IS THE USA HEADED FOR A GOLDEN AGE UNDER TRUMP?

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Trump started bringing production back to the USA during his first term. It has only accelerated in large part due to AI and Robotics and Trump’s efforts to make the USA energy independent by opening up fracking. Biden’s term has not helped but Trump will quickly resolve the energy supply problem.

The demands for new energy production are driven primarily by two massive trends that will certainly accelerate in the next four years.

There is a need for new AI factories – massive data centers – some of which will be on a gigawatt scale. It’s hard to imagine a data center facility that requires that much power, but that’s what is required to build artificial general intelligence (AGI), and it will be required to run thousands of AI applications.  The capital expenditures for AI for Amazon, Microsoft, Alphabet, Oracle, Meta, and Apple for 2025 will be around $200 billion. That’s just six companies in one year.

This is a multitrillion-dollar trend that will unfold over the next decade. It’s unstoppable. And it needs gigawatts of electricity to fuel these technological advancements.

The second major trend is something I’ve referred to as The Great Recalibration. It’s a massive reversal of the multi-decade trend to move manufacturing offshore, primarily to Asia. 

Economic policies that began in 2017 were a turning point for bringing manufacturing back onshore. The tide is coming back in and manufacturing in-country has become deeply popular again. And for good reason:

  • It creates jobs and opportunity
  • It improves supply chain security
  • It reduces overall CO₂ emissions by manufacturing close to end markets (i.e. less transportation and logistics are required)

These economic policies take a few years to kick in, and they tend to span administrations. It’s easy to see the impact in the chart below. Total manufacturing construction spending has more than tripled since January 2020.

Source: BlackRock

By May of this year, manufacturing construction spending has increased to around $234 billion annually. This isn’t a trend that will slow down. And the supply chain problems caused by the pandemic policies only accelerated this recalibration.

This recalibration wouldn’t be possible, however, without today’s advanced technology. 

Robotics, artificial intelligence, and process automation are driving manufacturing costs down to levels that are near what can be produced in China, without the supply chain or intellectual property risks.

And of course, all of these new manufacturing plants, whether they be for cars, semiconductors, or bicycles, will require gigawatts of electricity to run. Preferably, carbon emission-free energy.

And that’s why the politics have shifted. Technology can and will save the day. That’s why energy policy and regulations are so critically important. Investment follows when there are reasonable regulations that provide a clear path toward commercialization in a short period. This has long been the issue with nuclear power regulations.

A New Energy Framework

Earlier this year, U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) gave Holtec International approval for a $1.52 billion loan guarantee to bring 800 megawatts of nuclear power back online by restarting the Palisades nuclear power plant in southwest Michigan. At the same time, the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant in California received $1.1 billion from the program to enable its two nuclear reactors to stay in operation.

Based on the DOE’s estimates of needing an additional 200 gigawatts of new nuclear power in the next 25 years, the U.S. government just announced yesterday a new nuclear energy framework to bring online “200 GW of net new nuclear energy capacity by 2050.”

The high-level goals are:

  • To build new, gigawatt-scale reactors
  • Build small modular reactors (SMRs)
  • Build microreactors
  • Restart reactors that have been shut down
  • Extend and expand existing reactors
  • Improve licensing and permitting
  • Develop nuclear fuel supply chains (that don’t involve Russia)

The shorter-term goals are:

  • Bring online 35 gigawatts (GW) of new nuclear capacity by 2035
  • Ramp up to bringing on line 15 GW of new nuclear capacity by 2040

To put things in perspective, 1 GW of electricity is about half the output of the Hoover Dam. It’s enough to power roughly 750,000-850,000 homes. This new framework has a target of 200 GW, enough to power up to 170,000,000 homes with carbon emission-free electricity. But the increase in nuclear power production isn’t for homes, it’s for the new Data Centres needed for the AI revolution and manufacturing and infrastructure construction

With Vivek Ramaswamy and Elon Musk now officially assigned to head up the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), we can expect rapid progress on this front. Both are intelligent, evidence-based, and common-sense thinkers now charged with the mandate to reduce government waste, “slash excess regulations,” and bring an entrepreneurial approach to government.

Having built the most successful clean energy company in history, I know this will be a major focus for Musk. He deeply understands that fueling Tesla electric vehicles with electricity produced from coal, natural gas, and oil makes no sense at all. 

With nuclear power, the dream of carbon emission-free ground transportation is possible.

Better yet, DOGE has already been given a deadline for its mission. The team is to conclude its work no later than July 4, 2026, the 250th anniversary of The Declaration of Independence.

My prediction – DOGE is going to hit the ground running in January and aggressively get things done. We’re in for some remarkable developments. And cheap, limitless, clean energy is the path to abundance.

The Australian Labour Party needs to realise that its current renewable energy policy will not be adequate and cost-effective for industry to be competitive. We need to bring more natural gas online and upgrade and maintain our coal-fired power stations until we can introduce the best nuclear options for each State. High-efficiency low-emissions (HELE) coal-fired power stations are proven to reduce both emissions and fuel costs by maximising the amount of power from the steam produced.

Today, the Albanese government has rebuffed an invitation from allies the United Kingdom and the United States to join a global movement to speed up the spread of civilian nuclear energy plants to cut carbon emissions and provide more secure power to industry.

UK Energy Secretary Ed Miliband and US Deputy Secretary of Energy David Turk agreed to a plan to “help pool together billions of pounds worth of nuclear research and development – including the world’s leading academic institutions and nuclear innovators”.

The decision is an extension of the pro-nuclear agreement signed by 31 nations last year at COP28 to triple nuclear energy capacity globally by 2050 and aims to have new technology available by 2030.

This may be enough to give Dutton and the Liberal Party a chance to win the next election.

WHY YOU SHOULD BELIEVE THE BIBLE

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All of the Old Testament prophets were given the end of the story for the nation God established for His purposes: ISRAEL. Even before Jesus first came to Earth as the “suffering servant” to provide the way of salvation:

“But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” Isaiah 53:5-6

Isaiah, Daniel, and Ezekiel, these three prophets in particular were given a lot of detail on Israel’s prophesied Messiah, Jesus’ return to establish a Millennial Kingdom on this Earth before it would be destroyed and God created a new heaven and new Earth where only the righteous dwell.

Daniel chapter 12 is entirely on the time of the end. We are told that the Archangel Michael is the angel assigned to protect the nation Israel. The nation Israel has been subjected to much persecution down through the ages and at AD 70 it ceased to exist, and yet Daniel is told (600 BC) that it will exist at the time of the end when it will be subjected to great tribulation before God delivers the nation. The first of the major end-times prophecies were fulfilled in 1948 when Israel was miraculously re-established as a nation. As well, we are seeing the prophesied persecution increasing, with antisemitism rife across most Western nations. This is only the beginning of tribulation it will escalate to the prophesied invasion (Ezekiel 38 & 39). Back to Daniel chapter 12; read this Scripture written 600 BC, if you are not already convinced that the Bible is the inspired Word of God I hope this will make you reconsider it and where you stand before your Creator God.

The Time of the End

​ “At that time shall arise Michael, the great prince who has charge of your people. And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never has been since there was a nation till that time. But at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone whose name shall be found written in the book. And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above; and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever. But you, Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book, until the time of the end. Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase.”
Then I, Daniel, looked, and behold, two others stood, one on this bank of the stream and one on that bank of the stream. And someone said to the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the stream, “How long shall it be till the end of these wonders?” And I heard the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the stream; he raised his right hand and his left hand toward heaven and swore by him who lives forever that it would be for a time, times, and half a time, and that when the shattering of the power of the holy people comes to an end all these things would be finished. I heard, but I did not understand. Then I said, “O my lord, what shall be the outcome of these things?” He said, “Go your way, Daniel, for the words are shut up and sealed until the time of the end. Many shall purify themselves and make themselves white and be refined, but the wicked shall act wickedly. And none of the wicked shall understand, but those who are wise shall understand. And from the time that the regular burnt offering is taken away and the abomination that makes desolate is set up, there shall be 1,290 days. Blessed is he who waits and arrives at the 1,335 days. But go your way till the end. And you shall rest and shall stand in your allotted place at the end of the days.” Daniel 12:1-13

BE ENCOURAGED, BE INSPIRED BY SEN. TIM SCOTT

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“Our family went from cotton to Congress in one lifetime.”

Those were the words of Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), who spoke during the opening night of the 2020 Republican National Convention.

The senator was referring to his grandfather, who would have turned 99 years old Tuesday. Growing up, Scott said, his granddad “had to cross the street if a white person was coming,” adding, “He suffered the indignity of being forced out of school as a third-grader to pick cotton and he never learned to read or write.”

Yet,” Scott continued, “he lived long enough to see his grandson become the first African-American to be elected to both the United States House and the United States Senate in the history of this country. Our family went from cotton to Congress in one lifetime, and that’s why I believe the next American century can be better than the last.”

In a time of such racial unrest in the U.S., Scott’s words were a strong reminder of how far the country has progressed.

He also called on listeners to find the good news, rather than dwelling on the negatives so often put on display by the national news media.

“We live in a world that only wants you to believe in the bad news, racially, economically, and culturally,” Scott said. “The truth is, our nation’s arch always bends back toward fairness. We’re not fully where we want to be, but I thank God Almighty we are not where we used to be. We are always striving to be better. When we stumble — and we will — we pick ourselves back up, and try again.” “We don’t give in to cancel culture or the radical and factually baseless belief that things are worse today than in the 1860s or the 1960s,” he continued. “We have work to do, but I believe in the goodness of America, the promise that all men and all women are created equal, and if you’re watching tonight, I’m betting you do, too.”