“Whether one is a conservative or a radical, a protectionist or a free trader, a cosmopolitan or a nationalist, a churchman or a heathen, it is useful to know the causes and consequences of economic phenomena.”— George J. Stigler…

“Explanations exist; they have existed for all time; there is always a well-known solution to every human problem—neat, plausible, and wrong.”- H. L. MenckenVirginia keeps pouring concrete for data centers like the pace is normal…

Keep your eye on the prize. (Adobe)You’ve probably seen the dumb version of this story already.“Trump wants cheap oil.” “Exxon won’t touch Venezuela.” “Guyana hit the jackpot.” “Russia and Ch…

When the lights get expensive, everything else follows.For the last few years, Europe has been trying to run an industrial economy on wishful thinking.It looked fine in speeches. It looked even better in press releases.Then the bill showed up.…

Buckeyes for the win! (Adobe) Data centers are the new “economic development win” that shows up in a press release before anyone asks the obvious question.Where’s the power coming from?And who’s paying to build t…

Proven technology. Georgia Power.The Trump Media + TAE Fusion Power mergerstill reads like a deal someone dreamed up in the airport bar during a 3-hour delay.A social media company with meme-stock metabolism merges with a f…

Fire 'em back up. (Adobe) Every now and then something crosses my screen that stops me mid-scroll. This week it was an argument that coal fly ash might help break China’s chokehold on rare earth elements. It is not a bad though…

Follow the Line. Follow the Money.If you’ve been following the Type IL situation the last few years, you’ve heard every excuse under the sun about why Portland limestone cement suddenly became the “future” of American concr…

Pipe dream. (Adobe)Every once in a while, the cement industry drops a headline so painfully obvious you wonder if anyone has been awake for the last decade.  This week’s gem?  Europe is sounding the alarm that cement prices cou…

Progress. (Adobe)Dominion Energy just filed its 2025 Renewable Portfolio Standard plan with the Virginia State Corporation Commission. It’s their roadmap for meeting Virginia’s renewable energy mandates under the Clean Economy Act.If y…

Changing of the guard. (Adobe) Back in July, we covered the U.S. Department of Energy report A Critical Review of Impacts of Greenhouse Gas Emissions on the U.S. Climate. It didn’t get nearly the attention it deserves. The report—…

A rare glimpse of the Creative Minds of Cement in their natural habitat - a castle. (OpenAI) It was a crisp autumn morning in late 2021 when the tolling of bells echoed through the vaulted halls of Castle Valkenhorst, perched high on a Euro…

By Victor Gillam - https://pixels.com/featured/monroe-doctrine-1896-granger.html, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=82247860I read an article from Doomberg, one of my favorite geopolitical writers, and it got me thinki…

Cement plant at Lime, Oregon (Credit: Middlebury College)The EPA is trying to roll back the 2009 Endangerment Finding for motor vehicles. I haven’t heard anyone else say it, but I think there’s a chance that move could spill over into …

 The EPA is moving to roll back the 2009 Endangerment Finding — at least for motor vehicles — and with it, scrap the CO₂ limits that were supposed to tighten the screws on model years 2027 through 2032. If this happens, automakers…

Three Gorges Dam | DoombergI was recently catching up on my favorite Substacker Doomberg's insightful piece titled "Five Dams in Tibet," discussing China's colossal Medog hydroelectric project. Scrolling through the comments, I stumbled upon a sta…

 I’ve never been a flag-waving cheerleader for American imperialism. In fact, I used to be pretty disgusted with how we tried to run the world. But lately, I’ve changed my mind—not because we got better, but because I finall…

Fort Monroe, Virginia - Oldest Military Base | Source: Visit Hampton VirginiaThe latest spending bill—officially called the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act"—just landed, and while everyone's busy debating tax cuts and defense budgets, we'r…

If you want to understand why energy is getting more expensive—and why industrial growth feels like it’s dragging through wet concrete—look at Colorado.What was once a solid energy-producing state has quietly become a case study …

We won’t say, "We told you so," but let’s just say this wasn’t exactly a surprise. President Trump is about to—or may have already—signed an executive order that could reshape the future of nuclear energy in the U.S. Th…

The concrete world is buzzing right now. New mix designs, new ways to reduce cement use, and a lot of noise about “green” concrete and low-carbon alternatives. Recently on the Concrete Logic Podcast, I had the chance to sit down with Joh…

For decades, oil has been the dominant force in the energy world, with its price affecting everything from transportation to the cost of goods. But that dominance is fading as natural gas emerges as the new key player in the energy market—some…

Federal Incentives and Policy Drivers for Type IL CementDuring 2019–2024, multiple federal actions incentivized the cement industry’s shift to Type IL (Portland-Limestone Cement). Congressional legislation explicitly promoted lower-car…

The rapid growth of AI and cloud services is fueling an unprecedented surge in data center energy consumption. As power grids strain under this demand, natural gas is emerging as the go-to solution. Recent reports reveal that U.S. federal regulators…