Free Republic

Hundreds of millions of Americans risk experiencing power shortages this winter if weather conditions are harsh, according to a new report published by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), a power grid watchdog. Nearly all residents of the Northeast, Texas and Midwest could face energy shortfalls in the event of a colder-than-usual winter, the NERC report states. The lack of grid reliability is driven largely by growing electricity demand as well as the replacement of coal-fired and older natural gas-fired generators with energy-limited resources such as solar power. ... “Foreseeable extreme cold temperatures have the potential to push the...

WASHINGTON — A new survey conducted by a coalition of suppliers for US Navy aircraft carriers reports most vendors are facing increased challenges with inflation, material availability and workforce management. The Aircraft Carrier Industrial Base Coalition survey [PDF], conducted in early November 2023 and published this week, received 150 voluntary responses. ACIBC is a trade association representing about 2,000 vendors across the country who make up the supply chain shipbuilder and prime contractor HII relies on to construct aircraft carriers at its Newport News Shipbuilding shipyard in Virginia. Lisa Papini, ACIBC’s chairwoman, told Breaking Defense the results from the survey...

Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) on Tuesday unveiled a 2023 state budget proposal that includes significant cuts to climate investments — even as a relentless storm system battered California’s coast. California is now facing an estimated budget gap of $22.5 billion for the 2023-2024 fiscal year, which the governor attributed to declines in both withholding and capital gains taxes. EQUILIBRIUM & SUSTAINABILITY Newsom’s 2023 budget proposal includes climate cuts, to tackle fiscal shortfalls BY SHARON UDASIN - 01/10/23 2:57 PM ET SHARE TWEET FILE – California Gov. Gavin Newsom delivers a speech after taking the oath of office on Friday, Jan....

$3.4 billion. That’s how much bad roads and congestion in North Carolina costs its drivers in higher vehicle ownership costs, according to a report commissioned by the North Carolina Department of Transportation. Fixing those roads—as well as repairing and replacing bridges, building new highways and any other large projects the N.C. DOT has on its schedule—takes money, and lots of it. Steve Abbott, a spokesperson for the N.C. DOT, said that to bring every bridge in the state to “good” condition would cost $3.8 billion, roughly 71 percent of the department’s $5.3 billion budget for the year. “As of now,...

WASHINGTON — A day after greeting President Joe Biden as he arrived near Pittsburgh to announce his infrastructure proposal, Rep. Conor Lamb, D-Mt. Lebanon, on Thursday led a bipartisan group of 46 other House lawmakers in pressing congressional leaders to dedicate another $18 billion in funding for state transportation agencies. The lawmakers cited data from the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials that estimated state agencies will face a $28 billion budget shortfall by fiscal year 2024 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The spending bills passed by Congress in December allocated $10 billion, but the lawmakers called for...

Last year when Cook County and Chicago both raised taxes on cigarettes, anti-tax activists cried foul. They argued that the new taxes would only drive smokers into the black market or onto the internet, thus depressing tax revenue. As it turns out, they were right! The Governor’s 2006 budget admits as much when it acknowledges that “total revenue from the [statewide] cigarette tax is forecast to come in significantly below budget, due to the Cook County tax increase of $0.82 in April 2004 and the subsequent increase of the City of Chicago ’s cigarette tax.” Unfortunately, the Governor fails to...

<p>The University of California could have earned up to $4.8 billion more on its investments for retirees during the past decade simply by outsourcing them to good advisers.</p> <p>And when a UC regents' committee decided to do just that by firing the university's internal investment staff, it buried the announcement by timing it for Election Day on Nov. 5, 2002 -- hoping the media would have their hands full with other news.</p>

Governors Cite U.S. In Fiscal Crises States Blame Tax Cuts, Congress's Funding Inaction Excerpts: "Last month, the National Governors Association (NGA) declared that the states are facing their worst fiscal crisis since World War II, as governors and legislatures struggle to close budget shortfalls totaling $67 billion. Standard & Poor's, a credit rating agency, has warned of a possible downgrade for bonds issued by nine states, including California, Indiana and Arizona." "A report last month by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities pointed to a different culprit of the states' own making. The report noted that between 1994...

MORE EXPLORE FEATURES Lost in Space Problems with the space shuttle and the International Space Station have knocked NASA off its moorings By Mark Alpert Image: NASAALBATROSS? The International Space Station. Critics of human spaceflight have a saying: "If God had wanted people to go into space, He would’ve given them more money." This reworked adage has never seemed more appropriate than during the recent battles in Washington, D.C., over the future of the space shuttle and the International Space Station (ISS). Both programs are facing severe cutbacks as NASA’s new administrator, Sean O’Keefe, tries to bring order to...