Speaking of #KristiNoem. I came across this very interesting article from #OpenSecrets! I'll betcha Kristi is #Trump's pick for 2028 (assuming he doesn't try and stay in power until...) Anyhow, apparently #JDVance has lost favor already (hasn't sucked up enough?).

#Trump administration profile: Kristi Noem

By Emma Rose Brown
February 5, 2025

"Shortly after winning the election in November, President Donald Trump nominated Kristi Noem to be secretary of homeland security in his second administration. Following a Jan. 17 hearing, her nomination cleared the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, and she was confirmed by the Senate on Jan. 25. The longtime Trump loyalist immediately began carrying out his hardline immigration agenda.

"Who is she? After serving in the South Dakota Legislature for four years, Noem represented the state in the House of Representatives from 2011 to 2019, before becoming governor in 2019. As a member of Congress, Noem backed Trump’s Executive Order 13769, which banned travel to the United States by citizens of seven #Muslim-majority countries and temporarily halted the U.S. refugee program. While governor, she deployed dozens of #SouthDakota #NationalGuard members to the southern border in coordination with Texas officials. A lifelong rancher and farmer, Noem was under consideration to be Trump’s running mate until she wrote about killing a family dog in her 2024 memoir, 'No Going Back.'

#FollowTheMoney

"Noem has raised nearly $35 million (see federal and state data), in total, for her eight elections. Her two gubernatorial races brought in more than $24 million, and about half of those donations came from out of state. In her most recent gubernatorial election, she received $2.9 million from the Republican Governors Association, more than double its contribution to her first campaign.

"After being elected to Congress, she soon separated herself as a top fundraiser in the freshman class. She raised $169,000 in the first quarter of 2011, the third-most of any first-term member of Congress. During her time in Congress, PACs donated over $3 million, with over half a million in contributions from health professionals and $370,000 from the insurance industry.

"In 2017, she ranked in the top third of members of Congress in terms of wealth, with an estimated net worth of $2.35 million. Her husband, Bryon Noem, owns an insurance agency, which was then valued between $1 million and $5 million.

"Noem’s efforts to send National Guard troops to the U.S.-Mexico border in 2019 were supported by a $1 million donation from #WillisJohnson, the #billionaire Republican donor and founder of junkyard company #Copart."

Why does it matter?

As DHS secretary, Noem will be tasked with overseeing federal immigration policy as well as domestic terrorism. Johnson’s support for National Guard activity, though legal, concerned experts who worried that the private funding of military actions could further politicize the military and set a dangerous precedent."

https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2025/02/trump-administration-profile-kristi-noem
#USPol #Idiocracy

US Leads Global Surge in Oil and Gas Expansion, Analysis Finds

"#FossilFuel corporations, and the governments that support them, will never stop unless forced to. Neither has any interest in the future of the climate, our world, or their own kids." - Bill McGuire

by Edward Carver
Jul 24, 2024

"Five wealthy countries including the #UnitedStates have led a global surge in oil and gas development in 2024, threatening international #ClimateGoals, according to an analysis published by The Guardian on Wednesday.

"The U.S., #UnitedKingdom, #Canada, #Australia, and #Norway together are projected by the end of 2024 to have issued licenses for fossil fuel projects that will emit 11.9 billion metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions over their lifetimes—far more than in any of the previous five years, and roughly equal to a full year of emissions from #China, the world's highest emitter—according to industry data analyzed by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (#IISD) and shared with the newspaper.

"The five states are responsible for more than two-thirds of all oil and gas licenses issued globally since 2020, with the U.S. alone accounting for half of the world total. President Joe Biden's administration increased oil and gas licensing by 20% over Trump-era levels, and issued a record 758 new extraction licenses in 2023, according to the analysis.

"'The U.S. has become a petrostate and is still, even under President #Biden, permitting new drilling,' John Sterman, a climate policy expert and professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology's business school, told The Guardian. 'The developed countries don't show any significant efforts to limit drilling.'

"Sterman pointed to a 'fundamental contradiction' between rich countries' international commitments and their ongoing fossil fuel expansion. 'We can't keep going on like this,' he said.

"The industry's grip on U.S. politicians has made significant policy change in Washington difficult. In the past decade, fossil fuel companies have spent $1.25 billion on federal #lobbying and more than $650 million on campaign contributions, according to #OpenSecrets data.

"The Conservative-led U.K. government issued a surge of #NorthSea licenses in the first half of this year, but lost power to the Labour Party following a general election earlier this month. It's not yet clear if Labour will be able or willing to rescind licenses already issued. Currently the U.K. is set to finish 2024 with 72 licenses for projects that would create 101 million metric tons of #GreenhouseGas emissions over their lifetimes—a 50-year high, according to the IISD analysis. Norway and Australia are also seeing major upticks this year.

"Capital expenditure at the world's largest oil companies is up 60% since 2020, with $302 billion projected to be spent on well development this year, The Guardian reported. The fossil fuel expansion continues even though the reserves in rich countries are generally hard to reach, as more accessible reserves have already been tapped.

"The expansion also comes in spite of disturbing climate news—2023 was hottest year on record, June was the 13th consecutive hottest month, and Monday was the hottest day, having broken a record set the previous day—and dire warnings from leading international institutions. No new fossil fuel projects can proceed if the world is to meet the 1.5° Paris agreement target, the International Energy Agency declared in 2021."

https://www.commondreams.org/news/wealthy-countries-oil-gas-production