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The Constitutionality of Geofence Warrants

Schneier on Security - Tue, 01/27/2026 - 7:01am

The US Supreme Court is considering the constitutionality of geofence warrants.

The case centers on the trial of Okello Chatrie, a Virginia man who pleaded guilty to a 2019 robbery outside of Richmond and was sentenced to almost 12 years in prison for stealing $195,000 at gunpoint.

Police probing the crime found security camera footage showing a man on a cell phone near the credit union that was robbed and asked Google to produce anonymized location data near the robbery site so they could determine who committed the crime. They did so, providing police with subscriber data for three people, one of whom was Chatrie. Police then searched Chatrie’s home and allegedly surfaced a gun, almost $100,000 in cash and incriminating notes...

Trump opposes wind energy. That could be a tough sell in Iowa.

ClimateWire News - Tue, 01/27/2026 - 6:19am
The president takes his affordability message Tuesday to the state where turbine farms have helped keep electricity prices low.

Transmission line stopped sending hydropower during Arctic storm

ClimateWire News - Tue, 01/27/2026 - 6:18am
The energy interruption from the new Canada to New England line raises questions about the region’s electricity mix.

So long, Paris: US officially leaves landmark climate pact

ClimateWire News - Tue, 01/27/2026 - 6:16am
President Donald Trump has formally removed the U.S. from the historic agreement that aims to limit global warming.

Carbon trade measure slipped into spending package

ClimateWire News - Tue, 01/27/2026 - 6:15am
Language from the “PROVE IT Act” was incorporated into funding legislation President Donald Trump signed into law last week.

Minnesota climate lawsuit survives oil industry appeal

ClimateWire News - Tue, 01/27/2026 - 6:15am
The case asks Exxon Mobil, Koch Industries and the American Petroleum Institute to pay up for climate impacts.

‘Fantastic’ rally exposes Trump’s limits as green stocks soar

ClimateWire News - Tue, 01/27/2026 - 6:13am
Capital has continued to flow into renewables. The S&P equity index tracking clean energy has soared 64 percent over the past year.

Nvidia launches AI technologies to aid weather forecasting

ClimateWire News - Tue, 01/27/2026 - 6:12am
Artificial intelligence underpins a revolution in meteorology as AI is starting to replace forecasts long generated by supercomputers.

The data center surge has a hidden source of carbon emissions

ClimateWire News - Tue, 01/27/2026 - 6:10am
Concrete is a significant portion of the emissions associated with building data centers. But the “boom in data centers is providing an opportunity to evaluate, address and move on the carbon impacts of concrete,” said an engineer.

Italian expert’s manufactured snow will play big role at Winter Olympics

ClimateWire News - Tue, 01/27/2026 - 6:09am
Olympic athletes want a course that will hold up without becoming too mushy or rutted. Mother Nature can’t always provide for that.

EFF Statement on ICE and CBP Violence

EFF: Updates - Mon, 01/26/2026 - 8:46pm

Dangerously unchecked surveillance and rights violations have been a throughline of the Department of Homeland Security since the agency’s creation in the wake of the September 11th attacks. In particular, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) have been responsible for countless civil liberties and digital rights violations since that time. In the past year, however, ICE and CBP have descended into utter lawlessness, repeatedly refusing to exercise or submit to the democratic accountability required by the Constitution and our system of laws.  

The Trump Administration has made indiscriminate immigration enforcement and mass deportation a key feature of its agenda, with little to no accountability for illegal actions by agents and agency officials. Over the past year, we’ve seen massive ICE raids in cities from Los Angeles to Chicago to Minneapolis. Supercharged by an unprecedented funding increase, immigration enforcement agents haven’t been limited to boots on the ground: they’ve been scanning faces, tracking neighborhood cell phone activity, and amassing surveillance tools to monitor immigrants and U.S. citizens alike. 

Congress must vote to reject any further funding of ICE and CBP

The latest enforcement actions in Minnesota have led to federal immigration agents killing Renee Good and Alex Pretti. Both were engaged in their First Amendment right to observe and record law enforcement when they were killed. And it’s only because others similarly exercised their right to record that these killings were documented and widely exposed, countering false narratives the Trump Administration promoted in an attempt to justify the unjustifiable.  

These constitutional violations are systemic, not one-offs. Just last week, the Associated Press reported a leaked ICE memo that authorizes agents to enter homes solely based on “administrative” warrants—lacking any judicial involvement. This government policy is contrary to the “very core” of the Fourth Amendment, which protects us against unreasonable search and seizure, especially in our own homes.  

These violations must stop now. ICE and CBP have grown so disdainful of the rule of law that reforms or guardrails cannot suffice. We join with many others in saying that Congress must vote to reject any further funding of ICE and CBP this week. But that is not enough. It’s time for Congress to do the real work of rebuilding our immigration enforcement system from the ground up, so that it respects human rights (including digital rights) and human dignity, with real accountability for individual officers, their leadership, and the agency as a whole.

EFF Statement on ICE and CBP Violence

EFF: Updates - Mon, 01/26/2026 - 8:46pm

Dangerously unchecked surveillance and rights violations have been a throughline of the Department of Homeland Security since the agency’s creation in the wake of the September 11th attacks. In particular, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) have been responsible for countless civil liberties and digital rights violations since that time. In the past year, however, ICE and CBP have descended into utter lawlessness, repeatedly refusing to exercise or submit to the democratic accountability required by the Constitution and our system of laws.  

The Trump Administration has made indiscriminate immigration enforcement and mass deportation a key feature of its agenda, with little to no accountability for illegal actions by agents and agency officials. Over the past year, we’ve seen massive ICE raids in cities from Los Angeles to Chicago to Minneapolis. Supercharged by an unprecedented funding increase, immigration enforcement agents haven’t been limited to boots on the ground: they’ve been scanning faces, tracking neighborhood cell phone activity, and amassing surveillance tools to monitor immigrants and U.S. citizens alike. 

The latest enforcement actions in Minnesota have led to federal immigration agents killing Renee Good and Alex Pretti. Both were engaged in their First Amendment right to observe and record law enforcement when they were killed. And it’s only because others similarly exercised their right to record that these killings were documented and widely exposed, countering false narratives the Trump Administration promoted in an attempt to justify the unjustifiable.  

These constitutional violations are systemic, not one-offs. Just last week, the Associated Press reported a leaked ICE memo that authorizes agents to enter homes solely based on “administrative” warrants—lacking any judicial involvement. This government policy is contrary to the “very core” of the Fourth Amendment, which protects us against unreasonable search and seizure, especially in our own homes.  

These violations must stop now. ICE and CBP have grown so disdainful of the rule of law that reforms or guardrails cannot suffice. We join with many others in saying that Congress must vote to reject any further funding of ICE and CBP this week. But that is not enough. It’s time for Congress to do the real work of rebuilding our immigration enforcement system from the ground up, so that it respects human rights (including digital rights) and human dignity, with real accountability for individual officers, their leadership, and the agency as a whole.  

Michigan hones in on energy costs, suing oil majors over climate ‘conspiracy’

ClimateWire News - Mon, 01/26/2026 - 7:07am
It became the 11th state to file a lawsuit against the petroleum industry, despite efforts by the Trump administration to block the case.

Trump quickly approves disaster aid for 12 states hit by storm

ClimateWire News - Mon, 01/26/2026 - 7:06am
But FEMA protections are now in limbo, with Democrats vowing to block a Homeland Security funding bill after a federal agent killed a Minneapolis protester Saturday.

Ireland Proposes Giving Police New Digital Surveillance Powers

Schneier on Security - Mon, 01/26/2026 - 7:04am

This is coming:

The Irish government is planning to bolster its police’s ability to intercept communications, including encrypted messages, and provide a legal basis for spyware use.

US green manufacturers lost at least 10,000 jobs last year

ClimateWire News - Mon, 01/26/2026 - 7:04am
Employment losses across the clean energy sector undercut the Trump administration's broader push to revive U.S. manufacturing.

Blue states back lawsuit against Trump renewable policies

ClimateWire News - Mon, 01/26/2026 - 7:03am
State attorneys general warned that six administration actions being challenged in federal court "severely and unlawfully" hinder wind and solar project development.

New Mexico climate hawks renew push to codify emissions goals

ClimateWire News - Mon, 01/26/2026 - 7:01am
Last year's "Clear Horizons Act" died in committee after some Democrats warned about its impact on low-income residents.

What weather apps can miss about dangerous winter storm conditions

ClimateWire News - Mon, 01/26/2026 - 7:01am
“Apps don’t understand the details of why snow, sleet or freezing rain happens," a meteorology professor said.

Key tech to unlock Greenland is made only by US allies, adversaries

ClimateWire News - Mon, 01/26/2026 - 7:00am
The only way to achieve anything in the semiautonomous Danish territory is through icebreakers’ crucial ability to cut trails through frozen seas.

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