WIND CHILLS

Donald Trump has declared war on Joe Biden’s climate legacy. But which attacks are serious… and which are “just vibes”? Climate correspondent Anya Zoledziowski digs in. 

• “I hate wind,” President Donald Trump famously declared at Mar-a-Lago, taking a dig at America’s top source of renewable energy. He brought that same vibe with him to the White House, immediately taking aim at President Joe Biden’s climate policies with a blitzkrieg of executive orders tackling green energy projects, electric vehicles, and, of course, his bête noir, the wind. Overall, Trump’s presidency represents a big challenge to global efforts to keep the planet from warming catastrophically.

• But when you look closer at what he actually did this week, a lot of it turns out to be hollow. The Trump administration quietly watered down one of its own most high-profile anti-green executive orders hours after it was signed. Others are about to walk into a buzzsaw of legal challenges. Some directives are “just vibes,” as Lukas Shankar-Ross, deputy director of the Climate and Energy Justice Program at Friends of the Earth, put it to What A Day.

• Take Trump’s new “National Energy Emergency,” which gives the government special powers to speed up permitting for fossil fuel projects and cut back environmental protections. First of all: There is no such emergency. The U.S. is pumping record levels of oil and gas. And oil companies don’t actually want to drill expensive holes in the ground only to risk driving down their own profits by flooding the market.

• Trump also took aim at wind power, which supplies about 10 percent of U.S. electricity. He called windmills “ugly,” warned that wind farms kill birds (note: rarely) and whales (note: they don’t, but climate change does) — and signed an executive order specifically suspending wind energy leasing and permitting on federal lands and waters this week. In this case, it’s clear that offshore wind projects will take a big hit. But on dry land, where roughly 99 percent of wind energy development is on private property, it’s far from clear how much impact Trump’s action will have.

• Then, there’s Trump’s fixation on electric vehicles. In an executive order titled, “Unleashing American Energy,” the president targets efforts to promote electric vehicles and the infrastructure — think: charging stations — that supports them. But here’s the thing: Trump can’t simply block funding that’s already been approved by Congress; It’s literally against the law!

• He’ll still do what he can to stop climate spending. In his executive orders, Trump includes attempts to pause the disbursement of funds from Biden’s signature climate change bill, the Inflation Reduction Act. But even beyond the legal questions, the vast majority of the spending in that plan is already out the door. And second, a day later, Trump’s own administration released a memo specifying that his order comes with significant loopholes. As a result, Reuters reported, “It is unclear whether the order puts much funding at risk.”

Even Trump’s decision to pull out of the Paris Climate Accord — again — may be “the best of a bunch of bad options,” as The Conversation put it.

• We already know that the next president can reverse the decision, just like Biden did last time, and in the meantime, state and local governments can still pursue climate policy. And, by giving up the U.S.’s seat at the international climate table, Trump basically axed his own influence over international climate action, The Conversation reports. So, other countries can forge ahead and leave his administration in the (hopefully not too polluted) dust.

• Is it all theater? No. To be clear, the president can do some serious damage — and the next four years will likely be tough on the planet. After all, these aren’t his last executive orders. The U.S. remains the world’s second largest emitter of greenhouse gases, following China, and Trump has reiterated his explicit desire to boost fossil fuels and stifle the green economy.

• But his team can’t just shred a budding industry. “The clean energy economy is here to stay,” Anne Kelly, vice president of government relations at Ceres, told What A Day. She pointed to the fact that recent federal investments in the green economy, amounting to more than $422 billion, have created more than 400,000 jobs – mostly in red states.

While this may all seem dire, some of Trump’s ideas may take months, if not years to implement. And others are likely “just vibes,” indeed.

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

COLD AS ICE

The Trump Administration has already begun deporting immigrants on flights out of the United States, as education, religious, and local officials brace for Donald Trump’s crackdown.

More than 500 “illegal immigrant criminals” were deported this week on military planes, according to Trump spokesperson Karoline Leavitt. A U.S. official said dozens of them were sent to Guatemala. As many as 14 million immigrants could be at risk of deportation, even some who are here legally.

Education officials across the country are trying to convince immigrant families that it’s safe to send their children to school. Immigration enforcement at schools is historically rare, but ICE agents were reportedly denied entry to a Chicago elementary school today. The Trump administration isn’t directing agents to avoid “sensitive” locations like schools, churches and hospitals.

“I am scared I will go to pick up my children, and they will be there taking parents from the schools,” an undocumented Guatemalan mother with two kids in Los Angeles told the Washington Post.

Religious leaders are brainstorming ways to resist Trump’s orders, since churches have long been a safe place for undocumented immigrants chased by immigration agents. “Theologically, we’ll stand our ground against the government — an unjust law is no law at all,” Rev. W.J. Mark Knutson, at Augustana Lutheran Church in Portland, Oregon, told the Associated Press. Catholic bishops in major cities like Chicago’s Cardinal Blase Cupich have made similar statements.

Local officials who try to defy Trump’s orders will be taking huge risks. In a memo this week, Emil Bove, Trump’s acting deputy attorney general, told the Department of Justice that anyone who doesn’t comply with orders should be investigated and face “potential prosecution.”

It’s hard to find a silver lining in much of the bullshit going down this week. But here’s one: Online communities have amassed incredibly helpful resources for people potentially facing deportation. This article lists many of those initiatives, including downloadable cards with peoples’ constitutionally-protected rights printed on them.

As this administration begins to crack down on vulnerable communities, it’s important to remember that we always have the power to look out for our neighbors.

NEWS NEWS NEWS

Donald Trump floated the idea of getting rid of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) — you know, the agency that provides disaster relief aid throughout the entire country — on his tour of North Carolina and California today. Disaster relief could be left to the states, he said, which could hurt the poorest states, meaning in many cases that red states would be hit the hardest.

Trump walked back his tariff threats against China, saying, “I’d rather not have to use [them], but it’s a tremendous power over China.” This week, Trump previously said he might put 10 percent tariffs on China. On the trail, he threatened tariffs upward of 60 percent. Always good to remember that this guy just sort of shoots from the hip and doesn’t believe anything he says!

Defense Secretary-elect Pete Hegseth paid $50,000 to the woman who accused him of sexually assaulting her in 2017, according to a written response he provided to Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) during his confirmation process. Hegseth has denied any wrongdoing, which would raise some questions about the need for that settlement, wouldn’t it, Pete?

Trump’s staff is reportedly “furious” that Musk trashed the president’s $500 billion AI initiative announced this week. “The problem is the president doesn’t have any leverage over him and Elon gives zero fucks,” a Trump ally told Politico. The bromance breakup may be beginning…

Musk’s cost-cutting DOGE commission wants to eliminate the penny because it costs three cents to make. It’s an argument that’s also been taken up by  the New York Times Magazine… as well as, two decades ago, the show “West Wing.” Congratulations to Elon for stealing a good idea and passing it off as his own! Is that how business genius works?

A Democratic state lawmaker in Mississippi introduced the “Contraception Begins at Erection Act,” which would make it illegal to “discharge genetic material without the intent to fertilize an embryo.” The bill is symbolic, highlighting how countless reproductive rights bills are focused on women’s bodies, but not the other half of the population. It’s also hilarious: Violators would get fined $1,000 for the first offense, $5,000 for the second, and $10,000 for all others.

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