Good morning. In today’s edition:

• 🇺🇸 Climate ruling repealed
• 🫢 $40 billion bitcoin blunder
• 🐘 Magic of elephant whiskers

…and much more.

Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news should be a ~3.61-minute read (960 words).

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P.S.: We’re off on Monday for Presidents’ Day; see you back here on Tuesday.

"Don't wait for extraordinary opportunities. Seize common occasions and make them great."

–Orison Swett Marden (1848-1924)

One of the legal pillars of modern US climate regulation is about to face the biggest test in its 16+ years of existence.

Yesterday, the Trump admin repealed the Environmental Protection Agency’s 2009 “endangerment finding” that classified six greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide and methane, as threats to public health.

Why it’s a big deal: That determination gives the EPA authority to regulate carbon emissions from vehicles, airplanes, power plants, and oil and gas facilities under the Clean Air Act.

• Undoing it would effectively dismantle the legal foundation for nearly all federal climate regulations enacted in the US since late 2009.
• This means automakers would no longer be required to measure their emissions and comply with federal GHG standards, while tighter standards would also be rolled back for power plants and oil and gas facilities.

The arguments

Trump admin officials say the change will reduce regulatory burdens, lower energy costs, and strengthen US manufacturing, framing it as a move to prioritize energy abundance.

• They argue that fossil fuels remain essential to economic growth and are necessary to meet rising electricity demand tied to AI/data centers.
• Supporters of the repeal, including EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin and White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, claim it will save Americans a combined ~$1.3 trillion largely by making new vehicles cheaper.

On the flip side: Opponents, including Democratic lawmakers and environmental groups, say repealing the EPA’s endangerment finding goes against decades of scientific research and legal precedent in favor of the EPA regulating greenhouse gas emissions.

They also argue that the move goes against 15+ years of research that shows climate-driven disasters linked to high GHG emissions—like extreme heat waves and stronger hurricanes—directly endanger American lives, health, and property.

Looking ahead…Legal experts say court challenges to the Trump admin’s move are all-but-guaranteed, with the issue widely expected to reach the Supreme Court in the coming years.

📊 Flash poll: In general, do you agree with the Trump admin’s decision to reverse the EPA’s 2009 greenhouse gas endangerment finding?

• Yes
• No
• Unsure/other

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Here are five stats from this past week that made our team go “whoa.” Hopefully you will, too.

🤖📺 Nearly a quarter of the ads in this year’s Super Bowl featured AI (23%), according to iSpot. That's higher than the infamous "Dot-Com Super Bowl” in early 2000 (20% of ads), which immediately preceded an industry-wide crash.

🎓 More than 20% of undergrads at Ivy League schools including Harvard, Yale, Brown, and Cornell have registered disabilities allowing them extra time to complete tests and assignments; at Stanford, that figure is 38%.

🪙 A staffer for Bithumb, South Korea’s No. 2 crypto exchange, accidentally distributed 620,000 bitcoins—valued at $40+ billion—in prize contest rewards to users, instead of 620,000 won (~$430).

🧑‍🍼 Average babysitting rates in the US rose nearly 5% last year, hitting $26.24 per hour for one child, per new UrbanSitter data.

🇺🇸 If US workers reclaimed the same share of national income that they owned in 1980—about 58% of gross domestic income, instead of ~51% today—it would mean an extra ~$12,000/year for each employed American.

BUSINESS & MARKETS

• 📉 US stocks fell across the board yesterday amid a continuing slide in AI-related company values (S&P: -1.6% | Dow: -1.3% | Nasdaq: -2.0%).
• 🏘️ US home sales decreased by 8.4% in January, marking the biggest monthly decline since February 2022; analysts say the dip is largely due to recent snowstorms and low consumer confidence.
• 💰 January's Consumer Price Index, the most widely used measure of US inflation, set to be published at 7:30 am CT.

SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

• 🏂 American Chloe Kim’s quest for a third straight Olympic gold medal in the women’s halfpipe falls just short; South Korea’s Gaon Choi, 17, narrowly beat out Kim, who earned silver.
• 🙏 James Van Der Beek, best known for his roles on Dawson Creek and Varsity Blues, passed away at 48 from colorectal cancer.
• 🎤 Hilary Duff announces Lucky Me world tour, her first major tour in almost two decades.

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SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

• 🐘 Each elephant has ~1,000 whiskers on their trunk representing some of the most sophisticated and sensitive whiskers in the animal kingdom; they make elephant trunks uniquely capable of detecting motion, handling objects, and performing complex tasks.
• 👕 Ice Age garment stitched by Indigenous people and left in an Oregon cave ~12,000 years ago may be the earliest known example of sewn clothing, per new research.
• 🧠 Scientists discover protein that serves as a key mechanism for reversing age-related brain decline.

US, WORLD & POLITICS

• 👮 Trump admin to end its immigration operation in Minnesota, with federal agents returning to their home stations or deploying elsewhere in the next week. | US lawmakers leave Washington without a deal to fund DHS, all but ensuring a partial gov’t shutdown starting tonight; shutdown would affect DHS agencies like the TSA, ICE, and Coast Guard.
• 📊 Gallup is no longer tracking presidential approval ratings after 80+ years of doing so; it’s part of a wider move by the polling company to stop publishing approval/favorability ratings of individual political figures.
• 🏛️ House votes 219-211 to rescind President Trump's tariffs on Canadian goods, with six Republican lawmakers joining nearly all Democrats; resolution is largely symbolic, as it would need to pass the Senate and receive Trump’s signature.

👆 You’re looking at some of the shortlist of 24 candidates for the Wildlife Photographer of the Year people’s choice award. You can see all the images and vote for your favorite by visiting here, with the winner announced on March 25.

🤔 Did you know? A grand total of zero numbers between 1 and 1,000 contain the letter “A” when spelled out.

📰 Worth a read: More than a feeling: what happens when we think about love as a virtue

🖱️ What we’re clicking:

• It’s completely insane, worth no points and has the Olympics flipping out
• How The Simpsons made it to 800 episodes—and helped save a life
• A reason to hope and mope for all 32 NFL teams

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How well did you pay attention this week? Find out here.

1. A concert ticket cost $50 last year and now costs $65. What is the percent increase?
2. What is the greatest common factor of 48 and 60?
3. The ratio of boys to girls in a class is 3:5. If there are 24 students total, how many are girls?

🌊🦿 Ten months after a powerful wave swept her custom titanium prosthetic leg out to sea, 69-year-old Brenda Ogden experienced an unlikely reunion when her missing leg washed back up on the same beach, and into the hands of a good Samaritan.

1. 30%
2. 12
3. 15

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