When marble-size hail fell on Alabama in 2023, it devastated Camp Hilllucky time, a town of 1,000 where nearly half the residents live below the poverty line. Decks were demolished, cars shattered, roofs destroyed, and few people had insurance.
The community was expecting to get help this month in the form of a $20 million federal grant to help homeowners make repairs — money that came from a Biden-era law to tackle climate change.
rich88 slotBut those funds have now been held up by President Trump’s order that all federal climate spending be paused. Even though the White House this week rescinded a sweeping directive that would have stopped trillions of dollars in grants across the federal government, a separate executive order is still in effect that halts tens of billions of dollars in energy and environmental spending.
Calls for school crackdowns have mounted with reports of cyberbullying among adolescents and studies indicating that smartphones, which offer round-the-clock distraction and social media access, have hindered academic instruction and the mental health of children.
Overall, violent crime fell 3 percent and property crime fell 2.6 percent in 2023, with burglaries down 7.6 percent and larceny down 4.4 percent. Car thefts, though, continue to be an exception, rising more than 12 percent from the year before.
That pause is paralyzing federal agencies,ph646 causing confusion in states and cities, delaying construction projects and forcing some companies to furlough workers.
“These are real human beings,” said Warren Tidwell, director of the Alabama Center for Rural Organizing and Systemic Solutions, which is leading the effort to repair Camp Hill’s many damaged, leaky roofs. “We have one woman in her 80s who lives alone, and if she does not get her roof fixed, well, we’re going to have a senior in her late 80s who is homeless,” Mr. Tidwell said.
The day he was sworn in, Mr. Trump issued an executive order on “Terminating the Green New Deal,” his catchall term for climate policies. The White House told federal agencies to pause and review all funding authorized by the Inflation Reduction Act and a bipartisan infrastructure law — two bills signed by former President Joseph R. Biden Jr. that invested hundreds of billions of dollars in wind and solar projects, electric vehicles and other low-carbon energy technologies.
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