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on September 28, 2020
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Line 3 Replacement Would Provide Massive Economic Benefits

Written by Isaac Orr
in Energy

Some liberal media outlets have sought to depict the removal of Steve Kelley from his role as the head of the Department of Commerce as a partisan jab at Governor Walz for extending his emergency powers, even though two DFL senators sided with Republicans to remove him. Politics may have indeed played a role in the decision to oust Kelley, but the former Commissioner's decision to once again delay the replacement of the Line 3 pipeline were solid grounds for dismissal. According to a new study, the replacement of the Line 3 project would bring about massive economic benefits in both...

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on September 01, 2020
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Could Alberta, Canada become the 51st state?

Written by Isaac Orr
in Energy

A new billboard that has appeared in Edmonton, Alberta (home of the Oilers hockey team) asks Albertans the question, "Should Alberta join the USA?" For those of you who are unfamiliar, Alberta is basically the Texas of Canada. It is the largest producer of oil and natural gas in Canada and Alberta accounted for nearly 82 percent of Canadian oil production in 2018. Alberta also has large reserves of coal, and every year, it holds one of the world's largest rodeo called the Calgary Stampede. Like Texas, Alberta is also very independent, and the movement to separate from the rest of Canada...

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on June 04, 2020
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By Delaying Line 3 Replacement, Again, The Walz Administration is Flagrantly Ignoring “The Science”

Written by Isaac Orr
in Energy

Governor Walz loves to pretend that scientific evidence is the primary driver for the decisions he makes in St. Paul, but his actions show otherwise. In reality, Walz's mantra of "following the science"is just a thinly-veiled smokescreen for doing whatever he wanted to do anyway to serve his own purposes. Line 3 is a perfect example....

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on May 27, 2020
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Michael Moore’s Planet of the Humans Removed Due to Alleged Copyright Infringment

Written by Isaac Orr
in Energy

Michael Moore's documentary, Planet of the Humans, was removed from YouTube yesterday amidst allegations that some of the footage shown in the film infringed on copyrights. At the time of it's removal, the film had garnered more than 8 million views. The renewable energy industry has been calling for the film to be removed from the platform since the day it was released. These groups made several inaccurate claims about the contents of the film, and while there were some errors in Planet of the Humans, by and large it did a good job of articulating the fact that wind and solar also have impacts...

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on April 17, 2020
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Keystone XL and Line 3 Transportation Capacity Would Exceed OPEC Imports

Written by Isaac Orr
in Energy

Most people don't realize how important the Line 3 replacement project in Minnesota truly is. Not only would it reduce the chances of an oil spill by replacing an aging, corroded pipeline with a safer, state-of-the art new pipeline, but it would also allow this pipeline to transport more oil into the United States than we currently purchase from Saudi Arabia. Add this to the extra pipeline capacity that would be brought online thanks to the Keystone XL pipeline, and it would be the equivalent of replacing all of OPEC, as you can see in the graph below which uses oil...

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on April 10, 2020
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Forbes: To Fight The Coronavirus, The World Returns To Fossil Fuels

Written by Isaac Orr
in Energy

The article below appeared in Forbes, and it does a good job of summarizing how many of the policies advocated by environmental activists harm human safety in times like the Coronavirus outbreak. Ideas like banning single-use plastic bags in favor of forcing people to use resusable bags may sound good on a bumper sticker, but the science, indicates these policies leave people at greater health risks by facilitating the spread of pathogens. Ditto for energy. Even putting cost aside, which is an enormous aside, the idea that wind, solar, and battery storage alone will be able to deliver the same degree of reliability that...

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on April 02, 2020
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Walz Wisely Designates Oil and Natural Gas Pipelines as “Essential Operations” During COVID-19 Shutdown

Written by Isaac Orr
in Energy

COVID-19 continues to dominate the state and national conversation, and more jurisdictions are issuing Shelter in Place orders to try and slow the spread of the virus to buy time for healthcare providers to prepare for the peak caseload. These orders have required the closure of businesses that have been deemed non-essential. Minnesota Governor Tim Walz is to be commended for recognizing the importance that oil and natural gas pipelines play in the everyday lives of all Minnesotans, and all Americans, by deeming them to be essential. The map below shows the extensive network of energy pipelines operating in the state....

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on March 30, 2020
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Gas Prices Will Soon Be Under $1 As a Result of COVID-19 Lockdowns, Saudi and Russian Price War

Written by Isaac Orr
in Energy

Minnesota drivers might have noticed falling prices at the pump over the weekend, and prices are about to fall below a dollar per gallon of gasoline, at least that's my prediction based on the fact that crude oil prices have now fallen to a 17-year low. Prices are falling because many people are no longer commuting to work and businesses are closed to help slow the spread of the COVID-19, and because a price war is being waged by Saudi Arabia and Russia, the second- and third-largest producers of oil in the world, behind the United States. Demand Drops from COVID-19 According to...

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on March 19, 2020
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What Would a Joe Biden Fracking Ban Look Like? Part Two: Devastating Economic Impacts

Written by Isaac Orr
in Energy

During the Democrat debate on Sunday, March 15, 2020, between Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders and former Vice-President Joe Biden, Vice-President Biden stated that he would allow "no new fracking," and touted his role in spending $90 billion on the solar industry as part of the Obama administration's stimulus package. As I explained in Part One of this series, banning "new fracking" is essentially the same thing as banning all fracking. Such a bad policy would have devastating economic impacts for the entire country. According to a 2016 study conducted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce entitled "What if Hydraulic Fracturing Was Banned?"...

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