Prince William says wife Kate is 'doing well'
Prince William said on Friday his wife Kate was 'doing well' in a rare public comment about the Princess of Wales as she undergoes preventative chemotherapy for cancer.
The White House is zeroing in on a package of clean energy strategies for U.S. President Joe Biden's big domestic policy bill that officials believe could reach similar greenhouse gas emission reduction goals as an initial proposal that was quashed by opposition.
The Biden administration discussed the proposals Monday at the White House with the leaders of about a dozen environmental and justice groups, according to a senior administration official who requested anonymity to share the plans. A new approach was needed after coal-state Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., rejected the White House's earlier clean energy plan.
The emerging proposals would expand grants and loans in the agriculture and industrial sectors to help them shift to clean energy providers with fewer greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global warming, the official said. There would also be new, refundable home improvement tax credits for tapping solar, wind and other renewable energy sources. The official said momentum was building as the group coalesced around the new ideas.
The new strategies come as the president and Democrats in Congress are struggling to wrap up talks on Biden's now-scaled-back package of at least US$1.75 trillion in social services and climate change investments before he departs later this week for two global summits overseas.
Vice President Kamala Harris visited the afternoon meeting with the leaders of some of the nation's leading environmental and justice organizations and reiterated the president's commitment to the goals of the package -- even as she acknowledged the sometimes grueling process to achieve consensus in the party.
"The president and I and our administration are unwavering in our commitment to these issues. Absolutely unwavering," she said. "But you know, there's an old saying, you don't want to watch sausage be made and you don't want to watch a bill being made."
A cornerstone of Biden's climate change strategy had been a clean energy plan that would have rewarded power providers that use clean sources and penalized those that don't.
But that approach had to be scrapped when Manchin objected. With Republicans fully opposed to Biden's big package, the president needs the support of all Democrats in the 50-50 split Senate, with no votes to spare.
The senior administration official said the administration was not wedded to one clean-energy strategy as a "silver bullet."
Instead, the administration is coalescing around the new package of strategies that the official said could potentially reach the same emission reduction goals without adding new costs to the overall proposed budget.
It's unclear if the new proposals would be acceptable to Manchin. He has preferred an approach that does not favor one industry over the other as coal begins to be phased out for cleaner energy sources.
The new strategies appear to use more incentives to encourage clean energy use rather than penalties for failing to make the transition, which could help win over Manchin. But climate change advocates have argued that penalties are needed to get industries to more quickly turn to cleaner sources as the world races to confront the dire threats of climate change.
The grants and loans for the agricultural sector would help rural electric cooperatives transition to cleaner energy sources, which could be of interest to Manchin in his rural state.
Similarly, industrial steel, cement and aluminum plants could tap funds to beef up their use of greener sources, the official said. There would also be expanded home improvement tax credits.
Biden is heading later this week to global summits including the UN climate change conference in Scotland and he wants a deal in hand as he hopes to reposition the U.S. as a world leader on the issue.
Democrats have been coalescing around an overall plan in Biden's package that offers tax credits and spending to boost renewable power such as wind and solar and sharply increase the number of electric vehicles. Advocates think the plan, plus executive branch action such as a pending EPA rule to curb methane emissions, and action by states, should be enough to meet or nearly meet Biden's goal to cut greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030, compared with 2005 levels.
Prince William said on Friday his wife Kate was 'doing well' in a rare public comment about the Princess of Wales as she undergoes preventative chemotherapy for cancer.
Canadian Blood Services issued an apology on Friday to the LGBTQ2S+ community for what it now admits was a harmful and discriminatory blood donation policy that prevented sexually active men who have sex with men and some trans people from donating blood and plasma.
Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow says that she is hopeful an announcement could be made soon amid multiple reports that a WNBA team is coming to Toronto in 2026.
A 4.2-magnitude earthquake was recorded west of Vancouver Island early Friday morning.
A provincial coroner will be investigating the death of 68-year-old David Lippert, who suffered a cardiac arrest while waiting in a crowded emergency room in Kitchener, Ont.
Police in Newfoundland say patrol officers were assaulted Thursday by a "very irate male" wielding a block of cheese.
There were some scary moments for several people on a northern Ontario highway caught on video Thursday after a chain reaction following a truck fire.
Average hourly wages among Canadian employees rose to $34.95 on a year-over-year basis in April, a 4.7 per cent increase, according to a Statistics Canada report released Friday morning.
Andy Kim's 'Rock Me Gently' is marking a major milestone, as it celebrates its 50th anniversary.
A family of fifth generation farmers from Ituna, Sask. are trying to find answers after discovering several strange objects lying on their land.
A Listowel, Ont. man, drafted by the Hamilton Tigercats last week, is also getting looks from the NFL, despite only playing 27 games of football in his life.
A small Ajax dessert shop that recently received a glowing review from celebrity food critic Keith Lee is being forced to move after a zoning complaint was made following the social media influencer’s visit last month.
The Canada Science and Technology Museum is inviting visitors to explore their poop. A new exhibition opens at the Ottawa museum on Friday called, 'Oh Crap! Rethinking human waste.'
The Regina Police Service says it is the first in Saskatchewan and possibly Canada to implement new technology in its detention facility that will offer real-time monitoring of detainees’ vital health metrics.
The stakes have been set for a bet between Vancouver and Edmonton's mayors on who will win Round 2 of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
A grieving mother is hosting a helmet drive in the hopes of protecting children on Manitoba First Nations from a similar tragedy that killed her daughter.
A chicken farmer near Mattawa made an 'eggstraordinary' find Friday morning when she discovered one of her hens laid an egg close to three times the size of an average large chicken egg.
A P.E.I. lighthouse and a New Brunswick river are being honoured in a Canada Post series.