MINOT, N.D. — Vaccine hesitancy isn’t just a political thing. For instance, Black Americans and Hispanics have lagged behind other demographics in getting dosed. But, as David Leonhardt reports in The New York Times, “the racial gaps — while still existing — have narrowed. The partisan gap, however, continues to be enormous.” The juxtaposition of vaccination rates and voting trends is…
Burgum’s big bet may bring North Dakota’s next big boom
MINOT, N.D. — In May, Gov. Doug Burgum set a goal for North Dakota to be a carbon-neutral state by 2030 without new regulations or mandates. The announcement, made at the Williston Basin Petroleum Conference, of all places, induced a lot of cringing. I was one. I liked the aspiration. I thought putting a clock on it was less wise.…
Turns out gerrymandering concerns from North Dakota’s left-wingers was a bunch of hot air
MINOT, N.D. — A legislative committee has largely finalized a plan for redistricting, and the Republicans who dominate that committee apparently forgot they were supposed to engage in gerrymandering. For months the far-left group North Dakota Voters First has insisted that gerrymandering, or the redrawing of district lines to achieve specific election outcomes, was a fait accompli. Jim Fuglie,…
How does democracy cope when what’s right isn’t what’s popular?
MINOT, N.D. — Last weekend, I got pulled into binge-watching an HBO show called “Show Me A Hero.” I’m a sucker for an F. Scott Fitzgerald reference and pretty much anything David Simon is involved in. Once I started watching the series, I couldn’t look away. I was under the misapprehension that it had been released recently because the subject…
Are you ready for a winter of skyrocketing energy prices?
MINOT, N.D. — I take no pleasure in saying this, but we told you this would happen. By “we,” I mean those of us who view as foolhardy policies aimed at closing down coal mines and coal-fired power plants through punitive regulations alongside massive subsidies and mandates for intermittent renewables like wind and solar. By “this,” I…
The Mother of Exiles
MINOT, N.D. — With news that North Dakota will be accepting 49 refugees from Afghanistan, I suspect we’re going to see a lot of vocal proponents of our war there, people who have castigated President Joe Biden for his abysmal handling of our catastrophic retreat, complaining about our state taking them in. Let’s ignore these people. Our country, and…
Millions unaccounted for, and almost zero scrutiny
MINOT, N.D. — Tara Houska was a campaign advisor to Sen. Bernie Sanders’ 2016 presidential campaign and is currently a prominent anti-pipeline activist. She’s currently involved in the activism against Enbridge’s Line 3 Replacement project. On Sept. 4, she appeared alongside four far-left congresswomen — Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Rep. Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, and Rep. Cori Bush of Missouri — who were…
‘We need to renounce the conspiracy theorists and the truth deniers’
MINOT, N.D. — Recently the NDGOP chairman from a Minot-area district called me to ask if I’d participate in a fundraiser for the Minot Area Republicans. What he had in mind was a dunking booth. Attendees could make a donation — he suggested $500 — to get three attempts to dunk me in the water.…
Insured unemployed rate is lowest in states that ended expanded benefits early
MINOT, N.D. — It shouldn’t be a particularly controversial argument that expanded payments from the government to unemployed people might result in a higher rate and longer duration of unemployed people. But we live in the age of election truthers, anti-vaxxers, and flat-earthers, and so, of course, it is. When the pandemic lowered the boom…
Democrats push a methane emissions regulation that isn’t actually tied to methane emissions
MINOT, N.D. — Ostensibly, environmentalists don’t like fossil fuels because they’re bad for the environment. From extraction to emissions, they say they want cleaner energy. So it’s ironic, then, how often environmentalists invest themselves in opposing efforts to make fossil fuels cleaner. For instance, North Dakota is putting a lot of support behind carbon capture technology even…