Meta trades left-wing policy chief for Republican in major overhaul

 Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta announced a major overhaul of its global policy team on Thursday – pushing out left-leaning department chief Nick Clegg and replacing him with the company’s best-known Republican, Joel Kaplan.

Kaplan, who once served as deputy chief of staff for George W. Bush, is set to take over the reins of the Facebook and Instagram owner just days before President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration.

Clegg, the former Liberal Democrat party leader in the UK, has led Meta’s policy team since 2018 – a time when conservatives began ramping up claims that their viewpoints were being suppressed by the social media giant.

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Nick Clegg is exiting as Meta’s policy chief.AFP via Getty Images

Those efforts became most evident when Facebook suppressed The Post’s reporting of the Hunter Biden laptop scandal shortly before the 2020 election. The social media platform also banned Donald Trump following the Jan. 6 riots at the Capitol.

However, the leadership shakeup is the latest sign of Zuckerberg’s ongoing effort to cozy up to the president-elect. In November, the tech titan raced to Mar-a-Lago for dinner with Trump after reportedly requesting a meeting to discuss “the incoming administration.”

Shortly after the meeting, Clegg said that Zuckerberg was aiming to have “an active role in the debates that any administration needs to have about maintaining America’s leadership in the technological sphere … and particularly the pivotal role that AI will play.”

Meta also donated $1 million to Trump’s inaugural fund.

Zuckerberg thanked Clegg for his seven years of service in showing him the door.

“I’ve learned so much working with you and our whole team is better for having this opportunity,” he wrote in a comment on Clegg’s Facebook post announcing the transition.

“I’m excited for Joel to step into this role next given his deep experience and insight leading our policy work for many years.”

Clegg said he would be “spending a few months handing over the reins” to Kaplan before heading on to what he described as “new adventures.”

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Joel Kaplan is set to take over as head of Meta’s policy team.Getty Images

“I will be forever grateful to Mark and Sheryl Sandberg for taking me on in the first place – and to the many colleagues and teams I have had the good luck to work with ever since. It truly has been an adventure of a lifetime,” said Clegg, whose exit was first reported by Semafor.

The controversial Clegg played a major role in shaping Meta’s handling of content moderation and elections. He was also heavily involved in the creation of Meta’s Oversight Board – which has faced sharp criticism in recent days for being biased against Israel.

In a sign of his political leanings, Clegg publicly blasted Elon Musk at a September event – declaring that the X owner had turned the social media app formerly known as Twitter into “a sort of one man, sort of hyper-partisan and ideological hobby horse.”

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Mark Zuckerberg and Meta are attempting to mend fences with Republicans.Getty Images

When asked about whether Meta should moderate content at the time, Clegg said: “We unavoidably have to.”

Kaplan is widely seen as Meta’s primary champion for conservatives – and has reportedly argued against policies that would disproportionately impact right-leaning viewpoints.

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Mark Zuckerberg met with President-elect Trump at Mar-a-Lago in November.Askar – stock.adobe.com

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), a vocal critic of Big Tech, praised Meta’s decision to elevate Kaplan.

“I’ve known and respected Joel Kaplan for many years, and I’m confident he’ll continue to advocate for free speech and against censorship,” Cotton said in a statement.

The political stakes are high for Meta, which Trump had previously described as “the enemy of the people” due to alleged censorship and election interference.

Trump and his allies blasted Zuckerberg and Meta as recently as July, accusing the company of suppressing information about the attempted assassination of the Republican presidential nominee at a July 13 rally.

https://nypost.com/2025/01/02/business/meta-replacing-left-wing-nick-clegg-with-republican-joel-kaplan-in-policy-shakeup/

Hochul’s fracking foolishness locks $1 TRILLION of energy underground

 Hydraulic fracturing, better known as fracking, has transformed the United States into the Saudi Arabia of natural gas — but not in New York, where foolish politicians like Gov. Hochul stubbornly refuse to tap the enormous wealth beneath our feet.

Two giant shale formations sit beneath much of northeastern North America.

The relatively shallow Marcellus Shale extends from West Virginia into New York’s Southern Tier region.

The Utica Shale, which lies below the Marcellus and may hold even more natural gas, extends further northwest into Canada and further east toward Albany — a vast swath of the Empire State.

Together, these two formations are estimated to hold at least 500 to 1,000 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of natural gas, distributed throughout their extent.

While it’s difficult to determine exactly how much of the gas lies within New York’s borders, one study from the New York Energy Research and Development Authority estimated it at between 160 and 300 Tcf — enough to supply the state’s total natural gas needs for up to 300 years, at current consumption rates.

At today’s market value, New York’s reserves could be worth up to $1 trillion.

Rather than exploit the economic benefits this offers, however, New York has allowed environmental hysteria to crush its nascent fracking industry, beginning with a moratorium imposed by Gov. David Patterson in 2008.

Legislation banning fracking entirely was signed in 2014 by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who also effectively banned new natural gas pipelines that would have transported Pennsylvania’s low-cost natural gas to New York.

Last month, Hochul piled on, signing legislation banning the use of carbon dioxide for fracking instead of water.

“We’re not fracking . . . we’re not going backwards,” she said in September.

Fracking is an extraction method that injects high-pressure liquid or gas into fissures in subterranean rock to release energy resources.

Environmental zealots have cited multiple reasons to oppose it, from cancer fears to water-contamination worries to tales of flaming faucets that have been definitively debunked.

They have successfully smothered the industry in New York state — even in the face of the enormous benefits reaped by neighboring Pennsylvania.

Fracking has provided the Keystone State with billions of dollars in economic benefits.

Impact fees collected from drillers have generated over $2.7 billion for rural Pennsylvania communities since 2012 — money that these previously ailing towns and counties have invested in new schools, housing and economic development.

To his credit, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro has resisted environmentalists’ continuing efforts to ban fracking in his state.

Pennsylvania’s natural gas industry supports hundreds of thousands of jobs: more than 100,000 direct jobs with drilling companies, according to a 2023 study, and several hundred thousand more in indirect ones — that is, jobs supported by fracking-company outlays on goods and services and workers’ wages.

And fracking jobs pay well.

A study by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics estimated average wages in 2017 of almost $150,000 in today’s dollars.

By greatly increasing natural gas production, fracking in Pennsylvania has lowered energy prices for state residents — for natural gas used for heating as well as for electricity, much of it generated using natural gas.

he average retail price of electricity was 50% higher in New York than in Pennsylvania in 2023.

If New York were able to produce just half the natural gas Pennsylvania does, the statistics show that upwards of 50,000 direct jobs could be created, plus many more indirect ones.

It would mean a tax bonanza, too, providing several hundred million dollars in new revenues to Albany, plus over $100 million annually in impact fees for local communities.

A 2021 study prepared by the US Department of Energy found that a nationwide ban on fracking would cause a surge in energy prices, the loss of millions of jobs and almost $1 trillion in lost wage income.

It would also have national security implications, making the United States dependent on costly foreign sources of natural gas.

Like all energy resources, fracking is not environmentally pristine.

But its benefits are proving to be enormous, even beyond jobs and earnings: Lower energy prices are a huge economic boon, lowering the prices of virtually everything else, and natural gas power plants have largely replaced dirtier ones fueled by coal, reducing pollution and carbon emissions.

Yet fracking opponents rarely acknowledge these economic and environmental positives.

Lost in New York’s green energy quest and environmental hysteria is any concern about the economic well-being of its own citizens — especially Upstate residents whose communities have suffered decades of economic decline.

Fracking has for years offered an opportunity to reverse that trend by creating thousands of new jobs, just as it has in Pennsylvania.

Still, New York Democrats, led by Hochul, choose to waste that chance.

Fracking alone won’t solve New York’s economic problems, given the state’s sclerotic regulations, high taxes, general hostility to business and unrealistic green-energy goals.

But reversing the ban on fracking is a good place to start.

Jonathan Lesser is a senior fellow with the National Center for Energy Analytics and the president of Continental Economics.

https://nypost.com/2025/01/02/opinion/jonathan-lesser-hochuls-fracking-foolishness-locks-1t-of-energy-underground/

Musk Dismisses 'Cybertruck Bomber' FSD Theory: "Autopilot Requires Attentive Driver"

 Clark County Sheriff Kevin McMahill told reporters on Thursday that the Cybertruck bomber, Matthew Livelsberger, a 37-year-old Green Beret, died by a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head just moments before the detonation outside Trump's hotel in Las Vegas. This sequence of events is based on the official statements from law enforcement. However, speculation on X, particularly among internet sleuths, has brought up alternative theories regarding the timing of Livelsberger's death. 

Rogan O'Handley, aka "DC Draino" on X, floated two scenarios about Livelsberger's final moments:

Now that we know the Vegas suspect was found with a bullet in his head, I see 2 possible scenarios:

1. He shot himself - he was planning to commit suicide & didn't want to risk being burned alive

2. He was shot by someone else & the Tesla was auto-pilot navigated to the Trump hotel

"A long fuse could've been lit, a timer could have been set, or the bomb could have been remotely detonated I wonder if anyone in the vicinity heard a gunshot That would help confirm where the car was when he was shot," O'Handley wrote in another post. 

Tesla's Elon Musk quickly dismissed the second scenario, stating, "Autopilot will not function unless it detects an attentive person in the driver's seat."

Tesla vehicles have a cabin camera that monitors driver attentiveness and provides audible alerts when FSD is engaged. The camera is mounted above the rearview mirror. 

"Like other Autopilot features, Full Self-Driving requires that the driver pay attention to the road, their surroundings, and other road users," Tesla wrote on its website under the "Driver Attentiveness" section of FSD. 

Tesla said, "The cabin camera does not require full visibility of the driver's eyes in order to monitor attentiveness. The system is still active, for example, if the driver is wearing sunglasses." 

"If the cabin camera does not have clear visibility of the driver's hand and arm locations, Full Self-Driving periodically displays a message reminding the driver to apply slight force to the steering wheel," Tesla continued. 

It noted, "If the driver repeatedly ignore prompts to apply slight force to the steering wheel or to pay attention, Full Self-Driving displays a series of escalating warnings and, if those warnings are ignored, disables for the rest of the drive and displays the following message." 

What's apparent from Tesla's description of how FSD works suggests any scenario with Livelsberger shot in the head well before the bombing would be extraordinarily hard to trick the camera. 

X users should call on Musk to release the cockpit camera footage and any other recordings from the high-tech EV truck to disprove O'Handley's second scenario. Additionally, footage from charging stations could provide valuable insights into what happened leading up to the bombing. We're sure the FBI is already doing this... 

https://www.zerohedge.com/technology/elon-musk-dismisses-cybertruck-bomber-fsd-theory-autopilot-requires-attentive-driver

Beer and spirits investors have a chance to fade the Surgeon General

 Investors appeared to have taken notice of the Surgeon General's push to add warning labels to alcoholic drinks.

Boston Beer (NYSE:SAM) -3.3%, Anheuser-Busch InBev (BUD) -2.4%, Molson Coors (NYSE:TAP) -2.3%, and Ambev S.A. (NYSE:ABEV) -1.4% were some of the notable brewery stock trading lower in Friday morning action, while spirits giants Diageo (NYSE:DEO) -3.6% and Brown-Forman (NYSE:BF.A) (NYSE:BF.B) -1.0% also traded weak.

In Europe, Pernod Ricard (OTCPK:PDRDF) (OTCPK:PRNDY) swung 2.5% lower and Heineken (OTCQX:HEINY) was down 1.3%. Meanwhile, Davide Campari-Milano N.V. (OTCPK:DVDCF) (OTCPK:DVCMY) was down more than 4.5%.

The Surgeon General issued an advisory report that linked cancer risk to alcohol consumption based on large pools of data. The report indicated direct links between alcohol and at least seven types of cancer, including those of the throat, mouth, esophagus, voice box, colon and liver, as well as more than 16% of breast cancers.

Currently, South Korea is the only major nation that requires a cancer warning on alcohol products. Ireland will require a cancer warning starting in 2026.

For investors, a huge factor to consider is that the decision to update the current warning label has to be made by Congress. Currently, there is no indication that the Trump administration or either party has the political will to issue the alcohol warnings labels. Due to that reality, several sell-side analysts have suggested that the share price decline in beer and spirits stocks is unwarranted.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/savingandinvesting/beer-and-spirits-investors-have-a-chance-to-fade-the-surgeon-general/ar-AA1wUTee?ocid=finance-verthp-feeds

'Biden administration offers nuclear industry path to hydrogen tax credit'

 The Biden administration said on Friday nuclear power plants will be able to secure lucrative tax credits for production of what it calls clean hydrogen if the credits help prevent reactors from retiring.

The new rules settle one of the last and most contentious issues related to the Inflation Reduction Act, a 2022 law that is intended to fight climate change by subsidizing technologies that slash greenhouse-gas emissions. 

Some environmental groups argue that existing clean energy sources such as nuclear reactors should not qualify for the IRA's clean hydrogen program, which is seen as critical to decarbonizing heavy industry and some vehicles. Using nuclear plants to produce hydrogen siphons clean energy away from the grid that could have been used by other electricity consumers, they say.

"If a nuclear retirement is averted then the additional demand from hydrogen production will not have induced emissions," elsewhere on the grid, the Treasury Department said in a release.

The U.S. Treasury published the final rules on Friday, adjusting a previous hydrogen plan issued in late 2023 to make it more favorable to nuclear power and other industries.

It is uncertain how the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump will approach hydrogen production.

Frank Wolak, CEO of the Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Energy Association, said in a statement the industry can now "look forward to conversations with the new Congress and new Administration regarding how federal tax and energy policy can most effectively advance the development of hydrogen."

The new rules say that up to 200 megawatts of a reactor's power-generation capacity can be considered new clean power and collect the credits, if they were otherwise at risk of shutting down due to poor economics. 

"The extensive revisions we've made in this final rule provide the certainty that hydrogen producers need to keep their projects moving forward and make the United States a global leader in truly green hydrogen," said John Podesta, the senior adviser to Biden for international climate policy.

Currently, most hydrogen is produced with fossil fuels at a fraction of the cost of cleaner alternatives.

The new rules also allow natural-gas-fired facilities that produce hydrogen to access the credits if they install equipment to capture and bury their carbon-dioxide emissions.

Treasury said the rules will determine the value of the credits earned by such plants by considering leakage of the powerful greenhouse gas methane during natural gas production, in a forthcoming climate model for hydrogen known as GREET that covers lifecycle emissions.   

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/biden-administration-offers-nuclear-industry-path-to-hydrogen-tax-credit/ar-AA1wUtp7

From Davids to Goliaths: the GLP-1R gold rush

 Drugs targeting the glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor (GLP-1R) demonstrated remarkable success in 2023, with approved products generating sales of $37.2 billion. Currently, there are 323 active GLP-1Rs in the pipeline, with several estimated to deliver significant returns upon launch. While mega-cap companies dominate the GLP-1R market and are expected to maintain their stronghold in 2030, three smaller biotechs - Viking Therapeutics, Altimmune, and Structure Therapeutics - are emerging as potential disrupters in this drug category, giving hope to innovative newcomers.

The popularity of GLP-1R drugs has exploded in recent years. Key drugs in this category include Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic (semaglutide) and Wegovy (semaglutide), and Eli Lilly’s Trulicity (dulaglutide) and Zepbound (tirzepatide). Due to their ability to effectively treat metabolic-related disorders such as obesity and type 2 diabetes, the 11 approved GLP-1Rs generated sales of $37.2 billion in 2023 with Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly dominating the space, accounting for 99% of sales in 2023.

The success of these pharma giants has sparked significant interest in this sector. There are now more than 300 GLP-1Rs in an active stage of development, striving for their first approval. The market outlook for these products is equally promising, as GlobalData estimates that a number of these pipeline GLP-1Rs will ultimately launch in 2030, subsequently generating sales of $48.5 billion.

Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly are expected to continue their dominance of the GLP-1R space up to 2032. However, several smaller companies are also developing GLP-1Rs and positioning themselves to enter this market, disrupt the landscape and generate their fair share of returns (Figure 1). The emergence of these newcomers is set to reduce the GLP-1R monopolisation by Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk, with the pharma giants forecast to only capture 78% ($37.6 billion) of 2030 sales.

Based on their market capitalisation, Viking Therapeutics ($5.2 billion), Structure Therapeutics ($1.8 billion) and Altimmune ($642 million) are small- to mid-cap companies that are significantly dwarfed by Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk. All three US-based companies have no approved products to date. However, by 2030, GlobalData forecasts them to be ranked among the top 10 companies by GLP-1R sales.

Viking Therapeutics is expected to lead this group with its dual GLP-1R/gastric inhibitory polypeptide receptor agonist, VK-2735, which is in Phase II for obesity with an oral route of administration. Estimated to launch in 2028, this drug is forecast to deliver $2 billion in 2030, earning Viking a spot in the list of top 10 companies by GLP-1R sales, after the industry heavyweights: Novo Nordisk, Eli Lilly and Amgen. The fact that VK-2735 may be the first oral GLP-1R to gain approval in obesity presents further commercial opportunities for Viking.

Altimmune’s pemvidutide is in Phase II for obesity and metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis. With an expected launch in 2027, pemvidutide is forecast to generate sales of $1.21 billion in 2030. Finally, Structure Therapeutics’ GSBR-1290 is in Phase II for obesity and type 2 diabetes. Similarly to VK-2735, GSBR-1290 is also being developed as an oral formulation. This drug is expected to launch in 2028 and ultimately generate sales of $1.2 billion in 2030.

The domination of the GLP-1R landscape by large, mega-cap companies such as Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly is expected to continue until 2030. However, the entry of emerging biotechs into this space highlights the dynamic potential of the sector as Viking Therapeutics, Altimmune and Structure Therapeutics aim to disrupt this landscape. If the forecasts materialise, these three emerging companies will be catapulted onto the global stage, generating huge returns for shareholders. These estimations further highlight the lucrative potential offered by GLP-1Rs for both industry giants and innovative smaller players poised to make their mark on the global stage.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/davids-goliaths-glp-1r-gold-132018727.html

Nippon Steel "Dismayed" By Block Of US Steel Deal, Labels It "Clear Violation Of Due Process"

 Update (1111ET):

Nippon Steel is furious that President Biden blocked their proposed $14.9 billion deal to take over US Steel. 

"We are dismayed by President Biden's decision to block Nippon Steel's acquisition of US Steel, which reflects a clear violation of due process and the law governing CFIUS," the Japanese steelmaker wrote in a press release, adding, "Instead of abiding by the law, the process was manipulated to advance President Biden's political agenda." 

Nippon said the $55-per-share deal would have revitalized American steel plants with a $2.7 billion investment, protected union jobs, and enhanced America's steel supply chain against low-cost Chinese competition. 

"Blocking this transaction means denying billions of committed investment to extend the life of US Steel's aging facilities and putting thousands of good-paying, family-sustaining union jobs at risk. In short, we believe that President Biden has sacrificed the future of American steelworkers for his own political agenda," Nippon continued. 

According to Nikkei Asia, the Japanese steelmaker plans to sue the US government, targeting the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), which conducted the national security review of the proposed transaction and ultimately influenced President Biden's decision.

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Update: 

President Biden has released a statement indicating that he will "block" Nippon Steel's $14.9 billion takeover of US Steel.

Here's the full statement: 

As I have said many times, steel production—and the steel workers who produce it—are the backbone of our nation.  A strong domestically owned and operated steel industry represents an essential national security priority and is critical for resilient supply chains.  That is because steel powers our country: our infrastructure, our auto industry, and our defense industrial base. Without domestic steel production and domestic steel workers, our nation is less strong and less secure.

For too long, U.S. steel companies have faced unfair trade practices as foreign companies have dumped steel on global markets at artificially low prices, leading to job losses and factory closures in America. I have taken decisive action to level the playing field for American steelworkers and steel producers by tripling tariffs on steel imports from China.  With record investments in manufacturing, more than 100 new steel and iron mills have opened since I took office, and U.S. companies are producing the cleanest steel in the world. Today, the domestic steel industry is the strongest it has been in years.

We need major U.S. companies representing the major share of US steelmaking capacity to keep leading the fight on behalf of America's national interests. As a committee of national security and trade experts across the executive branch determined, this acquisition would place one of America's largest steel producers under foreign control and create risk for our national security and our critical supply chains.

So, that is why I am taking action to block this deal. It is my solemn responsibility as President to ensure that, now and long into the future, America has a strong domestically owned and operated steel industry that can continue to power our national sources of strength at home and abroad; and it is a fulfillment of that responsibility to block foreign ownership of this vital American company. U.S. Steel will remain a proud American company – one that's American-owned, American-operated, by American union steelworkers – the best in the world.  

Today's action reflects my unflinching commitment to utilize all authorities available to me as President to defend U.S. national security, including by ensuring that American companies continue to play a central role in sectors that are critical for our national security. As I have made clear since day one: I will never hesitate to act to protect the security of this nation and its infrastructure as well as the resilience of its supply chains.

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Biden administration officials seem to have leaked the president's impending decision, expected on Friday, to block Japan's Nippon Steel from purchasing US Steel. The Washington Post was the first to report on the president's planned move. 

The report states that two administration officials revealed President Biden chose to block the deal between Nippon Steel and US Steel, despite warnings from some senior advisers about potential negative consequences surrounding future foreign investment in US companies. 

On Dec. 23, the Committee for Foreign Investment in the United States, also known as CFIUS, notified the Biden administration it had not reached a consensus about whether Nippon's potential purchase of US Steel would pose a national security risk, essentially leaving the decision up to the elderly president who doesn't know what day it is.

The panel, chaired by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, said Nippon purchasing US Steel could reduce domestic steel production and pose "risks to the national security of the United States," adding, "Potential reduced output by US Steel could lead to supply shortages and delays that could affect industries critical to national security." 

CFIUS noted that Nippon's global operations might not support 'America First' amid US Treasury trade actions against low-cost steel imports. They said this could leave "the US economy more exposed to dumping and unfair subsidization of steel." 

On Monday, Nippon executives made a last-ditch attempt to sway Biden. The execs sent a proposal to the White House that would allow the government to veto any reduction in US Steel's "production capacity." 

For many months, Biden has publicly opposed Nippon's $14.9 billion takeover of US Steel, ultimately siding with David McCall, the president of the United Steelworkers union. McCall has called Nippon's bid as "bad for workers." 

Meanwhile, President-elect Donald Trump has opposed the transaction and said he would support US Steel with tariffs and tax incentives. 

In premarket trading, shares of US Steel are down 6% in New York. 

If Nippon Steel's purchase of US Steel is rejected due to national security concerns, foreign investors could reconsider allocating resources toward mergers, acquisitions, or investments in the United States.

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/biden-blocks-nippon-steels-takeover-us-steel