Energy News Beat

By Wolf Richter for WOLF STREET.

Retail sales rose by 0.45% in December from November (+5.5% annualized), and November and October were revised higher – October from +0.46% to +0.56%, and November from +0.69% to +0.77% – and it’s on top of these upwardly revised sales that December sales grew by another 0.45%, all seasonally adjusted.

The slow first half was followed by a blistering acceleration in the second half, particularly over the past four months.

Not seasonally adjusted, December sales rose to a record of $794 billion. Ecommerce was a big winner; sales jumped 10.2% year-over-year to $156 billion, for a share of 19.6% of total retail sales, surpassing auto dealers and making it the #1 retailer category for the month.

The acceleration in the second half: Someone turned on the spigot.

The three-month average – which includes the prior revisions, irons out the month-to-month squiggles, and shows the trend better – rose by 0.59% in December, seasonally adjusted, after three-month average growth rates of +0.74% in November, +0.45% in October, and +0.66% in September.

To get a point of reference, on an annualized basis, December’s three-month average growth rate of 0.59% amounts to an annual rate of 7.3%. November’s growth rate of 0.74% amounts to an annual rate of 9.3%. That is huge growth for the US.

Someone turned on the spigot in the second half, and retail sales gushed, after a slow first half. June had been handicapped by the CDK hack of the cloud-based dealership software of thousands of dealers that prevented them from processing sales in June, which then got processed in July, shifting that portion of retail sales from June to July, but that doesn’t explain the surge in retail sales over the past four months of 8.2% annualized:

• 6 months January-June total: +0.1%, annual pace +0.2%.
• 6 months July-December total: +3.8%, annual pace +7.7%.
• 4 months September-December total: +2.67%, annual pace +8.2%.

Note the steepening of the slope over the past six months (black box):

GDPNow jumped to 3.0% due to these retail sales.

The Atlanta Fed’s GDPNow “nowcast” for Q4 “real” GDP (inflation adjusted) jumped to a growth rate of 3.0% today, upon inclusion of the retail sales data.

Over the past 15 years, the US has averaged about 2% “real” GDP growth. If GDPNow is on target, Q4 real GDP would come in at about 3.0%. Over the past five quarters, there was only one weakling, Q1 2024 with 1.6% inflation-adjusted growth. The other four quarters ranged from 3.0% to 4.4% inflation-adjusted growth, which is huge for the US.

Ecommerce and other “nonstore retailers” (ecommerce retailers, ecommerce operations of brick-and-mortar retailers, and stalls and markets): Total sales not seasonally adjusted jumped by 10.2% year-over-year to $156 billion (blue). Huge seasonal adjustments reduced that to $127 billion (red). The three-month average sales in December from November, seasonally adjusted, jumped by 0.62%:

More consumers, more workers, more jobs, more money.

Our Drunken Sailors, as we lovingly and facetiously have come to call them, are in the mood to spend. The labor market has been solid, with an additional 2.23 million payroll jobs created in 2024, and with hourly earnings up by 4%, outpacing inflation for the second year. Consumers are sitting on vast and ballooning piles of cash in money-market funds and CDs. Stocks, home prices, and cryptos have soared in recent years, and consumers that hold them (64% are homeowners and many hold stocks in their retirement funds) are feeling flush.

And there are a lot more consumers: net immigration added 2.8 million people to the population in the 12 months through July 2024, and 4.0 million over the prior two months, and so the population of the US over those three years soared by 2.4%, including by nearly 1% over the 12 months through July, the biggest percentage growth rate since 2001, according to the population updates by the Census Bureau in December.

Many of these new arrivals are already working, and they’re spending money too (detailed discussion here):

Amid this strong demand, inflation catches its second wind. The Fed needs to watch out.

Inflation has been accelerating for the past few months. The latest piece of that puzzle came yesterday: The Consumer Price Index rose by 0.39% (+4.8% annualized) in December from November, the sharpest increase since February 2024. It has been accelerating since the low point in June (blue).

The three-month CPI, which irons out some of the month-to-month squiggles, jumped by 3.9% annualized, the sharpest increase since April, and the fifth month-to-month acceleration in a row.

This acceleration of the month-to-month CPI inflation rate over the past four months parallels the surge in retail sales.

The year-over-year CPI rose by 2.9%, the sharpest increase since July, and the third month in a row of acceleration (detailed discussion here).

But our drunken sailors are not dropping money everywhere equally.

Sales at nonstore retailers (mostly ecommerce) and at auto and parts dealers accounted for nearly 40% of total retail sales in December.

Some of the other major categories also booked strong sales, but not all. Some of the unique pandemic booms, such as home improvements, have blown over and aren’t coming back, it seems.

New and used vehicle dealers and parts stores, the second largest category in December: Sales on a three-month average basis soared by nearly 2% (seasonally adjusted) in December from November, and by 7.5% year-over-year (not seasonally adjusted) to $141 billion. This was a very strong finish of a year that had started out somewhat slow-ish.

The spike in dollar-sales of new and used vehicles in 2021 and 2022 was caused by ridiculous price increases in used vehicles and by a combination of addendum stickers, lack of incentives, and higher MSRPs in new vehicles, amid the shortages at the time. Starting in mid-2022, used vehicle prices began to plunge, and new vehicle prices flattened out, and though unit sales increased, dollar sales flattened out.

But over the past few months, new and used vehicle prices have started rising again, which contributed to the worst month-over-month CPI inflation reading since February and the worst year-over-year inflation reading since July, as we discussed here yesterday. These price declines caused the dollar-sales for those 18 months to flatten out, despite rising retail unit-sales.

This recent rise in new and used vehicle prices and the strong volume sales created this spike in dollar sales at new and used vehicle dealers.

Food services and drinking places (#3 category, 13% of total retail), includes everything from cafeterias to restaurants and bars. After a decline in early 2024, moderate growth resumed:

• Sales: $97 billion
• From prior month, 3-month average: +0.23%
• Year-over-year: +3.2%

Food and Beverage Stores (12% of total retail). Prices per CPI for food at home exploded from 2020 to early 2023, which caused the spike in sales, then flattened out at high levels for a while, before starting to rise again:

• Sales: $85 billion

• From prior month, 3-month average: +0.30%

• Year-over-year: +2.7%

General merchandise stores, minus department stores (9% of total retail), including retailers such as Walmart, which is also the largest grocer in the US.

• Sales: $66 billion

• From prior month, 3-month average: +0.21%

• Year-over-year: +3.6%

Gas stations (7% of total retail sales). Dollar-sales at gas stations move in near-lockstep with the price of gasoline. The price of gasoline started dropping in mid-2022 and continued to wobble lower until recently. These price declines pushed down dollar-sales at gas stations. Sales at gas stations also include all the other merchandise gas stations sell.

Gasoline prices started rising again recently, and so there’s this little hook for December, a three-month average that includes the price drop in October, a small rise in November, and the bigger rise in December:

• Sales: $52 billion

• From prior month, 3-month average: +0.63%

• Year-over-year: -4.1%

Sales in billions of dollars at gas stations (red, left axis); and the CPI for gasoline (blue, right axis):

Building materials, garden supply and equipment stores (6% of total retail). The enormous remodeling boom during the pandemic fizzled in late 2022, and sales fell for a while. In 2024, sales started rising again from still very high levels, but late in 2024, they fizzled again:

• Sales: $41 billion

• From prior month, 3-month average: -1.0%

• Year-over-year: +0.8%

Health and personal care stores (5% of total retail:

• Sales: $38 billion
• From prior month, 3-month average: -0.42%
• Year-over-year: +2.3%

Clothing and accessory stores (3.7% of retail):

• Sales: $27 billion

• From prior month, 3-month average: +0.60%

• Year-over-year: +3.1%

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The post The Fed Needs to Watch Out: Amid Strong Demand from our Drunken Sailors, Retail Sales Surged in Late 2024 and Inflation Caught its Second Wind appeared first on Energy News Beat.

 

Energy News Beat

The US President-elect’s advisers are reportedly considering easing restrictions on Russian energy depending on how Ukraine peace talks go

 

The post Trump team planning roadmap to ease Russia sanctions – Bloomberg appeared first on Energy News Beat.

 

Energy News Beat

Trump’s Treasury nominee Scott Bessent dismantled the Democrats’ talking points against fossil fuels, noting China was in an ‘energy race’ and winning.

​

A confirmation hearing exchange between Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Treasury Secretary Nominee Scott Bessent is highlighting a sharp contrast between Democratic and Republican energy policy. [emphasis, links added]

Wyden pressed Bessent on Republican efforts to roll back portions of Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) of 2022, particularly those pieces dealing with clean energy.

With a Republican majority in both houses of Congress, House Speaker Mike Johnson has pledged to target the Green New Deal, expedite drilling permits, do away with electric vehicle (EV) mandates, and eliminate tax credits for solar panels, EVs, wind turbines, and clean-energy manufacturing.

Wyden claimed that the U.S. is in an “arms race with clean energy with China” and asked Bessent, “Do you want to be on the side of the people who want to unravel this?”

Bessent’s responded that China is building 100 new coal plants this year and that, “This is not a clean energy race. There’s an energy race.”

Bessent also noted that China will build 10 nuclear power plants this year and affirmed his support of greater use of nuclear power here in the U.S.

The nominee for Secretary of the Treasury also pointed out that the IRA, as scored by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) is “wildly out of control on spending, in terms of the upside.”

Not all Republicans are firmly on board with eliminating tax credits for clean-energy manufacturing over concerns about the economic impact on industries in their districts that have been the recipients of billions of dollars of taxpayer-funded “investments” under the IRA.

Read more at American Greatness

 

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Energy News Beat

Chris Wright, Trump’s energy pick, faced questions on climate change, wildfires, and Biden’s green agenda, amid protests and partisan tensions.

​

Lawmakers questioned President-elect Trump’s energy secretary on climate change, the Los Angeles wildfires, and the Biden administration’s green energy agenda during his nomination hearing, which saw disruptions from several climate protesters. [emphasis, links added]

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee held a confirmation hearing for Chris Wright, Liberty Energy Inc. CEO and Trump’s pick to head the Energy Department, on Wednesday, which was also his birthday.

The Trump nominee was introduced by a Democratic Sen. John Hickenlooper of Colorado, who described him as “an unrestrained enthusiast for fossil fuels.”

Wright focused his responses on energy dominance, saying that climate change is a “real issue,” global energy demand, and his focus on growing energy resources.

“America has a historic opportunity to secure our energy systems, deliver leadership in scientific and technological innovation, steward our weapons stockpiles, and meet Cold War legacy waste commitments,” Wright said in his opening statement.

Wright said he has identified three “immediate tasks” that he would focus his attention on if confirmed: unleashing American energy, leading the world in innovation and technology breakthroughs, and increasing production in America.

“President Trump shares my passion for energy, and if confirmed, I will work tirelessly to implement his bold agenda as an unabashed steward for all sources of affordable, reliable, and secure American energy,” Wright told the committee.

Republicans, such as Sen. Steve Daines of Montana, positioned their questioning on Biden administration policies, such as a ban on liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports, regulations on household appliances, and most recently blocking drilling along the coast.

Multiple Democratic senators claimed that the committee chairman, Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, scheduled the confirmation hearing before all required paperwork on Wright was provided to the members of the committee.

Other Democrats used their time at the mic to claim the Los Angeles fires were caused by “climate change.”

“Despite the misinformation that’s circulating here in the Capitol, into California, and everywhere in between, it’s clear that these fires only reach the size and the scale that they have because of unseasonably dry vegetation and extremely high winds, both of which are a direct result of climate change,” Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., said during the hearing.

Asked about the issue of climate change, Wright said he believes it’s a “real issue”.

“I’ve studied and followed the data and the evolution of climate change for at least 20 years now. It is a global issue. It is a real issue. It’s a challenging issue,” Wright said, adding that he believes the solution to climate change “is to evolve our energy system.”

Fox News Digital captured footage of several climate change protesters who disrupted Wright’s hearing on Wednesday.

One protester stood up while Wright was being questioned and asked if his policies would “put out the fires in LA.”

“Are you gonna ask any questions or just softball on the climate this entire time?” said another protester who was removed from the hearing room.

Several other climate protesters were also stationed outside the hearing room, with shirts that read, “I won’t let my future burn.”

Read more at Fox News

 

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Energy News Beat

 

Reviving a Soviet-era project, the Ukrainian parliament has authorised the purchase of two Russian nuclear reactors from Bulgaria.

On Thursday, the energy committee of the Ukrainian parliament voted in favour of a law which ostensibly aims to improve the business environment in the country – but which also contained a last-minute amendment greenlighting the purchase of two old Russian nuclear reactors, to expand the Khmelnytskyi nuclear power plant.

“The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine and/or … ‘Energoatom’ … are granted permission to negotiate, finalize the text, sign, pay for, accept, and store the equipment,” the amendment, seen by Euractiv, reads.

The Khmelnytskyi plant in the south-west of Ukraine was first dreamt up in the early 1970s during the days of Leonid Brezhnev. Due to the Chernobyl disaster, it only ever operated at half capacity.

In 2023, negotiations began to buy two Russian reactors, originally bought for the unfinished Belene nuclear power plant in Bulgaria. The planned purchase has a floated price of at least €600 million.

US company Westinghouse is also planning to build two reactors at the Ukrainian site.

In June 2024, Ukrainian Energy Minister German Galushchenko, the initiative’s biggest promoter, said that he was betting on foreign loans to finance the purchase. However, in December, the EU’s representative in Kyiv ruled out support for the project.

Expanding Khmelnytskyi with Russian equipment is controversial. For one, the two countries are at war, and said war has demonstrated that nuclear plants and conflict zones are a poor mix.

Lawmakers also criticise Galushchenko’s pet project for not contributing to the energy supply in the short term, and for its potential impact on power bills.

“The Ukrainian energy system, under constant Russian attacks, needs decentralization,” said opposition lawmaker Inna Sovsun, who sits on the energy committee for the liberal Holos party.

There are also fears that the new power plant could drive up energy bills. Ukrainian nuclear power plant operator Energoatom has stressed that the investment would be made from its “own funds.”

Yaroslav Zheleznyak, also a Holos lawmaker, said “the funding will come from raising tariff[s],” warning of corruption risks on his Telegram on Wednesday.

Another opponent is Volodymyr Omelchenko, of Kyiv-based think-tank Razumkov Center, who is sceptical of buying what he describes as “the cheapest Russian junk.” He believes that Bulgaria was struggling to sell the reactors for good reason,

The law, including its surprise amendment, must be adopted by the plenary chamber before the purchase can proceed. It also does not yet give the go-ahead for construction, just the purchase of the reactors.

At the heart of the hurried nuclear reactor purchase is Galushchenko, in office since April 2021, who has repeatedly stated that the purchase is “urgent”. In September 2024, Sofia extended the deadline for the negotiations until May 2025.

When last week he said the EU and US had confirmed they would help pay for the reactors, tensions ran high in the Ukrainian parliament.

Liberal opposition lawmaker Sovsun challenged Galushchenko on his statement, saying that these delegations had told the energy committee that “there is no such support.”

Galushchenko fired back, suggesting that he did not care about “the position of the middle-level clerks of the European Commission representation.”

Sovsun then launched a motion to censure the minister, based on the fact that he had refused to appear in parliament in September 2024, following a corruption case in his department.

The motion does not have the support of the government majority and will not appear on the agenda of the Ukrainian parliament next week, agency Ukrinform reports. 

[Edited by Donagh Cagney/Owen Morgan]

Source: Euractiv.com

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Localization of production is expected to allow Chinese EV makers to avoid EU import tariffs

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Following the recent alleged attempt by the Ukrainian special services to attack the TurkStream pipeline in Russia, Bulgaria has taken measures to secure Balkan Stream, a continuation of the same pipeline that delivers gas to customers in Europe.

Bulgaria has stepped up surveillance and security at sites of its critical energy infrastructure, including the Balkan Stream gas pipeline, the Bulgarian counterintelligence agency said on Thursday.

Euractiv pressed the agency for comment following reports of a possible attempt by Ukraine to sabotage part of the TurkStream gas pipeline infrastructure in Russia, and received a response, despite the agency rarely responding to journalistic questions.

“Measures have been taken to monitor and strengthen the protection of significant objects of the critical infrastructure and to counter destructive actions through effective coordination and interaction of all competent institutions in the country and through the established mechanisms for cooperation in the EU and NATO,” the agency said in a written response.

After Ukraine stopped gas deliveries through its territory on 1 January, TurkStream and Blue Stream became the only pipelines that bring Russian gas under the Black Sea to the European territory of Turkey.

From Turkey, TurkStream continues through Bulgaria, where it is called Balkan Stream, and currently supplies gas to Serbia and Hungary. Bulgaria has stopped importing Russian gas but continues its transit under contracts signed before Russia invaded Ukraine.

Ukraine is suspected of another attack on major Russian pipeline infrastructure. After mysterious explosions hit the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines near Denmark in September 2022, the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) allegedly told Belgian secret services that Ukraine could be responsible.

TurkStream/Balkan Stream is crucial for Budapest and Belgrade, and following the suspension of supplies through Ukraine, an increase in the transit of Russian gas volumes through Bulgaria to Central Europe is expected. While Bulgaria does not use TurkStream/Balkan Stream gas, it earns more than €100 million a year from transit fees.

“Given the complicated geopolitical situation following the Russian invasion of Ukraine and security challenges on a global and regional level difficult to predict, the protection of strategic objects and activities is a top priority for the state,” the Bulgarian agency added.

Both the strategic gas pipeline and other installations are at risk, the agency said, pointing to a series of sabotage attacks on military installations, which the prosecutor’s office has blamed on Russian saboteurs.

Ilian Vassilev, a former Bulgarian ambassador to Russia and well-known energy expert, said that there was “no possibility” that the Ukrainian secret services would sabotage the TurkStream pipeline on the territory of EU and NATO member Bulgaria.

In Russia, however, Ukraine can strike legitimately, he added.

‘Legitimate target’

For Vassilev, the real risk for the transit through Bulgaria comes from the fact that a key element of the compressor stations are on the territory of Russia, which is a “legitimate military target”.

“In wartime, all targets are legitimate, including the [TurkStream] gas pipeline compressor station in Russia”, he told Euractiv.

According to Vassilev, more than 300 billion cubic meters of gas, worth $12 billion, pass through this station on Russian soil.

Part of this money goes to the Russian military budget and “finances the purchase of bombs and murders of Ukrainians,” the former Bulgarian diplomat added.

In his words, if someone in Bulgaria or Europe claims that the Ukrainians are terrorists because they attack targets where Russian gas is supplied, they are wrong.

“This is because from 2022 the EU has made it clear that anyone who wants to participate in supporting Ukraine should diversify their energy sources. Fico and Orban did not come on board,” Vassilev said.

He recalled that in January, 10 EU member states insisted on tougher sanctions against Russia by introducing additional restrictions on natural gas exports and tightening control over the implementation of the oil price ceiling.

“Bulgaria is not in this process. The authorities in Sofia are permanently in the ‘TurkStream’ group of countries”, he said.

Bulgaria is part of a group of countries that have committed themselves to the transit and servicing of Russian gas that fills Moscow’s coffers, he added.

Bulgaria systematically takes positions against limiting and banning the transit of Russian gas, which might seem strange because Gazprom interrupted gas supplies to Bulgaria and caused enormous damage.

“Despite this, Bulgaria transports Russian gas and we pretend that nothing happened,” Vassilev also said.

A 2020 journalistic investigation by Euractiv described how then Bulgarian prime minister Boyko Borissov gave Gazprom the keys to the Balkans by building Balkan Stream.

The end of TurkStream?

Martin Vladimirov, a prominent energy expert at the influential CSD think tank, was adamant that TurkStream’s days were numbered.

“Do you really think Turkstream will ever pay for itself? It is a matter of time, and a very short one, for the gas pipeline to stop. And Bulgaria, instead of preparing for this moment, should take matters into its own hands and be the one who cuts off supplies,” Vladimirov said.

According to him, Bulgaria has many legal, geopolitical and economic reasons to stop the transit of Russian gas.

“Bulgaria is getting ridiculously low fees for [transiting gas] on TurkStream at the moment. The country can increase revenues by becoming a major transit country for alternative supplies of LNG to Europe…and in larger quantities than the current TurkStream. It only takes courage and political will,” he added.

Euractiv asked the Ukrainian embassy to the EU to comment on allegations that the country’s secret services are targeting pipeline infrastructure carrying Russian gas. Euractiv did not receive a response by the time of publication.

[Edited by Daniel Eck]

Source: Euractiv.com

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NUUK, Greenland – US President-elect Donald Trump did not withdraw his previous threat of targeted tariffs on Danish goods in a phone call with Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, as his desire for control of Greenland shows no sign of abating.

The 45-minute conversation between Trump and Frederiksen on Wednesday was focused on Greenland, Frederiksen’s office said in post on social media.

On Thursday, Frederiksen told Danish media TV2 that Trump’s threats of targeted tariffs on Danish goods were still present after the conversation. Frederiksen said she spoke with Greenlandic Prime Minister Múte B. Egede both before and immediately after the phone call.

Senior figures from the Danish business sector were invited for a briefing at the prime minister’s offices in Copenhagen later on Thursday.

Trump first mentioned his economic threats against Denmark in a press conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate last week, saying he would “tariff Denmark at a very high level” if the country did not cede or sell Greenland.

“We are in a serious situation,” Frederiksen told reporters in Copenhagen on Thursday.

A spokesperson for the European Commission told Euractiv that “The EU has instruments and processes in place to deal with unfair economic coercion against a single member state”.

After Donald Trump’s first term in the White House, the European Commission proposed the Anti-Coercion Instrument (ACI) for such purposes. The Commission can impose counter-tariffs unilaterally without the approval of member states.

The conversation between the president-elect and the Danish leader took place after an eventful few weeks that have strained relations between Washington, Nuuk and Copenhagen.

Trump has repeatedly expresssed a desire to achieve “control and ownership” of Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark – an EU and NATO member – and has refused to rule out using military or economic muscle to do so.

His son then paid Greenland’s capital a surprise visit, fuelling further speculation.

However, officials from Denmark and Greenland have repeatedly stated that the autonomous region is not for sale. Trump first mentioned buying Greenland in 2019.

Trump has threatened to impose tariffs on goods from a specific EU country at least once previously – with planned duties on French luxury goods eventually shelved shortly before the end of his first term.

[Edited by Owen Morgan]

Source: Euractiv.com

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ENB Pub Note: The International Renewal Energy Agency (IRENA) says we need to double the amount to hit Net Zero. News Flash: We will never hit Net Zero with the current technology, and the amount of money will just cause a financial crisis of biblical proportions. We have found the more money spent on “Renewable Energy” like wind and solar, the more fossil fuels will be used. Call it “Turley’s Law,” if you will, but Net Zero cannot be achieved with the current technology. 

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The world hit a record of 530GW of renewable generation in 2024 but it needs double that amount if we are to meet net zero needs.

International Renewal Energy Agency (IRENA), holding its general assembly in Abu Dhabi this week, revealed globally green generation capacity has now climbed to roughly 4,400 GW, up from 3,870 GW in 2023.

But Director-General Francesco La Camera said this is half of what is needed.

While a record $1.3 trillion (£1.07tn) was invested in energy transition technologies in 2022, annual investments need to quadruple to remain on track to meet global energy transition goals.

IRENA estimates a cumulative $150 trillion (£122tn) in investment is needed by 2050.

The post Renewable energy sets global record…but it’s not enough appeared first on Energy Live News.

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Energy News Beat

With the California wildfires, the media are blaming climate change, ignoring Newsom and Bass’s failed leadership and LAFD’s misplaced priorities.

​

As catastrophic wildfires rage across southern California, the corporate liberal media are engaged in all of their nastiest habits at once in their coverage of the disaster. [emphasis, links added]

From fevered shrieking about climate change to blind defense of inept Democratic officials to obligatory fits of Trump-bashing, their reporting on the California wildfires perfectly highlights everything that makes our leftist media so terrible.

As we’ve seen with how they cover hurricanes, they regard every environmental disaster imaginable as an opportunity to pontificate about climate change.

During the January 8 edition of MSNBC’s The 11th Hour, host Stephanie Ruhle announced:

“Wildfires raging in L.A. are highlighting the risk of climate change — yes, climate change!”

That same evening, CBS anchor Lindsey Reiser claimed on the network’s streaming service:

“The wildfires in California are the latest in a string of natural disasters made worse by climate change.”

This refrain persisted through to the weekend until, on Monday, January 13, CNN number cruncher Harry Enten delivered some devastating news to CNN News Central co-host John Berman:

“Despite all these extreme weather events, Americans are really no more worried about climate change than they were nearly 35 years ago. I mean, there’s just no real trend line here, Mr. Berman.”

In other words, despite practically 35 years of journalists shrieking about climate change, Americans are no more concerned about it now than they were in the 1980s.

Journalists also made sure to shield California officials from any and all scrutiny, particularly when that scrutiny came from President-elect Trump.

On January 8, notorious climate alarmist Michael Mann called Trump’s criticism of President Biden and California Governor Gavin Newsom “classic deflection,” adding: “[it’s] because he doesn’t want to talk about climate change.”

Meanwhile, the network displayed a chyron that read: “TRUMP FALSELY BLAMES BIDEN, NEWSOM FOR WILDFIRES.”

On January 13, PBS NewsHour co-host Geoff Bennett scoffed:

“As we continue covering these destructive wildfires out west, the State’s Governor, L.A.’s Mayor, they are really fending off attacks from Donald Trump and his allies.”

Of course, it takes a whole mess of factors for a wildfire to grow to such a massive scale. But there is absolutely no disputing the role that mismanagement and ineptitude played in allowing this disaster to occur.

The gross incompetence of California and Los Angeles officials has been detailed thoroughly by numerous other outlets, so here are just two examples:

• In 2022, Newsom announced a plan to clear 400,000 acres annually with controlled or “prescribed” burning (among the most important wildfire prevention practices). However, according to National Interagency Fire Center data through October 2024, California burned only 28,000 acres in 2024. Not only is that a pathetic seven percent of what Newsom pledged, but it’s also several orders of magnitude less than the acreage burned in significantly smaller states like Alabama (602,000 acres burned), Arkansas (285,000 acres), and Georgia (1,396,000 acres).
• In addition to cutting the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) budget by $17.6 million, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass appointed a Fire Chief who is significantly more interested in DEI than she is in anything to do with fire prevention or suppression. The Federalist’s Beth Brelje recently went through the LAFD’s strategic plan, where she found some woefully misplaced priorities: “[T]ogether, the words ‘diverse’ and ‘diversity’ appear 16 times; the word ‘water’ appears just twice, and the word ‘hydrant’ does not appear at all.”

There’s plenty more blame to go around, but the point is that not only did these talking heads avoid discussing any of these egregious missteps by California officials, they outright denied the notion that these officials might have mishandled anything to begin with.

Read more at NewsBusters

 

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