GOLDEN CRESCENT AND 1000 ISLAND NEWS

  President Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” terminated electric vehicle tax credits and began phasing out subsidies for new wind and solar projects. These were important steps in ending what Trump calls the “Green New Scam” and undoing a huge piece of former President  Joe Biden’s  signature legislation, the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. But the One Big Beautiful Bill Act  did not go far enough . Although it is great that taxpayers won’t be forced to subsidize new wind and solar projects, they also shouldn’t have to keep subsidizing existing grandfathered wind and solar.   Fortunately, the second budget reconciliation bill of Trump’s term presents a “beautiful” opportunity for conservatives in Congress to use an Inflation Reduction Act provision against the IRA’s own green energy subsidies. That provision is the corporate alternative minimum tax , also known as the book minimum tax. The book minimum tax is ostensibly meant to ensure that every large company pays f...

  By  Marie J. French   09/10/2025     ALBANY, New York — Five years after Indian Point started shutting down, the company charged with dismantling the nuclear plant says it could still be restarted — at an estimated cost of $10 billion.   “I’m getting so many people asking me from New York if this is possible,” said Holtec International President Kelly Trice. “The answer is yes.” Reviving the 2,000 megawatt nuclear plant would require overcoming deep-seated opposition to nuclear power in close proximity to New York City. Political — and financial — support would also be needed from the administrations of Gov. Kathy Hochul and President Donald Trump, Trice said.   Holtec’s feeler on repowering the plant — reported exclusively by POLITICO — comes amid increasing openness to nuclear power in New York, especially from Hochul. Nuclear is also one of few areas of alignment on energy policy between the governor and the White House.   With the Trump...

  September 08, 2025   Francis Menton   As I have written many times, with New York’s fantasy “net zero” energy plans, it is not a question of whether they will fail, but only when and how. The Democrats, who dominate state politics, and their environmentalist allies, are firmly committed to the impossible. Thus, they are caught in a trap of their own making, and from which there is no good escape. The fact that they are caught in this trap is obvious to anyone with basic arithmetic skills, but almost all of our politicians and environmentalists lack those. However,  a small handful of them are starting to sense the impending crash . This makes for amusing interplay. The state’s Climate Act of 2019 directs hostility to fossil fuels on all fronts. In the realm of electricity, the Act mandates 70% of electricity from “renewables” by 2030, and 100% from “zero emissions” sources by 2040. T he official plan for achieving those mandates basically boils down to building lot...

  September 8, 2025   As the federal government reimagines American energy policy this year, support for projects hinges on a new metric — density.    The concept of density in energy production echoes throughout recent regulatory changes and funding rescissions across the Trump administration, leading to a demonstrably increased federal preference for fossil fuels and nuclear power over renewable generation sources such as wind and solar.    Broadly speaking,  relying on density metrics prioritizes greater energy outputs for less investment of money and land. Density is a driving force in the administration’s energy decisions right now , a senior official in the Department of Energy’s Office of Policy said last week. The official spoke on background for the purposes of engaging in a more candid discussion of the administration’s energy policies.    “This government, like any government, has a limited amount of capital, and what we are commit...

  September 4, 2025 President Donald Trump has launched an  unprecedented attack  on wind and solar power as he seeks to reshape the US energy landscape and  reverse  the green agenda put forward by his predecessor. Since Trump returned to office in January, his administration  has  taken aim  at  projects on federal lands and oceans, stopping work on wind farms, revoking permits, and making it more difficult for new renewable energy developments to secure approval. He’s also weakened the economics of wind and solar projects more broadly, pushing legislation through Congress that phases out key tax breaks and moving to tighten access to these incentives. The broadsides have thrown the US clean energy industry  into crisis , putting  billions of dollars  of investment at risk and  threatening  thousands of jobs. It’s a  sharp reversal  from just three years ago, when the sector hailed the passage of...