Federal Reserve to Begin Action on Climate in 2023
Vice-Chair Barr Says Fed to Join FDIC and OCC Climate Guidance
WASHINGTON
In his first public speech as Vice-chair for Supervision at the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, Michael Barr today announced that the Federal Reserve would take its first steps to require financial institutions to assess how their long-term financial position could be impacted by the physical harms of climate change and the economic transformation caused by the zero-emissions energy transition.
Further, Barr confirmed that the Federal Reserve would join the Principles for Climate Risk Management for Large Banks, issued in draft form by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.
In response to today's announcement, David Arkush, managing director of Public Citizen's climate program, issued the following statement:
"Barr's remarks are welcome, and the actions he describes are long overdue. Climate impacts are already affecting the economy, financial institutions, and the financial system, and we know they will worsen rapidly. Big banks must explain how they are preparing.
"Financial institutions need to show that they are planning for the clean-energy transition--and participating in it at a pace that matches science-based targets, which governments in the U.S. and abroad are increasingly pursuing. Most big U.S. banks say they are committed to "net zero by 2050," yet they continue to lead the world in financing a system based on fossil fuels.
"Recently enacted policies like those in the Inflation Reduction Act and in the state of California will propel the clean-energy transition faster than was expected just a couple of months ago. That means big banks that are still financing fossil fuels are at even greater risk of those assets being stranded and their loans going unpaid. The Fed needs to rein in their recklessness."
For more information: read Looking Over the Horizon: The Case for Prioritizing Climate-Related Risk Supervision of Banks
Public Citizen is a nonprofit consumer advocacy organization that champions the public interest in the halls of power. We defend democracy, resist corporate power and work to ensure that government works for the people - not for big corporations. Founded in 1971, we now have 500,000 members and supporters throughout the country.
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Trump Vetoes Colorado Clean Water Bill—Then Tells State's Officials to 'Rot in Hell'
The bill vetoed by Trump would have provided funds to finish the Arkansas Valley Conduit, a 130-mile pipeline designed to deliver clean, filtered water to 50,000 residents in the eastern part of the state.
Dec 31, 2025
President Donald Trump issued the first veto of his second term this week when he rejected a bill with bipartisan support aimed at ensuring access to clean drinking water in rural Colorado.
As reported by Colorado Public Radio on Tuesday, the bill in question would have provided funds to finish the Arkansas Valley Conduit, a 130-mile pipeline designed to deliver clean, filtered water to 50,000 residents in the eastern part of the state.
In a statement announcing his video of the bill, Trump cited concerns about the size of the US deficit, even though the Congressional Budget Office has estimated that finishing the conduit will cost less than $500,000.
"My administration is committed to preventing American taxpayers from funding expensive and unreliable policies," said Trump, whose signature legislation, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, is projected to increase the US deficit by $3.4 trillion over the next decade. "Ending the massive cost of taxpayer handouts and restoring fiscal sanity is vital to economic growth and the fiscal health of the nation."
Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.), a longtime Trump ally who sponsored the legislation, blasted the president for vetoing "a completely non-controversial, bipartisan bill that passed both the House and Senate unanimously."
Boebert also hinted that Trump's reasons for passing the bill could be political retribution over her effort to force the release of files related to the criminal prosecution of the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, who for years was a friend of the president.
"I sincerely hope this veto has nothing to do with political retaliation for calling out corruption and demanding accountability," Boebert said. "Americans deserve leadership that puts people over politics."
It's not clear what Trump's motives were for vetoing the bill, though he has been feuding with elected officials in Colorado over the continued imprisonment of Tina Peters, the former county clerk of Mesa County, Colorado who was convicted in 2024 of seven charges related to her allowing unlawful access to voting machines in the wake of the 2020 presidential election.
Trump has demanded that Colorado release Peters, and he even went so far as to give her a presidential pardon, even though she was convicted on state charges rather than federal charges where such a pardon would carry real legal weight.
In a New Year's Eve Truth Social post, Trump once again made false claims about Peters' case.
"God Bless Tina Peters, who is now, for two years out of nine, sitting in a Colorado Maximum Security Prison, at the age of 73, and sick, for the 'crime' of trying to stop the massive voter fraud that goes on in her State," Trump wrote.
In reality, there is no evidence of widespread voter fraud in Colorado during the 2020 election.
Trump finished off his post by lashing out at Democratic Colorado Gov. Jared Polis and Mesa County District Attorney Dan Rubinstein, a Republican whose office successfully put Peters in prison for a nine-year sentence.
"To the Scumbag Governor, and the disgusting 'Republican' (RINO!) DA, who did this to her (nothing happens to the Dems and their phony Mail In Ballot System that makes it impossible for a Republican to win an otherwise very winnable State!), I wish them only the worst," Trump wrote. "May they rot in Hell. FREE TINA PETERS!"
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The Trump administration is planning a massive propaganda campaign aimed at recruiting thousands of new federal immigration enforcement officers to carry out its mass deportation agenda.
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The propaganda blitz will be targeted at highly specific demographics, including "people who have attended UFC fights, listened to patriotic podcasts, or shown an interest in guns and tactical gear," according to the Post.
The ICE drive would also use an ad-targeting technique called "geofencing" to send recruitment ads to users' phone browsers if they are in the vicinity of certain locations, such as military bases, NASCAR races, college campuses, and gun shows.
The ads being designed for the recruitment drive will be based around current appeals that depict joining ICE as part of a "sacred duty" to "defend the homeland" from "foreign invaders," the Post reported.
This rhetoric is similar to the language used in a recent ICE job post flagged by University of Wisconsin–Madison sociologist Jess Calarco. The listing asked prospective recruits if they are “ready to defend the homeland” by joining “an elite team dedicated to... securing our nation’s safety.”
Calarco noted that the job post "reads like a video game ad," which she said "is almost certainly by design."
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The recruitment blitz comes amid new indications that the Trump administration's mass deportation campaign is falling far short of its goals.
The New Republic's Greg Sargent on Wednesday wrote that immigration arrests this year have fallen far short of the goal of 3,000 people per day set by top Trump aide Stephen Miller, and it seems highly unlikely that Miller will realize his dream of deporting 1 million people per year.
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, a senior fellow with the American Immigration Council, told Sargent that "it's clear that they have not achieved the shock-and-awe campaign of mass deportations that they wanted, and they are still running into quite a lot of obstacles."
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"He’s politicizing the issue to defund programs that help Minnesotans," said the Democratic governor.
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"This is Trump’s long game," Walz wrote on social media after the US Department of Health and Human Services announced it was suspending all federal childcare funds to Minnesota, alleging "blatant fraud that appears to be rampant."
Walz added that fraud is "a serious issue—but this has been [Trump's] plan all along."
"He’s politicizing the issue to defund programs that help Minnesotans," the governor wrote.
This is Trump’s long game.
We’ve spent years cracking down on fraudsters. It’s a serious issue - but this has been his plan all along.
He’s politicizing the issue to defund programs that help Minnesotans. https://t.co/7ByWjeXxu0
— Governor Tim Walz (@GovTimWalz) December 31, 2025
The right-wing media ecosystem and Republican politicians have fixated on fraud in Minnesota in recent weeks, using it to launch bigoted attacks on the state's Somali community and call for mass deportations of Somalis.
The issue exploded over the weekend after Nick Shirley, a right-wing influencer and YouTuber, released a video claiming to expose fraud in Minnesota day care centers. The video went viral and was shared by top Trump administration officials, including FBI Director Kash Patel and Vice President JD Vance. Kristi Noem, head of the US Department of Homeland Security, said in the wake of the video's publication that federal agents "are on the ground" in the state and "conducting a massive investigation."
Minnesota Public Radio reported that the state's House speaker, Rep. Lisa Demuth (R-13A), confirmed that her caucus directed Shirley to the day care sites that he visited.
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The Guardian noted that "despite claims by conservatives on social media that the allegations of fraud were ignored until now, there have been years of fraud investigations that began with the indictments in 2022 of 47 defendants for their alleged roles in a $250 million scheme that exploited a federally funded child nutrition program during the Covid-19 pandemic."
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