As the White House returned to Democratic control in the early days of 2021, there was a real hope among those on the left side of the aisle that this would bring about a new prioritization of climate issues, and possibly even the “Green New Deal”. That plan, which was buoyed by the involvement of social media maven and Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, was quickly labeled a deal-breaker by Republicans, and any mention of the Green New Deal would bring with it a great deal of political gravity. So, instead of pushing forward under the banner of that now-tainted name, President Joe Biden is simply decentralizing the plan and pulling several different climate levers at once. President Joe Biden is pledging to reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by 50% to 52% by 2030, in the latest push by the administration to aggressively combat climate change. The target, announced Thursday, more than doubles the country’s prior commitment under the 2015 Paris climate agreement, when the Obama administration set out to cut emissions 26% to 28% below 2005 levels by 2025. The U.S. is currently not yet halfway to meeting that goal. Biden’s pledge on Earth Day is in line with what environmental groups and hundreds of executives at major companies have pushed for. The president announce the target at the closely watched global leaders’ climate summit on Thursday, during which he hopes to urge global cooperation to address the climate crisis. Make no mistake about it:  This is still the Green New Deal…the left just isn’t brave enough to call it that.

There is still a great deal that we don’t know about the events of January 6th, as an enormous investigation into the incident continues to uncover terrifying new angles in the case. The FBI has a complex and gargantuan task ahead of them, as they attempt to separate the wheat from the chaff. Thousands of hours of social media must be pored over still, and there are undoubtedly still arrests yet to be made.  Then will come the trials, which could, in turn, ignite new probes and arrests still. One of the most worrisome parts of the probe has come at the expense of the Capitol Police, who were seen on camera clearly giving a wide berth to a deadly mob.  Some officers were even seen opening barricades for the berserkers, while others took selfies with them. Now, an unbelievable bit of audio recorded during the attack is raising major concerns. A Capitol Police official radioed units outside of the building on the morning of Jan. 6 and told them only to scout for anti-Trump troublemakers — not pro-Trump protesters, according to Rep. Zoe Lofgren, who described what she said were details of an internal investigation conducted in the aftermath of the mob attack. Lofgren (D-Calif.) revealed the finding while she questioned Capitol Police Inspector General Michael Bolton, who appeared before the House Administration Committee Wednesday to testify about security failures that precipitated the Jan. 6 attack. Lofgren, who chairs the panel, described the findings as she asked him whether he had read the internal investigation reports. Lofgren said the department’s Office of Professional Responsibility was reviewing information that a radio transmission to “all outside units’ attention” that they should not be “looking for any pro-Trump in the crowd,” according to Lofgren. She added they were “only looking for any anti-Trump.” There…