Fossil Fuels

Exxon Mobil posted record annual profits in 2022 as consumers globally struggled with high prices for gasoline, home heating and consumer goods.

The energy giant brought in $55.7 billion in annual profits, exceeding its previous record of $45.22 billion in 2008, when a barrel of oil soared close to $150.

Exxon Mobil posted record annual profits in 2022 as consumers globally struggled with high prices for gasoline, home heating and consumer goods.

The energy giant brought in $55.7 billion in annual profits, exceeding its previous record of $45.22 billion in 2008, when a barrel of oil soared close to $150.

Exxon CEO and Chairman Darren Woods pushed back against the White House on Tuesday on CNBC amid criticism of oil companies increasing profits.

The White House issued a statement Friday criticizing oil companies for allegedly using profits to pay shareholders rather than increasing output. The announcement came after Chevron announced their profits nearly doubled in 2022. Chevron also said it would triple its spending on share repurchases, according to Reuters.

Gas stoves are found in around 40% of homes in the United States, and they've been getting a lot of attention lately. A recent interview with the commissioner of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) quickly became fodder for outrage, viral misinformation and political fundraising, after he proposed regulating the appliance. The proposal stems from a growing body of research suggesting gas stoves are unhealthy — especially for those with asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and children.

You might have thought the fierce public backlash that developed earlier in January when news broke of a planned effort by the federal Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) to regulate and eventually ban the use of gas stoves in the home broke in the media would have nixed that idea for now. But if you thought that, you would be wrong.

Consumer Product Safety Commissioner Richard Trumka Jr.’s threat of a federal ban on gas stoves this month has channeled the goals of left-wing billionaire think tanks that are making significant progress in pushing communities to eliminate fossil fuels.

Climate activist Greta Thunberg clapped back at professional kickboxer Andrew Tate on Twitter after Tate tweeted at her boasting about his collection of 33 cars.

“Hello @GretaThunberg,” Tate wrote, tagging the 19-year-old Swedish activist on Twitter. “I have 33 cars,” he added before offering some specifics on his fleet of vehicles.

“This is just the start,” Tate continued before taunting Thunberg, stating, “Please provide your email address so I can send a complete list of my car collection and their respective enormous emissions.”

Politicians praise electric cars. If everyone buys them, they say, solar and wind power will replace our need for oil.

But that's absurd.

Here is the rest of my list of "inconvenient facts" about electric cars.

"The future of the auto industry is electric," says President Joe Biden. He assumes a vast improvement in batteries. Better batteries are crucial because both power plants and cars need to store lots of electric power.

But here's inconvenient fact three: Batteries are lousy at storing large amounts of energy.

California air regulators voted Thursday to approve a plan that would dramatically cut reliance on fossil fuels to address climate change. 

The 2022 Scoping Plan, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) said, slashes greenhouse gas emissions by 85% and achieves carbon neutrality by 2045. 

The action to shift from reliance on petroleum and fossil gas to clean and renewable energy resources and zero-emission vehicles following two years of development, including public meetings and comments from hundreds of community members and stakeholders. 

For the first time ever, US scientists at the National Ignition Facility at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California successfully produced a nuclear fusion reaction resulting in a net energy gain, a source familiar with the project confirmed to CNN.

The US Department of Energy is expected to officially announce the breakthrough Tuesday.