From the Daily Caller News Foundation

By David Blackmon

The green fairy tale now seems to be unraveling faster than a faulty wind turbine blade in a Nantucket storm.

On Monday, Aug. 11, 2025, Danish offshore wind giant Ørsted dropped a bombshell, notifying the market it plans a massive rights issue worth up to 60 billion Danish kroner (about $9.4 billion) to prop up its flailing offshore U.S. operations. The plan, which amounts to almost 50% of Ørsted’s market cap, is a desperation move driven by the forces of reality and President Donald Trump’s no-nonsense energy policies.

Ørsted’s stock took a nosedive in the wake of Monday’s announcement, cratering as much as 31.2% in Copenhagen trading, erasing billions in value overnight.

Translated to plain English, this means Ørsted, whose normal business model would have involved selling a large minority share to investors to raise needed capital, has been unable to find any buyers as Trump’s energy policy revolution takes hold.

President Trump has made no bones about his disdain for the wind industry in general and offshore wind specifically. He promised repeatedly during his 2024 campaign to gut the offshore wind industry, citing its bogus environmental claims and visual pollution, and boy, has he delivered.

His Day One executive orders targeted both onshore and offshore wind, freezing new leases and issuing stop-work orders. That has been followed by more executive branch actions targeting wind, along with language in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act to phase out Biden’s heavy subsidies and other preferences for the wind business.

As a result, Ørsted found itself unable to offload a stake in Sunrise Wind because no sane investor wants in on a venture that’s now politically radioactive and never had a business model capable of surviving without heavy government subsidies. Farm-down deals like the one Ørsted had planned now lie dead in the water in the new energy policy reality.

But the truth is that Ørsted has struggled to make a go of U.S. offshore wind for years. Back in 2023, under the Biden administration’s subsidy-fueled frenzy, the company ate $5.6 billion in impairments on projects like Ocean Wind 1 and 2, leading to cancellations and a CEO ouster. Inflation, supply chain woes and unreliable subsidies turned what was supposed to be a green gold rush into a black hole for cash. Now, with Trump at the helm, the mask is off.

CEO Rasmus Errboe, who took over the job from Mads Nipper earlier in 2025, called the situation “extraordinary.” But let’s be honest: Under Mads Nipper, this company made a habit of demanding higher and higher subsidies from governments everywhere it operates in recent years. If anything, calling for more subsidies anytime the going gets rough seems to be a part of Ørsted’s core business planning.

Another reality most will miss where Ørsted is concerned is that the subsidies provided by Biden and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s government were just the tip of the iceberg. The Danish government owns a controlling 50.1% stake in the company, meaning Danish taxpayers are footing the bill for the majority of its operations in any event. If Sunrise Wind goes belly up, the Danish people take the biggest part of the hit.

Amazing, isn’t it?

Meanwhile, back in the U.S., Trump’s suspension of new wind leases is a breath of fresh air for fishermen, whales and anyone tired of seeing their coastlines industrialized for intermittent power that costs a fortune and delivers peanuts.

Ørsted’s latest fiasco is emblematic of the entire renewable scam. Offshore wind is hyped by virtue-signaling politicians as the savior of the planet, but it’s riddled with problems: soaring costs, environmental havoc (just ask the Nantucket folks suing over blade failures), and total dependence on subsidies that vanish when real leaders take charge.

Now, the truth is staring us in the face: the offshore wind fantasy is crumbling, and it’s about time. It’s an industry that richly deserves to be put out of its misery.

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.

From the Daily Caller News Foundation

By Jason Hopkins

The Trump administration extradited dozens of fugitives from Mexico as the White House tightens a noose around criminal syndicates south of the border.

Federal law enforcement took custody of 26 individuals, many of them leaders of dangerous drug cartels and human smuggling organizations that the Trump administration has deemed to be foreign terrorist organizations, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ). The Tuesday announcement came in the aftermath of President Donald Trump reportedly authorizing the use of military force against drug cartels.

Among those handed over to U.S. authorities were top leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel, Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generation and Los Zetas cartels, according to the DOJ. Nearly every individual faces up to life in prison on various charges ranging from hostage-taking, drug-trafficking, kidnapping, human smuggling and a slate of other crimes.

“Today is the latest example of the Trump administration’s historic efforts to dismantle cartels and foreign terrorist organizations,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a public statement. “These 26 men have all played a role in bringing violence and drugs to American shores — under this Department of Justice, they will face severe consequences for their crimes against this country.”

“We are grateful to Mexico’s National Security team for their collaboration in this matter,” Bondi continued.

Those extradited to the U.S. included Martin Zazueta Perez and Kevin Gil Acosta, leaders of a powerful faction of the Sinaloa Cartel that have led hired gunmen armed with grenade launchers and assault rifles in attacks against Mexican military officials, according to the DOJ. Both men were involved in prolific fentanyl trafficking into the U.S.

Also taken into American custody were Leobardo Garcia Corrales, a close friend of Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman who has allegedly trafficked fentanyl into the U.S. in exchange for AK-47s, grenades and submachine guns, and Luis Raul Castro Valenzuela, a Sinaloa Cartel gangbanger accused of kidnapping and holding hostage an American citizen, according to the DOJ.

Collectively, the 26 individuals have imported “tonnage quantities” of cocaine, meth, fentanyl heroin and other illicit drugs through the Mexico border, according to the Trump administration.

Just days before the extradition, Trump reportedly authorized the use of military strikes against Mexican drug cartels, a move that would mark a monumental escalation in the White House’s war against criminal syndicates. Immediately upon re-entering office, the president officially designated a number of cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, allowing U.S. authorization to freeze their financial assets, prohibit their entry into the country and the prosecution of members for supporting terrorism.

While the Mexican government has shown a willingness to help take on drug cartels and illegal immigration, their government appears adamantly opposed to U.S. military strikes against criminal syndicates within their territory, with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum Friday “absolutely” ruling out the possibility of U.S. military operations on Mexican land.

The Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration across the southern border has wielded unprecedented success, with Border Patrol agents releasing zero migrants into the interior of the country in July, marking the third consecutive month of zero releases.