| Energy Realism this past week examined key political energy challenges and why EVs might bring a lot more headaches than advocates realize. This past week, RealClearEnergy had some big hits from our BrainTrust. Let’s start with Fred Hutchison and Lucian Pugliaresi. U.S. LNG exports have enjoyed strong, bipartisan support stretching back to President Obama’s second term when LNG pioneers convinced then Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz to join them in a leap of faith to authorize long-term natural gas exports. LNG exports are making substantial contributions to U.S. trade balances and domestic employment and bolstering the energy security of our allies. It is thus long past time to streamline the regulatory process to expedite LNG exports. Thankfully, we can all agree on that. But, the real division between Democrats and Republicans is the Biden administration’s apparent obsession to effectively mandate electric cars across the country. Mark P. Mills explains why this is not just politically risky but impractical and insanely expensive. And sorry to EV advocates, but the fact remains that they are not nearly as “clean” as advertised. Not when you consider how much mining is required and just how much coal-based China dominates supply chains for the critical materials inherent to the “EV revolution” that greens are demanding. Well no matter what, the EV crowd is still not understanding the amount of new electricity demand that EVs will inevitably bring. Ron Brise’ looks at our reliability challenge, which is getting more difficult as power needs are growing and our weather is becoming more extreme. We need to balance badly needed upgrades to the grid that can help improve resiliency and safety versus increasing costs for customers as they are facing higher costs for everyday expenses. Without the kind of infrastructure investments proposed by PG&E, California will still face risks from wildfires. It’s time for California to learn from the experience in Florida and make the critical decision to invest in undergrounding and grid hardening for the good of its citizens. Our Essential Reading comes from the Anderson Economic Group. Importantly, the group’s study examines all categories of costs, including several that are commonly omitted in other EV studies. The primary conclusion here is that EVs can be more expensive to fuel than their oil-based, ICE counterparts. In the News Mike Colias, WSJ Julianne Geiger, Oil Price Jeff Cox, CNBC Vincent Gabrielle, CT Insider Reuters Reuters Charles Kennedy, Oil Price Umair Irfan, Vox Mary Anna Mancuso, RealClearEnergy Ron Brisé, RealClearEnergy Simon Evans, Carbon Brief Reuters Luke Hurst, Euronews Orianna Rosa Royle, Yahoo Finance Francis Menton, Manhattan Contrarian RealClearEnergy Avingrid Inc. announced today that its Vineyard Wind 1 project off the Massachusetts coast completed the installation of its first wind turbine. It represents a step forward for the... Universidad de Las Hespérides Energy and the Cornucopia of Opportunity | 