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Equilibrium/Sustainability — Distilling vodka from CO2 emissions
A Brooklyn-based startup is on a mission to transform greenhouse gas emissions into luxury vodka, perfume and hand sanitizer.
“We work with partners that capture that carbon dioxide before it’s emitted into the atmosphere, and then we use that CO2 in our process in creating the alcohols,” Gregory Constantine, co-founder and CEO of Air Company, told CNBC.
Air Company’s vodka, called Air Vodka, is made of just two ingredients: carbon dioxide and water.
The process separates hydrogen out of the water through electrolysis, releasing oxygen, and then feeds the hydrogen into a system with captured carbon dioxide, according to CNBC. The end result is ethanol, which becomes a type of vodka when combined with water.
Air Vodka may cost $65 per bottle, but the company — whose operations are backed by investors like Toyota and JetBlue — is eyeing a variety of other products down the line, CNBC reported.
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. Subscribe here.
Today we’ll take a look at how climate change is worsening an existing maternal health crisis, as well as how the ongoing baby formula shortage is challenging American parents. Then we’ll look at the tension between Texas’s booming Bitcoin industry and its surging energy needs.
Climate change worsening maternal health crisis
Climate-driven environmental issues may be exacerbating an existing maternal health crisis across the U.S., Nexus Media News reported.
Pregnancy-aged Americans already face unique challenges, as the U.S. has the highest maternal mortality rate among developed nations, according to Nexus, a nonprofit climate news site whose story also appeared in Ms. Magazine.
The U.S. had nearly 24 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2020, the report stated, citing Centers for Disease Control and Prevention statistics.
‘Every family for themselves’: Esther McCant, a Miami-based doula — a professional labor assistant — told Nexus that she has visited clients in sweltering apartments that lack air conditioning.
She also recalled helping a third trimester client flee a hurricane in 2017.
“There’s not really a lot of guidance for pregnant moms during those types of situations,” McCant said. “In general, it’s every family for themselves.”
A universal problem: It’s not just American women who are bearing unique effects of climate change.
“Women traditionally face barriers and obstacles in normal situations, but they are increased with extreme climate-fueled weather,” Chilean attorney Lorena Zenteno Villa told E&E News.
Latin American women have pursued several environmental damage lawsuits, including a Colombian case arguing that pesticide use raises the risk of miscarriage, Villa added.
Some women are worse off than others: In the U.S., Black women are about three times more likely to die while pregnant or shortly thereafter than white women — and are 50 percent more likely to give birth to premature or underweight babies, according to Nexus.
Hispanic and Indigenous individuals also tend to have worse pregnancy outcomes than their white peers, Nexus reported.
Extreme weather worsens those inequities: It “disproportionately affects Black and Brown women,” who are more likely to live in urban heat islands, work outdoors and breathe contaminated air, obstetrician-gynecologist Nathaniel DeNicola told Nexus.
DeNicola, who worked in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina and now practices in wildfire-prone Southern California, said that such events tend to coincide with a rise in emergency visits for pregnant individuals.
Protecting moms and babies: Rep. Lauren Underwood (D-Ill.) co-sponsored a bill called the Protecting Moms and Babies Against Climate Change Act, which would fund research into the impacts of climate change on pregnancy while boosting postpartum access to Medicaid, Nexus reported.
A STRUGGLE TO NOURISH THE YOUNGEST AMERICANS
American parents are scrambling to find solutions to the baby formula supply shortage that has left supermarket shelves empty across the country.
Formula manufacturer Abbott Nutrition announced on Monday evening that it had reached an agreement with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regarding the restart of operations at its Michigan plant, our colleague Nathaniel Weixel reported.
Why were they shut down? The FDA has been looking into whether powdered formula from the site caused four babies to contract a rare bacterial illness — ultimately leading to two deaths.
The shutdown added to disruptions in an already strained supply chain, forcing many parents to travel for hours to obtain formula, Weixel reported.
Response in Congress: House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) filed supplemental funding legislation on Tuesday to address the shortage, our colleague Aris Folley reported for The Hill.
The bill would provide $28 million in emergency funds to help ameliorate the current situation and prevent future such events.
Looking overseas: The FDA on Monday said it was encouraging overseas manufacturers to apply to ship their formulas to the U.S., The Wall Street Journal reported.
Nonetheless, it could be weeks before these products appear on U.S. store shelves, as the FDA will first need to conduct a quality assurance review, according to the Journal.
And if you can’t find formula in the meantime? Pediatricians told The Washington Post that there are several options, but stressed that some choices might not be right for every baby:
- Switch to different or generic brands, unless the baby has milk protein allergies.
- For babies over six months old, boost solid foods — aside from foods that are choking hazards or raw honey.
- Use donor breast milk from reputable milk banks.
But absolutely never dilute formula or try to make homemade formula — as the former can harm infants’ kidneys and the latter can cause severe illness, the Post reported.
Amid emergency, Texas gets more Bitcoin miners
An energy-intensive Bitcoin mining operation is opening in Texas in the midst of an unseasonal heat wave that has put the state grid on emergency footing for nearly three weeks.
The announcement highlights the tension between three big drivers of electricity demand: The state’s booming cryptocurrency industry, its growing population and its rising temperatures.
Miners head West: On Tuesday cryptocurrency mining company Mawson Infrastructure announced the creation of a new facility that would allow it to run the complex computations that “mine” new Bitcoins, according to crypto trade site Coindesk.
Energetic demands: The facility will require about 120 megawatts of power, Yahoo Finance reported.
That’s enough to power about 24,000 houses on a hot day, according to data from The Houston Chronicle.
Dicey timing: The announcement comes just after a weekend in which the Energy Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), Texas’s energy regulator, asked citizens to push their thermostats up to a sweaty 78 degrees to avoid crashing the state grid, The Texas Tribune reported.
Crypto crunch creates caution: ERCOT has been cautious about the impacts the state’s cryptocurrency industry could have on the grid.
To avoid overtaxing state electricity supplies, the regulator ruled in March that new Bitcoin facilities would have to seek “approval to energize” before beginning operations, The Dallas Morning News reported.
Miners seek alternatives: ERCOT’s announcement drove leading Bitcoin miner Marathon Digital to announce on an earnings call earlier this month that it would be considering diversifying out of Texas.
What about this deal? Mawson isn’t sure yet where it’s going to get that electricity — though the company has signed a deal with the-Wyoming-based firm JAI Energy, Coindesk reported.
JAI uses “wasted” methane (another name for excess natural gas from drilling sites) to power Bitcoin rigs — which are like server farms devoted to the computations that occasionally yield bitcoins, according to the company.
That’s a limited fix: While it could avoid directly straining the grid, wasted methane isn’t any different from or more renewable than normal methane — which is the same as what the state’s power plants burn, CNBC reported.
Methane reliance feeds the larger problem: The widespread use of methane for power is one of the biggest drivers of runaway global warming, according to a report released on Monday by the Environmental Defense Fund.
Takeaway: In addition to generating competition for both grid capacity and fuel, cryptocurrency’s reliance on methane for power is helping drive the need for more air conditioning — and therefore exacerbating the broader conflict over electricity supplies.
BETTER WIND FORECASTS SAVE CUSTOMERS MILLIONS
Wind energy customers saved $384 million over the last decade — thanks to advances in weather prediction technology, a new study has found.
The savings were enabled by updates to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association’s (NOAA) wind prediction algorithm, according to the study, published on Tuesday in the American Institute of Physics.
Knowing when to shut down: The advances allowed grid operators to better calibrate when to keep their turbines on, and when to shut them off and draw energy from other sources — saving customers money, according to NOAA.
A natural experiment: The agency’s scientists update their wind prediction model every few years. But they also leave the old one in place for a year to see how the two compare.
“We were able to compare these models, side by side, and see when one model makes a better prediction than the other,” author Martin Shields of Colorado State University said in a statement.
Better over time: “What we see over time is that the models get better at predicting wind, and that generates additional savings for utility consumers,” Shields added.
VIRTUAL EVENT INVITE
The Opioid Crisis & the Criminal Justice System, Wednesday, May 18 at 1 p.m. ET
According to SAMHSA, nearly 20 percent of incarcerated individuals have reported regular opioid use. Yet only a small percentage of them are receiving medication-assisted treatment in jails and prisons. How do we improve access to addiction treatment within the criminal justice system? What efforts are needed to ensure a safe and successful return to society and the workforce? The Hill hosts a discussion on improving addiction treatment and recovery across the criminal justice system with Rep. Madeleine Dean (D-Pa.), Rep. Dave Joyce (R-Ohio), Fairfax County Sheriff Stacey Kincaid and more. RSVP now.
Tech Tuesday
The surprising environmental cost of reusable rockets, a salve for Rivian’s investment blues and a hidden source of Big Tech’s carbon pollution.
Rockets pollute high above the earth
- Reusable rocket technology by companies like SpaceX has enabled cheaper and more frequent space travel — but it has also injected massive amounts of planet-warming carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide into the upper atmosphere, according to a new study published by the American Institute of Physics.
Ford unloads Rivian, but Amazon stays on
- While Ford recently began to unload its shares of electric vehicle startup Rivian, Amazon’s support for the company remains strong, tech news site Tech Xplore reported, with the e-commerce giant ordering 100,000 electric delivery vans and buying 150 million shares in Rivian.
How tech companies hide their carbon footprints
- Carbon reduction pledges at companies like PayPal and Google may be concealing a big gap: The companies are reportedly stashing their assets with banks that use their funds to make loans to new fossil fuel developments, according to Quartz.
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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Health Care — FDA expands booster shots to kids 5-11
Congress held a hearing on UFOs for the first time in decades on Tuesday, and we learned there are around 400 reports of strange aerial encounters so far.
Today in health care, booster shots are now authorized for children 5-11, and House Democrats made a new move to address baby formula shortages.
Welcome to Overnight Health Care, where we’re following the latest moves on policy and news affecting your health. For The Hill, we’re Peter Sullivan, Nathaniel Weixel and Joseph Choi. Subscribe here.
Children 5 and up get booster access
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Tuesday authorized a booster dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to children between the ages of 5 and 11, extending booster doses to the youngest age group yet.
Experts have stressed the importance of booster shots for older age groups as a key way to increase protection in the face of waning immunity over time from the initial shots, as well as the increased evasiveness of the omicron variant currently circulating.
Now, children 5-11 will be eligible for boosters for the first time.
Data released by Pfizer last month found a 36-fold increase in the level of neutralizing antibodies against the omicron variant, compared to two doses.
“These data reinforce the potential function of a third dose of the vaccine in maintaining high levels of protection against the virus in this age group,” Pfizer said then, adding: “The vaccine was well tolerated with no new safety signals observed.”
Uptake a challenge: Still, uptake for even the initial two shots for children 5-11 has been lagging, indicating that many parents will not get booster shots for their children either.
Only 28 percent of children 5-11 have received the first two shots, according to data compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
VIRTUAL EVENT INVITE
The Opioid Crisis & the Criminal Justice System, Wednesday, May 18 at 1 p.m. ET
According to SAMHSA, nearly 20 percent of incarcerated individuals have reported regular opioid use. Yet only a small percentage of them are receiving medication-assisted treatment in jails and prisons. How do we improve access to addiction treatment within the criminal justice system? What efforts are needed to ensure a safe and successful return to society and the workforce? The Hill hosts a discussion on improving addiction treatment and recovery across the criminal justice system with Rep. Madeleine Dean (D-Pa.), Rep. Dave Joyce (R-Ohio), Fairfax County Sheriff Stacey Kincaid and more. RSVP now.
Dems file legislation to address formula shortage
House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) on Tuesday filed supplemental funding legislation to address the nationwide baby formula shortage.
If passed, the legislation would greenlit $28 million in emergency funds to help the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) address the shortage and prevents future shortages, the congresswoman’s office said.
“The stories of mothers and fathers struggling to find formula and the images of empty store shelves are heartbreaking,” DeLauro said in a statement. “Parents and caretakers across the country cannot wait—they need our support now. This bill takes important steps to restore supply in a safe and secure manner.”
The legislation comes as the House Oversight and Reform Committee has launched an investigation into the shortage. The shortage has dominated public attention in recent days, putting pressure on lawmakers to act.
As part of the effort, lawmakers sent letters to four top baby formula manufacturers, including Abbott Nutrition, asking companies for more information about their plans to address the shortage. Lawmakers say they are also seeking documents from Abbott pertaining to conditions at its Sturgis, Mich., plant that led to recalls found to have contributed to the shortages, along with supply chain issues.
Nestlé to fly infant formula products to US: report
Multinational food conglomerate Nestlé will be flying in its infant food products into the U.S. to help with the current shortage, according to a report from Reuters on Tuesday.
The newswire reported that Nestlé will be moving its Gerber baby food formula to the U.S. from the Netherlands as well as its Alfamino baby formula from Switzerland.
“We prioritized these products because they serve a critical medical purpose as they are for babies with cow’s milk protein allergies,” Nestlé said in an email provided to Reuters.
“Both products were already being imported but we moved shipments up and rushed via air to help fill immediate needs,” the company added.
Parents across the U.S. have had to contend with empty shelves at stores when trying to find infant formula recent months. This shortage was brought on by a voluntary recall by Abbott Nutrition of its infant formula products after concerns were raised regarding a possible bacterial infection.
On Monday, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced new import guidelines and flexibilities to import baby food products into the U.S. to help alleviate the shortage.
The FDA will temporarily “not object” to the importation of some infant formula products into the U.S. as well as the distribution of products manufactured in the U.S. but meant for overseas markets. Companies from around the world that are interested in these temporary guidelines have been asked to “quickly” submit information to the FDA for evaluation.
As the U.S. seeks to bring in infant formula from out of the country, Abbott will also be restarting domestic production at its plant in Sturgis, Mich. after it was announced the company had reached a consent decree with the FDA. However, Abbott said it could take two months for its facility to reach full capacity.
NEW YORKERS ADVISED TO WEAR MASKS INDOORS AGAIN
The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene is now advising residents to wear masks when indoors, citing the rise in community infections and the high COVID-19 alert level the city transitioned to on Tuesday.
The advisory issued by the city advises that all residents, regardless of vaccination status, wear masks when indoors and in public settings. These include offices and stores as well as common areas such as elevators and hallways.
High-risk groups including people over 65 and individuals who are still unvaccinated or cannot get the shot — such as children under 5 — are advised to take additional precautions.
The department advised that people in these high-risk groups wear masks at all times when in public indoor settings and crowded outdoor settings and also advised that nonessential gatherings be avoided.
Ashwin Vasan, commissioner of the city’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, said on Twitter Tuesday, “New York City has transitioned to a high COVID alert level, meaning now is the time to double down on protecting ourselves and each other by making choices that can keep our friends, neighbors, relatives and coworkers from getting sick.”
CDC ADDS CARIBBEAN, AFRICAN DESTINATIONS TO WARNING LIST
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) added four countries Monday to its list of high-risk travel destinations for COVID-19.
The countries are Antigua and Barbuda, Lesotho, South Africa and Taiwan.
Taiwan’s Central Epidemic Command Center released figures Tuesday announcing 65,833 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the country, 65,794 of which had been spread domestically.
Two omicron subvariants have propelled infections in South Africa, moving case numbers there from 300 per day early last month to 8,000 per day last week. However, symptoms are mild and severe cases and deaths have not increased, The Associated Press reported on Saturday.
Lesotho, a country located inside the larger country of South Africa, has experienced a similar wave.
The CDC maintains a list of countries sorted into four levels of COVID-19 severity: Low, Moderate, High and Special Circumstances/Do Not Travel. It also includes a designation for “COVID-19 Unknown,” which it currently applies to 52 countries.
The COVID-19 High category, which the four new countries were added to this week, is the largest of the groups, containing 110 countries altogether.
WHAT WE’RE READING
- What happens when the government stops buying Covid-19 vaccines? (Stat)
- Eliminating fossil fuel air pollution would save about 50,000 lives, study finds (NPR)
- U.S. says use of Pfizer’s COVID-19 antiviral up 315% (Reuters)
STATE BY STATE
- Federal judge rejects Tennessee’s transgender bathroom law (Tennessee Lookout)
- Michigan Court of Claims judge grants injunction against 1931 abortion law (Detroit Free Press)
- Looming end of federal pandemic emergency threatens to shake Texas’ Medicaid safety net, advocates say (Texas Tribune)
OP-EDS IN THE HILL
For the sake of women’s health, Congress must pass Cures 2.0
That’s it for today, thanks for reading. Check out The Hill’s Health Care page for the latest news and coverage. See you tomorrow.
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Shanghai reaches ‘zero Covid’ but lockdowns continue
Shanghai on Tuesday announced it had reached “zero-Covid at the community level” status, but residents reportedly still feared that the city’s strict lockdown could continue.
Health officials in the global financial hub announced on Tuesday that “zero Covid” status had been reached, meaning no cases were detected outside of designated quarantine facilities or neighborhoods with the most severe lockdowns, according to CNN.
Reaching “zero-Covid” is a requirement of lifting the lockdowns that have made it difficult for Shanghai residents to get essentials like food and medicine for weeks. However, 860,000 people were still under the strictest lockdown measures, CNN added.
Officials promised to resume normal life promptly, aiming to fully reopen by June with some businesses, public transport and parks reopening on Monday, The New York Times reported.
But many residential compounds remained surrounded by tall fences. Some joggers and walkers were seen but almost no private cars were on the streets, according to Reuters.
People who could leave their neighborhoods had to receive permission from neighborhood officials for limited outings, the Times added, citing state media reports.
Most restrictions are expected to remain in place until May 21. In June, residents will still have to be tested frequently but the lockdown is expected to end, Reuters noted.
With 620,000 cases and 576 deaths, Shanghai’s recent outbreak is the worst China has seen since the start of the pandemic in Wuhan in 2020, the Times also said.
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Live AP results: Pennsylvania primary
The Associated Press is following the election in Pennsylvania.
Follow the live results below.
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Beasley wins Democratic nod in North Carolina Senate primary
Former North Carolina Supreme Court Justice Cheri Beasley is projected to coast to victory on Tuesday in the state’s Democratic Senate primary.
The Associated Press called the race at 7:47 p.m. ET.
Heading into Tuesday, Beasley was seen as the overwhelming favorite to capture her party’s Senate nomination. She faced only nominal competition in the primary after her top opponent, state Sen. Jeff Jackson, suspended his campaign late last year and endorsed Beasley’s bid.
Another well-known candidate, former state Sen. Erica Smith, also exited the Senate race last year to run instead for the House seat of retiring Rep. G.K. Butterfield (D-N.C.).
Beasley’s win sets her up to take on the eventual Republican nominee in a key battleground state that Democrats see as one of a few promising opportunities to flip a GOP-held seat this year.
On the Republican side, Rep. Ted Budd (R-N.C.) is fighting it out with former North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory for the nomination to succeed retiring Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.). Former President Donald Trump has endorsed Budd in that contest, and the three-term congressman is seen as the favorite to emerge from the primary on Tuesday.
Still, flipping Burr’s Senate seat won’t be easy for Democrats. Trump carried the state twice in 2016 and 2020, albeit by relatively narrow margins. More broadly, Democrats are facing strong political and historical headwinds this year that threaten to erode their already paper-thin Senate majority.
Nevertheless, Democrats see Beasley as perhaps their best hope to win North Carolina, believing that she may be able to energize the party’s voters in a year when Democratic enthusiasm is running low.
Beasley is also heading into the general election with a solid cash advantage over either of her likely Republican rivals. At the end of April, Beasley’s campaign reported having nearly $3.3 million in the bank, compared to about $1.1 million for Budd and $1.4 million for McCrory.
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Trump-backed Budd wins North Carolina Senate primary
Rep. Ted Budd on Tuesday was projected to clinch the Republican Senate nomination in North Carolina, overcoming a challenge from former Gov. Pat McCrory and handing former President Trump a major win in a critical battleground state.
The Associated Press called the race at 7:47 p.m. ET.
Trump endorsed Budd, a three-term congressman, last summer in a move that came as a surprise to many Republicans. That support kicked off a steady climb in the polls for Budd, who managed to galvanize the support of North Carolina GOP voters in recent months and emerge as the primary’s front-runner.
There were other forces working in Budd’s favor. The conservative Club for Growth, one of the most influential players in Republican primaries, spent some $11 million to boost Budd, helping him overcome relatively low name ID and lagging fundraising early on in the campaign.
McCrory, meanwhile, suffered from repeated attacks by the Club for Growth and Trump, who railed against the former governor as a “RINO,” or Republican in name only.
Another candidate, former Rep. Mark Walker (R-N.C.), lagged behind both Budd and McCrory in the polls for months. At one point, Trump sought to lure him out of the race by promising an endorsement if he ran for his old House seat, though Walker refused that offer and vowed to continue on with his Senate campaign.
The GOP Senate primary in North Carolina is one of several tests this year of the resiliency of Trump’s influence among Republican voters in his post-presidency. A loss for Budd in the race would have likely dealt a serious blow to the former president’s reputation as a kingmaker among Republicans, especially as he weighs a 2024 comeback bid for the White House.
With the nomination locked up, Budd will go on to face Democrat Cheri Beasley, a former state Supreme Court justice, in the November general election to succeed retiring Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.).
While North Carolina has tilted to the right in recent years — Trump carried the state twice, albeit by relatively narrow margins — Democrats see Burr’s Senate seat as one of a few that they have a chance of flipping this year as they look to hold their paper-thin Senate majority.
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Jan. 6 committee chair says panel won't provide DOJ 'unilateral' access
Jan. 6 committee Chair Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) said Tuesday that the panel may not provide the Department of Justice with “unilateral” access to its products after the department requested help with a criminal investigation it is conducting.
“If they want to come in and say we want to look at something, that’s fine. But my understanding is they want to have access to our work product. And we told them no, we’re not giving that to anybody,” Thompson told reporters Tuesday evening.
“I mean, the reality is, we are conducting our own investigation. And obviously if they want to come and talk, they’re perfectly welcome to come and talk, and we have talked to them on other situations, but we can’t give them full access to our product. That would be premature at this point, because we haven’t completed our own work.”
The hesitation comes as members of the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol have otherwise been increasingly vocal about their frustration with Department of Justice for not pursuing those close to former President Trump.
While the Department of Justice has charged more than 800 people in connection with the attack, its most serious charges have been filed against members of the far-right Oath Keepers group, who now face up to 20 years on seditious conspiracy charges.
The Jan. 6 committee, however, has conducted interviews with more than 1,000 people, including Trump family members and former White House employees.
According to The New York Times, Kenneth Polite Jr., the assistant attorney general for the criminal division, and Matthew Graves, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, wrote to the panel’s investigative lead on April 20, saying the committee has conducted interviews that “may contain information relevant to a criminal investigation we are conducting.”
But it’s not clear what depositions or other products they are seeking access to.
Thompson said the request came “with no names attached to it.”
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US seeks to reset relationship with oil-rich UAE
President Biden is signaling an effort by the White House to reset its relationship with Abu Dhabi after a high-profile list of cabinet officials led by the vice president on Monday visited the United Arab Emirates, an oil-rich nation in the midst of a critical leadership change.
Rejection and perceived disinterest from Washington has led the UAE to recently act more boldly on the global stage. It abstained from a U.S.-led resolution at the United Nations that condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Emirati officials have also refused to increase oil production in an effort to lower gas prices while it continues to pursue closer ties with China.
But following the death of Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the country’s second president who had officially ruled since 2004, Biden this week dispatched his most senior cabinet officials led by Vice President Harris who was joined by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and CIA Director William Burns.
The visit by the Biden administration’s top brass was one to express condolences – and congratulations – to the new leader, Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Known as MBZ, he is the late president’s half-brother.
Harris, in remarks after a meeting that lasted less than one hour, said the purpose of the trip was to “reaffirm the shared commitment we have to security and prosperity in this region and also how the American people have benefited from this relationship in terms of security and prosperity.” She called the UAE a “friend” and “partner.”
The trip came as U.S. officials attempted to woo the monarchy amid a long list of strains between Abu Dhabi and Washington. Another issue is that of a longtime American foe Iran and the UAE’s rejections of the Biden administration’s pursuit of a nuclear deal with Tehran.
The tensions stand in stark contrast to the close ties the UAE held with the former administration.
Abu Dhabi welcomed then-President Trump’s exit from the Iran nuclear deal. Most notably, the Gulf state benefited from normalizing relations with Israel through U.S. proposed military sales and Washington pulling its support from Israeli plans to annex the West Bank.
“MBZ, because he sees himself as a man of vision, and Abu Dhabi of being a significant and important country, he expects respect and certainly under Biden, doesn’t think he’s been treated with respect,” said Simon Henderson, director of the Bernstein Program on Gulf and Energy Policy at The Washington Institute.
“Trump and Jared Kushner [the president’s son-in-law and senior advisor] sort of treated him with respect.”
Experts said that the trip by Biden officials signals the administration knows it has some work to do.
“I think the high level delegation signals that Washington would like to repair the relationship and it’s really important that they do that,” said Hussein Ibish, a senior resident scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington.
Mohammed, 61, has been considered the de-facto ruler of the Emirates for nearly 10 years, since then-President Khalifa suffered a stroke in 2014 and was largely sidelined from power up until his death.
Mohammed has held tremendous sway throughout the region during his time as crown prince of Abu Dhabi and is described by regional watchers as having a “vision,” focused on growing the Emirates wealth, making its economy an important global player and pushing back against what it views as the threat of political Islam, in particular in neighboring Iran and Qatar.
Gerald Feierstein, former ambassador to Yemen and a distinguished senior fellow on U.S. diplomacy at Middle East Institute, said Mohammed’s influence on the Trump administration’s “Abraham Accords” – the normalization agreements between Israel, the UAE and Bahrain – signaled the crown prince’s desire to be a “driver of events of the region more broadly, than just the Gulf.”
The UAE has also garnered greater independence from the U.S.
“For the Emirates, they consider the U.S. a less reliable security and regional partner than it has been considered in the past and so they’re willing to craft their own independent foreign policy,” said Courtney Freer, nonresident fellow with the Brookings Institution.
Abu Dhabi took issue early on in the Biden administration with what it viewed as a weak response to threats and attacks the Emirates faced from Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels, including Biden removing the Houthi terrorist designation.
Ibish, of the Arab Gulf States Institute, said the robust U.S. response to support Ukraine following Russia’s invasion underscored the feeling that Washington was abandoning its security commitments in the Middle East.
“They look at the firm and united and resolute response to the invasion of Ukraine and compare it to those missile attacks [by the Houthis] and they feel very second best and not particularly looked after,” he said.
That has left leaders in the Emirates looking for help elsewhere.
“Whatever Washington wants, he [Mohammed] will make his own deal with Iran because they’re neighbors across the waters of the Gulf. And Dubai in particular, has important contacts with Iran at least on a commercial level,” Henderson said.
Also at issue are negotiations that were reportedly rejected by the UAE to buy 50 F-35 fighter jets from the U.S. amid “defense security conditions for the acquisition,” a UAE official told Reuters in December.
A State Department spokesperson, requesting anonymity, told The Hill that the administration remains committed to the sales and “are continuing consultations with the U.A.E. to ensure that we have a clear, mutual understanding with respect to Emirati obligations and actions before, during, and after delivery.”
Before the Biden administration visit this week, the U.S. had already started to take steps toward repairing the diplomatic relationship, Ibish noted, in the form of an apology by Blinken to Mohammed last month for the Biden administration’s delay in responding to Houthi attacks in Abu Dhabi this year.
“It’s the apology that goes a long way because the response really did seem insufficient and particularly in the light of the Ukraine invasion, where the difference of the Western response is very stark,” Ibish added.
Feierstein added that the Blinken-Mohammed meeting in Morocco was a step in the “right direction” that “cleared away a lot of the underbrush in the relationship.”
“No two states ever see anything eye to eye, there are always differences in opinion and of position. But what you do want is a strong institutional link that allows you to work through those issues,” he added.
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Live coverage: Pennsylvania, North Carolina Senate primaries
Five states are holding primary elections today, including marquee contests in Pennsylvania, where Democratic and GOP voters will choose their nominees for an open Senate seat and key governor’s mansion.
North Carolina, Oregon, Idaho and Kentucky are also holding closely watched House, Senate and gubernatorial primaries.
Tuesday’s results will be yet another test of former President Trump’s sway in the Republican Party. He has endorsed in Pennsylvania and North Carolina’s GOP Senate primaries and in Idaho and Pennsylvania’s GOP gubernatorial contests.
They will also be another chance for progressives to make their mark after a somewhat lackluster start to the primary season.
Click here for live results from all five states.
And follow The Hill’s live coverage below:
Catch up before the polls close
6:30 p.m.
Five things to watch in North Carolina, Pennsylvania primaries
Fetterman stroke throws curve into Pennsylvania primary
Seven primary races to watch on Tuesday
GOP sounds alarm in Pennsylvania as hard-line candidates rise
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