Biden Admin Flounders with Oil and Gas Outreach

Could minesweeping be a second career for displaced energy industry workers? Find out the source of this proposal, along with other popular topics, in this review of Rigzone’s top articles from the past week among downstream readers based on pageviews.

Biden Jobs Assurances Backfire with Oil and Mining Workers

The Biden administration is falling short in its efforts to calm the fears of oil and gas and coal industry workers who worry about earning a living under its climate policies, according to this Bloomberg article. From Vice President Kamala Harris’ call for reclaiming abandoned land mines in West Virginia to jet-setting climate envoy John Kerry’s statement that “better choices” in wind and solar exist for displaced fossil fuel industry laborers, the blunders were greeted with derision from Appalachia to Texas.

Arctic Blast in US Triggers Pipeline Freeze-offs

Much of the United States endured frigid temperatures and frozen precipitation last week. Texas – including the state’s energy providers and consumers – has borne the brunt of such conditions. In this article, Bloomberg points out that extreme cold caused liquids inside natural gas pipelines to freeze – and wells to shut down – while demand for gas-fired electricity and heating surged.

Texas Grid Woes Go Beyond Frozen Wind Turbines

The Lone Star State boasts abundant hydrocarbon resources, but it is also home to extensive arrays of wind turbines. Thanks to last week’s Arctic blast, some of the turbines stopped working. According to this Bloomberg article, however, the failures deserve a relatively minor share of the blame for the massive power outages across Texas. Instead, the news agency cited limited natural gas supplies and frozen instrumentation at gas, coal, and nuclear facilities as primary culprits. One Rice University engineering professor quoted in the article contends that attributing blame for the outages to renewables “‘is really a red herring.’”

To contact the author, email mveazey@rigzone.com.