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Tag: Push

  • There’s a new push to create a Space National Guard. Lawmakers say the price is right.

    There’s a new push to create a Space National Guard. Lawmakers say the price is right.

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    Lawmakers from seven states and one U.S. territory that contain National Guard units with military space missions are banking that this year they’ll sway the administration and skeptical senators that a Space National Guard is the best way to provide part-time forces to the fledgling Space Force. But they still have a high hurdle to clear.

    Advocates are aiming to convince cynics the true cost is much lower than administration estimates that drove the initial opposition. They’re also banking on a long-delayed report from the Air Force that outlines how to best structure the space guard and reserve mission. And one top proponent is making the case directly to the Space Force’s top officer.

    “I think momentum is building,” Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colo.) said in an interview. He argued that the current structure, in which members of the Air National Guard with space-related duties would stay in the Air Guard, is “not workable in the long term.”

    The Space Force has a complex mission, which includes keeping an eye on missile warnings, monitoring space launches and detecting nuclear detonations. So it will likely rely heavily on part-time personnel, who bring high-tech experience from their day jobs and who don’t want to commit to the military on a full-time basis. But those weekend warriors are now in the Air National Guard, an arrangement that proponents of a new outfit argue complicates training and staffing of the Space Force.

    Several prominent lawmakers from both parties support creating a separate Space Guard. Crow and Colorado Republican Doug Lamborn, who chairs the House Armed Services panel that oversees military space issues, are reintroducing a Space Guard bill, while Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) are spearheading legislation in the Senate. National Guard brass are also on board. Several state Guard leaders have publicly called for the shift and Guard Bureau Chief Gen. Daniel Hokanson supports the move.

    The White House and the Pentagon aren’t sold, however, and neither is much of the Senate, as many prefer to wait and see what Air Force and Space Force leaders propose.

    Crow plans to make his case directly to Space Force brass. The Colorado Democrat said he’s spoken to Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman about the issue several times, including at the Munich Security Conference last month.

    “We’re going to follow up,” Crow said. “He agreed to take a meeting with me to discuss it.”

    Fear of a budget blowup

    The biggest hurdle for proponents — which includes space-heavy states such as Colorado, Florida, California and Hawaii — is convincing the Biden administration that creating a new Guard branch out of the current space missions housed in the Air National Guard won’t be as expensive as they fear.

    Administration officials “strongly oppose” creating a separate Space National Guard, the White House declared last July, citing the “additional overhead” that would come with a new component.

    The Congressional Budget Office assessed the costs of creating smaller and larger models for a Space National Guard in a 2020 report.

    A smaller Space Guard — based on transferring 1,500 personnel from existing Guard units with space missions in Alaska, California, Colorado, Florida, Guam, New York, Ohio and Wyoming — would result in $100 million in additional annual operating costs, the nonpartisan scorekeeper assessed.

    The CBO also examined a larger model in which a Space National Guard is a size proportional to the Air National Guard relative to the active-duty Air Force, and could have a presence in every state and territory. CBO estimated doing so would balloon the hypothetical organization to 5,800 personnel.

    The nearly $500 million annual price tag is a figure that OMB cited when arguing against creating the organization. The nonpartisan analysis group is not currently working on an update to the 2020 report, a spokesperson said in a statement.

    That sticker shock is a concern that mired a push to create an active-duty Space Force years ago. But Space Guard advocates say the hefty price tag doesn’t accurately capture their plans.

    “I think there is a substantial misunderstanding about what it is we’re trying to achieve here. We’re simply trying to grandfather in the existing states and territory that have Space Guard and reserve components into a Guard,” Crow said. “We’re not trying to create a new Guard infrastructure in every state. And that seems to be what OMB thinks we’re trying to do.”

    Proponents, including the National Guard Bureau of the United States, argue the costs are wildly overstated, with some advocates arguing the actual cost could even be as low as $250,000 and would not require any new facilities.

    ‘Organizational disconnect’

    Supporters contend that, just like other branches, the Space Force needs its own part-time cadre to draw the personnel it needs to fully carry out its mission.

    Lawmakers also argue that the Space Force won’t truly be on par with other military branches while its Guard personnel continue as part of the Air National Guard, which they warn would undermine training, recruiting and funding.

    Feinstein said doing so will fix an “organizational disconnect” between active-duty and Guard personnel in the Space Force.

    “A Space Force National Guard would save money because otherwise we will eventually have to replace the capabilities we have in the Guard today with new units created from scratch inside the Space Force,” Feinstein said in a statement. “A Space National Guard should have been created when Space Force was created.”

    Air National Guard units that are conducting space missions have an unusual relationship with the Space Force. While they fall under the Air Force’s command structure, the personnel receive operational tasking orders from the Space Force.

    The arrangement makes it difficult for these Air National Guard personnel to get appropriate training because that is overseen by a different service, said Lt. Gen. Michael Loh, head of the Air National Guard and former Colorado adjutant general.

    “I can’t right now send them to basic military training with the Space Force [the service] they would actually be going off to combat with,” Loh told reporters last year at the Air & Space Forces Association annual Air Warfare Symposium.

    But opponents consider the move a power play by Guard and state leaders, and even some leaders who see a Space Guard as inevitable aren’t convinced it’s needed just yet.

    On top of the potential cost, they contend a Space Guard would mean extra bureaucracy and overhead when the Space Force was intended to be as streamlined and cost-effective as possible when it was created.

    Space Force brass, meanwhile, haven’t publicly endorsed the concept, instead floating a hybrid model that draws on both active-duty and reserve guardians.

    Senate skeptics

    Some on the Armed Services Committees are waiting to see the Space Force’s proposal before choosing sides. The service is expected to submit a proposal for a reserve component as part of the fiscal 2024 budget request.

    “There’s a little bit of hesitancy without a solid, solid plan to impose the entirety of the [National Guard Bureau] structure on top of such a small and agile service,” said one congressional aide, who was granted anonymity to discuss the debate.

    Plan or none, the debate is expected to play out again in annual defense policy legislation. Senate Armed Services Chair Jack Reed (D-R.I.) — whose support is needed for a Space Guard proposal to pass the upper chamber — isn’t swayed yet. Instead, Reed says he’s waiting to see what Saltzman and Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall recommend.

    “I don’t sense the movement,” Reed said of senators supporting a Space Guard. “But we really haven’t brought it up.”

    Only one of Feinstein and Rubio’s eight cosponsors, Florida Republican Rick Scott, sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee.

    House Armed Services is likely to approve a Space Guard as part of its version of the National Defense Authorization Act, as it has done with little controversy over the past two years. But even House leaders who support the concept aren’t sure the time is right for a full-fledged Guard.

    Decorating the Christmas tree

    House Armed Services Chair Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) said he’s “fine” with Crow and Lamborn’s proposal being included when the committee considers the defense bill in the spring, but said congressional leaders would ultimately make a call based on whether the Space Force agrees.

    “This is one of those things that I want the Space Force to have what they need, but I’m gonna let them do it at their pace,” Rogers said. “I think it’s inevitable that it’s going to happen. I just don’t think it’s gonna happen right away.”

    It’s unclear so far what the Pentagon will recommend or if top brass will ultimately come around to agree with a standalone Guard branch.

    Saltzman stuck to the Pentagon line that a dedicated Space National Guard isn’t currently needed during his Senate confirmation last September. He reiterated the service’s stated goal of a hybrid model that includes full and part-time guardians in a “single component.”

    And the argument over how best to train, equip and supply part-time talent to the Space Force may get overshadowed by other more heated space debates on Capitol Hill. The Colorado and Alabama delegations are engaged in a political slugfest over the fate of the permanent headquarters of the U.S. Space Command.

    But a slow and steady buildup could win again if the most vocal advocates of the newest military branch aren’t anxious to move ahead with a separate Guard.

    “It’s like a Christmas tree. You start with just the tree. Then you start adding lights and then you start adding decorations,” Rogers explained. “We just put the tree up that first year and what we have done subsequently has just been layering on things. And that’s always the way I’ve envisioned the Space Force growing.”

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    ( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

  • Senate, White House push new bipartisan bill that could ban TikTok

    Senate, White House push new bipartisan bill that could ban TikTok

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    It’s not the first bill that seeks to tackle the perceived national security threat posed by TikTok, which is owned by Chinese-based company ByteDance.

    But it almost certainly has the most momentum of any legislation introduced on the issue so far. It’s the Senate’s first bipartisan effort on TikTok this legislative cycle. It’s being pushed by two of the most powerful lawmakers on Capitol Hill — Warner is chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee and Thune is the Senate minority whip.

    And according to a statement issued during Tuesday’s presser by national security adviser Jake Sullivan, the White House is also on board.

    “This bill presents a systematic framework for addressing technology-based threats to the security and safety of Americans,” Sullivan wrote. He said the RESTRICT Act would strengthen the administration’s ability to address both “discrete risks posed by individual transactions” as well as “systemic risks” posed by multiple transactions “involving countries of concern in sensitive technology sectors.” Sullivan urged lawmakers “to act quickly to send it to the President’s desk.”

    The RESTRICT ACT is somewhat similar to legislation that advanced last week out of the House Foreign Affairs Committee without Democratic support. Like the House bill, it would alter a portion of U.S. law known as the Berman amendments, which allow for the free flow of “informational material” from hostile countries. In 2020, TikTok invoked those amendments as part of its successful court effort to block an attempted Trump administration ban. Warner said his bill would create a “rules-based process” that would short-circuit the Berman amendments and allow the president to restrict — or even ban — foreign apps like TikTok, as well as other technologies.

    Unlike last week’s House bill, however, the RESTRICT Act does not require the Commerce Department or White House to impose bans or sanctions. It would instead task federal agencies with reviewing potential threats posed by tech emanating from China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Cuba or Venezuela. Any further restrictions, said Warner, are up to the Commerce Department.

    Warner said the RESTRICT Act is meant to improve Washington’s “whack-a-mole approach” to risky foreign technologies over the last several years — including efforts to ban telecommunications equipment from Chinese firms Huawei and ZTE, as well as actions taken against Russian cybersecurity company Kaspersky Labs. “We lack, at this moment in time, a holistic, interagency, whole-of-government approach,” Warner said.

    The senator explained that the RESTRICT Act would apply to existing hardware, software and mobile apps, as well as future AI tools, fintech, quantum communications and e-commerce products.

    The bill’s introduction comes after more than a year of discussion within the Biden administration on whether to ban TikTok, and how to limit the ability of foreign applications like it to access Americans’ data. That includes an ongoing national security review of TikTok at the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., which was begun under the Trump administration but has stalled in the Biden administration amid conflict between national security and economic officials. The impasse has delayed a separate executive order on foreign data collection planned for over a year, and the administration still has not finished a separate Commerce Department rule on information and communications technology.

    ByteDance has long denied any association with Beijing’s surveillance or propaganda operations. Its critics, however, point to provisions in Chinese law that require companies based in-country to comply with any and all requests from state intelligence services.

    In a statement, TikTok spokesperson Brooke Oberwetter said the Biden administration “does not need additional authority from Congress to address national security concerns about TikTok: it can approve the deal negotiated with CFIUS over two years that it has spent the last six months reviewing.” She called a ban on TikTok “a ban on the export of American culture and values to the billion-plus people who use our service worldwide.”

    Oberwetter’s argument is similar to the one made last week by Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.), the ranking member on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. At the time, Meeks urged his colleagues to wait for CFIUS and warned against banning TikTok “without consideration of the very real soft power, free speech and economic consequences.”

    But on Tuesday, Warner suggested many of his Democratic colleagues in the House will back the RESTRICT Act. “I can assure you that I’ve actually had very positive conversations with House Democratic colleagues who have become very interested in supporting this bill,” he said.

    Despite surging bipartisan support for the RESTRICT Act, getting the bill to the president’s desk won’t be easy. TikTok regularly garners over 100 million monthly users in the United States. If the legislation is framed as a “TikTok ban bill,” that could make it tougher for vulnerable lawmakers to risk constituent ire by nuking their favorite online platform.

    “This is a popular application,” Warner said, who noted that a ban would also likely trigger First Amendment concerns. “I think it’s going to be incumbent upon the government to show its cards, in terms of how this is a threat.”

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    ( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

  • House GOP readies its first big agenda push: A massive energy bill

    House GOP readies its first big agenda push: A massive energy bill

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    “Everybody will have a little different perspective. But when you want to attack inflation in this country, it starts with an all-of-the-above energy policy, and I think that will be the more unifying thing,” said House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.).

    While each of the 20 or so bills getting united for the House package has broad support in committee, senior Republicans are still deciding how exactly to maneuver on the floor. While conservatives have demanded a kind of “open season” for amendments, GOP leaders sense that could be a risky strategy for such a high-stakes bill — one that’s likely to be a key plank in their 2024 platform. They’re still undecided on whether to allow a so-called “open rule,” according to multiple lawmakers and aides.

    “That’s the five-vote majority problem,” said Rep. Kelly Armstrong (R-N.D.), noting that the GOP has already seen energy issues like offshore drilling pit cause intra-party tension on the floor — most recently pitting drill-skeptical Florida Republicans against their colleagues. “If you have a delegation that has a problem, you have a bill problem.”

    The big energy package has long been atop the GOP’s agenda, not all of which has gone smoothly after a dragged-out speaker’s race and slow start to legislating. While House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) had pledged to bring up bills on the southern border, criminal justice and abortion insurance restrictions within the first two weeks of the new majority, those bills have all stalled amid resistance within the conference.

    And there’s another big reason House Republicans are relishing the chance to bring this to the floor. It’s considered their opening bid on the wonky yet critical issue of energy permitting — a rare policy area that both parties believe could lead to a bipartisan deal that President Joe Biden’s willing to sign.

    They know that their package’s pro-fossil-fuel proposals and its targeting of Biden’s progressive climate policies are unlikely to garner bipartisan support, but GOP lawmakers hope the permitting plank in particular represents an aggressive starting point for negotiations with Senate Democrats. Perhaps their most politically vulnerable centrist, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), watched his permitting reform plan fall short last year even as his party controlled both the House and Senate.

    “The dynamics of the last Congress, with Manchin leading it, weren’t really conducive to getting something done. And this approach of doing something that originates in the House is a better start,” said Rep. Garret Graves (R-La.), a McCarthy ally and party leader on energy issues.

    Graves crafted the main permitting measure in the House GOP package, which would overhaul rules for reviews conducted under the National Environmental Policy Act — a bedrock environmental law adopted in 1970 — for energy infrastructure, be it pipelines or wind turbines.

    Manchin had demanded his party attempt to pass a similar effort but failed thanks in part to Republicans who were peeved by his support for Democrats’ party-line tax, health care and climate bill.

    From his perch atop the Energy Committee, Manchin is still joining with the White House to press for a congressional permitting modernization that would, they say, help companies take full advantage of the hundreds of billions of dollars in subsidies that the party-line deal devoted to expanding clean energy.

    “I wouldn’t expect their [Republicans’] first bill to be something the Democrats could support,” said Rep. Scott Peters (D-Calif.), a centrist who is talking to House Republicans about permitting. “It is true we have an interest, as climate action advocates, to move things along in a way I am not sure the current law accommodates.”

    Most of the rest of Republicans’ legislative package, though, is dead on arrival in the Senate. Instead, it serves mostly political purposes for a GOP that hammered the issue for months during the midterm campaign.

    The effort follows components of a broader energy strategy that McCarthy released last summer, calling for measures to stimulate oil and gas production, ease permitting regulations and reduce reliance on China for critical materials used in green energy technologies.

    McCarthy’s strategy stemmed from an “energy, climate, and conservation task force” he created ahead of the midterms, chaired by Graves, that incorporated legislative ideas from across the conference. That work drew support from leaders of key committees, including Reps. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) of Energy & Commerce, Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.) of Natural Resources, Frank Lucas (R-Okla.) of Science, and Sam Graves (R-Mo.) of Transportation and Infrastructure.

    “It’s energy security, it’s domestic production, and it’s inflation,” Westerman said. “It’s all of the above energy.”

    The GOP effort, notably, started off at least partly with climate change in mind, as McCarthy recognized the political liability that his party faces on an issue which animates young voters on both sides of the aisle.

    But in the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which spiked oil and natural gas prices, most Republicans are downplaying elements of their forthcoming package that could potentially boost clean energy and help address climate change. Instead, Republicans are arguing that Democratic climate policies have stoked inflation by slowing oil and gas production — even though output of both has climbed under Biden.

    “Their agenda is just all in for the polluters and Big Oil,” said Rep. Kathy Castor (D-Fla.), who led the Select Climate Crisis Committee last Congress alongside Graves (Republicans have since disbanded it). “There is such dissonance there. It’s confusing, to say the least.”

    Republicans counter that their agenda — promoting production and export of all forms of energy, including renewables and other carbon-free sources — makes more sense since Russia’s continental aggression underscored the importance of maintaining ample supplies of oil and gas even as the world transitions off fossil fuels.

    “It’s a really good time to merge energy and climate policy with rational approaches to being cleaner,” said Rep. John Curtis (R-Utah), who chairs the nearly 80-member Conservative Climate Caucus. “Before, maybe the whole conversation was on being clean. Now, it’s about being affordable, reliable, safe, and clean. That’s a good nexus for a lot of us.”



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    ( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

  • DeSantis and Florida GOP push hard-right agenda, including expanding ‘Don’t Say Gay’

    DeSantis and Florida GOP push hard-right agenda, including expanding ‘Don’t Say Gay’

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    “Whether it is education or health, keeping parents in the dark is unacceptable,” state Republican Senate President Kathleen Passidomo said in a statement. “Our schools should be teaching students to respect and obey their parents, not hiding critical information from them.”

    Republican policymakers are looking to reshape education in Florida’s K-12 and universities, much like they did during the 2022 legislation sessions when GOP legislators approved bills that rooted out all traces of critical race theory within the state school system or banned educators from leading classroom lessons on gender identity or sexual orientation in kindergarten through third grade.

    But this year, there is added pressure as DeSantis prepares for a likely 2024 presidential bid, which he’s expected to announce in late spring after Florida lawmakers complete the legislative session. The GOP governor has made education a vital part of his agenda and vows to continue to do so as he tours Florida and the nation.

    “Are these public institutions supported by your tax dollars that should be serving the interest of what the public deems is the best interest? Or do they just get to do whatever they want and impose a political agenda regardless of elections and regardless of anything that happens?” DeSantis said last week during a book tour event in Miami. “We believe that, obviously, in a democratic society, these government institutions funded by your tax dollars need to be held accountable for performance and they need to be serving the mission that we as voters and elected officials set out for them to do.”

    The proposed policies are already scoring criticism from LGBTQ advocacy groups that argue some proposals would ostracize LGBTQ students and their parents.

    “Governor DeSantis and the lawmakers following him are hellbent on policing language, curriculum, and culture. Free states don’t ban books or people,” Equality Florida Public Policy Director Jon Harris Maurer said in a statement.

    Expanding ‘Don’t Say Gay’

    One idea introduced ahead of session is to update to the Parental Rights in Education law passed in 2022, labeled as “Don’t Say Gay” by its critics. Lawmakers recently filed bills in the House and Senate that target the use of pronouns by LGBTQ students and teachers alike.

    The bills, FL HB 1223 and FL SB 1320, stipulate that school employees can’t ask students for their preferred pronouns and restricts school staff from sharing their pronouns with students if they “do not correspond” with their sex. Both bills also widen Florida’s prohibition on teaching about sexual identity and gender orientation from kindergarten through third grade to pre-k through eighth grade.

    One group labeled the measure the “Don’t Say They” bill.

    “This legislation is about a fake moral panic, cooked up by Governor DeSantis to demonize LGBTQ people for his own political career,” Maurer said.

    Republicans contend the parental rights law is necessary to ensure the state’s youngest students learn about sexual orientation and gender identity from their parents — not at school.

    “We want parents to be more responsible for their children,” state Rep. Ralph Massullo (R-Lecanto), who chairs the top House education committee, said in an interview. “And we believe … preteens shouldn’t be sexualized in schools by our education system.”

    The two bills do have key differences, like how HB 1223 expands the parental rights policies to charter schools, something that would be a significant tweak from current law. And SB 1320 would create a new health education standard statewide requiring schools teach that “biological males impregnate biological females.”

    This provision, which is part of a separate bill in the House, FL HB 1069, also clarifies in law that these “reproductive roles are binary, stable, and unchangeable.” Another idea in these proposals stipulates that the Florida Department of Education, not local school boards, would approve sex education materials.

    Additionally, these two bills also broaden the state’s school library transparency laws, which were passed last year to give parents a better idea what books are available to students and a way to challenge titles they find objectionable. The legislation would extend school board authority to classroom libraries and require any book to be removed the shelves as soon as it’s flagged. Critics argue this is a “harmful and censorious” proposal to ban books that amounts to a “heckler’s veto” that could remove any book about which there is the slightest bit of disagreement.

    Most of the education proposals floated by conservatives are likely to face vocal opposition from Democrats. But this session, the minority party has even less representation in Florida following midterm elections that saw Republicans dominate the statehouse down to local school boards bolstered by endorsements from DeSantis and other lawmakers.

    “I just don’t understand how the policies are not starting with the need,” state Sen. Rosalind Osgood (D-Tamarac), a former Broward County school board member, said in an interview. “I’m not able to identify the need for all these bills, or the problems that we’re trying to fix.”

    On the financial side, DeSantis wants to spend an additional $200 million on teacher salaries and bring the total to $1 billion for next school year. At the same time, DeSantis wants the Legislature to pass new restrictions for teachers unions such as a requirement that union officials can’t be paid more than the highest member and preventing union dues from being automatically deducted from paychecks.

    “We don’t need these partisan unions being involved in the school system like they are, where they try to distort and use our schools for partisan purposes,” DeSantis said recently in Miami.

    Lawmakers are pushing these policies in FL SB 256, which has been scheduled for a hearing on Tuesday and is opposed by the Florida Education Association, the state’s largest teachers union.

    “This attack on educators’ freedom to join in union with their colleagues is just one more in a long line of insults and injuries to public schools and institutions of higher education, our students and us as professionals,” FEA President Andrew Spar said in a statement.

    Higher Education and Beyond

    Florida’s higher education system also is slated for notable reforms this year as conservatives in the state continue to rail on “wokeness” in colleges.

    One proposed package introduced several ideas suggested by DeSantis, such as prohibiting universities from spending funds on programs linked to diversity, equity and inclusion programs — as well as critical race theory. This measure forbids schools from offering majors or minors in critical race theory and gender studies, plus gives trustee boards power to launch a tenure review at any time.

    Through policies like this, DeSantis said Florida would be “saving academia from itself.”

    “It’s about time that our higher education institutions reflected the values of the community that funds them,” DeSantis said at an event Tuesday in the Villages.

    In some other proposals, the Legislature this year is again going to consider whether school board races should be labeled as partisan and if they should have shorter term limits after introducing them last year. There are bills in the Florida House that could bring about significant changes to school start times for middle and high school students. House leadership also has signaled a willingness to scale back students’ access to cell phones during class.

    And in what could be the most wide-ranging piece of education legislation to come out of Tallahassee this year, Florida Republicans in 2023 are also advancing a major plan to scale up state-funded vouchers for private schools. These proposals would open the Family Empowerment Scholarship to all K-12 students regardless of income and allow home schooled students access to a voucher for the first time.

    “We can put that choice back in the hands of families, where I think it should have been to begin with,” Massullo said.

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    ( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

  • JetBlue, Spirit push low fare merger narrative to skeptical DOJ

    JetBlue, Spirit push low fare merger narrative to skeptical DOJ

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    When asked for details about how the merger could drive down prices, Hayes said fares are a “function of capacity” and that Spirit flights will adopt JetBlue’s seat configuration. Though that means fewer seats, he argued that customers would still save because planes in the new, combined airline will spend more time in the air and less time on the ground.

    “One of the benefits of bringing these two airlines together is we can increase the utilization of the airline,” Hayes said. “You have more options to fly that next route to increase the length of time in the day that you’re flying.”

    Christie acknowledged that fares on some routes could increase if the merger is approved. But he argued that the new airline would lead to decreased fare costs overall.

    Fares are “based on booking patterns happening at that particular time. So you could probably derive individual circumstances where you may see modest changes in fare,” Christie said. “But what’s more important to focus on is the aggregate effect of the larger airline,” he said. “I think hundreds of millions of dollars will be saved.”

    However, because the combined airline will ultimately end up removing seats, Justice Department officials are not convinced that the new company won’t be forced to raise prices to recoup those losses, people with knowledge of the matter said.

    DOJ’s decision coming soon

    DOJ has a little more than a week to make a final call on whether to sue. The parties had previously agreed on a deadline of Feb. 28, but one of the people familiar with the matter now says that date is expected to slip. Hayes on Thursday also noted that those agreements can always be extended.

    He added that JetBlue has been in discussions “with a number of state [attorneys general] as well.” And he also said that there will be “over the next week or two, a very significant amount of political bipartisan support for this transaction.” Hayes declined to comment on any specific meetings with the DOJ.

    The companies’ argument before DOJ is essentially that they must merge in order to compete with the big four legacy airlines, Delta Air Lines, American Airlines, Southwest Airlines and United Airlines. Once merged, the new entity would be the fifth biggest, behind that group.

    DOJ antitrust head Jonathan Kanter, who has an aggressive mandate to fight corporate deal-making, is unlikely to buy that argument.

    Kanter however has recused himself from the case because his former law firm, Paul Weiss, represents Spirit, according to one of the people. That would leave the decision in the hands of his deputy, Doha Mekki, and practically it would have little impact.

    A DOJ spokesperson did not immediately respond for comment.

    Hayes has said several times in the past two weeks that the companies intend to fight for their deal in court, if necessary.

    Airlines’ offer to grease the skids

    To address DOJ’s concerns, JetBlue has offered to sell off the entirety of Spirit’s operations at Newark Liberty International Airport, LaGuardia Airport and Boston Logan International Airport, as well as five slots at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.

    Those were picked amid DOJ concerns that JetBlue’s Northeast Alliance with American Airlines reduces competition and consumer choice, said JetBlue Senior Vice President of Government Affairs Robert Land.

    Land said the companies are in “advanced” talks with potential buyers for all the assets up for sale, adding that the four largest airlines are not part of the divestiture talks.

    Not currently on the table is an offer to abandon the alliance, which the DOJ challenged in court last year and is currently awaiting a ruling from a federal judge in Boston.

    “Let’s wait and see what the judge’s verdict is. If we lose the NEA, right, the NEA is off the table,” Hayes said, “If we win the NEA, we won the NEA because it’s pro-competition. Frankly, we can use a number of slots leased to us by American to help JetBlue be bigger.”

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    ( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

  • Lithium discovery important for India’s EV push but mining poses serious environmental risks: Experts

    Lithium discovery important for India’s EV push but mining poses serious environmental risks: Experts

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    New Delhi, Feb 24: The discovery of lithium in Jammu and Kashmir is significant for India’s push towards electric vehicles but any environmental gains could be negated if it is not mined carefully, say experts, citing risks such as air pollution and soil degradation in the fragile Himalayan region.

    The Geological Survey of India recently identified a potential deposit of 5.9 million tonnes of lithium in Reasi district’s Salal-Haimana area, the first such anywhere in India, which imports lithium. GSI said the site is an “inferred resource” of the metal, which means it is at a preliminary exploration stage, the second of a four-step process.

    The discovery of lithium deposits can be a potential “game changer” for the country’s clean energy manufacturing ambitions in several ways, said Siddharth Goel, senior policy advisor at the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD).

    “First of all, the scale of the reserves is significant, and can — if proven to be commercially viable — reduce India’s reliance on imports of lithium-ion cells, which are a key component for EV batteries and other clean energy technologies,” he said.

    But there is a flip side too.

    “Reports indicate that approximately 2.2 million litres of water are needed to produce one tonne of lithium. Further, mining in the unstable Himalayan terrain is fraught with risks,” cautioned Saleem H. Ali, distinguished professor of Energy and the Environment at the University of Delaware.

    Lithium mining in Chile, Argentina and Bolivia, for instance, has led to concerns over soil degradation, water shortages and contamination, air pollution and biodiversity loss.

    “This is because the mining process is extremely water-intensive, and also contaminates the landscape and the water supplies if not done in a sustainable method,” Ali said.

    According to the US Geological Survey (USGS), about a fourth of the Earth’s known lithium deposits (88 million tonnes) would be economical to mine, said Charith Konda, energy analyst, Electricity Sector at at US-based Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA).

    “Applying this benchmark, India could probably economically extract 1.5 million tonnes of lithium from the 5.9 million tonnes discovered in preliminary studies,” Konda told PTI.

    Economically here would mean that the resources and technology used to extract will give good return in terms of usage of the resource.

    “India has a vision of increasing the share of electric vehicle sales to 30 per cent in private cars, 70 per cent in commercial vehicles, 40 per cent in buses, and 80 per cent in two- and three-wheelers by 2030. In absolute numbers, this could translate to 80 million EVs on Indian roads by 2030,” Konda said.

    The battery pack of an average electric car, he explained, requires 8 kg of lithium. By this metric, India’s economically extractable lithium reserves should be enough to power 184.4 million electric cars.

    Currently, India is import dependent for several elements such as lithium, nickel and cobalt. Ministry of Commerce data shows that India spent around Rs 26,000 crore importing lithium between 2018-2021.

    In 2021, preliminary surveys by Atomic Minerals Directorate for Exploration and Research (AMD) showed the presence of lithium resources of 1,600 tonnes in Mandya District in Karnataka. However, there has been no report of mining the resource till date.

    An IISD study found that access to critical elements such as lithium is a key challenge faced by companies investing in India’s EV ecosystem.

    “These reserves could potentially be a huge carrot to attract investment into domestic battery manufacturing and other clean energy technologies,” Goel said

    The potential site in Reasi has the same amount of lithium as the reserves in the US and more than China’s current reserves which are around 4.5 million tonnes.

    However, the world’s largest lithium reserves in South America — especially in Bolivia, Chile and Argentina — are several times greater, collectively over 40 million metric tonnes.

    According to University of Delaware’s Ali, domestic supply of usable lithium, if developed, could help develop batteries for solar and wind storage and EV usage.

    What is critical in this scenario is the government putting in place the right support to make sure that securing these critical minerals is done in a socially and environmentally responsible manner, experts agree.

    Environmentalists also argue that the focus should be on redesigning cities to reduce car usage in general instead of using metals like lithium to shift to EVs.

    “This could specially be done in high density population centres of India with smarter urban planning,” Ali said.

    This is because even when safeguards try to limit the social and environmental harm around fossil fuel extraction, which is considerable, there is no “fix” for air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, IISD’s Goel added.

    “Given that lithium-ion batteries are the most advanced batteries available, they would continue to play a major role for the foreseeable future. India should mine lithium with proper environmental and social safeguards in place given the ecological and political sensitivities of the area,” IEEFA’s Konda said.–(PTI)

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    ( With inputs from : roshankashmir.net )

  • Baltics and Poland push to make sanctioning oligarchs’ associates easier

    Baltics and Poland push to make sanctioning oligarchs’ associates easier

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    The Baltic states and Poland want to make it easier to sanction the family members and entourage of Russia’s richest men and women but are facing resistance from Hungary, several EU diplomats told POLITICO.

    Under its current rules, the EU can freeze the assets and impose visa bans on “leading businesspersons operating in Russia.” Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Poland now want to expand this definition, according to their proposal seen by POLITICO, to include “their immediate family members, or other natural persons, benefitting from them.”

    The EU has sanctioned more than 1,400 people in relation to Russia’s activities in Ukraine, many of who are Russian oligarchs. An additional 96 people could be added to the EU’s next sanctions package, draft documents seen by POLITICO indicate. Including oligarchs’ family members and other associates of oligarchs would make it possible to sanctions thousands more people without having to prove that they are directly involved in the war in Ukraine or acting in the economic interest of the Russian state.

    This could, for example, apply to the ex-wife of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Lyudmila Ocheretnaya, whose daughters have been sanctioned but has not been herself, and other members of the oligarchs’ entourage.

    While some countries had doubts, legal experts are on board, said one of the diplomats.

    Yet, in a meeting on Tuesday, at which EU ambassadors discussed the bloc’s next round of sanctions, Hungary resisted such plans, the diplomats said. Budapest argued that this is not part of the 10th sanctions package, said one of the diplomats. Hungary has long been skeptical of including too many names on the list.

    Hungary also pushed to strike four people out the already existing sanctions list, two of the diplomats said.

    It was not immediately possible to learn the identity of the four individuals.

    That request is igniting tensions, and will be likely subject to another heated debate during a meeting of EU ambassadors on Wednesday. During that meeting, they will not only discuss the new package of sanctions against Russia, but also the so-called rollover of the 1,400-plus names already on the list to keep them sanctioned.

    That’s because the regime is subject to a six-month review, which has hitherto been more or less a formality. Now, Hungary is using this extension review as leverage by insisting that four specific people have to be struck from the EU’s existing sanctions list before it will agree to the rollover. If Hungary blocks the rollover and refuses to compromise, all 1,400 people would be de-listed, the two diplomats warned.

    One of the diplomats didn’t hide his frustration: “It shows Hungary’s disregard for unity and European values that they are willing to risk this in the week where we commemorate one year since the Russian invasion,” he said.

    And those aren’t the only measure that Hungary takes issue with. It also is chiefly against sanctioning personnel working in the nuclear sector.

    But a Hungarian official poured water on this last point, saying that “the only open issue for Hungary is with the length of the rollover and not with the listings.”

    On the oligarchs issue and the proposal of the Baltics and Poland, the same Hungarian official said that this is not part of the 10th package.

    As all EU countries have to agree to the proposal, any country could veto the move even if all other 26 EU countries were in favor. Time is running out, with the EU wanting to adopt the 10th sanctions package before the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Friday.



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    ( With inputs from : www.politico.eu )

  • Rishi Sunak in final push to get Brexit done

    Rishi Sunak in final push to get Brexit done

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    LONDON — Boris Johnson may have coined the phrase, but Rishi Sunak hopes he’s the man who can finally claim to have “got Brexit done.”

    The British prime minister will on Monday host European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in what’s being sold by No. 10 Downing Street as the pair’s “final talks” on resolving the long-running row over post-Brexit trading arrangements in Northern Ireland.

    Downing Street has drawn up a carefully choreographed sequence of events following the meeting. Sunak will brief his Cabinet following the late lunchtime face-to-face with the European Commission chief.

    He then hopes to hold a joint press conference with von der Leyen to announce any deal before heading to the House of Commons late on Monday to begin his trickiest task yet — selling that deal to Brexiteer MPs on his own Conservative benches, many of whom will be closely watching the verdict of Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party (DUP).

    It’s likely to mark a defining moment in Sunak’s young premiership, which only began in October when he took over a Conservative Party still riven with divisions following the departures of Johnson and Liz Truss in quick succession. If successful, he will hope to draw a line under the rancorous follow-up to Britain’s 2020 departure from the bloc, and herald an era of closer cooperation with Brussels.

    But even as Downing Street was drawing up plans for Monday’s grand unveiling, members of Sunak’s own party were voicing skepticism that the prime minister will have done enough to win their backing. And without DUP support, Northern Ireland’s moribund power-sharing assembly could remain collapsed.

    Testing times

    Since taking office, Sunak has put securing a deal with Brussels on the so-called Northern Ireland protocol near the top of his to-do list.

    The post-Brexit arrangement has been a long-running source of tension between the U.K. and the EU, and the two sides have been locked in months of talks to try to ease the operation of the protocol while addressing the concerns of both the DUP and traders hit by extra bureaucracy.

    Under the protocol, the EU requires checks on trade from Great Britain to Northern Ireland in order to preserve the integrity of its single market while avoiding such checks taking place at the sensitive land border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

    But the DUP sees the protocol as separating Northern Ireland from the rest of the U.K. and is boycotting the region’s power-sharing government until changes are made.

    In a statement Sunday night, Downing Street said Sunak wanted “to ensure any deal fixes the practical problems on the ground, ensures trade flows freely within the whole of the U.K., safeguards Northern Ireland’s place in our Union and returns sovereignty to the people of Northern Ireland.”

    GettyImages 1048666320
    The Belfast to Dublin motorway crosses the border line between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland | Charles McQuillan/Getty Images

    Downing Street has kept the detail of any deal a closely-guarded secret. In an interview on Sky News Sunday, Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab talked up the prospect of “more of an intelligence-based approach” to goods checks, and a move away from individual checks at Northern Irish ports. The U.K. and EU have already talked up more access for Brussels to British goods data.

    One of the biggest flashpoints for Brexiteer MPs and the DUP will be the status of the Court of Justice of the European Union in governing disputes under the protocol. They see the continued presence of the EU’s top court in the arrangement as a challenge to British sovereignty.

    On Sunday, Mark Francois, chairman of the European Research Group of Conservative Euroskeptics, set a high bar for his support, warning any deal must see Northern Ireland treated on the “same basis” as the rest of Great Britain. He warned that even a reduced role for the CJEU over Northern Ireland was not “good enough.”

    Raab told Sky that scaling back some of the regulatory checks and paperwork “would in itself involve a significant, substantial scaling back of the role of the ECJ,” and he talked up the idea of a “proper democratic check coming out of the institutions in Stormont,” the home of Northern Ireland’s power-sharing assembly.

    Minefield

    One potential source of Brexit trouble on Sunak’s benches is Johnson himself, who has already been warning the prime minister not to drop the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill aimed at allowing U.K. ministers to unilaterally sideline the arrangement.

    The Sunday Times reported that Johnson, while being lobbied to support a deal to cement relations with U.S. President Joe Biden, responded with the colorful retort: “F*** the Americans!” The same paper cited a “source close to” Johnson who dismissed it as “a jocular conversation in the [House of Commons] chamber that someone evidently misunderstood.”

    As another defining Brexit week begins, Sunak appears willing to plow ahead, even without the support of the most hardline Brexiteers in his party. Raab insisted on Sunday MPs would “have the opportunity to express themselves on the deal,” but did not elaborate on whether there will be a House of Commons vote on the arrangement.

    Former Chancellor George Osborne, one of the key figures in the campaign to remain in the European Union, urged Sunak to press on and “call the bluff” of the DUP, Johnson and the ERG — or his premiership would be “severely weakened.”

    “Having got to this point in the minefield, he has to proceed,” Osborne told the Andrew Neil Show.



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    ( With inputs from : www.politico.eu )

  • Soaring fuel bills may push 141m more into extreme poverty globally – study

    Soaring fuel bills may push 141m more into extreme poverty globally – study

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    Soaring energy prices triggered by the Russia-Ukraine conflict could push up to 141 million more people around the globe into extreme poverty, a study has found.

    The cost of energy for households globally could have increased by between 62.6% and 112.9% since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to a modelling study by an international group of scientists published in Nature Energy.

    The study modelled the impact of higher energy prices on the spending of 201 groups, representing different expenditure levels, in 116 countries, covering 87.4% of the global population.

    Despite efforts by governments to insulate consumers from the price rises, researchers estimated that overall household expenditure rose by between 2.7% and 4.8%.

    As a result, they estimate that an additional 78–141 million people worldwide could be pushed into extreme poverty.

    One of the report’s authors, Yuli Shan, a professor at the University of Birmingham, said: “High energy prices hit household finances in two ways: fuel price rises directly increase household energy bills, while energy inputs needed to produce goods and services push prices up for those products as well, and especially for food, which affects households indirectly.

    “Unaffordable costs of energy and other necessities will push vulnerable populations into energy poverty and even extreme poverty.”

    Shan added: “This unprecedented global energy crisis reminds us that an energy system highly reliant on fossil fuels perpetuates energy security risks, as well as accelerating climate change.”

    Household gas and electricity bills rose sharply last year, while petrol and diesel prices hit record highs.

    A report prepared for the World Economic Forum in Davos last month said soaring prices for energy and food could persist for the next two years.

    The energy crisis has led to calls for nations to move faster in building renewable energy sources, while governments have turned to polluting fuels such as coal to ensure security of power supplies.

    Another of the report’s authors, Klaus Hubacek of the University of Groningen, said: “This crisis is worsening energy poverty and extreme poverty worldwide. For poor countries, living costs undermine their hard-won gains in energy access and poverty alleviation.

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    “Ensuring access to affordable energy and other necessities is a priority for those countries, but short-term policies addressing the cost of living crisis must align with climate mitigation goals and other long-term sustainable development commitments.”

    The UK and Europe have been urged to follow the US’s lead in encouraging green investment through Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act.

    Western nations have attempted to put a dent in the Kremlin’s coffers by placing a price cap on Russian oil while still allowing it to flow to avoid spiralling fuel prices.

    In recent weeks, wholesale gas prices have fallen as the mild winter and strong gas storage levels in Europe have boosted confidence that countries will not experience energy shortages this winter. However, concerns remain over how nations will replace Russian gas supplies next winter.

    In the UK, energy bills are to rise by 40% in April when government support for bills becomes less generous. National Energy Action estimates there are now 6.7 million UK households in fuel poverty – a figure that has more than doubled since 2020.

    Last week Greenpeace threatened to take legal action against the UK government as it emerged that a target to lift millions of struggling households out of fuel poverty was likely to be missed.

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    ( With inputs from : www.theguardian.com )

  • Tesla agrees to open chargers to public amid White House electric vehicle push

    Tesla agrees to open chargers to public amid White House electric vehicle push

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    Tesla, which operates the nation’s second largest charging network behind ChargePoint, has agreed to make at least 7,500 of its chargers — nearly half its current total of Superchargers — open to non-Tesla electric vehicles for the first time. Those Tesla chargers are now compatible only with its own cars.

    Cars that use a rival charging standard known as CCS — which include most of the electric vehicle market besides Tesla — will be able to use select Tesla chargers after the company installs new stations and upgrades software and hardware by the end of 2024, according to administration officials.

    Mitch Landrieu, the Biden administration’s infrastructure coordinator, said he and other administration officials met with the heads of top automakers last year to discuss expanding the electric vehicle charging network. He said Musk indicated then that “his intent was to work with us to make his network interoperable.”

    “He was very constructive,” Landrieu told reporters. “[Tesla was] one of the early folks out there in this space — it was critically important to us that everybody be included in the conversation.”

    Tesla operates nearly 17,000 fast chargers across the country, nearly matching the 20,000 chargers open to other vehicles, according to S&P Mobility. Tesla has long resisted opening up its chargers to the public, in hopes of making its plugs — which it has dubbed the North American Charging Standard — the dominant technology.

    In the end, though, a cut of the $7.5 billion in federal incentives that the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law provided for electric vehicle chargers proved too attractive for Tesla to pass up. The law requires that charging stations be open to more than one brand of vehicle to qualify for the funding.

    The White House said Tesla’s commitment included allowing other vehicle brands to use at least 3,500 new or upgraded Superchargers along highways, as well as slower, “Level 2” chargers at common stopping points such as restaurants and hotels. The company also plans to triple its full national network of Superchargers, including those exclusive to Tesla drivers.

    The Transportation Department on Wednesday also rolled out the minimum standards for chargers funded by its National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Formula Program, a grant program that will distribute $5 billion over five years for chargers, mostly along interstates.

    The standards are meant to build out a national network of charging equipment that is interoperable, meaning that stations will have consistent plug types, power levels and number of chargers.

    The new rules also require that chargers must reliably work 97 percent of the time, a bid to address growing complaints among drivers that charging equipment is often broken. Motorists must also be able to operate and pay for them using a universal app and account, no matter which company operates the station. The chargers Tesla opens up to the public will be accessible using third-party apps, officials said.

    “No matter what EV you drive, we want to make sure that you will be able to plug in, know the price that you’re going to be paying, and charge up with a predictable and user-friendly experience, just as when you are filling up with gas today,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told reporters before the announcement.

    DOT has already approved plans from all 50 states plus D.C. and Puerto Rico to deploy $1.5 billion of the NEVI funds, and Wednesday’s standards give states the information they need to begin ordering the chargers, Buttigieg said.

    DOT also finished its “Buy America” waiver for the NEVI program, which the Federal Highway Administration initially proposed in August. Companies and some state DOTs had asked the agency to relax some requirements that charger parts be manufactured domestically as the industry tries to keep up with soaring electric vehicle demand.

    Under the rule finished Wednesday, final assembly for all chargers funded by NEVI must occur in the U.S., effective immediately. In addition, by July 2024, 55 percent of the components of the chargers must be manufactured domestically. The department also added an interim step that requires 25 percent of the components be manufactured in the U.S. by this coming July.

    The Energy Department also announced it would award $7.4 million to seven projects working on charging and clean hydrogen refueling infrastructure for medium- and heavy-duty vehicles along busy freight corridors. The Joint Office of Energy and Transportation said it will open up a $47 million funding opportunity for research and development into improving the reliability and accessibility of EV chargers.

    “That will also help industry implement key parts of the new standards that the agencies are announcing,” Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm told reporters. “All of these actions across the administration are going to be key to unlocking much more widespread EV adoption.”

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    ( With inputs from : www.politico.com )