Driving past Lake Norman over Thanksgiving weekend, I was once again struck by the fact that this body of water helps power millions of homes across the region and in the state of North Carolina. Using water from the lake to feed the towering condensers, the two nuclear reactors at McGuire Nuclear Station generate over 18 gigawatts of clean and abundant energy, adding to the…
In line with common law tradition, the class action system was set up in Australia to address wrongs and deliver justice for ordinary people. But because of a lack of action from politicians and policymakers, it has instead funnelled rivers of gold to faceless foreign investors with a stake in gaming the system. It’s become akin to a casino with lower stakes and high payouts….
The Town Council of Carrboro has filed a lawsuit against Duke Energy, alleging the utility misled the public about fossil fuel emissions and the timeline for renewable energy adoption. Supported and funded by NC WARN, the suit seeks damages for climate-related harms, pointing to Hurricane Helene’s impact as an example. The suit was filed in Orange County Superior Court in Hillsborough. Yael Ossowski of the…
Reforming the Bank Secrecy Act would empower Bitcoin innovation, protect user privacy, and foster a better balance between regulatory compliance and financial sovereignty. Though Bitcoin was born in the world of computers and code, it was destined to eventually face-off with the legacy banking system. The first block ever mined on the blockchain, Satoshi’s Genesis block, contained a (then) recent headline from a British newspaper…
This week, I received a letter from an employer of mine from when I was in high school, a local car wash. It turns out there was a “data breach” that resulted in “unauthorized access” to my social security number. Millions of Americans receive letters like this each year. Usually, the company will offer free access to a credit monitoring service, allowing individuals to see if any…
After Texas trial attorney Tony Buzbee took to a podium in October to reveal he had gathered 120 victims to sue Sean “Puff Daddy” Combs, it unleashed a flood of more allegations against the billionaire rapper and record executive. There are now close to two dozen civil lawsuits pending against Combs in both federal and state courts, along with his criminal indictment for sex trafficking, assault, and a host of other…
If you’ve heard anything from the swanky flag-draped corner offices in Brussels, you know the EU wants “in” on the AI arms race. It’s been an obsession of the Commission and related bodies. Now that the AI Act is at least partly in force, and the European AI Office is beefing up its staff to help implement the regulations cross the continent, the practicalities of the EU’s regulatory project…
Consumer Choice Center Deputy Director Yaël Ossowski is interviewed on Schwab Network to discuss the looming bankruptcy of Spirit Airlines, and how the Biden administration’s antitrust and competition policies have precipitated its downfall. If we want more airline competition, we should look to repealing cabotage laws and boosting the ability for global airlines to serve US domestic travelers.
Last week, an investigation by Reuters revealed that Chinese researchers have been using open-source AI tools to build nefarious-sounding models that may have some military application. The reporting purports that adversaries in the Chinese Communist Party and its military wing are taking advantage of the liberal software licensing of American innovations in the AI space, which could someday have capabilities to presumably harm the United…
“Something that we’ve lost as American consumers is financial privacy,” Yael Ossowski, Consumer Choice Center, told Channel 2 Action News. “Essentially, we have financial surveillance.” My comments on the Saving Privacy Act on WSB-TV and syndicated to various local TV markets.