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BATA, Equatorial Guinea—Classified American intelligence reports suggest China intends to establish its first permanent military presence on the Atlantic Ocean in the tiny Central African country of Equatorial Guinea, according to U.S. officials. The officials declined to describe details of the secret intelligence findings. But they said the reports raise the prospect that Chinese warships would be able to rearm and refit opposite the East Coast of the U.S.—a threat that is setting off alarm bells at the White House and Pentagon. Principal deputy U.S. national security adviser Jon Finer visited Equatorial Guinea in October on a mission to persuade...

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese authorities decided to form the strategic alliance for defense, trade and energy. Russia will deliver oil to China and China will collaborate with Russia in Geopolitical strategic defense of Euresia. Russia's Security Council and the Military Commission of the Chinese Communist Party's Politburo will form a forum and will work closely to make sure both countries can create and maintain the necessary military and political infrastructure as well as coordination. According to some international think tanks, sources close to Russia's Security Council say recommending countermeasures to check the U.S. geopolitical "offensive" in Eurasia...

A large electrical failure created a blackout in Argentina and Uruguay on Sunday, leaving both countries without power. Areas of Brazil and Paraguay were also impacted by the outage, which happened just after 7:00 a.m. according to the BBC. A massive failure in the electrical interconnection system left all of Argentina and Uruguay without power," electricity supply company, Edesur said in a tweet. The blackout occurred as people were getting ready to head to the polls for local elections in Argentina. It's not clear how the blackout will impact the voting process. Alejandra Martinez, an Edesur spokeswoman, described the blackout...

At this site, when I have written about countries and states seeking to be among the leaders in eliminating fossil fuels from their electricity supply, I have generally focused on the larger jurisdictions, like Germany and the UK in Europe, and California and New York in the U.S. But there is one much smaller country that puts all of those bigger ones to shame: Denmark. With a population of only about 6 million, Denmark has pushed the “renewable” electricity generation thing well beyond what others have been able to accomplish. According to its official statistics, in 2024 Denmark got some...

A common energy drink ingredient has been linked to the progression of the blood cancer leukemia, prompting researchers to voice concerns about the consumption of those beverages. Taurine — an amino acid that occurs naturally in proteins like meat and fish — is a common ingredient in energy drinks like Red Bull. As the Mayo Clinic explains it can help balance fluids, salts and minerals. But according to research published in Nature, taurine may promote leukaemogenesis — the development of leukemia cells — and “identifies taurine as a key regulator of myeloid malignancies,” which, like leukemia, are cancers that begin...

The Hidden Costs and Harms of Wind Energy: A Systems Perspective on Economic Waste, Environmental Destruction, Wildlife Impacts, and Community PowerlessnessIntroduction Wind energy, touted as a "Net Zero" solution, promises low-carbon electricity. Yet, its economic waste, vast land use, unreliability, health impacts, vista destruction, wildlife mortality, and abandonment risks--evident in Washington’s Palouse Hills and Columbia River Gorge--reveal a flawed technology driven by subsidies and eco-idealism. Fierce opposition to wind is arising in Washington and Oregon. This paper, based on discussions with a concerned citizen driving these regions, exposes wind’s true costs and urges alternatives.Economic Inefficiency and Subsidy Dependence Wind relies...

Undisclosed communication devices reportedly discovered in Chinese-manufactured solar panels and related equipment have sparked concerns among U.S. officials about the vulnerability of the nation’s power grid, according to a Reuters report. These “rogue” devices, found over the past nine months, could potentially destabilize energy infrastructure and trigger widespread blackouts, sources familiar with the matter told the outlet. The undocumented devices, including cellular radios, were identified in solar power inverters, batteries, electric vehicle chargers, and heat pumps produced by several Chinese suppliers. ... The U.S. has found Trojan horse communication devices in Chinese-made solar power inverters. They are used to connect...

The Miami Herald is reporting Hugo Chávez early demise was recognized long before the rest of the world was privvy to the details of a late diagnosed and lethal cancer. With the help of Cuban brothers Fidel and Raúl, and Chávez' hand-picked successor Nicolás Maduro, the Venezuelan presidential election was moved from December 2012 to October 2012, two months that the report says were crucial. In October Chávez could still stand before his supporters to applaud his re-election, but there was no certainty that he could do so in December. He returned to Cuba for a fourth round of cancer treatments in early...

Gone are rules banning a wide swath of gas stoves. Gone are the strict water standards governing dishwashers and shower heads. And gone is the government-wide effort to force electrification of the economy through appliance regulations. It is all part of a historic action the Trump administration announced Monday, reversing dozens of energy regulations, saving consumers more than $11 billion, and cutting more than 125,000 words from the United States Code of Regulations. As part of the Department of Energy's sweeping action unveiled Monday, it will rescind dozens of energy efficiency regulations targeting common household appliances that the Biden administration...

Congressional Republicans are making a last-ditch effort to gut the Biden-era Inflation Reduction Act’s (IRA) green energy subsidies via President Donald Trump’s “one big, beautiful bill.” The House Ways and Means Committee unveiled a draft bill Monday afternoon to repeal several IRA subsidies including those for electric vehicles and so-called clean hydrogen while preserving tax credits for carbon sequestration, biofuels and advanced manufacturing, which primarily benefit solar and battery storage projects. Republican Utah Sen. Mike Lee and Reps. Chip Roy of Texas and Josh Brecheen of Oklahoma’s Energy Freedom Act would take an even more aggressive approach by proposing a...

Federal agents have arrested Utah oil magnate James Lael Jensen, his wife Kelly Anne Jensen, and two of their sons, Maxwell Sterling Jensen (aka “Max”) and Zachary Golden Jensen, in connection with a sprawling $300 MILLION smuggling and money laundering conspiracy tied to Mexican criminal organizations. Court records reveal that all four members of the Jensen family were arrested on Wednesday, April 23 — with sons Max and Zachary taken into custody in the Rio Grande Valley, while James and Kelly Jensen were apprehended at their 26,893-square-foot mansion in Sandy, Utah, reportedly worth over $9.1 million. The arrest was carried...

The energy company behind a partially completed wind farm off Long Island’s coast warned it will scrap the project “within days” if it’s kept in limbo by the Trump administration. Norwegian-based Equinor said it’s losing a whopping $50 million a week since Trump’s Department of the Interior halted construction on the controversial project that is expected to deliver energy to 500,000 homes in New York City, its leaders told The Post. “We will have to terminate the program within days if we don’t have a resolution with the federal government,” said Molly Morris, Equinor’s president of Renewables in America. “This...

The Texas Senate passed a bill Thursday that leading business interests fear would lead to an age of expensive power and rolling blackouts. If passed by the House, state S.B. 715 would require all renewable projects — even existing ones — to buy backup power, largely from coal or gas plants. This would require solar plants in particular to buy backup power to “match their output at night — a time when no one expects them to produce energy and when demand is typically at its lowest anyway,” consultant and energy expert Doug Lewin wrote in an April analysis. The...

It’s no secret Joe Biden’s team spent its final days shoveling money out the door, and in ways designed to limit Donald Trump’s ability to claw it back. Officials working under Department of Energy Secretary Chris Wright have now completed a review of the Loan Programs Office (LPO)—the government entity that brought you Solyndra— and the extent of the shenanigans is remarkable. Figures and documents provided to me show a loan free-for-all: More than $90 billion showered on entities in a matter of months, a lot of it to companies of questionable taxpayer value. The highlights of DOE’s review: Unprecedented...

Venezuelan electoral authorities on Sunday claimed that 95 percent of voters in a nonbinding referendum approved of the nation's territorial claim on a huge chunk of neighboring oil-rich Guyana.

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum warned on Fox Business Tuesday about America’s deepening energy shortfall and said that misguided climate policies could give China the upper hand in both the global energy race and artificial intelligence development. House lawmakers voted 246-164, with support from 35 Democrats, to overturn a Biden-era EPA rule that lets California enforce a de facto national ban on gas-powered cars by 2035. During an appearance on “Kudlow,” Burgum said that U.S. energy shortfalls could allow China to outpace America in artificial intelligence and other power-hungry technologies. “The real energy emergency that we have right now is that...

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico held one-on-one talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin late Sunday evening as part of a bid to secure continued access to cheap Russian fossil fuels. Fico's decision to travel to Russia for trade talks will prove controversial among his fellow EU leaders, and defies the bloc's public commitments to end its reliance on Moscow for gas imports. The leftist-populist Slovak politician arrived in the country for what Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov called a "working visit," posed for pictures and shook hands with Putin.

The Department of Justice filed lawsuits Thursday against Hawaii and Michigan over planned climate-based litigation against fossil fuel companies. The DOJ also filed separate lawsuits against New York and Vermont over those states’ “climate superfund” laws, that levy fines against fossil fuel companies for producing legal products that consumers willingly and needfully purchase. Citing President Donald Trump’s “Protecting American Energy from State Overreach” executive order, Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in a statement that these laws and lawsuits “threaten American energy independence and our country’s economic and national security.” States, cities and anti-fossil fuel nonprofits like Our Children’s Trust have...

Benny Johnson @bennyjohnson 🚨Epic. Secretary Doug Burgum gets a tour of an oil rig in the Gulf of America: "Biden banned the possibility of even developing acres of the Gulf of America. He banned all of that. Trump unbanned that... we're back in business again." From Rapid Response 47 9:31 AM · May 3, 2025

Multiple refineries in California have recently declared their intentions to shutter operations, leaving the Golden State uncertain about future fuel supplies and impacts on prices at the pump. Valero Energy Corp. was the latest to make such an announcement, alerting the California Energy Commission (CEC) last month that it would “idle, restructure or cease refining operations” at its Benicia refinery by the end of April 2026. The Valero notice followed similar news at Phillips 66 in October, when that company said it would be ceasing operations at its Los Angeles-area refinery in the fourth quarter of 2025. Firms are attributing...