Daily Caller
Kamala Harris Would Be A Total Disaster For American Energy
From the Daily Caller News Foundation
By Carla Sands
President Dwight Eisenhower once declared that “pessimism never won any battle.” Yet, many Americans are understandably pessimistic these days.
Families are worried about how to put gas in the tank and food on the table. Most Americans feel that the American Dream is out of reach. As our nation faces mounting challenges, our leaders need to offer a positive vision for our future that Americans can believe in.
The United States is blessed with vast energy resources that can power our economy with affordable, reliable energy. Getting the government out of the way is a good place to start unleashing American energy in a way that will reverberate throughout the economy. This is key to bringing the American Dream back within reach.
Unfortunately, today’s reality is that the Left’s apocalyptic vision of a climate crisis is the kind of pessimism that loses battles. The Biden-Harris administration’s whole-of-government war on energy perpetuates a very bleak vision of our nation’s future.
As the United States regulates hydrocarbon production out of business, our manufacturing jobs move abroad and we become reliant on foreign sources of energy. This not only harms our economic and national security, but these foreign sources also fail to meet our stringent environmental standards for production at home.
Instead of producing abundant American energy, we look to OPEC+ for hydrocarbons and increase our dependence on China for needed critical mineral production. Meanwhile, China emits more greenhouse gasses than all developed nations combined.
The Paris Agreement, which President Joe Biden rejoined, has the United States pay Beijing, even as they continue to increase emissions. At home, American standards of living move backward; the government limits everything from what kind of car we can drive to what kind of stove we can cook on. Air-conditioning and air travel become accessible only to the rich.
This is a far cry from delivering the American Dream and is unpopular with voters. As a result, Vice President Kamala Harris has recently pursued an energy messaging strategy that Reuters has kindly termed “strategically ambiguous” and The Washington Post has deemed “climate silence.”
To those paying attention, the Democrat nominee’s “climate silence” is a deafening contrast to her unambiguous record of commitment to radical climate policies throughout her career.
As a senator, Harris advanced a $10 trillion Green New Deal and even supported removing the filibuster to pass it. As a 2020 presidential candidate, she proudly declared her opposition to fracking. Her current campaign disavowed this position but has failed to explain this shift. When asked in her one sit-down interview, Vice President Harris continued her strategic ambiguity, noting only that her “values haven’t changed.”
And despite public flip-flopping, her record as vice president bolsters the conclusion that her anti-energy bent is consistent. As vice president, she holds a critical role in this administration’s whole-of-government war on energy. She was the tie-breaking vote on the so-called Inflation Reduction Act, which supercharged inflation to give “green” handouts to corporations and pet projects. Yet her nomination acceptance speech failed to mention energy at all and mentioned climate only once in passing. This is a telling omission from the Democrat nominee.
There is a clear logic to hiding the ball as she seeks to appeal to both energy voters in Pennsylvania and her radical climate base. Further, as the Washington Post observed, Vice President Harris’s climate policies contrast with the desire “to paint a rosy picture of the future.”
The Post is correct in calling this pessimistic vision a “lose-lose” messaging issue.
This is because, at its heart, this is a lose-lose policy proposition.
Fortunately, there is a win-win policy that offers both prosperity and environmental protection. We must unleash American energy and allow all energy sources to compete on a level playing field. We must remove burdensome government barriers and allow American ingenuity and free-market principles to drive innovation.
This is positive policy with a proven track record.
In 2019, building on the incredible innovations of the shale revolution and the pro-energy policies of the Trump administration, the United States became a net energy exporter for the first time in nearly 70 years. At the same time, this country had the largest net reduction of energy-related carbon dioxide emissions in the world. Throughout the Trump administration, the United States also reduced air pollution by 7%.
American energy means we can liberate ourselves and our allies from depending on nations like Russia and China. We can protect the environment and improve the lives of Americans.
Put simply, an America First approach to energy means we can embrace the spirit of the American Dream.
This is a realistic policy vision that also paints a brighter picture of our future. Americans deserve clarity, not ambiguity. They deserve the opportunity to achieve the American Dream, starting with energy freedom.
Carla Sands is a former U.S. ambassador to Denmark. She currently serves as vice chair of the Center for Energy & Environment at the America First Policy Institute.
From the Daily Caller News Foundation
By Jake Smith
A second wave of blasts swept through Lebanon on Wednesday as more communication devices used by Hezbollah suddenly exploded, according to several reports.
Hand-held radios used by Hezbollah terrorists abruptly exploded in southern Lebanon and the country’s capital of Beirut on Wednesday, according to Reuters. It marks yet another blow to Hezbollah, which the day prior had a large number of its terrorist fighters’ pager devices abruptly explode, causing thousands of injuries.
The devices that detonated on Wednesday appeared to be walkie-talkie devices rather than pagers, according to The Wall Street Journal. The exact size and scope of the attack are still unclear, but at least nine people have been killed and 300 have been injured, The Associated Press reported.
A #Hezbollah walkie talkie explodes at a funeral today in #Lebanon after yesterday’s exploding Hezbollah pagers. pic.twitter.com/b8TIfUUBKq
— Jason Brodsky (@JasonMBrodsky) September 18, 2024
Israel is believed to be behind the coordinated and remote attack on Tuesday, though that has not been confirmed by the Israeli or U.S. governments, according to multiple reports. Explosive devices were reportedly planted into the pagers before they made their way out of a supply and manufacturing chain — which initially was suspected to be in Taiwan — and were shipped to Hezbollah in recent months, according to American and other officials who spoke to The New York Times.
The Taiwanese company in question has denied that it produced the pagers, saying that they were manufactured under license by a company based in Hungary, according to Reuters.
The walkie-talkies that detonated on Wednesday were reportedly also shipped to Hezbollah in recent months, a security source told Reuters.
Significant damage appears to have been made to a motorcycle after a Hezbollah radio exploded. pic.twitter.com/57JfoWDmaQ
— Joe Truzman (@JoeTruzman) September 18, 2024
The official Lebanese news agency also reported that a number of home solar energy systems exploded in Beirut on Wednesday, though it’s unclear whether it was connected to the string of walkie-talkie detonations, according to multiple reports.
Hezbollah has frequently attacked Israel since Oct. 7, the date Hamas invaded Israel and killed roughly 1,200 people. The Hezbollah attacks have created a turbulent situation along the Israeli-Lebanese border and prompted Israeli forces to launch cross-border counterattacks.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant reportedly told a U.S. envoy on Monday that the time for a diplomatic solution had “passed because Hezbollah continues to tie itself to Hamas and refuses to end the conflict,” according to Axios.
Daily Caller
Union Bigwigs Decline To Endorse Anyone For President Despite Rank-And-File Members Overwhelmingly Backing Trump
From the Daily Caller News Foundation
The International Brotherhood of Teamsters on Wednesday declined to make an endorsement in the 2024 presidential election just hours after releasing internal polling data showing that the workers it represents strongly favor former President Donald Trump.
Among rank-and-file members of the major union, 59.6% surveyed said they believe the Teamsters should endorse Trump, compared to just 31% voicing support for Vice President Kamala Harris, a more than 25-point gap that remained more or less unchanged after the union ordered a subsequent survey after the Sept. 10 presidential debate. Despite the poll results, the union refused to make an endorsement as there was “no majority support” for Harris and a lack of “universal support” for Trump, it revealed on Wednesday.
A Teamsters spokesperson did not immediately clarify why the union had different standards for the two candidates.
“The Teamsters thank all candidates for meeting with members face-to-face during our unprecedented roundtables,” Teamsters General President Sean O’Brien said. “Unfortunately, neither major candidate was able to make serious commitments to our union to ensure the interests of working people are always put before Big Business. We sought commitments from both Trump and Harris not to interfere in critical union campaigns or core Teamsters industries — and to honor our members’ right to strike — but were unable to secure those pledges.”
The union cited Trump’s refusal to commit to vetoing right-to-work legislation as part of its reasoning for not issuing an endorsement.
The Teamsters, which have historically supported Democrats and often donate to left-of-center causes, made an effort to court Republicans this election cycle. The union made a donation to the Republican National Committee, met with Trump, and O’Brien was even invited to speak at the Republican National Convention. Some on the right have resisted the union’s attempt to ingratiate itself among conservatives, like the Center for Union Facts which put up billboards outside the Republican National Convention calling the Teamsters “two-faced” over its history of liberal spending.
While Republicans were generally open to the Teamsters, the Democratic National Convention snubbed O’Brien by not allowing him to speak at the event, according to The Associated Press.
Harris is considerably less popular among rank-and-file Teamsters than President Joe Biden, who only trailed Trump by about 8 points in a survey ordered by the union prior to his withdrawal from the race. Union leadership met with Harris for a roundtable discussion on Monday, The Hill reported.
“We represent everybody from airline pilots and zookeepers, and we don’t just represent registered Democrats,” O’Brien said to reporters.
The Teamsters’ endorsement could have had a significant impact if it went to either candidate given the concentration of its members in the swing states of Michigan, Nevada and Pennsylvania, according to Reuters.
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