It’s a Gas Gas Gas
What to know: California will open five new natural gas-powered generators to stave off rolling blackouts, officials say. The plants will be “temporary.”
The TPPF take: California has starved itself of electrical generation.
“California’s grid is increasingly unstable, resulting in a frequent need to import electricity in the late afternoon,” says TPPF’s Chuck DeVore. “This happens almost daily when solar power ramps down with the sun and people return home from work and school. During hot evenings, California relies on natural gas, coal, and nuclear power from surrounding states when their own renewables fall short.”
For more on California’s power problems, click here.
Energy Independence
What to know: The U.S. House has approved President Joe Biden’s $2.5 trillion “reconciliation” bill—with its version of a Green New Deal.
The TPPF take: America is on the brink of losing energy independence.
“In 2019, our 11.3 million American energy jobs represented 7.9% of the country’s GDP and contributed billions to federal, state, and local revenue funds for schools, roads, hospitals, and so much more,” writes Matt Coday of the Oil and Gas Workers Association, in a guest column for The Cannon Online. “Killing American oil and gas jobs will hurt all Americans by raising energy costs, increasing taxes, leading to higher unemployment, raising global emissions, and weakening our national security.”
For more on energy independence, click here.
Taking What They’re Giving
What to know: In Illinois, unemployed workers can bring home nearly as much by staying home as they could by working.
The TPPF take: When other benefits are included, many workers can make even more than their salaries—by not working. That’s not healthy for the economy.
“What is the fix for such a fundamentally broken labor market?” asks TPPF’s E.J. Antoni. “It is surprisingly simple—we only need to remove those things which are hindering it. The perverse incentives should be removed immediately so that the labor market can function properly. When people are not paid to stay home, they lose the incentive to stay home. Income will again be tied to working, as it has been for nearly all human history.”
For more on the labor market, click here.