Robert Bryce

2 days ago | robertbryce.substack.com | Robert Bryce

Pope Francis was a historic figure. He was the first Jesuit pope and the first from the Americas or the Southern Hemisphere. He was the first pope to take the name Francis, a nod to St. Francis of Assisi, a mendicant who espoused the ideal of poverty and service to people. (He was also the patron saint of the environment, animals, and birds.) Francis had considerable charm and humility, two qualities that the Catholic Church needed in the wake of his imperious predecessor, Pope Benedict.

3 weeks ago | robertbryce.substack.com | Robert Bryce

The late economist Milton Friedman famously declared that “nothing is so permanent as a temporary government program.”Friedman’s line comes to mind because a lobbying frenzy is underway in Washington, DC. Some of the city’s most powerful special interests are working to prevent a repeal or reduction of the lavish energy-related tax credits in the Inflation Reduction Act. No lobby group is working harder than the American Clean Power Association. Why is the ACPA pushing so hard?

1 month ago | robertbryce.substack.com | Robert Bryce

This site requires JavaScript to run correctly. Please turn on JavaScript or unblock scripts

1 month ago | robertbryce.substack.com | Robert Bryce

The battery business is on fire. According to the Energy Information Administration, 10.3 gigawatts of battery capacity was added to the US electric grid in 2024, and the EIA expects another 18.2 GW of capacity to be added this year. By comparison, the agency expects no new nuclear capacity, no new coal, and only 4.4 GW of new natural gas-fired capacity to be built in the US in 2025. Subsidies are a key driver behind that new capacity.

1 month ago | robertbryce.substack.com | Robert Bryce

I got a last-minute media pass to the CERAWeek by S&P Global conference in Houston. Since I haven’t found an online transcript of Secretary Wright’s full remarks this morning, I transcribed them from a recording I did on my phone. Wright’s speech is a powerful rebuke of the Biden Administration’s energy policies. The Trump administration is, as he said, in the midst of a “180-degree pivot” from what we’ve seen over the last four years. Please note that I missed the first minute or so of his speech.