From LifeSiteNews

By Clare Marie Merkowsky

Over three quarters of Canadians polled want an immediate election to address U.S. President Donald Trump’s 25% tariff threat which could go into effect as early as February 1.

A new polls has found that 77 percent of Canadians desire an immediate election to deal with U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff threat.  

According to a January 21 poll by Ipsos, over three quarters of Canadians want an immediate election to address Trump’s 25 percent tariff threat which could go into effect as early as February 1 if certain demands are not met.

“We need a federal election immediately, so we have a Prime Minister and government with a strong mandate to deal with the tariff threat from President Trump,” 77% of the polled Canadians agreed.  

Trump has threatened to put 25% tariffs on both Canadian and Mexican exports unless the countries take serious action against illegal drug smuggling and immigration which occurs at their borders.   

Initially, the tariff was to take effect on his first day of office, January 20, but it has now been hinted by Trump to be slated for February 1, leaving Canadians under two weeks to respond to his demands.   

The poll, which interviewed 1,001 Canadians, further found that 82 percent support Canada responding with its own tariffs on American goods entering the country.   

Similarly, 55 percent of Canadians believe the tariff threat is a bluff to force Canadians to strengthen their borders and increase defense spending.  

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who is slated t0 resign once a new Liberal leader is selected, has told Canadians that Liberals are considering all options, including retaliatory tariffs.   

“We will not hesitate to act,” Trudeau said at a meeting of the Council on Canada-U.S. Relations on January 17. “We will respond and, I will say it again, everything is on the table.”  

However, all plans for retaliation are paused as Trudeau has suspended Parliament until March 24 by which time the Liberal Party will have selected a new leader.  

Many Canadians have pointed out that this essentially cripples Canada while Liberals sort out problems within their party.   

Yesterday, Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre demanded that Trudeau immediately reconvene Parliament on an “emergency” basis so Canada can deal with looming tariff threats.  

“Canada is facing a critical challenge. On February 1st we are facing the risk of unjustified 25% tariffs by our largest trading partner that would have damaging consequences across our country,” wrote Poilievre in a news release Tuesday. 

Poilievre recalled that the United States under Trump says it wants “to stop the illegal flow of drugs and other criminal activity at our border,” and it will use tariffs against Canada as a way of forcing compliance with U.S. demands. Poilievre also pointed to the fact that the Trudeau government has admitted “their weak border is a problem,” which is “why they announced a multibillion-dollar border plan.” 

“Canada has never been so weak, and things have never been so out of control. Liberals are putting themselves and their leadership politics ahead of the country. Freeland and Carney are fighting for power rather than fighting for Canada,” Poilievre charged, demanding that Trudeau reopen Parliament immediately “to pass new border controls, agree on trade retaliation and prepare a plan to rescue Canada’s weak economy.”  

From the Daily Caller News Foundation

By David Blackmon

Shares of big Danish offshore wind developer Orsted dropped by 17% Monday, the same day President Donald Trump took the oath of office to become the 47^th president of the United States. The two events are not merely coincidental with one another.

To be sure, Orsted’s loss of market cap was caused by several factors, including both the general slowing of the offshore wind business, and Orsted’s own announcement that it will incur a $1.69 billion impairment charge related to its Sunrise Wind project off the coast of New York. Company CEO Mads Nipper  attributed the charge to delays and cost increases and said the project completion date is now delayed to the second half of 2027.

But there can be little doubt that the raft of energy-related executive orders signed by Trump also contributed to the drop in Orsted’s stock price. As part of a Day 1 agenda consisting of a reported 196 executive orders, the new president took dead aim at reversing the Biden Green New Deal agenda in general, with a special focus on wind power projects on federal lands and waters.

In addition to general orders declaring a national energy emergency and pulling the United States out of the Paris Climate Accords (for a second time), Trump signed a separate order titled, “Temporary Withdrawal of All Areas on the Outer Continental Shelf from Offshore Wind Leasing and Review of the Federal Government’s Leasing and Permitting Practices for Wind Projects.” That long-winded title (pardon the pun) is quite descriptive of what the order is designed to accomplish.

Section 1 of this order withdraws “from disposition for wind energy leasing all areas within the Offshore Continental Shelf (OCS) as defined in section 2 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA), 43 U.S.C. 1331.” Somewhat ironically, this is the same OCSLA cited in early January by former President Joe Biden when he set 625 million acres of federal offshore waters off limits to oil and gas leasing and drilling into perpetuity.

As with Biden’s LNG permitting pause, the fourth paragraph of Section 1 in Trump’s order states that  “Nothing in this withdrawal affects rights under existing leases in the withdrawn areas.” However, the same paragraph goes on to subject those existing leases to review by the secretary of the Interior, who is charged with conducting “a comprehensive review of the ecological, economic, and environmental necessity of terminating or amending any existing wind energy leases, identifying any legal bases for such removal, and submit a report with recommendations to the President, through the Assistant to the President for Economic Policy.”

Observant readers will know that the parameters of this order as it relates to offshore wind are essentially the same as a proposal I suggested in a previous piece here on Jan. 1. So, obviously, it receives the Blackmon Seal of Approval.

But we should also note that Trump goes even further, extending this freeze to onshore wind projects as well. While the rationale for the freeze in offshore leasing and permitting cites factors unique to the offshore like harm to marine mammals, ocean currents and the marine fishing industry, the rationale supporting the onshore freeze cites “environmental impact and cost to surrounding communities of defunct and idle windmills and deliver a report to the President, through the Assistant to the President for Economic Policy, with their findings and recommended authorities to require the removal of such windmills.”

This gets at concerns long held by me and many others that neither the federal government nor any state government has seen fit to require the proper, complete tear down and safe disposal of these massive wind turbines, blades, towers and foundations once they outlive their useful lives. In most jurisdictions, wind operators are free to just abandon the projects and leave the equipment to dilapidate and rot.

The dirty secret of the wind industry, whether onshore or offshore, is that it is not sustainable without consistent new injections of more and more subsidies, along with the tacit refusal by governments to properly regulate its operations. Trump and his team understand this reality and should be applauded for taking real action to address it.

David Blackmon is an energy writer and consultant based in Texas. He spent 40 years in the oil and gas business, where he specialized in public policy and communications.