Late Monday night, after months of tense negotiations, Congress passed a $900 billion stimulus package less than half the size of the $2.2 trillion stimulus bill passed nearly 10 months ago that includes $600 in direct payments to individuals, more money for small businesses through the Paycheck Protection Program and, surprisingly, a few provisions to help address the climate crisis.
One of the most impactful lines in the bill for the climate is about phasing out the use of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) by 85 percent by 2035, which would put the U.S. in alignment with guidelines set forth by the Kigali Amendment of the Montreal Protocol, an international agreement that addressed ozone layer depletion. HFCs, used in refrigerators and air conditioners, are an extremely potent greenhouse gas much more so than carbon dioxide and one 2013 study found that limiting its usage under the guidelines set by the Montreal Protocol could help the world avoid 0.5 degrees of warming by 2100.
(Mike Segar/Reuters)
President Trump lost the popular vote in New York City to Joe Biden by 53 points, an expected rout in his hometown, but he did in fact improve on his 2016 performance against Hillary Clinton, who defeated him in the city by 61 points.
An analysis by
Politico indicates that support for Trump in 2020 rose in almost all assembly districts in the city relative to his 2016 performance. And in some districts, the swing was dramatic: the heavily Latino state-assembly district 86 in the Bronx, for example, swung almost 21 points in Trump’s favor. Assembly district 35 in Queens, which partly overlaps with Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s own congressional district, swung toward Trump by 18.7 points.