In a year with record-setting fires in the West and historic hurricane numbers in the East, climate change is top of mind for many people.
For just the second time in history, Atlantic storms are being named using the Greek alphabet after surpassing the annual list of names.
"As far as the hurricanes, there's a lot of scientific debate on the hurricanes," Andrew R. Wheeler, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, claimed today on Cheddar's Opening Bell.
Meanwhile, leaders in Western states have been raising concerns about climate change once again as devastating and deadly fires consume more land than ever before. Those leaders pressed President Trump on the issue last week after the administration blamed forest management for the fires. At the time, the president claimed that "it will get cooler soon."
Wheeler told Cheddar he does believe in climate change and humanity's contribution.
But Wheeler doubled-down on the administration's claims that forest management was behind California's increasingly destructive fires. "I do believe most of it is forest management issues because you don't have the same problems in other parts of the country," Wheeler said.
This week a group of former leaders of the EPA endorsed Joe Biden. The group was made up of EPA leaders who served under Democratic and Republican administrations. Christine Todd Whitman, a former Republican governor from New Jersey who ran the EPA under President George W. Bush, reiterated her stance Monday that the current administration was running a war against science.
Wheeler hit back today on Cheddar. "Yesterday's announcement was just pure politics," he said. "They had no facts to back up their statement."
Wheeler touted the agency's record on regulation enforcement and said he is "very proud of the fact that we have doubled the amount of both civil and criminal penalties by the Obama-Biden administration during the same time period." He went on to say the agency's foremost responsibility now is to enforce existing regulations as more and more environmental programs are delegated to the states.
The New York Times and President Donald Trump are fighting again. The news outlet said Wednesday it won't be deterred by Trump's “false and inflammatory language” from writing about the 79-year-old president's health. The Times has done a handful of stories on that topic recently, including an opinion column that said Trump is “starting to give President Joe Biden vibes.” In a Truth Social post, Trump said it might be treasonous for outlets like the Times to do “FAKE” reports about his health and "we should do something about it.” The Republican president already has a pending lawsuit against the newspaper for its past reports on his finances.
President Donald Trump says he will allow Nvidia to sell its H200 computer chip used in the development of artificial intelligence to “approved customers” in China. Trump said Monday on his social media site that he had informed China’s leader Xi Jinping and “President Xi responded positively!” There had been concerns about allowing advanced computer chips into China as it could help them to compete against the U.S. in building out AI capabilities. But there has also been a desire to develop the AI ecosystem with American companies such as chipmaker Nvidia.
House Republicans in key battleground districts are working to contain the political fallout expected when thousands of their constituents face higher bills for health insurance coverage obtained through the Affordable Care Act. For a critical sliver of the GOP majority, the impending expiration of the enhanced premium tax credits after Dec. 31 could be a major political liability as they potentially face midterm headwinds in a 2026 election critical to President Donald Trump’s agenda. For Democrats, the party’s strategy for capturing the House majority revolves around pinning higher bills for groceries, health insurance and utilities on Republicans.
President Donald Trump says a deal struck by Netflix last week to buy Warner Bros. Discovery “could be a problem” because of the size of the combined market share. The Republican president says he will be involved in the decision about whether federal regulators should approve the deal. Trump commented Sunday when he was asked about the deal as he walked the red carpet at the Kennedy Center Honors. The $72 billion deal would bring together two of the biggest players in television and film and potentially reshape the entertainment industry.
The two-sentence footnote raised serious concerns about accuracy and credibility.
Real estate software company RealPage has agreed to stop sharing nonpublic information between landlords as part of a settlement with the Department of Justice.
