Sep 30, 2019 - Energy & Environment

Democrats hint at 2021 climate change bill if they win Senate

Ben Geman, author of Generate

Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.)

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said a sweeping climate bill would be "one of the first things we put on the floor" if Democrats gain the majority in the 2020 election.

Why it matters: Political windows for major bills open rarely. The comments on a press call Friday sound like a commitment to spend political capital on climate if given the chance.

Flashback: One reason (but hardly the only!) that climate legislation collapsed when Democrats controlled Washington in 2009–2010 is that huge health care and financial reform bills were higher Senate priorities.

But, but, but: Using the phrase "one of the first things" leaves wiggle room. An aide declined to say whether that would mean votes in 2021 specifically.

  • Plus, moving a climate bill assumes Democrats regain the Senate (a huge uphill climb), win the White House and keep the House.
  • Schumer hasn't said whether he'd seek to end the filibuster. That matters because even if Democrats win the Senate, there's no pathway to a super-majority.

Go deeper: Senate Democrats allege Trump administration has buried 1,400+ climate studies

Go deeper

Axios
1 hour ago - Politics & Policy

Louisville officer: "Breonna Taylor would be alive" if we had served no-knock warrant

Breonna Taylor memorial in Louisville. Photo: Brandon Bell/Getty Images

Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly, the Louisville officer who led the botched police raid that caused the death of Breonna Taylor, said the No. 1 thing he wishes he had done differently is either served a "no-knock" warrant or given five to 10 seconds before entering the apartment: "Breonna Taylor would be alive, 100 percent."

Driving the news: Mattingly, who spoke to ABC News and Louisville's Courier Journal for his public interview, was shot in the leg in the initial moments of the March 13 raid. Mattingly did not face any charges after Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron said he and another officer were "justified" in returning fire to protect themselves against Taylor's boyfriend.

Go deeper (2 min. read)Arrow
Scott Rosenberg, Ashley Gold, Kyle Daly
2 hours ago - Technology

U.S. vs. Google — the siege begins

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

The Justice Department fired the starter pistol on what's likely to be a years-long legal siege of Big Tech by the U.S. government when it filed a major antitrust suit Tuesday against Google.

The big picture: Once a generation, it seems, federal regulators decide to take on a dominant tech company. Two decades ago, Microsoft was the target; two decades before that, IBM.

Go deeper (1 min. read)Arrow
Dion Rabouin, author of Markets
2 hours ago - Economy & Business

Why the stimulus delay isn't a crisis (yet)

Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios

If the impasse between House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the White House on a new stimulus deal is supposed to be a crisis, you wouldn't know it from the stock market, where prices continue to rise.

  • That's been in no small part because U.S. economic data has held up remarkably well in recent months thanks to the $2 trillion CARES Act and Americans' unusual ability to save during the crisis.
Go deeper (2 min. read)Arrow