(WND)—Everywhere activists, corporations, government officials, even consumers are talking about green energy. The idea is to move away from fossil fuels to green energy, because of a climate emergency – even though 1,600 scientists say there is no emergency.
Diesel power plants are therefore very, very bad. Hydroelectric and geothermal projects are good. But those green advances are being blocked, and diesel generators are being kept in operation, in one location because of a ban on roads.
It is the Pacific Legal Foundation that explains a lawsuit has been filed by the Inside Passage Electric Cooperative against Joe Biden’s Agriculture Department because it won’t allow roads, any roads, in the Tongass National Forest.
“The cooperative provides power — at cost — to several small, predominantly indigenous communities located within the Tongass. IPEC seeks to build several hydroelectric and geothermal projects to replace the expensive diesel generation that these communities currently rely on. But the USDA’s prohibition on roads — including gravel and dirt roads — in the Tongass makes the construction and maintenance of these projects infeasible because they would be accessible only by helicopter,” the foundation reported.
Luke Wake, a lawyer for the organization, said, “Congress has mandated that regulation must account for both preservation and reasonable economic use. When executive agencies wrest legislative power from Congress, they tend to pursue whatever goal they have to the exclusion of all other priorities — as is happening here.”
The organization noted that only Congress can make laws, and lawmakers never gave the USDA authority to impose a blanket ban on road work across tens of millions of acres of forests.
“In the name of conservation, the USDA’s rules are keeping remote Alaska communities dependent on diesel for power generation when green alternatives are available,” charged IPEC’s Jodi Mitchell. “Diesel is one of the most expensive sources of power generation. As a result, these communities pay some of the highest electricity rates in the state and among the highest in the country.”
The complaint notes that the USDA’s rule prevents roads on 58.5 million acres of national forest lands, about 2% of the nation.
“The department has made no allowance for road access necessary for economically important and socially beneficial energy infrastructure projects,” the IPEC charges. “While the roadless rule allows for a few very limited exceptions, there is no exception for roads needed to develop hydroelectric or geothermal projects, or for any other project that requires road access – regardless of how carefully planned the project may be to avoid environmental concerns.
Actually, the complaint explains that the Organic Administration Act of 1871 lists that national forests be open to the public for “all lawful purposes,” and even the Wilderness Act of 1964 bans roads in wilderness areas, but not in other areas.
“Despite Congress’ manifest desire to allow roads in national forests as needed for reasonable public access and use, the department claims to have found authority to categorically ban roads in nebulous statutory language,” the complaint charges.
It is under that authority that the department imposed its roadless rule to “harm local communities.”
That comes through prevention of the utility’s plan to “pursue geothermal projects … to provide clean energy that would reduce utility costs and would generally benefit the 900+ residents of Hoonah.”
Even accessing “existing facilities, powerlines, and diversion pipes” is problematic under the USDA, the complaint said. Much servicing now is done by helicopter.
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Independent Journalism Is Dying
Ever since President Trump’s miraculous victory, we’ve heard an incessant drumbeat about how legacy media is dying. This is true. The people have awakened to the reality that they’re being lied to by the self-proclaimed “Arbiters of Truth” for the sake of political expediency, corporate self-protection, and globalist ambitions.
But even as independent journalism rises to fill the void left by legacy media, there is still a huge challenge. Those at the top of independent media like Joe Rogan, Dan Bongino, and Tucker Carlson are thriving and rightly so. They have earned their audience and the financial rewards that come from it. They’ve taken risks and worked hard to get to where they are.
For “the rest of us,” legacy media and their proxies are making it exceptionally difficult to survive, let alone thrive. They still have a stranglehold over the “fact checkers” who have a dramatic impact on readership and viewership. YouTube, Facebook, and Google still stifle us. The freer speech platforms like Rumble and 𝕏 can only reward so many of their popular content creators. For independent journalists on the outside looking in, our only recourse is to rely on affiliates and sponsors.
But even as it seems nearly impossible to make a living, there are blessings that should not be disregarded. By highlighting strong sponsors who share our America First worldview, we have been able to make lifelong connections and even a bit of revenue to help us along. This is why we enjoy symbiotic relationships with companies like MyPillow, Jase Medical, and Promised Grounds. We help them with our recommendations and they reward us with money when our audience buys from them.
The same can be said about our preparedness sponsor, Prepper All-Naturals. Their long-term storage beef has a 25-year shelf life and is made with one ingredient: All-American Beef.
Even our faith-driven precious metals sponsor helps us tremendously while also helping Americans protect their life’s savings. We are blessed to work with them.
Independent media is the future. In many ways, that future is already here. While the phrase, “the more the merrier,” does not apply to this business because there are still some bad actors in the independent media field, there are many great ones that do not get nearly enough attention. We hope to change that one content creator at a time.
Thank you and God Bless,
JD Rucker
