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Politico
5 days ago
- Business
- Politico
Is FEMA solvent? Depends who you ask
Presented by The nation's top emergency response agency has repeatedly warned that it will run out of money to respond to natural disasters by August. So some emergency managers found it jarring when White House budget chief Russ Vought insisted that the federal disaster fund is 'flush' through September, writes Thomas Frank. They began asking: Is Vought misinformed — or is the administration planning to keep the money pot full by slashing aid to states as the Atlantic hurricane season revs up? President Donald Trump has long promised to reduce the Federal Emergency Management Agency's aid to states, putting pressure on governors to handle ballooning disaster costs as climate change intensifies storms, floods and wildfires. A spokesperson for the Office of Management and Budget declined to address Tom's questions about the contradiction between FEMA's assessments and remarks that Vought made in the Oval Office on June 10. 'We're in a very good place,' Vought said at the time, standing behind Trump. The budget chief added that the disaster fund had $13 billion, and that other federal disaster accounts 'are funded, they're flush.' In an email, Rachel Cauley affirmed Vought's statement that the disaster fund 'is fully funded.' In contrast, FEMA projected in its June 3 monthly report that the fund's balance would drop to $2.8 billion in July and enter a deficit by August that would reach $7.8 billion in September. Vought could be 'clueless,' said former Biden-era FEMA chief of staff Michael Coen. He warned that if the White House believes the agency has adequate funding to get the country through hurricane season — which lasts from June 1 through Nov. 30 — then it won't request supplemental funding from Congress. If there's no supplemental funding to replenish the disaster pot, FEMA will be forced to halt longer-term recovery efforts to shore up cash for emergency expenses, such as search and rescue operations. FEMA is actively supporting 81 major disasters and eight emergency declarations. 'FEMA is going to have to stop funding recovery projects — fires in Maui, fires in California, the current recovery that just started in St. Louis,' Coen told Tom. Such a move is not without precedent, Tom writes. Since 2003, the agency has cut off funding for long-term recovery projects 10 times when its disaster fund dropped too low (roughly $3 billion). The disaster fund has faced chronic shortages in recent years due largely to Trump's decision in the 2020 pandemic to give every state disaster aid for virus-related costs. The move was widely supported at the time, but states claimed costs that exceeded projections by tens of billions of dollars. It's Tuesday — thank you for tuning in to POLITICO's Power Switch. I'm your host, Arianna Skibell. Power Switch is brought to you by the journalists behind E&E News and POLITICO Energy. Send your tips, comments, questions to askibell@ Today in POLITICO Energy's podcast: Zack Colman breaks down how energy-related agencies are struggling to function amid administrative budget cuts, work stoppages and general uncertainty. Power Centers Senate megabill text won't save solar creditsDespite weeks of saying they would go easy on President Joe Biden's clean energy tax cuts, senators' tax portion of the Republican megabill — released Monday evening — would do little to protect incentives for wind, solar and hydrogen power, write Kelsey Brugger and Andres Picon. The new text is, however, friendly to geothermal, nuclear and hydropower. Trump's firing of nuclear regulator raises eyebrowsTrump's abrupt firing Friday of Nuclear Regulatory Commissioner Christopher Hanson marks another move by the White House to gain control of the independent agency as it heads into a critical review of safety regulations governing a lineup of new reactors, writes Peter Behr. Democrats in the House and Senate condemned Trump's action, saying it violated the specific terms of the 1946 Atomic Energy Act that established the nation's civilian nuclear energy program. The legislation, reaffirmed in 1954, says that a commissioner may be removed for 'inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office.' Trump's quiet truce on California waterTrump promised to break California's water rules wide open. So far, he's mostly working within them, writes Camille von Kaenel. Five months after Trump issued a pair of directives for federal agencies to overturn state and Biden-era rules limiting water deliveries, the federal government has done no such thing. Instead, it's quietly increasing water flows, following the very rules Trump once railed against — at least for now. In Other News Inside the 'Big Beautiful Bill": Trump wants your EV rebate — and your heat pump, too. Hurricane season comes to life: Erick is set to strike Mexico as a hurricane this week. Subscriber Zone A showcase of some of our best subscriber content. The Trump administration green-lit a plan for an Arizona mine that could create a crater deeper than the height of the Eiffel Tower on ground that some Native Americans consider sacred. A project to address extreme heat in California prisons has been stopped after its EPA grant was canceled last month. Trump nominated Katherine Scarlett to lead the White House Council on Environmental Quality, where she will oversee efforts to hasten permitting for energy infrastructure, data centers and other public works projects. That's it for today, folks! Thanks for reading.
Politico
6 days ago
- Politics
- Politico
Trump's climate assault has only begun
Presented by The Trump administration is unraveling the federal government's capacity to understand and respond to climate change at a remarkable clip. And it's just getting started, writes Scott Waldman. Since returning to the White House five months ago, President Donald Trump has dismissed hundreds of climate and weather scientists — and cut government ties to hundreds more in the private sector and academia. The administration has gutted major climate programs, frozen or eliminated grants for climate research, and moved to terminate a federal program that requires industries to track their planet-warming pollution. It has gummed up operations within agencies that work on climate issues, including by slow-walking contracts to service two polar weather satellites. And it's declining to participate in an increasing number of international climate initiatives. The administration has defended its actions as necessary to cut costs and shrink the size of government. But scientists say the end result will likely be a nation unprepared to handle the surge of climate-fueled disasters already roiling the economy — from monthslong heat waves, fires, storms and floods to disruptions in agricultural growing seasons and the insurance industry. Scientists also warn that administration actions are making it harder for the United States and the world to track the major sources of heat-trapping gases, including through the burning of fossil fuels. 'This isn't being done to cut costs,' one of the country's best-known climate scientists, the University of Pennsylvania's Michael Mann, told Scott. 'It's being done because climate science — and simply measuring our climate — has proven inconvenient to certain special interests who hold sway today in Washington.' He added: 'It's humiliating and it debilitates our standing in the world community.' And it's likely just the beginning. Trump's budget proposal calls for even deeper cuts, including to research programs at NOAA and NASA, widely considered two of the world's top science agencies. The long-term damage is part of the goal. 'If Democrats ever get back in power, there will be a lot to rebuild,' said Steve Milloy, a member of Trump's first-term transition team who has spent decades battling federal climate science and regulations. Last month, Trump issued an executive order on a new 'gold standard' for scientific research that effectively blocks federal agencies from using established science on greenhouse gas emissions, human health harms from pollution and environmental degradation. It's Monday — thank you for tuning in to POLITICO's Power Switch. I'm your host, Arianna Skibell. Power Switch is brought to you by the journalists behind E&E News and POLITICO Energy. Send your tips, comments, questions to askibell@ Today in POLITICO Energy's podcast: Debra Kahn breaks down Trump's revocation of California's ability to enforce its nation-leading clean-car rules. Power Centers Slain Minnesota lawmaker remembered as a climate giant Melissa Hortman, the Minnesota state lawmaker assassinated early Saturday morning in her home, was a major power behind the state's landmark climate policies, writes Adam Aton. Hortman served as state House speaker until early 2025, driving the passage of a slew of progressive legislation. In 2023, she helped pushed through bills that established Minnesota's clean electricity standard, a green bank, subsidies for clean tech and electric vehicles, greater environmental justice provisions in permitting, and a suite of other climate policies. Trump fires Biden nuclear commission memberTrump has terminated Commissioner Christopher Hanson from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the latest move by the White House to assert control over independent agencies, write Josh Siegel and Kelsey Tamborrino. Hanson said in a statement Monday that he was removed from the position Friday 'without cause' and 'contrary to existing law and longstanding precedent regarding removal of independent agency appointees.' States go big on nuclear billsSurging power demand from artificial intelligence data centers is driving a reinvigorated interest among states' lawmakers in nuclear power, writes Jeffrey Tomich. From Phoenix to Austin to Indianapolis, statehouses have this year introduced more than 200 nuclear-related bills backed by Democrats and Republicans. Dozens have already been signed into law or are awaiting governors' signatures. In Other News Heating up: Alaska just issued its first-ever heat advisory. Here's why. U.S. cities look to Vienna: Could this city be the model for how to tackle the housing crisis and climate change? Subscriber Zone A showcase of some of our best subscriber content. Cuts, freezes and all-around chaos are jamming up the basic functions of agencies dealing with energy and environmental policy, employees told POLITICO nearly five months into the Trump administration. The Supreme Court has agreed to weigh in on a procedural dispute over which court should decide an oil company's responsibility for Louisiana coastline restoration. A coalition of young people is seeking an emergency injunction to block Trump's executive orders that call for boosting the production of oil, gas and coal. That's it for today, folks! Thanks for reading.
Politico
12-06-2025
- Automotive
- Politico
GM's electric future just got way more future
General Motors stunned the auto world four years ago when it pledged to go all electric by 2035. That goal quietly died this week when the company announced a $4 billion investment heavily skewed toward gasoline-powered vehicles, writes David Ferris. The companies' EV target was always more on the aspirational side — and highly dependent on federal policies and market trends, analysts told David. 'It was always a long shot at best,' said auto analyst Sam Abuelsamid. But the goal was emblematic of a burgeoning push toward phasing out gasoline-powered vehicles under former President Joe Biden, who made boosting electric cars and trucks a cornerstone of his climate agenda. GM finds itself in a starkly different world under President Donald Trump, who has raced to dismantle federal tax EV credits, frozen grants for building charges to power them, and implemented high tariffs that make production more expensive. Not even Trump's once-close relationship to Tesla CEO Elon Musk blunted his attacks on EVs. While GM isn't abandoning its electric vehicle portfolio — 'We still believe in an all-EV future,' a spokesperson told David — the auto giant's renewed investment in gasoline-powered cars and trucks means its all-electric future just got much further away. 'GM's doing a better job than many of their competitors, but there's obviously a relatively low ceiling because of the lack of supportive policy,' said Alan Baum, an independent Detroit auto analyst. Earlier this week, GM trumpeted the fact that it sold 37,000 electric vehicles in the first quarter of the year, making it the No. 2 EV maker in the U.S. behind Tesla. But the company has also announced new investments in gasoline-powered production, signaling it plans to make internal combustion engines well behind 2035. It is also a member of the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, which has vociferously opposed California's plans to require all-electric auto sales by 2035. It's Thursday — thank you for tuning in to POLITICO's Power Switch. I'm your host, Arianna Skibell. Power Switch is brought to you by the journalists behind E&E News and POLITICO Energy. Send your tips, comments, questions to askibell@ Today in POLITICO Energy's podcast: Alex Guillén breaks down how the Environmental Protection Agency's proposed rollback of a historic Biden-era climate rule for power plants will impact efforts to fight global warming. Power Centers Legal pitfalls in climate rule rollbackEPA's proposal to stop regulating power plant climate pollution is built around a bold claim that the industry emits too little heat-trapping pollution to be worth it, write Jean Chemnick, Niina H. Farah and Lesley Clark. Legal experts say that rationale could create legal stumbling blocks. House approves cuts packageThe House approved a $9.4 billion rescissions package Thursday, a White House priority that would claw back more than half a billion dollars for international disaster aid and clean energy programs, writes Andres Picon. Among other cuts, the bill would repeal the country's entire $125 million contribution to the international Clean Technology Fund for fiscal 2025. In Other News Floodplain buyouts: As floods keep coming, this small city can't afford to let people leave. Submarine warfare: Submarines are hard to detect. Climate change might make it even harder. Subscriber Zone A showcase of some of our best subscriber content. The Trump administration is bailing on a climate summit in Bonn, Germany, that has long served as a stepping stone to broader international talks later in the year. House Republicans are again pushing legislation to rewrite the Clean Air Act, but with a fresh argument: that changes are needed to keep up with the explosive demand for data centers. California energy officials greenlit the country's largest solar and battery project ever via a new permitting process to streamline certain clean energy projects. That's it for today, folks! Thanks for reading.
Politico
11-06-2025
- Automotive
- Politico
A good day to be a fossil fuel
The Trump administration is intensifying its efforts to boost the fossil fuel industry. Its latest move: proposing a free pass to pollute. The Environmental Protection Agency today announced it would roll back Biden-era limits on carbon and toxic air pollution from power plants. While the nation is the world's second-biggest climate polluter, lagging only behind China, EPA argues that the U.S. power sector's pollution does not contribute enough to global climate change to justify regulating it, write Alex Guillén and Jean Chemnick. That's even though the power sector alone emits more carbon pollution than most countries and accounts for one-quarter of U.S. greenhouse gases. Former President Joe Biden's climate rule for power plants requires new natural gas plants and existing coal-fired units to eventually capture and store their greenhouse gas emissions. Analysts had anticipated that the measure — which the Trump administration aims to repeal by the end of the year — would make a significant dent in power sector climate pollution. The administration does not plan to issue a replacement rule, a person familiar with the agency's plans told Jean and Zack Colman. EPA also announced today that it aims to repeal a separate rule that curbs toxic mercury pollution from power plants. The agency's moves build on a slew of other Trump administration efforts to decimate U.S. climate policy. Trump plans to sign a trio of resolutions Thursday to revoke California's national-leading vehicle emissions standards, writes Alex Nieves. The administration has also taken a sledgehammer to executive branch programs dealing with climate change, from NASA's climate research division to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's heat team. And congressional Republicans are weighing to what extent they will unravel hundreds of billions of dollars in tax credits for clean energy production from Democrats' 2022 climate law. Era of inertia: If Trump's newest EPA rule repeal sticks, it will extend a 15-year-long streak of setbacks for regulators' and lawmakers' attempts to address one of the nation's biggest climate pollution sources, Zack, Benjamin Storrow and Annie Snider write: 'The years of whipsawing moves have left Washington with no consistent approach on how — or whether — to confront climate change, even as scientists warn that years are growing short to avoid catastrophic damage to human society.' It's Wednesday — thank you for tuning in to POLITICO's Power Switch. I'm your host, Arianna Skibell. Power Switch is brought to you by the journalists behind E&E News and POLITICO Energy. Send your tips, comments, questions to askibell@ Today in POLITICO Energy's podcast: Josh Siegel breaks down why Sen. Martin Heinrich of New Mexico, the top Democrat on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, thinks the GOP megabill will cost Republicans at the ballot box. Power Centers AI boom could boost 'forever chemicals'The artificial intelligence boom isn't only driving up demand for power, it's also spurring production of so-called forever chemicals used to build semiconductor chips needed for data centers, writes Miranda Willson. Chemical giant Chemours, for example, is pushing to expand production of forever chemicals to meet surging demand, raising concerns about whether the company can scale up its output without releasing more toxic pollutants. Heat déjà vuLast month was the world's second-warmest May on record, European scientists have found, writes Louise Guillot. The same scientists found that this April was also the second-warmest April globally on record. It followed a March that was the warmest on record. In Other News AI futures: Data centers are building their own natural gas power plants in Texas. Trash sucks: A Norwegian city uses vacuum tubes to whisk waste away. Subscriber Zone A showcase of some of our best subscriber content. Energy Secretary Chris Wright was put in the uncomfortable position of defending Trump's decision to save a New York offshore wind project that it had pushed to the brink of collapse. Federal employee unions secured a legal victory this week when a federal court issued an order blocking the Office of Personnel Management from giving DOGE access to its records. The Transportation Department is set to release a draft of its overhauled guidance for the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure program later this month. That's it for today, folks! Thanks for reading.
Politico
06-06-2025
- Business
- Politico
Trump could knock NY's climate goals over the edge
New York state was already struggling to meet its aggressive climate targets before President Donald Trump took office. Now it's locked in a showdown with the president and his antagonism toward environmental policies, writes Benjamin Storrow. Within weeks of taking office, Trump targeted a state plan to limit the number of gasoline-powered cars and trucks entering Manhattan. He reversed his decision to cancel a major offshore wind project in exchange for building a pair of natural gas pipelines the state had previously rejected. And that's on top of federal policies, such as killing generous clean energy tax incentives, that will make it harder for New York to go green. 'New York has been a leader on climate and this administration is coming after progressive climate policy,' Raya Salter with the state's Climate Action Council told Ben. 'That's why we need for our state to fight and push harder than ever and be the model that this country and the world needs.' But even without Trump, it's an uphill battle. Only a quarter of the state's electricity is produced with clean power, lagging far behind its goal of 70 percent by 2030. Natural gas companies are challenging the state's ban on gas hookups in new buildings. And New York's climate pollution from transportation remains stubbornly high, continuing to account for 40 percent of its greenhouse gas emissions. Rising energy costs are only complicating matters. While most of the country saw natural gas prices fall in 2024, New York and New England were exceptions. Gas prices in New York increased by 14 percent compared with 2023. That has created a political pressure point for Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul, who said she is open to new gas pipelines to lower costs for consumers. While Hochul disputes it, Trump contends he secured Hochul's openness to pipelines by agreeing to lift his stop-work order on an offshore wind project. Environmental activists worry the move will further imperil the state's climate targets. 'It's going to be hard to reach the goals if you keep building infrastructure to expand [natural gas] consumption,' said Ira Joseph, a longtime gas analyst and senior research associate at Columbia University's Center on Global Energy Policy. Thank goodness it's Friday — thank you for tuning in to POLITICO's Power Switch. I'm your host, Arianna Skibell. Power Switch is brought to you by the journalists behind E&E News and POLITICO Energy. Send your tips, comments, questions to askibell@ Today in POLITICO Energy's podcast: James Bikales breaks down why the auto industry's powerful trade group isn't taking a public position on Republicans' megabill. Power Centers Life after bromance: What's next for DOGE?The very public internet feud between Trump and Tesla CEO Elon Musk this week has thrown the fate of Musk's Department of Government Efficiency operation into question, write Robin Bravender and Hannah Northey. Trump downplayed the significance of the pair's blowup Thursday evening. But some federal employees are hopeful that DOGE will lose power within the administration after its early push to slash funding and fire employees. The fracas also raises questions about whether Musk's allies who remain in the DOGE operation will stick around, or might leave — or be nudged out — sooner than they had planned. How one climate tech company is hanging onThe bloodbath that Republicans are making of federal incentives for climate projects has stopped — for now — at the border of House Speaker Mike Johnson's district, writes Debra Kahn in Currents, POLITICO's climate column. That's where Heirloom Carbon is planning to build its first commercial-scale plant capable of extracting carbon dioxide from the air, by way of shallow trays of crushed limestone that absorb the planet-warming gas. In Other News Poaching prevention: To save rhinos, conservationists are removing their horns. Smoke knows no boundaries: What Canada's fires mean for the U.S. in the future. Subscriber Zone A showcase of some of our best subscriber content. Trump's mad dash to unleash more mining and burning of 'beautiful clean coal' across the U.S. is running face-first into unfavorable market realities. The Transportation Department formally started the process of rewriting the Biden administration's fuel economy standards for cars and trucks, which it says are legally flawed. Forest Service employees who accepted Trump's offer to resign will still be allowed to take on wildfire assignments this summer, according to a new agency memo. That's it for today, folks. Thanks for reading, and have a great weekend!
