UAW Strike Offers Ford’s Chinese Battery Plant an Easy Way Out

• Ford announced that it would suspend work on its $3.5 billion Michigan–China battery partnership due to the United Auto Workers strike.
• The proposed Marshall, Michigan plant is planned in cooperation with Chinese battery behemoth Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd. (CATL), one of the world’s largest battery producers.
• China dominates battery technology, accounting for over 70 percent of global electric-vehicle-battery-production capacity. CATL, as the largest producer in the industry, profits from close relations with the Chinese Communist Party.
• The UAW strike is a welcome excuse for Ford’s pause on the Michigan plant. It is poor public relations for Ford to choose Chinese over American interests when China is engaged in an economic war with democracies around the globe.

Schedule an Interview: Diana Furchtgott-Roth

Summer Weather Data Don’t Amount to Climate Change

• The field of climate science has been and continues to be unnecessarily politicized.
• Numerous media outlets have sensationalized the past summer as being the hottest on record. But the details behind the dramatic headlines are unremarkable, and certainly no reason to panic.
• U.S. temperature data do not support reports of a record heat wave. Looking at just the surface thermometer data in the United States for June, July, and August of this year, this summer ranked as only the 15th warmest since 1895. Two of the years warmer than 2023 were before 1940.
• Sensationalized headlines based on cursory analysis fail to help anyone. And policies that, on the basis of these headlines, require use of renewables, eliminate certain types of appliances and cars, or impose a carbon tax will only reduce economic growth, rendering America less capable of weathering (no pun intended) any adverse events that come our way.

Schedule an Interview: Kevin Dayaratna

“Catch and Release” Has Become “Greet and Release”

• CBP sources confirmed the number of total migrant encounters at the southern border topped 260,000 last month—the highest figure ever reported. Out-of-control illegal immigration has taken lives, pushed fentanyl into communities in every state, and enriched dangerous, human-trafficking cartels.  
• At least 5.8 million illegal immigrants have entered the country since President Biden took office—that’s more than the population of 29 states.  
• The Biden administration has no interest in protecting our sovereignty and securing the border. Congress must act to keep Americans safe.  
• H.R. 2—the Secure the Border Act—would fulfill promises made to the American people by enforcing our laws and ending a self-inflicted crisis that harms not just cities and states along the border, but every city and state around the country. 

Schedule an Interview: Lora Ries and Simon Hankinson