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Energy & Environment — What can the EPA still do on power plants?

Today we’re looking at some of the tools the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) still has left at its disposal after last week’s Supreme Court ruling and at a separate court move to restore endangered species protections. 

This is Overnight Energy & Environment, your source for the latest news focused on energy, the environment and beyond. For The Hill, we’re Rachel Frazin and Zack Budryk. Someone forward you this newsletter? Subscribe here.

EPA still has climate tools despite SCOTUS ruling

A Thursday ruling by the Supreme Court significantly curtailed the EPA’s power to restrict emissions from power plants under a 2015 rule, but the agency still retains other tools to curb emissions. 

• In the 6-3 ruling in West Virginia v. EPA, the court’s conservative majority found that the EPA lacked the authority to enforce an Obama-era power plant rule without specific congressional approval.   
• Although the ruling disallows that specific approach without lawmakers signing off, the agency still has its broader authority to regulate power plant outputs to cut emissions under the Clean Air Act. 
• The problem, from the point of view of those who want the EPA to cut emissions, is that in most cases the alternative regulatory methods are less efficient and more expensive in a political and regulatory environment where every second counts.  

In the wake of the ruling, the EPA has many of the same arrows in its quiver as before to address pollutants from power plants, but “the tools the EPA has are probably inadequate,” said Cardozo School of Law professor Michael Herz.  

Like what? One alternative to generation-shifting, the approach disallowed by the Supreme Court, is co-firing, or the combustion of two kinds of fuel at the same time, which can create a more environmentally friendly product at an existing plant.   

“Depending on the level of co-firing that you assume, you could still get quite significant emissions reductions through that approach,” Lienke said. 

He cited 2021 modeling by Resources for the Future, which indicates the co-firing approach could be an effective means of emissions reduction, but “almost certainly not as cost-effective as generation shift,” he added.  

• Another possible approach is carbon capture and sequestration, through which carbon emissions are stored and contained before they can enter the atmosphere.  
• However, the safest way to shore up EPA authority would be “legislation, appropriate, adequate, serious legislation,” Herz told The Hill. 

Read more here.

THIS RULING COULD ALSO IMPACT THE INTERNET

The Supreme Court’s ruling to curb the power of the EPA could hurt Democrats’ long-fought battle to reinstate Obama-era net neutrality rules.  

If the same principle is applied from the majority opinion in Thursday’s case, arguing that Congress must grant clear authorization for certain regulations, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) may not be able to restore rules banning service providers from blocking or throttling websites. 

• “There is a large shift of power from the agencies to the courts,” said Blair Levin, a policy adviser to New Street Research who served as chief of staff to former FCC Chair Reed Hundt. 
• Levin and other experts say the decision was written in a way that opens the door for rulemaking decisions at the FCC and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to potentially be overturned in court.  

A recap: At the heart of the issue is the conservative majority basing its 6-3 decision on a legal philosophy called the “major questions doctrine.” The principle means proposed rules can be challenged on the basis that the rule is a “major question” that only Congress should be able to address. 

“There’s no way to sugarcoat it and say that this is good news for the [Federal Trade Commission] or the FCC. Or any kind of regulatory action,” said Matt Wood, vice president of policy and general counsel at Free Press. 

Read more from The Hill’s Rebecca Klar.

Judge restores endangered species protections

A federal court on Tuesday reinstated endangered species protections that were loosened under the Trump administration.  

Judge Jon Tigar, an Obama appointee, vacated the rules in question.  

So what did these rules do? Under the Trump rules the Fish and Wildlife Service no longer provided the same protections to species that are considered threatened  — those that are likely to become endangered — as they do for species that are endangered. 

• The rules also would have allowed for the consideration of economic impacts in deciding whether to protect a species. Conservationists additionally raised concerns that the rules could limit the consideration of climate change.  
• The Trump administration’s changes faced significant resistance from environmentalists, who brought the lawsuit.  

“The whole point of the Endangered Species Act is to give protections to species that are on the brink of extinction,” Kristen Boyles, an attorney at Earthjustice, told The Hill. 

“The Trump rules that have today been repealed did nothing to help species and in fact did affirmative harm to how species are protected in this country,” Boyles added. “By the court ruling today, we go back to the regulatory interpretation that had been in place for over 40 years.” 

The Trump administration said at the time it finalized the changes that it was “easing the regulatory burden on the American public.” 

The legal weeds: Last year, the Biden administration had asked the court to order a second look at the Trump rules, but did not ask the court to nix the changed rules in the meantime.  

• It said that getting rid of the Trump rules while it reassesses them “would cause confusion … by abruptly altering the applicable regulatory framework and creating uncertainty about which standards to apply.”  

Nevertheless, in the case, Tigar argued that since the Biden administration has indicated that it would reevaluate the regulations, it “seems doubtful” that getting rid of them entirely would add to the confusion. 

Read more about the ruling here.

BIDEN AND BEZOS SPAR OVER GAS PRICES

The White House and Amazon founded Jeff Bezos sparred on Twitter over gas prices this weekend.  

President Biden, in a common refrain, called on industry to “bring down the price you are charging at the pump.” 

In response, Bezos tweeted: “Inflation is far too important a problem for the White House to keep making statements like this,” adding that it could reflect “a deep misunderstanding of basic market dynamics.” 

Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre responded, writing: “It’s not surprising that you think oil and gas companies using market power to reap record profits at the expense of the American people is the way our economy is supposed to work.”

WHAT WE’RE READING

• California oil inspectors balk at quotas, say in-person reviews neglected (The Desert Sun) 
• Russia is set to switch off the gas for work on a key pipeline — and Germany fears the worst (CNBC) 
• Shippers Still Willing to Touch Russian Crude Oil Are Cashing In (Bloomberg) 
• As Lake Mead’s water recedes, theories emerge about identity of human remains found in barrel — and possible mob links (CBS) 
• Methane much more sensitive to global heating than previously thought – study (The Guardian)

ICYMI

• Kemp extends pause on Georgia state gas tax through August 
• Ahead of July 4th, Democrats frustrated with Biden’s gas-tax holiday push

And finally, something offbeat and off-beat: Good things come in threes.

That’s it for today, thanks for reading. Check out The Hill’s Energy & Environment page for the latest news and coverage. We’ll see you tomorrow.

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On The Money — Capitol Hill braces for Big Tech showdown

Advocates for some of the biggest technology companies are scrambling to stop key legislation from moving before it’s too late. We’ll also look at growth in green jobs and deeper concerns among Americans about how Washington, D.C., is affecting the economy. 

But first, check your ice cream for listeria. 

Welcome to On The Money, your nightly guide to everything affecting your bills, bank account and bottom line. For The Hill, we’re Sylvan Lane, Aris Folley and Karl Evers-Hillstrom. Someone forward you this newsletter? Subscribe here.

Battle over Big Tech bills goes down to the wire 

Lobbying both for and against legislation to crack down on U.S. tech giants is intensifying as the Senate enters a critical month for the antitrust bills.  

All eyes are on Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), who will need to decide whether to prioritize measures to regulate Google, Apple, Amazon and Meta over other key bills prior to the August recess. 

In an effort to run out the clock, Big Tech allies are warning Senate Democrats that their voters expect progress on other pressing issues entering November’s elections. Smaller companies that support the bills are making the case that regulating Big Tech is a winning midterm issue. 

• Bipartisan bills that would bar the big four tech firms from giving preferential treatment to their own offerings and prevent Apple and Google from favoring their own apps in stores advanced out of the Senate Judiciary Committee in March but stalled from there. 
• Big Tech is warning lawmakers that the legislation would undercut privacy and limit popular features like Amazon Prime, while supporters say it would boost competition and improve the cost and quality of services available to consumers.  
• Much of the focus in the home stretch has been on Schumer, given his ultimate say in bringing the bills to a floor vote. 

The background: July might be the last month for senators to consider the tech bills before they leave town in August. They likely wouldn’t make much progress on major legislation after the break, when lawmakers typically shift their attention to the November election. 

Karl and Chris Mills Rodrigo have more here. 

SAY IT AIN’T SO, JOE 

Most in new poll say federal government’s actions hurting them financially 

The majority of Americans say the actions of the federal government are hurting their family when it comes to their top financial concern, according to a new poll.  

The Monmouth University poll found that 57 percent of respondents held this view, compared to between 34 percent and 47 percent in prior polls. Only 8 percent said that politicians in Washington have helped them.  

• The poll showed that few people are optimistic about the future, as just 23 percent expect government actions to help improve their top current concern, while 45 percent say that those in Washington will take action that hurts them.  
• These results are almost a complete reversal from the responses one year ago.  

SEEING GREEN 

Renewable energy sector saw job growth in 2021: report 

Despite a recent setback for regulators working to curb greenhouse gas emissions, a new report from the Department of Energy (DOE) found that in 2021, green energy jobs were on the rise.  

The U.S. aims to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, meaning the country will prevent or take out the same amount of pollution from the atmosphere that it produces. 

• Following the economic shifts resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, 2021 saw a 4 percent growth in overall energy jobs, outpacing that of the entire economy, which grew at 2.8 percent.  
• Of the 7.8 million energy sector jobs in the U.S. in 2021, more than 3 million were in net-zero emissions-aligned areas, according to the report, accounting for 41 percent of the total. These areas include jobs related to renewable energy, grid technologies and storage, nuclear energy and biofuels, among others.  

The Hill’s Gianna Melillo has more on this here. 

‘ECON 101’ 

Oil industry group goes after Biden over high gas prices tweet  

An oil industry group blasted a tweet from President Biden’s account over the weekend that called on “companies running gas stations” to lower their prices, saying the “intern” who penned the post should enroll in “Econ 101.” 

The retort from the U.S. Oil and Gas Association, which has picked up 19,000 retweets and more than 90,000 likes, comes as the White House says it’s laser-focused on lowering prices at the pump. The president has backed a suspension of the federal gas tax and is considering opening up additional domestic drilling, though neither is expected to lower prices in the short term.  

• In his Saturday tweet, Biden took aim directly at the companies selling gas, saying: “My message to the companies running gas stations and setting prices at the pump is simple: this is a time of war and global peril.” 
• Biden’s call was met with significant pushback, with detractors arguing the tweet displayed a basic ignorance of market realities. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos also knocked Biden over the tweet, writing, “Inflation is far too important a problem for the White House to keep making statements like this. It’s either straight ahead misdirection or a deep misunderstanding of basic market dynamics.” 

Read more here from The Hill’s Stephen Neukam. 

Good to Know

Twitter filed a lawsuit against the Indian government on Tuesday, pushing back against orders to censor content on its platform. 

The lawsuit, filed in the Karnataka High Court against the Union Government of India, listed Twitter Inc. as the petitioner. 

Here’s what else we have our eye on: 

• Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) extended the state’s pause on its gas tax through mid-August as the nation continues to grapple with high inflation, seeing prices for gas and other goods soar over recent months. 
• AP: “The 30 NATO allies signed off on the accession protocols for Sweden and Finland on Tuesday, sending the membership bids of the two nations to the alliance capitals for legislative approvals — and possible political trouble in Turkey.” 

That’s it for today. Thanks for reading and check out The Hill’s Finance page for the latest news and coverage. We’ll see you tomorrow. 

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Equilibrium & Sustainability — Extreme cyclists face the changing climate

Cyclists on one of the country’s longest and most grueling races are having to adapt to conditions made newly dangerous by extreme weather, The New York Times reported. 

Riders on this year’s nearly 2,700-mile Tour Divide bikepacking race faced harmful smoke from wildfires, floodwaters from torrential rainstorms and drought that dried up much-needed water sources, contestants told the Times. 

“I feel like anything can happen,” winning cyclist Sofiane Sehili said. “So yes, definitely climate change. You can see it on this race.” 

Eleven cyclists — airlifted out of the mountains of British Columbia following an unseasonal snowstorm — were treated for hypothermia after trying to push their bikes through the snow, the Times reported. 

“We’re happy that nobody died,” a local head of search and rescue told the Times.

Welcome to Equilibrium, a newsletter that tracks the growing global battle over the future of sustainability. Send tips and feedback: Saul Elbein. A friend forward this newsletter to you? Subscribe here.

Today we’ll look at why an avalanche in Italy shows the newly treacherous world of mountain glaciers, as well as how scientists could use undersea internet cables to head off collisions between whales and Arctic-bound cargo ships.

Glacier collapse highlights climate threat

Helicopters, drones and canine units are traversing the Italian Alps, looking for 19 climbers still missing after a glacier collapsed amid an early-summer heat wave. 

The mountains wake: On Sunday the glacier at the peak of Marmlada collapsed in an avalanche as the multinational climbing team attempted to summit it, Reuters reported.

• At 10,000 feet, the peak is the highest in the Dolomite range of the Italian Alps, Reuters reported. 
• Glaciers in such mountains are becoming increasingly unstable in the age of rising temperatures — countering expectations that they would peacefully retreat amid the heat, Reuters reported. 

The collapse followed sizzling record temperatures across much of Europe — including 104-degree temperatures across much of Italy, the Post reported.

• At least seven are dead in the disaster that comes as a sobering warning to the world of high-altitude sports about the higher risk of avalanches, Reuters reported. 
• It is also a reminder of how climate change is destabilizing icy mountain landscapes and the communities — and watersheds — that depend on them, The Washington Post noted.

FOUR BIG PICTURE TAKEAWAYS

The Marmolada collapse sits as the confluence of large and unsettling climatic trends affecting mountain landscapes, global tourism and the prevalence of regional heat waves. 

Glaciers are getting harder to predict: “Nobody could have expected a glacier like the Marmolada to react like this. It is a kind of climatic fossil,” Italian glaciologist Giovanni Bacollo, of Milan-Bicocca University told Reuters.  

“Glaciers like the Marmolada are considered ‘placid’, they are expected to just retreat,” Bacollo added. 

Warning for the US: Italian glaciologist Bacollo told Reuters that a lack of winter snow and hot summer means that 2022 “risks being the perfect storm for glaciers.”  

The current heat wave comes as most of the western United States have experienced drops in snowfall over the past half century, according to the EPA. 

Heat awaits American tourists: While no Americans were on the expedition, the collapse happened at the front end of a tourist season in which Europe is cheaper for Americans than anytime in 20 years, CNN reported.  

While relatively few will attempt to hike glaciers, visitors to Rome, for example, would have experienced 105-degree temperatures over the weekend, according to the Post. 

Europe is getting hotter: Changes in the atmospheric currents known as jet streams has driven Europe to warm three to four times faster than other northern regions, according to a study published on Tuesday in Nature Communications.

Undersea ‘satellites’ track whales in warming Arctic

Researchers have figured out how to track the movements of whales using the global network of undersea fiber optic cables, a new study has found. 

This could provide an invaluable windows into an Arctic undergoing a rapid and disruptive transformation owing to climate change, according to the study published on Tuesday in Frontiers in Marine Science. 

• “The Arctic is changing very fast. And both animal and human use of the area is changing as fast as the ice melts,” Léa Bouffaut of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) said in a statement. 
• The network would allow scientists to track whether whales are changing their use of a region that rising temperatures are opening up to ever more traffic, Bouffat said. 

“This system could become like satellites in the ocean,” she added. 

How it works: The scientists tracked whales in the north of Norway by eavesdropping as the vibrations from their songs caused waves in the cables, according to the study published on Tuesday in Frontiers in Marine Science. 

• “If anything is moving close to or making an acoustic noise close to that fibre, which is buried in the seabed, we can measure that,” Martin Landrø of NTNU said in a statement. 
• “So what we saw was a lot of ship traffic, of course, a lot of earthquakes, and we could also detect distant storms. And last but not least, whales,” Landrø added. 

Reducing accidents: The scientists envisioned their system being used to enable a kind of marine traffic control. 

• “We could potentially reduce the risk of ship strikes with whales. That would be a very big deal,” Hannah Joy Kriesell of NTNU added.  
• “If we have a means to inform ships about the location of whales in real time, we could stop or at least reduce the risk for ship strikes,” Kriesell added.

Canceled flights shake consumer confidence

Thousands of flights were canceled across the U.S. over the weekend amid a perfect storm of technical glitches, bad weather and what some say is bad planning by airline companies — a wave of continued disruptions that is contributing to declining confidence in air travel among passengers. 
 

Cancellations taking off: Airlines canceled about 2,200 flights between Thursday and Monday evening amid the busiest travel weekend since the dawn of the coronavirus pandemic, The Associated Press reported. 

That is in addition to 25,000 delayed flights, according to the AP. 

The wave of flight disruption is “not just in North America, it’s everywhere,” U.K.-based analyst John Grant told the AP. 

Cancellations are up 59 percent over the equivalent weekend in 2019, the AP reported. 

Thunderstorms and staff shortages: A wave of thunderstorms in key Eastern hub airports broke against long-running understaffing by the airline industry, The Wall Street Journal reported.  

• “This industry has just stretched itself to the brink,” airline industry consultant Henry Harteveldt told the Journal. 
• “They’re all eager to sell every seat on every flight to generate as much revenue, and hopefully earn a profit this quarter and make up for the massive financial losses they suffered in the past two years,” Harteveldt added.

Harteveldt told Newsweek that the months of heightened delays and cancellations represented “self inflicted wounds.” 

Collapsing confidence: Three-quarters of passengers “regretted” flying this summer in a survey of U.S. travelers cited in Newsweek — which also reported that passengers filed three times more complaints to the U.S. Department of Transportation this April as compared to April 2019.

Inexpensive ways to prevent record deforestation

The first half of 2022 brought record deforestation to the Brazilian Amazon, a landscape that is a keystone of the global atmospheric and climate system. 

The 1,448 square miles lost between January and June represented the largest losses since 2007, per the country’s Space Research Institute. 

• Loss of the forest — which covers much of the South American continent — would mean big decreases in the rainfall that irrigates major growing regions in the US, according to a 2014 study in Nature Climate Change. 
• Its staggering biodiversity — full of plants and subterranean microbes and fungi that build their bodies out of carbon from the atmosphere — make the landscape a vital global “sink,” or repository, of carbon dioxide that would otherwise warm the planet. 

But protecting the landscape could be far cheaper on a per-acre basis than comparable initiatives in the U.S. or European Union. 

Impending threat: Scientists warn that the ecosystem is heading towards a period of runaway collapse as thick forests burn off and give way to savannah, Mongabay reported. 

The 51 percent of the region currently under official protection is not enough to keep that from happening, according to Mongabay. 

Fixes are comparatively cheap: But protecting sufficient amounts of the landscape would cost between $1.7 and $2.8 billion per year, a May study in Perspectives in Ecology and Conservation found. 

 
That would pay to conserve about 80 percent of the Amazon, or 533 million acres, Mongabay reported. 

Putting in perspective: That’s less than either the European Union or U.S. spends on protecting their (comparatively smaller) natural reserves. 

• The EU spends about $5.3 billion a year to protect 2.5 million acres, Mongabay reported — a total of $2,120 per acre. 
• The U.S. National Park Service requested $3.5 billion to protect its 85 million acres for 2022, according to the Department of the Interior — a total of $42 per acre.

Protecting enough land to safeguard the Amazon, by contrast, would cost about $5 per acre, the study found.

Monday Miscellanies

World edition: Finland stores renewable energy in a sand battery, a major German city prepares to ration hot water and the U.K. hits back against the “deception” of greenwashing. 

Storing power in sand 

• A “sand battery” will help warm homes in Finland’s cold winter — a green innovation that helps blunt the effects of a Russian energy blockade now that the northern European country has decided to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the BBC reported. Excess energy from windmills is used to warm the sand to just under 1000 Fahrenheit, creating reserves of stored heat that can be tapped for months, developers told the BBC.  

Hamburg faces prospect of hot water shortages

• Germany’s second-largest city could soon be forced to restrict hot water usage to certain times of day in the face of gas shortages, Germany’s Welt am Sonntagreported. Hamburg — the largest non-capital city in Europe — is “in a much worse crisis than most people realize,” a local senator told the paper Hamburger Abendblatt.  

Hiding climate risk behind marketing 

• False statements from businesses about how they’re combating climate change is sowing risk throughout the financial system — and complicating efforts to prepare for onrushing threats, a leading U.K. financial regulator said Monday, according to the Guardian. Investors who believe they are taking adequate action “won’t realize this deception until it is too late,” Emma Howard Boyd of the Environment Agency said.

Please visit The Hill’s Sustainability section online for the web version of this newsletter and more stories. We’ll see you tomorrow.

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Hillicon Valley — Lobbyists dig in on Big Tech bills

Groups on both sides of the tech antitrust debate are narrowing their focus and campaigns in anticipation of the Senate bringing key legislation to the floor this month. 

Meanwhile, unidentified hackers have allegedly stolen personal data of 1 billion Chinese citizens from a Shanghai police database, The Associated Press reported on Tuesday. 

This is Hillicon Valley, detailing all you need to know about tech and cyber news from Capitol Hill to Silicon Valley. Send tips to The Hill’s Rebecca Klar, Chris Mills Rodrigo and Ines Kagubare. Someone forward you this newsletter? Subscribe here.

Tech antitrust fight heats up

Lobbying both for and against legislation to crack down on U.S. tech giants is intensifying as the Senate enters a critical month for the antitrust bills.  

All eyes are on Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), who will need to decide whether to prioritize measures to regulate Google, Apple, Amazon and Meta over other key bills prior to the August recess. 

Much of the lobbying in recent weeks has centered around the Senate’s limited floor time before lawmakers leave town next month. Congress isn’t expected to make much progress on major legislation after returning from its break, when lawmakers typically shift their attention to the November election. 

In an effort to run out the clock, the big four tech firms and their Washington allies are warning Senate Democrats that their voters expect progress on other pressing issues entering November’s elections. 

Read more here.

Hackers stole 1 billion personal records

Unidentified hackers have allegedly stolen personal data of 1 billion Chinese citizens from a Shanghai police database, The Associated Press reported.  

The alleged hackers offered to sell nearly 24 terabytes of data on an online hacking forum for 10 Bitcoin, worth about $200,000. 

The data allegedly includes information from the Shanghai National Police database including names, addresses, national identification numbers and mobile phone numbers. 

Experts told the AP that, if confirmed, the hack could be one of the largest data breaches in history. 

Read more here.

TWITTER SUES INDIAN GOV

Twitter filed a lawsuit against the Indian government on Tuesday, pushing back against orders to censor content on its platform. 

The lawsuit, filed in the Karnataka High Court against the Union Government of India, listed Twitter Inc. as the petitioner. 

The news was first reported by Reuters, which cited a source familiar with the matter and added that the social media giant’s legal challenge alleges abuse of power by officials. 

India’s Information and Technology Ministry had asked the social media platform to take down multiple accounts and tweets that were noncompliant with its new laws, which allow the government to block access to content in the interest of national security. 

Read more here.

MORE TROUBLE AHEAD FOR NET NEUTRALITY

The Supreme Court’s ruling to curb the power of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) could hurt Democrats’ long-fought battle to reinstate Obama-era net neutrality rules.  

If the same principle is applied from the majority opinion in Thursday’s case, arguing that Congress must grant clear authorization for certain regulations, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) may not be able to restore rules banning service providers from blocking or throttling websites. 

• “There is a large shift of power from the agencies to the courts,” said Blair Levin, a policy adviser to New Street Research who served as chief of staff to former FCC Chair Reed Hundt.
• Levin and other experts say the decision was written in a way that opens the door for rulemaking decisions at the FCC and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to potentially be overturned in court. 

Read more here.

US FACES CYBER SHORTAGE AMID GROWING THREATS

The federal government and private sector are facing increasing pressure to fill key cyber roles as high-profile attacks and international threats rattle various U.S. sectors. 

Workforce shortages have been a long-running issue in cyber, but they have taken on renewed importance amid rising Russian threats stemming from the war in Ukraine. 

“It’s an issue that the government faces as well as the private sector, state and local communities,” Iranga Kahangama, a cyber official at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), said at a House hearing this week. 

Kahangama said the shortage has been a top priority for his agency, which conducted a 60-day hiring sprint last summer to hire cybersecurity professionals. Out of 500 job offers DHS sent out, the department was able to hire nearly 300 new cyber workers. 

Read more here.

BITS & PIECES

An op-ed to chew on: Wonder Women: Jan. 6 hearings highlighting strong women with courage and integrity 

Notable links from around the web: 

Meta Was Restricting Abortion Content All Along (Wired / Vittoria Elliott) 

Leaked Videos Show Disney Is the Biggest Ad Tech Giant You’ve Never Heard Of (Motherboard / Joseph Cox) 

Cybersecurity experts question Microsoft’s Ukraine report (CyberScoop / Suzanne Smalley) 

Lighter click: Cat 🙂

One more thing: Swipe right

At a hip basement bar in Washington’s Shaw neighborhood on a recent Thursday night, singles from conservative nonprofits, GOP Capitol Hill offices and right-leaning media groups sipped craft cocktails from an open bar under the glow of neon lights, part of an effort to build buzz and a user base for a new dating app created by former Trump White House staffers and backed by tech billionaire Peter Thiel. 

There is a long list of failed or now-defunct dating apps aimed at conservatives that have popped up in recent years, including Righter, Donald Dater, TrumpSingles, Patrio and Conservatives Only. 

Co-founders John McEntee, who was a personal aide to former President Trump and then director of the White House presidential personnel office, and Daniel Huff, a Trump appointee in the Department of Housing and Urban Development and also a former White House adviser, say The Right Stuff will be different.  

“What we’re doing has really not been done before. No one has built a high quality, properly funded app with a dedicated team,” Huff said in an interview. 

Read more here.

That’s it for today, thanks for reading. Check out The Hill’s Technology and Cybersecurity pages for the latest news and coverage. We’ll see you tomorrow.

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Defense & National Security — Republicans scoff as Democrats try to close Gitmo

Republicans are scoffing at Democrats’ latest attempt to close the detention facility in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.  

We’ll dive into that push. Plus, we’ll talk about the veterans who received the Medal of Honor for their service during the Vietnam War. 

This is Defense & National Security, your nightly guide to the latest developments at the Pentagon, on Capitol Hill and beyond. For The Hill, I’m Jordan Williams. A friend forward this newsletter to you? Subscribe here.

Republicans write off Dems’ push to close Gitmo

Democrats are reviving their efforts to shutter the Guantánamo Bay detention facility, but the push faces an uphill battle in the Senate, where Republicans are already writing it off as doomed. 

• In the past month, House Democrats have advanced legislation seeking to close the facility in Cuba as part of a larger annual defense spending bill leaders are expected to bring to a vote in the full chamber, where the party holds narrow control, in the coming weeks.
• But in the Senate, where Democrats will need GOP support to pass the defense funding bill, the move faces a wall of opposition from Republicans. 

Where things stand at Gitmo: There are three dozen detainees being held in Guantánamo Bay, a National Security Council (NSC) spokesperson told The Hill.  

Of those, 19 are eligible for transfer, five are eligible for a periodic review board, nine are involved in the military commissions process and three have been convicted in military commissions.  

The Biden administration transferred its first detainee from Guantánamo in July 2021, moving Abdul Latif Nasir to Morocco. Since then, the administration has transferred two more: Mohammad Mani Ahmad al-Qahtani to Saudi Arabia on March 7 and Sufiyan Barhoumi to Algeria on April 2. 

Most recently, the Department of Defense announced on June 24 that it transferred Asadullah Haroon al-Afghani, also known as “Gul,” from Guantánamo to his home country of Afghanistan. 

‘An absolutely vital institution:’ “I’m sure it’s not going to happen,” Sen. James Inhofe (Okla.), the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, told The Hill of closing the facility, adding, “no rational person’s going to support that. It’s an absolutely vital institution.” 

• Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.), ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee, also cast doubt on the effort, pointing to Democrats’ thin margins in both chambers.
• “They have such slim majorities right now. It’s difficult for them to do anything … So, getting something that controversial done is just, as a practical matter, not going to happen,” Rogers said. 

Mixed signals: The $761 billion defense funding bill advanced recently by the House Appropriations Committee explicitly prohibits funds from being used to operate the facility after Sept. 30, 2023. But, at a mark-up session on the bill last month, two Democrats joined Republicans in voting in favor of an amendment offered by Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.) to revoke that provision, ultimately failing in a largely party-line vote. 

Legislation advanced by the House and Senate Armed Services committees in mid-June has also sent mixed signals on the fate of Guantánamo Bay.  

• The House Armed Services Committee’s version of the National Defense Authorization Act, which passed on June 23, limits the Pentagon’s ability to transfer detainees to Libya, Somalia, Syria, Yemen and Afghanistan. But it doesn’t explicitly prohibit the administration from closing the facility, a departure from past precedent. 
• Meanwhile, the Senate Armed Services Committee’s version of the legislation, which passed a week prior, extends long-standing restrictions related to Guantánamo Bay through Dec. 31, 2023. This includes the bans on transferring detainees to the U.S and constructing facilities in the U.S. to house detainees. 

Worth the fight: “I’m gonna work hard in conference committee,” Rep. Betty McCollum (D-Minn.), chairwoman of the House Appropriations subcommittee on Defense, said on the matter. “It’s not a good use of taxpayers’ money, and if we need more money for defense, it should go to things that are going to make a difference in our national security.” 

Read the full story here.

Four soldiers awarded Medal of Honor

President Biden on Tuesday awarded the Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest military honor, to four Army veterans for their bravery in the Vietnam War, upgrading previous awards given to each man for his service. 

The president held a ceremony in the East Room of the White House the day after Independence Day, which Biden noted marked 246 years since the founding of the nation. 

Among the honorees: Biden recognized the service of Specialist 5th Class Dwight Birdwell for fighting off an ambush in 1968 at Tan Son Nhut Airbase near Saigon. Birdwell took enemy fire to his face and torso but refused evacuation while he waited for reinforcements. 

The president also recognized Maj. John Duffy for his bravery when the enemy launched an assault on a U.S. airbase. Duffy was wounded but refused to be evacuated during the April 1972 assault, calling in airstrikes and tending to wounded soldiers. 

‘Setting the record straight’: “For each of those 246 years, American patriots have answered our nation’s call to military service. They stood in the way of danger, risked everything, literally everything, to defend our nation and our values,” Biden said. “However, not every service member has received the full recognition they deserve. Today, we’re setting the record straight.” 

Read the story here.

US F-35s arrive in South Korea

U.S. Air Force F-35 stealth fighter jets arrived in South Korea on Tuesday to conduct flight operations alongside their South Korean counterparts amid tensions with North Korea. 

The aircraft are expected to fly with several others over South Korea and surrounding waters as part of a 10-day training mission, U.S. Forces Korea said in a statement. South Korean F-35 aircraft are expected to fly with the American aircraft. 

“The familiarization and routine training flights will enhance the interoperability of the two Air Forces to perform and operate on and around the Korean Peninsula,” the statement said. 

“The aviation training is also an opportunity for the aircrews to perform sustainment and maintenance duties to support the latest in military aircraft technology,” it added. 

Read more here.

ON TAP TOMORROW

• The International Institute for Strategic Studies will host a Special Lecture on Australia, ASEAN and Southeast Asia at 5:30 a.m. 
• The U.S. Institute of Peace will host a discussion on “Justice and Accountability for Khmer Rouge Atrocities” at 10 a.m. 
• The Royal United Services Institute will host a discussion on “Reflections on NATO’s Madrid Summit” at 11 a.m. 
• The Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft will hold a discussion entitled “Active Denial: A Roadmap to a More Effective, Stabilizing, and Sustainable U.S. Defense Strategy in Asia” at 12 p.m. 
• Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mark Milley will induct Medal of Honor Recipients into the Pentagon Hall of Heroes at 10 a.m.

WHAT WE’RE READING

• Rising threats spark US scramble for cyber workers 
• Cassidy Hutchinson testimony prompts reassessment of Trump legal culpability 
• Police believe suspect planned Highland Park shooting for ‘several weeks’ 
• The Associated Press: NATO signs accession protocols for Sweden, Finland

That’s it for today. Check out The Hill’s Defense and National Security pages for the latest coverage. See you tomorrow!

READ THE FULL VERSION HERE

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The Memo: Why Brittney Griner is a political problem for Biden

The public outcry around the plight of Brittney Griner is growing louder — and that spells trouble for President Biden, who has been unable to free the basketball star from detention in Russia.

Griner wrote to Biden in recent days saying she was “terrified I might be here forever”. 

Her wife, Cherelle, appears to have lost patience with prior advice from the administration to take a low-profile approach to Brittney’s jailing.

On Tuesday, Cherelle Griner told “CBS Mornings” it was “very disheartening” not to have heard from Biden directly.

Cherelle Griner added: “It kills me every time that, you know, when I have to write [Brittney] and she’s asking, ‘Have you met with them yet?’ And I have to say no.”

Rev. Al Sharpton, generally a staunch defender of Biden, is seeking the administration’s help in securing a clergy visit to see Griner in Moscow.

In an interview with this column, Sharpton said that he had spoken with Cherelle Griner both on the phone and on his radio show last week. 

The basketball star’s wife, he said, felt that “from [Brittney’s] letters she seemed very stressed. She was concerned because she is in a jail where very few people speak English, so it is very hard for her to even communicate her needs.” 

Asked about the Biden administration’s response, Sharpton said, “I certainly think they could have done more. I think there has not been a lot of vocal support. I understand the sensitivities in these negotiations but I think at some point, after four months, you have to raise the public outrage on this.”

Griner, a center for the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury, has been in detention in Russia since February, when authorities allege she was found to have cannabis oil in her luggage. She faces 10 years in prison if convicted in a trial that began last week and is set to resume Thursday.

Her plight poses several interlinked problems for the White House. 

First, given the war in Ukraine, it seems highly implausible that Russian authorities will be inclined to release Griner for the sake of goodwill. 

Second, the idea that Moscow might be able to use Griner as leverage to obtain the release of Viktor Bout, an infamous Russian arms dealer nicknamed ‘The Merchant of Death’ is unpalatable, both morally and politically. Bout was sentenced to 25 years on terrorism charges in a 2012 trial in New York. 

Thirdly, there are particular sensitivities raised by the failure to obtain the release of Griner, a Black, gay woman. 

On Monday, Griner’s head coach with the Phoenix Mercury, Vanessa Nygaard, told reporters: “If it was LeBron [James], he’d be home, right?” 

Nygaard added: “It’s a statement about the value of women. It’s a statement about the value of a Black person. It’s a statement about the value of a gay person. All of those things. We know it, and so that’s what hurts a little more.”

Above all, the continued failure of the Biden administration to obtain Griner’s release adds to the sense of powerless that has corroded the president’s standing on a number of other issues, from gas prices to inflation to the Supreme Court’s recent overturning of Roe v. Wade.

This doesn’t mean the Democrats will lose the midterms because Biden can’t free Griner. But her continued detention is another stone weighing down his political fortunes.

“Most people make their political decisions for different reasons than a very abnormal situation like the Brittney Griner crisis,” said Democratic strategist Joel Payne. “But given her status, it connects in a way that is particularly impactful on this president.”

Payne added: “It is part of a potpourri of other issues that amplify each other. It is a complicating issue for this White House.”

The White House is pushing back against the idea that the president lacks concern for Griner’s plight.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters Tuesday that she had been in Biden’s presence when he read Griner’s letter and that the president takes the star’s predicament “very personally.”

Jean-Pierre added that Griner’s situation was “a priority” for Biden and that the administration was going to “use every tool” to try to secure her release.

The press secretary also noted that senior members of the administration, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, had been in direct contact with Cherelle Griner.

Separately, State Department spokesman Ned Price said at his media briefing Tuesday that “we do engage regularly, if not daily, with Brittney Griner, her loved ones and her networks as well.”

Price said that while his department keeps relatives of people considered wrongfully detained updated on the “broad strokes” of administration efforts to secure their release, “it’s not something that we’re in a position to speak to publicly.”

To be sure, negotiations around such matters are often delicate and fraught. 

The White House points to the April release of former Marine Trever Reed from Russian custody as evidence that its subtle approach can work. 

Griner’s plight has also become intertwined with that of Paul Whelan, another American held in Russia. Whelan was arrested in 2018 on spying charges, and convicted and sentenced to 16 years in prison in 2020.

The administration says it is working hard for the release of both people. 

But that isn’t how the public sees it — including even those sympathetic to the administration like Sharpton.

“It seems like there has been no aggressive move to get her free,” he told The Hill.

So long as that impression festers, it’s one more in a long list of troubles for Biden. 

The Memo is a reported column by Niall Stanage. Laura Kelly contributed.

Source: TEST FEED1

The Supreme Court versus the climate

This Fourth of July was a somber one, to put it mildly. Our democracy, our hard-won rights, even our lives, are under assault. And the governmental structure meant to provide checks and balances seems to have derailed. Or perhaps the operators have lost the manual. Or are simply deciding not to use it.

What many have dubbed an “illegitimate” Supreme Court, made three decisions in the last two weeks that endanger Americans now, and for generations to come. And rather than checking the court’s radical overreaches, Congress and the White House seem to be taking their lunch break.

The “anti-democratic” Supreme Court

Women’s reproductive rights, gun safety and climate protection are all supported by the vast majority of Americans.

But unfortunately, “the Supreme Court has gone from being undemocratic to being anti-democratic,” according to New York Times columnist Ezra Klein, “that makes a mockery of the public will.”

The first two decisions you’ve certainly heard about. The high court made it easier to carry concealed weapons, just weeks after the mass shootings in Buffalo and Uvalde, and days before the mass shooting at a Fourth of July parade in Highland Park. Then the court also overturned Roe v. Wade, turning back the clock 50 years on women’s rights, a decision that the ACLU described as “taking from them a right that has been central to their ability to plan their lives, families, and careers … Today’s ruling will … have deadly consequences.”

The latest decision you might not have heard as much about, but it is also terrifying. “This Supreme Court decision will be visible in the geologic records for eons to come,” quips writer and environmental activist Bill McKibben. While the world’s scientific community continues to ring the alarm bells on climate change, as our very narrow window to avert the worst of it is rapidly closing, the Supreme Court decided that now would be a good time to limit the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s ability to regulate climate change causing greenhouse gas emissions from power plants. The court ruled the EPA does not have broad power over carbon emissions regulation under the Clean Air Act — because Congress didn’t explicitly list the pollutant in the 1970-era law.

Now, experts have pointed out that the ruling was not as bad as it could have been. The court has limited the EPA in certain ways but not others, which still leaves plenty of avenues for strong climate action from the agency. But the outrage should remain.

Where are the Democrats?

Like overturning Roe v. Wade, EPA v. West Virginia was a ruling decades in the making by the GOP and the fossil fuel industry. Like overturning Roe, Democrats saw this coming a mile away. Yet, they seemingly did nothing to try and prevent or limit it.

What’s worse, it’s not like Democrats are just sitting on the sideline. The day after the decision, the Biden administration proposed plans for new offshore oil and gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska.

It’s bad enough that the Democrats can’t get climate legislation passed with narrow majorities in both houses of Congress and the control of the White House. It’s even worse that the Supreme Court is further limiting the EPA’s ability to solve the problem — but President Biden proposing new drilling a day after the ruling is throwing salt in the wound.

State and local policy

When it comes to climate change, it’s easy to get discouraged, especially when the leaders we trusted to protect us appear to be selling us out.

However, while the federal government may feel like a lost cause on climate, thankfully state and local policies have been our saving grace. This is why activists are redirecting their efforts locally as they did during the Trump administration years. Stacy Tellinghuisen, policy analyst at Western Resource Advocates described “states being the laboratories of democracy” that can “create these templates or examples and demonstrate to the federal government that progress is really possible.”

Culture

Erica Chenoweth, a political scientist at Harvard University researching nonviolent movements of the past century, found that to create significant political change, a movement needs about 3.5 percent of the population actively involved in protests, dubbed the 3.5 percent rule. Given that 33 percent of Americans are alarmed about climate change, getting 3.5 percent to take action seems doable.

As bad as things are, we must remember our country has been through lots of previous difficult moments. During the 1960s, amidst a senseless war in Vietnam, drafted young men were being killed by the thousands, civic leaders from JFK to RFK, to Martin Luther King Jr., Malcom X, Medgar Evers and more, were being shot and killed. I can’t imagine the horror and grief and anger that Americans must have been feeling during those tumultuous times.

And yet, what Americans did in response was nothing short of heroic. They protested, marching in the streets. They protested with art, music and poetry. They protested with sit-ins, strikes, and by organizing politically. They changed the zeitgeist. With this came the end the Vietnam War, the passage of civil rights laws that ended segregation and strengthened voting rights, as well as the first Earth Day, the environmental movement and the formation of the EPA. This cultural shift, and the resulting political shift, was not led by politicians or businesses. It was led by citizens who wouldn’t accept the state of disrepair their country had fallen into. They weren’t going to sit by and watch as their rights, and in fact their lives, were being stripped away.

In every generation, citizens have to fight for their rights. The difference now is that it’s not just our rights we’re fighting for. Future generations are also counting on us to ensure their right to a livable planet, a stable climate and a functioning ecosystem. It’s time we answer the call.

Andreas Karelas is the author of “Climate Courage: How Tackling Climate Change Can Build Community, Transform the Economy, and Bridge the Political Divide in America.” He is also the founder and executive director of RE-volv, a nonprofit climate justice organization that helps fellow nonprofits across the country go solar. Follow him on Twitter: @AndreasKarelas

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Toddler found at Highland Park scene orphaned in shooting

The parents of a two-year-old toddler that was found at the scene of the Highland Park shooting have both died, authorities confirmed Tuesday.

At a press conference, Jennifer Banek, the coroner for Lake County, read names of six of the seven victims that died including, 35-year-old Irina McCarthy and 37-year-old Kevin McCarthy of Highland Park.

Their friends have since taken to social media to mourn the couple and express their grief. A GoFundMe page has also been created to raise money to support their orphaned son, Aiden McCarthy.

The organizer of the page said it was created on behalf of his family, and with their permission. Aiden McCarthy will be raised by his grandparents and shared that he “is left in the unthinkable position, to grow up without his parents.”

The GoFundMe page has so far raise more than $130,000 as of 5 p.m. on Tuesday.

Aiden was rescued from the shooting after a woman and her companions saw him pinned under his father who was unconscious while she on her way to get breakfast, The Daily Beast reported.

Lauren Silva told the outlet that while she took Aiden back to her car, her boyfriend and his son tried to help his father who was bleeding. Silva later told The New York Times that she was told that first responders were unable to stop the father’s bleeding and had covered him with a blanket.

The tragic news comes after police said that the suspect in the shooting, Robert “Bobby” Crimo III, planned the attack for “several weeks” before killing seven and wounding dozens more at a Fourth of July parade in the Chicago suburb.  

The other victims identified by The Lake County Coroner’s Office include, Katherine Goldstein, 64, of Highland Park; Jacquelyn Sundheim, 63, of Highland Park; Stephen Straus, 88, of Highland Park and Nicolas Toledo-Zaragoza, 78, of Morelos, Mexico.

Police said they are in discussions with Crimo but declined to share additional information. Law enforcement is still working to determine a motive. 

Source: TEST FEED1

Blinken won't meet with Lavrov at G20 summit in Indonesia

Secretary of State Antony Blinken will not meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov when the two are in Bali, Indonesia this week for a meeting of the foreign ministers of Group of 20 nations.

State Department spokesperson Ned Price said Tuesday that the “time is not right” for a bilateral engagement between the two top diplomats because of Russia’s “unprovoked, brutal war” against Ukraine. 

The G20 foreign minister’s meeting, set to take place between July 7 and 8, presents a potentially awkward, public confrontation between the U.S. and Russia, which are both members of the global grouping, more than five months into Russia’s war against Ukraine. 

“We would like to have the Russians give us a reason to meet on a bilateral basis with them, with Foreign Minister Lavrov, but the only thing we have seen emanate from Moscow is more brutality and aggression against the people and country of Ukraine,” Price said. 

Price would not speak to the “choreography” of the summit, alluding to the potential that Blinken could be in the same room or a photograph with the Russian foreign minister, but said the secretary would be an “active participant in the G20.”

The foreign minister’s summit will also bring together other member-states on opposite sides of the war, or who have taken neutral positions on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Price said that he expects a number of G20 members to express “no shortage of condemnation for the actions on the part of the Russian federation.” 

But potential outliers include Indonesia — the president recently shuttled between Moscow and Kyiv to try and achieve a breakthrough on food shipments out of Ukraine — and countries that have sought to preserve ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin. 

This includes India, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, South Africa, Saudi Arabia,Turkey and China. 

Blinken will hold a bilateral meeting with his Chinese counterpart, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, in what the State Department called a meeting to “establish and reinforce guardrails” to avoid outright conflict between the U.S. and China. 

“Our top priority in the Secretary’s meeting with Counselor Foreign Minister Wang Yi is to underscore our commitment to intense diplomacy and maintaining open lines of communication with the People’s Republic of China,”  Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs Assistant Secretary Daniel J. Kritenbrink told reporters in a briefing Tuesday.

Still, the G20 foreign ministers, while divided over Russia’s war in Ukraine and the U.S.-led strategy to isolate and sanction Moscow while arming Ukraine, are likely to focus on the global food crisis that Russia’s war has triggered. 

The United Nations has warned that the number of food insecure people globally could increase dramatically in 2023, after doubling over the past two years to 276 million people in need of food assistance. 

More than 20 million tonnes of grain are estimated to be stuck in Ukraine, with sea shipment blocked by Russia’s war ships in the Black Sea. The U.S. has said Russia is spreading disinformation over its claims that sanctions by the U.S. and its allies are blocking Russian exports of food and fertilizer. 

“Food and energy security are going to feature very prominently in the discussions,”  Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs Assistant Secretary Ramin Toloui told reporters.

“One important source of the problem, when it comes to food and energy security, is Russia’s continued war in Ukraine.” 

Touli added that the U.S. would like to see the G20 “hold Russia accountable” and support initiatives by the United Nations to move food out of Ukraine’s Black Sea port of Odesa, as well as moving Russian foodstuffs and fertilizer to the global market.

“Whether that happens at the level of the G20, or the level of individual G20 countries, that’s an important point that Secretary Blinken will make when he engages his counterparts,” Touli said. 

Source: TEST FEED1