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Duggan Flanakin

Duggan Flanakin is director of policy research at the Committee For A Constructive Tomorrow. He has a Master's in public policy from Regent University and has studied environmental regulation for decades.

Most Recent Articles by Duggan Flanakin:

Bankers, insurers and activists assault our freedoms

Bankers, insurers and activists assault our freedomsOil giant ExxonMobil's 12-member board of directors reportedly has two new members who are climate activists backed by investor "Engine 1." Under the headline, "Shareholders tell Exxon to eat sh*t," G/O Media and Earther "reporter" Molly Taft gleefully ends paragraph 1 with, "Don't let the door hit you on the way out!?" The widely read journalist explained that "The bigger boys in the room [notably financial giant BlackRock] decided to play along," prompting "panicked" Exxon officials to pause voting, but only after two of the four Engine 1 candidates (of the three endorsed by BlackRock) had been voted onto the board. "Too bad, guys," Taft gloated.
- Friday, June 11, 2021

A viable alternative to Chinese minerals hegemony

A viable alternative to Chinese minerals hegemonyPrompted by a worldwide chip shortage already impacting automobile production, President Biden in February signed an executive order directing a 100-day broad review of supply chains for critical materials for semiconductors and large-capacity batteries, including rare-earth elements. It builds on analyses, reports and executive orders initiated several years ago by the Trump Administration.
- Saturday, May 29, 2021

When "a little corruption" in Mexico goes too far

"Corruption is not a disagreeable characteristic of the Mexican political system," Gabriel Zaid observed in La economia presidencial. "It is the system." "It is widely known," Mexican journalist Ricardo Ravelo wrote in June 2018, "how the General Administration of Customs … operates a network of officials linked to large-scale smuggling in the country’s 49 customs offices." Under previous central administrators Aristotle Núñez Sánchez and Osvaldo Santin Quiroz, Mexico’s Tax Administration Service (SAT) became known for "…unleashing smuggling throughout the country."
- Saturday, May 8, 2021

China’s strange endorsement of ‘net zero’

China’s strange endorsement of ‘net zero’You have to hand it to Xi Jinping. The Chinese "president for life" schmoozed United Nations royalty last September with his unexpected pledge that his country aims "to have CO2 emissions peak before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality (Net Zero) before 2060." Xi also urged other nations "to pursue innovative, coordinated, green and open development for all" through rapid deployment of new technologies, to "achieve a green recovery of the world economy in the post-COVID era and thus create a powerful force driving sustainable development."
- Monday, April 26, 2021

Africans reject demands to end fossil fuel use

Africans reject demands to end fossil fuel useAs the merger of climate change and COVID panic materializes before us, "global leaders" have found developing world voices to join the crusade to "save the planet" from carbon (dioxide) "pollution." But like their Chinese and Indian counterparts, many Africans, from heads of state to captains of industry and beyond, intend to expand reliance on fossil fuels to build their economies, not shrink it.
- Sunday, April 18, 2021

India ignores media preaching on ‘net zero carbon'

India is just one of an increasing number of "developing" nation which have recognized that the mad rush toward a "net zero carbon" economy does not serve the interests of their ordinary citizens. These countries are also waking up to the fact that serving the public interest necessitates major increases in abundant, affordable, reliable, mostly fossil fuel electricity to power their burgeoning economies.
- Sunday, April 18, 2021

EPA’s totalitarian assault on America

Biden-Harris Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan is clearly on a mission. He has “bold aspirations, and a long to-do list,” says The Washington Post. But to succeed, the Post acknowledges, he must “help the EPA get its groove back.” As Reagan put it, “We’ve got a lot of work to do, starting with rebuilding staff morale and getting all our staff back to feeling as if they matter, their voices matter.”
- Saturday, April 3, 2021

Predicting and planning for the next polar vortex?

Americans know a lot about planning for hurricanes, and about voluntary and mandatory evacuations. They also know that some hurricanes bring major damage to urban and rural areas, and that sometimes (Katrina comes to mind) people's failure to heed calls to "get outta Dodge" can have disastrous results. The National Weather Service website explains, whenever a tropical storm forms in the Atlantic or eastern North Pacific [or central North Pacific], the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Hurricane Center issues tropical cyclone advisories at least every six hours. Once a hurricane watch or warning is issued, the advisories come every three hours. When evacuation orders are issued, there are always a few who opt to "ride out the storm," for fun and excitement, or fearing the theft of their property more than their possible loss of life. Even then, rescue teams risk their lives in dangerous weather to save those losing their crazy gambles with storms.
- Monday, March 1, 2021

Rare earths first? Or last?

As Joe Biden and Kamala Harris take the reins of government and launch their program to “transition” America away from fossil fuels, they need to consider some hard realities. Chief among them is that no Green New Deal can succeed without major increases in US mining and processing – unless they want to make America even more dependent on China and Russia. Rare-earth metals are essential to 21st Century technologies, including smartphones, lasers, night vision systems, weapons guidance systems – and GND technologies like wind turbines, solar panels, batteries and electric vehicles. As British hedge fund veteran James Horrocks noted in a recent article, “It is easy to see why rare earths have become a pawn in the US-China trade war.”
- Friday, January 22, 2021

Americans supposedly just voted for only electric vehicles

The election of Joe Biden, Kamala Harris and their ultra-progressive cabinet will hasten the death of the internal combustion engine in the United States, despite the nearly even party split in the House and Senate. They will just take their narrow victory as a license to implement all manner of decisions in the name of saving the planet. Or so we're told. And maybe they're right.  President-elect Biden has promised his $2-trillion "climate change" plan will include "rigorous new fuel economy standards aimed at ensuring that 100% of new sales for light- and medium-duty vehicles will be zero emission vehicles (ZEVs)." VP-elect Harris has called for beginning this ban by 2035, perhaps even sooner, if they can maintain their momentum for fundamentally transforming America. 
- Friday, January 15, 2021

China recolonizes Africa

Joe Biden has pledged that one of his first acts as President will be rejoining the Paris Climate Treaty--which gives China a complete pass on reducing emissions until at least 2030. Even Biden's designated "climate envoy," former Secretary of State John Kerry, says the existing treaty "has to be stronger," but then claims China will somehow become an active partner, instead of the competitor and adversary it clearly is. His rationale: "Climate is imperative, it's as imperative for China as it is for us."
- Friday, December 25, 2020

Nuking the anti-nuke crowd

How has the Trump Administration fared in meeting the multiple challenges that have slowed the growth of nuclear energy in the U.S. to a near-halt? And what are the prospects for nuclear energy in a Biden-Harris Administration? It's time to nuke the anti-nuke crowd, and it seems to be happening. It is now seventy-five years since the U.S. ended the war against Japan by dropping nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki (both currently thriving). Eight years later, President Eisenhower, in his world-famous "Atoms for Peace" speech before the United Nations, invited citizens to the debate over using nuclear science and technology for power generation.
- Sunday, December 20, 2020

The Great American Outdoors Act

The Great American Outdoors ActTo the surprise of most Americans, and the consternation of many in the "mainstream" media, Vice President Mike Pence highlighted the Trump Administration's environmental record during the recent VP debate. Citing the President's signing of the historic bill, Mr. Pence lauded the Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA) as "the largest investment in our public lands and public parks in 100 years." 
- Wednesday, November 25, 2020

Government transparency should not be controversial

Ballot harvesting, behind-the-curtains ballot counting and other hijinks have made transparency a critical issue this election year. Meanwhile, as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency celebrates its fiftieth birthday, political battles continue to rage over the extent of public, executive and congressional oversight, and access to research files, original data and other information used by the agency in taking legal actions against individuals, institutions and businesses. The latest salvos involve the first-ever "transparency" requirements for EPA guidance documents – requirements likely to be tossed out by a Biden Administration.
- Thursday, November 19, 2020

Out of Africa an entrepreneurial society emerges

"By their very nature, young Africans are some of the most entrepreneurial people in the world. Up until now, they just lacked opportunity, access to capital or even the courage to believe in themselves," Ivor Ichikowitz said in a recent Zoom interview with me. The South African industrialist, social entrepreneur and philanthropist's family foundation sponsors and funds the Africa Youth Survey, which tracks the attitudes, aspirations and opportunities of African youth in 14 countries. "Whether or not U.S. policy makers have been paying attention to Africa, young Africans are paying attention to America. I don't even think most American legislators understand the positive impact that American culture and technology have had on the continent," Ichikowitz lamented. "Despite the Chinese penetration into many African countries, all that needs to happen is for the Americans to turn up – to fill the vacuum they created."
- Monday, November 2, 2020

What is the antidote to 'Wokeness'?

Political comedian Evan Sayet says he has long dedicated himself to conserving and promoting the American values that have given him freedom and allowed him to pursue his life of liberty and happiness. His new book, The Woke Supremacy, lays out the history and characteristics of "Wokeness."  However, in failing to examine the origins of this totalitarian intolerance, he misses the critical difference between old-style Marxism, so-called "Democratic socialism," and "cultural Marxism" as first delineated by the Italian communist Antonio Gramsci and employed by Chinese dictator Mao Zedong.
- Sunday, October 18, 2020

Wind turbines generate mountains of waste

Wind turbines generate mountains of wasteEnvironmentalists and wind energy opportunists (entrepreneurs who take advantage of overly generous tax credits and multiple other subsidies) want you to believe wind energy is as pure "green" as newly driven snow is white, and as cheap as Taco Bell. They never tell you about the costs – or the environmental destruction – that they have hidden from you for decades. But neither do most governments, news media or social media.
- Sunday, September 27, 2020

Solar panels generate mountains of waste 

The problem of solar panel waste is now becoming evident. As environmental journalist Emily Folk admits in Renewable Energy Magazine, "when talking about renewable energy, the topic of waste does not often appear." She attributes this to the supposed "pressures of climate change" and alleged "urgency to find alternative energy sources," saying people may thus be hesitant to discuss "possible negative impacts of renewable energy."
- Saturday, September 19, 2020



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