The American Automobile Association (AAA) and local power companies across Tennessee have shared tips on how to stay safe and conserve energy usage to avoid high electric bills during periods of extreme heat.
Read the full storyTag: energy
Renewables Provided 30 Percent of Energy in 2023, but Data Disputes Claims of an Overall Energy Transition
A new report from Ember-climate.org, which describes itself as “an independent energy think tank that aims to accelerate the clean energy transition with data and policy” touting that renewable energy provided 30% of electricity generation in 2023 is getting a lot of attention, with reports in The Guardian, Associated Press, and Reuters, and CNN.
“A permanent decline in fossil fuel use in the power sector at a global level is now inevitable,” the report by Ember declares.
Read the full storyTennessee Governor Bill Lee Joins Coalition of Governors in Demanding the Biden Administration Lift Pause on Liquified Natural Gas Exports
Tennessee Governor Bill Lee joined a coalition of 24 other governors in issuing a joint statement demanding that the Biden administration lift its pause on new liquified natural gas (LNG) export approvals.
In January, the Biden administration temporarily paused pending decisions on LNG exports to “non-FTA countries until the Department of Energy can update the underlying analyses for authorizations” in the name of “climate change.”
Read the full storyCommentary: Daylight Saving Time’s Mixed Results
This weekend, public service announcements will remind us daylight saving time is over. This means you have to set your clocks forward an hour at 2 a.m. on March 10.
This semiannual ritual shifts our rhythms and temporarily makes us groggy at times when we normally feel alert. Moreover, many Americans are confused about why we spring forward in March and fall back in November, and whether it is worth the trouble.
Read the full storyCommentary: Republicans Roll over on ‘Climate Change’
Why are Republicans supine in the fight against the Marxist takeover of our entire way of life? They are petrified, for some reason, about engaging the debate on the “science” of “climate change.”
This abandonment of the playing field has allowed climate spending to overtake the landscape like Kudzu vines on steroids.
Read the full storyNuclear Power Plant Approved for Construction in Tennessee
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) issued a construction permit to Kairos Power for its Hermes low-power demonstration reactor to be built at the Heritage Center Industrial Park site in Oak Ridge.
Kairos Power, according to its website, is a “nuclear technology, engineering and manufacturing company whose mission is to enable the world’s transition to clean energy with the ultimate goal of dramatically improving people’s quality of life while protecting the environment.”
Read the full storyMichael Shellenberger Reveals Why Global Elites are ‘Against Humanity’ on Episode 44 of ‘Tucker on X’
In episode 44 of his newest production, “Tucker on X,” host Tucker Carlson interviewed author Michael Shellenberger on recent comments from President Joe Biden’s climate czar John Kerry, who called for the immediate global end of burning coal.
Read the full storyCommentary: Daylight Saving Time’s Mixed Results
This weekend, public service announcements will remind us daylight saving time is over. This means you have to set your clocks forward an hour at 2 a.m. on November 5.
This semiannual ritual shifts our rhythms and temporarily makes us groggy at times when we normally feel alert. Moreover, many Americans are confused about why we spring forward in March and fall back in November, and whether it is worth the trouble.
Read the full storyCommon Themes on Energy Policy Emerge Among Republican Presidential Candidates
by Kevin Killough In the past few years, America has seen high inflation rates and a faltering economy that some observers say will go into a recession. The latest conflict in the Middle East could likely pose a significant disruption in global energy supplies. Where the GOP contenders stand on energy policies will likely weigh heavily on voters’ decisions in 2024. Just The News highlights the key points the top Republican candidates have made with regard to energy policy during their campaigns. Donald Trump When former President Donald Trump, the current leader in the 2024 presidential race, sat down with Association of Mature American Citizens’ (AMAC) Rebecca Weber and Just The News’ John Solomon, he said that at the end of his term in 2020, America was energy independent. “We didn’t need anybody’s energy. We didn’t have to give them arms or armies. We didn’t have to guard anybody. We didn’t have to keep the Gulf open. We were totally set,” Trump said. In another six months, Trump said, the U.S. would have been energy dominant, meaning it would be the largest producer and exporter of oil and gas in the world. Trump told Weber and Solomon that unleashing American oil is key to the country’s economic…
Read the full storyEXCLUSIVE: GOP Presidential Candidate Doug Burgum Blasts Fox Business Debate Moderators: Why Did They Threaten to Shut off My Microphone When All I’m Trying to Do ‘Is Answer the Questions That the Other Candidates Weren’t?’
Presidential candidate and North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum joined The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy on Friday to share his thoughts about Wednesday’s debate and to lay out his vision for the country, without the worry that his microphone was going to be cut off. TRANSCRIPT Michael Patrick Leahy: 7:33 a.m.; broadcasting live from our studios on Music Row in Nashville, Tennessee, in-studio, the original all-star panelist, Crom Carmichael. On the newsmaker line right now, my friend, Governor Doug Burgum of North Dakota, one of the seven candidates who was on the stage Wednesday night at the GOP debate. Governor Burgum, welcome to The Tennessee Star Report. Doug Burgum: Mike, great to be with you. Thanks for having me on. Michael Patrick Leahy: Doug, you and I have known each other for over 40 years. You were a year ahead of me at Stanford Business School. I remember you sort of in the halls talking with the guys that started with Sun Microsystem, and then you went on to be very successful. Went back to your hometown, Fargo, North Dakota, literally bet the farm, started Great Plains Software – very successful. You ended up selling it to…
Read the full storyOil Prices Hit Nine-Month High amid Supply Concerns
Oil prices reached a nine-month high amid concerns about tight oil supplies after Russia and Saudi Arabia extended supply cuts.
Brent futures, a global benchmark to measure oil prices, rose to $91.01 a barrel on Friday, according to MarketWatch, and sits at $90.44 a barrel as of Sunday morning.
Read the full storyCommentary: Climate Alarmists Are Finally Saying the Quiet Part Out Loud in Their Agenda
The Los Angeles Times published an op/ed Friday in which it perhaps unintentionally poses the central proposition of the mythical energy transition: “whether our expectations should evolve in the name of preventing climate catastrophe.”
The op/ed is appropriately titled, “Would an Occasional Blackout Help Solve Climate Change?” It is a headline that tacitly admits a truth about the transition that boosters of renewable energy have been careful not to publicize: That the notion that generation sources with extremely low energy density like wind and solar cannot hope to be viable alternatives to generation with extremely high energy density like natural gas, nuclear and coal. It is a notion that defies the laws of thermodynamics and physics, and those are laws, not suggestions that can be discarded as a matter of convenience or, as in this case, in pursuit of a hyper-political agenda.
Read the full storyCommentary: Republicans Are Trying to Sneak a Carbon Tax Through the Back Door
Fresh from the looming trainwreck that is the deal to increase the debt limit, four Republican senators recently signed onto legislation that would require the Biden administration to study the feasibility of . . . a national tax on energy that would be collected at the gas pump and in electricity and heating bills.
The four Republicans — Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC), and Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) — joined five Democrats in asking Team Biden to determine the amount of energy used — and carbon dioxide emitted — by various countries in the production of essentially everything that makes modern life possible (aluminum, iron, steel, plastic, crude oil, batteries, etc.).
Read the full storyNorth Dakota Governor Doug Burgum Launches Bid for White House, Joining Crowded Field of GOP Contenders
At a Fargo events center packed with family, friends and neighbors, North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum stressed his small-town roots, his success in building a multi-billion dollar software business on the Great Plains, governing a growing state, and his vision for an innovative America in announcing his bid for the White House.
The newly minted presidential candidate joins a crowded field of declared Republican presidential candidates, launching his campaign on the same day former Vice President Mike Pence kicked off his in Iowa.
Read the full storyCommentary: The Corruption of Climate Science
“We need to criticize the people who got us here,” says Alex Epstein, founder of the Center for Industrial Progress and author of Fossil Future. “We can’t keep treating these designated experts as real experts. They are not real experts, they are destroyers. They are anti-energy, non-experts. And that needs to be made clear.”
Read the full storyTennessee Valley Authority Awards 37 Tennessee Schools with Grants Based on Energy Waste Cuts
The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) awarded 64 schools across six states in the southeast region grants ranging from $10,00 to $410,000 through the energy company’s School Uplift program, with 37 of the recipient schools in Tennessee.
TVA’s School Uplift program “supports public schools in the region by offering energy efficiency training and grants that reduce energy costs and improve the quality of the learning environment.”
Read the full storyDOE and EPA Awards TVA After Implementing Rolling Blackouts for Failing to Meet Energy Demand During Christmas Weekend
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) selected the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) as one of the ENERGY STAR Partners of the Year in energy efficiency for 2023.
The ENERGY STAR program honors a “group of businesses and organizations that have made outstanding contributions to protecting the environment through superior energy achievements,” according to the program’s description on the EPA and DOE websites.
Read the full storyArizona GOP Caucus Questions Gov. Hobbs After She Vetoes Energy Affordability Bill
The Arizona Freedom Caucus (AFC) issued a statement on Tuesday critical of Governor Katie Hobbs’ veto of a bill that would have provided more energy choice. The group of conservative Arizona legislators accused Hobbs of being influenced by Arizona Public Service Co. (APS), the state’s largest electricity utility. APS was the largest donor to Hobbs’ inaugural festivities.
“PAY TO PLAY?! @APSfyi, AZ’s largest electric utility company, donated $250K to @KatieHobbs in January,” the AFC tweeted. “Today @GovernorHobbs VETOED HB2440 which would’ve required the most affordable & reliable electric service be the priority. Hobbs just raised utility prices for everyone in AZ.”
Read the full storyBiden Approves ConocoPhillips Oil Project Over Green Group Objections
The Biden administration formally approved Willow, an $8 billion oil drilling project located in Alaska, Monday morning over the objection of climate activists who lobbied heavily against it.
The massive project, operated by American energy firm ConocoPhillips, is projected to produce roughly 600 million barrels of oil over a 30-year lifespan, The New York Times reported. In a bid to placate environmentalists, the administration had considered limiting the project to just two drill sites, down from the five that ConocoPhillips initially proposed, but the company and Alaskan lawmakers warned that the project would need at least three to be economically viable, according to CNN.
Read the full storyCommentary: Daylight Saving Time’s Mixed Results
This weekend, public service announcements will remind us daylight saving time is over. This means you have to set your clocks forward an hour at 2 a.m. on March 12.
This semiannual ritual shifts our rhythms and temporarily makes us groggy at times when we normally feel alert. Moreover, many Americans are confused about why we spring forward in March and fall back in November, and whether it is worth the trouble.
Read the full storyTennessee U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann Named Chairman of the House Appropriations Energy and Water Development Subcommittee
Tennessee U.S. Representative Chuck Fleischmann (R-TN-03) was recently named the Chairman of the House Appropriations Energy and Water Development Subcommittee for the 118th Congress.
Read the full storyGovernor Lee Touts Tennessee ‘Setting an Example’ for the Nation While Acknowledging the Work ‘Still Ahead’ During Second Inaugural Speech
Tennessee Governor Bill Lee painted the state as a leader in the nation and highlighted the work still ahead during his second inaugural speech held in Nashville.
Read the full storyTennessee U.S. Reps. Burchett, Cohen Reintroduce the Tennessee Valley Authority Transparency Act
Tennessee U.S. Representatives Tim Burchett (R-TN-02) and Steve Cohen (D-TN-09) reintroduced a bipartisan bill in the House of Representatives that would require the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) to work to ensure its decision-making process is publicly available.
Read the full storyTennessee Valley Authority Requests Businesses, Residents Reduce Power Usage as State Hits ‘All-Time’ December Power Peak
Amid temperatures in the teens and single digits across the state on Friday, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) announced that power demand in Tennessee hit an “all-time December peak.”
TVA announced Friday that it and local power company employees were “actively working to maintain a stable power grid for everyone amid unprecedented demand,” by “temporarily reducing power supplies to localized areas.”
Read the full storyU.S. Officials Set to Announce Fusion Energy Breakthrough: Report
U.S. government scientists have recently managed to make significant progress toward successfully utilizing fusion energy, according to The Financial Times.
Scientists at the federal Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California managed to create net energy gain via a fusion reaction in the past two weeks, the FT reported Sunday, citing three people with knowledge of the experiment. Researchers have been attempting to produce more energy than they burn during fusion reactions, which power the sun, for 70 years; however, no reaction has produced more energy than it burns until now.
Read the full storyCommentary: Daylight Saving Time’s Mixed Results
This weekend, public service announcements will remind us daylight saving time is over. This means you have to set your clocks back an hour later at 2 a.m. on November 6.
This semiannual ritual shifts our rhythms and temporarily makes us groggy at times when we normally feel alert. Moreover, many Americans are confused about why we spring forward in March and fall back in November, and whether it is worth the trouble.
Read the full storyCommentary: Exposing the Filthy Truth Behind the ‘Clean Energy’ Promise of Electricity
Electricity! It’s magical. It’s mystical. We’ve been obsessed with harnessing its power for thousands of years. As far back as 600 B.C. Thales of Miletus wrote how amber could be charged by rubbing it. In 1600, William Gilbert translated the Greek word amber to electricity.
On June 15, 1752, Benjamin Franklin promoted his theory that lightning was electrical by flying a kite during a lightning storm. Around this time, Michael Faraday discovered that moving a magnet inside a wire coil could generate electricity. From there, he built the first electric motor. He later built a generator and a transformer.
Read the full storyCommentary: A Fetterman Victory in November Would Be Bad News for Pennsylvanians
From banning fracking to destroying small businesses, Pennsylvania U.S. Senate candidate John Fetterman’s economic policies would be a disaster for the Keystone State.
Fetterman previously pledged to ban Pennsylvania fracking and nationally ban new fossil fuel leasing. Now that he won his primary, Fetterman is trying to backpedal and said he now opposes such a ban if there were enough taxes in place. But the truth is, Fetterman said he and socialist Senator Bernie Sanders “agree on virtually every issue,” and Sanders introduced a bill with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) to ban fracking.
Read the full storyCommentary: Nuclear Power Is Making a Big Comeback All Around the World
The Wall Street Journal recently reported that California Gov. Gavin Newsom was spearheading an eleventh-hour effort to pass legislation to extend a lifeline to Diablo Canyon, a 2,250-megawatt nuclear plant that supplies some 8 percent of the energy produced in the Golden State.
Under pressure from lawmakers and environmental activists, the Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) agreed in 2016 to decommission Diablo when its operating licenses expire in 2024 and 2025. But in light of the recent energy policy environment, California lawmakers had second thoughts.
Read the full storyCrom’s Crommentary: Green Energy Failures and Our Obliviousness to the Direction the United States Is Headed
Wednesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed the original all-star panelist Crom Carmichael to the studio for another edition of Crom’s Crommentary.
Read the full storyCrom’s Crommentary: Energy and Individual Prosperity
Monday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed the original all-star panelist Crom Carmichael to the studio for another edition of Crom’s Crommentary.
Read the full storyAnti-ESG Fund Rakes in Millions After Two Days on the Market
Strive Asset Management’s anti-activist, energy exchange-traded fund (ETF) raked in over $60 million in funds in its first two days of trading, according to the company’s website.
Strive’s U.S. energy index fund ($DRLL), which invests heavily in fossil fuels in an effort to combat environmentally focused investing, launched Tuesday on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and was one of the exchange’s largest launches of its kind, according to a company letter to investors. Strive hopes that the early success of the fund will help “unlock” value in the domestic energy sector by mandating firms to focus on “profits over politics,” according to the company’s website.
Read the full storyTop 10 Tough Votes Democrats Had to Take During Vote-a-Rama for Massive Spending Bill
During a “vote-a-rama” on their $739 billion reconciliation spending bill that has hundreds of billions for climate and health care programs, Democratic senators had to take a series of uncomfortable votes on hot-button issues — particularly tough for those representing swing states.
The bill, which also includes federal funding for 87,000 new IRS agents, passed on a party line vote 51-50 with Vice President Kamala Harris breaking the tie.
Read the full storyBarry Loudermilk Attacks Biden’s ‘War on American Energy’
Georgia’s 11th Congressional District (GA11) Representative, Barry Loudermilk, criticized President Joe Biden and the EPA’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 Budget on Tuesday.
“Biden’s war on American energy production is getting an assist from the Democrat-led Congress in the FY23 Interior and EPA appropriations package. [It] restricts offshore drilling in the Gulf of Mexico and restricts new projects in designated areas of the continental shelf,” Loudermilk said.
Read the full storyCrom’s Crommentary: Khashoggi’s Favor with MSM and Biden’s Energy Debacle
Monday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed the original all-star panelist Crom Carmichael to the studio for another edition of Crom’s Crommentary.
Read the full storyCommentary: Democrats’ Radical Green Policies Don’t Help, They Hurt
Last week, Michigan Democrat Sen. Debbie Stabenow bragged that on her way to Washington, D.C. she drove past “every single gas station” in her brand-new electric vehicle “and it didn’t matter how high [gas] was.” Apparently, Stabenow’s message to Americans struggling to afford their commute to work and school is to buy an expensive electric vehicle. For Americans – and especially Michiganders like me – Stabenow’s comment is as unhelpful as it is condescending. But Stabenow isn’t the only Democrat embracing a “let them eat cake” attitude. Climate activists are hurting Americans with their green agenda.
The Biden administration has made EVs a pillar of its anti-U.S. energy agenda. Last year, Joe Biden set a goal that by 2030, half of the vehicles sold in the country would be EVs. More recently, Biden pledged to use taxpayer dollars to build EV charging stations across America. And just a few weeks ago, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg suggested that families anxious about rising gas prices should just buy an EV, which have an average price tag of more than $60,000. Meanwhile, in more than a dozen states and the District of Columbia, drivers are paying more than $5 for a gallon of gas. Painfully high fuel prices aren’t an accident. They’re the momentum driving Biden’s energy “transition.”
Read the full storyCNBC’s Rick Santelli Hammers Biden’s Inflationary Energy Policies
CNBC editor Rick Santelli unloaded on the Biden administration on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” Friday morning, saying anti-fossil fuel policies helped to spur inflation.
“What was the forward guidance with this administration on energy?” Santelli asked. “We know the answer. Maybe they can’t get things to happen faster, but by giving positive forward guidance, by not closing pipelines, by not talking pre-election about how much they don’t like fossil fuel, maybe things would have turned out a bit different.”
Read the full storyCommentary: Bitcoin Could Spark a Cheap Energy Boom
People who have a problem with how much energy it takes to mine Bitcoin should take a more long term view of the situation and realize Bitcoin´s energy requirements are a feature, not a bug. Bitcoin mining provides a powerful market incentive for energy producers worldwide to increase the production of cheap energy, which could potentially drive down global energy prices. That’s great news for everyone, but it’s especially good for the least well-off in society, as they’ll be the ones who benefit the most from cheaper energy.
Bitcoin relies on a consensus mechanism called Proof-of-Work (PoW) which requires energy to issue new tokens into existence. PoW is a complex computing process performed with specialized machines that consume a lot of energy. Thanks to this technological innovation, today we all have access to a new form of money that exists in the digital world. Therefore, Bitcoin can be seen as both an “energy currency” and a “digital currency.”
Read the full storyCommentary: The Energy Security and Emissions Two-fer That Nobody Is Talking About
by Dan Byers Famed energy historian and author Dan Yergin recently remarked that the “energy divorce” between Europe and Russia is speeding up. With each passing day of the war, Yergin observes, the pertinent question becomes less about if it happens and more about when it happens—and which side initiates it—the EU through expanded sanctions, or Vladimir Putin as a means to weaponize Russia’s energy leverage over the continent. To state the obvious, cutting the cord will take years and be very painful, but at this point the national security and moral imperatives necessitating the divorce are undeniable. Europe is largely united in this effort and appears open to considering all options, from accelerated deployment of energy efficiency and renewable energy deployment to diversification of oil and natural gas supplies, and even emergency support for disfavored resources such as coal and nuclear power (concerning side note: the EU is currently expected to close a whopping 82 gigawatts of coal, lignite, and nuclear power between now and 2030—the supplies of which are largely free from Russian influence). As the closest thing to a global energy superpower, the United States is poised to help its European allies in lots of ways. In March,…
Read the full storyCommentary: Energy Myths Are Triggering a New Dark Age in Europe
Europe has an energy crisis. Factories are halting operations in the face of soaring energy prices; families are paying 50% more for heating (or opting to freeze in their homes), and Europe as a whole continues to destabilize its political position by making itself dependent on Russia for natural gas.
Europe shows what happens when you adopt policies based on false ideas—myths about energy that all but guarantee high prices, power blackouts, and a crashing economy.
Read the full storyBiden Asks Congress to Punish Oil Companies Not Drilling More
President Joe Biden asked Congress to hit oil companies with fines for not producing energy on permitted leases as part of his sweeping plan to address U.S. energy prices.
“Today, President Biden is calling on Congress to make companies pay fees on wells from their leases that they haven’t used in years and on acres of public lands that they are hoarding without producing,” the White House said in a fact sheet on Thursday.
Read the full story‘Shortfall’: Trump Energy Secretary Casts Doubt on Biden Gas Deal with the European Union
Former Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette suggested that President Joe Biden’s recent gas deal with the European Union (EU) wouldn’t be enough to help the continent wean itself off Russian energy.
Brouillette — who served as deputy energy secretary between 2017-2019 and energy secretary between 2019-2021 — noted that the U.S. wouldn’t be able to fill the gap left by Russian energy during an interview with CNBC on Monday. He added that the EU cannot expect to consume less total energy as part of its plan to ditch Russian gas.
“Frankly, I’m not quite sure that everyone can make up that shortfall,” said Brouillette, according to CNBC. “That’s an enormous amount of gas.”
Read the full storyCommentary: Ukraine Crisis Reveals New Bipartisan Energy Opportunities
In just the last three weeks, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has significantly altered our national energy policy landscape and dramatically shifted the political dynamics around legislative priorities and political possibilities in Congress. The roiling of global oil markets, underpinned by an already tight supply situation from the post-pandemic economic awakening, has been driven by perceived risks of supply disruption caused by the Russian invasion. Risk premiums and a formal American embargo of Russian energy have sent prices skyrocketing and revealed, once again, that we have few good short-term options when faced with energy supply challenges. While our tools are limited today, the current moment may present an important window of opportunity to develop a policy approach that reduces this vulnerability and limits our exposure next time. This renewed attention to energy security combined with a focus on fighting energy inflation has the potential to galvanize a bipartisan policy pathway that would have been unthinkable as the year began.
The broad support that materialized in Congress and the White House for a ban on Russian oil and natural gas imports earlier this month is a case in point. Remarkably, widespread congressional support for the ban occurred despite already high gasoline prices, with oil prices well over $100 a barrel and gasoline averaging more than $4.30 a gallon across the nation.
As President Biden said when announcing the ban, “Americans have rallied to support the Ukrainian people and have made it clear we will not be part of subsidizing Putin’s war… This is a step that we’re taking to inflict further pain on Putin, but there will be costs as well here in the United States.”
Read the full storyCommentary: Daylight Saving Says It’s Time to ‘Spring Forward’ – But Is It Worth It?
Today the sun is shining during my commute home from work. But this weekend, public service announcements will remind us to “fall back,” ending daylight saving time by setting our clocks an hour earlier on Sunday, Nov. 5. On Nov. 6, many of us will commute home in the dark.
Read the full storyCommentary: ‘Wokeness’ on Energy Is Weakness
As Joe Biden’s approval numbers sink further into the sewer, the only thing he’s building back better is 1970s-style inflation. Up until Biden, most polls usually named Jimmy Carter as one of the weakest and most inept presidents we’ve ever had. That was until Biden showed up and said, “Hold my beer!” Which you have to know has brought so much joy to Carter. Heck, he probably has a set of “Let’s go Brandon!” PJs that he wears every night as he thanks God for the gift of Biden.
Fact is, this country is now being “led” by a man who absolutely will go down as one of the worst presidents in our history. In just over a year, Biden has brought inflation roaring back to levels not seen in 40 years, has destroyed our southern border as millions of illegal aliens, along with Chinese fentanyl, flood the country, and now we have been involved in two major international debacles with Afghanistan and Ukraine. The list could go on, but perhaps that’s too depressing.
Rest assured, however, it’s not going to get better. Biden is like the anti-Midas, turning everything he touches into crap.
Read the full storyUltra Safe Nuclear Corporation Announces New Manufacturing Facility in Oak Ridge
On Wednesday, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee, Department of Economic and Community Development (TNECD) Commissioner Bob Rolfe, and Ultra Safe Nuclear Corporation (USNC) officials announced the company will establish new manufacturing operations in Oak Ridge.
Read the full storyCommentary: The Biden Administration’s ERISA Work-Around
Rising inflation threatens the value of Americans’ retirement savings. Now the Biden administration is finalizing a rule to loosen safeguards under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”) that protect private retirement savings. The new rule, “Prudence and Loyalty in Selecting Plan Investments and Exercising Shareholder Rights,” stems from President Biden’s May 20, 2021, Executive Order on Climate-Related Financial Risk, which directed senior White House advisers to develop a strategy for financing the administration’s net-zero climate goals, including the use of private savings.
Predictably, Wall Street is cheering the prospect of undoing ERISA safeguards. According to one analysis, 97% of comment letters support the proposal. But as I show in my RealClear Foundation report The Biden Administration’s ERISA Work-Around, it’s the remaining three percent that should give the Department of Labor (DOL) cause to rethink its deeply flawed approach.
Under ERISA, retirement savings must be invested for the exclusive purpose of providing retirement benefits. The May 2021 executive order illustrates the very danger that ERISA’s exclusive-purpose rule is designed to guard against. To achieve the goals set out in the order, DOL is instructed to “suspend, revise or rescind” two Trump-era rules designed to uphold ERISA’s exclusive-purpose rule.
Read the full storyTennessee Valley Authority Board Authorizes New Nuclear Program to Explore Innovative Technology
The Tennessee Valley Authority Board of Directors ratified approval of a programmatic approach to exploring advanced nuclear technology as a component of its decarbonization goals as discussed at its meeting on the campus of Western Kentucky University on February 10th.
Read the full storyMidAmerican Energy Files $3.9B Renewable Energy Project with Iowa Utilities Board
MidAmerican Energy announced Wednesday it filed plans with the Iowa Utilities Board to build a $3.9 billion renewable energy project in Iowa.
Wind PRIME would add 2,042 megawatts of wind generation and 50 megawatts of solar generation, a news release from the Des Moines-headquartered company claims.
MidAmerican estimates the project will create more than 1,100 full-time jobs during construction and another 125 ongoing full-time positions for operations and maintenance, along with $24 million in local property tax payments on wind turbines and solar facilities and $21 million in annual landowner easement payments. The company plans to complete construction by the end of 2024, if it receives IUB approval.
Read the full storyEuropean Tech Firm Chooses Arizona as First American Location
A European solar power tech company has chosen Arizona as its first location in the United States.
Switzerland-based mechanical engineering company Meyer Burger Technology AG is establishing a production site for high-performance solar modules in Goodyear, Arizona. Production is expected to be operational by the end of 2022, creating an initial 250 jobs and more than 500 jobs at full capacity.
“I am very pleased to welcome Meyer Burger to our community,” Mayor of Goodyear Joe Pizzillo said in a news release.“The decision to make a large investment in our community shows Goodyear is an excellent location for advanced manufacturing businesses. Our highly skilled workforce, modern infrastructure, and low cost of doing business has created an environment where companies can thrive.”
Read the full story