“On the 15th anniversary of the BP blowout, the real takeaway is that oil companies that think they are ‘beyond petroleum’ are value destroyers for shareholders and for the environment.”

Every April commemorates BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil spill (April 2010). To the anti-energy Left, Deepwater Horizon is the epitome of oil-gone-bad, coming some 21 years after the Exxon Valdez oil spill. It was not supposed to happen again, but ….

The sad facts of Deepwater Horizon will forever remain; the multiple failures behind the seafloor accident meticulously documented. But a paradox remains. Mighty BP, captained by John Browne, the leading “environmentalist” of the petroleum industry, created a corporate culture that resulted in lax safety and environmental protocols. By saving about $5 million out of $100+ million in drilling costs, the company ended up paying out in excess of $60 billion.…

“Every statement pushing back on Interior Secretary Burgum’s directive would equally apply to the Keystone XL pipeline situation. However, since Keystone involved crude oil, it was not entitled to the rights that green energy demands. Yet, the current critics quickly point out that the U.S. needs all forms of energy.”

On April 16, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum directed the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) to order Norwegian oil and gas company Equinor (formerly Statoil) to cease all construction activities related to its offshore wind project, Empire Wind 1. The announcement came when Equinor notified BOEM to begin construction activities.

The initial work included dumping the first load of rocks on the ocean floor to protect the wind turbine foundations. The work was scheduled to start in late April, with foundation pile-driving to follow.…

“The proposal includes Renewable Energy Credits, a pseudo carbon tax wherein co-ops buy credits instead of building renewable projects; a wind-energy bonus multiplier of 1.25x for large projects; and a Fine reinvestment option to force renewable projects. This mandated energy transformation locks Alaskans into unreliable and politically favored renewables, whether the market (or the people) like it or not.”

For decades now, Alaska’s energy policy has come to be shaped not by the will of the people but by nefarious outside influence. The long track of intrusion has been led by climate activists and their NGOs (nongovernmental organizations).

Back in 2010, renewable energy targets were snuck into Alaska energy policy, laying the groundwork for today’s clamor for the Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS). Most Alaskans don’t realize how much of this policy was written by and for self-interested, Leftie NGOs. …

“At the end of my career, I will take pride in knowing that Sunnova played a crucial role in accelerating the energy transition, the most significant challenge of our lifetime. I hope to leave a legacy that inspires others to continue this essential journey towards a lower carbon future, knowing that we’ve made a meaningful impact.” – John Berger (2023 winner)

Sunnova Energy is too broke to be bankrupt. John Berger has resigned as CEO of the company he founded in 2012. Billions of dollars of subsidy from the U.S. Internal Revenue Service and the U.S. Department of Energy were not enough for a company engaged in legal plunder.

Rooftop solar contracts from his company promising long-term service are in limbo. Berger, meanwhile, fears possible congressional hearings on where all the money went.…