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on November 21, 2019
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Help Us Stop Governor Walz From Imposing California’s Car Rules on Minnesota!

Written by Isaac Orr
in Energy, Environment, Minnesota Economy, Transportation

In late September, Governor Walz announced that he would seek to impose California's mandates for zero emission vehicles and low emission vehicles on Minnesota. Rather than passing this proposal through the normal legislative process, Governor Walz is trying to impose these rules on Minnesotans by instructing the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency to draft the mandates forcing our state to comply with regulations drafted by unelected bureaucrats on the California Air Resources Board. Why wouldn't Governor Walz want to go through the legislative process where legislators can weigh the pros and cons of the proposal and vote accordingly? Probably because these regulations...

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on September 30, 2019
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As $7,500 Federal Subsidies Expire, Electric Vehicles Are About to Get More Expensive

Written by Isaac Orr
in Climate, Energy, Environment

You may not have known this, but the federal government has been subsidizing electric vehicles (EV's) to the tune of a $7,500 tax credit for every electric vehicle sold. In fact, the subsidy is a major reason why we're starting to see more Tesla's tooling around the Twin Cities, but there's a catch: the subsidy begins to disappear after a manufacturer has sold 200,000 units, and Tesla has hit this threshold, meaning the growth of Elon's EV's could slow moving forward. The phase out of the tax credits comes at a bad time for Tesla, after the EV automaker announced it would...

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on September 27, 2019
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Three Must-Know Facts About Governor Walz’s Plan to Impose California Car Mandates on Minnesota

Written by Isaac Orr
in Climate, Energy, Environment, Transportation

On Wednesday, Governor Walz announced that he would be using the bureaucratic rule making process to impose California’s rules for low and zero emissions vehicles (LEV and ZEV) on to Minnesota car buyers. While the Governor has tried to frame this as a win for consumer choice, Minnesota families, and the environment, the facts suggest that the Governor's proposed regulations are solution in search of a problem. Three facts you need to know about this proposal are: This is not about expanding consumer choice. It will mandate the sale of smaller, lighter cars that are not as safe as bigger, heavier...

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on September 04, 2019
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There is No Holy Grail: Some Perspective on Battery Storage

Written by Isaac Orr
in Climate, Energy, Environment

Today I wanted to share this graphic I found on a pro-nuclear Facebook page that really hammers home the point: we simply require far too much energy for wind, solar, and battery storage to ever be a viable, reliable source of electricity. If the folks who claim that climate change is an "existential crisis" were actually serious about reducing carbon dioxide emissions they would legalize new nuclear power and allow the electricity generated by hydropower that we already buy from Canada to count toward our "carbon free" goals. Instead, the DFL-lead house said these two proposals were non-starters. There is simply no...

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on July 25, 2019
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DFL Legislators Want to Halt PolyMet, Urge Governor To Cancel Permits

Written by Isaac Orr
in Environment, Mining, Minnesota Economy

According to the Star Tribune, eighteen liberal Democratic lawmakers from the Metro area are calling for Governor Tim Walz to suspend all state permits for PolyMet's proposed copper-nickel mine in northern Minnesota. The legislators claim the suspension is needed to make sure that "the permits were not rigged." It's interesting to note that not a single DFL lawmaker from the Iron Range, where the mine would actually be located, signed on to the letter. This makes sense, because no project in Minnesota history has been studied more extensively than the PolyMet project, which has been under regulatory review for more than...

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on April 05, 2019
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Isaac Orr: Lower Electricity Costs From Going Carbon-Free? Wanna Bet, Gov. Walz?

Written by Isaac Orr
in Climate, Energy, Environment, Minnesota Economy

The following article originally appeared in the St. Paul Pioneer Press: Gov. Tim Walz recently announced his plan to make Minnesota’s electricity 100 percent carbon-free by 2050, and while the governor claims his plan will reduce energy costs for Minnesota families due to improvements in energy efficiency, I could not disagree more with his assessment. Therefore, I am willing to bet the governor a month’s salary that his claim is incorrect and that electricity costs will skyrocket under his plan. Increasing quantities of renewable energy result in increasing electricity prices because they are more expensive than conventional sources of electricity, like coal....

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on March 20, 2019
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Statewide View: Skyrocketing Electricity Prices Threaten Minnesota Mining

Written by Isaac Orr
in Energy, Environment, Mining, Minnesota Economy

Renewable-energy advocates often cite increasing demand for steel, copper, nickel, and cobalt as a reason why Minnesotans on the Iron Range should support more renewable-energy mandates. There is no doubt that doubling the renewable-energy mandate would increase Minnesota's demand for these metals, but we won't be able to afford to mine them here....

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on October 30, 2018
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Anti-Mining PAC Endorses Walz, Ellison, and a Slew of Other DFL Candidates

Written by Isaac Orr
in Environment, Greater Minnesota, Mining, Minnesota Economy

A group that opposes the proposed Twin Metals copper nickel mine in northern Minnesota has released a new ad endorsing Tim Walz for Governor. This doesn't necessarily mean Walz opposes the Twin Metals project, but if anti-mining groups are endorsing him, it does raise the possibility that they know something we don't about his feeling toward copper nickel mining in our state....

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