When nations face a fiscal emergency they turn to the <a href="https://www.imf.org/en/About/Factsheets/Sheets/2022/IMF-World-Bank-New" target="_blank" rel="noopener">International Monetary Fund (IMF).</a> When they need capital to build roads, energy grids, or water sanitation, they go to the <a href="https://www.imf.org/en/About/Factsheets/Sheets/2022/IMF-World-Bank-New" target="_blank" rel="noopener">World Bank.</a>
Both institutions play essential roles in the international financial system. But Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent <a href="https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sb0094#:~:text=First%2C%20we%20must%20make%20the,deficit%20in%20our%20nation's%20history." target="_blank" rel="noopener">believes</a> “mission creep has knocked these institutions off course.”
Earlier this year, Bessent warned that the IMF and World Bank have drifted from their mandates by devoting time and resources to work on <a href="https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sb0094#:~:text=First%2C%20we%20must%20make%20the,deficit%20in%20our%20nation's%20history." target="_blank" rel="noopener">climate change, gender, and social issues</a>. On Wednesday, he acknowledged recent course corrections and urged both institutions to continue refocusing on their original mandates.
“At a time when countries around the world are tightening their belts, we should expect the same from public institutions that have been built with and supported by taxpayer money from around the world,&#8221; Bessent <a href="https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sb0280" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> this week ahead of both the IMF and World Bank&#8217;s annual meetings.
He criticized the board’s &#8220;ballooning salaries” and expanding administrative overhead, urging the institutions to impose financial discipline. “Resources must not be siphoned away from the core missions,” he added.
Part of that mission involves refocusing the IMF and World Bank’s relationship with China.
Last week, China sent a letter announcing large-scale export controls taking effect on November 1. President Donald Trump said the export controls would be on “virtually every product they make“ and “affect all countries.” He condemned the policy as a “moral disgrace” and responded with a threat to raise tariffs to 100% on all Chinese imports.
Bessent, echoing Trump’s concerns, urged the IMF and the World Bank to take another look at China.
“The IMF is uniquely positioned to provide bilateral and multilateral economic surveillance that identifies imbalances and risks, facilitates the balanced growth of international trade, and discourages harmful policies.”
Bessent called the IMF to examine China’s policies, focusing their surveillance “on macroeconomic and financial stability” rather than “climate and gender.”
Addressing the World Bank, Bessent pushed for implementing a graduation policy “supporting countries along the way to self-reliance and enabling the bank to concentrate its resources on poorer, less creditworthy countries where its support is most needed and most impactful.”
Bessent specifically named China as a country that should no longer be receiving World Bank assistance, saying it’s time for the institution to “graduate” China and focus its limited resources where support is truly needed.
Bessent’s stance matters. The United States is the largest financial contributor to both institutions, giving it considerable influence over policy direction and voting power.
The Treasury Secretary&#8217;s remarks also mark a sharp change in policy from his predecessor. At the 2024 Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, Biden Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen praised the “record high of nearly $75 billion in climate finance to low- and middle-income countries in 2023, a 45 percent increase from 2021.”
“Confronting climate change, of course, remains at the top of our agenda,” she announced. She also supported an expansion of IMF funding through increased quotas.

FILE PHOTO: U.S. Treasury Secretary Bessent testifies before a House Ways and Means Committee hearing on Capitol Hill

Bessent Pushes IMF And World Bank Focus On China, Not Gender And Climate Issues

China

Climate Change

Donald Trump

Scott Bessent

Treasury Department

A global tax on shipping emissions won’t take effect after pressure from the Trump administration to abandon the climate activist-fueled proposal.  
The International Maritime Organization had been set to vote on Friday on adopting a global carbon tax aimed at pushing the shipping industry to stop using fossil fuels. But that vote did not happen after President Donald Trump on Thursday <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115385308751129485">called</a> for other countries to oppose the tax, saying that the United States would not “tolerate” or “adhere” to the measure. 
Instead, the International Maritime Organization, an agency of the United Nations that regulates shipping, moved Friday to postpone the vote on the tax for a year. 
“Now you have one year, you will continue to work on several aspects of these amendments,” <a href="https://apnews.com/article/shipping-climate-change-carbon-fee-a5f854e7028d08035689db50814a6519">said</a> Arsenio Dominguez, the secretary general of the International Maritime Organization. “You have one year to negotiate and talk and come to consensus.”
The decision was praised by Trump administration officials who spent the week fighting the proposal. 
“This is another HUGE win for [Trump],” Secretary of State Marco Rubio <a href="https://x.com/SecRubio/status/1979209616425644482">said</a>. “Thanks to his leadership, the United States prevented a massive UN tax hike on American consumers that would have funded progressive climate pet projects. Our country will continue to lead the way and put America FIRST.”
UN Ambassador Mike Waltz <a href="https://x.com/michaelgwaltz/status/1979196333886935533">praised</a> Rubio’s efforts to fight the tax. 
“Huge push by [Rubio] and the State Dept team. Strong diplomacy that put American business and consumers first WON THE DAY over an ideological carbon tax from the UN and EU,” said Waltz. 
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Last week, the Trump administration <a href="https://www.state.gov/releases/office-of-the-spokesperson/2025/10/taking-action-to-defend-america-from-the-uns-first-global-carbon-tax-the-international-maritime-organizations-imo-net-zero-framework-nzf">warned</a> that the tax could increase shipping costs by up to 10% and said that it was considering a number of retaliatory actions for countries that support the measure. These actions included investigating countries pursuing anti-competitive practices, imposing visa restrictions and increasing processing fees, and placing additional port fees and commercial penalties. 
“The United States will be moving to levy these remedies against nations that sponsor this European-led neocolonial export of global climate regulations,” a statement from the Trump administration said. “We will fight hard to protect our economic interests by imposing costs on countries if they support the [Net Zero Framework].”

White House US President Donald Trump

‘Huge Win’: Trump Admin Delivers Blow To UN Climate Agenda, Derails ‘Ideological’ Global Carbon Tax

Carbon Emissions

Environment

Marco Rubio

Mike Waltz

Politics

State Department

United Nations

Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz made it absolutely clear on Thursday that the United States would not support the global carbon tax being pushed by the International Maritime Organization — and President Donald Trump voiced his agreement on the subject.
Waltz addressed the issue with &#8220;Fox &amp; Friends&#8221; host Brian Kilmeade, and he said that the United States was also encouraging other nations to vote &#8220;no&#8221; on the new tax — and that there could be consequences for those that chose to vote in favor of the measure.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
As <a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/SecRubio?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SecRubio</a> have made clear, the United States is a hard NO on <a href="https://twitter.com/IMOHQ?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@IMOHQ</a>’s global carbon tax scheme that harms the American consumer. We’re calling on other nations to vote with us or face serious consequences. <a href="https://t.co/uKX9dVeSK8">pic.twitter.com/uKX9dVeSK8</a>
— Ambassador Mike Waltz (@USAmbUN) <a href="https://twitter.com/USAmbUN/status/1978878850810392959?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 16, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;This is a bigger deal than I think anybody realizes,&#8221; Waltz, a former Florida congressman and Green Beret veteran, told Kilmeade. He went on to say that others within the Trump administration — from Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy to Secretary of State Marco Rubio — were all in agreement that the new tax had to go.
&#8220;They have been loud and clear on this, the United States is a hard no,&#8221; he declared. &#8220;This would essentially put a global tax on everything that is involved in trade and then everything that goes on a ship &#8230; this is trying to drive carbon emissions from shipping to zero.&#8221;
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Waltz went on to note that the move would also subsidize certain biofuels — and would greatly benefit China because in order to retrofit ships to use the new fuels, businesses would have to work with Chinese shipyards.
Trump also weighed in on the issue with a post to his Truth Social platform, saying, &#8220;I am outraged that the International Maritime Organization is voting in London this week to pass a global Carbon Tax. The United States will NOT stand for this Global Green New Scam Tax on Shipping, and will not adhere to it in any way, shape, or form. We will not tolerate increased prices on American Consumers OR, the creation of a Green New Scam Bureaucracy to spend YOUR money on their Green dreams. Stand with the United States, and vote NO in London tomorrow!&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<a href="https://t.co/m2BA6Wt3kC">pic.twitter.com/m2BA6Wt3kC</a>
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1978894758593323154?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 16, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

2023 Concordia Annual Summit – September 18

‘A Hard No’: Mike Waltz Says U.S. Won’t Stand For UN Org’s Global Carbon Tax

carbon

Global Politics

Taxes

Last month, President Donald Trump and Energy Secretary Chris Wright’s Climate Working Group completed its work, and quietly achieved something few expected: they reset the national conversation on climate policy.
For years, Washington’s climate agenda has been dominated by alarmism, junk science, and a revolving cast of “experts” whose warnings are backed not by empirical evidence but the billions of dollars flowing from dark money climate advocacy groups and left-wing billionaires more focused on concentrating power than global temperatures.
The federal government has relied heavily on so-called “climate attribution” studies, which claim to link every hurricane, wildfire, and heatwave to carbon emissions.
These studies are widely criticized, even within the scientific community, for flawed methodology and confirmation bias. Yet policymakers have treated them as gospel, driving expensive and economically damaging regulations. Craven politicians have used them to attempt to condition the American people to believe every storm is the result of energy producers, and the only answer is multi-trillion-dollar energy transitions.
The Climate Working Group ripped that narrative apart. Its report exposed the flimsy assumptions, the overreliance on discredited models, and the tendency to inflate worst-case scenarios while ignoring economic realities. The group didn’t simply question climate orthodoxy; it demanded that science, logic, and reality guide policy — rather than ideology and grant-driven research agendas.
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Predictably, the backlash was immediate and loud. Dark-money-funded climate groups with questionable credibility, like the Union of Concerned Scientists and the Environmental Defense Fund, and self-styled “scientists” who have been discredited within peer-reviewed circles, launched predictable attacks, dismissing the report as reckless or even dangerous. They sued to prevent the report from even seeing the light of day.
The rapid, even frantic mobilization to shut this report down told us everything we need to know.
Because this report poked holes and raised questions about the “climate consensus,” it served as an existential threat to an entire constellation of dark money interests, NGO’s, political candidates and groups, and non-profits that rely on Americans believing that every raindrop and gust of wind they experience is actually the fault of the oil and gas companies.
The truth is simple: the group accomplished exactly what it was supposed to do. It recentered the debate on facts, not fear, and reminded policymakers that exaggerated claims of catastrophe do not replace rigorous analysis. And that those with genuine scientific curiosity should not kowtow to a politically driven “consensus” that shuts down questions and intellectual challenge.
Events at Climate Week in New York highlighted just how important this shift has been. Secretary Wright joined David Gelles of The New York Times for a <a href="https://youtu.be/XzkZ-a0UMN8?si=NTNKgD4wEYOaSBhe&amp;t=1304" target="_blank" rel="noopener">discussion</a> on Energy in the Trump administration.
Gelles asked questions using the Left’s normal framing about extreme weather and climate change, and Secretary Wright pushed back forcefully, saying, “These crazy convoluted links &#8230; making weather more extreme, more hurricanes, more intense hurricanes. That’s not what’s in the IPCC reports, it’s not what’s in the data. It’s what the media says, it’s what activists say, it’s what politicians say. It’s not in the data.”
Gelles pushed back: “There’s a ton of attribution science, though. Are you saying that the studies that are showing attribution science that do the actual scientific work to link global temperature rise to specific weather events are not to be trusted?”
“Attribution science is not science,” Wright responded. “You can’t draw a long-term slow trend to a weather event, tornadoes, hurricanes, extremely complicated phenomena. Attribution science is someone reaching for something.”
Thanks to the Climate Working Group, discussions about climate policy can no longer ignore economic costs, energy realities, or the limits of current science. For the first time in years, the debate has been pulled back from ideological extremes and into the light of scrutiny.
Mission accomplished. And if the critics are howling, that’s just proof the Working Group hit the mark.
The Honorable Jason Isaac is the Founder and CEO of the American Energy Institute, a trade organization that unapologetically champions free markets and American energy. Previously, he served four terms in the Texas House of Representatives.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

How The Trump Administration Changed The Climate Conversation

Chris Wright

Department of Energy

”Raising Hope for Climate Justice” Conference Opens

The Pope Hosts Cringe ‘Climate Justice’ Event

The Pope Hosts Cringe 'Climate Justice' Event

Abortion

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Catholic

Dick Durbin

Environmentalism

Opinion

Pope Leo

Pro-Life Movement

The Vatican

The retirement savings of millions of federal workers are being weaponized to push climate change and DEI mandates, a watchdog warned lawmakers. 
Financial asset giants BlackRock and State Street are leveraging their management over billions of dollars in federal employees’ retirement savings to push left-wing politics, according to a Monday <a href="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/Hild-Letter-to-SCHSGA-and-HCOGR-RE-TSP.pdf">letter</a> to top Republican lawmakers from Consumers’ Research obtained by The Daily Wire. The pair manages around $668 billion in federal retirement savings through the Thrift Savings Plan, the federal government’s version of a 401(k) plan. 
“Asset managers like BlackRock using Americans’ hard-earned money to unfairly and illegally push radical political agendas without consent is hardly a new problem, but their control of most of the Thrift Savings Plan takes the scandal to a new level,” Consumers’ Research executive director Will Hild told The Daily Wire. “Flagrantly violating fiduciary duty with federal employee dollars begs for congressional scrutiny and more.”
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The letter was sent to House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Chair James Comer (R-KY) and Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Chair Rand Paul (R-KY). It requested that the lawmakers investigate the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board (FRTIB), the agency that administers the Thrift Savings Plan program. 
The letter says that the agency “has contracted with asset managers and proxy advisors that have pursued goals to impose emissions reductions and diversity quotas on companies, rather than focus solely on financial returns as required” by federal law. 
“Examples of BlackRock’s and State Street’s harmful conduct include: (1) using proxy voting power to push companies to adopt emissions targets; (2) maintaining commitments to climate-activist organizations in pursuit of Paris Agreement goals; (3) using internal proxy-voting guidelines that require using engagement and voting to pressure companies to align with net zero; (4) using pension fund assets to advance a net-zero agenda; and (5) succumbing to activist pressure to join climate groups and change their proxy voting to support activist proposals,” Hild wrote in the letter. 
An example of political policies being pushed by BlackRock included <a href="https://www.blackrock.com/corporate/literature/publication/annual-stewardship-report-2024.pdf">voting</a> in 2024 for a shareholder proposal to require Cracker Barrel to establish and publish greenhouse gas emissions targets. It backed similar proposals for companies like Jack in the Box, Wingstop, and Denny’s. 
Hild cited previous <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20241226122512/https:/www.ssga.com/library-content/assets/pdf/global/asset-stewardship/proxy-voting-and-engagement-policy.pdf">policies</a> by State Street to generally oppose company boards that are not “composed of at least 30-percent female directors” and “at least one director from an underrepresented racial/ethnic community.”
In recent years, BlackRock has <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/blackrock-makes-major-change-after-backlash-against-woke-investing">backed away</a> from some of its more recent pushes for activist investing after widespread backlash. In April 2024, the Committee to Unleash Prosperity gave BlackRock a &#8220;B&#8221; for its voting record on &#8220;extreme&#8221; shareholder proposals, up from a &#8220;C&#8221; the previous year. The same report grades State Street as a &#8220;C.&#8221;
&#8220;BlackRock’s CEO, Larry Fink, had been one of the leading voices in support of ESG a few years ago. But last year, under pressure from groups like ours and others, he began to retreat from its ESG advocacy on proxy voting as shareholder proposals have become more extreme,&#8221; the report found.
BlackRock&#8217;s recent global voting <a href="https://www.blackrock.com/corporate/literature/publication/2025-investment-stewardship-voting-spotlight.pdf">spotlight</a> also highlighted that it voted with corporate management on 209 out of 214 votes in the Americas on climate and natural capital. &#8220;We again found that many of these proposals were over-reaching, lacked economic merit, or sought outcomes that were unlikely to promote long-term financial value,&#8221; the report said.
The letter also states that the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board relies on the Institutional Shareholder Services, a proxy advisory firm, for analysis of BlackRock and State Street’s proxy voting record. The firm is also “committed to environmental activism and imposing quotas on company boards,” Hild wrote. 
The agency utilizes quarterly analysis from the Institutional Shareholder Services to ensure that BlackRock and State Street vote in line with their written guidelines. 
“Reliance on ISS is contrary to [federal law’s] sole-interest standard, as ISS pursues an agenda that is incompatible with shareholder value and has made commitments to incorporate ESG into its processes. Contracting with ISS also raises concerns about ISS’s role in recommending votes that would inject race- and sex-based considerations into companies’ practices, which potentially violates federal and state civil rights laws,” Hild wrote. 
Hild wants Congress to press the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board to ensure that federal workers’ retirement savings are not being used to push politics. 
“The [FRTIB] owes the public answers, starting with whether it broke the law by allowing these notoriously woke firms to fund their ESG activism with millions of federal workers&#8217; savings. The longer that firms like BlackRock freely manage Thrift Saving Plan assets, the greater the danger to so many Americans&#8217; retirement security,” he said.

MixCollage-29-Sep-2025-11-26-AM-2253

Federal Retirement Dollars Used To Push Leftist Politics, Watchdog Warns

BlackRock

Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI)

James Comer

Rand Paul

Wokeness

As climate alarmists gather in New York City for “Climate Week,” a new mobile billboard has popped up that chips away at the alliance between Democrat Governor Kathy Hochul and radical environmental groups.
The mobile billboard features images of Hochul wearing a MAGA-style hat saying “Make Nuclear Great Again,” photos of the vehicle obtained by The Daily Wire show. The mobile billboard highlights Hochul’s recent promise to bring a new nuclear power plant to New York.
The billboard features a quote from Hochul describing plans for the new plant as “a model of 21st century nuclear design.” The mobile first started driving around New York City on Monday and will continue until Wednesday.
<div id="attachment_976045" style="width: 1290px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-976045" class="size-full wp-image-976045" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/MBB_6.jpeg" alt="" width="1280" height="960" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/MBB_6.jpeg 1280w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/MBB_6-300x225.jpeg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/MBB_6-768x576.jpeg 768w" sizes=" (max-width: 1280px) 100vw, 1280px" />Mobile billboard drives through NYC: Daily Wire.</div>
Nuclear power is a form of energy frequently opposed by environmentalist groups who prefer things like wind or solar power. The Daily Wire reached out to multiple environmentalist groups like the Sierra Club, the Natural Resources Defense Council, and Greenpeace that have previously expressed support for Hochul, yet also oppose nuclear energy.
The Sierra Club <a href="https://www.sierraclub.org/nuclear-free" target="_blank" rel="noopener">says</a> that it is “unequivocally opposed to nuclear energy” and wants to work to “phase out nuclear as quickly as possible.” The Natural Resource Defense Council has also <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/stories/nuclear-power-101" target="_blank" rel="noopener">expressed</a> skepticism about nuclear energy.
Both those organizations <a href="https://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/making-oil-companies-pay" target="_blank" rel="noopener">praised</a> Hochul’s <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/press-releases/governor-hochul-signs-bill-make-polluters-pay" target="_blank" rel="noopener">establishment</a> in December of a “Climate Superfund” that her office claimed <a href="https://www.governor.ny.gov/news/governor-hochul-signs-landmark-legislation-creating-new-climate-superfund" target="_blank" rel="noopener">shifted</a> “the cost of climate adaptation from everyday New Yorkers to the fossil fuel companies most responsible for the pollution.&#8221;
Additionally, Greenpeace <a href="https://www.greenpeace.org/usa/climate/issues/nuclear/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">says</a> that nuclear energy is “dirty, expensive, and dangerous” and argues that it’s “bad for the economy.” The organization previously <a href="https://www.greenpeace.org/usa/greenpeace-usa-applauds-new-york-governor-hochuls-moratorium-on-crypto-mining/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">applauded</a> Hochul after she signed a moratorium on crypto mining.
President Donald Trump, who ripped into solar and wind power on Tuesday during his speech to the United Nations, took executive action in May “to modernize nuclear regulation, streamline nuclear reactor testing, deploy nuclear reactors for national security, and reinvigorate the nuclear industrial base.”
Shortly after Trump’s announcement, Hochul <a href="https://www.governor.ny.gov/news/governor-hochul-directs-new-york-power-authority-develop-zero-emission-advanced-nuclear-energy" target="_blank" rel="noopener">directed</a> the New York Power Authority “to develop and construct a zero-emission advanced nuclear power plant.”
That decision was met with criticism from some environmentalists who accused her of adopting Trump policies. The group Public Power NY <a href="https://publicpowerny.org/press-releases/public-power-ny-responds-to-hochuls-order-for-new-york-power-authority-to-build-nuclear-energy/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> the decision was “based on promises from Donald Trump&#8221; that &#8220;shows just how unserious she is about New Yorkers&#8217; energy bills and climate future.”
Hochul, who is running for re-election, is viewed favorably by fewer than 50% of New Yorkers, <a href="https://sri.siena.edu/2025/09/16/hochul-approval-favorability-ratings-up-a-little-favorability-best-since-jan-24-majority-hochul-works-hard-demonstrates-honesty-integrity-plurality-gets-things-done-provides-dec/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to recent polling.

MixCollage-23-Sep-2025-04-07-PM-3120

Mobile Billboard Trolls Kathy Hochul In NYC As She Faces Criticism From Climate Activists

Environmentalists

Greenpeace

Kathy Hochul

New York

New York City

Nuclear Power

WASHINGTON — A group representing nearly all major automakers asked the Trump administration Tuesday to roll back aggressive vehicle emissions limits that seek to force the industry to build a rising number of electric vehicles.
The Alliance for Automotive Innovation, which represents General Motors, Toyota Motor, Volkswagen, Hyundai, and other major automakers, said in a filing with the Environmental Protection Agency that legislation signed by President Donald Trump in June will increase the effective price of EVs and could lead to a near-term decline in EV market share.
They argue that rules finalized last year under President Joe Biden are no longer feasible.
&#8220;The 2027 and later standards are simply not achievable in light of significant market, charging infrastructure, supply chain, affordability, and other challenges as well as recent policy changes enacted,&#8221; the group said.
The 2024 Biden rules aim to cut passenger vehicle fleetwide tailpipe emissions by nearly 50% by 2032 compared with 2027 projected levels. The EPA forecast between 35% and 56% of new vehicles sold between 2030 and 2032 would need to be electric.
On Sept. 30, the $7,500 EV tax credit expires, and automakers warn that &#8220;a significant portion&#8221; of automakers may lose a battery production tax credit for EVs typically worth $3,000 per year next year under the law.
&#8220;This harms not only the automotive manufacturers that have spent hundreds of millions of dollars investing in electric vehicle technology, but also the entire supply chain that has supported these initiatives,&#8221; the group said.
In July, the EPA proposed rescinding the long-standing finding that greenhouse gas emissions endanger human health, removing the legal foundation for all U.S. greenhouse gas regulations, a move that would end current limits on greenhouse gas pollution from vehicle tailpipes.
Democrats in Congress and environmental groups have called on the EPA to drop its plan and retain the rules.
Automakers argue the EPA should still rewrite the Biden rules, saying they &#8220;still need to be revised to feasible levels to provide certainty for the industry.&#8221; The group said &#8220;such a contingency plan will be critical if motor vehicle GHG standards are retained or reinstated in some way.&#8221;
(Reporting by David Shepardson, Editing by Franklin Paul and Nick Zieminski)

Cars ride in traffic along the I5 freeway is shown in Los Angeles, California

Major Automakers Call For EPA To Ease Tailpipe Emissions Rules

Automobiles

Cars

General Motors

Tesla

Democrats often tout a study that predicts the global economy will crash this century thanks to climate change. It turns out the study is bogus, according to a new analysis.
The <a href="https://archive.ph/UfbWa">paper</a>, published in the journal Nature last year, claimed that global gross domestic product will plummet by 62% by 2100 compared to where it would be without climate change. About 19% of the global economy will be lost in the next 25 years, the study claimed.
The dire predictions were three times higher than previous estimates, causing alarm over the possibility that climate change could destroy the global economy within people&#8217;s lifetimes.
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Democrats pounced on the study&#8217;s terrifying warnings.
Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) <a href="https://www.congress.gov/congressional-record/volume-170/issue-80/senate-section/article/S3575-2">read</a> the study into the Congressional Record.
&#8220;Climate change is not just about polar bears or green jobs. It is about economic storm warnings to which we had better start paying attention,&#8221; Whitehouse said from the Senate floor in May last year, just weeks after the study came out.
Whitehouse <a href="https://www.whitehouse.senate.gov">says</a> he has &#8220;been at the center of efforts to address climate change.&#8221;
The flawed study was the second most cited climate paper in 2024 by news outlets and on social media, <a href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-the-climate-papers-most-featured-in-the-media-in-2024/">according</a> to one analysis.
However, a new <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09320-4.epdf?sharing_token=3rbBF4IXLwsMKEER39Y9xtRgN0jAjWel9jnR3ZoTv0P8TEvZgfgWlZ-BR6o_g0srhfsE2PjjhNpvdF9g5tn3tk1V8soSo09634cfw2IcMpTvo0EiunI6aYH327RiT5shGydCkhJRZZ9KPqSB8xRMpbmVOKRbMP3qKhAvviNlo60%3D">analysis</a> published in Nature this month found that &#8220;data anomalies&#8221; from one country, Uzbekistan, wildly skewed the &#8220;predicted impacts of climate change.&#8221;
Uzbekistan&#8217;s bad data showed the country&#8217;s GDP falling off a cliff back in 2000 and then nearly doubling in some regions in 2010, among other eyebrow-raising anomalies. The data was so skewed that it upended the study&#8217;s results dramatically.
The country has not experienced these wild swings in its GDP, <a href="https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.KD.ZG?locations=UZ">according</a> to other <a href="https://www.macrotrends.net/global-metrics/countries/uzb/uzbekistan/gdp-gross-domestic-product">sources</a>.
Without Uzbekistan&#8217;s data, the predictions about how climate change would affect the global economy were much less dire — global GDP <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2025/08/06/nature-study-flawed-climate-damages/">would</a> drop 23% by 2100, down from 62%, and it would drop just 6% by 2050, not 19%, according to the new analysis.
When the paper&#8217;s mistake came to light, even The Washington Post <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2025/08/06/nature-study-flawed-climate-damages/">admitted</a> the study&#8217;s authors made a &#8220;big error.&#8221;
During the peer review process, one anonymous reviewer expressed skepticism as well.
“I find all of this well explained and fairly convincing, yet, purely subjectively, I have a hard time in believing the results, which seem unintuitively large given damages aren’t perfectly persistent,” the reviewer <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2025/08/06/nature-study-flawed-climate-damages/">said</a> in a peer review <a href="https://static-content.springer.com/esm/art%3A10.1038%2Fs41586-024-07219-0/MediaObjects/41586_2024_7219_MOESM2_ESM.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">document</a> on the study.
That reviewer went on to approve the study, however, after speaking with the authors.
The study&#8217;s authors pushed back, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2025/08/06/nature-study-flawed-climate-damages/">noting</a> that if they corrected for the Uzbekistan data — but also altered their study&#8217;s methodology — they got similar results showing a plummeting world economy.
Critics are skeptical.
“Science doesn’t work by changing the setup of an experiment to get the answer you want,” said Solomon Hsiang, director of the global policy laboratory at Stanford University and one of the authors of the new analysis on the study&#8217;s flaws.
“This approach is antithetical to the scientific method,” Hsiang <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2025/08/06/nature-study-flawed-climate-damages/">told</a> The Washington Post.

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Democrats Love Citing This One Climate Change Study. Turns Out It’s All Bogus.

Climate Study Pushed By Democrats Turns Out To Be Bogus

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Sheldon Whitehouse

Washington Post

A left-wing organization is pumping money into an effort to kill legislation that would prevent banks from denying loans to farmers based on political considerations. The organization, The Daily Wire has learned, has ties to a deeper network of far-left groups, including one that appears to be flush with foreign money.
Unlocking America’s Future is <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ads/library/?active_status=all&amp;ad_type=all&amp;country=US&amp;is_targeted_country=false&amp;media_type=all&amp;search_type=page&amp;view_all_page_id=163734473485371">running ads</a> on Facebook targeting North Carolina and opposing legislation that would <a href="https://www.carolinajournal.com/house-agriculture-committee-approves-anti-esg-farmers-protection-act/">prevent</a> banks from denying loans to farmers based on controversial environmental, social, and governance (ESG) metrics. The group has spent just shy of $30,000 on Facebook ads from early July to early August.
The legislation, its Republican sponsors say, would prevent farmers from being compelled to go along with a political agenda and ensure that lending remains “based upon whether they have good credit or not but not based upon their ESG score.”
But Unlocking America’s future is just a trade name used by an organization set up by established left-wing organizations to bolster Biden in the 2020 election.
Unlocking America’s Future, <a href="https://opencorporates.com/companies/us_dc/EXTUID_4337124">according</a> to a non-profit database and the Washington, D.C., corporate registry, is a trade name used by Climate Power. This left-wing organization was created in the lead-up to the 2020 election as a <a href="https://www.eenews.net/articles/this-climate-group-has-80m-to-help-biden/">joint project</a> of the Sierra Club, the American Progress Action Fund, and the League of Conservation Voters. The group came on the scene with $80 million ready to deploy in an effort to boost then-candidate Joe Biden.
Under the name “Unlocking America’s Future,” the organization has launched an ad campaign opposing the Farmers Protection Act, targeting Raleigh and other areas with paid ads calling on several state representatives and Governor Josh Stein to reject the proposal.
“Billionaires want to force banks to ignore financial risks, putting North Carolina’s economic future at risk,” read the paid Facebook ads, which began in late May and have continued into August. “Stand up for North Carolina’s economic future by focusing on responsible investing, lowering costs, and creating jobs.”
While the ads grandstand against “billionaires” attempting to exert influence on North Carolina’s politics, the organization has ties to a network of left-wing activist groups tied to a Swiss billionaire.
Climate Power is a project of the Fund for a Better Future, which has been <a href="https://apnews.com/article/dark-money-democrats-wyss-politics-elections-601d40cd01569190559d545418afe396">scrutinized</a> as a vehicle that’s allowed foreign money to flood into American politics through issue-advocacy groups, allowing foreigners to exert influence on America’s politics despite a prohibition on foreign donors directly bankrolling candidates for public office.
Swiss billionaire and prominent left-wing donor Hansjörg Wyss was a <a href="https://apnews.com/article/dark-money-democrats-wyss-politics-elections-601d40cd01569190559d545418afe396">major backer</a> of the Fund for a Better Future, the Associated Press reported as Climate Power sought to boost Biden’s legislative agenda and support Democratic congressional candidates.
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Climate Power has also pushed the diversity, equity, and inclusion agenda, at least internally, according to organization documentation. The organization’s 2023 registration form reveals that the group employed racially discriminatory practices when selecting board members.
“The makeup of the board shall be reflective of the diversity of the progress movement and the corporation staff,” the document reads. “The board should not be less than approximately 40% Board members who identify as Black, Indigenous, or People of Color and 51% of Board members who identify as women.”
“The corporation shall use best efforts to ensure that the diversity of the Board is no lesser than the diversity of staff.” it goes on to add.
Climate Power did not respond to a request for comment.

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Leftist Network With Foreign Ties Tries To Kill Bill Protecting Farmers From ESG Agenda

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A young woman on Instagram holds up an armful of green blankets. Every time she feels stressed about the state of the world, she makes a leaf or moss blanket.
“As you can see,” the young woman <a href="https://www.instagram.com/reel/DMOjfJWR8nQ/?igsh=cTlvajd6bWY3aHA1">says</a>, referring to the mound in her arms, “the state of the world has not been great.&#8221;
A mother <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/06/health/climate-anxiety-therapy.html">describes</a> the wave of guilt and shame that floods her when she contemplates buying plastic-wrapped snacks at Trader Joe’s. College students in an exercise designed to help them create plans to achieve their goals <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/podcasts/archive/2025/05/how-to-age-up-on-a-warming-planet/682762/">struggle</a> to envision anything but blankness or the apocalypse when picturing the future.
All around us, adults and children are struggling with their mental health after years of being bombarded with messages that a climate catastrophe is both inevitable and imminent. These feelings of dread and helplessness, <a href="https://www.axios.com/2024/02/17/gen-z-depression-anxiety-future-workforce">particularly</a> in the youngest generations, have inspired a new term: “climate” or “eco” anxiety.
Widespread climate anxiety is fueling the growth of a new specialty, with some psychologists building practices around treating the problem. Yet how to approach treatment has caused its own controversy. Mental health professionals like me are trained to keep our own views out of a counseling relationship. This would include offering any opinions about anthropogenic climate change. Other groups, such as climate activists, react poorly to viewing what they consider well-founded anxiety over climate as dysfunctional thinking.
But any thought patterns that inhibit daily functioning and contribute to depression, social withdrawal or distressing feelings need to be treated. In trying to raise awareness of a changing climate and potential implications, authority figures like teachers, topic experts and even hyperbolic climate news articles have gone too far.
Dr. Sarah Ray is the professor who <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/podcasts/archive/2025/05/how-to-age-up-on-a-warming-planet/682762/">discovered</a> her students simply couldn’t envision a positive future. “It wasn’t just that they were living in a scary world,” she said. “It was that they were getting information about a scary world in a very particular way.”
The answer is to stop scaring people. Fear is rarely motivating. People have to feel as if they can make a change or a difference. Fear tactics only encourage feelings of helplessness and overwhelm, leading to avoidance and disconnection.
Adults must learn how to navigate these issues for their own improved mental health, as well as for effective parenting and education of the next generation. Teaching children about climate change has too often strayed from providing necessary information to dumping unfiltered fears on impressionable kids.
“It&#8217;s essential for adults to learn how to manage stress and anxiety in their own lives so we don&#8217;t pass it on to the next generation,” licensed clinical social worker and psychotherapist Amy Morin said in <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/what-mentally-strong-people-dont-do/202408/10-reasons-todays-kids-are-more-anxious-than-ever">Psychology Today</a>.
This might look like building better habits, such as limiting exposure to articles about climate (stop doomscrolling).
Another technique used in cognitive behavioral therapy is redirecting attention from something distressing to something lovable as a step towards finding agency. For example, I am passionate about reducing landfill waste. When I feel afraid and angry about the size of trash piles in the ocean or how much garbage we export to other countries, I try to remember that the feelings are secondary emotions pointing to what I love. I care because I love my community and my country. I care about the world. I love my children, and I want them to inherit a planet that is healthier, not more diseased from human carelessness. I believe we are called to be good stewards.
I can’t teach my children those values by yelling at them for being wasteful or terrorizing them with scary photos, just as I can’t keep them from using drugs by enrolling them in DARE. Instead, I have to teach them to live for something beyond themselves, but also to know that while they can’t solve massive problems on their own, there is hope in performing small positive actions.
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If they are not overwhelmed by the magnitude of the problem, they are better positioned to engage in the first place, individually and then in community. They will also be less vulnerable to misrepresentation of the facts if their ability to apply critical thinking is not shut down by the fear-triggered “fight, flight, or freeze” response of the amygdala in the brain. For example, instead of believing we should abandon fossil fuels, which would actually destabilize communities, they can evaluate the possibility of using technology to lessen their impact while pursuing more sustainable solutions.
Dr. Thomas Doherty has built a practice around helping people with climate anxiety. Along with coauthor Susan Clayton, they were among the first nearly 15 years ago <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2011-09485-003">to suggest</a> that climate change would have a psychological impact on people. After Portland experienced a high-pressure system called a “heat-dome” that sent temperatures soaring, one client asked Dr. Doherty if they were all doomed.
“Dr. Doherty listened quietly. Then he told her, choosing his words carefully, that the rate of climate change suggested by the data was not as swift as what she was envisioning.
‘In the future, even with worst-case scenarios, there will be good days,’ he <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/06/health/climate-anxiety-therapy.html">told</a> her, according to his notes. “‘Disasters will happen in certain places. But, around the world, there will be good days. Your children will also have good days.’”
Humans won’t be able to solve the problems we are facing if, in pursuit of gaining acknowledgement of serious problems, we believe and have taught our youngest generations that there is nothing to live for. Dr. Ray may have put it best.
“We just need better thoughts,” she <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/podcasts/archive/2025/05/how-to-age-up-on-a-warming-planet/682762/">said</a>. “It’s not about 10 things you can do to save the planet. There’s a hundred million books out there. This is like 10 things you can think about to save the planet.”
Better thoughts can be practiced. In the next encounter with a dramatic headline about climate change, try to pause. Remember first that every climate news and opinion article today has one goal: to get a reader to click. Headlines are written with that sole aim in mind. Fear sells. Don’t fall for it. I tell my clients to notice their feelings, then to redirect their thoughts to what they love and the specific things they are practicing to stay true to their values. This will energize people to continue to be part of solutions rather than perpetuating a cycle of impotent fear.
* * *
Alysha Tagert, MSW, LICSW, is a mental health professional specializing in anxiety, depression, grief and loss, trauma and PTSD.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Youth Climate Strikes Break Out Across The U.S.

The Troubling Surge In ‘Climate Anxiety’ Therapy Among Young People

Young People And The Surge In 'Climate Anxiety' Therapy Sessions

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Psychology

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Republican attorneys general are putting the pressure on a British climate activist group targeting the oil and gas industry and pushing an “unachievable climate agenda” that could jeopardize American energy independence and food supply. 
Over a dozen Republican AGs, led by Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird, demanded Friday that the United Kingdom-based climate group Science Based Targets Initiative fork over documents on its work with companies to promote net zero emissions goals. The officials said that the group&#8217;s net zero commitments could run afoul of federal antitrust laws and state consumer protection laws. 
“Net zero programs are unrealistic and harm both American agriculture and industry. Making net zero a goal actively harms Americans, creates risk for energy independence, and increases the cost of food,” the officials wrote in a <a href="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/09.07_-_FINAL_-_SBTi_Letter.pdf">letter</a> exclusively shared with The Daily Wire. “Some economic arrangements are illegal because they are unfair or unreasonably harmful to competition; the ‘good intentions’ behind them are irrelevant.”
Science Based Targets Initiative “assesses and validates companies’ and financial institutions’ targets” through its subsidiary SBTi services and “develops standards, tools and guidance to enable companies and financial institutions to set science-based targets in line with the latest climate science,&#8221; according to the group&#8217;s <a href="https://sciencebasedtargets.org/about-us">website</a>.
The group aims to crack down on greenhouse gas emissions and achieve net zero levels by at least 2050. Last month, it <a href="https://files.sciencebasedtargets.org/production/files/FINZ-in-brief.pdf?_gl=1*1ufvk31*_gcl_au*MTk1MTIzNDA4Mi4xNzUzMzY5NDgw*_ga*NTY0OTY4ODM1LjE3NTMzNjk0ODA.*_ga_22VNHNTFT3*czE3NTMzNjk0ODAkbzEkZzEkdDE3NTMzNzE1NTYkajYwJGwwJGgxOTY4MDIwOTA4">rolled</a> out a new “fossil fuel transition policy requirement” that “sets out clear steps and timelines for ceasing new financial activities and insurance services to the fossil fuel industry.” 
“SBTi is trying to redo President Biden’s radical green scheme,” Bird told The Daily Wire. “If successful, they’ll hurt farmers, energy producers, and Iowans. Their program limits output of goods or services but also net zero programs are unrealistic and harm both American agriculture and industry. Making net zero a goal actively harms Americans, creates risk for energy independence, and increases the cost of safe, healthy, nutritious food.” 
Similar organizations, including Climate Action 100+ and the Net Zero Asset Managers Alliances, have struggled in recent months after they lost major participants like BlackRock and other major financial institutions amid congressional and state scrutiny. 
In January, the House Judiciary Committee celebrated the exodus of groups from net zero alliances, with Chair Jim Jordan (R-OH) calling the trend “a huge win for freedom and American prosperity.”
At one point, Net Zero Asset Managers Alliances, which says its goal is to push net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 or sooner, boasted its members controlled over $57 trillion in assets. The company has now suspended all activities following the departures.
However, the Republican attorneys general said they were concerned that the Science Based Targets Initiative was cropping up to push similar mandates and initiatives. 
“As did those who subscribed to the previous net-zero alliances, members agree that they will perform certain functions — here, shutting off funding and insurance to oil, gas, and coal expansion — to be validated by SBTi,” they wrote. “But companies cannot collude to refuse access to their services, whether they do so in a smoke-filled room or launder that collusion through a third party.”
In addition to Bird, the attorneys general of Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Wyoming, and West Virginia signed onto the letter.
They requested that the Science Based Targets Initiative provide communications by September 8 between the group and its members on how climate commitments would be met, how financial institutions&#8217; net zero goals were developed, and information on the group&#8217;s funding.
The Science Based Targets Initiative has already faced pressure from Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, who opened an investigation last week into SBTi to see if it may be violating consumer protection and antitrust laws. 
The attorneys general&#8217;s actions were backed by American Energy Institute CEO Jason Isaac and Consumers’ Research Executive Director Will Hild. 
“SBTi’s financial standards aren’t just unrealistic, they’re potentially illegal, coordinating global firms to cut off essential industries from capital and insurance. These actions drive up energy and food prices for American families, all while outsourcing control to foreign NGOs and U.N.-backed pressure groups,” Isaac told The Daily Wire. “Americans aren’t going to sit back while unelected activists dictate economic policy from across the Atlantic.&#8221;

High Oil Prices Continue To Drive Gas Prices Steadily Upwards

Republican AGs Turn Up The Heat On British Climate Group Targeting Oil And Gas Industries

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