Pennsylvania Judge Trashes Prosecutors' Climate Change Lawsuit Targeting Oil Companies

A Pennsylvania judge tossed a lawsuit that prosecutors in a Philadelphia-area county brought against six of the nation's largest oil companies. The judge noted that his opinion adds to a "growing chorus of state and federal courts" ruling that such cases aren't meant to be brought at the local level, while expressing concern about the county's handling of the targeted lawsuit.

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Trump Admin Sues Michigan and Hawaii Over States' Plans To Pursue Climate Damages From Oil and Gas Industry

The Trump administration is suing both Michigan and Hawaii over the states' plans to take oil companies to court over their alleged role in causing global warming and environmental damage. In complaints filed late Wednesday, federal prosecutors said the two states' planned actions against the oil and gas industry would directly counter the Trump administration's […]

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Trump Slaps Sanctions on International Shipping Ring Generating Illicit Revenue for Houthi Terrorists

The Trump administration unveiled fresh sanctions Monday on a Houthi procurement network, targeting three shipping companies and their owners for helping the Iran-backed terror group smuggle millions of dollars in illicit oil products.

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Trump Admin Axes Biden-Era Climate Office John Kerry Used To Assault Fossil Fuels

The State Department is formally removing the Office of the Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, the office former president Joe Biden created and appointed John Kerry to lead as part of his aggressive agenda to combat global warming, the Washington Free Beacon has learned.

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Plagiarism Accusations Threaten To Upend Democrats' Climate Lawsuit Against Oil Companies

A federal judge in Puerto Rico issued a scathing order last week accusing Democratic prosecutors on the island of plagiarizing nearly their entire 241-page complaint that blamed oil companies for causing global warming. In the order Wednesday, district court judge Aida Delgado-Colon outlined how David Efron, the lead attorney representing Puerto Rico's capital city San Juan, appears to have plagiarized a similar but separate complaint that 16 Puerto Rican municipalities filed a year earlier. A side-by-side comparison of the two complaints shows large blocks of text are copied word-for-word.

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Trump Admin Announces First Offshore Oil Lease Sale in Gulf of America

The Department of the Interior announced Friday that it will hold an offshore oil and gas lease sale in the Gulf of America as part of its efforts to boost production and drive consumer prices down. The agency said it expects to publish a notice of sale in June, which will formally initiate the lease sale process. Undiscovered fields in the Gulf of America contain an estimated 29.59 billion barrels of oil and 54.84 trillion cubic feet of natural gas—resources that could be a boon to the American economy and help curb prices, according to the Interior Department.

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Trump Admin Moves To Reinstate Major Alaskan Oil Leases Canceled Under Biden

The Trump administration is reinstating seven large oil leases that President Donald Trump awarded to Alaska during his first stint in the White House before the Biden administration canceled them. The decision comes shortly after a federal district court judge determined the cancellations were illegal.

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Trump Admin Slaps Fresh Sanctions on Iran's Oil Minister and 'Shadow Fleet' Ferrying Illicit Iranian Crude

The Trump administration slapped fresh sanctions on Iran’s oil minister and a host of maritime service providers that have helped Tehran ferry its illicit crude across the globe, the latest in a bevy of measures meant to cripple the hardline regime’s financial networks.

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Biden did that? No, it’s Marco Rubio making gas prices skyrocket this time



Last month’s termination of Chevron’s license to operate in Venezuela marks a significant shift in U.S. foreign policy. It also has grave implications for U.S. interests in South America.

The decision, which effectively forces Chevron — responsible for nearly 30% of Venezuela’s oil revenue — to cease operations within 30 days, moves U.S. policy back toward ill-fated interventionism.

Rubio’s adventurism arguably undercuts American dominance of the Western Hemisphere.

At first glance, this shift may appear to be a classic recalibration within the Trump administration. Insider reports suggest, however, that it was driven by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a leading neoconservative, who has seized a moment of political leverage to advance a hard-line stance on Venezuela.

A hard-line shift

With much of Washington’s focus on Ukraine, Rubio worked with Cuban-American lawmakers from Florida, including Republican Reps. Mario Diaz-Balart, Carlos Giménez, and Maria Elvira Salazar, to pressure the administration into taking a more aggressive position against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

Rubio has long sought the removal of Maduro — whose leftist politics he detests — but his current approach poses a serious threat to U.S. national security.

This move is based on the assumption that by cutting off American engagement with Venezuela’s oil sector, Maduro will be weakened, potentially leading to his ouster.

But history suggests that this kind of economic pressure, typical of neoconservative thinking, has not — that is, never — yielded the desired results.

A similar “maximum pressure” strategy on Venezuela during Trump’s first term did not lead to regime change. Instead, it exacerbated instability in the region and contributed to the surge of migration at the southern U.S. border.

This was hardly an outcome that had conservatives jumping for joy.

Economic consequences

Beyond border security, Rubio’s decision could have severe economic consequences. U.S. oil refiners, particularly along the Gulf Coast, rely on Venezuela’s heavy crude to operate properly and keep pump prices as low as possible for working Americans.

Consequently, restricting access to this supply will likely increase fuel costs for American consumers — something that contradicts the president’s commitment to boosting U.S. energy production to supercharge our flagging economy.

The immediate market response has been telling, with oil prices rising more than 2% following last month's announcement. A neoconservative State Department, therefore, looks set to hit Americans where it hurts.

Strengthening our adversaries

Rubio’s adventurism also arguably undercuts American dominance of the Western Hemisphere.

Rather than halting Venezuelan oil production, hamstringing Chevron leaves Maduro’s government with little choice but to deepen ties with China and Russia. These antagonists are more than ready to fill the gap left by Western firms and American technology.

The U.S. had been making progress in reducing Venezuela’s reliance on Beijing, but this policy reversal could undo all that — strengthening adversaries at America’s expense.

This is not to say that engagement with Venezuela should come without conditions, but a more measured approach would have preserved American leverage rather than ceding ground to geopolitical competitors.

A pivot from MAGA

For example, President Trump last month outlined the framework of a U.S.-Venezuela détente: ramping up crude oil imports in exchange for Venezuela’s agreement to accept the return of its nationals who are in the United States illegally.

This would be a boon for the MAGA movement, strengthening energy and border security in one policy shot.

But Rubio has other ideas. His influence in shaping this turn away from Venezuela is evident. But the broader question remains: Will America return to the failed policies of the past, or will it stick to the optimistic realism of the Trump-Vance ticket?

The right answer, for me at least, is clear as day.

If Canada turns down US statehood, what about just oil-rich Alberta?



If Canada won't take Donald Trump up on his offer to become the 51st state, one Canadian has a counteroffer: What about just Alberta?

Foothills, Alberta, lawyer Jeffrey Rath says he and a lot of Albertans have “had it” with the Trudeau government and, increasingly, even with Canada itself. He says if Canada isn’t interested in becoming the 51st state, then Alberta should accept President Donald Trump’s invitation.

'We're fed up, and we see no reason to continue being governed by complete idiots from Ontario and Quebec who don't even know where their oil comes from.'

As he wrote in a recent Substack post:

With the election of Donald Trump, Alberta has a unique opportunity to shed its inferior status as a Canadian "province" (effectively a colony of Ontario and Quebec) and become an American state.

There is no doubt that President Donald Trump would happily announce Alberta statehood as the greatest real estate deal since the Louisiana Purchase as the culmination of the American 250th anniversary celebration.

First steps

Rath has organized a blue-ribbon committee to move Alberta first on the road to independence and then to join the United States.

“We've had, I've said, several steering committee meetings today. I mean, I'm working with people. We're putting together a package of materials and briefing notes and those types of things," he told Align.

"We don't want to go down there [to Washington] and come across as anything other than serious professionals with a serious professional message that we want to deliver."

Although the immediate catalyst for Rath's plan was Trump's offer — as well as the current tariff crisis and trade war with the U.S. — Rath said he’s “been feeling this way” for three years at least.

Remember the Freedom Convoy

“I have to say, it really came to a head for me when [Canadian Prime Minister] Justin Trudeau unnecessarily declared the War Measures Act against my fellow Albertans who simply went to Ottawa to peacefully protest,” Rath said, in reference to Trudeau invoking the Emergencies Act to crush the Freedom Convoy, a trucker-based protest against the COVID-19 mandates that was centered in Canada’s capital of Ottawa in February 2022.

Rath called Trudeau’s draconian measure "an anti-Canadian unconstitutional violation of our rights. … You know, we need to take our dirty, smelly diesel trucks and our dirty, smelly oil and go home, or face 10 years in an Ontario prison.”

Rath is also furious over the federal government's talk of using Alberta oil and gas to fight Trump’s tariff — despite Canadian law giving provinces jurisdiction over their natural resources.

"We're fed up, and we see no reason to continue being governed by complete idiots from Ontario and Quebec who don't even know where their oil comes from."

Ignorant threats

As evidence of this ignorance, Rath cited the federal government's threat in January to cut oil exports from Alberta to the U.S., a move that rankled local leadership.

"They were all too dumb to know that their own oil comes from Alberta, goes down through Michigan, up through Line 9 Illinois, and then back into Ontario and Quebec. So if they shut off Alberta oil, they would effectively be doing what a lot of Albertans suggested that we should do [in the first place] … let the Eastern bastards freeze in the dark."

Rath also slammed Ontario Premier Doug Ford for his continued threats to shut off the electricity to the U.S., saying doing so would constitute an "act of war."

"If you crash the northeast power grid, there's going to be at least 500 or 600 deaths, whether it's from traffic lights going out or ventilators [at hospitals] failing."

COVID all over again?

Rath compared the current euphoria over counter-tariffs against the U.S. to the pro-vaccine groupthink that dominated the country's media and government during the COVID pandemic. Like the vaccine, counter-tariffs are not the cure for what ails Canada.

For that, Rath suggests Canadians look closer to home.

“Everybody keeps forgetting that the Trudeau junta is preparing to slap us all with a 21% increase in the carbon tax in April."

Rath said this carbon tax would likely cripple the Canadian economy far more than any of Trump's tariffs. "It's right across the board on all energy, all home heating, trucks, cars, anything people need to go to work,” Rath told Align.

“And maybe the reason that Trudeau is so mad about this and thinks it's the end of Canada is because he doesn't want to back off on his 21% carbon tax. He's already booked that and cooked that into the books.”

Check out the full interview with Rath below: