Latest news with #ErnestMoniz
Bloomberg
4 days ago
- Politics
- Bloomberg
Big Take: Former Negotiator on the Path to Iran Deal
President Trump lashed out at Iran and Israel today over concerns that a ceasefire between the two was already breaking down. But going from a fragile truce to lasting peace is complicated, particularly as Iran tries to advance its nuclear ambitions. On today's Big Take podcast, host David Gura sits down with former US Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz, who helped negotiate an Iran deal reached in 2015, and with Bloomberg's Nick Wadhams. They discuss the current state of Iran's nuclear program, what's succeeded at the negotiating table in the past and President Trump's objectives as he tries to broker a deal.
Bloomberg
4 days ago
- Politics
- Bloomberg
Former Iran Negotiator Says ‘It's Time' for A New Nuclear Deal
On today's Big Take podcast: Going from a fragile truce to negotiations with Iran could be complicated. Former US Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz explores why. Never miss an episode. Follow The Big Take daily podcast today. President Trump lashed out at Iran and Israel today over concerns that a ceasefire between the two was already breaking down. But going from a fragile truce to lasting peace is complicated, particularly as Iran tries to advance its nuclear ambitions.
CNN
20-06-2025
- Entertainment
- CNN
50 years of ‘Jaws' and shark attacks
50 years of 'Jaws' and shark attacks As Steven Spielberg's summer blockbuster 'Jaws' turns 50, CNN's Harry Enten figures out how likely it is to be attacked by a shark and whether we should fear the waters. 01:57 - Source: CNN Automated CNN Shorts 11 videos 50 years of 'Jaws' and shark attacks As Steven Spielberg's summer blockbuster 'Jaws' turns 50, CNN's Harry Enten figures out how likely it is to be attacked by a shark and whether we should fear the waters. 01:57 - Source: CNN 5 stories to start your day Trump says he'll take 2 weeks to decide if he'll strike Iran, Doctors rebuild 9-year-old's hand after shark bite, World's most liveable cities. 04:52 - Source: CNN Erick makes landfall as Category 3 hurricane in Mexico Hurricane Erick slammed into Mexico's Oaxaca state as a dangerous Category 3 storm Thursday morning, unleashing powerful winds along the coast and spreading heavy rain over the region. 00:57 - Source: CNN Iranian missile strikes tech park housing Microsoft office in southern Israel First responders are searching buildings for people wounded after an Iranian missile struck close to a tech park in the Israeli city of Beer Sheva, according to Israel's emergency services agency Magen David Adom (MDA). 00:35 - Source: CNN Obama's energy secretary on Iran's ability to make a nuclear bomb CNN's Erin Burnett speaks with Ernest Moniz, the former US energy secretary under Obama and negotiator of the Iran nuclear deal, about the country's nuclear capabilities. 02:03 - Source: CNN Federal agents draw protesters outside Dodger stadium CNN's Natasha Chen reports from outside Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles where federal agents were posted after being denied access to the stadium according the the Dodgers. The Department of Homeland Security stated that the agents who were at Dodger Stadium were not from ICE and their presence wasn't related to the immigration crackdown throughout Los Angeles. 00:50 - Source: CNN CDC official who resigned warns of 'older adults dying unnecessarily' Former infectious disease expert Dr. Fiona Havers speaks with CNN's Jake Tapper after resigning from the CDC citing concerns about changes to the agency's vaccine processes under US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. 01:02 - Source: CNN IAEA chief says report on Iran's nuclear program 'not new' CNN's Anderson Cooper speaks with IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi about the watchdog agency's report findings cited in part by Israeli authorities for its attacks on Iran. 03:24 - Source: CNN Scores killed in Gaza in latest Israeli strikes Israeli strikes in Gaza killed more than 70 people on Thursday, with multiple children dying. Injured children, screaming in pain, were brought to Baptist Hospital in Gaza City and other children appeared lifeless as they were carried into the ward. 00:45 - Source: CNN What happens next in Iran? CNN's Christiane Amanpour examines what could happen next in Iran as the country exchanges strikes with Israel and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatens to topple the current regime. 02:33 - Source: CNN Video appears to show increase in aerial activity over Tehran CNN's Fred Pleitgen reports on the ground in Tehran, Iran, and witnesses increased aerial activity over the city as the Israel-Iran conflict continues. 01:02 - Source: CNN
CNN
20-06-2025
- Health
- CNN
Jewish GOP Congressman says he was ‘run off the road'
Jewish GOP Congressman says he was 'run off the road' GOP Rep. Max Miller said he was 'run off the road' on his way to work in Ohio by an individual who yelled "Death to Israel" and had a Palestinian flag. Miller is Jewish and describes himself as a staunch defender of Israel. 00:50 - Source: CNN Obama's energy secretary on Iran's ability to make a nuclear bomb CNN's Erin Burnett speaks with Ernest Moniz, the former US energy secretary under Obama and negotiator of the Iran nuclear deal, about the country's nuclear capabilities. 02:03 - Source: CNN CDC official who resigned warns of 'older adults dying unnecessarily' Former infectious disease expert Dr. Fiona Havers speaks with CNN's Jake Tapper after resigning from the CDC citing concerns about changes to the agency's vaccine processes under US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. 01:02 - Source: CNN IAEA chief says report on Iran's nuclear program 'not new' CNN's Anderson Cooper speaks with IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi about the watchdog agency's report findings cited in part by Israeli authorities for its attacks on Iran. 03:24 - Source: CNN Scores killed in Gaza in latest Israeli strikes Israeli strikes in Gaza killed more than 70 people on Thursday, with multiple children dying. Injured children, screaming in pain, were brought to Baptist Hospital in Gaza City and other children appeared lifeless as they were carried into the ward. 00:45 - Source: CNN Video appears to show increase in aerial activity over Tehran CNN's Fred Pleitgen reports on the ground in Tehran, Iran, and witnesses increased aerial activity over the city as the Israel-Iran conflict continues. 01:02 - Source: CNN FDA approves twice-a-year shot to prevent HIV A drug already used to treat HIV has now been given FDA approval to prevent new infections, and the drugmaker says it is remarkably effective. 01:20 - Source: CNN Trump to allow two weeks before deciding on US strike in Iran In a White House briefing, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt shared a statement from President Donald Trump regarding a US strike on Iran. 00:32 - Source: CNN Iranian missile strikes major Israeli medical center CNN's International Diplomatic Editor, Nic Robertson, reports from Beer Sheva, Israel, where a hospital was struck during an Iranian attack. Iran said it was targeting an Israeli intelligence and command center 'near a hospital.' There have been no reported deaths from the strike. 01:04 - Source: CNN Trump admin. to end 988 suicide prevention service for LGBTQ+ youth The Trump administration is ending the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline's specialized services for LGBTQ+ youth on July 17. CNN's Jacqueline Howard reports. 01:01 - Source: CNN Israel's defense minister: Khamenei cannot 'continue to exist' Israel's Defense Minister Israel Katz said Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei cannot be allowed to 'continue to exist,' after an Israeli hospital was struck by an Iranian missile on Thursday. 00:13 - Source: CNN SpaceX Starship rocket explodes An explosion occurred late Wednesday night at SpaceX's Starbase facility in South Texas. A Starship rocket preparing for its tenth flight test experienced a 'major anomaly,' SpaceX says. There were no injuries and all employees are accounted for, according to SpaceX. The cause of the explosion and the extent of any damage are unclear. CNN has reached out to local police and fire departments for more information. 00:35 - Source: CNN Sole survivor of Air India crash mourns brother Vishwash Kumar Ramesh is the only survivor among 242 on board an Air India flight that crashed in Ahmedabad on June 12. On Wednesday Ramesh attended the funeral for his brother, who died in the tragedy. 00:30 - Source: CNN Hear former President Obama's warning about direction of the US Former President Barack Obama warned that the United States is 'dangerously close' to becoming 'consistent with autocracies' during a civic group event in Connecticut. 00:56 - Source: CNN Anne Burrell dead at 55 Anne Burrell, a chef and television personality whose joyful demeanor made her a beloved fixture on the Food Network, has died, according to the network. She was 55. 00:38 - Source: CNN NYC mayoral candidate arrested at immigration court New York City Comptroller and mayoral candidate Brad Lander was released from federal custody Tuesday afternoon, hours after he was arrested by officers at an immigration court in Manhattan when he tried to escort a migrant whom officers were attempting to arrest. 01:48 - Source: CNN Trump's new phone looks a lot like one from China The Trump Organization says its upcoming T1 smartphone will be 'proudly designed and built in the United States.' But experts tell CNN they're skeptical that goal can be achieved-- and say the T1's specifications are strikingly similar to a Chinese-made phone already on the market. 01:07 - Source: CNN This is how the US could get involved in the Israel-Iran conflict CNN's Nick Paton Walsh reports on how the US could get involved in the conflict between Israel and Iran while the countries continue trading strikes for a sixth day, with civilians in flashpoint areas facing waves of attacks. 02:14 - Source: CNN Trump's sons announce mobile phone company Trump Mobile, a wireless service created by the Trump Organization, aims to rival US carrier companies like AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile. The Trump Organization, run by President Donald Trump's eldest sons Eric and Donald Jr., announced the business and launched a new gold smartphone for pre-order. 01:09 - Source: CNN
CNN
13-02-2025
- Business
- CNN
This alien-like field of mirrors in the desert was once the future of solar energy. It's closing after just 11 years
From a distance, the Ivanpah solar plant looks like a shimmering lake in the Mojave Desert. Up close, it's a vast alien-like installation of hundreds of thousand of mirrors pointed at three towers, each taller than the Statue of Liberty. When this plant opened near the California-Nevada border in early 2014, it was pitched as the future of solar power. Just over a decade later, it's closing. The plant's co-owner NRG Energy announced in January it was unwinding contracts with power companies and, subject to regulatory approval, would begin closing the plant in early 2026, readying the site to potentially be repurposed for a new kind of solar energy. For some, Ivanpah now stands as a huge, shiny monument to wasted tax dollars and environmental damage — campaign groups long criticized the plant for its impact on desert wildlife. For others, failures like this are a natural part of the race to find the winning solutions for the clean energy transition. When Ivanpah was conceived, its technology, called concentrated solar or thermal solar, was considered a potential breakthrough. It works like this: Hundreds of thousands of computer-controlled mirrors called 'heliostats' track the sun and concentrate its rays onto three towers, each around 450 feet tall and topped with water-filled boilers. The sun's hyper-concentrated energy turns this water to steam, which drives a turbine to create electricity. One of the key selling points of this solar technology is the ability to store heat, allowing the production of electricity at night or when the sun isn't shining without needing batteries. The project got buy-in from the government with $1.6 billion in Department of Energy loan guarantees, and from utilities Pacific Gas & Electric Company and Southern California Edison, which both entered long-term agreements to buy Ivanpah's power. In 2014, it started commercial operations as the world's largest solar thermal plant, spread across around 5 square miles of federal desert. 'This project is a symbol of the exciting progress we are seeing across the industry,' said then Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz, in February 2014 during a dedication ceremony at the site. So, where did it go wrong? First, the technology proved finnicky and never quite worked as well as intended, said Jenny Chase, a solar analyst at BloombergNEF. These kinds of plants 'are just technically really difficult to operate,' she told CNN. They combine all the tricky, mechanical parts of a fossil fuel plant — running a turbine and maintaining many moving parts — with the challenges of a distributed energy source. The technology relies on mirrors tracking the sun exactly. 'It's really hard to get those all lined up perfectly and keep them lined up at all times,' Chase said. But perhaps the biggest problem for Ivanpah is that photovoltaic solar — the technology used in solar panels — became really, really cheap. In some parts of the world 'you can basically buy a solar module for the price of a fence panel,' Chase said. At the time Ivanpah was built, 'nobody really would have dreamed that photovoltaics would be this cheap, and batteries are doing a similar thing,' she added. A spokesperson for NRG said prices were competitive when the power agreements were signed in 2009. But over time, advancements in other types of solar technology 'led to more efficient, cost effective and flexible options for producing reliable clean energy.' In January, NRG finalized negotiations with PG&E to terminate power purchase agreements which were supposed to end in 2039. This 'will provide significant savings for California ratepayers,' the company's spokesperson said. A spokesperson for Southern California Edison said it was in ongoing discussions with the plant owners and the DOE about its contract. For critics of Ivanpah, its imminent demise is proof the plant should never have been built. It 'was a financial boondoggle and environmental disaster,' said Julia Dowell, senior campaign organizer at the Sierra Club, an environmental organization. 'The project's construction destroyed irreplaceable pristine desert habitat,' she told CNN. Ivanpahs's location in the sweeping, sun-drenched Mojave Desert may have seemed ideal for generating solar power, but it is also a habitat for threatened desert tortoises. While the plant's developers agreed to a series of measures to protect and relocate the animals, many environmentalists believed the plant should not have been approved. The other big issue was bird deaths. Reports of 'streamers' — birds incinerated midair by the beams of intense heat from the mirrors — solidified opposition. NRG did not respond to specific questions about the plant's impact on wildlife. Some commentators are using Ivanpah to make the case that renewable energy projects should not receive government money, a view that appears to fit with the new administration's. One of President Donald Trump's first actions was to pause approvals of new renewable energy projects on federal land. But renewable energy experts say it's important for governments to invest in a range of clean technologies, and many of those they have invested in, such as photovoltaics, have worked out. It wasn't clear which solar technologies would prove most cost effective when Ivanpah was being built 15 years ago, said Kenneth Gillingham, an economics professor at Yale School of the Environment. 'Picking winners is extremely difficult,' he told CNN, 'and it's not a problem that some technologies are outcompeted by others, as long as innovation continues occurring.'
