| There have been two general themes at Energy Realism over the past week. First, the climate policies of California are always of high interest because some politicians continue to erroneously cite them as a model for the rest of the country. Next, the energy transition to a decarbonized complex hides a number of inconvenient realities that advocates seem unwilling to talk about. All is not lost, however, as there are a few less painful ways to “go green.” Gautam Kalghatgi follows up on a recent RealClearEnergy article from Joel Kotkin by analyzing California’s recent mandate to fully electrify the state’s medium- and heavy-duty trucking fleet by 2045. While electric passenger cars are more or less practical, the problems of very high weight, restricted range, and long charging time render electric trucks prohibitive. Staying in the Golden State, Robert Bryce argues why natural gas will remain an essential fuel for decades to come. The banning of low-cost gas in new buildings and home construction will therefore only make energy much more expensive, exacerbating California’s poverty problem. It becomes clear then, that policies pushing much more electric transport and wind and solar energy hide large-scale issues that cannot simply be wished away. Daniel Turner examines how green energy technologies require a domestic mining boom to yield the rare materials that comprise them. If not, we could just be helping to transfer trillions of dollars into the hands of Chinese Communist Party. Mark Mills offers a similar reality check in his new report, calculating the immense scale of natural resources required for a clean energy transition, highlighting the necessity to consider the entire life-cycle of “green” energy. Thankfully, there is a much more practical way to improve the environment. Katherine Lugar & Darrel Collier promote education on recycling and the need to create a truly circular economy. In the News Jason Jiang, Splash247 Sam Meredith, CNBC Timothy Gardner, Reuters William Allison, Energy In Depth Ed Monk, Fidelity International Ed Hirs, Forbes Grabar et al., Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance Kristoffer Tigue, KQED Billy Nauman, Financial Times Reuters Andy Pasztor, The Wall Street Journal Tyler Corder, Bloomberg Law D. Korth, Nasdaq Hazel Bradford, Pensions & Investments Patrick Pizzella, Think Advisor The Young Turks Joe Biden is going centrist on climate change. Cenk Uygur, Ramesh Srinivasan, and Brooke Thomas, hosts of The Young Turks, break it down. Society of Petroleum Engineers This #SPElive #SPEGaiaTalk provides a lively look at #oilandgas and the #EnergyTransition. Guests include leaders from NOV, Rice University's Baker Institute, Cheniere Energy and Shell. | 
