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Daily Caller

Trump Could Put An End To Biden’s Offshore Wind Vanity Projects

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From the Daily Caller News Foundation

By David Blackmon

One of the early decision points to be faced by incoming President Donald Trump will be what to do about the Biden administration’s costly and destructive offshore wind vanity projects in the northeastern Atlantic.

The Biden White House decided to make federal subsidization of and rapid permitting for a growing array of these big industrial installations a top priority early in the administration, and the results thus far have been halting, and in some cases disastrous.

Acting to suspend the installation of hundreds of gigantic wind turbines in the midst of known whale habitats and prime commercial fishing waters is apparently a priority for Trump and his team. Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R.-N.J.) announced on Monday that he has been “working closely” with Trump to draft an executive order that would invoke a 6-month moratorium on offshore wind construction with an eye towards a permanent suspension.

“These offshore wind projects should have never been approved in the first place,” said Van Drew, whose home-state beaches have been littered by dozens of whale carcasses since development began. “The Biden administration rammed them through the approval process without proper oversight, transparent lease agreements, or a full understanding of their devastating consequences. They are an economic and environmental disaster waiting to happen.”

Van Drew characterized the Biden administration’s green new deal agenda as “harmful” and one that put politics over people”, adding, “This executive order is just the beginning. We will fight tooth and nail to prevent this offshore wind catastrophe from wreaking havoc on the hardworking people who call our coastal towns home.”

There can be little question that, in its zeal to fast-track these enormously costly and inefficient wind projects, the Biden regulators essentially abandoned what is known as the “precautionary principle” that the same regulatory agencies have always applied to offshore oil and gas and other major projects in federal waters.

The precautionary principle essentially cautions regulators to act on the adage that it is better to be safe than sorry. It holds that if there is a risk of severe harm to the environment or animal life, an absence of any scientific or conclusive proof is not to be given as the reason for inaction. This principle places the burden of proof on the shoulders of the person who denies their project is harmful.

This principle has been used by federal regulators of the U.S. offshore many times to halt oil-and-gas projects for years at a time so that proper environmental studies can be conducted under governing laws like the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA).

The Biden White House was only too eager to cite the OCSLA recently to justify a ban on future drilling across 625 million acres of federal waters on the specious reasoning that it was “too dangerous” to allow future generations to enjoy the benefits of the billions of barrels of oil known to lie beneath these waters. This is absurd overkill, but it is also an example of the exercise of the precautionary principle.

But since 2022, as communities from New Jersey up to Maine have raised serious concerns about potential negative impacts by these massive wind industrial projects on sea mammals, seabirds and the region’s commercial fishing industry, Biden’s regulators have tossed the precautionary principle aside.

There is another principle at stake here that Trump should address: The equal and consistent application of U.S. law. It is a principle that the Biden administration chose to abandon in its zeal to enact its green agenda, from the cancellation of the Keystone XL Pipeline to the unjustified LNG permitting pause.

Actions such as these, in which multi-billion-dollar investments are lost based solely on executive whims, make it much harder for company management teams to take on big projects in this country. Who wants to risk billions of capital dollars on any project when it becomes impossible to predict how laws will be applied by future presidents?

President Trump would be wise to place restoration of these two key principles of offshore energy development atop his list of priorities.

David Blackmon is an energy writer and consultant based in Texas. He spent 40 years in the oil and gas business, where he specialized in public policy and communications.

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‘Joe, You’re Fired’: Trump Revokes Biden’s Security Clearance

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From the Daily Caller News Foundation

By Mariane Angela

President Donald Trump took to social media Friday to announce that he is terminating the security clearances of former President Joe Biden and discontinuing his daily intelligence briefings.

In a Truth Social Post, Trump said Biden no longer needs access to classified information. Trump cited a precedent set by Biden in 2021, when Biden directed the Intelligence Community (IC) to cease providing national security details to the 45th President, a courtesy historically extended to former presidents.

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“There is no need for Joe Biden to continue receiving access to classified information. Therefore, we are immediately revoking Joe Biden’s Security Clearances, and stopping his daily Intelligence Briefings,” Trump wrote. “He set this precedent in 2021, when he instructed the Intelligence Community (IC) to stop the 45th President of the United States (ME!) from accessing details on National Security, a courtesy provided to former Presidents.”

In the post, Trump referenced the Hur Report, saying it showed Biden has a “poor memory” and was unreliable with sensitive information even at his best.

“The Hur Report revealed that Biden suffers from “poor memory” and, even in his “prime,” could not be trusted with sensitive information. I will always protect our National Security — JOE, YOU’RE FIRED. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!,” Trump wrote.

Per a senior administration official: “The process to forbid Biden from getting classified information is underway.”

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Daily Caller

Things Are Changing Fast

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From the Daily Caller News Foundation

By Bob Ehrlich

Less than twelve months ago, the Democrat Party’s progressive wing was in firm control of the good ol’ USA.

The cover-up of Joe Biden’s cognitive decline was in full throttle, with only periodic breaks of truth peeking out from behind the White House’s iron curtain. The four criminal cases cooked up to derail Trump’s re-election were proceeding apace, albeit with a degree of cringe, owing to the essential weaknesses and selectivity of the prosecutions.

To boot: Trump had been hit hard with a $430,000,000 civil judgment in New York. But civil cases were only about money. The thought of breaking and jailing DJT was the accelerant for the “Stop Trump” chorus.

Around the country, DEI reigned supreme in corporate C-Suites. Migrants continued to pour over the border. The DOJ’s speech control ops were operational and (mostly) under the radar.

And, with few exceptions, the gender-bending initiative that has placed biological men in women’s athletic contests (and women’s locker rooms) had successfully shamed most (but thankfully not all) female athletes into silence.

And then the whole progressivism gig suddenly spiraled out of control.

brutal performance at the first (and only) Biden face-to-face with Mr. Trump ended the mental acuity charade. A vice president with the lowest approval numbers in vice presidential polling history was hastily installed by Democrat elders, to the consternation of many party faithful.

The two state prosecutions began to sputter from both ethical issues (Georgia) and perceived political bias (New York). The extent of the (forced) cooperation between Biden’s agencies and social media platforms (focused on fading pro-Trump narratives) was exposed.

And then Harris chose the uber progressive Tim Walz to be her running mate, rather than the attractive high polling, swing state Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro — one of many strategic blunders committed by her campaign.

Nov. 5, 2024 was of course the inflection point — now followed by daily headlines reflecting the remarkable economic-cultural-and foreign policy 180s taking place at blinding speed.

On immigration, daily raids now take down the “worst of the worst” criminal aliens from our streets, to protests from hard left politicians, Hollywood actors, and media wokesters.

On the economy, a renewal of Trump’s original tax cuts and the return of “drill baby, drill” plus no new taxes on tips, overtime, and Social Security benefits will feed supply side fans while the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) focuses on fraud, waste, abuse, and redundancy to increase efficiency and achieve savings for a broken, debt-ridden federal budget.

On culture, the counter-revolution is rolling.

Not a day goes by without some large corporation announcing a pull back on DEI and/or ESG. Now Mark Zuckerberg and META are fully invested in the restoration of free speech on social media, even down to parroting X’s “Community Notes” rather than censoring edgy or controversial speech.

To boot: One cannot watch a college or NFL football game without players (winners and losers) openly professing their faith out loud and proud. Geez, even the woke NFL is newly enthused about patriotism and the people in uniform that protect us from the bad guys.

And then there are the devastating California wildfires at once horrific, and instructive. Horrific for familiar reasons: loss of life; loss of homes; loss of communities. An unmitigated disaster of historic proportions.

But also instructive as Americans (again) gain an up-close look into the failure of a woke left coast leadership that prioritizes progressive values over preparedness, and sound water and forestry practices.

Twelve short months later, America is back to two genders…“Stay in Mexico”… a southern border …”1776”… parent power …“maximum pressure” … presidential press conferences …the lab leak theory … even Diet Coke and “YMCA.” Don’t blink.

Bob Ehrlich is a former governor of Maryland, member of Congress and state legislator. He is the author of five books on American politics and opinion pieces that have appeared in America’s leading newspapers and periodicals. He and his wife, Kendel, can be seen and heard on their weekly podcast, “Bottom Line with Bob & Kendel Ehrlich.”

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