Don't Wait for July 4, 2026
Our next dinner will commemorate the British evacuation of Boston (March 17), following Washington's siege and Henry Knox's heroic transport of cannon from Fort Ticonderoga to Dorchester Heights. Surrounded and at the mercy of rebel artillery, William Howe had no chance but to return Boston to its rightful residents. Such success demands celebration.
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Fast Company
29 minutes ago
- Fast Company
Other countries are stepping up after Trump pulled the U.S. out of the climate fight
When President Donald Trump announced in early 2025 that he was withdrawing the U.S. from the Paris climate agreement for the second time, it triggered fears that the move would undermine global efforts to slow climate change and diminish America's global influence. A big question hung in the air: Who would step into the leadership vacuum? I study the dynamics of global environmental politics, including through the United Nations climate negotiations. While it's still too early to fully assess the long-term impact of the U.S.'s political shift when it comes to global cooperation on climate change, there are signs that a new set of leaders is rising to the occasion. World responds to another U.S. withdrawal The U.S. first committed to the Paris Agreement in a joint announcement by President Barack Obama and China's Xi Jinping in 2015. At the time, the U.S. agreed to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions 26% to 28% below 2005 levels by 2025 and pledged financial support to help developing countries adapt to climate risks and embrace renewable energy. too weak. Since then, the U.S. has cut emissions by 17.2% below 2005 levels —missing the goal, in part because its efforts have been stymied along the way. Just two years after the landmark Paris Agreement, Trump stood in the Rose Garden in 2017 and announced he was withdrawing the U.S. from the treaty, citing concerns that jobs would be lost, that meeting the goals would be an economic burden, and that it wouldn't be fair because China, the world's largest emitter today, wasn't projected to start reducing its emissions for several years. Scientists and some politicians and business leaders were quick to criticize the decision, calling it 'shortsighted' and 'reckless.' Some feared that the Paris Agreement, signed by almost every country, would fall apart. But it did not. In the United States, businesses such as Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Tesla made their own pledges to meet the Paris Agreement goals. Hawaii passed legislation to become the first state to align with the agreement. A coalition of U.S. cities and states banded together to form the United States Climate Alliance to keep working to slow climate change. Globally, leaders from Italy, Germany, and France rebutted Trump's assertion that the Paris Agreement could be renegotiated. Others from Japan, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand doubled down on their own support of the global climate accord. In 2020, President Joe Biden brought the U.S. back into the agreement. Now, with Trump pulling the U.S. out again—and taking steps to eliminate U.S. climate policies, boost fossil fuels, and slow the growth of clean energy at home—other countries are stepping up. On July 24, 2025, China and the European Union issued a joint statement vowing to strengthen their climate targets and meet them. They alluded to the U.S., referring to 'the fluid and turbulent international situation today' in saying that 'the major economies . . . must step up efforts to address climate change.' In some respects, this is a strength of the Paris Agreement—it is a legally nonbinding agreement based on what each country decides to commit to. Its flexibility keeps it alive, as the withdrawal of a single member does not trigger immediate sanctions, nor does it render the actions of others obsolete. The agreement survived the first U.S. withdrawal, and so far, all signs point to it surviving the second one. Who's filling the leadership vacuum From what I've seen in international climate meetings and my team's research, it appears that most countries are moving forward. One bloc emerging as a powerful voice in negotiations is the Like-Minded Group of Developing Countries, a group of low- and middle-income nations that includes China, India, Bolivia, and Venezuela. Driven by economic development concerns, these countries are pressuring the developed world to meet its commitments to both cut emissions and provide financial aid to poorer countries. China, motivated by economic and political factors, seems to be happily filling the climate power vacuum created by the U.S. exit. In 2017, China voiced disappointment over the first U.S. withdrawal. It maintained its climate commitments and pledged to contribute more in climate finance to other developing countries than the U.S. had committed to $3.1 billion compared with $3 billion. This time around, China is using leadership on climate change in ways that fit its broader strategy of gaining influence and economic power by supporting economic growth and cooperation in developing countries. Through its Belt and Road Initiative, China has scaled up renewable energy exports and development in other countries, such as investing in solar power in Egypt and wind energy development in Ethiopia. While China is still the world's largest coal consumer, it has aggressively pursued investments in renewable energy at home, including solar, wind, and electrification. In 2024, about half the renewable energy capacity built worldwide was in China. While it missed the deadline to submit its climate pledge due this year, China has a goal of peaking its emissions before 2030 and then dropping to net-zero emissions by 2060. It is continuing major investments in renewable energy, both for its own use and for export. The U.S. government, in contrast, is cutting its support for wind and solar power. China also just expanded its carbon market to encourage emissions cuts in the cement, steel, and aluminum sectors. The British government has also ratcheted up its climate commitments as it seeks to become a clean energy superpower. In 2025, it pledged to cut emissions 77% by 2035 compared with 1990 levels. Its new pledge is also more transparent and specific than in the past, with details on how specific sectors, such as power, transportation, construction, and agriculture, will cut emissions. And it contains stronger commitments to provide funding to help developing countries grow more sustainably. In terms of corporate leadership, while many American businesses are being quieter about their efforts in order to avoid sparking the ire of the Trump administration, most appear to be continuing on a green path—despite the lack of federal support and diminished rules. i and Statista's ' America's Climate Leader List ' includes about 500 large companies that have reduced their carbon intensity (carbon emissions divided by revenue) by 3% from the previous year. The data shows that the list is growing, up from about 400 in 2023. What to watch at the 2025 climate talks The Paris Agreement isn't going anywhere. Given the agreement's design, with each country voluntarily setting its own goals, the U.S. never had the power to drive it into obsolescence. The question is whether developed and developing country leaders alike can navigate two pressing needs—economic growth and ecological sustainability—without compromising their leadership on climate change. This year's U.N. climate conference in Brazil, COP30, will show how countries intend to move forward and, importantly, who will lead the way.
New York Times
30 minutes ago
- New York Times
The Changing Politics of Masks
Lately it seems almost impossible to look at a news feed or catch up on current events and not be greeted by the picture of a man in a mask. Or rather a neck gaiter, buff or scarf made to cover the mouth and nose, along with a baseball cap or helmet to hide the crown of the head, and shades to obscure the eyes. Such are the images of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents — on the streets, in courts, at factories — rounding up individuals the agency claims are undocumented immigrants (as well as, sometimes, those they say are helping them). Such are the images of ICE agents illustrating stories about new legislation introduced in Congress and in states across the country, including New York, California, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania, to prohibit the agents from hiding their faces while doing their jobs. And such are the images of protesters speaking out against ICE actions — or for Palestine — and obscuring their identities while doing so. Sometimes the coverings are black, sometimes they are star-spangled and sometimes they are hunter's camo, but at all times it's the mask that stands out. The mask that is at the center of the story. The mask that has become the catalyst for a debate about whether such face coverings are a tool of intimidation or protection, of good or evil. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
New York Times
30 minutes ago
- New York Times
With Epstein, Trump Betrays His Brand. His Supporters Notice.
Donald Trump once boldly claimed that he could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue and not lose voters. In the decade since, as Mr. Trump has persisted through scandals, controversies and an array of thorny challenges, I have been asked the same question over and over again in my capacity as a pollster: Will this be the thing that costs him his supporters? It almost never is. Save for a brief moment after Jan. 6, 2021, Mr. Trump's support from his base has been rock solid. But the recent turmoil over the files on the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein — including the truly horrific sex crimes Mr. Epstein was convicted and accused of, the strange secrecy around it all, the conspiracy theories that flourish — people ask, might this be different? Is this the one? So far, there's little evidence to show that the fixation on the president's past relationship with Mr. Epstein is taking a significant political toll. Polling by The Wall Street Journal conducted shortly after the Epstein story blew up again recorded Mr. Trump's job approval at the same level, 46 percent, that it was in its polling in April. Concerns like cost of living, immigration and the state of the economy remain dominant among Americans. At the same time, while the Epstein saga has done little to dent Mr. Trump's overall popularity, it is perhaps the starkest example of a schism between the president and his most loyal supporters. A growing volume of data shows that Mr. Trump's own voters nevertheless harbor concerns about how the Epstein issue is being handled. While Republicans routinely give Mr. Trump favorable job approval ratings on a wide range of issues, a recent Quinnipiac poll showed that only four in 10 Republicans specifically say they approve of his administration's handling of the Epstein files. In a Washington Post poll published this week, only 38 percent of all Republicans — and 43 percent of MAGA Republicans — approve of the president's handling of the Epstein files. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
