Showing posts with label Wyoming's boom and bust economy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Wyoming's boom and bust economy. Show all posts

Tuesday, November 25, 2025

Subsidiarity Economics 2025. The Times more or less locally, Part 12. Don't look . . . everything's just fine edition.

 


November 25, 2025.

The consolidation of the meat packing industry, which we've long complained about here, hits home, again:

And the Federal Government gives a boost to the technology that's going to 1) take all our jobs, and 2), kill us.

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered:

Section 1.  Purpose.  From the founding of our Republic, scientific discovery and technological innovation have driven American progress and prosperity.  Today, America is in a race for global technology dominance in the development of artificial intelligence (AI), an important frontier of scientific discovery and economic growth.  To that end, my Administration has taken a number of actions to win that race, including issuing multiple Executive Orders and implementing America’s AI Action Plan, which recognizes the need to invest in AI-enabled science to accelerate scientific advancement.  In this pivotal moment, the challenges we face require a historic national effort, comparable in urgency and ambition to the Manhattan Project that was instrumental to our victory in World War II and was a critical basis for the foundation of the Department of Energy (DOE) and its national laboratories.

This order launches the “Genesis Mission” as a dedicated, coordinated national effort to unleash a new age of AI‑accelerated innovation and discovery that can solve the most challenging problems of this century.  The Genesis Mission will build an integrated AI platform to harness Federal scientific datasets — the world’s largest collection of such datasets, developed over decades of Federal investments — to train scientific foundation models and create AI agents to test new hypotheses, automate research workflows, and accelerate scientific breakthroughs.  The Genesis Mission will bring together our Nation’s research and development resources — combining the efforts of brilliant American scientists, including those at our national laboratories, with pioneering American businesses; world-renowned universities; and existing research infrastructure, data repositories, production plants, and national security sites — to achieve dramatic acceleration in AI development and utilization.  We will harness for the benefit of our Nation the revolution underway in computing, and build on decades of innovation in semiconductors and high-performance computing.  The Genesis Mission will dramatically accelerate scientific discovery, strengthen national security, secure energy dominance, enhance workforce productivity, and multiply the return on taxpayer investment into research and development, thereby furthering America’s technological dominance and global strategic leadership.

Sec. 2.  Establishment of the Genesis Mission.  (a)  There is hereby established the Genesis Mission (Mission), a national effort to accelerate the application of AI for transformative scientific discovery focused on pressing national challenges.

(b)  The Secretary of Energy (Secretary) shall be responsible for implementing the Mission within DOE, consistent with the provisions of this order, including, as appropriate and authorized by law, setting priorities and ensuring that all DOE resources used for elements of the Mission are integrated into a secure, unified platform.  The Secretary may designate a senior political appointee to oversee day-to-day operations of the Mission.

(c)  The Assistant to the President for Science and Technology (APST) shall provide general leadership of the Mission, including coordination of participating executive departments and agencies (agencies) through the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) and the issuance of guidance to ensure that the Mission is aligned with national objectives.

Sec. 3.  Operation of the American Science and Security Platform.  

(a)  The Secretary shall establish and operate the American Science and Security Platform (Platform) to serve as the infrastructure for the Mission with the purpose of providing, in an integrated manner and to the maximum extent practicable and consistent with law:

(i)    high-performance computing resources, including DOE national laboratory supercomputers and secure cloud-based AI computing environments, capable of supporting large-scale model training, simulation, and inference;

(ii)   AI modeling and analysis frameworks, including AI agents to explore design spaces, evaluate experimental outcomes, and automate workflows;

(iii)  computational tools, including AI-enabled predictive models, simulation models, and design optimization tools;

(iv)   domain-specific foundation models across the range of scientific domains covered;

(v)    secure access to appropriate datasets, including proprietary, federally curated, and open scientific datasets, in addition to synthetic data generated through DOE computing resources, consistent with applicable law; applicable classification, privacy, and intellectual property protections; and Federal data-access and data-management standards; and

(vi)   experimental and production tools to enable autonomous and AI-augmented experimentation and manufacturing in high-impact domains.

(b)  The Secretary shall take necessary steps to ensure that the Platform is operated in a manner that meets security requirements consistent with its national security and competitiveness mission, including applicable classification, supply chain security, and Federal cybersecurity standards and best practices.

(c)  Within 90 days of the date of this order, the Secretary shall identify Federal computing, storage, and networking resources available to support the Mission, including both DOE on-premises and cloud-based high-performance computing systems, and resources available through industry partners.  The Secretary shall also identify any additional partnerships or infrastructure enhancements that could support the computational foundation for the Platform.

(d)  Within 120 days of the date of this order, the Secretary shall:

(i)   identify a set of initial data and model assets for use in the Mission, including digitization, standardization, metadata, and provenance tracking; and

(ii)  develop a plan, with appropriate risk-based cybersecurity measures, for incorporating datasets from federally funded research, other agencies, academic institutions, and approved private-sector partners, as appropriate.

(e)  Within 240 days of the date of this order, the Secretary shall review capabilities across the DOE national laboratories and other participating Federal research facilities for robotic laboratories and production facilities with the ability to engage in AI-directed experimentation and manufacturing, including automated and AI-augmented workflows and the related technical and operational standards needed.

(f)  Within 270 days of the date of this order, the Secretary shall, consistent with applicable law and subject to available appropriations, seek to demonstrate an initial operating capability of the Platform for at least one of the national science and technology challenges identified pursuant to section 4 of this order.

Sec. 4.  Identification of National Science and Technology Challenges.  

(a)  Within 60 days of the date of this order, the Secretary shall identify and submit to the APST a detailed list of at least 20 science and technology challenges of national importance that the Secretary assesses to have potential to be addressed through the Mission and that span priority domains consistent with National Science and Technology Memorandum 2 of September 23, 2025, including:

(i)    advanced manufacturing;

(ii)   biotechnology;

(iii)  critical materials;

(iv)   nuclear fission and fusion energy;

(v)    quantum information science; and

(vi)   semiconductors and microelectronics.

(b)  Within 30 days of submission of the list described in subsection (a) of this section, the APST shall review the proposed list and, working with participating agency members of the NSTC, coordinate the development of an expanded list that can serve as the initial set of national science and technology challenges to be addressed by the Mission, including additional challenges proposed by participating agencies through the NSTC, subject to available appropriations.

(c)  Following development of the expanded list described in subsection (b) of this section, agencies participating in the Mission shall use the Platform to advance research and development aligned with the national science and technology challenges identified in the expanded list, consistent with applicable law and their respective missions, and subject to available appropriations.

(d)  On an annual basis thereafter, the Secretary shall review and update the list of challenges in consultation with the APST and the NSTC to reflect progress achieved, emerging national needs, and alignment with my Administration’s research and development priorities.

Sec. 5.  Interagency Coordination and External Engagement.  

(a)  The APST, through the NSTC, and with support from the Federal Chief Data Officer Council and the Chief AI Officer Council, shall convene relevant and interested agencies to:

(i)    assist participating agencies in aligning, to the extent permitted by law, their AI-related programs, datasets, and research and development activities with the objectives of the Mission in their respective areas of expertise, while avoiding duplication of effort across the Federal Government and promoting interoperability;

(ii)   identify data sources that may support the Mission’s aim;

(iii)  develop a process and resourcing plan in coordination with participating agencies for integrating appropriate and available agency data and infrastructure into the Mission, to the extent permitted by law and subject to available appropriations, including methods under which all agencies contributing to the Mission are encouraged to implement appropriate risk-based security measures that reflect cybersecurity best practices;

(iv)   launch coordinated funding opportunities or prize competitions across participating agencies, to the extent permitted by law and subject to available appropriations, to incentivize private-sector participation in AI-driven scientific research aligned with Mission objectives; and

(v)    establish mechanisms to coordinate research and development funding opportunities and experimental resources across participating agencies, ensuring agencies can participate effectively in the Mission.

(b)  The APST shall coordinate with relevant agencies in establishing, consistent with existing authorizing statutes and subject to available appropriations, competitive programs for research fellowships, internships, and apprenticeships focused on the application of AI to scientific domains identified as national challenges for the Mission, to include placement of program participants at DOE national laboratories and other participating Federal research facilities, with the purpose of providing access to the Platform and training in AI-enabled scientific discovery.

(c)  The Secretary, in coordination with the APST and the Special Advisor for AI and Crypto, shall establish mechanisms for agency collaboration with external partners possessing advanced AI, data, or computing capabilities or scientific domain expertise, including through cooperative research and development agreements, user facility partnerships, or other appropriate arrangements with external entities to support and enhance the activities of the Mission, and shall ensure that such partnerships are structured to preserve the security of Federal research assets and maximize public benefit.  To facilitate these collaborations, the Secretary shall:

(i)    develop standardized partnership frameworks, including cooperative research and development or other appropriate agreements, and data-use and model‑sharing agreements;

(ii)   establish clear policies for ownership, licensing, trade-secret protections, and commercialization of intellectual property developed under the Mission, including innovations arising from AI-directed experiments;

(iii)  implement uniform and stringent data access and management processes and cybersecurity standards for non-Federal collaborators accessing datasets, models, and computing environments, including measures requiring compliance with classification, privacy, and export-control requirements, as well as other applicable laws; and

(iv)   establish procedures to ensure the highest standards of vetting and authorization of users and collaborators seeking access to the resources of the Mission and associated research activities, including the Platform and associated Federal research resources.

(d)  The APST, through the NSTC, shall, to the extent appropriate, identify opportunities for international scientific collaboration to support activities under the Mission.

Sec. 6.  Evaluation and Reporting.  

(a)  Within 1 year of the date of this order, and on an annual basis thereafter, the Secretary shall submit a report to the President, through the APST and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, describing:

(i)    the Platform’s operational status and capabilities;

(ii)   progress toward integration across DOE national laboratories and other participating Federal research partners, including shared access to computing resources, data infrastructure, and research facilities;

(iii)  the status of user engagement, including participation of student researchers and any related training;

(iv)   updates on research efforts and outcomes achieved, including measurable scientific advances, publications, and prototype technologies;

(v)    the scope and outcomes of public-private partnerships, including collaborative research projects and any technology transitions or commercialization activities; and

(vi)   any identified needs or recommendations for authorities or interagency support to achieve the Mission’s objectives.

Sec. 7.  General Provisions.  

(a)  Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:

(i)   the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or

(ii)  the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.

(b)  This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.

(c)  This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.

(d)  The costs for publication of this order shall be borne by the Department of Energy.

                            DONALD J. TRUMP

THE WHITE HOUSE,

    November 24, 2025.

$$$

Related threads:

Nebraska Ranchers to go into Meat Processing



Last edition:

Subsidiarity Economics 2025. The Times more or less locally, Part 11. The blistering ignorance edition.

Saturday, November 15, 2025

Subsidiarity Economics 2025. The Times more or less locally, Part 11. The blistering ignorance edition.

 Guest Column: Fear Is No Energy Policy

Radiant scraps Wyoming nuclear microreactor manufacturing facility: California-based Radiant Industries cited the state's ban on spent nuclear fuel waste and said it will build a manufacturing plant in Tennessee.

Letter To The Editor: Why We Chose Tennessee Over Wyoming For Our Nuclear Generators

The Wyoming Freedom Caucus people, heavily made up in the legislature of carpetbaggers, and their street level MAGA adherents, which believe that global warming is a fib and that coal and petroleum will last forever, have likely chased Radiant Energy's nuclear generator factory out of the state, and out of Natrona County.

To hear many of the opposition to these proposals tell it, this is what was going to happen if Radiant Energy was allowed to come into the state

This is because they fear nuclear waste in spite of the repeated efforts of everyone who has looked into it that,to explain that in this case, there was nothing to fear.

The ironies of this are so thick it isn't funny.  In a state in which rampaging gang land rape is thought of as a virtue, opponents of this project sometimes came across sounding like they were members of Greenpeace.  

Well, you can't really have the a "save the planet" and "drill baby drill" point of view simultaneously, unless you are ignorant.  And this has been the triumph of ignorance.  

Indeed, a person sustains more exposure to radiation from ceiling fans (truly) than they would have for this proposal, of from background radon gas, or simply from living in the state.

Trump, who ironically supports nuclear, won't be around forever and the end of carbon based fuels is not only on the horizon, it's out on the front lawn.  Nuclear energy is  the future.

The entity would have directly employed 250 people.

But this is common for Wyoming.  I've seen feedlots basically run off twice, and by long standing assertion, Natrona County fail to support an effort by Coors to grow barley here.

I suppose if there is a bright spot, it would be that, given economic realities, this points us back to a very early type of economy in the state in a way. That won't make those employed in the oil and gas industry who think it's going to last forever happy, and it won't make any truck driving public servants happy either, but that's going to occur.  Of course, retirees who made their lives elsewhere and who don't give a rats ass about the state's economy now that they've left their job somewhere else won't care much.

In other news, visitors to Grand Teton Grand Teton spent $808M in 2024.

October 14, 2025.

$$$

NOLS helps power Wyoming’s outdoor rec economy, study says

I guess somebody has to say it. . .right after people manage to chase Radiant away from Bar Nunn. . .

BREAKING: Bar Nunn Elementary, Woods Learning Center could close next school year

October 15, 2025

Cont:

Legislators Pointing Fingers Over Radiant Nuclear Killing Wyoming Project

$$$

Wyoming Sheep Jams Reveal Mounting Pressures On Local Ranches And Farms

The fallout on Radiant pulling out is really proving to be the nuclear sh** that hit the fan and having all sort of interesting implications, one of which is that voters in some districts are getting a good look at their recently elected legislators for the first time.

One of whom is now in the spotlight is Natrona County Freedom Caucus member Bill Allemand, who hails from Midwest, a town that's completely dependant upon petroleum production. The town sits right in the center of the old Salt Creek Oil Field.  Allemand himself is a truck driver.  According to his website, he graduated from high school in 1977, which would mean that he's about 66 years old or so.  He's from a ranching family in that area.  It's really unclear, but he seems to have left and lived in Kansas for years.  When he came back, he went to work as a truck driver in Wyoming, which perhaps he was in Kansas.  His website conspicuously fails to mention a spouse, which would likely suggest there isn't one.

Right from the onset, Allemand ran as a member of the very far right.  He displaced long serving legislator Pat Sweeney in a race that saw the district boundaries redrawn.  Sweeney, a genteel older gentleman with a long history in politics was a tavern owner but had probably simply stayed around in politics too long, although he's still in it, now serving as a City of Casper Councilman.  Allemand was shockingly rude during his campaign against Sweeney and would have lost for that reason alone in earlier times.

Allemand in the legislature hasn't been hugely notable.  He's in the camp that has sided against public lands in various ways and is one of the legislatures which Wyoming outdoor recreationist should not support.  Now he's self branded as "Mr. No Nukes", a tag he proudly boasted about, right up until now when it's suddenly clear that a lot of Republicans are not very impressed.  Allemand is already running for reelection for 2026 and may have a battle on his hands.

While Allemand is a Wyomingite, unlike a lot of Freedom Caucus members, he fits into that class of individuals who apparently made their lives elsewhere and returned to the state late in life.  Brent Bien is another one.  These people weren't all here when the state loved its uranium industry and are seemingly wedded to coal and oil at the existential level.

As an aside, Allemand in photographs appears to have a wad of chewing tobacco under his front lip 90% of the time.  Perhaps I'm in error, but it's a pretty distinct look.  He ought to ditch that.

Anyhow, now that Allemand prevailed and Radiant isn't coming, he's suddenly wanting to "bury the hatchet" with those whom he tangled with. They do not appear to be ready to do that, nor should they.  Allemand didn't live in Bar Nunn but he went so far as to opine they should not have a police force, a totally local issues.  During this controversy he drew attention to himself, and now he will have to live with the implications of it.

In a related matter:

Tom Lubnau: What Can We Learn From The Failed Federal Coal Sale

Lubnau starts off:

Last week, the coal friendly Trump Administration offered 162,000 tons of mineable coal for sale near the Spring Creek Mine in Montana for sale. The only bid for the coal was by Navajo Transitional Energy Company (NTEC) for $186,000. 

The bid for the coal was less than a penny per recoverable ton of coal. The last successful sale for coal was $1.10 per ton, or a bid more than 100 times greater than the bid NTEC made. 

Given the disappointingly low bid, the BLM canceled the sale.

This makes plain in the present era something industry insiders, which I was to a slight degree back in the 90s, have known for decades. Coal is dead.  People who boost it are either delusional, which much of the Freedom Caucus, maybe all of it, really are, or are telling people what they want to hear in order to advance themselves.

Which gets back to the Freedom Caucus. Why did they oppose nuclear projects?  It's really unclear.  To a large degree, however, it seems that a lot of them are just blisteringly ignorant on the state's history.  They seem to be a  carpetbagging Rexall Cowboys to a large extent.

I'm fairly firmly convinced that some don't' fit that category, and are just cynical.  I'd place Chuck Gray in that category  He's from the extreme far right but has gone full greenie in Natrona County, including opposing Radiant.  Why?  Probably simple political expediency.  Indeed, I'm fairly convinced that if Donald Trump, in his declining mental state, announced that he intended to dump Melania and pursue Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as a love interest, Gray would be AOC's biggest fan.

Little noticed in Natrona County, the same drama is going on in Campbell County.

Town hall on nuclear development reveals tensions over waste, state control in Gillette

October 16, 2025

Cont:

Governor Gordon Voices Disappointment in Radiant Nuclear Announcement

CHEYENNE, Wyo, October 14, 2025 - Governor Gordon (R-WY) made the following statement today regarding the announcement by Radiant Nuclear. 

“It is a sad day when Wyoming loses out to Tennessee in providing energy leadership. Members of the Freedom Caucus inspired ‘Club No’ convinced Radiant that Wyoming isn’t about leadership and problem solving. Tennessee stood ready to accept that opportunity; maybe they understand how to build an economy.

‘Club No’ has ushered in a new culture of no matter who began or who commenced it, we’re against it.  That is not the way Wyoming became the great state it is. We aren’t even following President Trump's lead.

Let me say it plainly: Wyoming should not be held back by fear. We should be pioneers. We should be the first state companies turn to when they want regulatory clarity, bold infrastructure, and a partner for innovation. The Trump Administration’s energy agenda gave us the opening; this microreactor project fits that agenda. Given a chance, if we had been willing to work together, no problem is unsolvable for Wyoming. 

I applaud the citizens, county leaders, and those legislators who believed in opportunity over obstruction and Wyoming’s legendary reputation for finding solutions. Let’s work together to ensure Wyoming remains open for business. We will not let the ‘Club No’ crowd define our future.”


$$$

An item from the Leopards Won't Eat My Face group:


Seriously, how stupid can you be.  Why did ranchers (and I am one) think Trump would be good for them?  Republicans never are, and he's a rather dim urbanite.

Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.

October 24, 2025

cont:



Oh yeah. . .that's clearly the reaction a totally stable secure genius would have . . . 

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

$$$

Inflation is up as prices jumped 3% last month.

October 25, 2025

cont:

When I was a kid, a particularly vicious insult was to call somebody a "diaper baby".  It was such an insult, that it called for an immediate retraction or fisticuss.  A person who would swallow such an insult accepted that they were, in fact, a diaper baby.

It expressed an extreme sort of narcissistic childish immmaturity.

Trump has hiked tariffs on Canada as he couldn't hack Ontario's well done Reagan advertisement. That's because, quite frankly, Donald Trump is a diaper baby.

$$$

The Senate voted to end King Donny's bogus emergency tariffs on Brazil and will be voting to remove his emergency tariff authority entirely later this week.

As Smarmy Mike sent the House home, and won't recall them, nothing can happen right now. The Trump UniBrain GOP in the House earlier voted not to take up the illegal tariffs for the rest of the year anyhow.

What this frankly is, is a sign that an economic train wreck is coming and the Senate doesn't want the blame, or rather a few GOP Senators that aren't part of the UniBrain see it coming and don't want the blame.

October 29, 2025.

$$$

In exchange for promises from China, which I'm sure are all so good, that will crack down on fentanyl, the United States will shave 10% off the tariffs it charges on Chinese goods.

2025 年 10 月 30 日'

$$$

Trump's decision to stop the production of pennies is causing a crisis in retail in parts of the country as exact change can no longer be made as the supply of pennies dries up.

October 31, 2025

¢¢¢

Gordon declares public welfare emergency in light of SNAP lapse, OK’s $10 million in aid: The executive order allows Wyoming’s governor to send emergency funds to charitable organizations, churches.

November 1, 2025

$$$ 

This has the effect of being a cave in to Republican budget cuts.

This must now go back to the House, which of course is in recess.  

November 10, 2025

$$$

And tariffs are coming off of all sorts of food items, now that Taco realizes they heard the economy and people are angry.

November 11, 2025

$$$

And with this entry, we'll close out this edition.

Last edition:

Subsidiarity Economics 2025. The Times more or less locally, Part 10. The killing the messenger edition.

Friday, October 24, 2025

Wyoming’s future depends on courage, optimism and action

Wyoming’s future depends on courage, optimism and action: Wyoming's biggest challenge isn't a lack of opportunity. It's a fear of change. But doing nothing won't save the state we love, writes Josh Dorrell.

Monday, October 13, 2025

Subsidiarity Economics 2025. The Times more or less locally, Part 10. The killing the messenger edition.



August 2, 2025.

Eight months into the year, and our 10th edition for 2025.

Uff.

Mad King Donald fired Dr. Erika McEntarfer, the commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, as he was upset by the Bureau's negative job report, which he stated was rigged.

It was rigged, of course, because facts in Trumpland are rigged if they aren't universally pro Trump.

This is likely to get a lot worse as the fact is that a lot of things Trump has set in motion are going to start having pretty negative consequences.  Likewise, some firmly held GOP beliefs on economics and science aren't going to hold up to reality.

Speaking of reality and the news, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting is closing its doors due to the budget rescission.  The CPB, NPR and PBS are separate entities, but this is not a good development.

Republicans, who don't actually seem to realize the three entities are separate from each other, are rejoicing that public funding is ending for "left wing" media, by which they largely mean media that reports reality and the truth, as opposed to propaganda.

August 3, 2025

Three Kentucky distilleries, all small ones, have filed for bankruptcy within the past eight months, with the lastest coming last week.

While I haven't seen any analysis on it, distilleries were particularly worried about the Trump tariffs and, surprise surprise, booze can be made anywhere.  Canadians have pretty much sworn off of US alcohol and were actually a major market.  They make their own anyway.  Seems like Europeans might be doing so also.

And part of this is probably the impact of an artisanal whiskey boom of the last decade fading.

August 5, 2025

Proposal to address ‘nation’s worst workforce exodus’ fails to get support from Wyoming lawmakers: The Wyoming Business Council says it has more policy ideas forthcoming to address "vicious" shrinking workforce conundrum.

August 10, 2025

Some really interesting things are going on that are definitely Wyoming centric that we haven't noted, or haven't noted much, and should.

The first might be that a proposal to put in a nuclear generator construction facility in Natrona County north of the town of Bar Nunn has really turned out to be controversial.  This comes on the heels of a nuclear power plant in Kemmerer that is also controversial.

The ins and outs of the controversy are a little difficult to really discern, but at some level, quite a few people just don't like the idea of something nuclear.  It's not coal, and its not oil.  Chuck Gray, for example, has come out against this and wind energy.  Chuck hasn't worked a day in his life in a blue collar job and he's just tapping into the "no sir, we don't like it" sort of thought here.

What's going to happen?  We'll have to see.

Another local controversy is the approval of a 30 lot subdivision on Casper Mountain.  This has drawn the ire of a lot people who live on Casper Mountain, and most of it is posed in conservation or even environmental terms.

The irony there, of course, is that people who have already built a house on the mountain are somewhat compromised in these arguments.  I get it, however, as I really don't think we need more rural subdivisions in the county, at all.

On the mountain, I'd note that one of the really aggravating things that has happened recently is that last year a joint Federal/State project paved the dirt road on the backside of the mountain to the top of Muddy Mountain.  It didn't need to be done and it just encourages land rapist to built houses on the backside of Casper Mountain.

Natrona County Bans Big Trucks On 26 Roads Amid Gravel Mine Controversy

I understand the opposition here, but in context, things seem to lack consistency.

Which gets back to this, I suppose.  If a person just doesn't want development, they can say that.

What you can't do, however, is pretend that some major pillars of the state's economy are going to be here forever.  The extractive industries are basically on their way out right now.

One of the amusing things about all of this is that the MAGA hat wearers locally who are opposed to nuclear energy are facing it in part due to the current administration.

August 13, 2025

Longtime Wyoming newspaper executives to buy, reopen eight shuttered newspapers: Overjoyed newsroom staff in communities across Wyoming are back on the job with pay after corporate closure laid off 30 employees.

 Trump greenlights 14.5 million-ton coal expansion in Wyoming: The newly accessible tract represents a little more than half of the Antelope mine's annual production but signals more coal mining actions to come.

August 15, 2025

Headline in the CST:

US producer prices surge

And the tariff chickens come home to roost.

One Of Wyoming's First Combo Agriculture-Solar Farm Can’t Find A Buyer For Its Power

Trouble north of the border, where unions remain much stronger than they do here:

Air Canada cancels flights (August 15) due to labor trouble.


Air Canada is facing a flight attendants strike and is basically starting to shut down.

Cynthia Lummis on a comment from the Treasury Secretary saying the US needs to explore ways to buy more Bitcoin:

America needs the BITCOIN Act.

No, it doesn't.  Focus on Wyoming issues and pay attention to them Senator.

August 17, 2025

Social Security Benefits Are an Estimated 8 Years Away From Being Slashed -- and the Cuts Are Even Bigger Than Initially Forecast

August 19, 2025

Federal mineral taxes are being reduced from16.67% to 12.5%.

They had been raised during the Biden Administration.

August 20, 2025

August 23, 2025

Employees at Laramie's Mountain Cement voted to unionize.  They will be joining the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers.

August 30, 2025

Well, there's absolutely no surprise.  Trump's illegal tariffs were affirmed to be illegal.

D'uh.

The Court's decision starts:

The Government appeals a decision of the Court of International Trade setting aside five Executive Orders that imposed tariffs of unlimited duration on nearly all goods from nearly every country in the world, holding that the tariffs were not authorized by the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), 50 U.S.C. § 1701 et seq. Because we agree that IEEPA’s grant of presidential authority to “regulate” imports does not authorize the tariffs imposed by the Executive Orders, we affirm.

Even here, however, the Court granted a stay of thirty days on the implementation of its order, which a private litigant would be unlikely to have received, and the government shouldn't have received here.  The order should have gone into effect immediately absent the government posting a bond to cover the damages, which would be all the tariffs collected while the matter was on appeal, and all that it has already collected, which should need to be fully refunded.

But a refund won't happen and the implementation of the ruling is delayed by 30 days, so the government can appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, which doesn't actually have to take the appeal.

Whether the S.Ct upholds it, or proves to be a pure political arm of the government, is another matter.

There were three dissents in the en banc decision.

September 7, 2025

Postal traffic into the United States dropped by more than 80% after the Trump administration ended a tariff exemption for low-cost imports.

September 9, 2025

Wyoming’s massive new federal coal tract not likely to draw high bids: State and coal industry officials want a new 440 million ton coal tract offered for sale, but opponents warn lease won't benefit public coffers like years past.

Like Star Athletes, WyoTech Grads Recruited For Jobs All Over The Country 

Wyoming Wool Initiative seeks lamb donations for student program

September 13, 2025

Headline from the Trib:

Local board pulls $25M grant application to develop Radiant Nuclear site 

And

Feds fast-track coal mining expansion in southwest Wyoming

And

Court sides with Wyoming utility, rules state should have allowed higher rate increase

Related threads:

The Union Pacific is laying off carmen in Green River and may be closing the shop there.

September 24, 2025

Apparently US immigration raids have caused Michelob Ultra, which is gross, to become the most popular beer in the U.S., displacing Corona, which is gross, for the last 12 months.

September 25, 2025

From the Trib:

Wyoming unemployment falls to 3.2% in August 2025

And the Cowboy State Daily:

The General Services Administration is attempting to rehire hundreds of employees laid off by Elon Musk's moronic Dipshit DOGE.

September 26, 2025

More tariffs.  100% tariff pharmaceuticals, 30% tariff on upholstered furniture, 50% tariff on kitchen cabinets and bathroom vanities, and a 30% tariff on heavy trucks. 

September 30, 2025

The Trump administration plans to open more than 13 million acres of federal land for leasing for coal and provide $625 million in funds to expand power generation from coal, the latter a blatantly socialist move, but apparently Republicans are okay with Socialism now.

In Wyoming, The West Antelope III coal lease will go to competitive auction on Oct. 8.

These will prove to be carbon laden farts in a windstorm as coal will continue to decline, but the action will be damaging to long term power generation and the climate.

Cattle prices are reported to be at a record high.

October 1, 2025

Powell Valley Healthcare is shutting down its oncology services and its internal medicine clinic in Cody  as a way to remain economically sustainable.

Casper air travel should continue during federal shutdown, but ripple effects loom

 

Casper air travel should continue during federal shutdown, but ripple effects loom

October 3, 2025

October 6, 2025

(LETTER) Bob Ide personally benefits from his property tax cuts

October 9, 2025

Hard liquor exports to Canada are down 85% this year.

October 11, 2025

The master negotiator got the big middle finger salute from China over his trade policies and now Trump is threatening 100% tariffs on the country.

Markets are reacting badly.

October 13, 2025

China indicated it wasn't backing down on the tariff matter.

Last edition:

Subsidiarity Economics 2025. The Times more or less locally, Part 9. Waist Deep in the Big Muddy. It's Donald Trump's economy now.