The Million Dollar Way (The Bakken Oil Blog)

Sunday, August 16, 2026

It Never Quits -- Federal Judge Allows Wall To Be Built -- August 15, 2026

Locator: 51427WALL.

Population: those living on the reservation -- 10,500.

At least two issues here

sovereignty ; and,
immigration control.

State Tax Collections Per Capita -- IRS Data -- August 16, 2026

Locator: 51426TAXES.

Link here.

This obviously is a function of "Bakken millionaires" and not taxes per se. This may be the most recent data available.

Texas is #47.

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The Taxman

Link here.

This Is What US Bonds Have To Compete With -- August 16, 2026

Locator: 51425EPD.

The opportunities in today's market for traders and investors are unrelenting. So many choice.

Carbon Emissions, Fossil Fuel Use, LDCs, And AI Demand -- An Update -- August 16, 2026

Locator: 51424LCDS.

Link here: oilprice.

AI's energy footprint is out of control. Hyperscalers are building out data centers faster than the energy industry can keep up with, pushing for the rapid buildout of any form of energy we have at our disposal, clean or dirty. Silicon Valley's leadership in the decarbonization movement and bold net-zero pledges are a thing of the past. But a new study warns that the biggest issue with AI's carbon footprint may not even be its own energy consumption, but rather the industries it is used to support and expand.

Instead of reducing emissions, Big Tech is seeing its carbon footprint expand by double-digit rates driven almost entirely by the AI boom. According to official company figures, the total carbon emissions of Google and Microsoft each skyrocketed by 25% year-over-year from 2025 to 2026, while Amazon's increased by 16%. Altogether, in the last fiscal year, these three companies emitted as much carbon dioxide as a third of France, at 19 million metric tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent.

And those numbers are set to keep climbing in the coming years. Amazon made headlines across the globe this week when it was revealed that the firm is investing in a large-scale natural-gas-burning power plant as part of a massive data center development in South Texas that is set to be the single biggest-emitting power plant in the country. If built to currently planned specifications, the facility would be permitted to release 33 million tons of carbon dioxide a year.

The gap between the US and the EU will continue to widen.