THE WALL STREET JOURNAL. **** Friday, August 9, 2019 |A
Climate experts meeting in
Geneva recommended changes
to the foods people eat and
farm in an effort to stave off
the disruptive effects of rising
global temperatures, while
growers and major food pro-
ducers attempt to adapt.
People should consider eat-
ing more vegetables and less
meat, the researchers said
Thursday. The switch may help
slow greenhouse-gas emis-
sions, they said, because farm-
ing vegetables releases less
greenhouse gases than live-
stock production.
“Diets that are rich in plant-
based foods have lower green-
house-gas emissions than diets
heavy in red-meat consump-
tion,” said climatologist Cyn-
thia Rosenzweig, who studies
climate change and agriculture
at NASA’s Goddard Institute for
Space Studies in New York.
Farming and other land uses
account for nearly a quarter of
greenhouse-gas emissions,
while half of the methane
emissions in the atmosphere
are released from cattle and
rice fields, the researchers
said. Other studies have found
less of an impact on green-
house-gas emissions but still
sizable effects.
Some food manufacturers
and agricultural companies are
already taking steps to change
practices.
Smithfield Foods Inc. has set
a goal of reducing greenhouse
emissions 25% by 2025
through moves like working
with farmers to improve the ef-
ficiency of fertilizer use and
crop yields, while reducing ni-
trous oxide emissions.
Mondelez International Inc.,
maker of Cadbury candy bars
and other chocolate products,
said farms in Ghana that par-
ticipate in its cocoa sustain-
ability program reported 15%
higher yields for the commod-
ity than nonparticipants.
More changes to farming
are in the works. Big seed sup-
pliers like Bayer AG, Corteva
Inc. and Syngenta AG are de-
veloping varieties of corn that
can grow in dry conditions and
rice that can withstand saltier
water. The companies say
those plants can help farmers
produce food as temperatures
and sea levels rise.
Agribusinesses are also
touting genetically engineered
crops and synthetic pesticides
as the best way to maximize
crop production and minimize
deforestation and tilling, which
can release carbon into the at-
mosphere. In 2015, scientists
developed a genetically modi-
fied rice that gives off virtually
no greenhouse-gas emissions
while growing; there isn’t an
estimate on when it might beready for market. At least one
agriculture tech startup is test-
ing soy, camelina and corn
crops whose DNA was edited to
lower their emissions and
adapt the plants to climate
change.
“Farmers that use the best
technologies and agronomic
approaches significantly reduce
their greenhouse-gas emis-
sions,” Erik Fyrwald, Syn-
genta’s chief executive, said in
a recent interview.
Plant-based meat replace-
ment products could spur an
increase in vegetable consump-
tion and a drop in eating beef,
say companies like Beyond
Meat Inc. and Impossible Foods
Inc. Making imitation ground
beef using proteins from yel-
low peas or soy requires less
grain production and water,
and could help curb emissions
from livestock themselves, the
companies say.Big restaurant companies
including Burger King, Dunkin’
Brands Group Inc. and Carl’s Jr.
have added Beyond and Impos-
sible meat substitutes at thou-
sands of U.S. restaurants in the
past year.
The latest round of attention
followed the release of a report
on climate change and land use
by the Intergovernmental Panel
on Climate Change, or IPCC, a
United Nations body that eval-
uates climate-change science
for government policy makers.
TheIPCCisanadvisory
group composed of climate sci-
entists from around the world
who regularly review climate-
change research and provide
scientific assessments of the
implications and risks of
changing climate conditions.
The report adds to a body of
evidence highlighting the cli-
mate impact of livestock and
crop production and the global
appetite for red meat and rice.
The impact from farming and
diet is often overshadowed by
debates about curbing heat-
trapping carbon emissions
from fossil fuels.
“We weren’t just concerned
about agriculture but about the
way that people eat and the im-
plications of that for climate
change and greenhouse-gas
emissions,” said Jim Skea, an en-
ergy strategy fellow at Imperial
College London and co-chairman
of the IPCC working group.
Last year was the fourth-
warmest year since 1880, ac-
cording to the National Aero-
nautics and Space
Administration and the Na-
tional Oceanic and Atmo-
spheric Administration,which
track annual climate trends.Climate Costs
Farmingandotherlanduses
accountfornearlyaquarterof
greenhouse-gasemissions.
Contribution to global
emmissions, by sector,
2010Source: U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyElectricity
andheat
productionAgriculture,
forestry,
landuseOtherTransportation BuildingsIndustry24% 2510
6
1421cial Services committees seek-
ing records from the two banks.
The banks have said they aren’t
taking any position on whether
they should be compelled to
provide information.
Another federal appeals
court last month considered a
bid by Mr. Trump and the
Trump Organization to block a
subpoena issued by the House
Oversight Committee seeking
eight years’ worth of financial
statements and other records
from Mazars USA LLP, Mr.
Trump’s longtime accounting
firm. Mazars said in a state-
ment it will “respect the legal
process and fully comply with
its legal obligations.”
Mr. Trump also last month
sued the Democratic-led U.S.House Ways and Means Com-
mittee, as well as the New York
attorney general, to block the
disclosure of years of his state
tax returns.
Committee investigators are
reviewing the documents pro-
vided to Congress so far by the
Wall Street firms, House Finan-
cial Services Committee Chair-
woman Maxine Waters (D., Ca-
lif.) said in an interview in
June. “We’ve gotten [informa-
tion] from a lot of banks.”
Senior Democrat House in-
telligence committee officials
said last month they are look-
ing for evidence of foreign in-
fluence on the administration
“whether it was during the
campaign, the transition, the
inauguration or currently.”Major Wall Street banks
have given congressional com-
mittees investigating President
Trump thousands of pages of
documents related to Russians
who may have had dealings
with Mr. Trump, his family or
his business, people familiarwith the congressional probes
said. Some banks also are giv-
ing documents related to Mr.
Trump’s business, the Trump
Organization, to New York state
investigators, people familiar
with the New York investiga-
tion said.
Wall Street firms including
Bank of America Corp., Citi-
group Inc., Deutsche Bank AG,
JPMorgan Chase & Co., Morgan
Stanley and Wells Fargo & Co.
have recently provided the doc-
uments to congressional inves-
tigators, according to people fa-
miliar with those probes.
The investigators are working
on a joint probe into potential
foreign influence on Mr. Trump
and his family by the House Fi-
nancial Services Committee and
the House Intelligence Commit-
tee. More information likely will
be handed over in coming weeks
as the banks continue to re-
spond to subpoenas sent in
April, the people said.
Separately, Deutsche Bank,ByJean Eaglesham,
Rebecca Davis O’Brien,
Siobhan Hughes
andDavid BenoitU.S. NEWS
Mr. Trump’s primary bank, has
turned over emails, loan agree-
ments and other documents re-
lated to the Trump Organiza-
tion to the office of New York
Attorney General Letitia James,
in response to a civil subpoena
sent earlier this year, according
to people familiar with the in-
vestigation.
Ms. James’s office has also
in recent weeks received fi-
nancing documents and emails
from Investors Bancorp Inc.,
the people said. The bank
handed over thousands of
pages in response to a civil sub-
poena demanding information
on a 2010 mortgage on Trump
Park Avenue, a condominium
building in Manhattan owned
by Mr. Trump, the people said.
Mr. Trump has filed several
lawsuits seeking to block law-
makers and states from getting
access to his bank, accounting
and tax records. The documents
being provided by the banks
could give investigators some
of the same information he is
trying to block.
The legal fights “could drag
on for months, if not years—
and that of course is the presi-
dent’s strategy,” said Saikrishna
Prakash, a law professor at the
University of Virginia.
Mr. Trump is fighting in
court to try to stop Deutsche
Bank and Capital One Financial
Corp., two of the banks with
the most information on his
business, from handing over in-
formation to Congress. A fed-
eral appeals court in New York
is due this month to consider a
challenge by Mr. Trump, his
three oldest children and his
business to subpoenas from the
House Intelligence and Finan-Democrats are looking in par-
ticular for evidence of Russian
money going into Trump prop-
erties, according to a person fa-
miliar with the matter.
Mr. Trump has publicly de-
clared that he was exonerated
by former special counsel Rob-
ert Mueller’s nearly two-year
probe into alleged Russian in-
fluence on the 2016 presidential
election. Mr. Mueller in his re-
port said he wasn’t exonerating
Mr. Trump.
The New York attorney gen-
eral’s subpoenas to Deutsche
Bank and Investors Bancorp are
part of a civil investigation,
which could yield fines or other
civil actions if the office alleges
illegality. The Deutsche Bank
documents relate to three
mortgages the bank extended
to Mr. Trump’s business, as
well as proposed financing that
didn’t go through, people famil-
iar with the investigation said.
The congressional and state
investigations are seeking dif-
ferent types of information.
The congressional subpoenas
being contested in court are
seeking a broad range of finan-
cial documents from the Trump
family. In contrast, the docu-
ments being turned over to the
New York attorney general in-
volve loans to the Trump Or-
ganization, according to people
familiar with the New York in-
vestigation.
The information already
handed to Congress by banks
includes records on Russian
business people connected to a
Trump Tower meeting in June
2016 involving members of Mr.
Trump’s family, the people fa-
miliar with the congressional
probes said.Banks Turn Over Russia Documents
Firms give Congress
information on clients
with possible ties to
Trump or his businessPaper Trail
Banksarehandingoverthousandsofdocumentsto
investigatorslookingintoPresidentTrump’sfinances.Sources:peoplefamiliarwiththecongressionalprobesandtheNewYorkinvestigation;federalcourtfilingsNewYork
Attorney
GeneralHouse
Intelligence
CommitteeHouse
Financial
Services
CommitteeCitigroupBankofAmericaJPMorganChaseMorganStanleyWellsFargoCapitalOneInvestorsBancorpRecordsonloans
madetotheTrump
Organization
BlockedBlockedRecordsonRussian
businesspeople
whomayhavehad
dealingswithMr.Trump,
hisfamilyorbusinessMr.Trumphassuedtoblocksubpoenasdemanding
hispersonal,familyandbusinessbankingrecords.DeutscheBankBYROBERTLEEHOTZ
ANDJACOBBUNGEClimate Researchers Push Changes in Diet
A farmers market in Nebraska. Climate experts say growing vegetables produces less greenhouse gases than raising livestock.RYAN SODERLIN/OMAHA WORLD-HERALD/ASSOCIATED PRESSCHICAGO—Illinois educators
urged state lawmakers to close
a college financial-aid loophole
by which affluent and middle-
class parents have transferred
guardianship of their children
to tap programs intended for
low-income families.
University of Illinois officials
told a committee of the state’s
House of Representatives dur-
ing a hearing Thursday that
while they had begun internal
investigations into abuses of fi-
nancial aid, changes to state
laws were needed. They also
recommended the creation of
new regulations for indepen-
dent college consultants.
The hearing was prompted
by articles in The Wall Street
Journal and ProPublica Illinois
that detailed a strategy, devel-
oped in suburban Chicago, in
which families transferred the
guardianship of their children
to a third party. When the child
applies for financial aid, he or
she doesn’t have to claim pa-
rental income or assets, making
them eligible for financial aid.
“It is not absolutely clear
whether there was actual fraud
or just exploitation of a legal
loophole,” said Kevin Huber,
chairman of the Illinois Student
Assistance Commission.
BYBENKESLING
WASHINGTON—President
Trump ousted the nation’s No.
2 intelligence official, Sue Gor-
don, after his allies urged her
removal to block her ascension
to acting director of national
intelligence, according to peo-
ple familiar with the matter.
Joseph Maguire, director of
the National Counterterrorism
Center, will instead serve as
acting director, effective Aug.
15, Mr. Trump said Thursday.
Mr. Maguire, a retired Navy
vice admiral, was confirmed
by a Senate voice vote last De-
cember to lead the counterter-
rorism center.
Under rules of succession
written into law, Ms. Gordon, a
career intelligence official, was
to take over as acting director
of national intelligence follow-
ing the departure of its cur-
rent director, Dan Coats. Mr.
Trump said last month that
Mr. Coats was leaving, follow-
ing a tenure marked by dis-
agreements with the president
on a range of national-security
issues, including how to ad-
dress Russian election inter-
ference.
“Sue Gordon is a great pro-
fessional with a long and dis-
tinguished career,” Mr. Trump
tweeted Thursday, as he an-
nounced that she would leave
Aug. 15, the same day as Mr.
Coats. “I have gotten to know
Sue over the past 2 years and
have developed great respect
for her.”
In a resignation letter ad-
dressed to the president and
provided by her office, Ms. Gor-
don said it had been an honor
to serve in the role and that
she was resigning “as you ask a
new leadership team to take
the helm.” She said she plans
to retire from federal service.
Ms. Gordon left her letter
for the president with a hand-
written note that made clear
she was resigning because the
president wanted her to.
“I offer this letter as an act
of respect & patriotism, not
preference,” she wrote, ac-
cording to a copy of the letter
provided by the White House.
“You should have your team.”
She signed the letter, “God-
speed, Sue.”
Mr. Trump initially said
that he would nominate Rep.
John Ratcliffe (R., Texas), a
staunch ally who sharply criti-
cized former special counsel
Robert Mueller’s Russia inves-
tigation, as Mr. Coats’s perma-
nent successor, but Mr. Rat-
cliffe withdrew less than a
week later amid scrutiny of his
résumé and opposition from
key senators.
BYREBECCABALLHAUS
ANDDUSTINVOLZ
Deputy
Intelligence
Director
Forced Out
Illinois
Urged to
Close Aid
Loophole