US Climate Leadership Void: California Steps Up Amidst China's Green Dominance

Resources

Resources & Recommendations

People Mentioned

• Gavin Newsom (California Democratic Governor) - Attended COP 30 and announced new partnerships for climate change prevention and clean energy, arguing California is asserting itself in the climate fight while the US may be ignoring it.
• Samini Sengupta (International Climate Reporter for The New York Times) - Provided insights on COP 30, the role of indigenous leaders, the absence of the US, and China's growing influence in clean energy.
• Elon Musk (Tesla CEO) - Made predictions about AI making work optional and currency becoming irrelevant in the future.
• Jensen Wong (Nvidia CEO) - Offered a more grounded view on AI, suggesting it will change jobs rather than erase them.
• James Boasberg (US District Judge) - Oversaw the contentious event of Trump's use of wartime powers to deport Venezuelan men and intends to restart criminal contempt proceedings against Trump administration officials regarding this.
• Arez Rovani (Former Department of Justice lawyer) - Accused his superiors of ignoring court orders related to deportation flights.
• Drew Ensen (Deputy Assistant Attorney General) - Claimed to know nothing about the deportation flights that were taking off.
• Stewart Levenbach (Office of Management and Budget) - Trump's nominee for the next director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, seen as a placeholder to allow Russell Vought to remain as acting director.
• Russell Vought (OMB Director and Acting Director of the CFPB) - Actively working to shut down the CFPB, stopping most of its work and moving to fire staff.
• Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) (Saudi Crown Prince) - Recently wrapped a US visit where Saudi Arabia was rewarded with F-35 fighter jets and a NATO-like security guarantee, despite US intelligence concluding he approved the operation that killed Jamal Khashoggi.
• Jamal Khashoggi (Washington Post journalist) - His murder was approved by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman according to US intelligence.

Organizations & Institutions

• United Talent Agency - Signed the Parmigiano Reggiano Consortium to get the cheese placement in movies and television shows.
• Parmigiano Reggiano Consortium - Signed with United Talent Agency to secure product placement for its cheese.
• United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 30) - The 30th annual conference held in Belem, Brazil, focused on climate change prevention and clean energy.
• Democracy Now - Mentioned as the interpreter for a protester's speech at COP 30.
• Institute for the Study of War - Provided the latest assessment on Ukraine's control of the Donbas region.
• Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) - An agency that the Trump administration is attempting to shut down.
• Office of Management and Budget (OMB) - Where Stewart Levenbach works and Russell Vought is director.

Articles & Papers

• Reporting from Axios - Detailed the Trump administration's talks with Russia to develop a new plan to end the war in Ukraine.
• Latest assessment from the Institute for the Study of War - Provided information on Ukraine's control of the Donbas region.

Websites & Online Resources

• Pod Save the World YouTube channel - Recommended for listening to an episode discussing Saudi money and its impact on American foreign policy.
• Crooked.com/subscribe - Where listeners can check out and subscribe to the "What A Day" nightly newsletter.