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How Trump And Musk Changed The Energy Conversation

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From the Daily Caller News Foundation

By David Blackmon

It is somewhat amazing to reflect on how radically the conversation around energy has transformed in America since 2020. Amid all the societal madness that took place around an array of social issues – race, gender, DEI, disinformation and whether it should be censored – it was easy for many to ignore the similarly mad nature of discussions around energy which happened during the five years from 2020 through 2024.

Those who understand the complexities of energy in all its forms and wished to talk and write about them in a factual manner found themselves often being ordered or otherwise “encouraged” to at best soften their language on such things or, worse, to outright lie about them in order to maintain social license.

True story: In 2021, I was suspended for a full week by old Twitter, one of whose censors bluntly told me that some purely factual information I had written there about the use of coal in power generation was a violation of the platform’s “community standards,” such as they were at the time BE, i.e., Before Elon. A content cop at another social site informed me shortly later that the reason some of my posts were so obviously throttled was that the algorithm had identified me as being, and I quote, “pro-fossil fuels.”

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Never mind that literally every device this censor used in his job and at home was made up largely of parts derived from petroleum, or that his clothes were, as well, or that he no doubt enjoyed working in an office and living in an apartment whose lights and air conditioning were powered by natural gas or coal generation (yes, even in California): My typed words were the larger problem here. I would either bend to the will of the ubiquitous, all-seeing, all-powerful algorithm, or none of my 20,000 or so followers at the time would see anything I posted. Argue too strenuously, and I’d no doubt find myself banned. All because I believe “fossil fuels,” i.e., coal, oil, and natural gas and the hundreds of useful products derived from them are a net good for modern society.

It is not without irony that this madness all began to change shortly after the period of time we should call AM, i.e, “After Musk” arrived at Twitter on Oct. 27, 2022.

Within days of long-time fossil fuels critic Mr. Musk’s taking over what had been arguably the most censorious of all the big social media platforms, signs started to appear that free speech was breaking out all over, at least on that platform, and they gradually spread to other parts of the social media realm. The era of government and big tech social sites conspiring to censor thought and speech was coming to an end. All Americans owe Musk a debt of gratitude for providing the spark that helped beat back what was an extremely dangerous time for their freedoms.

It is no accident that the conversation around the energy transition and net-zero has shifted radically since. It is even less an accident that the shift has accelerated considerably since Jan. 20, when Donald Trump was sworn in as President for the second time.

Today, it is now widely accepted that dreams of a government-subsidized energy transition that controlled every energy conversation from 2020 through 2022 is not just unlikely but impossible. A statement that got me suspended from Facebook 2021 – that it is not possible for wind and solar to displace oil, gas, and coal in power generation due to this thing we call physics – is now a widely accepted energy reality.

The hubristic madness that formed the foundation of federal energy and climate policy through the Obama and Biden years – that carbon dioxide, without which no life on planet Earth would exist, is a “pollutant” to be regulated by federal bureaucrats – now finds itself on the brink of extinction by the same agency, the EPA, which invented it to begin with.

Musk and Trump have apparently terminated their friendship now, but their combined actions have brought U.S. society back to a place where it is again possible – even desirable – to have fact-based discussions about a wide range of issues, including energy, without fear of being cancelled again. That’s something to be grateful for.

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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Trump Orders Review Of Why U.S. Childhood Vaccination Schedule Has More Shots Than Peer Countries

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From the Daily Caller News Foundation

By Emily Kopp

President Donald Trump will direct his top health officials to conduct a systematic review of the childhood vaccinations schedule by reviewing those of other high-income countries and update domestic recommendations if the schedules abroad appear superior, according to a memorandum obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.

“In January 2025, the United States recommended vaccinating all children for 18 diseases, including COVID-19, making our country a high outlier in the number of vaccinations recommended for all children,” the memo will state. “Study is warranted to ensure that Americans are receiving the best, scientifically-supported medical advice in the world.”

Trump directs the secretary of the Health and Human Services (HHS) and the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to adopt best practices from other countries if deemed more medically sound. The memo cites the contrast between the U.S., which recommends vaccination for 18 diseases, and Denmark, which recommends vaccinations for 10 diseases; Japan, which recommends vaccinations for 14 diseases; and Germany, which recommends vaccinations for 15 diseases.

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HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has long been a critic of the U.S. childhood vaccination schedule.

The Trump Administration ended the blanket recommendation for all children to get annual COVID-19 vaccine boosters in perpetuity. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Marty Makary and Chief Medical Officer Vinay Prasad announced in May that the agency would not approve new COVID booster shots for children and healthy non-elderly adults without clinical trials demonstrating the benefit. On Friday, Prasad told his staff at the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research that a review by career staff traced the deaths of 10 children to the COVID vaccine, announced new changes to vaccine regulation, and asked for “introspection.”

Trump’s memo follows a two-day meeting of vaccine advisors to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in which the committee adopted changes to U.S. policy on Hepatitis B vaccination that bring the country’s policy in alignment with 24 peer nations.

Total vaccines in January 2025 before the change in COVID policy. Credit: ACIP

The meeting included a presentation by FDA Center for Drug Evaluation and Research Director Tracy Beth Høeg showing the discordance between the childhood vaccination schedule in the U.S. and those of other developed nations.

“Why are we so different from other developed nations, and is it ethically and scientifically justified?” Høeg asked. “We owe our children science-based recommendations here in the United States.”

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Tech Mogul Gives $6 Billion To 25 Million Kids To Boost Trump Investment Accounts

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From the Daily Caller News Foundation

By Melissa O’Rourke

Billionaire Michael Dell and his wife, Susan, announced Monday that they will give 25 million American children a $250 deposit as an initial boost to President Donald Trump’s new investment program for children.

The Dells’ pledge totals $6.25 billion and will be routed through the Treasury Department. The goal, they say, is to extend access to the federal Invest America program — referred to as “Trump accounts” — established by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed into law by the president in July.

The federal program guarantees a $1,000 federally funded account for every child born from 2025 through 2028, but the Dells’ money will instead cover children 10 years old and younger in ZIP codes where the median household income is under $150,000, according to Bloomberg.

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“What inspired us most was the chance to expand this opportunity to even more children,” the Dells wrote in the press release. “We believe this effort will expand opportunity, strengthen communities, and help more children take ownership of their future.” (RELATED: Trump Media Company To Create Investment Funds With Only ‘America First’ Companies)

 

Dell, founder and CEO of Dell Technologies with a net worth of about $148 billion, has been one of the most visible corporate leaders championing the Trump accounts. In June, he joined Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, and others at a White House roundtable promoting the initiative.

In addition to the new $6.25 billion pledge, Dell Technologies committed to matching the government’s $1,000 contribution for the children of its employees. Other companies, such as Charter Communications, Uber, and Goldman Sachs, have said they are willing to match the government’s contributions when the accounts launch.

“This is not just about what one couple or one foundation or one company can do,” the couple wrote. “It is about what becomes possible when families, employers, philanthropists, and communities all join together to create something transformative.”

Starting July 4, 2026, parents will be able to open one of the accounts and contribute up to $5,000 a year. Employers can put in $2,500 annually without it counting as taxable income.

The money must be invested in low-cost, diversified index funds, and withdrawals are restricted until the child turns 18, when the funds can be used for college, a home down payment, or starting a business. Investment gains inside the account grow tax-free, and taxes are owed only when the money is eventually withdrawn.

The accounts will “afford a generation of children the chance to experience the miracle of compounded growth and set them on a course for prosperity from the very beginning,” according to the Trump administration.

The broader effort was originally spearheaded in 2023 by venture capitalist Brad Gerstner, who launched the nonprofit behind the Invest America concept.

“Starting 2026 & forevermore, every child will directly share in the upside of America! Huge gratitude to Michael & Susan for showing us all what is possible when we come together!” Gerstner wrote on X.

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