March 15, 2023

Countdown To New York's Rendezvous With Energy Impossibility

March 15, 2023/ Francis Menton

The race is on to see who hits the green energy wall of impossibility first. California, Germany and the UK (the “Poseurs”) might seem to have leapt early into the lead positions. But New York is now making a strong sprint to catch and surpass them, so it can be the first to splatter its citizens’ flesh and blood all over the impenetrable barricade.
The Poseurs accumulate vast green progressive virtue credits for ridiculous promises, but their promises all have dates so far in the future that today’s politicians will be long gone when the crash detonates.
Who has sufficiently pure cult adherence to set firm green energy deadlines with real consequences in the here and now? That task has fallen to the true climate heroes here in New York City.

March 01, 2023

Race And Murder In Chicago

March 01, 2023/ Francis Menton

In Chicago on Tuesday, current Mayor Lori Lightfoot lost her bid for re-election.
In a race where only the top two finishers would advance to the final round, Lightfoot finished third, with 17.1% of the vote. Of nine total candidates, the top two vote-getters were Paul Vallas (33.7% of the vote) and Brandon Johnson (20.3%). Those two will now compete in a runoff in April.
The New York Times, which provided those voting data, described Lightfoot in its February 28 report as someone “whose outsider status and promises to enact sweeping reforms propelled her to office four years ago,” but who “saw her popularity plunge as homicides reached generational highs and as Chicago struggled to rebound from the pandemic.”
It couldn’t have happened to a more deserving person.

February 23, 2023

February 23, 2023/ Francis Menton

It seems like all the smart people have made up their minds that the future of automobiles belongs to electric vehicles.
In August 2022, California, by regulation, adopted a ban on gasoline-powered cars by 2035; and in September 2022, New York promptly followed with its own ban, also by regulation, and also set for 2035. And at the federal level, in 2021 the Biden Administration ordered that all agencies move toward 100% procurement of electric vehicles, also by 2035. Meanwhile, by means of a thicket of regulations — from vehicle mileage standards to pollution caps and more — the administration overtly seeks to force manufacturers to convert their lineups to EVs as fast as possible.
So, are electric vehicles about to sweep the country and become the dominant form of transportation? I bet against it. This is just a specific instance of the general principle that it is always wise to bet against central planning of the economy.

February 14, 2023

February 14, 2023/ Francis Menton

It is gratifying to see a few other commentators starting to notice the dramatic contrasts between New York and Florida in government spending and policy outcomes.
You may already be aware of the truly incredible difference in state government spending between New York and Florida.
But what you may not be aware of is the shocking lack of measurable benefit that New Yorkers get for all their extra spending.

February 06, 2023

February 06, 2023/ Francis Menton

If you ever wonder what kind of rulings we might get if the progressive Democrats some day achieve full control of the U.S. Supreme Court, you can try looking to some of the state Supreme Courts that come under Democrat control.
One of my favorites is the Supreme Court of North Carolina.
North Carolina is a purple state, and generally tending more to red than blue. But the justices of its state Supreme Court are elected. In 2016, in a nominally “non-partisan” election, the Democrats took control of the Court by a narrow 4-3 majority. Meanwhile both houses of the state legislature have been controlled by Republicans since 2011. The Governor has been a Democrat since 2016.

February 04, 2023

February 04, 2023/ Francis Menton

Here in New York, both State and City, we have supposedly committed ourselves by law to ambitious greenhouse gas reduction targets that are somehow going to “save the planet.”
The targets for a few years out are completely impossible to achieve, and have been adopted without any meaningful consideration of whether the technology to meet them even exists short of leaving large numbers of people without heat or electricity.
Sooner or later we will run at full speed into the green energy wall, but exactly when and how that will occur remains undetermined.
Maybe the first crunch will come via New York City’s Local Law 97.