Watt’s Happening aims to provide breaking news, sharp analysis, and thoughtful commentary from the cutting edge of the energy sector as this dynamic area of the world continues to expand and grow before our eyes.
Weekly Highlights:
Nuclear Energy Missteps in Taiwan
On May 17, the Taiwanese government shut down the country’s last operating nuclear reactor and pledged its desire for a “nuclear-free homeland.” This decision has been assailed by critics, who point out the fact that the decision shows that the government is displaying a flippant attitude toward the nation’s defense vis-à-vis China. After all, the decision has made the island’s energy grid more vulnerable to either a Chinese first strike or cyberattack and will complicate the United States’ ability to respond to Chinese threats on the island in time. To read the latest TNI analysis, go here.
Meta Enters the Nuclear Power Game
After signing a World Nuclear Association pledge in March that aimed to triple world nuclear energy production by 2050, Meta put its money where its (metaphorical) mouth is. Just like Microsoft’s deal to reopen the nuclear power plant at Three Mile Island, Meta has just signed a 20 year deal with Constellation Energy to have the Clinton Clean Energy Center in Illinois serve as a source of power starting in 2027. In addition to the green energy benefits of the deal, commentators noted that without the agreement, the power plant would likely be closing in the near future due to the Trump administration’s cancelling of clean energy credits offered by the Biden administration.
Solar Energy Outshines Chinese Coal in Pakistan
A flood of cheap Chinese solar panels has worked to inadvertently displace Chinese-funded and built coal plants in Pakistan, prompting calls by Pakistani officials for China, instead of the United States, to lead the world’s green energy transition by taking an appropriate policy stance. In addition, a Pakistani think tank called Renewables First has seized upon this moment to urge the Pakistani government to develop a homegrown solar panel manufacturing base to cope with increasing global export restrictions and China’s virtual monopoly on rare minerals. To do so would require Pakistan and China to move from an importer-exporter relationship to one of mutual co-creators of “a home-grown clean-energy innovation ecosystem.”
The Great White North and Black Gold
The Trump administration has turned to the last frontier in their quest to make America self-sufficient in terms of energy. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, Energy Secretary Chris Wright, and Environmental Protection Aagency Administrator Lee Zeldin all gave speeches at Governor Mike Dunleavy’s annual Alaska Sustainable Energy Conference in Anchorage. All three men underscored the Trump administration’s goal of increasing both domestic oil and natural gas production by increasing the quantity of oil in the Trans-Alaska Pipeline and constructing a new natural gas pipeline to connect North Slope natural gas to the wider world. Environmentalists countered by saying that these were “false solutions” to the global energy crises that will only further damage the environment and the planet.
Trump’s Tariff Court Battle Continues Affecting Oil Prices
The recent decision by the US Court of International Trade about President Trump’s decision to unilaterally impose tariffs has been granted a stay by the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Indeed, the decision to pause the Court of International Trade’s ruling has given time for both sides to make their case regarding the tariffs. While the ruling did cause a rally in the oil market, the response had been more muted than one might expect, largely as a result of virtually everyone knowing that the appeals process is just beginning. Nor has the ruling affected all of President Trump’s tariffs. Those—on aluminum, steel, and automobiles—that were invoked on grounds of national security remain in place, for now.
About the Author: Toni Mikec
Toni Mikec is the Managing Editor for Energy World, a publication of the Center for the National Interest. Before that, he worked as a political consultant for Your Voter Guide in Sacramento and as a Senior Editor at Eagle Financial Publications in Washington DC. He holds a B.A. in International Relations (summa cum laude) from the University of California, Davis and a M.A. in International Relations and International Economics from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.
Image: Shutterstock/Who is Danny
