Free Republic

Even an occasional glass of wine or beer increases the risk of health problems and dying, according to a major study on drinking in 195 nations that attributes 2.8 million premature deaths worldwide each year to booze. "There is no safe level of alcohol," said Max Griswold, a researcher at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation in Seattle, Washington and lead author for a consortium of more than 500 experts. Despite recent research showing that light-to-moderate drinking reduces heart disease, the new study found that alcohol use is more likely than not to do harm. "The protective effect of...

President Donald Trump is clearly concerned about the plight of American farmers. He pushed the Department of Agriculture to make available up to $12 billion of temporary relief to those farms caught in the middle of his tariff war – starting this Labor Day. It’s laudable that he wants to address this problem, but let’s remember that it was a problem of his own creation. America is a breadbasket to much of the world because of our exceptional farmland. We have about two-and-a-half times as much arable land as does China, for instance, with about the same landmass. That means...

Amid growing demands from the corn lobby that the government mandate even more ethanol be blended into the nation’s gasoline supplies, new finding call such proposals into question. One of the chief claims of the corn lobby is that ethanol is a more “green” type of energy because it’s renewable. From there, the argument is extended to claim that it’s better for the environment all the way around. But the conclusions of a study underlying the latest EPA report on the environmental impact of ethanol (seven years in the making, dating back well into the Obama administration) concludes that the...

Dozens of drunk seagulls have been found on beaches in Southwest England after scavenging alcohol, according to news reports. Citing the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Sky News reports that some seagulls have died and others are “seriously ill.” "The birds appear disoriented and confused and struggle to stand,” explained RSPCA vet David Couper. "We took some video of one of the birds who is staggering around and losing his balance just like a person would if they'd had too much to drink." DevonLive reports that one seagull “reeking of beer” vomited over firefighters sent to...

Saying the air traffic controller work force was “too white,” the Obama Federal Aviation Administration allegedly replaced hiring standards based on science, math and ability to handle intense pressure with rules designed to increase racial diversity. It’s hard to find a more flagrant example of bureaucrats putting people’s safety and lives so low on their list of priorities. Difficult but not impossible. Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFÉ) standards also play with people’s lives. Enacted in the 1970s amid fears of imminent oil depletion, the rules require that cars and light trucks on average across each manufacturer’s entire smorgasbord of vehicles...

GOP seeks farm bill support amid immigration debate House Freedom Caucus members are trying to flex some muscle on immigration in exchange for support on the farm bill; A sprawling and subsidy-packed farm bill that also would have tightened food stamp rules failed in the House on Friday, in a dramatic defeat for GOP leaders who faced an uprising from conservatives over inaction on immigration. The farm bill, which was voted down 213-198, had been hanging in the balance as the conservative House Freedom Caucus threatened to withhold support without an agreement on an immigration bill vote. The GOP leadership,...

Like most people I’ve spoken with, I have no innate, inflexible antipathy to ethanol in gasoline. What upsets me are the deceptive claims used to justify adding mostly corn-based ethanol to this indispensable fuel; the way seriously harmful unintended consequences are brushed aside; and the insidious crony corporatist system the ethanol program has spawned between producers and members of Congress.What angers me are the legislative and regulatory mandates that force us to buy gasoline that is 10% ethanol – even though it gets lower mileage than 100% gasoline, brings none of the proclaimed benefits (environmental or otherwise), drives up food...

I think I must have been ill that day. At some point, no one can say precisely when, libertarians apparently swore a feudal oath of fealty to the Republican Party. In response to an American Prospect article on libertarian disenchantment with the Bush administration, Reason's own former editor in chief Virginia Postrel explained that "real Dean voters don't like Jeff Flake. (I do.)" On the Crossfire view of politics, this makes sense: You pick your team and root for it, come hell or high water. The Platonic Real Dean Voter can't possibly hold any affection for a member of the...

The Trump administration is seeking to blunt domestic opposition to its trade policies with a relief package for farmers affected by the U.S. trade spat with China, say officials involved in the discussions. The aid package, which could climb into the billions of dollars, is still being developed. Agriculture and congressional officials are examining Depression-era programs like the Commodity Credit Corp., which was created in 1933 to stabilize farm incomes, and which permits borrowing of as much as $30 billion from the Treasury to finance its activities. Using the CCC would also give the administration an existing program to tap,...

Lawmakers and bureaucrats in official Washington often act as if their decisions lead the nation forward. News from Iowa this week, however, shows once again that the culture leads and politicians lag behind. Kim Reynolds became Iowa's Governor last May when her predecessor (Terry Branstad) resigned to serve as the U.S. Ambassador to China. Reynolds is now running for her own full term in a state where the average Obamacare premiums jumped 57 percent. "Many Iowans faced a choice of going broke or going without insurance," according to Reynolds. "And that's really not a real choice." Seizing the opportunity...

The Trump administration seems to be leaning towards allying with the oil refining industry in its fight against Big Corn and federal rules requiring the use of corn ethanol. Reuters reports that the U.S. EPA apparently granted an exemption to Andeavor, a large oil refiner, from having to comply with blending requirements as part of the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) last month. The RFS requires refiners to blend biofuels, such as corn ethanol, into their refined fuels. If they can’t or find it too costly, they are required to purchase credits. The law dates back to 2007 under the George...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - President Donald Trump is seriously considering abandoning efforts to remake the nation’s biofuel laws after wading deep into an issue that divides some of his core constituencies, according to three sources familiar with the administration’s thinking. Advisers have urged Trump to instead let Congress tackle the biofuel reforms, but use the threat of administrative action to help rival lawmakers come together and solve the intractable issue. The U.S. Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) has created reliable demand for corn farmers in the nation’s heartland, but merchant refiners like Valero Energy Corp say the costs to comply with...

America’s anti-fracking enviros had a strange benefactor. While allegations of the Donald Trump campaign colluding with Russians to alter the presidential election outcome remain unproven at best, a clear money trail and U.S. intelligence reports demonstrate Russia’s active campaign of funding U.S. environmental groups. On March 1, U.S. House Science, Space, and Technology Committee’s chairman, Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX), released a report on “Russia’s Social Media Meddling in U.S. Energy Markets.” The report details Russia’s motives in interfering with U.S. energy markets, influencing domestic energy policy, and manipulation of Americans via social media propaganda. “This report reveals that Russian agents...

WASHINGTON -- An impasse remains over a nettlesome aspect of the nation's biofuels standards even after the White House on Tuesday hosted Sen. Ted Cruz and some corn state senators for a meeting at the Texan's request. Despite the lack of a breakthrough to deal with Cruz's concern that the setup is harming refineries in Texas and beyond, he lifted a months-long blockade on an Iowa official nominated to a top USDA post. The Senate then quickly confirmed Iowa Agriculture Secretary Bill Northey. Senator Ted Cruz ✔ @SenTedCruz This morning, we had a very positive & productive meeting on fixing...

President Trump is organizing White House meetings with Cabinet officials about a federal biofuel mandate that a major refiner blamed for its bankruptcy, Bloomberg and Reuters report. The first meeting on potential changes to the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) will be Friday with EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt and Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, Bloomberg said. Trump will then meet Tuesday with those Cabinet officials and a handful of senators from both oil- and corn-heavy states who care about the policy, both news outlets report. The meetings come weeks after Philadelphia Energy Solutions (PES), the largest fuel refiner...

Texas Senator Ted Cruz was in Philadelphia yesterday, but he wasn’t there for the cheesesteaks. He was holding a rally at Philadelphia Energy Solutions, the owners of a major northeastern refinery which the EPA managed to bankrupt this winter. Arguing on behalf of those who are being put out of work because of EPA mandates, particularly the Renewable Fuel Standard, Cruz made the case for less government licensing and more flexibility in U.S. energy development, leaving some to wonder if this was actually a campaign stop for an upcoming election bid. (Dallas News) Texas Sen. Ted Cruz led a...

As part of his ongoing war against the ethanol industry, Senator Ted Cruz traveled to Philadelphia this week to meet with oil refinery workers who claim to be facing layoffs and financial ruin due to the federal mandated Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). The now-bankrupt refinery, Philadelphia Energy Solutions, has argued that the cause of its financial problems are renewable identification numbers, or RINs, federal credits that refineries must purchase if they are unable to blend ethanol with gasoline as federal law requires. Credit prices fluctuate and in the past year, have risen from a few cents to nearly $1.40 apiece....

Germany's air fleet was grounded this week after "too much biodiesel" fuel found its ways into the gas tanks, according to German reports saying the Luftwaffe cannot safely fly with such a mixture. Germany's Tornado fleet of war planes was reportedly grounded after an unsafe mixture including too much biodiesel was used to fuel the planes, requiring the fleet to be grounded and their fuel tanks flushed. "The tolerance values are minimally exceeded," Colonel Kristof Conrath of the Tactical Air Force Squadron 51 was quoted as saying in media reports. "It's not that the aircraft would fall from the sky....

My back is sore from shoveling snow - and it's the federal government's fault. Maybe I'd better explain. We've been getting lots of snow in Pittsburgh of late. When it snows, I need to clear two driveways: mine, which is 50 yards long, and my father's, which is almost as big. Since my father is having trouble with his knees, I gave him my magnificent new Toro snowblower; it's a convenience for me to have it in his garage, so I can clear his driveway in fewer than 15 minutes. I purchased an equally powerful, used snowblower to tend to...

This year, trucks and other heavy-duty motors in America will burn some 3 billion gallons of diesel fuel that was made from soybean oil. They're doing it, though, not because it's cheaper or better, but because they're required to, by law. The law is the Renewable Fuel Standard, or RFS. For some, especially Midwestern farmers, it's the key to creating clean energy from American soil and sun. For others — like many economists — it's a wasteful misuse of resources.