Free Republic

Policymakers on both sides of the political aisle increasingly advocate for affordable, reliable, and clean energy. This is for good reason – modern society requires energy that is affordable and available on demand. Environmental concerns are also very important. Together, affordability, reliability, and cleanliness form the three pillars of ideal energy policy. Two new analyses evaluate competing electrical power sources and produce an affordable, reliable, and clean scorecard. The two analyses – one published by Northwood University and the Mackinac Center, and the other published by my public policy organization, The Heartland Institute – independently reach near-identical findings. Both analyses...

Key PointsAlphabet reported Thursday that Waymo, its autonomous vehicle unit, is now delivering more than 250,000 paid robotaxi rides per week in the U.S.That figure is up from 200,000 in February, before Waymo opened in Austin and expanded in the San Francisco Bay Area in March.Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai said Waymo is building partnerships with ride-hailing app Uber, automakers and operations and maintenance businesses that tend to its vehicle fleets.Alphabet reported Thursday that Waymo, its autonomous vehicle unit, is now delivering more than 250,000 paid robotaxi rides per week in the U.S. CEO Sundar Pichai said Waymo has options in...

The steel scandal behind the collapse of Thailand’s State Audit Office (SAO) building has deepened after fresh test results revealed another failure by Chinese manufacturer Xin Ke Yuan Steel — marking the second time its materials have failed to meet Thai industrial standards. Yesterday, April 23, Industry Minister Akanat Promphan confirmed the findings, citing results from the Iron and Steel Institute of Thailand (ISIT). The substandard steel sample was taken from the collapsed SAO building on April 11 and subjected to rigorous testing. “The Chinese company’s SD40T 20-millimetre steel bar failed the mass-per-metre test, consistent with the previous results,” said...

State Dept. to close woke programs. The Department of State revealed on Tuesday the Trump administration’s plans to slash the agency’s bloat. Internal documents obtained by the Free Press revealed that the State Department will close 132 agency offices — a 17% reduction. The office terminations also reportedly involve eliminating 700 positions, including civil service and foreign service employees. The news outlet reported that the offices earmarked for closure include those dedicated to advancing human rights, democracy overseas, and thwarting extremism and war crimes. The State Departmen's new shake-up will consolidate 137 offices by transferring them to other parts of...

Rowling posted a photo of herself celebrating on X after the U.K. Supreme Court did not recognize transgender women as women under the country's Equality Act."The Last of Us" star Pedro Pascal accused author J.K. Rowling of "heinous loser behavior" for her celebratory post following a U.K. court decision that did not recognize transgender women as women. Pascal hit hard at the "Harry Potter" author in the comment section of an Instagram video that called for a total boycott of Rowling's popular franchise. The activist Tariq Raouf posted the video last week criticizing Rowling for “reveling” in the U.K. Supreme...

In short: India and Pakistan have escalated a diplomatic offensive against each other, days after a deadly attack in Kashmir. Both countries have expelled senior officials and cancelled visas held by nationals of the other. What's next? India has vowed to pursue those responsible for the attack to "the ends of the earth". Pakistan has warned India that any move to restrict water into the country would be considered "an act of war", as relations between the nuclear-armed neighbours further deteriorate days after a deadly attack. The attack at a popular tourist destination in India-controlled Kashmir that left 26 people...

By Jackie Roman | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com Food and beverages with high caffeine content may soon require clear labeling, and their effects may be studied after a spate of wrongful death suits and cardiac incidents across the country tied to energy drinks. Currently, there are no federal regulations requiring clear labeling for energy drinks or other caffeinated products, despite some studies showing the severe health impacts of highly caffeinated beverages. Lawmakers and consumer safety groups say that leaves consumers unaware of how much caffeine they’re ingesting and the potential dangers. The Sarah Katz Caffeine Safety Act, reintroduced Monday...

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., is continuing his push against President Donald Trump's tariffs, with legislation he is co-sponsoring against them to come before the Senate next week. Paul says lawmakers should be in control of tariffs, rather than Trump, through the use of a national-emergency law. The discussion will come less than a month after Paul was one of the only two chamber Republicans to vote against his party's budget, which is seen as a key part of the president's tax cuts, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday. "I don't have any bad feelings towards the president, but this is...

President Trump just made one of the biggest moves yet to destroy the left’s most powerful weapon—and hardly anyone is talking about it. It didn’t even make a blip on the media’s radar. With one blistering executive order, Trump took a sledgehammer to the very foundation of the DEI movement. That’s right—47 just gutted the so-called “legal theory” that’s been used for decades to punish businesses, control hiring, and force unfair racial quotas under the phony guise of “civil rights.” This was the left’s top-secret weapon—and it was called “disparate impact”—and until now, it’s been holding America back from greatness....

Accelerates permitting procedures to develop American Energy Dominance... In response to President Donald J. Trump’s declaration of a National Energy Emergency, the U.S. Department of the Interior will implement emergency permitting procedures to accelerate the development of domestic energy resources and critical minerals. These measures are designed to expedite the review and approval, if appropriate, of projects related to the identification, leasing, siting, production, transportation, refining, or generation of energy within the United States. The new permitting procedures will take a multi-year process down to just 28 days at most...

China on Thursday denied any suggestion that it was in active negotiations with the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump over tariffs, saying that any notion of progress in the matter was as groundless as “trying to catch the wind.” China’s comments come after Trump said Tuesday that things were going “fine with China” and that the final tariff rate on Chinese exports would come down “substantially” from the current 145%.

TORONTO - The Canadian Securities Administrators says it has indefinitely paused work on developing new mandatory climate disclosures and updating diversity reporting rules in response to recent developments in the United States. Stan Magidson, chair of the CSA, says it made the decision to support companies because of the rapid shift in the global economic and geopolitical landscape. He says the regulator will instead focus on making Canadian markets more competitive, efficient and resilient. In recent years, there’s been a push to require companies to report more details on what climate-related risks they face and how they plan to address...

WASHINGTON (AP) — The world’s biggest corporations have caused $28 trillion in climate damage, a new study estimates as part of an effort to make it easier for people and governments to hold companies financially accountable, like the tobacco giants have been. A Dartmouth College research team came up with the estimated pollution caused by 111 companies, with more than half of the total dollar figure coming from 10 fossil fuel providers: Saudi Aramco, Gazprom, Chevron, ExxonMobil, BP, Shell, National Iranian Oil Co., Pemex, Coal India and the British Coal Corporation. For comparison, $28 trillion is a shade less than...

President Trump continues to walk back his original tariff assault, and markets are pleased. They rose again Wednesday after Mr. Trump said he won’t fire the Federal Reserve Chairman and is likely to retreat from his highest China tariffs. Is this Mr. Trump’s François Mitterrand moment? Readers of a certain age will recall how the French Socialist President swept into power in 1981 promising a far left agenda of government control over the private economy. The market reaction was brutal. Within a year he had put socialism on pause and by 1983 he had abandoned most of it. He went...

When Matt Raboin founded his hard cider company in Wisconsin eight years ago, he wanted to buy American. But he soon found out that his needs as a small, upstart cidery couldn’t be met by any existing American bottle makers because his orders were too small. Forced to look overseas, Raboin, like many American small business owners and consumers, found the best bang for his buck in China. Now, his vulnerable business model has been disrupted nearly overnight by President Donald Trump’s trade war with China, which escalated at a dizzying rate, giving business owners little time to adapt. While...

ATLANTA (AP) — The pastor of a Georgia megachurch who led a nationwide 40-day “fast” boycott of Target stores over the retail chain's commitment to diversity initiatives is now calling for that effort to continue as a “full Target boycott.” The Rev. Jamal Bryant said this week that the Minneapolis-based retailer has not met all of the boycott effort's demands. Among them: Restoring its commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion principles and pledging money to Black-owned banks and businesses. Target announced in January that it would phase out a handful of DEI initiatives, including a program designed to help Black...

US President Donald Trump has signaled a potential U-turn on his trade war with China amid continued market volatility, saying the high tariffs on Chinese goods will “come down substantially, but it won’t be zero.” Trump’s remarks, made at a White House news event Tuesday, appear to mark a rhetorical climbdown after weeks of tough posturing and tit-for-tat retaliation that sent tariffs on China beyond a staggering 145%. “145% is very high and it won’t be that high,” Trump said in a question-and-answer session with reporters in the Oval Office. “It won’t be anywhere near that high. It’ll come down...

More than a dozen senior lawyers — many with decades of experience working under presidents of both parties — have been reassigned, the current and former officials say. Some have resigned in frustration after they were moved to less desirable roles unrelated to their expertise, according to the sources. “It’s been a complete bloodbath,” said a senior Justice Department lawyer in the division who is not authorized to speak publicly... The managerial jobs vacated in recent weeks have not been filled, so the traditional work of the division has all but stopped.

Since President Donald J. Trump took office, his unwavering commitment to revitalizing American industry has spurred trillions of dollars of investments in U.S. manufacturing, production, and innovation — and the list only continues to grow.Here is a non-comprehensive running list of new U.S.-based investments in President Trump’s second term:Project Stargate, led by Japan-based Softbank and U.S.-based OpenAI and Oracle, announced a $500 billion private investment in U.S.-based artificial intelligence infrastructure.Apple announced a $500 billion investment in U.S. manufacturing and training.NVIDIA, a global chipmaking giant, announced it will invest $500 billion in U.S.-based AI infrastructure over the next four years amid...

For socialists, they’re sure a couple of high flyers! Far-left New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was spotted exiting a private jet with her comrade in arms, Sen. Bernie Sanders, after shuttling between stops for a campaign dedicated to denouncing the wealthy. Video from Fox News shows AOC and Sanders exiting a Bombardier Challenger 604 — despite both railing against flying private planes and the people who own them — a luxury aircraft with a lofty $5 million to $7 million price tag and costing an eye-watering $15,000 per hour to charter. The duo hopped the swanky ride to attend a...