Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Friday he canceled nearly $4 billion in project grants, in another massive blow to clean energy and greenhouse gas emissions reduction efforts in the U.S. under President Donald Trump’s administration.

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The grants, largely awarded during former President Joe Biden’s final few months in the White House, were primarily for programs to capture carbon emissions and store them underground. Other targeted efforts span cleaner cement, natural gas and more.

Some of the 24 canceled awards include $500 million to Heidelberg Materials US, Inc.; $375 million to Eastman Chemical Company; $95 million to Nevada Gold Mines, LLC; and $270 million to Sutter CCUS, among others, according to a list provided by the Department of Energy. Sublime Systems, which lost an $87 million grant, was “surprised and disappointed,” the company said in a statement.

“Today’s action is bad for U.S. competitiveness in the global market and also directly contradictory to the administration’s stated goals of supporting energy production and environmental innovation,” said Conrad Schneider, a senior director at the Clean Air Task Force. It “undercuts U.S. competitiveness at a time when there is a growing global market for cleaner industrial products and technologies.”

The news was a swift follow-up to plans the Energy Department announced earlier this month to review 179 funded projects, totaling over $15 billion, that were awarded by the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations created under the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law.

It is part of Wright’s pledge to ensure “responsible” spending — aligning with the government’s broader efficiency and cost-cutting measures, such as those recommended by the Department of Government Efficiency, which has significantly impacted federal research, workers and agencies.

“While the previous administration failed to conduct a thorough financial review before signing away billions of taxpayer dollars, the Trump administration is doing our due diligence to ensure we are utilizing taxpayer dollars to strengthen our national security, bolster affordable, reliable energy sources and advance projects that generate the highest possible return on investment,” Wright said in Friday’s statement.

Moreover, the announcement marks the latest of the administration’s attacks on clean energy, broadly, and its effort to slash federal support for projects addressing climate change.

The Trump administration has taken an ax to Biden-era environmental ambitions, rolled back landmark regulations, withdrawn climate project funding, and instead bolstered support for oil and gas production in the name of an “American energy dominance” agenda.

Steven Nadel, executive director of the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, called the news “shortsighted.”

Carbon capture has been a controversial climate solution, as skeptics say it enables the continued burning of fossil fuels oil, coal and natural gas that emit planet-warming greenhouse gases — including carbon dioxide — and distracts from the need to cut ties with those energy sources altogether. Though investment in the technology has grown, it also remains challenging to scale.

Industry decries the news

Organizations quickly decried the secretary’s actions, stressing that the cancelations don’t align with the administration’s goals to bolster domestic manufacturing or energy independence.

Jessie Stolark, the executive director of the nonpartisan Carbon Capture Coalition, said the news “is a major step backward” for carbon management technologies, which are “crucial to meeting America’s growing demand for affordable, reliable, and sustainable energy.”

“These projects are not just reducing pollution, they are keeping the U.S. on the cutting edge of manufacturing technology,” said Mike Williams, senior fellow on the energy and environment team at public policy and advocacy group the Center for American Progress. “Canceling these important projects will raise energy prices for consumers and sacrifice thousands of high-quality union jobs, all because the president wants to curry favor with Big Oil.”

Evan Gillespie, partner at decarbonization organization, Industrious Labs, said the move dismantles the economy and the future of American manufacturing and its workforce.

“Killing these projects means more emissions, more pollution, and more people getting sick,” he said.

Alexa St. John is an Associated Press climate reporter. Follow her on X: @alexa_stjohn. Reach her at ast.john@ap.org.

Read more of AP’s climate coverage at http://www.apnews.com/climate-and-environment

The Associated Press’ climate and environmental 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.

As the White House moves to revoke Harvard University’s certification to enroll foreign students — escalating a battle between the administration and the oldest and wealthiest college in the U.S. — President Donald Trump is falsely claiming that Harvard offers “remedial mathematics” on topics such as simple addition.

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He most recently took aim at the school’s math offerings during a swearing-in ceremony in the Oval Office on Wednesday for Interim U.S. Attorney for Washington, D.C. Jeanine Pirro, a Fox News host who was formerly a county prosecutor and elected judge, in response to a question from a reporter about how the “confrontation” with Harvard will end.

Here’s a closer look at the facts.

CLAIM: “Harvard announced two weeks ago that they’re going to teach remedial mathematics, remedial, meaning they’re going to teach low grade mathematics like two plus two is four. How did these people get into Harvard? If they can’t, if they can’t do basic mathematics, how did they do it?”

THE FACTS: Harvard does not offer a remedial math class covering basic arithmetic. Asked whether Trump was referring to a specific class, a White House spokesperson provided information about Mathematics MA5, which was introduced in the fall of 2024 as a new format for an existing course that offers extra support in calculus. The original course — Mathematics MA — is still offered.

“Harvard College does not offer any so-called remedial math classes,” said James Chisholm, a spokesperson for the university’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences, which encompasses its undergraduate program.

He added: “Math MA5 is a college-level calculus class. It is simply a new format of Math MA, the introductory freshman calculus course that has been taught at Harvard for decades.”

Students in Mathematics MA and MA5 have the exact same homework, exams and grading structure, according to Chisholm. The only difference is that the former meets three days a week and the latter five days a week. They are both prerequisites for higher-level math courses.

One question on a sample exam Chisholm provided asks students to write a formula for determining the total number of cases during a hypothetical epidemic after a certain amount of days.

The Harvard Crimson reported in September that Director of Introductory Math Brendan Kelly said Mathematics MA5 is “aimed at rectifying a lack of foundational algebra skills among students” created by the COVID-19 pandemic.

A course description notes that its “extra support will target foundational skills in algebra, geometry, and quantitative reasoning.”

Harvard Extension School, the university’s continuing education program aimed at working adults, offers a precalculus course. Most students need only register to attend. Those who want to pursue a degree must first successfully complete two or three courses in their chosen field of study. Those earning a certificate or taking a single course must only meet certain enrollment requirements, such as English proficiency.

Harvard College undergraduates, who must apply to the university and be admitted under its rigorous admission standards, are not allowed to cross-register for Harvard Extension School classes.

“Harvard Extension School is 100% distinct from Harvard College and the two have nothing to do with each other in terms of curriculum or students,” said Chisholm.

Harvard’s Rising Scholars Program, an invite-only opportunity for incoming Harvard College students from “high schools that offered them limited college-level academic enrichment opportunities” offers a summer course for students who need an additional foundation on topics such as precalculus and algebra.

“The important point on Rising Scholars is it’s more about the incoming student’s high school than the individual student’s ability,” said Chisholm.

Harvard has also offered an Emerging Scholars Program to similarly support freshmen enrolled in introductory calculus who are interested in fields related to science, technology, engineering and mathematics, in an effort to “correct systemic inequalities in math and science K-12 education that have affected our college students for many years.”

The median math score for the most recently enrolled undergraduate class at Harvard College was 790 out of 800 on the SATs and 35 out of 36 on the ACTs. The average high school GPA was 4.2.

“There is no university in America that is as difficult to earn admission to as Harvard — no matter your demographics,” said Brian Taylor, managing partner at the college counseling service Ivy Coach. “President Trump’s math in this case simply doesn’t add up.”

Find AP Fact Checks here: https://apnews.com/APFactCheck.

NEW YORK — A second man charged in the kidnapping and torture of an Italian man for his Bitcoin has been indicted.

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A Manhattan grand jury handed up the indictment Friday against William Duplessie, according to Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office. The indictment will remain sealed until his arraignment June 11.

Duplessie, 32, faces charges of kidnapping, assault, unlawful imprisonment and criminal possession of a weapon, police have said. His lawyer, in an email, declined to comment on the indictment.

Prosecutors say Duplessie and fellow crypto investor John Woeltz, 37, lured the victim to a posh townhouse in Manhattan’s Soho neighborhood on May 6 by threatening to kill his family.

The man, a 28-year-old Italian national who has not been named by officials, said he was then held captive for 17 days, as the two investors tormented him with electrical wires, forced him to smoke from a crack pipe and at one point dangled him from a staircase five stories high.

He eventually agreed to hand over his computer password Friday morning, then managed to flee the home as his captors went to retrieve the device.

The grand jury decision followed Duplessie’s brief appearance Friday morning in Manhattan court.

A judge reminded him a protective order was still in effect, though he didn’t name who it was concerning.

Duplessie, who is listed as a founder or investor at various blockchain-based companies, was escorted in handcuffs and wore a prison jumpsuit. He didn’t address the court.

Both Duplessie and Woeltz remain in custody.

New York City police are also investigating two detectives who worked security at the upscale Manhattan townhouse where the man says he was kidnapped and tortured.

The detectives have been placed on modified leave pending the outcome of the inquiry. A lawyer for the labor union representing NYPD detectives said there’s “absolutely no indication” either officer witnessed any of the alleged illegal activity.

Both directions of Minnesota 97 between Hornsby Street and Falcon Avenue in Forest Lake will be closed beginning 5 a.m. Monday. The closure will remain in place through late fall, according to the Minnesota Department of Transportation.

The work is part of a two-year, $17 million reconstruction of Minnesota 97 between Interstate 35 and U.S. 61 that includes resurfacing the road, constructing a single-lane roundabout at Fenway Avenue and adding turn lanes in specific locations.

In addition, a new multi-use trail will be constructed along the south side of Minnesota 97 to provide a safer space for pedestrians and bicyclists, as well as a connection to the Hardwood Creek Regional Trail.

A raised median also will be added to divide eastbound and westbound traffic on the two-lane roadway; the median also will serve as an accessible pedestrian crossing.

Minnesota 97 will be open to traffic between Falcon Avenue and U.S. 61, and Hornsby Street and all I-35 ramps will remain open, according to a MnDOT news release. Local residential and business access will be maintained throughout construction, although routes will change periodically, the release states.

Motorists can bypass the closure using the following detours:

Eastbound through traffic can use northbound I-35 to eastbound U.S. 8 to southbound U.S. 61
Westbound through traffic can use northbound U.S. 61 to westbound U.S. 8 to southbound I-35
Southbound I-35 traffic can access eastbound Minnesota 97 by using Broadway Avenue to northbound I-35 to eastbound U.S. 8 to southbound U.S. 61.

All construction activities and traffic impacts are weather and schedule dependent and subject to change, according to MnDOT.

For more information, go to mndot.gov/metro/projects/hwy97-forestlake/.

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