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☆ The popular clothing brand Everlane slashed its carbon emissions by 22% with help from a high-tech startup. Companies all over the world are racing to do the same.
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-08 | by ( Érica Carnevalli | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

In 2021, the clothing brand teamed up with the carbon-accounting startup Watershed to track carbon emissions, mostly from Everlane's supply chain, using data collection. Everlane is one of several companies using carbon-accounting startups to track emissions and put a dollar amount on their carbon footprints. Investment by venture-capital firms in carbon-accounting startups surged from $60 million in 2020 to $767 million in 2022, according to PitchBook. But it's challenging to precisely monitor this since companies' emissions are not the same, and they often overlap. The startup works with small, midsize, and enterprise companies, including Virgin Atlantic.

Persons: Everlane, Katina, Maria Fujihara, Fujihara, Amelia Penniman, Benchimol, Lauren Gifford, Gifford, DoorDash, Michael Thornton, Thornton Organizations: Service, Fortune Business, Sinai Technologies, Bayer, Siemens, SINAI Technologies, Investment, BlackRock, Walmart, Greenhouse Gas Management Institute, US Environmental Protection Agency, International Energy Agency, Carbon Analytics, Greenhouse, Greenhouse Gas Management, Securities and Exchange Commission, Carbon Solutions, Colorado State University, Virgin Atlantic Locations: Sequoia, Airbnb, Sinai

☆ German arms maker Diehl to ramp up production of IRIS-T air defence system
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

TODENDORF, Germany, Sept 5 (Reuters) - German arms maker Diehl Defence aims to significantly ramp up the production of its IRIS-T air defence system to satisfy growing demand due to Russia's war on Ukraine, Chief Program Officer Harald Buschek said on Tuesday. Germany so far has supplied two IRIS-T units to Ukraine, where they are mainly used to guard Kyiv against Russian missile attacks. Buschek said Ukraine had shot down more than 110 targets, most of these cruise missiles such as the Kalibr, with a hit rate of almost 100%. The system successfully countered an attack on Kyiv by a swarm of 13 Russian cruise missiles at the start of the year, intercepting all missiles, Buschek said. In the small town of Todendorf, Berlin will host the training of partner nations on the modern IRIS-T air defence system, one of the most coveted weapons that Kyiv has received from the West.

Persons: Harald Buschek, Berlin, Buschek, Sabine Siebold, Friederike Heine, Miranda Murray, Jason Neely Organizations: Diehl Defence, IRIS, Kyiv, Russian, NATO, Thomson Locations: TODENDORF, Germany, Ukraine, Todendorf, Kyiv, Russian, Berlin, Moscow, Russia, Estonia, Latvia

REUTERS/Callaghan O'Hare/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsWASHINGTON, Aug 31 (Reuters) - The Biden administration is offering $12 billion in grants and loans for automakers and suppliers to retrofit their plants to produce electric and other advanced vehicles, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said on Thursday. "I don't know that this will have an impact on the collective bargaining," Granholm said, adding that the administration has spoken with automakers, auto workers, and communities. The administration will also offer $3.5 billion in funding to domestic battery manufacturers, Granholm said. For the advanced vehicles, $2 billion in grants will come from the Inflation Reduction Act which was passed by Democrats last year, and $10 billion in loans will derive from the Energy Department's Loans Program Office. Reporting by Timothy Gardner in Washington Editing by Bill Berkrot and Matthew LewisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Energy Jennifer Granholm, Daniel Yergin, Callaghan O'Hare, Biden, Jennifer Granholm, Granholm, Joe Biden, Shawn Fain, Timothy Gardner, Bill Berkrot, Matthew Lewis Organizations: Energy, P Global, REUTERS, Rights, United Auto Workers, UAW, Detroit Three, Energy Department, Thomson Locations: Houston , Texas, U.S, Michigan, Michigan , Ohio , Illinois, Indiana, Belvidere , Illinois, Washington

☆ US offers $12 billion for automakers, suppliers to make advanced vehicles
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

REUTERS/Callaghan O'Hare/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsWASHINGTON, Aug 31 (Reuters) - The United States is making $12 billion available in grants and loans for automakers and suppliers to retrofit their plants to produce electric and other advanced vehicles, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm told reporters on Thursday. The Biden administration will also offer $3.5 billion in funding to domestic battery manufacturers, Granholm said. For the advanced vehicles, $2 billion of the funding will come from the Inflation Reduction Act which Democrats passed last year, and $10 billion will come from the Energy Department's Loans Program Office, Granholm said. The automaker has left open the possibility that the factory could get a new product with government aid. Reporting by Timothy Gardner in Washington Editing by Matthew LewisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Energy Jennifer Granholm, Daniel Yergin, Callaghan O'Hare, Jennifer Granholm, Biden, Granholm, Shawn Fain, Timothy Gardner, Matthew Lewis Organizations: Energy, P Global, REUTERS, Rights, United Auto Workers, UAW, Thomson Locations: Houston , Texas, U.S, United States, Michigan , Ohio , Illinois, Indiana, Belvidere , Illinois, Washington

☆ Inside the White-Hot Center of A.I. Doomerism
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-11 | by ( Kevin Roose | More About Kevin Roose | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

labs and safety research organizations contain some trace of effective altruism’s influence, and many count believers among their staff members. Some Anthropic staff members use E.A.-inflected jargon — talking about concepts like “x-risk” and memes like the A.I. (Just one example: Ms. Amodei is married to Holden Karnofsky, the co-chief executive of Open Philanthropy, an E.A. Open Philanthropy, in turn, gets most of its funding from Mr. Moskovitz, who also invested personally in Anthropic.) safety was genuine, in part because its leaders had sounded the alarm about the technology for so long.

Persons: E.A.s, Dustin Moskovitz, Jaan, Anthropic, Sam Bankman, Fried, Bankman, Amodei, Shoggoth, Holden Karnofsky, Luke Muehlhauser, Moskovitz Organizations: Facebook, Skype, Open Locations: E.A, Jaan Tallinn, Anthropic

☆ Biden is lending billions to Ford to help America win the EV race with China
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-23 | by ( Ryan Hogg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The US is lending Ford $9.2 billion to build battery plants in Tennessee and Kentucky. It's also three times the loan extended to General Motors for battery plants last year. The US government is lending $9.2 billion to Ford for three battery plants in a sign of the Biden administration's desire for America to become a leading EV player. The loan is more than three times the amount handed out last year to General Motors to build three battery factories. The loan is the latest step by the White House to on-shore production of crucial EV components amid rising geopolitical tensions, particularly with China.

Persons: It's, Biden, Obama, EVs, Ford's, Darren Palmer Organizations: Ford, Loan, General Motors, Energy's, SK, The Energy Department, Tesla, EV, White, P, EVs, Ford's EV Locations: Tennessee, Kentucky, America, Korean, China, Chinese

☆ Contraceptive injections for cats show promise
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-06 | by ( Kate Golembiewski | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Now, scientists have announced a potential new method of feline contraception that’s shown early promise: long-lasting contraceptive injections that prevent ovulation. “That’s what led us to start collaborating with Bill (Swanson).”The Cincinnati Zoo, Swanson says, is home to the widest array of wild cats in North America, including lions, tigers and tiny sand cats. Three cats were a control group, while six received injections of the gene of the hormone in question, hitched to a mild virus. The three control-group cats all became pregnant, but none of the six cats in the experimental group did. “We’re really focused on adopting these cats out,” said Swanson, who’s adopted three cats from earlier studies.

Persons: ”, Bill Swanson, “, David Pépin, Pépin, ” Pépin, Bill, Swanson, ” Swanson, Michelle, Betty, Abigail, Nancy, Dolly, Barbara, Rosalyn, Jacque, Mary, We’re, can’t, we’ll, it’s, Pierre Comizzoli, It’s, ” Jacque, Jacqueline, Jackie, Kennedy Onassis, who’s, they’ve, Kate Golembiewski Organizations: CNN, Cincinnati Zoo, Botanical, Nature Communications, Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital, Animals Foundation, Michelson, Conservation Biology Institute, Kennedy Onassis . Cincinnati Zoo Locations: Massachusetts, Boston, Angeles, North America, Cincinnati, Chicago

☆ Solar firm Sunnova gets $3 billion loan guarantee from US energy department
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

April 20 (Reuters) - Sunnova Energy International (NOVA.N) said on Thursday the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) will provide the solar company up to $3 billion in a partial loan guarantee to expand clean energy access. The company last month said it was in discussion with the DOE regarding the potential issuance of an indirect guarantee of 90% for up to $3.3 billion in solar loans. The DOE's Loan Program Office aims to speed development of the clean energy sector with loans to automakers, miners, recyclers and others, many of which would struggle to obtain private financing given their large capital needs. "The DOE financing would accelerate the adoption of solar and storage, decrease greenhouse gas emissions, and expand the availability of reliable, clean, and affordable energy to those communities who benefit the most from low-cost energy," Sunnova CEO William Berger said in a statement. Sunnova also expects the DOE loan guarantee to support up to $4 billion - $5 billion in the company's loan originations, reduce its weighted average cost of capital and generate interest savings.

☆ 18 states require personal finance education in schools—here's what they're teaching kids about money
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Kamaron Mcnair | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

As of this year, 18 states guarantee some form of personal finance education before students graduate, according to Next Gen Personal Finance (NGPF), a nonprofit that provides educational resources and advocates for financial literacy in schools. Personal finance is a huge umbrella. Setting the standardsWhen it comes to mandating personal finance education, it's not as simple as legislators or school boards agreeing that there need to be courses available. The National Council for Economic Education identifies six critical topic areas in their personal finance standards: Earning incomeSpendingSavingInvestingManaging creditManaging risk Developing the local standards can come down to "whoever's in the room," according to Chris Cannon, chief program officer at the Georgia Council on Economic Education, who worked on Georgia's personal finance education standards. NGPF also works on the policy side to help ensure when states are mandating personal finance education, they're doing so effectively.

☆ UK says Lockheed Martin, BAE Systems win nearly $200 mln contract, to create 140 jobs
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

April 4 (Reuters) - Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N) and BAE Systems Plc (BAES.L) won a F-35 jet maintenance support contract worth 161 million pounds ($200 million), creating 140 jobs in Britain, the country's Ministry of Defence said on Tuesday. The contract was signed by the U.S. Joint Program Office and Lockheed Martin as F-35 prime contractor, with BAE Systems to carry out the work as a sub-contractor, the government said in a statement. Of the 140 jobs, 130 jobs will be based at the Norfolk base and around 10 jobs more would be created through the supply chain, the statement added. ($1 = 0.8053 pounds)Reporting by Anirudh Saligrama in Bengaluru; Editing by Himani SarkarOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Entrepreneur Luke Iseman said the sulfur dioxide in the balloons would deflect sunlight and cool the atmosphere, a controversial climate strategy known as solar geoengineering. The Mexican government told Reuters it is now actively drafting “new regulations and standards” to prohibit solar geoengineering inside the country. While the Mexican government announced its intention to ban solar geoengineering in January, its current actions and plans to discuss geoengineering bans with other countries have not been previously reported. GLOBAL GEOENGINEERING BANClimate policy experts said Mexico is in a position to help set the rules for future geoengineering research. David Keith, a professor of applied physics and public policy at Harvard University who has dedicated much of his research to solar geoengineering, called Iseman's launch a "stunt."

☆ The US military has 6 new air-to-air missiles in the works
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Alex Hollings | Sandboxx News | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +16 min

The US military has at least six new air-to-air missiles in active development. The US's current air-to-air missiles are effective, but they aren't designed for the newest US jets. Russia and China are fielding missiles with incredible rangeChinese-made PL-9C, left, and PL-5E air-to-air missiles at the Airshow China exhibition in November 2000. Peregrine Air-to-Air missileRaytheon's Peregine air-to-air missile has actually been around for a few years already. Modular Advanced Missile (MAM)The Modular Advanced Missile (MAM) is among the newest additions to this list.

For 100 of those applicants, the Energy Department has hired staff to provide business development advice and "intense mentorship," Jigar Shah, head of the Energy Department's Loan Programs Office, told Reuters on the sidelines of the CERAWeek energy conference in Houston. Given the rapidly evolving technologies in the clean energy space, Shah said the department might shorten loan terms. If we think that that's a risk, then we just change the terms of the loan," Shah said. The LPO office would like more applications from electric utilities and oil and gas companies for projects designed to reduce emissions, as well as geothermal companies, Shah said. Commercial debt markets are "less interested in the more innovative approaches that (wind companies) are taking.

☆ Factbox: Want billions to make US chips? Here is how to get them
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/3] CMOS chips, are shown at the manufacturing facility of VAS, an electronics manufacturer in San Diego, California April 14, 2009. Chip giant Intel Corp (INTC.O) moved ahead with the ground breaking of a $20 billion chip factory in Ohio after the chips bill passed. The CHIPS Program Office will give "strong preference" to projects that are largely funded with private capital. The department also said that the workers hired to build plants or chips should be able to join unions. The CHIPS Program Office will require any company given more than $150 million to return money if it makes more than they projected.

☆ U.S. govt clears F-35 engine deliveries after safety concerns addressed
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Feb 24 (Reuters) - Raytheon Technologies Corp (RTX.N) said on Friday the U.S. government has cleared its Pratt and Whitney unit to resume deliveries of its F-135 engine for the F-35 fighter jet, after a halt was put in place in December following the discovery of a safety concern. The F-35 Joint Program Office said in a statement its engineers worked alongside Pratt & Whitney and Lockheed Martin (LMT.N) to develop "mitigations for a rare system phenomenon involving harmonic resonance to develop a path forward for safe operation of the F135 in flight". "The actions the government and industry team are taking will ensure incorporation of mitigation measures that will fully address/resolve this rare phenomenon in impacted F135 engines," it added. The JPO also said the government was working on drawing up instructions for safely resuming flight operations for impacted and new production aircraft. Reporting by Tiyashi Datta in BengaluruOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ U.S. Commerce Dept. names financial sector, government experts to chips team
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, Feb 17 (Reuters) - The U.S. Commerce Department said Friday it is naming more than a dozen members to a team overseeing $52.7 billion in government funding to boost semiconductor manufacturing and research. The new team members include officials with experience managing large federal programs, experts from the semiconductor industry, and executives with financial sector experience, the department said. The department said Todd Fisher - a Commerce official who previously worked for nearly 25 years at KKR & Co. Inc - will serve as chief investment officer. The department plans to release its first Notice of Funding Opportunity this month, a key step to beginning the process of making funding awards. In September, Commerce Department chief economist Aaron "Ronnie" Chatterji was named White House Coordinator for CHIPS Implementation while former Treasury official Michael Schmidt was named Commerce Department CHIPS Program Office director.

☆ Yellen says South Africa needs action to maintain energy transition momentum
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( Andrea Shalal | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

[1/3] U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen attends media briefing ahead of bilateral talks with South Africa's Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana (not pictured), at the treasury offices in Pretoria, South Africa, January 26, 2023. REUTERS/Siphiwe SibekoJOHANNESBURG, Jan 27 (Reuters) - South Africa needs concrete action soon if it is to maintain momentum on an energy transition program backed by the United States and other countries, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Friday after visiting the coal mining region of Mpumalanga. She expressed hope that Washington's focus on a just energy transition would underpin donor interest in backing the nearly $100 billion project aimed at supporting South Africa's gradual phasing out of fossil fuels. The United States, Britain, France, Germany and the European Union have backed South Africa's "Just Energy Transition Partnership" with a combined $8.5 billion, which Yellen called a "substantial down payment" designed to mobilise additional money. "An energy transition that is not just will simply not work.

☆ U.S. sets up office to oversee abandoned oil well cleanup
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Jan 10 (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland on Tuesday issued an order to establish an office to ensure efficient use of the Biden administration's $4.7 billion investment in the cleanup of abandoned oil and gas wells. The Orphaned Wells Program Office will be led by Kimbra Davis, who has worked at the Interior Department since 2009. Orphaned oil and gas wells are those that generally have been abandoned and are no longer producing. "The Department is standing up a new office to support states, tribes and federal land managers as they close and remediate orphaned oil and gas wells that pose environmental hazards to communities across the country," Haaland said in a statement. The number of abandoned U.S. wells has grown over the last decade, and many experts believe it will keep growing as fossil fuels are replaced with cleaner energy.

"The worst governments are already going to suppress speech," said David Kaye, a law professor at the University of California, Irvine and the former free speech watchdog for the United Nations between 2014 and 2020. The free speech experts who spoke to NBC News on Friday said Twitter's actions could invite international attempts to manipulate Musk. Would some head of state say, 'Hey, can you do this for my country and prevent public reporting?' Kaye, the former U.N. free speech watchdog, said Musk's behavior reminded him in part of authoritarian leaders who enforce rules against challenging the government or criticizing powerful figures, such as royal family members or regime allies. Musk can talk about standing for free speech all he wants, but this should make it clear to everyone that what he’s doing is quite the opposite.

☆ Matt Hill: White House aide leaving to be communications director for newly established CHIPS program office
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Jeremy Diamond | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Matt Hill, a longtime communications aide to President Joe Biden, is leaving the White House for the Department of Commerce to steer communications for the implementation of the administration’s multi-billion-dollar investment in the semiconductor industry. Hill will serve as the communications director for the newly established CHIPS program office, which is responsible for implementing the $50 billion investment in semiconductor manufacturing authorized by the CHIPS and Science Act. “Matt has been a backbone of President Biden’s communications team since the very first day of the campaign,” said White House communications director Kate Bedingfield. Hill also advised Biden’s infrastructure czar Mitch Landrieu and Gina McCarthy, who served as Biden’s national climate adviser until earlier this year. “During my time in the White House, Matt proved himself to be a smart, savvy communications expert who helped transform the climate change narrative in ways that generated excitement, built hope and expanded engagement,” McCarthy said.

But they fear a harsh new anti-gay law passed by Russian lawmakers will leave them little choice. As the Kremlin prepared to finalize the expansion of the 2013 discriminatory anti-gay law, members of the LGBTQ community in Russia told CNN they feared the uncertain future ahead. Activists say a new legislative package that beefs up an existing anti-gay law is a threat to LGBTQ people in Russia. And it’s just reducing the space within which a non-heterosexual existence can comfortably take place in Russia,” Healey told CNN. Yulia Alyoshina, Russia's first transgender politician, said the new law was discriminatory and would make life tougher for Russia's LGBTQ community.

☆ The pro-choice movement is jubilant after the midterms turned the anti-abortion tide
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-13 | by ( Bethany Dawson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

The midterms proved that voters want to defend abortion access. Smith told Insider that, like many others, while she eagerly awaited the midterm results, the young man popped into her head. Timmaraju told Insider that they'd shifted resources over the summer into getting out the vote. "I think the moral of the story is young voters and women voters saved the day, saved Democrats." Melissa Fowler, the chief program officer of the National Abortion Federation, told Insider that, "Now the country has heard loud and clear that people support abortion access.

☆ F-35 jet deliveries can resume following waiver for Chinese-origin alloy, Pentagon says
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-08 | by ( Mike Stone | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

WASHINGTON, Oct 8 (Reuters) - Deliveries can resume for Lockheed Martin Corp's (LMT.N) F-35 jet under a waiver allowing Chinese-origin alloy to go into an engine part, the Pentagon said on Saturday. In September the Pentagon stopped accepting new F-35 jets after it discovered a magnet in the stealthy fighter's engine was made with unauthorized material from China. Lockheed Martin, which manufactures the jets, had said the issue was "related to a magnet on the F-35 Turbomachine manufactured by Honeywell that includes cobalt and samarium alloy." An alternative source for the alloy will be used in future, the Joint Program Office said in its statement. There are other Chinese-origin magnets on the jet that have received waivers from past Pentagon officials.

☆ Biden's new environmental justice office will oversee $3 billion in grants to polluted communities
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-26 | by ( Emma Newburger | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Michael Regan, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), speaks during an event at the EPA headquarters in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Monday, Dec. 20, 2021. The Environmental Protection Agency on Saturday launched an office that will focus on supporting and delivering grant money to minority communities in the U.S. disproportionally affected by pollution and other environmental issues. The Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights is made up of more than 200 EPA staff in 10 U.S. regions and will be led by a Senate-confirmed assistant administrator. The office will oversee the delivery of a $3 billion climate and environmental justice block grant program created by the recently passed Inflation Reduction Act, which includes $60 billion for environmental justice initiatives. EPA Administrator Michael Regan made the announcement on Saturday in Warren County, North Carolina, a predominantly Black community that protested the operation of a hazardous waste landfill four decades ago and consequently ignited the environmental justice movement.

☆ U.S. EPA launches environmental justice office
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-25 | by ( Valerie Volcovici | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

EPA Administrator Michael Regan announced the creation of the Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights, which will be staffed by 200 EPA employees and led by a not-yet announced Senate-confirmed assistant administrator. He launched the new office at an event in Warren County, North Carolina, which was the site of protests 40 years ago that is regarded as the birthplace of the environmental justice movement. It was the latest move by the Biden administration to prioritize environmental justice in its policymaking. The Inflation Reduction Act signed by Biden last month created a $3 billion climate and environmental justice block grant program that the new office will oversee. Overall, the legislation will unleash a $60 billion investment in environmental justice across the government.

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