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Biden-Harris Administration recommends $562 million investment to make communities resilient to climate impacts as part of Investing in America agenda

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Biden-Harris Administration recommends 2 million investment to make communities resilient to climate impacts as part of Investing in America agenda

Right now, Vice President Harris introduced that the Division of Commerce has advisable $562 million in funding — together with investments in practically 150 tasks throughout 30 coastal and Nice Lakes states and territories — to make communities and the financial system extra resilient to local weather change, as a part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s Investing in America agenda. At an occasion in Miami, Florida, Vice President Harris will spotlight how this announcement displays the Biden-Harris Administration’s dedication to deal with the local weather disaster and be certain that communities are extra resilient to excessive climate occasions. The awards are made below NOAA’s Local weather-Prepared Coasts Initiative and are funded by the Biden-Harris Administration’s historic Bipartisan Infrastructure Regulation (BIL) and bolstered by the Inflation Discount Act (IRA). 

“The Biden-Harris Administration is transferring aggressively to deal with the local weather disaster and assist communities which can be experiencing elevated flooding, storm surge and extra frequent excessive climate occasions,” mentioned Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo. “These investments will create jobs whereas defending individuals, communities and ecosystems from the threats of local weather change, and assist our nation take the steps it must develop into extra resilient and construct a clear vitality financial system.” 

The Biden-Harris Administration’s Investing in America agenda is concentrated on rising the American financial system from the underside up and center out — from rebuilding our nation’s infrastructure, to creating a producing and innovation increase powered by good-paying jobs that don’t require a four-year diploma, to constructing a clean-energy financial system that can fight local weather change and make communities extra climate-resilient. 

NOAA’s Local weather-Prepared Coasts initiative advances local weather options for coastal communities

NOAA introduced roughly $562 million in advisable funding to help the Local weather-Prepared Coasts initiative:

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  • $477 million for high-impact tasks that create local weather options by strengthening coastal communities’ skill to reply to excessive climate occasions, air pollution and marine particles; restoring coastal habitats to assist wildlife and people thrive; storing carbon; constructing the capability of underserved communities to handle local weather hazards and supporting community-driven restoration; and creating jobs in native communities.
  • $46 million in extra funding by way of the Nationwide Fish and Wildlife Basis Nationwide Coastal Resilience Fund for tasks that can assist communities put together for rising coastal flooding, sea-level rise and extra intense storms, whereas enhancing hundreds of acres of coastal habitats. 
  • $39.1 million in non-competitive funding to the 34 state and territorial coastal administration applications and 30 nationwide estuarine analysis reserves that work in partnership with NOAA below the Coastal Zone Administration Act. Funding for these applications gives important planning, coverage improvement and implementation, analysis, training, and collaborative engagement with communities across the nation to guard coastal and estuarine ecosystems essential for the resilience of coastal economies and the well being of coastal environments.

Demand for funding targeted on making ready for and adapting to local weather change is excessive. Within the first 12 months, NOAA’s BIL Local weather-Prepared Coasts far exceeded the funding obtainable. In response to this excessive demand, NOAA is leveraging these requests with funding from President Biden’s Inflation Discount Act, permitting extra high-quality tasks to be advisable for funding and transfer ahead. 

“This important federal funding will assist coastal communities in each nook of the Empire State, from the shores of Lake Ontario to the Hudson River, deal with the local weather disaster by cleansing our waterways and bolstering crucial infrastructure — all whereas placing New Yorkers to work and boosting our financial system,” mentioned Senate Majority Chief Schumer. “Once I led the Bipartisan Infrastructure Regulation and the Inflation Discount Act to passage as Majority Chief, it was sport altering investments in local weather prepared initiatives like these that I had in thoughts. From Lengthy Island to Buffalo, I’m proud to help communities throughout New York in main the struggle in opposition to local weather change and constructing the a cleaner extra resilient future for the subsequent technology.”

“Due to the Biden-Harris Infrastructure Regulation and the Inflation Discount Act, these grants will be certain that coastal communities throughout the US can have the instruments and assets to face up to the consequences of local weather change,” mentioned Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee Chair Cantwell. “These historic grants will help 149 tasks aimed toward coastal restoration and resilience tasks in 30 coastal states and territories, together with within the State of Washington, to revive ecosystems, get well species, and help community-driven conservation tasks.”

“In passing the Infrastructure Funding and Jobs Act and the Inflation Discount Act, Congress delivered historic investments to our nation’s coastal communities, which sit on the frontlines of local weather change,” mentioned Home Pure Assets Committee Rating Member Raúl M. Grijalva. “I applaud the work of NOAA and its companions to equitably fund high-quality, transformative tasks that can restore habitat, create jobs, and make our coastlines extra resilient to local weather change. These are the sorts of daring, ocean-based local weather options our nation wants to spice up native economies, whereas additionally defending all Individuals from the worsening impacts of the local weather disaster.”

“NOAA has an extended historical past of working with neighborhood companions to advance our understanding of coastal processes, preserve coastal assets and restore habitat in ways in which profit wildlife, individuals, and the financial system,” mentioned NOAA Administrator Rick Spinrad, Ph.D. “Funding by way of the President’s Investing in America agenda permits us to super-charge these actions in order that communities, together with Tribal governments, going through all forms of local weather impacts can put together for what’s forward, create climate-smart jobs and construct financial resilience, and finally thrive.” 

Info on the 149 Local weather-Prepared Coasts pure infrastructure tasks advisable for funding are listed by state and U.S. territory on the hyperlinks under.

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Trump Shuts Down CBP One App, Signaling the Start of His Immigration Crackdown

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Trump Shuts Down CBP One App, Signaling the Start of His Immigration Crackdown

The Trump administration on Monday abruptly closed down a government program created by the Biden administration to allow migrants to use an app to secure an appointment for admission into the United States through legal ports of entry, signaling the start of President Trump’s promised crackdown at the southern border.

Moments after Mr. Trump took the oath of office, an announcement posted on the CBP One program’s website declared that the app would no longer function and that “existing appointments have been canceled.”

The program, which debuted in early 2023, allowed 1,450 migrants a day to schedule a time to present themselves at a port of entry and seek asylum through U.S. immigration courts. More than 900,000 migrants entered the country using the app from its launch in the beginning of 2023 to the end of 2024.

A former Department of Homeland Security official who spoke on the condition of anonymity said that around 30,000 migrants had appointments to enter the United States through the app as of Monday morning.

At the El Chaparral border crossing in Tijuana, Mexico, dozens of migrants who stared at their phone screens trying to check whether their appointments were still valid instead found the crushing message that they no longer existed.

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“I am in shock,” said Maura Hernandez, who received the news on Monday morning as she arrived in Tijuana with her four small children from the state of Michoacán. She had a scheduled appointment on Tuesday.

“I don’t know what is going to happen to us,” she said, adding that they had fled their home amid rampant insecurity.

The program was a key part of the Biden administration’s effort to gain control over migration through the southern border. On the one hand, the administration blocked asylum for migrants who crossed illegally. At the same time, U.S. officials believed that by offering migrants an organized way to enter legally through an app, they could discourage attempts to gain entry without authorization. Border numbers have dropped dramatically in recent months, and officials believe the program is a major reason.

“I would say that the model that we have built of restricting asylum at our southern border and building accessible, lawful, safe and orderly pathways for individuals to seek relief under our laws is the model that should be sustained,” said Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas in an interview with NPR this month. “And we have delivered the border and those accessible pathways to the incoming administration.”

The end of the program will test that theory as the Trump administration moves toward a more restrictive policy at the border. The former homeland security official said that they estimated that, in total, nearly 300,000 migrants were in Mexico waiting to use the app.

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“We are so disappointed,” said Gustavo Selva from Venezuela after reading the update on his phone that the program had been shut down. He had received hopeful news of his scheduled appointment 21 days ago.

Two days ago, however, he received an email informing him that it had been delayed until Feb. 9. By then, he had already traveled to Tijuana from the southern state of Chiapas after waiting there for seven months for his appointment to go through.

“We thought we could enter today without a problem,” Mr. Selva added. “Now we will be stranded here indefinitely.”

Critics of the program, especially Republican lawmakers, viewed it as a way to allow those who otherwise had no way of entering the U.S. to come into the country and remain for years as their immigration cases languished in the courts.

“The fact that this application exists is the most underreported scandal of the Biden admin. They made an application to facilitate illegal immigration. It boggles the mind,” Vice President JD Vance said in a social media post last week.

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Matthew Hudak, a former senior Border Patrol official, said the decision was a clear sign that things were changing at the southern border.

“Simply wanting to immigrate to the U.S. and signing up to get in line will be replaced by more stringent policies that will significantly raise the bar for those seeking to come here, including reimplementing the Remain in Mexico program,” he said. “Many will be left to decide if they will work through the legal process or attempt to enter the country illegally and face what will likely be much more significant consequences.”

Aline Corpus contributed reporting from Tijuana, Mexico.

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Donald Trump vows new ‘golden age’ for US as he moves to unwind Joe Biden era

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Donald Trump vows new ‘golden age’ for US as he moves to unwind Joe Biden era

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Donald Trump promised a “golden age of America”, as he used his inaugural address to unveil sweeping moves to undo Joe Biden’s policies and reverse a “crisis of trust” he said had engulfed the government.

The new president announced aggressive new steps to boost energy production and curb immigration as he vowed to quickly deliver on the populist and nationalist platform that swept him to victory in last year’s White House race.

Trump also spoke of his own return to the White House as both personal vindication, following two assassination attempts, and a mission for dramatic overhauls of domestic and foreign policy.

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“I was saved by God to make America great again,” he said, in a speech that included echoes of his dystopian description of “American carnage” in his first inaugural address in 2017.

“For many years, a radical and corrupt establishment has extracted power and wealth from our citizens while the pillars of our society lay broken and seemingly in complete disrepair,” he said.

“We now have a government that cannot manage even a simple crisis at home, while at the same time stumbling into a continuing catalogue of catastrophic events abroad,” he said.

Trump said his return to office meant “America’s decline is over”, as he vowed to “again build the strongest military the world has ever seen”. But he also hinted at a new era of American expansion, when he said the country would take back control of the Panama Canal.

He echoed his campaign promises to end wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, saying he would be a “peacemaker”.

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“We will measure our success not only by the battles we win but also by the wars that we end and, perhaps more importantly, the wars we never get into,” Trump said. “My proudest legacy will be that of a peacemaker and unifier.”

In an apparent reference to previous efforts to prosecute him, Trump vowed “never again will the immense power of the state be weaponised to persecute political opponents”. He has previously threatened to prosecute his own political foes.

Former presidents including George W Bush and Barack Obama attended the ceremony, while technology billionaires such as Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos who have recently flocked to Trump’s side had prime spots in the audience.

Trump re-enters the White House with broader support from the public and business community than when he left office in 2021, just weeks after his supporters stormed the US Capitol to try to reverse Biden’s election.

Trump now faces the daunting task of delivering on his promise to lower the cost of living for middle-class households, a pledge that was his most potent political weapon in his victorious campaign against Kamala Harris.

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The new president said he would declare national emergencies on issues including immigration and energy, giving the president power to rush through new measures. As he was speaking, the White House said it was withdrawing from the Paris climate accord.

But Trump stopped short of announcing new tariffs immediately, instead planning to release a memorandum instructing government agencies to re-evaluate America’s trade relations with trading partners including China, Mexico and Canada.

The hesitance suggests his top aides are grappling with how aggressively to impose levies on America’s top trading partners. But Trump said tariffs would still be forthcoming.

“Instead of taxing our citizens to enrich other countries, we will tariff and tax foreign countries to enrich our citizens,” he said.

Before he spoke, the dollar dropped about 1 per cent against a basket of other currencies in US morning trading, putting it on course for its biggest daily decline in more than five months.

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Trump’s return to the White House has unnerved some of America’s closest allies who fear a further lurch towards protectionism and new turn towards isolationism in Washington.

But staunch conservative world leaders have cheered his election victory. Javier Milei, the president of Argentina, and Giorgia Meloni, Italy’s prime minister, were among leaders attending his inauguration.

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What to know about Donald Trump’s planned ‘national energy emergency’ declaration

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What to know about Donald Trump’s planned ‘national energy emergency’ declaration

Incoming President Donald Trump will declare a “national energy emergency” and roll back Biden-era environmental protections after he’s sworn into office, White House officials said Monday morning.

The new administration will enact a suite of reforms geared towards boosting U.S. fossil fuel production at a time when the country has set records as the biggest energy producer in the history of the world.

Those reforms will include reopening parts of Alaska for energy exploration, and getting rid of a requirement on auto manufacturers to phase down greenhouse gas emissions from cars.

Officials touted the plans as a way to lower costs for consumers and supply energy for technologies important for national security. They will set back the country’s progress when it comes to addressing climate change.

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What will the executive orders say?

By declaring a national emergency on energy, Trump will make it a priority of his administration to increase the domestic production of oil and other forms of fossil-fuel energy, officials said. It comes as U.S. crude oil production has already hit an all-time high over the past year.

Another executive order by Trump will roll back environmental protections in parts of Alaska, which officials called a “geostrategic” location, after Biden took action to limit both oil and gas drilling and mining in the state.

The scope of the Alaska order wasn’t immediately clear, though Trump has promised to work to overturn Biden’s recent action to ban offshore drilling on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts.

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The administration will also end the so-called “electric vehicle mandate,” Trump’s phrase for a Environmental Protection Agency rule that requires auto manufacturers cut greenhouse gas emissions by half in new light- and medium-duty vehicles beginning in 2027.

Trump, who campaigned on lowering costs for consumers, will also sign a presidential memorandum directing government agencies to focus on bringing down inflation.

Other actions are aimed at cutting “red tape” and “regulations” that have hurt the American economy, officials said. It wasn’t immediately clear which regulations Trump will target.

What could be the impact?

The suite of reforms will slow the country’s progress when it comes to addressing climate change, a trend that has made weather calamities more common worldwide and imposes large costs on the global economy every year.

The effect on consumer prices is difficult to predict, analysts say. Increasing the world’s energy supply would likely bring down costs for consumers in the long run, and energy is a key part of the U.S.’ strategy on the world stage. At the same time, the policy tools available to the president are limited, and they could take a while to translate into lower prices at the gas pump.

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Trump’s decision to end the clean vehicle rules will hinder the electric vehicle industry, which has created thousands of jobs across the U.S., including in Arizona. Some analysts believe that market forces will still drive a transition to electric vehicles in the long term.

‘Drill, baby, drill’

Talking to reporters Monday morning, incoming administration officials touted the effort as delivering on Trump’s promise to “drill, baby, drill” to deliver for the country’s economy.

They will help the U.S. “stay at the global forefront” of technology and provide power for technologies important for national security, like artificial intelligence, officials said.

“If I don’t win, you will have no auto industry in two to three years,” Trump said at a rally in Michigan last year. “China’s going to take all of your business because of the electric car.”

USA TODAY’s Joey Garrison contributed to this report.

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