Wall Street breaks from net-zero climate alliance ahead of Trump term
Wall Street’s largest banks simultaneously exited the same net-zero climate alliance that was probed by Republican lawmakers last year, announced just weeks before President-elect Donald Trump will be sworn into office. Since 2021, banking giants have been prominent members of the Net-Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA), a global group of financial institutions “committed to financing ambitious climate action” to transition the economy to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. However, since December, six of the world’s largest banks, J.P. Morgan, Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Citigroup and Bank of America, have all separately announced their leaving the alliance, which encourages its member banks to additionally “design, set, and achieve” science-based, net-zero targets. The banks said that they remain committed to emission reduction targets, but they will do so independently. A POTENTIAL SECOND WITHDRAWAL FROM PARIS CLIMATE TREATY COULD LOOK DIFFERENT THAN FIRST US EXIT “We will continue to work independently to advance the interests of our Firm, our shareholders and our clients and remain focused on pragmatic solutions to help further low-carbon technologies while advancing energy security,” a spokesperson for J.P. Morgan, the latest bank to withdraw from the alliance, said in a statement. BlackRock, the world’s largest investment firm, also announced on Thursday it was separating from a major climate group, the Net Zero Asset Managers Initiative, which works with asset managers to attain net-zero emissions by 2050 or sooner. The synchronicity of the exits comes just weeks before Trump, who is expected to break away from President Biden’s greenhouse gas emissions reduction target and potentially withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement, will assume the presidency. “The sudden exodus of these big US banks out of the NZBA is a lily-livered effort to avoid criticism from Trump and his climate denialist cronies,” said Paddy McCully, a senior analyst at Reclaim Finance, the Guardian reported. “A few years ago, when climate change was at the front of the political agenda, the banks were keen to boast of their commitments to act on climate,” McCully added. “Now that the political pendulum has swung in the other direction, suddenly acting on climate does not seem so important for the Wall Street lenders.” The exits come nearly a year after a group of House Republicans launched a probe into the six banks over their involvement in the international alliance over claims it could impact the agriculture sector.
EXCLUSIVE: Red state sues insurer for using customer data to build ‘world’s largest driving behavior database’
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is suing Allstate insurance company for allegedly illegally collecting, using and selling the driving behavior data of over 45 million Americans. Paxton filed the suit in the District Court for Montgomery County, Texas, on Monday morning. In the suit, he accuses Allstate, and its subsidiary data analytics company “Arity,” of secretly using driving data from over 45 million Americans’ mobile devices, in-car devices and vehicles to build the “world’s largest driving behavior database,” consisting of “trillions of miles” worth of data. “Our investigation revealed that Allstate and Arity paid millions of dollars to install Allstate’s tracking software,” Paxton said in a Monday statement. “The personal data of millions of Americans was sold to insurance companies without their knowledge or consent in violation of the law. Texans deserve better and we will hold all these companies accountable.” Allstate is one of the largest auto, home and life insurance companies in the U.S. It is headquartered in Glenview, Illinois. COURT ORDERS BIDEN ADMIN TO STOP SELLING BORDER WALL MATERIALS, WAS ‘ILLEGALLY SUBVERTING’ LAWS: TEXAS AG The suit said that in 2015, Allstate and Arity developed and integrated software into several third-party apps so that when a consumer downloaded these apps onto their phone, they unwittingly downloaded the tracking software. Once Allstate’s software was downloaded onto a customer’s device, they could monitor the consumer’s location and movement in real time. According to the suit, the company used the driving data to justify raising customers’ insurance rates and further profited by selling the data to third parties, including other insurance companies. “Defendants [Allstate and Arity] never informed consumers about their extensive data collection, nor did Defendants obtain consumers’ consent to engage in such data collection,” the suit said. “Finally, Defendants never informed consumers about the myriad of ways Defendants would analyze, use, and monetize their sensitive data.” TEXAS AG SUES NCAA OVER TRANS INCLUSION IN WOMEN’S SPORTS Because tens of millions of Americans, including millions of Texans, were never informed about their driving data being gathered, Paxton argues that Allstate’s data-gathering scheme violates the Texas Data Privacy and Security Act, the Data Broker Law, and the Texas Insurance Code’s prohibition on unfair and deceptive acts and practices in the insurance business. He is asking the court to permanently block Allstate from continuing to gather and use customers’ data and to impose thousands of dollars in civil penalties per customer. According to Paxton, this suit is the first enforcement action ever filed by a state attorney general to enforce a comprehensive data privacy law. Fox News Digital reached out to Allstate but did not immediately receive a response.
Mahakumbh Mela 2025 to give MASSIVE economic boom, 45 crore devotees to generate Rs…
The budget of Maha Kumbh is estimated to be around Rs 6,382 crore. It is expected to generate a revenue of Rs 25,000 crore for the state. According to an earlier statement by the Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath led Uttar Pradesh government the Mela had a potential to generate at least Rs 2 lakh crore
Major blue city mayor silent after illegal immigrant uses shelter for criminal activity
Democratic Mayor Michelle Wu is keeping silent after an illegal immigrant was caught using a taxpayer-funded migrant shelter in the Boston suburbs for criminal activity, including storing a weapon and nearly $1 million worth of drugs. Wu failed to respond to repeated requests for comment from Fox News Digital, despite the migrant shelter involved being just a short drive from Downtown Boston. Leonardo Andujar Sanchez, a 28-year-old illegal immigrant from the Dominican Republic, is facing criminal charges in federal court for illegally possessing an AR-15 and ammunition and over 400 grams of fentanyl with intent to distribute, according to a statement by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts. Boston 25 News also reported that Sanchez was also caught possessing cocaine with “an estimated street value of at least $750,000.” He is currently being kept in custody by state authorities. BLUE STATE GOV CHANGES TUNE AFTER VOWING TO FIGHT TRUMP DEPORTATION EFFORTS, NOW HOPES HE FIXES BORDER Sanchez was storing his weapon and drugs in his room at the Quality Inn Hotel in Revere, Massachusetts, which is a government-funded shelter for migrants. Boston and Massachusetts both have sanctuary policies in place and both Wu and Governor Maure Healey have vowed to resist President-elect Donald Trump’s plans to crack down on illegal immigration. Despite this, Healey expressed anger over the incident, saying, “It’s outrageous that this individual took advantage of our shelter system to engage in criminal activity.” Healey ordered an inspection of all shelters, starting with the Quality Inn Hotel in Revere, as well as a “full review” of the state’s shelter intake processes. SIGNIFICANT MAJORITY BELIEVE TRUMP WILL ‘CONTROL ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION’: POLL “This further underscores our broken federal immigration system and the urgent need for Congress and the White House to act on a border security bill to prevent criminals from entering our communities,” said Healey. “The people of Massachusetts should not continue to have to deal with the impacts of federal inaction.” However, Wu, who has said Boston’s sanctuary policies “make everyone safer,” has remained silent. Although Fox News Digital spoke with Wu’s office, neither she nor her office have issued any response to Sanchez’s arrest. Since Trump’s 2024 electoral victory, Wu has doubled down on Boston’s sanctuary city status, saying police and city officials would not assist federal authorities with deportations. CLICK HERE FOR MORE IMMIGRATION COVERAGE Meanwhile, Immigration and Customs Enforcement has seen a recent spike in illegal immigrants arrested for sex crimes in the Boston area and throughout Massachusetts. Trump’s incoming border czar Tom Homan has called out Wu for pledging resistance to the administration’s immigration agenda, telling Newsmax in November that “she’s not very smart.” “President Trump is going to prioritize public safety threats,” said Homan. “What mayor or governor doesn’t want public safety threats out of their communities? I mean that’s your number one responsibility is to protect your communities and that’s exactly what we’re going to do.”
Trump ally Steve Bannon pledges to ‘take… down’ Elon Musk
Longtime Trump ally Steve Bannon has pledged to have tech billionaire Elon Musk “run out” of the White House amid fiery debate over H-1B visas for skilled foreign workers. Bannon made the remarks about Musk, who President-elect Trump has tapped to co-lead the Department of Government Efficiency, in an interview with Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. Bannon’s former employer, Breitbart, published excerpts of the interview in English. “I will have Elon Musk run out of here by Inauguration Day,” said Bannon, a former Trump White House adviser. “He will not have full access to the White House. He will be like any other person.” “He is a truly evil guy, a very bad guy,” Bannon continued. “I made it my personal thing to take this guy down. Before, because he put money in, I was prepared to tolerate it; I’m not prepared to tolerate it anymore.” MUSK INFLAMES X WITH PROFANE MOVIE QUOTE IN DEFENSE OF H-1B VISA Bannon’s spat with Musk appeared to be over immigration, specifically Musk’s support of H-1B visas that allow U.S. companies to hire foreign workers for specialty occupations and is overwhelmingly used by the tech industry. “This thing of the H-1B visas, it’s about the entire immigration system is gamed by the tech overlords, they use it to their advantage, the people are furious,” Bannon said. Software engineers and others in the tech industry have used H-1B visas for skilled foreign workers and say they are a critical tool for hard-to-fill positions. It has long been controversial for some conservatives, who say it is abused by tech companies to bring in cheap labor to replace American workers. Born in South Africa, Musk was once on an H-1B visa himself and defended the industry’s push to bring in foreign workers. “There is a permanent shortage of excellent engineering talent,” he said in a post. “It is the fundamental limiting factor in Silicon Valley.” Online debate over H-1B visas led Musk to label those in the Republican Party opposed to the visas as “hateful, unrepentant racists,” and emphasize the need for “a meritocratic society.” TRUMP SAYS HE’S NOT CHANGED HIS MIND ON H-1B VISAS AS DEBATE RAGES WITHIN MAGA COALITION Bannon said Musk “should go back” to South Africa. “Why do we have South Africans, the most racist people on earth, White South Africans, we have them making any comments at all on what goes on in the United States?” Bannon said. “He will do anything to make sure that any one of his companies is protected or has a better deal or he makes more money,” Bannon said of Musk. “His aggregation of wealth, and then — through wealth — power: that’s what he’s focused on.” Bannon was released from prison in October after completing a four-month sentence for contempt of Congress for refusing to comply with a subpoena related to a congressional investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, incident at the U.S. Capitol. While Musk’s influence on the incoming Trump administration remains unclear, Trump has appeared to side with the tech billionaire on the matter of H-1B visas. “I’ve always liked the visas, I have always been in favor of the visas. That’s why we have them,” Trump said in an interview with the New York Post last month. “I have many H-1B visas on my properties. I’ve been a believer in H-1B. I have used it many times. It’s a great program.” Trump has in the past criticized the H-1B visas, calling them “very bad” and “unfair” for U.S. workers, and even unveiled a “Hire American” policy that directed changes to the program to try to ensure the visas were awarded to the highest-paid or most-skilled applicants. Fox News Digital’s Adam Shaw and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Weather Update: IMD issues alert for heavy rainfall, very dense fog in THESE states, check here
On Monday, isolated places in Delhi witnessed cold wave conditions and dense fog.
Texas Legislature 101: How bills become laws — and how you can participate in the process
Here’s a rundown of how legislation moves through the Capitol, the ways lawmakers operate and who the power players are.
Mexican cattle banned from Texas due to screwworm threat
Since cattle imports were cut off in November, Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller and some ranchers worry about the ban’s economic impact on beef producers and consumers.
Trudeau says 51st state is distraction from Trump tariff threat, acknowledges facing ‘successful negotiator’
Canada’s outgoing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau suggested that President-elect Trump’s suggestion that Canada become America’s “51st state” was a distraction from the tariff threat. “I know that as a successful negotiator, he likes to keep people a little off balance. The 51st state, that’s not going to happen,” Trudeau told MSNBC’s “Inside with Jen Psaki” on Sunday. “It’s just a non-starter. Canadians are incredibly proud of being Canadian. But people are now talking about that, as opposed to talking about what impact 25% tariffs [has] on steel and aluminum coming into the United States, on energy, whether it’s oil and gas or electricity.” “No American wants to pay 25% more for electricity or oil and gas coming in from Canada,” Trudeau said in the interview with Psaki, President Biden’s former White House press secretary. “That’s something I think people need to pay a little more attention to. And perhaps the idea of a 51st state is distracting a little bit from a very real question that will increase the cost of living for Americans and harm a trading relationship that works extremely well.” Trump has threatened to impose 25% tariffs on all Canadian imports. The president-elect also said that if Canada merged with the U.S., taxes would decrease and there would be no tariffs. The president-elect has also taken shots at Trudeau, referring to him as the “governor” of Canada. Last Monday, Trudeau announced that he would resign as Canada’s prime minister once his Liberal Party chooses a new leader on March 9. GROWING CONSERVATIVE MOVEMENT IN CANADA IS FIGHTING BACK AGAINST ‘CALIFORNIA ON STEROIDS,’ SAYS STRATEGIST “From my very first conversations with him back in 2016, he told me how much he admires Canada, how much he appreciates and likes us, so there is a certain amount of flattery in this that he thinks that we are as great as we are,” Trudeau said of Trump on Sunday. “He’s right, we are great. We’re also very, very proud of being Canadian. If you talk to any Canadian, you ask them to define what it is to be Canadian, they’ll talk about all sorts of different things, but one of the things we will point out is, ‘and we’re not Americans.’” On Trudeau’s trip to Mar-a-Lago in November, the Canadian prime minister said the topic of the U.S. annexing Canada did come up, but Trudeau said once he joked that Canada could annex Vermont or California as a sort of trade, Trump “immediately decided it was not that funny anymore, and we moved on to a different conversation.” “This isn’t out of the blue that he’s doing this, but my focus has to be not on something that he’s talking about that will not ever happen, but more on something that might well happen, that if he does choose to go forward with tariffs that raise the costs of just about everything for American citizens, that on top of that, we’re going to have a robust response to that,” Trudeau said. “We are ready to respond with tariffs as necessary,” Trudeau said. Canadian officials say that if Trump follows through with his threat of punishing tariffs, Canada would consider slapping retaliatory tariffs on American orange juice, toilets and some steel products. MAGAFEST DESTINY? TRUMP FLEXES HIS MUSCLES WITH REPEATED TALK OF AMERICAN EXPANSIONISM Trudeau recalled that Trump previously put tariffs on imports of steel and aluminum during his first term, and Canada responded by putting tariffs on bourbon, Harley Davidson motorcycles, orange juice, playing cards and other such items that Trudeau argued Canadians could easily find replacements for. “It ended up causing a lot of loss in American businesses for whom Canada is their number one export partner. We are the number one export partner for about 35 different U.S. states, and anything that thickens the border between us ends up costing American citizens and American jobs. That’s not what President Trump got elected to do,” Trudeau said. “I know he got elected to try and make life easier for all Americans, to support American workers. These are things that are going to hurt them.” Trump said last week that the U.S. does not need oil – or anything else – from Canada, but almost a quarter of the oil that the U.S. consumes each day comes from Canada. The energy-rich western province of Alberta exports 4.3 million barrels of oil a day to the U.S., according to the Associated Press. Data from the United States Energy Information Administration shows that the U.S. consumes 20 million barrels a day, and produces about 13.2 million barrels a day. Canada, a founding partner of NATO and home to more than 40 million people, is also the top export destination for 36 U.S. states. Nearly $2.7 billion worth of goods and services cross the border each day. Trump has said that he would reconsider his tariff threat if Canada made improvements in managing security at the Canada-U.S. border, which he and his advisers see as a potential entry point for illegal immigrants. Trudeau has said that less than 1% of illegal immigrants and fentanyl cross into the U.S. from Canada. Nevertheless, after his meeting with Trump at Mar-a-Lago, Trudeau announced an increase in spending on border security, expressing willingness to address Trump’s concerns in hopes that he would reconsider his tariff threat. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
DNC hires former Harris staffers behind @KamalaHQ for social media response to Trump
The Democratic National Committee has hired the social media staffers who ran the @KamalaHQ account during Vice President Kamala Harris’ failed presidential campaign, the organization announced Monday. The social team will now focus on building a new @FactPostNews brand for the Democratic Party across X, Threads and Bluesky, with plans to expand to Facebook, Instagram, TikTok. The account will seek to counter so-called “misinformation” from President-elect Trump’s administration in real time. “The Republican disinformation machine is powerful, but we believe a stronger weapon is giving people the facts about how Trump and his administration are screwing over the American people,” DNC chief mobilization officer Shelby Cole told Axios. The DNC did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital on Monday morning. JAMES CARVILLE CONCEDES HE WAS WRONG ABOUT KAMALA HARRIS’ CHANCES: ‘IT WILL ALWAYS BE THE ECONOMY, STUPID’ The team’s first set of marching orders will be to harass the confirmation process for Trump’s cabinet nominees, namely by highlighting their personal wealth, according to Axios. An internal memo calls the nominees “unfit billionaire picks.” The new initiative comes as Democrats are re-evaluating their election strategies across the board following Trump’s commanding victory in November. KAMALA HARRIS’ BUNGLED ANSWER ON ‘THE VIEW’ ABOUT BIDEN SEEN AS TURNING POINT FOR CAMPAIGN Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., conceded last week that Democrats should regard the 2024 election as a loss and reflect on what went wrong for the party after losing both the White House and Senate and failing to flip the House of Representatives. Schumer appeared on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” where he was asked about Democratic strategist James Carville’s assertion that the reason Democrats lost was because of “the economy, stupid.” “I told my caucus, and I’ll say it here, too… certainly it was a loss, but it’s also a challenge,” Schumer said of the election. Schumer said Democrats faced “severe headwinds” to win four of seven contested Democratic Senate seats, though conceded that “we did some things wrong and we have to look in the mirror and see what we did wrong.” “What we’re going to do is spend time talking to working families, showing them how much we care for them,” Schumer added. “And not just talk about legislation, but talk about the conditions that have made so many working families worried about their futures.” Fox News’ Stephen Sorace contributed to this report