New York firewood supplier sold face cord equivalents, 8'x4'x16", for $493 during recent winter cold snap

 Shivering Americans Snap Up Firewood as Winter Grinds On...

 ... On Jan. 24, the day before a winter storm buried much of the Northeast in snow, Woodbourne Firewood had its highest-grossing sales day in the history of the company, which was started in New York in 2022, said Mr. Heby, 35, the owner. He said the company sold seven full cords of wood, units that are eight feet long, four feet tall and four feet deep, enough to fill a tractor-trailer and generating $10,356 in revenue in one day. ... Grahm Leitner, 48, a logging contractor and forester from Waterbury, Vt., said the number of days spent logging in a given year is about half of what it was in the 1980s, especially because of climate change. ...

 

The U.S. state capitalist EV boondoggle comes to an end, shape-shifting automakers take well-deserved $50 billion hit

 

 Detroit Automakers Take $50 Billion Hit as EV Bubble Bursts

... Following years of investments into EV technology, the Detroit Big Three ... have announced more than $50 billion in combined write-downs.

EV sales fell more than 30% in the fourth quarter, after a $7,500 federal tax credit that had juiced U.S. sales expired in September. ... 

Automakers’ retreats and massive write-downs have come as Republican lawmakers abolished a lucrative federal tax credit for EVs last fall, while also doing away with federal fuel-efficiency mandates. Even with federal support, EV demand was below expectations. ...

Ford Motor blames tariff timing and fires at an aluminum plant for earnings miss when it was its electric vehicle business

 

Ford reports worst quarterly earnings miss in four years, guides for better 2026

 

... On an unadjusted basis, the company’s net loss of $8.2 billion last year was its largest since the Great Recession in 2008, according to FactSet. That included $15.5 billion in special charges during the fourth quarter largely related to a pre-announced pullback in its all-electric vehicle plans.

Automakers commonly exclude “special items” or one-time charges from their adjusted financial results to provide investors with a clearer picture of their core, ongoing business operations.

Ford reported a fourth-quarter net loss of $11.1 billion, or a loss of $2.77 per share, compared with net income of $1.8 billion, or 45 cents per share, in the same period in 2024. Adjusted for the one-time charges, the company reported earnings of 13 cents per share.

 

Monthly mean average temperature in Grand Rapids, Michigan has been below normal for three consecutive months

 

Actual monthly mean average temperature in Grand Rapids vs. average monthly mean since 1892:

November 2025: 38.7 F vs. 39.1

December 2025: 26.0 F vs. 28.5

January 2026: 20.2 F vs. 23.8

Totals: 84.9 vs. 91.4 = -6.5 degrees F or 7.1% colder.

 

On an annual basis just a handful of years since 1999 have been at or lower than average temperature of 48.1 F:

2000 48.1

2003 46.8

2009 48.0

2014 46.5.

 

 

Snowfall in 2025-2026 to date:

 

66.2 inches vs. 41.6 normal to date. Annual mean = 66.8 inches. 

Relying on electricity for heat seems kinda dumb

 

Thank you, Lake Michigan