January 15, 2013 By: Mark Glennon
CNBC ran a rather extraordinary interview this morning with two guys who aren’t exactly kindred spirits, Rahm Emanuel and Steve Forbes, agreeing that Chicago can be the epicenter of the energy production revolution underway in America.
Emanuel: “Washington is not talking about this…. The biggest revolution equal to the Internet is the energy independence in the United States.”
Forbes: “Midamerica is going to have a real renaissance and Chicago is going to be the center of it.
They are both dead right. This is the dawn of a new age for energy production in America that’s likely to give us energy independence, perhaps even making us a net exporter in a relatively few years. The Upper Midwest is central to that story. Forbes is hosting a major international conference in Chicago in late March on energy and innovation. That will be a huge opportunity to get out in front of this historic opportunity for Chicago and the rest of the Midwest.
Yet, Illinois is spending billions to stifle consumption of some of that same energy production in order to lower global temperatures, as we wrote last week. I have an open mind about most climate science, but this much should be abundantly clear to all of us: We will not succeed in lowering global temperatures by cutting carbon emissions. Whatever the science may be, the political reality is clear that the world is now too skeptical of the science to spend the additional trillions that would be required to reduce emissions by as much as warmists say is needed. China, alone, assures us that because it uses the atmosphere as the biggest garbage dump in history. Instead of spending billions we could be making billions and putting tens of thousands to work. Some renewable sources are viable, and it’s time to let the market sort out which ones they are.
A set of state lawmakers want to extend CPS’ current school closing moratorium to February 1, 2027 – the same year CPS is set to transition to a fully-elected school board. That means schools like Manley High School, with capacity for more than 1,000 students but enrollment of just 78, can’t be closed for anther three years. The school spends $45,000 per student, but just 2.4% of students read at grade level.
Hopefully, all media will get the message, in Illinois, too.
Ted joined Tom Miller of WJPF to talk about Illinois’ highest-in-the-nation property taxes, why lawmakers don’t want to touch the tax’s cost drivers, just how much Illinoisans’ tax burden has grown over the decades, why Gov. Pritzker failed to meet his promise to reform property taxes, and more.