Texas Governor Greg Abbott has directed a halt on new data center connections to the ERCOT grid pending a comprehensive audit of their energy use, water consumption, financing, ownership, and community impacts.

This action, announced August 3, 2026, comes roughly three weeks after New York became the first state to impose a temporary statewide moratorium on new hyperscale data centers. It applies to projects seeking to interconnect with the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) system and pauses related transmission planning work, including the “Batch Zero” study. […]

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Qatar, Bessent Signal Progress on Short-Term US-Iran Deal — With Mixed Signals from Iran

Oil markets swung lower on Tuesday as Qatar and U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent pointed to advancing mediation efforts aimed at a short-term arrangement between the United States and Iran, centered on reopening the Strait of Hormuz. The chokepoint, which normally handles roughly one-fifth of global oil and LNG supplies, has been heavily disrupted since […]

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Net Zero has hit the Bank of England, and they cut all support for coal. But the rest of the world increases use of coal and low-cost energy.

The Bank of England is moving further away from thermal coal. From October 2026, it will no longer accept bonds issued by companies deriving revenue from thermal coal mining as eligible collateral in its lending operations. Commercial banks borrowing from the Bank (including major UK institutions) will not be able to post those bonds. The […]

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Saudi Arabia Shipping Less But Revenues Are Up Due to Higher Oil Prices

Saudi Arabia is exporting and producing less oil amid ongoing regional conflicts and shipping disruptions, yet its oil revenues have risen sharply thanks to elevated crude prices. This paradox highlights the resilience of the Kingdom’s energy sector even as capacity constraints, security threats, and infrastructure damage create significant hurdles. In the second quarter of 2026, […]

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The Energy Transition is Happening – It’s Not What the Climate Activists Wanted

For years, the dominant energy narrative has been a single, heavily marketed story: the world is undergoing an inevitable, morally urgent transition away from fossil fuels toward wind, solar, and battery storage. Climate activists, aligned media, and policymakers have framed this as both destiny and imperative. As David Blackmon observed in his August 2, 2026, […]

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ExxonMobil and Chevron Post Huge Profit and Revenue: Implications for Consumers and Investors

In the second quarter of 2026, ExxonMobil and Chevron delivered blockbuster earnings, fueled by elevated oil prices stemming from the ongoing Iran conflict and associated supply disruptions in the Middle East, including pressures around the Strait of Hormuz and Red Sea. These results highlight the resilience of the U.S. majors’ integrated portfolios amid geopolitical volatility, […]

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Texas Holding Consumers Hostage for $33 B in a High-Voltage Heist

Texas ratepayers are on the hook for a $33 billion high-voltage transmission expansion that critics call a classic power grab—funneling guaranteed returns to transmission monopolies, condemning thousands of acres of private land, and primarily enabling more intermittent wind and solar that many of today’s assets won’t economically or physically outlast another decade. The Electric Reliability […]

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NextDecade Snags $4.6B Financing for Rio Grande LNG Growth

HOUSTON — NextDecade Corporation has locked in approximately $4.6 billion in financing tied to its Rio Grande LNG (RGLNG) project in South Texas, strengthening the balance sheet for Phase 1 while advancing expansion plans. The moves, detailed in the company’s second-quarter 2026 business update released July 30, 2026, refinance existing construction debt and free bank […]

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