In an impressive show of common sense, residents of Spokane, Washington proactively created their own initiative to block the city council from banning the use of natural gas without “express consent of the governed”. A legal battle began when first term city councilwoman Katherine Burke and an environmental group sued to keep the initiative off the ballot, with round one going to the plaintiffs. The community group responsible for the measure plans to appeal the judge’s decision.

Residents of Spokane are seeing firsthand what happens when common sense collides with the righteous authoritarian mindset of those pushing an extreme climate agenda—with little regard for science, economics, or the real-life effects it will have on everyday Americans. We all want a cleaner environment and a better future, but we need to get there honestly and fairly.

The Bottom Line: Banning natural gas will result in higher costs, more blackouts and unreliable infrastructure, loss of jobs and economic growth, and an increase in the GHG emissions we are trying to reduce.

NPR had no hesitation when publishing this article, scant with evidence, purporting that climate change “fueled” Hurricane Ida. The author backs up the claim by asserting that the gulf of Mexico is a “few degrees hotter than average”, citing NOAA data based on SST monitoring. It doesn’t take an environmental expert to see that surface temperature of the ocean fluctuates on a daily, if not hourly, basis.

We have been dealing with devastating weather for centuries, and science shows climate change is not making hurricanes more frequent. These over-the-top claims are meant to instill fear and are damaging to those of us who want to find real solutions for both our environmental and energy futures.

The Bottom Line: The media have a responsibility to provide true and accurate information so that we make sound scientific decisions—not emotional, kneejerk reactions. Scare tactics should not drive policies.

Well, this isn’t tone deaf at all.

Cars.com recently published an article titled “Here Are the Eleven Cheapest Electric Vehicles You Can Buy”. In case you were in the market, the “cheapest” EV to make the list was the Nissan Leaf, which starts at just over $28,000.

In reality, $28k is just not affordable for most American families. Even less so when you consider their “cheap” prices are propped up by electrical vehicle tax incentives that primarily go to corporations and high-income individuals. In fact, the typical American usually buys used, and only spends around $18k. Unless these prices come way down (and we don’t mean through subsidies), this could spell big trouble for Biden’s EV goals.

The Bottom Line: Government-mandated schemes have propped up electric vehicles and replaced the consumer-driven demand for better technology. We need to let the American people and businesses use common-sense, technology and ingenuity to build something better that consumers can and will actually buy—without a taxpayer-funded safety net.

House Continues On Reconciliation: On Thursday, September 9, the House Ways and Means committee is scheduled to begin its reconciliation markup, continuing into the next week. Markups from the Transportation and Infrastructure, Energy and Commerce, Agriculture, Judiciary and Small Business committees should also be coming in the next two weeks.

FERC Workshop On Electric Transmission Incentives: On Friday, September 10, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission will have a workshop “to discuss certain performance-based ratemaking approaches, particularly shared savings, that may foster deployment of [electric] transmission technologies.”

Public Comments Open On Mountain Valley: Public comments are now open to the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality on a permit to allow the Mountain Valley Pipeline to cross streams and wetlands in Southwest Virginia. Two public hearings will be held later this month.

Enjoy the long weekend and happy Labor day!