Day: April 23, 2024

Tesla let thousands of employees in two states know it will be axing their jobs during upcoming layoffs.

The notifications in California and Texas, where the electric vehicle (EV) maker has large presences, came in the form of WARN notices, according to reports.

In California, the planned Tesla headcount reductions will hit approximately 3,300 workers, The San Francisco Standard reported Tuesday. 

They will apparently occur at locations in a total of four different cities in the Golden State.

TESLA TO LAY OFF MORE THAN 10% OF WORKFORCE

Meanwhile, Texas will see almost 2,700 employees in Austin lose their jobs, according to the Austin American-Statesman.

The reported job cuts in the two states will together total roughly 6,000.

Tesla’s layoff plans, announced last week, will entail shedding 10% of its headcount around the world. The Texas-based company said at the time it had seen a “duplication of roles and job functions in certain areas” amid its “rapid growth” in recent years.

At the end of 2023, over 140,400 people had jobs at Tesla.

TESLA ASKS SHAREHOLDERS TO REINSTATE ELON MUSK’S PAY, MOVE TO TEXAS

The layoffs “will prepare Tesla for our next phase of growth, as we are developing some of the most revolutionary technologies in auto, energy and artificial intelligence,” according to a filing Tesla submitted last week to the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The company disclosed alongside the layoffs that its senior vice president of powertrain and energy engineering, Andrew Baglino, had left after an 18-year stint at the EV maker.

Tesla currently offers Model Y, 3, X and S vehicles as options for customers as well as its Cybertruck.

The EV maker said Tuesday it had “updated our future vehicle line-up to accelerate the launch of new models ahead of our previously communicated state of production in the second half of 2025.”

ELON MUSK APOLOGIZES AFTER TESLA GAVE ‘INCORRECTLY LOW’ SEVERANCE PACKAGES TO SOME LAID-OFF WORKERS: REPORT

“These new vehicles, including more affordable models, will utilize aspects of the next generation platform as well as aspects of our current platforms, and will be able to be produced on the same manufacturing lines as our current vehicle line-up,” it added.

Stephen Sorace contributed to this report.

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I want to talk about the failure of Biden’s Green New Deal climate bank ATM and the failure of all these Biden-subsidized offshore windmill projects. 

Many of you don’t know this, but the first windmills were built in 1200 A.D. in Holland. They were vertical and land-based, and I’m sure they worked reasonably well for their time. It was a technological breakthrough created to grind grains. 

By the 19th Century, there were more than 9,000 windmills in Holland and an important power source. They were mainly used to power various industrial uses.

The trouble is, many of today’s Joe Biden greenies want us to go back to the 19th Century. Actually, I suspect many of those greenies want us to go back to the 13th Century, but that’s a separate topic. 

Here’s the problem: The Bidens have spent a fortune on subsidizing these gigantic offshore windmill projects, which just don’t work. Please read the Wall Street Journal’s editorial on the collapse of New York state wind development. 

General Electric has lost a fortune — $1.4 billion last year, and $2.2 billion the year before. The state subsidies come from the misnamed Inflation Reduction Act, which spent well over $1 trillion to subsidize everything outside of fossil fuels. 

These huge wind turbines fall over, require expensive repairs and are completely non-economic. The Journal states that more than a dozen of these projects in the U.S. and Europe have been canceled or delayed in the last year. 

GREEN ENERGY PROJECTS FACE STARK ENVIRONMENTAL, LOCAL OPPOSITION NATIONWIDE

Meanwhile, the cost of offshore wind, at least in New York, is about $150 per megawatt hour. But wait a second, the wholesale price for natural gas is around $30 a megawatt hour. So you would think businesses and consumers would go for the cheaper natural gas. 

But no! No! Natural gas is a fossil fuel, and the greenies don’t like fossil fuels. Actually, natural gas is a clean-burning fuel and is part of the long-term solution both for economic growth and climate change. 

In the last 20 years or so, the increased use of natural gas has led to huge reductions in lead, particulates, smog and carbon monoxide. Indeed, according to the Committee to Unleash Prosperity Hotline, over the last five decades, GDP is up nearly 800%, while energy consumption has increased only 29%, and carbon emissions have actually fallen 60%. 

This is the biggest carbon decline of any of the major economies in the world. Much of this grand, clean air progress can be traced to the increased use of natural gas, but the Bidens are stubborn. They won’t acknowledge this. 

BLUE STATE DELIVERS CRIPPLING BLOW TO GREEN ENERGY DEVELOPMENT, JEOPARDIZING BIDEN’S CLIMATE GOALS

Heck, even Europe has reclassified natural gas as a clean-burning fuel. Instead, the Bidens are doing everything they can to stop liquid natural gas development and exports. And, of course, they celebrated Earth Day by closing down 13 million acres in Alaska’s National Petroleum Reserve. 

And if Mr. Biden were to be re-elected with his Green New Deal gang, then get ready for massive electricity and other power shortages plaguing the American economy and everything in it. 

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At that point, 13th Century Holland is going to look better and better.

This article is adapted from Larry Kudlow’s opening commentary on the April 23, 2024, edition of “Kudlow.” 

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