too. During a committee hearing on Tran’s bill, Del. Todd Gilbert, R-Shenandoah, asked if the bill would allow for an abortion to occur if a woman were already in labor. Tran answered “yes,” though she later said that she misspoke.

Tran told The Washington Post “I should have said: ‘Clearly, no, because infanticide is not allowed in Virginia, and what would have happened in that moment would be a live birth.’ ”

Holsworth thinks Tran “botched the answer.”


“When Northam attempted to rectify the situation, he made it worse.”


Status of abortion rights in Virginia

Abortion remains legal in Virginia and next year Democrats will begin a process to enshrine protections in the state’s constitution. The measure will need to pass two years in a row with a House of Delegates election in between before it could appear on statewide ballots in 2026. From there, voters will give final approval or rejection.

Trump has repeatedly claimed that he thinks the matter should be settled on a state by state basis while Vice President Kamala Harris has made restoring federal protections a platform of her campaign.

Democrats are skeptical if Trump is being truthful in his states’ purview stance.

Project 2025, a policy guideline published by conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation, points to federal mechanisms to further restrict abortion and ban abortion pills nationally. Trump has said he doesn’t know “who is behind” the blueprint, though members of his previous administration authored portions of it. In a recent press conference, he did not rule out having the Food and Drug Administration revoke access to abortion pills.

Northam had explained how later abortions typically occur because of fetal survivability issues. He added that if a person were in active labor, a birth would occur.


“If a mother is in labor, I can tell you exactly what would happen. The infant would be delivered,” he said.

Then he added what has since percolated in messaging from abortion opponents in the years since:

“The infant would be kept comfortable. The infant would be resuscitated if that’s what the mother and the family desired, and then a discussion would ensue between the physicians and the mother.”


Though the allegation has been debunked multiple times over the years, it has taken a mythic and persistent root in political arguments.

Democratic Party of Virginia chairwoman Susan Swecker declined to comment when asked about Trump’s rhetoric of Virginia to national audiences and Republican Party of Virginia chairman Rich Anderson did not respond.
Abortions and palliative care needs will continue


Virginia abortion providers have reported a spike in out-of-state patients. And sometimes patients have had to travel up to Maryland.

Diane Horvath, an OB GYN, said her Maryland-based clinic is seeing more patients in need of later abortions. Her clinic provides the procedure regardless of how early or late in gestation patients are.

As surrounding states have near total bans or restrictions as deep as six weeks, patients are sometimes needing to travel to areas that can legally give them abortions. While some people may not know they are pregnant earlier in gestation, for others it may take time to arrange appointments, leave work, or find childcare.


Then in the cases of fetal anomalies that might inspire someone to seek an abortion, patients may not find out until after their state’s abortion limit. Some testing that reveals anomalies doesn’t occur until after 15 weeks of gestation and can take about two weeks to reveal results.

Horvath said that when parents are faced with severe fetal anomalies sometimes aborting the fetus can be the easier choice, while for others that might be birthing, then burying their child, who has died from natural causes after palliative care.

Horvath said to insinuate infanticide is “willfully misrepresenting an incredibly difficult circumstance that happens to some families when their baby has a lethal diagnosis.”

As abortion continues to be a political talking point, it’s the patient experiences she hopes lawmakers can reflect on.

“When you ban abortion at a certain point in pregnancy, it just pushes people further into pregnancy. Some people still need an abortion, they just have to work a lot harder to get it,” Horvath said. “That takes a lot of time and a lot of resources, and it’s just hard on people — nobody would do this unless they absolutely needed it.”


Virginia Mercury is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Virginia Mercury maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Samantha Willis for questions: info@virginiamercury.com. Follow Virginia Mercury on Facebook and X.
'No way!' Morning Joe hoots with laughter as Trump recounts 'Valley Girl' Putin chat

\
Travis Gettys
August 13, 2024 




MSNBC's Joe Scarborough hooted with laughter at Donald Trump's account of a purported conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin that sounded more like the "Saturday Night Live" characters Wayne and Garth.

The former president sat down for a glitch-plagued conversation with X owner Elon Musk Monday night, and Trump claimed that he cautioned Putin against invading Ukraine — which led to an odd rehash of their conversation.

"It's just one of those things, and we would talk a lot about Ukraine," Trump said. "It was the apple of his eye, but I said, 'Don't ever do it, don't ever do — you can't do it, Vladimir. You do it, it's going to be a bad day. You cannot do it.' I told him things what I'd do and he said, 'No way,' and I said, 'Way.'"

Scarborough and "Morning Joe" co-host Willie Geist cracked up, comparing their supposed comments to the 1982 novelty hit "Valley Girl."

"Come on!" Scarborough said.

"A little 'Valley Girl' diplomacy," Geist added. "Wow."

"Who was that, Zappa – which Zappa, Moon Unit Zappa?" Scarborough said. "'Valley Girl'? Channeling Moon Unit there, pretty awesome. 'No way!'"

"He's so proud of his relationship with Vladimir Putin, just won't come off that position," Geist added. ""He loves the guy."

The Trump-Musk conversation was hosted on Spaces, the social network's streaming platform, but technical issues prevented many users from accessing the content at all and limited the live portion to audio only, although video released later revealed Trump sitting at a table at Mar-a-Lago in front of a painting of himself in a tennis sweater.

"How could you imagine that people wouldn't resonate to that picture of that dark room with Trump's hair and that weird portrait in the tennis outfit in the background which is just -- you talk about dystopic, I don't see how that's not turning voters on," said Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson.

"It's driving Trump crazy. He's searching and searching and trying to find a way into the conversation because he's just sort of babbling into the void. In a lot of instances and, you know, we've seen the recent times when he goes out in public and just says nonsensical and ridiculous and worrisome things, worrisome about his own mental health. I guess if you want to look at it, in political terms, maybe he was trying to get back the white dude vote, or to shore it up by doing this thing with Elon Musk, figuring that that was the demographic he was going to reach."

"Boy, you know, if you sort of babble for two hours into the void, you know, does it actually make a sound?" Robinson added. "I'm not convinced that it did."

Watch the video below or at this link.

Tuesday, August 13, 2024

Is a U.S. Refining Cartel Emerging? 

Major Players Slash Production

  • Major US refiners, including Marathon Petroleum, are significantly reducing their refining capacity due to concerns about a global crude oil glut and weakening demand.

  • OPEC has downgraded its global oil demand growth forecasts for 2024 and 2025, further adding to the concerns about oversupply.

  • Analysts predict that Brent crude oil prices will likely decline in the coming quarters, potentially reaching as low as $64/bbl in the second quarter of 2025.

Following the series of mega-mergers in the oil exploration and production space, a potential US refining cartel—a 'mini OPEC on American soil'—could be taking shape with some of the first coordinated policies to reduce refining capacity this quarter as demand falters and concerns about a global glut of crude mount.

Bloomberg reports that four major refiners, including Marathon Petroleum, owner of the largest US refinery, plan to reduce refining capacity at 13 of its plants to an average of 90%, down 4% from the same quarter in 2023. Similarly, PBF Energy announced plans to refine the least amount of crude in three years. Phillips 66 will operate refineries near two-year lows, and Valero Energy expects to cut oil processing soon. 

The four major refiners represent about 40% of the US capacity to refine oil into diesel, jet fuel, gasoline, and other essential crude products critical to the economy. Slowdown fears encompass not just the US economy (recession scare last Monday) but also China, thus reducing crude product demand and shrinking profit margins for refiners. 

On Monday morning, commodity firm Argus' Bachar EL-Halabi wrote on X, "Opec blinks first, downgrading for the first time since July 2023 its global oil demand growth forecasts for 2024 and 2025."  

Halabi continued:

  • Opec now sees demand growth projection for 2024 to be 2.11mn b/d down from 2.25mn b/d.
  • Opec has also cut its oil demand growth forecast for next year by 60,000 b/d to 1.78mn b/d.
  • Opec's latest oil demand growth projections narrow the gap with other forecasters such as the IEA and EIA, but Opec's figures are still comparatively bullish.

Reminder: The IEA projects oil demand to increase by 970,000 b/d this year, while the EIA sees demand rising by 1.1mn b/d.

#Opec blinks first, downgrading for the first time since July 2023 its global oil demand growth forecasts for 2024 and 2025.

Opec now sees demand growth projection for 2024 to be 2.11mn b/d down from 2.25mn b/d.
Opec has also cut its oil demand growth forecast for next… https://t.co/BPPe0C95id pic.twitter.com/dUxAJDoMvk

— Bachar EL-Halabi |  (@Bacharelhalabi) August 12, 2024

Vikas Dwivedi, Macquarie's global oil and gas strategist, told Bloomberg recently in an interview in Houston, "Compressed refining margins are setting up the stage for another round of heavy refinery maintenance in the US during the fall season ... and that's going to weigh on balances and may add to crude builds in the US for the rest of the year." 

He said the potential for supplies to exceed demand has reduced the premium geopolitical risks festering in the Middle East, explaining, "The market is no longer willing to pay a huge premium for that because the tensions haven't so far resulted in a loss of barrels." 

Dwivedi expects Brent crude oil to average around $75/bbl in the fourth quarter and slide as low as $64/bbl in the second quarter of next year. 

In the meantime, Crude is soaring today amid geopolitical tensions...

Chief Commercial Officer Rick Hessling said Marathon "will run economically at 90%" capacity in the third quarter, a multi-year low. He pointed out that the Chinese economic recovery remains a significant concern, and OPEC could stir volatility with policy in the short term. 

The bigger story here is the possible rise of the US refining cartel after a series of mega-mergers in recent quarters.

By Zerohedge.com 


Refiners Are Reeling From Low Margins and Weak Demand

  • Overcapacity in the petrochemical industry, especially in China, is driving down margins and profitability.

  • Weak demand and economic challenges are exacerbating the industry's problems.

  • Industry players are responding by cutting production, closing plants, and seeking more efficient operations.

During the latest profit season, U.S. oil refiners signaled they would be curbing output this quarter, pressured by lower margins and the seasonal decline in demand. Petrochemical makers are also having difficulties, mostly due to overcapacity in China. And they are changing in order to overcome them.

A forecast by Wood Mackenzie cited in a recent Reuters article on the petrochemical industry and its long-term outlook said that almost a quarter of global petrochemical capacity was at risk of permanent closure because of depressed—and depressing—margins by 2028. McKinsey added that the downturn in the petrochemicals sector would be longer than usual, which is five to seven years, because of the overcapacity in China. Reuters wrote that the refining industry and the larger oil industry were in trouble because the energy transition would reduce the need for petroleum fuels for transportation.

Of these forecasts, the last is the most uncertain. It hinges on explosive growth in electric vehicles that has so far failed to materialize, and even the recent growth in EV sales is reversing in every country that can no longer afford to subsidize the vehicles. If one looks at the energy transition and the electrification of transport as cause for concern in the oil industry, one may be overestimating the reality of the transition.

Overcapacity, however, is another matter. Back in April, Bloomberg carried a story about the petrochemical industry outside China and how it was going into a "sunset" stage because of the huge capacity gains that Chinese petrochemical makers had made in the past four years. Chinese producers were forcing prior industry majors out of the market because of that capacity, the report said. It was only a matter of time before the effect spread.

"This is yet another example—after steel, solar panels—where China's structural imbalances are clearly spilling over into global markets," Rhodium Group director Charlie Vest told Bloomberg last month in comments on the country's petrochemical industry's growth. That growth was starting to force industry players to cut back on production, Bloomberg reported at the time, with some plants running at just half of capacity amid the squeeze in margins resulting from oversupply. But just like in the solar panel business, it would take a while before the excess capacity is taken care of. In the meantime, petrochemical producers elsewhere would be, as Reuters put it, in survival mode.

The outlook is the grimmest for Asian petrochemicals makers, the report said, likely because they are too close to the behemoth in the petrochemicals room that is China. Margins on propylene in Asia are set to dip below zero this year, coming in at around minus $20 per ton, according to Wood Mac, as quoted by Reuters.

Meanwhile, some refiners are shutting down some petrochemical units. A petrochemicals joint venture between Petronas and Aramco shut its naphtha cracker at the beginning of the year, and a Taiwanese petrochemicals maker shut two of its three crackers later in the year. The situation is perhaps more problematic for petrochemical facilities that are part of refineries—these are still running, even at a loss, Reuters reported.

"Most companies' portfolios are integrated and balanced. If you want to consolidate them, you have to either kill the strengths of one company or get rid of the strengths of the other company," an executive from an unnamed South Korean refiner told Reuters earlier this month.

In Europe, meanwhile, refiners are witnessing the end of the recent rally in their business. It's falling margins and slowing demand again, with TotalEnergies and Neste warning in their latest quarterly presentations about the negative developments.

"Global refining margins, which have sharply decreased since the end of the first quarter 2024, remain impacted by low diesel demand in Europe, as well as by the market normalization following the disruption in Russian supply," TotalEnergies said in its quarterly report, as quoted by Reuters.

Essentially, the refining market in Europe, then, is returning to normal after a brief period of excessively good performance resulting from the war in Ukraine. Now that the impact of those events is weakening, things are going back to the way they were before the war—with pressure from Asia remaining unchanged. There has also been additional pressure from new refineries coming on stream in the Middle East and Africa, although the latter—the Dangote refinery in Nigeria—has been struggling to really take off.

Even so, petrochemical margins in Europe are set to rise this year, according to Wood Mac. While Asian petrochemical makers struggle with their $20 loss per ton of propylene, their European counterparts would enjoy a margin increase to almost $300 per ton, the consultancy has forecast. In the United States, petrochemical makers are set to do even better, despite all the challenges, witnessing a 25% increase in propylene margins to $450 per ton.

The petrochemicals industry may be in trouble, but most of this trouble comes from overcapacity and not transition trends that would ultimately kill the larger energy industry. And the industry is tackling the trouble and adjusting to changing realities. Survival, after all, is an imperative.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com




 FRACKING  BY ANY OTHER NAME

The Rise of Geothermal Power Networks

  • Governments worldwide are increasingly interested in geothermal energy as a clean, renewable source of heating and electricity.

  • The UK and US have significant untapped geothermal resources that could be developed to power communities and support decarbonization efforts.

  • Geothermal power networks, which distribute heat from underground reservoirs, are emerging as a promising solution for sustainable energy.

As governments rapidly search for ways to accelerate the shift away from fossil fuels to renewable alternatives, there could be huge potential for developing natural geothermal resources underground. Investing in networked geothermal power could provide abundant clean heating and electricity for millions of households and businesses worldwide. Although countries with abundant geothermal resources have been tapping into the natural power source for thousands of years, governments have only recently funded greater research into the use of advanced geothermal systems aimed at expanding the use of the energy source. 

Geothermal energy is a type of renewable energy that comes from the Earth’s core. Energy can be extracted from the thermal sources stored in rocks and fluids several miles below the Earth’s surface. Underground geothermal reservoirs of steam and hot water can be used for electricity generation and other heating and cooling applications in rich geothermal regions. Accessing geothermal energy requires the drilling of a borehole at a depth of between two and three miles underground, flowing cold water at low pressures through hot rocks, and transporting the warm water to the Earth’s surface through a second borehole for use as heating or for electricity generation.  

In the U.K., a 2023 report suggested there is significant potential for the development of the country’s geothermal resources to provide clean heating and electricity. The report highlights several regions of untapped geothermal energy in the U.K., which could be developed to provide networked geothermal power. Many of these areas happen to coincide with towns and cities included in the government’s Levelling Up White Paper, which lists several deprived parts of the U.K. that require greater attention and investment. These areas include Redcar and Cleveland, Middlesbrough, East Lindsey, Hartlepool, Northumberland and Bassetlaw. Other areas of potential for geothermal energy production include Newcastle upon Tyne, Northeast Derbyshire, the East Riding of Yorkshire and Nottingham. 

The MP Kieran Mullan, who managed the production of the report, said there was a “strong overlap” between areas where investment is required and the best geothermal locations, which could encourage greater support for renewable energy development in these areas. Mullan stated of the potential to tap into the U.K.’s geothermal resources, “Unlike wind or solar this technology provides baseload – it is there constantly. And our expertise in drilling in the North Sea means we are well placed to motor ahead.” 

The U.K. has vast amounts of untapped geothermal power, with enough geothermal energy underground to heat every home for a hundred years, according to estimates. However, Mullen emphasised that there is “catching up to do because across Europe there has been much stronger government intervention to support nascent deep geothermal industries in those countries.” 

The U.S. is also looking to tap into the natural energy stored underground through investment in new technologies to tap into geothermal resources and distribute the power. Earlier this year, Eversource Energy commissioned the first networked geothermal neighbourhood in the U.S. to be run by a utility, in Framingham, Massachusetts. There is great optimism around the potential for project expansion, as much of the equipment needed to tap into geothermal sources is already in place. Utilities can use gas line equipment to deploy networked geothermal power, circulating fluid rather than gas., with the potential to set up networks anywhere. 

Audrey Schulman, the executive director of the nonprofit climate-solutions incubator HEETlabs, stated, “In the end, what we would like is if the gas utilities become thermal utilities.” Eversource is using a geothermal loop in Framingham, which could ultimately be connected to an adjacent neighbourhood and another, to expand the network. Schulman explained, “Each individual, shared loop can be interconnected, like Lego blocks, to grow bigger and bigger.”

While a shift to geothermal power may have seemed impossible just a few years ago, there is growing pressure from the White House for utilities to decarbonise. Last year, New York became the first state to ban natural gas hookups in most new buildings. This ban is expected to be rolled out in several other states in the coming years, including California, Vermont and Colorado. This gives utilities little choice other than to look for clean heating alternatives. There is also a wide range of incentives, provided by the Inflation Reduction Act and other climate policies, to invest in renewable energy and clean technologies. Eversource Energy and two dozen other utilities, which together represent 47 percent of the country’s natural gas customers, are joining forces to establish an information-sharing coalition, known as the Utility Networked Geothermal Collaborative, which is expected to encourage more geothermal power networking projects across the U.S. 

Following several decades of stagnation in the geothermal energy sector, governments are once again looking to the abundant renewable energy source to provide heating and power in place of natural gas. Greater investment in the sector could support the development of large networks of geothermal power, offering millions of households clean heating. Some countries, such as Iceland, are already well acquainted with geothermal power, with countries such as the U.K. and U.S. expected to soon follow.  

By Felicity Bradstock for Oilprice.com


The DOE Is Betting Big On A Geothermal Game-Changer In Utah

  • Geothermal energy is currently limited to geographical hotspots, but enhanced geothermal seeks to produce energy from deep drilling anywhere.

  • Enhanced geothermal offers a continuous baseload power source, overcoming the intermittency challenges of solar and wind energy.

  • Despite its potential benefits, enhanced geothermal's high upfront costs pose challenges, but its low operational costs and vast potential could make it a significant player in the clean energy sector.

A huge experiment to produce electricity using enhanced geothermal energy is taking place underground in Utah. The United States Department of Energy (DOE) is funding an experimental pilot project drilling well over a mile deep into the Earth’s crust to access a continuous heat source for clean energy production. While the technology is in its infancy and there are questions about whether enhanced geothermal could ever be cost-competitive with other forms of clean energy production, the DOE is convinced that it’s a good enough idea to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on

Today, geothermal energy makes up a tiny fraction of energy production on a global scale. All told, it makes up less than 1% of the world’s primary energy supply. This is because currently, geothermal is only produced in geologically anomalous places where water carrying the residual heat of the Earth’s core has cracked through to the surface via hot water vents like hot springs or geysers. “Iceland, straddling two diverging tectonic plates, hits a geological jackpot and produces about a quarter of its electricity that way; in Kenya, volcanism in the Great Rift Valley helps push that figure to more than 40 percent,” Wired recently reported. “In the US, it’s just 0.4 percent, almost all of it coming from California and Nevada.”

The idea behind enhanced geothermal energy is that if you drill down deep enough, geothermal energy can be produced anywhere – not just the places where heat happens to be more accessible closer to the surface. Until recently, the idea was a bit more science fiction than fact, but drilling technologies have improved immensely thanks to the fracking boom of the last few decades. Whereas deep drilling and cracking through rock used to be a headache with little guarantee of success, it’s now a much more exact science.

What’s more, geothermal offers some extremely enticing benefits that other clean energies do not. First and most importantly, it’s a potential baseload power source, meaning that it produces steadily and continuously. This is a huge advantage over more popular renewable energies like wind and solar power, which are variable, as they depend on weather, seasons, and the time of day for production. And peaks of production rarely line up neatly with peaks of demand. This creates a huge challenge for the nascent energy storage sector, as well as our aging power grids, which were not designed with variable energy in mind. As such, a baseload clean energy source solves a number of the clean energy revolution’s most wicked problems – if it can be effectively scaled up and out. 

Second, enhanced geothermal energy takes up much less surface area than other forms of renewable energy production. Land use is currently one of the biggest hurdles for clean energy expansion as disputes and competition for land tie up industrial-scale solar and wind farms around the country and around the world. Late last year, global management consulting firm McKinsey & Company released an analytic report naming land shortages as one of three key challenges facing the renewable revolution, along with long permitting processes and gravely under-prepared power grids. “Utility-scale solar and wind farms require at least ten times as much space per unit of power as coal- or natural gas–fired power plants, including the land used to produce and transport the fossil fuels,” McKinsey reports, adding that “wind turbines are often placed half a mile apart, while large solar farms span thousands of acres.” Since enhanced geothermal’s reach is down into the earth, and not across landscapes, it could be a key workaround for such issues. 

While geothermal presents some key advantages and circumvents some of the biggest pitfalls of the renewable revolution, however, enhanced geothermal is still wickedly expensive, and by no means easy. While the up-front costs are considerable, however, the operational costs are relatively low. And once the heat source is tapped, it’s a gift that keeps on giving, forever. “The question is whether [enhanced geothermal systems] will be more or less practical than building a nuclear plant or a dam or installing carbon capture at a natural gas plant,” says journalist Gregory Barber, who has written about geothermal energy for Wired. “There are good reasons to think it will be—especially if you factor in safety and ecological concerns presented by the alternatives—but it's early.”

By Haley Zaremba for Oilprice.com


 

$84 Billion in Clean Energy Projects Are Running Behind Schedule

  • Nearly 40% of the announced clean energy projects under Biden's IRA, worth $84 billion, are facing delays or indefinite pauses.

  • Factors contributing to these delays include falling solar panel prices, rising costs, high interest rates, and uncertainty surrounding the upcoming presidential election.

  • Companies are concerned that a potential Trump presidency could reverse Biden's clean energy policies and incentives, further jeopardizing these projects.

Companies have announced hundreds of billions of dollars worth of clean energy and manufacturing projects in the United States over the past two years since the Biden Administration passed the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) in August 2022.   

The IRA has nearly $370 billion in climate and clean energy provisions, including investment and production credits for solar, wind, storage, critical minerals, funding for energy research, and credits for clean energy technology manufacturing such as wind turbines and solar panels.

In the first year since the IRA and the CHIPS Act were passed, companies announced over $220 billion worth of projects. 

But over the past few months, announcements have been rarer due to slumping solar panel prices from China’s overproduction and overcapacity, slowing EV sales growth globally, high interest rates, and last but not least, enormous domestic policy uncertainty given the U.S. presidential election in November. Company executives are reluctant to make final investment decisions because they are concerned that a Trump presidency could try to gut Biden’s clean energy initiatives and incentives. 

Other firms are waiting for clearer guidance from the Department of the Treasury on the specific terms under which clean energy projects and production of clean fuels would benefit from the IRA tax credits. 

Funding has also been a deterrent for some projects because IRA subsidies and tax credits are granted in most cases to projects that have already reached some production milestones. 

Setback for $84 Billion Projects 

Of the announced projects worth at least $100 million each, nearly 40% are facing delays or indefinite pauses, according to investigation and research carried out by the Financial Times

These $84 billion worth of projects face delays of between two months and several years or have been indefinitely paused, research by FT, which has also conducted over 100 interviews with company executives, showed. 

Planned solar panel factories, battery storage projects, and a lithium refinery facility are among those faced with delays, according to the FT investigation.  

Solar panel prices have tumbled globally amid overproduction in China, which could persist for another year or two until the authorities manage to rein in the quantity-over-quality output. 

Then, there are higher-than-planned costs for manufacturing facilities in the U.S., including labor and materials. These higher costs add to increased interest rates, making projects more expensive than initially budgeted. 

And finally, political uncertainty with the upcoming presidential election is now topping the list of potential risks for many companies.

Solar manufacturer VSK Energy, which planned to build a factory in Colorado, has ditched that plan and is now looking for a location in a mostly Republican state in the Midwest, to be spared from Trump’s possible axe, a company executive told FT. 

“Just in case, you probably want to be in a red state so that someone from the same party is going to fight for you and your rights,” the manager told FT.

Trump Threat To Clean Projects

Some companies are waiting to see who will ascend to the Oval Office early next year before making final decisions. 

If Donald Trump wins in November, he is set to overturn or at least try to dismantle many of President Biden’s energy and climate policies, including methane rules, the pause on new LNG export permits, EV mandates, federal oil and gas leasing, and even parts of the Inflation Reduction Act. 

The IRA is under scrutiny for possible scrapping of tax breaks, according to Trump advisers and people with whom Trump is directly discussing energy policy issues.  

However, dismantling the IRA would first need a Republican-controlled Congress with both House and Senate. And even then, it could be difficult to scale back or scrap some incentives, as they mostly benefit projects and jobs in Republican states, analysts say. 

At a rally last month, Trump attacked the green policies of the Democrats and the “ridiculous and actually incredible waste of taxpayer dollars” on “things having to do with the green new scam.” 

Trump vowed to redirect the money to infrastructure projects and not allow it to be spent on “meaningless green new scam ideas.” 

A Trump presidency could jeopardize $1 trillion in clean energy investments, Wood Mackenzie said in May. 

Although Trump—if elected—is not expected to fully repeal the IRA of 2022, he is likely to scrap major clean energy policies, including a pledge to decarbonize the power grid by 2035. He is also set to soften emission reduction goals and regulations, according to WoodMac.

The energy consultancy expects the U.S. to see $7.7 trillion in investment for the U.S. energy sector from now until 2050. But less policy support for clean energy and infrastructure improvements would reduce this base-case investment projection by about $1 trillion, Wood Mackenzie’s analysts say.

“This election cycle will really influence the pace of energy investment, both in the next five years and through 2050,” said David Brown, director of Wood Mackenzie’s Energy Transition Research.   

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

Illegal mining soars near First Quantum’s idled Panama mine

Bloomberg News | August 13, 2024 

Aerial view of Cobre Panama mine. Credit: First Quantum Minerals

Illegal mining near First Quantum Minerals Ltd.’s Cobre Panama copper mine has soared since the facility suspended operations last year, an industry group warns.


More than 250 instances of illegal mining have been identified in the rainforest surrounding Cobre Panama this year, according to Zorel Morales, head of the nation’s mining chamber. That’s a 317% increase from 60 instances in 2023. The illegal miners, Morales said, are mostly searching for gold.

Morales and his trade organization, which includes First Quantum, are pushing for a quick resolution on Cobre Panama’s future. The massive mine has sat idle since November after Panama’s Supreme Court ruled that its operating contract was unconstitutional. The closure sparked mass layoffs, which have left the mine’s surroundings largely unattended while First Quantum waits for negotiations to resume under President Jose Raul Mulino’s new administration.

Mulino, however, has said he won’t start talks with the Canadian mining company until the new year, as the government is prioritizing other pressing matters like social security reform and water supply for the Panama Canal.

That timeline will clash with the mine’s need for more immediate action, Morales said in a Monday phone interview. The facility is holding about 121,000 tons of mined copper concentrate that can present environmental risks, said Morales.

“This topic cannot be left for tomorrow,” he said.

First Quantum declined to comment, and a government spokesperson did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

Panamanian officials have already raised concerns about illegal mining in the area since Cobre Panama’s closure. Security minister Frank Abrego warned that illegal miners are using unsafe procedures, as well as chemicals like cyanide, according to cabinet meeting minutes released by Mulino’s administration.

(By Valentine Hilaire and Jacob Lorinc)




Karelian Diamond wins land dispute case in Finland

Staff Writer | August 13, 2024 | 

Diamonds mined at the Lahtojoki deposit.
 (Image courtesy of Karelian Resources.)

Karelian Diamond Resources (AIM: KDR) has won a favorable court decision on its diamond project in the Kuopio Kaavi region of Finland that, once developed, would be the first diamond mine in the European Union.


Application for the mining concession over the company’s Lahtojoki deposit had previously been approved by TUKES, the Finnish mining authority, and the National Land Survey, on the order of TUKES, carried out the proceedings to establish the mine concessions.

Through this process, the Survey decided on a ground rental compensation totalling €162,815 to the land owners, which Karelian paid in cash by March 2023. However, the land owners appealed the decision with the Finnish Land Court, seeking a larger compensation as well as a change to the mine boundaries.

On Monday, the Finnish Land Court maintained the original decision on the mine boundary and rejected most of the claims brought by the land owners on the compensation. Three items were referred back to the National Land Survey for review.

Finalization of the mine boundaries, said Karelian, represents “an essential step” in relation to the proposed development of the Lahtojoki diamond deposit. A valid mining concession would allow the project to proceed through development, subject to any relevant environmental assessments or requirements.

The company believes that the Lahtojoki diamondiferous kimberlite pipe has the potential to become a profitable low strip ratio open pit diamond mine.

The deposit is said to contain high-quality colourless gem diamonds, as well as pink diamonds and other coloured diamonds, which can command prices up to 20 times that of normal colourless gem diamonds, it noted.