The Law of Unintended Consequences visits Wyoming.

When the Affordable Healthcare Act, commonly known as "Obamacare" was passed the then right wing of the Republican Party mounted a scare campaign that there would be "death panels" for healthcare.

Now, of course, the public is acclimated to the bill and the Republicans won't touch it.

Anyhow, the Wyoming legislature of the period passed a bill sponsored by an extremely conservative legislator  to amend the constitution to add this text:

Wyoming Constitution Art. 1, § 38. Right of health care access

(a) Each competent adult shall have the right to make his or her own health care decisions. The parent, guardian or legal representative of any other natural person shall have the right to make health care decisions for that person.

(b) Any person may pay, and a health care provider may accept, direct payment for health care without imposition of penalties or fines for doing so.

(c) The legislature may determine reasonable and necessary restrictions on the rights granted under this section to protect the health and general welfare of the people or to accomplish the other purposes set forth in the Wyoming Constitution.

(d) The state of Wyoming shall act to preserve these rights from undue governmental infringement.

While it took her seemingly forever to do it, a district court judge in Teton County has ruled that Wyoming's recent ban on abortion violated this provision as abortion is "health care".

I'll be frank.  I'm abhorred by abortion and its not health care.  It's infanticide.  But this gives us an example of the costs of paranoia.  The amendment to the constitution was unnecessary.  Completely unnecessary.  And now its come back to defeat an issue that was a greater one to its sponsors.

Indeed, the sponsor of the amendment was quoted awhile back to the effect that he'd be horrified if his bill resulted in ongoing abortions.  Well, it did. He should be horrified.

Now this goes on to the Wyoming Supreme Court where I'll guess it will be upheld.   There will be an effort to repeal the amendment, but my guess is that it might very well fail.  Legislators will attempt to draft bills around the decision, but they'll fail as well.

Pandemic Part 10. A new paradigm?

 

February 17, 2022

The Center for Disease Control estimates that, taking the massive spread of Omicron around the country into account and the final relatively high vaccination rate in the country, 73% of the nation is now immune from the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2, i.e. COVID 19.

Nobody is really sure exactly what that means.  But it might mean that we're entering a phase where the virus doesn't disappear, but it's much less disruptive to society.

It's still the case, however, that it remains a danger for the unvaccinated.

March 1, 2022

Wyoming's public health emergency shall expire on March 14.

March 21, 2022

A new variant of Omicron has developed, which is about 30% more transmissible than the already more transmissible Omicron.  It's spiking in Europe and in Hong Kong has caused an outbreak with a massive death rate, mostly concentrated in the unvaccinated elderly.

China has reported its first deaths in many months.

According to experts, the world is about 50% through the probable course of the pandemic.

April 14, 2022

Over 1,000,000 Americans have now died from the COVID 19.

July 22, 2022

President Biden has COVID 19.

At this point, two members of our four member family also have, with one having had it quite recently and finding it awful, but being grateful accordingly for having been vaccinated.

A new, more traditional type of vaccine, has now been approved.

September 20, 2022

On 60 Minutes over the weekend, President Biden stated; "The pandemic is over. We still have a problem with COVID. We're still doing a lot of work on it. But the pandemic is over."  The HHS Secretary later confirmed that position.

Epidemiologically, it isn't over, but then neither is the plague's pandemic either.  The statement has been criticized, with 400 people per day dying of the disease, but by and large it reflects the mood of the public which has largely gone back to a new post Covid introduction, world in which COVID 19 is part of the background.

December 15, 2022

The new defense spending authorization includes a requirement that the Secretary of Defense rescind vaccination requirements for troops because, well because that's the idiotic sort of thing that politicians like to stick into bills.

All of the troops should be vaccinated.

December 24, 2022

China, which has not accepted western vaccines, reported 37,000,000 new vaccinations in a single day.

January 2, 2023

A new variant of Omicron, XBB.1.5, now makes up 40% of the new cases in the U.S.

And Covid is still killing.

January 20, 2023

Governor Gordon Tests Positive for COVID-19

CHEYENNE, Wyo. –  Governor Mark Gordon has received results of a COVID-19 test that showed he is positive for the virus. The Governor is experiencing only minor symptoms at this time and will continue working from home on behalf of Wyoming. 

March 1, 2023

The Washington Post broke a story that the Department of Energy issued a report believing, with "low confidence", that the SARS-CoV-2 virus originated in a Chinese lab.

A really good analysis of this story can be found here:  

Why Scientists, Lawmakers & Diplomats Care Where COVID Began

In actuality, the Biden Administration early on ordered governmental intelligence agencies to get to the bottom of the virus' origin.  Eight intelligence agencies were assigned to the tasks, two of which have concluded, but with confidence doubts, that the virus was natural in origin. Two, we know now, felt the opposite, with it already known since 2021 what the FBI felt, with "moderate confidence" that the origin was a Chinese lab.  Two just haven't reported.

None of this kept some from claiming that it's now proven that the virus originated in the lab.

FWIW, private scientists, as opposed to intelligence agencies, overwhelmingly feel that it originated due to animal transfer in the Wuhan market.

March 18, 2023

Recent evidence points to raccoon dogs at the Wuhan market as the source.

April 11, 2023

President Biden declared the COVID emergency to be over.

August 22, 2023

Declared over or not, two new strains are on the loose and a new booster should be available mid September.

April 12, 2024

The CDC has found there's no link between the COVID vaccines and cardiac arrest in young people.

Not that this is a surprise.

It'll make no difference in the anti-scientific atmosphere of the day. A society that can believe that legalizing marijuana, which is largely untested and wholly unregulated, and that Donald Trump won hte 2020 election, will still believe that the vaccine is risky, but cause it wishes to.

June 15, 2024

Reuters has revealed that during the height of the pandemic, the US ran an anti-vax campaign in the Philippines to try to undermine Chinese efforts there.

There's no excuse for that whatsoever.

November 18, 2024

Is it the flu or is it COVID? One at-home test can tell you

Last prior installment:

Pandemic Part 9. Omicron becomes dominant

Thursday, October 2, 1924. The death of Governor William B. Ross.

Today In Wyoming's History: October 2: 1924  Governor William B. Ross died while in office .  His wife, Nellie Tayloe Ross, would become the US's first women governor the month thereafter when she won in a special election in spite of not campaigning.  She would serve only until 1926, however, when she would loose a subsequent election.

Secretary of State Frank Lucas became interim Governor.

His widow, Nellie Tayloe Ross, would be forever remembered as the first female governor in the United States, but her life was full of tragedy. The Ross' had lost a baby.  Of two three surviving sons, James A. Ross was killed a car accident near Saratoga in 1928 at age 25.  Only George Tayloe Ross survived of their children, going on to be a lawyer in New York.  He died in 1991.

The Geneva Protocol for the Pacific Settlement of International Disputes received preliminary approval at the League of Nations.

The location of Ft. Caspar had been marked.

Last edition:

Wednesday, October 1, 1924. Jimmy Carter born, William B. Ross starts to pass.

Labels: 1920s, 1924, baseball, Disease, Health, Irish Defense Forces (Óglaigh na hÉireann), Jimmy Carter, Scandal, William B. Ross, Wyoming

Wednesday, October 1, 1924. Jimmy Carter born, William B. Ross starts to pass.

Jimmy Carter, 39th President of the United States, and the only President to live to age 100, was born in Plains Georgia.

Widely admired personally, he was not a terribly successful President and served one term.

Governor Ross was dying.

Ireland's Defence Forces (Óglaigh na hÉireann) were formed by the unification of the Irish Army, the Irish Naval Service, the Irish Air Corps and the Reserve Defence Forces,'

Baseball Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis banned New York Giants player Jimmy O'Connell and coach Cozy Dolan due to a bribery scandal.

From Michaelnoir on Reddit's 100 Years Ago today:

Last edition:

Tuesday, September 30, 1924. Big Train boards the Train, and the condition of Governor Ross.

Labels: 1920s, 1924, baseball, Health, Personalities, William B. Ross, Wyoming

Tuesday, September 30, 1924. Big Train boards the Train, and the condition of Governor Ross.

 

The newspapers were tracking the condition of Gov. William B. Ross.

Ross had become ill on September 23 after delivering a speech in favor of a severance tax constitutional amendment in Laramie.  He was given an appendectomy on September 25, and it was discovered he was suffering from phlebitis.

Last edition:

Monday, September 29, 1924. Around the world flight completed.

Labels: 1920s, 1924, Aircraft, Army, First Around The World Flight, U.S. Air Force

Trump's speech and cognitive concerns.

In psychiatry, the tendency to conspicuously and rigidly repeat a thought beyond the point of relevance, called “perseverance,” is known to be correlated with a variety of clinical disorders, including those involving a loss of cognitive reserve. People tend to stick to familiar topics over and over when they experience an impairment in cognitive functioning—for instance, in short-term memory. Short-term memory is essentially your mental sketch pad: how many different thoughts you can juggle in your mind, keep track of, and use at the same time. Given the complexity of being president, short-term memory is a vital skill.

If a patient presented to me with the verbal incoherence, tangential thinking, and repetitive speech that Trump now regularly demonstrates, I would almost certainly refer them for a rigorous neuropsychiatric evaluation to rule out a cognitive illness. A condition such as vascular dementia or Alzheimer’s disease would not be out of the ordinary for a 78-year-old. Only careful medical examination can establish whether someone indeed has a diagnosable illness—simply observing Trump, or anyone else, from afar is not enough. For those who do have such diseases or conditions, several treatments and services exist to help them and their loved ones cope with their decline. But that does not mean any of them would be qualified to serve as commander in chief.

 Richard A. Friedman, a psychiatrist, in The Atlantic.

Subsidiarity Economics 2024. The times more or less locally, Part 3. The Decarbonizing the West and Electronic eartags Edition.

From CattleTags.com

June 18, 2024

Governor Gordon, who has spoken on his decarbonization initiative, has released his report.

Governor Gordon Releases WGA Decarbonization Initiative Findings

June 12, 2024

---

Governor Mark Gordon, Chair of the Western Governors’ Association (WGA), today released the report containing findings of his Decarbonizing the West initiative during the association’s 40th Anniversary meeting in Olympic Valley, CA. Governor Gordon launched the initiative a year ago to examine how decarbonization strategies can position western states at the forefront of innovation, reduce CO2 in the atmosphere, and strengthen their economies. The initiative explored a wide range of engineered decarbonization approaches as well as natural sequestration through enhanced land and agriculture management practices.

“Western Governors have a longstanding tradition of addressing complicated issues in thoughtful and bipartisan ways that often lead to national policy reform,” Governor Gordon said, “This topic is not simple. I chose it because it’s important to gain a comprehensive understanding of strategies and technologies that can be utilized in managing carbon.”

Governor Gordon’s hope is to advance environmentally sound and economically reasonable, practical paths to address decarbonization. He is an all-of-the-above energy policy leader, focused on the necessity of ensuring hungry power grids continue to be fed — for the good of his home state and the nation. Yesterday, the Governor joined community leaders and power industry executives, including Bill Gates, in Kemmerer, Wyo. at a groundbreaking for Terra Power’s Natrium reactor demonstration project.

While introducing the initiative at the conference, Governor Gordon thanked Governors Brad Little (R-ID), Jared Polis (D-CO), and Tina Kotek (D-OR) for hosting workshops in their respective states this year. The decarbonization report is a culmination of information gathered at the four workshops and existing WGA policy.

“The diversity of our states represents opportunities for each of us to pursue as we collectively work toward decarbonizing the west,” Governor Gordon wrote in a letter to WGA members, Governor Gordon noted the range of pathways on display at each of the workshops including:

• Gillette, WY: Tour of Integrated Test Center, where cutting edge carbon capture technologies are being tested.
• Boise, ID: Focus discussions of Forestry, agriculture, and soil management can play a role in sequestration.
• Denver, CO: Focus discussions on innovative direct air capture technologies currently being tested in western states.
• Portland, OR: Focus discussions regarding carbon sequestration potential of coastal ecosystems and how biomass can be utilized to remove carbon dioxide.

“These conversations formed the basis for the policy recommendations outlined in the report,”  Governor Gordon said, “It’s my hope they spur common-sense policy reform. We can rally around those and work with our partners in the federal government to accelerate developing  these carbon management methods without compromising livelihoods.”

Governor Gordon has been critical of federal agency regulations failing to give states and utility companies time and adequate incentives to develop cost-effective CO2 capture technologies. 

 Recommendations in the WGA report of particular interest to Wyoming citizens include:

• Federal policies to limit CO2 emissions should be tailored to state needs, and promote, not impede, the development and deployment of CO2 capture technologies. Federal regulations should seek to expand cost-effective deployment of CO2 capture at power plants and other industrial sources.
• Congress should amend Section 45Q of the U.S. Tax Code to provide credit based on the amount of CO2 removed, regardless of whether it is stored or utilized.
• The U.S. Department of Agriculture should develop innovative carbon finance mechanisms to provide upfront capital to landowners seeking to implement [natural sequestration] projects. 
• The EPA should establish clear and consistent guidelines to states for obtaining primacy and should increase agency capacity to review state primacy applications in a more timely manner.  EPA should include aquifer exemptions for Class VI wells. 

Governor Gordon  has also promoted the important role private landowners have in providing natural CO2 sequestration through management of grazing and forest lands.

A complete copy of the report can be found on WGA’s website.

Decarbonizing is coming, and soon, and probably not in an "all options" manner that Governor Gordon urges. The only question is whether there will be a bit of a hiatus due to a second Trump presidency or not.  But it is coming.

In spite of that, there will be howls of derision from Wyoming's far right on this, which will refuse to be proactive and insist the past can be returned.

Related to this, and acknowledging that electric vehicles are coming, a draft bill for the 2025 legislature proposes to tax electric vehicle charging.  While that sounds punitive, the thought it that it will make up for lost gasoline taxes used for roads.  The introductory part of that bill:

In other news which will impact a Wyoming industry that isn't going a way, new electronic ear tags are coming to the cattle industry:

Press Release

Contact: 
APHISpress@usda.gov

 

Requires electronic ID for Certain Cattle and Bison Moving Interstate

WASHINGTON, April 26, 2024 – Today, by amending and strengthening its animal disease traceability regulations for certain cattle and bison, the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is putting in place the technology, tools, and processes to help quickly pinpoint and respond to costly foreign animal diseases.

“Rapid traceability in a disease outbreak will not only limit how long farms are quarantined, keep more animals from getting sick, and help ranchers and farmers get back to selling their products more quickly – but will help keep our markets open,” said Dr. Michael Watson, APHIS Administrator.  

One of the most significant benefits of the rule for farmers and ranchers will be the enhanced ability of the United States to limit impacts of animal disease outbreaks to certain regions, which is the key to maintaining our foreign markets. By being able to readily prove disease-free status in non-affected regions of the United States, we will be able to request foreign trading partners recognize disease-free regions or zones instead of cutting off trade for the entire country. Traceability of animals is necessary to establish these disease-free zones and facilitate reestablishment of foreign and domestic market access with minimum delay in the wake of an animal disease event. 

This rule is the culmination of goals established by USDA to increase traceability, one of the best protections against disease outbreaks, and enhances a rule finalized in 2013 for the official identification of livestock and documentation for certain interstate movements of livestock.

USDA is committed to implementing a modern animal disease traceability system that tracks animals from birth to slaughter using affordable technology that allows for quick tracing of sick and exposed animals to stop disease spread. USDA will continue to provide tags to producers free of charge to jumpstart efforts to enable the fastest possible response to a foreign animal disease. For information on how to obtain these free tags, please see APHIS’ Animal Disease Traceability webpage.

The final rule applies to all sexually intact cattle and bison 18 months of age or older, all dairy cattle, cattle and bison of any age used for rodeo or recreation events, and cattle or bison of any age used for shows or exhibitions.

The rule requires official eartags to be visually and electronically readable for official use for interstate movement of certain cattle and bison, and revises and clarifies certain record requirements related to cattle.

A copy of this rule may be viewed today, and the rule will be published in the Federal Register in the coming weeks. This rule will be effective 180 days after publication in the Federal Register. 

To learn more about animal disease traceability and how APHIS responds to animal disease outbreaks, visit www.aphis.usda.gov.

#

USDA touches the lives of all Americans each day in so many positive ways. In the Biden-Harris Administration, USDA is transforming America’s food system with a greater focus on more resilient local and regional food production, ensuring access to healthy and nutritious food in all communities, building new markets and streams of income for farmers and producers using climate smart food and forestry practices, making historic investments in infrastructure and clean energy capabilities in rural America, and committing to equity across the Department by removing systemic barriers and building a workforce more representative of America. To learn more, visit www.usda.gov.

Frequently Asked Questions: Animal Disease Traceability Rule 

USDA touches the lives of all Americans each day in so many positive ways. In the Biden-Harris Administration, USDA is transforming America’s food system with a greater focus on more resilient local and regional food production, fairer markets for all producers, ensuring access to safe, healthy and nutritious food in all communities, building new markets and streams of income for farmers and producers using climate smart food and forestry practices, making historic investments in infrastructure and clean energy capabilities in rural America, and committing to equity across the Department by removing systemic barriers and building a workforce more representative of America. To learn more, visit www.usda.gov.

June 20, 2024

Wyoming, Utah First To Sue BLM For Putting Conservation Over Mining

June 26, 2024

Wyoming is setting aside $800,000 from the coal litigation funds to use to fight pollution rules.

The Governor announced the state had hired Virginia firm Consovoy McCarthy for this effort, which is an insult to the state's legal community.

June 29, 2024

The Delta Blues*

In local and semi local news:

1.  Last Saturday evening, a Delta Airlines 757 bound from Atlanta to Salt Lake City lost cabin pressure and had to land at the Natrona County International Airport.

2.  On June 17the Casper/Natrona County International Airport Board of Directors notified the Fly Casper Alliance (FCA) that it voted to withdraw support for the minimum revenue guarantee which has kept SkyWest flying as the Delta Connection to Salt Lake.  This will almost surely end commercial air service from Casper to SLC.

Footnotes

* The reference is to the type of blues associated with the Missippii Delta.

And then there's this:

Governor Gordon Applauds U.S. Supreme Court Ruling on Chevron

CHEYENNE, Wyo. –  Governor Mark Gordon responded to the U.S. Supreme Court’s reversal of the Chevron doctrine today, calling the decision a victory for common-sense regulatory reform. The Governor’s statement follows:

“For years, unelected bureaucrats running federal agencies in Washington D.C. have used “deference” as an excuse to target certain industries based on politics. Wyoming has experienced that firsthand,” Governor Gordon said. “Limiting their power to overreach is cause for celebration, and this ruling begins that process.

The court has essentially removed the fox from the hen house. This decision ensures that agencies can no longer unilaterally expand their authority beyond the letter of the law. It rejects the strategy of attacking a state’s industries through rules and regulations like those advanced by the Biden Administration.”

Attorney General Bridget Hill filed an amicus brief on the Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo case on behalf of the State of Wyoming in July of 2023. In that filing, it was noted that the number of Federal regulations are at an all-time high and the rules published by Federal agencies have outpaced the laws Congress enacted at a rate of 26-to-1.

-END-

This will have enormous implications, but nobody really knows what they will be.

July 6, 2024

Wyoming Outdoor Council Plays Shenanigans With State-Run Oil And Gas Auction

July 16, 2024

The price of oil fell due to predictions that Chinese demand has fallen.

The stock market has been dramatically climbing in expectation that Donald Trump will win the 2024 election.

July 19, 2024

The IMF warns the US should raise taxes.

This is patently obvious from an economic standpoint.

July 20, 2024

A computer bug caused massive computer failures globally.

Modelo Especial has overtaken Bud Light as the number one beer in the United States.

July 21, 2024

Nuclear technology company BWX is evaluating locations in Wyoming for commercial nuclear fuel production.

July 27, 2024

The world's largest soda ash company is planning a major expansion of operations in southwest Wyoming.

August 3, 2024

Kum & Go's in Wyoming are becoming Maverik's.

Maverik already has a presence here. The convenience store in their Mill's location sells Cinnabon's. . . 

Related to this Big D's seem to be springing up in Natrona County.

August 4, 2024

Rocky Mountain Power filed a request to increase rates in order to underwrite new infrastructure and cover the rising costs insurance premiums relating to wildfire risk.

Another reminder of something we discussed yesterday:

Intellectual disconnect. With everything on fire, will people wake up?

August 6, 2024

US stocks crashed yesterday, something that would matter to me if I was every going to retire, which seems unlikely.

The price of oil also dropped.

All this due to recession fears.

All this was due to massive overreaction to job reports.

August 12, 2024

A Federal grant will be used to provide high speed internet to the parts of Wyoming lacking it.

August 14, 2024

Natrona County Passenger Increase

Nearly 30% more passengers flew out of Casper/Natrona County International Airport in July than did a year ago, airport officials reported Monday.

Casper Star Tribune, August 14, 2024.

August 15, 2024

Inflation has hit a three year low.

From the Casper Star Tribune:

Total employment in Wyoming grew by a scant 1.3% from first quarter 2023 to first quarter 2024, but total payroll grew by 4.1% over the year, the Research and Planning section of the Wyoming Department of Workforce Services reported Friday. Average weekly wage in the state grew by 2.8%.

August 16, 2024

California will ban the sale of new gasoline powered vehicles by 2035.

Starting in 2026, 35% of new vehicles sold in California will be required to be hybrids or fully electric.

August 18, 2024

A development we'll see more and more of.

Colorado-Based Tri-State Ditching Coal Power Alienates Its 8 Wyoming Co-ops

Americans are moving away for coal generation, and no amount of Wyomingites denying its occuring, or trying to prevent it, is going to stop that.

August 23, 2024

The Canadian government has forced the Canadian Pacific Kansas City and Canadian National railroads into arbitration with their unions, so rail traffic in Canada will resume shortly.

After no agreement was reached, the railroads had locked their workers out yesterday.

September 5, 2024

Crude oil hit a nine month low.

The Japanese government is encouraging employers to adopt a four day work week to deal with labor shortages.

September 6, 2024

Crude oil are now at a fourteen month low.

September 7, 2024

The Natrona County International Airport had its busiest month in a decade.

Related threads:

Blog Mirror: Tom Lubnau: Wyoming's Future -- Diversification Or Destitution?

Coal: Understanding the time line of an industry

Labels: boats and ships, British Navy, Coal, Daily Living, Industry, Lodging, Mid-Week at Work, Petroleum, Railroads, Transportation, U.S. Navy, United States Fuel Administration

Last prior edition:

Subsidiarity Economics 2024. The times more or less locally, Part 2. The Mineral Leasing Act of 1920 Edition.

Labels: 1960s, 1966, 1980s, 1988, 2020s, 2024, 2026, Coal, Electrical Power, Government, law, Methane, Nuclear power, Petroleum, Wyoming, Wyoming's boom and bust economy, You heard it here first