 |
|
|
|||||
WASHINGTON (AP) The Republican-controlled Congress has voted to repeal a federal fee on oil and gas producers who release high levels of methane, undoing a major piece of former President Joe Biden’s climate policy aimed at controlling the planet-warming super pollutant.” The fee, which had not gone into effect, was expected to bring in billions of dollars. The Senate on Thursday voted along party lines 52-47 to repeal the fee, following a similar House vote on Wednesday. The measure now goes to President Donald Trump, who is expected to sign it. Methane is a much stronger global warming gas than carbon dioxide, especially in the short term, and is to blame for about one-third of the worlds warming so far. Oil and gas producers are among the biggest U.S. methane emitters and controlling it is critical to address climate change. Most major oil and gas companies do not release enough methane to trigger the fee, which is $900 per ton, an amount that would increase to $1,500 by 2026. The measure was part of the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, but the Environmental Protection Agency didnt formally set rules until late last year. That timing made it vulnerable to the Congressional Review Act, which allows Congress to pass a resolution to undo rules that are finalized toward the end of a president’s term. If those resolutions pass and the president signs them, the rule is terminated and agencies cant issue a similar one again. Its a sorry testament to the influence of Big Oil on Capitol Hill that one of the top priorities of Congress is a blatant handout to the worst actors in the fossil fuel industry,” said Tyson Slocum, director of Public Citizens energy program. The American Petroleum Institute, the largest lobbying group for the oil and gas industry, applauded the move, calling the fee a duplicative, punitive tax on American energy production that stifles innovation.” Thanks to industry action, methane emissions continue to decline as production increases, and we support building on this progress through smart and effective regulation, said Amanda Eversole, the executive vice president and chief advocacy officer at API. Globally, methane concentrations in the atmosphere have been steadily climbing. Republican Sen. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, who chairs the Senate’s Environment and Public Works committee, spoke in favor of repeal on the Senate floor. We should be expanding natural gas production, not restricting it. Instead, the natural gas tax will constrain American natural gas production, leading to increased energy prices and providing a boost to the production of natural gas in Russia, she said. Repeal of the methane fee is the latest of several pro-oil and gas moves Republicans have taken since the start of Trump’s term. On his first day, he declared a national energy emergency, calling for more oil and gas production, and fewer environmental reviews. Democrats failed to overturn that declaration yesterday. Trump has also lifted a pause on new applications for liquified natural gas export terminals, removed the U.S. from the Paris climate agreement, and moved to open up more areas of public lands and waters for oil and gas drilling. The fee on methane releases was aimed at pushing companies to adopt better practices to curb emissions and make their operations more efficient. Technology exists to prevent leaks and to fix them. The EPA had said the fee was expected to reduce 1.2 million metric tons of methane emissions by 2035thats about the same as removing 8 million cars from the road for a year. The Biden administration had also implemented methane regulations on existing oil and gas wells, after addressing methane escaping from new wells. The EPA at the time meant for the fee to complement that rule and focus on the worst polluters. About half of all methane emissions from wells are from just 6% that are smaller producers, according to a recent study. Michael Phillis and Matthew Daly, Associated Press
Category:
E-Commerce
A grassroots organization is encouraging U.S. residents not to spend any money Friday as an act of economic resistance to protest what the group’s founder sees as the malign influence of billionaires, big corporations and both major political parties on the lives of working Americans. The People’s Union USA calls the 24 hours of spending abstinence set to start at midnight an economic blackout, a term that has since been shared and debated on social media. The activist movement said it also plans to promote weeklong consumer boycotts of particular companies, including Walmart and Amazon. Other activists, faith-based leaders and consumers already are organizing boycotts to protest companies that have scaled back their diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, and to oppose President Donald Trump’s moves to abolish all federal DEI programs and policies. Some faith leaders are encouraging their congregations to refrain from shopping at Target, one of the companies backing off DEI efforts, during the 40 days of Lent that begin Wednesday. Here are some details about the various events and experts’ thoughts on whether having consumers keep their wallets closed is an effective tool for influencing the positions corporations take. Who’s behind the 24-hour Economic Blackout? The People’s Union USA, which takes credit for initiating the no-spend day, was founded by John Schwarz, a meditation teacher who lives near the Chicago area, according to his social media accounts. The organization’s website said it’s not tied to a political party but stands for all people. Requests for comment sent to the group’s email address this week did not receive a reply. The planned blackout is scheduled to run from 12 a.m. EST through 11:59 p.m. EST on Friday. The activist group advised customers to abstain from making any purchases, whether in store or online, but particularly not from big retailers or chains. It wants participants to avoid fast food and filling their car gas tanks, and says shoppers with emergencies or in need of essentials should support a local small business and try not to use a credit or debit card. People’s Union plans another broad-based economic blackout on March 28, but it’s also organizing boycotts targeting specific retailers Walmart and Amazon as well as global food giants Nestle and General Mills. For the boycott against Amazon, the organization is encouraging people to refrain from buying anything from Whole Foods, which the e-commerce company owns. What other boycotts are being planned? There are a number of boycotts being planned, particularly aimed at Target. The discounter, which has backed diversity and inclusion efforts aimed at uplifting Black and LGBTQ+ people in the past, announced in January it was rolling back its DEI initiatives. A labor advocacy group called We Are Somebody, led by Nina Turner, launched a boycott of Target on February 1 to coincide with Black History Month. Meanwhile, an Atlanta-area pastor, the Rev. Jamal Bryant, organized a website called targetfast.org to recruit Christians for a a 40-day Target boycott starting March 5, which marks Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. Other faith leaders have endorsed the protest. The Rev. Al Sharpton, founder and president of the National Action Network, a civil rights organization, announced in late January it would identify two companies in the next 90 days that will be boycotted for abandoning their diversity, equity and inclusion pledges. The organization formed a commission to identify potential candidates. “Donald Trump can cut federal DEI programs to the bone, he can claw back federal money to expand diversity, but he cannot tell us what grocery store we shop at, Sharpton said in a statement posted on the National Action Network’s website. Will the events have any impact? Some retailers may feel a slight pinch from Friday’s broad blackout, which is taking place in a tough economic environment, experts said. Renewed inflation worries and Trump’s threat of tariffs on imported goods already have had an effect on consumer sentiment. The (market share) pie is just so big, Marshal Cohen, chief retail advisor at market research firm Circana, said. You cant afford to have your slices get smaller. Consumers are spending more money on food. And that means theres more pressure on general merchandise or discretionary products. Still, Cohen thinks the overall impact may be limited, with any meaningful sales declines more likely to surface in liberal-leaning coastal regions and big cities. Anna Tuchman, a marketing professor at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, said she thinks the economic blackout will likely make a dent in daily retail sales but won’t be sustainable. I think this is an opportunity for consumers to show that they have a voice on a single day,” she said. I think its unlikely that we would see long-run sustained decreases in economic activity supported by this boycott. Other boycotts have produced different results. Target saw a drop in sales in the spring and summer quarter of 2023 that the discounter attributed in part to customer backlash over a collection honoring LGBTQ+ communities for Pride Month. As a result, Target didnt carry Pride merchandise in all of its stores the following year. Tuchman studied the impact of a boycott against Goya Foods during the summer of 2020 after the company’s CEO praised Trump. But her study, based on sales from research firm Numerator, found the brand saw a sales increase driven by first-time Goya buyers who were disproportionately from heavily Republican areas. However, the revenue bump proved temporary; Goya had no detectable sales increase after three weeks, Tuchman said. It was a different story for Bud Light, which spent decades as Americas bestselling beer. Sales plummeted in 2023 after the brand sent a commemorative can to a transgender influencer. Bud Lights sales still havent fully recovered, according to alcohl consulting company Bump Williams. Tuchman thinks a reason is because there were plenty of other beers that the brands mostly conservative customer base could buy to replace Bud Light. Afya Evans, a political and image consultant in Atlanta, said she would make a point of shopping on Friday but will focus on small businesses and Black-owned brands. Evans is aware of other boycotts but she said she liked this one because she believes it could have some effect on sales. Its a broader thing, she said. We want to see what the impact is. Let everybody participate. And plan from there. Anne D’innocenzio and Haleluya Hadero, AP business writers AP Business Writer Dee-Ann Durbin in Detroit contributed to this report.
Category:
E-Commerce
Love Warby Parker glasses, but not the high price tags? This one’s for you. Target is partnering with Warby Parker to bring designer-quality, affordable eyewear to customers, opening five “shop-in-shops” in 2025, the retailers announced on Thursday. Warby Parker staff will run the shops within Target locations, which will offer glasses, sunglasses, contacts, eye exams, and vision screenings, consistent with the eyewear brand’s own stores. Prices will start at $95, including prescription lenses. The first five locations will open in the second half of 2025 at the following Target stores: Willowbrook, IL Bloomington, MN Brick, NJ Columbus, OH (Polaris) Exton, PA Warby Parker at Target will also debut online at Target.com with the opening of the first location. More Warby Parker shops are slated to open in 2026. “Warby Parker at Target reflects both brands’ commitment to style, affordability, quality and convenience,” Christina Hennington, executive vice president of Target said in a statement. “As we test and learn with this new partnershipbringing Warby Parker’s expertise into select storeswe’re enticing new consumers to discover more of Target.” The new partnership will complement, not replace the Minneapolis-based retailer’s growing Target Optical business, which offers a range of products and services at more than 500 of Target’s 2,000 stores nationwide. The Warby Parker shops are the latest addition to Target’s growing number of in-store partnerships, which already include Starbucks, Apple, and Ulta. The news comes after Target announced it was rolling back its DEI efforts, ending its diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives and investments. The move has angered activists, who are calling for customers to boycott the brand as part of both the Target Fast and “Feb. 28 Economic Blackout” movements.
Category:
E-Commerce
The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation will increase its giving over the next two years in response to what it calls a crisis” prompted by the Trump administration‘s freeze on federal foreign aid and the now- suspended freeze on federal grants. “This is a major crisis for our sector and its a time when those of us who can do more should do more,” said John Palfrey, president of MacArthur Foundation, in an interview Wednesday with The Associated Press. Palfrey announced the increase in a blog post on the foundation’s website, saying, The cliff of funding from federal programs has sent budgets underwater in field after field, and people and communities in the United States and abroad will suffer. Palfrey said the foundation would increase giving from 5% of its endowment, which is the minimum required by the Internal Revenue Service, to at least 6% for the next two years. The foundation reported it had $8.7 billion in assets in 2023 and it pays out around $400 million annually. Palfrey said he expected to grant out around $150 million more over the next two years. In his first days in office, President Donald Trump suspended foreign aid and directed the Office of Management and Budget to temporarily suspend all federal grants and contracts. Trump said he wanted to review whether all the grants aligned with his policies. The moves have had profound impacts across many sectors. The U.S. is the largest funder of global humanitarian responses and spent $68 billion on foreign aid in 2023. In 2021, nonprofits reported receiving $267 billion in government grants, according to an analysis of the tax forms that nonprofits file by the Urban Institute. In comparison, foundations granted out $103 billion in 2023, according to research from GivingUSA. Palfrey called on other foundations to join them in the commitment to increase their giving. Philanthropy should act in a different way than we have in the past, which is historically, weve simply given out more money when the stock market has gone up and weve given out less money when the stock market has gone down, he said. Freedom Together Foundation, formerly called the JPB Foundation, also announced that it would double its grantmaking to 10% of its endowment in response to the Trump administration’s policies. Deepak Bhargava, the foundation’s president, wrote in a letter that the current moment reminds him of the AIDS crisis, when activists pushed the government to find a cure and changed the place of LGBTQ+ people in society. The movement made a way out of no way. That can happen again, as it has so many times throughout American history, Bhargava wrote. There is a dispiriting tide of fear right now, and Im disappointed by how few leaders and institutions are stepping up. But my own experience and our shared history teaches us a hopeful lesson: courage is contagious. The Chicago-based MacArthur Foundation is best known for its genius fellowship, which recognizes extraordinary people who work across disciplines and awards them a $800,000 grant. The foundation also focuses on climate, criminal justice and journalism initiatives and has ongoing commitments to Chicago and Nigeria. Palfrey said foundations found ways to make more money available to their grantees during the COVID-19 pandemic and could do so again now. For example, the MacArthur Foundation was one of eight foundations that issued bonds, essentially borrowing against their endowments to be able to pay out more in the short term. I think we need to do something different in 2025, Palfrey said. But I think its the same rationale.” Elisha Smith Arrillaga, vice president of research at The Center for Effective Philanthropy, said nonprofits report feeling a great deal of uncertainty and anxiety because of the president’s executive orders. Really what nonprofits do is that they stand in the gap for all Americans,” she said. “So my hope is that organizations and individuals across this country doing this work in their communities will stand up for the nonprofits that they support, especially at a moment like this. Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits receives support through the APs collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of APs philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy. Thalia Beaty, Associated Press
Category:
E-Commerce
The deadly Los Angeles wildfires had just begun when Comic Relief U.S.’s new CEO took the helm at the charity that uses entertainment to combat poverty. Michele Ganeless noticed Hollywood’s response all the way from New York. She saw late-night TV host Jimmy Kimmel turn his show’s backlot into a donation center. The Largo, an intimate nightclub featuring A-list comedians, hosted benefit performances. Inspired, Ganeless saw an opportunity to help out from the nations other cultural hub through Stand-Up for LA. The goal was to help the New York comedy community give back,” Ganeless said of the March 3 comedy event including Jon Stewart, John Oliver, Ramy Youssef and Hannah Berner at The Town Hall in Manhattan. Everybody has their own special connection,” she added. But, obviously, in the entertainment community and the comedy community, there is a New York-LA connection. Disasters tend to elicit widespread support for those impacted and researchers say meaningful relationships drive charitable donations. The six weeks since Los Angeles’ most destructive wildfires have proven no different. FireAid raised an estimated $100 million with performances from dozens of popular musical acts. But the unique relationship between the United States’ two largest cities has been evident in the fundraisers organized by New York’s entertainment, creative and hospitality industries motivated by their professions’ bicoastal ties. Comic Relief US’ grantees on the ground including actress Taraji P. Henson’s foundation dedicated to marginalized communities’ mental health, youth homelessness nonprofit Covenant House and The Boys & Girls Club are helping the nonprofit determine the areas of greatest need. Berner, a former reality show cast member who has become a fixture of internet comedy, promised a fun night at Stand-Up for LA and called it a joy to also fundraise for families. I was born and raised in New York and have seen others rally for us when we needed it, Berner said in a statement. And now its our turn to show up for L.A. during their difficult time. TV personality Andy Cohen is offering fans the chance to be guests at a New York taping of Bravo’s Watch What Happens Live.” With a donation of at least $10 until April 6, entrants could win a behind-the-scenes experience, airfare and lodging. The beneficiary is the SoCal Fire Fund, which works with vulnerable students, school employees and families recovering from the blazes. As completely different as they are, New York and Los Angeles are inexorably connected; when a calamity happens on either coast its just instinctual that we support each other,” Cohen said in a statement to The Associated Press. It isn’t just celebrities getting involved. Over 170 people bought tickets for a benefit show on a recent Friday night in Brooklyn. The organizers, artist manager Heather de Armas and music publicist Ava Tunnicliffe, donated the $3,275 in proceeds to Mutual Aid LA. The wildfires felt more present as the two watched the devastation unfold through social media posts. The majority of Tunnicliffe’s clients and coworkers are based in the Los Angeles area. Alt-pop vocalist B.Miles told the crowd “this is a very special thing to be a part of because the Pasadena native still has family there. It was easy to get people on board to help out what I would call our sister city, Tunnicliffe said. And I think they would do the same for us. Carlos Quirarte, co-founder of Ray’s Bar, wasn’t sure anyone would pitch in for a clothing drive he organized at his locations in Greenpoint and the Lower East Side. But people overwhelmed their tiny, little spaces, he said, and local movers Piece of Cake dropped off 300 boxes for shipping. Skateboarder Mark Gonzales, a longtime Supreme collaborator, donated six boxes of the streetwear brand’s merchandise. Customers again showed up for a Jan. 18 fundraiser. Guests’ $20 entry fees and $1 of every drink purchase went to World Central Kitchen. Quirarte said the event, co-sponsored by dating app Bumble, garnered more than $20,000. It wasn’t the first time that he and his business partner have rallied their clientele around communities impacted by disasters. A 2012 power-on party after Hurricane Sandy stands out as the craziest example, he said. But he’s still blown away by the response. We just have so many regulars at both locations that are transplants. So, you were hearing stories at the bar,” Quirarte said. Aside from that, and aside from having a mass bunch of friends from the area, you couldnt help but feel. And its here. Its at home. A seven-hour fundraiser bridging coasts brought together runners, cooks, artists, musicians and yogis on January 25. Gina Bruno, a classically trained chef from New York who runs a food-focused event space, said the idea began as just a bake sale. But the concept snowballed into something more ambitious after she texted Luke Haverty, the founder of a creative studio called A Supper Series. The bake-off continued with participants including lifestyle photographer Chloé Crane-Leroux and James Beard Award winner Sophia Roe who have a combined 1.8 million Instagram followers as well as viral spots L’Appartement 4F and Leon’s Bagels. A 5K run took participants across the Williamsburg Bridge. There was live music, a bouquet workshop and yoga classes. For LA raised $52,000 for California Community Foundation and World Central Kitchen, according to Haverty. A silent auction supported a GoFundMe for Los Angeles artists. Haverty said they felt a responsibility to provide as many ways as possible for people to put their individual talents toward something bigger than one small donation. Once there was a platform for people to be able to invest into, that ultimately is what connected the coast, he said. You kind of put your hands up in the air until there’s something to dump your time and your energy into, Bruno added. I needed to do something because I was able to do something. Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits receives support through the APs collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of APs philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy. James Pollard, Associated Press
Category:
E-Commerce
Sites : [52] [53] [54] [55] [56] [57] [58] [59] [60] [61] [62] [63] [64] [65] [66] [67] [68] [69] [70] [71] next »