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Full Steam Ahead on the America First Agenda
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, National, Top Stories

Full Steam Ahead on the America First Agenda

By Heidi Ganahl | Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice A lot of good has already happened in Trump’s first year back. Donald Trump’s first year in the White House has delivered more progress than most presidents manage in an entire term. The border is tightening. Energy is coming back to life. Inflation is easing. America feels steady again. You can see it in people’s faces — a sense of relief, a little pride, a little hope after years of turbulence. But anyone who’s ever built anything knows early wins don’t carry you forever. Momentum is a start, not a finish. We’ve moved things forward, but keeping that ground and pushing it further is the real test. This is where you focus up and just do the work. The America First agenda works — and the next chapter must be about execution, ac...
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Taxpayers Left Holding the Bag After $2 Billion Solar Project Fails
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Approved, Commentary, National

Taxpayers Left Holding the Bag After $2 Billion Solar Project Fails

By Greg Walcher | Commentary, GregWalcher.com A decade ago, three giant companies took advantage of federal incentives to build the world’s largest solar power plant in the Mojave Desert, known as Ivanpah. It was “the wave of the future,” a new technology that focuses 300,000 computer-controlled mirrors to reflect solar rays onto three boiler towers, each the height of a 40-story building. The water inside is heated to produce steam that can generate 392 megawatts, enough electricity to power 140,000 homes. Supposed to last 30 years or more, the technology is already considered obsolete. Obama Administration loan guarantees financed three-fourths of the $2.2 billion cost, making it a safe investment for the three owners – Google, BrightSource Energy, and NRG Energy. I wrote a column ...
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Colorado, Western States Face Federal Deadline to Avert Colorado River Showdown
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, State

Colorado, Western States Face Federal Deadline to Avert Colorado River Showdown

By Marianne Goodland | The Denver Gazette This Tuesday is the deadline set by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation for the seven states of the Colorado River to develop a framework for an agreement governing the river’s operations. But that agreement seems just as far away now as it did when Scott Cameron, who was named acting head of the Bureau of Reclamation in October, announced the deadline in June. Cameron told the Arizona Reconsultation Committee during its June meeting that Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum is prepared to act if the seven states failed to come up with the agreement framework by this week’s deadline. “Our goal is to parachute a seven-state deal” into an environmental impact statement the agency is developing and as the preferred alternative in Mar...
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Congress uses little-known law to roll back Biden-era BLM public lands lockup
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Approved, Commentary, National

Congress uses little-known law to roll back Biden-era BLM public lands lockup

By Greg Walcher | Commentary, GregWalcher.com Last week, the Senate passed three Congressional Review Act resolutions overturning BLM resource management plans. What would have been called an earth-shattering precedent not so long ago was this time hardly noticed except by those who closely follow Interior and energy issues. The Biden-era resource management plans were designed to lock up millions of acres of public lands from the “multiple uses” required by law. The Congressional Review Act (CRA) was part of a small business package signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1996. It provided a tool Congress sometimes uses to overturn federal regulatory agency actions. It requires agencies to report any new rules to Congress and provides special procedures under which Congress can...
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Bill Gates Admits Climate Change Not the End of the World After All
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The Western Journal, Approved, National

Bill Gates Admits Climate Change Not the End of the World After All

By Bryan Chai | The Western Journal If you’ve paid any attention to the discourse surrounding the weather in the last 30 years, you’ve no doubt heard from some climate change alarmists. From Greta Thunberg to Bill Gates, “climate change” was the looming, apocalyptic Sword of Damocles threatening to end life as we know it. As time wore on, however, fewer and fewer people were inclined to believe that these doomsday predictions (whose dates kept getting moved back) were actually rooted in science. In fact, Thunberg has all but abandoned her original pet cause to move on to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. But Gates? He’s still talking about climate change — but the tune he’s singing may surprise you. (Of note, keep in mind that Gates was and is a proponent of syntheti...
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Colorado Democrats Push DOE to Restore $600M in Cancelled Energy Grants
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Just The News, Approved, State

Colorado Democrats Push DOE to Restore $600M in Cancelled Energy Grants

By: Elyse Apel | Just The News Colorado Democrats, including U.S. Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper, joined together to sign a letter calling for the U.S. Department of Energy to restore over $600 million in funding for 38 Colorado-affiliated energy projects. Colorado Democrats joined together to sign a letter calling for the U.S. Department of Energy to restore over $600 million in funding for 38 Colorado-affiliated energy projects. In the letter, Colorado's U.S. Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper, and Colorado U.S. Reps. Joe Neguse, Diana DeGette, Jason Crow and Brittany Pettersen argue the cuts are harmful to the state. “By cancelling over $600 million in energy-sector funding, much of which directly supported grid reliability, DOE is making it more di...
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Colorado’s “Budget Crisis” Rings Hollow Amid EV Giveaway Surge
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Complete Colorado, Approved, Commentary, State

Colorado’s “Budget Crisis” Rings Hollow Amid EV Giveaway Surge

By: Jon Caldara | Commentary, Complete Colorado Colorado’s governor just made this statement “The market has made it clear, EVs (electric vehicles) are here to stay.” I agree with him. Electric cars, unlike 8-track tapes and rotary-dial phones, will continue to be available to consumers for a long, long time. Cool. But why he made the statement puzzles me. He did so while touting his decision that the state will increase one of its subsidies to buy a new EV from $6,000 to $9,000. Wait a second. Which one is it? Has the market made clear electric vehicles are “here to stay”? Or do we need to increase the EV subsidy by a third to keep its market alive? And it begs another question: If the state is in a budget crisis, why spend our very scarce money buying people cars instead...
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Colorado’s Local Control Eroded by State’s Energy and Housing Overreach
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, Commentary, State

Colorado’s Local Control Eroded by State’s Energy and Housing Overreach

By: The Gazette Editorial Board | Commentary, The Denver Gazette What’s the common thread between Gov. Jared Polis’ roadmap to green energy and his agenda for affordable housing?  That is, aside from the fact each will backfire on the state’s economy in one or more ways.  The answer is that both steamroll local laws that are more in tune with the needs of their communities — in pursuit of pipe dreams.  One aims to eliminate all greenhouse gas emissions — when in fact Colorado has virtually no impact on global climate in the first place. The other seeks to create more affordable housing on a wing and a prayer, oblivious to how the housing market really works. A Gazette report last week on Polis’ mad dash to 100% renewable power generation and “net zero” carbon ...
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U.S. Energy Output Hits All-Time High, Defying Regulatory Pressures
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Just The News, Approved, National

U.S. Energy Output Hits All-Time High, Defying Regulatory Pressures

By Alton Wright | Just the News The agency now projects U.S. crude oil production will average 13.5 million b/d in both 2025 and 2026. The United States produced a record-high 13.6 million barrels of crude oil per day in July, up from 13.5 million barrels per day (b/d) in June, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in its latest Short-Term Energy Outlook. U.S. crude oil production in July was higher than previously estimated, prompting the agency to raise the starting point of its forecasts for the remainder of 2025 and 2026. The agency now projects U.S. crude oil production will average 13.5 million b/d in both 2025 and 2026. For the remainder of 2025, this represents a 100,000 b/d increase from the agency’s August forecast, while 2026 oil production was projected 200,...
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Congressman Evans Urges Colorado to Embrace Oil, Gas and Nuclear
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Greeley Tribune, Approved, State

Congressman Evans Urges Colorado to Embrace Oil, Gas and Nuclear

By Tyler Duncan | Greeley Tribune Evans promises to fight for the deregulation of the oil and gas industry to promote job growth, national security. U.S. Rep. Gabe Evans and other Colorado Republicans have set their sights on reducing environmental regulations in an effort to increase oil and gas production and revive nuclear power in Weld County. Evans and State Reps. Carlos Barron and Scott Slaugh, who was recently appointed to District 64 after Ryan Armagost resigned, visited Aims Community College on Monday for a workforce roundtable. Evans’ message to the students and faculty who attended was clear: if we don’t improve our energy production, then Colorado will suffer. Evans discussed China and its innovations in artificial intelligence and drone technology. For every 100,0...
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