THE CENTER SQUARE—Within one month of each other, six of the largest U.S. banks left the United Nations Net-Zero Banking Alliance not soon after Donald Trump was elected president. Last month, Goldman Sachs was the first to withdraw from the alliance, followed by Wells Fargo, The Center Square reported. By Dec. 31, Citigroup and Bank of America left, followed by Morgan Stanley on Jan. 6 and JPMorganChase on Jan. 7. They did so after joining the alliance several years ago pledging to require environmental social governance standards across their platforms, products, and systems. According to the “bank-led and UN-convened” alliance, global banks joined, pledging to align their lending, investment, and capital markets activities with net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, Net-Zero Banking Alliance explains. Since April 2021, 141 banks in 44 countries with more than $61 trillion in assets had joined the banking alliance, the alliance says. That’s down from 145 banks with more than $73 trillion in assets it reported last month after Wells Fargo and Goldman Sachs withdrew. “In April 2021 when NZBA launched, no bank had set a science-based sectoral 2030 target for its financed emissions using 1.5°C scenarios,” it says. “Today, over half of NZBA banks have set such targets.” They started to drop off after President-elect Donald Trump vowed to increase domestic oil and natural gas production and pledged to go after “woke” companies. They also announced their departure two years after 19 state attorneys general launched an investigation into them for alleged deceptive trade practices connected to ESG. Four states led the investigation: Arizona, Kentucky, Missouri, and Texas. Others involved include Arkansas, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Virginia. Five state investigations aren’t public for confidentiality reasons. In Texas, the state Legislature passed a bill, which Gov. Greg Abbott signed into law, that prohibits governmental entities from entering into contracts with companies that boycott the oil and natural gas industry. The law also requires state entities to divest from financial companies that boycott the industry through ESG policies. To date, 17 companies and 353 publicly traded investment funds are on Texas’ ESG divestment list. After financial institutions withdraw from the banking alliance, they are permitted to do business with Texas, the office of Texas attorney general says. However, Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar has expressed skepticism about companies claiming to withdraw from ESG commitments, noting there is often doublespeak in their announcements, The Center Square reported. Notably, when leaving the alliance, a Goldman Sachs spokesperson said the company was still committed to the Net-Zero Banking Alliance goals and has “the capabilities to achieve our goals and to support the sustainability objectives of our clients,” EST Today reported. The company also said it was “very focused on the increasingly elevated sustainability standards and reporting requirements imposed by regulators around the world.” “Goldman Sachs also confirmed that its goal to align its financing activities with net zero by 2050, and its interim sector-specific targets remained in place,” EST Today reported. Five Goldman Sachs funds are listed in Texas’ ESG divestment list. While announcing it was leaving the alliance, a JPMorgan spokesperson also affirmed the company’s commitment to reaching net-zero emissions. “We aim to contribute to real-economy decarbonization by providing our clients with the advice and capital needed to transform business models and lower carbon intensity,” the spokesperson said, Reuters reported. Yahoo Finance also notes that JPMorgan will continue to work with Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero. “We will also continue to support the banking and investment needs of our clients who are engaged in energy transition and in decarbonizing different sectors of the economy,” the spokesperson said. Citigroup and Bank of America also remain committed to net-zero objectives, including continuing to report on efforts to achieve 2030 net-zero targets and reducing carbon dioxide emissions associated with corporate lending, FiNews reported. The comptroller’s office remains committed to “enforcing the laws of our state as passed by the Texas Legislature,” Hegar said. “Texas tax dollars should not be invested in a manner that undermines our state’s economy or threatens key Texas industries and jobs.” Originally published by The Center Square The post Within a Month, 6 Largest US Banks Leave UN Net-Zero Banking Alliance appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Americans are more optimistic about the economy than they were before Donald Trump’s reelection, a newly released survey from pollster Scott Rasmussen’s Napolitan News Service shows. A survey of 1,000 Americans conducted in early January reports 24% of Americans say their financial situation is improving and 33% say it’s getting worse. The Napolitan Institute press release explains that this result is “one point less pessimistic than a month ago and a six-point improvement since Donald Trump was elected.” Of course, this cannot be the result of Donald Trump’s policies in action, as he has not been inaugurated yet. But Rasmussen’s survey does suggest a major improvement in Americans’ optimism about their finances since the November elections, as the institute reports that these numbers are “the least pessimistic result we’ve measured in two years, since February 2023.” The report further explains that “the number saying their finances are getting better has remained very steady over the past year. However, the number saying their finances are getting worse dropped from 41% just before the election to 33% now.” But not all Americans are optimistic. According to Rasmussen’s survey, “elite adjacent” respondents have become significantly more pessimistic about their finances in defiance of the national trend towards optimism. “Elite adjacent voters are better off financially than Main Street voters. However, their level of optimism has declined over the past month,” explains Rasmussen.  The survey defines these elite adjacent voters as “those who share one or two of the Elite 1% attributes—have postgraduate degrees, have household incomes over $150,000, live in the most densely populated urban areas—but not all three.” These voters have exhibited a loss of economic confidence just as precipitous as the rise in confidence of other voters.  “In the most recent survey, 35% of these voters said their finances are getting better and 29% worse,” writes Rasmussen. “That net +6 is down eight points from pre-election levels and down seven from the immediate post-election numbers.” While the lasting effects of Trump’s economic policies on the financial optimism of Americans remain to be seen, the dramatic shift in attitudes among Americans suggest that they take his economic projects seriously. The post Americans Are More Optimistic About the Economy After Trump’s Reelection, Survey Shows appeared first on The Daily Signal.

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Ahead of the iPhone 17 release later this year, another leak corroborates a well-known rumor that all iPhone 17 Pro models will have the same camera resolution. This time, according to the Weibo account Digital Chat Station (via MacRumors), the upcoming iPhone Pro models will feature a 1/1.3" 48MP Fusion lens, a 48MP Ultra Wide lens, and an upgraded 48MP Tetraprism telephoto lens. The leaker says that the main and telephoto cameras of the iPhone 17 Pro models will also feature hybrid glass-plastic lenses. That said, Apple will finally finish its long transition to all lenses supporting 48MP resolution. Besides that, all iPhone 17 Pro models will have a 24MP front camera, a long-overdue upgrade. These features have all been rumored in the past few months. In June, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said that the iPhone 17 Pro Max would feature an upgraded 48MP Tetraprism camera, while analyst Jeff Pu wrote in August that all iPhone 17 models would have a 24MP front-facing camera. With 48MP cameras, Apple could finally unveil upgraded recording modes, such as the long-awaited 8K recording. In addition, it would bring a more seamless experience when switching between the three cameras. iPhone 17 latest rumors While the iPhone 16 models were an “S” upgrade, Apple is expected to revamp its smartphone lineup with the upcoming iPhone 17. The latest leaks reveal the company wants to ditch the iPhone Plus for a new Air model. While it was expected to be underpowered and overpriced, it seems Apple will experiment with this device with an ultrathin design to introduce it later on the Pro lineup. With the iPhone 17 Pro, the company is expected to optimize the processors for more challenging Apple Intelligence tasks, and the software will be more mature for those applications. Apple is expected to add more RAM to the Pro models, and the new design should make more people upgrade to these upcoming models. Don't Miss: iPhone 17: Release date, rumors, features, A19, price, and Slim model The post Leaker corroborates details of Apple’s major iPhone 17 Pro camera upgrade appeared first on BGR. Today's Top Deals Today’s deals: $510 M1 MacBook Air, $4.75 Kasa smart plugs, $18 Roku Express, $328 Sony XM5 headphones, more Today’s deals: Return of the $279 iPad 10, $30 Crest 3D Whitestrips, $34 Roku Streaming Stick 4K, more Today’s deals: $20 waterproof Bluetooth speaker, $23 space heater, $200 exercise bike, more Today’s deals: $8 wireless fast charger, $735 black Apple Watch Ultra 2, $70 foldable 4K camera drone, more

Israel's army confirmed that one of the bodies recovered from Gaza earlier this week was that of 23-year-old hostage Hamzah AlZayadni. His body was retrieved with that of his father, Yosef AlZayadni, who were taken together when Hamas-led militants stormed into...

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Chinese hackers breached the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. (CFIUS), a government agency that reviews foreign investments for national security risks, CNN reported on Friday, citing three U.S. officials familiar with the matter.

Ukraine expects high-level contact with the new U.S. administration immediately after Donald Trump takes office, including an eventual meeting between the U.S. president-elect and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Kyiv said Friday.

It’s an ambitious move, but congressional Republicans are ready to try. Border security, lower taxes, and a debt limit increase – can Trump have it all in one big, beautiful reconciliation bill? That…