CLIMATE CLOWNS

The tech broligarchy is going soft on climate change in Trump’s second term. Crooked climate reporter Anya Zoledziowski breaks down what’s going on, and why it matters. 

• Elon Musk was livid the first time that President Donald Trump pulled out of the Paris climate treaty, quitting two Trump business advisory councils in protest. “Climate change is real,” he tweeted back in 2017. “Leaving Paris is not good for America or the world.” Ah, the good ol’ days! Fast forward to this election cycle, and Musk dumped millions into getting Trump elected, and said: “I don’t think we should vilify the oil and gas industry.” Huh!

• Musk is hardly alone. Other tech titans have made a similar switch. “Withdrawing from the Paris climate agreement is bad for the environment, bad for the economy, and it puts our children’s future at risk,” Mark Zuckerberg wrote eight years ago. Apple’s Tim Cook, Microsoft’s Satya Nadella, and Alphabet Inc.’s Sundar Pichai also spoke out against Trump’s decision. They touted ambitious climate pledges. Companies like Meta, Amazon, and Google have pledged to hit carbon neutrality by 2030, while Microsoft took it a step further and committed to being carbon negative by then. For a long time it also seemed like climate progress was Tesla’s raison d’etre.

• This year? Crickets. Not a chirp about Trump’s anti-climate moves, like pulling out of the Paris agreement yet again. Instead, we get Musk tossing up Nazi salutes “giving his heart to you” (???) and saying the danger of climate change is “overblown” (note: maybe if you’re rich, buddy). Meanwhile, Zuck is posting deceptively earnest selfies — “Optimistic and celebrating”— presumably about Trump’s inauguration. And Jeff Bezos is reportedly cutting ties with the Science Based Targets initiative, a global climate group that encourages corporations to set scientifically credible carbon targets. To put it bluntly: what the fuck changed?

• Bill Weihl, former director of sustainability at Facebook and founder of nonprofit ClimateVoice, told What A Day that “they probably see a lot of benefit in appeasing and supporting Trump now, and little risk.

Trump’s billionaire posse probably thinks they have a lot to gain by backing him, according to those who closely watch their moves.

• Artificial intelligence is part of the story. AI and related infrastructure are notoriously tough on the environment: AI data centers guzzle water, require rare elements and critical minerals, and use tons of electricity, ultimately leading to greenhouse gas emissions. Google and Microsoft have already acknowledged that AI is challenging their ability to meet their 2030 climate targets. Still, tech giants are investing in AI. “While they are looking to expand AI investments, they should be advocating for clean energy as a top source,” Weihl said.

• It’s not just AI. “They also don’t want to encounter regulatory resistance to other parts of their business models whether it’s search, advertising, or social media,” Alex Hanna,  director of research at the Distributed AI Research Institute, told What A Day. “The Trump White House has very much said it’ll be hands off on many issues.”

• By playing nice with Trump, Big Tech also appears to be trying to avoid his “ire.” As AP reported, most experts expect Trump to loosen the grip on antitrust enforcement — but Trump is known for being erratic and impulsive. (In fact, he previously spearheaded antitrust enforcement!) Backing him “is very much about fealty and who can effectively avoid his ire and the ire of his apparatus,” Hanna said. In other words, they’re playing nice with Trump, watching out for their companies’ bottom lines — and they’re willing to put the climate up as a bargaining chip, no matter what they really believe.

Big Tech’s biggest players are playing it safe for themselves in the short-term, and putting profit and personal gains over climate action.

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

Got a tip about Trump’s actions on the environment? Do you work in the EPA and want to share some emails? I’ll keep you anonymous! Reach out to Anya at anya@crooked.com or securely on Signal at +1-780-668-4528!

WHO LET THE DOGE OUT!

It looks like Elon Musk’s so-called “Department of Government Efficiency” has realized that you can’t just fire everyone who works for the federal government. Someone’s got to keep the lights on… and the plumbing working, and the elevators running.

In emails first obtained by What A Day, the Department of Veterans Affairs exempted dozens of positions from DOGE’s deferred resignation offer. More than 400,000 people work at the agency, about 17 percent of all federal employees.

Many of the jobs listed are crucial to the day-to-day operations of the VA: Medical staff, pharmacists and judges. There’s also laborers, including gardeners, plumbers, food service workers, and elevator operators. It would be difficult to provide services to veterans and their families if these people had resigned en masse.

If people have already attempted to resign, their emails simply won’t be processed, employees told me. The VA didn’t immediately respond to What A Day’s request for comment.

This appears to be the first time DOGE has backed down in its hell-for-leather attempt to cut costs across the government. As Musk’s college-aged buddies infiltrate agencies (seemingly illegally), they may have to be more careful about identifying which employees that the system can’t function without.

Resistance to DOGE is growing. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau union trolled three DOGE “minions” who were seen in the agency’s internal servers last night. The whole post is hilarious (note: making fun of Elon Musk’s video game scandal) but the best part: “Members welcome our newest colleagues and look forward to the smell of Axe Body Spray in our elevators.” You should really read the whole thing, it’s awesome.

A couple more things: Vice President JD Vance defended a DOGE staffer who was fired after social media posts he made about racism and eugenics resurfaced. “I say bring him back. If he’s a bad dude or a terrible member of the team, fire him for that,” Vance tweeted. Idk, racism and eugenics are where I personally draw the line! Welp, Musk later said he’s gonna rehire him.

DOGE staffers are also apparently bad employees. Another of Musk’s cronies — who is 19 years old!!! — was fired from an internship for leaking company secrets. Yeah, this is the guy I want in charge of gutting the Social Security Administration!

NEWS NEWS NEWS

The Education Department just sent out a memo doubling down on its anti-transgender agenda. “The deliberate subjugation of women and girls by means of gender ideology … negates the civil rights of biological females,” reads the memo, obtained by What A Day. Screaming this from the rooftops: That is TOTAL BULLSHIT!!!

Donald Trump seems irked that President Elon Musk was on the cover of Time Magazine today, pictured behind a Resolute Desk. “Is Time magazine still in business? I didn’t even know that,” Trump told reporters. Yes it is, unlike your casinos! !

A clip of Secretary of State Marco Rubio bashing Trump during a 2016 presidential debate is recirculating, given Trump’s recent proposal for the U.S. to develop Gaza: “The Palestinians are not a real estate deal, Donald,” Rubio quipped. That was, of course, a time when Republicans were still comfortable telling Trump “No,” and we simply don’t live in that world anymore!

A federal judge temporarily blocked Trump’s attempt to dismantle USAID’s workforce, pausing the administrative leave of 2,200 employees. 

DOGE’s plan to shrink USAID will threaten billions of dollars in sales of food and other products that American farmers provide to the agency. Once again we must inquire about the price of eggs. How’s that coming?

The Trump administration shuttered a taskforce that targets Russian oligarchs by seizing billions of dollars worth of assets, an initiative started after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Trump? Doing a solid for Russian oligarchs and people close to Putin? Well now we’ve heard it all.

The Trump administration is trying to suspend a $5 billion program to build electric vehicle charging stations across the country. Nobody tell Elon!!!

Trump said he plans to sign an executive order banning paper straws and move the country “BACK TO PLASTIC!” A bad paper straw is incredibly annoying, I’ll admit that, as someone who happily spends $7 on iced lattes pretty frequently. But plastic straws actually are so much worse for the environment. Plus, we don’t have to choose between paper and plastic! There are straws made out of sugarcane, potato starch, and other plant-based biodegradable materials that won’t dissolve in your iced coffee. We went to the MOON — I think we can figure this out!

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gifted Trump a “golden beeper” mounted to a piece of wood. “Our greatest friend and ally,” the gold-plated inscription reads. Weird — and kind of psychotic!

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