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The Hill
9 hours ago
- Business
- The Hill
Tariffs won't stop China if it wins the energy race
China is the centerpiece of the Trump administration's tariff strategy. Beijing, the administration insists, is ' by far the biggest abuser in history ' when it comes to trade offenses. Tariffs, they claim, will level the playing field and reassert American dominance. But the playing field is already shifting beneath our feet. While President Trump is busy slapping tariffs on steel and copper, China is racing ahead in something far more powerful: cheap, clean energy. No amount of tariffs will stop China if it wins the energy race. In late February 2025, Chinese geologists announced the discovery of vast deposits of thorium, an element so energy-rich that a single golf-ball-sized lump can power a person's lifetime energy needs. With enough reserves to fuel the country for 60,000 years, China is now sitting on what could be the most transformative energy breakthrough of the century. Unlike the U.S., which sat on this potential for decades, China is sprinting ahead. Chinese scientists recently achieved a historic first: refueling a molten salt reactor running on thorium without interrupting energy production. Thorium's advantages are staggering. It is three to four times more abundant than its nuclear counterpart, uranium, and can theoretically yield up to 200 times more energy. It's cleaner, too, producing far less long-lived radioactive waste and generating zero greenhouse gases during operation. China is building the world's first commercial thorium molten salt reactor, slated to go online by 2029. It's a bold move that underscores China's ambition to lead the world in cheap energy and ultimately explosive economic growth, not through trade wars but by out-innovating the West. And here's the kicker: They're doing it on the back of U.S. research. The use of thorium in fueling nuclear reactors was first discovered by American chemist Glenn Seaborg in the 1940s. From there, the Tennessee-based Oak Ridge National Laboratory ran a successful demonstration of the molten salt reactor in the 1960s, proving the technology's safety and potential. But instead of championing the innovation, the project was axed. The Nixon-era government, driven by Cold War priorities, preferred uranium-based reactors that produced weapons-grade plutonium. Thorium didn't serve military aims, so the research was defunded, its champions removed, and the program shut down. Regulatory and funding priorities shifted decisively against thorium. Billions were poured into the Clinch River Breeder Reactor — a uranium-based failure — while thorium research was sidelined. By the 1970s, thorium research and development had essentially been abandoned. Even existing thorium stockpiles were targeted; the Department of Energy under the George W. Bush administration slated them for destruction by dilution, short-circuiting their scientific promise. Most thorium research in North America now happens in Canada, while in the 'land of the free' our scientists are still shackled by regulatory inertia. The U.S. government makes it illegal to experiment at the relevant scale to conduct thorium research with radioactive material. The government also uses a linear no-threshold radioactive exposure model for limiting human exposure. These extreme criteria are unscientific and harmful to the advancement of science. And while the U.S. buries its lead under layers of bureaucracy and bias, our allies and rivals picked up the pieces. Now China has leapt ahead. If China fully harnesses this potential, tariffs won't make a dent in their economic trajectory. While the Trump administration is busy slapping taxes on aluminum and auto parts, President Xi Jinping could be preparing to export cheap, clean and practically limitless energy. That's the kind of strategic advantage that propels countries to economic excellence, not a marginal trade war win. The U.S. is not entirely asleep. Gov. Kathy Hochul's (D) announcement of a zero-emission nuclear facility in New York is a modest sign of life. So is the growing interest in small modular reactors. Hopefully it's not too little, too late. It's time to stop trying to suppress the success of other countries and start unleashing our own potential. The government cannot predict what the future of innovation holds. Instead of targeting foreign progress with trade penalties, the administration needs to unleash American scientists and entrepreneurs to build the future here. That means deregulating advanced energy technologies, funding high-risk research, and getting Washington's foot off the innovation brakes. In the 20th century, we built the bomb. In the 21st, let's lead the world again.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Federal Budget Cuts That Disproportionately Affect Blue States
In May, the White House released its budget proposal for fiscal year 2026, which included $163 billion in cuts to non-defense spending. Consider This: Read More: Critics contend that the cuts disproportionately affect blue states that typically vote Democrat. Keep an eye on the following proposed cuts, which could particularly bludgeon blue states. Also find out how some federal budget cuts could disproportionately affect red states. Infrastructure Funding The budget proposal includes cutting $19.3 billion from the Department of Energy, specifically by slashing funding from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. The states currently collecting the most funds for renewable energy include California, Michigan, New York, Washington, and Georgia. But the changes to infrastructure spending don't end there. The Administration has reshuffled federal funds for flooding and water construction budgets from blue to red states. The two biggest losers included California and Washington, which stand to lose a combined $606 million, according to a report by CNN. Meanwhile, Texas stands to gain an extra $206 million. The budget proposal shifts civil works projects so that blue states receive just 33% of the funds, compared to 64% for red states. Find Out: Medicaid Cuts The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) proposed over $600 billion in cuts to Medicaid, which could rise to $900 billion in the Senate version of the bill. The bill was signed into law on Jul. 4. 'Shifting Medicaid benefits over to the states will put a burden on their budgets that many cannot handle,' explains Tasha Preisner, tax law specialist with DeMar Consulting Group. For example, California tops the list for total Medicaid spending at $124.1 billion, per U.S. News and World Report. Following on their heels is New York, with $97.9 billion. SNAP (Food Stamp) Cuts The OBBBA cuts funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) by nearly $300 billion through 2034. The program provides food benefits for one in five children in the U.S., and the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities estimates that over 2 million children will lose some or all of their food benefits. Aaron Razon, consumer budgeting expert with CouponSnake, expects many blue states to struggle with the cuts. 'Blue states like Massachusetts and California have a high cost of living and many residents who rely on social services,' Razon noted. 'SNAP and other social support cuts would hit them hard, and potentially lead to greater food insecurity, poverty putting further strain on these states' resources and social safety nets.' Science and Health Research Cuts Under the White House budget proposal, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) would lose $18 billion, or 41% of its funding. The numbers look even worse for the National Science Foundation (NSF), which stands to lose 57% of its annual funding ($5.2 billion). Guess which states receive the most research funding from the NIH and NSF? California ($6.2 billion), New York ($4.1 billion) and Massachusetts ($4 billion) round out the top three, according to Axios, with Maryland not far behind. Education Cuts Originally, the Trump administration called for dismantling the Department of Education entirely. On Jul. 14, the Supreme Court allowed the administration to continue laying off DOE workers, leaving the department's fate in limbo, per CNN. The proposed White House budget cuts $12 billion in funding for the DOE. The administration particularly called for cuts to student aid and a new limit on Pell Grants, which provide subsidies to low-income students. The budget eliminates the Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG), along with all $910 million in funding. The TRIO programs and Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP) programs also get the axe, and the Federal Work-Study (FWS) program loses $980 million in funding. It proves another blow to blue states like Maryland whose economies largely run on 'eds, meds, and feds.' Editor's note on political coverage: GOBankingRates is nonpartisan and strives to cover all aspects of the economy objectively and present balanced reports on politically focused finance stories. You can find more coverage of this topic on More From GOBankingRates 3 Luxury SUVs That Will Have Massive Price Drops in Summer 2025 10 Unreliable SUVs To Stay Away From Buying 5 Types of Cars Retirees Should Stay Away From Buying This article originally appeared on Federal Budget Cuts That Disproportionately Affect Blue States
Reuters
5 days ago
- Business
- Reuters
US utilities hit the M&A trail as AI boom drives up power demand
July 18 (Reuters) - U.S. utilities are snapping up assets and shedding units to fund their deals as they prepare to meet a massive surge in demand over the next two years, driven by power-hungry data centers needed to support the boom in artificial intelligence usage Power demand from data centers in the U.S. is expected to nearly triple in the next three years and consume as much as 12% of the country's electricity, according to a Department of Energy-backed study. Here are some of the biggest mergers, acquisitions and divestitures announced in 2025:
Bloomberg
6 days ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
How to Fight Against Trump's Attack on Clean Energy
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act cuts almost $500 billion in US clean-energy spending, just as the country was starting to get serious about its climate goals. Some say the country is acting like a petrostate, waging war against clean energy. Others are more sanguine and believe that the US will stay the course in the long term. This week on Zero, Akshat Rathi is joined by Jigar Shah, a clean energy expert and former head of the Department of Energy's Loan Programs Office, to make sense of the bill's impacts, and whether it's as bad for climate as it seems.
Irish Examiner
6 days ago
- Politics
- Irish Examiner
Mark Donlon: In review of Irishness: How narrow minds will hold us back
The Middle East has sadly long been a minefield largely of meddlers' making, and as death and destruction continue to deplete and displace several individual populations, our own privileges in Ireland ought to be crystal clear. But in a world where almost everything is material for debate, the jury seems to be out on just how good we have it, relatively speaking. Donald Trump, the US president — or 'Leader of the Free World' to give him that increasingly ironic title — has been busy presiding over matters in the Middle East since his inauguration last January, with the Israel-Hamas war an ongoing disaster and Israel-Iran tensions since furthering the regional trauma. In February, Trump suggested Gaza — now depleted of more than 58,000 Palestinians since October 2023 — could become the 'Riviera of the Middle East' if it was razed and rebuilt. The automated division, destruction, and suggested ethnic cleansing of lands more than 10,000km outside of America's jurisdiction — but very much within its global reach and lucrative for its weapons industry — has become a news item so regular that it is hard to scale the unbelievable low points along the way. Trump recently called on his Department of Energy to 'drill, baby, drill', in response to volatile crude oil prices amid strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities. You don't have to drill down too far to see the true volatility and crude nature of the beast. Sad state of affairs Back here in Ireland, a recent post on social media from a Fine Gael TD denying rumours a vacant premises was to be used as an International Protection Accommodation Services (IPAS) centre was greeted in the Facebook comment section with the embellished relief of some who began to go on about retaining the 'Irishness' of the town concerned. It's probably not what they meant, but sure, a crumbling, vacant business premises in the heart of an ailing rural town is indeed very Irish as far as trade, enterprise, and opportunity go. In 2024, 14 people normally resident in IPAS accommodation died — a record number. The rhetoric elsewhere, however, deals more with record numbers of asylum seekers availing of IPAS services in the broader sense. Indeed, that number has more than quadrupled from 7,244 in December 2021 to 32,689 as of June of this year, but are we really so inwardly focused and outwardly ignorant to just skip straight to cold, hard intolerance? It's a sad state of affairs that many counter arguments — for the most part made online — need to include reminders of our own country's suffering in the Great Famine, when over 1m people starved to death and an estimated 1m more fled their homeland in the uncertain hope of survival elsewhere. If people are hellbent on their Irishness, at the heart of it should be compassion and a deeper understanding — even at a distance in our lives of supreme comfort by comparison — of the modern day atrocities being inflicted on innocent people in a growing list of countries. It's hard to put a finger on exactly what made a proportion of Irish people lose their sense of céad míle failte, but one thing is for sure — it didn't happen overnight. It may be a case of social media capturing some in an algorithmic vice-grip, but we don't (or at least shouldn't) spend all our lives on social media. Communicating and connecting Getting out and about and communicating and connecting in the traditional sense of the word is key. A recent visit to a local coffee shop brought the comforting smells of a morning roast and an accent from eastern Europe. Discovering that the barista was from Ukraine and here in Ireland since the outbreak of war in her homeland in 2022, the pleasant chat had a lot more significance in retrospect. It is surely hard to get up and have cheer for all when you're away from home not by choice, but instead because forces of evil chose your home place as the latest wasteland of war. It's probably all the more difficult when there's an echo chamber that throws a blanket over those from other lands and essentially resents their new life and safety from obscurity. Rap group Kneecap's wranglings with the British government may be presented as divisive, but a more watchful eye would acknowledge that the real division in the equation came after they took a case against the then-Conservative government in 2024. They split High Court proceeds to the tune of £14,000 among both nationalist and loyalist charities, after walking up the steps over the blocking of an arts grant by Tory leader Kemi Badenoch. Maith thúainn, well done, a good deed speaks all languages. Maybe, just maybe, anger indiscriminately lasered onto the most vulnerable can be harnessed into something more meaningful. The term 'voting with their feet' has taken on an unfortunate new meaning when you think of the many who have marched in anti-immigration protests in Irish towns in recent years. It's all the more unfortunate when you consider that the 2024 Irish general election — which took place less than eight months ago — saw voter turnout reach a record low. With RTÉ reporting national turnout of 59.7%, it made for the lowest figure since the 1923 general election, which took place just eight months on from the establishment of the Irish Free State in December 1922. In this country, the system of liberal democracy may be producing the sameness that now has us on our second bout of rotating taoisigh, but it is a democracy nonetheless and ours to amend and improve for the better and for the many. But as well as making up our minds in greater numbers at voting booths, not afforded to millions worldwide answering to autocrats, we have to open our minds in everyday life.
