Will There Be Enough Power to Remove Carbon From the Sky?
Thanks in large part to booming data center construction and the surge in artificial intelligence, electricity demand in the U.S. is rising for the first time in decades.
But the timing of this rise in demand, as far as the race to fight global warming goes, is awkward.
To help fight climate change, the nascent direct air capture industry is racing to develop technology to remove carbon dioxide directly from the sky. But in some areas of the country, the DAC industry is facing a shortage of available renewable energy to run its operations, particularly wind and solar power.
As David Gelles reported last year, there's been a gold rush of investment over the last several years into companies that aim to pull carbon from the atmosphere, many of which then bury that carbon underground. One chief executive told Gelles that carbon dioxide removal was 'the single greatest opportunity I've seen in 20 years of doing venture capital.'
Still, DAC companies, which are working to prove they can scale up their technology, have been vying for limited resources in an increasingly competitive U.S. power market.
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New York Post
4 hours ago
- New York Post
Shari Redstone hoped Trump's '60 Minutes' suit would root out anti-Israel bias at CBS News
Shari Redstone said she partly welcomed President Trump's lawsuit against CBS News because she believed it could address the network's anti-Israel bias — even as she revealed that it was the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks that finally moved her to sell CBS parent Paramount. 'We needed more balance,' Redstone, the former chair of Paramount Global, told The New York Times in interviews conducted after Paramount's $8 billion sale to Skydance Media closed earlier this month. 'Part of me thought, maybe Trump could accomplish what I never got done,' the entertainment heiress told the Times. 6 Shari Redstone, former Paramount chair, told the New York Times she partly welcomed Trump's lawsuit against CBS, hoping it would address the network's perceived anti-Israel bias. Evan Agostini/Invision/AP Redstone told the Times that for years she had resisted entreaties from potential suitors eager to buy Paramount. But what pushed her to finally agree to sell the family business was the Oct. 7 massacre of an estimated 1,200 Israelis. 'Once that happened, I wanted out,' she told the Times. 'I wanted to support Israel, and address issues around antisemitism and racism.' But Redstone's plans for an exit were complicated by the 2024 presidential election. Weeks before voters went to the polling stations, Trump filed suit against '60 Minutes' alleging that the CBS News magazine show deceptively edited an interview with his Democratic opponent, then-Vice President Kamala Harris, in order to make her look good. Last month, both sides reached a $16 million settlement — sparking widespread outrage. In her wide-ranging interview with the Times that was published on Tuesday, the 71-year-old media heiress, whose ex-husband and son are both rabbis, had grown increasingly frustrated with CBS News coverage she viewed as hostile to Israel. 6 Redstone had been frustrated by CBS News coverage of Israel. The image above shows Israeli soldiers in the West Bank city of Nablus on Aug. 11, 2025. AFP via Getty Images She told the Times that her breaking point came just days before she withdrew from settlement talks with Trump in January of this year. CBS aired a '60 Minutes' segment featuring State Department officials who quit over American support for Israel's Gaza war — a piece the American Jewish Committee blasted as 'shockingly one-sided, lacked factual accuracy, and relied heavily on misguided information.' The segment focused on alleged Israeli atrocities while barely touching on the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack that sparked the conflict. Redstone wasn't alone in her concerns. Days after the segment aired, George Cheeks, who oversees CBS, shared Redstone's dismay about the Gaza episode and soon appointed veteran producer Susan Zirinsky as executive editor to review '60 Minutes' segments — stripping the show of its traditional independence from corporate interference. In April, the longtime executive producer of '60 Minutes,' Bill Owens, departed after Zirinsky's appointment undermined his autonomy. 6 President Trump sued CBS's '60 Minutes' for $20 billion over an edited Kamala Harris interview, which at the time complicated Paramount's $8 billion merger with Skydance. AP In June, Scott Pelley, the veteran '60 Minutes' correspondent, blasted his corporate bosses at Paramount on air, warning that 'honest' journalism at CBS might be ending if they went ahead and concluded a settlement with Trump. The anti-Israel bias allegations had been mounting for months at CBS News. In August 2024, the network's standards director Mark Memmott issued an internal directive ordering staff not to identify Jerusalem as part of Israel, calling its status 'disputed.' The memo sparked outrage from pro-Israel groups and contradicted US government policy recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital. Two months later, CBS executives reprimanded morning anchor Tony Dokoupil for pressing author Ta-Nehisi Coates about anti-Israel criticisms in his book. Dokoupil had asked whether Coates' writing belonged 'in the backpack of an extremist' — questions some CBS brass deemed too aggressive. Redstone defended Dokoupil in the wake of his rebuke. 'I think Tony handled that interview exceptionally well,' Redstone said at the time. 'I was genuinely proud of his efforts. Although it was difficult for me to oppose the company, I believe they erred in this instance… I have a voice in our platform, as does everyone.' 6 Trump alleged '60 Minutes' deceptively edited Kamala Harris's comments on Israel, sparking the lawsuit Redstone pushed Paramount to settle. 60 Minutes / CBS Redstone, who was widely criticized for backing a settlement rather than fighting in court, told the Times she was in favor of reaching a deal with Trump because the lawsuit was filed in Texas, where a more conservative judge would have been more hostile to CBS's position. She told the paper that 'this case was never as black-and-white as people assumed' — despite legal experts who said they were confident CBS News would prevail in court. 'I believe it was always in Paramount's best interest to settle,' Redstone told the Gray Lady in an interview published on Tuesday. 'We may not like the world we live in, but a board has to do what's in the best interest of shareholders.' While the criticism reached a fever pitch, Redstone's frustration boiled over as she battled cancer while trying to close the Paramount sale. Diagnosed with thyroid cancer that had spread to her vocal cords, she underwent surgery and radiation as critics including Matt Drudge of 'The Drudge Report' website branded her the 'Woman Who Destroyed CBS News.' Redstone was also hurt by criticism from Lesley Stahl, the longtime '60 Minutes' correspondent, according to the Times. In June, Stahl said she was 'angry' with Redstone over her handling of the Trump lawsuit. Stahl's comments were published at the same time that Redstone was undergoing treatments for cancer. 6 Redstone told the Times that criticism from CBS figures like Lesley Stahl was especially hurtful as she battled thyroid cancer during the merger fight. FilmMagic 'To have a news organization come under corporate pressure—to have a news organization told by a corporation, 'do this, do that with your story, change this, change that, don't run that piece.' I mean, it steps on the First Amendment, it steps on the freedom of the press,' Stahl said at the time. 'It steps on what we stand for. It makes me question whether any corporation should own a news operation. It is very disconcerting.' Trump's $20 billion lawsuit over CBS's editing of a Kamala Harris interview offered unexpected leverage. Though Redstone found most of Trump's claims 'hyperbolic,' she saw an opportunity. The network had edited Harris's answer about Israel between two broadcasts, sparking Trump's fury. CBS News executives refused to release the unedited footage, setting up a legal battle that threatened to derail the Skydance merger. Redstone pushed hard for settlement, arguing it was in shareholders' best interest. The board eventually agreed to pay $16 million toward Trump's presidential library — far less than Redstone expected. 'I was blown away,' she said of the settlement terms. 6 Redstone publicly backed 'CBS Mornings' co-host Tony Dokoupil (right) after he engaged in a tense interview with author Ta-Nehisi Coates over Israel last year. CBS Mornings But her reputation took another hit when The Post reported a mysterious 'side deal' worth $20 million in free advertising for Trump. Redstone knew nothing about it and was upset. 'I hope it isn't true,' she told the Times. Adding insult to injury, CBS didn't even consult Redstone before canceling Stephen Colbert's 'Late Show' — she learned about it minutes before Colbert announced it on air, according to the Times. The Skydance deal valued Paramount at just $8 billion — a third of its worth when Redstone took control in 2019. Netflix now spends $15.3 billion annually on content versus Paramount's $4.4 billion. 'I just wanted to be free,' Redstone told the Times, ending four decades of her family's controversial reign over one of America's most influential news organizations. The Post has sought comment from Redstone and CBS News.
Gizmodo
5 hours ago
- Gizmodo
Tesla Making Yet Another Desperate Move in Europe
Tesla has been struggling in Europe, where its sales are down across the continent. In the United Kingdom, the company's sales reportedly dropped 60 percent last month. With those cratering numbers, the EV firm appears to have made another, shall we say, incredibly generous offer to locals, as the company continues to combat lagging sales. British newspaper The Times reports that Tesla has nearly halved the monthly cost of leasing one of its cars in the U.K. Elon Musk's company has been 'forced to offer discounts of up to 40 per cent to car leasing companies to shift more units,' it says. Previously, a lease of a Tesla Model 3 could cost customers as much as £600 to £700 a month, the newspaper writes. However, with discounts to leasing companies, which pass the savings on to customers, a Tesla Model 3 can now apparently be leased for some £252 a month. With more and more frequency, Tesla seems to be offering special deals to its customers to gin up interest in its line of cars. Most notably, the company has been offering discounts and deals to goad drivers into buying its struggling metal heap, the Cybertruck. In July, the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association published figures that showed that Tesla sales in Europe had slumped by 33% in the first half of this year. During the same period, Musk himself noted that his company was headed for 'a few rough quarters.' In general, Tesla's European operations have been struggling ever since Elon Musk threw himself and hundreds of millions of dollars into politics. But sales are down in the U.S., as well. In California (which was once the hub of Tesla's popularity), sales have been dropping for quite some time. Tesla's 2nd quarter earnings report this year also shared more bad news for the company, revealing that it was making less money than the previous year. In June, Musk reportedly fired his top salesman for North America and Europe, as sales continued to sag. It's unclear how much Tesla's slumping sales have been spurred by increased competition from emergent EVs sold by Chinese companies and how much it has to do with lots of people hating its CEO over his destructive and meddlesome political activities. Musk's involvement with the Trump administration earlier this year notably inspired a nationwide protest movement in the U.S., and his never-ending commentary on the EU's business has made him a pariah across the pond.
Yahoo
6 hours ago
- Yahoo
Ford takes new risk after company suffers billions in losses: 'The most radical redesign of how we manufacture cars'
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