Heartland Weekly: Escaping the Paris Climate Agreement

Published May 22, 2017

Lessons from the Dakota Access Pipeline
Bette Grande, RealClearEnergy
The Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) is expected to begin carrying crude oil from western North Dakota to Illinois by the end of May, but the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe plans to pursue efforts in and out of court to stop it and other energy infrastructure projects. We in North Dakota know the DAPL protest is not about water and not about sacred or historic sites; this protest is about politics, intimidation, and bullying. The alt-left continues its efforts to shut down DAPL, a project that was fully vetted, passed every regulatory requirement, and is now 100 percent complete. If environmental radicals are successful in bullying DAPL out of commission, it would have a chilling effect on private investment in future traditional energy projects. READ MORE

Anti-Trumpism in the Classroom at Butler
Jane Shaw, Indianapolis Star
“Donald J. Trump won the U.S. Presidency despite perpetuating sexism, white supremacy, xenophobia, nationalism, nativism, and imperialism.” That statement is not a tweet by an outraged Hillary Clinton supporter. It is the first line describing a course to be held this fall at Butler University — at least it was the first line, before this course was exposed by Justin Haskins of The Heartland Institute. Though the description has been neutered, the thrust of the class remains “Trumpism and U.S. Democracy,” saying much about the sorry state of academia today. READ MORE

Escaping the Paris Climate Agreement
H. Sterling Burnett, Detroit News
As a candidate for president, Donald Trump said he would withdraw the United States from the Paris climate agreement and called it a bad deal for America. It’s time for this administration to keep its promise, by getting the U.S. out of this flawed, costly agreement. Some in Trump’s team have reportedly said if the United States’ commitments are restructured there might be a path to stay in the Paris climate agreement. While there may be a better deal to be had, there is no deal that would be good for the country. READ MORE

FEATURED PODCAST: Robert Genetski: Rich Nation, Poor Nation
Director of Communications Jim Lakely and Research Director S. T. Karnick speak with Robert Genetski, Ph.D., about his new book Rich Nation, Poor Nation, an examination and comparison of economic policies in countries around the world. Genetski’s book takes a deep dive into the economic data of the past 120 years to identify policies that encourage economic growth and prosperity, and which ones lead to stagnation and a worsening of the human condition. LISTEN TO MORE

HELP HEARTLAND BY RATING OUR PODCASTS!
If you’re a fan of Heartland’s daily podcasts on public policy, we have a favor to ask: Leave us a positive five-star review on iTunes! Giving one or more of our six podcast feeds a positive review helps more people find it at iTunes. And it also helps drown out the negative reviews that Heartland’s well-organized opponents in the public square are eager to post. Just go to iTunes and search for the Heartland Daily Podcast, the Environment and Climate News podcast, the Budget and Tax News podcast, the Health Care News podcast, the School Reform News podcast, and the In The Tank podcast. Help us grow these great products, which are on pace to be downloaded and listened to nearly two million times in 2017!

Common Core or Freedom of Choice: Which Will Prevail?
Robert Holland, American Thinker
Given all the foundation and tax money sunk into curricular materials, technology, and teacher retraining to support Common Core – a de facto national curriculum – it is unlikely the establishment elites are going to give up on it anytime soon. Nor is it likely political Washington, DC will come to the rescue, despite President Donald Trump’s repeated calls for ending Common Core. Is it time to despair of “consent of the governed” ever being a guiding principle again? Is it time for parents and neighbors just to accept perpetual victimhood? Heartland’s Joy Pullmann thinks definitely not. It is time to fight back harder than ever. READ MORE

School Reform News – Arizona Opens ESA Program to All Students
The June 2017 edition of School Reform News is available online in PDF format. In this edition, read about how Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey (R) signed into law a bill expanding the state’s education savings account (ESA) program. It will make all schoolchildren in the state eligible to receive an ESA after a multiyear phase-in period, though the number of children allowed to participate in the program will remain capped. READ MORE

The Farm Bill Comes Due
H. Sterling Burnett, American Spectator
It’s once again time for the half-decade kabuki dance called the Farm Bill reauthorization. In this stylized political drama, fiscal conservatives decry the wasteful spending in existing farm programs and argue farmers, especially big agribusinesses, should be treated like almost every other business in this country and forced to compete in the free market without government support. But you can count on billion-dollar agricultural companies and relatively wealthy farmers again reaping windfall gains on the backs of taxpayers and grocery shoppers — especially the poorest among us, who spend a much larger percentage of their incomes on food than upper-income households. READ MORE

Environment & Climate News – Conference Speakers Call for Resetting Nation’s Climate Policy
The June 2017 edition of Environment & Climate News is available online in PDF format. In this edition, read how speakers on the panel titled “Resetting Climate Policy” at The Heartland Institute’s 12th International Conference on Climate Change urged President Donald Trump to follow through on his pledges to unleash the nation’s energy potential and rein in what they described as an out-of-control bureaucracy. READ MORE

Bonus Podcast: Bob Endlich: Do Biofuels Make the American Military Weaker?
Heartland Research Fellow Isaac Orr speaks with Bob Endlich, a former member of the United States Air Force who had an extensive career as a meteorologist for the military, about why using biofuels for military operations makes the United States military weaker. Former President Obama’s mandate to use biofuels in the armed forces dramatically increased costs, reduced efficiency, and jeopardized the health of our troops serving abroad. LISTEN TO MORE

How We Know a National Amendments Convention Is a ‘Convention of the States’
Rob Natelson, Townhall
Most state legislatures have filed applications with Congress demanding a national convention for proposing constitutional amendments. Americans are asking just what kind of convention the Constitution requires. Nearly all experts believe an amendments convention is a “convention of the states” – the traditional term for a meeting in which representatives of state legislatures deliberate on the basis of sovereign equality. The rule at a convention of the states is that each state has an equal voice. READ MORE

Promote Health by Not Defending the E-Cigarette Ban
Jeff Stier, National Review
Harm reduction is a common strategy that we employ almost unthinkingly. For example, many drugs used for chemotherapy to treat cancer are highly toxic and cause a variety of serious side effects, but taking them is better than leaving the cancer untreated. Another example is the substitution of lower-risk nicotine products, such as electronic cigarettes, that deliver nicotine in vapor form. Because there is no combustion, using these devices is intrinsically less dangerous than cigarettes – 95 percent less harmful, according to Public Health England – and they can help adults to quit smoking. Bottom line: The Trump administration should no longer defend FDA’s indefensible vaping ban. READ MORE