Free Republic

The Biden administration is expected this week to finalize highly anticipated regulations targeting gas-powered vehicle tailpipe emissions, considered the tip of the spear in its efforts to electrify the transportation sector. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is slated to issue the final rulemaking — which officials have boasted will incentivize greater adoption of electric vehicles (EV), but which opponents have criticized as a de facto mandate — as soon as Wednesday, industry sources told Fox News Digital. The regulations, a key part of President Biden's climate agenda, would ultimately force automakers to more rapidly expand electric options in their fleets...

The Biden administration is poised to soon finalize gas-powered car tailpipe emissions standards that consumer advocates and energy industry groups have dubbed a "de facto electric vehicle mandate." The Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) proposed tailpipe emissions – which were in recent weeks submitted to the White House Office of Management and Budget for final review – are designed to ensure a staggering 67% of new car sales are electric by 2032. Over the weekend, the New York Times and Washington Post reported the White House is set to double down on that lofty goal while loosening earlier targets. "The President...

Hong Kong leaders backed by Red China’s communist party (CCP) are planning to accelerate their crackdown on basic freedoms throughout the city, government officials announced on Tuesday. Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee revealed that the city would be expanding upon a national security law passed by Beijing in 2020 that effectively stripped Hong Kong of its status as a semi-autonomous region. The law criminalized many basic protest activities, such as classifying “groups speaking of potential independence” as guilty of “subversion.” Activities deemed to involve “secession,” “terrorism,” and “collusion with foreign forces” were also outlawed, all of which “carry a...

Gov. Kathy Hochul will pledge to crack down on retail theft as part of her 2024 policy agenda, The Post has learned — as fed-up New York business owners continue to plead for help with the shoplifting scourge. Merchants are turning up the heat on Hochul and the Democratic-led state Legislature, calling for stiffer penalties against serial offenders wreaking havoc in their stores. “We’re going to continue living this nightmare if legislators don’t fix this mess,” said Nelson Eusabio of the National Supermarket Association and part of the coalition Collective Action to Protect Our Stores (CAP). Lawmakers representing 213 districts...

Mayor Eric Adams wants to add trains and planes to his executive order limiting migrant buses arriving in the Big Apple — as City Hall attempts to stem the flood of asylum seekers now flocking in on New Jersey transit trains. The call comes as Adams was scheduled to huddle with New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy over the new wrinkle in the crisis, which saw busloads of migrants thwarting the crackdown by heading to the Garden State, where asylum seekers would then hop trains into Manhattan. “We’re dealing with a person who just wants to disrupt,” Adams said Tuesday, referring...

President Biden is expected to announce a controversial deal with Chinese President Xi Jinping aimed at slowing the deadly flood of fentanyl across the United States. The two leaders are tipped to announce a deal as they meet Wednesday at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation conference in San Francisco, one of the cities most blighted by what has become the deadliest drug in the US. “We’re hoping to see some progress on that issue this coming week,” National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said Monday, ahead of the meeting. “That could then open the door to further cooperation on other issues where...

Ceiling fans are now the latest target in the Biden administration’s green agenda, sparking pushback from Republicans and manufacturers. The Department of Energy is proposing a rule that would require ceiling fans to be more energy efficient, arguing the move would save U.S. households on energy costs. According to the Energy Department’s analysis, the new rules would save households about $39 over the lifespan of the new energy-efficient fan. However, the cost to manufacturers associated with the increased equipment will total $86.6 million per year, the department said. Republicans on the House Committee on Small Business say if the rule...

More than 50 Christian converts have been arrested in a rash of new incidents across five Iranian cities over the past seven days, with fears the number could rise much higher as fresh reports keep coming in. At least 51 of those arrested at their homes or house-churches – in the cities of Tehran, Karaj, Rasht, Orumiyeh and Aligoudarz – remain in detention on unknown charges, while others have been released on bail. Article18 cannot at this time share any more details about the incidents, but after very few publicly reported arrests of Christians so far this year, the news...

US regulators on Tuesday announced a nationwide crackdown to stop companies from inundating people with billions of unwanted and illegal robocalls and telemarketing calls. The crackdown, known as Operation Stop Scam Calls, involves the Federal Trade Commission and 101 other federal and state law enforcement authorities, including the attorneys general of all 50 states and Washington, DC. More than 180 enforcement actions and initiatives are part of the initiative, including five that the FTC formally announced on Tuesday. “We don’t know too many people out there who enjoy getting scam calls,” Samuel Levine, director of the FTC consumer protection bureau,...

The son of a senior Home Depot worker, who died after a serial shoplifter shoved him to the concrete floor, said his elderly dad was simply “going to ask for a receipt” when he was savagely attacked — as he calls for an urgent crackdown on rampant theft. In the disturbing caught-on-camera assault, Gary Rasor, 83, was forcefully shoved to the ground after he approached a man wheeling out three pressure washers worth over $800 from the Hillsborough, North Carolina store on Oct. 18. He died due to complications from his injuries on Dec. 1. Rasor’s eldest child, Jeff Rasor,...

Republican-led states are pushing back against the radical LGBT movement with a wave of new laws restricting devastating transgender surgeries and drugs for children.2023 has been a breakthrough year in the fight to stop LGBT ideology and protect children from its harms. Since January, 14 states have approved laws to ban or limit “gender transitions” for minors, which have exploded in popularity in recent years as gender confusion has surged among youth.

EXCLUSIVE: Chip Roy Introduces Bill To Crack Down On Non-Citizens Voting In US Elections GettyImages-1472572367 (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images) Daily Caller News Foundation logo MARY LOU MASTERS CONTRIBUTOR May 05, 2023 9:24 AM ET FONT SIZE: Republican Texas Rep. Chip Roy introduced a bill Friday cracking down on noncitizens’ ability to vote in federal elections. The Protecting American Voters Act, co-sponsored by Republican Reps. Matt Rosendale of Montana, Pete Sessions of Texas and Michael Burgess of Texas, would equip state officials with the information needed to verify citizenship upon voter registration, according to the bill obtained exclusively by the...

The Biden administration is reportedly finalizing a proposal that would force fossil fuel-fired power plants to substantially curb emissions or utilize costly carbon capture technology.The proposal — which will soon be released by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) — is expected to require coal- and natural gas-fired power plants to cut or capture the vast majority of their carbon dioxide emissions by 2040, The New York Times reported on Saturday, citing officials briefed on a draft of the plan. The regulation, if finalized, would represent the first-ever federal action curbing power plant emissions."EPA cannot comment because the proposals are currently...

The Chinese government is warning of an impending crackdown on protesters opposing the country’s “zero-COVID” approach to containing the coronavirus as protests spread. China’s Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission released a statement Tuesday saying it would “resolutely crack down on infiltration and sabotage activities by hostile forces” following rare protests that have become the largest in decades. The protesters are pushing back against China’s policy to try to keep the number of COVID-19 cases in the country to as close to zero as possible. This has led the government to consistently order widespread lockdowns throughout the pandemic, often for...

New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D) said he plans to start clearing out homeless encampments in the city. In an interview with The New York Times published on Friday, Adams said he was seeking to clear the encampments within a two-week period, but did not say when.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s descent into dictatorship to rein in the Freedom Convoy protest has support from a majority of likely Democratic voters in America.According to a survey conducted by Trafalgar Group and Convention of States Action, 55 percent of likely voters disapproved of Trudeau’s handling of the demonstration, while 35 percent approved. When broken down by party affiliation, 65 percent of Democrats backed Trudeau’s heavy-handed response compared to 17 percent who disapproved, while 87 percent of likely Republican voters opposed the prime minister’s crackdown and 8 percent approved.One hundred percent of young voters, meanwhile, (those 25 to 35-years-old),...

Looking at Democrat likely voters alone, 65 percent said they favored Trudeau’s crackdown on the protestors, and 17 percent said they disapproved A recent poll has revealed that a majority of American Democrats approve of the Canadian Prime Minister's crackdown on the freedom protestors in Ottawa after he invoked the Emergencies Act early last week. In a poll conducted by the Trafalgar Group and Convention of States Action obtained by The Daily Wire, it revealed that 55 percent of likely general election voters overall disapprove of Trudeau's handling of the protestors in Ottawa and beyond.

Following a string of violent crimes on the New York subway system in recent weeks, including a knife attack on Feb. 17 in broad daylight, freshly minted New York Mayor Eric Adams is making an aggressive push to try to remove homeless people, announcing a plan to start barring people from sleeping on trains or riding the same lines all night. “People tell me about their fear of using the system and we are going to ensure that fear is not New York’s reality,” Adams said. “The system is not made to be housing,” Adams said Friday at a press...

While not directly impacted by the sharp crisis escalation in Ukraine or fears of multiple rate hikes by the Fed, Chinese tech shares suffered their worst two-day drop since July following renewed fears Beijing may roll out more restrictions for private enterprise.Shares of China's tech giant, Tencent, sank 5.2% on Monday, hammered by speculation about an unspecified, impending crackdown on China’s largest social media and gaming firm that company spokesman Zhang Jun later denied. Traders pointed to everything from warnings from regulators over the weekend about scams in the metaverse to talk about yet more curbs on the gaming industry....

Pro-freedom protests have spread across Canada after the Trudeau government's brutal crackdown on the weeks-long Freedom Convoy demonstration in Ottawa. ... Freedom protesters in Calgary took to the streets Saturday and braved the cold in large numbers, spurred on by the Trudeau administration's draconian actions. ... As for the turnout in Toronto, peaceful and freedom-loving Canadians continued to march in opposition to the Trudeau regime's COVID-19 mandates. ... Protest footage by @canmericanized on Twitter filmed the Canadian flag-waving crowd marching down Yonge Street. Many protesters shouted, "Freedom!" Several protest signs read "Freedom Over Fear" and "Stop Power Abuse." ... The...