Free Republic

This year, hurricane season has taken off with a ferocious, ominous start thanks to Beryl—the earliest Category 5 hurricane ever recorded, with winds topping out at 165 mph. Beryl bulldozed the Caribbean, made its way through Mexico and then plowed into Texas. As of the time of publication, over 2.1 million Texans are without power, just as a severe heat wave descends on the region. The increasing severity of hurricanes acutely stresses power grids like those in Texas, which could adversely affect everything from homes to health care facilities. It could cost a city "billions of dollars to recover from...

On Nov. 4, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced an emergency temporary standard (ETS) directing larger employers to take steps to keep their workplaces safe from COVID-19 by either requiring vaccinations or weekly testing and masks for those who are not vaccinated. This effort has been blocked, at least temporarily, and is now being considered by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. For the moment, OSHA has suspended implementation and enforcement of the requirements pending future developments in the litigation. - snip - Contrary to what its critics are labeling it, the OSHA standard does...