Free Republic

… A gallon of sustainable aviation fuel costs almost twice as much as traditional aviation fuel, according to the International Air Transport Association. Carbon recycling technology is broadly expensive, limiting how widely these kinds of systems can be embraced, which can then limit their development and adoption. The Biden administration took a step to address that chicken-and-egg problem Monday with the announcement of a $100 million grant program aimed at subsidizing carbon recycling purchases by state and local governments, as well as public utilities. Geoff Cooper, CEO of the Renewable Fuels Association, said that the funding will also help stimulate...

The Biden administration will announce Friday it is ready to distribute $20 billion in taxpayer dollars for “clean energy projects” across the nation. These include – but are not limited to – building more electric vehicle charging stations, residential heat pumps, and community cooling centers, all as the Biden administration continues its drive to push Americans away from relying on fossil fuels. Two programs from a federal “green bank” worth more than $14 billion and $6 billion between them will offer competitive grants to states, tribes and nonprofits to invest in clean energy projects, with a focus on disadvantaged communities,...

OceanGate Expeditions, the company behind the Titan submersible disaster, was forgiven of its $450,000 Paycheck Protection Program loan, according to the ProPublica PPP Loan Database. OceanGate builds submersibles for tourism and research, but its inherently risky business model raises questions, and led to the tragic deaths of five people in the ocean in June. Its liability waiver for sub tourism mentioned the possibility of death three times on the first page alone. Now, some are accusing the company of cutting corners. James Cameron, the renowned Titanic explorer and director of the 1997 movie, said, "I was very suspect of the...

Good example of how our government works…………………. Once upon a time the government had a vast scrap yard in the middle of a desert. Congress said, "Someone may steal from it at night." So they created a night watchman position. Then Congress said, "How does the watchman do his job without instruction?" So they created a planning department and hired two people, one to write the instructions, and one to do time studies. Then Congress said, "How will we know the night watchman is doing the tasks correctly?" So they created a Quality Control department and hired two people to...

The first lie of the covid pandemic was the insistence that the virus emanated from a "wet market" where infected bats were sold and consumed. The alternate hypothesis that the virus came from the Wuhan lab where the Chinese government was working on "gain-of-function" research to develop a virus bioweapon was declared "disinformation" by Dr. Anthony Fauci and widely mocked by the media. Now it turns out that the first person infected was not some random eater of bat flesh, but someone who worked at the Wuhan lab. The next lie was Dr. Fauci's denial that any of the grants...

The President and many members of Congress want to keep borrowing money and don’t seem to care about whether their expenditures are essential or non-essential, nor do they seem to care about the very real and perilous ramifications of overspending. From 2012–2022, interest payments on debt held by the public totaled $3,593 billion; interest payments on intragovernmental debt holdings totaled $1,919 billion. The grand total in interest payments amounted to a hefty $5,512 billion. Who is benefitting from owning our debt? The top foreign owners of U.S. National Debt are Japan, China, UK, Belgium and Luxembourg. Other holders of our...

In a post back on March 23 (“Trying To Head Off New York’s Total Self-Destruction”), I took note of the recent issuance by a think tank called the Empire Center of a big Report titled “Next New York.” The Report shines a spotlight on one area after another where progressive New York politicians have implemented destructive and crazily-expensive policies. My March 23 post discussed the subject of energy policy. Before too much time has passed, I want to delve into at least one or two more areas. For today, it’s public education. The Next New York Report covers public education...

A new report has found that the millions of taxpayer-funded Chromebooks that flooded schools during the pandemic are being discarded because of their expiration dates. Chromebooks were an affordable way to help educate students during the COVID-19 pandemic, but they weren’t programmed to last. Chromebooks have a built-in “death date,” after which software support ends. Once laptops have “expired,” they don’t receive updates and can’t access secure websites. The U.S. Public Interest Research Group Education Fund shows replacement parts are both expensive and hard to obtain. In numerous cases, replacement keyboards would cost around $90, roughly half the cost of...

It sounded too good to be true, and it was. Travel from downtown San Francisco to downtown Los Angeles in two hours via high-speed rail. California voters in 2008 approved Proposition 1A, authorizing $9.95 billion in general obligation bonds to build this so-called “bullet train.” They were told not only that the total cost would only be $33 billion but also that the entire 500-mile system would be running by 2030. Fat chance. In March of this year, the California High-Speed Rail Authority released its latest progress report. The project is now projected to cost $127 billion, and there is...

Special Counsel John Durham is revealing new smoking gun evidence, a text message that shows a Clinton campaign lawyer lied to the FBI, while putting the courts on notice he is prepared to show the effort to smear Donald Trump with now-disproven Russia collusion allegations was a “conspiracy.” In a bombshell court filing late Monday night, Durham for the first time suggested Hillary Clinton’s campaign, her researchers and others formed a “joint venture or conspiracy” for the purpose of weaving the collusion story to harm Trump’s election chances and then the start of his presidency. “These parties acted as ‘joint...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Transportation Department will announce on Tuesday it is awarding $94.8 million to 59 projects on advanced technology projects to boost road safety, improve transit reliability and use drones and sensors for transportation projects. The $1 trillion November 2021 infrastructure law dedicates $500 million over five years for "Smart" mobility projects. New Jersey has won $2 million for sensors to address wrong-way driving events while New York is receiving $2 million for an app to allow visually impaired New York subway and bus customers to safely navigate their transit trips. Los Angeles is receiving $2 million...

More than $250 billion in Covid-19 relief funds were lost to “fraud” and “waste,” the directors of three US government agencies testified before the House Oversight and Accountability subcommittee on Thursday. Compounding what Deputy Inspector General Sheldon Shoemaker of the Small Business Administration (SBA) called “the biggest fraud in a generation,” the officials stressed that the figures they gave represented an extremely conservative estimate of the total amount lost as they did not include the amount defrauded from the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program. According to a statement submitted by Shoemaker ahead of the hearing, the SBA has already uncovered $190.7...

The speed by which wind farms are being constructed across the U.S. is going faster than a spring wind in Casper. In about 20 years, the wind turbines put into operation today will be nearing the end of their lifespan. The ones built 20 years ago are nearing it now. Since the blades are very difficult to recycle, the waste stream created by the retired blades is a mounting problem. According to a 2017 study published in the scientific journal Waste Management, the world’s wind industry will be producing 43 million tons of blade waste annually by 2050.

Dem megadonors Bill Gates and Laurene Powell Jobs see green energy investments flooded with taxpayer cash ... Joe Biden's taxpayer-funded push to build a "clean energy economy" is benefiting the left's most prominent billionaire megadonors, including Bill Gates and Laurene Powell Jobs,.. Biden's Energy Department has in the last two months announced nearly $3 billion in loans to two electric battery companies, Redwood Materials and Ioneer, which are backed by seed funding from Gates, Jobs, and other left-wing billionaires. Now those billionaires, who have poured millions into the effort to win Democrats power in Washington, are likely set to see...

Millions of metric tons of plastic are produced worldwide every year. While half of this plastic waste is recycled, incinerated, or discarded into landfills, a significant portion of what remains eventually ends up in our oceans.In fact, many pieces of ocean plastic waste have come together to create a vortex of plastic waste thrice the size of France in the Pacific Ocean between California and Hawaii.Where does all of this plastic come from? In this graphic, Visual Capitalist's Freny Fernandes and Louis Lugas Wicaksono used data from a research paper by Lourens J.J. Meijer and team to highlight the top...

A calm assessment of the covid pandemic reveals that the "cures" offered were worse than the disease. From an economic perspective, one of the worst "cures" was the decision to shutdown much of the economy. Small businesses were decimated and millions of jobs exterminated. A "cure" for this previous "cure" was massive government spending to provide some compensation to those hurt by the shutdown. It now appears that $191 billion (about 20%) of this compensation was stolen. Labor Department Inspector General Larry Turner said "one example of where the money went where it shouldn't have was to prison inmates. In...

Although courts have already ruled that President Biden's attempt to unilaterally decree the forgiveness of a portion of student loan debt is not legal, plans are underway to reissue the illegal decree with a new twist. Students who major in studies that provide few opportunities for remunerative employment will be given "first dibs" on loan forgiveness. Secretary of Education Miguel Angel Cardona explained "there's little sense in forgiving the debt of students who major in science or engineering. Grads with degrees in these subjects are in great demand in the private sector and will likely be paid well. In contrast,...

Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, a Republican, signed seven executive orders to decrease the size of her state’s government, combat “indoctrination” and critical race theory in schools, and remove the term “Latinx” from government documents. During her inaugural address Tuesday, Sanders pledged to sign an executive order “preventing the political indoctrination of Arkansas’ schoolchildren.” “As long as I am governor,” she said, “our schools will focus on the skills our children need to get ahead in the modern world—not brainwashing our children with a left-wing political agenda.” The governor’s office sent copies of the executive orders to The Daily Signal....

A new pilot project to find ways to inject equity considerations into transportation planning in southeast Michigan will focus on how urban flooding affects historically disadvantaged communities. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and partner agencies are launching this research project to better create infrastructure that is more resilient to flooding impacts from climate change. The study’s focus will be to better understand how transportation disruptions during major urban flooding events affect areas already struggling with poverty challenges. NOAA will contribute $150,000 to the study, which includes partner groups the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG), Fernleaf Interactive, and...

Recently, Sen. Rand Paul released his “Festivus” report that detailed wasteful government spending.This is an annual tradition meant to be an eye-opener to citizens. This is Paul’s 8th report.Good morning everyone and welcome to everyone’s favorite holiday - #Festivus! pic.twitter.com/g8xM8QER9y — Rand Paul (@RandPaul) December 23, 2022Festivus was popularized by “Seinfeld” and is celebrated on December 23. It was created by author Daniel O’Keefe. O’Keefe's son, Dan O’Keefe co-wrote the Seinfeld episode “The Strike” which referred to Festivus.One of the traditions of Festivus is the “airing of grievances,” i.e. complaining about the disappointments of the year which is supposed to...