Energy & Environment

Tight Grid Conditions This Summer Highlight the Investment Problem Plaguing the Texas Grid

On Wednesday night, September 6, 2023, ERCOT had its first emergency energy alert (EEA) since the winter storm in February 2021 and its first summer EEA since August 2019. While the mainstream media continues to misdirect the public toward the preferred talking points of wind and solar lobbyists, examining the real reasons behind why this happened points us...

September 8, 2023

Homelessness

Homeless Encampments are Threatening Public Safety

Austin’s policy failures on homelessness are bordering on criminal negligence. Heading into the downtown area, tents are visible under overpasses. A bit further from immediate view is evidence of more densely populated camps. A recent video from Save Austin Now shows just one of these encampments on the West Bouldin Creek trail. As those recording...

September 8, 2023

Technology

The Dystopian World of Misinformation

As the idea of a 1984 society becomes less conspiratorial, cancellation based on false information has taken new heights. While the threat of big government looms, one of the world’s most successful companies now holds a key to consumer control. Three months ago, an engineer at Microsoft was digitally exiled from his Amazon-run home. The...

September 7, 2023

Taxes & Spending

Dallas County is Courting a Double-Digit Tax Increase

Dallas County, the second most populous county in Texas, is threatening taxpayers with a double-digit tax hike. On Sept. 12, county commissioners will convene a special meeting to discuss next year’s tax rate, which is proposed at $0.215718 per $100 of value. If adopted, the proposed rate would mark a very minor decrease of 1%...

September 7, 2023

Taxes & Spending

Beware, Bryan Taxpayers

The city of Bryan looks like it will soon hammer homeowners and businesses with a major tax increase. On Tuesday, the Bryan City Council gave its unanimous approval to a $503.7 million budget for fiscal year 2024, which begins on Oct. 1. To support all of this spending, city council also considered and preliminarily approved...

September 7, 2023

Foreign Policy

China’s Coal Boom Shows Its Empty Climate Commitments Are Red, Not Green

The CCP is accelerating coal-fired power plant construction — while we remain blind to the danger of the nation’s ‘environmental’ claims. The Biden administration has placed tremendous importance on cooperating with the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. But based on new reports out of China, when it comes to their...

September 7, 2023

Technology

Part Social Media And Part Preppers’ Paradise, Ham Radio Is The Perfect Hobby

In a fractured nation with a toxic public square, ham radio — even in this always-online digital age — is a thriving part of civil society. Shannon Vore and her friend C.J. Bouchard were out four-wheeling in their Jeep last fall when a passing trucker warned them of what looked like an ATV accident nearby. They said...

September 6, 2023

K-12 Education

Parent Empowerment Can Ease Those Back-to-School Blues

September signals the end of summer and the beginning of the academic year for millions of Texas students. While schoolkids may understandably be less excited than their parents about the back-to-school rush, parents may also be unhappy if they were fully aware of the quality of education their children are returning to.  Sadly, there are...

September 6, 2023

Homelessness

Reevaluating Austin’s Homelessness Strategy

Inside the Austin’s city-run Northbridge homelessness shelter were scenes of squalor—and death. At the urging of Austin City Council member Mackenzie Kelly, the Austin American-Statesman reviewed photos provided by a whistleblower. Those photos showed “housing units strewn with drugs and drug paraphernalia throughout trashed rooms, a gun and employees asleep on the job.” Kelly wants...

September 6, 2023

K-12 Education

It’s 2023, and Labor Unions are So Cringe

Thanks—but no thanks. Texas is doing very well without politically connected labor unions driving public policy. This weekend, we are likely to scroll past social media posts that claim, “if you like your weekends and 40-hour workweeks, thank a union.” Propaganda like this appears to be having some success, as recent polling by Gallup indicates...

August 31, 2023

Taxes & Spending

Kerrville Contemplates Raising Taxes

On Sept. 12, the Kerrville City Council is expected to meet and consider adopting a tax rate for the upcoming fiscal year. And if city hall decides to move forward with what’s been proposed, then the average homeowner could see an almost double-digit increase in city taxes. According to its Notice of Public Hearing on...

August 31, 2023

Local Government

An Error and an Opportunity

Earlier today, a Travis County district court judge found in favor of several left-leaning cities and deemed unconstitutional House Bill 2127, an ambitious new law aimed at stopping the progressive agenda using a concept known as “field preemption.” While the court’s rationale was not entirely clear, the judge was seemingly persuaded by the city of...

August 30, 2023