Trump orders ban on federal funds for gain-of-function research seen as dangerous, Fox News reports
WASHINGTON, May 5 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Monday that bans federal funding for gain-of-function research seen as dangerous, Fox News reported, citing a White House statement.
The order bans federal funding towards such research in China, Iran and other countries and aims to improve the safety and security of biological research, Fox News reported.
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The reported quoted the White House as saying the order "will drastically reduce the potential for lab-related incidents involving gain-of-function research, like that conducted on bat coronaviruses in China by the EcoHealth Alliance and Wuhan Institute of Virology."
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The Guardian
2 hours ago
- The Guardian
Trump's EPA announces major rollbacks to power plant pollution limits
US power plants will be allowed to pollute nearby communities and the wider world with more unhealthy air toxins and an unlimited amount of planet-heating gases under new regulatory rollbacks proposed by Donald Trump's administration, experts warned. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) unveiled a plan on Wednesday that would repeal a landmark climate rule that aims to mostly eliminate greenhouse gases from power plants by the 2030s and would, separately, weaken another regulation that restricts power plants' release of hazardous air pollutants such as mercury. 'We choose to both protect the environment and grow the economy,' said Lee Zeldin, administrator of the EPA, at an event to announce the plans. He said the rollbacks will save households money while also defying what he called 'the climate change cult'. The climate rule has 'saddled our critical power sector with expensive, unreasonable and burdensome regulations', Zeldin said. 'American energy suffered and Americans who rely on reliable, affordable energy suffered. The good news is those days are over.' The EPA's proposals will go out for public comment and are likely to face legal challenges. They target a rule crafted last year by the Biden administration to phase out emissions from electricity-producing fossil fuel plants, which are responsible for around a quarter of US greenhouse gases, and a regulation called the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards, which Biden toughened in 2023 to slash harmful pollution suffered by communities. These rollbacks come despite overwhelming scientific evidence of the dire consequences of the worsening climate crisis and the harm caused by pollutants such as mercury, which can seep into water, soils and the air and has been linked to neurological damage in young children as well as heart, lung and immune system ailments in adults. Coal-fired power plants cause nearly half of all mercury emissions in the US, according to the EPA. More than 200 health experts wrote to the EPA on Wednesday warning the moves 'would lead to the biggest pollution increases in decades and is a blatant give-away to polluters'. The experts added the reversals are 'a direct contradiction to the Environmental Protection Agency's mission of protecting public health and the environment'. Trump, however, has vowed to boost fossil fuel production at all costs, having reaped record donations from the oil and gas industry during his election campaign. At Wednesday's EPA event, Zeldin was joined by eight lawmakers, all Republicans – Kevin Cramer, Troy Balderson, Brett Guthrie, Carol Miller, Dan Meuser, Rob Bresnahan, Michael Rulli and Riley Moore – who have collectively received more than $3m from fossil fuel donors in their own election campaigns, a Guardian analysis of the OpenSecrets database shows. Bresnahan, a Pennsylvania representative, holds personal financial interests in more than 20 fossil fuel companies. In justifying the deletion of the Biden climate plan, which the EPA previously estimated would deliver $370bn in net benefits, Zeldin has claimed that US power plants only produce a small and declining fraction of the world's emissions. This is despite the fact that if these power plants were a country, it would be the sixth-largest emitter on the planet. Gina McCarthy, who was EPA administrator under Barack Obama, said that Zeldin's 'dismantling of our nation's protections from power plant pollution is absolutely illogical and indefensible. It's a purely political play that goes against decades of science and policy review.' 'By giving a green light to more pollution, his legacy will forever be someone who does the bidding of the fossil fuel industry at the expense of our health,' she added. 'Everyone will be affected by his actions, but the most vulnerable among us, our kids and grandkids, will suffer the most.' The EPA has embarked upon a wide-ranging blitz upon environmental regulations since Trump became president, setting about removing or loosening clean air and water rules that, collectively, were on track to save 200,000 American lives in the decades ahead. Trump, who has adopted the mantra of 'drill, baby, drill', has claimed unhindered fossil fuel production will bring down energy costs, although he has sought to hobble clean energy such as solar and wind, which are typically the cheapest sources of new electricity generation. The rollbacks follow the second-hottest May on record globally, and a record-hot 2024 that unleashed a stunning number of climate-driven disasters and six weeks of extra-dangerously hot days. Experts have warned that sea level rise is on track to cause 'catastrophic inland migration', including to millions of Americans, with climate shocks set to wipe 50% from global GDP by the end of this century. 'It's completely reprehensible that Donald Trump would seek to roll back these lifesaving standards and do more harm to the American people and our planet just to earn some brownie points with the fossil fuel industry,' said Patrick Drupp, climate policy director at the Sierra Club. 'This administration is transparently trading American lives for campaign dollars and the support of fossil fuel companies, and Americans ought to be disgusted and outraged that their government has launched an assault on our health and our future.'
The Independent
4 hours ago
- The Independent
Greenland and Iceland saw record heat in May. What does that mean for the planet?
Human-caused climate change boosted Iceland and Greenland 's temperatures by several degrees during a record-setting May heat wave, raising concerns about the far-reaching implications melting Arctic ice has for weather around the world, scientists said in an analysis released Wednesday. The Greenland ice sheet melted many times faster than normal during the heat wave, according to the analysis by World Weather Attribution, with at least two communities seeing record temperatures for May. Parts of Iceland saw temperatures more than 10°C (18 °F) above average, and the country set a record for its warmest temperature in May when Egilsstadir Airport hit 26.6°C (79.9 F) on May 15. The findings come as global leaders put more focus on Greenland, a semi-autonomous territory of Denmark, following U.S. President Donald Trump 's comments that he would like to annex the mineral-rich island. Burning fossil fuels for electricity and transportation releases pollutants such as carbon dioxide that cause the planet to warm unnaturally fast. The Arctic is one of the fastest-warming places on Earth. Even in today's climate, the occurrence of such a strong heat wave in the region is relatively rare, with a 1% chance of occurring in a year, the analysis said. But without human-caused climate change, such an event would be 'basically impossible,' said Friederike Otto, associate professor of climate science at Imperial College London, one of the report's authors. The extreme heat was 40 times more likely compared to the pre-industrial climate. Global impacts from a melting Arctic Otto said this extreme weather event affects the world. As the Greenland ice sheet melts, it releases massive amounts of fresh water into the salty oceans. Scientists say this could slow down the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, an ocean current that circulates water from the Gulf of Mexico across the Atlantic Ocean to Europe and then the Arctic. Such a slowdown could disturb global climate and weather patterns. 'The nature of weather in the Northern Hemisphere is directly tied to what's happening in the Arctic, because that ice floor basically at the bottom of the atmosphere helps determine the weather patterns that we get,' said Waleed Abdalati, who heads an environmental sciences institute at the University of Colorado Boulder. He was not involved in the WWA analysis. The Greenland ice sheet and other ice covering the Arctic can influence where and when wind blows, how much water content the wind has and whether precipitation falls as rain or snow. Most of the melting of the Greenland ice sheet happens in June, July and August. The May heat wave means there will be a longer melting season this year. Greenland and Iceland saw record heat in May. What does that mean for the world? Show all 4 Melting ice sheets and glaciers also contribute to sea level rise that is threatening to flood coastlines globally and inundate low-lying island nations in the Pacific Ocean. Indigenous communities in Greenland are increasingly encountering dangerous travel conditions as sea ice that was once constantly frozen begins to thaw. Access to traditional hunting locations are lost, and sled dogs can no longer travel the same routes. Thawing permafrost can destabilize buildings and increases the risk of landslides and tsunamis caused by landslides. Greenland dismisses interest from U.S. Greenland was recently thrust onto the global stage with Trump's interest in annexing it. The Arctic island is rich with oil, gas and rare earth minerals, and its proximity to the U.S., Russia and Europe has geopolitical appeal. Greenland's Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen has said Greenland 'will never, ever be a piece of property that can be bought by just anyone.' Twila Moon, deputy lead scientist at the U.S. National Snow and Ice Data Center, said it is essential that Greenlanders lead decisions about their territory. 'Certainly an important part of this conversation is about climate change and climate impacts,' she said. She was not involved in the WWA analysis. Moon said the climate impacts Greenland is experiencing, particularly the warming global temperatures, stem from well-identified sources such as highly polluting nations and industries. She said actions such as converting to solar or wind energy and switching to transportation that emits less pollution create positive climate impacts for people far away. ___ The Associated Press' climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP's standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at
Reuters
8 hours ago
- Reuters
Colombian senator Uribe shows signs of neurological improvement after shooting
BOGOTA, June 11 (Reuters) - Colombian Senator Miguel Uribe remains in a critical condition after being shot in Bogota on Saturday, but has shown signs of neurological improvement, the hospital treating him said in a statement on Wednesday. The 39-year-old, a potential presidential contender, is a member of the opposition right-wing Democratic Center party. He was shot in the head as he was addressing a campaign event in a public park in the capital. "Despite the severity of his condition, there are signs of neurological improvement due to a decrease in cerebral edema. There is also evidence of a trend toward hemodynamic stabilization," the Santa Fe Foundation hospital said.
