Amazon on Thursday announced the first companies to receive money from a $2 billion venture capital fund it formed to help combat climate change.
Axios Re:Cap digs into how Amazon hopes the fund will help achieve its goal of being carbon neutral by 2040, and whether the plan is more substance than spin, with Matt Peterson, Amazon's director of new initiatives and corporate development.
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The U.S. and Israel are working to coordinate a White House visit for new Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett in July, three Israeli officials and two U.S. sources told me.
Why it matters: It's another sign that the Biden administration wants to help stabilize the new and fragile Israeli government.
The March reading of the ISM services index reached the highest level on record last month (with data going back to 1997), far outpacing economists' forecasts. At 63.7, it jumped more than eight points from the month before.
The big picture: Readings from business owners in the U.S. services sector now have joined the manufacturing sector in ebullience about the future, as stimulus checks hit bank accounts, vaccination rates rise and job growth returns.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin is expected to travel to Israel next week, Israeli officials told me.
Why it matters: This will be the first cabinet-level visit to the Middle East from the Biden administration, which has been shifting attention away from the region and toward China and Russia.
The universe of Democratic senators concerned about raising the corporate tax rate to 28% is broader than Sen. Joe Manchin, and the rate will likely land at 25%, parties close to the discussion tell Axios.
Why it matters: While increasing the rate from 21% to 25% would raise about $600 billion over 15 years, it would leave President Biden well short of paying for his proposed $2.25 trillion, eight-year infrastructure package.
