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Time is running out for Biden’s EPA to act on climate

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So far, President Biden’s legacy on climate change is pretty insubstantial. There’s time to change that if he can quickly make much better use of his Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
The president put nearly all his hopes for climate action into passing his Build Back Better legislation through Congress. That bill would have spent <a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/10/28/22748554/biden-budget-build-back-better-democrats-child-care-taxes">$550 billion</a> on clean energy and electrified transit. It failed to garner a majority in the Senate, and due to continuing reticence about the measure on the part of more conservative <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2022/04/26/greens-push-climate-compromise-manchin-00027511">Democrats like Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV)</a>, it appears unlikely any slimmed-down replacement will pass.
In an ideal world, congressional and EPA action would complement each other. Laws are more durable than EPA policy alone, while the EPA can maneuver around legislative gridlock. Congressional spending on clean energy tax incentives helps bring down implementation costs for businesses, making it easier for the EPA to implement stricter rules.
But even without Congress, the EPA has many regulatory powers it can unilaterally use to fight climate change. The agency can rein in climate emissions from the country’s biggest polluters in the power sector, transportation, industry, and oil and gas by upgrading efficiency standards and monitoring. Biden’s EPA needs to act soon if it wants to make these rules and make them last. Every significant rules change must go through a mandatory multistep process that can take up to two years — roughly the amount of time Biden has left in his first term.
That process requires sifting through tens of thousands of public comments and amassing enough scientific evidence to justify the regulation. The Obama EPA showed what happens when an administration gets around to finalizing these rules too late in a term; the climate rules finalized in his last two years were reversed by Trump and the courts because they were either still in draft form or not yet implemented.
All this becomes much easier if Biden gets a second term, but given his <a href="https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/biden-approval-rating/">polling numbers</a>, there’s no guarantees. Addressing climate change can’t wait out another decade of policy reversals by presidents from opposing parties. So Biden’s got to get as much done as permanently as he can while Democrats still hold power.
That’s why, 15 months into the Biden administration, the EPA is at an extremely important turning point — especially if Biden is serious about his goal of <a href="https://www.vox.com/22397364/earth-day-us-climate-change-summit-biden-john-kerry-commitment-2030-zero-emissions">halving US pollution</a> from peak levels in the next eight years. The agency needs to finalize as much as possible by the end of 2022, and needs to do so carefully, allowing it to mount the strongest defense possible in conservative-tilting courts.
If it fails to do so, the Biden administration will have squandered valuable time in the fight against climate change. In a matter of years, the world is likely to pass <a href="https://www.vox.com/23009894/un-ipcc-climate-mitigation-report-ar6-summary">1.5 degrees Celsius of warming</a>, and be well on its way to catastrophically higher levels, if steep cuts aren’t made by 2025. Even if Biden gets a second term, every moment counts — and with congressional action off the table, he needs to start making far better use of the EPA.
<h3>Why Biden’s climate policy has gotten off to a slow start</h3>
In the first hours of his presidency, Biden promised a “whole of government” approach to climate change, signing executive orders that prompted agencies to change the way they operated during the Trump era.
After that, the White House placed most of its bets on Congress passing a massive infrastructure package along with historic climate spending. Congress did pass a historic infrastructure law, but it’s one that may wind up increasing emissions because of its investment in <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/10/climate/highways-climate-change-traffic.html">highway expansion</a>. The climate legislation — with <a href="https://www.vox.com/2022/1/21/22892382/joe-manchin-climate-change-biden-negotiations-bbb">$550 billion</a> in tax credits for clean energy and electrification — is unlikely to ever happen.
The executive branch is on its own. Thanks to the broad powers granted by the Clean Air Act, however, Biden has a tool for combating climate change in the EPA.
Asked about the agency’s accomplishments, deputy assistant administrator Joe Goffman of the EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation told Vox by email, “We’ve set the strongest climate pollution standards for cars in history by model year 2026.”
The EPA has also finalized its initial phase-out of <a href="https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/biden-harris-administration-and-epa-continue-progress-cutting-super-pollutants-barring">hydrofluorocarbons</a> used in refrigerants. And it managed to meet all the <a href="https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2021-03/documents/2-epa_allocations_workshop_mdis_final_3-11-21.pdf">congressionally required</a> deadlines imposed by the 2020 law the American Innovation and Manufacturing Act.
Those are important successes. But the current list of finalized rules is pretty short compared to the list left to tackle. As David Doniger, senior strategic director of the Natural Resources Defense Council’s climate program, put it: “We’re way in overtime with dealing with many of these problems.”
At a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rs419yYyz8k&ab_channel=SenatorSheldonWhitehouse">budget hearing</a> in early April, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), the Senate’s most vocal lawmaker on climate change, rattled off the number of rules the EPA has yet to finalize on climate change. They include new regulations targeting coal in the power sector, methane from oil and gas, industrial operations, and cars. He was dissatisfied with the pace of progress. “How long do you think you have?” he asked.
Biden’s EPA administrator Michael Regan responded that the EPA had a slow start because he inherited a mess of an agency.
“I think we have to be honest about the state the EPA found itself in when President Biden was elected,” Regan said, claiming he has “staff working nights and weekends” to play catch-up. He added, “I am damn proud of what the agency has done over the past year with the resources it has.”
It’s true that the Trump administration rolled back more than <a href="https://grist.org/project/accountability/trump-rollbacks-biden-climate-tracker/">200 environmental regulations</a>, and EPA morale was at <a href="https://peer.org/epa-scientist-survey-yields-horrific-results/">record lows</a> in the Trump era. Over his term, the 15,000-person workforce dwindled by over a thousand. That’s equal to 1988 levels, and the agency’s workload has increased a lot since then, in part because it has been given a mandate by Congress and through Supreme Court rulings to regulate toxic chemicals and greenhouse gas emissions.
Staffing is certainly a big piece of the problem, according to Doniger, who says a diminished workforce means the EPA is forced to pick and choose what gets done on deadline. At its current levels, getting one rule done by a certain deadline means borrowing staff from other programs and leaving other priorities understaffed. Moving people around was how the EPA was able to accomplish the things it has so far, Doniger said.
The other big issue the EPA is facing is money. While the Biden administration is working down the ranks to fill political slots (some of which depend on a painfully slow Senate confirmation process), it is constrained to a limited budget for filling out the rest of the EPA’s ranks. That has made the process of filling vacancies slower than ideal.
<h3>Most of the EPA’s biggest rules are still works in progress</h3>
With fewer staff and a smaller budget than it needs (Biden’s 2023 budget request asked for a <a href="https://news.bloomberglaw.com/environment-and-energy/epa-would-see-highest-funding-level-ever-under-biden-budget-plan">29 percent increase</a>), the EPA still promises ambitious action is on the way.
Those promises include regulating the main sources of climate pollution, including coal-fired power plants, and burning off methane leaks in a practice called flaring from existing oil and gas producers. Many of these haven’t been officially proposed yet, meaning there’s a long road ahead for them.
Other rules are still in draft stages, meaning they’re still months (or years) away from being finalized, and don’t go as far as climate advocates feel is needed. The EPA’s <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/07/climate/trucks-pollution-rules-epa.html">proposal for trucks</a> is expected to slash 90 percent of the air pollutant nitrogen dioxide by 2031, but does far less for carbon emissions from the tailpipe; the change will likely increase the electric truck fleet to just 1.5 percent by 2027.
Should they be implemented, all of these would be considered landmark policy. But at this stage in the climate crisis, they’re also the minimum of what’s expected from a Democratic administration to tackle the main sources of US climate pollution.
And there’s more the EPA could and should do. Notably, it hasn’t written a methane proposal that addresses smaller oil and gas wells — lower-producing sites that <a href="https://www.edf.org/media/new-study-low-producing-oil-and-gas-wells-drive-roughly-half-well-site-methane-pollution">make up 80 percent of the nation’s wells</a>, and are responsible for making areas like New Mexico and Texas’s Permian Basin one of the <a href="https://www.vox.com/2022/2/17/22933671/climate-change-methane-emissions-satellites-permian-basin">biggest sources of methane emissions</a> in the world.
Then there’s the power sector: The most important step for tackling climate pollution includes closing the last of the nation’s 200 coal-fired power plants. But the EPA hasn’t proposed any rule yet for existing plants.
Regan promised in the April hearing the EPA would be ready to go with a new power plant rule soon after the Supreme Court <a href="https://www.vox.com/2022/2/23/22937517/supreme-court-epa-west-virginia-clean-power-plan-climate-change">issues a decision</a> in June expected to limit its tools for cleaning up electricity. Depending on the decision, the EPA’s ability to mandate more renewables on the grid over the next decade could be severely restricted.
The huge amount of unfinished business that remains adds up to a bleak picture. Essentially, the Biden administration could be more talk than action if it doesn’t really accelerate work on these issues and follow through with tougher EPA policy through 2022.
<h3>Biden’s EPA needs to balance limited time with durability</h3>
In making new policy, the EPA needs to exercise a lot of caution: It’s important that the agency checks all its boxes in putting forward new regulations to ensure they aren’t just overturned by the next Republican president.
“The Trump administration had this huge loss rate in court for its rollbacks in part because it skipped a lot of those steps and did a lot of terrible analysis,” NYU Law’s regulatory policy director Jack Lienke said.
The Biden administration is working more thoroughly, and has endeavored to ensure science supports its policy changes. Even thorough work, however, doesn’t guarantee long-lasting climate regulation.
From the conservative-dominated Supreme Court down to the lower courts, judges are more skeptical than ever of deferring to agency expertise, a precedent that is affecting the Biden administration’s social cost of carbon and <a href="https://www.cpr.org/2022/04/25/biden-administration-resumes-oil-and-gas-leases-on-public-lands-but-significantly-cuts-back-where-that-can-happen-in-colorado/">public lands’ leasing policy</a>: In February, a Louisiana federal judge (and Trump appointee) <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2022/02/21/social-cost-of-carbon-biden/">banned</a> the administration from reinstating an Obama-era calculation of the social and economic costs from carbon emissions, an important metric used throughout government policymaking. The inevitable threat of lawsuits has slowed everything down even more.
“An agency can’t seem to be doing anything too ambitious or novel,” Lienke explained. “Agencies have to do even more in terms of building up an incredibly detailed record, cataloging exactly why they have authority to do this, and why the benefits of doing it outweigh the costs. They’re up against a more hostile judiciary.”
That leaves the Biden administration with two imperfect options: Move quickly and risk a greater chance of an upset in courts, or move slowly and leave rules more vulnerable to a possible Republican successor.
So far, the EPA has proceeded cautiously, choosing between priorities. To tackle climate change, it needs to find ways to move not just with caution but with speed. How much forward momentum it can muster will become apparent in the next few months, but the more it can do, the better off the US will be as it attempts to make serious progress toward its climate goals.
 
 
source <a href="https://www.vox.com/23036107/biden-climate-epa-regulation-power-plants-coal">https://www.vox.com/23036107/biden-climate-epa-regulation-power-plants-coal</a>

vox Time is running out for Biden’s EPA to act on climate

So far, President Biden’s legacy on climate change is pretty insubstantial. There’s time to change that if he can quickly make much better ...

Creepy: Biden Goes “Off Script” To Tell Teachers That Kids Are “Yours When You’re In The Classroom”

During a hearing Wednesday, Missouri Senator Josh Hawley told a Biden Judicial nominee that he couldn’t believe she was a candidate owing to previous extensive work done with the extreme leftist censorship group The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC).
Hawley addressed Nancy Abudu, Biden’s pick for the Eleventh Circuit, who is also the strategic litigation <a href="https://www.splcenter.org/about/staff/nancy-abudu">director</a> at SPLC.
Hawley noted that “2019 was the year the SPLC paid $3.4 million in response to defamation lawsuits. 2019 was the year Charity Watch gave your organization an ‘F’ rating. The SPLC has been labelled by the left-wing policy journal Current Affairs as an outright fraud that uses willful deception designed to scare liberals into writing checks.”
Hawley continued, “The progressive journalist Alexander Cockburn said this about SPLC: ‘I regard it, the southern poverty law center, collectively as one of the greatest frauds in American life.’”
The Senator also noted that “Liberal death penalty abolitionist Stephen Bright refused to accept an award named after the founder of the SPLC, saying in his words ‘the SPLC has long been run by a conman and a fraud.’ Also in 2019, SPLC employees told the press, ‘We were part of a con and we knew it.’”
Hawley asked Abudu if she was concerned about any of the characterisations of the group, and the fact that it has stated its goal is to ‘completely destroy’ its political opponents.
Abudu responded, “my work with the Southern Poverty Law Center has been to uphold the constitutional rights of individuals who without pro bono counsel would not be even able to have access to justice.” 
Hawley told Abudu “I have to tell you, I find your answers absolutely extraordinary.”
“Absolutely extraordinary,” he repeated, adding “I can’t believe you’ve been nominated for this position. I can’t believe that the president of the United States would nominate someone from this organization with this record, and I can’t believe that you would sit here today and refuse to condemn this hateful, frankly, violent rhetoric.”
Watch:
<figure class="wp-block-embed-twitter wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter">
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true" readability="6.8436578171091">
"I can't believe you've been nominated for this position. I can't believe that the President of the United States would nominate someone from [the Southern Poverty Law Center] with this record," says <a href="https://twitter.com/HawleyMO?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@HawleyMO</a> to Biden's latest far-left judicial nominee <a href="https://t.co/JBI9z4YaXP">pic.twitter.com/JBI9z4YaXP</a>
— Abigail Marone 🇺🇸 (@abigailmarone) <a href="https://twitter.com/abigailmarone/status/1519350220424888320?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 27, 2022</a></blockquote>
</div>
</figure>
The Southern Poverty Law Center has been exposed as a far left political entity masquerading as a bipartisan organisation with the express goal of silencing anyone who does not adhere to their warped outlook.
The organisation condemns as ‘terroristic’ and ‘hateful’ anyone who’s political opinion it does not agree with, while <a href="https://summit.news/2019/12/30/southern-poverty-law-center-silent-on-domestic-terror-attack-against-jews/">completely ignoring</a> actual hate crimes and <a href="https://www.infowars.com/posts/baptist-church-targeted-as-hate-group-by-splc-bombed-in-los-angeles-county/">terrorist attacks</a>.
Yet the Biden Administration is seeking to <a href="https://www.infowars.com/posts/pentagon-aims-to-partner-with-adl-and-splc-spy-on-military-members-for-extremism/">actively work with the group</a>, in addition to others including the ADL, to <a href="https://www.infowars.com/posts/biden-administration-wants-to-use-third-party-extremism-researchers-to-spy-on-americans-media/">identify and eliminate ‘extremists’</a>, by which they demonstratively mean their political opponents.
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source <a href="https://summit.news/2022/04/28/creepy-biden-goes-off-script-to-tell-teachers-kids-are-yours-when-youre-in-the-classroom/">https://summit.news/2022/04/28/creepy-biden-goes-off-script-to-tell-teachers-kids-are-yours-when-youre-in-the-classroom/</a>

revolution summit Creepy: Biden Goes “Off Script” To Tell Teachers That Kids Are “Yours When You’re In The Classroom”

During a hearing Wednesday, Missouri Senator Josh Hawley told a Biden Judicial nominee that he couldn’t believe she was a candidate owing to...

Video: Senator Tells Biden Court Pick “I Can’t Believe You’ve Been Nominated” Due To SPLC Affiliation

During a hearing Wednesday, Missouri Senator Josh Hawley told a Biden Judicial nominee that he couldn’t believe she was a candidate owing to previous extensive work done with the extreme leftist censorship group The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC).
Hawley addressed Nancy Abudu, Biden’s pick for the Eleventh Circuit, who is also the strategic litigation <a href="https://www.splcenter.org/about/staff/nancy-abudu">director</a> at SPLC.
Hawley noted that “2019 was the year the SPLC paid $3.4 million in response to defamation lawsuits. 2019 was the year Charity Watch gave your organization an ‘F’ rating. The SPLC has been labelled by the left-wing policy journal Current Affairs as an outright fraud that uses willful deception designed to scare liberals into writing checks.”
Hawley continued, “The progressive journalist Alexander Cockburn said this about SPLC: ‘I regard it, the southern poverty law center, collectively as one of the greatest frauds in American life.’”
The Senator also noted that “Liberal death penalty abolitionist Stephen Bright refused to accept an award named after the founder of the SPLC, saying in his words ‘the SPLC has long been run by a conman and a fraud.’ Also in 2019, SPLC employees told the press, ‘We were part of a con and we knew it.’”
Hawley asked Abudu if she was concerned about any of the characterisations of the group, and the fact that it has stated its goal is to ‘completely destroy’ its political opponents.
Abudu responded, “my work with the Southern Poverty Law Center has been to uphold the constitutional rights of individuals who without pro bono counsel would not be even able to have access to justice.” 
Hawley told Abudu “I have to tell you, I find your answers absolutely extraordinary.”
“Absolutely extraordinary,” he repeated, adding “I can’t believe you’ve been nominated for this position. I can’t believe that the president of the United States would nominate someone from this organization with this record, and I can’t believe that you would sit here today and refuse to condemn this hateful, frankly, violent rhetoric.”
Watch:
<figure class="wp-block-embed-twitter wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter">
<div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper" readability="6.4159292035398">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true" readability="6.8436578171091">
"I can't believe you've been nominated for this position. I can't believe that the President of the United States would nominate someone from [the Southern Poverty Law Center] with this record," says <a href="https://twitter.com/HawleyMO?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@HawleyMO</a> to Biden's latest far-left judicial nominee <a href="https://t.co/JBI9z4YaXP">pic.twitter.com/JBI9z4YaXP</a>
— Abigail Marone 🇺🇸 (@abigailmarone) <a href="https://twitter.com/abigailmarone/status/1519350220424888320?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 27, 2022</a></blockquote>
</div>
</figure>
The Southern Poverty Law Center has been exposed as a far left political entity masquerading as a bipartisan organisation with the express goal of silencing anyone who does not adhere to their warped outlook.
The organisation condemns as ‘terroristic’ and ‘hateful’ anyone who’s political opinion it does not agree with, while <a href="https://summit.news/2019/12/30/southern-poverty-law-center-silent-on-domestic-terror-attack-against-jews/">completely ignoring</a> actual hate crimes and <a href="https://www.infowars.com/posts/baptist-church-targeted-as-hate-group-by-splc-bombed-in-los-angeles-county/">terrorist attacks</a>.
Yet the Biden Administration is seeking to <a href="https://www.infowars.com/posts/pentagon-aims-to-partner-with-adl-and-splc-spy-on-military-members-for-extremism/">actively work with the group</a>, in addition to others including the ADL, to <a href="https://www.infowars.com/posts/biden-administration-wants-to-use-third-party-extremism-researchers-to-spy-on-americans-media/">identify and eliminate ‘extremists’</a>, by which they demonstratively mean their political opponents.
SUBSCRIBE on YouTube:
Follow on Twitter:
——————————————————————————————————————— 
Brand new merch now available! Get it at <a href="https://www.pjwshop.com/">https://www.pjwshop.com/</a> <a href="https://www.pjwshop.com/"><img alt="PJW Shop" border="0" height="600" src="https://cdn.summit.news/2021/07/merch.jpg" width="348" /></a>
ALERT! In the age of mass Silicon Valley censorship It is crucial that we stay in touch.
We need you to sign up for our free newsletter <a href="https://summit.news/newsletter">here</a>.
Support our sponsor – <a href="https://bit.ly/TURBOFORCE">Turbo Force</a> – a supercharged boost of clean energy without the comedown.
Also, we urgently need your financial support <a href="https://www.subscribestar.com/paul-joseph-watson">here</a>. ———————————————————————————————————————
 
 
source <a href="https://summit.news/2022/04/28/video-senator-tells-biden-court-pick-i-cant-believe-youve-been-nominated-due-to-splc-affiliation/">https://summit.news/2022/04/28/video-senator-tells-biden-court-pick-i-cant-believe-youve-been-nominated-due-to-splc-affiliation/</a>

revolution summit Video: Senator Tells Biden Court Pick “I Can’t Believe You’ve Been Nominated” Due To SPLC Affiliation

During a hearing Wednesday, Missouri Senator Josh Hawley told a Biden Judicial nominee that he couldn’t believe she was a candidate owing to...

How to use Apple’s new repair program

With Apple’s blessing, you can finally fix your iPhone from the comfort of your own home. On Wednesday, the company announced <a href="https://www.selfservicerepair.com/order">a new section of its website</a> where you can buy tools and replacement parts, including new display screens, batteries, and speakers. The online store seems easy enough to use, and Apple is even offering <a href="https://www.selfservicerepair.com/tool-kit-rental">customer repair kits</a> — which weigh around 79 pounds — that you can rent for $49 a week.
This new program is a major shift for Apple. Historically, the company has typically only offered repair tools and replacement parts to its 5,000 Apple-authorized service providers and another 3,000-plus independent repair shops that have <a href="https://support.apple.com/irp-program">Apple-certified technicians</a>. Apple has long faced criticism from right-to-repair advocates, who want manufacturers to give customers the ability to fix their own devices, for this policy as well as for <a href="https://gizmodo.com/apples-war-on-upgrades-continues-with-the-new-touch-bar-1789002979">its practice of designing hardware that can’t be easily upgraded</a> or incorporating certain components that <a href="https://www.zdnet.com/article/ifixit-ceo-names-and-shames-tech-giants-for-right-to-repair-obstruction/">only Apple has access to</a>.
The new repair program looks simple enough. Apple has made repair manuals available for certain device lineups, including the iPhone 12, the iPhone 13, and the third-generation iPhone SE. After you’ve studied the repair manual for your particular phone, you can go to the company’s <a href="https://www.selfservicerepair.com/home">Self Service Repair Store</a>, which allows you to search from <a href="https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2022/04/apples-self-service-repair-now-available/">more than 200 parts</a> based on the iPhone model you own. The site also offers tools you can use to complete your repair, including a $99 torque driver and a $216 press for display screens.
If you don’t want to buy an expensive tool that you’ll have to own forever, you can also rent a customized kit that includes all the gadgets you might need. These kits, which come in either one or two boxes, are extremely heavy, so Apple also <a href="https://selfservicerepair.com/tool-kit-rental">recommends several strategies</a> for lifting them, including “Think before your lift” and “Take your time.” Once you’ve decided what you need, Apple will ship all the supplies you’ve ordered to your home. When you’re done with the repair, you can even send some of your old parts back for recycling in exchange for an Apple store credit.
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<figcaption>Customers can finally buy replacement parts for their iPhones directly from Apple.</figcaption>
<cite>Apple</cite></figure>
Right now the program is limited to iPhones and is only available in the US. But later this year, the store will expand to include some Mac computers, and will become available in other countries, starting in Europe.
Getting Apple devices repaired has long been an expensive and annoying process, so the company’s new store is certainly welcome progress. But at the same time, it’s not clear that Apple is doing all that it could to make it easier to repair its products, especially since the program is still limited to just a few iPhone models. After all, dozens of states <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-05-20/microsoft-and-apple-wage-war-on-gadget-right-to-repair-laws?sref=Wg6QzS2e">have proposed right-to-repair legislation</a> in recent years, bills that Apple has fought. For instance, the company <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2019/5/1/18525542/apple-right-to-repair-bill-california-lobbyist-comptia">successfully convinced California lawmakers</a> in 2019 that customers might set off a fire if they accidentally damage the lithium-ion batteries in iPhones while trying to repair them. Apple has also suggested that the security and privacy of its devices could be <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2020/7/30/21348240/apple-right-to-repair-legislation-antitrust-investigation-policy">compromised</a> by <a href="https://www.macrumors.com/2021/03/30/apple-lobbies-against-right-to-repair-bill/">non-authorized repairs</a>.
Despite Apple’s best efforts, this right-to-repair movement has recently won support in the White House. In July, President Joe Biden passed an <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/22569969/biden-antitrust-executive-order-prices">executive order</a> that, among other things, directs the Federal Trade Commission to create new right-to-repair regulations. Later that month, the agency also declared that it would ramp up enforcement against “<a href="https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2021/07/ftc-ramp-law-enforcement-against-illegal-repair-restrictions">illegal</a>” restrictions on repairs, after <a href="https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2021/05/ftc-report-congress-examines-anti-competitive-repair-restrictions">an investigation</a> documented different strategies technology makers used to make products harder to fix. Apple’s decision was announced in November on the <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2021/11/17/22787336/apple-right-to-repair-self-service-diy-reason-microsoft">same day as a key deadline</a> related to a right-to-repair resolution filed by activist Apple shareholders <a href="https://www.greencentury.com/green-century-shareholder-proposal-presses-apple-to-expand-access-to-repair/">back in September</a>, a connection first reported by The Verge.
Green Century — the sustainability-focused mutual fund that led that effort — has since rescinded its resolution, which would have <a href="https://www.greencentury.com/green-century-shareholder-proposal-presses-apple-to-expand-access-to-repair/">pushed</a> Apple to study the environmental impact of its strict repair policies.
“We felt it was a big enough step forward,” Annalisa Tarizzo, a shareholder advocate at Green Century, told Recode in November. “We hope to continue engaging companies that we invest in on this topic because we think it is really important and there are real risks to investors related to this issue.”
New guidance from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) may have influenced Apple’s timing, Tarizzo added. Two weeks before Apple’s announcement, the agency rescinded a Trump-era rule that had made it <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/sec-eases-path-for-shareholder-proposals-on-environmental-social-issues-11635979349">easier for companies to dismiss socially conscious shareholder resolutions</a>. Wednesday was also Green Century’s deadline to defend its proposal to the SEC, which Apple had requested the agency to block.
So Apple’s concessions to some demands from right-to-repair activists seem to be an attempt to preempt new regulations with its repair program. But the company‘s steps forward have some limitations. It isn’t exactly encouraging all users to start rooting around in their iPhones and MacBooks. In <a href="https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2021/11/apple-announces-self-service-repair/">the press release</a> announcing the Self Service Repair, Apple said the program is intended “for individual technicians with the knowledge and experience to repair electronic devices” and that the “vast majority of customers” should visit an authorized repair shop. Meanwhile, customers who decide to repair their devices themselves under the new program will still need to buy parts directly from Apple, which also sets the price of those components.
“This isn’t the open source repair revolution we’ve sought through our fight for the right to repair,” Elizabeth Chamberlain, the director of sustainability at iFixit, said in <a href="https://www.ifixit.com/News/55370/apple-diy-repair-program-parts-tools-guides-software">a November blog post</a>. “If there’s now an ‘official’ way to avoid warning messages and a loss of features when you need to replace a <a href="https://www.ifixit.com/News/32343/apple-is-locking-batteries-to-iphones-now">battery</a>, <a href="https://www.ifixit.com/News/45921/is-this-the-end-of-the-repairable-iphone">camera</a>, or <a href="https://www.ifixit.com/News/33147/apple-is-discouraging-screen-repair-with-an-iphone-11-genuine-warning">display</a>, there’s less incentive for Apple to help those using third-party parts, or even those salvaged from other iPhones. By controlling the parts marketplace, Apple can also decide when devices go obsolete.”
This is not the first time Apple has adjusted its strategy to get ahead of potential regulations or legal action. In a proposed settlement with a class-action lawsuit representing software developers last summer, Apple said it would let companies <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/2021/8/27/22644616/apple-app-store-changes-antitrust-spotify-epic-fortnite">tell iPhone and iPad users about ways to pay for purchases like subscriptions</a> outside of the App Store ecosystem. In September, the company also <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-09-11/apple-loosens-app-store-rules-that-hurt-streaming-games-classes?sref=Wg6QzS2e">tweaked its rules for in-app purchases</a> while the company was locked in a contentious lawsuit with Epic Games. Neither of these app-related updates involved Apple changing its policy of charging sizable fees to third parties operating in Apple’s ecosystem, while Apple’s own apps get a free ride.
Apple seems to be taking a similar approach with its new repair system. But even though the company’s new program comes with plenty of caveats, the move is still a big win for customers who don’t want to send their devices to Apple or hunt down an authorized repair shop.
Update, April 27, 11:30 am ET: This story has been updated to note that Apple’s repair store is now available.
 
 
source <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/22787724/apple-self-service-right-to-repair">https://www.vox.com/recode/22787724/apple-self-service-right-to-repair</a>

vox How to use Apple’s new repair program

With Apple’s blessing, you can finally fix your iPhone from the comfort of your own home. On Wednesday, the company announced a new section ...

UK Streaming Platform Censors “Homophobic” Line in 2002 Spiderman Movie

The Twitter lawyer who broke down crying during a meeting about the ramifications of Elon Musk’s takeover of the social media company was previously instrumental in banning President Trump as well as censoring information about the COVID lab leak theory.
Yesterday, it was revealed that Twitter’s top lawyer, Vijaya Gadde, was reduced to tears during a virtual meeting with the company’s policy and legal teams following Musk’s successful purchase of the platform.
According to <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2022/04/26/twitters-top-lawyer-reassures-staff-cries-during-meeting-about-musk-takeover-00027931">Politico</a>, “Gadde cried during the meeting as she expressed concerns about how the company could change,” and “acknowledged that there are significant uncertainties about what the company will look like under Musk’s leadership.”
Gadde was presumably upset by the fact that her power to censor individuals and content may now be restricted under Musk’s leadership.
As head of Trust and Safety, Gadde was hugely influential in defining the company’s view of “hate speech” and was also instrumental in crafting the “healthy conversations” narrative that Twitter has used an excuse to censor blatantly factual information, such as the assertion that ‘trans women’ are not biological men.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true" readability="4.390243902439">
she seemed so tough then:<a href="https://t.co/3HXyJkeGnY">https://t.co/3HXyJkeGnY</a>
— 01 (@seancpdx) <a href="https://twitter.com/seancpdx/status/1519054764687962115?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 26, 2022</a>
</blockquote>
She also spearheaded the banning of President Trump after the January 6 riot, despite the fact that Trump had no role whatsoever in inciting the riot. Twitter claimed they banned Trump in order to stop “further incitement of violence,” despite Trump literally telling his supporters via Twitter, “Go home with love & in peace.”
According to Politico, Gadde’s role in banning Trump “earned her devoted fans within Twitter.” She also would have undoubtedly been a crucial figure in Twitter’s decision to censor the Hunter Biden laptop story and the New York Post, despite the story being completely verified.
The Indian immigrant was also reportedly involved in the decision to temporarily ban Zero Hedge from Twitter for its reporting on the lab leak origin theory of COVID-19, despite this subsequently becoming a widely plausible explanation for the origin of the virus.
“Gadde is crying because her new boss is a ‘free speech absolutist,’ while she wants to silence divergent opinions from her own,” <a href="https://www.zerohedge.com/political/twitters-top-lawyer-breaks-down-tears-during-musk-takeover-meeting">reported</a> the popular news outlet.
“Gadde is likely the exec who signed off on ZeroHedge’s February 2020 ban for speculating that Covid-19 may have emerged from a Wuhan Lab, and President Trump’s January 2021 ban in connection with the capitol riot.”
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source <a href="https://summit.news/2022/04/27/uk-streaming-platform-censors-homophobic-line-in-2002-spiderman-movie/">https://summit.news/2022/04/27/uk-streaming-platform-censors-homophobic-line-in-2002-spiderman-movie/</a>

revolution summit UK Streaming Platform Censors “Homophobic” Line in 2002 Spiderman Movie

The Twitter lawyer who broke down crying during a meeting about the ramifications of Elon Musk’s takeover of the social media company was pr...

One-fifth of all crocodiles, snakes, and other reptiles are threatened with extinction

They aren’t fluffy, and some of them bite, but reptiles are an incredibly important feature of our planet. These cold-blooded creatures, such as crocodiles and snakes, help keep ecosystems healthy, they’ve inspired <a href="https://www.vox.com/22553793/gila-monster-lizard-venom-inspired-obesity-drug-semaglutide">medical</a> and <a href="https://geckskin.umass.edu/">engineering</a> advances, and they can even be <a href="https://www.youtube.com/shorts/dsuMqClh38M">cute</a>. (I swear!)
But like other animals, charismatic or not, many reptiles are at risk of disappearing. More than a fifth of all reptilian species — over 1,800 — are threatened with extinction, and 31 species have permanently vanished already, according to a new study in the journal Nature.
Turtles and crocodiles face the greatest risks, the analysis shows. There are also hundreds of reptiles that scientists haven’t yet assessed — and many more they’ve yet to discover, said Timothy Colston, a reptile researcher at the University of Puerto Rico, who was not involved with the study. Researchers describe <a href="http://www.reptile-database.org/db-info/SpeciesStat.html">more than 100</a> new reptile species each year, which means some reptiles could go extinct before we even know they exist.
Then again, many people don’t know much about the reptiles that scientists have documented — the pancake-like softshell turtles, the fearsome thorny lizards, and so many more. Each species is unique and part of a delicate ecosystem that other life (including humans) depends on. So, perhaps let’s start there, with the wondrous realm of reptiles, and why it’s smart to keep them on Earth.
<h3>Reptiles, explained</h3>
Reptiles are not amphibians, i.e., a <a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/5/26/22451394/poison-frogs-deforestation-toxins">frog</a> is not a reptile. There are a few key differences: Amphibians typically have smooth and moist skin that’s porous, whereas reptiles have dry scales. Amphibians also tend to have a closer association with water, although there are a number of water-loving reptiles (such as the <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/reptiles/facts/marine-iguana">marine iguana</a> in the Galapagos Islands, aquatic turtles, and watersnakes).
Some of the world’s most interesting creatures are reptiles, such as the color-changing chameleons and the oldest living land animal on Earth, Jonathan the tortoise (he’s around <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2022/01/31/oldest-animal-tortoise-jonathan-/">190</a> years old). Reptiles are also a diverse bunch. Our planet has nearly 30 species of crocodilians alone, ranging from the massive “true crocodiles” to <a href="https://nationalzoo.si.edu/animals/gharial">gharials</a>, which have very long and narrow snouts.
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<figcaption>Jonathan, a Seychelles giant tortoise, was likely born in the 1830s, and is considered the oldest living land animal on Earth.</figcaption>
<cite>Gianluigi Guercia/AFP via Getty Images</cite></figure>
Reptiles display a number of evolutionary marvels. Viper snakes, for example, can detect infrared radiation, allowing them to find warm-bodied prey. Crocodiles, meanwhile, have scales with built-in motion sensors, which help them find and capture fish in complete darkness, according to Phoebe Griffith, a doctoral researcher who studies crocodiles at the University of Oxford.
Gharials also make incredible parents, said Griffith, who was not involved in the new study. They nest in communities, and one male or female gharial becomes the “primary guardian” for the babies. If there’s a threat nearby, hundreds of baby crocs will jump on a guardian’s back as it floats in the water like a safety raft, Griffith said. Tell me <a href="https://www.livescience.com/gharial-crocodile-papa-photo.html">this isn’t cute</a>.
Reptiles are a massively understudied group, but scientists know that they play an important role in the environment. For example, gopher tortoises found in the southeastern US dig deep burrows, Colston said, that more than <a href="https://myfwc.com/wildlifehabitats/wildlife/gopher-tortoise/">350 species</a> rely on. Some reptiles, like snakes and crocodiles, are predators and keep populations of fish, small mammals, and even human pests in check (which is one perk of having insect-loving geckos visit your home).
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<figcaption>A golden eyelash pit viper on a branch near Corcovado National Park, on the Osa Peninsula in Costa Rica.</figcaption>
<cite>Dave Kempe Photography/Getty Images</cite></figure>
Although they’ve got a rotten reputation, snakes are important, too. Beyond their role in bringing balance to an ecosystem, they often eat things that are — unlike themselves — a major risk to humans, such as rodents that carry ticks with Lyme disease. Scientists have also used snake venom to develop <a href="https://www.bbcearth.com/news/how-venoms-are-shaping-medical-advances">life-saving</a> drugs.
<h3>The great reptile decline</h3>
Researchers have largely overlooked reptiles, the authors of the new paper write, which is one reason why their study is so important. Risk assessments like theirs help scientists prioritize a limited amount of funding for conservation.
With input from nearly 1,000 herpetologists, the authors reviewed the threats facing roughly 10,200 species. They found that just over 21 percent of them are vulnerable, endangered, or critically endangered, according to standards set by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. Animals in these categories are “threatened with global extinction,” the nonprofit <a href="https://www.iucn.org/resources/conservation-tools/iucn-red-list-threatened-species">says</a>.
That number is large even compared to other animal groups. There are more reptile species threatened by extinction than species of birds or mammals facing similar threats. (More amphibian species are threatened than reptiles, and both amphibians and mammals have a greater overall percentage of species at risk of disappearing.)
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<figcaption>A Florida softshell turtle.</figcaption>
<cite>Nancy C. Ross/Getty Images</cite></figure>
Humans have caused these steep reptile declines by destroying or polluting many of their habitats, especially freshwater ecosystems, Griffith said.
The streams and wetlands of South and Southeast Asia are home to a large number of aquatic species, in addition to dense human populations, which pollute and exploit the environment. One issue in rivers, Griffith said, is the plundering of sand, the <a href="https://graphics.reuters.com/GLOBAL-ENVIRONMENT/SAND/ygdpzekyavw/">most mined</a> material on Earth. Humans use sand to make products like cement, glass, and tarmac, but many turtles and crocodiles need it to nest.
Half or more of all turtle and crocodile species face extinction, the study revealed. Not only are these animals losing habitat but, for decades, humans have also exploited them for their skin and meat, or caught them accidentally in fishing nets. People also kill crocodiles out of fear or for retaliation. “People don’t like to live near reptiles that can be dangerous,” Neil Cox, a study co-author who manages a project run by IUCN and the nonprofit Conservation International to document threatened species, said on a call with reporters.
Climate change also poses a problem, threatening around 10 percent of all reptiles directly, the authors said. Oddly, global warming may also alter the gender ratio of many reptiles. For certain species, such as sea turtles, the temperature in the environment <a href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/in-depth-how-will-climate-change-affect-animal-sex-ratios">determines</a> their babies’ sex — warmer temperatures could mean turtle clutches <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/sea-turtle-sex-ratio-crisis-from-climate-change-has-hope">will have more females</a> than males. If warming skews those ratios too much, it could make it hard for reptiles to reproduce.
<h3>Saving reptiles is easier than we thought</h3>
The study’s headline figures are alarming, but the paper revealed something hopeful: Efforts to protect mammals, birds, and amphibians, such as setting up protected areas, seem to benefit reptiles, too. So, even though conservationists may have been ignoring these creatures, reptiles are still somewhat protected.
“If you set out to protect the places where many threatened birds, mammals, and amphibians live together, then you will simultaneously protect many more threatened reptiles than you would expect by chance,” Bruce Young, a study co-author, said on a call with reporters Tuesday. “The situation is less dire than it could be,” said Young, the chief zoologist and senior conservation scientist at the nonprofit group NatureServe.
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<figcaption>American Alligators at the Everglades Alligator Farm in Homestead, Florida.</figcaption>
<cite>Rhona Wise/AFP via Getty Images</cite></figure>
Environmental advocates have also shown that humans can reverse the damage they’ve caused. Half a century ago, hunters <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/animalia/wp/2016/06/17/we-saved-the-alligators-from-extinction-then-moved-into-their-territory/">nearly wiped out</a> the American alligator from the southeastern states, but in 1967, the US government granted them protection and outlawed hunting. Now they’re so abundant that some states have <a href="https://myfwc.com/wildlifehabitats/wildlife/alligator/snap/">nuisance alligator</a> programs. Decades of conservation efforts have also <a href="https://phys.org/news/2015-03-green-sea-turtles-recover-florida.html">restored</a> many populations of sea turtles.
Public opinion may be shifting, too, Griffith said. She’s seen more and more people become excited about reptiles in Nepal, where she works, and elsewhere. And there’s a growing community of “herpers” — people who go out, typically at night, in search of reptiles and amphibians. There’s a certain thrill that comes from tracking down loud spring peeper frogs or looking under logs for salamanders. It’s hard not to fall in love with reptiles when you’re immersed in their world.
 
 
source <a href="https://www.vox.com/2022/4/27/23040966/snakes-turtles-lizards-reptiles-extinction">https://www.vox.com/2022/4/27/23040966/snakes-turtles-lizards-reptiles-extinction</a>

vox One-fifth of all crocodiles, snakes, and other reptiles are threatened with extinction

They aren’t fluffy, and some of them bite, but reptiles are an incredibly important feature of our planet. These cold-blooded creatures, suc...