New study exposes green energy org’s ties to CCP interests while undermining US
FIRST ON FOX: A national security-focused nonprofit organization has released a comprehensive report detailing the workings of a well-funded nominally U.S.-based organization that it says is undermining American energy, pushing left-wing green initiatives and ultimately advancing Chinese interests. The report, published by State Armor, outlines the money trail of Energy Foundation China (EFC), registered as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that is technically headquartered in San Francisco but with employees mostly based in Beijing. “Energy Foundation China used to be known as the Energy Foundation before it spun off most of its U.S.-based operations in 2019 into a separate organization called the U.S. Energy Foundation,” the report explains. “While still formally organized as the Energy Foundation, since 2019, the organization has used the alias ‘Energy Foundation China’ or ‘EF China’ to differentiate from the now-separate U.S. Energy Foundation. The group was founded by Hal Harvey, a climate activist and entrepreneur with deep ties to numerous left-wing organizations and to China.” State Armor found that EFC has “spent millions each year to bankroll climate advocates who promote phasing out fossil fuels and implementing green energy alternatives like the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) and Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), the latter of which was the target of a 2018 Congressional inquiry into whether it should register as a foreign agent based on its Chinese funding.” FORMER TOP HOCHUL AIDE’S UNEARTHED FAMILY CONNECTIONS TO CCP RAISES ALARM BELLS The Rocky Mountain Institute produced one of the most prominent studies used by many Democrats to justify cutting down on gas stoves and was cited by President Joe Biden’s Department of Energy. Earlier this year, multiple committees joined to begin an investigation into EFC, and requested files from EFC President Zi Chou about financial resources given to American organizations after Fox News Digital reporting on the group funneling millions of dollars to fund climate initiatives and environmental groups in the U.S. The report details how EFC “led a U.S. state-level legislative drive” against Bayer, the leading Western fertilizer company, that pushed for lawsuits against the company over a potentially carcinogenic pesticide with the aim of driving the company out of the U.S. and in turn forcing reliance on Chinese suppliers. The report goes on to outline how the organization has “provided millions” to the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) to support “a clean energy future” and how ICCT was an “active supporter” of climate initiatives in the Inflation Reduction Act targeting increased battery electric trucking infrastructure. Fox News Digital reported in 2023 that The Energy Foundation sent $480,000 to the Washington, D.C.-based International Council on Clean Transportation, which advocates for widespread EV adoption and policies decarbonizing the transportation sector broadly. It also wired grants — one to the University of Maryland and another to the Jackson Hole Center for Global Affairs — worth a total of $450,000 and earmarked for projects to phase out coal power reliance. BOMBSHELL REPORT SUGGESTS ‘CHINESE SPIES’ INFILTRATING PRESTIGIOUS US UNIVERSITY: ‘WIDESPREAD CAMPAIGN’ Josh Hodges, commissioner of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission and former national security advisor to House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and NSC senior director in the first Trump administration, told Fox News Digital that EFC is a “textbook example of the CCP’s asymmetric warfare strategy and drive to deepen its dominance over American companies.” “Communist China is manipulating a supposed philanthropic network to steer the U.S. away from reliable domestic energy sources and into dependence on Chinese supply chains,” Hodges said. “Whether it’s solar panels, mobile phones, electric vehicle batteries, or agricultural chemicals, Beijing’s fingerprints are all over the ‘green transition’ being pushed on America.” The report quotes Chinese climate envoy Liu Zhenmin, who suggested that Biden’s green energy policies will remain even under a more skeptical Trump administration and said, “even if the new Trump administration reverses climate change policies, it is unlikely to completely change the green transition actions that have already begun in various parts of the U.S.” “In other words, the CCP’s penetration of the U.S.’ political and industrial systems runs so deep that CCP officials believe that not even a skeptical White House could halt America’s growing dependence upon Chinese technologies,” the report states. ‘COMING FOR US’: EXPERT SOUNDS ALARM ON CCP’S MISSION TO ‘KILL AMERICANS’ AFTER FBI MAKES SHOCKING ARRESTS Will Hild, executive director of Consumers’ Research, told Fox News Digital that the report “exposes a disturbing truth” that EFC is part of a broader push to undermine American energy independence and “stifle” the Trump energy agenda to benefit the CCP. “EFC is weaponizing woke ideology to pull off this scheme and force American consumers to rely on the Chinese Communist Party for energy sources,” Hild said. “Americans deserve to know the truth about our foreign adversary’s campaign that is poisoning our economy and reshaping our energy future. We applaud organizations like State Armor that are working to expose these grifts against consumers.” In addition to the EFC’s climate activism, the report focuses on how, by “co-opting climate activism and dominating new so-called green supply chains, Beijing converts a domestic weakness into a global strength” while also detailing the ties between EFC and the CCP. For example, EFC’s CEO Zou Ji has served in previous roles at top leadership positions in China’s official National Center for Climate Change Strategy within the National Development and Reform Commission of the State Council. “He was so deeply tied into CCP leadership that he was included as a part of China’s delegation to the 2015 Paris Climate Talks,” the report says. “Zou’s other affiliations include a position at Tsinghua University at a center where his colleagues include a retired senior PLA officer and a former deputy director of an MSS think tank.” Zou is not the only EFC figure with ties to the CCP, the report says, pointing to EFC board member and Washington, D.C.-based attorney Hongjun Zhang, who serves as a member of China’s Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development and was previously a legislative director for the China National People’s Congress. Zhang, according
GOP congressman takes major step toward gubernatorial announcement
FIRST ON FOX: An Iowa congressman is taking a major step toward running for governor on Wednesday. Rep. Randy Feenstra, R-Iowa, is launching a finance committee comprised of 47 top donors and business leaders in the Hawkeye State, Fox News Digital is learning first. “I am grateful for the overwhelming support that our campaign has received from Iowans who believe in our mission to take our state to new heights,” Feenstra said in a statement. “Our finance committee will ensure we have the resources necessary for victory. I cannot thank our supporters enough for their support and confidence in our campaign.” WHAT NJ REPUBLICAN GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE JACK CIATTARELLI TOLD FOX NEWS DIGITAL Feenstra has not formally announced a campaign for governor, but he’s now taken several steps in the process ahead of the 2026 elections. He revealed last month that he is exploring a run for the role after the current governor, Republican Kim Reynolds, said she was stepping aside after serving two terms in Des Moines. Feenstra also filed a “Feenstra for Governor” organizing committee. It’s not clear when the official kickoff will be, but Feenstra is all but certain to join an increasingly crowded field of candidates for the open seat. Members of the campaign committee include Kurt Croell, the owner of a concrete company who’s donated to both Reynolds and President Donald Trump, and members of the Doll family, who own beer company Doll Distributing. West Des Moines Mayor Russ Trimble is also on the list, as are Nutratech executives Andy and Russ Kosky, among others. Feenstra has represented Iowa’s 4th Congressional District since 2021, and serves key roles in the House as a member of both the Agriculture and Ways & Means Committees. NEW JERSEY PRIMARY EARLY TEST OF TRUMP’S SECOND TERM AS PRESIDENT Other Republicans running to lead the state include state lawmaker Eddie Andrews and Brad Sherman, a former state representative. The GOP primary could turn into a high-profile political clash if Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird enters the race. Iowa House Speaker Pat Grassley, grandson of U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, is also publicly toying with a bid. On the Democratic side, Iowa auditor Rob Sand is among the declared candidates, as is Julie Stauch, who served as Pete Buttigieg’s 2020 presidential campaign Iowa political director.
Fresh wave of anti-ICE protests threatens uncertainty, volatility before Trump’s massive military parade
Thousands of people amassed in major U.S. cities this week to protest President Donald Trump’s immigration raids in Los Angeles – injecting fresh uncertainty in the nation’s capital and beyond just days before Washington, D.C., hosts a massive, first-of-its-kind military parade. It is unclear what, if any, major demonstrations protesters are planning in coordination with Saturday’s military parade; a $45 million event running through the city’s downtown which will feature hundreds of military vehicles, including armored troop carriers, tanks and Chinook helicopters, winding through the city’s roads and skies in celebration of the U.S. Army’s 250th anniversary. It also happens to be Trump’s 79th birthday. However, the show of force and military grandeur takes place at a time when a wave of immigration protests in California – and Trump’s attempts to quash the unrest by deploying thousands of U.S. troops to the state – have changed the national mood from tense to combustible, prompting a new wave of demonstrations and clashes with law enforcement in major cities across the U.S. Combined, the escalating skirmishes have also raised the specter of possible disruption during the patriotic parade, though officials stressed this week that they are closely monitoring the event and security in the surrounding area. TRUMP DOJ TELLS COURT IT WILL SEEK DISMISSAL OF ABREGO GARCIA CASE An immigration protest in Washington, D.C., on Monday afternoon was notably tame. However, the crowd was massive, drawing hundreds of protesters to the city’s downtown area. Other demonstrations are slated to take place in the Washington, D.C.-area throughout the week, including a planned demonstration in the nearby Columbia Heights neighborhood. U.S. Park Police told reporters this week that they are tracking nine planned protests in Washington, D.C., on Saturday. Trump, for his part, attempted to get ahead of any protests that could snarl the planned display of military might, warning that any demonstrators that attempted to disrupt the event “will be met with very heavy force.” “I haven’t even heard about a protest, but [there are] people that hate our country,” he told reporters Tuesday afternoon. JUDGES V TRUMP: HERE ARE THE KEY COURT BATTLES HALTING THE WHITE HOUSE AGENDA All the same, major protests continued to crop up this week in other major U.S. cities, and clashes with law enforcement personnel prompted dozens of arrests in New York and in various Texas cities, according to local law enforcement officials. In Washington, D.C., protesters massed peacefully outside the Justice Department headquarters on Monday to protest the administration’s immigration crackdown and ICE raids. Many were also there to demand the release of a prominent labor leader, David Huerta, who was arrested in the Los Angeles protests late last week. Huerta, the president of California’s Service Employees International Union (SEIU) chapter, was hospitalized due to injuries sustained during his arrest, according to the union. Huerta was released Monday evening on bail. He has since been charged with felony conspiracy to impede an officer, which carries a maximum penalty of up to six years in federal prison. “We’re sick and tired of the illegal acts of the administration,” Jaime Contreras, the executive vice president of SEIU’s Capital Area District chapter, told Fox News Digital in an interview, pointing to the administration’s arrest of Huerta and also the arrest of “so many innocent immigrants” in the U.S. who have been swept up in ICE raids. “All they want is to provide a better life for their family, which is why your ancestors came to this country,” he said. The group, which included labor and union groups, among other protesters, marched past the Justice Department entrance and the FBI’s headquarters downtown, chanting and holding signs. The demonstrators yelled, “Pam Bondi, shame on you!” as they gathered outside the entrance to the building. Nearby, employees at the J. Edgar Hoover Building – which since the 1970s has served as the FBI’s national headquarters – could be seen watching the demonstration unfold from the confines of the building’s infamously brutalist-style balconies. TRUMP’S REMARKS COULD COME BACK TO BITE HIM IN ABREGO GARCIA DEPORTATION BATTLE “I have one word for you today – enough,” said Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-WA, who spoke at the demonstration in Washington, D.C., on Monday. “Enough of these mass ICE raids that are sweeping up innocent people of every legal status, tearing apart families and our communities.” The Washington, D.C., protest also took place on the same day that the Trump administration’s wider travel ban officially took hold. The ban prohibits nationals from 12 countries from traveling to the U.S. and imposes partial restrictions on nationals from seven additional countries. Some at the demonstration told Fox News Digital they had deep concerns about the chilling effect that the ban could have on migrants in the U.S., including individuals that have already submitted visas from now-banned countries on the list. Ultimately, Contreras told Fox News of the large crowd of protesters, “I think people are angry.” “I think that people are getting sick and tired of being threatened, of the fear factors that are being used against our community,” he said. “So yes, people are afraid— but people are also angry. And angry is a great organizing tool for all.” Beyond Washington, the demonstrations and skirmishes add heat to an already fast-boiling standoff, as both the Trump administration and many protesters have said they have no plans to stand down from the fight. “We’ll be back,” some protesters chanted on Monday. Meanwhile, Trump officials took to social media to condemn the wave of new protests, with Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem noting that ICE, which falls under her department’s purview, will “continue to enforce the law.” “If you lay a hand on a law enforcement officer, you will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” she vowed.
GOP congressman ‘remains concerned’ over ICE operations in deep blue state
Rep. David Valadao, R-Calif., said he has concerns about the ongoing Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations in the Golden State. “I remain concerned about ongoing ICE operations throughout CA and will continue my conversations with the administration—urging them to prioritize the removal of known criminals over the hardworking people who have lived peacefully in the Valley for years,” the congressman said in a post to X on Tuesday morning. In the same thread, the Republican condemned the anti-ICE riots in Los Angeles. CALIFORNIA LT. GOVERNOR SAYS LOS ANGELES RIOTS ARE ‘GENERATED BY DONALD TRUMP’ “I support the First Amendment right to peacefully protest, but the violence and vandalism happening in Los Angeles is unacceptable and I stand with our law enforcement officers working to protect people and regain control over the situation,” he wrote. The congressman represents a highly competitive district in central California. Cook Political Report currently ranks the 2026 race as “Lean Republican” in his district. CalMatters reported in March that ICE may have been conducting operations in the Central Valley. Tens of thousands of arrests have occurred since Trump took office, as the administration is seeking to execute mass deportations. Meanwhile, southern border crossings have taken a nosedive. RIOTERS SMASH WINDOWS AT LAPD HEADQUARTERS AS ANTI-ICE AGITATORS CLASH WITH AUTHORITIES Immigration and Customs Enforcement is currently facing a goal of 3,000 daily arrests of illegal immigrants, which includes those facing criminal charges and convictions. As for the unrest itself, President Donald Trump deployed National Guard troops to the area, which has set up a major dispute between him and California leaders. Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a Tuesday post to X, “Trump doesn’t care about protecting Californians. He’s militarizing our state & provoking chaos.” CLICK HERE FOR MORE IMMIGRATION COVERAGE “Illegal aliens invaded America. The government of California aided and abetted that invasion. Violent mobs, incited by California leaders, attacked ICE officers to keep them from removing the invaders,” White House deputy chief of staff for policy Stephen Miller posted to X on Monday. “California officials refused to send the police to rescue the ice officers, hoping the rioters would succeed in shutting down ICE raids. This is an organized insurrection against the laws and sovereignty of the United States.” CHUCK DEVORE: TRUMP MOVES FAST TO SAVE LA FROM A 1992 REPEAT Valadao and other members of the California Republican delegation signed onto a resolution in the House, led by Rep. Young Kim, R-Calif., slamming the riots in Los Angeles. “Peaceful protests are a constitutional right, but vandalism, looting, violence, and other crimes are not. Protecting public safety shouldn’t be controversial, which is why I am leading the California Republican delegation in a resolution to support law and order as we continue to see unrest,” Kim said in a statement on Tuesday. “I hope Governor Newsom can come together with President Trump to stop the riots, lower the temperature, and keep our communities safe.” “Let’s be clear: the riots escalated before the National Guard was sent in and were enabled by California’s soft-on-crime policies – peddled for years by Governor Newsom, Sacramento, and local prosecutors – that have allowed for lawlessness and endangered public safety of hardworking Californians,” the Republican congresswoman continued. Fox News Digital reached out to the Department of Homeland Security, ICE and the White House.
Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’ cracks down on Biden’s student loan ‘scheme,’ top Republican says
The chairman of a key Senate panel is claiming victory against former President Joe Biden’s student loan plans as part of President Donald Trump‘s “one big, beautiful bill.” “The Biden administration was attempting to forgive student loans for people who willingly took on the loan and required the taxpayer, including people who never went to college and would never make what the person who took the loan would ever have the hope to make,” Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee Chairman Bill Cassidy, R-La., told Fox News Digital. “So we end that transfer of that student loan on the taxpayers, and that’s probably our biggest savings.” Cassidy’s committee released its portion of the Trump agenda bill late on Tuesday. NEW STUDY REVEALS BLUE STATE’S FAST-FOOD MINIMUM WAGE HIKE JEOPARDIZED THOUSANDS OF JOBS A press release for the legislation said it “ends Biden’s student loan schemes that transfer debt onto the 87 percent of Americans who chose to not go to college or already paid off their loans” and “also prevents future Democrat administrations from implementing schemes.” The bill specifically takes aim at Biden’s expansion of Borrower Defense to Repayment regulations and Closed School Discharge regulations, which Republicans have held up as costly policies that shift federal student loan borrowers’ burdens onto other taxpayers. Various versions of Biden’s plans had previously been struck down in court. The bill would also eliminate federal Grad PLUS loans, a program used by graduate-level and professional students to pay for their studies, which can be used for graduate students’ entire cost of attendance. It would instead keep in place a $20,500 annual limit for Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loans on graduate degrees, capped at $100,000 total, excluding undergraduate loans. For professional degrees, it keeps a $50,000 annual unsubsidized loan limit and a $200,000 total cap. The legislation is also aimed at cracking down on taxpayer funding subsidizing degrees from lower-performing universities. Colleges that see people with undergraduate degrees earn less than the typical high school graduate in their state, or graduate programs where attendees then earn less than the normal bachelor’s recipient, would be blocked from federal student loan programs. “What we’ve got was a situation where people can borrow more money than they can effectively pay back, and that destroys their life, leaving them with a debt burden which keeps them unable to do other things in life. And there’s at least some sense that universities offering these programs know that’s the case. And so we attempt to fix that,” Cassidy said. “So we have provisions that would say that if the degree being acquired does not end up paying more, the person receiving that degree doesn’t get more on average than a person who did not get that degree, then the federal government is not going to lend them money.” To encourage more people to pursue non-collegiate degrees, the bill would also establish a Workforce Pell Grant. Pell Grants are currently aimed at low-income students pursuing bachelor’s degrees and are generally not repaid. “For example, a student gets a commercial driver’s license. They’re going to go out and make $100,000 a year after a couple of years of driving, I am told. And so we want to enable those people to accomplish that,” Cassidy said. Foreign income would be taken into account when evaluating Pell Grants, while farm and small business assets would not, under the GOP bill. Those and several other measures in the legislation would add up to roughly $300 billion in taxpayer savings, Cassidy said. Senate Republicans are currently working through their version of Trump’s massive agenda bill, which passed the House late last month. NEW STUDY REVEALS BLUE STATE’S FAST-FOOD MINIMUM WAGE HIKE JEOPARDIZED THOUSANDS OF JOBS Republicans are using the budget reconciliation process to pass a sweeping bill advancing Trump’s agenda on taxes, immigration, energy, defense and the national debt. They are also working to use it to bring down the national debt – nearing $37 trillion – with the aim of cutting $1.5 trillion in federal spending. Reconciliation allows the party in power to completely skirt the minority, in this case Democrats, by lowering the Senate’s threshold to advance from 60 votes to 51. The legislation must adhere to a specific set of rules, however, including measures that deal with the budget, taxation, or the national debt. Both the House and Senate must agree to identical versions of the bill before it gets to Trump’s desk for a signature. The House’s version passed 215 to 214, and leaders there have implored the upper chamber to change as little as possible. Cassidy acknowledged there were some changes made but was optimistic about how they’ll be met in the House. “There’s several things, but one thing I think that they’re going to like is that we do fully fund the Pell Grant program. You know, we address the shortfall there. And so I think they’re going to like it,” he said. “It’s going to give low-income students access to career education. We need those kind of career type jobs to make sure that all this manufacturing and construction has a workforce to address it. And so we think it helps the needs of society. We think it helps the needs of the student.” House and Senate GOP leaders had previously set a goal of having a bill on Trump’s desk by the Fourth of July. Cassidy declined to comment on whether that was a feasible benchmark but argued that lawmakers should be ready to extend that timeline – and possibly shrink their summer recess – to get the final product. “As far as I’m concerned, the most important thing is to get it right. So if there is a delay, the president said it today – if there is a delay, that’s not that big of a deal. The most important thing is we get it right,” he said.
Federal judge refuses to block Trump’s LA National Guard deployment on Newsom’s timeframe
A federal judge on Tuesday night declined California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s request for an immediate temporary restraining order to restrict President Donald Trump’s deployment of National Guard troops and U.S. Marines to quell ongoing anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) riots in Los Angeles. U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer, an appointee of former President Bill Clinton, declined to intervene by 1 p.m. PDT on Tuesday and instead set a hearing to consider California’s motion for a temporary restraining order on Thursday. The judge, who is the brother of retired liberal U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, said the federal government could submit its arguments by 11 a.m. PDT Wednesday. He gave California until 9 a.m. Thursday to submit a response to the court. Breyer, a former Watergate prosecutor, is presiding over the lawsuit filed by Newsom and California Attorney General Rob Bonta, challenging Trump’s federalization of 4,000 National Guard troops and deployment of 700 Marines to Los Angeles. RODNEY KING RIOTS OFFICER SAYS LA MAYOR ACTED ‘TOO LATE’ AS ANTI-ICE VIOLENCE ENGULFS CITY Newsom has traded public wars of words with Trump administration officials, accusing the president of having “commandeered” 2,000 of the state’s National Guard members “illegally, for no reason” without consulting with California’s law enforcement leaders. The Trump administration, meanwhile, said its ICE operations are aiming to get “criminal illegal immigrant killers, rapists, gangbangers, drug dealers, human traffickers, and domestic abusers off the streets.” “The INCOMPETENT Governor of California was unable to provide protection in a timely manner when our Ice Officers, GREAT Patriots they are, were attacked by an out of control mob of agitators, troublemakers, and/or insurrectionists,” Trump wrote on TRUTH Social on Wednesday morning. “MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” “If our troops didn’t go into Los Angeles, it would be burning to the ground right now, just like so much of their housing burned to the ground. The great people of Los Angeles are very lucky that I made the decision to go in and help!!!” Demonstrations against the ICE raids in Los Angeles have escalated into violent rioting and looting, and buildings have been tagged with anti-American messaging. “Instead of focusing on undocumented immigrants with serious criminal records and people with final deportation orders, a strategy that both parties have long supported, this administration is pushing mass deportations, indiscriminately targeting hardworking immigrant families regardless of their roots or risk,” Newsom said in one of a series of video statements. The governor said he’s sought an emergency court order against the use of “the American military to engage in law enforcement activities across Los Angeles.” NEWSOM SAYS LOS ANGELES RIOTERS WILL BE PROSECUTED, SLAMS TRUMP FOR ‘TRAUMATIZING OUR COMMUNITIES’ “If some of us can be snatched off the streets without a warrant, based only on suspicion or skin color, then none of us are safe,” Newsom said. Newsom argued Trump’s intervention escalated the Los Angeles rioting, but Vice President JD Vance pushed back on Tuesday. The Democratic governor claimed that California “didn’t have a problem until Trump got involved,” but Vance asserted it was Newsom’s policies that “allowed Los Angeles to turn into a war zone.” “Newsom and his stooge Karen Bass fomented and encouraged the riots, because their entire political movement exists for one purpose: to promote mass migration into our country,” Vance wrote on X, blaming the governor and the mayor of Los Angeles. “It is their reason for being. Democratic leadership has no solution for the economy, for prosperity, or for security. They use their power when they’re in the majority to import millions of illegal immigrants and when they’re in opposition they do everything possible to prevent deportations.” The vice president said Medicaid was extended to all illegal immigrants in 2024 under Newsom’s leadership, meaning that “he elected to take healthcare from impoverished and disabled Californians and give it to illegal aliens.” CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “And now, everything is President Trump’s fault? Give me a break,” Vance said. “If you want to know why illegal aliens flocked to your state, stop accusing Donald Trump. Look in the mirror. If you want to know why border patrol fear for their lives over enforcing the law, look in the mirror. It was your policies that encouraged mass migration into California. Your policies that protected those migrants from common sense law enforcement.” “You sure as hell had a problem before President Trump came along. The problem is YOU,” Vance said.
DOJ argues Trump may cancel Biden-era national monuments
The Justice Department says President Donald Trump has the right to abolish national monuments established by former President Joe Biden at the request of Native American tribes. In the final days of his presidency, Biden established the Chuckwalla National Monument and the Sáttítla Highlands National Monument to protect hundreds of thousands of acres of land in California. According to Reuters, the Chuckwalla National Monument protects over 624,000 acres, while the Sáttítla Highlands National Monument protects 224,000 acres. TRUMP DOJ INVESTIGATING BIDEN-ERA PARDONS AMID CONCERNS OVER STATE OF MIND The monuments could lose their status after a Trump DOJ legal opinion reversed a 1938 determination that presidents did not have the power to abolish monuments designated by previous presidents under the Antiquities Act of 1906. Deputy Assistant Attorney General Lanora Pettit argued in the opinion that “for the Antiquities Act, the power to declare carries with it the power to revoke.” In his first term, Trump reduced the size of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase Escalante National Monuments in Utah, according to the Associated Press. The outlet noted that Trump claimed the monuments were a “massive land grab.” However, Biden later restored them during his term in office. BIDEN SAYS HE’S BEEN CARRYING OUT ‘MOST AGGRESSIVE CLIMATE AGENDA’ IN HISTORY AS HE DESIGNATES CA MONUMENTS The DOJ’s opinion, which was released on Tuesday, has already drawn backlash as Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., slammed the Trump administration. “At Donald Trump’s order, his Justice Department is attempting to clear a path to erase national monuments,” said Heinrich, who serves as the ranking member of the Senate Natural Resources Committee. “Here’s what they don’t understand: Our national monuments are about who we are. They tell the story of our ancestors, support jobs and our rural economies, and connect Americans to our history and the land itself. No president can erase that.” Heinrich also vowed to oppose Republican efforts “to rip away our national monuments.” CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP In the legal opinion, Pettit wrote that Biden’s designation of the new monuments was part of a larger effort to create an environmental legacy for himself. She also appeared to discredit Biden’s reasons for designating the sites as national monuments, including the creation of more places for outdoor recreational activities, like biking, hiking, hunting and camping. “Such activities are entirely expected in a park, but they are wholly unrelated to (if not outright incompatible with) the protection of scientific or historical monuments,” Pettit wrote. There is no clear indication if or when Trump would revoke the status of the two sites established by Biden—or the status of any other monuments. However, according to Reuters, White House spokesperson Harrison Fields spoke about the need to “liberate our federal lands and waters to oil, gas, coal, geothermal, and mineral leasing” when asked about the opinion.
Delhi-NCR Weather: IMD issues fresh Red Alert as heatwave conditions to prevail, rain likely on…; check forecast here
As temperatures continue to rise across the national capital and the adjoining NCR, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a fresh ‘red alert’ for Delhi, warning of severe heatwave conditions.
Trump deployment of troops to quell LA rioters latest page in president’s political playbook
President Donald Trump is defending his muscular and controversial moves to tame unrest in the nation’s second most populous city. “If I didn’t “SEND IN THE TROOPS” to Los Angeles the last three nights, that once beautiful and great City would be burning to the ground right now,” the president argued Tuesday in a social media post. Aiming to extinguish escalating protests in Los Angeles sparked by immigration raids carried out by ICE at his administration’s direction, Trump sent in National Guard troops and even mobilized Marines. Trump broke six decades of precedent by federalizing California’s National Guard without the consent of Gov. Gavin Newsom. CLICK HERE FOR FOX NEWS LIVE UPDATES ON THE ANTI-ICE PROTESTS IN LOS ANGELES Regardless of the legality of his moves, Trump’s actions put immigration and law and order – key issues that helped him win back the White House in last year’s election – firmly back in the national spotlight, offering the president obvious political opportunities. A source in the president’s political orbit told Fox News that it is “a winning script,” by putting Democrats on defense once again regarding immigration. Additionally, the source said that Trump has a clear mandate from American voters for his mass deportation effort to clear the country of undocumented immigrants. MARINES BEING DEPLOYED TO LOS ANGELES AMID RIOTS AS CALIFORNIA MOVES TO SUE TRUMP OVER RESPONSE The optics – clashes with police and tear gas in the streets, masked protesters throwing rocks at police, setting cars on fire and waving Mexican flags – may likely boost support among a large swath of Americans, bolstering Trump’s political playbook. While Trump’s overall approval ratings remain underwater in most national polling, thanks to negative numbers on the economy, the visuals from Los Angeles shine a spotlight on the issues on which the president performs best – immigration and border security, and law and order. “Images splashed across the media of Mexican flag-wielding rioters burning cars and assaulting police officers validate President Trump’s call for greater immigration enforcement and border control. It also puts Democrats on the defensive by highlighting their inability to maintain law and order in blue states,” veteran Republican strategist and communicator Ryan Williams told Fox News. Additionally, Nicole Schlinger, a longtime conservative consultant, highlighted that “this is exactly what Donald Trump campaigned on, and the swing-state voters who backed him expect action before these riots reach their cities. He’s delivering on their votes, with action, not apology.” FIRST ON FOX: GOP SEN. TOM COTTON PUSHES NEW IDEAS TO QUELL ANTI-ICE PROTESTS The violence in Los Angeles also offers up a familiar foil to the president – Newsom, a Democrat, who is considered a potential contender for the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination. Newsom, whom Trump suggested should be arrested, has repeatedly accused the president and his administration of manufacturing the crisis and illegally militarizing Los Angeles. Newsom, who is suing the president to reverse the order, charged in a social media post that “this is an unmistakable step toward authoritarianism that threatens the foundation of our republic. We cannot let it stand.” While Newsom has condemned the violence in the streets, Schlinger claimed that “this is the visual that plays right into Trump’s hand. Liberal Gavin Newsom, who tried to wave a moderate flag on conservative podcasts, is now defending illegal immigrants flying the Mexican flag while standing on burning cars. There’s no middle ground with burning cars on it.” Williams argued that “Newsom’s record of failed leadership, rank incompetence, and botched responses to multiple high-profile crises make him an excellent political foil for President Trump.” Another fringe benefit for Trump – the rioting in Los Angeles bumped an uncomfortable headline for the administration – the nasty feud with Elon Musk is far from the spotlight. FETTERMAN CALLS OUT HIS OWN PARTY OVER UNREST IN LOS ANGELES Republican officials and committees are using the violence in Los Angeles as a cudgel to bash Democrats. “If you look at what’s going on in L.A., it shows exactly what [former President] Biden and the Democrats did by opening their borders the way they did and allowing millions and millions and millions of people coming here unvetted. They’ve caused all this,” Republican Sen. Rick Scott of Florida claimed on Tuesday. “I think President Trump is doing what he said he was going to do on the campaign trail. He’s going to keep the country safe.” The National Republican Congressional Committee, which is the campaign arm of the House GOP, charged that “While LA is burning and law enforcement is being attacked, radical House Democrats are ‘scoffing’ at any thought of condemning the violent riots. The party has completely lost their minds.” Even first-term Sen. John Fetterman of California, who has increasingly bucked and criticized fellow Democrats, chastised his own party. “I unapologetically stand for free speech, peaceful demonstrations, and immigration—but this is not that. This is anarchy and true chaos. My party loses the moral high ground when we refuse to condemn setting cars on fire, destroying buildings, and assaulting law enforcement,” Fetterman argued in a social media post. However, the political clash in California is likely to enrage and further energize most Democrats. “The actions of the Trump administration are dangerous and overaggressive. The reality is that Trump has provoked these protests, and now he is trying to escalate them,” longtime Democratic strategist Joe Caiazzo told Fox News, as he echoed a sentiment coming from many in his party. Additionally, Democrats see plenty of hypocrisy in Trump’s move to send in the troops, given what happened during the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol. Trump did not call out the National Guard during the rioting at the Capitol. One of his first acts in January, when he returned to power in the White House, was to pardon those convicted in the storming of the Capitol. “Donald Trump pretends to respect the rule of law, and we should not forget that he sat idly by as violent protesters stormed the
Why should government decide temperature of your air conditioners? You can not run ACs below…
If reports are to be believed, air conditioners account for around 50 gigawatts of electricity use, about one-fifth of the country’s maximum power load. It has also been found that every 1°C increase in AC temperature cuts energy use by 6%.