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President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed a series of executive orders aimed at boosting the struggling coal industry, a reliable but polluting energy source that’s long been in decline.Under the four orders, Trump uses his emergency authority to allow some older coal-fired power plants set for retirement to keep producing electricity to meet rising U.S. power demand amid growth in data centers, artificial intelligence, and electric cars.Trump also directed federal agencies to identify coal resources on federal lands, lift barriers to coal mining, and prioritize coal leasing on U.S. lands.In a related action, Trump also signed a proclamation offering coal-fired power plants a two-year exemption from federal requirements to reduce emissions of toxic chemicals such as mercury, arsenic, and benzene.Trump’s administration had offered power plants and other industrial polluters a chance for exemptions from rules imposed by the Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA, under Trump appointee Lee Zeldin, set up an electronic mailbox to allow regulated companies to request a presidential exemption under the Clean Air Act to a host of Biden-era rules.Trump, a Republican, has long promised to boost what he calls “beautiful” coal to fire power plants and for other uses, but the industry has been in decline for decades.“I call it beautiful, clean coal. I told my people, never use the word coal unless you put beautiful, clean before it,” Trump said at a White House signing ceremony where he was flanked by coal miners in hard hats. Several wore patches on their work jackets that said “coal.”“Pound for pound, coal is the single most reliable, durable, secure, and powerful form of energy,” Trump said. “It’s cheap, incredibly efficient, high density, and it’s almost indestructible.”Trump’s orders also direct Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to “acknowledge the end” of an Obama-era moratorium that paused coal leasing on federal lands and require federal agencies to rescind policies transitioning the nation away from coal production. And they seek to promote coal and coal technology exports, and accelerate development of coal technologies.Trump also targeted what he called “overreach” by Democratic-controlled states to limit energy production to slow climate change. He ordered Attorney General Pam Bondi to take “all appropriate action to stop the enforcement” of such laws.New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, cochairs of the U.S. Climate Alliance, said Trump’s order illegally attempts to usurp states’ rights to act on climate.“The federal government cannot unilaterally strip states’ independent constitutional authority. We are a nation of statesand lawsand we will not be deterred,” the two Democrats said. “We will keep advancing solutions to the climate crisis that safeguard Americans’ fundamental right to clean air and water (and) grow the clean energy economy.”The climate alliance is a bipartisan coalition of 24 governors representing nearly 55% of the U.S. population. Trump has long championed coal Trump, who has pushed for U.S. “energy dominance” in the global market, has long suggested that coal can help meet surging electricity demand from manufacturing and the massive data centers needed for artificial intelligence.“We’re ending Joe Biden’s war on beautiful, clean coal once and for all,” he said Tuesday. “All those plants that have been closed are going to be opened, if they’re modern enough, (or) they’ll be ripped down and brand new ones will be built. And we’re going to put the miners back to work.”In 2018, during his first term, Trump directed then-Energy Secretary Rick Perry to take “immediate steps” to bolster struggling coal-fired and nuclear power plants, calling it a matter of national and economic security.At that time, Trump also considered but didn’t approve a plan to order grid operators to buy electricity from coal and nuclear plants to keep them open. Energy industry groupsincluding oil, natural gas, solar, and wind powercondemned the proposal, saying it would raise energy prices and distort markets. The national decline of coal Energy experts say any bump for coal under Trump is likely to be temporary because natural gas is cheaper, and there’s a durable market for renewable energy such as wind and solar power no matter who holds the White House.Trump’s administration has targeted regulations under the Biden administration that could hasten closures of heavily polluting coal power plants and the mines that supply them.Coal once provided more than half of U.S. electricity production, but its share dropped to about 16% in 2023, down from about 45% as recently as 2010. Natural gas provides about 43% of U.S. electricity, with the remainder from nuclear energy and renewables such as wind, solar, and hydropower.The front line in what Republicans call the “war on coal” is in the Powder River Basin of Wyoming and Montana, a sparsely populated section of the Great Plains with the nation’s largest coal mines. It’s also home to a massive power plant in Colstrip, Montana, that emits more toxic air pollutants such as lead and arsenic than any other U.S. facility of its kind, according to the EPA.EPA rules finalized last year could force the Colstrip Generating Station to shut down or spend an estimated $400 million to clean up its emissions within the next several years. Another Biden-era proposal, from the Interior Department, would end new leasing of taxpayer-owned coal reserves in the Powder River Basin. Changes and promises under Trump Trump vowed to reverse those actions and has named Burgum and Energy Secretary Chris Wright to lead a new National Energy Dominance Council. The panel is tasked with driving up already record-setting domestic oil and gas production, as well as coal and other traditional energy sources.The council has been granted sweeping authority over federal agencies involved in energy permitting, production, generation, distribution, regulation, and transportation. It has a mandate to cut bureaucratic red tape, enhance private sector investments, and focus on innovation instead of “unnecessary regulation,” Trump said.Zeldin meanwhile, has announced a series of actions to roll back environmental regulations, including rules on pollution from coal-fired power plants. In all, Zeldin said he’s moving to roll back 31 environmental rules, including a scientific finding that has long been the central basis for U.S. action against climate change. Coal industry applauds, but environmental groups warn of problems Industry groups praised Trump’s focus on coal.“Despite countless warnings from the nation’s grid operators and energy regulators that we are facing an electricity supply crisis, the last administration’s energy policies were built on hostility to fossil fuels, directly targeting coal,Ý said Rich Nolan, president and CEO of the National Mining Association.Trump’s executive actions “clearly prioritize how to responsibly keep the lights on, recognize the enormous strategic value of American-mined coal and embrace the economic opportunity that comes from American energy abundance,” Nolan said.But environmental groups said Trump’s actions were more of the same tactics he tried during his first term in an unsuccessful bid to revive coal.“What’s next, a mandate that Americans must commute by horse and buggy?” asked Kit Kennedy, managing director for power at the Natural Resources Defense Council.“Coal plants are old and dirty, uncompetitive and unreliable,” Kennedy said, accusing Trump and his administration of remaining “stuck in the past, trying to make utility customers pay more for yesterday’s energy.”Instead, she said, the U.S. should do all it can to build the power grid of the future, including tax credits and other support for renewable energy such as wind and solar power. Associated Press writer Seung Min Kim contributed to this report. Matthew Daly, Associated Press
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E-Commerce
Chinese producers of plastic Christmas trees and other festive decorations say orders from U.S. clients, which are crucial for their business, should have started to come in by now. But because of surging import tariffs, they haven’t. U.S. President Donald Trump has raised tariffs on Chinese imports by 104% so far this year in an escalating trade war that threatens great pain for the world’s largest exporter of manufactured goods. U.S. retailers are almost completely reliant on China for Christmas decorations, where they source 87% of such goodsworth roughly $4 billion. Chinese factories are also heavily dependent on the U.S. market, where they sell half of what they make. If Americans want new Christmas decorations this year, they will have to pay a lot more for themif they can find them on the shelves at all. “So far this year, none of my American customers have placed any orders,” said Qun Ying, who runs an artificial Christmas tree factory in the eastern city of Jinhua. “Of course it’s about the tariffs. By mid-April all the orders are normally finalized, but right now . . . it’s hard to know if any orders are coming. Maybe American customers won’t buy anything this year.” In Shaoxing, some 160 kilometres (100 miles) away from Jinhua, factory owner Liu Song was confident his business can cope by trying to sell more to Russia, Europe, and Southeast Asia, which together take 75% of his products already. “We are worried that U.S. orders will come down,” he said, while adding: “We will definitely win this trade war.” Jessica Guo, who also manages a Christmas tree factory in Jinhua, said she was just notified by an important U.S. customer that it is pausing a 3 million yuan ($408,191) order for which she had already spent 400,000 yuan on materials. She expects that order will soon be cancelled and worries about her business. “My peers and I rely on U.S. orders to survive,” Guo said. “This will inevitably affect a lot of people. No one can escape.” Economists say the trade war will shave 12 percentage points off Chinese economic growth this year, exacerbate industrial overcapacity issues, threaten jobs, and further fuel deflationary forces. As Chinese exporters sell less to the U.S., which last year bought goods worth more than $400 billion, they will have to compete ever more intensely on prices in other markets. This will hit their already-thin profit margins and force them to cut costs at home, economists say. Guo’s 10,800-square metre (116,250-square foot) factory employs 140 people regularly, but that number can hit 200 in peak production season over the summer. This year she does not expect to need extra workers. “Losing the U.S. market will definitely impact many peoples jobs,” said Guo. Domestic demand for Christmas decorations in China is insignificant, she added. SILENT NIGHTS Sourcing from countries other than China will be difficult. The second-biggest exporter of Christmas decorations to the U.S. is Cambodia, which makes 5.5% of the goods, and last week Trump imposed a 49% tariff on Cambodian imports. Shifting production to the U.S., one of Trump’s goals in imposing tariffs on China and almost every other country in the world, is not feasible, says Jami Warner, executive director of the American Christmas Tree Association. “They certainly can’t be made in the United States. There’s no manufacturing, the technology isn’t here, the labour market isn’t here,” said Warner. Warner, who expects significant, but hard to estimate, price increases, says 80% of all Christmas trees displayed in the U.S. are artificial. The pre-lit trees, which is most of them, are only made in China. She decries her industry becoming collateral damage in a geopolitical fight. “What our members make and sell are not strategic products,” said Warner. “We’re not threatening. We’re a happy, joyful business. We’d like to stay in that joyful business.” ($1 = 7.3499 Chinese yuan renminbi) (This story has been refiled to change additional reporting credit to Xiaoyu Yin from Xihao Jiang) Andrew Silver and Casey Hall, Reuters
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E-Commerce
Welcome to Pressing Questions, Fast Companys work-life advice column. Every week, deputy editor Kathleen Davis, host of The New Way We Work podcast, will answer the biggest and most pressing workplace questions. Q: How should I respond to rude comments at work?A: If I were to make a pie chart of most peoples complaints about work, the actual work would be one of the smallest slices. Bad bosses and annoying coworkers would take up the biggest slices, for sure.There are a few factors to consider if someone in your office is making rude comments. Is it a one-off or part of a pattern? If someone who is usually pleasant to work with says something rude out of the blue, its likely not worth making a huge deal out of it. You can respond with humor, as contributor Mita Mallick suggests. This can sometimes deflect the situation, disarm and catch the bully off guard. Using humor can shift focus away from the hurtful comment that was made in the moment. A well-put sarcastic response to a rude comment can serve the double purpose of calling it out and shutting it down. Give them the benefit of the doubt that some other stress is impacting their behavior or they just put their foot in their mouth. If its part of a pattern If the rude comments are part of a pattern and are directed at you, and you feel comfortable, you can call the person out either publicly or privately. A public callout: A callout can be as simple as just repeating the comment back to them: “Did you just tell me I should smile more?” or as direct as “Calling my idea lowbrow is pretty insulting.” This approach certainly puts them on the spot and will likely cause them to get defensive, but it will probably make an impact.A private chat: If you want to be a little less confrontational about it, you can discuss the issue with them privately after. Start simple: Ask if you can speak with them at a time when you feel calm and there are no distractions. Then be direct but dont make assumptions. Try something like, When you call my ideas ‘lowbrow’ in a meeting, it feels really insulting. Is there a reason why you say things like that? Or, Please dont comment on my appearance. Again, its likely that they will get defensive, but dont engage in an argument. They might say, It was just a joke, or, It wasnt my intention to offend you. Neither of those things matter; what matters is they said something that you found offensive and they shouldnt say it again. Let them know that and end the conversation. If it’s still happening If you confront the person insulting you and it keeps happening, or if you dont feel comfortable confronting them, go to your direct manager. Its a managers job to deal with these kind of uncomfortable interpersonal relationships and sometimes people are apt to take things more seriously if it comes from someone slightly higher up on the org chat. Talking to your manager about it also creates a record if the issue ends up needing to be escalated to HR or upper management. Need more advice on dealing with rude comments at work? Here you go: 5 questions to ask before you take that comment personally Why rudeness at work Is so contagious How to respond to public bullying at work Stung by your bosss comment? Heres what to do next How to deal with a passive-aggressive coworker
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E-Commerce
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