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Biden admin moving forward with light bulb bans in coming weeks

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Biden admin moving forward with light bulb bans in coming weeks

The Biden administration is getting ready to implement a sweeping nationwide ban on generally used gentle bulbs as a part of its power effectivity and local weather agenda.

The laws, which prohibit retailers from promoting incandescent gentle bulbs, had been finalized by the Division of Power (DOE) in April 2022 and are slated to enter impact on Aug. 1, 2023. The DOE will start full enforcement of the ban on that date, nevertheless it has already urged retailers to start transitioning away from the sunshine bulb kind and, in current months, begun issuing warning notices to corporations.

“The lighting business is already embracing extra power environment friendly merchandise, and this measure will speed up progress to ship the very best merchandise to American shoppers and construct a greater and brighter future,” Power Secretary Jennifer Granholm mentioned final yr.

In keeping with the DOE announcement, the laws will save shoppers an estimated $3 billion per yr on utility payments and minimize carbon emissions by 222 million metric tons over the following three a long time.

BIDEN ADMIN CRACKS DOWN ON AIR CONDITIONERS AS WAR ON APPLIANCES CONTINUES

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President Biden shakes arms with former White Home Chief of Employees Ron Klain as Power Secretary Jennifer Granholm appears to be like on on the White Home on June 30, 2021. (REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque)

Beneath the foundations, incandescent and related halogen gentle bulbs shall be prohibited in favor of light-emitting diode, or LED, options. Whereas U.S. households have more and more switched to LED gentle bulbs since 2015, fewer than half of households reported utilizing largely or completely LEDs, based on the newest outcomes from the Residential Power Consumption Survey.

General, 47% use largely or solely LEDs, 15% use largely incandescent or halogens, and 12% use largely or all compact fluorescent (CFL), with one other 26% reporting no predominant bulb kind, the federal knowledge confirmed. In December, the DOE launched separate guidelines banning CFL bulbs, paving the best way for LEDs to be the one authorized gentle bulbs to buy.

BIDEN ADMIN’S WAR ON HOUSEHOLD APPLIANCES WILL CAUSE HIGHER PRICES, DIRTIER CLOTHES AND DISHES, EXPERTS WARN

In keeping with the survey knowledge, LEDs are additionally much more fashionable in higher-income households, that means the power laws will notably impression lower-income People. Whereas 54% of households with an revenue of greater than $100,000 per yr used LEDs, simply 39% of households with an revenue of $20,000 or much less used LEDs.

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“We imagine that additional regulatory interference within the market is unwarranted on condition that extra power environment friendly lighting decisions, specifically light-emitting diode (LED) bulbs, are already accessible for these shoppers preferring them over incandescent bulbs,” a coalition of free market and shopper teams against incandescent bulb bans wrote in a remark letter to the DOE final yr.

“Whereas LEDs are extra environment friendly and customarily longer-lasting than incandescent bulbs, they at the moment value greater than incandescent bulbs and are inferior for sure features equivalent to dimming,” the letter continued. “Customers are greatest served by retaining the selection between incandescent bulbs and LEDs relatively than regulating incandescent bulbs off the market.”

Just 39% of households with an income of $20,000 or less use LEDs mostly or exclusively, according to national residential survey data.

Simply 39% of households with an revenue of $20,000 or much less use LEDs largely or completely, based on nationwide residential survey knowledge. (Eduardo Parra/Europa Press by way of Getty Photographs)

The teams added that estimates of the local weather advantages of power effectivity guidelines are “speculative, assumption-driven, and susceptible to bias within the arms of companies with a regulatory agenda.”

The DOE’s rule in April 2022, in the meantime, reversed a Trump administration rule that sought to guard incandescent gentle bulbs and permit shoppers to decide on which merchandise they wish to buy. Former President Donald Trump was additionally personally against LED gentle bulb adoption, remarking in 2019 that they’re usually costlier, not good and make him “look orange.”

Environmental teams that opposed the Trump administration’s actions, have cheered the Biden administration for cracking down on incandescent gentle bulbs. 

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“We’re lengthy overdue to part out inefficient old style gentle bulbs as this progress was illegally delayed by the Trump administration for greater than two years. LED bulbs, which is able to substitute the outdated incandescents, use one-sixth the quantity of power to ship the identical quantity of sunshine and final no less than 10 occasions longer,” mentioned Joe Vukovich, an power effectivity advocate on the Pure Sources Protection Council.

Over the past a number of months, the DOE has launched a sequence of power effectivity laws impacting numerous dwelling home equipment together with fuel stoves, ovens, garments washers, fridges and air conditioners. Critics have blasted the foundations as federal overreach and pointless on condition that the business has improved know-how with out authorities intervention.

On his first day in workplace in January 2021, President Biden signed an govt order requiring the DOE to make “main revisions” to present equipment regulation requirements and requirements set by the Trump administration. A month later, the company started transferring ahead on greater than a dozen power effectivity guidelines, impacting a variety of home equipment.

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Secret Service agent on VP Harris' detail removed from assignment after physical fight while on duty

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Secret Service agent on VP Harris' detail removed from assignment after physical fight while on duty

A U.S. Secret Service agent with Vice President Kamala Harris’ detail was removed from their assignment after engaging in a physical fight with other agents while on duty Monday, Fox News Digital has learned. 

The fight was first reported by The New York Post and confirmed to Fox News Digital by a source.

The incident happened at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland while Harris was at the Naval Observatory, but didn’t delay her departure from the base, the Secret Service told Fox News Digital.  

Anthony Guglielmi, chief of communications for the U.S. Secret Service, called the incident a “medical matter,” adding that the agency wouldn’t be commenting further. 

RECORDS SHOW BIDEN DOG, COMMANDER, ATTACKED SECRET SERVICE MEMBERS AT LEAST 24 TIMES 

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A Secret Service agent with Vice President Kamala Harris’ detail was removed from their assignment after engaging in a physical fight, a source confirmed to Fox News Digital. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

“At approximately 9 a.m. April 22, a U.S. Secret Service special agent supporting the Vice President’s departure from Joint Base Andrews began displaying behavior their colleagues found distressing,” Guglielmi said in a statement shared with Fox News Digital.

TEEN CHARGED IN 2023 BREAK-IN OF SECRET SERVICE SUV PARKED OUTSIDE OF NAOMI BIDEN’S DC HOME

Secret Service members helping the president

FILE- The chief of communications for the U.S. Secret Service called the incident a “medical matter” after an agent was removed from their assignment following a fight. (SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)

He added, “The agent was removed from their assignment while medical personnel were summoned. The Vice President was at the Naval Observatory when this incident occurred and there was no impact on her departure from Joint Base Andrews.

“The U.S. Secret Service takes the safety and health of our employees very seriously. As this was a medical matter, we will not disclose any further details.” 

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The agent, who had been acting “erratically,” began punching the special agent in charge after getting on top of him, Real Clear Politics reported. 

Kamala Harris campaigns in South Carolina on the eve of the state's Democratic presidential primary

Harris wasn’t delayed by the incident, the Secret Service said.  (AP Photo/Meg Kinnard)

The agent, who was handcuffed after the incident and treated by medical staff, had previously been a subject of concern by staff, the outlet reported.

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Bill would allow Arizona abortion providers to practice in California temporarily

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Bill would allow Arizona abortion providers to practice in California temporarily

Arizona abortion providers could practice in California under a new law designed to provide care to women who cross the state line as they face newly restrictive prohibitions at home.

The bill introduced Wednesday aims to expedite temporary authorization for those Arizona doctors to practice in both states. It is the latest move by Gov. Gavin Newsom to make California a reproductive health “sanctuary” as abortion seekers in several Republican-led states have lost access to care after the Supreme Court overturned Roe vs. Wade in 2022. The bill would also protect the privacy of medical professionals who practice in California.

“We are putting the boxing gloves on to protect women’s rights,” said Sen. Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley) at a morning news conference. “The state of California has the authority to stand strong for Arizona and their doctors.”

Newsom also attended the news conference alongside members of the women’s caucus and healthcare leaders. The legislation was introduced by Skinner and Assemblymember Cecilia Aguiar-Curry (D-Winters), the chair and vice chair of the women’s caucus, respectively.

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“Arizona law is the first border state law that will directly impact California,” Newsom said. He cited a report that said abortion access in states that border a state that has banned access increased 37% from 2020 to 2023. “This is not an academic exercise. This is real life. This is happening in real time.”

Newsom cited a recent report that found that 160,000 people across this country had to flee their states to access reproductive care last year. An additional 65,000 women who were raped became pregnant in 14 of the most restrictive states, he said.

“We are trying to get ahead of this law which goes into effect on June 8,” Newsom said of the Arizona ban.

The proposal would temporarily allow licensed Arizona doctors to perform abortions and provide related care to Arizona patients traveling to California until the end of November. The Arizona doctors would be under the oversight of California’s Medical Board and Osteopathic Medical Board.

The legislation, which if passed and signed by the governor would go into effect immediately, comes after the Arizona Supreme Court voted this month to impose a near total abortion ban, reinstating a law from 1864 that prohibits abortions except when the woman’s life is at risk.

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“Arizona Republicans continue to put women in danger — embracing a draconian law passed when Arizona was a territory, not even a state,” Newsom said in a statement released Wednesday morning. “California will not sit idly by.”

The Arizona House of Representatives on Wednesday approved a proposal to repeal the state’s near-total ban on abortions, though that was just the first step in the legislative process. The Arizona Senate is not expected to take a final vote on the proposal until May.

The governor is working with the state Legislature’s California Women’s Caucus to pass the bill.

California saw a surge in abortions after the Supreme Court reversed Roe, and now clinics are bracing for more after the latest Arizona ruling.

The bill is likely to pass with ease with Newsom’s support but is sure to reignite criticisms from Republican lawmakers who say the Democratic governor — widely viewed as a future presidential candidate — should focus more on California’s crises, including a budget deficit and surging homelessness, and less on out-of-state policies.

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The bill joins a litany of abortion measures that Newsom and California’s Democratic supermajority have approved in recent years — not just to enhance care in the Golden State but to provide support to nonresidents facing limited care nationwide.

Last year, Newsom signed a bill into law to allow doctors living under “hostile” laws in states where abortion is banned to receive training in California.

Earlier this week, at a news conference in Modesto, Newsom said abortion access rollbacks have “placed a burden” on California’s healthcare system, especially in Imperial, Riverside and San Diego counties, where clinics have seen an increase in out-of-state patients, including those from Arizona and Texas.

On Sunday, Newsom launched another round of TV advertisements that call out red state antiabortion laws, this time to be aired in Alabama and focusing on proposals that aim to punish women for interstate travel to obtain services.

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What to Make of the ‘Zombie Vote’ Against Donald Trump

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What to Make of the ‘Zombie Vote’ Against Donald Trump

Even after Nikki Haley dropped out of the Republican presidential primary, effectively handing the party’s nomination to former President Donald J. Trump, nearly 20 percent of G.O.P. primary voters have cast ballots for someone other than Mr. Trump. The Pennsylvania primary on Tuesday, where Ms. Haley won more than 16 percent, was just the latest example.

These anti-Trump votes have been closely watched, particularly in light of the unusually high number of votes for “uncommitted” and candidates other than President Biden in this year’s Democratic primary.

Ballots cast for candidates who have suspended their campaigns are sometimes called zombie votes. This phenomenon is hardly new.

In fact, a review of contested primaries since 2000 reveals that sizable shares of the electorate routinely chose someone other than the eventual nominee, even after all other serious contenders had dropped out.

The zombie vote in presidential primaries

Share of the vote against the nominee after all serious contenders have dropped out

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Note: The zombie vote refers to the median vote share against a party’s eventual nominee in primary contests after their major opponents had all withdrawn.

By The New York Times

In 2020, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont withdrew from the Democratic primary on April 8, leaving Joseph R. Biden Jr. as the only serious candidate in the race. Still, in the weeks and months that followed, Mr. Sanders received votes. In the Pennsylvania Democratic primary on June 2, 2020, for example, more than 20 percent of voters chose someone other than Mr. Biden, including 18 percent who selected Mr. Sanders.

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The zombie vote in this year’s Republican primary has actually been low by historical standards. In Democratic and Republican primaries going back to 2000, roughly a quarter of voters picked a candidate other than the eventual nominee even after all the other serious contenders had exited the race.

How this year’s zombie vote compares to previous years

Each rectangle represents the vote share in a state’s presidential primary contest.

There are many factors that lead to zombie votes. Not all of them indicate a true protest vote from party loyalists against the eventual nominee.

One factor is the rise of early voting and mail ballots. In Florida, for example, around one in three Republican voters had mailed their ballots before Ms. Haley dropped out on March 6.

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However, she has continued winning a decent chunk of votes in states where nearly all voting has occurred after her departure. In the Wisconsin election on April 2, Ms. Haley won 13 percent of the vote.

The Trump campaign has argued that some of Ms. Haley’s support has come from Democrats voting in Republican contests. This may explain the zombie vote in, for example, Georgia, where any voter can vote in either presidential primary.

But the pattern has persisted even in states like Pennsylvania, Connecticut and New York where the primaries were open only to registered Republicans.

Unlike protest votes against incumbent presidents in the form of minor candidates and ballots cast for “uncommitted,” contested primaries feature big-name candidates who get wide media exposure, have clear policy differences and forge emotional connections with many voters. Perhaps the affinity some voters develop is the easiest explanation of the persistent zombie vote across so many election cycles.

We shouldn’t expect the zombie vote to go away any time soon. In the past, the share of voters still supporting candidates who had already withdrawn remained relatively consistent, even on the last day of primaries held before the party conventions. And there is no pattern linking the size of the zombie vote to the eventual nominee’s chances of winning or losing in the general election.

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For Mr. Trump, what matters is how many of Ms. Haley’s primary voters will rally behind him come November. Polls have shown that her supporters are likely to say they will vote for Mr. Biden. Even so, those same polls often find that many of those voters already supported Mr. Biden in 2020.

Sources

Primary election results for 2024 are from The Associated Press. Results for previous years are from the Federal Election Commission. The Democratic primaries in 2008 and 2016 were not included in the analysis because they were contested through the final primaries. Caucus results were also not included.

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