The Biden administration today announced a new rule designed to ensure that electric or hybrid vehicles make up a majority of the new cars sold in the U.S. by 2032. The regulation is projected to do more to lower emissions than any previous measure, making it among the most significant climate regulations in the nation’s history.
Under the new rule, automakers would be required to meet tough average limits on tailpipe emissions across their product lines: They could sell some E.V.s and some gas cars, but if they fail to meet the standard, they would face a hefty penalty. The Environmental Protection Agency projected that the new measure would eliminate more than seven billion tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere over 30 years — more than all the greenhouse gases the U.S. produces in a year.
The rule is less forceful than some environmentalists would like, but it is still expected to speed an enormous industry transformation. Last year, E.V.s made up just 7.6 percent of U.S. car sales, far from the new regulation’s target. Donald Trump, who has weaponized E.V.s in his White House bid, has vowed to reverse President Biden’s climate rules, and recently accused him of destroying the country’s automotive industry.
The rule is expected to face a legal challenge by fossil fuel companies and Republican attorneys general and its fate could be decided by the Supreme Court.
Texas and the federal government faced off in court
Just hours after a federal appeals court halted a Texas law empowering state officials to arrest and deport migrants who enter the state without authorization, a panel of federal judges today heard arguments over whether the law should be temporarily reinstated.
The judges, who did not immediately issue a ruling, appeared split. One judge seemed to favor the Biden administration’s argument that it was the federal government’s authority to enforce immigration policies; another appeared likely to favor Texas. The back-and-forth has left both law enforcement officials and migrants confused about what to expect. Meanwhile, Republican lawmakers in other states are hoping to pass similar legislation.
Democrats plan to aggressively counter third parties
The Democratic Party has put together a new team of lawyers and communications aides aimed at countering third-party candidates who they fear could play spoiler to Biden come November. They have become especially worried about this threat in battleground states.
The plan amounts to a kind of legal Whac-a-Mole, aimed at challenging candidates like Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Cornel West, who have recently ramped up their push to qualify for states’ ballots.
Scientists are worried about a jump in measles cases
There have already been more recorded cases of the measles in the U.S. this year than in all of 2023. The total number of infections still appears to be relatively low, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was worried enough about the increase to urge people, especially international travelers, to get vaccinated against the highly infectious virus.
Nearly all the cases in the U.S. this year are related to unvaccinated travelers. Here’s what to watch out for.
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Netflix’s ‘3 Body Problem’ is a spectacle
David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, who adapted George R.R. Martin’s fantasy saga into the hit show “Game of Thrones,” are back this week with a new adaptation. Together with Alexander Woo, they are translating Liu Cixin’s beloved science-fiction trilogy for Netflix.
The show, which premieres tomorrow, begins in 1960s China, during the turmoil of the Cultural Revolution, and involves a superior alien race that has built a rabid, cultlike following on Earth. What begins as a kind of detective mystery soon escalates to a looming war of the worlds.
In a review, our critic wrote that the show is an audacious feat of engineering. The characters hold it back a bit, but the visual grandeur, thrills and wow moments may leave you too starry-eyed to notice.
Why do we age?
All of us know what aging typically looks like, but less understood is what exactly is happening inside our bodies that causes the physical decline. Those internal mechanisms are often called “the hallmarks of aging,” and a group of scientists is currently working to better understand them in the hope of one day being able to slow or stop the process.
My colleague Dana Smith walked through some of the key hallmarks of aging, how they can lead to disease and how scientists are attempting to modify them.
Parrots have a lot in common with toddlers
Like young children, parrots can recognize colors, build large vocabularies and make their needs known at improbably high volumes. They are playful, intelligent and get bored quickly. To keep them happy, both parents and bird owners sometimes turn to screens.
The parrots are better at children’s mobile games than you might expect, and quickly tap on objects as they appear. A new study suggests that similar apps could be a great enrichment tool for them, but developers should make sure the games are designed to be licked. Parrots tend to use their tongue to tap the screen.
Have an entertaining evening.
Thanks for reading. I’ll be back tomorrow. — Matthew
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