2022年4月1日 星期五

The Daily: One Senator’s Conflicted Climate Interests

Bill McKibben explains. 

Welcome to the weekend, and happy spring. Daylight saving time is now officially here from Los Angeles to London (though maybe for the last time). We hope you're getting more sun, wherever you are.

We've had a lot of big episodes on The Daily recently, filled with original reporting from Ukraine to Afghanistan. Was there one show that stood out to you? Let us know here. We'd love to hear from you.

The big idea: Conflicted interests and the climate crisis

The Daily strives to reveal a new idea in every episode. Below, we look more closely at the impact of federal conflicts of interest, one idea that appeared in two of our shows this week.

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According to his financial disclosure forms, Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia earns about half a million dollars a year from a coal brokerage that he and others own.Photo: Al Drago for The New York Times

Conflicts of interest are, by their nature, often obscured. A financial tie here, a family connection there, concealed by the division of public and private life. But what happens when those conflicting interests inform national — and international — policy?

In the executive branch, the Trump presidency was dominated by this question. In the judicial branch, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas is under pressure to recuse himself from cases regarding the 2020 election and its aftermath after The Times revealed that Virginia Thomas, his wife, was involved in efforts to overturn the vote. And in the legislative branch, Senator Joe Manchin, Democrat of West Virginia, is facing increasing scrutiny of his financial ties to the coal industry.

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The influence of money and corporations in the federal government is a "growing problem," said Aaron D. Hill, associate professor of management at the University of Florida. Nearly one in eight stock trades by members of Congress intersects with legislation, and research shows that members of the House and Senate generate "abnormally higher returns" on their investments. Still, Congress members are subject to less stringent (or, at times, unenforced) oversight on conflicts of interests than those in other branches of government.

But what is the impact of this lack of oversight? As you heard on Tuesday's show, at every step of his political career, Manchin helped a West Virginia power plant that is the sole customer of his private coal business. Along the way, he blocked ambitious climate action.

So we reached out to Bill McKibben, environmental activist, professor and author, to ask him about the rippling effects of Manchin's actions on the climate movement. His responses have been lightly edited.

You recently wrote: "The climate movement has come very close — one senator close — to beating the political power of Big Oil. But that's not quite close enough." How have Manchin's actions affected the broader climate movement?

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For Biden and his climate efforts, Manchin's opposition seems to be excruciating. The Democrats can't do anything to offend him for fear of forfeiting his vote. So they've largely given up executive authority on climate, but he never quite delivers the vote. Now he seems to be saying that if he gives some money for renewables, it has to come with money for fossil fuel as well. I'd say Big Oil has never made an investment with a higher rate of return.

On climate, at least so far, we might have been better off without control of the Senate, because then at least we could have gotten what executive action could accomplish.

In the case of Manchin, congressional conflict-of-interest loopholes have consequences well beyond American borders. What equity concerns does this illuminate?

We're not just gutting America's energy future to please one corrupt coal baron; he's managed to upend global climate policy, too. The plan for Glasgow, I think, was for Biden to arrive with Build Back Better in his hip pocket, slam it down on the table and tell the Chinese and Indian delegations to match it. Instead he arrived with nothing, gave a limp speech — I'm not certain he went to sleep afterward, but the conference did.

In 2020, fossil fuel pollution killed about three times as many people as Covid-19 did. This statistic can feel overwhelming. As an activist, what are the most effective strategies you see for generating momentum and a sense of urgency in addressing the climate crisis?

The sad thing is, we've generated a ton of it. It was the biggest voting issue for Democratic primary voters, and the issue where polling showed Trump's position was furthest off from the mainstream. But the desire of people doesn't reliably translate into political action in our system anymore. There's never been a purer case of vested interest thwarting necessary action. As the Exxon lobbyist told a hidden camera last summer, Manchin was the "kingmaker." Or, alternately, the man who melts the ice and raises the sea.

What is making you feel optimistic about climate action lately?

Well, it's the perfect moment for action, and some places we're starting to see it. Vladimir Putin has reminded us that the daily carnage of pollution and the existential threat of climate damage are joined by the fact that fossil fuel underwrites despotism more often than not. It could be a pivot point, and, in the case of the E.U., may turn out to be. But so far here, Biden and his team haven't really messaged it that way. They've been way more focused on carrying water for Big Oil.

But I can tell you that more and more people are getting it, and not just the young people who have been in the lead of the climate fight. Our crew of over-60s at Third Act [a climate action group focused on mobilizing "experienced Americans"] are joining in large numbers this pledge to take on the banks that back the fossil fuel industry. After the record temperatures in the Antarctic combined with the missile strikes on Mariupol, people have had enough.

From the Daily team: Remember cheap oil?

In April 2020, we explored why the cost of a barrel of oil dropped into the negatives.Bing Guan/Bloomberg

This week, we sat down with Michael Simon Johnson, a senior producer, for our series in which we ask Daily producers and editors to tell us about their favorite episodes that they've worked on.

Michael's pick is "A Glut of Oil," from the spring of 2020. It's an episode that looks back at half a century of American foreign and energy policy to explain how, at the time, the price of a barrel of oil dropped into the negatives. And it's one that has particular resonance today as parts of the world grapple with how to reduce reliance on Russian oil amid the war in Ukraine.

What was "A Glut of Oil" about?

It was an episode we did in April 2020, when oil prices dropped into the negatives. A huge portion of the episode ticked through history, starting with the Arab-Israeli War in the '70s, the U.S. stepping in to provide weapons — not unlike the way we are with Ukraine right now — and Arab countries retaliating by cutting off our oil supply, causing an energy crisis. It felt important to start there because that is where it changes our foreign policy. The whole point of energy independence is so that we can exercise control over our foreign policy and not have other countries dictate who we help and why. For better or worse.

We spent 50 years trying to solve that problem and we succeeded. Then the pandemic happened and we literally had the opposite problem — what happens when we have too much oil?

Why is it one of your favorite episodes that you've worked on?

What it did for me was take all of these aspects of American history that I don't tend to think of as related and it drew a line between them; they're actually all part of a single continuum. I re-evaluated modern American history through the lens of oil, and I saw so many more connections because of that than I would have seen otherwise. Going back in history allowed us to go on this amazing journey through history and through archival tape.

How important is it for there to be historical context in climate episodes?

Historical context is one of the first tools we turn to when we're making an episode in general, but it's not specific to climate episodes. We are generally trying to arm listeners with the tools they need to understand and to have more context for what is happening. We want people to understand what is happening as some part of a continuum.

On The Daily this week

Monday: The story of Iryna Baramidze, one of the millions of Ukrainians who have fled their country amid the war.

Tuesday: Inside the investigation into Manchin's conflicts of interest.

Wednesday: How Justice Thomas and his wife, Ginni, came to be at the heart of the conservative movement.

Thursday: Why this year's midterms could have the fairest congressional map in a generation.

Friday: What is happening inside the besieged Ukrainian port city of Mariupol?

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2022年3月30日 星期三

The T List: Five things we recommend this week

A Parisian wine bar inspired by Tokyo's jazz cafes, a historic downtown Charleston hotel and more.

Welcome to the T List, a newsletter from the editors of T Magazine. Each week, we share things we're eating, wearing, listening to or coveting now. Sign up here to find us in your inbox every Wednesday. And you can always reach us at tlist@nytimes.com.

EAT THIS

A Parisian Wine Bar With Great Bites and Tunes

Left: the bar at Bambino, in Paris's 11th arrondissement. Right: sharing plates served with natural wine.The Social Food

By Monica Mendal

T Contributor

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Bambino, a buzzy restaurant on Rue Saint-Sébastien in Paris's 11th arrondissement, was inspired by Tokyo's jazz kissa cafes, with their expansive record collections and impressive sound systems, and by Romano in Tel Aviv, which has an open kitchen and oversize bar at which you can eat without ever having to sit down. The restaurateur Fabien Lombardi was determined to create a similarly casual and festive atmosphere with what is his seventh space. "I'd been living in Paris for over 10 years but realized I was still missing a place where I felt I could go all the time," he says. The result is indeed welcoming, with a "la fête," or a party vibe, that builds over the course of each night: The main countertop faces a large, wooden midcentury sound system set amid Lombardi's personal collection of vinyl records — mostly hip-hop, soul, funk and jazz — which are spun on loop behind the bar. The remainder of the room is optimally set up for dinner and dancing, as high-top tables encourage patrons to fuel up on sophisticated bites paired with draft beer, cocktails or natural wine. And while food service ends at 11 p.m., dancing continues until 2 a.m. bambinoparis.com

SEE THIS

Lyrical Paintings of People in Close Quarters

From left: Gabriella Boyd's "Reel" (2022) and "Stomasun" (2022).Courtesy of the artist and Friends Indeed Gallery. Photos: Theo Christelis

By Laura van Straaten

T Contributor

A resistance to the designation "pandemic paintings" is understandable, but the London-based Glaswegian artist Gabriella Boyd gets why the series of 15 works she's created over the last two years might be taken as such: The tight, layered oil compositions depict ambiguous figures — "on either side of comfort or discomfort," as she puts it — in domestic spaces, and who are often seen caring for each other in configurations that could make them lovers, family members or nurse and patient. The canvases convey "much compassion and warmth, but there's also so much claustrophobia," says Boyd, whose first solo exhibition in the United States, "Signal," opens Thursday at Friends Indeed Gallery in San Francisco's Chinatown. Hand-held hair dryers in several works read as guns as much as instruments of upkeep, for instance. Elsewhere, swarms of red dots suggest both infection and decoration. "How can you not see germs and disease after what we've experienced?" asks the artist. Later this year, the Grimm Gallery will bring Boyd's work to New York, first for a group show of new British paintings this summer, and then for a solo exhibition in November. "Signal" is on view through May 13, friendsindeed.art.

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WEAR THIS

Pajamas Printed With Memories of Summer Travels

Left: Desmond & Dempsey Summer Dusk Women's Wrap Robe and Slip Nightie. Right: Desmond & Dempsey City Sketches Men's Cuban Long Set.Left: Angela Suarez. Right: Kento Nagayoshi

In need of a pick-me-up and unable to tap into the ideas typically engendered by their travels because of pandemic restrictions, Molly Goddard and Joel Jeffery, the founders of the London-based pajama brand Desmond & Dempsey, sent an email to their customers in early 2021 inviting them to share their most cherished summer memories for a new Summer Stories collection. They were delighted with the ensuing deluge, which included vivid descriptions of rowdy nights in New York City, summer festivals in Tokyo, tennis matches in Palm Springs and more. The resulting sleepwear, which debuts this month, features details from some of the submissions in print form — there's a tropical floral reminiscent of tablecloths at a Mexican restaurant, and there are pool scenes that echo vintage Palm Springs advertisements, as well as a solid cerulean blue modeled on the Jardin Majorelle in Marrakesh. For the Summer Dusk pattern, which evokes that languid time of day in Savannah, Ga., the print designer Ana Santos spray-painted over real Spanish moss, letting the negative space dictate the ethereal, cloudlike motif. Each is transporting in its own way, though no doubt the linen and cotton sets will be worn on trips this summer, as all-new memories are being created. From $48, desmondanddempsey.com.

VISIT THIS

A Charleston, S.C., Hotel to Call Home for a Bit

One of 25 apartment-style rooms at the Pinch, a new boutique hotel in Charleston, S.C.Matthew Williams

By Leslie Pariseau

T Contributor

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To date, Charleston, S.C.,'s hotel scene has largely consisted of a mix of grande dame properties and boutiques that are as quaint as you'd expect from a southern city of cobblestone alleys and pastel facades. The Pinch, from the team behind Method Co. — which focuses on extended-stay properties — offers something different: 25 apartment-style units spread across three restored Victorian buildings in the heart of the city's historic downtown. The entrance is tucked away down a stone lane lit with copper gas lanterns, and just past it is a lobby of wide-plank floors and open doors facing a courtyard that feels like the solarium of an eclectic country house. The apartments are also homey, and temper Charleston's old-fashioned charm with a dose of modern comfort: The walls are hung with David Salle lithographs, as well as vintage photography, psychedelic prints and original paintings by artists including Kelsey Brookes and Fausto Rossi; also, each one contains a full-size kitchen with a farmhouse sink and unfinished brass hardware by the English company deVOL. Those who prefer to leave the cooking to professionals can wander to the Quinte, an on-site oyster bar named for the billiards hall once housed in the same space, while a restaurant serving French-inflected Lowcountry cuisine is set to open this summer. Not a bad place to stay for a couple of days — or longer. Rooms from $595, thepinch.com.

BUY THIS

Cheeky Tableware for Entertaining

The Last Line Rain-Bow Linen Placemat in Apple, and Teddy Floral napkins, glasses and plates. Courtesy of the Last Line

By Zoe Ruffner

T Contributor

Though she worked at high-end accessories houses for over a decade, the Los Angeles-based designer Shelley Sanders confesses that she found the fine jewelry space "intimidating and, frankly, a bit too precious." So in 2017, she and her husband, Teddy Sanders, launched the Last Line, a direct-to-consumer company of cheerful, Instagram-friendly bijoux — such as statement-making heart pendants and earrings dangling with hand-carved garnet cherries — at a more affordable price point. "Our thoughts are often, 'Why not shake it up?'" says Sanders, and that same disruptive sensibility has led to the pair's sophomore foray into the interiors category. Arriving in time for warm-weather entertaining, their brand's new tabletop accents are as practical as they are playful: Think embossed, candy-colored glasses, Talavera ceramic egg cups with matching butter dishes and gold-rimmed porcelain plates decorated with zodiac symbols — a bold motif borrowed from the jewelry line. And hand-woven roses, magic mushrooms and smiley faces appear on embroidered linen napkins and place mats — no two of them alike. "My hope is that they make everyday life a little more fun," Sanders says of the pieces, adding, "even if that means enjoying a slice of store-bought cake just because." Pieces starting at $165, thisisthelast.com.

FROM T'S INSTAGRAM

A Notting Hill Flat With Maximalist Flourishes

The living room of the designer Enis Karavil's West London home. Above the mantel is a portrait of Karavil's great-aunt, and to the right is a trio of antique chairs inlaid with mother-of-pearl. Simon Upton. Styled by Sara Mathers

In 2012, after graduating from the Inchbald School of Design in London, the Turkish designer Enis Karavil spent much of his weekends in Notting Hill, browsing at Portobello Market, which has over the last eight decades evolved into an epicenter for antiques and eccentric bric-a-brac. Eventually, Karavil's frequent excursions spurred him to look for a place in the neighborhood, where he found an apartment that spanned two floors of a stucco-fronted townhouse built in the mid-19th century. Though it needed considerable love, he knew, largely thanks to an original marble fireplace with neo-Classical corbel detailing and an unusual wrought-iron spiral staircase, that it was where he wanted to be. By the time Karavil was mostly done with the apartment, he was working as an interior designer at the firm Hubert Zandberg, but then his friends, seeing what he'd done with his own space, started asking him to reimagine theirs. In 2015, after he'd worked on homes for pals in Boston and Istanbul, he decided to start his own firm, Sanayi313, with his brother, Amir, and to base it out of Turkey, where he knew he could create environments, and offer products, that weren't available anywhere else in the country. Read more at tmagazine.com, and follow us on Instagram.

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