Philanthropist and former Democratic presidential candidate Tom Steyer is urging President Joe Biden to be ambitious in his administration's plan to tackle climate change, and that means doing more than simply reversing the retrograde policies of his predecessor.
"I think Mr. Trump never dealt with the facts on the ground, and he put in a lot of executive orders that I believe that President Biden will successfully overturn," Steyer told Cheddar.
The bigger question for Steyer is whether or not the Biden administration will successfully pass the "Build Back Better" plan the president and vice president campaigned on.
The plan sets out an expansive agenda for creating jobs, addressing racial inequality, recovering from the pandemic, and tackling climate change through infrastructure and green energy investments.
"We've really moved past the question about are we going to do this," Steyer said. "The question is how are we going to do this, how fast are we going to do this."
For the former hedge fund manager, also mobilizing the private sector to this end is essential.
"To a large extent, this is going to come down to the private sector leading in technology, leading in entrepreneurship, and really making it happen in the way that America has traditionally has won," he explained.
Responding to climate change is inevitable, Steyer added, especially with more Americans from both sides of the aisle embracing the need for a green transition. What's still up in the air is whether the U.S. economy benefits more or less from the transition.
"Honestly, if we don't lead here, if we follow the rest of the world, then these products will be created, but the jobs will be created in Shanghai. The jobs will be created in Frankfurt," he said. "We're behind. Americans can win, but that means we have to redouble our effort."
Steyer pointed to the recent announcement from GM that it will only produce zero-emission vehicles by 2035 as an example of the growing embrace of a green economy.
"Look, I was an investor for 35 years," he said. "You always have to invest in the future. You can't be investing in the ideas of the past, and we are behind. We can't spend any more time rebuilding 1950. What we need to do is build 2050 to invest in the future."
The Rev. Al Sharpton is set to lead a protest march on Wall Street to urge corporate America to resist the Trump administration’s campaign to roll back diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. The New York civil rights leader will join clergy, labor and community leaders Thursday in a demonstration through Manhattan’s Financial District that’s timed with the anniversary of the Civil Rights-era March on Washington in 1963. Sharpton called DEI the “civil rights fight of our generation." He and other Black leaders have called for boycotting American retailers that scaled backed policies and programs aimed at bolstering diversity and reducing discrimination in their ranks.
President Donald Trump's administration last month awarded a $1.2 billion contract to build and operate what's expected to become the nation’s largest immigration detention complex to a tiny Virginia firm with no experience running correction facilities.
Chipmaker Nvidia is poised to release a quarterly report that could provide a better sense of whether the stock market has been riding an overhyped artificial intelligence bubble or is being propelled by a technological boom that’s still gathering momentum.
Cracker Barrel said late Tuesday it’s returning to its old logo after critics — including President Donald Trump — protested the company’s plan to modernize.
Low-value imports are losing their duty-free status in the U.S. this week as part of President Donald Trump's agenda for making the nation less dependent on foreign goods. A widely used customs exemption for international shipments worth $800 or less is set to end starting on Friday. Trump already ended the “de minimis” rule for inexpensive items sent from China and Hong Kong, but having to pay import taxes on small parcels from everywhere else likely will be a big change for some small businesses and online shoppers. Purchases that previously entered the U.S. without needing to clear customs will be subject to the origin country’s tariff rate, which can range from 10% to 50%.
Southwest Airlines will soon require plus-size travelers to pay for an extra seat in advance if they can't fit within the armrests of one seat. This change is part of several updates the airline is making. The new rule starts on Jan. 27, the same day Southwest begins assigning seats. Currently, plus-size passengers can pay for an extra seat in advance and later get a refund, or request a free extra seat at the airport. Under the new policy, refunds are still possible but not guaranteed. Southwest said in a statement it is updating policies to prepare for assigned seating next year.
Cracker Barrel is sticking with its new logo. For now. But the chain is also apologizing to fans who were angered when the change was announced last week.
Elon Musk on Monday targeted Apple and OpenAI in an antitrust lawsuit alleging that the iPhone maker and the ChatGPT maker are teaming up to thwart competition in artificial intelligence.
