Kentucky republican House member Thomas Massie had some interesting statistics in hand when questioning Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg about the administration goal to make electric vehicles 50% of all cars, vans and trucks sold by 2030.

Essentially, it is a cart and horse scenario.  An electric vehicle requires five times as much energy production as the standard home air conditioning cost.  The U.S. electricity grid cannot support an increase in household energy use that is equivalent of adding five times as many houses using air conditioning.  Math is math.  WATCH:

.

Comrades, the likely federal government solution is simple.  Comrade citizens can have one electric car (mandated by regulatory compliance), or they can have their home air conditioned, but they cannot have both.  [Assuming social credit scores are high enough]

See how easy that is?

(more…)

CTH cannot overestimate what is more likely than not, as the Biden administration is now reportedly going to declare a national climate emergency in order to take their Green New Deal policy to the next level via executive fiat.  [The Hill Story Here]

Any possibility of the Biden administration creating an even deeper economic collapse under the auspices of climate change regulation, has essentially been stalled by congressional opposition to further Green New Deal (Build Back Better) spending and regulatory legislation.

Some, albeit not enough, congressional representatives, can see what lies at the end of this fundamental energy change, a significant collapse of the United States economy.  However, the committed ideologues behind Joe Biden are not going to let the legislative branch interfere in their climate change agenda.

What we are about to see is most reasonably predictable against the backdrop of how Biden’s administration exploited the “national COVID emergency,” that backstopped and justified their eventual use of OSHA to mandate vaccinations, and regulatory control over the private sector, under the guise of a pandemic emergency.  We predicted that administration approach in December of 2020, and that is exactly what they did {GO DEEP}.

When CTH shared that OSHA would be the institutional regulatory vector for forced vaccinations, many said we were conspiracy theorists.  Ten months later that is exactly what the people behind Joe Biden did (link). Now we can expect that same health emergency approach (massive regulations) to repeat with the declaration of a national climate emergency.

Pause and think about the ramifications to all domestic economic and business interests if the federal government starts using all agencies to regulate a new climate emergency policy.  Think about the regulations, the scale of potential regulations, from the dept of transportation, the dept of labor (including OSHA), the dept of the interior, the dept of energy, the dept of housing and urban development, the dept of education, the dept of health and human services, and many more.

(more…)

During the White House press briefing today, the administration sent Jared Bernstein to the podium to discuss a recent drop in gasoline prices.  Bernstein was claiming that Joe Biden had lowered gasoline prices when journalist James Rosen asked a question. {Direct Rumble Link}

James Rosen asked Bernstein why it was “Putin’s price hikes” when the gasoline prices are increasing, but not “Putin’s price plunge” when gasoline prices are decreasing.  Bernstein attempted to clarify his position and ended up looking silly.  WATCH:

.

(more…)

CBS pretentious pretender Margaret Brennan interviews Joe Biden’s Energy Security Coordinator Amos Hochstein about the trip to the Gulf Arab States and subsequent energy policy developments.  [CBS Transcript Here] Hochstein spins the non-existing benefits of the trip by attributing the pre-existing Saudi cease-fire in Yemen as an outcome of Biden talking to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Quite a stretch.

Hochstein still thinks there is going to be a way for ‘western governments‘ to place price caps on Russian oil exports by getting the entire planet to agree only to pay Russia a set price for oil.  With Russia an OPEC+ member, and the members of OPEC not in ideological alignment with the Biden administration on a host of geopolitical issues, good luck with that.  The producers (OPEC) have control over what prices the consumers (Non OPEC) pay; they are not going to give up that mechanism just to please the Biden administration.

On the domestic front, while there is little possibility of a global oil production increase from OPEC, Hochstein claims to have assurances from U.S. oil producers they will increase their production capacity by November.  At the same time the institutions in charge of Biden energy policy are going to keep targeting the oil producers to destroy them. Quite a weird dynamic.   Hochstein finishes by saying solar and windmills are the future of U.S. energy production and if we invest more, well, we can save the planet. WATCH:

It is worth remembering what MbS said about the meeting: “We agree on many things, but we differ on a few others. Every country has its own culture and circumstances. I respect yours, you respect mine. Do not impose your culture on us. Do not impose your beliefs on us.” … “We agree we need to do more for climate change, but you guys are doing it wrong by favoring certain energy sources over others. The world needs energy security. We need all energy sources including oil & gas. We are doing our part on both fronts: climate change & energy security.” … “The stage of a country’s economic & social development must be considered in climate change negotiations.” … “We are increasing our production capacity to 13 million barrels per day (from 12 mb/d), but that is it. We cannot do more.”

The message here is: You guys do your part and invest more if you want to avoid energy crises, recessions and unemployment. Do NOT blame us!

(more…)

Joe Biden is heading back from an embarrassing trip to Saudi Arabia and the middle east.  Putting aside the fact that physically and mentally Biden looked weak, foolish, and generally incoherent, in an odd way he was appropriately representative of the current of U.S. influence on the global stage.

Before getting to detail, first it is important to emphasize a point that doesn’t get attention domestically.  Democrats are exceptionally weak on all aspects of foreign policy, specifically because their modern ideology is based on hypocrisy of a stunning magnitude.

Domestically, the U.S. media protect democrats by spinning everything into the best light possible.

However, on the world stage the non-western leaders like Putin, Xi and MbS use that hypocrisy like geopolitical ammunition.

Examples… Domestically the U.S. media do not bring up the Joe Biden Afghanistan mess, the rise -and current legitimacy- of the terrorist Taliban; or the brutal mess Barack and Hillary created in Libya; or the unauthorized intervention into Syria that created ISIS; or the complete fubar that was an illegitimate invasion of Iraq; or Hillary’s insufferable “reset” in Russia; or their inability to deal with China’s proxy province of North Korea (because they pretend it’s not); or the current circus célebrè in Ukraine.

Each region, and there are many more, a typical example of how modern democrats are fundamentally weak on foreign policy.  It is not just Joe Biden either; just about every leftist head of state within the alliance of “western democracies” are also pathetically impotent when it comes to influence on a global stage.

(more…)

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, a cabinet ideologue with zero experience in business or transportation, appears in the news admitted the high price of gasoline is part of the Biden energy agenda to push people into purchasing electric vehicles.  You’ll have a higher car payment, but you won’t pay for gasoline.  WATCH:

(more…)

This shouldn’t come as a surprise.  Most banks and financial institutions are being very careful right now as they prepare for the consequences of consumers running out of money.  All banks are securing reserve accounts in anticipation of defaults increasing.

July 15 (Reuters) – Wells Fargo & Co said on Friday its second-quarter profit nearly halved as the bank set aside more funds to cover potential loan losses, while its mortgage lending business came under pressure from higher interest rates.

The fourth-largest U.S. bank reported profit of $3.1 billion, or 74 cents per share, compared with $6 billion, or $1.38 per share, a year earlier. Its total loan loss provisions were $580 million in the quarter, including a $235 million increase due to loan growth.

Under an accounting standard that took effect in 2020, banks must factor the economic outlook into loan loss reserves. Last year, the bank had released $1.6 billion from its reserves for loan losses as the economy rebounded from the pandemic.

(more…)

Joe Manchin didn’t completely torpedo the $500 billion in Green New Deal climate change spending, but he did stall it for a month saying he would not support the climate change spending until he sees July’s inflation numbers in August, which should be a warning.

If you think carefully about it, it’s a classic Manchin head-fake.  The July and August inflation numbers, to be released in August and September respectively, are almost guaranteed to be lower than June.

July/Aug are the two months we are in right now where inflation is hitting a plateau.  Gasoline prices are dropping due to a drop in demand. This is the period before prices start rising again in September and October when the energy farming costs start to roll out with the next harvest.

Senator Manchin isn’t stupid; in fact, he is quite Machiavellian, he knows this… thus, his position.

Manchin can give the illusion of prudence, but he knows the July inflation rate will show a decrease for two reasons.

First, in the month-to-month comparison, July will not carry the same scale of gasoline and energy increases as June.  Second, in the year-over-year comparison, July ’22 will be comparing to July 2021 when prices already started skyrocketing.  Bottom line, July inflation will give the illusion of dropping, which gives Manchin a shield to support the spending…. and he will.

WASHINGTON DC – Joe Manchin is forcing Democrats into a brutal choice: Take a deal now to lower the costs of health care premiums and prescription drugs, or try to negotiate a larger bill in September that includes climate and tax reform with no guarantee it will pass.

The West Virginia Democrat said Friday that he wants to see another month of inflation numbers before considering legislation that might increase taxes on some higher-income Americans and plow hundreds of billions of dollars into the energy sector. On Thursday Manchin “unequivocally” rejected July or August approval of Democrats’ proposed energy investments and tax increases in a meeting with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, according to a person briefed on the meeting.

(more…)

The Humane Society of Virginia is trying to find homes for 4.000 beagles, exactly two weeks after NIAID Director Anthony Fauci told congress he would no longer use beagles for allergy testing.

These two stories seem connected.

July 5, 2022 – Under fire from foes of federal animal testing, the agency headed by COVID-19 czar Anthony Fauci has canceled a plan to start new tests of allergy medicine on beagles, some as young as 6 months.

In a letter to Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) and promoted by the White Coat Waste Project, Fauci said that instead of dogs, the new hay fever drug will be tested on rodents.

(more…)

Officials in the state of Texas are worried the emergency measures taken Wednesday to avoid blackouts may not be enough.  The utility operators urgently need the wind to start operating the windmills or things might get worse.  Reuters News has more:

(Reuters) – Texas’s power grid operator on Wednesday took emergency measures to avoid rolling blackouts as soaring electricity demand threatened to outpace available supplies amid a stifling heatwave.

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), which operates the grid that serves more than 26 million customers, initiated a rarely used emergency program that is triggered when supplies fall below a critical safety margin.

Earlier, ERCOT had urged residents to cut power use during the hottest hours of the day and warned of a risk for rolling blackouts. Residents were asked to turn up thermostats, defer the use of high-power appliances and turn off swimming pool pumps.

The emergency notice came after ERCOT began paying suppliers an average of $5,000 per magawatt hour to keep generators running. That price is the highest the grid operator pays.  “They were pulling a lot of levers to avoid going into emergency operations and rolling blackouts,” said Doug Lewin, president of consultants Stoic Energy LLC. (read more)

Call me Captain Obvious, but in addition to the population migration, it looks like Texas imported California’s energy policies.  The sustainable energy isn’t sustainable.  However, on a positive note, their state ESG score is improving.

(more…)