October 2017 Obama's Numbers FROM PAGE 11


Under funding levels established by Bush, the number grew from 9,147 agents in fiscal year 2001 to 17,408 in FY 2009 (which began Oct. 1, 2008).


Under Obama, that number continued to increase, hitting a peak of 18,611 in FY 2013. The number then declined to 17,026 in fiscal year 2016.


Meanwhile, the number of


immigrants living in the U.S. illegally actually fell, from an estimated 11.7 million in 2008, to an estimated 11.0 million in 2015, according to the Pew Research Center. That’s a decline of roughly 700,000, or 6 percent.


Migration


Similarly, the Center for Studies


estimated that


the population of immigrants living in the U.S. illegally dropped from 11,460,000 in 2008 to


11,045,000


in 2015, a decline of 415,000, or 3.6 percent. The CMS study attributed the decline to tighter airline security, increased enforcement at the border and improving economic conditions in Mexico.


Such estimates are inexact; those breaking the law by being here can’t be expected to confess that to Census officials. But demographers have applied consistent methodologies from year to year, and agree that the trend has been downward.


Energy Oil — U.S. crude oil production,


mainly due to advances in drilling technology, surged under Obama, helping to drive down fuel prices. In 2016, the U.S. produced 77 percent more crude oil than it did in 2008.


As a result, U.S. reliance on


imported oil dropped by more than half. In 2016, the U.S. imported only 24.8 percent of the petroleum and refined products that it consumed, down from 57 percent in 2008. In 2015, it imported 24.1 percent, which was the lowest annual level of dependency on imports since 1970.


Wind & Solar — Wind and solar power has more than quadrupled under Obama. Electricity generated by large-scale wind and solar power facilities


utilities


www.hamptonroadsmessenger.com During the Obama years, electric


shifted away from burning coal, which accounted for 48 percent of their power generation in 2008, but only 30 percent in 2016. The share supplied by burning natural gas went up from 21 percent to 34 percent, and the share supplied by nuclear plants remained steady at just under 20 percent.


Carbon Emissions — Meanwhile, the amount of carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere


from U.S.


energy-related sources has declined during Obama’s time.


Between 2008 and 2016, the


amount of carbon dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels went down 11 percent, from the EIA.


according


as the economy has been growing, in part because utilities — driven by lower natural


gas prices and


government regulations — have been burning more natural gas and less coal. Emissions from electric power plants in 2016 were the lowest since 1988, according to EIA figures.


Trade


Obama promised in his 2010 State of the Union address to “double our exports over the next five years.” That didn’t happen.


Instead, as the economies During the full of


major U.S. trading partners struggled, so did U.S. exports.


eight years of


Obama’s presidency, annual exports of goods and services rose by just under 20 percent (and actually declined in 2015 and 2016).


Meanwhile imports grew even


more slowly, by just 6.4 percent, and so the U.S. trade deficit shrunk by nearly 29 percent.


Guns Obama campaigned on a promise


to reinstate the “assault weapon” ban that expired in 2004, but that didn’t happen either. As president, he also proposed several new gun laws that never passed.


Instead, annual U.S. handgun increased by 369 percent


during the Obama years. The increase in solar power in


particular has been spectacular. The U.S. generated nearly 43 times more electricity from solar power in 2016 than in 2008.


Wind and solar accounted for 6.5


percent of total large-scale generation in 2016, up from a mere 1.4 percent in 2008. Wind and solar now account for as large a share as hydroelectric power, also at 6.5 percent of the total.


These figures are for “utility


scale” electricity generation. In 2014, EIA also began tracking small-scale (under 1 megawatt) “distributed” solar voltaic generation, such as the power produced by rooftop systems installed by homeowners. In 2016, wind and solar accounted for 6.9 percent of the combined total of utility-scale power and “distributed” solar power.


coal declined. Obama put forth new restrictions


Coal — As wind and solar rose, that his administration


called a “Clean Power Plan,” and his critics dubbed a “war on coal.”


In 2016, U.S. coal production was


728 million metric tons, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. That’s a decline of 38 percent since 2008.


production nearly tripled, as millions of Americans flocked to buy firearms.


In 2016, production of pistols and


revolvers totaled 5,314,511, according to interim figures released in June by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. That’s an increase of 192 percent over the figure for 2008, and it broke the previous record set in 2013.


The government doesn’t collect


figures on sales of guns. But the National Shooting Sports Foundation — the gun industry’s trade group — tracks approximate sales figures by adjusting FBI statistics on background checks to remove those not related to actual sales, such as checks required for concealed-carry permits.


Those NSSF-adjusted figures


also set a record in Obama’s final year, topping 15.7 million. That’s an increase of 75 percent above the 2008 level.


These figures cover rifles and


shotguns and previously owned weapons, as well as new handguns. They are only an approximation of actual sales, since some of these checks cover purchases of multiple weapons, and of course some sales still occur without background checks.


Crime


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to estimates Emissions have been falling even


Despite more than a score of mass


The Hampton Roads Messenger 15 Model year 2017 isn’t looking


shootings, crime declined substantially overall during the Obama years.


The FBI’s crime statistics show the number of violent crimes in 2016 was 10.5 percent lower than the number in 2008, and the number of property crimes dropped 19 percent.


Meanwhile the population


increased by more than 6 percent, so the rate of crime dropped even more. The number of violent crimes per 100,000 population was nearly 16 percent lower in 2016 than in 2008, and the property crime rate dropped nearly 24 percent.


Among violent crimes the biggest drop was a nearly 30 percent reduction in robberies. But the murder rate dropped hardly at all — declining from 5.4 per 100,000 in 2008 to 5.3 in 2016.


Earlier, in 2014, the murder rate had dropped to the lowest level on record — 4.4 per 100,000 — but it rose in Obama’s final two years in office.


Car Mileage Obama set a goal of doubling the


fuel efficiency of cars and light trucks, but that promise isn’t working out. Although he put in place a regulatory requirement that cars and light trucks average 54.5 miles per gallon by model year 2025, car buyers had other ideas.


For light duty vehicles actually purchased, the average EPA city/ highway


sticker mileage has been


stuck at 25.1 mpg for model years 2014, 2015 and 2016, according to the Transportation Research Institute of the University of Michigan.


Fraud Alert FROM PAGE 1


and other rights you have. Mark your calendar.


The initial fraud alert stays on your report for 90 days. You can renew it after 90 days.


Update your files. Record the dates you made calls


NSU President facilities.


FROM PAGE 2 In addition, just this year,


the University has unveiled a forward- looking revised logo, website, and marketing program.


For these ac-


complishments and more, the Board of Visitors shall be forever grateful to President Eddie N. Moore, Jr.


Te Board will soon name an


interim president and delineate the plan for conducting a national search for a new president.


or sent letters. Keep copies of letters in your files.


Contact Information for the Credit Reporting Companies: TransUnion, 1-800-680-7289; Experian, 1-888-397-3742; Equifax, 1-800-525-6285.


any different. Vehicles sold during Obama’s final month in office also averaged 25.1 mpg — only 20 percent above where it was eight years earlier. Meanwhile, the Obama mileage regulations are under review by the new administration.


Guantanamo During Obama’s final 20 days


in office another 18 prisoners were released from the military detention camp


for suspected terrorists in


Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and shipped to other countries. That brought the total number remaining to 41.


When he first took office, Obama ordered the facility to be closed within a year. But Congress balked, and in the end Obama was able to accomplish an 83 percent reduction in the head count over eight years.


War Deaths


During Obama’s time in office, 2,035 U.S. military personnel died as a result of the Afghan war and the fighting in and around Iraq, according to figures kept by iCasualties.org.


Jan. 20, 2017, there were 1,751 U.S. military


Between Jan. 20, 2009, and fatalities


connected


to the Afghan war, which became America’s longest war in 2010 and still has no end in sight.


Also during Obama’s time, there were 284 fatalities connected to the conflict in Iraq. He pulled all U.S. troops out of Iraq at the end of 2011, but began sending them back in 2014 after Islamic State fighters swooped in and captured large sections of the country.


By any measure, now is a time


of tremendous, exciting momentum for Norfolk State University. Te next president of this outstanding institution will find both great responsibility and unparalleled opportunity. Te Board of Visitors is confident that we will identify the right leader to support all of you in your endeavors, as together we position the University to build on its eminent history and fulfill its world-changing potential.


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