A wild week on the news desk, and I hope everyone had a fantastic 4th of July! It was great seeing our marina full of boats and people having a great time. The amount of fireworks was tremendous—an entirely great mood around the lake.
For next week, I am confirming a time to interview the Great about the California National Security Risk that Gov. Newsom’s energy policies have created. We will keep you posted.
We had over six stories this week discussing various aspects of California's National Security problems, and it is horrific what has been done to our largest economy. Stay tuned, we are also working on interviews in D.C. It's tough to get on schedules, but we will keep you updated.
Weekly Daily Standup Top Stories
Big Beautiful Bill May Still Yet End the Green New Deal
Senate Republicans have taken a significant step toward passing President Donald Trump’s sweeping legislative package, dubbed the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” with a narrow 51-49 procedural vote on June 28, 2025. This $4.5 trillion […]
California is a U.S. National Security Risk, and the Gas and Diesel Crisis Was Manufactured
California, the nation’s most populous state and a global economic powerhouse, is teetering on the edge of an energy crisis that threatens not only its own stability but the national security of the United States. […]
All trade with Canada on notice for tariffs. What does this mean for oil, electricity and agriculture?
On June 27, 2025, President Donald J. Trump took to Truth Social to announce a new chapter in the ongoing saga of U.S.-Canada trade relations, signaling a hardline stance on tariffs. “Canada’s been ripping us […]
Clean Energy Gutted in Last-Minute Rewrite of Trump’s $1.2T Senate Tax Bill
In a stunning turn of events, Senate Republicans have delivered a seismic blow to the clean energy sector with sweeping last-minute revisions to President Donald Trump’s $1.2-trillion “One Big, Beautiful Bill.” The amendments, inserted just […]
Is Big Oil Ready to Invest $1.2 Trillion? WoodMac Predicts CCUS Surge, but Investors and Boards May Disagree
The global energy landscape is at a crossroads, with carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) emerging as a pivotal technology in the quest for net-zero emissions. According to a recent report by Wood Mackenzie, the […]
California is a National Security Risk, Funding the Ukrainian/Russian War, and Closing Refineries in California
California, often seen as a leader in environmental policy, is facing a paradox that could have far-reaching implications for national security, economic stability, and international relations. The state’s energy policies, driven by a push for […]
One Big Beautiful Bill Passes Senate: A Mixed Bag for Energy with Renewable Incentives Gutted
After a marathon 27-hour session and 46 amendment votes, the U.S. Senate passed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (H.R. 1) on July 1, 2025, with a razor-thin 51–50 vote, Vice President JD Vance casting […]
Europe’s Green Energy Stocks Spike on Weakened U.S. Big Beautiful Bill
This is a validation that the Inflation Reduction Act was giving money to other countries.
Highlights of the Podcast
00:00 – Intro
00:14 – Big Beautiful Bill May Still Yet End the Green New Deal
03:37 – California is a U.S. National Security Risk, and the Gas and Diesel Crisis Was Manufactured
07:25 – All trade with Canada on notice for tariffs. What does this mean for oil, electricity and agriculture?
09:36 – Clean Energy Gutted in Last-Minute Rewrite of Trump’s $1.2T Senate Tax Bill
12:47 – Is Big Oil Ready to Invest $1.2 Trillion? WoodMac Predicts CCUS Surge, but Investors and Boards May Disagree
15:19 – California is a National Security Risk, Funding the Ukrainian/Russian War, and Closing Refineries in California
17:30 – One Big Beautiful Bill Passes Senate: A Mixed Bag for Energy with Renewable Incentives Gutted
21:53 – Europe’s Green Energy Stocks Spike on Weakened U.S. Big Beautiful Bill
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Video Transcription edited for grammar. We disavow any errors unless they make us look better or smarter.
Stuart Turley: [00:00:00] The big beautiful bill in California is a national security risk were the two biggest topics this week on the energy newsbeat. [00:00:06][6.4]
Stuart Turley: [00:00:14] The Big Beautiful Bill may still yet end the Green New Deal. We are recording this on Sunday afternoon and we are going to find out tomorrow morning if it is still in there, but Senate Republicans have taken a significant step towards passing President Donald Trump’s sweeping legislative package dubbed the Big Beautiful Bill Act. With a narrow 51 to 49 procedural vote. Michael, that was huge. Vice President Vance was ready to step in if he was needed to, but it’s a $4.5 trillion tax and spending bill. Michael, in this article, I had had so much fun with the left-leaning folks now panicking. And pulling a fred sanford michael i am not kidding i saw people pulling fred with their hands on their chest falling going what are we going to do with all these subsidies wait a minute renewable energy needs subsidies look at this chart projects expected to to come online in 2027 are now at risk. Holy smokes Batman! But Michael, in this article I point out again, nobody is talking about the 79,000 wind turbine land reclamation that is supposed to happen and there’s no money for these things when they come offline. This is a gigantic problem, but we will have more tomorrow after this comes through and if the big beautiful bill actually has big beautiful teeth against the renewable industry. [00:01:46][91.5]
Michael Tanner: [00:01:46] Yeah, it’s I think the problem is you’ve got a lot of people in Washington who actually don’t really care if these subsidies are in or out. So no one’s willing to die on the hill. This is not a contentious issue. And when I mean contentious, it is contentious among people, I think people in industry, but it’s a very small blip in this overall huge bill. And I think that’s the problem with these big bills is you end up with all of these sub points and these little things thrown in, satisfied this, satisfied this. So you can get this overall big, beautiful bill passed when we’re probably better off chunking this out in much, much smaller pieces of legislation so we can actually argue about the merits of the underlying points and not try to conglomerate it all in to just say we did something. So I think the fact that this is staying in there shows that it doesn’t really matter to them. You mentioned in this article that they’ve had a massive marathon late night session. Oh, no, they’re working. Why would wouldn’t want wouldn’t our US Congress to work at all? I think you have a really great image in here of the clean energy capacity that’s at risk or at that’s at risk by technology. You see a lot of this solar and wind capacity spiking in 20, 27, 20, 28, and then basically falling off a cliff by 2030 all the way through 2025. Which I think shows that a lot of people are guesstimating that I think these subsidies are going away. Again, I just come back to these huge, big, all-encompassing bills. It’s a bad idea, and in my opinion, it’s a way for everybody to get what they want while basically making it look like we all did something. Okay, Michael, shame on you. For shame on… [00:03:30][104.0]
Stuart Turley: [00:03:30] You for being logical. What’s wrong with you? You can’t talk politics and be logical. No, absolutely. California’s gasoline price is already the highest in the nation. Average $4.85 per gallon in June 2025 are poised to climb even higher. Michael, on Michael Rowe’s interview that he just did with me on the podcast, he said prices are going to start. When they close the refinery next year, around eight to $10, start. That’s where it very critical when you sit here and take a look at this. Phillips 66 in Los Angeles and Valero and Balenci are set to close by the end of 2026, reducing California’s gasoline supply by nearly 300,000 barrels per day or roughly 20% of its current capacity. You can get a crayon and let me hold on while I get my abacus out here and the OSU abacus is fingers. And you sit back and take a look, the state’s policies have systematically dismantled its refining infrastructure in the late 1970s and has closed, boasted as many as 50 refineries being shut down. That is nuts. And again, Nathan Hammers, wonderful reporting that he has done shows in the, I’ve repurposed is material in here again, they import 70% of their crude. From bad sources. Now, this brings up another point that I’m going to get into in China’s in the next discussion. What was Governor Newsom’s plan? Was it to import diesel and gasoline from China? And why was China increasing its downstream capacity almost to match the US’s failing refinery. [00:05:18][107.9]
Michael Tanner: [00:05:20] Yeah, I mean, nothing really shocks me anymore about what happens in California considering Gavin Newsom’s flip-flop. I mean you remember right after the election, he was, you know, almost like he got hit in the head with a chair and had this realization that, hey, maybe I shouldn’t be as crazy. He talked with all these, you had Steve Bannon on his podcast, he had Charlie Kirk on his podcast, and it was like, has he awoken from a… From a sleep well the answer is no he’s someone who’s he’s truly the slime of the slime from the standpoint of he’s just gonna feel he just you know lick his finger a little bit and see where the wind’s blowing and that’s where he’s gonna go and right now at this moment you know specifically what he’s doing trying to sue the administration for seven hundred and eighty seven million dollars you know he’s he’s really just looking to again keep himself in the guys it’s you know he’s absolutely crippled the ability for California when eventually they enter into this energy hole which they will they may not be there right there today some would argue they are there today just based upon gasoline prices but eventually an energy crisis in California and the problem is they will not be able to solve it that’s I think the biggest issues even though there’s not a problem today the looming problem because of this low carbon fuel standard and the gas tax that you’ve… We’ve talked about in this article. The fact that the way those mechanisms are set up makes it really hard when this crisis comes for them to flip. And so that’s where I think the, that’s where it just, it’s just really sad. Cause I mean, California used to be a beautiful place to live in. Now it’s absolutely, you know, it almost a third world country. [00:06:54][93.5]
Stuart Turley: [00:06:54] Oh, and the refiner in China are geared up for it. So Secretary Wright, Secretary Burgum, and Secretary Zeldin have their hands cut out, their work cut out for them because California is now a national security risk because that $10 gasoline and $10 diesel filters to the rest of the United States. So energy dominance is not gonna happen under Gavin Newsom in the United States because we’re importing that much. All trade with Canada on notice for tariffs. What does this mean for oil, electricity, and agriculture? This was from President Trump’s truth. We have just been informed by Canada that a very difficult country to trade with, including the fact they’ve charged our farmers as much as 400% in tariffs for years on dairy. Has just announced they’re putting digital service tax on our American technology companies, which is a blatant attack in our country. Good for President Trump. This again, you can hear this all the way through this podcast today about how dumb Canadian, UK, and EU leadership is. And I just wanna say, go in and take a look at the rest of this article, but Michael, Canada could have avoided this for a long time by putting Canadian oil. Great Oil, which is the second cleanest produced oil in the world next to the United States, put a pipeline in from the Canadian, Alberta, across Canada, and they could have avoided being dependent on the United states. But as it is, their stupid policies are now going to cost U.S. Consumers because we import electricity, we import blah, we import blah blah blah. And it’s going to hurt a few folks. So this is really an ugly story that I don’t have all the answers for, but just wanted to bring it to everybody’s attention. [00:08:49][115.0]
Michael Tanner: [00:08:50] Well, and all I’ll add is it’s really sad to see Canada go down this road because they have a extremely robust oil and gas business and some of the lowest cost oil and gas in the contiguous, you know, North America. North America? I mean, they have really, really low breakeven costs. You know, the Duvernay and the Montney are probably some of the most unsung oil basins around the world from an onshore standpoint. So it’s really sad. I mean they could truly, truly Go hard and dive into all this stuff. But just like what we’ve done here in the United States, we’ve choked off our own ability to create energy. And it only is going to help push us towards this looming energy crisis. [00:09:30][40.6]
Stuart Turley: [00:09:32] So you can see that we had a real energy theme here. What a theme. [00:09:36][4.3]
Stuart Turley: [00:09:36] Clean energy gutted in the last minute rewrite of Trump’s 1.2 Senate tax bill. In a studying turn of events, Senate Republicans have delivered a seismic blow to the clean energy sector with sweeping last minute revisions to President Donald Trump’s $1.2 trillion big, beautiful bill. The amendments inserted just hours before the floor debate on the 30th dismantled key incentives for wind and solar and imposed the new tax on renewable energy components and fundamentally reshaped the financial landscape for renewables in the United States. This is critical and it changes a whole new investing scheme going on. And that is it accelerates the phase out of tax credits. This bill slashes the timeline for production of tax credits and investments. ITCs and PTCs and wind and solar projects originally set to phase out gradually. These will now expire by December 31st, 2027, five years earlier than planned. Additionally, in all the whales… Went. Yay. Just kidding for offshore wind projects. Additionally, eligibility and criteria have shifted the project to start in the end service date. New excise tax on Chinese components. This is huge. The bill imposes a 10% excise tack on clean energy equipment. Containing Chinese origin critical minerals such as lithium, cobalt, and rare earth. I’m hoping that we take it one step further and make sure we have a whole new set of American-made chips and some of these things because now you’ve heard me talk about it before, but they can take the grid down. Just thought I’d let you know. Elimination of electric vehicle incentives. The Senate bill eliminates the $7,500 tax credit for electric vehicle sales and leases starting in September, 2025, the dealing a further blow to the clean energy ecosystem. And that is really a false way to phrase this is because electric vehicles are not clean energy. They use energy from what is it mostly coal, mostly natural gas, and they also require a lot of fossil fuels in order to make them. So, this is really not a right way to say that, but the 940 page bill describes as hastily drafted also includes uncertainty by leaving key implementation details vague. Jason Gromit, CEO of the American Clean Power Association, told the New York Times, New tax is so carelessly written and haphazardly drafted that the concern is that it will create uncertainty and freeze the markets. You know what? There is a complete relationship between wind, solar, hydrogen, and really high energy prices. You have these three items on your network, you get really really high high energy bills. It’s pretty simple to figure this out. [00:12:47][190.4]
Stuart Turley: [00:12:47] Big Oil is ready to invest $1.2 trillion. Wood Mac predicts CCUS or Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage SERG. But investors and boards may disagree. I’m gonna be with the investors and the boards in disagreeing with this when the global energy landscapes at a crossroad with carbon capture, utilization and storage, emerging as a pivotal technology in the quest for net zero emissions, according to a recent survey by Wood McKinsey. I’m not gonna buy any of that because I truly think that we are going to see. The Trump administration overturned the Obama’s categorization of CO2 as a pollutant, it’s plant food. And so Big Oil is making moves, ExxonMobil’s $4.9 billion acquisition of Denberry, a CCUS specialist with the largest CO2 pipeline in the U.S. Signals. Strategic move forward. I think they were doing that just to save face or take a look at what’s happened between the European oil and gas companies. They went totally to the renewables and now they’re coming back. We saw Occidental with Warren Buffett’s investments really go into the CCUS. And again, the only reason to invest in a wind farm, says Warren Buffet, is for the tax credits. Well, the tax credit are going away. You big pile on the Upcoming renaming or demonizing of CO2 as just plant food now is what it should be called. This is going to be a thorn in the side. Bookmark this article because Wood Mac has got it wrong because they’re not reading the tea leaves according to the Trump administration. But what this means is, is that you have Canada, the UK and the EU all lined up with CCUS and then they’re going to try and shove all of the carbon taxes and all of the net zero policies onto US companies. And if the United States does not short, stop this and put in legislation, we have got a real problem. So hats off to Secretary Chris Wright because I know he’s on this And we’ll be keeping that posted on there. And so I’ll tell you what, I am so pleased with the way that the Trump administration’s policymakers of Chris Wright, Doug Burgum, and Lee Zeldin class acts, all of them. California is a national security risk funding the Ukrainian Russian war and closing refineries in California. Michael, I did not have this on my bingo card. California is decline in permits. They’ve gone down to a handful this year. So not only is Governor Newsom absolutely devastating the refineries, making it impossible. Try this on. Steve Hilton did an interview and this was unbelievable. He made allegations that actually made sense. So I did a little research following up on Steve Hylton because he’s now running for governor. In California, try this one on. California is importing gasoline that was originally Russian oil refined in India to meet its demands, not only funds Russia’s war efforts, but increases the carbon footprint. Think about this Michael, they’re buying gasoline from India that was shipped from Russia and then all the way over to California and they have the highest gasoline in the country. How stupid do you think [00:16:30][222.8]
Michael Tanner: [00:16:31] we are well and then here’s the funniest part is that you’re still paying an arm and a leg for gasoline in California theoretically you should be getting it as a discount because there’s this huge price cap on Russian oil so it’s clearly the sanctions aren’t working and even if they weren’t working you’re still paying arm and leg in California [00:16:50][19.6]
Stuart Turley: [00:16:51] And you can’t tell me from an ESG perspective, environmental, social, and governance, that putting it on a tanker and putting it all the way to India, refining it, you know, how do we sit here and try to even figure this out, Michael? I just want to scratch my head and do an imitation to somebody, but I’ll hold back on that. Yeah, thanks. [00:17:12][21.5]
Michael Tanner: [00:17:13] Thank you for that. Again, it’s incredible. Good old oil slick. Gavin Newsom, he’s too busy trying to sue Fox News, then figure out what’s going on in his own state. I mean, gas prices are still extremely high. It does just crack me up that California, of all places, is importing Russian oil. [00:17:30][17.3]
Stuart Turley: [00:17:30] And I got to hand it to Alex Epstein. He is, and we’ve interviewed him, I think three times and he is absolutely a wonderful leader. But after the 27 hour session and 46 amendment notes, the US Senate passed a one big, beautiful bill on July 1st with razor thin 51 to 50 with vice president, JD Vance, casting the tiebreaker, the 940 reconciliation bill cornerstone of president Trump’s second term. Combines $4.5 trillion in tax cuts with $1.2 trillion in spending deductions, adding an estimated $3.3 trillion to the federal deficit. That’s not good. Let me tell you, Alex Epstein writes on his Substack, the Senate bill looks like it has a 2027 placed in service cutoff and I was afraid this was going in. To new solar wind subsidies, but last minute paragraph makes the cutoff worthless because projects making recoverable 5% investment in the next 12 months are exempt. This is bowl hockey on at its finest. Alex Epstein is a class act and he’s bringing this faster than I could possibly imagine and this. He’s out talking on Capitol Hill and shout out to Alex Epstein. We’d love to have him back on the podcast. Let’s go through what’s in the bill. Fossil fuel incentives and coal tax credit. That’s kind of nice. A tax credit as opposed to a tax subsidy. The repeal of the clean energy credits. Most credits for wind and solar, but there’s a lot of caveats that have made those Worthless. And it’s pretty, I’ve got to go through that, but we do lose the 7,500 electric EV tax credit. And Michael, that was actually almost worthless because anybody that’s rich has already bought an EV and says they won’t buy another one. So how many people would have taken advantage of that anyway? So the preservation of select clean energy provisions, some tax credits for hydrogen snuck through. Nuclear is critical and it needed more of it. Removal of the proposed wind and solar excise tax, a last minute excise tax on wind and Solar. Michael, this would have been the death bed. You and I talked about the steep climb. They removed, oops, other provisions in the bill, the pro gun measures eliminating the $200 tax on suppressors, increased border security did pass. And Michael, it makes me air sick. When I go out and I visit with a neighbor and they say Trump is trying to kill Medicaid. He’s just putting a work requirement on a social program that was designed to help people that couldn’t, that were having a tough time. I’m all about helping somebody with a tough. But if you’re illegal, get out of the country. And if you can work, go work and keep your Medicaid benefit till you can afford other insurance. So it is, they’re doing good there. [00:20:33][183.0]
Michael Tanner: [00:20:34] Yeah, I mean, I think to cut down to the nuts in both of this, the fact that this whole placed in service by 2027 is a real cop out. It’s, it’s try, I think it’s them trying to say, no, we’re getting rid of it, but we’re basically saying we’re getting rid of it by saying, as long as you put one stake in the ground, we will consider it started by 20 27, which what are you going to see? You’re going to see thousands of these projects. Boom, a stake it put in the I wish I could have a permitting company. For solar we’d be you’d have a lot of business before 2027. [00:21:07][32.7]
Stuart Turley: [00:21:08] Oh absolutely dude, this is absolutely despicable. And this is, now, I think that I do have some of this stuff on the Medicare part of it a little bit wrong. I think, just don’t even worry about the Medicare. I think if, President Trump if you’re listening, all you have to do is get Tony Segura on at, go get him and get him to get the data and he can pinpoint all of these illegals that are on Medicaid electronically and then you can have ICE pick them up and they’re no longer on it. So I’ve solved that problem, but I can’t solve that, put a stake in it. [00:21:43][35.9]
Michael Tanner: [00:21:44] No, it’s it’s unbelievable, unbelievable. One big beautiful bill ain’t so beautiful after all. [00:21:50][6.0]
Stuart Turley: [00:21:50] It’s kind of hold your nose and throw up. [00:21:53][2.1]
Stuart Turley: [00:21:53] Europe’s green energy stocks spike on weakened U.S. Big beautiful bill. This is a validation that the Inflation Reduction Act was giving away money to other countries. Just when you thought it was safe, European green energy stocks surged following the U. S. Senate passage of President Donald Trump’s big beautiful bill on July 1st, the legislation initially feared to be a death nail for the renewable energy emerged with softened provisions that alleviated concerns for the global clean energy sector. It was watered down. While the bill phases out renewable energy tax credits after 26 for projects not meeting these timelines, the softened provisions were relief for the renewable sector. But people do not understand how much this will still increase their energy prices. There is something you’ve heard on the Energy Newsbeat podcast. Renewable energy, renewable of wind, solar, and hydrogen. The more you spend in these, the more fossil fuels will Use in a converse of that is the more wind and solar on your grid the more expensive your electricity is these are hard and fast rules that are going on here alex epstein epstein was absolutely wonderful he was on top of it i’ve got a nice chart in here that he had put out where the House Bill. BBB was and where the Senate bill was. We’re still waiting to find out at the time of this recording what is going to happen if they’re going to give take what if there’s going to be anything else to it. But European green energy stocks went yay! The news triggered a sharp rally in European stocks with several major players seeing significant gains. U.S. Wind turbine supplier, VETRUS, a strong foothold in the U. S. Supplying turbines for major onshore and offshore wind projects. Global offshore expansion, Vestas, is scaling up production in projects in Europe. So they’re excited that they’re going to be able to siphon in on this. U.s. Wind or Stead is developing several high stead offshore wind projects on the U S coast. So they are happy. Implications for the global energy transition. The rally in European green energy stocks reflects a broader sigh of relief in the renewable sector, but challenges remain. The US bill, while less punitive than initially proposed, still accelerates the phase-out of tax credits, which would leave thousands of unprepared to meet their 2026 deadlines. But as Alex pointed out, they have really softened the entry points, and you can go put a quarter on the ground, I’m exaggerating, but you can start the project and go, we’ve started the project, and I’m going, right. So be careful on what you consider starting a project. If you pay a consultant to sit there… In a glass hut or a mobile home. Is that starting a wind farm? I don’t know. [00:25:22][209.1]
Stuart Turley: [00:25:23] Stay tuned for the weekend edition where the staff will pick the top five stories and get those to you. But we’d like to give a shout out to Steve Reese and their gang at Reese Energy Consulting to sponsor this show. Thank you. Go to reeseenergyconsulting.com and say hello. Thanks. Have a great day. [00:25:23][0.0][1503.4]
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