 |
|
|
|||||
A federal judge says some nonprofits awarded billions for a so-called green bank to finance clean energy and climate-friendly projects cannot have their contracts scrapped and must have access to some of the frozen money. The ruling is a defeat for President Donald Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency, which argues the program is rife with financial mismanagement.The order late Tuesday by U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan “gives us a chance to breathe after the EPA unlawfully and without due process terminated our awards and blocked access to funds that were appropriated by Congress and legally obligated,” said Climate United CEO Beth Bafford.The lawsuit by Climate United Fund and other groups contends that the EPA, Administrator Lee Zeldin and Citibank, which held the grant money, illegally blocked the funds awarded last year and had jeopardized the organizations’ operations.Chutkan said Citibank must provide the money that was due to the nonprofits before the EPA had frozen their accounts in mid-February. The EPA immediately appealed.The Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, commonly referred to as a “green bank,” was authorized by the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act under Democratic President Joe Biden. Its goals run counter to the Trump administration’s opposition to climate-friendly policies and its embrace of fossil fuels. Zeldin quickly made the bank a target, characterizing the $20 billion in grants as a “gold bar” scheme marred by conflicts of interest and potential fraud.A federal prosecutor resigned after being asked to open a criminal investigation, saying there was not enough evidence to move ahead. The FBI and Treasury Department, in coordination with the EPA, pressured Citibank to freeze the grants, which it did, according to the nonprofits.Last month, Zeldin announced the termination of the grants, saying “well documented incidents of misconduct, conflicts of interest, and potential fraud raise significant concerns and pose unacceptable risk.”Chutkan paused that move, saying the government provided no significant evidence of wrongdoing. But the Republican administration, in a recent filing, asserted it was allowed to end the contracts based on oversight concerns and shifting priorities.“EPA’s new admission that it ‘did not terminate for Plaintiffs’ noncompliance’ confirms that EPA’s invocation of ‘waste, fraud, and abuse’ was arbitrary and pretextual” the nonprofits said in a court filing.Molly Vaseliou, the EPA’s associate administrator for public affairs, contended that the court lacked the power to reinstate the money. She did not provide any new evidence and repeated unsubstantiated allegations of program abuse and conflicts of interest.“We couldn’t be more confident in the merits of our appeal,” she said in a statement.The government has told the court the case is “just a run-of-the-mill (albeit large) contract dispute.”That argument is important because it could move the case to a different court that can only award a lump sum and not force the government to keep the grants in place. The Associated Press receives support from the Walton Family Foundation for coverage of water and environmental policy. The AP is solely responsible for all content. For all of AP’s environmental coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/climate-and-environment Michael Phillis, Associated Press
Category:
E-Commerce
The skies over New York City may soon get even more crowded as electric air taxi company Archer Aviation is planning to launch a network that connects the citys major and regional airports with vertiports in Manhattan. The company, which is teaming up with United Airlines for the effort, announced the plans on Thursday. It hopes to connect Manhattan with six airports in the areaLaGuardia, JFK, Newark, and regional airports, Republic, Teterboro, and Westchesterwith flights as short as five minutes. Archer’s Midnight aircraft could save passengers hours when trying to get between those airports or the three vertiports in Manhattan, according to the company. And the partnership with United Airlines would allow travelers to book those flights as a sort of add-on to their traditional inbound or outbound flight from one of the participating airports. For example, if you live in Manhattan and are booking a United flight out of JFK, you can book a flight from the Downtown Skyport to JFK as part of the booking process. [Image: Archer Aviation] The New York City air taxi network is the third such network in the U.S. that Archer has announced so far, with the other two being in Los Angeles and San Francisco. Archer Aviation CCO Nikhil Goel says that the company is currently working out the final details of getting those networks online with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). There arent too many steps left, Goel says, adding that Midnight air taxis could be flying people around New York, Los Angeles, and the Bay Area as soon as next year. Looking up If and when regulatory all the regulatory hurdles will be cleared is anyone’s guess, but should that day come, Archer may not be the only player soaring above the Big Apple. Its competitor Joby Aviation is also planning to launch service in New York City, even showing off its aircraft at an event in Grand Central Terminal late last year. Theres also the potential that the networks could expand. Well start with nine nodes in the New York area, Goel says. Thats the three vertiports in Manhattan, the three major airports, and the three regionalsthat covers a very large percentage of the people who live and work in the metropolitan area. When Archer gets a better sense of where more demand for its flights lies, it could expand to other nodes in the area, and the same goes for other cities, too. As for pricing, Goel says that the goal is to get to a place where air taxi flights are priced similarly to an Uber ride. For now, the goal is to open and speed up transit options, according to Adam Goldstein, Archers founder and CEO. “[The] drive from Manhattan to any of these airports can be painful, taking one, sometimes two hours,” Goldstein said in a statement. “We want to change that by giving residents and visitors the option to complete trips in mere minutes.”
Category:
E-Commerce
I founded my company nearly two decades ago. As a bootstrapper, it was initially just me, but soon enough we grew to a dozen people, then a few dozen, then a hundred, and so on. In the early days, I remember feeling confident in my hard skills, like product development and growth strategy. But soft skills were uncharted territory. So I did what you do: practiced the tough conversations and speeches in front of the mirror. It helpedpreparation is half the battlebut sometimes I imagine how much faster my leadership skills would have developed if I had real-time feedback. Thats one of the features of AI-powered leadership platforms. For todays businesses, leadership training is more important than ever. Cornell Tech lecturer Keith Cowing recently noted that simply completing tasks will hold less value in an AI-driven future, while judgment and leadership will become increasingly critical. He added that those with strong judgment will be significantly more rewarded than those who rely solely on task execution. Its no wonder that tech giants and startups alike are tossing their hats into this burgeoning AI industry, from LinkedIn Learnings AI-powered coaching to newer arrivals like CodeSignal and Tenor. As CEO of Jotform, Im leveraging these training tools myself, but Im even more excited to see how they will help executives and employees at all levels to advance in their careers. Heres a closer look at the power of AI-powered leadership training. A more effective way to develop essential skills For enterprises across the globe, soft skills are more important than ever. According to the World Economic Forums The Future of Jobs Report 2025, leadership and social influence are among the top three core skills required by employers, highlighting the rising importance of human-centric abilities in the rapidly evolving job market. While out-of-the-box training solutions often fall short (and can be less than stimulating), AI-powered leadership training offers tailored, hands-on learning experiences. You can work on the skills and address the challenges unique to your position and organization. CodeSignals AI-powered Conversation Simulation solution, for example, leverages generative AI and voice models to create realistic conversational partners. Users engage in dynamic conversations with AI partners and simulate potential situations. They can practice invaluable skills like delivering feedback, active listening, and conflict resolution. Its the next best thing to real-world practice. While the AI-powered leadership development platform Tenor offers training in common scenarios, users can also work with the company to develop organization-specific situations and incorporate their companys distinctive leadership philosophies. Traditional leadership training modules often feel more like staged performances than genuine learning experiences. Imagine standing in front of your peers, tasked with role-playing a difficult conversation. For some, its an engaging exercise. For others, its an exercise in self-consciousness. (Like that time I had the brilliant idea of enrolling in an improv comedy classnot my most comfortable experience.) The beauty of AI-powered leadership training is that it removes this pressure. Instead of performing for an audience, youre practicing with an AI partnerfree from judgment, free to focus on developing real skills. At Jotform, we take an automation-first approach: If a process can be automated, we do it. If a solution scales, even better. AI-powered leadership training embodies both principles. Its accessible to employees at every levelfrom top executives and middle managers to ambitious entry-level employees. And because its scalable, as your company grows, more employees can tap into these resources, building a steady pipeline of future leaders. Best of all, AI-driven programs are often more cost-effective than traditional leadership workshops, making high-quality training available without breaking the bank. AI is transforming leadership training by making it more adaptive, personalized, and scalable. These platforms dont just offer cookie-cutter lessons. They analyze individual strengths and weaknesses, consider your companys unique circumstances, and provide tailored simulations and real-time feedback. Todays most successful leaders arent just keeping up with the latest AI advancementstheyre using it to boost their decision-making, innovation, and learning. By combining AI-driven tools and traditional training methods, companies can develop stronger, more prepared leaders who are ready to navigate as fast-changing business landscape.
Category:
E-Commerce
All news |
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||