John Kerry gives a speech at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, London on July 20, 2021.
TOLGA AKMEN | AFP | Getty Images
The United States’ climate envoy John Kerry issued a stark warning on Tuesday, claiming that the suffering brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic would be “magnified many times over in a world that does not grapple with, and ultimately halt, the climate crisis.”
In a speech delivered in London, Kerry — who on Thursday is due to attend a G20 ministerial meeting in Italy focused on the environment, climate and energy — sought to emphasize the magnitude of the challenge facing the planet.
“The climate crisis, my friends, is the test of our times,” he said. “And while some may still believe it is unfolding in slow motion, no, this test is now as acute and as existential as any previous one.”
Former Secretary of State Kerry also stressed the need for geopolitical cooperation, acknowledging that “no country and no continent alone can solve the climate crisis.”
Turning to China, Kerry noted that “a foundational building block” of its growth had stemmed from “a staggering amount of fossil fuel use” and called on it to step up when it came to cutting emissions.
“As a large country, an economic leader and now the largest driver of climate change, China absolutely can help lead the world to success by peaking and starting to reduce emissions early during this critical decade of 2020 to 2030,” he went on to add.
“The truth is there’s no alternative, because without sufficient reduction by China, together with the rest of us, the goal of 1.5 degrees is essentially impossible.”
The goal referenced by Kerry refers to 2015’s Paris Agreement, which aims to “limit global warming to well below 2, preferably to 1.5 degrees Celsius, compared to pre-industrial levels.”
Later this year, world leaders are set to gather for the COP26 climate change summit in Glasgow, Scotland. It’s seen as a crucial event, with many hoping it will act as a catalyst for governments to step up their climate ambitions in order to meet the targets set out in the Paris accord.
“Glasgow is the place, 2021 is the time and we can, in a little more than 100 days, save the next 100 years,” Kerry said.
While there is an undoubted sense of urgency about COP26, the reality on the ground shows just how big a challenge achieving climate-related goals will be in the years ahead.
On the same day that Kerry made his speech, the International Energy Agency said only a small chunk of governments’ recovery spending in response to the Covid-19 pandemic had been allocated to clean energy measures.
The IEA’s analysis notes that, as of the second quarter of this year, the world’s governments had set aside roughly $380 billion for “energy-related sustainable recovery measures.” This represents approximately 2% of recovery spending, it said.
In a statement issued alongside its analysis, the IEA explained just how much work needed to be done in order for climate related targets to be met.
“The sums of money, both public and private, being mobilised worldwide by recovery plans fall well short of what is needed to reach international climate goals,” it said.
Indeed, the Paris-based organization is forecasting that carbon dioxide emissions will hit record levels in 2023, with “no clear peak in sight.”
U.S. President Donald Trump sits next to Crypto czar David Sacks at the White House Crypto Summit at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., March 7, 2025.
Evelyn Hockstein | Reuters
What was meant to be a short-term assignment for venture capitalist David Sacks in President Donald Trump’s White House appears to have stretched into something much bigger, according to leading Democratic lawmakers.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Rep. Melanie Stansbury, D-N.M., have teamed up with a number of other progressive politicians to question whether Sacks has blown past the 130-day limit for Special Government Employees.
In a letter delivered Wednesday morning, the lawmakers pressed Sacks to account for every day he has worked since his January start date, and to disclose where he’s conducted official business, and who inside the White House is monitoring his compliance.
They warned that overstaying the limit “would raise additional ethics concerns,” particularly as the Trump administration “moves to implement recently enacted cryptocurrency legislation and put in place new rules for the crypto industry.”
Sacks was tapped by President Trump as his “crypto and AI czar” to help shape policy in those industries. The SGE designation lets people from the private sector serve temporarily in government under looser conflict of interest rules.
In March, Sacks disclosed that he sold over $200 million worth of digital asset-related investments personally and through his firm, Craft Ventures, before starting the job, according to a memo from the White House.
Reports have suggested he’s been splitting his time between Washington and Silicon Valley to avoid hitting the cap, even as colleagues have said he has “no intention of leaving,” according to Semafor.
Warren and Stansbury argue that stretching the rules undermines the balance Congress struck when it created the SGE category. The probe also dovetails with their earlier legislation aimed at tightening transparency and ethics requirements for temporary government advisors.
Additional signees to the letter include Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Democratic Senators Richard Blumenthal, Chris Van Hollen and Jeff Merkley, along with Representatives Betty McCollum and Rashida Tlaib.
The White House and Sacks did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the investigation.
Honda has officially unveiled the new WN7, its latest electric motorcycle and the first in a planned lineup of larger EV two-wheelers. Designed as a commuter-friendly electric motorcycle for the European market, the WN7 is part of Honda’s push toward carbon neutrality.
The launch shines more light on a reveal we’ve long been waiting for. But with a price tag of £12,999 (nearly US $18k), the real question is whether this modest commuter bike has a fighting chance in an increasingly competitive segment.
While Honda hasn’t released the full technical specs for the WN7 just yet, the company has revealed several key features that give us a glimpse of what to expect. The bike will be powered by a permanent magnet synchronous motor paired with a chain drive, offering a familiar mechanical setup for riders used to older combustion-engine motorcycles. Up front, riders will get a 5-inch color TFT display, and the bike will debut a newly developed Honda RoadSync app, which enables smartphone connectivity for navigation and communication. For added practicality, the WN7 includes a generous 20-liter underseat storage compartment, which should be a nice bonus for commuters looking to stash a helmet or daily essentials.
Honda estimates the WN7 will offer a range of over 130 km (83 miles) on a single charge, making it suited for daily commuting and city riding. It features a fixed lithium-ion battery and supports both home and rapid charging. Using a standard household outlet, riders can expect a full charge in under three hours, while a CCS2 rapid charger can top the battery up from 20% to 80% in just 30 minutes, adding flexibility for quick turnarounds during a busy day.
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The WN7 is being marketed as a practical, everyday-use electric motorcycle targeting primarily younger riders in urban environments. Honda is also promising quiet operation, easy handling, and a new sound-emitting system to enhance pedestrian awareness, taking cues from current EV regulations in both automotive and two-wheeled segments.
Production is set to begin later this year at Honda’s Atessa plant in Italy, and the bike will be eligible for government EV subsidies in various European markets.
However, Honda hasn’t yet shared key specs like top speed, motor power, or battery capacity, all of which are vital to truly assessing how this electric bike stacks up in real-world use. But with the announced price of £12,999, it’s already clear that the bike won’t be price competitive against other commuter electric motorcycles in the market.
Electrek’s Take
Look, I’m excited to see Honda finally putting an actual electric motorcycle into production. This isn’t a concept or a lab experiment – it’s a real bike you’ll be able to buy. But with a price of £12,999 (approximately US $17,700) for what appears to be a commuter-level electric motorcycle, this thing might be dead on arrival.
Unless Honda is hiding some truly game-changing specs under the panels, this pricing just doesn’t make sense. Riders in the commuter category already have plenty of options ranging from electric scooters to motorcycles, with many models from smaller manufacturers offering comparable (or even better) range and speed for half the price.
Honda may be banking on brand loyalty, reliability, and build quality to justify the price, and maybe that will work for some buyers. But unless the WN7 delivers dramatically better specs than what’s currently been shown, most would-be EV riders are likely to look elsewhere.
This might be a huge milestone for Honda’s electrification roadmap, but it’s hard to call it a win for riders at this price point.
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Uber Freight is launching a ‘Dedicated EV Fleet Accelerator Program’ in partnership with Tesla to lower the most significant barrier to electric Class 8 adoption: upfront cost.
The buyer program pairs purchase subsidies for Tesla Semis with pre‑arranged dedicated freight and route planning around Tesla’s Semi Charger network, which is currently being deployed in the US.
As the name implies, the Dedicated EV Fleet Accelerator Program aims to accelerate the deployment of electric vehicles in Uber Freight fleets.
Here’s how Uber aims to achieve that from the press release:
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Subsidized Price: Fleets purchasing Tesla Semis through this program will receive a subsidy on the purchase price.
Predictable Growth: Fleets will integrate their Tesla Semis into Uber Freight’s dedicated solutions for shippers for a pre-determined period. This creates an opportunity for carriers to forecast revenue with confidence, while shippers gain consistent access to reliable, zero-emission capacity.
Optimize Utilization: Uber Freight taps into its extensive freight network to match carriers with consistent, high-quality freight from our strong shipper base—helping ensure the addition of these Tesla Semis stay fully utilized and carriers see dedicated, real, measurable returns from the start.
Uber actually had a similar partnership with Tesla for its passenger vehicles in Uber’s ride-hailing fleet. Uber drivers were offered discounts on Tesla vehicles and Tesla integrated Uber’s app in its system to work with the car’s navigation and only suggest rides within the vehicle’s current range.
Now, Uber Freight will integrate its software on Tesla Semi trucks and help truckers get routes that work with the electric trucks and its
There are still many unknowns about the program. Primarily, we don’t know how much Uber and Tesla are subsidizing the trucks.
We don’t even have the price of the Tesla Semi.
Tesla originally announced a price of $150,000 for the 300-mile version of the Tesla Semi and $180,000 for the 500-mile version, but this was in 2017, when the electric truck was initially unveiled.
The vehicle program has been delayed several times since and Tesla never updated the price publicly since.
Now Uber Freight says that Tesla will review the total cost of ownership with potential fleet buyers through its new program.
Tesla Semi is now expected to enter volume production in 2026.
The automaker is also starting to deploy its Megacharger stations, EV fast-charging stations designed for commercial electric vehicles, such as the Tesla Semi.
This is cool. We don’t know the exact size of the subsidy, but it is a significant development that Uber Freight is offering more job opportunities for those who own an electric truck.
It should encourage more fleet managers to accelerate their fleet transition to electric vehicles.
The sticker price is often a significant barrier to EV adoption, even though the total cost of ownership is often cheaper than that of internal combustion engine vehicles. However, for truckers, the total cost of ownership is much more important since it is their business.
However, everything suggests that the Tesla Semi will cost closer to $300,000 than $150,000, and therefore, every consideration is important when making such a large purchase.
Interestingly, this new partnership coincides with Rebecca Tinucci’s recent appointment as CEO of Uber Freight.