At the center of the dispute is a plan approved by the California Air Resources Board that would provide free pollution allowances to oil refineries and other large industrial polluters if they commit to investments in clean energy or efficiency upgrades. Senate Democrats say the program threatens a climate-funding agreement reached last year between Newsom and lawmakers, and they are trying to use the state budget to stop it.

Sen. Eloise Gómez Reyes, a San Bernardino Democrat who chairs the Senate’s climate budget subcommittee, said the state should honor the agreement that was negotiated when lawmakers extended California’s carbon market through 2045.

“We really need to stay to the deal,” Reyes said.

The Senate’s budget proposal, released last month, would block the new incentive program until the administration shows the state can still fund the climate commitments made in last year’s agreement. Senate Democrats are calling their approach “Deal is a Deal,” a pointed message to Newsom as budget negotiations continue.

The stakes are substantial. Money from California’s carbon market helps pay for programs such as public transit, safe drinking water, neighborhood air monitoring, wildfire protection and affordable housing near transit. Many of those programs are intended to benefit communities that face heavy pollution burdens and limited public investment.

The Senate plan also puts pressure on some of Newsom’s own priorities, including funding for high-speed rail, wildfire programs, electric vehicle incentives and a proposed tax credit for sustainable aviation fuel.

California’s carbon market, launched in 2013, is designed to limit greenhouse gas emissions by requiring major polluters to obtain allowances for the carbon they emit. Companies can buy those allowances at state auctions, generating billions of dollars for climate-related programs.

Last year, Newsom and lawmakers agreed to extend the system, now rebranded as “cap and invest,” through 2045. The agreement set a spending order for the money raised through carbon allowance auctions. Under that deal, high-speed rail would receive $1 billion annually before many other programs, and lawmakers would control another $1 billion each year for their own priorities.

Other programs, including affordable housing near transit, cleaner buses and rail service, safe drinking water, wildfire prevention and local air monitoring, were placed further down the funding list.

But last month, amid concerns over rising gasoline prices and after heavy lobbying from the oil industry, the Air Resources Board adopted changes that reduce the number of allowances sold at auction through 2030. With Newsom’s support, the board also created the Manufacturing Decarbonization Incentive, which could provide up to $4 billion in free allowances to companies that invest in emissions reductions. About half of that amount is expected to go to the fossil fuel industry.

Critics say the changes could dramatically shrink the money available for climate programs. The Legislative Analyst’s Office has estimated the new rules could cut annual auction revenue from about $4 billion to roughly $2 billion, potentially leaving little or no funding for some community-focused programs.

Sen. Scott Wiener, a San Francisco Democrat, criticized the state’s response to pressure from the oil industry.

“It’s unfortunate that the state of California empowers the oil industry to freak everyone out and adopt bad policies,” Wiener said.

Newsom’s office defended the changes, saying they are meant to keep the carbon market stable while addressing costs for consumers and industry.

Anthony Martinez, a spokesperson for the governor, said the administration is trying to preserve California’s climate program in a difficult political and economic environment.

“That is not a retreat from climate leadership — it’s how California keeps leading while the federal government is retreating,” Martinez said.

The Senate’s counterproposal would preserve the $1 billion controlled by lawmakers and then direct up to $2 billion toward housing, transit, clean air and drinking water programs. Newsom’s priorities would be moved lower in the funding order. If carbon-market revenue falls to $2 billion, programs such as Cal Fire, high-speed rail and other administration priorities could receive little or no money from that fund.

Sen. Jesse Arreguín, an Oakland Democrat who chairs the Senate housing committee, questioned why the state would risk reducing funding for affordable housing during a severe housing crisis.

“Why, at this time … would we take away critical funding to build affordable homes in California?” Arreguín said.

Wiener said transit systems also should not be left vulnerable to annual funding fights.

“Every year, transit funding becomes a political football,” he said.

Assembly Democrats have not taken the same position as the Senate. Their budget plan does not directly address the Air Resources Board rule change, and they have not advanced an alternative. Assemblymembers Jacqui Irwin and Cottie Petrie-Norris, Democrats who lead key climate and energy committees, have supported the board’s approach, saying it reflects the Legislature’s interest in affordability, including the possibility of providing more help with electricity costs.

Newsom and lawmakers face a June 30 deadline to approve a state budget before the new fiscal year begins. However, much of the climate spending dispute could continue beyond that date, since some of the funding decisions can be worked out before the legislative session ends in September.

The fight has already slowed some of the governor’s proposals. Newsom in January proposed spending $200 million on electric vehicle incentives, including $115 million from the climate fund. Senate Democrats have delayed negotiations on that item, and discussions could continue through the summer.

The Senate also rejected Newsom’s proposal for a sustainable aviation fuel tax credit. The governor has argued the credit would encourage production of cleaner fuel and support refinery jobs. The proposal would allow eligible producers to pay less into the state’s road repair fund. It followed lobbying by Phillips 66, the only company that has publicly said it would benefit from the tax credit.

Supporters of the Air Resources Board’s new manufacturing incentive program say it is a practical tool for reducing emissions while keeping major employers in California. The board says companies would receive allowances only if they cut their own emissions and that the program includes safeguards requiring companies to return allowances if they fail to meet their commitments.

Lindsay Buckley, a spokesperson for the Air Resources Board, said the cap-and-invest program was revised to reduce pollution in a cost-effective way, protect ratepayers and keep businesses operating in the state.

“The program was never designed to maximize auction revenue,” Buckley said.

Opponents see the program differently. They argue that giving free allowances to major polluters amounts to a subsidy without enough assurance that emissions will actually fall. Some critics also warn the changes could make it harder for California to meet its legally required 2030 climate targets.

The Air Resources Board approved the overhaul on a 10-3 vote, but several members raised concerns. Before the new incentive program begins, the board required further review.

The Senate proposal would restrict climate-fund spending unless the Department of Finance certifies that last year’s agreement can still be funded. It also would prevent the Air Resources Board from distributing the new industrial allowances unless state officials determine the program aligns with California’s climate goals, helps lower gasoline prices and leaves enough funding for endangered climate programs.

The dispute could carry broader political consequences for Newsom, who has often presented California as a national and international leader on climate policy.

Katie Valenzuela, a policy advocate who works on environmental justice issues, said the rule change could damage the governor’s climate record if it is not revised.

“If this rule goes forward and isn’t fixed, this is a huge stain on his climate legacy,” Valenzuela said. “He is showing loud and clear that the most vulnerable residents who are most impacted by climate change are not his priority.”

Original source: CalMatters

The post California Democrats Warn They May Stall Newsom’s Agenda as Climate Deal Falters appeared first on The Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle.

NEW YORK (AP) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom said Sunday that he plans to sign into law a pair of climate-focused bills intended to force major corporations to be more transparent about greenhouse gas emissions and the financial risks stemming from global warming.

Newsom’s announcement came during an out-of-state trip to New York’s Climate Week, where world leaders in business, politics and the arts are gathered to seek solutions for climate change.

California lawmakers last week passed legislation requiring large businesses from oil and gas companies to retail giants to disclose their direct greenhouse gas emissions as well as those that come from activities like employee business travel.

Such disclosures are a “simple but intensely powerful driver of decarbonization,” said the bill’s author, state Sen. Scott Wiener, a Democrat.

“This legislation will support those companies doing their part to tackle the climate crisis and create accountability for those that aren’t,” Wiener said in a statement Sunday applauding Newsom’s decision.

Under the law, thousands of public and private businesses that operate in California and make more than $1 billion annually will have to make the emissions disclosures. The goal is to increase transparency and nudge companies to evaluate how they can cut their carbon emissions.

The second bill approved last week by the state Assembly requires companies making more than $500 million annually to disclose what financial risks climate change poses to their businesses and how they plan to address those risks.

State Sen. Henry Stern, a Democrat from Los Angeles who introduced the legislation, said the information would be useful for individuals and lawmakers when making public and private investment decisions. The bill was changed recently to require companies to begin reporting the information in 2026, instead of 2024, and mandate that they report every other year, instead of annually.

Newsom, a Democrat, said he wants California to lead the nation in addressing the climate crisis. “We need to exercise not just our formal authority, but we need to share our moral authority more abundantly,” he said.

Newsom’s office announced Saturday that California has filed a lawsuit against some of the world’s largest oil and gas companies, claiming they deceived the public about the risks of fossil fuels now faulted for climate change-related storms and wildfires that caused billions of dollars in damage.

The civil lawsuit filed in state Superior Court in San Francisco also seeks the creation of a fund — financed by the companies — to pay for recovery efforts following devastating storms and fires.

Find your latest news here at the Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle

The post California Gov. Gavin Newsom says he will sign climate-focused transparency laws for big business appeared first on The Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle.

NEW YORK (AP) — Yelling that the future and their lives depend on ending fossil fuels, tens of thousands of protesters on Sunday kicked off a week where leaders will try once again to curb climate change primarily caused by coal, oil and natural gas.

But protesters say it’s not going to be enough. And they aimed their wrath directly at U.S. President Joe Biden, urging him to stop approving new oil and gas projects, phase out current ones and declare a climate emergency with larger executive powers.

“We hold the power of the people, the power you need to win this election,” said 17-year-old Emma Buretta of Brooklyn of the youth protest group Fridays for Future. “If you want to win in 2024, if you do not want the blood of my generation to be on your hands, end fossil fuels.”

The March to End Fossil Fuels featured such politicians as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and actors Susan Sarandon, Ethan Hawke, Edward Norton, Kyra Sedgewick and Kevin Bacon. But the real action on Broadway was where protesters crowded the street, pleading for a better but not-so-hot future. It was the opening salvo to New York’s Climate Week, where world leaders in business, politics and the arts gather to try to save the planet, highlighted by a new special United Nations summit Wednesday.

Many of the leaders of countries that cause the most heat-trapping carbon pollution will not be in attendance. And they won’t speak at the summit organized by U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in a way that only countries that promise new concrete action are invited to speak.

Organizers estimated 75,000 people marched Sunday.

“We have people all across the world in the streets, showing up, demanding a cessation of what is killing us,” Ocasio-Cortez told a cheering crowd. “We have to send a message that some of us are going to be living on, on this planet 30, 40, 50 years from now. And we will not take no for an answer.”

This protest was far more focused on fossil fuels and the industry than previous marches. Sunday’s rally attracted a large chunk, 15%, of first-time protesters and was overwhelmingly female, said American University sociologist Dana Fisher, who studies environmental movements and was surveying march participants.

Of the people Fisher talked to, 86% had experienced extreme heat recently, 21% floods and 18% severe drought, she said. They mostly reported feeling sad and angry. Earth has just gone through the hottest summer on record.

Among the marchers was 8-year-old Athena Wilson from Boca Raton, Florida. She and her mother Maleah, flew from Florida for Sunday’s protest.

“Because we care about our planet,” Athena said. “I really want the Earth to feel better.”

People in the South, especially where the oil industry is, and the global south, “have not felt heard,” said 23-year-old Alexandria Gordon, originally from Houston. “It is frustrating.”

Protest organizers emphasized how let down they felt that Biden, who many of them supported in 2020, has overseen increased drilling for oil and fossil fuels.

“President Biden, our lives depend on your actions today,” said Louisiana environmental activist Sharon Lavigne. “If you don’t stop fossil fuels our blood is on your hands.”

Nearly one-third of the world’s planned drilling for oil and gas between now and 2050 is by U.S. interests, environmental activists calculate. Over the past 100 years, the United States has put more heat-trapping carbon dioxide in the atmosphere than any other country, though China now emits more carbon pollution on an annual basis.

“You need to phase out fossil fuels to survive our planet,” said Jean Su, a march organizer and energy justice director for the Center for Biological Diversity.

Marchers and speakers spoke of increasing urgency and fear of the future. The actress known as V, formerly Eve Ensler, premiered the anthem “Panic” from her new climate change oriented musical scheduled for next year. The chorus goes: “We want you to panic. We want you to act. You stole our future and we want it back.”

Signs included “Even Santa Knows Coal is Bad” and “Fossil fuels are killing us” and “I want a fossil free future” and “keep it in the ground.”

That’s because leaders don’t want to acknowledge “the elephant in the room,” said Ugandan climate activist Vanessa Nakate. “The elephant is that fossil fuels are responsible for the crisis. We can’t eat coal. We can’t drink oil, and we can’t have any new fossil fuel investments.”

But oil and gas industry officials said their products are vital to the economy.

“We share the urgency of confronting climate change together without delay; yet doing so by eliminating America’s energy options is the wrong approach and would leave American families and businesses beholden to unstable foreign regions for higher cost and far less reliable energy,” said American Petroleum Institute Senior Vice President Megan Bloomgren.

Activists weren’t having any of that.

“The fossil fuel industry is choosing to rule and conquer and take and take and take without limit,” Rabbi Stephanie Kolin of Congregation Beth Elohim of Brooklyn said. “And so waters are rising and the skies are turning orange (from wildfire smoke) and the heat is taking lives. But you Mr. President can choose the other path, to be a protector of this Earth.”

Find your latest news here at the Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle

The post Tens of thousands march to kick off climate summit, demanding end to warming-causing fossil fuels appeared first on The Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle.

President Biden plans to unveil more than $600 million in federal spending to fight the effects of climate change on Monday in Palo Alto. But much of his multi-day visit to California is focused on raising money, notably from Silicon Valley tech leaders, for his 2024 reelection campaign.

Biden will be joined by Gov. Gavin Newsom as he tours the Lucy Evans Baylands Nature Interpretive Center and Preserve. After touring a wetland, he is expected to announce the funding to protect the nation’s power grid and communities on the coast and around the Great Lakes — regions susceptible to storm surge, sea level rise and flooding, according to a White House official.

Biden will be joined by Gov. Gavin Newsom as he tours the Lucy Evans Baylands Nature Interpretive Center and Preserve. After touring a wetland, he is expected to announce the funding to protect the nation’s power grid and communities on the coast and around the Great Lakes — regions susceptible to storm surge, sea level rise and flooding, according to a White House official.

But much of his time will be spent fundraising in a state that is key to his reelection bid.

In 2020, Californians spent $305.6 million to back his campaign, more than one-fifth of his total haul and the most of any state in the nation, according to an analysis by the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics of donations of more than $200 from individuals. And that sum doesn’t include contributions to political action committees that operate independently of campaigns.

Biden’s wife, First Lady Jill Biden, raised money in the Bay Area and Los Angeles last week.

The president is holding multiple fundraisers Monday and Tuesday. Among the hosts are former EBay executive and 2006 gubernatorial candidate Steve Westly and LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, according to Democrats familiar with their plans who could not discuss them publicly.

Find your latest news here at the Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle

The post Biden visits California to talk climate and raise cash appeared first on The Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Search for the word “climate” on Twitter and the first automatic recommendation isn’t “climate crisis” or “climate jobs” or even “climate change” but instead “climate scam.”

Clicking on the recommendation yields dozens of posts denying the reality of climate change and making misleading claims about efforts to mitigate it.

Such misinformation has flourished on Twitter since it was bought by Elon Musk last year, but the site isn’t the only one promoting content that scientists and environmental advocates say undercuts public support for policies intended to respond to a changing climate.

“What’s happening in the information ecosystem poses a direct threat to action,” said Jennie King, head of climate research and response at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, a London-based nonprofit. “It plants those seeds of doubt and makes people think maybe there isn’t scientific consensus.”

The institute is part of a coalition of environmental advocacy groups that on Thursday released a report tracking climate change disinformation in the months before, during and after the U.N. climate summit in November.

The report faulted social media platforms for, among other things, failing to enforce their own policies prohibiting climate change misinformation. It is only the latest to highlight the growing problem of climate misinformation on Twitter.

Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, allowed nearly 4,000 advertisements on its site — most bought by fossil fuel companies — that dismissed the scientific consensus behind climate change and criticized efforts to respond to it, the researchers found.

In some cases, the ads and the posts cited inflation and economic fears as reasons to oppose climate policies, while ignoring the costs of inaction. Researchers also found that a significant number of the accounts posting false claims about climate change also spread misinformation about U.S. elections, COVID-19 and vaccines.

Twitter did not respond to questions from The Associated Press. A spokesperson for Meta cited the company’s policy prohibiting ads that have been proven false by its fact-checking partners, a group that includes the AP. The ads identified in the report had not been fact-checked.

Under Musk, Twitter laid off thousands of employees and made changes to its content moderation that its critics said undercut the effort. In November, the company announced it would no longer enforce its policy against COVID-19 misinformation. Musk also reinstated many formerly banned users, including several who had spread misleading claims about climate change. Instances of hate speech and attacks on LGBTQ people soared.

Tweets containing “climate scam” or other terms linked to climate change denial rose 300% in 2022, according to a report released last week by the nonprofit Advance Democracy. While Twitter had labeled some of the content as misinformation, many of the popular posts were not labeled.

Musk’s new verification system could be part of the problem, according to a report from the Center for Countering Digital Hate, another organization that tracks online misinformation. Previously, the blue checkmarks were held by people in the public eye such as journalists, government officials or celebrities.

Now, anyone willing to pay $8 a month can seek a checkmark. Posts and replies from verified accounts are given an automatic boost on the platform, making them more visible than content from users who don’t pay.

When researchers at the Center for Countering Digital Hate analyzed accounts verified after Musk took over, they found they spread four times the amount of climate change misinformation compared with users verified before Musk’s purchase.

Verification systems are typically created to assure users that the accounts they follow are legitimate. Twitter’s new system, however, makes no distinction between authoritative sources on climate change and anyone with $8 and an opinion, according to Imran Ahmed, the center’s chief executive.

“We found,” Ahmed said, “it has in fact put rocket boosters on the spread of lies and disinformation.”

Find your latest news here at the Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle

The post Climate misinformation ‘rocket boosters’ on Musk’s Twitter appeared first on The Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle.

Columbia Mailman School has long been a leader in climate and health research and education. In 2011, the School launched its Climate and Health program, the first in a school of public health. Then in 2017, the School became the home of the Global Consortium on Climate and Health Education (GCCHE), dedicated to teaching on the topic in health professions schools.

This fall, GCCHE is launching two initiatives to educate health professionals about the health impacts of climate change—and how they can make a difference. Starting this week, an online boot camp will equip participants with tools to channel their voices and action to address emerging climate impacts. Coming in early October, a new podcast will launch with weekly episodes offering news, in-depth discussion, and inspiration to action.

“Health professionals are the most trusted voices in society and our collective voices are needed to prepare communities to effectively respond to the climate crisis,” says Cecilia Sorensen, director of GCCHE and Columbia Mailman associate professor of environmental health sciences. “But first we need to change the way we think and act as health professionals to become more comfortable as advocates for change.”

 Over 550 physicians, nurses, pharmacists, public health professionals, and allied health professionals from more than 50 countries have already signed up for the Climate and Health Advocacy Bootcamp, offered jointly by GCCHE and the Medical Society Consortium on Climate and Health. The first of five weekly sessions takes place on September 29. Participants can sign up at any point and pick and choose which sessions they would like to join.

The boot camp will feature guest experts in communications, storytelling, and advocacy, including several clinician-advocates. Participants will learn how to communicate their personal stories and craft effective talking points; energize productive discussions about climate and health, as part of the electoral process; and build their advocacy network and engage with colleagues, community members, and policymakers.

Launching on October 3, the Climate Clinic podcast will bring listeners the latest climate and health headlines every week alongside in-depth discussions with experts from situations unfolding around the world, student perspectives, and inspiration from health care professionals who are transforming the health systems to both mitigate and adapt to the changing climate. Each episode will explore the many health impacts of climate change—extreme weather, food insecurity, emerging infectious disease, forced migration, and more—as well as strategies to address them. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

The Climate Clinic is produced by Adesh Sundaresan, GCCHE director of media and communications, who also will be co-hosting the show’s news segment, alongside Marc Futernick, an emergency medicine doctor at California Hospital Medical Center. Kristie Hadley, a fellow at Columbia Mailman School, will contribute interviews with public health officials, health care providers, and researchers, including an upcoming deep dive into the devastating flooding in Pakistan.

Rounding out a full schedule of programming, on Thursdays between September 29 and October 20, GCCHE and Sustain Our Abilities are co-hosting a Climate Change, Disability, and Rehabilitation Workshop. And on December 1, GCCHE and Health Care Without Harm will present a webinar on plant-forward diets in health care. It is the fifth in a series titled The Path to Climate-Smart Net-Zero Emissions Health Care; past webinars are available to watch online.

“We want to amplify the tremendous work that is happening globally in the field of climate and health and make sure health professionals are equipped with the facts. Further, we want to support global connections to accelerate the adoption of solutions that work,” says Sorensen. “We all need to equip ourselves with the best science and join forces to change health systems and prepare ourselves to manage rapidly changing climate impacts that affect our communities and patients today.”

Find your latest news here at the Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle

The post Go Here to Learn About Climate and Health and How to Make a Difference appeared first on The Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle.

The Climate Club Inc. was founded in March 2022 in the interest of bridging the gap between the science community and the general public. During the COVID-19 pandemic, The Climate Club (TCC) founder, a former student at Columbia Mailman School of Public Health, noticed an increase in the spread of misinformation as well as public confusion about where and how to access reliable science. In response to this, they sought to create a platform that prioritizes accurate and accessible public health information.

In this way, The Climate Club is the first organization of its kind to actively engage students and young professionals in writing about current topics pertaining to climate, sustainability, and environmental health and providing reliable science to the general public. 

Since its inception, The Climate Club (TCC) has seen significant growth in its presence on social media platforms such as Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn. Given the group’s focus on simplifying and personalizing scientific information, articles written remotely by TCC members help connect individuals to worldwide climate change realities. Readers have praised TCC content as being “brilliantly articulated” and as taking “amazing actions [toward] climate and environmental protection.”

Founder and Director Zhiru Wang anticipates endless possibilities for the organization: “While topics regarding climate, sustainability, and environmental health can be complex, The Climate Club believes in young scholars and provides them with a platform to become the next generation’s science communicators.”

The Climate Club’s current reach stems from the development of peer-reviewed articles published on their website and shared through social media networks. The team is also working to provide college campuses across the nation with the opportunity to start their own The Climate Club campus chapters.

“Effective science communication requires constant effort from scientists, educators, policymakers, and, just as importantly, students,” said Wang. “Encouraging university students to share scientific findings with an array of audiences may redefine the relationship between the science community and the general public, thus affecting how everyone understands the role science plays in our broader communities.”

Given the scientific and political climate of the past couple years, people need to know that the information they’re receiving is reliable. More importantly, they need to be able to understand it in order to apply it to their personal experiences. 

“The Climate Club is a place people can turn to learn about and absorb meaningful science communication,” said Wang. 

Staff writer Sissi Sun concurs: “It’s a beautiful journey of peer-to-peer learning.”

To learn more about the organization and its mission, visit their website here. For queries, email the team at contact@theclimateclub.com

Find your latest news here at the Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle

The post Nonprofit Start-Up Encourages Young Scholars to Convey Digestible Information on Climate and Environmental Health appeared first on The Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden signed Democrats’ landmark climate change and health care bill into law on Tuesday, delivering what he has called the “final piece” of his pared-down domestic agenda, as he aims to boost his party’s standing with voters less than three months before the midterm elections.

The legislation includes the most substantial federal investment in history to fight climate change — some $375 billion over the decade — and would cap prescription drug costs at $2,000 out-of-pocket annually for Medicare recipients. It also would help an estimated 13 million Americans pay for health care insurance by extending subsidies provided during the coronavirus pandemic.

The measure is paid for by new taxes on large companies and stepped-up IRS enforcement of wealthy individuals and entities, with additional funds going to reduce the federal deficit.

In a triumphant signing event at the White House, Biden pointed to the law as proof that democracy — no matter how long or messy the process — can still deliver for voters in America as he road-tested a line he will likely repeat later this fall ahead of the midterms: “The American people won, and the special interests lost.”

“In this historic moment, Democrats sided with the American people, and every single Republican in the Congress sided with the special interests in this vote,” Biden said, repeatedly seizing on the contrast between his party and the GOP. “Every single one.”

The House on Friday approved the measure on a party-line 220-207 vote. It passed the Senate days earlier with Vice President Kamala Harris breaking a 50-50 tie in that chamber.

“In normal times, getting these bills done would be a huge achievement,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said during the White House ceremony. “But to do it now, with only 50 Democratic votes in the Senate, over an intransigent Republican minority, is nothing short of amazing.”

Biden signed the bill into law during a small ceremony in the State Dining Room of the White House, sandwiched between his return from a six-day beachside vacation in South Carolina and his departure for his home in Wilmington, Delaware. He plans to hold a larger “celebration” for the legislation on Sept. 6 once lawmakers return to Washington.

The signing caps a spurt of legislative productivity for Biden and Congress, who in three months have approved legislation on veterans’ benefits, the semiconductor industry and gun checks for young buyers. The president and lawmakers have also responded to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and overwhelmingly supported NATO membership for Sweden and Finland.

With Biden’s approval rating lagging, Democrats are hoping that the string of successes will jump-start their chances of maintaining control in Washington in the November midterms. The 79-year-old president aims to restore his own standing with voters as he contemplates a reelection bid.

The White House announced Monday that it was going to deploy Biden and members of his Cabinet on a “Building a Better America Tour” to promote the recent victories. One of Biden’s trips will be to Ohio, where he’ll view the groundbreaking of a semiconductor plant that will benefit from the recent law to bolster production of such computer chips. He will also stop in Pennsylvania to promote his administration’s plan for safer communities, a visit that had been planned the same day he tested positive for COVID-19 last month.

Biden also plans to hold a Cabinet meeting to discuss how to implement the new climate and health care law.

Republicans say the legislation’s new business taxes will increase prices, worsening the nation’s bout with its highest inflation since 1981. Though Democrats have labeled the measure the Inflation Reduction Act, nonpartisan analysts say it will have a barely perceptible impact on prices.

Senate Minority Whip John Thune, R-S.D., on Tuesday continued those same criticisms, although he acknowledged there would be “benefit” through extensions on tax credits for renewable energy projects like solar and wind.

“I think it’s too much spending, too much taxing, and in my view wrong priorities, and a super-charged, super-sized IRS that is going to be going after a lot of not just high-income taxpayers but a lot of mid-income taxpayers,” said Thune, speaking at a Chamber of Commerce event in Sioux Falls. The administration has disputed that anyone but high earners will face increased tax scrutiny, with Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen directing the tax agency to focus solely on businesses and people earning more than $400,000 per year for the new audits.

The measure is a slimmed-down version of the more ambitious plan to supercharge environment and social programs that Biden and his party unveiled early last year.

Biden’s initial 10-year, $3.5 trillion proposal also envisioned free prekindergarten, paid family and medical leave, expanded Medicare benefits and eased immigration restrictions. That crashed after centrist Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., said it was too costly, using the leverage every Democrat has in the evenly divided Senate.

During the signing event, Biden addressed Manchin, who struck the critical deal with Schumer on the package last month, saying, “Joe, I never had a doubt” as the crowd chuckled. Later, outside the White House, Manchin said he has always maintained a “friendly relationship” with Biden and it has “never been personal” between the two, despite Manchin breaking off his negotiations with the White House last year.

“He’s a little bit more vintage than I am, but not much,” Manchin said of Biden.

Though the law is considerably smaller than their initial ambitions, Biden and Democrats are hailing the legislation as a once-in-a-generation investment in addressing the long-term effects of climate change, as well as drought in the nation’s West.

The bill will direct spending, tax credits and loans to bolster technology like solar panels, consumer efforts to improve home energy efficiency, emission-reducing equipment for coal- and gas-powered power plants, and air pollution controls for farms, ports and low-income communities.

Another $64 billion would help 13 million people pay premiums over the next three years for privately bought health insurance under the Affordable Care Act. Medicare would gain the power to negotiate its costs for pharmaceuticals, initially in 2026 for only 10 drugs. Medicare beneficiaries’ out-of-pocket prescription costs would be limited to $2,000 annually starting in 2025, and beginning next year would pay no more than $35 monthly for insulin, the costly diabetes drug.

Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., a powerful political ally to Biden, noted during the White House ceremony that his late wife, Emily, who battled diabetes for three decades, would be “beyond joy” if she were alive today because of the insulin cap.

“Many seem surprised at your successes,” Clyburn told Biden. “I am not. I know you.”

Find your latest news here at the Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle

The post Biden signs massive climate and health care legislation appeared first on The Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is moving swiftly to dismantle Donald Trump’s legacy on his first day in office, signing a series of executive actions that reverse course on immigration, climate change, racial equity and the handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

The new president signed the orders just hours after taking the oath of office at the Capitol, pivoting quickly from his pared-down inauguration ceremony to enacting his agenda. With the stroke of a pen, Biden ordered a halt to the construction of Trump’s U.S.-Mexico border wall, ended the ban on travel from some Muslim-majority countries, declared his intent to rejoin the Paris Climate Accord and the World Health Organization and revoked the approval of the Keystone XL oil pipeline, aides said.

The 15 executive actions amount to an attempt to rewind the last four years of federal policies with striking speed. Only two recent presidents signed executive actions on their first day in office — and each signed just one. But Biden, facing the debilitating coronavirus pandemic, a damaged economy and a riven electorate, is intent on demonstrating a sense of urgency and competence that he argues has been missing under his Republican predecessor.

“There’s no time to start like today,” Biden said in his first comments to reporters as president.

Biden wore a mask as he signed the orders in the Oval Office — a marked departure from Trump, who rarely wore a face covering in public and never during events in the Oval Office. But mask wearing is now required in the building. Among the executive actions signed Wednesday was one putting in place a mask mandate on federal property. Biden’s order also extended the federal eviction freeze to aid those struggling from the pandemic economic fallout, created a new federal office to coordinate a national response to the virus and restored the White House’s National Security Council directorate for global health security and defense, an office his predecessor had closed.

The actions reflected the new president’s top policy priority — getting a handle on a debilitating pandemic. In his inaugural address, Biden paused for what he called his first act as president — a moment of a silent prayer for the victims of the nation’s worst public health crisis in more than a century.

He declared that he would “press forward with speed and urgency” in coming weeks. “For we have much to do in this winter of peril and significant possibilities — much to repair, much to restore, much to heal, much to build and much to gain,” he said in the speech.

But Biden’s blitz of executive actions went beyond the pandemic. He targeted Trump’s environmental record, calling for a review of all regulations and executive actions that are deemed damaging to the environment or public health, aides said Tuesday as they previewed the moves. Another order instructs federal agencies to prioritize racial equity and review policies that reinforce systemic racism. Biden also revoked a Trump order that sought to exclude noncitizens from the census and ordered federal employees to take an ethics pledge that commits them to upholding the independence of the Justice Department.

Aides said he also revoked the just-issued report of Trump’s “1776 Commission” that promotes “patriotic education.”

Those moves and others will be followed by dozens more in the next 10 days, the president’s aides said, as Biden looks to redirect the country without having to go through a Senate that Democrats control by the narrowest margin and will soon turn to Trump’s impeachment trial.

Republicans signaled that Biden will face fierce opposition on some parts of his agenda.

One of his orders seeks to fortify the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, known as DACA, a signature effort of the Obama administration that provided hundreds of thousands of young immigrants protection from deportation and a pathway to citizenship. That’s part of a broader immigration plan that would provide an eight-year path to citizenship for an estimated 11 million people living in the U.S. without legal status.

The plan would lead to “a permanent cycle of illegal immigration and amnesty that would hurt hard-working Americans and the millions of legal immigrants working their way through the legal immigration process,” said Chris Hartline, a spokesman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

Even that familiar criticism seemed a return to the normalcy Biden has promised after years of disruptive and overheated politics. Biden’s first day in the White House was a celebration of Washington traditions. He attended church with both Democratic and Republican leaders of Congress.

In another effort to signal a return to pre-Trump times, Jen Psaki, the new White House press secretary, said she would hold a news briefing late Wednesday in a symbol of the administration’s commitment to transparency. Trump’s White House had all but abandoned the practice of briefing reporters daily.

Biden’s action notably did not include immediate steps to rejoin the Iran nuclear accord, which Trump abandoned and Biden has pledged to reimplement. Psaki noted that more actions were coming, including plans to revoke the Pentagon’s ban on military service by transgender Americans as well as the so-called Mexico City policy, which bans U.S. funding for international organizations that perform or refer women for abortion services.

Find your latest news here at the Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle

The post On Day One, Biden targets Trump policies on climate, virus appeared first on The Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle.