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Sullivan: ‘We will not tolerate any aggression’ toward Sweden, Finland during NATO process

National security adviser Jake Sullivan on Wednesday warned the U.S. would “not tolerate any aggression” toward Sweden and Finland as the Nordic countries prepare to join the security alliance NATO.

During a White House press briefing Wednesday, Sullivan said Article 5, which rules an attack against one NATO nation is an attack against all, would not apply to Finland and Sweden until the countries were ratified by all 30 members.

But Sullivan said the U.S. and NATO allies were “prepared to send a very clear message” to any potential aggressors, such as Russia, during the application process.

“We will not tolerate any aggression toward Finland or Sweden,” Sullivan said. “And there are practical measures that we can take along those lines.”

Russia last week signaled it might have to take “retaliatory steps” against Finland and Sweden if they joined the security block. Russia invaded Ukraine in late February in part because of Kyiv’s increasing desire to potentially join the military alliance.

U.S. experts have determined Russia is likely to launch, at the very least, small cyberattacks against Finland and Sweden following their NATO applications.

Sullivan said the U.S. “stands ready” to ensure defense capabilities for Finland and Sweden if needed, although he noted they do not get security from NATO’s Article 5 until they are ratified.

On Sunday, Finnish President Sauli Niinistö said Russian President Vladimir Putin took the news of his country joining NATO “calmly,” despite the rhetoric from last week.

“Altogether the discussion was very, would I say, calm and cool,” the Finnish leader said. “He didn’t repeat those threats he had earlier.”

Some hurdles to Finland’s and Sweden’s NATO applications remain, including resolving objections from Turkey over what they say is the harboring of terrorists in the Nordic nations.

President Biden will be meeting with Niinistö and Sweden’s prime minister at the White House on Thursday to discuss the application.

Sullivan on Wednesday said he was confident that Turkey’s concerns would be addressed. He added the U.S. fully supports Finland and Sweden, calling them “highly capable security partners.”

“We believe that Russian aggression has only reinforced the argument for the kind of defensive alliance that NATO presents,” he said.

Source: TEST FEED1

US announces $215 million in new food aide to Ukraine

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday Ukraine will be getting $215 million in emergency food assistance, with more aid expected in the future. 

During a United Nations meeting on global food security, Blinken noted the “greatest global food security crisis of our time” caused by factors including the pandemic and climate adding that the war in Ukraine has exacerbated the issue.

“Today, given the urgency of the crisis, we’re announcing another $215 million in new emergency food assistance.  And we’ll do much more,” Blinken said.

“We expect our Congress very soon to approve approximately $5.5 billion in additional funding for humanitarian assistance and food security.”

The $5 billion for food assistance to Ukraine comes from the $40 billion Ukraine aid bill that passed the House last week. 

The aid package to Ukraine advanced in the Senate on Monday with a vote on final passage expected later this week before it goes to President Biden’s desk.

The World Bank said Wednesday they will give $30 billion to combat food insecurity around the globe. 

The Russia-Ukraine war has impacted food supply in certain regions of the world as exports of what from Ukraine have stalled during the conflict.

Ukraine exported more than $6 billion worth of agricultural products in 2020 to the European Union alone. 

A U.N. official said earlier this month that there is reason to believe Russian is stealing Ukraine’s grain supply during the war. 

“There is anecdotal evidence that Russian troops have destroyed storage capacity and that they are looting the storage grain that is available,” United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization senior official Josef Schmidhuber  said. “But that’s all anecdotal evidence. There is no statistical data for that.”

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New Comic book tells Zelensky's life story

TidalWave Comics released a comic book detailing the life of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday.

The comic book, “Political Power: Volodymyr Zelenskyy,” is part of the company’s comic book series that focuses around politicians and political figures.

The 22-page book was written by Michael Frizell and drawn by Pablo Martinena. It was released days before the war between Ukraine and Russia hit the three-month mark.

“This was a challenging script to write. The publisher and I wanted to focus on the man beyond the media’s current focus – Ukraine’s war with Russia and Zelenskyy’s battle of wills with Putin. Who is he? What makes him tick? Why is he the right leader for Ukraine at this moment? Those are the things I was curious about when I started the research,” Frizell said, according to TidalWave Comics.

Zelensky became popular as a comedian and actor before he was elected president. 

Some of the money made from the comic book will go to the International Red Cross in support of Ukraine. 

“This book means a lot to me because of my Ukrainian heritage.  Both sets of my grandparents immigrated from Ukraine. I wanted to use this medium to not only tell a story but to somehow donate to the cause at the same time,” publisher Darren G. Davis said. “It does not hurt that Volodymyr Zelenskyy has a fascinating story.”

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Defense & National Security — US backs NATO bid for Finland, Sweden

The Biden administration has thrown its full support for Finland and Sweden to join the NATO alliance. 

We’ll detail what administration officials had to say about the Nordic countries’ application and the alliance’s plans to help usher in the potential additions.

Plus: Where efforts are with the $40 billion aid package to Ukraine and concerns over President Biden’s upcoming trip to Asia. 

Welcome to 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 you this newsletter? Subscribe here.  

Biden to press Congress, allies on NATO expansion

President Biden on Wednesday voiced his support for Finland and Sweden applying to join the NATO alliance and said he would work with Congress and other member nations to “quickly” approve their membership. 

“Sweden and Finland have made the important decision to seek NATO membership after thorough and inclusive democratic processes in each country,” Biden said in a statement. 

Why it’s significant: The alliance has become a focal point of international discussion in the months since Russia invaded Ukraine. Article 5 of the NATO treaty states that an attack on one member will be interpreted as an attack on all members, providing some protection for neighboring nations of Ukraine such as Poland. 

Others in the region, including Sweden and Finland, have pushed to join the alliance in hopes of providing a stronger defense against the threat of Russian aggression should Moscow choose to expand its offensive. 

An upcoming meeting: Both countries have announced in recent days that they are seeking NATO membership, and Biden will host Finnish President Sauli Niinistö and Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson at the White House on Thursday to discuss the issue. 

A promise: “While their applications for NATO membership are being considered, the United States will work with Finland and Sweden to remain vigilant against any threats to our shared security, and to deter and confront aggression or the threat of aggression,” the president added, calling the two nations “stalwart partners of the United States.” 

Read the full story here.

PENTAGON CHIEF BACKS ADDING SWEDEN

Should Sweden join NATO, the addition would make the alliance “better at defending ourselves,” Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Wednesday  

“Our two militaries routinely exercise together. Your capabilities are modern, relevant and significant. And your addition to the alliance will make us all better at defending ourselves… that’s especially important at this crucial time,” Austin said ahead of a meeting with his Swedish defense counterpart, Peter Hultqvist, at the Pentagon.

Full support: Sweden along with fellow Nordic country Finland this week formally applied to join the 30-member organization following Russia’s unprovoked attack on Ukraine in late February.  

The two new bids have garnered the full support of the Biden administration, with national security adviser Jake Sullivan on Wednesday saying the U.S. is “confident” that Sweden and Finland will have a successful NATO ascension. 

“Unanimously, President Biden’s national security team emphatically supported the entry of Finland and Sweden into the NATO alliance on the grounds that they have already proven themselves as highly capable security partners … they give a heck of a lot more than they take when it comes to a security partnership or an alliance,” Sullivan told reporters at The White House. 

Interim defense: Though Article 5 protections do not kick in until a country officially becomes a member of NATO, Sullivan said the U.S. and its allies “will not tolerate an aggression” toward Finland and Sweden during that process.    

“The United States is prepared to send a very clear message, as are all of our European allies, that we will not tolerate any aggression against Finland or Sweden during this process. And there are practical measures that we can take along those lines that Secretary Austin will coordinate with his counterparts of Finland and Sweden,” Sullivan said. 

Read more here.

Biden orders military to help on formula shortage

President Biden on Wednesday invoked the Defense Production Act to address the infant formula shortage in the United States.

The White House announced in a fact sheet that Biden would use the Cold War-era law to require suppliers to “direct needed resources to infant formula manufacturers before any other customer who may have ordered that good.” 

“Directing firms to prioritize and allocate the production of key infant formula inputs will help increase production and speed up in supply chains,” the fact sheet said. 

Additionally, the White House said Biden is launching “Operation Fly Formula” that will involve the federal government using Defense Department commercial aircraft to pick up baby formula from overseas that meets U.S. standards to get it quickly to American shelves. 

Read more here.

Schumer blasts Paul’s delay of Ukraine aid package

Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Wednesday slammed Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) for delaying a $40 billion Ukraine aid package by one week, calling the move “repugnant” and predicting the legislation will pass the Senate Thursday.   

“This should already have been done and over with, but it is repugnant that one member of the other side, the junior senator from Kentucky, chose to make a show and obstruct Ukraine funding,” Schumer said on the Senate floor.   

“For Sen. Paul to delay it for purely political motives is to strengthen Putin’s hand,” he added, noting, “the vast majority of Republicans want to see this legislation done.” 

Earlier: Paul objected to passing the legislation last week, insisting that leaders add language to the package to give the Afghanistan inspector general oversight of how humanitarian and military assistance is spent in Ukraine.  

Paul said Monday that voters in Kentucky have applauded his effort to slow the $40 billion package.   

“I went home and I had a standing ovation from 200 people at a Lincoln Day dinner, who all say, ‘Thank you for holding up this money. We need help at home. We can’t get baby formula. We can’t pour our gas,’” he told reporters.   

A way forward: The Senate voted overwhelmingly Monday afternoon for a procedural motion to advance the package, 81-11.   

Read the rest of the story here 

US RAISES EMBASSY FLAG IN KYIV

The U.S. Embassy in Kyiv raised the Stars and Stripes once again on Wednesday, about three months after lowering it before Russia launched its ongoing invasion of Ukraine. 

Days before the war began, embassy employees were told to leave the country, and the U.S. flag was lowered as operations were shuttered. 

“When we suspended operations at the embassy, we made the point clear: while we would relocate U.S. embassy personnel for their safety and security, this would in no way prevent our engagement with, and support for, the Ukrainian people, government, and civil society as well as our allies and partners,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement. 

A tentative return: “We underscored our commitment to Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, pledged to continue our assistance, and started working toward the day we could return to Kyiv,” he added. “Now, that day has come.” 

Blinken said the embassy has put extra safety and security measures in place amid the war, which has left thousands of Ukrainian citizens dead, along with thousands of soldiers on both sides of the fight. Some of the darkest images from the war emerged from Bucha, a Kyiv suburb. 

Earlier: Russia set its sights on Kyiv at the beginning of the invasion and came within miles of the city but was pushed back by Ukrainian forces and withdrew to shift focus on the Donbas region, where fighting is now centered. 

 
Read more here

US: ‘Genuine possibility’ of NK test amid Biden trip

The Biden administration is preparing for the possibility that North Korea will conduct a missile or nuclear test near or during President Biden’s visit to the region.   

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters Wednesday that U.S. intelligence suggests that such tests before, during or after Biden’s upcoming Asia trip are a “genuine possibility.”  

“Our intelligence does reflect the genuine possibility that there will be either a further missile test, including long-range missile test, or a nuclear test or, frankly, both in the days leading into, on or after the president’s trip to the region,” Sullivan said.   

‘Preparing for all contingencies’: “We are preparing for all contingencies, including the possibility that such a provocation would occur while we are in Korea or in Japan,” he added.   

Sullivan said U.S. officials are coordinating with allies in the region and indicated the issue came up during his call earlier Wednesday with top Chinese diplomat Yang Jiechi.

Sullivan did not provide further detail on the intelligence assessment about the threat from North Korea, which has conducted several ballistic missile tests in recent months. The most recent test launch was reported on May 4. 

About the trip: Biden is scheduled to leave for the Asia trip on Thursday. He’ll first visit South Korea, where he will meet with newly elected President Yoon Seok-youl, and then Japan, where he will meet with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. Biden is also scheduled to participate in a meeting of the Quad alliance, which includes the U.S., Japan, Australia and India.  

Read the full story here 

• Also from The Hill: Biden’s Asia trip shifts focus to China 

ON TAP FOR TOMORROW

• Biden welcomes Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson and Finnish President Sauli Niinistö to the White House before he departs for Seoul for his first trip to Asia as president 
•  A House Armed Services subcommittee will hold a hearing on “Air Force Projection Forces Aviation Programs and Capabilities Related to the Fiscal Year 2023 President’s Budget Request,” at 8 a.m. 
• A House Foreign Affairs subpanel will hold a hearing on “The Ukraine Crisis: Implications for U.S. Policy in the Indo-Pacific,” at 8 a.m.
• The Senate Armed Services Committee will hold a hearing on “Atomic Energy Defense Activities in Review of the Defense Authorization Request for Fiscal Year 2023 and the Future Years Defense Program,” with Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm and National Nuclear Security Administration head Jill Hruby at 9:30 a.m.
• Former Defense Secretary Mark Esper will discuss his new book at a Washington Post Live event at 9:30 a.m.
• The U.S. Chamber of Commerce will host a talk with FBI officials on Russian cyber threats at 2 p.m. 
• Colombia’s Minister of Defense Diego Molano will speak at The Wilson Center at 2:30 p.m.
• The Brookings Institution will hold a discussion on “Addressing Climate Change in U.S. Defense Strategy and Budget,” at 3 p.m. 

WHAT WE’RE READING

• DHS to pause work of disinformation board
•  Senators announce bipartisan deal to aid veterans exposed to burn pits 
• Pentagon IG finds Vindman’s brother ‘likely’ faced retaliation by Trump officials
• Suspicion consumed Afghan officials just before Taliban takeover: watchdog 
• NATO cyber coordinators hold first-ever meeting amid Russia’s invasion 
• Biden’s Asia trip shifts focus to China 
• DHS warned of violence tied to leak of draft overturning Roe
• Russia relied on Chechen forces in siege of Mariupol: UK intelligence 

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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Ten cities with highest median home list prices

U.S. housing prices have trended upward for decades, but they have spiked even more in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, especially in particular places.

Median housing prices across the U.S. in the first quarter of 2020 were at $329,000, and spiked to $428,700 by the first quarter of 2022, as the COVID-19 pandemic took hold of the country.

Current home prices are just over 30 percent more than they were in 2020 and have increased by almost 16 percent since 2021.

As housing prices skyrocket across the country amid record-setting inflation rates, here are the cities with the highest median list prices. 

San Jose

In April 2022, California cities dominated in terms of pricey housing markets, according to research data from Zillow. 

Of the nearly 100 cities analyzed by Zillow, San Jose was the only city to surpass $1 million average housing prices with a median list price of $1,390,000. 

Los Angeles 

The Los Angeles area, which also included Long Beach and Anaheim, Calif., ranked second and had a median list price of $998,330. 

San Francisco

San Francisco was not far behind the City of Angels, with a median list price at $978,478. 

Ventura 

With a median list price of $943,967, the Pacific coast city just north of Los Angeles was about $35,000 short of the three priciest cities in California.

San Diego

San Diego’s median list price held at $921,000, Zillow’s data showed.

Experts say that the even higher prices elsewhere in the state are contributing to the city’s hot market. 

“What I have been seeing is a lot of people from L.A., San Francisco, San Jose areas starting to get priced out of their markets and turning their attention to San Diego because of location, and a lot of those other markets appreciate a lot faster, we are seeing a lot of those people come down here,” San Diego realtor Destiny Roxas said to NBC 7, a local news station.

Stamford

Outside of California, Stamford, Conn. led the rest of the country with median listing prices just below $900,000. 

The city is located just 40 miles from New York City and has the country’s highest density of high-income households.

Seattle

Back on the west coast, Seattle ranked seventh with a median list price of $782,997.

However, rising mortgage rates and other factors have caused experts to say the market cannot continue to grow at the rapid pace seen during the pandemic, according to The Seattle Times.

“Things do seem to be leveling off,” Kristina Loper, a Keller Williams agent in the area, told the Times.

Boston

Boston was next at $746,000. The city’s real estate market is “ “overvalued,” according to Boston.com, which cited a CoreLogic report released earlier this month.

Melvin Vieira Jr., the Greater Boston Real Estate Board’s president, told the outlet that he has seen the intensity of the market lessen in the past few months.

“We’re going to get fewer bidding wars on properties that are under $1 million,” he said. “You’re really going to see the leveling of prices and even price adjustments. We’re not going to see so many multiple offers on homes in that price range.”

Honolulu 

Urban Honolulu was next with a median list price of $721,667. The area has seen record-setting housing prices this year, a trend the Honolulu Board of Realtors attributes to supply and demand.

“What everybody is asking is, at what point will it cause the market to normalize,” board president Chad Takesue told Hawaii News Now, a local news station. 

“Until inventory levels get to a point where they meet, we continue to expect to see a competitive marketplace,” Takesue added.

New York City

Rounding out the top ten is New York City, with a median list price at $692,333.

Despite the high prices, the city is coming off of a recent surge in apartment sales. In the third quarter of 2021, the city saw more apartment sales than any other time in the last 32 years, according to The New York Times.

What’s next 

The skyrocketing housing prices have also made the rental market even more competitive, as more people who once would have considered buying a home have looked to rent instead.

But Doug Duncan, senior vice president and chief economist at the government-supported mortgage giant Fannie Mae, has said he expects home sales, house prices and mortgage volumes to decrease over the next two years. 

“In particular, we expect house price growth to decelerate to a pace more consistent with income growth and interest rates,” Duncan said after his group predicted that inflation and other economic factors could contribute to a possible “modest recession” in 2023.

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House administrator canceling Peloton staff perk after criticism

House staff members will not get Peloton fitness membership perks after all.

The House of Representatives’ Chief Administrative Officer is backing out of a planned deal with Peloton to provide staff and Capitol Police officers with Peloton All-Access and Peloton App memberships through its Center for Well-Being.

“It’s not happening,” Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio), who spearheaded creation of the well-being center in 2018, told The Hill when asked about the planned Peloton benefit.

Two House Administration Committee sources confirmed that the Chief Administrative Officer will terminate the planned deal.

A draft memo obtained by The Hill that was expected to be distributed to staff last week said the House Center for Well-Being would provide app memberships “at no monthly cost” starting Wednesday. But the email announcing the benefit never went out. 

There was a purchase order made prior to the committee being briefed, one source said of the Peloton benefit, and then the committee last week directed the Chief Administrative Office to terminate the agreement. The Chief Administrator’s Office did not respond to a request for comment.

Republicans had sharply criticized Democrats for planning to use taxpayer funds to offer memberships for a luxury brand, even if it did not include Peloton’s expensive stationary bikes.

“The Speaker may not be worried about this costly new program, but American families should sweat it. It comes as families are getting crushed by the worst inflation in 40 years,” House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said on the House floor Wednesday.

“It is insane. It’s also redundant. Members and staff already have access to a Congressional gym for a membership fee. The Peloton perk does not replace it. Instead, it duplicates it. I’d like to see any Democrat go to their district, my district, anyone else’s district, and defend this.”

Fox Business reported that the contract cost would be $10,000 plus $10 per month for each staff member who signs up. That could mean a cost more than $100,000 per year, depending on how many people sign up. Individual memberships for the public are $12.99 per month for the app membership or $39 per month for the all-access membership that can be used with a Peloton bike.

Ryan is chair of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on the Legislative Branch and has written a book about mindfulness and meditation. The Peloton app membership did not appear to fit in with his idea of wellness promotion from the center that he helped start.

“We’re not going to do that. We’re very worried about, you know, worried about the high-pressure situations that people [are] in, storming the Capitol, mental health, mental health promotion,” Ryan said. “You know, just trying to offer, to some extent, what a lot of businesses offer to keep people here. But we’re not – we’re not going to go down that road.”

Other perks that the House Well-Being Center has made available for staff include the Calm sleep, meditation and relaxation app; a FinFit app to help with financial health and planning; and a Foodsmart app that provides personalized advice based on eating habits. It also hosts mindfulness webinars for staff.

Source: TEST FEED1

Equilibrium/Sustainability — Wetlands losing race against rising seas

Climate change is drowning out the wetlands that provide critical defense against the worst impacts of global warming, a new study has found. 

Landscapes like salt marshes and mangrove swamps are essential tools for holding down enormous amounts of carbon, managing floodwaters and blunting the effects of increasingly severe storms, according to the study, published on Wednesday in Science Advances. 

“In some ways, this is a race … between what [carbon dioxide] can do and what sea level can do,” Lewis Ziska of Columbia University said in a statement accompanying the report. 

For the past two decades, the plants appeared to be pulling ahead — boosted by rising levels of carbon dioxide, which helps them grow. That gave scientists hope that this dynamic would allow wetland ecosystems to climb out of danger faster than seas could rise, according to the study.  

Now wetland plants appear to be losing that race.  

Carbon dioxide’s former boost to plants “has always been one of the silver linings of climate change,” coauthor Adam Langley of Villanova University said in the statement. 

That appears to no longer be true, Langley said, adding that “the silver lining to me just got a little cloudier.” 

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

Today we’ll look at four key climate change indicators that shattered records in 2021 — followed by a Colorado-Arizona plan to pull those gases back down to Earth. Then we’ll examine the Biden administration’s thaw in the oil trade with Venezuela and how solar panels can gather power by night.

Four climate indicators broke records in 2021: UN 

Four key climate change indicators — greenhouse gas emissions, sea level rise, ocean heat and ocean acidification — broke worldwide records in 2021, the United Nations weather agency announced on Wednesday. 

The snarling face of climate change: Extreme weather, which the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) described as “the day-to-day face of climate change,” resulted in hundreds of billions of dollars in economic losses last year.  

Such conditions also took a heavy toll on human lives — rattling global food and water security and causing displacement, the WMO found in its State of the Global Climate in 2021 report.   

“Today’s State of the Climate report is a dismal litany of humanity’s failure to tackle climate disruption,” Secretary-General António Guterres said in a video message on Wednesday morning.  

An urgent moment: Guterres described fossil fuels as “a dead end,” stressing that the ongoing war in Ukraine and its effects on energy prices provide “yet another wake-up call” that “the only sustainable future is a renewable one.”  

Four indicators that broke records: 

• Greenhouse gas concentrations climbed to a global high in 2020 — to 149 percent of pre-industrial levels — and continued to rise in 2021 and early 2022.  
• Ocean heat levels reached record highs in 2021 and were expected to continue warming in the future — a shift that the U.N. said could not be reversed within a thousand years.  
• Ocean acidification, which threatens marine organisms and ecosystem services, also broke records in 2021. Surface pH in the open ocean dropped to “the lowest it has been for at least 26,000 years.” 
• Global mean sea level climbed to new highs in 2021 — and its rate of increase went up as well. Mean sea level in 2013-2021 rose at double the rate than that of the 1993-2021 period.  

Warming the planet for generations to come: “The heat trapped by human-induced greenhouse gases will warm the planet for many generations to come,” WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas said in a statement.  

Taalas stressed that such impacts will persist unless means to remove carbon from the atmosphere are invented. 

To read the full story, please click here. 

Local governments scaling up carbon removal 

The local governments of Boulder County, Colo., and Flagstaff, Ariz., are recruiting other “climate-forward” jurisdictions in the Four Corners region of the West to scale up carbon removal technologies together.  

While Boulder County and Flagstaff initially declared their intent to form the Four Corners Carbon Removal Coalition last November, the two jurisdictions announced this week that they would begin requesting proposals from interested entities in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah this summer.  

Banding together: “What we do locally is a drop in the bucket in terms of emission reductions,” Susie Strife, director of Sustainability, Climate Action & Resilience for Boulder County, said at a launch webinar aired on Tuesday.  

“But if we can band together and get more local governments engaged in this, that’s when I think we can really have a larger impact,” Strife added. 

The governments will be working with OpenAir, a volunteer-led collective that aims to accelerate the development of carbon removal technologies.  

What, exactly, is carbon removal? Essentially, carbon removal means sucking carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere — either through natural methods like trees or through technological approaches that are still emerging.   

Like what? OpenAir co-founder Chris Neidl said in the webinar that he sees carbon removal as “a range of different activities that remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and durably store it in geological terrestrial ocean reservoirs or in products.” 

‘Carbonating’ concrete: The initial proposals evaluated by the Four Corners Carbon Coalition will focus on projects that sequester carbon in concrete, which is capable of sucking in carbon and fixing it permanently through a process called “carbonation,” Neidl explained. 

Pooling resources: The Four Corners Carbon Removal Coalition is aiming to bring local governments together to devise ways to innovate such technologies “and to do it now,” according to Neidl.  

The coalition will be harnessing both private and public sector funding — recognizing that while each local entity might lack sufficient support alone, they can accomplish more by pooling their resources, he added.  

To read the full story, please click here. 

Venezuela oil talks won’t stop summer power shortage

The Biden administration is dipping its toe into the possibility of reopening oil trading with Venezuela — news of which drove a slight dip in sky-high oil prices. 

But don’t expect Venezuelan supplies to be arriving in the U.S. anytime soon — or for the country’s considerable natural gas reserves to offer any relief in what is looking to be a blazing summer. 

What Biden said: The Treasury Department cleared Chevron to begin talks with the Venezuelan government with the ultimate goal of reopening imports that were shut down by the Trump administration in 2020, The Washington Post reported. 

This is very preliminary: “Fundamentally, what they’re doing is just allowed to talk,” a U.S. official told CNN. 

Venezuelan officials are excited. “They’re very pro-American and ready to talk,” a Venezuelan government insider told the Post. “They see themselves making a lot more money if they can sell their oil in Corpus Christi [in Texas] instead of the other side of the world.” 

Oil markets breathed a sigh of relief: Brent international crude prices dipped 2 percent on Tuesday following the announcement, Reuters reported.  

Little solace for methane prices: Venezuela has the world’s 10th largest reserves of methane reserves — commonly called natural gas — according the U.S. Energy Information Agency. 

But sources familiar with the matter told Equilibrium that gas exports likely wouldn’t be included in any potential deal. 

What’s up with methane?

• Unseasonably high temperatures across the U.S. are exacerbating existing supply disruptions triggered by the Russian invasion of Ukraine
• Demand for natural gas was up 4.4 percent Tuesday, CNBC reported.  
• They could rise by another 25 percent under pressure from summer air conditioning needs, according to CNBC

Starving squirrels: Methane traders and utilities “need to be like squirrels putting acorns away” in spring for summer demand, John Kilduff of Again Capital told CNBC. 

But heat waves are forcing utilities to use that gas now, he said. 

That means potential shortages in the face of even higher temperatures this summer. 

Consumers helpless before the heat: Usually when gas prices are high, utilities switch to coal, portfolio manager Rob Thummel of TortoiseEcofin told CNBC.  

But coal prices are outpacing even natural gas, according to CNBC. 

“The consumer is kind of at the mercy of Mother Nature at this point for the summer,” Thummel added. 

Solar panels may gather power at night 

It is now possible to generate solar power even when the sun doesn’t shine, according to a new study in the American Chemical Society’s Photonics journal. 

Glowing with energy: “We usually think of the emission of light as something that consumes power,” team leader Nicholas Ekins-Daukes, of University of New South Wales, said in a statement. 

But in the invisible infrared spectrum, which Ekins-Daukes described as “glowing with radiant energy,” the scientists explored the possibility of extracting hidden electrical power.  
How do you do that? Solar radiation heats the earth during the day, and that heat dissipates back into space at night in the form of invisible infrared radiation, the researchers explained. 

That’s the same spectrum — and form of escaping radiation — that night-vision goggles amplify to allow people to see in the dark. 

Now scientists at the University of New South Wales Sydney have managed to tap that heat for power. 

How much power did they get? A tiny amount — around 0.001 percent (that’s one ten-thousandth) as much as a normal photovoltaic solar panel. 

What’s that in real terms? It means that the equivalent of a 1 megawatt solar installation — enough to power 164 homes, according to the Solar Energy Industry Association — could just about power a couple of 60-watt light bulbs. 

But it’s a start: The experiment is a “proof of principle” that provides a foundation for researchers to build on — similar to the 18th century discoveries in primitive coal-powered steam engines that birthed the science of thermodynamics, Etkins-Daukes said.

ELON MUSK CALLS ESG ‘A SCAM’ 

After electric vehicle maker Tesla lost its spot Wednesday on the S&P ESG Index — an index that includes companies that meet environmental, social and governance standards — the company’s founder, Elon Musk, was quick to lash out on Twitter.

“Exxon is rated top ten best in world for environment, social & governance (ESG) by S&P 500, while Tesla didn’t make the list!” Musk tweeted.

“ESG is a scam. It has been weaponized by phony social justice warriors,” Musk wrote, adding that S&P “has lost their integrity.”

The Wall Street Journal said that an S&P spokesman wouldn’t comment on Musk specifically, noting that he instead referred to a detailed explanation about index changes in a blog post.

“Just as it has in years past, the changes of the 2022 rebalance reflect the delicate balancing act of providing for broad-based market exposure but with meaningful and measurable sustainability-focused enhancements,” the S&P post stated. 

Wildlife Wednesday

Bonobo bosses are largely female, Boston basketball magnate donates to manatees and perching birds help airplanes land. 

Females ‘rule the roost’ in some animal species: study 

• Scientists have created a new framework to assess power distribution between sexes in animals and determined that in some animal species, like bonobos, females “rule the roost.” 

Boston Celtics owner donates $2M to save manatees  

• The Fox Rock Foundation, led by philanthropists Karen and Rob Hale — the latter has been a co-owner of the Celtics since 2014 — is donating $1 million to both the Fish & Wildlife Foundation of Florida and the Save the Manatee Club, as decades of human-induced pollution continue to destroy the seagrasses that manatees consume, local Florida newspaper TCPalm reported.

Bird wings help model aircraft landings 

• The various ways birds use their wings to land on tree branches could help inform future aircraft design, according to a study in Physical Review Fluids. 

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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Primaries fuel questions about potency of Trump endorsements

Tuesday’s primaries are fueling questions about the strength of Donald Trump’s endorsement even as the results underscored the extent to which the former president has molded the party in his image.

While Trump’s favored Senate candidate in North Carolina, Rep. Ted Budd (R), won his primary decisively, others who had received his endorsement, including Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-N.C.) and Idaho Lt. Gov Janice McGeachin, were defeated. Even more disappointing for Trump, his endorsed candidate in the Pennsylvania Senate primary, Mehmet Oz, remains locked in a tight battle with hedge fund manager Dave McCormick.

While last night’s primaries are far from a defeat for the former president, they could stoke further questions about the extent to which he can clear primary fields and play kingmaker for the GOP.

“It’s a good ticket, but it’s not a golden ticket,” Republican strategist Doug Heye told The Hill of Trump’s endorsement. “As it would be a Barack Obama nomination or a George W. Bush endorsement in the past. It’s the same as that.”

“The party is more broadly turning Trumpier whether it’s with or without Trump,” Heye said. “That to me is the broader and more important story moving forward.”

Heye echoed this in a recent op-ed for CNN, writing that “the media may continue posting Trump-based scorecards like a Preakness Stakes tip sheet,” but Trumpism is in the GOP for the long term.

Even as Trump endorsed and campaigned for Oz, McCormick and conservative commentator Kathy Barnette stayed in the race and sought to portray themselves as the candidates most aligned with Trump’s brand of conservatism.

Every race in which Trump has endorsed has been watched closely. J.D. Vance’s surge from the middle of the pack to a win in Ohio’s Republican Senate primary earlier this month was seen as the first major win for a Trump-backed candidate this cycle. And last week, Rep. Alex Mooney (R-W.Va.), who was backed by Trump, won his primary against Rep. David McKinley (R-W.Va.) in the state’s 2nd Congressional District. Meanwhile, Trump-backed Charles Herbster lost his gubernatorial bid in Nebraska’s GOP primary that same night.

“The more you put yourself out there, the more likely it is you’re going to lose some, and he clearly has,” said one Republican strategist.

Operatives argue that while Trump’s pull with the conservative base may be decent, it’s not the only factor that can influence election outcomes.

Some pointed to Budd and Doug Mastriano, the newly minted GOP Pennsylvania gubernatorial nominee, as two who, while benefiting from Trump’s endorsement, could have won their primaries without it. For Budd, strategists say outside spending from the conservative group Club for Growth was a boost. The group spent more than $11.2 million on ads in support of Budd over the last week alone, according to AdImpact.

“The spending they have done for Budd — if it weren’t for them, he wouldn’t be where he is now,” said North Carolina GOP strategist Carter Wrenn. “Did the Trump endorsement help him? Yeah, but was it that big of a deal? No, it wasn’t the decisive factor.”

In Mastriano’s case, he was already leading in the polls when Trump endorsed him, despite being outspent on air by the other GOP gubernatorial hopefuls — though he rose to prominence as a supporter of Trump’s claims the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him.

Trump’s call to give Cawthorn, who had been plagued with numerous scandals, a “second chance” did not appear to do much to help the first-term congressman. Cawthorn called one of his six primary challengers, state Sen. Chuck Edwards, to concede on Tuesday night. As of midnight on Monday, Edwards led with 33.4 percent of the vote. Cawthorn came in with 31.9 percent.

“When you step back and try to judge and assess what happened last night, there are some things that worked against [Trump] that probably aren’t his fault and some things that he did in the past that make him look better,” said the GOP strategist.

“For instance, endorsing a gubernatorial candidate in Pennsylvania who was going to win the nomination well in advance of that endorsement,” the strategist continued, referring to Mastriano’s primary win.

Out in Idaho, McGeachin’s loss to incumbent Gov. Brad Little (R), was more expected. Little trounced McGeachin, winning 52. 8 percent of the vote. McGeachin trailed with 32.2 percent.

McGeachin hit Little over his decision to issue a stay-at-home order in March 2020, despite Idaho’s economy reopening by June of that same year. The awkward dynamic of the lieutenant governor challenging her own governor in a primary can be traced back to McGeachin’s past clashes with Little over the pandemic. Last year, McGeachin banned mask and vaccine mandates on two separate occasions when Little was out of state.

Ultimately, though, it appears that Little had an incumbency and money advantage in Tuesday’s primary.

Pennsylvania’s Senate race is less clear-cut. As of Wednesday, Oz led McCormick by fewer than 3,000 votes.

Trump, seemingly feeling the pressure, urged Oz to declare victory as soon as possible on Wednesday.

“Dr. Oz should declare victory,” the former president wrote on his Truth Social application. “It makes it much harder for them to cheat with the ballots that they ‘just happened to find.’”

The statement has some asking whether the loss could ultimately damage Trump’s brand.

“What he’s really trying to push Oz to do which is declare victory now is in his best interests and not in Oz’s best interests,” the GOP strategist said. “I think that is just yet another sign of somebody in an infrastructure that’s so desperate to keep these wins because they know what it means to them.”

Source: TEST FEED1

Kemp holding large lead over Perdue in Georgia governor race: Fox News poll

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp is 32 points ahead of former Sen. David Perdue in the state’s GOP gubernatorial primary, according to a new Fox News poll out Wednesday. 

Kemp was holding 60 percent of Georgia Republican primary voters’ support, compared to 28 percent for Perdue and 8 percent for other candidates in the primary. Three percent of voters remain undecided, the poll showed. 

While former President Trump has endorsed Perdue, 24 percent of participants in the poll said the endorsement made them less supportive of Perdue. Thirty-seven percent, however, said Trump’s support made them support Perdue more. Another 36 percent said the endorsement had no effect on them. 

Former Vice President Mike Pence threw his support behind Kemp. Pence is expected to attend a rally for Kemp on May 23, one day before the primary on May 24.

The Fox News poll was conducted between May 12 and May 16, with a margin of error of 3 percentage points. It includes a sampling of 1,004 Georgia Republican primary voters.

Georgia’s gubernatorial race has been a central battleground for Trump’s false claims about the 2020 election being stolen, with the former president targeting Kemp, a onetime ally who rebuffed his efforts to overturn his election loss in the state.

Just last week, Trump warned that a vote for Kemp would further erode Georgia’s “election integrity.”

Source: TEST FEED1