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Mother Jones

The Biden Administration Put $7 Billion Into “Hydrogen Hubs.” Critics Smell a Boondoggle.

This story was originally published by Yale E360 and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. In the fall of 2023, the Biden administration announced $7 billion in funding for seven hydrogen hubs, slated to be built across the country over the next eight to 12 years. If all goes as planned, one of those hubs, the Mid-Atlantic […]

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Why Republicans Are “Very Excited” About Dr. Oz

Since winning the election, President-elect Donald Trump has seized headlines with a series of alarming appointments for his incoming administration. Many lack the basic qualifications for their respective posts; nearly all can be fairly characterized as MAGA loyalists. Dr. Mehmet Oz, the former TV personality and failed Republican Senate candidate, is among the more heavily […]

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These Five Companies said They’d Curb Plastic Waste. They Made It Much Worse.

This story was originally published by the Guardian and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. Oil and chemical companies who created a high-profile alliance to end plastic pollution have produced 1,000 times more new plastic in five years than the waste they diverted from the environment, according to new data obtained by Greenpeace. The Alliance to […]

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Enjoy Your Air Travel This Thanksgiving. Next Year Will Likely Be Much, Much Worse.

Flying during the Thanksgiving holiday is likely to be terrible—as usual. The lobbying group Airlines for America anticipates a record 31 million people will take to the air to visit family and friends for the holiday. But no matter how terrible the flying experience might be this season, it will probably be as good as […]

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Even Dr. Oz Can’t Break Medicare

Some 15 percent of Americans are enrolled in Medicare Part D, which covers outpatient prescription drug costs for older adults and other qualifying individuals, providing nearly $140 billion a year in support to about 50 million people. But the program is administered by the Centers for Medicare and Medicare Services—which President-elect Donald Trump has nominated […]

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The Long, Slow Defeat of Pennsylvania’s Sen. Bob Casey

Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey, a stalwart moderate who rose to power on the heels of his late father’s political legacy, seems likely to lose his reelection bid. Shortly after Election Day, the Associated Press called the race for his opponent, former hedge fund executive Dave McCormick, who had a narrow lead in returns. Even though […]

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Linda McMahon, Secretary of Plunder

Educators are flipping out over Donald Trump’s choice of pro wrestling exec and longtime donor Linda McMahon for Secretary of Education. Predictably so, since experts in just about every field are flipping out when Trump chooses some poorly qualified (yet very loyal) hack to oversee their specialty—or selects another fox to guard the henhouse. America’s […]

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Mother Jones

Linda McMahon, Secretary of Plunder

Educators are flipping out over Donald Trump’s choice of pro wrestling exec and longtime donor Linda McMahon for secretary of education. Predictably so, since experts in just about every field are flipping out when Trump chooses some poorly qualified (yet very loyal) hack to oversee their specialty—or selects another fox to guard the henhouse. America’s […]

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Mother Jones

Athletes Have Embraced the Soft Power of a Trump Dance

On Monday night, Christian Pulisic, the star of the US men’s national soccer team, scored in a match against Jamaica and promptly jogged over to the corner flag. After a jumping fist pump, the red, white, and blue bedecked central midfielder did what’s become known as the “Trump Dance,” laughing as he wiggled his arms […]

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Bernie Sanders’ Push to Limit Arms Sales to Israel Failed. But It Shows Dems Are Shifting.

It was clear from the outset that the Joint Resolutions of Disapproval from Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) would not pass. The trio of bills, brought to a vote on Wednesday night, would have stopped $20 billion in weapons from being sent to Israel. Every single Republican in the Senate voted against Sanders, as expected. A […]

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Matt Gaetz Withdraws From Attorney General Consideration

Amid the escalating debate over whether to release a highly damaging report into allegations that he had sex with a minor, Matt Gaetz on Thursday announced that he was withdrawing from consideration to become President-elect Donald Trump’s attorney general. “While the momentum was strong, it is clear that my confirmation was unfairly becoming a distraction […]

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The House Passes Bill Allowing Trump Admin to Declare Nonprofits Terrorist Supporters

The long, strange saga of the “nonprofit-killer bill” continues. The legislation—officially called HR 9495, or the “Stop Terror Financing and Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act”—would give the Secretary of the Treasury unilateral power to designate nonprofits as suspected “Terrorist Supporting Organizations,” taking away their tax-exempt status unless they are able to prove they are […]

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RFK Jr. Has Made False and Dangerous Claims about AIDS. That Could Become a Global Problem.

Of the many absurd things Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has said over the years—about vaccines, about 5G technology as a tool of mass surveillance, about Covid being an “ethnically targeted” bioweapon designed to spare Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese people—his claims about HIV and AIDS have been some of the most fact-free. “He is entirely unqualified.” […]

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The Unflinching Courage of Taylor Cadle

Melissa Turnage approached the 12-year-old girl with the imposing affect of a cop: arms crossed, lips pursed, badge visible, tone skeptical. “So, you don’t know how many times this has happened this week?” Taylor Cadle slouched on a couch, staring at her lap and picking at her nails. That morning, in the summer of 2016, […]

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Mother Jones

The Unflinching Courage of Taylor Cadle

Melissa Turnage approached the 12-year-old girl with the imposing affect of a cop: arms crossed, lips pursed, badge visible, tone skeptical. “So, you don’t know how many times this has happened this week?” Taylor Cadle slouched on a couch, staring at her lap and picking at her nails. That morning, in the summer of 2016, […]

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Mother Jones

Democrats Need to Stop Defending a Broken Democratic System

Hours before the results started coming in on November 5, when Democrats were still full of hope, the exit polls released by the major news networks contained a striking piece of data that gave supporters of Kamala Harris reason for optimism. Voters chose the “the state of democracy” as their top priority over any other […]

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DNC Let Go of Staff With No Severance, Says Union

Last Thursday, workers with the Democratic National Committee (DNC) were told they would be laid off without severance and with little notice, according to the DNC’s union. The cuts included some longtime workers of the organization, the union said. With the election over, the DNC intends to downsize from about 680 staff to fewer than […]

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Mother Jones

Climate-Fueled Insurance Hikes Are Fueling Delinquent Mortgages, New Study Finds

This story was reported by Floodlight, a nonprofit newsroom that investigates the powerful interests stalling climate action. When Miguel Zablah bought his five-bedroom home in Miami’s leafy Shenandoah neighborhood in June of 2020, he said he paid $7,000 a year for homeowner’s insurance. The house, built in 1923, sits on high ground and has survived […]

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Mother Jones

How a House Bill Could Let Trump Label Enemies as Terrorists

Last week, a bill that would give the Treasury Department power to designate a nonprofit as a “terrorist-supporting organization” for supporting pro-Palestine protests was narrowly voted down in Congress. But the saga is far from over. It could still be passed in the coming days. Called the Stop Terror-Financing and Tax Penalties on American Hostages […]

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House Speaker Johnson Announces Transgender Bathroom Ban—on Trans Day of Remembrance

On a day meant to commemorate the transgender people who have been murdered in violent acts of bigotry, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) have united in bringing their transphobia to Congress. On Wednesday, one day after Mace introduced a resolution to bar trans people from using the bathroom that aligns […]

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The North Carolina GOP Snuck an Outrageous Antidemocratic Power Grab Into a Hurricane Relief Bill

On Tuesday, exactly two weeks after the November 5 election, the Republican-controlled legislature in North Carolina reconvened in Raleigh, ostensibly to pass disaster relief for areas affected by Hurricane Helene. But, with no public notice, they snuck provisions into the bill stripping power from the state’s incoming Democratic governor and attorney general and dramatically changing […]

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“Devastating”—US Backpedals on Global Pact to Limit Plastic Production

This story was originally published by Grist and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. The Biden administration has backtracked from supporting a cap on plastic production as part of the United Nations’ global plastics treaty. According to representatives from five environmental organizations, White House staffers told representatives of advocacy groups in a closed-door meeting last week […]

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Mother Jones

The Media and Trump: Not Resistance, But Not Acceptance

The below article first appeared in David Corn’s newsletter, Our Land. The newsletter comes out twice a week (most of the time) and provides behind-the-scenes stories and articles about politics, media, and culture. Subscribing costs just $5 a month—but you can sign up for a free 30-day trial. Shortly after Donald Trump narrowly beat Kamala Harris, Politico, the all-politics-all-the-time news outlet, invited […]

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Nancy Mace Is Already Harassing Her New Coworker With Transphobia

Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) has proven time and time again that she will do nearly anything to make headlines. But on Monday, she reached a new low, introducing a resolution seeking to bar transgender members and employees in the House of Representatives from using the bathrooms that correspond to their gender identity in the Capitol […]

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Mother Jones

If Elon Musk Really Wants to Cut Government Waste, He Can Start Here

This story was originally published on Judd Legum’s Substack, Popular Information, to which you can subscribe here. President-elect Donald Trump has appointed Elon Musk and former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy to head the Department of Government Efficiency. Despite the name, it is not a government department. In fact, it is not part of the government at all. It is […]

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Mother Jones

The Goal to Keep World’s Temperature Rise Below 1.5 Celsius Is “Deader Than a Doornail”

This story was originally published by the Guardian and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. The internationally agreed goal to keep the world’s temperature rise below 1.5 Celsius is now “deader than a doornail”, with 2024 almost certain to be the first individual year above this threshold, climate scientists have gloomily concluded— even as world leaders […]

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Trump’s FCC Pick Wants to Intimidate Broadcasters and Enrich Trump Allies

During this year’s campaign, Donald Trump disowned Project 2025, the Heritage Foundation agenda that would transform the federal government’s enforcement powers into political weapons while selling off the rest to the highest bidder, by swearing he didn’t know who was behind it. But now that voting is over, he’s finding the plan a handy way […]

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Trump, Who Is Fine With Journalists Getting Shot, Now Claims a Free Press Is “Vital”

On Monday morning, Donald Trump tried to do what he has done many times before: rewrite history in an attempt to make himself look like a man of moderation. This time it concerned Trump’s treatment of the media, which has included a long history of threats and denigration. “In order to Make America Great Again, […]

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Trump Confirms Plan to Use Military to Carry Out Mass Deportations

On Monday, Donald Trump appeared to confirm that he is willing—even eager—to declare a national emergency and use the military to carry out his plans for mass deportations. “TRUE!!!” he wrote on social media, responding to a post suggesting that reports were circulating of the president-elect’s preparedness to go to such extreme lengths to implement […]

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Mother Jones

Repealing Biden’s Climate Bills Won’t Kill Clean Energy, But It May Cripple US Manufacturing

This story was originally published by the Guardian and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. The United States’s blossoming emergence as a clean energy superpower could be stopped in its tracks by Donald Trump, further empowering Chinese leadership and forfeiting tens of billions of dollars of investment to other countries, according to a new report. Trump’s promise […]

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