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For Immediate Release
February, 15 2018, 04:00pm EDT
Contact:
Tim Ballo, Earthjustice, (202) 745-5209, tballo@earthjustice.org
Court Rules Obama-Era Energy Efficiency Standards Should Proceed
Trump admin. dealt another blow in the courts
WASHINGTON
Today a federal court ruled that a suite of energy efficiency rules advanced during the Obama administration must move forward, despite a Trump administration attempt to scrap the rules.
A coalition of states and environmental groups had sued the Trump administration in June 2017 arguing that the Department of Energy was not permitted to abandon the rules. In a nine page ruling, Judge Vince Girdhari Chhabria wrote "quote"
The Natural Resources Defense Council and Earthjustice, representing Sierra Club Consumer Federation of America, and Texas ROSE , joined attorneys general from the states of California, New York, Washington, Maine, Connecticut, Illinois, Vermont, Oregon, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, and Pennsylvania as well as the District of Columbia, City of New York, and California Energy Commission i n suing the Trump administration over the four stalled energy efficiency standards.
"These common sense energy efficiency standards were inches away from being put into action and saving the American people billions on their electric bills. The only thing standing in the way of increased cost savings and decreased climate pollution was the Trump administration. Thankfully the legal system has dealt yet another blow to the harmful and misguided Trump agenda and protected the interests of the American people," said Earthjustice Attorney Tim Ballo.
The rules that the Trump administration had sought to derail required increased energy efficiency standards for portable air conditioners, uninterruptible power supplies (the battery backup systems used to keep computers and other electronic devices running when the power goes out), air compressors used in a variety of commercial and industrial applications, and packaged boilers that heat one-fourth of the nation's commercial space. Combined, the efficiency standards could save American consumers as much as $8 billion in energy bills while avoiding 18 million metric tons of climate pollution over 30 years.
Earthjustice is a non-profit public interest law firm dedicated to protecting the magnificent places, natural resources, and wildlife of this earth, and to defending the right of all people to a healthy environment. We bring about far-reaching change by enforcing and strengthening environmental laws on behalf of hundreds of organizations, coalitions and communities.
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Experts Warn Fed Remarks Show Trump Policies Brewing 'Perfect Storm for a Recession'
"Donald Trump's tariffs mean you could suffer higher prices and lose your job AT THE SAME TIME," said Sen. Elizabeth Warren.
May 07, 2025
Alex Jacquez from the progressive think tank Groundwork Collaborative issued a stark warning to the U.S. public on Wednesday in response to a statement from the Federal Reserve committee that sets interest rates.
The new statement from the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) "provides further evidence that a perfect storm for a recession is brewing" under U.S. President Donald Trump, said Jacquez, Groundwork's chief of policy and advocacy. "Barely 100 days into Trump's second term, working families are already being crushed by sticky inflation and slowing growth."
"A Trump-engineered recession will devastate working families, but the president refuses to stand down on his failed trade war, no matter the cost," added Jacquez, who previously advised former President Barack Obama and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).
The FOMC said Wednesday that "the risks of higher unemployment and higher inflation have risen," and opted to keep the federal funds rate at 4.25-4.5%. The committee has maintained the rate for the past three meetings, following a series of cuts last year.
Trump on Sunday pushed for a rate cut, and though he has backed off a threat to try to oust Fed Chair Jerome Powell, the president "could reconsider if the economy stumbles in the coming months," The Associated Pressreported Wednesday.
According to the AP:
Asked at the press conference whether Trump's calls for lower rates [have] any influence on the Fed, Powell said, "[It] doesn’t affect doing our job at all. We're always going to consider only the economic data, the outlook, the balance of risks, and that's it."
If the Fed were to cut rates, it could lower other borrowing costs, such as for mortgages, auto loans, and credit cards, though that is not guaranteed.
Addressing Trump's evolving tariff policy, Powell said Wednesday that "if the large increases in tariffs that have been announced are sustained, they're likely to generate a rise in inflation, a slowdown in economic growth, and a rise in unemployment."
Sharing a video of his remarks on social media, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) stressed that Trump's tariffs mean higher prices.
Donald Trump's tariffs mean you could suffer higher prices and lose your job AT THE SAME TIME. Forget dolls, families will be forced to make impossible choices between necessities like food, housing, and health care.
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— Elizabeth Warren ( @warren.senate.gov) May 7, 2025 at 3:13 PM
In a Wednesday blog post, former Labor Secretary Robert Reich wrote: "Recall that last November, the single biggest reason voters gave in exit polls for choosing Trump was that he'd bring prices down... Although Trump has scaled back some tariffs and paused others as he seeks trade deals with foreign nations, his tariffs are already eating into household budgets."
Reich highlighted comments about price hikes from companies whose products include everything from baby supplies and laundry detergent to paper towels and tools. He also emphasized that "tariffs will particularly hurt small businesses."
"This bodes ill for American workers, since 80% of U.S. employment comes from small businesses with fewer than 500 workers. The likely result: higher unemployment," he explained, projecting price hikes and job losses this month. "But here's the question: Will consumers and workers realize Trump is the cause? And if they do, will they remember this by the November 2026 midterm elections?"
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'Escalation Risks Catastrophe': Restraint Urged as Pakistan Vows to Avenge Indian Strikes
"An armed conflict between India and Pakistan would be catastrophic for the world and must be avoided at all costs," warned U.S. Congresswoman Ilhan Omar.
May 07, 2025
Observers around the world sounded the alarm Wednesday over the risks of escalation between nuclear neighbors after Pakistan retaliated for Indian airstrikes that reportedly killed over 30 civilians including children in response to last month's Pahalgam massacre in Indian-occupied Kashmir.
The Pakistani newspaper Dawnreported that India bombed six sites in Punjab's Sialkot and Bahawalpur, as well as Azad Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday night as part of Operation Sindoor, a response to the April 22 militant attack on a tourist site in Pahalgam that killed 26 people. India blamed Pakistan for supporting "cross-border terrorism" after a front group of the Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba claimed responsibility for the attack.
Officials in Islamabad said the Indian strikes this week skilled 31 civilians, including several children. In retaliation, Pakistan carried out artillery attacks across the so-called Line of Control on the border with India. The shelling reportedly killed at least 15 civilians. In a televised address, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif called the attacks a "reply" to India's airstrikes.
"When elephants fight, it's the grass that gets trampled."
Pakistani forces also shot down five Indian warplanes and attacked several Indian checkpoints, according to Pakistani military spokesperson Lt. Gen. Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry.
On Wednesday, Sharif claimed his government offered to cooperate with India to investigate the Pahalgam attack.
"Instead, they fired missiles inside our territory, thinking we would back down and will not retaliate," he said of India, vowing that "every drop of blood" will be avenged. Sharif added that India "must suffer the consequences" for its "cowardly" attacks.
Mirza Waheed, a Kashmiri journalist and award-winning novelist, toldDemocracy Now! on Wednesday that "this is a dangerous escalation."
Asked about the increasingly Hindu nationalist rule of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Waheed said "it is a different regime" than under previous New Delhi administrations, one that is "more open to armed response."
Noting that civilians have borne the brunt of cross-border clashes between Indian and Pakistani forces, Waheed said, "When elephants fight, it's the grass that gets trampled."
Foreign Policy South Asia analyst Michael Kugelman noted on social media that "India's strike on Pakistan is of much greater scale than the one in 2019."
"Pakistan's response, which according to many reports included downing several Indian jets, has also exceeded the scale of 2019," he added. "They're already higher up the escalatory ladder than any time in '19 crisis."
Echoing Wednesday's warning from a Nobel Peace Prize-winning nonproliferation group, British Green Party Member of Parliament Ellie Chowns said: "I am deeply alarmed by the overnight strikes between India and Pakistan and the tragic loss of civilian lives on both sides. As two nuclear-armed neighbors, escalation risks catastrophe."
"I urge both governments to step back from the brink in order to prioritize dialogue and lasting peace," Chowns added.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry said Wednesday that it is "concerned about the current developments" between the two nations. China controls about 15% of Kashmir.
"China opposes all forms of terrorism. We call on both India and Pakistan to prioritize peace and stability, remain calm and restrained, and avoid taking actions that further complicate the situation," the ministry said. "China finds India's military operation early this morning regrettable… India and Pakistan are and will always be each other's neighbors. They're both China's neighbors as well."
In the United States—which backed Pakistan's 1971 genocide in Bangladesh that ended following an Indian invasion—President Donald Trump called the escalating situation between the nuclear neighbors "a shame."
"I hope it ends very quickly," Trump added, offering to mediate a deescalation between the two countries, as the U.S. has repeatedly done in the past.
U.S. Congresswoman Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) said on social media that "an armed conflict between India and Pakistan would be catastrophic for the world and must be avoided at all costs."
"The United States and our allies should be doing everything we can to stop another escalation and pursue all possible diplomatic avenues to resolve this peacefully," Omar asserted.
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Progressive Group Rebukes Democrats for Being 'Fully Complicit' in Industry-Backed Crypto Bill
The head of Our Revolution called the GENIUS Act "a sham crafted by cryptocurrency giants that is certain to line the pockets of the Trump family's crypto empire."
May 07, 2025
As the Senate is reportedly poised to hold a Thursday procedural vote on legislation that would create a regulatory framework for a type of cryptocurrency called stablecoin, the group Our Revolution released a statement Wednesday denouncing Democrats for being "complicit" in the bill, which they say will likely enrich U.S. President Donald Trump.
Joseph Geevarghese, executive director of Our Revolution, said in a Wednesday statement that the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act is a "laughably weak and toothless regulatory bill—a sham crafted by cryptocurrency giants that is certain to line the pockets of the Trump family's crypto empire." Our Revolution is a progressive political organizing group launched as a continuation of Sen. Bernie Sanders' (I-Vt.) 2016 presidential campaign
"Let's be clear," Geevarghese continued, "Democrats are fully complicit in the grift, with Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) leading the charge as the bill's original sponsor. We call on every senator who still gives a damn about democracy to shut down this outright sellout to the cryptocurrency industry."
Common Dreams reached out to Gillibrand's office for comment.
The bipartisan bill was originally co-sponsored by Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), and Gillibrand. Later, Sen. Angela Alsobooks (D-Md.) became a co-sponsor as well.
The GENIUS Act, which is backed by the crypto industry, would make it easier for U.S. firms to do business in stablecoin, according to the The New York Times.
Several other crypto-friendly Democrats in the Senate had backed the GENIUS Act, but over the weekend pulled their support, citing a desire for stronger provisions on anti-money laundering, national security, and other issues. "While we are eager to continue working with our colleagues to address these issues, we would be unable to vote for cloture should the current version of the bill come to the floor," wrote the group, which did not include Alsobrooks and Gillibrand, in a statement on Saturday.
A spokesperson for Alsobrooks toldThe American Prospect on Monday that at the Senate Banking Committee markup, "Democrats received commitments to address concerns about the bill. Those commitments should be honored, and she supports her colleagues in their efforts to further improve the bill."
The bill may need as many as 10 Democrats to clear a procedural vote due to potential defections on the GOP side, according to Axios.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday, Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) unveiled the End Crypto Corruption Act, a proposal that would bar the president, vice president, members of Congress, and their immediate families from issuing digital assets, like stablecoins. Gillibrand has joined that bill as a co-sponsor.
Critics of the GENIUS Act, like Sanders and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) warn it would facilitate illicit activity and undermine consumer protection. Sanders warned on Tuesday that the GENIUS Act "makes it easier for President Trump and his family to continue to engage in corrupt dealmaking enabled through their cryptocurrency, to the great benefit of themselves and their tech oligarch backers."
Democratic lawmakers have voiced concerned about a recent Trump crypto revelation—that a stablecoin created by the Trump-affiliated World Liberty Financial crypto venture will be used to complete a $2 billion transaction by an Emirati-state owned investment firm.
And while some reporting suggests that Trump's crypto maneuvers are actually harming the chances that the GENIUS Act will pass, Public Citizen co-president Lisa Gilbert said Wednesday that "all available signs point to Donald Trump trading deregulation of the crypto industry in exchange for personal and political enrichment."
"Crypto helped elect Trump, and now they are helping him add millions to his personal bank account," Gilbert added.
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