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- 🛢️ Conflicts of Interest? In the Dept. of Energy?
🛢️ Conflicts of Interest? In the Dept. of Energy?
Nah...really? Billions going down the drain...
Good morning, here's what the Oilman has for you today:

DoE’s Green Loan Rush Unravels
The Department of Energy has been in a rush to lend as much as it can to green projects.
Its own regulator this month, however, called for a halt to these.
There could be conflicts of interest, the inspector general warned.
Ya don’t say…?
NEW: The Department of Energy's inspector general is calling on the Biden admin to halt its rapid-fire green energy loan program.
The IG says the program "poses a significant risk of fraud, waste, and abuse" and notes that the DOE has failed to *track conflicts of interest.*
— Thomas Catenacci (@ThomasCatenacci)
11:21 PM • Dec 17, 2024
More gold bars off the Titanic
Remember that EPA official who said they were funding green NGOs in anticipation of Trump’s presidency?
He called it “throwing gold bars off the Titanic.”
The DoE has also been throwing off gold bars off the Titanic.
Last month, its Loan Programs Office boosted its fire power from $57 billion to $246 billion.
All for green projects.
These guys must be really feeling the GOP administration breathing down their necks.
But as the LPO got more money to throw at wind and solar, its regulator spoke up.
In an interim report, Teri Donaldson suggested some DoE contractors may be playing both fields.
The US Energy Department’s independent watchdog is recommending the agency’s $400 billion green bank stop work on pending loans after finding improper management of conflicts of interest.
Another big grift for Dems and their cronies. #Bidenomics#OOTT
— Seaside Trader (@csidetrader)
2:13 PM • Dec 18, 2024
They are supposed to be working for the DoE but some could be also working for loan beneficiaries.
The head of the LPO said Donaldson had not uncovered any evidence of wrongdoing.
But it’s hard to not wonder why the sudden surge in available money.
It must be on fears that Trump could shut down the office.
After all, he threatened to do just that back in 2016.
NEW: A memo from the Inspector General found the Department of Energy is not taking proper action on possible conflicts of interest on billions in green energy loans, including billions more planned for before the end of Biden's presidency:
"The OIG audit team was surprised to… x.com/i/web/status/1…
— Nathan Worcester (@nnworcester)
6:00 PM • Dec 18, 2024
Betting billions on lame horses
The LPO provides projects with low-interest loans.
Per inspector general Donaldson, many of these projects failed to secure funding elsewhere.
In other words, the government is subsidizing project that banks rejected as too high-risk.
Hooray for communism!
Right now, it sounds more like throwing money to green businesses just because there is money.
Not because those businesses have a good energy idea.
Luckily, time is running out on the money-throwing.


Listen to Life of an Oil Man
Life of an Oilman has covered some big personalities:
Aubrey McClendon came from oilfield royalty — his great uncle was the co-founder of Kerr-McGee and an Oklahoma Governor.
In the latest Life of an Oilman, Adam Oxsen covers Aubrey’s rise from local-Oklahoma landman to a global, energy icon.
Go listen to Life of an Oilman.

European Power Industry Calls for Lower Energy Taxes
The EU’s power utilities have called on Brussels to lower energy taxes.
It’s the latest in a growing number of warning signs about the bloc’s energy security.
Reuters: European businesses pay three times more for electricity than their American counterparts
And a quarter of the electricity bill is made up of government taxes, which the US does not have.
To solve the problem, the EU plans to completely abandon fuel from Russia by… x.com/i/web/status/1…
— Dagny Taggart (@DagnyTaggart963)
12:26 PM • Dec 25, 2024
Can’t have electrification with sky-high prices
This latest warning came from the head of the power utility association in the EU.
Leonhard Birnbaum, CEO of Germany utility E.ON, said Brussels had to lower taxes.
Because current electricity prices were incompatible with electrification plans.
That’s putting it very mildly.
The drive to electrify everything was bound to make electricity more expensive anyway.
But that drive features high-cost sources such as wind and solar.
Their additional costs get passed on to the consumers in the form of taxes.
So, you get even more expensive electricity.
“We appreciate that states always need more money,” Birnbaum told Reuters.
That’s some good sense of humor right there.
But, he continued, you can’t have excessive taxes on electricity.
Well, obviously you can, but it’s not really good for the industry you want to electrify.
Climate taxes destroying Europe's industrial competitiveness:
"EU industries pay power prices 2-3 times higher than those in the U.S. Taxes made up, on average, 23% of the retail electricity price paid by Europe's energy-intensive firms in 2023, analysis by the think-tank… x.com/i/web/status/1…
— Steve Milloy (@JunkScience)
2:18 PM • Dec 23, 2024
In case you’re wondering why European businesses are relocating…
European industrial users pay electricity bills that are 2-3 times higher than what we pay here.
Taxes make up an average 23% of these bills in the EU.
So, in case anyone was wondering why so many European companies want to move…
That’s why.
Problem is, governments have no other source of money.
It’s either industry or households.
And both are made up of voters.
Must be tough to be in European government these days.

Tweet of the Day
Nothing to see here: just billionaires rolling the dice on a $392m, 30,000ft, below the salt weld, shallow water, onshore Louisiana NATGAS well; Balls the size of Starships. Happening Now!
— WhisperO&G (@GWhispero)
2:36 PM • Dec 24, 2024

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