Free Republic

Restaurants and other businesses have lost their challenge to Denver ordinances that forbid them from using natural-gas appliances, as a judge has found they are not preempted by federal law. The Restaurant Law Center and the National Association of Home Builders were among the trade associations that sued Denver in July 2024, arguing rules passed in Denver this decade were preempted by the federal Energy Policy and Conservation Act. Judge Philip Brimmer disagreed in an Aug. 7 ruling granting the city’s motion to dismiss. Preemption only applies to energy use requirements on manufacturers before the appliances reach consumers, Brimmer wrote....

Every August, the anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Georgia is accompanied by familiar reflections about missed warning signs, intelligence failures, and a supposedly unexpected turning point in European security. The language has become so standardized that it obscures a far more uncomfortable reality. Georgia did not reveal a new Russia. It exposed a Russia that had been behaving consistently for nearly two decades while much of the West continued searching for evidence that Moscow had fundamentally changed after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Describing the failure to recognize this trajectory as a collection of mistakes understates what actually occurred....

The Fifth Circuit has set aside Biden-era energy efficiency standards for stoves and cooktops, ruling that the Energy Department illegally refused to withdraw the rule after states raised objections requiring ordinary notice-and-comment rulemaking. Judge Oldham accused the Biden administration of trying to “dodge” controversy, said DOE’s interpretation made a “mindless hash” of Congress’s scheme, and called its concession that CA, MA, and NY do not fairly represent the states “the understatement of the day.” The ruling could significantly limit DOE’s use of direct final rules. The Fifth Circuit held they are for consensus regulations, must be withdrawn when objections provide...

Over the past eighteen months, nearly every condition analysts have long said would erode the dollar's dominance arrived at once. War broke out in the Persian Gulf. The Strait of Hormuz has closed, reopened, and closed again, and remains shut as this is written. Iran began charging transit tolls denominated in yuan. Indian refiners started settling Russian crude in yuan and dirhams, the first time a top-five oil importer structurally routed around the dollar for energy. China's cross-border payment system posted record volumes, clearing 1.22 trillion yuan in a single day in March. Central banks bought gold at a pace...

The United States and Israel are planning what would be one of the harshest bombing campaigns to date against energy infrastructure targets in Iran, multiple sources told CBS News, with strikes possible throughout the weekend. There was some discussion about trying to conclude by the time financial markets open Monday because of concern about how the bombings will affect the U.S. and global economy, but an end point wasn't locked in. The Israelis have been notified and are coordinating with the United States, according to multiple U.S. sources. The president has yet to give the final go orders for the...

Germany, proud parent of the 'Destroy Your Economy and National Standard of Living Through the Climate Cult Fever Dreaming School,' has been wallowing in its own pond scum colored green glory lately.There is not a single week without a German company announcing mass layoffs or closures.Germany is in the deepest structural crisis since WWII. Government spending masks the real magnitudeIt can’t continue forever, governments need taxes from the real economy to keep spending. pic.twitter.com/DuBjY173ys— Michael A. Arouet (@MichaelAArouet) July 26, 2026Now the poster child for the horrors of life under deindustrialization (not that Britain isn't giving them a run for...

Cuba's state power operator UNE announced on Monday that the national electrical system had suffered a "total disconnection," plunging the island into darkness amid its worst economic crisis in decades, severe fuel shortages, and daily blackouts averaging 20 hours. Cuba's national power operator announced on Monday that the island's electrical system had suffered a complete collapse, triggering a nationwide blackout as technicians worked to restore service. The state-run company UNE said in a post on X that the National Electric Power System had gone down completely without immediate explanation. "A total disconnection of the National Electric Power System is occurring....

Russia is now "so deeply invested in the Maduro regime that the only realistic option is to double down." Financial Times' Alexander Gabuev says that Rosneft owns two offshore gas fields in Venezuela and holds stakes in assets boasting more than 20 million tonnes of crude. Caracas owes Rosneft USD 3 billion. Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido last month declared himself interim president, winning the backing of the United States. Russia, meanwhile, supported Venezuela’s socialist leader Nicolás Maduro, who has led the oil-rich nation since 2013. The Kremlin is extending help to Maduro while the United States is imposing sanctions...

President Trump shouldn’t waste time chasing a final Iran deal — and instead prepare Americans for resuming military operations by targeting Tehran’s economic lifeline, retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg told The Post.“[We should be telling Americans] the fight’s not over. It’s going to take a day or two — buckle up,” Kellogg, a former Trump adviser, said in an interview Wednesday. “The American people are great about that … if they explain it to them, they’ll understand it.”Kellogg is skeptical of the ongoing 60-day US-Iran talks outlined in the memorandum of understanding signed by Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian...

SNIP China wants the fighting in Eastern Europe to stop right now. Beijing is issuing a clear, uncompromising command to both Russia and Ukraine. The message came directly from the United Nations floor. Sun Lei serves as China’s deputy representative, and he delivered his remarks during a recent Security Council gathering. The Moscow Times reported that China is firmly demanding an immediate return to the negotiating table. Beijing claims it wants to guide the political process. Lei held nothing back when addressing the packed room. “We strongly urge you to end the conflict as soon as possible. We also strongly...

President Trump promised on Day One to end the permitting nightmare that buries American projects for years. One year later, the numbers are in. The White House published a release on June 30, 2026 marking the milestone, and the scale of the overhaul is bigger than most people realized. The release says more than 60 agencies and departments have now reformed, or are in the process of reforming, their procedures after CEQ reviewed thousands of pages of rules and related materials. The core problem is a law called NEPA. For decades, the White House argues, the review process was used...

Among our “climate leader” jurisdictions, Britain is a serious contender for the top spot. Sure Germany got started earlier than Britain, with the so-called “Energiewende” going back to the 1990s; and upstart American states like California and New York each think that their own hair shirt energy restrictions should qualify them for the number one position. But Britain’s suite of policies in the aggregate is hard to top: mandatory Net Zero goals set by statute; madcap buildout of wind and solar electricity generation; shuttering of generation from coal and natural gas; refusal to permit drilling in the North Sea; complete...

HOUSTON/GEORGETOWN, May 30 (Reuters) - Guyana was already the world’s fastest growing economy before the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran drove up oil prices. Now, the tiny Caribbean nation of nearly 1 million people will reap an even bigger bonanza as the conflict reshapes global energy markets. The war that caused one of the largest energy disruptions in history highlights the growing importance of countries including Guyana that offer political stability and geographically unrestricted access to their estimated ​11 billion barrels of oil reserves. This growing windfall from crude brings pressure from business owners and locals on the government to use...

There's a major heatwave taking place across most of Europe this week. Here's visualization showing the "temperature anomalies" which have driven temperatures in many European capitals close to 100 degrees Fahrenheit (and in some cases over that). Europe is melting! The size, intensity, and longevity of this #heatwave is enormous. Peak temperatures will reach 45°C / 100-115°F this week in #France . You are looking at temperature anomalies in the cloud layer over the next 2 weeks, which peak at +20°C. #Europe is Earth’s fastest warming continent, and European heat extremes are increasing faster than models project they should, likely...

The Islamic Republic of Iran has announced that they have closed the Strait of Hormuz. The reality on the ground shows that ships continue to travel through the waterway unimpeded, with U.S. naval assets in the region confirming that the Strait is completely open.Despite the announced closure of the Strait of Hormuz by the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Navy (IRGC-N), vessel traffic appears to be continuing, with several vessels using both the Iranian and U.S. announced traffic separation schemes. pic.twitter.com/05fjVSSaYE— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) June 20, 2026🚨 JUST NOW: Iran caught LYING that they "closed" the Strait of Hormuz againCENTCOM: "Commercial ship...

I always liked Jay Leno; his jokes would make you groan but begrudgingly chuckle during his 21-year reign as Tonight Show host, which started in 1992 (with a brief break as Conan O’Brien took over for a bit, but that’s another story). Compared to the toxic bile spewed by today’s wastes of airtime like Jimmy Kimmel and the thankfully cancelled Stephen Colbert, however, he was a genius. That being said, I could have done without this latest bit from “Jay Leno’s Garage,” which I will describe shortly. But if you’re ever feeling down about the current news cycle or cynical...

949 Comments Joe Biden bragged about killing the oil industry during an appearance on ‘Jay Leno’s Garage.’ In January 2025, in one of his last acts as president, Joe Biden permanently banned offshore drilling across 625 million acres of US ocean. This is after Biden blocked oil drilling on 10 million acres in Alaska in 2023. Joe Biden also canceled the Keystone XL pipeline his first day in office. President Trump overturned Biden’s ban on Arctic drilling, but he is facing legal hurdles. Biden boasted about his unprecedented power grab and attack on domestic drilling as he flew down the...

So, how are gas prices where you are?Two weeks ago in my part of S.E. Tennessee: $4.49 - $4.69/gal Today? I filled up at $3.29/gal as I'm going to my good friend Lazamataz's house in Georgia, and we're going to take in an Atlanta Braves v. San Francisco Giants game tomorrow in a Corporoate Suite.

Data centers have become the chic new enemy among activists. Critics claim the centers are using inordinate amounts of electricity and water to power artificial intelligence, inspiring protesters to take to the streets and Democratic lawmakers to head to Albany to stymie their development. However, some experts say the anti-data center push is more of a moral panic than an empirical one, often based on speculative and sometimes bunk projections. It seems that data centers are the boogeyman onto which larger fears about the impact of AI are being projected. “The estimates of future data-center development may be overestimated by...

Nuclear energy is about to play a huge role in powering America, but the new reactors that will do the heavy lifting are surprisingly small. Some are so small they are classified as microreactors—mobile powerhouses capable of being transported anywhere they’re needed to provide power, including the most remote sites on the planet. Spotlight on America traveled to the Idaho National Laboratory (INL), where these microreactors are about to be powered up and tested for the very first time inside a facility already famous for making history. Now, history is unfolding here once again. The newly renovated and reconfigured Dome...