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Pence: Voting for Kemp sends 'deafening message' that GOP is the future

Former Vice President Mike Pence on Monday night rallied for Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, urging voters to send a “deafening message” at the polls that the GOP is the “party of future” while avoiding any references to former President Trump, who was simultaneously holding a virtual rally in support of Kemp’s opponent. 

“I’m here because Brian Kemp frankly is one of the most successful Republican governors in America,” Pence said in one of his most public breaks with Trump, who has called Kemp the worst governor in the country for rebuffing his pleas to overturn his 2020 presidential election loss in the state.

“When you say yes to Governor Brian Kemp tomorrow you will send a deafening message all across America that the Republican party is the party of the future,” Pence said.

Kemp faces former Sen. David Perdue, whom Trump endorsed in December. Georgia’s primary will be held Tuesday.

In Kennesaw, northwest of Atlanta, Pence kept his focus on the Democratic gubernatorial candidate, Stacy Abrams, whom Kemp beat for the same seat in 2018 in a bitter contest that led to an Abrams-backed lawsuit alleging voter suppression.

“There are some people who want to make this election about the past,” Pence said, not in reference to Trump who continually harps on the 2020 election being rigged against him, but instead putting the focus on Democrats. “Stacey Abrams and Joe Biden want you to embrace the failed socialist policies of the last century.”

Pence’s rally for Kemp came the same day that Trump spokeswoman Taylor Budowich called the former vice president “desperate to chase his lost relevance.”

The former vice president was among a host of officials scrambling for safety on Jan. 6, 2021 when a pro-Trump mob stormed the Capitol in an attempt to stop Congress’ counting of Electoral College votes affirming President Biden the election winner. Some pro-Trump rioters chanted “hang Mike Pence” while marching through the Capitol’s hallways.

Pence at Monday’s rally kept his focus on Abrams and the Democratic Party, insisting that the “radical left wing literally lost their grip on everything that’s made this country great.”

“But you have an opportunity to say something different tomorrow,” he said.

Source: TEST FEED1

Progressive NY lawmaker to challenge Maloney in controversial House district

Progressive New York state Sen. Alessandra Biaggi (D) will challenge Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-N.Y.) in a controversial House district seat.

“I am sure that he will say, ‘This is hurting the party, she doesn’t care about being a Democrat,’” Biaggi told The New York Times, calling herself a “proud Democrat.” 

“What hurt the party was having the head of the campaign arm not stay in his district, not maximize the number of seats New York can have to hold the majority,” she added.

The Hill has reached out to Biaggi’s office for confirmation.

Maloney, who heads the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said last week that he would be running in the 17th Congressional District instead of the 18th Congressional District. His decision was met with criticism from fellow Democrats as he avoided a potentially awkward member-on-member primary between him and Rep. Mondaire Jones (D-N.Y.), a member of the Congressional Black Caucus. 

“You should be taking a seat, not running for one,” Biaggi tweeted in response to a tweet from Maloney about which district he would run in. “After failing so spectacularly at your only job as DCCC chair—to hold and gain Dem seats—this is weak.”

The shakeup came after New York’s new congressional map pitted incumbents against one another in several races, a move that could allow Republicans to pick up House seats in November’s midterms. 

That map specifically placed Maloney’s residence in the 17th District and Jones’s home in the 16th, which is currently represented by Rep. Jamaal Bowman, another liberal Black freshman.  

Lawmakers like Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) have criticized the new map, saying it “robs us of power and takes a sledgehammer to Black districts.”

“The redistricting chaos in NY was unleashed by the Court of Appeals,” Jeffries also said in a tweet.

Meanwhile, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has offered her support of Maloney.

“We’re very proud of Sean Patrick Maloney,” she said during a press conference last week.

Biaggi is expected to formally announce her candidacy on Tuesday, according to the Times. The primary election is set to take place on Aug. 23. 

Source: TEST FEED1

Florida student suing over 'Don't Say Gay' uses curly hair as commencement speech code

An openly gay Florida high schooler who is among those suing over the state’s “Don’t Say Gay” law used his graduation speech to speak about his experience — while using a winking code to avoid referring to his orientation directly.

“I must discuss a very public part of my identity. This characteristic has probably become the first thing you think of when you think of me as a human being,” Zander Moricz said Sunday. “As you know, I have curly hair.”

Moricz, the senior class president at Pine View School in Sarasota County, repeatedly referred his distinctive locks after earlier saying he’d been told his speech would be censored if he spoke openly about the Parental Rights in Education law.

“A few days ago, my principal called me into his office and informed me that if my graduation speech referenced my activism or role as a plaintiff in the lawsuit, school administration had a signal to cut off my microphone, end my speech, and halt the ceremony,” Moricz previously wrote on Twitter. “I am the first openly-gay Class President in my school’s history — this censorship seems to show that they want me to be the last.”

During Pine View’s graduation ceremony, Moricz shared how the law could impact kids like him with “curly hair.”

“There are going to be so many kids with curly hair who need a community like Pine View and they won’t have one,” Moricz said in his speech. “Instead, they’ll try to fix themselves so that they can exist in Florida’s humid climate.”

Moricz said he’s been planning his graduation speech since his freshman year of high school but didn’t anticipate having to address his activism during it.

“Do you think that I wanted it to be about this?” he asked the audience. “It needs to be about this for the thousands of curly-haired kids who are going to be forced to speak like this for their entire lives as students.”

Moricz urged his fellow classmates to “claim their power” and “give it to those who protect us.”

“Those who we give our power to are the reason I have to stand here and talk about my hair during my graduation speech,” he added in a dig at Florida lawmakers.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) in late March signed into law the controversial Don’t Say Gay, which limits discussion of sexuality and sexual orientation in classrooms.

Several other states, including New Jersey and Louisiana, have introduced similar legislation.

“Any student whose parent or guardian does not provide prior written consent shall be excused from that portion of the course where such instruction is provided and no penalties as to credit or graduation shall result therefrom,” reads a portion of the bill introduced by a New Jersey state senator.

Critics, including the Biden administration, say the bills will harm the mental health of young LGBTQ Americans.

“I used to hate my curls,” Moricz said in his speech. “I spent mornings and nights embarrassed of them, trying desperately to straighten this part of who I am, but the daily damage of trying to fix myself became too much to endure.”

Source: TEST FEED1

Some NFL owners look to oust Dan Snyder as accusations mount: report

Multiple NFL owners are expressing interest in voting to oust Washington Commanders owner Dan Snyder as accusations mount of financial improprieties and workplace misconduct within the organization. 

“There’s growing frustration about the Washington situation and not over one issue, but over how much smoke there is,” one owner told USA Today in an op-ed published Saturday. “I think everybody’s getting tired of it.”

Another team owner detailed the NFL’s last meeting in March where some owners expressed their anger toward Snyder’s situation with league commissioner Roger Goodell in attendance, according to USA Today. 

“We are counting votes,” the owner said, adding that will take 24 votes from owners to force Snyder to sell his stake in the franchise. 

Other owners told the media outlet about their displeasure about the lack of a written report of the league’s first investigation into the Washington team, with one noting that there will be a bigger push for more information on the matter. 

“We don’t know what’s going on in Washington,” one league owner said. “There’s a lot of frustration with that. My instincts are that there will be a harder push for more information.”

Both Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares (R) and Washington, D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine (D) launched an investigation last month into allegations that the team was involved in a series of financial improprieties. 

Miyares’s office said it was was first tipped off about the potential problems when House Oversight and Reform Committee Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) sent them a copy of the panel’s letter to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on the claims. 

In an interview with the committee earlier this year, former team employee Jason Friedman said that the team kept two sets of books, one that was shared with the league but did not fully report certain ticket revenue and another one that included the complete and accurate revenue, which was then shown to Snyder.

The league also launched a probe into the team in February after former cheerleader and marketing manager Tiffani Johnston, during a House Oversight Committee roundtable discussion on the matter, accused Snyder of sexually harassing her during a work-related dinner.

The team has publicly denied both allegations of sexual harassment against Snyder and financial improprieties. 

The Hill has reached out to the NFL, the House Oversight Committee and the attorneys of the former team employees for comment.

Source: TEST FEED1

Airbnb set to pull domestic business out of China: report

Airbnb is expected to close its business operations in China amid the country’s harsh COVID-19 policies and local competition, according to reports.

All of mainland China’s homes and experiences on the platform would be removed by this summer, CNBC reported, citing people familiar with the decision.

Airbnb, which has operated in China since 2016, will reportedly maintain an office of hundreds of employees in Beijing with a focus on Chinese travelers looking to go abroad.

The company’s bookings and experiences in China accounted for roughly 1 percent of Airbnb’s overall revenue, the outlet added. 

But in China, the dominance of other apps that compete with the company coupled with COVID-19 policies that have stalled much of the travel industry made Airbnb decide maintaining its operation was simply not worth it, CNBC noted.

The Hill has reached out to Airbnb for comment.

Earlier this month, Shanghai, one of China’s largest cities, announced that it had reached “zero-Covid at the community level” status, meaning no cases were detected outside of designated quarantine facilities or neighborhoods under harsh lockdown requirements.

But still, residents in the city feared continuing harsh lockdowns, which for weeks have complicated Shanghai residents’ efforts to get essentials like food and medicine.

At the time, officials pledged to resume normal life promptly though almost no private cars were on the streets and several residential compounds remained surrounded by tall fences.

Source: TEST FEED1

Defense & National Security —Biden backs Taiwan

President Biden for the third time since the start of his presidency said the United States would be willing to get involved militarily to defend Taiwan should China invade the island. 

We’ll break down the remarks and China’s reaction, plus which countries are sending new security aid to Ukraine, whether U.S. troops will be sent to protect the newly reopened U.S. Embassy in Kyiv and the new push from lawmakers to fast track Finland and Sweden’s NATO membership bids. 

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 Ellen Mitchell. A friend forward this newsletter to you? Subscribe here.

Biden: US would defend Taiwan against China  

President Biden on Monday said the U.S. would be willing to defend Taiwan militarily if China were to try to take it by force. 

“Are you willing to get involved militarily to defend Taiwan if it comes to that?” Biden was asked at a press conference in Tokyo alongside the Japanese prime minister. 

“Yes,” Biden responded. “That’s the commitment we made. That’s the commitment we made.” 

‘Just not appropriate’: “Look, here’s the situation. We agree with the ‘One China’ policy … but the idea that to be taken by force, just taken by force, is just not appropriate,” Biden continued. “It will dislocate the entire region and be another action similar to what happened in Ukraine.” 

Biden said he does not believe China will attempt to take Taiwan by force, adding that the united global response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine can serve as a deterrent against possible aggression by Beijing. 

Some confusion: The White House shortly after the press conference reiterated Biden’s comments that the U.S. position on Taiwan has not changed and it still abides by the “One China” policy, which recognizes Beijing as the representative government of China but considers Taiwan’s status unsettled. 

Still, Monday is the latest instance of the president’s comments spurring some confusion. 

China’s response: In response, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin expressed “strong dissatisfaction and resolute opposition” to Biden’s comments. 

“China has no room for compromise or concessions on issues involving China’s core interests such as sovereignty and territorial integrity,” he said. 

China has been increasingly aggressive in recent years, stepping up military flights into Taiwan’s airspace and sending ships through the Taiwan Strait. The pattern has raised alarms among the international community that Beijing may ultimately plan to take Taiwan by force. 

A walk back: The White House quickly walked back Biden’s comments at the time, saying he was not announcing a policy change. 

Read the full story here 

20 countries agree to new security aid for Ukraine 

Some 20 countries have committed to new security assistance packages for Ukraine following a multination conference on how to meet Kyiv’s needs, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Monday.  

The virtual meeting, which included ministers and chiefs of defense from 47 countries, was the second Ukraine Contact Group gathering since Russia’s attack began in late February.   

New commitments: “Many countries are donating critically needed artillery ammunition, coastal defense systems and tanks and other armored vehicles,” Austin told reporters at the Pentagon after the meeting ended. “Others came forward with new commitments for training Ukraine’s forces and sustaining its military systems.”  

Who’s giving what: Among the weapons being committed is a Harpoon launcher and missiles from Denmark to “help Ukraine defend its coast,” Austin said.   

The Czech Republic, meanwhile, agreed to send “substantial support, including a recent donation of attack helicopters, tanks and rocket systems,” he added.  

In addition, Italy, Greece, Norway and Poland all announced new donations of artillery systems and ammunition. 

Intensifying efforts: Austin said he was encouraged by several more countries joining the group in its second meeting, including Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Colombia, Ireland and Kosovo.  

“I’m deeply grateful to these countries and to all the countries that have stood up today,” he said. “In the short four weeks since the contact group convened at Ramstein, the momentum of donations and deliveries has been outstanding. And after today’s discussions, I’m pleased to report that we’re intensifying our efforts.” 

Read more here 

Pentagon may send troops to protect embassy 

Plans to send U.S. forces back into Ukraine to guard the recently reopened American Embassy in Kyiv are “underway at a relatively low level,” Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Monday.  

The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday that officials are mulling plans to send special forces to Kyiv to guard the U.S. Embassy. The effort is a delicate one, as it requires balancing the safety of American diplomats while avoiding what Russia could see as an escalation.  

“Some of the things that may have been out there in the media, those are planning efforts that are underway at a relatively low level,” Milley told reporters at the Pentagon, seeming to refer to the Journal’s report.   

Nothing solid: Such plans “have not yet made it to [Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin] or myself for that matter, for refinement of courses of action and what’s needed,” he noted. 

Milley added that any reintroduction of U.S. forces into Ukraine would require a presidential decision.   

“We’re a ways away from anything like that. We’re still developing courses of action, and none of that has been presented yet to the secretary,” he said.   

Troop numbers now: Biden has consistently pledged that no U.S. troops will be sent into Ukraine to help forces there, though there are thousands of service members based just outside its borders in countries including Poland and Romania.  

Milley said there are now about 102,000 American troops based in Europe, a more than 30 percent increase since the war began.  

“Last fall the United States military had about 78,000 in [U.S. European Command] — Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and Space Force,” Milley said. “In a few short months, we bolstered that by over 30 percent.” 

Read the rest of the story here 

US wants to rush Finland, Sweden joining NATO   

Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) plan to present a resolution that will press the Biden administration to rush the paperwork for Finland and Sweden to join NATO.  

In the resolution text, first obtained by Politico, both Senate leaders note the roles played by the Nordic countries in organizations such as the United Nations and the European Union, and their neutral stance on matters pertaining to Europe as reasons why they should join the alliance.  

What it does: The resolution calls on President Biden to move swiftly to complete all necessary documents involving both countries’ NATO membership so the Senate can advance the measure, also calling on fellow NATO members to swiftly complete their own ratification processes. 

Who is backing it: It is being submitted by McConnell and Schumer along with a number of leading Senate voices on Ukraine aid, including Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Chris Coons (D-Del.) and Bob Menendez (D-N.J.). 

“NATO has been the cornerstone of Western defense since World War II, and President Niinistö of Finland and Prime Minister Andersson of Sweden are showing strong leadership in joining the United States and its allies against Putin’s deeply immoral campaign of violence,” Schumer said in a statement Monday. 

McConnell’s reasoning: McConnell said in the statement that “Finland and Sweden are strong countries with formidable military capabilities that surpass many existing NATO allies.” 

“Both nations’ robust defense funding means their accession would meaningfully bolster our pursuit of greater burden-sharing across the alliance,” he added. 

Read more here 

ON TAP TOMORROW

• President Biden is in Tokyo where he will participate in the second in-person Quad Leaders’ Summit. He also will hold bilateral meetings with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.  
• The Center for Strategic and International Studies will host a discussion on “U.S. and German Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific,” at 8:30 a.m. 
• The Atlantic Council will hold a talk on rebuilding Ukraine’s economy with Ukrainian Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko, at 10 a.m. 
• The Wilson Center will host a discussion on “Russian War Crimes in Ukraine: Can Russia Be Held Accountable?” at 11 a.m. 
• The Association of the U.S. Army will hear from Army Resilience Directorate head James Helis on the Army Integrated Prevention System and its efforts to combat suicide, sexual assault, sexual harassment and substance abuse, at 12 p.m. 
• Booz Allen Hamilton will discuss “Cyber Resiliency for Tomorrow’s Space Missions,” at 12 p.m.  
• A House Appropriations subcommittee will hold a hearing on National Guard and Reserve matters at 12 p.m. 

WHAT WE’RE READING

• Foreign reporter’s phone seized while on flight with Pentagon official 
• Milley tells West Point cadets technology will transform war 
• Active shooter incidents rose 53 percent last year, FBI says 
• New Zealand to help train Ukrainian soldiers in UK 
• Biden backs Japan joining ‘reformed’ UN Security Council, Japanese PM says 
• Biden unveils Indo-Pacific economic framework to counter China 
• Experts see progress on federal cybersecurity 
• IMF says economy faces ‘perhaps its biggest test’ since WWII 

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

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Watchdog group leader urges FEC to take action against liberal donor

Caitlin Sutherland, the executive director of Americans for Public Trust, urged the Federal Election Commission (FEC) to “take action” and investigate a complaint against a Swiss billionaire who has sent money to Democratic causes.

The May 2021 complaint alleged that billionaire Hansjörg Wyss is not a U.S. citizen, which would make donating to political candidates or political action committees illegal. The government watchdog group urged the FEC to take action in April in a lawsuit in a district court in Washington, D.C., on Monday, which alleges the FEC has been slow to act on the complaint.

During an appearance on HillTV’s “Rising,” Sutherland said that there has been an “indirect pattern of passing money from one non-profit to another.”

“Until the FEC takes action and investigates that daisy chain of pattern between the money flow, we will not know the full extent of his involvement in our U.S. politics,” she said.

The case is significant as the watchdog group found that Wyss has given millions to so-called dark money groups that fund liberal causes through operations like The Hub Project and Demand Justice.

Sutherland specified that Wyss had given over $135 million to the Sixteen Thirty Fund, which she said gave 60 million dollars to super PACs that supported President Biden.

“A foreign national can absolutely not contribute to a super PAC,” she said. “A foreign national … is contributing to a group and that group has then financed super PACs that support Joe Biden, U.S. Senate candidates, ballot initiatives, everything across the board.”

“That is what we’re seeing as indirect participation and it would also be illegal and that’s why we asked the FEC to investigate.”

Source: TEST FEED1

On The Money — Biden bullish as economy faces threats

President Biden doesn’t see a recession on the way, even though many economists do, and he explains why. We’ll also look at how Americans are powering through high prices and a new strategy to fight China’s economic influence.  

But first, Rep. Madison Cawthorn’s (R-N.C.) latest ethics scandal involves cryptocurrency. 

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.

Biden: Recession is not inevitable

President Biden on Monday acknowledged the United States is facing economic headwinds with high gasoline and food prices, but he rejected the idea that a recession is inevitable. 

At a press conference in Tokyo, Biden rattled off a series of investments that have spurred job growth, including a new Samsung factory in Texas, a new Hyundai operation in Georgia and Toyota’s commitment in North Carolina. 

“Now, does that mean we don’t have problems?” Biden asked. “We do. We have problems that the rest of the world has, but less consequential than the rest of the world has because of our internal growth and strength.” 

The background:  

• Biden has faced tremendous pressure from voters to tamp down inflation, even as the president and White House aides point to low unemployment, strong gross domestic product growth and other underlying factors that show the economy is strong. 
• Polls have shown voters do not approve of Biden’s handling of the economy, and plunges in the stock market in recent days have only fueled concerns about a looming downturn. 

The Hill’s Brett Samuels has more here.

SPENDING TIME

Americans keep spending despite record inflation squeeze 

Despite high inflation, rising gas prices, deepening concern about the economy and rising recession risks, Americans keep spending money.   

• Stocks have fallen sharply over the past week as Wall Street frets over a likely dip in consumer spending.  
• Polls of consumer sentiment have fallen steadily — along with President Biden’s approval rating on the economy — and a growing number of economists fear a recession could come as soon as next year.  
• The combination of higher interest rates from the Federal Reserve and prices lingering at inflated levels is likely to take a chunk out of consumer spending as the year continues.  

Even so, Americans as a whole have powered through rising price pressures, shifting their purchases away from pricier goods and toward budget items and services. Sylvan explains why here.

FED UP

Biden’s Fed nominees sworn into office 

President Biden’s Federal Reserve nominees were sworn in Monday, nearly filling out the central bank’s board of governors as it battles a record surge of inflation. 

Federal Reserve Board Chairman Jerome Powell, Fed Vice Chair Lael Brainard, and board members Lisa Cook and Philip Jefferson began their terms Monday. The Senate confirmed the nominations of Powell, Cook and Jefferson earlier this month and confirmed Brainard in late April. 

• Powell, a Republican, will serve another four years leading the Fed board after being renominated by Biden in November. Powell was elevated to Fed chair by former President Trump in 2017 and joined the Fed in 2012 as a governor after being nominated by former President Obama. 
• Brainard, a Democrat, had served as a Fed governor since 2014 before Biden nominated her to serve as the bank’s No. 2 in November. While some Democratic lawmakers and progressive activists pushed Biden to nominate her over Powell, Biden opted to promote Brainard to the vice chair position instead. 

Sylvan has more on this here.

NEW FRAMEWORK

Biden unveils Indo-Pacific economic framework to counter China 

President Biden on Monday announced a new framework meant to guide U.S. economic involvement in the Indo-Pacific over the long term while in Japan as part of his first trip to Asia as commander in chief. 

The Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) aims to deepen trade ties between the U.S. and a dozen other countries signing onto it — Australia, Brunei, India, Indonesia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Taiwan is not among the group, despite bipartisan calls from lawmakers that the island nation be included in the framework. 

• The new pact aims to boost U.S. leadership in the region while countering China’s rise five years after former President Trump withdrew the U.S. from the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, an Obama-era achievement that similarly aimed to bolster U.S. involvement in Asia.  
• According to a White House fact sheet, the framework will focus on trade, supply chains, climate change and anti-corruption. The White House billed the new effort as a way to lower domestic inflation over the long term, something Biden has singled out as his top priority. 

The Hill’s Morgan Chalfant has more here.

Good to Know

A record percentage of American adults said they were in solid financial shape at the end of last year even as surging inflation dented household budgets, according to a Federal Reserve survey released Monday. 

Seventy-eight percent of U.S. adults said they were either doing “OK” financially or “living comfortably” in the final three months of 2021, according to the Fed’s Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking (SHED), an annual poll of how U.S. adults are faring economically.  

Here’s what else we have our eye on: 

• Meta, the newly formed parent company of Facebook, announced Monday that it is planning to give researchers access to more information about how political advertising can be targeted on its platforms. 
• A group of vulnerable House Democrats is warning of spikes in ObamaCare premiums this fall, saying that enhanced financial assistance from last year’s relief bill needs to be extended. 
• The Biden administration is in talks to tap into a federal diesel reserve to address energy shortfalls, an official with knowledge of the matter confirmed to The Hill on Monday.

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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Energy & Environment — Biden may tap diesel reserves

The Biden administration is considering turning to a little-used diesel fuel stockpile, and greenhouse gas pollution is trapping more heat than 50 years ago. Also, a British bank backtracks from an executive’s comments on climate risk. 

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. 

Biden officials eyeing stockpile to ease shortage

The Biden administration is in talks to tap to into a federal diesel reserve to address energy shortfalls, an official with knowledge of the matter confirmed to The Hill on Monday.  

An interagency team of officials has been monitoring East Coast diesel supplies and developing policy recommendations, the official said. 

“The team has prepared emergency declarations for President authorize release from the Northeast Home Heating Oil Reserve if conditions deteriorate,” they added. “We would call this a bridge to deal with short-term supply shortfalls.” 

The Northeast what now? The Northeast Home Heating Oil Reserve, created in 2000, is a Northeast-based stockpile of about 1 million barrels of home heating oil. Due to its relatively small size, the reserve is considered to be of limited long-term use, about a day’s worth of supply for the region, according to the White House. It has only been tapped once before, in 2012, after Superstorm Sandy battered the East Coast.  

The White House official framed the crunch as a consequence of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a frequent refrain from the Biden administration as the war has thrown global energy markets into disarray.  

“In recent weeks, the team noted a worrisome decline in diesel inventories in the Northeast (below 20M barrels), as well as on-the-ground reports of supply issues, resulting from a lack of supply in part resulting from Putin’s actions in Ukraine and the disruption in the energy market,” the official said.   

CNN first reported that Biden administration officials were exploring the reserve to ease rising diesel prices. 

What effect will it have? Although the stockpile is likely too small to significantly reduce prices, the official said it could be useful in averting disruptive spot outages. While the White House said diesel prices appear to be stabilizing, it is concerned about the potential effects of shortfalls heading into hurricane season and winter.  

Diesel prices hit a record average high of $5.58 per gallon last Wednesday, according to AAA. As of Tuesday, the average was down slightly to $5.55. 

Read more about the plans here. 

Greenhouse gasses increasingly trapping more heat 

Planet-warming gases are trapping more and more heat in the atmosphere, holding in significantly more heat than they were in previous decades, a new assessment has found.  

The Monday assessment from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) found that human-caused greenhouse gas pollution trapped 49 percent more heat in 2021 than in 1990.  

“Our measurements show the primary gases responsible for climate change continue rising rapidly, even as the damage caused by climate change becomes more and more clear,” said Ariel Stein, the acting director of NOAA’s Global Monitoring Laboratory, in a statement. 

Climate change is caused by an increased amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. These increases are primarily driven by human use of fossil fuels. 

The story so far: Last year, the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change said that climate change is “unequivocally” caused by humans. 

And, it has been linked to more droughts and heat waves, stronger hurricanes and rising sea levels. 

NOAA found that carbon dioxide, the most common greenhouse gas, which can last more than 1,000 years in the atmosphere, is the biggest contributor. 

It also found that carbon dioxide levels are responsible for 80 percent of the increased heat tracked by the agency’s Annual Greenhouse Gas Index since 1990.  

Read more about the report here. 

CEO disavows dismissive climate change comments 

HSBC’s CEO disavowed comments made by a senior executive of the bank in which he compared the financial threat of climate change to anxiety over Y2K and said people could “cope with” Miami being under water.  

At a Financial Times conference last weel, Stuart Kirk, head of responsible investing for HSBC’s asset management division, delivered a presentation entitled “Why investors need not worry about climate risk.” 

In the presentation, Kirk dismissed warnings of the financial risks of climate change as the latest in a series of “nut job[s] telling me about the end of the world.”   

Kirk went on to compare such warnings to proponents of returning to the gold standard and those who warned the year 2000 could lead to widespread computer meltdowns by machines that did not recognize the digits “00” to represent the year. Numerous international governments tasked the public and private sector with preparing to avoid such a scenario for years leading up to the date.  

Kirk expressed confidence that the populace would learn to deal with the impact of climate change, saying “human beings have been fantastic at adapting to change, adapting to climate emergencies, and we will continue to do so. Who cares if Miami is six meters underwater in 100 years? Amsterdam has been six meters underwater for ages, and that’s a really nice place. We will cope with it.”  

The banker decried what he said was the disproportionate amount spent on mitigating the effects of climate change rather than adaptation. 

In a LinkedIn post Saturday, CEO Noel Quinn wrote that “I do not agree – at all – with the remarks made at last week’s FT Moral Money Summit. They are inconsistent with HSBC’s strategy and do not reflect the views of the senior leadership of HSBC or HSBC Asset Management.” He did not name Kirk in the post.  

Read more about the fallout here. 

ON TAP FOR TOMORROW

• The House Select Climate Crisis Committee will hold a hearing on “Building an affordable and resilient food supply chain”

WHAT WE’RE READING

• Bodies Pulled From Parched Lake Mead Stir Wise-Guy Ghosts of Las Vegas (The New York Times) 
• U.S. judge halts gas fracking plan for Colorado forests (The Colorado Sun) 
• U.S. Forest Service pauses prescribed burns (The Albuquerque Journal) 
• Texas runoff to settle moderate, pro-oil Democrat’s fate (E&E News) 

And finally, something offbeat and off-beat: Ringing endorsement. 

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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