Social Cost of Carbon
What to know: The EPA is planning to raise the “social cost of carbon,” a number that figures into how the government regulates industries.
The TPPF take: The “social cost of carbon” is a made-up number.
“In his second month in office, Biden reinstated the social cost of carbon to $51 per metric ton from $8,” says TPPF’s Greg Sindelar. “The number allows the government to regulate—and prevent—domestic energy production much more aggressively.”
For more on carbon, click here.
Protect The Children
What to know: Gov. Greg Abbott said he would sign a bill prohibiting surgeries and other medical procedures for gender-confused kids, if such a bill reaches his desk.
The TPPF take: “Gender modification” techniques are experimental medicine.
“Emerging research shows that the use of these puberty blockers and hormones in children carry significant risks and long-term side effects,” says TPPF’s Andrew Brown. “Known side effects include loss of bone density, stunted growth and infertility. As a result of these risks, countries like Finland and Sweden, which have been well ahead of the U.S. in providing ‘gender-affirming care’ to children, are reversing course and are no longer prescribing puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones to children.”
For more on protecting children, click here.
Border Crisis
What to know: U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy visited the southern U.S. border last week to view the ongoing illegal immigration crisis.
The TPPF take: The new House leadership is taking the border crisis seriously— unlike the Biden administration.
“I am optimistic that the new majority in the House of Representatives will also go on to fulfill its pledge, as stated in its Commitment to America, to pass legislation that will end the catch and release loopholes and non-enforcement policies that have been driving this crisis over the last two years,” says TPPF’s Rodney Scott. “Make no mistake, reversing course will be no easy task and it is going to require multiple pieces of legislation to fix, but starting with full transparency about the scope of the crisis is the right way to go about it.”
For more on the border, click here.