Before and after the 2024 election, Elon Musk made it clear he disliked environmental regulations and considered them a barrier to innovation.

His companies, from Boring Co. to xAI, have been accused of finding ways to sidestep regulations. Here's what to know:
propublica.org/article/elon-mu…

#ElonMusk #Environment #Regulation #Business #SpaceX #Tesla #Musk

The Environmental and Regulatory Scrutiny Elon Musk’s Companies Have Faced

Musk considers environmental regulation a barrier to innovation. As he eyes a new project in Houston, here’s what to know about some of his companies’ past projects that have faced scrutiny from regulators and environmental advocates.

^ProPublica

NY Times headline: SpaceX Gets Billions From the Govermnet. It Gives Little to Nothing Back in Taxes

#spacex #musk #politics

#Starlink is deliberately de-orbiting older satellites to ‘burn up’ in the pristine upper atmosphere.

‘Burn up’ actually means ‘leave a bunch of metal vapour in the upper atmosphere’.

—————
quote

Before the first Starlink launches began in 2019, only about 40 to 50 satellites re-entered per year. SpaceX just brought down ten years' worth in only six months, adding an estimated 15,000 kilograms of aluminum oxide to the upper atmosphere.
—————

Scientists are only just studying what this may do to the atmosphere (and life on earth). Early indications are not good.

People should be *really* worried about this and keep an eye out for future updates. Especially given the #USA seems to be turning into a lawless joke.

Cc @sundogplanets

#Satellite #Pollution #Musk

spaceweather.com/archive.php?v…

Do we need to say more?

#Trump #Musk #TrumpVMusk #BigTech #X #Twitter #SocialMedia #Fediverse #Mastodon

Here we go. Holocaust “skepticism”, hot on the heels of “white genocide”. Elected democratic officials should leave X immediately.

#grok #Musk #xAI

Defending Jan. 6 Rioters, Investigating Democrats: How Ed Martin Is Weaponizing the DOJ for Trump
—

Since becoming interim U.S. attorney, Ed Martin has launched controversial investigations, rushed to defend Elon Musk’s DOGE and vowed to change how his office prosecutes crime in D.C. These are some of his most contentious actions.
propublica.org/article/who-is-…

#News #DC #Jan6 #Law #DOJ #Trump #DOGE #Musk

Who Is Ed Martin, Trump’s Pick for D.C. U.S. Attorney?

As interim U.S. attorney in D.C., Martin has fired career prosecutors, dropped Capitol riot cases and launched sweeping probes into Trump’s political enemies.

^ProPublica

When a firefighter dies, a small team of federal health workers helps pinpoint what went wrong and identify how to avoid similar accidents in the future.

Trump laid off nearly all of them.
propublica.org/article/trump-c…

#News #Fire #Trump #DOGE #Musk #Deaths #Health #HHS

Trump Laid Off Nearly All the Federal Workers Who Investigate Firefighter Deaths

The cuts, which are part of Trump’s slashing of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, will also halt a first-of-its-kind study of the causes of thousands of firefighters’ cancer cases.

^ProPublica

"Top Commerce Dept official sent a blistering email to his former colleagues on his way out the door Sunday warning that #Trump admin is poised to unduly enrich #Musk’s satellite internet co. w $ for rural broadband.

“Stranding all or part of rural America w worse internet so that we can make the world’s richest man even richer is yet another in a long line of betrayals by Washington,” wrote Evan Feinman, who had directed the $42.5 bil broadband program for past 3 yrs"

politico.com/news/2025/03/16/o…

"On the Monday edition of his program, Fox News host Sean Hannity announced that as a gesture of devotion to Elon Musk, he is buying a Tesla. …

Then Tuesday morning, Donald Trump announced that he too will buy a Tesla, and expressed his belief that it should be illegal for anyone not to buy one."

#Musk #Trump #economy #StockMarket #stagflation #recession #Tesla
/5

paulwaldman.substack.com/p/the…

The War on Tesla Is Good for America

Begun, this new culture war has.

^{Paul Waldman (The Cross Section)}

"Tuberville said that more tariffs coming at the start of next month would right the ship. (He did not make clear how exactly this righting would be achieved.)

'They don’t last forever, I mean,' Tuberville added. 'The reciprocals are gonna be, what, April 2nd? So it’ll be good. Bye, bye, bye.'

For what it’s worth, I checked the handy Autopilot app3 to see how Tuberville’s portfolio is performing over the past three months. He was down 6.9 percent as of Monday."

#Musk #Trump #StockMarket
/4

“'It’d gone way up, you know, probably over-priced,' he said. 'In a short period of time it had really gone up, and so it probably reset itself a little bit.'

Asked whether the market could get back to the same level, Tuberville said, 'No doubt.'

I noted that the consensus has been that the market dive was a direct result of Trump’s tariffs and the economic instability they bring."

#Musk #Trump #economy #StockMarket #stagflation #recession
/3

"In a Monday interview with Fox News’s Larry Kudlow, Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) suggested the stock market’s recent nosedive was reasonable, even justifiable, because things had simply gotten too lucrative.

I asked Tuberville to elaborate on his statement that the market was 'over-bloated.'”

~ Joe Perticone

#Musk #Trump #economy #StockMarket #stagflation #recession
/2

"While your 401(k) collapses, Trump’s buying Teslas and fantasizing about annexing Canada.

As Donald Trump crashes the markets again, what does he do in response? He holds a Tesla commercial outside the White House, bragging about buying a Tesla for himself and his granddaughter. While Americans watch their pensions and retirement accounts evaporate, Trump’s big solution is to drool over a dashboard and say, 'Wow… computers.'”

~ Ben Meiselas

#Trump #Musk #Tesla
/1

meidasplus.com/p/trump-makes-t…

Trump Makes Tesla Commercial as He Tanks Markets

^{Ben Meiselas (Meidas+)}

Trump and Musk turned the White House into a Tesla car lot in an attempt to generate sales after the Tesla stock price plummeted 37% this month.

Musk and Trump are an embarrassment and the reason why America is an international laughingstock.

#musk #trump #Tesla #laughingstock #swasticar

Elon Musk has apparently stolen money from either Canada and taxpayers, or Tesla dealerships, or likely, from both, as police and transport Canada get involved finding how thousands of Teslas got EV rebates.

Tesla made a suspicious number of rebate requests on last days of Canadian EV incentive

electrek.co/2025/03/07/tesla-m…
__

"‘Tesla gamed the system’: Canadian auto dealers ‘stiffed’ millions when U.S. giant rushed to claim last EV rebates "

thestar.com/news/canada/tesla-…

#Musk #canada #nazi

Tesla made a suspicious number of rebate requests on last days of Canadian EV incentive

Transport Canada is looking into Tesla after it made a suspicious number of rebate requests on the last days of...

^{Fred Lambert (Electrek)}

"Assuming that the past six weeks are predictive of what’s next, expect an age of anxiety; expect the elimination of tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of jobs; expect the decimation of liberal institutions to go on for all four years of Trump’s second term; expect government services to deteriorate; expect reduced funding of the safety net; and expect more homelessness, hunger and disease."

~ Thomas B. Edsall

#Musk #Trump #Putin #tariffs #recession
/21

nytimes.com/2025/03/04/opinion…

Opinion | Vengeance Is His

Vengeance is his.

^{Thomas B. Edsall (The New York Times)}

"You know what? Elon Musk did say before the election that he was going to inflict pain on the American people. So I guess in that regard, a promise is made, a promise is kept from this administration because people are feeling the pain."

~ Ben Meiselas

#Musk #Trump #Putin #StockMarket #economy #Dow #Nasdaq #SandP #tariffs #recession
/20

meidasplus.com/p/meidas-pod-on…

Meidas Pod on Trump TANKING Economy as Backlash Grows (Ad-Free)

Watch the latest episode of the MeidasTouch Podcast ad-free right here on the Meidas+ Substack!

^{Brett Meiselas (Meidas+)}

"It was a perfect encapsulation of the chaos that Trump has wrought. As he announced yesterday that he was going to proceed with 25 percent tariffs against Canada and Mexico and hike another 10 percent on China, a widget on the Fox Network showed the Dow Jones crashing in response."

~ Jay Kuo

#Musk #Trump #Putin #StockMarket #economy #Dow #Nasdaq #SandP #tariffs #recession
/19

statuskuo.substack.com/p/trump…

Trump’s Trade War Has Begun

Despite a 30-day reprieve and sincere efforts by our trading partners to meet Trump’s demands, he imposed across-the-board tariffs anyway.

^{Jay Kuo (The Status Kuo)}

"Coincidentally, the same day Trump said tariffs on Canadian and Mexican goods would go ahead, a story broke that his administration is seeking to ease sanctions on Russia. After appeasing the bear, he has decided to drive his car into the moose. All of us are about to find out what happens next."

~ Martyn Wendell Jones

#Musk #Trump #Putin #StockMarket #economy #Dow #Nasdaq #SandP #tariffs #recession
/18

thebulwark.com/p/trump-putin-z…

What Fresh Hell Do We Have Today?

Sure, we’ve abandoned Ukraine, launched a trade war with our neighbors, and insulted close allies. But at least we’re screwing over our veterans, too.

^{William Kristol (The Bulwark)}

"And there will be further steps. The administration’s cutoff of aid to Ukraine will surely be followed by further attempts to isolate President Volodymyr Zelensky and further weaken Ukraine."

#Musk #Trump #Putin #StockMarket #economy #Dow #Nasdaq #SandP #tariffs #recession
/17

"Encouraged by the cheers of his sycophants, empowered by the silence of his enablers, Donald Trump took another step yesterday down the dishonorable and dangerous path of betraying Ukraine and siding with Vladimir Putin."

~ William Kristol

#Musk #Trump #Putin #StockMarket #economy #Dow #Nasdaq #SandP #tariffs #recession
/16

thebulwark.com/p/trump-putin-z…

What Fresh Hell Do We Have Today?

Sure, we’ve abandoned Ukraine, launched a trade war with our neighbors, and insulted close allies. But at least we’re screwing over our veterans, too.

^{William Kristol (The Bulwark)}

"On Monday, while President Trump talked about his tariffs, Fox News showed him speaking even as a graphic in the corner displayed the markets sliding. That said it all: No matter how much boasting he does about the economy, the actual metrics are getting worse—and the public knows it."

~ Greg Sargent

#Musk #Trump #Putin #StockMarket #economy #Dow #Nasdaq #SandP #tariffs #recession
/15

newrepublic.com/article/192262…

Trump Hit by Brutal Fox News Graphic on Tariffs as More Bad Polls Land

As Trump’s announcement of tariffs causes the markets to slide—even on Fox!—Democratic strategist Simon Rosenberg reflects on whether his party is doing enough to capitalize on the moment.

^{The New Republic}

As Jen Rubin also notes, what Trump is doing to tank the economy has to be set beside his attack on Ukraine and NATO, which says,

"The message to Moscow is do what you will with Ukraine. We'll deliver them on a silver platter."

Ripping apart the federal government and tanking the economy serves no one better than it serves Vladimir Putin. These are dots that need to be connected.

#Musk #Trump #Putin #StockMarket #economy #Dow #Nasdaq #SandP #tariffs #recession
/14

"The Federal Reserve of Atlanta came out with a prediction this morning that the first quarter of growth in the United States would be negative, negative 1.5. That's down from 2.8 positive growth just a month ago. That's all the time it took Donald Trump to wreck this economy. I can't sugarcoat this."

~ Jen Rubin

#Musk #Trump #Putin #StockMarket #economy #Dow #Nasdaq #SandP #tariffs #recession
/13

contrarian.substack.com/p/jen-…

Jen Rubin addresses the halting of aid to Ukraine, tariffs on Canada and Mexico

*Special Alert from the Contrarian*

^{Jennifer Rubin (The Contrarian)}

"Bloomberg reported that the tariffs on Canada and Mexico are likely to make US car prices rise by as much as $12,000, since so many parts and pieces of vehicles are manufactured at plants in those countries. In his remarks today, Trump said the manufacturers are just going to have to move all their plants to the US."

~ Ron Filipkowski

#Musk #Trump #Putin #StockMarket #economy #Dow #Nasdaq #SandP #tariffs #recession
/12

meidasplus.com/p/today-in-poli…

Today in Politics, Bulletin 83. 3/3/25.

… Sen.

^{Ron Filipkowski (Meidas+)}

"Yet the conventions of mainstream journalism make it hard to say directly that the president’s actions are just vindictive and senseless. …

I don’t know how this ends. But U.S. voters will soon be feeling real pain, and I very much doubt that it will end in a Trump victory."

#Musk #Trump #Putin #StockMarket #economy #tariffs #recession
/11

"The newspapers this morning all contain analysis pieces trying to explain why Trump is imposing 25 percent tariffs on Canada and Mexico. You can see the writers struggling, because this is a profoundly self-destructive move — it will impose huge, possibly devastating costs on U.S. manufacturing, while significantly raising the cost of living — without any visible justification."

~ Paul Krugman

#Musk #Trump #Putin #StockMarket #economy #tariffs #recession
/10

paulkrugman.substack.com/p/tru…

Trump Hates Canada for its Decency

The president lacks basic decency, and loathes people who do

^{Paul Krugman}

"They want us broke. That means they want a recession, a depression, economic tumult. They want mass unemployment. They want the stock market to collapse. They want us to go broke struggling to pay our bills."

~ Greg Olear

#Musk #Trump #Putin #StockMarket #economy #Dow #Nasdaq #SandP #tariffs #recession
/9

gregolear.substack.com/p/sotu-…

SOTU STFU: How the Opposition Party Should Protest Tonight's State of the Union Address

The time for traditional party politics is over. The Democrats must become a true opposition party. And it must begin today.

^{Greg Olear (PREVAIL by Greg Olear)}

"Trump is killing the economy, reducing the U.S. government to rubble, and destroying our relationships with our allies. Putin may love it, but it’s a catastrophe for us and much of the rest of the world."

~ Robert Reich

#Musk #Trump #Putin #StockMarket #economy #Dow #Nasdaq #SandP #tariffs #recession
/8

robertreich.substack.com/p/dem…

Democrats! Wake the hell up!

Boycott Trump’s address to Congress tonight. If you must go, make good trouble.

^{Robert Reich}

"We assess that the Presidency has been captured by Vladimir Putin. Until we see proof otherwise, assume that Elon Musk, Donald Trump, and JD Vance are proxies for Putin, Xi, and their allies. China backs Russia fully.

Russia’s strategic goal is to dismantle the United States. They will pursue this through creating internal turmoil and dysfunction, trying to destroy the dollar and by 'ending' the Federal Reserve."

~ Dave Troy

#Musk #Trump #Putin #economy
/7

docs.google.com/document/u/0/d…

Managing Financial Instability In 2025

MANAGING FINANCIAL INSTABILITY IN 2025 By David Troy, Publisher + Editor, America 2.0 Published November 7, 2024; Last Updated March 4, 2025 The Trump/Vance administration has the potential to unleash widespread economic harms, many of which are not…

^{Google Docs}

"Unbridled Tariff Man was always going to be a big economic risk in a second term, and here we are."

~ Wall Street Journal

#Musk #Trump #Putin #StockMarket #economy #Dow #Nasdaq #SandP #tariffs #recession
/5

wsj.com/opinion/trump-takes-th…

Opinion | Trump Takes the Dumbest Tariff Plunge

He says the 25% levies on Mexico and Canada will begin Tuesday. Stocks fall.

^WSJ

"The unease has already led to warnings that the U.S. could be heading for recession, with the Atlanta Fed’s GDPNow model estimating real GDP growth for the first quarter of 2025 at -2.8 percent, down from +3.9 percent just four weeks ago."

#Musk #Trump #Putin #StockMarket #economy #Dow #Nasdaq #SandP #tariffs #recession
/4

"Donald Trump’s introduction of his long-threatened 25 percent trade tariffs on Mexico and Canada has caused global stock markets to drop sharply, with the Dow Jones, S&P 500 and Nasdaq all falling."

~ Oliver O'Connell, Joe Sommerlad, Ariana Baio

#Musk #Trump #Putin #StockMarket #economy #Dow #Nasdaq #SandP #tariffs #recession
/3

the-independent.com/news/world…

Trump speech live updates: President unveils surprise terror arrest as he doubles down on tariffs and DOGE cuts

President delivering address to joint session of Congress

^{Oliver O'Connell (The Independent)}

"Also today, the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta forecast a dramatic contraction in the economy in the first quarter of 2025. Evaluating current data according to a mathematical model, it moved from an expected 2.9% growth in gross domestic product at the end of January to –2.8% today."

#Musk #Trump #Putin #StockMarket #economy #Dow #Nasdaq #SandP #tariffs #recession
/2

"Today, the stock market dropped dramatically upon news that Trump intended to go through with his tariffs. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 650 points, down 1.48%. The S&P fell 1.76%, and the Nasdaq Composite, which focuses on technology stocks, fell 2.64%."

~ Heather Cox Richardson

#Musk #Trump #Putin #StockMarket #economy #Dow #Nasdaq #SandP #tariffs #recession
/1

heathercoxrichardson.substack.…

March 3, 2025

As seemed evident even at the time, the ambush of Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office on Friday was a setup to provide justification for cutting off congressionally approved aid to Ukraine as it tries to fight off Russia’s invasio…

^{Heather Cox Richardson (Letters from an American)}

#Trump trashes the federal work force for not being at work in person since the pandemic, & says those who “resist this change will be removed from office immediately.”

The days of being ruled by “unelected bureaucrats” are over, Trump says.

#Democrats scoff & point up at the gallery where #Musk is sitting.

#USpol #FactCheck #TrumpLies