GRAND GREEN PARTY 

Republican senators are pitching a climate plan… that environmental activists don’t hate. Is it for real? Climate Reporter Stephanie Ebbs digs in. 

• President-elect Donald Trump has dismissed climate change as a “scam,” and vowed to undo President Joe Biden’s climate policies. So should we abandon all hope of meaningful climate legislation from Washington, now that Republicans control the White House and both chambers of Congress? Well, actually… not so fast.

• A pair of GOP Senators are pushing a plan that looks a heck of a lot like a Trump-friendly, America First-style trade proposal — but when you peer under the hood, it also looks like a plan to help reduce global emissions of greenhouse gasses, which scientists say are the cause of human-driven climate change.

• Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) is pushing a bill that would slap a tax on imported products — if producing them overseas emits more pollution than it would here in the U.S. For example, if steel produced in China is cheaper than steel made stateside, but China pollutes more to make it, then Cassidy’s bill would add a “penalty” to even out the cost. Trump, of course, famously loves tariffs, so it’s a political approach that Cassidy calls consistent with the new boss’s priorities.

• The details remain a work in progress. But in theory, such a plan could pressure China to reduce its emissions from industries like steel, aluminum, cement, or glass. Climate activists say it might even work. “If you’re going to make higher intensity products more expensive, you have to assume you’re going to achieve some reductions in emissions,” Ben Pendergrass, vice president of government affairs at Citizens Climate Lobby, told What A Day.

• Climate politics during a Republican trifecta won’t look exactly like what Democrats would put forward. But Pendergrass said the most important thing is not to let the conversation die. “One of the things I think is very clear, given the thin margins in Congress… is that solutions are going to have to be bipartisan,” he said.

Bipartisan climate policy may sound like crazy talk. But if it ever becomes a reality, it might just look a bit like this bill.

• Climate hawk Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) has actually introduced similar legislation, and said last year he hopes to negotiate a carbon fee with Republicans. There’s a big difference, though: Whitehouse’s bill would tax carbon pollution for imports and U.S. industries. A domestic price on climate pollution makes a lot of sense to many advocates. But it’s an absolute no-go for Cassidy.

• Climate groups like the Sierra Club and Evergreen Action tell What A Day they’ll be watching closely. For some climate advocates, there’s a feeling of, “don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good.” Every step toward reducing emissions helps, Pendergrass said. “We got to go after all the small chunks of emissions reductions we can, and I think Senator Cassidy is clearly trying to do that here with this bill,” he said. As the LA fires bring climate change to the top of conversation so soon before Trump’s inauguration, we could see more pressure on Congress to do something, anything, on this issue even if it takes wrapping it in an economic bill to get it done.

Will such a bill win enough support to pass through Congress and be signed by Trump? Don’t hold your breath. But we can call it a sign that bipartisan climate solutions might not be impossible after all.

This story is supported by our nonprofit partner, Crooked Ideas.

GET ROCKED, TIKTOK! 

TikTok may be on its way out the door, but top officials from the company and China itself are drawing ever closer to Donald Trump, in hopes he can save the app with a last-minute reprieve.

This morning, all nine Supreme Court justices voted to uphold a ban/sale of TikTok, the wildly popular video-sharing platform used by more than 100 million Americans. ByteDance, TikTok’s Chinese parent company, reportedly plans to shut down the site on Sunday — with plans to retain ownership and negotiate a deal with Trump.

The court sided with lawmakers, who overwhelmingly support banning TikTok if ByteDance doesn’t sell: “Congress has determined that divestiture is necessary to address its well-supported national security concerns regarding TikTok’s data collection practices and relationship with a foreign adversary,” the court wrote.

It’s uncertain whether Trump can legally make a deal, even though Trump and his team have pledged to keep the app from going dark: “The Supreme Court decision was expected, and everyone must respect it,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “My decision on TikTok will be made in the not too distant future, but I must have time to review the situation. Stay tuned!”

Trump hinted that he’s already making moves. Just before the ruling, he got off the phone with Chinese leader Xi Jinping — the first call between the two since 2021. On the agenda among other issues: TikTok.

“The call was a very good one for both China and the U.S.A. It is my expectation that we will solve many problems together, and starting immediately,” Trump said in a Truth Social post.

In another sign that China’s down to deal with Trump, Beijing is sending its vice president to the inauguration for the first time in history. TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew will also attend the event (which was moved indoors due to expected cold weather). The vibes in that room are gonna be so bizarre.

Side note: The city of Washington, D.C. spent $1.5 million on a heated viewing platform for the mayor to watch the inauguration. Obviously, that won’t be needed anymore. LOL.

NEWS NEWS NEWS 

Roadkill enthusiast Robert F. Kennedy Jr. tried to stop the Food and Drug Administration from distributing Covid vaccinations six months after they were rolled out — at a time when the weekly pandemic death toll in America was in the thousands.  The petition he filed falsely claimed the vaccination risks outweighed the benefits, and recommended ineffective alternatives like ivermectin. Can’t wait for Doktor Brainwürm to (possibly) lead the Health and Human Services!

MAGA tech bro Vivek Ramaswamy plans to run for governor of Ohio, the Washington Post reports. He’d replace Gov. Mike DeWine, a term-limited normie Republican who batted down false rumors spread by MAGAworld about Haitian migrants eating pets in the state. Can’t imagine Ramaswamy would do the same!

Chrystia Freeland, a Canadian former journalist turned top government official, will run to replace Justin Trudeau as the country’s prime minister. She was once dubbed a “nasty woman” by Donald Trump, which, of course, means she must be doing something right.

CNN sidelined host Jim Acosta in what looks like a move to appease Trump, media reporter Oliver Darcy writes. Acosta was asked to shift his extremely popular show to the midnight hour, which Darcy likened to moving to Siberia. News networks bending over backwards to make nice with an elected official is simply not making us feel good! “

The Washington Post introduced a new slogan: “Riveting Storytelling for All of America.” Its famous “Democracy Dies In Darkness” slogan, which was enacted after Trump won in 2016, will also remain. Of course, nothing says riveting storytelling like insisting to your audience that it’s totally “riveting.”

The White House office in charge of preventing and preparing for future pandemics will lose half of its 18-person staff as Trump takes office. It’s unclear if Trump, who eliminated a similar office in 2017, will keep the office running with adequate resources. My money is on “probably not,” so maybe stay away from birds for a little while.

Apple paused its AI-generated news alerts after some… technical difficulties, such as publishing an alert that falsely suggested Luigi Mangione, the health care CEO shooter, committed suicide. Another slam-dunk for AI!

A rocket launched by SpaceX, owned by centibillionaire conspiracist Elon Musk, broke up after liftoff and sent flaming debris around the Caribbean, according to the company. The incident is “barely a bump in the road,” Musk tweeted, as the company builds spacecraft to send people to Mars. Yes, a “bump” is also how I’d describe a multi-million-dollar explosion.

Crooked’s Jon Favreau spoke with Ben Wikler, chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, about his bid to be the next chair of the Democratic National Committee. Check it out.

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