You should probably be seated for this; I’ve started reading Michelle Obama’s ‘Becoming’ because... well, someone left it at the house and I’ve read all the other books I have so... what could I lose? Our country needs more dialogue and listening, even with those we expect we may disagree with. My takeaway in the first 70 pages is this: Her grandfather was pretty pissed off about life, didn’t get a chance to succeed and had 10 siblings, so was...

Over the last year, I have begun to think about mental health differently. Every day I wake up to a world that is seemingly dumber than it was the day before. I could point to example after example of intellectual inconsistency and each one makes me more and more frustrated. So much so I have had to take a step back from writing and engaging, for fear of my head exploding. As Samuel L. Jackson says in Pulp Fiction “I'm...

By Ellen Wald Saudi Aramco held its earnings call for 2020 on Monday, and once again the company tried to highlight its success but instead it left serious questions about its unique relationship with the absolute monarchy that controls the kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Aramco’s net income for 2020 was $49 billion, meaning it did much better in the virus-stricken year than its competitors, most of whom lost money. Yet, there are two significant concerns for the future of Aramco...

Today, I'm going to weigh in on a topic of incredible importance to me: my kids. I'm sure your kids are pretty good, too, but for me, mine are the driver behind everything I do. The past year has been an epic failure. Putting aside the irresponsible growth in the national debt, and the financial burden that will put on them, the kids of today have been put in an impossible spot. The sports and clubs they do to develop...

On Tuesday, March 2, Xcel Energy announced plans to invest $1.7 billion in order to build transmission lines to 5,500 MW of new renewable energy projects in Colorado.  Using an estimated $1,300/kW to construct, this implies the cost to build was/will be $7.1 billion. We will come back to this at the end of the post.  First, some data. Since 2014, electric consumption in Colorado (EIA data) has grown from 53.8 mm MWh to 56.3 MWh, growth of ~1% per...

Today, I’m going to use the “C” word in a post. Everyone hates it, even if it’s use is essential to make a point. It is the dirty secret no one wants to acknowledge but knows is the real problem. Consumption. All these rules and regulations and government “here to help” mandates appear but we never address the core issue. We love to consume. Here are some examples: 14.5% of the world’s CO2 emissions are from livestock, not to mention the pets...

Yesterday, the CDC released a study that, for anyone who has been reading papers on COVID, has known for a long time. It said that of patients admitted to the hospital, 78% were overweight or obese. In fact, U65 with a body mass index of >45, you were 2x more likely to be ventilated or die (here’s a fact you may not know: 70% of people that go on ventilators with Covid didn’t make it). Related, this week, the CDC...

If you don’t know Chamath Palihapitiya, then you did what the rest of us should have done in 2020 (turned off the news). With a net worth of nearly $1b, he founded Social Capital after 4 years with Facebook from 2007-2011. I’m less concerned with a history lesson than a look into the future. As the SPAC king, Mr. P has taken Virgin Galactic (space travel); Opendoor (residential real estate buyer/seller); Clover (health care); Sofi (fintech) with 2 existing SPACs still...

Earlier this year, I spoke of the ‘great shrug’ to address the misconception that oil and gas isn’t important while being vilified by ‘elites’ and the media as the enemy. The principal assumption was that as long as oil and gas are affordable, they remain invisible and easy to hate. How to shrug? The recommendation was that each US producers, acting in their own best interest, take a page from ‘Saudi’s gift to the market’ in January and restrain production,...

Today, we feature a solar project that was built in 2007, after Colorado voters were the first to pass a bill that required the state get 10% of its power from renewables by 2020. It’s built at the corner of Kipling and 6th and phase 1 was a $6.9 mm investment on 6 acres to generate 1 MW of power. Well, not actually generate that on average, it’s not always sunny and efficiency is a thing.  From an electrical...