Philanthropist and former Democratic presidential candidate Tom Steyer is urging President Joe Biden to be ambitious in his administration's plan to tackle climate change, and that means doing more than simply reversing the retrograde policies of his predecessor.
"I think Mr. Trump never dealt with the facts on the ground, and he put in a lot of executive orders that I believe that President Biden will successfully overturn," Steyer told Cheddar.
The bigger question for Steyer is whether or not the Biden administration will successfully pass the "Build Back Better" plan the president and vice president campaigned on.
The plan sets out an expansive agenda for creating jobs, addressing racial inequality, recovering from the pandemic, and tackling climate change through infrastructure and green energy investments.
"We've really moved past the question about are we going to do this," Steyer said. "The question is how are we going to do this, how fast are we going to do this."
For the former hedge fund manager, also mobilizing the private sector to this end is essential.
"To a large extent, this is going to come down to the private sector leading in technology, leading in entrepreneurship, and really making it happen in the way that America has traditionally has won," he explained.
Responding to climate change is inevitable, Steyer added, especially with more Americans from both sides of the aisle embracing the need for a green transition. What's still up in the air is whether the U.S. economy benefits more or less from the transition.
"Honestly, if we don't lead here, if we follow the rest of the world, then these products will be created, but the jobs will be created in Shanghai. The jobs will be created in Frankfurt," he said. "We're behind. Americans can win, but that means we have to redouble our effort."
Steyer pointed to the recent announcement from GM that it will only produce zero-emission vehicles by 2035 as an example of the growing embrace of a green economy.
"Look, I was an investor for 35 years," he said. "You always have to invest in the future. You can't be investing in the ideas of the past, and we are behind. We can't spend any more time rebuilding 1950. What we need to do is build 2050 to invest in the future."
A big-screen adaptation of the anime “Chainsaw Man” has topped the North American box office, beating a Springsteen biopic and “Black Phone 2.” The movie earned $17.25 million in the U.S. and Canada this weekend. “Black Phone 2” fell to second place with $13 million. Two new releases, the rom-com “Regretting You” and “Springsteen — Deliver Me From Nowhere,” earned $12.85 million and $9.1 million, respectively. “Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc” is based on the manga series about a demon hunter. It's another win for Sony-owned Crunchyroll, which also released a “Demon Slayer” film last month that debuted to a record $70 million.
The Federal Aviation Administration says flights departing for Los Angeles International Airport were halted briefly due to a staffing shortage at a Southern California air traffic facility. The FAA issued a temporary ground stop at one of the world’s busiest airports on Sunday morning soon after U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy predicted that travelers would see more flights delayed as the nation’s air traffic controllers work without pay during the federal government shutdown. The hold on planes taking off for LAX lasted an hour and 45 minutes and didn't appear to cause continued problems. The FAA said staffing shortages also delayed planes headed to Washington, Chicago and Newark, New Jersey on Sunday.
Boeing workers at three Midwest plants where military aircraft and weapons are developed have voted to reject the company’s latest contract offer and to continue a strike that started almost three months ago. The strike by about 3,200 machinists at the plants in the Missouri cities of St. Louis and St. Charles, and in Mascoutah, Illinois, is smaller in scale than a walkout last year by 33,000 Boeing workers who assemble commercial jetliners. The president of the International Association of Machinists says Sunday's outcome shows Boeing hasn't adequately addressed wages and retirement benefits. Boeing says Sunday's vote was close with 51% of union members opposing the revised offer.
The stunning indictment that led to the arrest of more than 30 people — including Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and other NBA figures — has drawn new scrutiny of the booming business of sports betting in the U.S. The multibillion-dollar industry has made it easy for sports fans — and even some players — to wager on everything from the outcome of games to that of a single play with just a few taps of a cellphone. But regulating the rapidly-growing industry has proven to be a challenge. Professional sports leagues’ own role in promoting gambling has also raised eyebrows.
Tesla, the car company run by Elon Musk, reported Wednesday that it sold more vehicles in the past three months after boycotts hit hard earlier this year, but profits still fell sharply. Third-quarter earnings fell to $1.4 billion, from $2.2 billion a year earlier. Excluding charges, per share profit of 50 cents came in below analysts' estimate. Tesla shares fell 3.5% in after-hours trading. Musk said the company's robotaxi service, which is available in Austin, Texas, and San Francisco, will roll out to as many as 10 other metro areas by the end of the year.
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