By MICHAEL PHILLIS and MATTHEW DALY, Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration is cancelling $7.6 billion in grants that supported hundreds of clean energy projects in 16 states, all of which voted for Democrat Kamala Harris in last year’s presidential election.
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The cuts were announced in a social media post late Wednesday by Russell Vought, the White House budget director: “Nearly $8 billion in Green New Scam funding to fuel the Left’s climate agenda is being cancelled.”
These cuts are likely to affect battery plants, hydrogen technology projects, upgrades to the electric grid and carbon-capture efforts, among many others, according to the environmental nonprofit Natural Resources Defense Council.
The Energy Department said in a statement Thursday that 223 projects were terminated after a review determined they did not adequately advance the nation’s energy needs or were not economically viable. Officials did not provide details about which projects are being cut, but said funding came from the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, and other DOE bureaus.
The cuts include $1.2 billion for California’s hydrogen hub that is aimed at accelerating hydrogen technology and production, according to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office. The private sector has committed $10 billion for the hydrogen hub, Newsom’s office said, adding that canceling the Alliance for Renewable Clean Hydrogen Energy Systems threatens over 200,000 jobs.
“Clean hydrogen deserves to be part of California’s energy future — creating hundreds of thousands of new jobs and saving billions in health costs,” the Democratic governor said.
California Democratic Sen. Alex Padilla called cancelation of the project “vindictive, shortsighted and proof this administration is not serious about American energy dominance.”
The DOE said it has reviewed billions of dollars awarded by the Biden administration after Trump won the presidential election last November. More than a quarter of the rescinded grants were awarded between Election Day and Inauguration Day, the department said. The awards totaled more than $3.1 billion.
“President Trump promised to protect taxpayer dollars and expand America’s supply of affordable, reliable, and secure energy. Today’s cancellations deliver on that commitment,” Energy Secretary Chris Wright said.
The Trump administration has broadly targeted climate programs and clean energy, and is proposing to roll back vehicle emission and other greenhouse gas rules it says can’t be justified. The Environmental Protection Agency has proposed overturning a 2009 finding that climate change threatens public health. Many climate scientists have criticized the EPA effort as biased and misleading.
Democrats and environmental organizations were quick to slam the latest cuts, saying they would raise energy costs.
“This is yet another blow by the Trump administration against innovative technology, jobs and the clean energy needed to meet skyrocketing demand,” said Jackie Wong, a senior vice president at NRDC.
Vought said the projects being cut are in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Vermont and Washington state.
The Associated Press receives support from the Walton Family Foundation for coverage of water and environmental policy. The AP is solely responsible for all content. For all of AP’s environmental coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/climate-and-environment
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A former Utah Supreme Court justice is expected to be named the next president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints after the recent death of President Russell M. Nelson.
Announcing his successor — Dallin H. Oaks — is largely a formality because the church has a well-defined leadership hierarchy that has governed it for decades. Nothing will change in the leadership body until some time after Nelson’s funeral, which is scheduled for Oct. 7.
FILE – Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Church’s Quorum of the Twelve Apostles speaks during a news conference at the Conference Center, Jan. 27, 2015, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, file)
Here’s a closer look at how the leadership structure is arranged and how new members are chosen:
Who leads the church?
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, known widely as the Mormon church, is led by a president and his two top counselors, forming what is known as the First Presidency. They usually come from a governing body called the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, which sits just below the First Presidency and helps set church policy while overseeing the faith’s business interests.
Together, these 15 top officials are all men in accordance with the church’s all-male priesthood.
How are the presidents chosen?
The longest-tenured member of the Quorum of the Twelve becomes the new president in a tradition established more than a century ago to ensure a smooth handover and prevent any lobbying internally or publicly.
The succession plan was created in 1889 following nearly two years of debate and some politicking among the apostles after the faith’s third president, John Taylor, died. Since then, the plan has been carried out without exception.
FILE – Church President Russell M. Nelson looks on during The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ conference on April 6, 2019, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)
Nelson, the faith’s oldest-ever president, died Saturday at the age of 101. Per protocol, his successor won’t be formally announced until some time after his funeral next week. With his death, the First Presidency automatically dissolved and his two counselors rejoined the Quorum, bringing its number to 14.
Until a new president is announced, the Quorum, now led by Oaks, is in charge as the Utah-based faith prepares for its twice-annual general conference in Salt Lake City this weekend.
What does the president do?
He is considered a prophet, seer and revelator who leads the church through divine revelation from God along with two top counselors and members of the Quorum of the Twelve. He sets policy, interprets doctrine and manages church programs.
The president also oversees the church’s businesses, which include real estate, farms, publishing, life insurance, nonprofits, universities, a Polynesian cultural center in Hawaii and an upscale open-air shopping mall in Salt Lake City.
The church doesn’t disclose or discuss its finances, but the latest filings from its investment arm, Ensign Peak Advisors, Inc., value its portfolio at $58 billion.
How long do the presidents serve?
Presidents serve until they die, which is why the length of their tenures vary widely.
The longest was Brigham Young, who served nearly 30 years in the mid- to late 1800s. Other lengthy tenures include Heber J. Grant, with nearly 27 years from 1918 to 1945, and David O. McKay, with nearly 19 years from 1951 to 1970.
The shortest tenure was Howard H. Hunter, who served only nine months from 1994 to 1995. He and three other church presidents served less than five years, including an 18-month stint by Harold B. Lee from 1972 to 1973.
Nelson held the position for more than seven years. The two presidents before him, Thomas S. Monson and Gordon B. Hinckley, each had relatively long terms. Monson served nearly 10 years, and Hinckley was in the post for nearly 13.
How are the president’s two counselors chosen?
A new president usually chooses counselors from the Quorum of the Twelve. Sometimes, they are the same men who served the previous president. If they’re different, the previous counselors return to being members of the Quorum.
Most leaders of the faith known widely as the Mormon church assumed the presidency later in life. (AP Digital Embed)
Nelson kept Henry B. Eyring as a counselor and elevated Oaks as the other.
Being counselors does not put them ahead in line to become the next president. It is still the longest-tenured Quorum member who takes that role.
Oaks happens to be next in line. The 93-year-old joined the Quorum in May 1984, around the same time as Nelson.
Jeffrey R. Holland, 84, has the next highest seniority after Oaks.
How are new Quorum members chosen?
They can come from anywhere. In modern history, most were already serving in lower-tier leadership councils.
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The apostles tend to be older men who have achieved success in occupations outside the church. The last three chosen for the Quorum were a U.S. State Department official, an accountant for multinational corporations, and a board member of charities, schools and an enterprise agency.
Under Nelson, the church injected some diversity into the previously all-white leadership panel by selecting the first Latin American apostle and the first apostle of Asian ancestry. The appointments brought excitement to a contingent of members who for years had been hoping to see the top leadership become more representative of a religion with over half its more than 17 million members living outside the U.S.
Once Oaks becomes president and selects his two counselors, the Quorum will likely be left with one vacancy for him to fill — one way church presidents can leave their imprint.
What about women?
Nine highest-ranking women in the church oversee three organizations that run programs for women and girls. These councils sit below several layers of leadership groups reserved for only men.
The president and two counselors who oversee the Relief Society, which runs activities for women, are considered the top female leaders based on the organization’s historical cachet.
TOKYO (AP) — Outside a train station near Tokyo, hundreds of people cheer as Sohei Kamiya, head of the surging nationalist party Sanseito, criticizes Japan’s rapidly growing foreign population.
As opponents, separated by uniformed police and bodyguards, accuse him of racism, Kamiya shouts back, saying he is only talking common sense.
“Many Japanese are frustrated by these problems, though we are too reserved to speak out. Mr. Kamiya is spelling them all out for us,” said Kenzo Hagiya, a retiree in the audience who said the “foreigner problem” is one of his biggest concerns.
The populist surge comes as Japan, a traditionally insular nation that values conformity and uniformity, sees a record surge of foreigners needed to bolster its shrinking workforce.
In September, angry protests fueled by social media misinformation about a looming flood of African immigrants quashed a government-led exchange program between four Japanese municipalities and African nations.
Even the governing party, which has promoted foreign labor and tourism, now calls for tighter restrictions on foreigners, but without showing how Japan, which has one of the world’s fastest-aging and fastest-dwindling populations, can economically stay afloat without them.
Kamiya says his platform has nothing to do with racism
“We only want to protect the peaceful lives and public safety of the Japanese,” he said at the rally in Yokohama, a major residential area for foreigners. Japanese people tolerate foreigners who respect the “Japanese way,” but those who cling to their own customs are not accepted because they intimidate, cause stress and anger the Japanese, he said.
Kamiya said the government was allowing foreign workers into the country only to benefit big Japanese businesses.
“Why do foreigners come first when the Japanese are struggling to make ends meet and suffering from fear?” Kamiya asked. “We are just saying the obvious in an obvious way. Attacking us for racial discrimination is wrong.”
Sohei Kamiya, leader of a surging nationalist party Sanseito, speaks during an interview with the Associated Press at his party’s headquarter on Sept. 2, 2025, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
Japan’s Sanseito leader Sohei Kamiya speaks at election campaign in Yokohama, near Tokyo Japan, Monday, Sept. 15, 2025. (AP Photo /Mayuko Ono)
Sohei Kamiya, leader of a surging nationalist party Sanseito, speaks during an interview with the Associated Press at his party’s headquarter on Sept. 2, 2025, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
FILE- People gather during an election campaign of Sanseito party for the upper house election in Yokohama, July 19, 2025. (Kyodo News via AP, File)
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Sohei Kamiya, leader of a surging nationalist party Sanseito, speaks during an interview with the Associated Press at his party’s headquarter on Sept. 2, 2025, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
Kamiya’s anti-immigrant message is gaining traction
All five candidates competing in Saturday’s governing Liberal Democratic Party leadership vote to replace outgoing Shigeru Ishiba as prime minister are vowing tougher measures on foreigners.
One of the favorites, former Economic Security Minister Sanae Takaichi, a hardline ultra-conservative, was criticized for championing unconfirmed claims that foreign tourists abused deer at a park in Nara, her hometown.
Takaichi later said she wanted to convey the growing sense of anxiety and anger among many Japanese about ”outrageous” foreigners.
During the July election campaign, far-right candidates insulted Japan’s about 2,000 Kurds, many of whom fled persecution in Turkey.
A Kurdish citizen, who escaped to Japan as a child after his father faced arrest for complaining about military hazing, said he and his fellow Kurds have had to deal with people calling them criminals on social media.
Japan has a history of discrimination against ethnic Koreans and Chinese, dating from the colonialist era in the first half of the 20th century.
Some of that discrimination persists today, with insults and attacks targeting Chinese immigrants, investors and their businesses.
Hoang Vinh Tien, 44, a Vietnamese resident who has lived in Japan for more than 20 years, says foreigners are often underpaid and face discrimination, including in renting apartments. He says he has worked hard to be accepted as part of the community.
“As we hear about trouble involving foreigners, I share the concerns of the Japanese people who want to protect Japan, and I support stricter measures for anyone from any country, including Vietnam,” Hoang said.
Rising foreigner numbers, but not nearly enough to bolster the economy
Japan’s foreign population last year hit a new high of more than 3.7 million. That’s only about 3% of the country’s population. Japan, which also promotes inbound tourism, aims to receive 60 million visitors in 2030, up from 50 million last year.
The foreign workforce tripled over the past decade to a record 2.3 million last year, according to Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare statistics. An increase of 300,000 from a year earlier was twice the projected pace. Many work in manufacturing, retail, farming and fishing.
Even as the foreign population surged, only about 12,000 foreigners were arrested last year, despite alarmists’ claims that there would be a crimewave, National Police Agency figures show.
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The pro-business ruling Liberal Democratic Party in 1993 launched a foreign trainee program and has since drastically expanded its scope in phases. But the program has been criticized as an exploitive attempt to make up for a declining domestic workforce. It will be renewed in 2027 with more flexibility for workers and stricter oversight for employers.
Many Japanese view immigrants as cheap labor who speak little Japanese, allow their children to drop out of school and live in high-crime communities, says Toshihiro Menju, a professor at Kansai University of International Studies and an expert on immigration policies.
He says the prejudice stems from Japan’s “stealth immigration system” that accepts foreign labor as de facto immigrants but without providing adequate support for them or an explanation to the public to help foster acceptance.
A Sanseito supporter in her 50s echoed some of these views but acknowledged that she has never personally encountered trouble with foreigners.
Meanwhile, Japan faces real economic pain if it doesn’t figure out the immigration issue.
The nation will need three times more foreign workers, or a total of 6.7 million people, than it currently allows, by 2040 to achieve 1.24% annual growth, according to a 2022 Japan International Cooperation Agency study. Without these workers, the Japanese economy, including the farming, fishing and service sectors, will become paralyzed, experts say.
It is unclear whether Japan can attract that many foreign workers in the future, as its dwindling salaries and lack of diversity makes it less attractive.
A growing party that’s part of a changing political landscape
Sanseito started in 2020 when Kamiya began attracting people on YouTube and social media who were discontent with conventional parties.
Kamiya, a former assembly member in the town of Suita, near Osaka, focused on revisionist views of Japan’s modern history, conspiracy theories, anti-vaccine ideas and spiritualism.
Kamiya said he is “extremely inspired by the anti-globalism policies” of U.S. President Donald Trump, but not his style. He invited conservative activist and Trump ally Charlie Kirk to Tokyo for a talk event days before his assassination, and Kamiya has compared his party to far-right parties such as the Alternative for Germany party (AfD), the National Rally of France and Britain’s Reform UK.
His priority, he said in an interview with The Associated Press, is to further expand his support base, and he hopes to field more than 100 candidates in future elections.
CHICAGO (AP) — College student Maya Roman has the handoff down to a science: a text message, a walk to a designated site, and a paper bag delivered with condoms and Plan B emergency contraception. At DePaul University, it’s the only way students can get a sliver of sexual health support, she said.
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DePaul, a Catholic school in Chicago, prohibits distribution of any kind of birth control on its campus.
To get around that, a student group runs a covert contraceptive delivery network called “the womb service.” The group was once the university’s chapter of Planned Parenthood Generation Action, but it has been operating off campus since DePaul in June revoked its status as a student organization.
At Catholic universities, which generally do not offer contraceptives on their campuses or at school-run health centers, student groups have stepped in to fill what they see as gaps in reproductive health care. It often means navigating pushback from college administrators.
In line with church teachings that discourage premarital sex and birth control, many Catholic colleges restrict access to contraceptives on campus. The student activists say they are providing essential help on campuses that enroll students of all faiths.
At DePaul, the university said it banished the student group over its affiliation with Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion provider. It said it also “reserves the right to restrict the distribution of medical or health supplies/devices items on university premises that it deems to be inappropriate from the perspective of the institution’s mission and values.”
“I was in disbelief,” Roman said of the group being forced to disband. “It was a flood of disappointment.”
Efforts to restrict contraception have mounted around the US
Far beyond college campuses, a growing number of Republican-led states have seen attempts to restrict access to contraception. Some state legislatures have sought to exclude emergency contraception and other birth control methods from state Medicaid programs or have introduced bills requiring parental consent for minors to access contraception.
The Trump administration has also frozen funding to family planning clinics that provide free or low-cost contraception and scrubbed Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance on birth control from government websites.
Conversely, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, a Democrat, signed legislation in August requiring colleges and universities to offer contraception and abortion medication at on-campus pharmacies and student health centers, but it applies only to public institutions.
“We do see this massive effort to restrict access to contraception and abortion throughout the U.S., not just on Catholic campuses,” said Jill Delston, associate professor at the University of Missouri-St. Louis who has studied contraception access. “And on Catholic campuses, that may in some ways be amplified.”
Activist groups connect with students just off campus
Roman, an economics student at DePaul, grew up learning about reproductive health from her mother, a nurse. When she arrived on campus, she realized many of her peers had relatively limited sexual health knowledge. Meanwhile, she said she noticed DePaul’s sexual and reproductive health resources were lacking.
DePaul University freshman Anna Daniel, 19, assembles a kit of contraceptive supplies at Oz Park in Chicago on Sunday, Sept. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Heidi Zeiger)
Condoms, sexual health literature and emergency contraception are prepared for kits by DePaul University students at Oz Park in Chicago on Sunday, Sept. 28, 2025.(AP Photo/Heidi Zeiger)
DePaul University senior Mak Roban, 20, center, assembles a kit of contraceptive supplies at Oz Park in Chicago on Sunday, Sept. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Heidi Zeiger)
DePaul University senior Maya Roman, 22, president of a student reproductive health group, smiles while speaking to fellow members at Oz Park in Chicago on Sunday, Sept. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Heidi Zeiger)
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DePaul University freshman Anna Daniel, 19, assembles a kit of contraceptive supplies at Oz Park in Chicago on Sunday, Sept. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Heidi Zeiger)
“It was seeing a need in the community and trying my best to address it right away,” she said.
Now, the group she leads receives about 15 to 25 orders each week for contraception and hosts sex education seminars.
“These schools disproportionately don’t provide contraception access, so students are stepping up to fill those gaps so that other students aren’t being prevented from controlling their own reproductive destiny and reproductive freedom,” said Maddy Niziolek, development specialist at Catholics for Choice, which helps students organize against Catholic universities’ restrictions on contraception access.
At Loyola University, another Catholic institution in Chicago, Students for Reproductive Justice delivers condoms, lubricant, pregnancy tests and emergency contraception directly to students. They receive as many as 20 orders in a single night. The group also hosts Free Condom Friday, where members pass out condoms at bus stops just off campus.
The group applied for registered student organization status in 2016 but was denied, said Alyssa Suarez Tineo, a junior studying women and gender studies and an organizer for SRJ Loyola.
“Loyola’s motto is ‘cura personalis,’ care for the whole person,” she said. “And this is just an example of Loyola not living up to what it promises.”
At the University of Notre Dame, the student group Irish 4 Reproductive Health formed in 2017 to file a lawsuit challenging the university’s decision to deny birth control coverage to students and employees. The group today distributes contraception off campus.
Gabriella Shirtcliff, the group’s co-president, said its work “helps reduce the risk of unplanned pregnancy that might require someone to get an abortion.”
Organizers see Catholic colleges as ‘challenging environments’
A lack of access to contraception can have deep, long-term impacts on students’ lives, Delston said.
“What’s at stake for these students is their bodily autonomy — the direction of the rest of their lives, their ability to pursue their goals, get a degree, have a career or start a family at the time it suits them,” she said.
In 2020, the American Society for Emergency Contraception launched an effort to help student activists expand contraception access on college campuses. The group has helped install 150 vending machines that dispense emergency contraception on campuses.
At Catholic universities, students usually have to start smaller than a vending machine, said Kelly Cleland, the group’s executive director. The first step, she said, is helping students figure out what’s possible.
“This is a lesson for them about organizing in challenging environments,” she said.
At DePaul, the students behind the womb service have re-applied under a new name — Students United for Reproductive Justice — and plan to continue distributing contraceptives this semester. DePaul has not approved the registration. Roman said she hopes more students on Catholic campuses challenge their universities’ reproductive health policies.
“It is possible; it is feasible,” she said. “And you’re not alone in this fight.”
This story was first published on Sept. 30, 2025. It was updated on Oct. 1, 2025 to make clear that the student group at DePaul University does not have status as registered on campus.
The Associated Press’ education 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.
