The Justice Department is demanding documents from nonprofits that were awarded the money through the Inflation Reduction Act.
By Jean Chemnick, E&E News by Politico
The Trump administration has directed nonprofits involved in a $20 billion Biden-era climate initiative to turn over records to the FBI and appear in federal court later this month, according to two people who were granted anonymity for fear of reprisal.
The move marks an escalation in the administration’s effort to claw back the climate money following its assertions that the Environmental Protection Agency had sought to evade oversight by depositing the $20 billion in Citibank accounts in the waning days of President Joe Biden’s term.
The fight is part of a larger power struggle kicked off by President Donald Trump’s attempts to unravel his predecessor’s spending decisions — even when that runs afoul of the actions of previous Congresses and funding that agencies have contractually obligated.
At least two groups that had been awarded shares of the funding through EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund received letters this week from acting U.S. Attorney Ed Martin in Washington, directing them to turn over the records to the FBI within two weeks, said the two people, who were familiar with the document demand.
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For decades, island nations have pushed for developed, polluting countries to put money toward helping developing countries rebuild after climate disasters. | Anik Rahman/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images
The Trump administration has withdrawn the United States from the United Nations climate damage fund that was established in 2023 to help developing countries most vulnerable to climate change when natural disasters strike.
Establishment of the fund was a victory for climate change activists from developing nations, with nearly 200 countries signing onto the agreement. At the 2023 climate conference, the U.S. pledged $17.5 million to the fund, while the EU contributed $245 million, including $100 million from Germany.
“Both the United States Board Member and United States Alternate Board Member will be stepping down, not to be replaced by a U.S. representative,” Rebecca Lawlor, the U.S. representative on the fund’s board, said in a March 4 letter.
For decades, island nations have pushed for developed, polluting countries to put money toward helping developing countries rebuild after climate disasters.
The move is the latest by the Trump administration to remove the U.S. from international agreements. One of his first orders after taking office was to pull out of the 2015 Paris climate accords. He had pulled the U.S. out of the Paris agreement during his first term — a decision that was reversed under the Biden administration.
The decision to withdraw from the U.N. fund was quickly condemned, with Ali Mohamed, the chair of the African Group of Negotiators, writing on X: “At a time when the world needs a concerted effort to fight the effects of climate change, the spirit of multilateralism should remain our guiding light.”
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It’s part of a broader crackdown on the civil liberties of those who disagree with the president.
Opinion by Dana Milbank, Washington Post columnist
Barred by the White House from entering the room that day were the Associated Press and Reuters, venerable news agencies that have covered American presidents for decades. In their place: a correspondent from Russian state media, Tass’s Dmitry Kirsanov. The White House removed Kirsanov from the event in progress, claiming he was not “approved” to be there — asking us to believe that, in an astonishing security lapse, a Russian government propagandist had infiltrated the Oval Office without its knowledge.
Also brought into the room by the White House (which reversed more than a century of practice by seizing from journalists the authority to decide which reporters will be in the press “pool” that has access to Trump): Brian Glenn, correspondent for the MAGA outlet Real America’s Voice and boyfriend of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Georgia). He accused Zelensky of “not respecting the office,” asking: “Why don’t you wear a suit?”
Then there was the correspondent from another MAGA outlet, One America News. He told Trump that foreign leaders had “praised your courage and conviction” and asked him “what gave you the moral courage” to start talks with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin about Ukraine, “something that previous leaders lacked the conviction to do.”
“I love this guy,” Trump replied. Upon learning he was from One America News, Trump said: “Well, that’s why I like him. One America News does a great job. That’s very — I like the question. I think it’s a very good question.”
This is the result when the government decides who can cover the president: a sycophantic circus.
President Donald Trump’s Oval Office ambush of Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky last week was rightly seen as a disaster for freedom in the world. But it also showcased a disaster for freedom at home: the administration’s attempts to extinguish the free press.
Barred by the White House from entering the room that day were the Associated Press and Reuters, venerable news agencies that have covered American presidents for decades. In their place: a correspondent from Russian state media, Tass’s Dmitry Kirsanov. The White House removed Kirsanov from the event in progress, claiming he was not “approved” to be there — asking us to believe that, in an astonishing security lapse, a Russian government propagandist had infiltrated the Oval Office without its knowledge.
Also brought into the room by the White House (which reversed more than a century of practice by seizing from journalists the authority to decide which reporters will be in the press “pool” that has access to Trump): Brian Glenn, correspondent for the MAGA outlet Real America’s Voice and boyfriend of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Georgia). He accused Zelensky of “not respecting the office,” asking: “Why don’t you wear a suit?”
Then there was the correspondent from another MAGA outlet, One America News. He told Trump that foreign leaders had “praised your courage and conviction” and asked him “what gave you the moral courage” to start talks with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin about Ukraine, “something that previous leaders lacked the conviction to do.”
“I love this guy,” Trump replied. Upon learning he was from One America News, Trump said: “Well, that’s why I like him. One America News does a great job. That’s very — I like the question. I think it’s a very good question.”
This is the result when the government decides who can cover the president: a sycophantic circus.
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Mayor Eric Adams was milling around a Manhattan ballroom, tuxedoed and small-talking, on a Thursday night a few weeks before the 2024 election. Donald J. Trump made the first move.
Since Adams’s indictment in late September on federal corruption charges, those close to him told us, he had felt abandoned and isolated, a mayor unmoored. Here was a relative stranger, the once and future president, edging his way at a white-tie charity dinner. “He actually put his arm around him,” David Paterson, a former New York governor and a fellow attendee, told us. Adams looked touched. He said little the rest of the night. “He was kind of quiet, almost like he’s thinking about it,” Paterson, a longtime friend, said. “Like: ‘Is this possible? Boy.’”
Once they reached the dais, Paterson recalled, Trump had a parting message for Adams: “Hang in there.” At the microphone moments later, before an audience of city dignitaries who largely disdained them both, Trump turned the subtext to text: A connection had been made. “We were persecuted, Eric,” he told the crowd at the Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner, a $5,000-a-plate annual benefit for Catholic charities that historically hosts presidential candidates. “I was persecuted, and so are you, Eric.”
The chance encounter set in motion what would become the signal political emergency in New York’s modern history, perpetrated by two sons of Queens with a shared instinct for brazen survival and naked transaction.
But, really, what could surprise the city by now? Elected to deliver New York from disorder and disrepair, Adams established himself as the avatar of its chaos well before his arrest — a proper ambassador for a place that increasingly seemed to be losing its collective mind.
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Establishes timeframe for adoption of, and requires public comment on, proposed host community benefit agreements for certain solid waste facilities; authorizes residents to petition State to establish or adjust host community benefit.
“Climate Superfund Act”; imposes liability on certain fossil fuel companies for certain damages caused by climate change and establishes program in DEP to collect and distribute compensatory payments.
Requires manufacturer of certain firefighting equipment containing perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances to provide written notice to purchaser; prohibits sale, manufacture, and distribution of certain firefighting equipment containing intentionally added perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances.
Urges DEP, Pinelands Commission, and Highlands Water Protection and Planning Council to engage in alternative forest management practices during periods of drought when prescribed burning is unsafe.
Appropriates $28,670,924 in 2003 and 1992 bond act monies for loans for dam restoration and repair projects and inland waters projects.
Bucco, Anthony M./Smith, Bob +1
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On any other Friday, Meghan Bullard would probably be immersed in data on a novel treatment for multiple sclerosis, the subject of her dissertation as a graduate student at Georgetown University.
But on this Friday afternoon, she was standing on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial holding up a sign that read “LITERALLY TRYING TO CURE MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS BUT OKAY …” She was one of hundreds who gathered there to push back against a series of executive orders, funding freezes and other administrative edicts that they say threaten the foundations of scientific research and could carry deadly and costly long-term consequences.
The demonstration, which also included dozens of satellite rallies and walkouts across the country, marked the first major protest focused on actions by President Donald Trump’s second administration that have cast many scientific and biomedical research efforts into turmoil. Scientists organized the rallies under the banner “Stand Up for Science” with specific demands: an expansion in funding for scientific research and the reinstatement of initiatives on both diversity, equity, and inclusion and accessibility within government-funded science.
And they’re calling for an end to political interference in science.
Without science, “I wouldn’t be here today,” Emily Whitehead, who was facing a terminal cancer diagnosis until enrolling in an immunotherapy clinical trial at age 6, told the crowd. “I stand up for science so kids can grow up to be the next generation of scientists,” the University of Pennsylvania sophomore said. “I stand up for science because science saved my life.”
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