New Laws and a Newfound Respect
What to know: The new year brings with it new laws, including a ban on “diversity, equity and inclusion” offices and programs in public universities in Texas.
The TPPF take: The laws passed in 2023 paved the way for big victories in 2024.
“One of the brightest spots in 2023 is the passage of one of the most important pieces of legislation in our modern history—Senate Bill 17, the anti-DEI bill,” says TPPF’s Sherry Sylvester. “Our challenge in 2024 will be to ensure that Texas colleges and universities actually follow the new laws against DEI. So far, not much of what we are seeing is promising.”
For more on DEI and the year ahead, click here.
Open Insanity
What to know: Victor Davis Hansen calls President Joe Biden’s open borders policy “insanity,” and the administration’s claim that the border is secure is “a Baghdad Bob narrative that they know that we know is an utter lie.”
The TPPF take: There’s less security—and more lies—at the southern U.S. border under President Joe Biden.
“In October the White House released a funding request for ‘strengthening border security and enforcement,’” says TPPF’s Selene Rodriguez. “What the funding really will do is speed up processing of migrants, not slow the flow or stop it. More importantly, it will further incentivize people to put their lives in the hands of cartel smuggling operations, thanks to a false hope of legal pathways at the expense of American taxpayers.”
For more on the border, click here.
Uncertain Future
What to know: The offshore wind industry in the U.S. faces an uncertain future, NPR reports.
The TPPF take: Biden’s Green New Deal lite is facing substantial headwinds.
“The strength of those headwinds was made clear in the summer, when the feds received exactly zero bids for leases off Texas,” says TPPF’s Robert Henneke. “Industry expressed a profound disinterest in these Gulf leases, casting a shadow on what the Biden administration has called ‘an important milestone for the Gulf of Mexico region — and for our nation — to transition to a clean energy future.’ No surprise, given that despite massive subsidies, offshore wind is twice as expensive as onshore resources.”
For more on offshore wind, click here.