Trump’s energy chief vows reversal of Biden climate policies

Trump’s energy chief vows reversal of Biden climate policies
The secretary of energy of Unites States, Chris Wright, delivers a speech in the framework of the Ceraweek by S&P Global energy conference in Houston, Texas, on March 10, 2025. (AFP)
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Updated 11 March 2025
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Trump’s energy chief vows reversal of Biden climate policies

Trump’s energy chief vows reversal of Biden climate policies
  • “The Trump administration will end the Biden administration’s irrational quasi-religious policies on climate change that imposed endless sacrifices on our citizens,” Wright says

HOUSTON: The US energy secretary vowed Monday to reset federal energy policy to favor fossil fuels and deprioritize climate change as industry leaders gathered at their biggest event since President Donald Trump returned to office.

In the conference’s opening session, Energy Secretary Chris Wright cited the Trump administration’s moves to cut red tape that is delaying oil projects and promote liquefied natural gas exports as examples of a pivot away from policies pursued under former president Joe Biden.

“The Trump administration will end the Biden administration’s irrational quasi-religious policies on climate change that imposed endless sacrifices on our citizens,” Wright told a packed auditorium for the annual Cambridge Energy Research Associates (CERA) conference.

Since returning to Washington seven weeks ago, Trump and his team have overhauled the existing economic order at a dizzying pace, launching trade wars against allies and hollowing government agencies the president and his allies dislike.

Trump made energy policy a central part of his agenda with his day-one “Unleashing American Energy” executive order, promising during his inaugural address to “end the Green New Deal” in favor of “that liquid gold under our feet.”

But Mark Brownstein, senior vice president at the Environmental Defense Fund, said Wright’s tone was “long on rhetoric,” adding, “at some point the administration needs to get off the campaign stump speech and get on with the business of governing.”

Brownstein described many CERA attendees as uncertain about investments, not only because of Trump’s shifting position on energy and climate change, but also the nearly daily pivots on tariffs.

“The energy industry is a capital-intensive business and what they need to deploy capital at scale is certainty and consistency,” Brownstein told AFP.

CERA’s opening day coincided with deep stock market losses after Trump over the weekend refused to rule out a US recession.

Protesters held boisterous demonstrations outside the event in Houston. Advocacy group Oil Change International blasted the oil industry for pollution near industrial facilities and for fossil fuel investments that are worsening climate change.

Energy played a key supporting role in Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign, in which he pointed to higher gasoline prices as a reason more production was needed, embodied by his slogan: “Drill, baby, drill.”

Trump’s January 20 executive order represents a potentially wide-ranging attack on tax incentives which had been embraced by energy companies to advance billions of dollars of energy transition projects.

These projects were connected to laws enacted under Biden to mitigate climate change.

Some pundits think Trump will stop short of actions canceling existing projects where workers have been hired, including many in conservative districts.

Appearing just after Wright, Chevron CEO Mike Wirth warned that “swinging from one extreme to the other” on policy is “not the right policy approach in a long cycle industry like this.”

Wirth welcomed Trump’s executive orders on permitting reform, but said “we need to see some of this stuff put into legislation so that it’s more durable and it’s not at risk of being swung back in another direction by a future administration” with different priorities.

Wright downplayed the upheaval on trade policy after his remarks, noting Trump dropped many of his most impactful tariffs in his first term.

It’s “too early to say on tariffs, but I feel quite confident having a smart businessman every day working for America writ large, not an interest group or a particular industry,” Wright said. “I’m pretty optimistic about the outcome.”

Wright said there were “vigorous” closed-door debates about tariffs within the administration, rejecting the idea that there was ideological uniformity on the issue.

He also suggested the Trump administration wouldn’t challenge all Biden administration renewable energy projects, saying that while he wouldn’t have picked some of the same projects for loans, “we inherit a loan book... and we follow the rule of law.”


Democrats and advocates criticize Trump’s executive order on homelessness

Democrats and advocates criticize Trump’s executive order on homelessness
Updated 18 sec ago
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Democrats and advocates criticize Trump’s executive order on homelessness

Democrats and advocates criticize Trump’s executive order on homelessness
  • Many of the concepts in Trump's order have been tried in Democrat-led cities in California to get people off the streets and into treatment
  • What's problematic in the new order is forcibly locking people up, which is not the right approach to dealing with homelessness, say advocates

SAN FRANCISCO, California: Leading Democrats and advocates for homeless people are criticizing an executive order President Donald Trump signed this week aimed at removing people from the streets, possibly by committing them for mental health or drug treatment without their consent.

Trump directed some of his Cabinet heads to prioritize funding to cities that crack down on open drug use and street camping, with the goal of making people feel safer. It’s not compassionate to do nothing, the order states.

“Shifting these individuals into long-term institutional settings for humane treatment is the most proven way to restore public order,” the order reads.

Homelessness has become a bigger problem in recent years as the cost of housing increased, especially in states such as California where there aren’t enough homes to meet demand. At the same time, drug addiction and overdoses have soared with the availability of cheap and potent fentanyl.

The president’s order might be aimed at liberal cities such as San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York, which Trump views as too lax about conditions on their streets. But many of the concepts have already been proposed or tested in California, where Gov. Gavin Newsom and Democratic mayors have worked for years to get people off the streets and into treatment.

Last year, the US Supreme Court made it easier for cities to clear encampments even if the people living in them have nowhere else to go.

Still, advocates say Trump’s new order is vague, punitive and won’t effectively end homelessness.

Newsom has directed cities to clean up homeless encampments and he’s funneled more money into programs to treat addiction and mental health disorders.

His office said Friday that Trump’s order relies on harmful stereotypes and focuses more on “creating distracting headlines and settling old scores.”

“But, his imitation (even poorly executed) is the highest form of flattery,” spokesperson Tara Gallegos said in a statement, referring to the president calling for strategies already in use in California.

San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie has also emphasized the importance of clean and orderly streets in banning homeless people from living in RVs and urging people to accept the city’s offers of shelter. In Silicon Valley, San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan recently pushed a policy change that makes a person eligible for jail if they reject three offers of shelter.

Trump’s executive order tasks Attorney General Pam Bondi and the secretaries for health, housing and transportation to prioritize grants to states and local governments that enforce bans on open drug use and street camping.

Devon Kurtz, the public safety policy director at the Cicero Institute, a conservative policy group that has advocated for several of the provisions of the executive order, said the organization is “delighted” by the order.

He acknowledged that California has already been moving to ban encampments since the Supreme Court’s decision. But he said Trump’s order adds teeth to that shift, Kurtz said.

“It’s a clear message to these communities that were still sort of uncomfortable because it was such a big change in policy,” Kurtz said.

But Steve Berg, chief policy officer at the National Alliance to End Homelessness, called parts of the order vague. He said the US abandoned forced institutionalization decades ago because it was too expensive and raised moral and legal concerns.

“What is problematic about this executive order is not so much that law enforcement is involved — it’s what it calls on law enforcement to do, which is to forcibly lock people up,” Berg said. “That’s not the right approach to dealing with homelessness.”

The mayor of California’s most populous city, Los Angeles, is at odds with the Newsom and Trump administrations on homelessness. Mayor Karen Bass, a Democrat, opposes punishing sweeps and says the city has reduced street homelessness by working with homeless people to get them into shelter or housing.

“Moving people from one street to the next or from the street to jail and back again will not solve this problem,” she said in a statement.

 


Cambodia calls for ceasefire with Thailand after deadly clashes

Cambodia calls for ceasefire with Thailand after deadly clashes
Updated 23 min 18 sec ago
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Cambodia calls for ceasefire with Thailand after deadly clashes

Cambodia calls for ceasefire with Thailand after deadly clashes
  • More than 138,000 people have been evacuated from Thailand’s border regions, its health ministry said, reporting 15 fatalities — 14 civilians and a soldier — with a further 46 wounded, including 15 troops

UNITED NATIONS, United States: Cambodia wants an “immediate ceasefire” with Thailand, the country’s envoy to the United Nations said Friday, after the neighbors traded deadly strikes for a second day, with Bangkok also signaling an openness to talks.

A long-running border dispute erupted into intense fighting with jets, artillery, tanks and ground troops on Thursday, prompting the UN Security Council to hold an emergency meeting on the crisis Friday.

“Cambodia asked for an immediate ceasefire — unconditionally — and we also call for the peaceful solution of the dispute,” said Phnom Penh’s UN ambassador Chhea Keo following a closed meeting of the Council attended by Cambodia and Thailand.

A steady thump of artillery strikes could be heard from the Cambodian side of the border Friday, where the province of Oddar Meanchey reported one civilian — a 70-year-old man — had been killed and five more wounded.

More than 138,000 people have been evacuated from Thailand’s border regions, its health ministry said, reporting 15 fatalities — 14 civilians and a soldier — with a further 46 wounded, including 15 troops.

Fighting resumed in three areas around 4 am on Friday (2100 GMT Thursday), the Thai army said, with Cambodian forces firing heavy weapons, field artillery, and BM-21 rocket systems, and Thai troops responding “with appropriate supporting fire.”

Thai Foreign Ministry Spokesman Nikorndej Balankura told AFP that fighting had begun to ease off by Friday afternoon, however, adding that Bangkok was open to talks, possibly aided by Malaysia.

“We are ready, if Cambodia would like to settle this matter via diplomatic channels, bilaterally, or even through Malaysia, we are ready to do that. But so far we have not had any response,” Nikorndej told AFP, speaking before the UN meeting had been held.

Malaysia currently holds the chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) regional bloc, of which Thailand and Cambodia are both members.

Earlier, acting Thai Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai had warned that if the situation escalated, “it could develop into war.”

“For now, it remains limited to clashes,” he told reporters in Bangkok.

Both sides blamed each other for firing first, while Thailand accused Cambodia of targeting civilian infrastructure, including a hospital hit by shells and a petrol station hit by at least one rocket.

At the UN, Cambodia’s envoy questioned Thailand’s assertion that his country, which is smaller and less militarily developed than its neighbor, had initiated the conflict.

“(The Security Council) called for both parties to (show) maximum restraint and resort to a diplomatic solution. That is what we are calling for as well,” said Chhea Keo.

None of the other attendees of the UNSC meeting spoke to reporters.

The fighting marks a dramatic escalation in a long-running dispute between the neighbors — both popular destinations for millions of foreign tourists — over their shared 800-kilometer (500-mile) border.

Dozens of kilometers in several areas are contested and fighting broke out between 2008 and 2011, leaving at least 28 people dead and tens of thousands displaced.

A UN court ruling in 2013 settled the matter for over a decade, but the current crisis erupted in May when a Cambodian soldier was killed in a new clash.

Fighting on Thursday was focused on six locations, according to the Thai army, including around two ancient temples.

Ground troops backed up by tanks battled for control of territory, while Cambodia fired rockets and shells into Thailand and the Thais scrambled F-16 jets to hit military targets across the border.

In the Cambodian town of Samraong, 20 kilometers (12 miles) from the border, AFP journalists saw families speeding away in vehicles with their children and belongings as gunfire erupted.

“I live very close to the border. We are scared,” Pro Bak, 41, told AFP.

He was taking his wife and children to a Buddhist temple to seek refuge.

 

 


Ukraine facing fierce fighting around eastern city of Pokrovsk, Zelensky says

Ukraine facing fierce fighting around eastern city of Pokrovsk, Zelensky says
Updated 50 min 59 sec ago
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Ukraine facing fierce fighting around eastern city of Pokrovsk, Zelensky says

Ukraine facing fierce fighting around eastern city of Pokrovsk, Zelensky says
  • Russian forces have for months been trying to close in on Pokrovsk

President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday that Ukrainian forces were facing fierce fighting around the city of Pokrovsk in the east, a logistics hub near which Russia has been announcing the capture of villages on an almost daily basis.

Zelensky, speaking in his nightly video address, said Ukraine’s top commander, Oleksandr Syrskyi, told a meeting of senior officials that the situation around Pokrovsk was the current focal point of its attention in the war, which began when Russia invaded in February 2022.

“All operational directions were covered, with particular focus on Pokrovsk. It receives the most attention,” Zelensky said.

Ukrainian forces, he said, were also “continuing to act” in border areas in the northern Sumy region, where Russian troops have gained a foothold in recent weeks.

Syrskyi, in a separate report on the Telegram messaging app, described Pokrovsk and five other sectors as among the most difficult theaters along the 1,000-km (620-mile) front.

“The Russian Federation is paying the maximum price for attempting a ‘summer offensive,’” Syrskyi wrote.

Russian forces have for months been trying to close in on Pokrovsk, a road and rail hub whose pre-war population of about 60,000 has been all but evacuated.

Syrskyi in May reported that Kyiv’s troops had stabilized the situation around the town, also the site of the only colliery in Ukraine producing coking coal for the country’s steel industry.

Russia’s Defense Ministry on Thursday announced the capture of two villages on either side of Pokrovsk — Zvirove to the west and Novoekonomichne to the east. A third village near the city — Novotoretske — was declared by Moscow to be “liberated” earlier in the week.

Ukrainian officials have made no acknowledgement that the villages have changed hands. The General Staff of Ukraine’s military said in an evening report that two of them — Zvirove and Novoekonomichne — were in areas where Russian troops were trying to penetrate Ukrainian defenses.

In Sumy region, where Russian troops are trying to establish what Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin calls a “buffer zone,” the popular Ukrainian military blog DeepState said Kyiv’s forces had retaken a previously lost village.

DeepState, which relies on open source reports to track the presence of Russian forces, said Ukrainian troops had restored control over the village of Kindrativka. There was no official comment from either side. 


Trump arrives in Scotland for golf and bilateral talks as EU trade deal nears

Trump arrives in Scotland for golf and bilateral talks as EU trade deal nears
Updated 26 July 2025
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Trump arrives in Scotland for golf and bilateral talks as EU trade deal nears

Trump arrives in Scotland for golf and bilateral talks as EU trade deal nears
  • Trump and Starmer to discuss US-UK trade deal and Ukraine war

EDINBURGH/LONDON: US President Donald Trump, dogged by questions about his ties to disgraced financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, arrived in Scotland on Friday for some golf and bilateral talks that could yield a trade deal with the European Union.

Trump told reporters upon his arrival that he will visit his two golf properties in Scotland and meet with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, whom he called a “highly respected woman.”

As hundreds of onlookers cheered his arrival, Trump repeated his earlier comment about a 50-50 chance of securing a deal with the EU, adding it would be his administration’s biggest trade agreement thus far, if it came together.

However, he said there were still “sticking points” with Brussels on “maybe 20 different things.”

Trump said his meeting with Starmer would be more of a celebration of the trade deal already reached than continued work on it, adding, “It’s a great deal for both.” Before he left Washington, Trump said his administration was working hard on a possible trade deal with the EU, and Brussels was keen to make a deal. Von der Leyen said later she would meet Trump in Scotland on Sunday.

EU diplomats say a deal could result in a 15 percent tariff on EU goods, mirroring a framework accord with Japan reached this week and half of the 30 percent Trump is threatening to impose by August 1.

Trump has sought to reorder the global economy after imposing a 10 percent tariff on nearly all trading partners in April and threatening sharply higher rates for many countries to kick in a week from now. Trump says the moves will reduce the US trade deficit and bring in extra revenue, but economists warn the new trade policies could drive up inflation.

Trump, facing the biggest domestic political crisis of his second term, expressed frustration about ongoing questions about his administration’s handling of investigative files related to Epstein’s criminal charges and his 2019 death in prison.

“You make it a very big thing over something that’s not a big thing,” Trump told reporters in Scotland, urging them to focus on other prominent Americans with ties to Epstein, including former President Bill Clinton.

“Talk about Clinton. Talk about the former president of Harvard. Talk about all of his friends. Talk about the hedge fund guys that were with him all the time. Don’t talk about Trump,” he said. “What you should be talking about is the fact that we have the greatest six months in the history of a presidency.”

The Epstein issue has caused a rare breach with some of Trump’s most loyal Make America Great Again supporters, and majorities of Americans and Trump’s Republicans say they believe the government is hiding details on the case, according to Reuters/Ipsos polling.

White House officials are hoping the controversy dies down while Trump is abroad, two people familiar with the matter said.

Trump will stay at his Turnberry property on Scotland’s west coast this weekend, before traveling on Monday to a golf property in Aberdeen, where he will open a second 18-hole course named in honor of his mother, Mary Anne MacLeod. MacLeod was born and raised on a Scottish island before emigrating to the US

As he left the White House, Trump said he looked forward to meeting both Starmer and Scottish leader John Swinney, who had publicly backed Democratic candidate Kamala Harris in the 2024 US presidential election. The trip gives Trump and Starmer a chance to deepen their already warm ties, with key issues on the agenda to include ending Russia’s war in Ukraine, British and US sources said. The deteriorating situation in Gaza is also likely to come up. Starmer on Thursday said he would hold an emergency call with France and Germany over what he called the “unspeakable and indefensible” suffering and starvation being reported there, and called on Israel to allow aid to enter the Palestinian enclave.

Gaza health authorities say more than 100 people have died from starvation, most in recent weeks. Human rights groups have said mass starvation is spreading even as tons of food and other supplies sit untouched just outside the territory. Since being elected last year, Starmer has prioritized good relations with Trump, stressing the importance of Britain’s defense and security alliance with the US, while working to clinch the first tariff-reduction deal with the US in May.

The framework agreement reaffirmed quotas and tariff rates on British automobiles and eliminated tariffs on the UK’s aerospace sector, but left steel tariffs in place.

Starmer is expected to press for lower steel tariffs, but sources close to the matter said it was unclear if any breakthrough was possible during Trump’s visit.

Trump has described Scotland as a “very special place” and made a similar trip there in 2016 during his earlier run for the presidency, but he will not necessarily get a warm welcome. About 70 percent of Scots have an unfavorable opinion of Trump, while 18 percent have a favorable opinion, an Ipsos poll in March found.

Scottish police are girding for protests on Saturday in both Aberdeen and in Edinburgh, the country’s capital.

Trump will return to Britain from September 17-19 for a state visit hosted by King Charles. It will make Trump the first world leader in modern times to undertake two state visits to Britain. The late Queen Elizabeth hosted him at Buckingham Palace for a three-day state visit in June 2019. 


US states to get $608 million from FEMA to build migrant detention centers

US states to get $608 million from FEMA to build migrant detention centers
Updated 25 July 2025
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US states to get $608 million from FEMA to build migrant detention centers

US states to get $608 million from FEMA to build migrant detention centers
  • Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said on Friday morning the state would apply for FEMA reimbursement

WASHINGTON: The Federal Emergency Management Agency is preparing to send $608 million to states to construct immigrant detention centers as part of the Trump administration’s push to expand capacity to hold migrants. FEMA is starting a “detention support grant program” to cover the cost of states building temporary facilities, according to an agency announcement. States have until August 8 to apply for the funds, according to the post. The Trump administration has been encouraging states to build their own facilities to detain migrants. This program provides a way for the administration to help states pay for it.

The funds will be distributed by FEMA in partnership with US Customs and Border Protection, according to the post.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, a Republican, said on Friday morning the state would apply for FEMA reimbursement to pay for its new immigrant detention center known as “Alligator Alcatraz.” DHS officials said this summer the facility will cost an estimated $450 million annually. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has said DHS will tap FEMA’s $650-million shelter and services program to fund Florida’s facility. Congress during the Biden administration directed DHS to distribute the money to state and local governments to cover the cost of sheltering migrants. Nonprofits were also eligible. The funding stream was separate from money Congress set aside for FEMA to cover disaster relief. “Secretary Noem has been very clear that the funding for Alligator Alcatraz can be a blueprint for other states and local governments to assist with detention,” a FEMA spokesperson said.

FEMA declined to answer a question from Reuters about whether other states would receive money for detention facilities.