• Okay, this supply-chain disruption business is really getting out of hand:
McDonald’s to ration French fries in Japan
McDonald’s is being forced to take medium and large-sized fries off the menu in its 2,900 locations across Japan — because potatoes are in short supply, the fast-food giant said Tuesday. Japanese consumers will no longer be able to order the larger-sized side with their Big Macs starting Friday.
I’ve been saying for months now that we’ll know the COVID pandemic is over when all-day breakfast at McDonald’s is restored. It was the only good thing that happened in America during the Obama Administration.
• Cue the sad trombone for the climatistas:
Global SUV sales set another record in 2021, setting back efforts to reduce emissions
The number of SUVs on the world’s roads increased by more than 35 million over the past 12 months, driving up annual CO2 emissions by 120 million tonnes. Global SUV sales have proven very resilient throughout the pandemic, growing by over 10% between 2020 and 2021. In 2021, SUVs are on course to account for more than 45% of global car sales – setting a new record in terms of both volume and market share. The growth of SUVs continues to be robust in several countries, including the United States, India and across Europe.
• Biden to Oil Companies: Drop Dead! Er, Just Not Yet
The Wall Street Journal reports today on how the Biden Administration is holding quiet meetings with American oil companies asking them to . . . increase production of oil and gas. This—after canceling the Keystone Pipeline, closing off federal oil and gas leasing, revoking existing permits on public land, and pressuring the financial sector to choke off capital to oil and gas:
The relationship between the White House and U.S. oil companies has sunk to a new low at a moment when President Biden needs the industry most.
Oil company executives have become openly frustrated with a Biden administration that spent months shunning the industry, only to start urging in recent weeks that it produce more oil to alleviate rising gasoline prices.
In closed-door meetings with Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm over recent weeks, oil executives have made few promises about raising output, say people familiar with the matter, and explained that it may be months before higher oil prices lead to resurgent U.S. production.
I’d like to think oil company executives told Secretary Granholm to go pound fracking sand. Especially when you take in stupidity like this:
“It’s important for the American oil-and-gas industry to address near-term energy demands while also recognizing that they need to begin transitioning their companies,” said Energy Department spokesman David Mayorga.
Translation: We want you to go out of business, just not as quickly as we’ve been saying as part of fan service for our progressive greenies. (By the way, since the Biden Administration invokes the term “transitioning,” maybe oil companies should jump on the bandwagon and just identify as renewable, carbon-neutral companies? If it’s good enough for human nature, why not for nature nature?)
• Speaking of fan service, the Biden Administration announced today that it is extending the moratorium on student loan repayments until next May. Likely Biden is doing this to help placate progressives in the aftermath of the Manchin Maneuver.
Notice: All comments are subject to moderation. Our comments are intended to be a forum for civil discourse bearing on the subject under discussion. Commenters who stray beyond the bounds of civility or employ what we deem gratuitous vulgarity in a comment — including, but not limited to, “s***,” “f***,” “a*******,” or one of their many variants — will be banned without further notice in the sole discretion of the site moderator.