After Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Western countries enacted a series of embargoes against Russian goods and raw materials, including natural gas and oil, that many did not think possible or implementable given...more
8/13/2024
/ China ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Embargo ,
EU ,
Exports ,
Fertilizers ,
Imports ,
International Trade ,
NATO ,
Natural Gas ,
Russia
When Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, it lost access to many world markets, including much of Europe. Countries like Germany, which for years had relied on Russian gas and oil, now turned sharply away and sought to...more
Ever since strongman Hugo Chavez assumed power in Venezuela in 1999 and began moving the country toward an authoritarian, socialist model, the collapse of the economy has been offset by income generated from the presence of...more
Statesmen hesitate to get involved in wars for numerous reasons. One key reason is that, once they are started, wars can, and often do, take on lives of their own. Indeed, at times, they produce the exact opposite result of...more
Now less than one month before Election Day, the New York Governor's race is far closer than most had anticipated. Incumbent Democrat Kathy Hochul, who succeeded Andrew Cuomo following his resignation, is being pressed by...more
10/19/2022
/ Boycotts ,
Clean Water Act ,
Energy Projects ,
Energy Sector ,
Exports ,
Fracking ,
Gas Prices ,
Natural Gas ,
New York ,
Oil & Gas ,
OPEC ,
Pennsylvania ,
Pipelines ,
Political Campaigns ,
Russia ,
Shale Gas
Blasts were heard at the Nord Stream 1 pipeline last week, and damage to the pipeline itself was detected underwater shortly thereafter. Russian sources indicated that the damage would further delay the delivery of natural...more
10/6/2022
/ Climate Change ,
Energy Sector ,
EU ,
Exports ,
Germany ,
Green Energy ,
Marcellus Shale ,
National Security ,
Natural Gas ,
Pipelines ,
Russia
Pennsylvania is rapidly becoming the ultimate battleground state in American politics. Famously described by Democratic political operative James Carville as “Philadelphia in the East, Pittsburgh in the West, and Alabama in...more
The best statesmen understand what less worldly and less experienced people often overlook: Wars are mainly political and economic endeavors, and they involve the use of brute force to obtain political and/or economic...more
Over the last two weeks, while news coverage in America has been fixated on the FBI’s raid on Donald Trump’s home at Mar-a-Lago, and later on the death of Queen Elizabeth II, there have been important news stories not widely...more
9/12/2022
/ Biden Administration ,
China ,
Energy Sector ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
FERC ,
Fossil Fuel ,
Greece ,
Oil & Gas ,
Pipelines ,
Russia ,
Turkey ,
Ukraine ,
Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC)
Less than two years after a catastrophic explosion nearly leveled whole parts of Lebanon's capital, Beirut, plunging the country into economic disrepair and social despair, the Ukraine war and natural gas gave Lebanon a...more
Since the execution of the Maastricht Treaty in 1992 that led to the establishment of the Euro single currency, different European Union countries have faced issues meeting the Treaty’s requirements to maintain the currency,...more
7/21/2022
/ Embargo ,
Energy Sector ,
EU ,
European Central Bank ,
Food Supply ,
Fossil Fuel ,
GDP ,
Germany ,
Greece ,
International Monetary Fund ,
Oil & Gas ,
Russia ,
Ukraine
Just north of Philadelphia International Airport and south of the Philadelphia sports Stadium complex lies the Port of Philadelphia, one of the largest freshwater ports in the world. So strategically located is the Port of...more
Two new developments of enormous significance passed under the radar last week, buried by the growing threat of an outright Russia/Ukraine war and governmental encroachment on democracy in Canada. These developments, however,...more
3/14/2022
/ China ,
Climate Change ,
Coal ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Energy Sector ,
EU ,
FERC ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
NATO ,
Natural Gas ,
Oil & Gas ,
Pipelines ,
Russia ,
Shale Gas ,
Ukraine
Shortly before Russia invaded Ukraine on Thursday, February 23, President Biden reinstated the sanctions against the Nord Stream 2 pipeline that he had waived only last year. Depending on what side of the political divide you...more
3/14/2022
/ China ,
Climate Change ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Energy Policy ,
Energy Sector ,
Fracking ,
Germany ,
Joe Biden ,
Marcellus Shale ,
NATO ,
Oil & Gas ,
Paris Agreement ,
Pipelines ,
Russia ,
Ukraine
When Vladimir Putin sent his troops into Ukraine to go conquer that democracy, all of the abstract concepts about energy ended. While not quite a Pearl Harbor moment in terms of instantaneous ideological shift, Putin's...more
3/14/2022
/ Bad Actors ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Energy Sector ,
Exports ,
Fossil Fuel ,
Marcellus Shale ,
Natural Gas ,
Nuclear Weapons ,
Oil & Gas ,
Pipelines ,
Russia ,
Ukraine
Last week, President Joe Biden warned Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky that a Russian invasion of Ukraine might be imminent. While Zelensky does not seem to share that assessment, full scale war in Eastern Europe seems...more
1/31/2022
/ Energy Policy ,
Energy Sector ,
Fracking ,
Germany ,
Marcellus Shale ,
NATO ,
Natural Gas ,
Oil & Gas ,
Pennsylvania ,
Russia ,
Ukraine
If 2020 was the year of the great energy disconnect, 2021 was the year the people carrying out the energy debate appeared to be living on different planets, floating aimlessly through time and space and never intersecting...more
12/30/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Climate Change ,
Coal ,
Electricity ,
Energy Sector ,
Fossil Fuel ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Hydropower ,
Keystone XL Pipeline ,
Natural Gas ,
Price Inflation ,
Renewable Energy ,
Russia ,
Severe Weather ,
Ukraine
During a press briefing on Friday afternoon, State Department spokesman Ned Price abruptly changed the subject from the disastrous pullout in Afghanistan to the Nord Stream 2 pipeline.
A Russian ship, the Ostap Sheremeta,...more
8/30/2021
/ Afghanistan ,
Biden Administration ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Germany ,
Keystone XL Pipeline ,
Natural Gas ,
Oil & Gas ,
OPEC ,
Pipelines ,
Russia ,
Ukraine
The dispute over the controversial oil and gas pipeline known as “Nord Stream 2” ended on Wednesday when the United States Department of State announced that the Biden administration was waiving sanctions against the...more
The geo-political folly that is the Nord Stream 2 pipeline – designed to convey natural gas directly from Russia to Germany in the Baltic Sea – came into sharper focus this week. As work on the highly controversial pipeline...more
On February 3, German Economy Minister Peter Altmaier proclaimed that Germany had exceeded its target of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 40% compared to 1990 levels. Despite clearly being aided by the deep economic slump...more
2/11/2021
/ Climate Change ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
EU ,
Fossil Fuel ,
Germany ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Natural Gas ,
Oil & Gas ,
OPEC ,
Pipelines ,
Renewable Energy ,
Russia
President Biden’s first move on energy internationally likely will be one of his most unfortunate actions - rejoining the Paris Climate Accords. Unfortunately, he will have no choice, since he has consistently pledged to do...more
1/15/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Canada ,
China ,
Climate Change ,
Energy Sector ,
Fossil Fuel ,
Fracking ,
Green Deal ,
International Relations ,
National Emissions Standards ,
Natural Gas ,
Oil & Gas ,
OPEC ,
Paris Agreement ,
Pipelines ,
Popular ,
Russia ,
Turkey ,
Venezuela
When President Biden takes office on January 20, among the many other obstacles, issues and problems that he will need to deal with is an impending polar vortex that meteorologists now predict will descend upon the United...more
1/12/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Climate Change ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Domestic Policy ,
Energy Sector ,
Foreign Policy ,
Fossil Fuel ,
Fracking ,
Infrastructure ,
Interstate Commerce ,
Natural Disasters ,
Natural Gas ,
Oil & Gas ,
Pipelines ,
Polar Vortex ,
Renewable Energy ,
Russia
During all of Donald Trump’s presidency, he has been accused of maintaining secret ties to Russia. That charge only increased following recent reports that Russia had offered the Taliban cash to kill American soldiers in...more
6/29/2020
/ China ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Governor Cuomo ,
India ,
Natural Resources ,
Oil & Gas ,
Russia ,
Saudi Arabia ,
Syria ,
Trump Administration ,
Vladimir Putin
Norislk spill, Oil spill Russia, Thawing permafrost , Lake pyasino, Pyasina river, Artic oil spill, Fossil fuels, Fossil fuel companies, Renewable energy, Energy attorney, Daniel markind, Gas, pipelines, Shale gas, Marcellus...more