Climate politics and the bottom line — CBS News poll
CBSN
For many years, addressing climate change has been framed, at least in political debates, as one that carries an economic tradeoff: Could we afford to do it, even if we think it's otherwise a good idea, or would it cost jobs and money in a world so dependent on fossil fuels?
This framing endures today in many ways — especially on a personal level, if not a macro one.
People are far more likely to oppose U.S. efforts to combat climate change if they think it will hurt their personal finances.
More than 2 million federal employees face a looming deadline: By midnight on Thursday, they must decide whether to accept a "deferred resignation" offer from the Trump administration. If workers accept, according to a White House plan, they would continue getting paid through September but would be excused from reporting for duty. But if they opt to keep their jobs, they could get fired.
More employees of the Environmental Protection Agency were informed Wednesday that their jobs appear in doubt. Senior leadership at the EPA held an all-staff meeting to tell individuals that President Trump's executive order, "Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing," which was responsible for the closure of the agency's Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion office, will likely lead to the shuttering of the Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights as well.
In her first hours as attorney general, Pam Bondi issued a broad slate of directives that included a Justice Department review of the prosecutions of President Trump, a reorientation of department work to focus on harsher punishments, actions punishing so-called "sanctuary" cities and an end to diversity initiatives at the department.