Policy and Government
In the WSJ, Michael Barone reviews Amity Shlaes’ ‘Great Society.’
Purchase on Amazon.com here.
Victor Morton, at The Washington Times, says former Maryland governor Martin O’Malley reportedly took Cuccinelli to the woodshed at the Dubliner, a favored watering hole of Supply-Side blog editor-in-chief Ralph Benko, not there when it happened, regarding Cuccinelli’s extreme anti-immigrant stance.
While the left clutches its pearls at the US’s withdrawal from the Paris Accords (while the U.S. significantly reduced its CO2 production from 2007 to 2017 by greater reliance on natural gas), Leslie Hook at Ozy reports that coal is poised for a big, C02-producing comeback in China:
Around the world last year, coal power started to decline: More plants were closed than were built and the globe’s coal power capacity went down by 2.8 gigawatts.
But that’s about to change, and it all has to do with China. In a break with the global trend, China added 25.5 gigawatts to its coal capacity last year. And it’s due to ramp that up, as the world’s biggest energy consumer ignores global pressure to rein in carbon emissions in its bid to boost a slowing economy. Ted Nace, head of Global Energy Monitor, says the new coal plants will have a significant impact on China’s already-increasing carbon emissions.
That’s according to a report from Global Energy Monitor, a nonprofit group that monitors coal stations. The current capacity of the entire European Union coal fleet is 149 gigawatts. While the rest of the world has been largely reducing coal-powered capacity over the past two years, China is building so much coal power that it more than offsets the decline elsewhere.
“What is being built in China is single-handedly turning what would be the beginning of the decline of coal into the continued growth of coal,” he says, adding that China was “swamping” global progress in bringing down emissions.
CNN reports Maine’s lobster industry is collateral damage in Trump’s trade war.
Monetary
On Real Clear Markets, John Tamny explains how Big Tech mocks the money multiplier theory.
Spending
From Reason, Eric Boehm warns Trump’s farm bailout is adding up.
Regulatory
In City Journal, Phillip Sprincin says Oakland, California is showing the rest of us how to improve housing.