Big South Insights Newsletters | 2025

Big South Insights is the biweekly dispatch from Ohio River South. Every two weeks, we deliver timely intelligence, sharp analysis, and strategic perspective on the politics, policy shifts, and power players shaping the American South—because understanding this region is essential to understanding where the country is headed.

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AI Preemption Pause — The South Wins a Round

December 29, 2025

When the White House paused plans to override state-level AI laws, headlines focused on the tug-of-war in Washington. But the real story sits in the southern states.

After the CR – What’s Next for the South

November 20, 2025

For governors, mayors, utilities, and industry leaders, the CR restores federal operations for now while setting up another collision point later this winter.

Tariffs: Balancing Growth, Global Realities

October 31, 2025

Manufacturing, agriculture, and logistics—the South’s economic backbone—are being reshaped by the return of broad tariff measures. The impact, complex, cuts both ways.

South Needs a Smarter Grid Deal for Data Centers

October 16, 2025

The South isn’t just chasing the future—it’s building it. The region is the front line of America’s data-center surge, signaling that the South is open for AI business.

The Supreme’s Fall Term: Maps, Money, Rules

September 30, 2025

The new term could reshape the 2026 midterms across the South. At stake are election challenges, protections for minority voting rights, and campaign finance.

Red State, Green Playbook: Environmental Pivot

September 11, 2025

In Florida, conservative leaders are charting a new course—embracing environmentalism as a value rooted in stewardship, economic resilience, and local control.

Southern AI-Energy Supercycle Goes Nuclear

August 29, 2025

Big Tech wants firm, clean power at Southern prices, and governors who can clear the runway will capture the jobs, tax base, and supply chains that follow.

What the Trump AI Action Plan Means for the South

August 6, 2025

Southern leaders must proactively align with an administration that values speed and unilateral federal control over regional caution and incremental innovation.

Tax Implications for Businesses Under OBBBA

July 24, 2025

For Southern companies, OBBBA locks in tax advantages for pass-throughs and C-corps, reignites startup investment, and major capital spending.

For the South, OBBB is a mirror and a pressure test

July 9, 2025

The OBBBA triggers a complex realignment that southern state governors, legislators, businesses, and nonprofits must now navigate on their own terms.

Welcome to Big South Insights

June 25, 2025

As federal policy pivots sharply under a second Trump administration, southern states are becoming more than policy laboratories—they are now power brokers.