Apr 26, 2017 - Energy & Environment

Al Gore says better than 50-50 chance Trump decides to stay in Paris climate accord

Emily Pidgeon/TED

Odds are that the U.S. will remain a party to the Paris climate accord former Vice President Al Gore said Wednesday In a brief appearance at the TED conference in Vancouver.

"I think there is a better than 50-50 chance the Trump administration will decide to stay in the Paris agreement," Gore said. "I don't know that for sure."

Gore said there is a debate taking place tomorrow inside the White House with a decision set to be announced the third week in May before a G-20 summit. "I think the odds are they will decide to stay in Paris agreement. I certainly hope so."

The backdrop: Gore's comments came during an entire session devoted to the impact on climate change. Discussions ranged from more accurate pictures of the crisis to weighing radical solutions, including shooting chalk into the atmosphere in order to reduce the amount of sunlight heating the earth. That idea drew criticism from Gore and others.

Go deeper

Scott Rosenberg

9 mins ago - Technology

The U.S. is now playing by China's internet rules

Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios

President Trump's crackdown on TikTok suggests that the U.S. government is starting to see the internet more like China does — as a network that countries can and should control within their borders.

The big picture: Today's global internet has split into three zones, according to many observers: The EU's privacy-focused network; China's government-dominated network; and the U.S.-led network dominated by a handful of American companies. TikTok's fate suggests China's model has U.S. fans as well.

Go deeper (2 min. read)

Alayna Treene

19 mins ago - Politics & Policy

GOP plans "nightly surprise" for revamped convention

President Trump at the 2016 Republican National Convention. Photo: Bill Clark/Getty Images

The reworked Republican National Convention will be a four-night spectacle including still-under-wraps venues, a 10 p.m. "nightly surprise" and guests and themes playing to "the forgotten men and women of America," two senior Trump campaign officials involved tell Axios.

Driving the news: The messaging will focus heavily on "very granular details" of what a second term for President Trump would look like — answering a question Trump left hanging in a Fox News event earlier this summer — and attack cancel culture, "radical elements" of society and threats to public safety.

Go deeper (1 min. read)

Margaret Talev

48 mins ago - Health

Axios-Ipsos poll: Fear of voting

Data: Axios/Ipsos poll; Note: ±3.0% margin of error for the total sample; Chart: Andrew Witherspoon/Axios

Democrats are twice as likely as Republicans to worry about in-person voting — with nearly two in three seeing it as a large or moderate risk to their health — according to this week's installment of the Axios-Ipsos Coronavirus Index.

Why it matters: This could pose a significant disadvantage for Joe Biden and other Democratic candidates in November if the pattern holds — especially in states where high infection rates persist, or where there are significant hurdles to mail-in, absentee or early voting.