Free Republic

Gas prices are coming down slowly here in East/Central Illinois and while they are still well above prices two years ago they are down a great deal from their high of $5.99/gal a few months ago.I'm curious as to why that is and do you think they will continue to fall thru the end of the year, as a bonus question, will they go back up after the elections? Thanks!

More than two dozen environmental organizations petitioned the Environmental Protection Agency to ban the use of natural gas for home heating nationwide, arguing the federal agency must regulate “deadly pollution from heating appliances.” The petition, sponsored by the Sierra Club, claims fossil fuel-fired home furnaces, water heaters, clothes dryers and stoves emit enough nitrogen dioxide (NOx) and carbon dioxide (CO2) that they must be classified as “new stationary sources” of air pollutants, placing them in the same regulatory regime as power plants and factories. The petition resembles – but goes beyond Gov. Jared Polis’ Greenhouse Gas Roadmap for a clean...

Enlisted airmen who work in some of the Air Force's most difficult jobs will receive from $900 to $5,400 less annually beginning next month as the service faces financial challenges that affect the ranks. Hundreds of service members will see cuts to their Special Duty Assignment Pay, known as SDAP, in fiscal 2023 -- which starts Oct. 1. Those monthly payments, ranging from $75 to $450, were an extra incentive "to compensate enlisted service members who serve in duties which are extremely difficult," according to budget documents. [Snip] To avoid the cuts, lawmakers would have to reinstate the Special Duty...

Pope Francis Ushers In Radical Environmentalism Under The Guise Of ‘Catholic Teaching’Pope Francis’ militant environmentalism comes couched in the devotional language of his 2015 encyclical “Laudato Sí.” What he calls “the Gospel of Creation” is a politicized assault on fossil fuels, industrial development, economic freedom, and private property. It is the Great Reset in cope and chasuble.A Vatican campaign intent on social, political, and economic transformation arrives this year in two stages. The first appeared in May. The second starts today, Sept. 1, the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, and lasts until Oct. 4, the feast...

The green agenda coalition now is demanding the elimination of natural gas furnaces and appliances in homes nationwide, a move that could trigger replacements costs of $12,000 for homeowners. And the plan is being slammed as representing a federal government "out of control," according to a state lawmaker. The plan is being pushed by the Sierra Club and dozens of other "environmental" groups, who are demanding the Environmental Protection Agency ban the use of natural gas for home heating – everywhere in the country. The groups' petition claims that the federal agency absolutely has to regulate "deadly pollution" from the...

OPEC announced that they were going to cut oil production by 100,000 barrels per day in October – this is the same amount they increased production by in September. In a statement, the group said the increase was only meant for September and not something that was meant to continue. CNN reported: OPEC said Monday it would reduce oil production next month, the cartel’s first output cut since the depths of the pandemic, as it braces for a global economic slowdown to hit demand. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allied oil producing nations, including Russia, agreed to...

Here’s a paradox. Over the past two-and-a-half years, a cadre of senior politicians and their “expert” advisors across the world have successfully promoted a series of controversial public policies by claiming they’re based on “the science” rather than a particular moral or ideological vision. I’m thinking of lockdowns and net zero in particular. Yet at the same time, this group has engaged in behavior that has undermined public confidence in science. Why appeal to the authority of science to win support for a series of politically contentious policies — and then diminish its authority?

These utterances must be regarded as a preview of the future. Once a group of people has been branded evil and a threat to democracy, it presents an excuse to be stop them at any cost. There is little to gain from reading The New York Times and The Washington Post or watching MSNBC and CNN. The word ‘biased’ is insufficient to describe these outfits; instead, they must be regarded as a propaganda wing of the Democrat party. Their content reveals the mindset of the Democrats. They are so self-righteous that they unabashedly divulge what occupies their grey cells. This...

Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) employees had been trespassing private lands in Saskatchewan to ensure the nitrate level compliance of farms in the Canadian province. Member of the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan Jeremy Cockrill called on Federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault to comment on these allegations. “We’re still unsure which federal department they are a part of, but they actually were taking samples out of a private dugout and when approached and queried as to why they were there, they said that they were checking for pesticide residues and nitrates,” Cockrill said. According to the Post Millennial, Cockrill learned...

According to a CNBC investigation, retail giant Amazon — which made solar power a key pillar of its plan to reach zero emissions by 2040 — secretly switched off all rooftop warehouse solar panels amid multiple fires and safety concerns. "Out of an abundance of caution, following a small number of isolated incidents with onsite solar systems owned and operated by third parties, Amazon proactively powered off our onsite solar installations in North America, and took immediate steps to re-inspect each installation by a leading solar technical expert firm," an Amazon spokesperson conceded to CNBC in a statement. The issue...

LONDON (Reuters) - Tackling inequality is key to securing the public support needed to overhaul the global economy and reverse climate change, an update to the landmark 50-year-old computer simulation of environmental stress has found. Based on modelling by MIT scientists of a world destabilised by growing consumption, the 1972 "Limits To Growth" simulation has been attacked as flawed by some but applauded by others as prescient of accelerating planetary stress. Building off its predecessor, the Earth4All model developed by a cross-discipline team of researchers sought to explore what it would take to increase the wellbeing of humanity during the...

LINK only per FR posting restrictions.

NBC tech and culture reporter Kat Tenbarge tweeted how the ongoing water crisis in Jackson, Mississippi, is the result of "environmental racism" but became upset when users pointed out Democrats have been in control for decades and it appears local politicians ignored warning signs. "I’s the largest city in Mississippi. It’s 80% Black. Their water system is failing because of years of neglect. This is environmental racism," Tenbarge tweeted. When conservative commentator Stephen L. Miller said Republicans haven't controlled the city for a long time, Tenbarge said, "Oh, that's where all the racists in my mentions came from."

Higher education suffers from a multitude of flaws. University marketing departments habitually over-promise the benefits of their degree programs to unsuspecting high-school students. Mandatory “general education” classes extract sizable tuition fees from students while delivering little discernible benefit in knowledge or critical thinking skills. A student-debt crisis leaves college graduates in the financial hole for decades as they work to pay off degrees of arguably marginal value. An oversaturated job market plagues faculty ranks due to decades of self-serving professors pumping out graduate students with few job openings to employ them. The traditional classroom functions of the university exist in...

NEW YORK (AP) — As winter nears, European nations, desperate to replace the natural gas they once bought from Russia, have embraced a short-term fix: A series of roughly 20 floating terminals that would receive liquefied natural gas from other countries and convert it into heating fuel. Yet the plan, with the first floating terminals set to deliver natural gas by year’s end, has raised alarms among scientists who fear the long-term consequences for the environment. Some scientists say they worry that the floating terminals will end up becoming a long-term supplier of Europe’s vast energy needs that could last...

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis ripped New York Gov. Kathy Hochul Tuesday for suggesting at a rally earlier this month that Empire State conservatives should take a hike. “You have the governor of New York saying all Republicans need to get on a bus and leave the state and come to Florida,” DeSantis said at an unrelated press conference. “Who would say something so ridiculous? To say if you don’t agree with me then you don’t even have a right to be here.” Hochul raised eyebrows for saying her conservative nemeses — including former President Donald Trump, gubernatorial opponent Lee Zeldin...

California’s newly-announced rule barring the sale of new gas-powered cars in 2035 will apply to Virginia as well under the terms of a 2021 state law, Attorney General Jason Miyares’s (R) office confirmed to The Hill on Monday. In 2021, the state General Assembly, where Democrats then held majorities in both chambers, passed a law requiring the state to adopt the same automobile standards as those adopted by the California Air Resources Board (CARB). Although Democrats lost their majority in the state House of Delegates in 2021, efforts to repeal the legislation in this year’s legislative session were unsuccessful. California’s...

With ice coverage for July and August remaining above the ten-year average of 2010–20, the extent of summer sea ice in the Arctic has surprised experts who once predicted that such levels would be impossible. This stands in stark contrast to the dominant climate narrative that predicts the dwindling of summer ice in the Arctic. Some politicians had even claimed that parts of the Arctic would be ice-free by now. With the seasonal Arctic melt technically over, it is fair to conclude that the extent of ice in the summer of 2022 has been greater than the ten-year average. On...

The visit would include addressing the climate crisis and accelerating the transition to a clean energy economy. (I better not say what is going through my mind)

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has temporarily suspended a federal rule for fuel sales in four states, including Indiana, in response to a fire that occurred at an oil refinery in Indiana last week. It is feared that the incident may cause disruptions in both gas pricing and supply, AP reported. “As part of the Federal Government’s response to a fire and shutdown at the BP Whiting Refinery in Whiting, Indiana, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Michael Regan today issued an emergency fuel waiver to help alleviate fuel shortages in four states whose supply of gasoline has been impacted...