Relevant again- low-carbon energy insulates you from global price shocks

Depluralize a movie: Return of the Jedus

If I am not mistaken, the S3P program, which is the successor to the US support for IODP, is now part of the GEO infrastructure package which is proposed to be cut overall by 49.7%. Not great.

Spotted in the wild in Hyde Park

I’m going to get a dozen fact check requests tomorrow, aren’t I 😔

Why are you going to be tired tomorrow? You’ll just have finished a 31-day march. *ducks*

I was on @marketplace.org with pessimistic projections about oil prices if the hostilities continue. Maybe I’m wrong! But even now there’s months of high prices baked in. Will this accelerate the energy transition? www.marketplace.org/story/2026/0...

The Bab El-Mandeb and Strait of Hormuz have similar widths, but thanks to plate tectonics the former is getting wider while the latter is getting narrower.

This is going to supplant Daniel Yergin’s article about The North Face as the motivation for my class this fall. What are we transitioning energy to? And why? Gift link: www.nytimes.com/2026/03/27/m...

I don’t gamble but I think it’s a sure bet some TACO jawboning will happen early Monday and we’ll have a rinse-and-repeat of this week, but maybe ending higher next Friday. But, remember @atrupar.com is off so anything is possible.

Y‘all know that if you google “Yankees vs Giants“ it shows you the score for free ?

Meanwhile, in the parking garage at UT Austin

This is a big problem. Like I’ve been saying all along, US isn’t importing a lot from Middle East but this gets us where it hurts - impacting MX/VZ imports and refining.

As a geologist, again I posit that the closing of the Tethys Sea was the biggest mistake we made, and we’re still living with the consequences.

And yes, I was also on @marketplace.org talking about how this is worse than the 1970s energy crises. This is an historic moment & I’m glad to help put it in context. www.marketplace.org/story/2026/0...

Had a fun time talking to The Source on Texas Public Radio about *waves hands* all this oil market stuff. www.tpr.org/podcast/the-...

Randomly got a redbonnet in our bluebonnet patch this year 🤷‍♂️

First Austin FC game with the boys. Good seats, and an exciting 0-0 draw vs LAFC!

When I'm not posting on here or talking to reporters about oil markets I do have a day job where I get to work on cool stuff like slope failure in shelf-edge deltas. This has been a fun collaboration with @clasticslab.bsky.social! And a great 3D seismic dataset.

Ahem you might want to pay attention to the Caspian, which accounts for 3% of daily global consumption?

Drove past 2 gas stations in Austin with signs in front that said “No gas shortage“, things are fine here in TX 🫠

Welcome to bizarroworld, where normies suddenly know and care where Kharg Island and South Pars are (and whose assets are to the south of South Pars!)

A reporter asked me what policies can mitigate rising oil prices? I said policies aimed at reducing demand for oil- low carbon electricity, electrifying oil demand sources, replacing refined products with low-carbon sources.

Since I’m sure y‘all are going to ask me, this Santa Barbara Channel thing *may* give 45-60 kbbld which is (checks notes) 0.3% of US daily consumption. This move is not about reducing prices; gosh, what do you think the motivation is? 🤨

This website is free, no notes

What if this whole debacle ends up getting rid of the Jones Act? www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...

Lou picked up on my comment here about natural gas prices- if Qatar shipments are cut off, who’s got 660 million thumbs and needs to satisfy demand and will likely see price increases? 👍 This country 👍 www.politifact.com/article/2026...

Drill baby drill ain’t going to help us - with a pithy quote from yours truly! www.cnn.com/2026/03/09/c...

I’m on the record saying there’s not many things presidents can do to bring down oil prices but I guess incoherence is one of them? But that also sends them back up wapo.st/4lopcPe

**Bad Bunny voice** We should have filled the caverns With oil When cheap Now we’re faced with price hikes And misery Run deep www.nytimes.com/2026/03/08/b...

**Bad Bunny voice** We should have filled the caverns With oil When cheap Now we’re faced with price hikes And misery Run deep www.nytimes.com/2026/03/08/b...

Welp, oil prices are up again, so I’m back on the radio, this time about how increasing diesel prices are inflationary (for your online shopping). www.marketplace.org/story/2026/0...

Yes, it’s pronounced “Wilco” or “Wiyamson County“ and yes, we’re waiting to see its election results.

I talk about this in my sustainable energy class! Low carbon energy insulates you from geopolitical price shocks. Check it out: youtu.be/Vhewfr6SYKc?...

We had the largest group so far apply for our Sustainable Energy minor. 400+ students enrolled total. The future is decarbonized.

At least we can claim we’re really cracking the code on obnoxious sounds. Now do the fan in the ice maker in my fridge www.nature.com/articles/d41...

OK Duo, sure, let’s tak about bank accounts.

Minor detail 👇

I’ve got 2 smol humans that I’m training at home and several hundred that I’m training at work. I think the discourse here is cooked. Pls stahp.

PhD student Ali Mohamed has a new preprint w/ results from our cruise on the Langseth back in 2023. Here we connect the northern and southern U.S. Atlantic margins w/ a stratigraphic framework extending back to the Oligocene in a previously data-sparse area. doi.org/10.22541/ess...

why are you fighting online

I donated blood and voted this week. Both activities were cathartic in that I felt strong by helping my community. I recommend y'all do the same. So much in the news makes us feel weak.

George Pillsbury (of doughboy fame) grew up in the next town over from my hometown in NH. After the family moved to MN to start their company, he donated money to start libraries in Warner (my hometown) and Sutton (his). I guess people were different back then. library.warnernh.gov/about/histor...

5 years ago today

The city replenished the water in Shipe Pool this week and it was so still and reflective this evening. Already looking forward to our summer community meeting spot.

Offshore wind rocks. "Once fully operational, [Vineyard Wind] will deliver power at a price of $84.23 per [MWh] to the New England grid. That’s markedly less than spot wholesale prices during the storm, which spiked to over $870 per MWh on Jan. 25."

We are hosting a scientific ocean drilling workshop here in Austin May 19-21 to develop a drilling proposal to investigate submarine slope failure dynamics and their relationship with gas, hydrates, and ocean currents around the Cape Fear Slide. Details here: usoceandiscovery.org/workshop-lan...

UT did a nice story on our carbon management program. Get in loser, we’re managing carbon news.utexas.edu/2026/02/06/u...

Winter in Austin: it’s February 9 and your AC goes out. Easier to get someone out to fix it than in August!

Opening ceremonies are making Mrs. Volts cry, and she can't quite explain why. I honestly just think that, these days, in the US, any glimpse of decency or beauty or love or wonder in public life is like an oasis in the f'ing desert. A reminder that humans can be good & creative & cooperative.