Economic opportunities tied to climate goals, Gov. JB Pritzker says at Aspen conference
The Trump administration has enacted drastic funding and policy cuts across a range of sectors, largely targeting renewable energy incentives, scientific agencies and racial equity efforts. These cuts have left Illinois state lawmakers scrambling to fill budget holes, including a $771 million shortfall in funding for public transit that remains unresolved.
During his remarks Monday night in an interview with ABC anchor Linsey Davis, Pritzker conceded these federal changes have put state and national climate goals at risk. Yet he maintained that Illinois has retained its ability to lead the Midwest in climate policy, emphasizing the importance of economic incentives to bring renewable energy and green technology to the state.
'If you want to accelerate the endeavor on climate action, you've got to make it understandable to everybody that there are jobs and economic opportunities available to them as a result of the change in our economy,' Pritzker said.
The Climate and Equitable Jobs Act, passed by the Illinois legislature in 2021, has somewhat defined Pritzker's approach to making green development projects economically feasible. The watershed act set Illinois' goal of transitioning to renewable energy by 2050, established incentives for rooftop solar and electric vehicles and established clean energy workforce programs. Pritzker said that 70% of the state's current power mix comes from clean energy, though nuclear power accounts for the vast majority of this. Wind, solar and other renewables make up just below 14% of Illinois' power supply.
Since CEJA's passage, the state has faced rising demand for electricity, leading to an increasingly unstable grid and consistent utility rate hikes. State legislators discussed passing another large energy bill this year that would have boosted energy storage and management for Illinois' electric grid. The bill did not pass this session, but Pritzker said that he is committed to passing a similar package next year.
Though Pritzker recently announced that he will seek a third term as governor, many have speculated that he will throw his hat in the ring for the 2028 presidential election. Pritzker did not comment on a potential 2028 candidacy but when asked if he thought he'd make a good president, he said he thinks 'the bar has been set pretty low.'
'(Democrats) still believe that the most important role that we have in government is to stand up for working families, for the most vulnerable, for the middle class,' he said. 'Do Democrats get it right all the time? No, and I think that it is as much a failure of messaging as anything else. I'm not suggesting that Democrats haven't gotten policies wrong. But let's not walk away from civil rights because we lost an election.'
The discussion took place during the Aspen Ideas: Climate conference, a three-day event that has brought hundreds of state and local leaders to Chicago to talk about climate policy, clean energy and environmentally friendly infrastructure.
'Illinois has one of the most ambitious climate goals of any state, and so I think (we) just feel very proud to be from here, and to have the event here,' said Kobi Weinberg, a co-founder of the conference's Chicago iteration and of the Chicago Climate Corps. 'It's not just trying to expand climate efforts here in Chicago but in the broader Midwest too.'
This is the first year the Aspen conference has taken place in Chicago. It has been held in Miami since its inception in 2022. Pritzker issued a statement in February to announce the conference was coming to Chicago, touting Illinois as a regional innovator in climate policy and infrastructure. He also spoke at last year's conference in Florida.
Sunrise Movement activists held a rally Sunday at the University of Chicago, where some events during the first day of the Aspen Ideas: Climate conference were held. They called on Pritzker and other state authorities to pass a 'Make Polluters Pay' act, which would require the fossil fuel industry — instead of taxpayers — to fund green, resilient infrastructure and disaster response in the face of climate change, following similar bills recently passed in Vermont and New York. Pritzker did not comment on the rally during Monday's discussion.
Other speakers included Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy and André Corrêa do Lago, president of United Nations climate conference COP30.
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The Hill
42 minutes ago
- The Hill
Five unanswered questions around Trump and the Epstein saga
The controversy over Jeffrey Epstein rumbles on, despite President Trump's efforts to put it behind him. It's been almost three weeks since a joint, unsigned memo from the FBI and the Department of Justice (DOJ) insisted 'no incriminating 'client list'' had been found among material related to Epstein. The memo also contended that there had been 'no credible evidence found that Epstein blackmailed prominent individuals as part of his actions.' The statement caused a firestorm – including among many Trump supporters, who had been primed to expect big revelations about Epstein, the sexual predator and disgraced financier who died, apparently of suicide, in 2019. Attorney General Pam Bondi had said in a February Fox News interview that an Epstein client list was 'sitting on my desk right now to review.' In previous years, people very close to Trump, including his eldest son Don Jr. and Vice President Vance, had suggested there was a nefarious motive behind the failure to disclose more material about Epstein. But even as the controversy moves on, there are many unanswered questions. Here are five of the biggest. What happens with Ghislaine Maxwell? Developments around Maxwell, the British socialite and Epstein associate, have been among the most intriguing new developments. Todd Blanche, the second highest ranking figure in the DOJ, met with Maxwell in Tallahassee, Fla., on Thursday and Friday. Maxwell received a 20-year prison sentence in 2022 for conspiring with Epstein in his abuse. The unusual move by Blanche, who served as one of Trump's personal attorneys before ascending to his current role at the DOJ, has become a partisan flashpoint. Democrats and other Trump critics are warning of the prospect of some kind of quid-pro-quo deal, in which Maxwell would be offered a pardon, or at least some level of clemency, in return for exculpatory words on Trump. 'The conflict of interest just stares you in the face,' Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said in a speech on Thursday. Blanche has defended the meetings as a straightforward pursuit of more information. In a statement on Tuesday, he said, 'President Trump has told us to release all credible evidence. If Ghislane Maxwell has information about anyone who has committed crimes against victims, the FBI and the DOJ will hear what she has to say.' There are reasons to be skeptical about whether lenient treatment of Maxwell would quel the controversy. It might just as easily ratchet it up. But on Friday, before leaving for a trip to Scotland, Trump notably did not rule out a pardon or clemency of Maxwell. 'I'm allowed to do it but it's something I have not thought about,' he told reporters at the White House. How does Trump's case against the Wall Street Journal go? The Epstein matter has seen Trump go into full legal battle against the Wall Street Journal, its parent company News Corporation and media mogul Rupert Murdoch. Trump says he was defamed by a Journal story that alleged a letter bearing his name and a drawing was included in an album put together by Maxwell to mark Epstein's 50th birthday in 2003. The president is seeking $10 billion in damages. The Journal has stood by its story and has continued to report vigorously on Trump and Epstein. On Wednesday, days after Trump filed his suit, the Journal reported that Trump had been told by the DOJ back in May that his name was mentioned in the Epstein files – though the news organization noted that such a mention is not, in itself, evidence of wrongdoing. The fact that neither Trump nor Murdoch are inclined to back down sets up a striking clash, not least because of the Murdoch family's role at Fox News. Is Pam Bondi in trouble? Some Republicans and other Trump allies plainly blame Bondi for at least part of the political mess in which they find themselves. They contend that the attorney general's comments in the February Fox interview were the spark that ignited the flame of controversy that is now burning the president. A former attorney for Trump and Epstein told the BBC this week that the DOJ had 'jumped the gun a bit' in overhyping the information that they had. 'They were in favor, for good reasons, of disclosing and full transparency, but they didn't know what they had yet,' David Schoen told the BBC's 'Newsnight.' Meanwhile, Politico reported this week on GOP disquiet over Bondi's role, quoting one unnamed senior House GOP aide saying, 'I think she, from pillar to post, handled this thing so badly and bizarrely.' But voices close to Trump, including White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, have publicly defended Bondi, stressing her work to advance Trump's broader agenda. The New York Times also reported on Thursday that Bondi 'felt blindsided and annoyed' by demands from Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard that the DOJ should probe actions taken by the Obama administration in relation to Russian meddling in the 2016 election. Will Republicans rally around Trump? The Epstein controversy has been unusually damaging to Trump because it has cracked the unity of the GOP and his Make America Great Again (MAGA) base. A Wall Street Journal poll released on Thursday evening, found that 69 percent of all registered voters – and a striking 54 percent of Republicans – had either little or no confidence that the DOJ had fully investigated the Epstein matter. Elected Republicans have also made a stand, at least in some cases. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) is leading an effort to force the DOJ to release as much documentation as possible on Epstein. In a separate, closely-watched vote on a House panel this week, three Republicans – Reps. Nancy Mace (S.C.), Brian Jack (Ga.) and Scott Perry (Pa.) – voted with Democrats to subpoena the DOJ for Epstein documents. Republicans are also expected to receive plenty of hostile questioning on the Epstein matter from their constituents while the House is on its summer recess. All of that being said, Trump's overall grip on the GOP is tight. He may well be able to bring his party into firmer line. How long does the story keep making headlines? The new lease of life for the Epstein story shows no real signs of dying down – much to Trump's displeasure. Indeed, actions that he or his allies have taken have injected new fuel into the furor. Trump's case against the Journal and Blanche's meetings with Ghislaine Maxwell both fall into that category. Critics allege that some other actions taken by the Trump administration, including the rash of loud allegations against the Obama administration over the 2016 election, are intended as a distraction from the Epstein matter. If that's the case, they haven't really worked. It's always possible that some major domestic or world event could intervene and banish Epstein from the headlines. But Massie, the maverick Kentucky Republican leading the fight for more disclosure, told reporters this week that he expected public demands on the issue to grow stronger over the summer. If that proves true, it's very bad news for Trump.
The Hill
42 minutes ago
- The Hill
Democrats ramp up town hall offensive in GOP districts with focus on Epstein
House Democrats are ramping up their town-hall blitz in GOP-held districts over the long summer recess. The strategy is not new, but this time they're armed with a powerful new talking point: President Trump's refusal to release the federal files related to Jeffrey Epstein. The Epstein case has rattled Republicans in the White House and the Capitol, forcing Trump to defend uncomfortable connections to the late financier and convicted sex offender, while prompting Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) to scrap last week's legislative plans and mount a hasty exit from Washington to preclude Epstein-related votes. Trump's defiance on the files has put him at odds with the same core loyalists who helped propel him to power — a clash over a foundational MAGA doctrine that Trump himself had helped to promote. And Democrats are only happy to watch the unraveling, however long it endures, and goad it along when the chance arrives. 'Let them destroy each other. If we have to throw a log on the fire, we'll do it,' said one House Democratic aide. It's not that Democrats will abandon their central message under Trump's second term, which accuses the president and congressional Republicans of breaking promises to lower costs for working class consumers. But they want the Epstein case to complement that theme, arguing that Republicans — whether through tax cuts for the wealthy or refusing to release the Epstein files — are protecting the interests of powerful 'elites' at the expense of everyone else. 'Everything that House Republicans have done, everything this administration has done since Donald Trump took office, is in defense of the elites,' said Rep. Katherine Clark (Mass.), the Democratic whip. Republicans have shot back, wondering why the Epstein files were a non-issue when President Biden was in power. 'Democrats had four years under Joe Biden to release these documents but only started caring once President Trump returned to office,' Mike Marinella, a spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee, said Friday in an email. 'We won't be lectured about transparency by the same party that spent years hiding Biden's decline.' Still, GOP leaders continue to advise Republicans against holding in-person district events — 'Democrats are still pretty determined to hijack our town halls and try to prevent us from having this conversation with our constituents, so I would encourage them to use other means,' said NRCC Chairman Richard Hudson (R-N.C.) — and Democrats are only eager to fill the void. Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) is headed to Prairie du Chien, Wis., the hometown of GOP Rep. Derrick Van Orden, for a town hall in rival territory on July 31. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), who has staged a national tour with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) throughout the year, is eyeing additional travel to Republican strongholds over the long break. Former Rep. Gabby Giffords (D-Ariz.) joined her husband, Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) for a public forum on Friday in Michigan's battleground 10th District, where GOP Rep. John James is giving up his seat to run for governor. And Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.) has planned a series of events on GOP turf over the recess, including a July 26 town hall in Dayton, Ohio, with Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), and another with Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) in Nebraska at the end of August. 'People … want someone to listen,' said Rep. Suzan DelBene (Wash.), the head of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. 'And if their member of Congress isn't going to listen, they want to make sure their voices are heard.' Democrats have already spent the first half of the year barnstorming into Republican-held districts to meet directly with voters — a strategy launched after GOP leaders first discouraged their troops from staging such public events amid protests against Trump's efforts to remake Washington. Until now, the focus of the Democrats' message has been on Trump's domestic policies, particularly the steep cuts to federal programs like Medicaid and food stamps featured in the GOP's 'big, beautiful bill,' which was enacted earlier in the month. The dramatic reemergence of the Epstein case has given them more ammunition to take into those public forums, not least because Republican voters — and the MAGA faithful specifically — have clamored most loudly to see the files the Trump administration is now refusing to release. Heading into the long recess, the Democrats' official messaging arm sent guidance to all lawmakers encouraging them to trumpet the Epstein narrative during the long break. 'Use Paid Communications To Elevate This Issue!' the Democratic Policy and Communications Committee wrote in an email blast. 'This urgent issue demands that we reach as many Americans as possible.' Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) doesn't need any encouragement. He, along with GOP Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), are the leading sponsors of a bipartisan proposal requiring the Department of Justice and the FBI to release all the unclassified records they have pertaining to Epstein. Johnson and GOP leaders have sought to keep the bill off the floor, where it's likely to attract some Republican support. But the bipartisan pair is hoping to force a vote through obscure procedures when the House returns to Washington in September. Meanwhile, Khanna will use the long recess to stage town halls in GOP districts in at least two states, Nevada and Georgia, where he intends to make the Epstein saga a major theme. 'We will keep up the drumbeat and then force the vote on Ro's bill in September,' Marie Baldassarre, a Khanna spokesperson, said Friday.
The Intercept
42 minutes ago
- The Intercept
Israeli Parliament Votes for Making Apartheid Official. Fetterman: 'I Haven't Been Following It.'
When Israel's parliament voted overwhelmingly in favor of dropping any pretense that it wasn't an apartheid state, some of the Jewish state's most ardent American defenders couldn't even be bothered to pay attention. 'I haven't been following it closely,' said Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., who's made defending Israel a key part of his political career. The response was one of a mixed bag among both Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill interviewed by The Intercept, but Fetterman's tone was the most strident in its lack of regard. Despite its most powerful ally and arms dealer's stated preference for a two-state solution, Israel's Parliament voted overwhelmingly in favor of a symbolic measure to annex the occupied West Bank on Wednesday. The nonbinding resolution, which was advanced by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition and passed 71-13 in the Knesset, won't legally change the reality in the West Bank — but it marks an escalation in the Israeli government's efforts to annex the territory. Four Democrats in the Senate and House who spoke to The Intercept condemned the Israeli government's vote. Others said they hadn't been following the issue. Fetterman was one of three senators who told The Intercept on Thursday they were unaware of the Knesset vote. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, declined to comment. The resolution in the Knesset, or Parliament, called to apply 'Israeli sovereignty, law, judgment and administration to all the areas of Jewish settlement of all kinds in Judea, Samaria and the Jordan Valley' — which is how most Israelis refer to the West Bank. Currently, 3 million Palestinians reside in the West Bank, alongside over 500,000 Israeli settlers, who've established settlements in the occupied territory in violation of international law. Annexation of the West Bank would be at odds with the U.S. official policy goal for two states — one for Palestinians in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip, and one state for Israel comprising its pre-1967 borders. The two-state solution has won official backing from successive presidents dating back to the late 1990s — except for Donald Trump — to assuage concerns over Israel having permanent control over millions of Palestinians without full civil rights. Though the conditions already exist — there is a growing consensus that Israel in an apartheid state — making this control officially permanent would make apartheid indisputable. Both Democratic and Republican administrations have repeatedly undermined the possibility of a two-state solution by arming Israel as it continues to attack Palestinian people and seize their territory, which lawmakers in Congress have made excuses for. As public sentiment turns against Israel, however, with voters increasingly opposing the Netanyahu government's genocide in Gaza, some members of Congress have been more willing to criticize the Israeli regime. Read our complete coverage Though President Joe Biden claimed to be interested in a two-state solution, his administration continued policies such as keeping the U.S. Embassy in occupied Jerusalem, which experts view as undermining the possibility of an independent Palestinian state that includes the West Bank. In his second term, Trump escalated his efforts to thwart the possibility of a sovereign Palestinian state. On Thursday, State Department deputy spokesperson Tommy Pigott told reporters during a press briefing that the U.S. would not be attending a United Nations conference on a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine. And Trump has repeatedly called for Palestinians in Gaza to be relocated and for the region to be turned into a luxury resort. Fetterman's response to the vote stood in stark contrast to the four other Democratic members of Congress. 'The Knesset's vote to symbolically annex the West Bank is not just reckless — it's a betrayal of the values that have long underpinned America's support for Israel. I've visited the West Bank. I've spoken with people whose lives are shaped by fear and violence,' wrote Rep. Mark Takano, D-Calif., in a statement. 'A negotiated two‑state solution is the only path to lasting peace and true security for both Israelis and Palestinians. This vote rejects that path.' Sen. Bernie Sanders I-Vt., on the other hand, told The Intercept that now is the time for the U.S. to push back on Netanyahu's government's 'racist, reactionary' policies. 'Israel is now run by right-wing extremists who are in Gaza starving children and shooting people lining up for food, and now in the West Bank, we've seen vigilantism,' said Sanders. 'I think the time is now for the United States government to make clear that we are not going to continue to support these racist, reactionary policies of the Netanyahu government.' Sen. Tim Kaine. D-Va., argued that this would harm peace talks and threaten long-term regional stability. 'It's going to hurt Israel in the long run,' said Kaine. 'You got a peace discussion that's going on right now where Arab nations are saying we want to be peaceful partners with our neighbor, Israel. But this also means that we need to have a future for Palestine as was promised to Palestinians in the U.N. resolution in 1947, and we're not willing to find this regional peace unless you agree to do that.' Kaine argued that the Knesset vote further isolates Israel in the region. 'It looks like the Knesset is just shutting the door in the face of Arab partners who want to try to work together to promote regional stability,' he said. 'There is a credible opportunity for Israel to be less isolated in the neighborhood, but a vote like this makes it harder, not easier.' Rep. Delia Ramirez, D-Ill., told The Intercept that the vote speaks to the broader 'endgame' for the Netanyahu administration. 'For Netanyahu and his administration, annexation and control have always been the endgame,' said Ramirez, in a statement. 'We must end the U.S.'s complicity in the Netanyahu Administration's regime of terror. Congress must do its oversight job, demand an end to the blockade and pass Block the Bombs.'
