Meet the Gen Z stonemason who restores historical landmarks in Europe damaged during World War II. Charlie Gee has followed in the footsteps of his father who is also a stonemason. The 22-year-old specializes in cathedral masonry and has worked on iconic buildings, including the Cologne Cathedral in Germany and the Palace of Justice in […] The post Gen Z Stonemason Restores Iconic European Landmarks Damaged in WWII –And Shares Amazing Videos (WATCH) appeared first on Good News Network.

Climate activists have found a new way to force us to pay more for energy. New York and Vermont passed laws that will raise the price of oil, gas, and electricity by taxing the past. New York’s new law demands fossil fuel companies pay $75 billion for carbon emissions dating back to the year 2000. Other Democrat-controlled states plan to follow suit. In my new video, Travis Fisher, energy director at the Cato Institute, argues that taxing the past is wrong: “I’ve been filling up my gas tank for 25 years. Will they go after me for every time I’ve filled up my tank?” Maybe. A more honest way to punish burning of fossil fuel is a carbon tax. “If you want to change people’s behavior,” says Fisher, “you tell them that their behavior is going to be taxed. This is taxing behavior that’s already occurred—perfectly legal at the time. So, there’s no possible change in behavior.” Politicians don’t push a carbon tax because they know voters won’t like it. So, they pretend oil companies will pay. They know voters don’t like oil companies. “The deceit from these companies,” shouts California Gov. Gavin Newsom, “playing us for fools!” He blames fossil fuel companies for his own government’s failures. “Wildfires and floods and droughts,” he says, “this climate crisis is a fossil fuel crisis!” “That just absolves him from any responsibility for anything,” says Fisher. “Power out, wildfires, everything is climate change. Nothing is Gov. Newsom’s fault.” But Big Oil is so rich, say activists, they can easily pay. A CNN correspondent claims, “The amount of money they are making, some will certainly see as obscene, unconscionable.” “‘Unconscionable’ is actually in [New York’s] text,” says Fisher, adding that these new laws are an expansion of government power that “[sets] a precedent that they could tax anyone for anything going back as far as they want.” And yet, the new tax won’t change the climate. “If New York stopped using fossil fuels altogether,” says Fisher, “what impact would that have on the global climate? … Zero.” That’s because the entire United States, let alone New York, emits just a fraction of the world’s carbon. In their bill, New York politicians compare fossil fuel producers to tobacco companies, writing, “The actions of many of the biggest fossil fuel companies closely [reflect] the strategy of denial, deflection, and delay perfected by the tobacco industry.” Politicians and greedy lawyers did get tobacco companies to pay more than $200 billion. But was that justice? I don’t think so. The lawyers grabbed $8 billion for themselves. But alleged Big Tobacco bad guys who misled people about cigarettes’ risk aren’t paying for the settlement. Most had left their companies long before. Today’s smokers must pay the bill via costlier cigarettes. Likewise, we fossil fuel users will be the ones paying these new fines. Although there are big differences between oil and cigarettes. “If we all quit cigarettes,” says Fisher, “nothing catastrophic happens. Quit fossil fuels, the world grinds to a halt.” Eighty percent of our energy comes from coal, oil, and natural gas, and that won’t change soon. Solar and wind power aren’t reliable enough. So these new retroactive oil taxes are mostly a way for state politicians to grab more of your money—in my state’s case, an arbitrary $75 billion. I ask Fisher, “Isn’t it calculated based on things fossil fuel companies did?” “No,” He replies. “There’s sophisticated literature about the social cost of carbon. They decided to skip all of that. Skip the trial. You’re just guilty.” So, in New York and Vermont, everyone who uses fossil fuels will be punished. Those of you in California, New Jersey, Maryland, and Massachusetts will probably be hit by similar taxes soon. “They’re coming after everyone’s lifestyle. That’s only made possible by fossil fuels,” says Fisher. “It’s a shame because really, when I think about what America could be, we could be so much more prosperous than we are.” Much more prosperous. But many politicians just won’t let that happen. COPYRIGHT 2025 BY JFS PRODUCTIONS INC. We publish a variety of perspectives. Nothing written here is to be construed as representing the views of The Daily Signal. The post Tax the Past? appeared first on The Daily Signal.

While President Trump’s critics have been sounding the alarm about tariffs, it appears they’re only looking at the tariffs in terms of dollar amounts. “To a certain extent, you can’t blame them, because it is true that tariffs sometimes increase the cost of goods and services. But of course, the legacy media and President Trump’s neocon critics are not doing this in good faith,” Liz Wheeler of “The Liz Wheeler Show” says. “These are people who know the price of everything, but they know the value of nothing,” Wheeler continues. “Cheap goods does not a country make, and they don’t get that.” “I’m not dismissing the fact that some products could get more expensive if Trump’s tariffs continue,” she adds, noting that in the 1990s, the American people were promised that the NAFTA trade with China and globalization would cause the cost of living to go down. “They told us more luxuries, more democracy,” Wheeler says. “But what actually happened to the American people? Well, between the year 2000 and 2017, 5.5 million American manufacturing jobs left the country.” “As they left, Americans, especially American men, who filled these jobs suddenly lost the dignity of work,” she continues. “So what happens when your jobs are gone? What happens when men want to provide for their family because it’s something innate that God put in their heart, that God intended for them, but they can’t because there’s no jobs to be had?” Well, what happens is that those jobless Americans turn to escapism. “That’s exactly what happened between 1999 and 2021. More than 640,000 Americans have died from opioid overdose,” Wheeler says. “Those Americans became hooked on drugs. Why? Well, those communities, places like where Vice President JD Vance is from, were hollowed out and lost most of those manufacturing jobs that had previously sustained them.” “They lost not only their income, but a deeper meaning in life,” she continues. “So the elites said that increased free trade would make life better by giving us cheaper products and increasing our relations with China, with Canada, with Mexico.” “And we did, by the way, get cheaper products. We do have more luxuries. But you’d be hard-pressed to say that America, and the American people, came out on top,” she adds. Want more from Liz Wheeler?To enjoy more of Liz’s based commentary, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

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