Young plaintiffs stand tall after taking on Trump climate agenda in court

Young Americans challenging President Donald Trump’s fossil fuel agenda say they were proud to have their day in court — even if it meant fielding tough, sometimes perplexing questions from government lawyers.”I don’t think the gravity of that situation has permeated through my brain yet,” 19-year-old Joseph Lee told AFP at the close of a two-day hearing in Lighthiser v. Trump.”I’m going to wake up and realize, ‘Wow, I really did that.’ I testified in court against my own federal government, and it’s just such a meaningful thing to be part of this process.”The case challenges three executive orders that the plaintiffs say trample their inalienable rights to life and liberty by seeking to “unleash” fossil fuels while sidelining sources of renewable energy. The plaintiffs also seek to reverse the administration’s dismantling of climate science — from suppressing a key national climate report to proposing to shut down a critical carbon dioxide monitoring site in Hawaii. Judge Dana Christensen is now weighing whether to grant a preliminary injunction that could pave the way to trial — or throw the case out, as the government has urged.- ‘It’s not about ACs’ -Despite the gravity of the issues at the center of the case, the plaintiffs said they found themselves questioning the seemingly insignificant details raised in court. Lee, from California, testified that a case of heat stroke left him hospitalized on the brink of organ failure.During cross-examination, Justice Department attorney Erik Van de Stouwe asked whether he had sued the University of California, San Diego over its lack of air conditioning in dorms, implying that — and not climate action — was the remedy.”It’s not about ACs,” Lee later told AFP. “Minimizing it to something as trivial just goes to show” that the government’s case lacks merit, he added.At another point, Van de Stouwe questioned whether Lee could prove Trump’s climate cuts cost him opportunities to gain a research position at university — even though a university-wide letter, entered into evidence, explicitly cited the executive actions for reducing such positions. When pressed on how he could be certain, Lee replied that as a student he lacked the power to investigate the matter beyond all doubt.”But you did have the capacity to investigate the government’s executive orders?” the lawyer shot back. Lee responded he had the ability to read their plain language — a remark that drew murmurs of approval from the packed and supportive federal courtroom in Missoula, Montana.- ‘Really empowering’ -In another strange exchange, 20-year-old Avery McRae of Oregon was asked whether the anxiety she linked to climate change might stem from having spent half her life suing the federal government.And when 17-year-old Jorja McCormick of Livingston, Montana took the stand, she recalled the day a firefighter knocked on her family’s door and ordered them to evacuate as flames closed in, a moment, she said, that left her traumatized. Under cross examination, government attorney Miranda Jensen asked: “You just testified you have three horses, right? You’re aware that raising horses contributes to global warming?”Speaking after the hearings wrapped up, McCormick said she had mulled over the exchange. “There’s coal trains going through my downtown every day,” spewing toxic dust, she told AFP. “So I think my horses being out on open property minding their own business compared to coal trains hurting the entire community is quite different.”Despite the grilling, McCormick described testifying as cathartic. “Being on the stand was really empowering — telling my story, getting it out into the world like that was almost healing.”Whatever the outcome of Lighthiser v. Trump, she said she plans to continue her activism.”A better future is possible,” added Lee. “If a decision isn’t favorable, we’ll keep fighting.”

Canada, Mexico leaders agree to seek ‘fairer’ trade deal with US

The leaders of Canada and Mexico on Thursday defended their three-way free-trade deal with the United States, while agreeing to try and make it “fairer” in the face of tariff pressure from President Donald Trump.After talks in Mexico with President Claudia Sheinbaum, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said the pair were “committed” to the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), saying it had “helped make North America the economic envy of the world.”Sheinbaum said she was “optimistic” about the future of the accord, which Trump wants to renegotiate on terms more favorable to US manufacturers.”I believe that the USMCA will prevail,” she told a joint press conference with Carney.The agreement, in place since 2020, is up for review next year. It is critical to the economies of both Mexico and Canada, which send around 80 percent and 75 percent of their exports to the United States, respectively.Trump has already imposed tariffs on some exports from Canada and Mexico that don’t fall under the agreement and threatened further punishment if they fail to curb cross-border migration and drug trafficking.The USMCA replaced the North American Free Trade Agreement signed in the 1990s.The successive deals fundamentally reshaped North America’s economy over three decades, creating a high degree of interdependence between the three partners.However, Trump’s trade war has already significantly disrupted cross-border supply chains.He has hit Canadian goods that fall outside the agreement with 35-percent duties and similar Mexican goods with 25-percent levies.The tariffs are hurting Canada’s crucial auto, steel and aluminum sectors, leading to job losses, and also causing pain for Mexico’s auto and steel industries.”We complement the United States, we make them stronger, we are all stronger together,” Carney said.The fact that Washington was already reviewing UMSCA was “a good thing,” he added, arguing that it meant decisions on tariffs and local content could be “taken in a calm, deliberate manner.”- ‘Move forward together’ -Both Sheinbaum and Carney have been attempting to reach side deals with Trump.  But on Thursday they insisted they were not in competition with each other.”We will move forward together,” said Carney, holding up next year’s FIFA World Cup, to be jointly hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico as an expression of the countries’ synergies.Anxious to diversify their exports, Carney and Sheinbaum also announced plans to boost bilateral trade and investment, using Canadian and Mexican ports rather than shipping goods across the United States.Trade between the two countries last year totaled under $32 billion — more than 20 times less than the amount each has with the United States.   Mexico is Canada’s third-largest partner and Canada is Mexico’s fifth-largest.The two leaders also announced plans to cooperate more closely on foreign affairs, agriculture, the environment and security, among other areas.Some Canadian politicians have complained that Trump unfairly lumped their country, a small player in the global drug trade, with Mexico in terms of fentanyl trafficking.”The unfortunate fact is that there are gangs from one country in another country but also vice-versa,” Carney said.

How did an Indian zoo get the world’s most endangered great ape?

Tapanuli orangutans are the world’s most endangered great ape. Fewer than 800 remain, all previously thought to be in their native Indonesia. But now an Indian zoo says it has one.An Indian court cleared the 3,500-acre wildlife facility known as Vantara on Monday of allegations including unlawful acquisition of animals and financial wrongdoing.But the decision is unlikely to quiet questions about how Vantara, which describes itself as a wildlife rehabilitation and conservation centre, has stocked its enclosures. Vantara, run by Anant Ambani, the son of Asia’s richest man, says it houses 150,000 animals of 2,000 species, far exceeding populations at well-known zoos in New York, London or Berlin. AFP spoke to seven experts on conservation and the wildlife trade to understand concerns about Vantara.Several declined to speak on the record, citing Vantara’s previous legal actions against critics. They called Vantara’s collection unprecedented.”We’ve never seen anything on this scale,” said one longtime conservation expert from a wildlife protection group.”It’s hoovering up animals from all over the world.”Some of those acquisitions are more noteworthy than others, such as the single tapanuli that arrived in Vantara between 2023 and 2024, according to the facility’s submissions to India’s Central Zoo Authority.Only officially described in 2017, tapanulis are incredibly rare, said Serge Wich, an orangutan specialist at Liverpool John Moores University.They are confined to a small range in Indonesia and are in “dire straits” because of threats including mining and deforestation, he told AFP.- ‘Surprised and shocked’ -Trade in the world’s most endangered species is prohibited by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).But there are exceptions, including for “captive-bred” animals — individuals born in captivity to captive parents. There is only one CITES record of a tapanuli orangutan ever being transferred internationally.It left Indonesia in 2023, bound for the United Arab Emirates, where Vantara says its tapanuli came from.The transfer record describes the animal as “captive-bred”.However, multiple experts said that description was implausible.”There are no captive breeding programmes for orangutans in Indonesia,” said Panut Hadisiswoyo, founder and chairman of the Orangutan Information Centre in Indonesia.Only a handful are known to be in captivity at all, at rehabilitation facilities in Indonesia, he said.A conservationist for more than two decades, Panut said he was “surprised and shocked” to learn from AFP about Vantara’s tapanuli orangutan.”We do everything to protect them,” he said. “So it’s really, really distressing information.”There is no information on where in Indonesia the animal originated. The country’s CITES authorities did not respond to a request for comment.Experts said it was possible the orangutan is not a tapanuli at all. They look similar enough to Bornean and Sumatran orangutans that DNA testing would be needed for confirmation. It could also be a mix of tapanuli and another species, perhaps discovered by a zoo in its collection — although experts questioned why a facility would hand off such a rare animal.But if the animal is a tapanuli, “it’s almost inevitable that it would have to be illegal”, said orangutan conservation expert Erik Meijaard.”It would be super sad.”- ‘Pure nonsense’ -Vantara did not respond to AFP’s request for comment on the orangutan and how it acquires animals.The tapanuli is not the first highly endangered animal to arrive at Vantara.Spix’s macaws, a vibrant blue species native to Brazil, were extinct in the wild until recently.Brazil has sought to prevent all trade and transfer of the birds.It allowed a breeding facility in Germany to acquire some on condition they would not be sold or moved without Brazilian permission, according to documents submitted to CITES. Yet in 2023, 26 Spix’s macaws from the German facility arrived in Vantara. Vantara says it is working “to ensure that the calls of these rare birds are never lost from their native habitats”.The case has rankled Brazil, which raised it repeatedly at CITES meetings.Asked about Vantara’s tapanuli, the CITES secretariat told AFP “this matter is under review”, adding it was “not in a position to provide information”.In public documents, CITES has acknowledged receiving “multiple reports” about imports of endangered animals into India. India has said it will invite CITES officials for a visit but has yet to provide “detailed information on the matter”, the secretariat noted.If Vantara does own a single tapanuli orangutan, its conservation value would be limited, said Panut, who urged the animal’s return to Indonesia.For Meijaard, conservation in their natural habitat in Indonesia provides “the only chance for this species’ survival”.”Trying to breed orangutans outside Indonesia with some kind of long-term hope that they are going to contribute to the population is just pure nonsense.”

How did an Indian zoo get the world’s most endangered great ape?

Tapanuli orangutans are the world’s most endangered great ape. Fewer than 800 remain, all previously thought to be in their native Indonesia. But now an Indian zoo says it has one.An Indian court cleared the 3,500-acre wildlife facility known as Vantara on Monday of allegations including unlawful acquisition of animals and financial wrongdoing.But the decision is unlikely to quiet questions about how Vantara, which describes itself as a wildlife rehabilitation and conservation centre, has stocked its enclosures. Vantara, run by Anant Ambani, the son of Asia’s richest man, says it houses 150,000 animals of 2,000 species, far exceeding populations at well-known zoos in New York, London or Berlin. AFP spoke to seven experts on conservation and the wildlife trade to understand concerns about Vantara.Several declined to speak on the record, citing Vantara’s previous legal actions against critics. They called Vantara’s collection unprecedented.”We’ve never seen anything on this scale,” said one longtime conservation expert from a wildlife protection group.”It’s hoovering up animals from all over the world.”Some of those acquisitions are more noteworthy than others, such as the single tapanuli that arrived in Vantara between 2023 and 2024, according to the facility’s submissions to India’s Central Zoo Authority.Only officially described in 2017, tapanulis are incredibly rare, said Serge Wich, an orangutan specialist at Liverpool John Moores University.They are confined to a small range in Indonesia and are in “dire straits” because of threats including mining and deforestation, he told AFP.- ‘Surprised and shocked’ -Trade in the world’s most endangered species is prohibited by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).But there are exceptions, including for “captive-bred” animals — individuals born in captivity to captive parents. There is only one CITES record of a tapanuli orangutan ever being transferred internationally.It left Indonesia in 2023, bound for the United Arab Emirates, where Vantara says its tapanuli came from.The transfer record describes the animal as “captive-bred”.However, multiple experts said that description was implausible.”There are no captive breeding programmes for orangutans in Indonesia,” said Panut Hadisiswoyo, founder and chairman of the Orangutan Information Centre in Indonesia.Only a handful are known to be in captivity at all, at rehabilitation facilities in Indonesia, he said.A conservationist for more than two decades, Panut said he was “surprised and shocked” to learn from AFP about Vantara’s tapanuli orangutan.”We do everything to protect them,” he said. “So it’s really, really distressing information.”There is no information on where in Indonesia the animal originated. The country’s CITES authorities did not respond to a request for comment.Experts said it was possible the orangutan is not a tapanuli at all. They look similar enough to Bornean and Sumatran orangutans that DNA testing would be needed for confirmation. It could also be a mix of tapanuli and another species, perhaps discovered by a zoo in its collection — although experts questioned why a facility would hand off such a rare animal.But if the animal is a tapanuli, “it’s almost inevitable that it would have to be illegal”, said orangutan conservation expert Erik Meijaard.”It would be super sad.”- ‘Pure nonsense’ -Vantara did not respond to AFP’s request for comment on the orangutan and how it acquires animals.The tapanuli is not the first highly endangered animal to arrive at Vantara.Spix’s macaws, a vibrant blue species native to Brazil, were extinct in the wild until recently.Brazil has sought to prevent all trade and transfer of the birds.It allowed a breeding facility in Germany to acquire some on condition they would not be sold or moved without Brazilian permission, according to documents submitted to CITES. Yet in 2023, 26 Spix’s macaws from the German facility arrived in Vantara. Vantara says it is working “to ensure that the calls of these rare birds are never lost from their native habitats”.The case has rankled Brazil, which raised it repeatedly at CITES meetings.Asked about Vantara’s tapanuli, the CITES secretariat told AFP “this matter is under review”, adding it was “not in a position to provide information”.In public documents, CITES has acknowledged receiving “multiple reports” about imports of endangered animals into India. India has said it will invite CITES officials for a visit but has yet to provide “detailed information on the matter”, the secretariat noted.If Vantara does own a single tapanuli orangutan, its conservation value would be limited, said Panut, who urged the animal’s return to Indonesia.For Meijaard, conservation in their natural habitat in Indonesia provides “the only chance for this species’ survival”.”Trying to breed orangutans outside Indonesia with some kind of long-term hope that they are going to contribute to the population is just pure nonsense.”