Californians Mad Over Power Bills From Law They Voted For

By William Teach May 8, 2024 – 3:00 pm

It’s truly lovely when support for climate cult legislation rears up and bites the cultists square in the derriere, eh?

Anger builds over sweeping change in the way most Californians will pay for electricity

With little debate two years ago, state lawmakers passed a complex energy bill that enabled a sweeping change in how most Californians are billed for electricity.

The legislation was what Pacific Gas & Electric had asked for from the state public utilities commission three months before: a transformation of electric rates so that households would pay a fixed charge each month in exchange for lower rates for each kilowatt hour they used.

Gov. Gavin Newsom submitted the bill as part of a massive 2022 budget revision. In four days, it was passed out of an Assembly committee hearing without discussion, approved by the full Assembly and Senate and signed by Newsom.

The state’s three largest investor-owned power companies that pushed for the change say it will encourage Californians to ditch cars and appliances that run on planet-warming fossil fuels and replace them with vehicles, stoves and heaters that operate on electricity from solar panels and wind turbines. They also say the new monthly fee would allow them to more evenly allocate fixed costs among customers.

The majority of citizens of the People’s Republik Of California voted for the people who quickly passed this, and, at the time, most Californians thought the legislation was the bee’s knees. They thought they would get the hook up on cheap energy bills in a state that is one of the highest in the nation. They were warned that this was a Bad Idea

But opponents say the legislation was a financial gift to PG&E, Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric, and will cause millions of Californians who live in small homes or apartments that use little electricity to pay more, while residents in large homes that use a lot of electricity will save money.

Gee, ya think?

Now, as governor-appointed members of the California Public Utilities Commission prepare to approve a $24 monthly charge at a May 9 meeting, some lawmakers who voted for the original legislation are trying to reverse it. A coalition of more than 250 environmental and community groups are also protesting the law, claiming that its approval smacks of an all too cozy relationship between utility companies, regulators and think tank researchers.

Opponents complain that the new law eliminates a $10 cap on fixed charges that had been in place since 2013, and that there is now nothing to prevent the utilities from raising it higher and higher.

Consequences are not fun, eh? The little Warmists thought everything would be lollipops and unicorns, even with the evidence in front of their faces.

Of course, the LA Times, politicians, climate cult groups, and others are trying to blame PGE, who are not blameless, but, the politicians aren’t taking the blame, and this couldn’t happen without their votes. Nor could it happen without the votes from the citizens who voted for the Democratic Party politicians.

The next day, AB 205 and 28 other trailer bills addressing issues ranging from cannabis regulation to reproductive rights, were presented at a hearing of the Assembly Budget Committee.

According to a transcript, the committee’s leaders limited public discussion to one hour. The fixed electric charge was not mentioned.

Why would the elites want to hear from the little people? The politicians simply know better, so, shut up, plebes.

Read: Californians Mad Over Power Bills From Law They Voted For »

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Gaza Isn’t The Root Of Brandon’s Troubles With Youts, But, It Sure Isn’t Helping

By William Teach May 8, 2024 – 1:00 pm

I’m not sure if this NY Times article is supposed to help Biden or just be an explainer. You know the Times isn’t going to try and hurt him (paywalled NYT article here)

Gaza Isn’t Root of Biden’s Struggles With Young Voters, Polls Show

Young Americans’ outrage over the Israel-Hamas war has dominated the political conversation for weeks. Democratic and Republican lawmakers have made pilgrimages to Columbia University and other campuses to offer support to demonstrations in solidarity with the Gaza Strip or to denounce them, and President Joe Biden addressed the upheavals in remarks Thursday.

But these headlines are not reflective of young voters’ top concerns this election year, according to recent polls. Surveys taken in recent months show young voters are more likely to sympathize with Palestinians in the conflict, but few of them rank the Israel-Hamas war among their top issues in the 2024 election. Like other voters, young people often put economic concerns at the top of the list.

And while young voters are cooler to Biden than they were at the same point in 2020, there is little evidence that American support for the Israeli invasion of Gaza is a critical factor in their relative discontent. (snip)

The latest polling from the Pew Research Center finds 18- to 29-year-olds three times more likely to sympathize with Palestinians in the conflict than those older than 65, and twice as likely as adults as a whole.

“Not necessarily everyone is as fired up about it as we see from those out protesting,” said Laura Silver, the associate director of global research for Pew. “But 18- to 29-year-olds are far and away different from older Americans.”

They’ve been taught to be haters of Israel and Jews and to support Islamic extremists, all without actually knowing the details of the situation.

Recent polls suggest these sympathies have yet to translate into prioritizing the war as a voting issue in 2024.

In the Harvard Institute of Politics’ Youth Poll conducted shortly before the past month’s wave of campus demonstrations and crackdowns, 18- to 29-year-old Americans overwhelmingly faulted Biden for his handling of the conflict in Gaza, with 76% disapproving and 18% approving. But only 2% of them rated it their top concern in the election, compared with 27% who said they were most concerned about economic issues.

In an Economist/YouGov poll taken more recently, in late April, 22% of voters ages 18 to 29 listed inflation as their most important issue. Two percent named foreign policy as their top concern. (The poll did not specifically ask about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.)

The youts have learned by experience that Biden’s economic policies are not particularly good for their own lives. Gaza is just some ideal that they’re cosplaying, seeing the cost of living skyrocket while the Biden admin makes it worse personal.

That said, Gaza is not helping with all those youts who are cosplaying as revolutionaries, then going home to their family’s mansion and having someone do their laundry before going out to a fancy party. These are the people who mostly do not understand the issues, just talking points. If Trump was smart he really would focus his campaign on economics, minimize all the other stuff he usually yammers about.

Read: Gaza Isn’t The Root Of Brandon’s Troubles With Youts, But, It Sure Isn’t Helping »

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If All You See…

By William Teach May 8, 2024 – 1:00 pm

…is an evil fossil fueled vehicle, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Climate Depot, with a post on a GOP bill that tells Biden to keep his hands off American’s appliances passing the House

Read: If All You See… »

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Vermont Passes Law Requiring Fossil Fuel Companies To Pay For Climate Doom

By William Teach May 8, 2024 – 7:00 am

I mentioned back in early April that Vermont was looking to do this. Now, they have. And more

Vermont passes bill to charge fossil fuel companies for damage from climate change

Vermont lawmakers passed a bill this week that is designed to make big fossil fuel companies pay for damage from weather disasters fueled by climate change.

The legislation is modeled after the Environmental Protection Agency’s superfund program, which requires the companies responsible for environmental contamination to either clean sites up themselves or reimburse the government for the costs of work to do so.

Vermont’s bill, referred to as its Climate Superfund Act, would similarly mandate that big oil companies and others with high emissions pay for damage caused by global warming.

The amounts owed would be determined based on calculations of the degree to which climate change contributed to extreme weather in Vermont, and how much money those weather disasters cost the state. From there, companies’ shares of the total would depend on how many metric tons of carbon dioxide each released into the atmosphere from 2000 to 2019.

Even if Vermont’s Republican governor vetoes it, there are enough votes to override. Notice that they are not just going after fossil fuels companies, but, any company with “high emissions.” They really haven’t determined which ones yet, though, so, what will companies who think they might get bills from the government do? That’s right, leave, taking their jobs and revenue with them.

What happens if the fossil fuels companies decide to leave? How does the government itself operate without fossil fuels? How do many heat their homes? Get to work? Operate their boats? Do visitors want to deal with high costs, or, just go elsewhere? How do truck bring goods in if there are no gas stations? How do planes get fuels? And, even if the companies stick around, they’ll just pass the higher costs on to consumers.

The bill hinges on the ability to assess how much damage in Vermont has been caused by climate change — an accounting that would rely on a line of research known as attribution science. Over the last 20 years, researchers have honed their ability to confidently model the degree to which human influence has contributed to the severity and frequency of extreme weather.

So, junk science.

State Sen. Russ Ingalls, a Republican, said he cast one of the three “nay” votes because he anticipates the law would trigger major litigation and thinks the money the state would have to spend in those legal battles could be put to better use.

“A decision was made to go to war with corporations that probably have as many attorneys as we do citizens,” he said. “We will be squashed like a bug.”

The American Petroleum Institute, one of the major lobbies for the interests of oil and natural gas companies, sent a letter to the state Senate opposing the bill, saying it “violates equal protection and due process rights by holding companies responsible for the actions of society at large.”

Lawsuits will be coming hard and fast. And, if the fossil fuels companies had any cajones, they would refuse to operate in Vermont until the lawsuits are resolved. Or, at least refusing to provide their goods to the state government.

Read: Vermont Passes Law Requiring Fossil Fuel Companies To Pay For Climate Doom »

Posted in AGW Socialism, Global Warming | 8 Comments | Trackback URL

Biden Regime Thinks A Permanent Cease Fire Is Close Or Something

By William Teach May 8, 2024 – 6:45 am

You know how they can close the gaps? Hamas immediately releases all hostages and surrenders

US believes Israel, Hamas can close gaps on hostage deal

Israel and Hamas militants should be able to close the remaining gaps in their positions in order to reach a ceasefire-for-hostages deal in Gaza, the White House said on Tuesday.

“We believe that these gaps can be closed,” John Kirby, the White House national security spokesperson, told reporters as negotiators began gathering in Cairo for a fresh round of discussions.

Kirby said the Palestinian militant group Hamas had offered amendments on Monday to an original Israeli proposal aimed at ending the impasse.

The deal text, as amended, suggests the remaining gaps can “absolutely be closed,” he said.

Israeli forces’ seizure of the main border crossing between Egypt and southern Gaza raised fears that Israel might be beginning a much-feared incursion into Rafah.

The ceasefire as being proposed by Hamas as helped by the Biden regime is a 100% win for Hamas. It is essentially a permanent ceasefire which would allow Hamas to reconstitute and gain weapons, with Israel moving all forces out of Gaza. And Hamas essentially gives up nothing. Hamas basically just wins. Many of the hostages were killed. Hamas gets to stay in power. And they will then repeat another Oct 7 since they learned their strategy of hiding behind civilians works. Thus sending a message to terror orgs throughout the world that this will work for them too. So nobody but terrorists win.

Hamas tore up the previous proposal. There are no “gaps” between the two, this is the Grand Canyon.

Read: Biden Regime Thinks A Permanent Cease Fire Is Close Or Something »

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PRC Looks To Dictate Operation Of Self Checkout

By William Teach May 7, 2024 – 3:00 pm

The lawmakers in the People’s Republik Of California just keep coming up with more and more ideas to mess with their economy, eh? To dictate how everything operates, right?

Proposed California law could force some stores to do away with self-checkout

A proposed state law could change regulations on self-checkout, forcing some California stores to do away with the service altogether.

“The hope is that we can reduce the amount of theft that happens. That’s a much better solution than punishing theft after it occurs,” said Cristine Soto DeBerry, founder and executive director of Prosecutors Alliance of California.

Senate Bill 1446 would regulate self-checkouts in hopes of boosting employment and cutting down on thefts.

“There’s data on this that shows there is stuff that happens at self-checkouts,” said Soto DeBerry.

If stores are fine with breakage at the self checkout, that’s their business, not the PRC legislature.

If voted into law, grocery and pharmacy retailers would have to meet certain requirements or get rid of self-check outs, including upping the number of employees monitoring the stations.

There would have to be one employee to monitor every two self checkouts. You know, because they can do anything about PRC citizens stealing. The stores would have to hire more low wage employees (which is probably the point) to monitor, or get rid of self checkouts, which would slow down checkout.

(KTVU) While the proposed law may mitigate theft, it is unlikely to eliminate the problem.

As long as nothing can be done to people stealing under $1,000, why would thieves stop? Most have the charges dismissed, not even having to do community service. Not even having a record.

Read: PRC Looks To Dictate Operation Of Self Checkout »

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If All You See…

By William Teach May 7, 2024 – 1:00 pm

…is an area sinking from too much carbon pollution, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Bunkerville, with a post on Crazy Maxine Waters claiming Trump supporters are training in the hills.

Read: If All You See… »

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UCLA Police To Go After Pro-Israel Forces Using “J6 Tactics”

By William Teach May 7, 2024 – 10:30 am

Interesting. You know what we’re not hearing? The UCLA police are going to go after the people who did this

Anti-Israel protesters at UCLA attack Native American woman opposing Hamas

Lani Dawn, a Jewish Native American woman, posted that she was attacked by anti-Israel protesters at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) on Thursday night after holding a sign reading, “Hamas supporters are not welcome on native land.”

“Last night I was violently assaulted by @UCLA ‘pro-Palestine’ students,” wrote Dawn on Instagram, posting a video showing the protesters attacking her and other pro-Israel protesters.

“I was quickly surrounded by a mob @UCLA students and EVEN @ucla faculty as a form of intimidation. Where I continued to maintain my peaceful presence & protest. The violence on American campuses is UNACCEPTABLE. The lack of police intervention is UNACCEPTABLE. NON-indigenous people TARGETING and ATTACKING an Indigenous woman while you claim to be supporting an ‘indigenous liberation movement’ is UNACCEPTABLE,” wrote Dawn.

This is one of the main incidents that caused the pro-Israel protesters to attack the Hamas supporters

UCLA detectives use Jan. 6 tactics to find masked mob who attacked pro-Palestinian camp

It is shaping up to be perhaps the biggest case in the history of the UCLA Police Department: how to identify dozens of people who attacked a pro-Palestinian camp at the center of campus last week.

The mob violence was captured on live television, but it took three hours for police to bring it to an end. Those involved left, and no arrests were made.

But the trail is not cold.

UCLA detectives are now scanning hundreds of images in an attempt to identify the attackers. They intend to use technology that captures facial images and compares them to other photos on the internet and social media to put names to faces, according to law enforcement sources.

Will they also be going after the pro-Hamas students and faculty who fought? Who made threats? Who assaulted? Or, is the anti-Semitism so strong at UCLA that they will only go after the Israel supporters? They’re also going to look at license plates in the area. Will they do the same for all the students and faculty who were told to leave the pro-Hamas encampment on the campus?

Will UCLA be doing anything to this faculty member?

Will UCLA do anything about all the pro-Hamas demonstrators who have attacked Jewish students, threatened them, and blocked them from moving on campus?

Read: UCLA Police To Go After Pro-Israel Forces Using “J6 Tactics” »

Posted in Dhimmitude, Liberal World, Unhinged Tools | 2 Comments | Trackback URL

Bummer: Fewer Americans See Hotcoldwetdry As A Problem

By William Teach May 7, 2024 – 7:00 am

This must have really hurt The Hill to publish, and most likely caused quite a bit of angry emails and talk for daring to write it

Fewer Americans see climate change as very serious problem: Survey

Fewer Americans today see climate change as a “very serious” problem than they did three years ago, according to a new survey released Monday.

The Monmouth University poll, conducted on April 18-22 shows a 10-point decline in Americans who says climate change is a “very serious” problem, falling from 56 percent in September 2021 to 46 percent in April.

The decline was less steep overall – with 66 percent describing climate change as a problem that’s either “very serious” or “somewhat serious.” That’s down from 2021, when 70 percent of respondents described the climate change problem as either “very serious” or “somewhat serious.”

When people have real problems, ie; Bidenflation, high grocery prices, high energy prices, etc, abstract, OK, scam, issues like ‘climate change’ lose concern. When things are going well 1st World folks have plenty of time to worry about minor things and make them into major things in their mind, even they are still minor

Patrick Murray, director of the independent Monmouth University Polling Institute, attributed this trend to a decline in urgency among Americans.

“Most Americans continue to believe climate change is real. The difference in these latest poll results is a decline in a sense of urgency around this issue,” Murray said.

Of course, these same people who believe man-induced climate change is real do almost nothing in their own lives

Among adults ages 18-34, there was a 17-point drop over the last three years in those calling climate change a “very serious” problem. Sixty-seven percent in this age group said climate change was a very serious problem in 2021, compared to 50 percent this year.

Yeah, the finally got smacked with the cold mackerel of truth that there are actually real issues out there, ones of actual consequence.

Read: Bummer: Fewer Americans See Hotcoldwetdry As A Problem »

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Weak Sauce: Biden Regime Sends 2nd Gentleman To Meet Jewish Students

By William Teach May 7, 2024 – 6:45 am

On one hand, Doug Emhoff is the one one out of the President, VP, and 1st Lady to have actually called Jewish students who have been targeted. On the other, it almost seems a slap in the face that they send a guy who really has zero position

Emhoff to Meet Jewish Students on Antisemitism — Including from West Point

Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff is set to meet Monday with six Jewish college students to discuss the ongoing wave of antisemitism on campuses around the country — including one student, bizarrely, from the U.S. Military Academy.

Politico reported Monday:

Second gentleman Doug Emhoff on Monday will host a half-dozen Jewish students from colleges around the country amid a wave of pro-Palestinian campus protests criticized for featuring antisemitic behavior. (snip)

Emhoff is the only of the four principals at the White House who is known to have called students who felt targeted or threatened by the demonstrations. In all, he has made two rounds of calls in recent weeks with Jewish students and Jewish community leaders, including Columbia University.

I’m pretty sure there have been no protests at West Point.

“On Yom HaShoah, we honor the lives of the 6 million Jews who were murdered in the Holocaust,” Emhoff told the publication. “At a time when antisemitism is surging, including threats of violence against Jews, we are reminded that we must never allow history to repeat itself.”

“We must continue to fight antisemitism and hate and educate others on the horrors of the past,” he added.

As of writing this post, there was no information on the actual meeting. Perhaps there will be an update sometime Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Columbia has cancelled commencement

(AP) Pro-Palestinian protesters that had been blocked by police from accessing an encampment at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on Monday broke through fencing, linked arms and encircled tents that remained there, as Columbia University canceled its university-wide commencement ceremony following weeks of pro-Palestinian protests.

Well, that’s a shame for all those who were not involved, especially since so many of them certainly missed graduating from high school in 2020 thanks to China’s coronavirus. Columbia should have just booted all the pro-Hamas folks, said they weren’t invited, and allowed the rest to have their day.

Read: Weak Sauce: Biden Regime Sends 2nd Gentleman To Meet Jewish Students »

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