When Energy Secretary Rick Perry requested a study of electric grid reliability, wind and solar energy lobbyists were predictably alarmed. Perry wanted to know how federal policies were shaping wholesale electricity markets and whether public policies were responsible for forcing the premature retirement of baseload power plants.
Read more
Salt Lake Tribune – President Trump’s review of recently created national monuments, especially the 1.3 million-acre Bears Ears National Monument, is a unique opportunity to reflect on the uses and abuses of the Antiquities Act. The Bears Ears designation is a cautionary tale of the nearly unlimited power of the president and how that power affects real Americans.
Newsday – Either the Paris agreement was a truly monumental agreement in which the entire world came together to respond effectively to a global problem or it was so toothless that nobody bothered to object. All things considered, it was probably the latter.
Inside Sources – While the Antiquities Act may have been important for preserving some Native American artifacts, recent monument designations have allowed presidents to affect the access to and use of millions of acres of land without regard to local effects.
Inside Sources – With Earth Day just this last Saturday, it’s important to remember the environment is actually getting better by many measures.
US News & World Report – American politicians have long complained of trade deficits the United States has with foreign nations. China is only the most recent case in point. But from the perspective of President Donald Trump, it is a near-perfect case in point. Last year, Americans bought around $450 billion worth of goods from China, while the Chinese bought only $100 billion worth of goods from Americans, resulting in a trade deficit of some $350 billion. But here’s the rub: A trade deficit is largely meaningless. Consider two things
Newsday — Last week, for one glorious afternoon, the world stopped and took a collective breath as Korea expert Professor Robert Kelly took 47 seconds to discuss the ouster of South Korean President Park Geun-hye on the BBC. The world wasn’t laughing at Professor Kelly; it was laughing near him.
Inside Sources — Many environmentalists are quick to point to the landmark Clean Air Act of 1970 as the beginning of environmental improvement in America. Studies, however, have shown that innovation and market forces led to improvements as much as 40 years before the act went into effect….
Philly.com — Where vices are concerned, from prostitution to marijuana to tobacco, even to sugary drinks, the United States has become a place where citizens use the power of government to bully each other into submission…
Inside Sources – As the federal debt has gone from astounding to unbelievable to incomprehensible, a new problem has emerged: The U.S. government is actually running out of places to borrow….
Since 1975, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has been the unbiased voice in the room where budgetary matters are concerned. Its stock in trade, and sole reason for existence, is to provide Congress with clear budgetary projections from which legislators can plan…
The Salt Lake Tribune – News of an executive branch “deal” with Amazon.com is bad news for the online retailer’s Utah customers. Starting Jan. 1, Amazon will collect state and local sales taxes (determined by buyers’ Zip codes) on all orders shipped to Utah addresses and then remit (most of) the revenue to the State Tax Commission.
The Detroit News – As Obama was running for the White House eight years ago, he said that his environmental plan would make electricity rates “skyrocket.” During his time as president, the EPA has loosed a series of regulations that not only lay the groundwork for higher electricity prices but that have cost tens of thousands…
Inside Sources – In a small ceremony at the end of September, representatives of the Chinese, British, and French governments gave final approval to the Hinkley Point nuclear plant in the U.K. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like British energy companies won their plea to show the cost of the approximately $27-billion-dollars…
Inside Sources – If we are serious about healing the divisions that plague our nation, Obama should have absolutely nothing to do with pardoning his own former secretary of State. Even if he were ignorant of her malfeasance, he should have nothing to do with pardoning a fellow Democrat.
Real Clear Markets – After a nearly six-week recess, Congress returned this week for a brief lame-duck session to wrap up final legislative items on its plate before adjourning for the year. The top priority will be to pass a government funding bill, although whether to do so through an omnibus spending bill or yet another…
The Detroit News – In the case of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Power Plan and the Department of the Interior’s Stream Protection Rule, low- and middle-income American families will shoulder the heaviest burden because they don’t have the income flexibility to accommodate higher home energy bills.
The Hill – The EPA has attempted to package and sell the rule as “fair” and “flexible,” but its legality is questionable and it is neither fair nor flexible.
