Trump to Repeal Landmark Climate Finding

Jessica Mendoza (0:00)

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Luke Vargas (0:22)

The White House prepares to reverse a key finding linking greenhouse gases to public health risks. Plus, President Trump threatens to block the opening of a bridge connecting the US and Canada, baffling officials north of the border.

Drew Dilkoff (0:34)

This is just another, you know, another speed bump that Donald Trump has put in the way of doing good things, not just for our country, but for his as well.

Luke Vargas (0:42)

And we'll unpack what a stronger Chinese currency could mean for the dollar. It's Tuesday, February 10th. I'm Luke Vargas for The Wall Street Journal, and here is the AM Edition of What's News, the top headlines and business stories moving your world today. The Trump administration is planning to reverse a 2009 legal finding linking greenhouse gas emissions with threats to public health and welfare. We understand that the rollback would gut the legal underpinning used to regulate power plant emissions as well as fuel efficiency standards for cars. Officials claim the regulatory rollback would equate to a trillion dollars in savings. However, Journal Sustainability Reporter Yusuf Khan said it could also create headaches for businesses navigating the growing delta between American and global environmental regulations.

Yusuf Khan (1:30)

This is going to be a really big deal for companies operating globally, but even just within the US. We're seeing climate regulations within places like California coming through and New York. But say for a company operating in Europe where you've got climate regulations that are already in force, on one side in Europe you've got an obligation to bring down your emissions and report your emissions. On the other side, we might see the rollback of those sorts of regulations and the idea that you can continue to pollute.

Luke Vargas (1:53)

Environmental groups have said they would challenge the rollback in the courts, though it could be years before litigation is resolved. Meanwhile, President Trump is throwing a wrench in plans to open a new bridge connecting Canada and the US near Detroit. After almost eight years of construction funded by Canada, he's threatening to block the bridge's opening, saying the US should own up to half of it, and criticizing Canada for not treating the US with the quote, respect that we deserve. Trump pledged support for the bridge in 2017, with Canada agreeing to collect tolls that would pay a private sector builder. Speaking on Canada's CBC News, the mayor of Windsor, Ontario, where the bridge is located, called Trump's comments insane.

Drew Dilkoff (2:35)

Canada paid for the construction of the bridge. The US didn't want to pay. Canada said, we think it's important. We're going to pay for it. We're going to fund it to help facilitate international trade. And so the president on one hand is criticizing a decision made by the government of Ontario to remove US alcohol off the shelves. But at the same hand, on the other hand, he's saying, I don't want to open a facility that's actually going to facilitate more trade between the two nations.

Luke Vargas (2:59)

The White House didn't respond to a request for comment, nor did a representative for Prime Minister Mark Carney. Israel is assuming broad new powers in the West Bank to make it easier for Israeli settlers to buy territory there. Among the steps taken by Israel's security cabinet, it's repealing a law preventing the sale of West Bank land to outsiders, publishing sealed land registries to help prospective buyers identify land owners, and seizing a range of regulatory powers from the Palestinian authority that were granted to it under the Oslo Accords. Those actions come ahead of a meeting tomorrow between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Trump in Washington. Several Arab governments and the EU have criticized the latest Israeli moves. There has been a lot of chatter in markets today about whether China is moving to use the dollar less and strengthen the role of its own currency, the yuan. Our Asia Finance Editor Peter Landers says that so-called de-dollarization isn't new, but has been gaining momentum as some countries bristle over the power the US holds thanks to the dollar's dominance.

Peter Landers (4:07)

For most international transactions today, the dollar is used, and there is some discussion for years now that China might want to use its own currency. If China seems to be using the dollar less or treasuries are being sold, it could cause the dollar to weaken and the yuan to strengthen, and in fact, we are seeing some modest strengthening in the yuan, but this is within the normal bounds of what we've seen over the decade, but it's the speculation that a more radical shift could be in the offing is behind some of the market trades.