Posts Tagged ‘natural gas’
Tuesday, January 21st, 2025
There’s such a tidal wave of winning spewing down the pipe now that Donald Trump’s rightful place in the White House has been restored that it’s hard to pick one thing to write about that everyone else hasn’t already talked about, but let’s cover Trump lifting the offshore oil and gas ban Biden put in place just before he left office, as well as withdrawing from the never-ratified Paris Accords as part of a much more energy-friendly approach.
“Declaring a National Energy Emergency”
Purpose: “The integrity and expansion of our Nation’s energy infrastructure — from coast to coast — is an immediate and pressing priority for the protection of the United States’ national and economic security. It is imperative that the Federal government puts the physical and economic wellbeing of the American people first.”
Summary:
Directs agency heads to explore and enact any existing executive authority that will enable them “to facilitate the identification, leasing, siting, production, transportation, refining, and generation of domestic energy resources, including, but not limited to, on Federal lands.”
Tasks the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) head to approve emergency waivers for the 365-day sale of gasoline anywhere its supply is currently limited.
Expedites the permitting, construction, and completion of energy infrastructure projects, such as the Keystone XL pipeline, that have received previous approval.
Restricts the application of the Endangered Species Act in areas deemed to be unnecessarily burdening energy-related projects.
Creates an Endangered Species Act Committee tasked with reviewing designations under the law.
“Unleashing American Energy”
Purpose: “It is thus in the national interest to unleash America’s affordable and reliable energy and natural resources. This will restore American prosperity — including for those men and women who have been forgotten by our economy in recent years. It will also rebuild our Nation’s economic and military security, which will deliver peace through strength.”
Summary:
Details the official American energy policy, which includes energy exploration on federal lands and waters; ramping up production of rare-earth minerals; grounding all related regulations in law; nixing the electric vehicle mandate and bans on certain kinds of consumer goods; and ensuring adequate public comment periods on energy-related regulations.
Withdraws the U.S. from the Paris Climate Accords and eliminates the Green New Deal; terminates the American Climate Corps and the Interagency Working Group on the Social Cost of Greenhouse Gases; and rescinds a multitude of President Biden’s climate-related executive orders, including the drilling ban on federal lands and waters and the application of regulations under the National Environmental Policy Act.
Prioritizes permitting for liquefied natural gas exporting projects, such as on the Gulf Coast in Texas and Louisiana.
Requires agency heads to remove regulatory barriers to the mining of mineral resources across the country.
“Putting America First in International Environmental Agreements”
Purpose: “It is the policy of my Administration to put the interests of the United States and the American people first in the development and negotiation of any international agreements with the potential to damage or stifle the American economy. These agreements must not unduly or unfairly burden the United States.”
Summary:
The U.S. ambassador to the U.N. will immediately notify the international organization that it will withdraw from the Paris Agreement.
Any financial grants given to the U.N. in conjunction with the Paris Agreement will be ceased.
Reports on the withdrawal and all the actions thereto shall be compiled to provide updates.
Any future agreements related to energy shall “prioritize economic efficiency, the promotion of American prosperity, consumer choice, and fiscal restraint in all foreign engagements that concern energy policy.”
“Temporary Withdrawal of All Areas on the Outer Continental Shelf from Offshore Wind Leasing and Review of the Federal Government’s Leasing and Permitting Practices for Wind Projects”
Purpose: “This withdrawal temporarily prevents consideration of any area in the OCS for any new or renewed wind energy leasing for the purposes of generation of electricity or any other such use derived from the use of wind. This withdrawal does not apply to leasing related to any other purposes such as, but not limited to, oil, gas, minerals, and environmental conservation.”
Summary:
Approval of new leases for offshore wind power operations will be halted — similar to Biden’s directive on offshore oil drilling — and the current practices will be reviewed.
Agencies will assess the “environmental impact and cost … of defunct and idle windmills.”
Existing leases are not affected.
Trump is doing his level best to hit the ground running and clean up four years of Biden’s war on American consumer and energy producers via executive fiat in the name of pie-in-the-sky environmentalism in a single week.
This is how you carry out campaign promises.
Godspeed, Mr. President.
Tags:Donald Trump, Energy Policy, environmentalism, Global Warming, Gulf of Mexico, Louisiana, natural gas, oil industry, Regulation, Texas
Posted in Global Warming, Texas | 1 Comment »
Monday, January 20th, 2025
As Joe Biden and his ruling cabal slunk out of the White House, Ken Paxton filed a final lawsuit against the regime’s executive regulatory ovrereach:
Attorney General Ken Paxton has joined a legal challenge against the Biden administration’s recent regulation targeting gas-powered water heaters.
On December 26, 2024, the Department of Energy issued a final rule that would prohibit the sale of non-condensing instantaneous natural gas water heaters. Paxton and a coalition of attorneys general from multiple states contest the move is unlawful.
The lawsuit, led by Georgia, Kansas, and Tennessee, argues that this regulation disproportionately affects seniors and low-income households by limiting market options and potentially forcing consumers to use products that may require more energy for the same performance.
Paxton strongly criticized the rule, stating, “It makes no sense to ban better performing instantaneous water heaters in the name of ‘green energy’ and force consumers to purchase more expensive and less efficient models. Beyond being ridiculous, it is an unlawful abuse of power.”
He has vowed to continue opposing overreach by the Biden administration, adding, “Until the final second of Biden’s tenure in Washington, I will defend Texas from the chronic lawlessness of his Administration.”
With President-elect Trump set to take office in a few days, it remains to be seen how these ongoing legal challenges and regulatory disputes will be resolved.
Fellow states joining Texas in the suit are Georgia, Kansas, Tennessee, Alabama, Arkansas, Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Utah, Virginia, and West Virginia.
Plus a bunch of natural gas associations.
Hopefully today marks the end of federal regulatory overreach in the service of unlawful, pie-in-the-sky environmentalism and the beginning of an administration that actually cares about ordinary Americans.
Tags:environmentalism, Joe Biden, Ken Paxton, natural gas, Regulation, Texas, Texas Scorecard
Posted in Democrats, Regulation, Texas | 7 Comments »
Friday, January 10th, 2025
Trump is sentenced to nothing, Los Angeles burns, the Rotherham scandal boils, Biden flips off the nation (twice) before leaving office, Trudeau to go, and Germany starts disarming people who disagree with the government. It’s the Friday LinkSwarm!
Obviously Biden felt he hadn’t screwed Americans enough before leaving office, so he made sure to strike a blow against low gas prices one more time on the way out.
President Joe Biden will ban new offshore oil and gas drilling in more than 625 million acres of federal waters, the White House announced Monday, striking a final blow against domestic energy production just two weeks before President-elect Donald Trump takes office.
The outgoing president is set to use his authority under the 1953 Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to protect offshore areas along the East Coast, West Coast, eastern Gulf of Mexico, and additional portions of the Northern Bering Sea in Alaska from future oil and gas leasing.
Snip.
The move comes on the same day that Trump’s victory over Vice President Kamala Harris is set to be certified by Congress. Trump has vowed to increase oil and gas production on a simple three-word energy policy: “Drill, baby, drill.” Biden’s latest action, however, poses an obstacle to the incoming president’s energy plans.
Asked about the ban during a Monday radio interview, Trump told host Hugh Hewitt he would “unban it immediately.”
“It’s really our greatest economic asset,” Trump said.
Established 72 years ago, the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act governs energy leasing activities in submerged lands under U.S. jurisdiction that extend three miles beyond the shoreline. An open-ended provision in federal law gives a president the authority to permanently withdraw portions of the Outer Continental Shelf without providing a way for a succeeding president to reverse course.
Therefore, the solution may not be as simple as Trump signing an executive order on his first day in office to undo the action. Congress would need to take legislative action. Or if Trump decides to revoke Biden’s withdrawal, that action may prompt legal challenges.
Democrats seem bound and determined to keep Americas broke for the sake of their environmental virtue signaling.
Those 34 hush money “felonies” were so serious that President Trump was sentenced to serve no jail time.
LA wildfire toll: “10 Dead, 10,000 Structures Burned In Los Angeles Area Inferno As Fire Damage Could Exceed $150 Billion.”
During the fire, hydrants ran out of water because nobody in the Democrat-dominated state could be bothered to fill the reservoir.
How badly does Los Angeles Democratic mayor Karen Bass suck? Just look at this timeline. She thought it was more important to jet off the Ghana than stay around when LA was faced with wildfire weather.
It gets better: A man apprehended setting fires with a blowtorch around LA won’t be charged with arson. Because I guess burning people’s homes is social justice or something.
Canadian Prime Minister and all-around tool Justin Trudeau is resigning, though not until his successor is chosen in general elections. Canadian citizens enjoyed rough per-capita GDP economic parity with U.S. citizens when he took office. Now? “The gap between the Canadian and American economies has now reached its widest point in nearly a century.” And workers in Canada earn less than workers in even the poorest U.S. states. Heck of a job, Justin!
After an Elon Musk tweet brought up the Rotherham child gang rape scandal again, Keir Starmer’s Labour government went into full denial mode.
Gangs of predominantly Pakistani men have been raping and torturing vulnerable underage girls over the past three decades, with several independent inquiries having indicated systemic failures to investigate the crimes (because it would be ‘racist’). Three separate reports, published in 2013, 2014 and 2015 revealed that local politicians and police covered up the rapes.
Of note, foreigners are three times as likely to be arrested for sex offenses vs. British citizens.
In response Elon Musk launched an attack on Starmer, accusing him of failing to properly investigate and prosecute the gangs, which he called a “state-sponsored evil,” and alleging that Starmer was “complicit in the RAPE OF BRITAIN.”
And as The Telegraph notes, the state “had to bury the story.”
Denial about the extent of the problem is rooted deep in Britain’s political system. At times, it appears that the government’s approach to multiculturalism is not to uphold the law, but instead to minimise the risk of unrest between communities. Confronted with gangs of predominantly Pakistani men targeting predominantly white children, the state knew exactly what to do. For the good of community relations, it had to bury the story.
In Rotherham, a senior police officer told a distressed father that the town “would erupt” if the routine abuse of white children by Pakistani heritage men became public knowledge. One parent concerned about a missing daughter was told by the police that an “older Asian boyfriend” was a “fashion accessory” for girls in the town. The father of a 15-year-old rape victim was told the assault might mean she would “learn her lesson”.
Islamist MP Naz Shah just stated outright that raped girls should “shut their mouths for the good of diversity.” Just as with Democrats and illegal aliens, a little child rape is considered a small price to pay for all that glorious multiculturalism…
UK’s Labour-dominated parliament really doesn’t want anyone investigating Rotherham.
So, British MPs have voted against making a national inquiry into grooming gangs, in a 364-111 vote.
Man, when the “ruling class” of public servants don’t want something discussed, they really let us know about it. Big shots in England, who have no problem discussing American issues of governance, and even were fine with some of their citizens coming over the pond to campaign during our last election, are really, really annoyed that Americans are beginning to talk about the “grooming gangs” (read rapist gangs) who have operated in Rotherham and elsewhere who have been doing their thing for years, and with seeming impunity.
They’re really very annoyed about the American intrusion, you know. So much so, some are saying if the Americans don’t shut up about it, England should come cold all over its relationship with the USA.
Well, that’s gobsmacking, isn’t? It’s basically saying, “Shut up, stop talking about all the raping we did nothing to address or nip in the bud, or we won’t be your friends, anymore. We’ll take our soccer ball and go home, we will!”
I shouldn’t be so surprised. I’ve seen, and noted, in the past that for some there are two classes of sexual abuse/rape victims. The justly and properly acknowledged victims of priests, ministers, rabbi’s and religious — anything that involves church-centered abuse) and then the abused and raped people whose victimhood appears to be a lesser ken: Non-minor vulnerable adults; victims of public school teachers and staff; victims in state-run facilities. And now, apparently, English girls.
(Hat tip: Stephen Green at Instapundit.)
Fortunately, here in the U.S., the rule of law still actually means something. “Federal Judge Blocks Biden Administration’s Title IX Rewrite Protecting ‘Gender Identity.’”
Zuckerbot looks like he’s serious about purging wokeness from Facebook/Meta root and branch.
Meta is immediately ending its DEI programs days after enacting sweeping changes to promote free speech on its platforms ahead of President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration.
Meta vice president of human resources Janelle Gale sent an internal memo Friday announcing the company’s decision to terminate its DEI programs, Axios first reported, making it the latest large corporation to put an end to progressive workplace initiatives.
A Meta spokesperson confirmed Axios’s reporting when NR asked for comment. NR has reached out for additional comment.
“The legal and policy landscape surrounding diversity, equity and inclusion efforts in the United States is changing,” Gale said in the memo, echoing the justifications given by other companies in walking back DEI.
“The Supreme Court of the United States has recently made decisions signaling a shift in how courts will approach DEI,” the memo adds.
“The term ‘DEI’ has also become charged, in part because it is understood by some as a practice that suggests preferential treatment of some groups over others.”
Meta is getting rid of its DEI team and changing the role of chief diversity officer Maxine Williams. Additionally, Meta is ending its equity and inclusion programs, and its supplier diversity goals.
“We believe there are other ways to build an industry-leading workforce and leverage teams made up of world-class people from all types of backgrounds,” Gale said.
Likewise, Meta is abandoning its diversity hiring approach and its corporate representation goals to prevent the impression that the company is hiring solely based on demographic characteristics.
“It’s important to us that our products are accessible to all, and are useful in promoting economic growth and opportunity around the world. We continue to be focused on serving everyone, and building a multi-talented, industry-leading workforce from all walks of life,” the memo concludes.
Earlier this week, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that the company will be replacing its fact-checking program with a “community notes” style approach mimicking Elon Musk’s X. The “community notes” feature on X allows for crowdsourced fact checking and demonetizes posts that get slapped with a note for misleading information.
Zuckerberg conceded that the fact-checkers Meta partnered with following the 2016 election were too politically biased, a nod to a longstanding complaint among conservatives. Meta is also reducing its “content moderation” policies to allow for greater freedom of speech on Facebook and Threads on controversial topics such as immigration and gender ideology. On that note, Meta is bringing back its promotion of political posts and moving its content moderation teams to Texas to prevent political insulation.
Well, Austin, anyway…
In August, Zuckerberg admitted that Meta was wrong to censor the Hunter Biden laptop story and criticized the Biden administration for pressuring Facebook into suppressing certain content related to the Covid-19 pandemic. Online censorship of the Hunter Biden laptop story and skeptics of stringent Covid-19 policies was a priority for congressional Republicans in their investigations over the past two years.
He also went on Joe Rogan and added UFC head Dana White to Meta’s board. If Zuckerberg is a weather-vane, the MAGA winds must be very strong indeed…
“In 2024, seven states signed legislation against DEI or stripped funding for it at universities — Alabama, Idaho, Iowa, Indiana, Kansas, Utah, and Wyoming. Those states join Florida, North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and North Dakota, all of which moved against DEI before last year.”
Biden’s letting 11 terrorists out to fly to Oman because of course he is. All 11 are Yemanis. At least he’s not letting Khalid Sheikh Mohammad go. Yet…
Remember how in The Prisoner, one security device was a giant rolling ball? China evidently took inspiration from that, but there version is made out of metal.
Global warming does it again. “Rare snow blankets Sahara dunes in Northern Africa.”
Amish farmer wins lawsuit to keep selling raw milk.
Ukraine hits another oil storage facility, this one in Engels, Saratov.
Meanwhile, in Germany: “Saxony-Anhalt begins disarming AfD members. AfD members in many German states are stripped of many of their rights, including the right to privacy and lawful gun ownership.” You know, I get the feeling I’ve seen this movie before… (Hat tip: Borepatch.)
The mystery of the Syrian-Jordanian border.
Remember how we were supposed to “Believe All Women”? Well, here’s yet another case of a woman lying about a male coworker sexually harassing her.
“Is that a gun in your pocket, or are you just happy to s—” BLAM! (Hat tip: Dwight.)
To paraphrase Mel Brooks, tragedy is when I have a toothache, comedy is when you fall down an open manhole.
How car theft rings are stealing exotic cars by posing as legitimate car transport companies.
I don’t often cover New York sports teams or link to ESPN, but this story about how the “New York Football Giants” (to use Dwight’s preferred nomenclature) went 3-14 puts the fun in dysfunctional, including asking their starting cornerback to take a pay cut…right before a game.
“Women’s sports bar shuts down just five months after opening.” Why, it’s almost as if the two sexes are different in the degrees of their affinities for sports…
How allied vehicles got white stars in World War II.
Soundgarden now has a fat female lead singer for some reason. She decided to go crowd-surfing, and the audience went “Nah, we’re good.” Thump ensues.
Adam Savage goes down a rabbit hole of ridiculously small cassette tapes.
Borepatch points us to a pretty awesome RasberryPi-driven Christmas lights display.
“Biden Honors Kamala Harris With Presidential Medal Of Participation.”
“Biden Online Store Clearance Sale Now Offering Presidential Medals Of Freedom For $9.99.”
FBI Baffled Terrorist Attack Occurred As They Imprisoned All Jan 6 Attendees.”
“Trudeau To Be Humanely Euthanized.”
“British Man Arrested For Making Meme Offensive To Child Rapists.”
“Guy Who Said Facebook Was Not Suppressing Free Speech Announces Facebook Will Stop Suppressing Free Speech.”
Tags:Adam Savage, Alabama, Amish, Babylon Bee, California, Canada, cars, censorship, Chechnya, China, Christmas, Communism, Democrats, euthanasia, Facebook, FBI, Global Warming, Guns, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Janelle Gale, Jihad, Joe Biden, Joe Rogan, Jordan, Justin Trudeau, Kamala Harris, Kansas, Karen Bass, Keir Starmer, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, LinkSwarm, Los Angeles, Mark Felton, Mark Zuckerberg, Military, natural gas, Naz Shah, New York Giants, NFL, oil industry, pedophilia, Presidential Medal of Freedom, rape, Regulation, Rotherham, Russia, Russo-Ukrainian War, Sahara, sex offender, Social Justice Warriors, Steve Marchand, Syria, Texas, Title IX, UK, Ukraine, Utah, wildfire, World War II, Wyoming, Yemen
Posted in Austin, Crime, Democrats, Jihad, Military, Regulation, Social Justice Warriors, Texas | 4 Comments »
Tuesday, July 16th, 2024
The giant Borganism that is the federal government has a built-in bias to stick its tentacles into every orifice of the body politic, gathering more money, power and influence to itself in stark defiance of the Founder’s blueprints for a weak federal government checked by strong state and citizen sovereignty. In addition to money and power, it also wants to gobble up land, and now it wants to eat 700,000 acres of private land on Texas-New Mexico border.
Under the guise of “land protection,” the federal government aims to acquire 700,000 acres of private land in the Southern High Plains region—which sits along the Texas-New Mexico border.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently finalized its Land Protection Plan. The plan aims to acquire 700,000 acres of privately owned land and put it under federal control for “protection” in “perpetuity.” This is part of the federal government’s efforts to expand the Muleshoe National Wildlife Refuge—which feeds into the broader aim of the Biden administration: fulfilling the “30×30” initiative.
Through the “30×30” initiative, the Biden administration decided that 30 percent of the nation’s land and waters must be under federal control and management by 2030. President Biden launched the agenda via Executive Order 14008 on January 27, 2021.
However, American Stewards of Liberty explains that the initiative was rebranded as “America the Beautiful” after facing public backlash.
As the American Stewards highlight, the Muleshoe National Wildlife Refuge is attempting to expand the “acquisition boundary” from 6,440 acres in Texas and New Mexico to 7,000,000 acres—all without congressional authority. After they acquire more land, they plan to federalize 700,000 acres through buying the land or obtaining permanent conservation easements.
“Federally acquiring nearly three-quarter million acres from this region is a direct attack on the oil, gas, and mineral industries, agriculture production, and local economies,” the American Stewards write.
They also claim counties were not notified of the expansion.
“No direct notice was given to the counties or local governing authorities. The USFWS [U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service] failed to coordinate this plan with the local governments as required by law.”
The expanded area grabs land in 15 Texas counties including Bailey, Castro, Cochran, Crosby, Dawson, Gaines, Garza, Hale, Hockley, Lamb, Lubbock, Lynn, Parmer, Terry, and Yoakum. The expansion into five counties in New Mexico includes land from Chaves, Curry, De Baca, Lea, and Roosevelt counties.
If you look at a map of the proposed takings, you can see federal environmentalists want to “conserve” (i.e. control) land rightup to the edge of Lubbock:
Both this plan and the 30×30 plan in general smack of the sort of unauthorized, self-directed bureaucratic empire-building that the Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo decision struck down. Both private land owners and the State of Texas should resist this blatant land grab with all the tools at their disposal.
Tags:Bailey County, Castro County, Cochran County, Crosby County, Dawson County, Democrats, environmentalism, Fish and Wildlife Service, Gaines County, Garza County, Hale County, Hockley County, Lamb County, Lubbock, Lubbock County, Lynn County, Muleshoe National Wildlife Refuge, natural gas, New Mexico, oil industry, Parmer County, Regulation, Social Justice Warriors, Takings, Terry County, Texas, Yoakum County
Posted in Democrats, Regulation, Social Justice Warriors, Texas | 16 Comments »
Friday, July 21st, 2023
More Biden corruption, a bit about music, and cute dogs. It’s the Friday LinkSwarm!
Here’s a fairly extensive timeline of Biden corruption.
2009 – The Obama-Biden administration takes office
November 1, 2013 – China / BHR:
Hunter Biden, business associate, and Chinese investors agree to create Bohai Harvest RST Equity Investment Fund Management Co., Ltd. (BHR), an investment fund controlled by the Bank of China, to focus on mergers and acquisitions, and investment in and reforms of state-owned enterprise.
December 4, 2013 – China / BHR
Vice President Biden travels with Hunter Biden on Air Force 2 to China and meets CEO of BHR, Jonathan Li. Shortly thereafter, BHR’s business license was approved and Hunter Biden was a board member.
February 5, 2014 – Kazakhstan
Kenes Rakishev, a Kazakhstani businessman, meets with Hunter Biden at a hotel in Washington, D.C.
April 15, 2014 – Ukraine
Burisma, a Ukrainian energy company, appoints Biden business associate to their board of directors.
Etc. etc. etc.
“California Democrats retreat on their effort to defend child slavers.”
After initially killing a bill on July 12, 2023 that would have increased the penalties on child sex traffickers, the Democrats who completely control the California Assembly’s Public Safety Committee reversed course one day later and voted to advance the bill.
With a final vote of 6-0, including two abstentions from progressive Democrats, the bill now moves to the Appropriations Committee, after which, if it is approved, can move the bill to be voted upon by the entire State Assembly. If passed, SB 14 will make trafficking of minors a serious felony that would qualify under California’s three strikes law, which keeps dangerous, serial criminals off the streets, and make individuals convicted of the crime ineligible for early release.
I highlight the two abstentions by Democrats. Even after a nationwide uproar over their willingness to block harsh penalties on those who traffic young children for sexual slavery, these two Democrats, including Assembly Majority Leader Isaac Bryan (D-Los Angeles), still could not bring themselves to vote for the bill.
(Hat tip: Sarah Hoyt at Instapundit.)
State Senator Charles Schwertner (my state senator) has his DWI charges dismissed. Still, he hardly crowned himself in glory. At least he didn’t yell “Call Greg!” (It did make me wonder what Rosemary Lehmberg is doing today, and if she ever conquered her alcoholism…)
Mexico surpasses China as America’s biggest trade partner. (Hat tip: Stephen Green at Instapundit.)
Remember Toast Tab’s 99¢ fee from last week’s LinkSwarm? Well, public reaction was so negative that their shares cratered and they rescinded the fee.
Will the Biden Administration use a lizard to kill the Permian Basin shale revolution?
“This car has all the annoying things about EVs and none of the cool stuff…this car doesn’t live up to any expectations. Nothing
works.”
TSMC delays Arizona plant opening due to labor shortage.
A detailed look at the recording of one of my favorite albums of all time: Peter Gabriel III.
Just what does electronic music pioneer Morton Subotnick’s “Silver Apples of the Moon” sound like? You know that scene in a 70s SciFi dystopia where someone’s face gets ripped off to reveal they’re a robot? It sounds like that.
GWAR plays for NPR. So on one side you have horrible monsters who are unbearable to listen to, and on the other side you have GWAR…
That’s one sly kissing bandit.
(Hat tip: Ace of Spades HQ.)
Tags:Arizona, Austin, Charles Schwertner, China, corruption, Democrats, DWI, electric cars, EPA, Georgetown, GWAR, Hunter Biden, Joe Biden, LinkSwarm, Mexico, Morton Subotnick, music, natural gas, oil industry, pedophilia, Permian Basin, Peter Gabriel, Semiconductors, sexual slavery, Texas, Toast Tab, trade, TSMC, Ukraine
Posted in Austin, Border Control, Democrats, Economics, Foreign Policy, Republicans, Social Justice Warriors, Texas, video, Waste and Fraud | 1 Comment »
Friday, June 16th, 2023
More Biden corruption comes to light, California gets even more crazy, and two former European Prime Ministers step out of the spotlight in different ways.
“House Oversight Chairman Says There Is Evidence Of $20-$30 Million Of Illegal Payments To Bidens.”
House Oversight Chairman James Comer revealed Thursday that he expects there is evidence of at least $20-$30 million being made in illegal payments by foreign nationals to the Biden family.
Appearing on Fox Business, Comer stated “We have more bank records coming in but we’re gonna exceed $10 million this week but I think we’ll get up to $20-$30 million.”
He further noted that it is becoming clear that the Bidens potentially engaged in bribery, influence peddling, and money laundering.
“This is going to be hard for Biden to explain, this is not going to go away, and I think eventually the mainstream media is going to start asking the real questions,” Comer added.
“They know there’s something wrong here. They know all the allegations have merit, because of where Joe Biden was, because of what we’ve seen on tape before, where Joe Biden bragged about firing that prosecutor,” he added,
“They know that this family created these shell companies. They know this family was money-laundering, they were profiting off Joe Biden’s influence,” Comer asserted, adding “The media knows that – they’re just not covering it.”
“I can assure you: there is more money that we’re going to be able to identify, that was transferred between foreign nationals in other countries and the Biden family,” Comer further emphasized, adding “I think, eventually, the mainstream media will turn on Joe Biden and start asking the real questions: ‘What did your family do to receive all this money?’”
Speaking of Biden family corruption: “House Oversight Panel Subpoenas Former Hunter Biden Associate Devon Archer…[The committee] is particularly interested in Archer’s involvement in the family’s international business deals, which included countries like China, Russia, and Ukraine.” Archer was in Global Seneca Partners with Hunter Biden and John Kerry’s stepson.
Meanwhile, Robert Hur, the special council charged with investigating Biden, seems to have fallen off the face of the earth.
Biden recession update: Average real weekly earnings have dropped for the 26th consecutive month. (Hat tip: Stephen Green at Instapundit.)
California advances bill to help shoplifters steal.
“Baltimore Police Commissioner Michael Harrison stepped down this week as the progressive-run city struggles with homicides, a drug crisis, and a troubling rise in violence involving teenagers.” Time to pull this out again:
Illegal aliens try to hijack merchant ship with knives. Italian commandos demonstrate that’s a bad idea.
Jihadis kill nine in Congo.
The Netherlands are closing the largest natural gas field in Europe.
Silvio Berlusconi, Italy’s longest-serving prime minister, dead at 86. Berlusconi revived Italy’s economy, but then couldn’t keep it out of the PIIGS. But for a whilehe kept the wolves at bay.
Also stepping out of the spotlight this week: Former UK Tory Prime Minister Boris Johnson resigned from Parliment. Other than getting Brexit accomplished, Johnson’s tenure seemed all sizzle and no steak.
California’s unrealistic environmental policies are creating a trucking nightmare.
In April 2023, an unelected Board in California voted to force trucking companies to buy zero-emission trucks. This technology is at early-stage adoption in limited segments, and infrastructure buildout is lagging behind what is required to support electrification in our industry. The Board unanimously advanced the Advanced Clean Fleet rule to accompany California’s equally tough electric vehicle sales mandate regulation, the Advanced Clean Truck rule, that would require truck manufacturers to sell zero-emission vehicles. These two regulations together are designed to create an artificial electric vehicle market sooner rather than later.
This new rule was made at the behest of the environmental lobby, which pushed for unrealistic targets and unachievable timelines that will undoubtedly lead to higher prices for goods delivered to the state and fewer options for consumers. ATA has strongly opposed this rule from the outset and testified at a hearing in Sacramento to express the trucking industry’s concerns directly to the Board.
Snip.
Today’s clean diesel trucks can spend 15 minutes fueling anywhere in the country and then travel about 1,200 miles before fueling again. In contrast, today’s zero-emission trucks:
- Have significantly less range of about 150-330 miles between charging or refueling;
- Need to be charged or refueled more often and for longer periods of time leading to unproductive downtime;
- Cost two to three times more than a comparable clean-diesel truck; and
- Weigh thousands of pounds more, reducing payload capacity and requiring more trucks and drivers to move the same amount of freight.
Also: “The California Energy Commission estimates that 157,000 chargers will need to be installed by 2030 to support California’s heavy-duty vehicle electrification goals.” Assuming there’s enough Lithium in the world for the batteries… (Hat tip: TPPF.)
Hope for San Francisco? Residents replace drug-addicted transients on their local sidewalks with large planters.
Two Russian oil tanks collide for exactly the reasons you would expect.
“DNC Generously Offers To Host Rally For Robert F. Kennedy Jr. By Grassy Knoll.”
“Satan Asks LGBTQ Community To Please Tone It Down A Bit.”
Tags:Baltimore, Biden Recession, Boris Johnson, Congo, Conservatives, corruption, Democrats, Devon Archer, Foreign Policy, Fox News, hijacking, homeless, Hunter Biden, Italy, James Comer, Jihad, Joe Biden, Media Watch, Michael Harrison, natural gas, Netherlands, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Robert Hur, Russia, San Francisco, Silvio Berlusconi, UK
Posted in Democrats, Elections, Media Watch, Social Justice Warriors, video, Waste and Fraud | 4 Comments »
Thursday, May 11th, 2023
You know how the much of the Texas interconnect grid went black back in 2021 due to over-reliance on trendy renewable energy rather than natural gas and nuclear baseload?
Well guess what?
Public Utility Commission (PUC) Chairman Peter Lake and Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) CEO Pablo Vegas sent a clear message to the Texas Legislature on Wednesday: tweak the electricity market so that natural gas generation can be supplemented, or continue to face problems in the summer heat.
I just have to pause here to note that “Pablo Vegas” sounds like an Anthony Weiner pseudonym.
“Operationally, the ERCOT grid is ready for this summer,” Lake said, unveiling the 2023 Seasonal Assessment of Resource Adequacy (SARA) report. “The reliability reforms that were put in place have been tested and continue to work. We’ve made the grid we’ve got as strong as possible using every tool available.”
The SARA report, as Lake stated, is an estimate of electricity demand and supply for certain scenarios based on past data, not a forecast of what is to come this summer.
It estimates peak demand to reach 82,739 megawatts (MW); for comparison, 1 MW can power about 200 homes during the peak demand hours of the late summer afternoon through evening. To cope with that demand, the state expects to have 97,000 MW of capacity available — two-thirds of which is thermal generation, combined with 13 percent from solar and 11 percent from wind.
However, Lake tinged the grid’s readiness with an omen.
“Data shows for the first time that peak demand this summer will exceed the amount we can generate from on-demand dispatchable power,” Lake warned. “There is no longer enough dispatchable generation to meet the demand of the ERCOT system. So, we will be relying on renewables to keep the lights on.”
The State of Texas is adding about 300,000 people per year, which means a larger and larger demand for electricity on the state’s largest power grid.
“In this new reality, our risk goes up as the sun goes down,” Lake added.
Vegas likened the situation to a car: the metaphorical vehicle — the physical grid itself — is up to par on maintenance, but it lacks the necessary fuel — the electricity supply — to power its full trip ahead.
Lake said that ERCOT’s dispatchable supply fleet only grew 1.5 percent from 2008 to 2022. During that time, its renewable footprint grew substantially with now more than 30,000 MW of wind power installed and more than 10,000 MW of solar.
The influx of renewables is driven primarily by the Production Tax Credit — a federal subsidy that pays renewable generators 2.6 cents per kilowatt-hour produced — which has given wind and now solar an advantage over thermal generation sources. ERCOT has 31,000 MW of solar generation in the queue along with 5,000 MW of wind.
In contrast, only 800 MW of dispatchable power has been added in the last year, according to Lake.
So thanks to renewables, blackouts may be in the future of Texans this summer.
But don’t worry! The federal government has a solution: making sure no one has reliable power.
The Biden administration is announcing a climate rule that would require most fossil fuel power plants to slash their greenhouse gas pollution 90 percent between 2035 and 2040 — or shut down.
The highly anticipated regulation being unveiled Thursday morning is just the latest step in President Joe Biden’s campaign to green the U.S. economy, an effort that has brought a counterattack from Republicans and coal-state Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin. That’s on top of efforts by Biden’s agencies to promote the use of electric cars, subsidize green energy sources like solar and wind and tighten regulations on products including gas stoves and dishwashers.
The draft power plant rule from the Environmental Protection Agency would break new ground by requiring steep pollution cuts from plants burning coal or natural gas, which together provide the lion’s share of the nation’s electricity. To justify the size of those cuts, the agency says fossil fuel plants could capture their greenhouse gas emissions before they hit the atmosphere — a long-debated technology that no power plant in the U.S. uses now.
As an alternative, utilities could hasten their decisions to shut down their aging coal plants, a trend that has already gathered speed in the past two decades. The rule allows plants that agree to close in the first half of the 2030s to avoid most or all of the pollution-reduction mandates.
Safe, reliable nuclear and fossil fuel powered energy is anathema to the Democratic Party because they can’t rake off enough graft from it. Unless you’re willing to let them shove their disasterous green energy programs down your throat, they want you deplorables sitting in the dark.
Tags:blackout, Energy Policy, EPA, ERCOT, natural gas, Pablo Vegas, Peter Lake, Public Utility Commission (PUC), Regulation, Texas
Posted in Republicans, Texas | 12 Comments »
Tuesday, April 18th, 2023
Another lunatic leftwing California ecowarrior directive bites the dust.
A federal appeals court on Monday overturned a California city’s first-in-the-nation ban on natural gas hookups in new buildings, saying it violates federal law.
The three-judge panel from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal sided with a coalition of California restaurants, who argued that the City of Berkeley’s ordinance essentially bans gas appliances in violation of a 1975 directive that gives Congress control over restrictions on appliances. The unanimous ruling is a major blow to California Democrats’ green energy push, and could clear the way for legal challenges to similar bans around the country.
Democrats have increasingly moved to ban gas stoves while attempting to downplay their efforts. New York is poised to become the first state to ban gas stoves, and California is working towards a statewide ban of its own. The White House has denied that President Joe Biden supports banning gas stoves while the Energy Department works to restrict their sale. Blue state attorneys general and environmental groups lined up to support the ban in court, in a sign of the case’s national implications.
The California Restaurant Association claimed Berkeley’s ban violated the 1975 Energy Policy and Conservation Act , which gives the federal government final say over restrictions on energy appliances.
Judge Patrick Bumatay wrote that even though Berkeley lawmakers didn’t specifically ban the use of natural gas appliances, they reached the same result “circuitously” by changing their building code to ban gas piping—a policy that renders “the gas appliances useless,” he said.
This preemption would apply to state policies as well, he added.
“States and localities can’t skirt [federal preemption] by doing indirectly what Congress says they can’t do directly,” he wrote.
There’s simply no end to the things ordinary people enjoy that radical environmentalists are willing to ban. Fortunately, there’s still some semblance of the rule of law to at least temporarily keep them in check…
Tags:9th Circuit Court, California, Democrats, environmentalism, natural gas, Regulation, Social Justice Warriors
Posted in Democrats, Regulation, Social Justice Warriors | 4 Comments »
Friday, January 6th, 2023
Greetings, and welcome to the Friday LinkSwarm! By the time you read this, Kevin McCarthy will have lost more elections than Pat Paulsen.
Stop me if you’ve heard this before: “More U-Haul Trucks Left California Than Any Other State In 2022, Texas Top Destination.”
More moving trucks left from California than any other state in 2022 for the third year in a row, while more Americans are flocking to Republican-led states like Texas and Florida, a new study published on Jan. 3 has found.
The study was conducted by the moving truck rental company, U-Haul, and found that Texas, Florida, and the Carolinas were the preferred destinations for one-way moving trucks in 2022, with those states ranking as the top growth states on the annual U-Haul Growth Index.
U-Haul’s Growth Index is compiled according to the net gain of one-way U-Haul trucks arriving in a state or city, versus those departing from that state or city each calendar year across the U.S. and Canada and is a strong indicator of what kind of job states and cities are attracting and maintaining residents, according to the company.
Texas is the top destination for U-Haul trucks for the second consecutive year and the fifth time since 2016, according to the study. That is followed by Florida, which has been a top-three growth state for seven years in a row. South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, Arizona, Georgia, Ohio, and Idaho also saw strong growth rates in 2022, the study found.
I think I’ve posted a variation on this story just about every year I’ve published this blog…
Speaking of people fleeing high taxes, New York is hemorrhaging taxpayers as well.
From July 2021 to July 2022, 300,000 more people moved out of the state than moved in. New York had the largest population loss—in both percentage and absolute terms—experienced by any state during that period.
Sadly, this was both predictable and preventable.
In March 2021, a study of New York found that its already staggeringly high tax burden had worsened due to an increase in the top marginal tax rate to almost 15% for those in New York City. The study projected that the flood of people leaving would only accelerate—and it did.
Even before that study, the Empire State lost so many people that it cost New York a seat in Congress after the 2020 census. This exodus is a direct response to New York’s obscenely high taxes.
Just how bad is it? Compared with other states, New Yorkers:
- Pay the highest total tax burden and highest share of personal income (14%) in taxes.
- Endure the second-worst overall business-tax climate.
- Face the highest individual income-tax rate and income-tax collections per capita.
- Pay the second-highest state and local corporate income tax collections per capita.
- Have the fourth-highest property taxes and local sales-tax rate (on average).
- Pay the highest cigarette taxes and ninth-highest gasoline taxes.
- Pay the sixth-highest capital-stock tax rate.
- Are tied for third-highest estate-tax rate.
(Hat tip: Stephen Green at Instapundit.)
Speaking of California: “California Officially Becomes a Sanctuary State for Child Mutilation.” (Hat tip: Stephen Green at Instapundit.)
Things that make you go “Hmmm“: “Virgin Islands AG Fired Three Days After Suing JPMorgan Over Jeffrey Epstein.”
Three Biden tax hikes that took place January 1. (Hat tip: Ed Driscoll at Instapundit.)
Remember how I’ve noted that semiconductor memory manufacturers make money hand-over-fist in boom times and barely break even during busts? “Samsung Profits Plunge 69% As Global Chip Demand In ‘Full-Fledged Ice Age.'”
Turnabout is fair play: “U. Houston Prof Tells Students to Report Teachers Berating ‘White People or Christians to DEI Office.'”
Denver Mayor Michael Hancock takes pride in virtue signaling his city as a refuge for illegal aliens. Guess what?
Former Pope Benedict XVI dies at age 95.
Thanks to green energy policies and the Russo-Ukrainian War, it’s now too expensive to break bread in Europe. (Hat tip: Instapundit.)
U.S. passes Qatar as world’s largest LNG exporter.
“How is it like being homeless in Portland?” “It’s a piece of cake really.”
Jordan B. Peterson: “People camouflage themselves against the herd.”
This story should piss you off. (Hat tip: Dwight.)
Drone swarm vs. carrier group simulation.
Ouch!
Some pretty amazing skiing.
Cereal experiments lame.
Tags:aircraft carrier, airlines, Border Controls, Colorado, Democrats, Denver, environmentalism, EU, Florida, Germany, homeless, Jeffrey Epstein, Jordan B. Peterson, Kevin McCarthy, natural gas, oil industry, Pope Benedict XVI, Portland, Republicans, Russo-Ukrainian War, Samsung, Semiconductors, Shankar Mishra, Social Justice Warriors, Taxes, Texas, U-Haul, University of Houston, Wells Fargo
Posted in Crime, Democrats, Republicans, Social Justice Warriors, Texas | 2 Comments »
Wednesday, December 21st, 2022
The Biden Administration, in its never-ending quest to punish the oil and gas industry for supplying cheap, reliable energy, tried to block the export of liquefied natural gas to Asia. Then Ted Cruz stepped in.
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced the approval of permits to export liquefied natural gas to Asia after Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) held four agency nominees hostage.
Two Sempra Energy facilities on the West Coast will now be able to ship Texas-produced liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Asia, increasing the supply that competes with Russia to fuel the rest of the continent. They will also allow the transport of LNG supplies by pipeline to Mexico.
The approvals come after the Biden administration’s reticence and Cruz’s corresponding holds placed on four nominees to positions in the DOE. Those nominees are David Crane, to work under DOE Secretary Jennifer Granholm; Jeffrey Matthew Marootian and Gene Rodrigues, both nominated to serve as assistant secretaries; and Evelyn Wang, up for director of the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy.
A Senate procedural tool, the hold is “an informal practice by which a senator informs Senate leadership that he or she does not wish a particular measure or nomination to reach the floor for consideration.”
Cruz used a similar maneuver back in May to force permit approvals, including one for a Port Arthur facility.
“This decision is a long overdue win for Texas and America,” Cruz spokesman Dave Vasquez said in a statement provided to The Texan.
“These permits will enable West Coast liquefied natural gas export facilities to send U.S. natural gas from Texas and other Western states by pipeline to Mexico, and from there export the LNG to Asia. As a result, American allies and partners in Asia will have access to newer and cleaner alternatives to the coercive energy blackmail pushed by Russia and China.”
The permits will enable the cheaper sale of Texas LNG supply to Asia; it also enables shippers to avoid the congested Panama Canal, thus expediting the supply. In total, the two permits will allow the exchange of 2.33 trillion cubic feet per year of LNG.
In 2021, Texas producers generated 10.3 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.
It’s good to have a senator on your side that knows how to play the game…
Tags:Brad Johnson, Department of Energy, natural gas, oil industry, Regulation, Republicans, Ted Cruz, Texas
Posted in Regulation, Republicans, Texas | 5 Comments »
