Latest / 5 minute updates on the latest Trump actions by Prof Christina Pagel / War and Propaganda in the US last week

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War and Propaganda in the US last week · 5 minute updates on the latest Trump actions by Prof Christina Pagel

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  SPEAKER_00: So, so much has happened over the last week, including the killing
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  SPEAKER_00: of American citizen Renee Good by ICE in Minneapolis.
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  SPEAKER_00: But this means that a lot of really important
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  SPEAKER_00: other authoritarian actions have been underreported.
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  SPEAKER_00: So today, I'm going to go through some of them,
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  SPEAKER_00: including a new category of War And then I'm also going
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  SPEAKER_00: to cover the rule of law, propaganda, health and the environment.
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  SPEAKER_00: So sadly, I've got a new category of war.
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  SPEAKER_00: Obviously the attack on Venezuela
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  SPEAKER_00: and then the direct threats to other countries like Colombia,
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  SPEAKER_00: Cuba, Mexico and Greenland have all been in the news all week.
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  SPEAKER_00: But here is what else has been going on.
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  SPEAKER_00: And it really speaks about those threats
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  SPEAKER_00: being really serious threats by Trump and his administration.
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  SPEAKER_00: So firstly, to set the scene in a New York Times interview
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  SPEAKER_00: last week, Trump declared that his power as commander in chief
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  SPEAKER_00: is constrained only by his own morality.
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  SPEAKER_00: And he basically said he's going to ignore international law
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  SPEAKER_00: and any other checks on his ability
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  SPEAKER_00: to use the American military as he sees fit.
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  SPEAKER_00: So how might he use it?
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  SPEAKER_00: Well, as what is continuing to threaten Greenland
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  SPEAKER_00: and also threatening Cuba and Iran with strikes.
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  SPEAKER_00: When it came to South America, Trump said, we are going to start
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  SPEAKER_00: now hitting land with regards to the cartels.
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  SPEAKER_00: The cartels are running Mexico.
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  SPEAKER_00: So that kind of represents a direct threat towards Mexico.
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  SPEAKER_00: And to support his military aims,
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  SPEAKER_00: Trump is proposing a 50% increase in military spending.
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  SPEAKER_00: Basically raising the 2027 military budget
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  SPEAKER_00: from $1 trillion to $1.5 trillion.
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  SPEAKER_00: So an increase of $500 billion.
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  SPEAKER_00: And he also needs US defense companies
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  SPEAKER_00: to manufacture more, weapons and other equipment.
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  SPEAKER_00: And to this end, Trump has directly criticized defense contractor
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  SPEAKER_00: Raytheon for what
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  SPEAKER_00: he called the company's slow response to the demands of the U.S.
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  military.
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  SPEAKER_00: And he basically threatened to cut its government contracts
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  SPEAKER_00: if the firm didn't restrict stock buybacks.
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  SPEAKER_00: And then a few days after that, he actually signed a new executive
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  SPEAKER_00: order prohibiting stock buybacks and dividend payouts
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  SPEAKER_00: at defense companies
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  SPEAKER_00: that haven't made capital investments or somehow deemed
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  SPEAKER_00: by the administration to be underperforming.
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  SPEAKER_00: And then kind of finally in the section
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  SPEAKER_00: and in further sign that by America
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  SPEAKER_00: First, he really means just America alone.
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  SPEAKER_00: The Trump administration announced
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  SPEAKER_00: that it will withdraw from another 66 international organizations.
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  SPEAKER_00: So most of those are UN related agencies, commissions
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  SPEAKER_00: and advisory panels that focus on climate, labor
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  SPEAKER_00: and other issues that the Trump administration
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  SPEAKER_00: considers to be basically, diversity or woke initiatives
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  SPEAKER_00: And then while all that was happening
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  SPEAKER_00: kind of in the international sphere,
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  SPEAKER_00: the domestic rule of law was also undermined last week.
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  SPEAKER_00: So in a court filing, it became clear that the Department of Justice
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  SPEAKER_00: has released fewer than 1% of the Epstein files,
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  SPEAKER_00: even though the legislation signed by Trump
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  SPEAKER_00: in November mandated full release by the 19th of December last year.
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  SPEAKER_00: And then, Trump also discussed again,
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  SPEAKER_00: running for a third term, which is unconstitutional.
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  SPEAKER_00: He accused falsely accused Democrats of rigging elections.
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  SPEAKER_00: And then he mused openly about suspending future elections.
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  SPEAKER_00: Now, maybe that's all just talk.
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  SPEAKER_00: But it does kind of really speak
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  SPEAKER_00: to an undermining of democratic norms.
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  SPEAKER_00: You know, propaganda and the control of information
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  SPEAKER_00: is a really key part of authoritarian regimes.
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  SPEAKER_00: And there is a lot of quite chilling propaganda last week in the US.
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  SPEAKER_00: So on the fifth anniversary of the January 6th
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  SPEAKER_00: insurrection, the white House launched a new webpage
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  SPEAKER_00: about January 6th, basically praising Trump for his conduct
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  SPEAKER_00: that day and blaming Democrats for having masterfully reversed reality.
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  SPEAKER_00: And this is blatantly misinformation.
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  SPEAKER_00: And then at the same time, the Smithsonian's National Portrait
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  SPEAKER_00: Gallery removed wall texts that refer to President Trump's
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  SPEAKER_00: two impeachments,
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  SPEAKER_00: and they basically have taken those out of their exhibition.
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  SPEAKER_00: But at the same time,
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  SPEAKER_00: they still have information about the impeachment of former presidents.
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  SPEAKER_00: Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton.
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  SPEAKER_00: And for the Smithsonian Museum more broadly.
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  SPEAKER_00: And I think it's just important to remember that
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  SPEAKER_00: these are internationally renowned museums.
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  SPEAKER_00: They're facing an ultimatum from the white House to comply
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  SPEAKER_00: with a comprehensive review of the museum's content, and plans
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  SPEAKER_00: to check that it matches
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  SPEAKER_00: the agenda of the white House or risk potential cuts to its budget.
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  SPEAKER_00: And then,
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  SPEAKER_00: in praise of the leader's family, the newly named Trump
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  SPEAKER_00: Kennedy Center will premiere the upcoming film
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  SPEAKER_00: about the first lady titled Melania, at the end of January.
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  SPEAKER_00: And then finally here.
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  SPEAKER_00: You know, the ability to report this stuff has also been reduced.
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  SPEAKER_00: So the Corporation for Public Broadcasting
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  SPEAKER_00: was formally dissolved this week by its Board of directors,
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  SPEAKER_00: ending its 58 years as the primary funder
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  SPEAKER_00: for PBS, NPR, and local TV and radio stations.
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  SPEAKER_00: The board of the corporation, which was created by Congress
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  SPEAKER_00: to oversee the federal government's public broadcasting,
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  SPEAKER_00: didn't have much choice in this because Trump and the Republicans
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  SPEAKER_00: last year stripped the organization of its $1 billion in federal funding.
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  SPEAKER_00: So basically, Trump's White House at the time claimed that NPR
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  SPEAKER_00: and PBS shouldn't get any federal money
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  SPEAKER_00: because they produced woke propaganda.
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  SPEAKER_00: Moving on to health, Health Secretary RFK Jr
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  SPEAKER_00: and the federal officials he's appointed have also been busy.
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  SPEAKER_00: So the first thing is that the administration announced really
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  SPEAKER_00: dramatic revisions to the set of vaccines
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  SPEAKER_00: recommended for American children as part of the routine
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  SPEAKER_00: immunization program.
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  SPEAKER_00: And what they did is they reduced the number of diseases,
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  SPEAKER_00: covered by the program from 17 to 11.
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  SPEAKER_00: And this announcement is really a massive shift
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  SPEAKER_00: in federal vaccine policy.
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  SPEAKER_00: And it really circumvented the kind of the detailed, evidence
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  SPEAKER_00: based process that has underpinned recommendations in the past.
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  SPEAKER_00: For decades.
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  SPEAKER_00: So, to be clear, there is absolutely no new evidence suggesting
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  SPEAKER_00: that the vaccines that are being reduced are unsafe or ineffective.
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  SPEAKER_00: But RFK junior has long sought to reduce the number of vaccines
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  SPEAKER_00: American children receive, and he seems to be getting his way.
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  SPEAKER_00: And I just want to highlight
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  SPEAKER_00: so one of the vaccines being reduced is RSV vaccine for babies.
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  SPEAKER_00: So RSV is a respiratory virus that's particularly dangerous
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  SPEAKER_00: for young babies.
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  SPEAKER_00: And its reduction comes just as more evidence drops about
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  SPEAKER_00: how good the vaccine is at reducing hospitalizations in babies.
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  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, having these, reductions in the vaccine
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  SPEAKER_00: schedule is going to matter
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  SPEAKER_00: and it is going to lead to more sick children and babies.
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  SPEAKER_00: also last week, the Department of Health and Human Services released
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  SPEAKER_00: new guidelines on alcohol consumption.
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  SPEAKER_00: So basically, they got rid of long standing warnings
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  SPEAKER_00: on the risks of cancer, from excessive alcohol drinking.
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  SPEAKER_00: And they removed kind of clear drinking guidelines.
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  SPEAKER_00: And instead all they say now is that people should consume
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  SPEAKER_00: less alcohol for better overall health and limit alcohol beverages,
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  SPEAKER_00: which is likely to be much less effective in providing people
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  SPEAKER_00: the information that they need to, safely drink alcohol.
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  SPEAKER_00: And then there's the kind of more
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  SPEAKER_00: quite undermining of, public health in America.
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  SPEAKER_00: So the US Preventive services Task Force is an independent
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  SPEAKER_00: panel of experts.
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  SPEAKER_00: And what it does is it reviews evidence
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  SPEAKER_00: and it makes recommendations for what screenings, counseling
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  SPEAKER_00: and preventative medications people should receive.
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  SPEAKER_00: And so by law, most insurance plans have to cover those
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  SPEAKER_00: at no cost to the patients.
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  SPEAKER_00: So primary care physicians just rely on these recommendations
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  SPEAKER_00: in their daily practice, whether it's about screening
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  SPEAKER_00: advice or medications to reduce heart disease and so on.
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  SPEAKER_00: But basically, RFK junior has kind of been undermining how that
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  SPEAKER_00: task force operates.
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  SPEAKER_00: So it hasn't met in person since March this year.
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  SPEAKER_00: So without citing any kind of reason,
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  SPEAKER_00: RFK junior basically just postponed its July meeting
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  SPEAKER_00: and then also canceled its November meeting
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  SPEAKER_00: because that was scheduled during the government shutdown.
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  SPEAKER_00: But the point is that neither of those meetings has been rescheduled.
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  SPEAKER_00: And there's no idea when that task force is next going to meet.
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  SPEAKER_00: So finally moving on to the environment,
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  SPEAKER_00: the administration has attacked policies to combat climate change
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  SPEAKER_00: and also regulations designed to protect the environment.
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  SPEAKER_00: So first, the Trump administration has sued two California cities
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  SPEAKER_00: last week.
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  SPEAKER_00: And basically what they're trying to do is to block
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  SPEAKER_00: laws, local laws that restrict natural gas infrastructure
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  SPEAKER_00: and appliances in new building construction.
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  SPEAKER_00: And the idea of these laws is
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  SPEAKER_00: you want to encourage cleaner energy in new buildings
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  SPEAKER_00: and then the administration also finalized a plan to roll back
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  SPEAKER_00: regulations related to the National Environmental Policy Act.
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  SPEAKER_00: And what that does is it requires
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  SPEAKER_00: federal agencies to consider a project's possible
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  SPEAKER_00: environmental impacts before it is approved.
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  SPEAKER_00: But basically, the white House considers that that rule is a barrier
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  SPEAKER_00: and a delay to its fossil fuel extraction agenda.
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  SPEAKER_00: So that's kind of a round up for some of the things
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  SPEAKER_00: that you might have missed over the last week.
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  SPEAKER_00: It has been a really wild start to the year.
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  SPEAKER_00: So see you next week.