Automakers Caught Between What Consumers Want And The PRC Wants

Pretty much because the People’s Republik of California doesn’t care what their people want

Automakers Caught Between What Trump Wants and California’s EV Demands

A legal battle between the Trump administration and the state of California over vehicle emissions policy is about to get hot-the consequences could reshape the U.S. auto market and the economics of electric vehicles.

At issue is California’s long-standing authority to set its own vehicle-emissions standards under a federal waiver granted by the Environmental Protection Agency. For decades, administrations of both parties have approved those waivers, allowing the state to impose stricter pollution rules than federal law requires. Eleven other states, representing roughly 29 percent of U.S. new-vehicle sales according to S&P Global Mobility, follow California’s framework.

Waivers can be rescinded

That arrangement is now under threat. Congressional Republicans moved to nullify California’s latest waiver using the Congressional Review Act, a mechanism typically used to overturn recently adopted federal regulations. President Donald Trump signed the measure in June. California filed suit the same day, arguing that Congress and the EPA improperly reclassified its waiver as a “rule” subject to reversal under the act.

So, not just Trump? It was a TDS headline?

According to Reuters, the case is scheduled for a hearing in federal court in Oakland, where the administration has moved to dismiss the lawsuit. California contends that a waiver is a case-specific determination, not a broad regulatory rule, and therefore falls outside the scope of the Congressional Review Act. The Government Accountability Office reached a similar conclusion last March, stating that such waivers are not rules because they do not represent a general application of policy. Congressional Republicans have countered that Congress retains authority to determine what qualifies as a rule under the statute.

State and federal policies are now moving in opposite directions. California has adopted regulations that would require all new passenger vehicles sold in the state to be zero-emission by 2035, with escalating targets beginning this year. The Trump administration has dismantled key elements of federal EV support.

Let’s consider that most of the regulations were passed by the unaccountable and not-elected California Air Resources Board. Sadly, not one reporter has asked the members of CARB if the themselves drive EVs. At least that I’ve ever seen. Nor have they asked Gavin Newsom or any of the elected Democrats who back this.

How about if we ask the citizens of California their thoughts? At least the ones who are staying, vs the ones who are getting the f*** out of the PRC.

If California wins, automakers could find themselves navigating two conflicting regulatory regimes within the same country. They would need to continue developing and selling increasing volumes of zero-emission vehicles in California and aligned states while operating under looser federal requirements elsewhere.

If the PRC wins once this ends up at the Supreme Court automakers can simply make a small number of EVs for California and sell them at their real cost, rather than losing oodles of money. What do the citizens of California and the follow on states actually want? How about asking them?

Read: Automakers Caught Between What Consumers Want And The PRC Wants »

Was The Climate Scam A Massive Financial Scam?

Well, yeah. It was never about saving the climate, it was about spreading money around and implementing authoritarian government

Was climate change the greatest financial scandal in history?

Environmental scholar Bjorn Lomborg recently calculated that governments around the globe have spent at least $16 trillion feeding the climate change industrial complex.

And for what?

Arguably, not a single life has been or will be saved by this shameful and colossal misallocation of human resources. The war on safe and abundant fossil fuels has cost countless lives in poor countries and made those countries poorer by blocking affordable energy.

And where did all that money go? What percent actually made it to helping the people it was meant to help?

Since the global warming crusade started some 30 years ago, the temperature of the planet has not been altered by one-tenth of a degree, as even the alarmists acknowledge.

In other words, $16 trillion has been spent. A lot of people got very, very rich off the government largesse, but there is not a penny of measurable payoff.

It’s much worse than that. In economics, there is a concept called opportunity cost: What could we have done with $16 trillion to make the world better off?

What if the $16 trillion had been spent on clean water for poor countries, preventing avoidable deaths from diseases such as malaria, building schools in African villages to end illiteracy, bringing reliable and affordable electric power to the more than 1 billion people who still lack access, or curing cancer?

What could $8 billion have done to help Americans instead of being pissed away on a small number of EV chargers? There needs to be a serious audit of where the money went

Instead, we effectively poured $16 trillion down the drain. For this reason, it is important that we identify the green “climate change” derangement syndrome as perhaps the most inhumane political movement in history.

The people at the Sierra Club, the Environmental Defense Fund and the United Nations and politicians such as Al Gore, Joseph R. Biden and John Kerry, who voted for and carried out this Green New Deal scam, should be placed on a wall of shame. Mr. Biden’s administration alone wasted $400 billion on green energy and other sham climate change programs.

Think what could have been done with $400 billion. Heck, every American could have been straight up given around $12 million each.

Read: Was The Climate Scam A Massive Financial Scam? »

Bummer: Arresting Illegals Left NC Restaurants Shorhanded

If your business is dependent on employing illegal aliens, and probably paying them lower then minimum wage wage, you’re doing it wrong

Immigration arrests left NC restaurants short-staffed and job sites idle, owners say

For two weeks last November, kitchens at David “Woody” Lockwood’s restaurants ran short of dishwashers, prep cooks and servers as workers stayed home, afraid to leave their houses during a federal immigration crackdown that resulted in more than 400 arrests across North Carolina.

“We had a lot of people, mostly in the kitchen, that didn’t feel safe coming to work,” said Lockwood, a co-owner of Trophy Brewing and The Bend. That meant managers working extra shifts, longer waits for customers and paying employees who were not on the job to help them get by.

“We decided, at least for those two weeks, to pay those people for the hours they missed, which is not a sustainable thing,” Lockwood said.

Business owners and educators said the effects of the crackdown extended well beyond those taken into custody, disrupting construction and hospitality – two of the state’s largest industries – and keeping some students home from school.

If they are authorized to work in the US would any of them miss work? Obviously because they were not authorized, meaning these businesses were breaking federal law in employing the illegals. I actually wish that the early focus was on arresting and prosecuting the businesses who were employing illegals, which would have heavily discouraged businesses from employing them, meaning little work for illegals, meaning lots would voluntarily leave.

Mikki Paradis, chief executive of PDI Drywall, said construction sites fell silent for more than a week during the November operations.

“There was not a single person working on those jobs,” said Paradis, who has relied on Hispanic workers throughout her 21-year career. She said these labor shortages would slow housing construction and drive up costs.

OK, arrest her. ICE isn’t going to mostly bother with those authorized to work. Anyhow, Deb Ross, who represents NC 2 (my district), was there

Also, perhaps Deb could be more concerned with Americans than illegals.

Read: Bummer: Arresting Illegals Left NC Restaurants Shorhanded »

Cult Scientists Look To Whale Snot On ‘Climate Change’

I sure as hell hope the federal taxpayer is not footing the bill for this

Conn. researchers study ‘beluga snot’ for clues on whales’ resiliency to climate change

Researchers from Mystic Aquarium are heading to the icy tundras of Canada to study beluga breath. That’s the white-plume mixture of water cells, proteins and lung fluid that whales exhale when they come up to the surface.It’s also known as beluga snot.

“To translate it for kids, ‘beluga snot’ works really well,” said Tracy Romano, chief scientist at Mystic Aquarium.

“Anything gross, they love.”

Hidden inside that snot are clues as to how changes in the environment could affect the immune system of beluga whales and their resiliency to climate change.

Seriously, the climate always changes. Belugas have, like humans, gone through warm and cool periods. Just stop, you cultists.

Meanwhile

How an Intersectional Approach Can Help Us Address Vulnerability to Climate Change
The relationship between overlapping inequities and the conditions that increase people’s vulnerability to climate change is often overlooked or oversimplified. IISD experts Julie Dekens, Angie Dazé, and Cameron Hunter explain why we must deepen our understanding of — and actively confront — these powerful systems to ensure that climate change adaptation actions are effective for those who need them most

Huh what? Tell me this isn’t about science without directly telling me.

Read: Cult Scientists Look To Whale Snot On ‘Climate Change’ »

If All You See…

…is horrible heatsnow because Other People won’t go vegan, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Green Jihad, with a post on Detroit automakers taking a $50 million write-down on EVs.

Read: If All You See… »

Trump Tells Pentagon To Release UFO Files

Well, hey, Obama actually helped on something. This is the kind of thing we in the blogging community are missing Jazz Shaw for

Trump says he’s directing Pentagon to release any files on UFOs and “alien and extraterrestrial life”

President Trump on Thursday directed his administration to release files on UFOs and any “alien and extraterrestrial life,” an issue that has drawn decades of public fascination — and spawned more than a few wild theories.

In a Truth Social post, the president told Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and other agency heads “to begin the process of identifying and releasing” any relevant files.

Mr. Trump also called for the release of “any and all other information connected to these highly complex, but extremely interesting and important, matters.”

It’s not clear what files on UFOs might be released — or what information they might contain. The Pentagon has tracked reports of what it calls unidentified aerial phenomena, or UAPs, for decades. But the military said in a 2024 report there’s no evidence that any government investigation into UAPs has confirmed the existence of extraterrestrial life.

Mr. Trump’s announcement came just days after one of his predecessors, former President Barack Obama, made waves by telling a podcaster that aliens are real. He later clarified that he never saw evidence of contact between humans and extraterrestrial life during his time in the White House, and he primarily believes that extraterrestrial life is real because “statistically, the universe is so vast that the odds are good there’s life out there.”

I agree with Obama on that

Asked Thursday about Obama’s comments, Mr. Trump told reporters he isn’t sure whether or not aliens exist, but added that the former president “made a big mistake” and “gave classified information.”

“I may get him out of trouble by declassifying,” Mr. Trump said.

What could be in the files?

Public interest in UAPs has grown in recent years. Pilots and military service members have reported spotting hundreds of unexplained objects in the sky, leading some lawmakers to press the Pentagon to investigate the phenomena and determine whether they pose a threat to safety or national security.   (snip)

“It is important to underscore that, to date, AARO has discovered no evidence of extraterrestrial beings, activity, or technology,” the office said in a 2024 report. The office also noted that it has “no indication or confirmation that these activities are attributable to foreign adversaries.”

Well, look, my opinion is that most of the accounts are made up, drunk sightings, or something we just can’t explain/don’t want to explain that are not ETs. But, can they all be mule fritters? No. What if just 1% are real? That’s still a lot. Heck, the Argentinians have been investigating since the formation of the government office Commission for the Study of Aerospace Phenomena (CEFORA) in 2011. There was one recently that was so bizarre that CEFORA actually classified it, which is extremely unusual since the idea of CEFORA was to be open.

I’d be remiss to say that Democrats are already saying this is a distraction.

Read: Trump Tells Pentagon To Release UFO Files »

Unshockingly, NY Times Links Avalanches With Hotcoldwetdry

Have watched any of the webcams from the California mountains? Good grief, I’ve been watching for days, and they are wild. Places like Truckee, Big Bear, Tahoe, Mammoth Mountain, and more. Some of the cameras have actually gone done because of the snow. The Donner Pass one had it’s battery go tits up. And, of course, we have

Because of that we get

Warming Climate Can Increase Avalanche Risk, Studies Show

stop global warmingCalifornia’s Sierra Nevada is being pummeled this week by a series of storms that is headed to Colorado and prompting avalanche warnings across the Rocky Mountains.

While scientists are careful not to blame climate change for any single weather event without close study, research suggests that a warming climate is increasing the overall risk of avalanches at higher elevations, as storms dump large amounts of snow that can overload and tumble down a mountain slope.

Authorities in California have not pinpointed the precise cause of the Tuesday avalanche that killed at least eight backcountry skiers in a remote region near Lake Tahoe. However, they are pointing to a combination of heavy snow on top of an unstable snow pack as conditions that led to the avalanche.

Climate scientists are identifying a paradox about snowfall, avalanche risk and a warming climate, namely that drier, warmer winters will occur in the West — but more snow is expected to fall at higher elevations.

Sigh. Did warming cause an avalanche in Norway in 1679 that killed 55? During the Little Ice Age? A lot of old avalanches weren’t really a big deal, because not a lot of people lived in areas that would get them. Did warming cause one in 1970 that killed at least 30,000? Oh, that was an earthquake. Which I’m sure the cult would link to warming. Just like they say that research “suggests”. That is not science. Suggest means “I don’t really know, but, I’m going to Blamestorm anyhow.”

Anyway, good grief! I don’t think dogs would be too happy

Heck, many ski resorts had to close. Can you imagine that? Not being able to ski because there is too much snow?

Read: Unshockingly, NY Times Links Avalanches With Hotcoldwetdry »

Democrats Want To Go Back To “Old Immigration Polices” To Fund DHS

Democrats would prefer that illegals are not detained and deported, and that they can simply cross the border willy nilly

Trump’s immigration crackdown is brewing a health care crisis in the US, doctors warn

As they seek to curb President Donald Trump’s aggressive approach to immigration enforcement, congressional Democrats are looking to formalize some guidelines previous administrations used.

Of the 10 policy proposals Democratic leaders offered in negotiations to reopen the Department of Homeland Security, which has been in a funding lapse since Feb. 14 in the midst of widespread uproar over the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens by immigration officers in Minneapolis last month, seven have been employed in at least some form by previous administrations.

Democrats are asking the Trump administration to reinstate policies it has rejected in its controversial push to carry out mass deportations. Prior policies Democrats want to formalize include use-of-force standards, allowing unannounced visits by members of Congress to facilities that detain immigrants and obtaining judicial warrants before entering private residences.

“Many of the things the Democrats are asking for are to revert to prior policies,” said Theresa Cardinal Brown, a senior DHS official during the George W. Bush and Barack Obama administrations. “Some of them are responding to the ways this administration is carrying out its operations that previous administrations did not.”

Republicans should offer a few concessions, so we can go back to Obama’s policy of catch and deport with no hearings. Seriously, for most of the time we’ve had an immigration system that’s the way it worked. Ever watched Cheech and Chong’s Up In Smoke?

Pedro de Pacas: Don’t worry, man. Those aren’t narcs, they’re Las Emigras; you know, the Immigration Service looking for illegal aliens.
Anthony Stoner: What’s the Immigration Service doing here, man?
Pedro de Pacas: My cousin needed a ride to his brother’s wedding in Tijuana; so he called the Emigras, man. They’ll deport the entire wedding party, man. They get a free bus ride across the border and lunch. When the wedding is over, man, they’ll just come back across the border.

Yeah, immigration would simply catch, put on a bus, and say hasta la vista. It may have been a movie, but, that was the reality. I think Obama really liked that.

Anyhow, of course they want to ban masks and require immigration officials to identify themselves by name and number, making it much easier to harass them and their families. Protect “sensitive” locations, which will end up pretty much everywhere if Dems have their way. Stop racial profiling, which would really mean ICE would be unable to detain any Latino.

Change use of force, which would make it damned near impossible for ICE to do their job. Give state and local officials the ability to have “oversight” over federal immigration officials in a way they don’t for every single other federal law enforcement agency, which would lead to prosecutions willy nilly, making LEOs not want to do their jobs. Restrict the use of body cameras so they can’t be used to track the wackjob Dem voters who attack ICE. And not allowing anything more than standard uniforms like with civil law enforcement.

It’s all designed to utterly kneecap federal immigration.

Read: Democrats Want To Go Back To “Old Immigration Polices” To Fund DHS »

Can ‘Climate Change’ Be Humorous?

No.

Eh, I guess I should write more. The people who believe that anthropogenic climate change is going to destroy everything are wackadoodle, though

Can climate change be humorous? Erb Institute hosts climate comedian Stuart Goldsmith to discuss fear, hope and action

Hundreds of Ann Arbor community members, University of Michigan students and faculty gathered at Robertson Auditorium Thursday evening for a comedy show by British comedian Stuart Goldsmith about climate change hosted in collaboration with the Erb Institute. The Erb Institute is a partnership between the Ross School of Business and the School for Environment and Sustainability, with a goal of using business to promote sustainability.

Goldsmith is a stand-up comedian who performs globally to raise awareness for the climate crisis and create hope around climate anxiety. This performance highlighted issues such as fast fashion, inefficiencies in raising cattle and the environmental impact of artificial intelligence.

Wait, did they say “performs globally”? That would require lots and lots of fossil fueled travel, right?

In an interview with The Michigan Daily, Carmen Quinonez, Erb Institute director of programs, said the event’s goal was to encourage a sense of community and hope during a time when the weight of solving climate change is heavy.

“I think folks who work to mitigate climate change and who are focused on climate — it can be very serious and often feel like you have a responsibility to save the world,” Quinonez said. “I think one of our goals with bringing Stuart in is to just remind us all that we’re also not alone in fighting climate change.”

Goldsmith opened his discussion about climate change by acknowledging hypocrisy that exists within the field, referencing how he flies around the world to perform.

You don’t say.

“I don’t think you can guilt people,” Goldsmith said. “If we all wait until we lead a perfectly guilt-free, carbon-free life before we dare to have an opinion on the climate crisis, this is called the purity test; the idea that you don’t deserve a voice unless you’re perfect. I think that’s nonsense, and it plays into the hands of the polluters.”

None of the Warmists I’ve seen have any guilt about having massive carbon footprints while trying to force everyone else to be forced to have a low carbon footprint.

Goldsmith then discussed the harmful impacts of consuming beef on the environment. He suggested that everyone should be vegan, while joking that he would never do it.

“We need you to be vegan,” Goldsmith said. “Everyone has to be vegan. We know that. We know that we have to be vegan. We know what an impact they can make on the climate. We know that we have to be vegan. I’m not, f— that, but you should be.”

After audience laughter calmed down, he said limiting beef consumption is an alternative to fully committing to veganism.

Huh? Was that funny? I mean, the rest of it looks like a lecture, not a comedy show. I tried a few of his videos, like this, couldn’t find it anything but naggy. This is funny

Read: Can ‘Climate Change’ Be Humorous? »

If All You See…

…are mountains that will soon be snow free, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is The Hayride, with a post on Dogs vs Muslims.

Read: If All You See… »

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