Energy Talking Points by Alex Epstein

The EPA just announced it’s challenging the single most destructive regulatory action in US history: the “endangerment finding.”

This bogus “finding” allowed Obama and Biden to ban gas cars, shut down power plants, slow US oil growth, and lock up our limitless natural gas.

• Ever wonder why the Biden EPA was able to become an economic dictator, prohibiting most Americans from buying a gas car after 2032 and effectively banning all coal plants and new natural gas plants after 2039?

  It started with the Obama EPA’s bogus “endangerment finding.”¹

• In 2009, the Obama EPA issued a “finding” that GHGs “endanger both the public health and the public welfare of current and future generations.”

  But GHGs mostly come from fossil fuels, which on net had clearly been enhancing health and welfare—and would continue doing so.²

• Since human beings began harnessing uniquely cost-effective energy from fossil fuels, human health and welfare have increased dramatically everywhere.

  Why? Because the benefits of cheap, reliable energy for billions far outweigh any negative side-effects of fossil fuels.³

• Before and since the “endangerment finding,” which is supposedly about reducing climate danger, fossil fuels have on net made us far safer from climate danger by creating incredible climate resilience.

  That’s why climate disaster deaths have declined 98% over 100 years!⁴

• In considering whether fossil fuels’ GHGs “endanger” us and thus should be restricted, EPA should have considered

  1. Overall benefits of fossil fuels
  2. Climate resilience benefits of fossil fuels
  3. Both positive and negative climate impacts of GHGs

  EPA failed on all 3 counts.

• The “endangerment finding” was particularly inane because it concluded that the US restricting US GHG emissions would accomplish anything globally—when in fact all it accomplished was harming us and offshoring industry to China, which now has 300+ new coal plants in the pipeline!⁵
• By falsely claiming that fossil fuels “endanger” human health, welfare, and climate safety when they were—and have continued to be—a net benefit, EPA has justified giving itself totalitarian powers that, if not stopped, will crater the US economy.
• Drawing on its bogus “endangerment” finding, the Biden EPA passed GHG rules that effectively ban all coal plants and new natural gas plants—by requiring them to capture at least 90% of GHGs, which no plant has ever done at all, let alone cost-effectively.

  How EPA’s power plant rule will destroy our grid

  Alex Epstein · May 22, 2024

  4 reasons EPA’s power plant rule will destroy our grid:

  Read full story

• Drawing on its bogus “endangerment” finding, the Biden EPA passed “fuel economy standards” that would prevent more than 50% of Americans from buying a gasoline-powered vehicle after 2032—a complete violation of American freedom.⁶
• Drawing on the bogus “endangerment” finding, the Biden EPA and administration as a whole waged a “whole of government” war on fossil fuels that, if not reversed, will crater our entire economy—which has no near-term replacement for fossil fuels.⁷
• The Trump administration, especially EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, will be attacked relentlessly for challenging the bogus “endangerment finding”—but they should be praised for being willing to take on the most destructive regulatory action in American history.

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Sam Cooper

A new high-profile British Columbia money laundering case targets an alleged Sinaloa Cartel–linked fentanyl and cocaine trafficking cell established in a mansion near the U.S. border. Court filings say the group was capable of negotiating significant cocaine importation deals with Ismael Garcia—known as “El Mayo”—the reputed Sinaloa Cartel chief.

According to the filings, the Canada-based syndicate comprised at least three men, including Hector Chavez-Anchondo. The lawsuit, filed yesterday by the Director of Civil Forfeiture, contends that they belonged to a violent drug trafficking organization that “used and continues to use violence, or threats of violence, to achieve its aims.”

Investigators allege that the Sinaloa Cartel-linked gang trafficked a range of controlled substances, including ketamine, methamphetamine, Xanax, oxycodone, MDMA, and fentanyl.

“As part of these efforts, the drug trafficking organization has agreed to, and made arrangements to, purchase cocaine from the Cártel de Sinaloa in Mexico,” the filings say. They add that “the Sinaloa Cartel is a terrorist entity, and the government of Canada listed it as such on February 20, 2025.”

Though no criminal convictions have been reported in connection with this lawsuit—first covered by the Vancouver Sun—Canada’s designation of the Sinaloa Cartel as a terrorist organization could have significant ramifications for high-level discussions between the Trump Administration and Ottawa. Washington has intensified pressure on Canada over alleged failures to curb fentanyl trafficking networks, with the dispute escalating into sweeping tariffs amid a mounting trade war.

According to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, members of the Surrey-based fentanyl and cocaine trafficking network had the clout to negotiate cocaine supply terms directly with García until his arrest by U.S. law enforcement on July 25, 2024. Court filings state that his capture “disrupted the DTO’s efforts to import and distribute cocaine in Canada,” forcing the group to pivot and initiate “negotiations with other parties, known only to the DTO members.”

RCMP investigators say they uncovered a substantial cache of weapons and narcotics during a search of a Surrey property on 77th Avenue on September 23, 2024. The multi-million-dollar mansion is located about 20 minutes from the Peace Arch border crossing in Washington State, north of Seattle.

Court submissions detail the following seized items:

• Firearms: Twenty-three weapons, including ten handguns, two sawed-off shotguns, two hunting rifles, seven assault rifles (two reportedly equipped with screw-on sound suppressors), and a speargun.
• Drugs: Approximately 3.5 kilograms of ketamine and methamphetamine concealed in a hidden compartment in one suspect’s room, hundreds of counterfeit alprazolam pills, and a hidden stash of oxycodone pills.
• Currency: Nearly CAD 15,000 in cash, bundled “not consistent with standard banking practices.”

Authorities also confiscated numerous luxury assets, asserting these represented either instruments or proceeds of unlawful activity. In a filing submitted today, a lawyer for the Director of Asset Seizure wrote:

Seized vehicles included a 2006 GMC Sierra, a 2002 Ford F350, a 2006 Land Rover, a 2018 Dodge Ram 1500 Sport, a 2006 Dodge Charger R/T, and a restored 1950 vintage Ford. Investigators also confiscated upscale motorcycles, such as a 2012 Harley Davidson and custom bikes featuring elaborate flame motifs. An Azure AZ238 boat, along with its Shoreland’r trailer, was taken as well.

more to come