What Can We Do About Energy Prices with Tom Pyle, President, Institute for Energy Research

·1 hr 7 min·5 clips

Tom Pyle explains why the Iran crisis doesn't justify a shift to green energy, despite what South Korea's president claims.

Jack is going on vacation. Before the energy talk starts, he and producer Jack Haggard wander through Easter plans, New York cousins, an extra episode, and the condition of a RAV4. Then the show snaps back to Power Hour territory. The conversation with Tom is about why energy prices feel less like a simple oil price story and more like a squeeze made by policy. Infrastructure is the big complaint. The host argues that the United States and the wider world would have more production, more pipes and refineries, and more molecules moving if political signals had not scared off investment. Green energy takes plenty of heat. The guest and host treat the push toward so-called green energy as a warning, not as proof that countries should rush harder in that direction. Biden is named directly. The host points to campaign language about putting gas and oil out of business, then ties that attitude to an older hostility toward coal that he traces back to Bill Clinton. His practical point is simple: when powerful politicians say an industry should go away, companies think twice before spending heavily on it. Trump does not magically solve it either. Even a drill-heavy administration, in the host's telling, cannot erase years of uncertainty, because the next president could flip the signal again. South Korea comes up as a foil. The host rejects the idea that energy shocks prove the need for more green policy. He says they prove the opposite, or at least prove that markets need room to work. The conversation also reaches back to 2007, when someone recalls oil around 150 dollars a barrel without a war driving the price, then notes that the same number would be north of 225 today. The ending loosens up again, with a plug for Unregulated, Power Hour email, Nuclear Revolution, and a nuclear documentary the host is clearly proud of.

As heard by us

Tom Pyle connects rising gas prices to refinery limits, production shortfalls, and policy signals that may chill investment.

Jack Spencer's conversation with Tom Pyle treats rising gas prices as a stress test for energy policy. Pyle links the pressure to limited refinery capacity, insufficient production, and a long political shift toward green energy, arguing that promises to move away from oil, gas,…

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You want a market-first explanation for rising gas prices, with policy as the pressure point.

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