Tag Archives : Build House

House passes 48-bill wildfire-protection package

The House of Representatives narrowly passed legislation Friday boosting the pay of wildfire fighters and taking steps to improve fire resilience in western forests. 

The package combines nearly 50 western resiliency and wildfire-related bills, including a provision to increase federal wildland firefighters’ pay to match that of their state counterparts. It would also give force of law to the Forest Service’s current 10-year plan.

That plan, announced by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack in January, instructs the Forest Service to increase the area it treats by about 20 million acres’ worth of national forests and grasslands, along with support for about 30 million acres of state, local, private and tribal lands. 

“The Wildfire Response and Drought Resiliency Act is a carefully crafted bill — that includes proposals from nearly fifty stand-alone pieces of legislation,” Rep. Joe Neguse (D-Colo.), one of the primary sponsors of the package, said at a press conference Thursday calling for passage of the measure.  

“Across America the impacts of climate change continue to worsen, and in this new normal historic droughts and record setting wildfires have become all too common. What once were wildfire seasons are now wildfire years,” Neguse added. “For the families across the country who have lost their homes due to these devastating wildfires and for the neighborhoods impacted by drought, we know that we need to apply a whole of government approach to […] supporting community recovery and bolstering environmental resiliency.” 

The measure comes after years of intensifying wildfires that have particularly devastated the western U.S. As of Thursday, more than 73 large blazes existed in the west, with over 3 million acres burned by large fires, according to the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC). The NIFC specifically blamed the current levels on a combination of unprecedented heat and unusually dry fuel. About 35,000 fires have been ignited by humans this year compared to more than 3,200 by lightning. 

The measure received one Republican vote in the closely-divided chamber. The House ultimately approved an amendment from House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and Rep. Connie Conway (R-Calif.) creating a grant program for improved water reliability in hard-hit communities.  

Source: TEST FEED1

Bill restricting Big Cat ownership, made famous by ‘Tiger King,’ passes House

A bill to restrict private ownership of big cats like lions, tigers and leopards as pets and for breeding passed the House on Thursday, marking a victory for animal welfare activists and Carole Baskin of the “Tiger King” Netflix show.

The House passed the bill 278-134, with all votes against being Republican and 63 Republicans joining with Democrats to vote in favor.

It now heads to the Senate, where bill advocates believe it has a shot of passing by unanimous consent. The White House on Tuesday issued a formal statement of support for the bill, indicating that President Biden will sign it into law if it comes to his desk. The bill previously passed the House in the last Congress in December 2020, when there was little time for the Senate to consider it.

The bill was supported not only by animal welfare groups, but also by a number of law enforcement organizations like the National Sheriff’s Association. 

Big cats kept as pets have frequently been seen on the loose, posing a danger to the public. Last year, a tiger in Houston, Texas, reportedly escaped its owners’ property after climbing over a fence. Police have little training or skill on how to deal with the wild animals on the loose, or if confronted with one while conducting other activities. 

In a 2011 incident in Zanesville, Ohio, a man set free around 50 exotic animals from his collection – including lions, tigers, bears and a baboon – shortly before killing himself. Police, fearing for public safety, shot and killed dozens of the animals.

“I’ve experienced the worst-case scenario first-hand, and it is a gut-wrenching experience to think about tigers, lions, and other big cats on the prowl in such close proximity to our homes and our schools,” Muskingum County Sheriff Matt Lutz, of the Zanesville area, said in a statement. 

Under the bill led by Reps. Mike Quigley (D-Ill.) and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.), possession of the big cats and cross-breeds would be limited to wildlife sanctuaries, state universities and certified zoos, and ban breeding the cats except by a certified zoo or animal exhibitor. Those on display must be kept at least 15 feet away from the public or build a permanent barrier to prevent contact.

Current owners of big cats now who would be otherwise restricted will be able to keep them, as long as they do not breed, acquire or sell any prohibited wildlife species; do not allow direct contact between cats and the public; and register the cat with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. That would gradually phase out private ownership of the animals.

The bill would take aim at the “cub-petting” industry assailed by animal welfare activists in which members of the public pay to play or take photos with tiger cubs or other big cats.

Many advocates for the bill, including the Humane Society of the United States, have credited the popularity of the 2020 “Tiger King” series with bringing public attention to private ownership of big cats in the U.S. and propelled the bill forward. A version of the legislation was first introduced a decade ago.

“‘Tiger King’ has clearly put this on the radar for everyone,” animal welfare lobbyist Marty Irby, who is also executive director of Animal Wellness Action, told The Hill earlier this week. “If we had not seen COVID and ‘Tiger King’ come out at the same time when COVID first hit and be such an overwhelming presence around the globe, really not even just the U.S., then we probably would not be where we are today.”

Baskin, the founder and CEO of Florida rescue facility Big Cat Rescue, has met with dozens of lawmakers and offices about the bill and has frequently been spotted on Capitol Hill advocating for the bill. 

“It is an enormous expense to care for these animals and reckless behavior foists a massive long-term financial liability on animal sanctuaries,” Baskin said in a statement. “None of these private big cat owners holds onto the animals for very long, and that means they get turned over to groups like Big Cat Rescue that have to take in these traumatized, often very unhealthy animals.”

Though the bill had broad Republican support, some House Republicans voiced opposition to the bill.

Rep. Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.), ranking member of the Natural Resources Committee, argued that the bill would duplicate federal processes and proposed giving the Department of Agriculture authority to regulate the cats rather than the Department of the Interior.

Several other Republicans argued that the House should be spending time addressing other topics like inflation or the Southern border, and that regulation of private big cat ownership should be left to the states.

Irby called the complaints about time spent on the issue “ridiculous in light of the fact that everyone had plenty of time to practice and dedicate resources to the Congressional baseball game this week, which really does little to nothing to help the American people.”

Source: TEST FEED1

Musk confidentially countersues Twitter over nixed acquisition bid: reports

Tesla CEO Elon Musk confidentiality filed a countersuit against Twitter, after the company sued him for terminating a deal to buy the social media platform for $44 billion earlier this month, according to multiple news reports.

The Friday countersuit was not made publicly available. A Twitter spokesperson declined to comment to The Hill on the development.

The Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter, that Musk is expected to counterclaim that the number of monetizable daily active users was changed by Twitter before the deal was expected to go through.

In addition, the Journal reported Musk will likely claim that Twitter did not respond when the SpaceX CEO’s team made inquiries on spam number data were not sufficiently answered by the social media company.

Musk’s counsel argued that Twitter violated their agreement on several counts, including that: the social media company had fired two executives and therefore went against their agreement; Twitter did not share adequate information regarding bots on Twitter’s platform; and that they have made incorrect statements regarding bots on their site.

Days after Musk terminated the deal, the social media company filed a lawsuit against the billionaire.

“These claims are pretexts and lack any merit,” Twitter’s lawsuit claimed. “Musk, by contrast, has been acting against this deal since the market started turning, and has breached the merger agreement repeatedly in the process.”

The five day trial between the two will start beginning Oct. 17.

Source: TEST FEED1

Biden approval rating falls to new low in Gallup poll

President Biden’s approval rating sank to a new low since Gallup conducted its first survey of the president’s approval rating in January 2021, according to a new poll it released on Friday.

The Gallup poll found that 38 percent of voters approve of Biden’s job as president, down from 41 percent last month. In comparison, the president started out his term at 57 percent in January 2021.

Broken down by party, 78 percent of Democrats, 31 percent of Independents and 5 percent of Republicans surveyed gave the president a thumbs up. The polling shows a decline in approval among Democrats of 7 percent since they were last polled in June and 5 percent among Independents.

Gallup also compared Biden’s average approval rating in the sixth quarter to that of elected presidents going back to former President Eisenhower, noting Biden had the lowest average approval rating of them all at this point in the presidency at 40 percent. 

Former Presidents Trump and Carter had the next lowest average approval rating in the sixth quarter at 42 percent, while former President George W. Bush had the highest average at that point at 75 percent. 

The polling is more bad news for the president, who has continued to be mired in low approval ratings, one of several political headwinds facing Democrats ahead of the November midterms. 

The Gallup poll was conducted between July 5 and July 26 with 1,013 adults surveyed. The margin of error is plus or minus 4 percentage points at the 95 percent confidence level. 

Source: TEST FEED1

On The Money — How the Manchin-Schumer deal came together 

We have the details on how Schumer and Manchin secretly worked to revive the climate and tax spending bill. We’ll also look at the most recent inflation data and big oil’s huge profits.  

But first, find out whether Democrats or Republicans won the most important baseball game.  

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.

Inside the secret Manchin-Schumer deal

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) reached their agreement on a major tax and climate package Tuesday evening but kept it a closely guarded secret — giving Democrats just enough time to pass a $280 billion chips and science bill that Republicans would have otherwise blocked.   

The announcement of the deal, which would raise $739 billion in new tax revenue, fund an array of new climate provisions and pay down $300 billion of the federal deficit, came as a complete surprise to their Senate colleagues. 

“I’d say it’s somewhere between a surprise and a shock,” said Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.). 

• Less than two weeks earlier, talks between Schumer and Manchin fell apart in dramatic fashion and the Democratic leader accused Manchin of “walking away.” 
• The two reconvened in secret on July 19 and finally hashed out a deal on Tuesday evening prior to Wednesday’s announcement.  
• They agreed to pay for climate and health care investments with a 15 percent corporate minimum tax on large companies, beefing up IRS enforcement of tax compliance and closing the carried interest loophole.  

Alexander Bolton details the top-secret negotiations here. 

Democrats aren’t out of the woods yet: They’re still waiting to hear from Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), who was left out of the last-stage negotiations between Manchin and Schumer and last year opposed doing away with the carried interest tax loophole. Sinema’s office said she’s reviewing the text and will need to see what comes out of the parliamentarian process.   

HIGHER AND HIGHER 

Fed’s inflation gauge jumped in June as gas prices soared 

A June surge in gasoline prices fueled much higher inflation and a dip in household spending power, according to data released Friday by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). 

• The personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index, a key gauge of inflation, rose 1 percent in June and 6.8 percent annually last month, according to the BEA.
    
• The monthly inflation rate rose from 0.6 percent in May and the annual inflation rate rose from 6.3 percent that month. 

Economists expected the PCE price index to show another big jump in inflation in June, a month when the average cost of a gallon of gas in the U.S. rose above $5.  

• The war in Ukraine and the resultant sanctions imposed on Russia have limited the global supply of oil and natural gas — along with food and other commodities — making prices higher and more volatile. 
• High energy and food prices also can boost inflation throughout the economy as companies try to cover higher transportation, manufacturing and ingredient costs. 

But it wasn’t just the “Putin price hike,” as the White House likes to call it. Without food and energy prices, the PCE price index rose 0.6 percent on the month. It had risen by only 0.3 percent in each month since February. 

Sylvan has more here. 

GAS MONEY  

Big Oil companies post record profits 

ExxonMobil, Chevron and Shell posted record profits in the second quarter of 2022 as companies announced earnings this week.  

The profits come as the world saw extremely high prices of both oil and gasoline.  

• Exxon said Friday that between April and June of this year, it made
  $17.9 billion, up from about $5.5 billion during January through March. 
• Chevron, meanwhile, made $11.6 billion, up from around $6 billion last quarter. 
• Shell made $11.5 billion, up from $9.1 billion the previous quarter. 

Rachel Frazin has the figures here. 

STOCK TALK 

McCarthy swipes at Pelosi over ban on lawmaker stock trading 

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) took a swipe at Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Friday over reports that Democratic lawmakers are planning to introduce a ban on lawmaker stock trading next month. 

McCarthy during his Friday press conference said it is not “proper” for Pelosi to write the bill regarding a ban on congressional lawmakers’ stock trading, pointing to investments her husband, Paul Pelosi, a venture capitalist, has made. According to Insider, the couple has attained the vast majority of their wealth through financial transactions made by Paul Pelosi. 

Good to Know

A new poll found overwhelming support from voters in both parties for two key antitrust bills that are facing a dwindling deadline to pass this year.  

Asked about the American Innovation and Choice Online Act, a bipartisan bill that would limit tech giants from preferring their own products and services over rivals’, nearly 73 percent of respondents said they lean toward supporting the bill.  

Here’s what else we have our eye on: 

• A group representing gig workers slammed a House bill it said would misclassify workers in a way that would deny them basic labor protections.  

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 next week. 

VIEW FULL VERSION HERE

Source: TEST FEED1

Russia and China use human trafficking, it’s not just a human rights issue—it’s a global security issue

July 30 is World Day Against Trafficking in Persons, and as the West builds its strategies to counter Russia and China’s increasingly coordinated military aggressions and invasive intelligence operations, we would do well to take a closer look at how human trafficking fuels both of these state-controlled economies—and revisit a human rights tool that could help us address security threats by hitting at the financial engines of global war machines. 

On Feb. 4 of this year, just 20 days before the invasion of Ukraine, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin unveiled an agreement proclaiming there would be “no forbidden areas” of their partnership. Backing from China’s economic powerhouse emboldened Putin’s aggression toward Ukraine, and unsurprisingly, reports suggest that Chinese companies recently ramped up supplying Russia microchips and other components with potential military applications. Every life is valuable, and the lives lost in Ukraine are irreplaceable. Do we want this happening in Taiwan or other countries? Earlier this month, FBI Director Christopher Wray and MI5 Director General Ken McCallum met in London in an unprecedented show of solidarity to announce China’s increasingly aggressive intelligence operations against the West and the imminent security threat they present to the world.  

It’s well-known that China exploits at least 1 million Uyghurs under a massively profitable and genocidally-scaled state sanctioned human trafficking scheme. Uyghur trafficking is big business: twenty percent of the world’s cotton supply, or 1 in 5 garments, may be tainted by Uyghur forced labor. It took Uyghur advocates and their American supporters years to see the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act go into effect on June 21. This U.S. policy aims to ensure that goods made by Uyghur-forced labor victims never enter global markets.  

But what many in the West may not know is that Russia, too, has a long history of engaging in state-sponsored human trafficking. Until 2018, Russia held a formal agreement with North Korea—a U.S. recognized state sponsor of terrorism that enslaves over 10 percent of its population in forced labor—to receive 20,000 North Koreans every year for labor exploitation. Additionally, last week Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.), the sponsor of the original Trafficking Victims Protection Act in 2000, held a hearing on Capitol Hill highlighting China and Russia’s human rights violations in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) mining sector, including child and forced labor. An estimated seventy percent of all the world’s cobalt comes from the DRC, and it is harvested in mines by approximately 40,000 children. 

The security of the United States, Europe and the world is threatened by Russia and China’s lucrative systemic human trafficking abuses. The U.S. State Department’s annual Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report, which was just released, ties U.S. foreign aid to a country’s human trafficking tier ranking. Tier 3 is reserved for countries and territories whose governments do not fully comply with the minimum standards and are not making significant efforts to do so. Not surprisingly, Russia and China are Tier 3 nations along with North Korea and Afghanistan.  

Effective changes in public policy often begin with changes in public opinion. The response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine has demonstrated this. With the voluntary massive withdrawal of over 1,000 businesses and corporations all at once with no mandate or legislative requirement, businesses issued their own version of sanctions against Russia because they recognized the threat and took decisive action. Every Tier 3 country should be viewed as a potential global security threat, and for the sake of both human rights and global security, investors, manufacturers, and consumers should consider a Tier 3 ranking a “red flag” when determining where to source raw materials, hire employees, build factories, produce goods, or send their hard-earned dollars.

Many businesses are to be applauded for their voluntary efforts to withdraw from these countries as a protective measure, but a beneficial prevention measure would be the use of TIP Report tier rankings to aid in the decision of where to conduct business in the future. Let’s sideline countries who exploit human beings while they simultaneously plot the demise of the West.

Rushan Abbas is the founder and executive director of Campaign for Uyghurs, which is a current Nobel Peace Prize nominee. Anne Basham is the chair of the global Task Force on Human Trafficking for the Parliamentary Intelligence Security Forum and the founder of Ascend Consulting, a human rights advocacy firm in Washington, D.C.   

Source: TEST FEED1

Hillicon Valley — Gig workers criticize ‘flexibility’ proposal

Gig economy workers criticized a bill they argue would exclude workers in app-based jobs from labor protections, but supporters say the legislation aims to strike a balance for independent workers.  

Meanwhile, Instagram said it would roll back some of the changes to the app that had been criticized by some users – including at least a few prominent celebrities on the platform.

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

Gig worker group slams House bill 

A group representing gig workers slammed a House bill it said would misclassify workers in a way that would deny them basic labor protections.  

The Worker Power Coalition, which represents 24 million workers nationwide, called the Worker Flexibility and Choice Act an “anti-worker proposal intended to further endanger already vulnerable gig economy workers.” 

The proposal was introduced last week by Reps. Henry Cueller (D-Texas) and Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.). It would allow independent workers to “voluntarily” enter into “flexibility agreements,” according to the bill’s text.  

Supporters of the proposal, including a group that represents gig companies such as Uber and Lyft, said the bill aims to strike a balance with the flexibility agreements.  

Under the agreements, workers would get rights provided to employees under workplace privacy, anti-discrimination, harassment, retaliation and safety laws. But they would not be considered employees for federal tax purposes or entitled to full protections under federal labor laws, including for minimum wage or overtime. 

Read more here.  

Instagram rolls back controversial changes  

Instagram will roll back some of the recent changes to its platform after critics complained it was only trying to be more like TikTok and that they preferred it before. 

Adam Mosseri, who serves as the head of Instagram, told Platformer, a publication focused on covering Big Tech and democracy, in an interview on Thursday that a test version of the platform that displayed full-screen photos and videos will be phased out in the next one to two weeks.  

He said Instagram will also cut down on the number of recommended posts in the app while it works on its algorithm.  

“I’m glad we took a risk — if we’re not failing every once in a while, we’re not thinking big enough or bold enough,” Mosseri said. “But we definitely need to take a big step back and regroup. [When] we’ve learned a lot, then we come back with some sort of new idea or iteration.” 

Read more here.  

POLL SHOWS SUPPORT FOR ANTITRUST BILLS   

A new poll found overwhelming support from voters in both parties for two key antitrust bills that are facing a dwindling deadline to pass this year.  

The survey of registered voters was conducted by Edison Research for the Tech Oversight Project, a group pushing for antitrust reform that is primarily funded by the Omidyar Network and the Economic Security Project. The poll asked voters about their support for two proposals that target the market power of dominant tech firms.  

Asked about the American Innovation and Choice Online Act, a bipartisan bill that would limit tech giants from preferring their own products and services over rivals’, nearly 73 percent of respondents said they lean toward supporting the bill. 

Read more here.  

BITS & PIECES

An op-ed to chew on: Microchip subsidy sleight-of-hand 

Notable links from around the web: 

FTC’s Khan Overruled Staff to Sue Meta Over VR App Deal (Bloomberg / Leah Nylen) 

How Streaming Stars Pay the Price of Online Fame (The New York Times / Kellen Browning and Kashmir Hill) 

Inside Amazon’s plan to “neutralize” powerful unions by hiring ex-inmates and “vulnerable students” (Vox / Jason Del Rey) 

😁 Lighter click: The District’s perks 

One more thing: A record high for Twitter

Twitter reported on Thursday that it received record numbers of government legal demands targeting journalists from July to December of last year. 

The tech giant reported a 103 percent increase in overall legal demands related to verified journalists and news outlets, such as requests to remove content or court orders. 

It received a total of 47,572 demands regarding 198,931 accounts. About a quarter of those demands, 11,460, were made by governments, 20 percent of which were from the U.S. government. 

“We continue to see a concerning trend toward attempts to limit global press freedom, with an increase in government legal demands targeting journalists, as well as an overall increasing number of legal demands on accounts – both represent record highs since reporting began,” Twitter wrote in its transparency report. 

Read more here.  

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

VIEW FULL VERSION HERE

Source: TEST FEED1

House passes bill to ban assault weapons

The House on Friday passed a bill to ban assault weapons, securing a significant victory for Democrats following a spate of mass shootings across the country and marking the first time lawmakers have approved a prohibition on the popular firearms in more than two decades.

The legislation, titled the Assault Weapons Ban of 2022, cleared the chamber in a 217-213 vote.

Republican Reps. Chris Jacobs (R-N.Y.) and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) supported the measure, while Democratic Reps. Henry Cuellar (Texas), Jared Golden (Maine), Vicente Gonzalez (Texas), Kurt Schrader (Ore.) and Ron Kind (D-Wisc.) voted “no.”

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) announced Friday morning that the House would take up the legislation that afternoon, scheduling the last-minute vote days after she said the chamber would punt consideration of the legislation to next month.

Democrats had planned to move the assault weapons ban with community safety legislation under one rule, but ultimately decided to consider them separately after some liberals voiced concerns about a lack of accountability in the police measures.

The assault weapons ban legislation, led by Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.) and co-sponsored by 207 voting Democrats, specifically calls for prohibiting the sale, manufacture, transfer or import of various semiautomatic assault weapons, semiautomatic pistols and semiautomatic shotguns, depending on their features.

For example, all semi-automatic rifles that can accept detachable magazines and have a pistol grip, a forward grip, a grenade launcher, a barrel shroud, a threaded barrel or a folding, telescoping or detachable stock are subject to the ban.

Semiautomatic assault rifles with fixed magazines that can accept more than 15 rounds are subject to the ban would also be prohibited under the legislation, except those with an attached tubular device that can only hold .22 caliber rimfire ammunition.

Though it received bipartisan support in the House, the legislation has little chance of progressing in the Senate because of widespread Republican opposition. Still, House Democrats had pressed leadership for the chance to vote on the measure to send a message that they are fighting for an issue that has increased in popularity in recent years.

A poll conducted by Fox News in June found that 63 percent of registered voters support banning assault weapons.

Former President Clinton enacted an assault weapons ban in 1994 but it expired 10 years later, and Democrats have not had the support to pass another measure of its kind since.

The vote on an assault weapons ban is the latest firearm-related legislation the House has passed following a string of mass shootings that have plagued the country.

Last month, the House and Senate both cleared a gun safety bill in a bipartisan manner, which President Biden signed into law.

The measure enhanced background checks for gun purchasers ages 18 to 21 and established a federal offense for individuals obtaining firearms through straw purchases or trafficking, among other provisions.

The bill marked the first time in almost three decades that Congress had approved significant legislation to combat gun violence.

The House in June also cleared a bill to nationalize red flag laws and a sweeping package that included a number of gun-related provisions, including one that would have raised the minimum age to purchase a semi-automatic weapon from 18 to 21 and prohibited civilian use of ammunition with magazines that have more than 15 rounds. Both measures, however, garnered little Republican support and have not been taken up in the Senate.

The push for gun legislation came after a gunman opened fire at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, killing 19 students and two adults. Ten days before that, a gunman fatally shot 10 Black individuals at a grocery store in Buffalo, N.Y.

In both situations, the alleged shooter was a young man wielding an AR-style semi-automatic weapon, which is the main target of the assault weapons ban.

Source: TEST FEED1

Energy & Environment —Schumer-Manchin deal boosts renewables

The reconciliation deal will be a boost for the renewables industry. Meanwhile, major oil companies recently saw a bump in profits.

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

Renewables welcome ’11th hour’ Manchin reprieve 

The renewable energy sector is feeling a rare jolt of optimism over the announcement of a Senate deal on a Democrats-only reconciliation bill, weeks after hope seemed lost. 

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) had dealt renewables a one-two punch after first saying in December that he would not support President Biden’s Build Back Better package and then announcing months later that he would not back the climate provisions in a reconciliation package, which could clear the 50-50 Senate without any cross-aisle support. 

But then: On Wednesday night, however, Manchin and Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) unveiled an agreement that would provide billions for the sector.  

• Their deal includes a $7,500 tax credit for new clean vehicles and a $4,000 tax credit for used ones. It also features tax credits aimed at solar panel and wind turbine manufacturing and $40 billion to incentivize state utilities to transition to renewable energy sources. 

In previous negotiations, the electric vehicle provisions were one of Manchin’s major sticking points, with the West Virginia Democrat specifically objecting to a credit for vehicles produced by union labor. That provision does not appear in the agreement released Wednesday. 

Raves from the industry: Should the measure become law, American Council on Renewable Energy CEO Greg Wetstone predicted a “tremendous increase in investment with the benefit of the policy certainty that this bill brings.”  

“I think Congress has stepped to the climate challenge in a way we have not seen before, and this bill is going to put us in the game,” Wetstone said. “It’s not a given that we can meet our ambitious targets, but we’re going to be in the ballpark.”  

The Biden administration has laid out a target of reducing U.S. emissions by half by 2030. The package unveiled Wednesday would cut emissions by 40 percent in that time frame, according to Manchin, the same goal as the initial Build Back Better package.  

Heather Zichal, CEO of American Clean Power, called the bill “an 11th hour reprieve for climate action and clean energy jobs, and America’s biggest legislative moment for climate and energy policy.”  

• “Congress now is inches away from passing a $369.75 billion investment in energy security and climate change programs over the next ten years — the biggest climate and clean energy investment in American history,” Zichal said in a statement.
• “Passing this bill sends a message to the world that America is leading on climate, and sends a message at home that we will create more great jobs for Americans in this industry.” 

Read more about the package here.  

Big oil, big profits 

ExxonMobil, Chevron and Shell posted record profits in the second quarter of 2022 as companies announced earnings this week.   

The stats: Exxon said Friday that between April and June of this year, it made $17.9 billion, up from about $5.5 billion during January through March. 

Chevron, meanwhile, made $11.6 billion up from around $6 billion last quarter. 

Shell made 11.5 billion, up from 9.1 billion the previous quarter. 

The profits come amid consistently high fuel prices spurred by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. This year, prices of U.S. crude oil peaked in March, which was in the first quarter, but remained above $100 per barrel for several weeks.  

U.S. gasoline prices peaked in June and have fallen in recent weeks. 

The politics: Democrats have criticized the companies’ high profits as Americans contended with high fuel prices.   

This week’s profit announcements drew new criticism from the left, particularly as the companies also said they would buy back more shares of their stock as a way of giving money to shareholders.  

“While you were feeling pain at the pump, Shell, Exxon, and Chevron raked in $46 BILLION in profits over the last three months and said they would spend up to $47 billion on stock buybacks after spending $18.8 billion so far this year. Yes, it’s time for a windfall profits tax,” tweeted Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). 

Read more here. 

Experts want blood tests for those exposed to PFAS

Blood tests for the presence of “forever chemicals” should be available to patients who have a history of likely elevated exposure to these substances, a panel of top environmental health experts declared on Wednesday. 

Clinicians should offer tests to patients who have been exposed to these cancer-linked compounds by either working or living in contaminated settings, the experts argued in a 300-page report published by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine. 

The report calls upon the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to update its clinical guidance regarding blood testing for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). These so-called forever chemicals are linked to a variety of illnesses, such as thyroid cancer, testicular cancer and kidney disease. 

If testing then reveals PFAS levels associated with an increased risk of adverse effects, patients should receive regular screenings and monitoring for these health impacts, according to the report. 

“We are going to need robust and effective collaboration between local communities, states, and federal agencies in order to respond to the challenge of PFAS exposure,” Ned Calonge, associate professor of family medicine at the University of Colorado, Denver, said in a statement. 

Read more from The Hill’s Sharon Udasin. 

WHAT WE’RE READING

• Exxon CEO Loves What Manchin Did for Big Oil in $370 Billion Deal (Bloomberg) 
• Biden EPA to tackle coal industry carbon with rules on other pollutants (Reuters) 
• At least 4 deaths in Oregon tied to heat wave (Oregon Public Broadcasting) 
• Why it’s not just the heat from heatwaves that puts us at risk (The Guardian) 
• The largest Audubon group yet is changing its name, rebuking an enslaver (The Washington Post) 

   🐯 Lighter click: Good news for tigers! 

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 next week.  

VIEW FULL VERSION HERE

Source: TEST FEED1

Defense & National Security — Watchdog details DHS troubles during evacuation 

The Department of Homeland Security’s watchdog said a lack of volunteers hamstrung the agency’s ability to manage Afghan evacuees brought to the U.S. and other countries.  

We’ll talk about the report. Plus, we’ll look at why veterans are staging a sit-in at the Capitol after Senate Republicans blocked legislation expanding benefits to veterans who were exposed to toxins during military service.   

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

Lack of volunteers crippled DHS during evacuation 

A lack of volunteers hamstrung the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) effectiveness in managing a surge of Afghan evacuees brought to the U.S. and other countries in the wake of the U.S. evacuation from Afghanistan, according to a government watchdog. 

While DHS was not a part of the on-the-ground evacuation in Afghanistan, it’s been the lead agency of operation Allies Welcome, tasked with running background checks of evacuees transported to nearby countries and then coordinating with refugee and social service agencies once they arrived at U.S. military bases. 

But despite an initial overwhelming interest in aiding with that effort, a slow response time from DHS combined with a lack of funding left the agency reaching only about a third of its goal for volunteer recruitment. 

Backstory: DHS first reached out to employees about the opportunity to volunteer with the Afghanistan effort on Aug. 20, just days after the fall of Kabul when the chaos of the U.S. exit was becoming increasingly apparent. More than 1,500 employees registered with DHS’s volunteer force to be a part of the effort. 

• But DHS waited almost two months to contact prospective volunteers, in some cases asking them to leave with just 48 to 72 hours’ notice. 
• In the end DHS never had more than 67 volunteers working at the military bases housing Afghan evacuees, supplying just 3 percent of the staff at the so-called safe havens. 

What DHS said: “DHS advertised these detail opportunities to its employees but did not direct components to commit all necessary staff and did not initially receive funding. Therefore, DHS did not fill all the positions,” the report noted. 

“DHS could not reimburse components for the costs of travel and overtime, making some components reluctant to fund the volunteer deployments and further limiting the number of DHS employees at safe havens.” 

Who took on the job? “Partners such as [the Department of Defense], which supplied nearly 87 percent of staff, assumed the majority of responsibility for providing staff at safe havens,” the report noted. 

Volunteers stressed that the funding issues were a major problem. 

“Safe haven leaders and [U.S. government] staff shared their belief that components did not want to pay for employee details and speculated their reluctance was exacerbated by the nearness to the end of the fiscal year and because they were operating under a continuing resolution,” the report said. 

Read more here.  

Vets stage sit-in over burn pits vote  

A group of veterans staged a sit-in at the Capitol in response to Senate Republicans blocking a bill that would extend health care benefits to millions of veterans who were exposed to toxins during their service. 

How long will this last? The group tweeted it would remain outside the Capitol until the next cloture vote on the bill, which is expected Monday. 

Quick recap: Twenty-five senators went from supporting the Sgt. 1st Class Heath Robinson Honoring Our PACT Act when it passed the Senate 84-14 last month to helping filibuster the bill when a technically updated version was blocked 55-42 on Wednesday. 

‘Punched in the gut:’ “We got punched in the gut, right by those 25 senators that flipped their vote from yesterday,” Burn Pits 360 Executive Director and co-founder Rosie Torres told The Hill late Thursday. 

Torres said the veterans rights group was spending the night on the steps of the Capitol “as a message to those senators, those 25 senators and asking them to right the wrong.” 

“They shouldn’t be here, and to know that we’re in that America where they’ve turned their backs on veterans and their families are sick and dying. It’s disgusting. But if this is what we have to do to get the bill passed, and at all costs, all measures, we’re going to get it done,” she said. 

Read the full story here. 

Air Force grounds F-35 fleet due to faulty component

The Air Force said Friday that it is grounding its fleet of F-35 Joint Strike Fighter jets over a faulty component. 

The stand-down, which was first reported by Breaking Defense, was due to an issue with the cartridge actuated device (CAD) — a component inside ejection seats used to help propel the seats out of an aircraft.   

Capt. Jonathan Carkhuff, a spokesperson for Air Force Combatant Command, told The Hill in a statement that the command began a “Time Compliance Technical Directive to inspect all of the cartridges on the ejection seat within 90 days.” 

“Out of an abundance of caution, ACC units will execute a stand-down on July 29 to expedite the inspection process. Based on data gathered from those inspections, ACC will make a determination to resume operations,” Carkhuff added. 

Read more here. 

ON TAP FOR MONDAY

• The National Defense Industrial Association will hold a “Brief on Section 224 Efforts” at 10 a.m. 
• The Hudson Institute will host “The Arc of a Covenant Book Talk with US Senator Ben Sasse” at 6 p.m. 

WHAT WE’RE READING

• Blinken held ‘frank’ talk with Russia’s Lavrov for release of Griner and Whelan 
• DOJ indictment accuses Russian national of turning Americans into tools of Russian government 
• More missing texts, this time from Trump DHS officials, raise new Jan. 6 questions 
• Jan. 6 panel agrees to turn over 20 depositions to DOJ  

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

VIEW FULL VERSION HERE

Source: TEST FEED1