<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/california" target="_blank" rel="noopener">California</a> residents and businesses have been asked to cut down on energy use Wednesday as high temperatures affect large swaths of the state. 
The California Independent System Operator issued a Flex <a href="https://www.flexalert.org/news" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Alert</a> across the entire state, asking Californians to limit <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/energy" target="_blank" rel="noopener">energy</a> use between the hours of 4 p.m. and 9 p.m. on Wednesday. Areas of California are <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/17/us/california-heat-power-alert/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">expected</a> to surpass 100 degrees. 
&#8220;With above-normal temperatures in the forecast across much of the state tomorrow, the power grid operator is expecting an increase in electricity demand, primarily from air conditioning use, and is calling for voluntary conservation steps to help balance supply and demand,” California ISO reportedly <a href="https://abc7.com/flex-alert-california-heat-temperatures/12131630/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in a statement. 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
The California ISO has issued a statewide <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FlexAlert?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#FlexAlert</a> for Wednesday, August 17, from 4-9 p.m. due to excessive heat and high energy demand. Consumers are urged to reduce energy use to protect grid reliability. Read the news release: <a href="https://t.co/AKKsHGVgSL">https://t.co/AKKsHGVgSL</a> <a href="https://t.co/EPwe9oBMJj">pic.twitter.com/EPwe9oBMJj</a>
&mdash; California ISO (@California_ISO) <a href="https://twitter.com/California_ISO/status/1559683667852763142?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 16, 2022</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
A news release <a href="http://www.caiso.com/Documents/California-ISO-issues-Flex-Alert-for-tomorrow-Aug-17.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">issued</a> on Tuesday said that the request for conservation is “due to predicted high temperatures pushing up energy demand and tightening available power supplies.” 
The release added that it is “urg[ing]” consumers to conserve power, specifically during the later hours of the afternoon and early hours of the night because that is “when the grid is most stressed due to higher demand and less solar energy.” Cutting back on power use during a Flex Alert can assist in balancing the grid when supply is limited, and it can avoid more drastic emergency steps, like power <a href="https://www.kron4.com/news/bay-area/california-issues-flex-alert-calls-for-energy-conservation-to-prevent-outages/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">outages</a>, the statement noted. 
The ISO suggested that Californians should set their thermostats to 72 degrees before 4 p.m., and use that time to run main appliances like washers, dryers, dishwashers, ovens, and stoves. They should also shut the blinds to block light and heat from the windows. 
During the Flex Alert time period, Californians were told to set their thermostats to 78 degrees or more, “if health permits,” not use major appliances and shut off all lights that are not needed. 
The electric grid has been an issue for California in recent years. In August of 2020, rolling outages plagued the state as the <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/08/18/heat-wave-still-threatens-california-power-grid-with-outages.html">grid</a> couldn’t keep up with high temperatures. The ISO issued outages during the intense heat wave. 
Democratic Governor of California Gavin <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/gavin-newsom" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Newsom</a> requested a report on the cause of the outages, which was issued early last year. 
“This final report confirms our initial findings and reaffirms that our agencies are taking the right actions to update processes and strengthen California’s grid in the face of this crisis and worsening climate impacts,” California Energy Commission (CEC) Chair David Hochschild <a href="https://www.energy.ca.gov/news/2021-01/caiso-cpuc-cec-issue-final-report-causes-august-2020-rotating-outages" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. “We have more to do to ensure long-term reliability but despite challenges, we remain relentlessly committed to transitioning our state to a clean energy future for all.”
California’s rapid shift to green energy has impacted power supplies in the state and left the stability of the electric grid in question. Newsom recently <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/newsom-proposes-plan-to-keep-nuclear-plant-open-legislature-has-weeks-to-decide" target="_blank" rel="noopener">released</a> a proposal to keep the state’s <a href="https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2022-04-29/california-promised-to-close-its-last-nuclear-plant-now-newsom-is-reconsidering" target="_blank" rel="noopener">last</a> <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/nuclear" target="_blank" rel="noopener">nuclear</a> plant open as the state transitions to clean energy and is in dire need of power.

084C1262-A785-441E-AFEB-D306C0D43513_1_201_a

California Residents, Businesses Asked To Cut Down On Power Use Wednesday

California Residents, Businesses Asked To Cut Down On Energy Use Wednesday In California ISO Flex Alert

California

Energy

Environmentalism

Gavin Newsom

Nuclear

A senior <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/biden-administration" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Biden administration</a> climate adviser was severely sanctioned by the nation&#8217;s most prestigious scientific body for ethical violations.
Jane Lubchenco, the deputy director for climate and environment at the White House&#8217;s Office of Science and Technology Policy, was sanctioned by the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) on August 8, <a href="https://www.axios.com/2022/08/16/white-house-climate-official-sanctioned" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Axios</a> reported. Lubchenco&#8217;s sanction stemmed from a violation of the NAS’ code of conduct. Specifically, Lubchenco edited a paper that appeared in the NAS’ peer-reviewed journal, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, in 2020; but the paper did not use the most recent available data, and Lubchenco had a personal relationship with one of the researchers in violation of the journal&#8217;s editorial policies.
Section 3 of the <a href="http://www.nasonline.org/about-nas/code-of-conduct/nas-code-of-conduct.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NAS code of conduct</a> states:
<blockquote>NAS members shall avoid those detrimental research practices that are clear violations of the fundamental tenets of research. Members should be fair and objective peer reviewers, maintain confidentiality when requested, promptly move to correct the literature when errors in their own work are detected, include all deserving authors on publications, and give appropriate credit to prior work in citations.</blockquote>
Lubchenco edited a research article advocating for the use of certain conservation tools in the global fishing industry, entitled &#8220;<a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.2000174117" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A global network of marine protected areas for food</a>.&#8221; The article appeared in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in 2020. But the paper was retracted in 2021 after it was revealed that the researchers used an old database to conduct their research, which resulted in the them overestimating their results.
&#8220;[W]e have been informed that the changes to our results arising from the data error have cast doubt over the outcome of the peer review process, ultimately leading to the retraction of this paper,&#8221; the researchers said in their <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.2117750118" target="_blank" rel="noopener">retraction note</a>. &#8220;We intend to submit a corrected version of the paper elsewhere.”
&#8220;The editors also note that the article’s editor, J.L., recently published a related paper with the article’s authors and has a personal relationship with one of the authors, both of which are disallowed by PNAS editorial policies,&#8221; PNAS editor-in-chief Mary Berenbaum wrote in the note. Axios adds that one of the researchers was Lubchenco&#8217;s brother-in-law.
In a statement Tuesday, Lubchenco said she accepted the sanctions. “I accept these sanctions for my error in judgment in editing a paper authored by some of my research collaborators — an error for which I have publicly stated my regret,&#8221; Lubchenco said, via Axios. In February, a group of Republican leaders sent a <a href="https://republicans-science.house.gov/_cache/files/f/5/f50f9c06-a9d1-48eb-969d-4f41781a8fd2/CDD51FF99829EF225D95FFCB8B16A0A7.2022-02-10-letter-to-wh-on-lubchenco-scientific-integrity.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">letter</a> to the Biden administration expressing doubts about the integrity of the Office of Science and Technology Policy in light of Lubchenco&#8217;s history.
&#8220;We … encourage you to consider if Dr. Lubchenco should continue to be involved in developing a framework for the improvement of agency scientific integrity policies and practices when she has violated the very policies she is tasked with imposing on Federal agencies,&#8221; Republican ranking member of the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology Frank Lucas (R-OK), Environment Subcommittee ranking member Stephanie Bice (R-OK), and Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee ranking member Jay Obernolte (R-CA), wrote in their letter. &#8220;If the executive branch cannot or will not uphold the practices of scientific integrity, then Congress will have to assume a greater role in oversight of these matters.&#8221;

Jane Lubchenco

Top Biden Climate Adviser Sanctioned By National Academy Of Sciences For Ethical Violations

Biden Climate Adviser Jane Lubchenco Sanctioned By National Academy Of Sciences For Ethical Violations

Biden Administration

Climate Change

Fish

Science

As President <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/biden-administration" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Joe Biden</a> signs the largest <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/climate-change" target="_blank" rel="noopener">climate</a> package in American history, some leftists are bothered by policymakers’ hesitance to create a <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/taxes" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tax</a> on meat.
Democratic lawmakers have long claimed that excrement produced by livestock and poultry farming — “farting cows,” as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) once <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/house/431119-ocasio-cortez-explains-farting-cows-comment-weve-got-to-address-factory/">put</a> it — have an outsized impact on global temperatures. Discussion about crafting new disincentives for meat consumption resurfaced as the <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/inflation-reduction-act" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Inflation Reduction Act</a> advanced through Congress after months of gridlock.
<a href="https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2022/8/13/23301768/inflation-reduction-act-agriculture-meat-dairy-farming-plant-based">Vox</a> reporter Kenny Torrella, for instance, noted that the Inflation Reduction Act devotes 5% of its funds toward “changing farming practices” while entirely ignoring meat and dairy production — the sector’s “biggest climate culprit.”
“Even though the money to cut emissions from agriculture is misplaced, the strategy — hand out money to do the right thing rather than penalize polluters for doing the wrong thing — is politically smart, and in keeping with the bill’s carrot rather than stick approach to energy,” Torrella wrote. “Just like the environmental movement had for decades, the effort to shift our meat-centric food system to a more plant-based one has historically focused on the stick approach: suing farms for pollution, banning the cage confinement of hens and pigs, and even floating the concept of a tax on meat consumption.”
Biden was able to advance many of his policy goals through the $740 billion law, which includes $369 billion in climate spending. The package likewise incorporates billions in new taxes that the federal government will reap from <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/bidens-inflation-bill-raised-taxes-on-businesses-here-are-the-industries-that-will-suffer-the-most">businesses</a> and the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/heres-how-much-bidens-twice-as-large-irs-could-take-from-the-middle-class">middle class</a> with a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/janet-yellen-vows-irs-audits-wont-rise-for-middle-income-americans-but-theres-a-catch">twice-as-large</a> Internal Revenue Service.
Though Torrella admitted that “handing out carrots in Congress might be a more politically effective path to reforming the factory farming industry, the emissions that it spews, and the suffering it creates,” he personally <a href="https://fortune.com/2018/02/20/meat-tax-climate-change-health-us/">supports</a> a meat tax, claiming that the approach “has a lot of merit” and could “build public support for a life and death issue that is too often ignored.”
How large could such a tax be? <a href="https://www.iflscience.com/a-meat-tax-is-probably-inevitable-heres-how-it-could-work-64883" target="_blank" rel="noopener">According</a> to researchers Cameron Hepburn and Franziska Funke, as high as 56% for beef, 25% for poultry, and 19% for lamb and pork — costs that are necessary to “reflect the environmental costs of their production.”
“Part of the tax revenue could finance subsidies for growing vegetables, grains and alternative proteins, or help low-income households meet their food bills on a more regular basis,” the researchers, respectively associated with the University of Oxford and the Technical University of Berlin, suggested in an article for <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-meat-tax-is-probably-inevitable-heres-how-it-could-work-188023">The Conversation</a>. “Just as meat and dairy must become more expensive, healthy and sustainable plant-based foods should become more affordable.”
Not all policymakers, however, are shy about punishing meat consumption. Henry Dimbleby — the lead non-executive board member of the United Kingdom’s Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs — said in an interview with <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/aug/16/england-must-reduce-meat-dairy-intake-says-henry-dimbleby">The Guardian</a> that a meat tax would help avert the “incredibly inefficient use of land” that livestock production represents.
“If we fail on this,” Dimbleby argued, “we will fail to meet our biodiversity or climate goals in this country. We also have a huge opportunity to show thought leadership worldwide, and show them that this can be done, that we can farm sustainably and still feed people.”

Beef

Leftist Calls For A ‘Meat Tax’ Reach Fever Pitch

Calls Grow For Government To Impose A 'Meat Tax'

Agriculture

meat

Taxes

Democratic Governor of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/california-legislature-passes-newsoms-new-energy-policy-that-could-allow-easier-funding-for-fossil-fuels" target="_blank" rel="noopener">California</a> <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/gavin-newsom" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Gavin Newsom</a> is proposing an extension of the Diablo Canyon <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/nuclear" target="_blank" rel="noopener">nuclear</a> plant after it was set to completely close by 2025.
The California state legislature now has a few weeks to consider the plan. The session is set to end at the end of this month, meaning unless a special session is called afterwards, the lawmakers must decide soon.
The governor’s proposal involves a possible forgivable loan for PG&amp;E, the company that runs the plant, for as much as $1.4 billion and would need state agencies to take action soon in order to allow the reactors to keep up production, according to the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/california-legislature-gavin-newsom-climate-and-environment-4968ee9da7fd1d10ad67bfdf03950873" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Associated Press</a>. 
A <a href="https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/22131280/diablo-canyon-proposal.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">draft</a> of the bill was <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/california-gov-gavin-newsom-looks-extend-life-states-last-operating-nuclear-power-plant" target="_blank" rel="noopener">secured</a> on August 11 before a California Energy Commission meeting on the state’s power requirements and how the nuclear plant could play a part in keeping up the power. The nuclear plant <a href="https://www.sanluisobispo.com/news/local/environment/article264462566.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">creates</a> almost 9% of the state’s power, according to the San Luis Obispo Tribune. 
The proposal <a href="https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/22131280/diablo-canyon-proposal.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">argued</a> that its prolonged production for five to ten years longer than 2025 is “critical to ensure statewide energy system reliability and to minimize the emissions of greenhouse gasses while additional renewable energy resources come online, until those new renewable energy resources are adequate to meet demand.”
The plant would need to be <a href="https://www.sanluisobispo.com/news/local/environment/article264462566.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">relicensed</a> with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which can take a long time, but the draft bill cuts some red tape and allows for the extension to not be held liable to the California Environmental Quality Act. It also bans any new environmental analysis by the  California Coastal Commission.
The draft proposal also allows PG&amp;E to be free from following state water laws until October 2035, and prolongs its permit until that time, as well. It will be charged a &#8220;mitigation fee&#8221; of $10 per million gallons of ocean water is utilized, starting in 2024, with a 3% increase each following year. It already assumes that it will need to pay around $38 million of mitigation fees for 2015 through 2025, per the state water board.
Newsom has been open about his support for potentially keeping the plant up as the energy grid in California continues to be a concern. In August of 2020, there were rolling blackouts caused by high temperatures and a grid that wasn’t able to sustain the demand. Newsom has pressed PG&amp;E to find ways to stay open, stating that the nuclear energy is necessary as California attempts to prioritize green energy. 
“The governor has been clear for months about the potential need to extend the life of Diablo Canyon,” Newsom spokesman Anthony York told the AP. He noted that the governor has discussed the necessity to keep all options open to continue to have reliable energy and that “this proposal reflects the continued need to keep that flexibility.”
Last month, PG&amp;E CEO Patricia “Patti” Poppe reportedly told investors during a call that a measure would need to be enacted by September in order for the plant to stop the process of closing down.
PG&amp;E is examining the potential situation of staying open past 2025, while still making plans to shut down and break up the plant “unless those actions are superseded by new state policies,” PG&amp;E spokesperson Suzanne Hosn told the AP in a statement.
&#8220;PG&amp;E is committed to California’s clean energy future, and as a regulated utility, we are required to follow the energy policies of the state. We understand state leaders’ discussions to potentially extend operations at [Diablo Canyon Power Plant] are progressing,&#8221; Hosn told The Daily Wire in an emailed statement. &#8220;We are proud of the role that [Diablo Canyon Power Plant] plays in our state, and we stand ready to support should there be a change in state policy, to help ensure grid reliability for our customers and all Californians at the lowest possible cost.&#8221;
Environmental groups are not in favor of the plan, saying it is a “dangerous” betrayal of the agreement made in 2016. 
“Legislators should reject it out of hand,” Friends of the Earth <a href="https://foe.org/news/newsoms-push-to-reopen-diablo-canyon/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in a statement, adding, “The State of California would loan PG&amp;E up to $1.4 billion to cover costs of extending Diablo Canyon’s operating life, with all of the loan potentially ‘forgivable,’ meaning it may never be returned to California taxpayers.”
Assemblyman Jordan Cunningham (R-San Luis Obispo) has been pushing to keep the plant up and running. 
“The soonest any offshore wind power is going to be put to use in the grid is probably 2030, from what I’ve been told,” he told the Tribune. “So we’ve got a real gap from 2025 to 2030. If you could extend Diablo to help meet some of that gap, then you’re displacing mostly natural gas power.”
 “The reality is, when they made that decision in 2016, we assumed we’d be a certain place with renewables and storage, and we’re just not there,” he noted.

94F8FB58-56FD-42E0-9BA7-C437ADE94A61_1_201_a

Newsom Proposes Plan to Keep Nuclear Plant Open, Legislature Has Weeks To Decide

Governor Of California Gavin Newsom Proposes Plan to Keep Diablo Canyon Nuclear Plant Open

Wall Street asset fund managers and the federal government are aggressively pushing the use of non-financial factors to guide investment strategies. Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) metrics promise to open a path for people to invest with value preferences and make more money doing it. The Biden Administration has even gone as far as to <a href="https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/dol-s-esg-and-proxy-voting-proposal-8196860/">propose</a> a rule that would require fund managers to consider “climate change related factors” when investing. However, there is <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/esg-feeds-inflation-hurts-growth-business-roundtable-dei-stakeholders-profit-economy-stagflation-11657050965">growing criticism</a> that values-based investing is contributing to the record inflation that has plunged the economy into a<a href="https://www.foxbusiness.com/economy/us-economy-shrank-second-quarter-entering-technical-recession"> recession</a>.
A primary focus of ESG is decarbonizing the economy by utilizing sustainable goods. BlackRock CEO Larry Fink’s <a href="https://www.blackrock.com/corporate/investor-relations/larry-fink-ceo-letter?cid=ppc:CEOLetter:PMS:US:NA&amp;gclid=Cj0KCQjwxIOXBhCrARIsAL1QFCam1nofBewyzbQaYw3q4xSQrQFinPD5o5WkY0va2B0nGkvYVdbDK-EaAuHmEALw_wcB&amp;gclsrc=aw.ds">Annual Letter</a> notes the challenge of this endeavor by stressing the need for “honesty” because “green products often come at a higher cost today” or what he calls a “green premium”. CBS News said <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/buying-green-is-too-pricey-for-the-average-consumer/">three years ago</a> that green products are “too pricey” for the average consumer and appeal to affluent shoppers. One estimate even deems sustainable products to be <a href="https://www.nl.kearney.com/consumer-retail/article/-/insights/why-todays-pricing-is-sabotaging-sustainability">75-85 percent more costly</a> than conventional ones. Translation: ESG is expensive.
Regardless, ESG policies that increase costs for businesses and consumers march on. For example, Southwest Airlines <a href="https://www.southwestairlinesinvestorrelations.com/news-and-events/news-releases/2022/06-01-2022-180048947">announced </a>in June that it is investing in sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) as part of a Department of Energy backed program. SAF is <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/02/11/sustainable-aviation-fuel-costs-more-but-consumers-willing-to-pay-iata.html">twice the cost</a> of conventional jet fuel which means that Southwest will pass costs to their passengers. Perhaps coincidentally, <a href="https://nypost.com/2022/03/24/southwest-airlines-unveils-fares-change-to-attract-travelers/">in March</a> the airline announced the creation of a fourth fare category designed to boost revenue by attracting more business people. Southwest’s decision to invest in SAF appears counterintuitive until you consider the pressure that publicly traded companies are under from Wall Street and the federal government to boost their climate change credentials. Unfortunately, Main Street pays the price.
The infatuation with sustainability practices corresponds with <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-07-13/us-inflation-accelerates-to-9-1-once-again-exceeding-forecasts#xj4y7vzkg">9.1% record inflation</a> prompting the Fed to <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/07/27/fed-decision-july-2022-.html">again hike interest</a> rates .75% and another <a href="https://www.bea.gov/data/gdp/gross-domestic-product">decline in GDP</a>. Asset management firm Alliance Bernstein recently issued a <a href="https://www.alliancebernstein.com/americas/en/institutions/solutions/insights-and-solutions/the-intimate-linkage-of-esg-and-inflation-esg-and-the-hegelian-dialectic.html">white paper</a> titled “The Intimate Linkage of ESG and Inflation.” David Henderson and Marc Joffe opined in the Wall Street Journal that ESG “<a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/esg-feeds-inflation-hurts-growth-business-roundtable-dei-stakeholders-profit-economy-stagflation-11657050965">depresses output and raises prices</a>” because corporations divert attention from maximizing profits. The evidence that ESG practices contribute to inflation cannot be denied. The question is how long can middle-class Americans continue to foot the bill for a social experiment that’s making it harder for them to put food on the kitchen table and purchase baby formula?
The Department of Labor’s (DOL) proposed Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) rule making will exacerbate the issue by directing that fund managers “<a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2021/10/14/2021-22263/prudence-and-loyalty-in-selecting-plan-investments-and-exercising-shareholder-rights">should” take into account “climate-related financial risk” factors</a>. The <a href="https://www.rubio.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2021/10/rubio-slams-biden-s-new-woke-investment-rule">rule would impact</a> over 140 million workers and roughly $8 trillion in assets and has drawn sharp criticism from Capitol Hill. <a href="https://www.braun.senate.gov/sen-braun-colleagues-introduce-bill-maximize-americans-retirement-funds">Several Republican Senators recently joined</a> in sponsoring the <a href="https://www.braun.senate.gov/sites/default/files/2022-07/WIL22235.pdf">Maximize Americans’ Retirement Security Act</a>, which would void the DOL guidance. The administration should abandon the DOL’s proposed ERISA rule rather than doubling down on an ESG ideological crusade that is contributing to our economic nose-dive.
ESG policies driven by Wall Street fund managers and our federal government deserve a closer examination because of evidence that they have triggered record inflation that is at the root of our recession. Main Street Americans can’t afford the “green premium” that comes with sustainable products being shoved down their throats by companies like Southwest and the federal government. The Biden Administration’s ERISA rule will add to the chaos by exposing $8 trillion in assets to costlier investments based on unproven climate-related financial factors. As Larry Fink said, we need honesty.
Chuck Flint is an attorney and former U.S. Senate chief of staff.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Readers-Pass—Flint—ESG-And-Biden’s-Recession

‘Green Premium’: Wall Street’s Leftist ESG Standards Are Making Inflation Worse

Biden Admin

Readers Pass

Wall Street

Max Gomberg, a former <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/climate-change">climate change</a> mitigation strategist with leftist views, resigned from the California State Water Resources Control Board this month, pointing to Governor <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/gavin-newsom">Gavin Newsom’s</a> (D-CA) administration’s unwillingness to make changes during a drought in the state.
In a resignation message, Gomberg <a href="https://onthepublicrecord.org/2022/07/16/on-your-watch/">wrote</a>, “These are dark and uncertain times, both because fascists are regaining power and because climate change is rapidly decreasing the habitability of many places.”
Invoking a wish list of progress policies, Gomberg lamented, “[s]adly, this state is not on a path towards steep cuts in greenhouse gas emissions reductions, massive construction to alleviate the housing crisis, quickly and permanently reducing agriculture to manage the loss of water to aridification, and reducing law enforcement and carceral budgets and reallocating resources to programs that actually increase public health and safety.”
He claimed that all of the listed policies “and more” are needed “for an equitable and livable future.” He added, “you convince yourselves that inhabiting the middle ground between advocates and industry (and other status quo defenders) makes you reasonable. But it does not. It makes you complicit.”
The main focus of Gomberg’s ire, however, was directed at Newsom’s administration, along with some of his colleagues.
“Witnessing the agency’s ability to tackle big challenges nearly eviscerated by this Administration has been gut wrenching,” he wrote. “The way some of you have simply rolled over and accepted this has also been difficult to watch.”
Newsom spokesperson Erin Mellon pushed back on Gomberg’s attacks.
“The Governor has worked with the legislature to invest $8 billion to implement the strategies in the Water Resilience Portfolio, which focuses on diversifying our water supplies, enhancing ecosystems, improving infrastructure and ensuring California is better able to manage hotter and drier weather,” Mellon <a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-07-28/california-drought-official-blasts-newsom-administration">told</a> the Los Angeles Times.
One bright side, according to Gomberg, was the organization’s “commitment to racial equity.” In an interview with the <a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-07-28/california-drought-official-blasts-newsom-administration">Los Angeles Times</a>, however, he noted that he believes the water rights system is “fundamentally unjust and unsuited to contemporary challenges brought on by climate change.”
The Water Education Foundation <a href="https://www.watereducation.org/aquapedia/water-rights-california">explained</a> the water rights process in California. Controversy has arisen through the difference between two methods of securing a right to water. &#8220;Riparian rights&#8221; belong to people who own land next to a water source, and have the right to utilize the water. &#8220;Appropriative rights&#8221; came into being during the Gold Rush when settlers could claim the right to water through &#8220;first in time, first in right,&#8221; meaning whoever claimed the water first got to have it.
According to <a href="https://aquaoso.com/water-rights/water-rights-california/">Aquaoso</a>, certain appropriative rights secured before 1914 in the state have been grandfathered in using a seniority method, but rights given after 1914 must go through a registration process and get official paperwork.
“There is no equitable approach to water management that doesn’t undo that system,” Gomberg said.
Gomberg criticized the administration for going after “voluntary agreements” with large water suppliers to get water for the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta’s ecosystem needs, calling their method a “huge waste of time.” He also said he thinks Newsom’s administration has not dealt with inequity in the water rights system, has kept a twenty-year time <a href="https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2021-12-16/its-a-race-to-the-bottom-for-agricultural-wells">span</a> for entirely enforcing new groundwater rules, and has favored the “perpetuation of status-quo power structures,” as local groundwater agencies now include people who are on the side of the irrigation districts and the needs of growers.
Gomberg seemed to believe that agriculture was at fault for much of the issues, even as he suggested changing the water rights system. He said the administration has shown &#8220;zero inclination&#8221; to look into an equilibrium of farmers&#8217; use of water and the environmental and rural communities&#8217; requirements. If water was no longer prioritized for certain environmental initiatives, however, farmers would be in a much better position than they are today in the extremely dry conditions where over 97% of the state is in a “<a href="https://www.drought.gov/states/california">severe drought</a>&#8220; and almost 60% is in &#8220;extreme drought.&#8221;
He suggested that farming methods need to change in the state, even as farmers struggle to get the resources they need and looming water regulations threaten to further push out small family farms and growers.
“I think California needs an agriculture policy,” Gomberg said. “The de-facto policy is cheap food, as cheap as possible. Don’t do anything that would in any way impinge on the ability of people growing any kind of agricultural product to grow as much as they want, where they want, with however much water they want.”
Gomberg added that California’s many water systems have made it possible for agricultural output to overdraw water resources.
“There are the zillions of acres of almonds and grapes. It’s not sustainable,” Gomberg said. “Everyone knows it’s not sustainable, just like everyone knows the amount of withdrawals from the shrinking Colorado River system are not sustainable. But it’s almost like it’s a game of chicken right now. Everyone’s waiting for someone else to blink.”
Farmers, however, have <a href="https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2022-07-26/drought-farming-central-california">said</a> they are struggling with the drought, leaving land fallow, or uncultivated, due to a lack of water — not to mention the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/environmental-policies-are-leaving-california-farmers-in-the-dust">politics of environmentalism</a> continuing to threaten farms and communities in the state.
Justin Diener runs a farmer in the Central Valley, and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/environmental-policies-are-leaving-california-farmers-in-the-dust">told</a> The Daily Wire earlier this year that family farms could be the ones to go in light of new restrictions and intensifying hardship.
“A lot of people have decided that they don’t want any part of it because of the difficulty they’ve seen their parents struggle with it,” he said, noting there is the question of how people will continue and “provide a decent lifestyle and livelihood versus the perceived value that they could get for selling the land.”

CE384DD8-57C6-4F72-A8A9-5172A15B3126_1_201_a

Leftist California Water Official Quits, Blames Newsom Administration

California State Water Resources Control Board Official Max Gomberg Resigns, Blaming Gavin Newsom Administration

drought

After actor Leonardo DiCaprio once again ranted about environmental issues in Brazil, Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro again took him to the woodshed.
DiCaprio, whose hypocrisy regarding his environmentalism has been slammed by Bolsonaro before, hyperventilated, “How extensive is deforestation in Amazonia, one of the most important places on the planet for people &amp; wildlife? According to this map from @mapbiomas, the region has faced an onslaught of illegal deforestation at the hands of extractive industry over the last 3 years.”
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How extensive is deforestation in Amazonia, one of the most important places on the planet for people &amp; wildlife? According to this map from <a href="https://twitter.com/mapbiomas?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@mapbiomas</a>, the region has faced an onslaught of illegal deforestation at the hands of extractive industry over the last 3 years. <a href="https://t.co/BLxUC3S3z7">pic.twitter.com/BLxUC3S3z7</a>
&mdash; Leonardo DiCaprio (@LeoDiCaprio) <a href="https://twitter.com/LeoDiCaprio/status/1552008644371222528?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 26, 2022</a></blockquote>
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“You again, Leo?” Bolsonaro mocked. “This way, you will become my best electoral cable, as we say in Brazil! I could tell you, again, to give up your yacht before lecturing the world, but I know progressives: you want to change the entire world but never yourselves, so I will let you off the hook.”
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&#8211; You again, Leo? This way, you will become my best electoral cable, as we say in Brazil! I could tell you, again, to give up your yacht before lecturing the world, but I know progressives: you want to change the entire world but never yourselves, so I will let you off the hook. <a href="https://t.co/FxCnqhFv6D">https://t.co/FxCnqhFv6D</a>
&mdash; Jair M. Bolsonaro (@jairbolsonaro) <a href="https://twitter.com/jairbolsonaro/status/1552472763222425600?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 28, 2022</a></blockquote>
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Two months ago, Bolsonaro ripped DiCaprio for his comments about the Amazon rainforest and youth voting.
DiCaprio had issued a series of tweets on April 28 in which he first stated, “The Tapajós region of Brazil’s Pará state is the target of industrialized illegal mining” then followed by urging people to vote, tweeting, “Brazil is home to the Amazon and other ecosystems critical to climate change. What happens there matters to us all and youth voting is key in driving change for a healthy planet.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/mongabay?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@mongabay</a>: The Tapajós region of Brazil’s Pará state is the target of industrialized illegal mining, which would leave massive destruction and is threatening to erase years of archaeological discoveries.<a href="https://t.co/rPnLu0r8fo">https://t.co/rPnLu0r8fo</a>
&mdash; Leonardo DiCaprio (@LeoDiCaprio) <a href="https://twitter.com/LeoDiCaprio/status/1519741369585131520?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 28, 2022</a></blockquote>
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Brazil is home to the Amazon and other ecosystems critical to climate change. What happens there matters to us all and youth voting is key in driving change for a healthy planet. For more on voter registration in Brazil before May 4, visit <a href="https://t.co/0mKrfxLdRR">https://t.co/0mKrfxLdRR</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/tiraotitulohoje?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#tiraotitulohoje</a>
&mdash; Leonardo DiCaprio (@LeoDiCaprio) <a href="https://twitter.com/LeoDiCaprio/status/1519767667363790848?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 28, 2022</a></blockquote>
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Thank you to the heroes of democracy in Brazil who are helping young people register to vote. To learn more &amp; register online by the May 4th deadline, visit <a href="https://t.co/Ok03JYLH0U">https://t.co/Ok03JYLH0U</a>, <a href="https://t.co/vnKyBBO6Dq">https://t.co/vnKyBBO6Dq</a>, <a href="https://t.co/UfqsCAMZiz">https://t.co/UfqsCAMZiz</a> &amp; <a href="https://t.co/bU46tieJYA">https://t.co/bU46tieJYA</a> <a href="https://t.co/Ok03JYLH0U">https://t.co/Ok03JYLH0U</a>
&mdash; Leonardo DiCaprio (@LeoDiCaprio) <a href="https://twitter.com/LeoDiCaprio/status/1521186428859863040?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 2, 2022</a></blockquote>
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Bolsonaro furiously addressed DiCaprio, telling his supporters, “Now, DiCaprio has to know that it was the very president of the World Trade Organization who said that without Brazilian agribusiness, the world would be hungry. So, DiCaprio better keep his mouth shut instead of talking nonsense.”
The day after DiCaprio’s tweets, Bolsonaro mocked DiCaprio on Twitter, writing, “Thanks for your support, Leo! It’s really important to have every Brazilian voting in the coming elections. Our people will decide if they want to keep our sovereignty on the Amazon or be ruled by crooks who serve special foreign interests. Good job in The Revenant.”
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&#8211; Thanks for your support, Leo! It&#39;s really important to have every Brazilian voting in the coming elections. Our people will decide if they want to keep our sovereignty on the Amazon or to be ruled by crooks who serve foreign special interest. Good job in The Revenant! 👍 <a href="https://t.co/kg3b6rmPCw">https://t.co/kg3b6rmPCw</a>
&mdash; Jair M. Bolsonaro (@jairbolsonaro) <a href="https://twitter.com/jairbolsonaro/status/1520154376374874113?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 29, 2022</a></blockquote>
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The Daily Wire <a href="https://dailywire.com/news/brazils-bolsonaro-wrecks-dicaprio-after-global-warming-tweet-lecture/">reported,</a> “Bolsonaro later fact-checked DiCaprio, reposting a screenshot of a photo DiCaprio had put up on Instagram.”
“By the way, the picture you posted to talk about the wildfires in the Amazon in 2019 is from 2003,&#8221; Bolsonaro noted. &#8220;There are people who want to arrest Brazilian citizens who make this kind of mistake here in our country. But I’m against this tyrannical idea. So I forgive you. Hugs from Brazil!”
Writing in <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelshellenberger/2019/08/26/why-everything-they-say-about-the-amazon-including-that-its-the-lungs-of-the-world-is-wrong/#7b6fd8a45bde">Forbes</a> in 2019, Michael Shellenberger, a Time Magazine “Hero of the Environment” and Green Book Award Winner, quoted Dan Nepstad, the President and Founder of Earth Innovation Institute and the co-founder of The Amazon Environmental Research Institute. Nepstad proceeded to contest some of the most strident claims made about the Amazon rainforest burning.
Shellenberger noted that although CNN pointed out “Deforestation is neither new nor limited to one nation” and The New York Times wrote, “These fires were not caused by climate change,” both publications repeated the claim that the Amazon is the “lungs” of the world. CNN: “The Amazon remains a net source of oxygen today.” The Times: “The Amazon is often referred to as Earth’s ‘lungs,’ because its vast forests release oxygen and store carbon dioxide, a heat-trapping gas that is a major cause of global warming.”
Nepstad had a blunt response when he spoke to Shellenberger about the “lungs” claim, saying, “It’s bulls***. &#8230; There’s no science behind that. The Amazon produces a lot of oxygen but it uses the same amount of oxygen through respiration so it’s a wash.” Nepstad addressed the Times’ claim, in which they stated, “If enough rain forest is lost and can’t be restored, the area will become savanna, which doesn’t store as much carbon, meaning a reduction in the planet’s ‘lung capacity.’”
Nepstad snapped: “The Amazon produces a lot of oxygen, but so do soy farms and [cattle] pastures.”

Bolsonaro/DiCaprio

Brazilian Prez Bolsonaro Drags DiCaprio Again: ‘I Know Progressives: You Want To Change The Entire World But Never Yourselves’

Brazilian Prez Bolsonaro Drags DiCaprio Again

Brazil

Jair Bolsonaro

Leonardo DiCaprio

New <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/science">research</a> from a California university shows that plants create salicylic acid, also known as aspirin, when faced with <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/environmentalism">environmental</a> stress.
Scientists at the University of California Riverside have published a paper that studied the effects of excessive heat and other factors on the model plant Arabidopsis. The paper found that<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/climate-change"> environmental stress</a> triggers the creation of a molecule called MEcPP, which in turn signals the plant to start creating aspirin when a certain level of MEcPP is reached.
“It’s like plants use a painkiller for aches and pains, just like we do,” Wilhelmina van de Ven, a UCR plant biologist who worked on the paper, <a href="https://www.studyfinds.org/stressed-plants-create-aspirin/">said</a> of thing findings.
Researchers added that the process could protect plants against a changing climate.
“Because salicylic acid helps plants withstand stresses becoming more prevalent with climate change, being able to increase plants’ ability to produce it represents a step forward in challenging the impacts of climate change on everyday life,” Katayoon Dehesh, senior paper author and UCR distinguished professor of molecular biochemistry remarked.
“Those impacts go beyond our food. Plants clean our air by sequestering carbon dioxide, offer us shade, and provide habitat for numerous animals. The benefits of boosting their survival are exponential,” she explained.
The findings could potentially be used to modify plants for a better harvest, researchers claim.
&#8220;We’d like to be able to use the gained knowledge to improve crop resistance,&#8221; Jin-Zheng Wang, UCR plant geneticist and co-first author of the paper said. &#8220;That will be crucial for the food supply in our increasingly hot, bright world.&#8221;
The UCR research is not the first data to indicate that plants create their own aspirin.
In 2008, scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research released a paper showing similar findings.
&#8220;Unlike humans, who are advised to take aspirin as a fever suppressant, plants have the ability to produce their own mix of aspirin-like chemicals, triggering the formation of proteins that boost their biochemical defenses and reduce injury,&#8221; NCAR scientist Thomas Karl in charge of the study said at the time.
&#8220;Our measurements show that significant amounts of the chemical can be detected in the atmosphere as plants respond to drought, unseasonable temperatures, or other stresses,&#8221; he <a href="https://news.ucar.edu/921/plants-forest-emit-aspirin-chemical-deal-stress-discovery-may-help-agriculture">added</a>.

Stock photo, plants in shape of man

Paper: Plants Create Their Own Pain Medicine When Stressed

University of California, Riverside Paper: Plants Create Their Own Pain Medicine When Stressed

environment

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/netherlands">Dutch</a> police opened fire Tuesday night, shooting toward a protester driving a tractor during ongoing demonstrations over proposed environmental regulations that <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/farmers">farmers</a> say would harm their livelihoods. 
After the incident, police said they fired “warning shots” to ward off a tractor they believed would drive into them. Farmers have been blockading roads in the Netherlands as the government seeks to implement a reduction of nitrogen emissions, which would impact those with large farms. 
“At about 10:40 p.m., tractor drivers attempted to drive into officers and service vehicles. This happened at the entrance Mercurius/A32 in [Heerenveen]. A threatening situation arose. Warning shots were fired and targeted shots were fired,” Dutch police <a href="https://twitter.com/POL_Fryslan/status/1544434501648105480?s=20&amp;t=JQVzRPssODx43NEhzKuadQ">said</a> in a statement. 
No one was injured by the gunfire, though a tractor was <a href="https://www.politico.eu/article/police-fire-dutch-farmer-protest-nitrogen-emission-cut/">hit</a>, and authorities arrested three individuals. The shooting will be investigated by an internal investigator with the Dutch government. 
The unrest stems from a new plan <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/dutch-farmers-spread-manure-on-streets-as-new-emissions-rules-threaten-to-close-down-livestock-farms">unveiled</a> at the end of last month to slash 50% of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/climate-change">pollutants</a>, such as nitrogen oxides and ammonia, by 2030, <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory/explainer-dutch-farmers-protesting-emissions-85848026">according</a> to a report from ABC News. As the government acknowledged in a statement, “The honest message &#8230; is that not all farmers can continue their business.”
In response, roughly 40,000 farmers gathered to protest the plans, blocking traffic across the country as they drove tractors slowly. “Some have dumped hay bales on roads, and small groups demonstrated at town and city halls, in some cases starting bonfires outside the buildings,” ABC reported, noting that other farmers “set hay bales ablaze.”
Urine and dung produced by livestock are a source of ammonia and nitrous oxide emissions, according to a <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34192353/">study</a> published by the U.S. National Library of Medicine. <a href="https://climate.nasa.gov/news/2565/nasa-satellite-identifies-global-ammonia-hotspots/">NASA</a> satellites have linked agricultural regions to higher atmospheric ammonia concentrations, which lead to “poor air and water quality.”
On Monday, farmers continued their protests by blocking supermarket distribution networks, with fishermen blocking ports as a sign of solidarity, <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/dutch-farmers-block-food-distribution-centers-over-new-environmental-rules/a-62356217">according</a> to a report from German state-owned news outlet Deutsche Welle. Dutch government data shows that the Netherlands’ policies could shutter 30% of livestock farms.
The Netherlands exported €94.5 billion — roughly $98.5 billion — of agricultural goods in 2019, according to a <a href="https://www.government.nl/latest/news/2020/01/17/dutch-agricultural-exports-worth-%E2%82%AC94.5-billion-in-2019#:~:text=In%202019%2C%20the%20Netherlands%20exported,due%20to%20higher%20export%20volume.">report</a> from the nation’s agriculture ministry. A majority of the goods are shipped to other European countries.
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte condemned the protests. “You can demonstrate, but in a civilized way,” he <a href="https://apnews.com/article/netherlands-pollution-climate-and-environment-2e5901110047253d77b725362ad94134">remarked</a> at a NATO summit last week in Madrid, per The Associated Press. “So don’t block highways, don’t set off fireworks outside a minister’s house and spread manure and … scare two children, and endanger families.”
Ben Zeisloft contributed to this report.

NETHERLANDS-AGRICULTURE-PROTEST

Dutch Police Open Fire Toward Pro-Farmer Protester On Tractor

Farmers

The Netherlands

<a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/canada">Canada</a> continued its autocratic streak on Monday by banning plastic bags and straws.
“We promised to ban harmful single-use plastics, and we’re keeping that promise,” Canadian Prime Minister <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/justin-trudeau">Justin Trudeau</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/JustinTrudeau/status/1538982017622220801">said</a> on social media. “The ban on the making and importing of plastic bags, cutlery, straws and other items comes into effect in December 2022 — and selling these items is prohibited as of December 2023.”
The ban extends to plastic checkout bags, cutlery, stir sticks, and straws with “some exceptions,” according to a <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change/news/2022/06/government-of-canada-delivers-on-commitment-to-ban-harmful-single-use-plastics.html">press release</a>, which notes that the provision will prevent 1.3 million tonnes of plastic waste over the next decade.
“By the end of the year, you won’t be able to manufacture or import these harmful plastics,” Minister of Environment and Climate Change Steven Guilbeault said. “After that, businesses will begin offering the sustainable solutions Canadians want, whether that’s paper straws or reusable bags. With these new regulations, we’re taking a historic step forward in reducing plastic pollution, and keeping our communities and the places we love clean.”
Similar initiatives have passed throughout the United States. <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/philadelphia">Philadelphia</a> started <a href="https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/plastic-bag-ban-starts-in-philly-july-1-though-full-enforcement-will-take-longer/2862509/">enforcing</a> its plastic bag ban earlier this year, while <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/san-francisco">San Francisco</a> <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/san-francisco-considers-banning-plastic-straws-paul-bois">prohibited</a> plastic straws and cutlery in 2019.
“It’s a movement not just happening in San Francisco but nationally and internationally,” Peter Gallotta, spokesman for San Francisco’s Department of Environment, said in 2018. “The larger elephant in the room is the single-use disposable culture we find ourselves in, and straws are the epitome of this unnecessary daily waste.”
At the time, Daily Wire Editor Emeritus Ben Shapiro <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/shapiro-newsweek-plastic-straw-ban-sucks-ben-shapiro">noted</a> the absurdity of San Francisco’s move, especially given the city’s issues with crime and management of human waste.
More recently, Canada drew criticism for announcing a “national freeze” on <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-canada-introducing-new-extreme-gun-control-measures">handgun ownership</a> — a move that came after a shooter killed 21 individuals at an elementary school in <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/uvalde">Uvalde</a>, Texas. “What this means is that it will no longer be possible to buy, sell, transfer or import handguns anywhere in Canada. In other words, we’re capping the market for handguns,” Trudeau said.
Earlier this year, Trudeau <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/justin-trudeau-to-revoke-emergency-powers-used-to-target-freedom-convoy-according-to-reports">used emergency powers</a> to discourage key organizers and participants in the Freedom Convoy protest — a movement of truckers and citizens who opposed Canada’s vaccine mandates and public health restrictions. Among other actions, the Canadian government declared no-go zones and froze truckers’ bank accounts.
Trudeau also <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trudeau-blames-americans-for-canadian-freedom-protests-gridlock">accused Americans</a> of encouraging the movement through fundraising and promoting gridlocks along the nations’ shared border. “President Biden and I both agreed that for the security of people and the economy, these blockades cannot continue,” he said. “So make no mistake: the border cannot, and will not stay closed.”
Meanwhile, the province of British Columbia <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/canadian-province-decriminalizes-opioids-other-drugs-despite-overdose-deaths-nearly-doubling">received an exemption</a> from the country’s Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, permitting the decriminalization of small quantities of illicit drugs — including opioids, cocaine, methamphetamine, and MDMA. “All individuals found in possession of substances listed in the exemption of up to 2.5 grams for personal use will, at minimum, be provided with information on available local health and social services,” the Canadian government <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/health-concerns/controlled-substances-precursor-chemicals/policy-regulations/policy-documents/exemption-personal-possession-small-amounts-certain-illegal-drugs-british-columbia.html#a2.5">said</a>. “They can also be provided with assistance to connect with those services if requested.”

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Holds News Conference

Justin Trudeau Outlaws Plastic Straws

Canada Bans Plastic Straws And Bags

Canada

Food

Justin Trudeau

A group of environmentalist organizations is suing the Biden administration to vacate more than 3,500 oil and gas drilling permits already approved in two states, even amidst the continuing energy crisis.
In a <a href="https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/programs/public_lands/energy/dirty_energy_development/oil_and_gas/pdfs/Multistate-Complaint-on-Applications-for-Permits-to-Drill.pdf">lawsuit</a> filed Wednesday in the Washington, D.C., District Court, two wildlife conservation activist groups, the Center for Biological Diversity and WildEarth Guardians, as well as the environmental activist law firm Western Environmental Law Center, sued the Department of the Interior, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Director Tracy Stone-Manning, seeking to halt the approval of more than 3,500 permits in the Permian Basin in New Mexico and the Powder River Basin in Wyoming, saying the permits violate environmental laws. Those permits constitute nearly all of the permits approved in those two states.
&#8220;Climate change is driven primarily by the burning of fossil fuels for energy and transportation activities,&#8221; the groups write in the 62-page legal filing, which includes a 192-page appendix listing all of the targeted oil and gas wells.
&#8220;In the United States, almost one quarter of all annual emissions are from fossil fuel resources extracted from public lands,&#8221; the groups claim. &#8220;The drilling of these oil and gas wells will likely emit 490-600 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent greenhouse gas pollution over the course of their lifespans, equivalent to the annual emissions of between 131-161 coal fired power plants. This is both a nationally and globally significant quantity of emissions.&#8221;
In the suit, the groups claim that the permits were approved in violation of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Endangered Species Act (ESA), and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA), along with the relevant federal regulations. The groups allege that the BLM failed to consult with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service, in violation of the ESA; failed &#8220;to consider or take action to prevent the unnecessary and undue degradation of public lands resulting from ongoing oil and gas permitting,&#8221; in violation of the FLPMA; failed &#8220;to take a hard look at cumulative [greenhouse gas] emissions and climate impacts&#8221; under the NEPA; and failed to &#8220;take a hard look at environmental justice&#8221; under NEPA, specifically as it relates to the &#8220;disproportionate and adverse effects from climate change&#8221; felt by communities in Wyoming, New Mexico, and nationwide.
The groups are seeking an injunction that would vacate the targeted leases. Those leases would amount to nearly all the leases approved in those two states since Joe Biden took office. According to data from the <a href="https://reports.blm.gov/report/AFMSS/81/Approved-APDs-Report-Federal">BLM website</a>, more than 3,800 permits were approved in Wyoming and New Mexico between January 21, 2021, and May 31, 2022. Those leases also constitute a large share of the permits issued nationwide in that time.
The suit comes even as the Biden administration itself continues to undermine new oil and gas leasing and drilling. In November, the Interior Department released a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-admin-recommends-tighter-constraints-on-new-oil-and-gas-drilling-amid-energy-crisis">report</a> recommending BLM crack down on the lands available for new drilling leases, and imposing higher costs on oil companies. Then in May, the Department canceled a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/while-gas-hits-record-high-biden-administration-cancels-enormous-alaska-oil-and-gas-lease-sale">massive lease sale</a> of more than 1 million acres in the Cook Inlet and Alaska, and two other leases in the Gulf of Mexico. Separately, a group of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/unacceptable-cruz-gop-senators-demand-end-to-oil-and-gas-lease-permit-delays">Republican Senators</a>, led by Texas Senator Ted Cruz, sent a letter to the Department of Commerce demanding the National Marine Fisheries Service put an end to delays in advancing new permits.

Plunging Energy Prices Put Strain On Texas Economy

Amid Continuing Energy Crisis, Environmentalist Groups Sue Biden Admin To Block More Than 3,500 Oil And Gas Permits

Environmentalist Groups Sue Biden Admin To Block More Than 3,500 Oil And Gas Permits

Deb Haaland

Department of the Interior

Lawsuit

Oil and Gas

President Joe Biden&#8217;s Department of Health and Human Services recently created &#8220;The Office of Environmental Justice,&#8221; but critics are slamming the office for wasting taxpayer dollars and pushing &#8220;a woke political agenda&#8221; rather than focusing on more pressing issues.
On Monday, HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra announced that the Biden administration established the office because &#8220;many communities across our nation – particularly low-income communities and communities of color – continue to bear the brunt of pollution from industrial development, poor land use decisions, transportation, and trade corridors.&#8221; Yet, Jack Kalavritinos, a former senior HHS official, told The Daily Wire that the office is a bit redundant.
&#8220;How is it a good idea to transfer staff from other key divisions into a yet unfunded office?&#8221; Kalavritinos told The Daily Wire. &#8220;Especially when there are so many core missions that need addressing such as the youth mental health and substance abuse crises exacerbated by the draconian Covid shutdowns.&#8221;
There is data backing up Kalavritinos&#8217; concern for mental health.
In April 2022, The Daily Wire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/has-the-cdc-been-truthful-about-the-mental-health-impact-of-lockdowns">reported</a> that &#8220;one batch of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/as-many-schools-remain-closed-suicide-related-er-visits-rise-by-51-among-teenage-girls">data</a> released from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — the main federal entity that charted America’s approach to lockdowns — revealed that the number of emergency room visits for suspected suicide attempts rose by 51% from February 21-March 21, 2021 among girls age 12-17 compared to the same stretch of time in 2019.&#8221;
&#8220;This increase came in the aftermath of strict lockdowns and an overall increase in the number of emergency room visits connected to mental health reasons in 2020,&#8221; The Daily Wire noted.
&#8220;Sounds like a woke political agenda versus smart evidence/based public health,&#8221; Kalavritinos added.
Kalavritinos also pointed out that there are &#8220;plenty of offices that address public health for the underserved at HHS.&#8221;
Those are offices like Public Health Service, Office of the Assitant Secretary of Health, The Office of Minority Affairs, The Indian Health Services, and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
&#8220;No need to create another office by shifting staff from other offices in order to get a positive reaction from the extreme environmental activists,&#8221; Kalavritinos added.
Similarly, The Department of Justice also recently created an &#8220;Office of Environmental Justice.&#8221; That office will &#8220;serve as a &#8216;central hub&#8217; for the department&#8217;s efforts to advance its &#8216;comprehensive environmental justice enforcement strategy,'&#8221; Fox News <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/doj-unveils-new-office-environmental-justice">noted</a>.
&#8220;Although violations of our environmental laws can happen anywhere, communities of color, indigenous communities, and low-income communities often bear the brunt of the harm caused by environmental crime, pollution, and climate change,&#8221; Attorney General Merrick Garland said at the time. &#8220;For far too long, these communities have faced barriers to accessing the justice they deserve. The Office of Environmental Justice will serve as the central hub for our efforts to advance our comprehensive environmental justice enforcement strategy. We will prioritize the cases that will have the greatest impact on the communities most overburdened by environmental harm.&#8221;
Kalavritinos was not alone in his concern that Biden&#8217;s HHS is focusing on the wrong priorities.
Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) also slammed the administration for not paying more attention to the brewing baby formula shortage crisis while they were building the new environmental justice office.
&#8220;It&#8217;s no coincidence that Biden&#8217;s HHS caused a national formula shortage as it was developing an &#8216;Environmental Justice&#8217; office,&#8221; Cotton tweeted. &#8220;When HHS spends its resources pursuing extreme leftist policies, it fails to achieve the mission of enhancing the health and well-being of Americans.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
It&#8217;s no coincidence that Biden&#8217;s HHS caused a national formula shortage as it was developing an &#8220;Environmental Justice&#8221; office.
When HHS spends its resources pursuing extreme leftist policies, it fails to achieve the mission of enhancing the health and well-being of Americans. <a href="https://t.co/mwE7Lg1IWz">https://t.co/mwE7Lg1IWz</a>
— Tom Cotton (@TomCottonAR) <a href="https://twitter.com/TomCottonAR/status/1531797365761445892?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 1, 2022</a></blockquote>

Joe Biden

‘Sounds Like A Woke Political Agenda’: Biden’s New ‘Office Of Environmental Justice’  Blasted For Wasting Taxpayer Money

President Joe Biden's Health And Human Services Department Creates New 'Office Of Environmental Justice‘

Health

Health and Human Services

Tom Cotton

Xavier Becerra

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