WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s administration on Tuesday proposed revoking a scientific finding that has long been the central basis for U.S. action to regulate greenhouse gas emissions and fight climate change.

The proposed Environmental Protection Agency rule would rescind a 2009 declaration that determined that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases endanger public health and welfare.

The “endangerment finding” is the legal underpinning of a host of climate regulations under the Clean Air Act for motor vehicles, power plants and other pollution sources that are heating the planet.

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced the proposed rule change on a podcast ahead of an official announcement set for Tuesday in Indiana.

Repealing the endangerment finding “will be the largest deregulatory action in the history of America,” Zeldin said on the Ruthless podcast.

“There are people who, in the name of climate change, are willing to bankrupt the country,” Zeldin said. “They created this endangerment finding and then they are able to put all these regulations on vehicles, on airplanes, on stationary sources, to basically regulate out of existence, in many cases, a lot of segments of our economy. And it cost Americans a lot of money.”

The EPA proposal must go though a lengthy review process, including public comment, before it is finalized, likely next year. Environmental groups are likely to challenge the rule change in court.

Zeldin called for a rewrite of the endangerment finding in March as part of a series of environmental rollbacks announced at the same time in what he said was “the greatest day of deregulation in American history.” A total of 31 key environmental rules on topics from clean air to clean water and climate change would be rolled back or repealed under Zeldin’s plan.

He singled out the endangerment finding as “the Holy Grail of the climate change religion” and said he was thrilled to end it “as the EPA does its part to usher in the Golden Age of American success.”

Tailpipe emission limits also targeted

The EPA also is expected to call for rescinding limits on tailpipe emissions that were designed to encourage automakers to build and sell more electric vehicles. The transportation sector is the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States.

Environmental groups said Zeldin’s action denies reality as weather disasters exacerbated by climate change continue in the U.S. and around the world.

“As Americans reel from deadly floods and heat waves, the Trump administration is trying to argue that the emissions turbocharging these disasters are not a threat,” said Christy Goldfuss, executive director of the Natural Resources Defense Council. “It boggles the mind and endangers the nation’s safety and welfare.”

Under Zeldin and Trump, “the EPA wants to shirk its responsibility to protect us from climate pollution, but science and the law say otherwise,” she added. “If EPA finalizes this illegal and cynical approach, we will see them in court.”

Three former EPA leaders have also criticized Zeldin, saying his March announcement targeting the endangerment finding and other rules imperiled the lives of millions of Americans and abandoned the agency’s dual mission to protect the environment and human health.

“If there’s an endangerment finding to be found anywhere, it should be found on this administration because what they’re doing is so contrary to what the Environmental Protection Agency is about,” Christine Todd Whitman, who led EPA under Republican President George W. Bush, said after Zeldin’s plan was made public.

The EPA proposal follows an executive order from Trump that directed the agency to submit a report “on the legality and continuing applicability” of the endangerment finding.

Conservatives and some congressional Republicans hailed the initial plan, calling it a way to undo economically damaging rules to regulate greenhouse gases.

But environmental groups, legal experts and Democrats said any attempt to repeal or roll back the endangerment finding would be an uphill task with slim chance of success. The finding came two years after a 2007 Supreme Court ruling holding that the EPA has authority to regulate greenhouse gases as air pollutants under the Clean Air Act.

Passing court muster could be an issue

David Doniger, a climate expert at the NRDC, accused Trump’s Republican administration of using potential repeal of the endangerment finding as a “kill shot’’ that would allow him to make all climate regulations invalid. If finalized, repeal of the endangerment finding would erase current limits on greenhouse gas pollution from cars, factories, power plants and other sources and could prevent future administrations from proposing rules to tackle climate change.

“The Endangerment Finding is the legal foundation that underpins vital protections for millions of people from the severe threats of climate change, and the Clean Car and Truck Standards are among the most important and effective protections to address the largest U.S. source of climate-causing pollution,” said Peter Zalzal, associate vice president of the Environmental Defense Fund.

“Attacking these safeguards is manifestly inconsistent with EPA’s responsibility to protect Americans’ health and well-being,” he said. “It is callous, dangerous and a breach of our government’s responsibility to protect the American people from this devastating pollution.”

Conrad Schneider, a senior director at the Clean Air Task Force, said the Trump administration “is using pollution regulations as a scapegoat in its flawed approach to energy affordability” and reliability.

He and other advocates “are dismayed that an administration that claims it cares about cleaner, healthier and safer air is seeking to dismantle the very protections that are required for those conditions,” Schneider said.

Follow the AP’s coverage of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency at https://apnews.com/hub/us-environmental-protection-agency.

WILLIAMSPORT, Ohio (AP) — Sweat covers Isaac Barnes’s face under his beekeeper’s veil as he hauls boxes of honeycomb from his hives to his truck. It’s a workout in what feels like a sauna as the late-morning June temperatures rise.

Though Barnes was hot, his bees were even hotter. Their body temperatures can be up to 27 degrees Fahrenheit higher than the air around them. As global temperatures rise under climate change, scientists are trying to better understand the effects on managed and wild bees as they pollinate crops, gather nectar, make honey and reproduce.

They noticed flying bees gathering nectar avoided overheating on the hottest days by using fewer but harder wingbeats to keep their body temperature below dangerous levels, according to a study published last year. Scientists also say that bees — like people — may also cope by retreating to a cooler environment such as the shade or their nest.

“Just like we go into the shade, or we sweat or we might work less hard, bees actually do the exact same thing so they can avoid the heat,” said Jon Harrison, an environmental physiologist at Arizona State University and one of the study’s authors.

But that means the bees aren’t able to do what they normally do, said Kevin McCluney, a biology professor at Bowling Green State University.

“They’re not going out and getting more nectar. They’re not mating. They’re not doing the things that bees would otherwise do,” McCluney said.

Heat is just one challenge for critical pollinator

Generally, most bees are heat-tolerant, but as the climate warms, some experts think their ability to fend off disease and gather food might become harder. And habitat loss, increased use of pesticides, diseases and lack of forage for both managed and wild bees are all listed as potential contributors to the global decline of bees and other pollinators.

“If you’re not well-fed, and your body is intoxicated with pesticides and you have lots of diseases in your body, you’re going to be less heat-tolerant than if you were healthy,” said Margarita López-Uribe, a pollinator health expert at Pennsylvania State University.

Earlier this year, preliminary results from the annual U.S. Beekeeping Survey found that beekeepers lost almost 56% of their managed colonies, the highest loss since the survey started in 2010.

Almost all of the managed honeybee colonies in the U.S. are used to pollinate agricultural crops such as almonds, apples, cherries and blueberries. Fewer pollinators can lead to less pollination and potentially lower yields.

“It’s a very fragile system if you think about it,” López-Uribe said. “Because if something goes wrong, you have these super high-value crops that won’t get enough bees for pollination.”

Losing hives at Honeyrun Farms

Back at Barnes’ hives in Ohio, thousands of honeybees fly around as he gathers boxes to take back to his farm for honey production. Nearby, a couple of his bees land on milkweed flowers, a rare bit of plant diversity in an area dominated by corn and soybean fields.

For Barnes, who operates Honeyrun Farm with his wife, Jayne, one of the challenges heat can pose to his 500 honeybee hives is fending off parasitic mites that threaten the bees. If temperatures get too hot, he can’t apply formic acid, an organic chemical that kills the mites. If it’s applied when it’s too hot, the bees could die.

Last year they lost almost a third of the 400 hives they sent to California to help pollinate commercial almond groves. Barnes thinks those hives may have been in poor health ahead of pollination because they were unable to ward off mites when it was hot months earlier.

“Dead hives aren’t pollinating the almonds,” he said. “It’s a real ripple effect that stems back from the heat in the summertime.”

Sometimes the heat helps. Here in Ohio, Barnes’ hives last summer produced a bumper crop of honey as they feasted on nearby soybean nectar as the plants bloomed in the heat. Still, the lack of diverse plants for bees to forage in an area dominated by corn and soybean fields isn’t ideal.

And even the native blooms are appearing erratically, Barnes said. In autumn, his bees search for food on goldenrod, but those blooms are appearing later. And even then, he has supplemented his hive with additional food to keep them healthy into the winter.

“Every single plant that blooms is something that the bee can use,” Barnes said. “And every single plant is affected by climate change.”

Research that may aid bees is in peril

It’s only in the last decade that people have become aware of the magnitude of the pollinator decline globally, said Harrison, of Arizona State University. Data is limited on how much climate change and heat stress is contributing to pollinator decline.

“It’s a relatively new focus for biology,” he said. “I think it’s super important, but it’s not being studied a ton.”

The Trump administration’s proposed budget would eliminate the research program that funds the USGS Bee Lab, which supports the inventory, monitoring and natural history of the nation’s wild bees. Other grants for bee research are also in jeopardy.

U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon said America’s pollinators are in “grave danger,” and he’ll fight for the federal funding. Pollinators contribute to the health of the planet, the crops we grow and the food we eat, he said.

“Rather than taking bold action to protect them, the Trump administration has proposed a reckless budget that would zero out funding for critical research aimed at saving important pollinators,” he said in a statement to The Associated Press.

Harrison said his research on this topic would come to a halt if cuts are made to his federal funding, and it would be more difficult in general for scientists to study the disappearance of bees and other pollinators and improve how they prevent these losses. Not being able to manage these pollinator deaths could cause the price of fruits, vegetables, nuts, coffee and chocolate to jump or become scarce.

“Hopefully, even if such research is defunded in the U.S., such research will continue in Europe and China, preventing these extreme scenarios,” said Harrison.

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.

However, details about how many credits those five companies purchased, and by how much they were allowed to offset emissions reductions through those purchases, remain a secret because state regulations prevent disclosure of those details.

The credit-trading program has been heavily criticized by environmentalists as a pay-to-pollute scheme that allows the state’s dirtiest industries to avoid making real changes to their greenhouse-gas emissions, which pollute the air and contribute to climate change.

The five companies that bid on credits were Cemex Construction Materials, a cement plant near Lyons; GCC Rio Grande, Inc., which makes cement in Pueblo and Penrose; Sterling Ethanol, a chemical manufacturer in Sterling; Suncor Energy’s oil refinery in Commerce City; and Yuma Ethanol, a chemical manufacturer in Yuma, according to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment’s auction summary. Sterling Ethanol and Yuma Ethanol are owned by Colorado Agri Products.

The sellers were Anheuser Busch’s Fort Collins brewery; Avago Technologies Wireless Manufacturing, which makes semiconductors and other electronic components in Fort Collins; and Western Sugar in Fort Morgan, according to the state’s auction summary.

Credits sold for about $25 each, and one credit equals one ton of carbon dioxide equivalents for one year. So if a company spent $100 at the auction, that company’s required emissions reduction would be four tons lower than what it otherwise would have been required to cut through improved technology or other measures.

In total, 2,760 credits were sold out of almost 106,280 credits offered.

Patrick Cummins, the health department’s director of environmental health and protection, said the state did not have any preconceived expectations going into the auction, but he was not surprised that so few credits were purchased.

“The companies offering and those bidding also didn’t know what to expect,” Cummins said.

Not every company that bid ended up buying credits, he said.

The Denver Post reached out to Suncor and Colorado AgriProducts to ask how the auction worked from their perspective, but representatives did not respond.

The details on which companies bought credits and how much they paid are kept secret to maintain a fair marketplace, Cummins said. If sellers knew how much a company was willing to pay, it could distort the market, he said.

Colorado’s Air Quality Control Commission, which establishes air pollution policies, created the greenhouse-gas credit-trading system while trying to come up with a plan to reduce by 20% the greenhouse-gas emissions from the state’s 18 largest manufacturers.

The plan allows companies that can lower their emissions beyond the mandated benchmark to sell credits to companies that struggle to meet the state’s emissions standards.

State regulators believed that by forcing the 18 largest industrial manufacturers to cut emissions, Colorado would move closer to its goal of eliminating all greenhouse-gas emissions by 2050. Those manufacturers include Suncor, Molson Coors, Western Sugar, Leprino Foods, Microchip Technology, JBS Foods and Cargill Meat Solutions, and they represent about 15% of all climate pollution emitted by industrial and manufacturing facilities in Colorado.

The majority of those 18 companies reduced their emissions below the specified levels they needed to meet in 2024 and did not need to buy credits, Cummins said.

The 18 companies will be evaluated and graded on their emissions reduction on a three-year cycle, and 2024 was the first year in the cycle, he said. There could be a greater demand for credits in the next two years as companies figure out how close they are to meeting the state’s mandated 2030 goal. But it is too early to predict whether some will rely on credits to make the goal, Cummins said.

Eight companies have told the state health department that they would achieve their 2030 reduction goals this year, Cummins said. Of the 18, only three exceeded the 2024 reduction requirements: Suncor, JBS Foods and Sterling Ethanol, according to the state’s greenhouse gas report.

Greenhouse gases include carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and fluorinated gases that trap heat in the atmosphere. Those gases linger and circle the Earth, causing global warming and climate change that brings on more severe weather such as large forest fires, rainstorms and intense summer heat. They also impact human health, causing respiratory and heart diseases and some cancers.

Colorado is planning to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2030 and to zero by 2050, and the credit-trading program is just one of multiple programs in place to help the state reach that goal.

Last year, the state approved a credit-trading program for natural-gas operators. Other programs include a push to get more electric vehicles on the road, require state and local governments to use electric lawn equipment, and to shutter the state’s coal-fired power plants by the end of 2030.

When the credit-trading program was approved in 2023, multiple environmental groups said the system would create a loophole that would allow the state’s biggest polluters, such as the Suncor refinery in Commerce City, to buy their way out of making serious greenhouse gas reductions.

But business leaders and the governor’s office wanted the credit-trading system, fearing that burdensome regulation would force some companies to move out of state.

June’s greenhouse-gas credit auction occurred with little fanfare. Multiple environmental groups contacted by The Post did not know it had happened. And that, too, was criticized because state regulators have promised to be transparent with the people who live in neighborhoods closest to those large polluters and who are most impacted by the pollution.

Ean Tafoya, of GreenLatinos, said no one told him that credits had been sold and he did not completely understand what had happened.

“I’m left with more questions than I have answers,” he said. “I’m disappointed there wasn’t more enhanced community engagement on such an important issue.”

Ian Coghill, senior attorney for Earthjustice, said he was surprised by how few credits were sold and how little the credits cost, especially since the state has determined the social cost of greenhouse gas emissions equals about $89 per ton. That essentially puts a price tag on how pollution impacts the environment and human health.

“I assumed the credits would go for much more money,” Coghill said.

Story update: This article was changed on July 23 to report the correct number of greenhouse gas credits that were offered at auction.

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Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen and state Attorney General Mike Hilgers held a news conference Wednesday to announce the lawsuit, which was filed with the U.S. Supreme Court.

“It’s crystal clear. Colorado has been holding water back from Nebraska for almost 100 years and getting more and more egregious every single day,” Pillen said, pointing to Colorado’s rapidly expanding population over the past decade.

“So today it’s really, really simple: We’re here to put our gloves on,” Pillen said. “We’re going to fight like heck. We’re going to get every drop of water.”

Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser called the lawsuit “unfortunate” in a written statement and said Nebraska officials failed “to look for reasonable solutions.” Gov. Jared Polis said the lawsuit was a needless escalation by Nebraska.

“Colorado has always been in compliance with the South Platte Compact and other applicable agreements. We have also continued to meet in good faith with Nebraska, despite its attempts to intimidate Colorado landowners and damage our agricultural communities,” Polis said in a statment.

The lawsuit accuses Colorado of depriving Nebraska of as much as 1.3 million acre-feet (about 160,350 hectare-meters) of water from the river over several years that Nebraska is entitled to under a 1923 compact between the states.

The suit also accuses Colorado officials of blocking Nebraska’s effort to construct a massive canal — often called the Perkins County Canal — and reservoir project that would see Nebraska seize land in Colorado to divert water into Nebraska, which is also allowed under the compact.

Nebraska needs the water not only for agriculture production in its southwestern region — which climate experts predict will grow hotter and drier in the coming decades — but also to feed water supplies in the eastern part of the state, officials said. Nebraska’s capital, Lincoln, is expected to get 12% of its water from the proposed canal, Pillen said.

The compact entitles Nebraska to 120 cubic feet (3.4 cubic meters) per second from the river during the irrigation season between April 1 and Oct. 15 each year, and 500 cubic feet (about 14 cubic meters) per second during the non-irrigation fall and winter months.

Hilgers said Colorado has been shortchanging Nebraska during the irrigation season, allowing only about 75 cubic feet (about 2 cubic meters) per second of water daily into Nebraska this summer.

“I think this may be the most consequential lawsuit that this office will be a part of in my generation,” Hilgers said. “It is almost impossible to overstate the importance of the South Platte River to the future of the state of Nebraska.”

The South Platte, which flows through northeastern Colorado into southwestern Nebraska, has been at the center of a tempest brewing between the two states going back to 2022, when Nebraska announced it would build the canal.

Since then, officials from the two states have been haggling over how to carry out both the terms of the compact and land acquisition to build the canal.

“It became clear, despite the very professional and intentional scope of those negotiations, that we were at an impasse,” Hilgers said.

Weiser countered that Nebraska officials should have remained at the negotiating table.

“Nebraska’s actions will force Colorado water users to build additional new projects to lessen the impact of the proposed Perkins County Canal,” he said. “When the dust finally settles, likely over a billion dollars will have been spent — tens of millions of that on litigation alone — and no one in Nebraska or Colorado will be better off.”

Hilgers said the lawsuit was filed directly with the Supreme Court because it handles disputes between states. The process “isn’t fast,” Hilgers warned.

“We’ll probably have a special master appointed within the next 12 months, and under normal litigation timelines, that’s maybe 3 to 5 years before we get a result,” he said.

That does not mean work on the canal will stop, he said, as he expects work on permitting and design of the canal to continue.

Nebraska has been at the center of interstate water disputes for decades. In 2002, Nebraska, Colorado and Kansas reached a settlement over Republican River water allocation after years of legal wrangling. But disputes continued, and new agreements were reached among the states again in 2014.

Water disputes could become more common as climate change worsens shortages, said Dr. Carly Phillips, a research scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists — a nonprofit that advocates for climate change solutions.

Warmer temperatures affect multiple parts of the hydrological cycle, Phillips said. It is decreasing the snowpack, which is the main way water is stored in the western U.S. Higher temperatures also mean the snow melts earlier each year, changing the availability of stream flow. And states like Nebraska might see increased irrigation demand when it’s hotter.

“These patterns are all in the same direction across the board,” Phillips said. “The trends are really consistent when it comes to snowpack, stream flow, evaporation and irrigation demand.”

____

Associated Press reporter Sarah Raza contributed from Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

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GENEVA (AP) — Soccer had a fierce reckoning with heat at the recently concluded FIFA Club World Cup in the United States — a sweltering preview of what players and fans may face when the U.S. co-hosts the World Cup with Mexico and Canada next summer.

With temperatures rising worldwide, scientists warn that staging the World Cup and other soccer tournaments in the Northern Hemisphere summer is getting increasingly dangerous for both players and spectators. Some suggest that FIFA may have to consider adjusting the soccer calendar to reduce the risk of heat-related illnesses.

“The deeper we go in the decade, the greater the risk without considering more dramatic measures, such as playing in the winter months and/or cooler latitudes,” said Prof. Piers Forster, director of the Priestley Centre for Climate Futures in Leeds, England. “I’m getting increasingly worried that we are only one heatwave away from a sporting tragedy and I would like to see governing bodies lean into the climate and health science.”

Tournament soccer in June and July is a tradition going back to the first World Cup in 1930.

Since then, the three-month period of June, July and August globally has warmed by 1.89 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Meanwhile, European summer temperatures have increased by 1.81 degrees C. The rate of warming has accelerated since the 1990’s.

Climate scientists say that’s a factor that needs to be considered when playing high-intensity outdoor sports like soccer.

“If you want to play football for 10 hours a day, they’ll have to be the hours of the early morning and late evening,” climatologist Friederike Otto from Imperial College, London, told The Associated Press in an email, “if you don’t want to have players and fans die from heatstroke or get severely ill with heat exhaustion.”

FIFA adapts

Extreme heat and thunderstorms made an impact on FIFA’s newly expanded tournament for club teams. The Club World Cup was held in 11 American cities from June 14 to July 13.

FIFA adapted by tweaking its extreme heat protocol to include extra breaks in play, more field-side water, and cooling the team benches with air fans and more shade.

Still, Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernández said the heat made him dizzy and urged FIFA to avoid afternoon kickoffs at the World Cup next year.

The global soccer players union, FIFPRO, has warned that six of the 16 World Cup cities next year are at “extremely high risk” for heat stress.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino addressed the heat concerns on Saturday, saying the handful of World Cup stadiums that are covered would be used for day-time games next year.

Extreme heat could become an even bigger challenge at the following World Cup in 2030, which will be co-hosted by Spain, Portugal and Morocco. Games are scheduled to be played in afternoons and early evenings from mid-June to mid-July. All three countries have already seen temperatures rise well above 100 Fahrenheit this summer.

FIFA downplayed the heat risk in its in-house evaluation of the 2030 World Cup bid, saying “weather conditions are difficult to predict with the current development in global and local climate, but are unlikely to affect the health of players or other participants.”

Heat exhaustion

The physical effects of playing 90 minutes of soccer in direct sunshine during the hottest part of the day can be severe and potentially result in hyperthermia – abnormally high body temperatures.

“When players experience hyperthermia, they also experience an increase in cardiovascular strain,” said Julien Périard of the University of Canberra.

“If core temperature increases excessively, exertional heat illness can occur,” leading to muscle cramping, heat exhaustion, and even life-threatening heat stroke, he said.

Many sports events held in the summer adjust their start times to early morning or late night to minimize the risk heat-related illness, including marathons at the Olympics or track world championships. Morning kickoffs, however, are rare in soccer, where World Cup match schedules are often set with European TV audiences in mind.

It would be hard for FIFA to avoid day-time World Cup kickoffs given the packed match schedule as the number of participating teams increases from 32 to 48 in 2026.

Calendar rethink

Heat mainly becomes an issue when the World Cup is held in the Northern Hemisphere, because June and July are winter months in the Southern Hemisphere.

FIFA has stuck to its traditional June-July schedule for the men’s World Cup except in 2022 when it moved the tournament to November-December to avoid the summer heat in Qatar. Something similar is expected when neighboring Saudi Arabia hosts the tournament in 2034.

However, moving the World Cup to another part of the year is complicated because it means Europe’s powerful soccer leagues must interrupt their season, affecting both domestic leagues and the Champions League.

FIFA didn’t respond to questions from AP about whether alternate dates for the 2030 and 2034 World Cups were being considered.

When and where to schedule the World Cup and other outdoor sports events is likely to become more pressing as the world continues to warm.

Athletes and even everyday people doing basic physical activities are now exposed to 28% more of moderate or higher heat risk in 2023 than they were in the 1990s, said Ollie Jay, a professor at the University of Sydney who has helped shape policy for the Australian Open in tennis.

“This is symbolic of something bigger,” said Michael Mann, a University of Pennsylvania climate scientist. “Not just the danger and inconvenience to fans and players, but the fundamentally disruptive nature of climate change when it comes our current way of life.”

Borenstein contributed from Washington, D.C.

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

KERRVILLE, Texas (AP) — With rain in the forecast Monday, officials kept a wary eye on river levels as some crews resumed the search for people still missing after catastrophic flooding pummeled Texas this month, killing at least 132 people.

Search and rescue operations along the Guadalupe River were halted Sunday after a new round of heavy rain led to more high water rescues and prompted fears that waterways could surge again above their banks.

That was the first time search efforts for victims were paused since the July Fourth floods. Authorities believe more than 160 people may still be missing in Kerr County alone, and 10 more in neighboring areas.

‘Trailer after trailer after trailer’ swept away

Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly said Monday during a commissioners’ meeting that it is difficult to determine exactly how many tourists were in the area when the flooding occurred.

“We’ve heard accounts of trailer after trailer after trailer being swept into the river with families in the them. Can’t find the trailers,” Kelly said. “It’s what we don’t know. We don’t know how many of them there are.”

Kelly said he’d been told of one trailer that was found “completely covered in gravel” 27 feet below the surface of the river. He said sonar crews have been searching the river and local lakes and more are expected to arrive.

Commissioner Don Harris said officials plan to drain two reservoir lakes on the river.

“Who knows how many out there are completely covered,” Harris said

FEMA Urban Search and Rescue teams fully resumed operations on Monday, said Obed Frometa, FEMA Blue Incident Support Team information officer.

Levi Bizzell with Ingram Fire Department said their operations and everything up the river were still suspended as of about noon Monday but they would be reconvening shortly to discuss next steps.

“Everybody here wants to be out there working,” Bizzell said. “They literally come in in the morning whether they are tired or not, and they just want to get out there and work because they want to find closure for these families.”

‘Playing a blame game’

In Kerrville, about 100 miles west of Austin, local officials have come under scrutiny over whether residents were adequately warned about the rising water on July 4.

Authorities in Kerrville went door-to-door to some homes early Sunday to warn that flooding was again possible, and pushed phone alerts to area residents.

Kerr County commissioners asked the public for their patience as the search and cleanup continues. Commissioner Rich Paces said during the meeting Monday morning that he has received death threats.

“They’re just playing a blame game,” Paces said.

During a special Kerrville City Council meeting Monday, council member Brenda Hughes also complained of threats to city officials and staff, which she did not detail, and called for increased security at City Hall.

“We’re not only dealing with all of the aftermath of this tragic event, but now we have to worry about threats that are coming to staff, targeted threats that are specific to individual staff members,” she said.

Bad weather forces a halt to search efforts

During the pause in search efforts, Ingram Fire Department officials ordered crews to immediately evacuate the Guadalupe River corridor in Kerr County, warning the potential for another flash flood was high.

The soil is still primed for enhanced water runoff across Texas Hill Country, and a flood watch covering the region is in effect until 9 p.m. Monday, with up to 5 inches of rain possible in some spots, the National Weather Service said.

Gov. Greg Abbott said on X on Sunday that the state had rescued dozens of people in San Saba, Lampasas and Schleicher counties, and that people evacuated their homes in a handful of others.

The latest flooding damaged about 100 homes and knocked down untold lengths of cattle fencing, said Ashley Johnson, CEO of the Hill Country Community Action Association, a San Saba-based nonprofit.

“Anything you can imagine in a rural community was damaged,” she said. “Our blessing is it was daylight and we knew it was coming.”

County officials ordered everyone living in flood-prone areas near the San Saba River to evacuate and relocate to the San Saba Civic Center, Johnson said.

A wide-ranging weather system brings heavy rains

The weather system brought widespread slow-moving storms and multiple rounds of heavy rain Sunday, pushing rivers and streams over their banks.

The rains caused waterways to swell further north in Texas, where emergency crews rescued one motorist who was left stranded in waist-high rapids on a submerged bridge over the Bosque River.

“He drove into it and didn’t realize how deep it was,” said Jeff Douglas, president of the McGregor Volunteer Fire Department.

Just before daybreak on the Fourth of July, destructive, fast-moving waters rose 26 feet on the Guadalupe River, washing away homes and vehicles. Crews in helicopters, boats and drones have been searching for victims.

The floods laid waste to the Hill Country region. The riverbanks and hills of Kerr County are filled with vacation cabins, youth camps and campgrounds, including Camp Mystic, the century-old, all-girls Christian summer camp.

Located in a low-lying area along the Guadalupe River in a region known as flash flood alley, Camp Mystic lost at least 27 campers and counselors.

The flood was far more severe than the 100-year event envisioned by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, experts said, and moved so quickly in the middle of the night that it caught many off guard in a county that lacked a warning system.

Associated Press reporters Sophia Tareen in Chicago; Carolyn Thompson in Buffalo, New York; Juan Lozano in Houston, Michael Weissenstein in Dobbs Ferry, New York; and Jeff Martin in Kennesaw, Georgia, contributed to this report.

The talk surrounding the budget package caused uncertainty in the sector over how it could impact incentives and financing, analysts said, likely leading to the pause in the projects.

The new law speeds up the phase-out of incentives and tax credits approved in the Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act, which Trump criticized as the “green new scam” during the 2024 presidential campaign. Tax credits for rooftop solar will go away at the end of this year and incentives for electric vehicles run out Sept. 30.

The bill also accelerates portions of the incentives for advanced manufacturing. Will Toor, executive director of the Colorado Energy Office, said renewable energy provisions in the budget bill will undercut development of the advanced manufacturing industry in the U.S.

“We’ve already seen things like the recent announcement about the Amprius battery factory in Brighton where the direct impact of this federal policy is already causing manufacturers to pull back on their investments and remove economic growth and jobs,” Toor said.

Amprius Technologies announced in 2023 that it would open a 775,000-square-foot lithium-ion battery manufacturing facility in Brighton that would employ about 330 people in the first phases. But in May, the California company told shareholders that it was pausing the project as it monitors “market dynamics.”

Amprius CEO Kang Sun said in a statement that while the company has completed the plant’s design, there are no immediate plans to move forward to the next phase. Producing cutting-edge battery technologies at scale in the U.S. requires “a highly capital-intensive process” and technical expertise that is still developing, he said.

“Meanwhile, other countries have spent years building mature, cost-efficient battery industries, giving them a significant head start,” Sun said.

The national organization Environmental Entrepreneurs, or E2, maintains that projects were canceled or put on hold leading up to the debate and approval of Trump’s budget bill because of the uncertainty around federal policy on renewable energy, incentives and funds. A report by the group said $15.5 billion in new factories and clean energy projects have been canceled across the country since Jan. 1 as the incoming administration signaled that changes were ahead.

E2 and Clean Economy Tracker release frequent updates on the renewable energy and advanced manufacturing industries.

Susan Nedell, senior advocate in the West for E2, believes the targeting of renewable energy incentives and programs played into the cancellation of plans to build a $250 million factory in Brighton to make solar panels.

VSK Energy Inc., a joint venture between India-based Vikram Solar and the private equity firm Phalanx Impact Partners and the development firm Das & Co., announced the project in 2023. At the time, Sriram Das, chairman of VSK Energy and managing director of Das & Co, called the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act “a landmark moment for the clean energy future of the United States.”

A spokesperson confirmed Wednesday that the Brighton plant isn’t moving forward, but didn’t give a reason.

“In Colorado, as well as the nation, we’ll see more cancellations of big projects, more jobs lost, more layoffs, less investment in solar and wind because of the uncertainty,” Nedell said.

A spokeswoman for Rep. Gabe Evans, a Republican whose district includes Brighton, said Amprius had been reconsidering the Brighton location since March, according to news reports, months before the text of the budget bill was released.

Evans joined most of his fellow Republicans in Congress to support the budget bill. However, the congressman’s spokeswoman, Delanie Bomar, and a spokeswoman for Pivot Energy, which develops solar and energy storage projects in Colorado, said Evans worked to ensure that renewable energy tax credits weren’t abruptly eliminated as some wanted and a proposed excise tax on wind and solar wasn’t imposed.

“As the representative for one of the highest energy producing districts in the country, I fought hard to protect the clean energy tax credits in the ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’ and ensure the tax on clean energy was removed,” Evans said in a statement.

Toor, of the Colorado Energy Office, said the state remains committed to boosting the use of renewable energy and addressing climate change. “The underlying economics are still there. Wind and solar are both still highly competitive. Electric vehicles will still cut your fuel bill.”

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Re: “GOP milestone: House gives final approval in tight vote to Trump’s big tax bill,” July 4 news story

While Republicans claim that their “The One Big Beautiful Bill” will strengthen Medicaid by eliminating the usual waste, fraud, and abuse, it is more telling that their changes to Medicaid will not go into effect until after the 2026 midterm elections. If there’s waste, fraud, and abuse, why wait two years to deal with it? The reason is that they won’t have to fear the political repercussions of the pain and suffering from all those benefits they promised. Voters need to see through this.

Dan Danbom, Denver

Re: “Trump tax bill: Hurd voted party line; so did the rest of state delegation,” July 4 news story

Rep. Gabe Evans’ commercial states that his vote is for Colorado families. Evans is giving them crumbs, however. He voted to give the rich loaves.

James Maki, Dacono

Re:  ” ‘Big beautiful bill’ is ugly for state residents’ health,” July 4 commentary,  and “Small colleges depend on their endowments; the tax should not be raised,” July 2 commentary.

America is over $37 trillion in debt, which is considerably greater than our $27 trillion GDP. The only way to resolve this financial crisis is for America to export more than it imports. This can only happen if America reindustrializes and is able to create novel technologies that will be marketable. This will also help solve some of the myriad crises facing the world (e.g., climate change vis-à-vis green energy).

However, President Donald Trump and Elon Musk have utterly decimated science and higher education in America by defunding both. Where will the engineers who design and build our factories come from — especially when international students (who largely pursue STEM) are no longer welcome here? How will we fuel innovation when there is sparse funding for scientific research?

Cutting taxes and aiding the wealthy elites of this country will not solve America’s debt crisis as it falls further behind technologically. Only strong support for scientific research and higher education will.

Michael Pravica, Henderson, Nevada

To Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski: If we ever needed a hero, last week was the week. And Sen. Murkowski, this was your chance to show your mettle. This was the vote you could show how strong, committed, and ethical you are. This was the time to do the “McCain” vote. This was the time to be a hero. Not everybody is afforded this opportunity.

Ah, but no. You, like so many of your colleagues, chose the easy way out. You knew the “Big, Beautiful Bill” was ugly and wrong. Before your vote “yea”, you stated that fact. Your vote said to me that you are too weak to stand up for the Constitution and the American people. Instead, you got what you could for yourself and your special interests in Alaska. You know millions of people will be hurt and many will die from your decision, but you don’t care.

Don’t think for a minute your GOP comrades hold you in esteem. Trump used you and others and now you are nothing to him. “The Murkowski” vote will be added to history books with that of Benedict Arnold, the Rosenbergs, and Donald Trump. You failed the test. Your legacy will be one of disgrace and dishonor. You blew it for yourself and our country.

Carol Kiernan, Westminster

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Just weeks ago, President Donald Trump said he wanted to begin “phasing out” the Federal Emergency Management Agency after this hurricane season to “wean off of FEMA” and “bring it down to the state level.”

But after months of promises to overhaul or eliminate the federal agency charged with responding to disasters, Trump and his administration are touting a fast and robust federal response to the devastating Texas floods. In doing so, they are aligning more closely with a traditional model of disaster response — and less with the dramatic reform the president has proposed.

The president approved Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s request for a major disaster declaration just one day after it was submitted, activating FEMA resources and unlocking assistance for survivors and local governments. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem told Trump in a presidential Cabinet meeting Tuesday morning that FEMA was deploying funding and resources quickly. “We’re cutting through the paperwork of the old FEMA, streamlining it, much like your vision of how FEMA should operate,” Noem said.

Noem said the rapid delivery of funds to Texas resembled the “state block grants” model Trump has promoted. It’s an idea that would replace FEMA’s current system of reimbursing states for response and recovery expenses at a cost-share of at least 75%.

But ex-FEMA officials say it’s unclear how the response differs from FEMA’s typical role in disasters, which is to support states through coordination and funding. Instead, they say, the vigorous federal response underscores how difficult it would be for states to take on FEMA’s responsibilities if it were dismantled.

“This is a defining event that can help them realize that a Federal Emergency Management Agency is essential,” said Michael Coen, FEMA chief of staff in the Obama and Biden administrations. “Imagine if an event like this happened a year from now, after FEMA is eliminated. What would the president or secretary (Noem) offer to the governor of Texas if there is no FEMA?”

The Department of Homeland Security and FEMA did not immediately respond to questions about Noem’s remarks, including whether FEMA was doing something different in how it moved money to Texas, or why it resembled a block-grant system.

FEMA will have multiple roles in Texas

While Noem and Trump have emphasized that Texas is leading the response and recovery to the floods, that has always been FEMA’s role, said Justin Knighten, the agency’s director of external affairs during the Biden administration.

“The state is in the lead. FEMA is invited into the state to support,” Knighten said. He said that while Texas’ division of emergency management is one of the most experienced in the country, even the most capable states face catastrophes that overwhelm them: “When there’s capacity challenges and resource need, that’s where FEMA steps in.”

One of FEMA’s primary roles will be to coordinate resources from other federal agencies. If the state needs the Army Corps of Engineers to help with debris removal, Health and Human Services for mortuary support and crisis counseling, or EPA for water quality testing, FEMA arranges that at the state’s request and then reimburses those agencies. “FEMA becomes a one-point entry for all federal support,” Coen said.

The agency also coordinates first-responder support — like search-and-rescue teams deployed from across the country — and reimburses those costs. It administers the National Flood Insurance Program, which gives homeowners and renters access to flood coverage not typically included in general policies.

Those with insufficient insurance or none at all will rely heavily on FEMA’s Individual Assistance program, which supports survivors with needs like temporary housing and home repairs. On Wednesday, the agency is opening disaster recovery centers where households can get help applying for assistance, according to Texas Emergency Management Chief Nim Kidd. The Public Assistance program will reimburse state and local governments for most or all of the costs of infrastructure repairs.

States would have trouble replacing FEMA

While Trump and Noem often say they want states to take on more responsibility in disaster response, experts say the tragedy in Texas underscores how even the most capable states need support.

“It’s true that Texas is very capable, but I think it’s something that people forget that FEMA pays for a lot of state and local emergency capacity,” said Maddie Sloan, director of the disaster recovery and fair housing project at the policy nonprofit Texas Appleseed. The Texas Division of Emergency Management’s budget of over $2 billion is mostly funded through federal grants.

“If a state like Texas asks for federal assistance within two days, the smaller states that are less capable don’t stand a chance,” said Jeremy Edwards, FEMA’s deputy director of public affairs during the Biden administration.

States would have to set up their own recovery programs and to coordinate with each federal agency if they were given block grants in lieu of FEMA involvement. “Without FEMA, a governor or a state has to be calling around and have a Rolodex of the whole federal government to call and try and figure out what support they can get,” Coen said.

There are plenty of reforms that could improve how FEMA reimburses states and helps survivors, experts said, but eliminating it risks big gaps in recovery. “We have spent a lot of time encouraging FEMA to be better, but if FEMA goes away, there is no help for individual families,” Sloan said.

Uncertain future for federal disaster response

Trump has deflected questions about what the Texas response means for FEMA’s future. A 12-member review council established by the president and charged with proposing FEMA reforms will meet for the second time Wednesday. Abbott and Kidd are both on the council.

At the first meeting, Abbott called FEMA “slow and clunky” and said reforms should “streamline the effort.” He has praised Trump’s quick disaster declaration in Texas.

While no large reforms to the agency have been enacted yet, smaller policy changes could impact Texas’ recovery.

This spring, the administration did away with FEMA’s practice of door-to-door canvassing to help households enroll for assistance, calling it “wasteful and ineffective.” Many of the impacted areas in Kerr County and beyond still lack power and accessible roads, which will make it difficult for households to apply immediately for help.

Amid the upheaval of DOGE-related FEMA layoffs and departures this spring, the administrator and deputy administrator of FEMA Region 6, which covers Texas, left the agency. Region 6 is operating under an acting administrator. Coen called the loss of experienced staff “significant” but said the team is still capable.

Abbott’s request for hazard mitigation funding, a common add-on to public and individual assistance that helps communities rebuild with resilience, is also still pending. Trump has not approved any hazard-mitigation assistance requests since February.

HUNT, Texas (AP) — More than 160 people are still believed to be missing in Texas days after flash floods killed over 100 people during the July Fourth weekend, the state’s governor said Tuesday.

The huge jump in the number unaccounted for — roughly three times higher than previously said — came after authorities set up a hotline for families to call.

Those reported missing are in Kerr County, where most of the victims have been recovered so far, Gov. Greg Abbott said. Many were likely visiting or staying in state’s Hill Country during the holiday but did not register at a camp or hotel, he said during a news conference.

The county’s lowlands along the Guadalupe River are filled with youth camps and campgrounds, including Camp Mystic, the century-old all-girls Christian summer camp where at least 27 campers and counselors died. Officials said Tuesday that five campers and one counselor have still not been found.

Search-and-rescue teams are using heavy equipment to untangle and peel away layers of trees, unearth large rocks in riverbanks and move massive piles of debris that stretch for miles in the search for the missing people. Crews in airboats, helicopters and on horseback along with hundreds of volunteers are part of one of the largest search operations in Texas history.

The flash flood is the deadliest from inland flooding since Colorado’s Big Thompson Canyon flood on July 31, 1976, killed 144 people, said Bob Henson, a meteorologist with Yale Climate Connections. That flood surged through a narrow canyon packed with people on a holiday weekend, Colorado’s centennial celebration.

Public officials in charge of locating the victims are facing intensifying questions about who was in charge of monitoring the weather and warning that floodwaters were barreling toward camps and homes.

The Republican governor, who took a helicopter tour of the disaster zone, dismissed a question about who was to blame for the deaths, saying, “That’s the word choice of losers.”

“Every football team makes mistakes,” he said. “The losing teams are the ones that try to point out who’s to blame. The championship teams are the ones who say, ’Don’t worry about it, man, we got this. We’re going to make sure that we go score again and we’re going to win this game.’ The way winners talk is not to point fingers.”

Abbott promised that the search for victims will not stop until everyone is found. He also said President Donald Trump has pledged to provide whatever relief Texas needs to recover. Trump plans to visit the state Friday.

Scenes of devastation at Camp Mystic

Outside the cabins at Camp Mystic where the girls had slept, mud-splattered blankets and pillows were scattered on a grassy hill that slopes toward the river. Also in the debris were pink, purple and blue luggage decorated with stickers.

Among those who died at the camp were a second grader who loved pink sparkles and bows, a 19-year-old counselor who enjoyed mentoring young girls and the camp’s 75-year-old director.

The flash floods erupted before daybreak Friday after massive rains sent water speeding down hills into the Guadalupe River, causing it to rise 26 feet (8 meters) in less than an hour. The wall of water overwhelmed people in cabins, tents and trailers along the river’s edge. Some survivors were found clinging to trees.

Some campers had to swim out of cabin windows to safety while others held onto a rope as they made their way to higher ground. Time-lapse videos showed how floodwaters covered roads in a matter of minutes.

Although it’s difficult to attribute a single weather event to climate change, experts say a warming atmosphere and oceans make catastrophic storms more likely.

Where were the warnings?

Questions mounted about what, if any, actions local officials took to warn campers and residents who were spending the July Fourth weekend in the scenic area long known to locals as “flash flood alley.”

Leaders in Kerr county, where searchers have found about 90 bodies, said their first priority is recovering victims, not reviewing what happened in the hours before the flash floods.

“Right now, this team up here is focused on bringing people home,” Lt. Col. Ben Baker of the Texas Game Wardens, said during a sometimes tense news conference.

Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly, the county’s chief elected official, said in the hours after the devastation that the county does not have a warning system.

Generations of families in the Hill Country have known the dangers. A 1987 flood forced the evacuation of a youth camp in the town of Comfort and swamped buses and vans. Ten teenagers were killed.

Local leaders have talked for years about the need for a warning system. Kerr County sought a nearly $1 million grant eight years ago for such a system, but the request was turned down by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Local residents balked at footing the bill themselves, Kelly said.

Recovery and cleanup goes on

Four days have passed since anyone was found alive in the aftermath of the floods in Kerr County, officials said Tuesday.

The bodies of 30 children were among those that have been recovered in the county, which is home to Camp Mystic and several other summer camps, the sheriff said.

The devastation spread across several hundred miles in central Texas all the way to just outside the capital of Austin.

Aidan Duncan escaped just in time after hearing the muffled blare of a megaphone urging residents to evacuate Riverside RV Park in the Hill Country town of Ingram.

All his belongings — a mattress, sports cards, his pet parakeet’s bird cage — now sit caked in mud in front of his home.

“What’s going on right now, it hurts,” the 17-year-old said. “I literally cried so hard.”

Along the banks of the Guadalupe, 91-year-old Charles Hanson, a resident at a senior living center, was sweeping up wood and piling pieces of concrete and stone, remnants from a playground structure.

He wanted to help clean up on behalf of his neighbors who can’t get out. “We’ll make do with the best we got,” he said.

Seewer reported from Toledo, Ohio. Associated Press writers Joshua A. Bickel in Kerrville, Texas; Jim Vertuno in Austin, Texas; and John Hanna in Topeka, Kansas, contributed to this report.