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Bill Gates thinks climate change is a serious problem but it won’t be the end of civilization. He thinks scientific innovation will curb it, and it’s instead time for a “strategic pivot” in the global climate fight: from focusing on limiting rising temperatures to fighting poverty and preventing disease.A doomsday outlook has led the climate community to focus too much on near-term goals to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that cause warming, diverting resources from the most effective things that can be done to improve life in a warming world, Gates said. In a memo released Tuesday, Gates said the world’s primary goal should instead be to prevent suffering, particularly for those in the toughest conditions in the world’s poorest countries.If given a choice between eradicating malaria and a tenth of a degree increase in warming, Gates told reporters, “I’ll let the temperature go up 0.1 degree to get rid of malaria. People don’t understand the suffering that exists today.”The Microsoft co-founder spends most of his time now on the goals of the Gates Foundation, which has poured tens of billions of dollars into health care, education and development initiatives worldwide, including combating HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. He started Breakthrough Energy in 2015 to speed up innovation in clean energy.He wrote his 17-page memo hoping to have an impact on next month’s United Nations climate change conference in Brazil. He’s urging world leaders to ask whether the little money designated for climate is being spent on the right things.Gates, whose foundation provides financial support for Associated Press coverage of health and development in Africa, is influential in the climate change conversation. He expects his “tough truths about climate” memo will be controversial.“If you think climate is not important, you won’t agree with the memo. If you think climate is the only cause and apocalyptic, you won’t agree with the memo,” Gates said during a roundtable discussion with reporters ahead of the release. “It’s kind of this pragmatic view of somebody who’s, you know, trying to maximize the money and the innovation that goes to help in these poor countries.” Climate scientists say every fraction of a degree of warming matters Every bit of additional warming correlates to more extreme weather, risks species extinction and brings the world closer to crossing tipping points where changes become irreversible, scientists say.University of Washington public health and climate scientist Kristie Ebi said she thoroughly agrees with Gates that the U.N. negotiations should focus on improving human health and well-being. But, she said, Gates assumes the world stays static and only one variable changes faster deployment of green technologies to curb climate change. She called that unlikely.Jeffrey Sachs, director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University, called the memo “pointless, vague, unhelpful and confusing.”“There is no reason to pit poverty reduction versus climate transformation. Both are utterly feasible, and readily so, if the Big Oil lobby is brought under control,” he wrote in an email.Stanford University climate scientist Chris Field said there is room for a healthy discussion about whether the current framing of the climate crisis is typically too pessimistic.“But we should also invest for both the long term and the short term,” he wrote in an email. “A vibrant long-term future depends on both tackling climate change and supporting human development.”Princeton University climate scientist Michael Oppenheimer said he doesn’t dispute the principle of making human well-being the primary objective of policy, but what about the natural world?“Climate change is already wreaking havoc there,” he wrote in an email. “Can we truly live in a technological bubble? Do we want to?”Gates is clear in his memo that every tenth of a degree of warming matters: “A stable climate makes it easier to improve people’s lives.” Carbon dioxide pollution is increasing A decade ago, the world agreed in a historic pact known as the Paris agreement to try to limit human-caused warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) since pre-industrial times. The goal: to stave off nastier heat waves, wildfires, storms and droughts.In a 2021 book, Gates laid out a plan for reducing emissions to avoid a climate disaster. But humans are on track to release so much greenhouse gas by early 2028 that scientists say crossing that 1.5-degree threshold is now nearly unavoidable.Breakthrough Energy focuses on areas where the cost of doing something cleanly is much higher than the polluting way, such as making clean steel and cement. Gates concluded his memo by saying governments should work toward driving this difference to zero, and be rigorous about measuring the impact of every effort in the world’s climate agenda. Gates is optimistic innovation will curb climate change Gates said the pace of innovation in clean energy has been faster than he expected, allowing cheap solar and wind energy to replace coal, oil and natural gas plants for electricity and averting worst-case warming scenarios. Artificial intelligence is helping accelerate advances in clean energy technologies, he added.At the same time, money to help developing countries adapt to climate change is shrinking. Led by the United States, rich countries are cutting their foreign aid budgets. President Donald Trump has called climate change a hoax.Gates criticized the aid cuts. He said Gavi, a public-private partnership started by his philanthropic foundation that buys vaccines, will have 25% less money for the next five years compared to the past five years. Gavi can save a life for a little more than $1,000, he added.Vaccines become even more important in a warming world because children who aren’t dying of measles or whooping cough will be more likely to survive when a heat wave hits or a drought threatens the local food supply, he wrote.Health and prosperity are the best defense against climate change, Gates said, citing research from the University of Chicago Climate Impact Lab that found projected deaths from climate change fall by more than 50% when accounting for the expected economic growth over the rest of this century.Under these circumstances, he thinks the bar must be “very high” for what’s funded with aid money.“If you have something that gets rid of 10,000 tons of emissions, that you’re spending several million dollars on,” he said, “that just doesn’t make the cut.” AP Writer Seth Borenstein in Washington contributed to this report. The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org. Jennifer McDermott, Associated Press
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E-Commerce
Recently, there has been a rise in reports from consumers that some physical retail stores are running low on pennies, making it difficult for cashiers to give customers exact change. This week, many social media users reported that one of America’s largest grocery store chains, Kroger, was asking customers to use exact change. This has led many to wonder if there is a national penny shortage. The answer is more complex than just a simple yes or no. Heres what you need to know. What’s happened? Numerous reports this week said customers at Kroger stores were greeted with signs asking them to provide exact change when paying in cash. Among the reports was one from the Cincinnati Enquirer, which said that these signs were posted at the company’s 103 stores in the Cincinnati/Dayton Division. “The U.S. Treasury has stopped production of pennies, which is now impacting supply,” the signs read. “If using cash for payment, please consider providing exact change.” Reached for comment by Fast Company, a Kroger spokesperson confirmed the move. “We continue to assess the impact of the U.S. Treasurys decision to end penny production,” the spokesperson said. These signs, along with a growing number of other reports on social media, have contributed to speculation about an American penny shortage. Is there a penny shortage? Without a doubt, the availability of the penny seems to be decreasing. However, according to the American Bakers Association (ABA), there isnt currently a penny shortage in the traditional sense. Rather, there is a slowing of the circulation of pennies throughout Americas banks and retailers. And theres a reason for this. In February, President Trump announced on Truth Social that he had instructed U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to stop producing new pennies. For far too long the United States has minted pennies which literally cost us more than 2 cents, Trump wrote, adding, Let’s rip the waste out of our great nations budget, even if it’s a penny at a time. And the Treasury did as Trump instructed. As the ABA notes, the U.S Mint, which is responsible for minting Americas currency, reportedly stopped production and delivered their last shipment of new pennies in August. That means no new pennies have been minted in two months. Still, the ABA estimates that there are about 250 billion pennies still in circulation. So why are they reportedly getting harder to come across? Its because many people dont like carrying around the 1-cent coins. They take up too much space in a wallet or purse, so people just tend to leave them in drawers, jars, or car cupholders. This means that, unlike most dollar bills, a significant amount of the existing pennies that are out there dont reenter circulation. When no new pennies are being minted, and enough existing pennies arent reentering circulation, it can lead to an absence of an adequate amount of change at banks and in cash registers. This is responsible for the penny shortage some retailers and customers are now beginning to see. Why does Trump want to get rid of the penny? Its not just Trump who wants to get rid of the penny. A YouGov poll from earlier this year found that more Americans now support eliminating the coin rather than saving it. Pennies can be inconvenient. You need need a hundred of them or more just to buy something simple, like a can of soda. And carrying a hundred pennies around in a purse, wallet, or pocket can be cumbersome. As for Trump, he is correct that the penny coin actually costs more than 1-cent to make. A 2024 report from the U.S. Mint revealed that the U.S. government lost more than $83 million in 2024 producing the penny. This is because though the penny has a face value of only 1-cent, it had a total unit cost of $0.0369 per coin in 2024. Thats over 3.5x its face value. In other words, the penny is both disliked by some consumers and doesnt make financial sense from a minting standpoint. No wonder so many people want to see it go. Can Trump actually kill the penny? While the U.S. Treasury and U.S. Mint have followed Trumps instructions to stop producing the penny, the penny remains legal tender in America. And most experts seem to agree that Trump cant just end the pennys life by dictate. As New York Magazine noted in May, killing off the penny likely requires an act of Congress, since Congress controls the specifications of Americas currency. However, both houses of Congress have reportedly introduced bills to kill off the penny since Trump issued his decree. The ABA itself notes that the decision to eliminate the penny lies with Congress and the President, as the Constitution gives Congress the authority to coin money. But it adds that The banking industry is prepared to support whatever policy is enacted and will ensure a smooth transition if the penny is officially phased out. Can I still get exact change if there are no pennies available? Given that so many items in America are priced at one penny short of a whole dollarbefore taxits no surprise that if there is a penny shortage, stores may have trouble giving consumers their exact change. But if this is indeed the case, the ABA says that banks and retailers may temporarily round cash transactions to the nearest five cents since nickels are widely available. This means the customer may save a few centsor pay a few cents moredepending on which way the rounding goes. However, the price of online transactions, as they are all electronic, shouldnt be impacted at all.
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E-Commerce
U.S. President Donald Trump lavished praise on Japan’s first female leader Sanae Takaichi in Tokyo on Tuesday, welcoming her pledge to accelerate a military buildup and signing deals on trade and rare earths. Takaichi, a protegee of Trump’s late friend and golfing buddy Japanese leader Shinzo Abe, applauded Trump’s push to resolve global conflicts, vowing to nominate him for the Nobel Peace Prize, according to Trump’s spokeswoman, Karoline Leavitt. Both governments released a list of projects in the areas of energy, artificial intelligence and critical minerals in which Japanese companies are eyeing investments of up to $400 billion in the U.S. Tokyo pledged to provide $550 billion of strategic U.S. investments, loans and guarantees earlier this year as part of a deal to win a reprieve from Trump’s punishing import tariffs. Those gestures may temper any Trump demands for Tokyo to spend more towards its security in the face of an increasingly assertive China, calls that Takaichi sought to head off by promising to fast-track plans to increase defence spending to 2% of GDP. “Everything I know from Shinzo and others, you will be one of the great prime ministers,” Trump told Takaichi as they sat down to discussions, accompanied by their delegations, at Tokyo’s Akasaka Palace. “I’d also like to congratulate you on being the first woman prime minister. It’s a big deal,” Trump added. TAKAICHI INVOKES ABE LEGACY Takaichi repeatedly referred to Abe’s affection for Trump and gifted him the former prime minister’s putter encased in glass, a golf bag signed by Japanese major winner Hideki Matsuyama and a gold-leaf golf ball, photographs posted on X by Trump’s assistant Margo Martin show. Abe, who was assassinated in 2022, was the first foreign leader to meet Trump after his 2016 election victory and the two went on to forge a close bond over several rounds of golf in the United States and Japan. Over a lunch of U.S. rice and beef, and vegetables from Takaichi’s hometown of Nara, she presented Trump with a map of major investments Japanese firms have made in the United States since his last visit in 2019. Japanese companies on the list of possible future investors included Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Softbank, Hitachi, Murata Manufacturing and Panasonic, among others. Japanese carmaker Toyota would also open auto plants in the United States to the tune of $10 billion, Trump said. Toyota did not immediately respond to a request for comment. DEAL ON CRITICAL MINERALS Trump praised Japan’s efforts to buy more U.S. defense equipment, while Takaichi said his role in securing ceasefires between Cambodia and Thailand, and Israel and Palestinian militants, was an “unprecedented” achievement. They signed a deal to bolster supplies of critical minerals and rare earths, as their nations seek to reduce China’s dominance of some areas of key electronic components. After lunch, Trump met relatives of people abducted by North Korea in the 1960s and 1970s. While some were later repatriated, Japan continues to press Pyongyang for a full accounting of all the abductees and the return of any who remain alive, a cause championed by Abe. “The United States is with them all the way,” Trump told reporters after greeting the families. He has repeatedly said he was open to meeting North Korea’s reclusive leader Kim Jong Un during his five-day Asia visit. The U.S. leader began his trip in Malaysia on Sunday, before traveling to Japan late on Monday to receive a royal welcome at the Imperial Palace. He hopes to cap off his trip, his longest overseas journey since returning to the White House in January, by agreeing a trade war truce with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in South Korea on Thursday. VISIT TO U.S. NAVAL BASE Takaichi’s efforts to invoke Abe’s legacy to forge a bond with Trump could help bolster her weak political position at home and help her navigate Trump’s at times erratic decision-making, analysts said. Though she has seen a surge in public support since becoming prime minister, her coalition government is two votes shy of a majority in parliament’s lower house. Trump and Takaichi later flew on his presidential helicopter to the nuclear-powered U.S. aircraft carrier George Washington, docked at the Yokosuka naval base near Tokyo. There Trump delivered an hour-long speech that ranged from topics such as the U.S. southern border and inflation to American football and the possibility of deploying “more than the national guard” to “troubled” U.S. cities. Flanked by two fighter jets, Trump ushered Takaichi up on stage before 6,000 U.S. sailors. “This woman is a winner,” he said, before Takaichi thanked the forces for helping defend the country and the region. Japan hosts the largest concentration of U.S. military power abroad. Delivery would begin this week on Japan’s long-awaited order of U.S. missiles for F-35 fighter jets, Trump added. “I told the president that I want to work with him to build a new chapter in the Japan-U.S. alliance that will make both countries stronger and more prosperous,” Takaichi told reporters after returning to Tokyo. U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth is due to hold talks with his Japanese counterpart Shinjiro Koizumi on Wednesday. Trump will meet business leaders in Tokyo later on Tuesday, before travelling on Wednesday to South Korea to meet President Lee Jae Myung ahead of his Thursday summit with Xi. Trevor Hunnicutt, Tim Kelly and John Geddie, Reuters
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E-Commerce
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