Paul Griffin

May 4, 2022

Biden Administration Begrudgingly Resumes Oil and Gas Leases

Last month, the Biden Administration announced it would open 144,000 acres of federally-owned lands for new oil and gas leases. Opening these lands to support America’s energy needs is a good thing, but it shouldn’t have taken the Biden Administration so long to see the wisdom of opening new lease […]
April 15, 2022

Russian Invasion of Ukraine Prompts Nuclear Renaissance in UK

Several European countries have found themselves strapped for energy supplies in recent months. The fallout from the Covid 19 pandemic and Russia’s unprovoked attack on Ukraine has caused prices to skyrocket and sparked fears of shortages. Even the world’s most sophisticated and developed countries have not been immune to this […]
April 8, 2022

Biden Administration Takes Action To Secure Critical Rare Earth Minerals

We’ve written many times about the need for the U.S. to secure a reliable supply of rare earth minerals. Unfortunately, shortages and supply chain issues have plagued the industry and ultimately contributed to the slow growth of electric vehicle (E.V.) adoption. Fortunately, the Biden Administration is invoking a Cold War-era […]
March 25, 2022

U.S. Leads the World in LNG Exports

We’ve written many times about the bright future for U.S. liquified natural gas (LNG) exports. Two years ago, we noted how the U.S. was on track to become the world’s largest LNG exporter by 2023. However, we’ve reached that milestone a year early as Europe’s energy crisis has increased demand […]
March 18, 2022

Energy Secretary asks U.S. drillers to ramp up supply

Gas prices have been steadily rising for months now, but Russia’s invasion of Ukraine caused them to skyrocket even more. This unprovoked aggression prompted the Biden Administration to ban imports of Russian oil and liquefied natural gas while acknowledging that consumers will see even more pain at the pump. President […]
March 11, 2022

Germany Keeps Making the Same Mistakes

It seems like we’ve written volumes about Germany’s short-sighted energy transition goals encapsulated in its Energiewende. The Energiewende is the ongoing transition by Germany to a low carbon, environmentally sound, reliable, and affordable energy supply. But unfortunately, this aggressive carbon reduction initiative has only raised costs for consumers and put […]
March 2, 2022

Russia Invasion of Ukraine Highlights Risk of Cyberattacks

In May of last year, a significant ransomware attack shut down the Colonial Pipeline for five days. This critical pipeline provides 45% of fuel for the East Coast. And the sudden shutdown left thousands of service stations without gas, pushing prices to the highest levels in six years. The Colonial […]
February 23, 2022

Transmission battle takes place in New York over whether hydropower is really “green”

A strange battle pitting environmental groups against clean energy advocates is taking place in New York – a state with one of the most aggressive carbon reduction initiatives in the U.S. The issue? Whether the proposed 339 transmission line and the hydropower it will carry from Quebec to New York […]
February 18, 2022

Fusion Experiment Creates Star Power

For five seconds back in December, scientists in the U.K. created a literal star on Earth. While five seconds seems like a woefully short amount of time, the experiment was groundbreaking for the field of nuclear fusion and the future of clean energy. Scientists have been on a quest to […]
February 11, 2022

Lithium Drilling Begins in California

We’ve written many times about the importance of securing a domestic supply of lithium. This so-called “white gold” is an essential component in electric vehicle batteries and electronics and will play a significant role in our clean energy transition. Presently, most of the world’s lithium comes from South America or […]
February 8, 2022

Federal Judge Punts On Oil & Gas Leases

In the latest round of energy-related political football, a federal judge has put the brakes on plans to lease millions of acres of energy-rich parcels below the waters of the Gulf of Mexico.  As we wrote last year, the Biden Administration previously hit pause on a significant offering of oil […]
February 3, 2022

Energy Fairness Podcast #2: Goldendale Pumped Hydropower Energy Storage Project

For Energy Fairness’ 2nd podcast, Executive Director Paul Griffin has an in-depth conversation with Erik Steimle (Rye Development) about the potential of the Goldendale Pumped Hydropower Energy Storage Project in Washington State.
August 27, 2021

U.S. Departure from Afghanistan Complicates Rare Earth Minerals Market

We offer our heartfelt condolences to the families and loved ones of the 13 U.S. Marines currently identified as having lost their lives in deadly attacks in Kabul and offer our prayers for those Americans and others still awaiting evacuation from Afghanistan. As Americans reel from the loss of at […]
July 27, 2021

Showdown in the Land of Lincoln

About an hour and a half southeast of St. Louis in the heartland of Illinois sits the Prairie State Energy Campus – one of the most modern and environmentally controlled coal power stations in the country.  Not quite ten years old, Prairie State is among the most efficient plants in […]
July 1, 2021

California moves to end unfair $230/year rooftop solar subsidy for rich

The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) voted to end an unfair rooftop solar subsidy that generally favors the rich.   The CPUC action highlights that after 25 years, the rooftop solar industry is mature and no longer needs to be subsidized on the backs of the poor and middle-class Californians. […]
June 15, 2021

Diablo Canyon nuclear closing will dramatically increase California’s carbon emissions

We don’t like to pick on California, but sometimes it’s just too easy.  Take the upcoming closure of Diablo Canyon nuclear, for example.   California has set an aggressive target of reducing its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to 40% lower than what they were in 1990 by 2030.   Yet […]
June 10, 2021

Experts agree, permitting huge problem in meeting President’s renewables targets

Over the last several years, we’ve written consistently about the many regulatory or permitting hurdles facing the energy industry as the U.S. continues to transition to a majority renewables grid. Back in November, we quipped, “it’s permitting, stupid,” when asking ourselves why renewables weren’t being brought online at a faster […]
May 26, 2021

ICYMI: Energy Fairness Participates in Podcast on Texas Blackouts

ICYMI: Energy Fairness Executive Director, Paul Griffin participated in a CoBank podcast concerning the role that the Texas deregulated electricity market played during the state’s historical blackouts in February.   The transcript of the podcast follows.   Transcript Terry Viswanath (Cobank): Welcome to Power Plays a CoBank knowledge exchange podcast series […]