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Loren Christopher's avatar

I'm annoyed by the sudden anger with oil companies for paying out big dividends. That's what you're supposed to do in a dying industry - give the money back to your investors so they can go reinvest it in something else. That's what moving away from oil looks like!

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An observer from abroad's avatar

Energy policy around 'The West' is downright stupid. We have spent the last few years making policies making it more difficult to drill for more oil and gas, and more difficult to get those companies to raise finance. The policies were half hearted and not designed to work effectively, but likely had an impact on the margin. Complaining that companies aren't drilling enough is rich given that a year ago we didn't want them to drill.

As for Germany, I haven't got a clue what they were doing. A few months ago, the plan was to close nuclear plants and open a new gas pipeline from the hostile regime nearby. Now the plan is to totally reverse this, after the hostile regime blindsided everyone by doing something hostile.

As always, the problem is a failure to own the fact that trade-offs need to be made. We would prefer nuclear plants not to be working with dangerous radioactive stuff, but nuclear is the nearest thing we have to an actionable solution to both climate change and ensuring reliable energy for all. Renewables can produce a lot of electricity but they don't appear to be very reliable when there is no wind and limited sun intensity. If an environmentalist can suggest what a non-nuclear solution is to this problem that doesn't involve living like a feudal peasant, I'm all ears.

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