Surging New England Energy Prices: No Surprise

By Steve Goreham -- May 30, 2023 1 Comment

“New England home heating and electricity prices are on the rise with no end in sight. Consumers paid record high energy bills last winter, even though the winter was not unusually cold. Shortages of natural gas and green energy policies will drive New England prices higher and raise the chance of electricity blackouts.”

Residential energy bills in New England this year were the highest in history. The combination of electricity and natural gas heating bills exceeded $1,000 per month for an average-sized house in Massachusetts, even though winter temperatures in New England were warmer than average.

Eighty percent of homes in New England, which includes Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont, heat with fuels from oil and gas. The hydrocarbon fuel share of home heating is natural gas (39%), fuel oil and kerosene (33%), and propane or liquid petroleum gas (8%).…

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New England Curtails amid World Natural Gas Boom

By Steve Goreham -- April 9, 2019 7 Comments

“Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, and Vermont now pursue decarbonization targets to reduce emissions 75-85 percent by 2050. These states’ “strategic electrification” policy calls for eliminating natural gas and propane from home and water heating applications by substituting electric appliances and heat pumps that can use wind and solar systems.”

“Because of insufficient gas pipeline capacity, New England now faces critical shortages. In January, utility Con Edison announced a moratorium on new natural gas customers in Westchester County, New York. That same month, Holyoke Gas & Electric of Massachusetts also announced that it can no longer accept new natural gas service requests due to a lack of supply.”

Global usage of natural gas continues to grow rapidly. Methane and propane are essential low-cost, non-polluting fuels for heating, cooking, industrial use, and generation of electrical power.…

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‘Sustainable’ Fuels Unlikely to Replace Hydrocarbons for Air Travel

By Steve Goreham -- January 2, 2019 6 Comments

Hydrocarbon fuels will remain essential for modern air travel. So-called sustainable aviation fuels are expensive, produced in negligible volumes, and provide CO2 savings only on paper. As such, they fail the real sustainability test of affordability, plenty, and reliability.”

Air travel is a miracle of our modern society. In 1620, the pilgrims took 65 days to cross the Atlantic Ocean by sailing ship and two passengers died during that hazardous journey. Today, a single jumbo jet safely transports more than 300 passengers from London to New York in under eight hours. Millions flew to see loved ones this last Christmas. But jet planes burn hydrocarbon fuel, an energy source under attack.

Each day, more than 100,000 commercial flights carry more than 11 million passengers a combined total of 14 billion passenger miles worldwide. 

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Energy & Modernity: Three Industrial Revolutions (Heartland Institute treatise excerpt)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- December 19, 2018 3 Comments

This post reprints Section 3.2.1 of Climate Change Reconsidered II: Fossil Fuels (Summary for Policymakers here.) This is the fifth volume in the Climate Change Reconsidered series published by the Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change (NIPCC).

This treatise from The Heartland Institute continues a tradition of offering citizens and scholars an alternative view of all issues relating to climate science and climate policy. This brief excerpt (subtitles added) will be joined in the New Year with many other excerpts on specific issues to better disseminate the major findings of this major treatise.

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Fossil fuels make possible such transformative technologies as nitrogen fertilizer, concrete, the steam engine and cotton gin, electrification, the internal combustion engine, and the computer and Internet revolution.

Prior to the widespread use of fossil fuels, humans expended nearly as much energy (calories) producing food and finding fuel (primarily wood and dung) to warm their dwellings as their primitive technologies were able to produce.

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100 Percent Renewables—Poor Policy for Ratepayers

By Steve Goreham -- October 29, 2018 13 Comments Continue Reading

Protesters Aren’t Stopping US Pipeline Network Growth

By Steve Goreham -- June 27, 2018 9 Comments Continue Reading

The Myth of Dangerous Acid Rain (in light of Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano)

By Steve Goreham -- May 23, 2018 5 Comments Continue Reading

Warring Against Natural Gas: Joint EEI/NRDC Statement to NARUC (crony environmentalism at work)

By -- February 26, 2018 4 Comments Continue Reading

US Electric Vehicle Report Card: 2017

By Donn Dears -- February 5, 2018 4 Comments Continue Reading

More Tributes in the Energy and Climate Debate (Part II)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- January 11, 2018 2 Comments Continue Reading