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(NEW YORK) — When Meta overhauled its policy toward election-denial claims in political advertising last year, many Republican midterm election candidates nationwide were espousing false claims of a stolen election in 2020.

At the time, some employees warned internally of potential harm to Meta’s standing with Republican elected officials and candidates if the company chose to ban political ads that denied the results of previous elections, including the 2020 contest, former Meta employees who were working at the company when these discussions took place, told ABC News.

Members of the company’s public policy team tasked with lobbying federal lawmakers indicated that an ad policy forbidding denial of previous elections could also elicit pushback from Democrats, noting for instance, that they could take issue with an ad policy barring claims that a prior election had been rigged by gerrymandering, a person familiar with the matter said.

Political ads on Meta-owned platforms denying the results of previous elections in the U.S., however, overwhelmingly came from rightwing politicians, groups and other accounts, people familiar with the matter said.

Policy development at Meta routinely includes discussion of a potential impact on the perception of the company in Washington, D.C., but deliberations in this case sparked concern among employees that such considerations had outweighed substantive issues, the people said.

Ultimately, the company decided in the summer of 2022 that political advertisements featuring false claims of a rigged election in 2020 would be permitted on Instagram and Facebook, according to a Meta content policy and people familiar with the matter.

Meta instituted a policy allowing political advertisers to say past elections were fraudulently conducted but prohibiting ads that question the validity of future or ongoing elections, the policy says. The rules apply to elections in the U.S., Brazil, Israel and Italy.

In response to ABC News’ request for comment, Meta referred to information about the policy that it had previously shared with ABC News.

Since prior elections have been completed, the policy focuses on ongoing or future elections that can still be affected by ads, Meta previously told ABC News. Further, the company continues to enforce its Community Standards and bar other types of ads that may contain incorrect information about elections, Meta added.

To be sure, members of the public policy team also cautioned of possible political pushback in response to the policy that was ultimately adopted, the person said, noting that the public policy team typically voiced such concerns for each proposed policy option since it was their job to give insight into the political risks that could arise.

The Wall Street Journal first reported details of the policy change, which went into effect last year but had not drawn significant attention until last month.

Meta announced in November additional restrictions on ads, including a blackout period for political ads in the final week of the 2024 election.

Nick Clegg, president of global affairs at Meta and a top decision-maker on the election-denial ad policy, viewed the prevalence of 2020 election denial among Republicans, including former President Donald Trump, as a political reality beyond the purview of ad restrictions at Meta, a person who says they heard him share his views at the time, told ABC News.

Clegg wanted to responsibly police content without interfering with a political position that played a sizable role in the campaign at the time, the person said, adding that Clegg believed denial of the 2020 election should be adjudicated by a democratically accountable institution rather than a private entity.

Clegg also weighed free-speech concerns tied to the election-denial ad policy, believing that Meta should ban ads claiming ongoing and future elections were rigged because such content posed a risk of immediate harm to voters who could in turn forgo participation in an election or lose faith in its results, the source told ABC News.

Political ads challenging the legitimacy of previous elections did not threaten direct harm because the elections had been completed, Clegg thought, and he supported putting the ads beyond Meta’s role as an arbiter of paid content, the source added.

Speaking at a Semafor event in September 2022, Clegg voiced similar general views on content moderation.

“Our lodestar is that we seek to act not when we think something is true or not true, or whether we like it or don’t like it,” Clegg said. “That’s not our role — that shouldn’t be the role of the private sector.”

“But there’s an exception to this if we think there is content on our platform or there are people seeking to propagate content on our platform which will lead to real-world harm,” Clegg added.

Clegg has not responded to ABC News’ request for comment.

The notion that political ads denying the 2020 election did not pose immediate harm drew concern from some employees who believed the claim had already contributed to political violence, including their belief that the spread of such misinformation had helped fuel the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, people said.

Some employees also thought that the denial of past elections could damage faith in the results of ongoing or future ones, the people added.

The company’s willingness to accept payment for putting 2020 election-denial content on its platforms also caused unrest among some employees, people said.

The company announced its approach to the 2022 midterms last August, Meta said, citing a blog post that included the following statement: “We will reject ads encouraging people not to vote or calling into question the legitimacy of the upcoming election.”

The ads policies for the election garnered media coverage at the time, Meta added, linking to a Washington Post article published in August 2022. That article addresses the company’s policy toward posts featuring 2020 election-denial claims but does not specifically touch on Meta’s election-related ad policy.

An Axios story, published in the same month, noted that the company would reject ads “calling into question the legitimacy of the upcoming election.”

Last year, Meta also updated the policy page devoted to election-related ad policies with details of the new rules.

The renewed attention to the move by Meta coincides with the loosening of election-related content restrictions at other major tech platforms. Google-owned YouTube announced in June that it would halt the removal of content claiming widespread voter fraud in 2020 and other past elections.

A civic integrity policy updated in August by X, formerly known as Twitter, does not address false claims about previous elections.

Katie Harbath, a former public-policy director at Facebook who was no longer at the company when it revamped the election-denial ad policy, said political considerations would “100%” be a part of the decision-making process at Meta on such a rule.

“It would be absolutely foolish to say that politics didn’t play a role in this,” Harbath told ABC News, noting that a Republican-controlled House and Senate could target Meta with public hearings.

Trump could put pressure on Meta if he wins next year’s presidential contest, added Harbath.

“I don’t think it was the only consideration, but the reality is it had to have been taken into account,” she said, adding that stewardship of a major company often includes paying attention to its perception among policymakers.

Trump faces federal and state charges over alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election based in part on false claims of widespread voter fraud. He has pleaded not guilty to those charges and has denied any wrongdoing.

In 2021, then-Facebook spokesperson Corey Chambliss told Politico that the company’s content policy and public policy teams “operate independently.”

Meta’s content policy team uses input from a variety of departments at the company, among them: “Operations, Engineering, Legal, Human Rights, Civil Rights, Safety, Comms and Public Policy,” Chambliss said.

“In these instances Public Policy is just one of many groups consulted,” Chambliss added.

Harbath, an elections program lead at the advocacy group Integrity Institute and former digital strategist at the National Republican Senatorial Committee, said she probably would have made the same decision on the policy toward ads denying the 2020 election.

“I get really, really squeamish, as somebody who was at the company, when it comes to political rhetoric in terms of picking and choosing what’s acceptable and not acceptable, and how to do it at scale,” Harbath added.

Yael Eisenstat, a former senior elections integrity employee at Facebook, said the involvement of Meta’s public policy team in decisions about its platforms risks a perception that political influence holds sway in its policy moves.

“When the public policy team at Meta is involved in platform policy and the enforcement of policy, it makes it very hard for the company to argue that this is not politically influenced,” Eisenstat told ABC News.

Eisenstat, a former special advisor to then-Vice President Joe Biden, criticized the ad-policy decision. “I don’t understand the logic of specifying which elections people can lie about and which they can’t,” Eisenstat said.

The updated election-denial ad policy at Meta came about after the company weighed banning political ads altogether last year, including months of preparation on potential policy and enforcement, people familiar with the matter said.

Clegg supported a policy banning political ads because he believed they posed challenges for the company while making up a small share of content on its platforms and ad revenue, a person familiar with the matter said.

Ultimately the plan to ban ads was scrapped, giving way to discussions of a revised version of a policy instituted in 2020, the sources added.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — Amazon, Target and Walmart, three of the largest retailers in the U.S., have announced they will stop selling water beads amid growing pressure in recent years to remove the products following reports of injuries and deaths of children who have swallowed them or placed them in their noses or ears.

Although water beads — often marketed as sensory toys and toys for children with developmental disorders — may appear to be harmless at first glance, the small balls, made of polymers, can be hazardous. When exposed to liquids, they can “expand to the size of a tennis ball,” about 150 to 1,500 times their original size, according to the National Capital Poison Center.

An Amazon spokesperson confirmed to ABC News’ Good Morning America that they have updated their water beads policy for third-party sellers and are committed to checking store listings for water bead products.

“In the interest of safety, Amazon will no longer allow the sale of water beads that are marketed to children, including as toys, art supplies or for sensory play,” the statement read. “We work hard to ensure the products offered in our store are safe, and we have teams dedicated to developing and updating our policies, evaluating listings, and continuously monitoring our store to prevent unsafe and noncompliant products from being listed.”

Target, which previously sold a Buffalo Games children’s water bead kit that was recalled in September, also said it would halt the sale of water beads in stores and online for kids 12 and under.

“At Target, our top priority is the safety of our guests. Given growing safety concerns, we will no longer sell water beads marketed to children.” a Target spokesperson told Good Morning America.

Walmart also said it would remove water beads from store shelves and its website.

“The safety of our customers will always be a top priority,” a Walmart spokesperson told GMA. “We decided to voluntarily stop selling expanding water bead toy and craft items marketed to young children and have already taken steps to remove them from our stores and online.”

For years, some parents have been warning about the dangers of water beads, while the Consumer Product Safety Commission has published reports of water bead injuries in babies and children.

In September, Wisconsin mother Taylor Bethard spoke to Philadelphia ABC affiliate station WPVI-TV about her 10-month-old daughter Esther’s death following the ingestion of a water bead. Bethard said she wanted “to ensure that no other family has to experience what [they] experienced.”

“It’s a miserable, miserable feeling to lose your child. No parent should ever have to go through that. And if we can just save a few kids by sharing, then it’s worth it for us to share,” Bethard said.

About 52,000 of Buffalo Games’ Chuckle & Roar Ultimate Water Beads Activity Kits, a water bead toy, were recalled in September and at the time, the toy company told ABC News they take “customer safety very seriously.”

“Before selling the Ultimate Water Beads Kit, as we do with every product, Buffalo Games followed CPSC regulations and had the product tested to Children’s Product Safety standards by an independent CPSC approved lab,” the Buffalo, New York-based company said in a statement. “The product passed the tests dictated by the standards, including the ASTM standards for expanding materials. The product is graded for Ages 4+, and carries a choking hazard warning on package.”

“Buffalo Games takes customer safety very seriously, and consumers should contact us via email, phone or through the chuckleandroar.com website to return the Ultimate Water Beads to us for a full refund,” the company added.

Concerned parents should remove any water beads their children might have. In the case of an emergency, parents can also call the National Poison Help Line, available 24 hours a day at 800-222-1222. The Consumer Product Safety Commission also encourages parents to report any water bead injuries or dangerous product experiences to them at SaferProducts.gov.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(WASHINGTON) — The Federal Reserve expects to begin cutting interest rates next year, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said at a press conference in Washington D.C. on Wednesday.

Policymakers at the central bank believe interest rates likely stand at or near their peak, Powell added, voicing cautious optimism about the possibility that the Fed would markedly dial back its fight against inflation by the end of 2024.

The forecast came after the Fed decided to leave interest rates unchanged on Wednesday, extending a pause of its near-historic series of rate hikes deployed to fight inflation.

The interest rate decision arrived a day after the release of government data showing that price increases slowed slightly last month.

“Inflation has eased from its highs and this has come without the significant increase in unemployment — that’s very good news,” Powell said on Wednesday. “But inflation is too high, ongoing progress in bringing it down is not assured, and the path is uncertain.”

Inflation has fallen significantly from a peak of about 9% last summer but remains more than a percentage point higher than the Fed’s target.

“Inflation has eased over the past year but remains elevated,” the Federal Open Market Committee, the Fed’s decision-making body on interest rates, said in a statement Wednesday.

The choice to leave rates unchanged matches decisions made by the Fed at its previous meetings in November and September, when the central bank paused its inflation fight amid growing optimism that the U.S. could achieve normal price levels without falling into a recession.

Many economists and observers had expected the Fed to begin instituting rate cuts as soon as next year.

Since last year, the Fed has raised its benchmark interest rate at the fastest pace in more than two decades in an effort to slow prices increases.

The rate hikes appear to have put the brakes on the housing market and discouraged businesses from major investments that would carry onerous borrowing costs.

The economy maintained robust employment growth last month but fell well short of the breakneck pace exhibited over the previous year, data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday showed.

Still, consumer spending has proven resilient. Black Friday sales did gangbuster business as the nation entered a holiday shopping season expected to test shoppers, who account for nearly three-quarters of U.S. economic activity.

Resilient holiday spending could provide additional fuel for the economy as observers hope for continued expansion but fear the downward pressure imposed by interest rate hikes.

Lately, the economy has rebuked such concerns. The gross domestic product grew at an annualized pace of 4.9% over three months ending in September, more than doubling growth of the previous quarter and easing worries about a possible recession, a report from the Bureau of Economic Analysis in October showed.

In recent months, mixed signals from the economy have complicated the Fed’s effort to bring down inflation while averting a recession, an outcome known as a “soft landing.”

In theory, the economy should eventually falter as it becomes more expensive for businesses and consumers to borrow. However, the economy has so far resisted an overall slowdown.

Speaking at a press conference in Washington, D.C. last month, Fed Chair Jerome Powell acknowledged the complex economic picture faced by the central bank.

“Inflation has been coming down but it’s still running well above our 2% target,” Powell said. “Given how far we have come, along with the uncertainties and risks we face, the committee is proceeding carefully.”

While mixed economic data creates significant uncertainty, the status of the Fed’s inflation fight remains clear, Powell said, noting that the task will require a further slowdown in price increases.

“The process of getting inflation sustainably down to 2% has a long way to go,” Powell said. “We remain strongly committed.”

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — Tesla will recall about twp million cars over a safety issue tied to its autopilot system, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said on Wednesday.

The company’s autopilot system may put drivers at greater risk of an accident in certain situations, the NHTSA added.

The electric automaker will release a software update for the vehicles impacted next February, the agency said.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(WASHINGTON) — The Federal Reserve will announce an interest rate decision on Wednesday, unveiling its latest policy move amid a near-historic series of rate hikes deployed to fight inflation.

That string of rate increases has coincided with a cooldown of inflation but also has elevated interest payments for everything from credit card loans to mortgages.

The announcement is set to arrive a day after the release of government data showing that price increases slowed slightly last month.

Inflation has fallen significantly from a peak of about 9% last summer but remains more than a percentage point higher than the Fed’s target.

Economists widely expect the Fed to leave interest rates unchanged on Wednesday since inflation has moderated and some areas of the economy have shown signs of a slowing down.

Such a decision would match the choice made by the Fed at its most recent meeting in September, when the central bank paused its inflation fight amid growing optimism that the U.S. could achieve normal price levels without falling into a recession.

Many economists and observers even expect the Fed to begin instituting rate cuts as soon as next year.

Since last year, the Fed has raised its benchmark interest rate at the fastest pace in more than two decades in an effort to slow prices increases.

The rate hikes appear to have put the brakes on the housing market and discouraged businesses from major investments that would carry onerous borrowing costs.

The economy maintained robust employment growth last month but fell well short of the breakneck pace exhibited over the previous year, data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday showed.

Still, consumer spending has proven resilient. Black Friday sales did gangbuster business as the nation entered a holiday shopping season expected to test shoppers, who account for nearly three-quarters of U.S. economic activity.

Resilient holiday spending could provide additional fuel for the economy as observers hope for continued expansion but fear the downward pressure imposed by interest rate hikes.

Lately, the economy has rebuked such concerns. The gross domestic product grew at an annualized pace of 4.9% over three months ending in September, more than doubling growth of the previous quarter and easing worries about a possible recession, a report from the Bureau of Economic Analysis in October showed.

In recent months, mixed signals from the economy have complicated the Fed’s effort to bring down inflation while averting a recession, an outcome known as a “soft landing.”

In theory, the economy should eventually falter as it becomes more expensive for businesses and consumers to borrow. However, the economy has so far resisted an overall slowdown.

Speaking at a press conference in Washington, D.C. last month, Fed Chair Jerome Powell acknowledged the complex economic picture faced by the central bank.

“Inflation has been coming down but it’s still running well above our 2% target,” Powell said. “Given how far we have come, along with the uncertainties and risks we face, the committee is proceeding carefully.”

While mixed economic data creates significant uncertainty, the status of the Fed’s inflation fight remains clear, Powell said, noting that the task will require a further slowdown in price increases.

“The process of getting inflation sustainably down to 2% has a long way to go,” Powell said. “We remain strongly committed.”

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(WASHINGTON) — Consumer prices rose 3.1% in November compared to a year ago, cooling slightly from the previous month and indicating progress in the fight to reduce inflation, a report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics released on Tuesday showed.

The fresh data arrives a day before the Federal Reserve will decide on a potential escalation of its near-historic series of interest rate hikes.

Inflation has fallen significantly from a peak of about 9% last summer, but remains more than a percentage-point higher than the Fed’s target.

The cooldown in November was driven in part by falling gas prices, the BLS said. Over the past month, the average price of a gallon of gas has fallen by about 6%, AAA data shows.

However, an increase in housing costs largely offset the decline in gas prices, the BLS said.

Progress shown in the price-hike data lagged for a separate key metric: core inflation, which leaves out volatile food and energy prices.

Core inflation rose 4.0% in November compared to a year ago, remaining unchanged from the rate demonstrated over the previous month.

Since last year, the Fed has raised its benchmark interest rate at the fastest pace in more than two decades in an effort to slow prices increases.

That series of decisions has hiked interest payments for everything from credit card loans to mortgages, while at the same time consumers remain squeezed by the elevated prices.

The rate increases appear to have slowed some areas of the economy, putting the brakes on the housing market and discouraging businesses from major investments that would carry onerous borrowing costs.

The economy maintained robust employment growth last month but fell well short of the breakneck pace exhibited over the previous year, data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday showed.

Still, consumer spending has proven resilient. Black Friday sales did gangbuster business as the nation entered a holiday shopping season expected to test shoppers, who account for nearly three-quarters of U.S. economic activity.

Consumers spent a record $9.8 billion online on Black Friday, which amounted to a 7.5% increase over the year prior, according to Adobe Analytics data reviewed by ABC News.

Resilient holiday spending could provide additional fuel for the economy as observers hope for continued expansion but fear the downward pressure imposed by interest rate hikes.

Lately, the economy has rebuked such concerns. The gross domestic product grew at an annualized pace of 4.9% over three months ending in September, more than doubling growth of the previous quarter and easing worries about a possible recession, a report from the Bureau of Economic Analysis in October showed.

Taken together, mixed signals from the economy in recent months have complicated the Fed’s effort to bring down inflation while averting a recession, an outcome known as a “soft landing.”

In theory, the economy should eventually falter as it becomes more expensive for businesses and consumers to borrow. However, the economy has so far resisted an overall slowdown.

Speaking at a press conference in Washington, D.C. last month, Fed Chair Jerome Powell acknowledged the complex economic picture faced by the central bank.

“Inflation has been coming down but it’s still running well above our 2% target,” Powell said. “Given how far we have come, along with the uncertainties and risks we face, the committee is proceeding carefully.”

While mixed economic data creates significant uncertainty, the status of the Fed’s inflation fight remains clear, Powell said, noting that the task will require a further slowdown in price increases.

“The process of getting inflation sustainably down to 2% has a long way to go,” Powell said. “We remain strongly committed.”

However, Powell appears to be weighing the need for continued progress on inflation reduction against the expectation of yet-to-be realized effects from the central bank’s previous rate increases, also known as policy tightening.

“Monetary policy is thought to affect economic conditions with a lag, and the full effects of our tightening have likely not yet been felt,” Powell said at Spelman College in Atlanta earlier this month.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(WASHINGTON) — Washington, D.C. and Wall Street will closely watch the release of inflation data on Tuesday that’s set to show whether price hikes continued their cooldown in November or defied further progress.

The fresh data will arrive a day before the Federal Reserve decides on a potential escalation of its near-historic series of interest rate hikes, ratcheting up the stakes for the inflation report to be released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Economists expect prices to have risen 3% in November, which would mark a slight slowdown from the inflation rate recorded in the previous month.

The anticipated figure would signal progress in the fight against price increases but would fall short of the significant reduction delivered in October.

Inflation has fallen significantly from a peak of about 9% last summer, but remains more than a percentage-point higher than the Fed’s target.

Since last year, the Fed has raised its benchmark interest rate at the fastest pace in more than two decades in an effort to slow prices increases.

That series of decisions has hiked interest payments for everything from credit card loans to mortgages, while at the same time consumers remain squeezed by the elevated prices.

The rate increases appear to have slowed some areas of the economy, putting the brakes on the housing market and discouraging businesses from major investments that would carry onerous borrowing costs.

The economy maintained robust employment growth last month but fell well short of the breakneck pace exhibited over the previous year, data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday showed.

Still, consumer spending has proven resilient. Black Friday sales did gangbuster business as the nation entered a holiday shopping season expected to test shoppers, who account for nearly three-quarters of U.S. economic activity.

Consumers spent a record $9.8 billion online on Black Friday, which amounted to a 7.5% increase over the year prior, according to Adobe Analytics data reviewed by ABC News.

Resilient holiday spending could provide additional fuel for the economy as observers hope for continued expansion but fear the downward pressure imposed by interest rate hikes.

Lately, the economy has rebuked such concerns. The gross domestic product grew at an annualized pace of 4.9% over three months ending in September, more than doubling growth of the previous quarter and easing worries about a possible recession, a report from the Bureau of Economic Analysis in October showed.

Taken together, mixed signals from the economy in recent months have complicated the Fed’s effort to bring down inflation while averting a recession, an outcome known as a “soft landing.”

In theory, the economy should eventually falter as it becomes more expensive for businesses and consumers to borrow. However, the economy has so far resisted an overall slowdown.

Speaking at a press conference in Washington, D.C. last month, Fed Chair Jerome Powell acknowledged the complex economic picture faced by the central bank.

“Inflation has been coming down but it’s still running well above our 2% target,” Powell said. “Given how far we have come, along with the uncertainties and risks we face, the committee is proceeding carefully.”

While mixed economic data creates significant uncertainty, the status of the Fed’s inflation fight remains clear, Powell said, noting that the task will require a further slowdown in price increases.

“The process of getting inflation sustainably down to 2% has a long way to go,” Powell said. “We remain strongly committed.”

However, Powell appears to be weighing the need for continued progress on inflation reduction against the expectation of yet-to-be realized effects from the central bank’s previous rate increases, also known as policy tightening.

“Monetary policy is thought to affect economic conditions with a lag, and the full effects of our tightening have likely not yet been felt,” Powell said at Spelman College in Atlanta earlier this month.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — GE Aerospace is taking another step towards its commitment to sustainable flights, completing testing with sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) on its 10th aircraft engine model.

The company announced Monday its finished testing with 100% SAF on 10 aircraft engine models. Currently, GE Aerospace engines power three out of four commercial flights worldwide, the company said.

Among the tests, which have been taking place since 2016, were test flights operated with SAF. Most recently, Emirates Airlines operated a flight on an Airbus A380 powered by four engines made by a GE subsidiary – one of them fueled by SAF.

Current regulations allow commercial flights to operate with a blend of SAF and jet fuel, however airlines, regulators and manufacturers are working towards operating flights with 100% recycled fuel. GE’s tests were conducted with Hydrotreated Esters and Fatty Acids (HEFA) fuel thats made of vegetable oils, waste oils, or fats.

“Right now [SAF] is more expensive and it’s hard to find, but that’s something that’s going to change over time,” Chris Lorence, chief engineer and general manager at GE Aerospace, told ABC News. “As more capacity comes online, our hope is that it’s going to be comparable or better than jet fuel today.”

According to the most recent data from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the transportation sector accounts for 29% of greenhouse gas emissions – with aviation accounting for 8%. Lorence said as the aviation industry continues to grow, GE wants to make sure it’s done in an “environmentally-friendly way” with “more efficient products.”

“Plants, essentially through their lifecycle, recycle carbon in the atmosphere. They suck it out as they grow and they release it when they die. And the beautiful thing about SAF is we’re sort of intercepting that process,” Lorence said. “As the plants remove carbon from the atmosphere, we catch it before it gets returned and released to the environment, converted into fuel and then when the airplanes actually fly, then it gets released back, so that there’s no net carbon that’s created as part of the process.”

With the 10th test complete, data will be sent to ASTM International – the governing body that sets technical standards for different materials, products and systems – including SAF.

The data will also be used by GE to see how SAF impacts engines over time.

“Most of the testing we see coming up now, we’re now going to be component testing and what we call endurance testing where we run, we simulate multiple cycles of aircraft flight to see how it performs over time in expected service,” Lorence said. “So that we can see not just what happens for a single flight, but what happens over a much longer exposure and duration of testing to make sure that there’s no reliability or durability concerns.”

Major U.S. airlines like American, Delta, Southwest and United have committed to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(HEBRON, Ky.) — Two months after Rubi Gomez began working at an Amazon facility in Kentucky, she woke up to a barrage of frantic text messages from her coworkers, she said.

“They were the kind of messages you would get if somebody was in a panic,” Gomez told ABC News.

Managers had confronted employees as they handed out union materials in a parking lot outside the building, checking the same workers’ identification multiple times and alleging that tables set up in the entrance pathway amounted to insubordination, a serious charge that could lead to termination, according to worker testimony and video reviewed by ABC News.

Recounting that hectic day in early November, Gomez said she headed to the scene and took a spot alongside her colleagues, prompting a demand from a manager that she take down the tables. The order frightened Gomez, who said she “wanted to be invisible.” Still, she refused.

The tables violated company policy because they obstructed people entering and exiting the facility, Amazon managers told the workers, the video shows. The workers objected to the claim, saying that their efforts qualified as union activity protected by federal labor law.

Workers kept tabling in support of the union on this occasion and others. Within two weeks, 11 workers had received write-ups telling them that they could lose their jobs if they didn’t stop.

The warnings marked a flashpoint in an alleged surge of anti-union backlash at the facility in recent weeks, workers told ABC News, describing mandatory meetings in opposition to the union, one-on-one questioning of workers active in the campaign, deployment of union-busting employee relations officers, as well as mass emails and text messages sent to employees.

“It’s a massive escalation and it’s meant to have a chilling effect on the union and workplace,” Griffin Ritze, a worker at the facility involved in labor organizing, told ABC News.

In response to ABC News’ request for comment, Amazon Spokesperson Eileen Hards said disciplinary action taken by the company came in response to infractions of company policy.

“These individuals repeatedly refused to follow our policies even after meeting with site managers more than ten times to address the violation and ensure the policies were understood,” Hards said. “This has nothing to do with any cause or group they support, but rather like any employer, we take appropriate action when policies are continually disregarded.”

“We believe employees should have the right to hear, learn about, and discuss important issues that could affect them and their families — and that includes union representation,” Hards added, noting the company believes it can serve employees best by directly responding in the absence of intervention from a union.

“We favor opportunities for each person to be respected and valued as an individual, and to have their unique voice heard by working directly with our team,” Hards said. “The fact is, Amazon already offers what many unions are requesting: industry-leading pay, health benefits on day one, and opportunities for career growth.”

The following account of the unrest at the roughly 4,000-worker facility, located near an airport in Northern Kentucky, draws on interviews with five employees involved in union organizing, as well as audio, video, texts, and messages in the workplace app reviewed by ABC News.

The outcome of the clash between workers and management in Kentucky may hold significance as a bellwether of union activity at Amazon in a moment when the nationwide campaign has encountered difficulty.

Last year, a worker-led independent group unionized a 6,000-employee Amazon warehouse in Staten Island, New York, the first-ever U.S. union at the company in its history.

Since then, however, the Amazon Labor Union, or ALU, has lost two consecutive union elections at other facilities; and certification of the Staten Island victory remains tied up in legal challenges. A breakthrough in the labor-unfriendly South would indicate a significant resurgence for the ALU.

Workers at the facility began signing up colleagues in support of a union in February, Marcio Rodriguez, an employee at the location, told ABC News.

The union drive, Rodriguez said, featured an array of demands: $30 per hour base pay, fixes for faulty equipment, bolstered safety protections, on-site childcare, overtime pay and non-English translations of workplace materials for the facility’s sizable immigrant population.

Within a month, Amazon started holding mandatory meetings discouraging workers from joining the union, Rodriguez said. “I was in six or seven of them,” he added.

In response to ABC News’ request for comment, Amazon Spokesperson Eileen Hards said such meetings allow the company to inform employees about union-related issues.

“Like many companies, we hold meetings where we talk openly, candidly, and respectfully about these topics and encourage employees to learn more — so they have all the information they need in order to make educated decisions,” Hards said.

Workers used a small table as they signed up colleagues and handed out materials near the building’s entrance, Rodgriguez said. Once or twice each day, management checked workers’ identification badges to ensure that they were employed at the facility and permitted to access the site. But workers were largely left alone, he said.

By October, the union campaign had achieved significant progress, announcing that it had signed up over 1,000 employees, or roughly a quarter of the workforce at the facility.

Amazon’s alleged fight against the union campaign escalated over the ensuing weeks, five workers said.

One day in early November, workers used two large tables for union sign-ups, hanging a banner across the front of the tables that resembled a mock $10 billion check meant to indicate the amount of profit the company had earned in a recent three-month period.

Passersby were asked to place a red sticker on a nearby display board to vote for which workplace improvement they would most like to receive some of those profits, such as the $30 per hour pay floor or on-site childcare.

The frequent identification checks and warnings of insubordination began that day, eliciting the flurry of text messages that brought Gomez to the site, workers said. A manager acknowledged to a group of workers that he had checked their identification five times that day, a video reviewed by ABC News shows.

The company held one-on-one sessions two weeks later alerting each of the 11 workers of a write-up they had received as a result of tabling and the risk of termination if they continued, workers said. Jordan Quinn, an employee at the facility involved in the union drive, said he was walking to the bathroom when a manager brought him into a meeting and asked him questions about his conduct for roughly a half hour.

“I’m kind of scared I could lose my job,” Quinn told ABC News. “That’s the whole thing about intimidation. They want to scare us so we back down.”

The workers have filed charges with the National Labor Relations Board, a federal agency, alleging that the write-ups violate their rights to organize on the job and amount to intimidation. The NLRB did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Amazon has policies in place that prevent obstruction of access to promote safety and deliver a positive employee experience, the company said.

Federal labor law protects workers’ right to solicit union support in the workplace while off the clock, the NLRB says.

Last week, the NLRB issued a decision finding that Amazon had illegally retaliated against union workers at its warehouse in Staten Island, New York over their support for the union or participation in union activity. Illegal tactics undertaken by Amazon included interrogating employees, subjecting them to closer supervision and prohibiting them from handing out union literature.

“We disagree with certain decisions within the ruling, but are glad the judge agreed that the terminated individual should not be reinstated,” Amazon spokesperson Mary Kate Paradis told Retail Dive. “We continue to review other parts of the decision and are considering our next steps in light of this ruling.”

Kate Bronfenbrenner, a labor relations professor at Cornell University, said current staff at the NLRB have broadly protected union organizing carried out by employees at work while off the clock but it’s unclear how the board would rule in the dispute over tabling near the entrance of the Kentucky facility.

The tabling at the heart of the dispute at the Kentucky facility appears to have taken place in a non-work area, affording the workers significant protection under federal law, Bronfenbrenner said. However, Amazon my still be within its rights to prohibit union activity in the area if it has not permitted other third party groups to take part in similar activities at the location, she added.

Zooming out from the specifics of that dispute, Bronfenbrenner said, Amazon’s previous posture toward union campaigns leaves little doubt about its approach to the labor drive in Kentucky.

“Amazon is as anti-union as it gets and it has the resources to take it up a notch from everybody else,” Bronfenbrenner told ABC News.

Since the write-ups, workers have held two marches into the management office decrying alleged retaliation against the union. “The more we put ourselves into that setting, the more resilient I feel like we are,” Marisa Krull, one of the employees who received a written warning, told ABC News.

In recent weeks, the company has resumed mandatory meetings with employees discouraging them from unionizing, workers said. On Friday, Rodriguez and Ritze attempted to speak up for the union at one such meeting but were denied entry by an Amazon employee relations officer, according to audio reviewed by ABC News.

“You’ll be eventually asked to come to a meeting but if you haven’t been asked to come to this one, you’re in the wrong meeting,” the officer said, appearing to raise his voice.

“What are you so worked up about?” Ritze asked. In response, the officer said, “You’re right — I’m very worked up.”

Management has also held additional one-on-one questioning with Rodriguez and Ritze for an investigation into alleged violation of the company’s restrictions for workers while off duty, according to audio reviewed by ABC News.

Further spreading its opposition to the union, the company sent a text message on Monday to employees with a hyperlink to a message on the workplace app entitled, “You have the right to say no,” according to a copy of the message.

The message cautioned workers against signing a card in support of the union and urged them to alert human relations if they “ever feel like you are being treated in a rude, disrespectful, harassing bullied or intimidating manner.”

For now, the workers have started signing workers up without a table, they said.

Gomez said she just moved to a new, more expensive apartment counting on income from the job at Amazon. If she loses it, her savings won’t last long, she said. “I would cry a lot,” she added.

At work, however, she continues to talk about organizing with coworkers and wear a union pin, she said.

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(NEW YORK) — DoorDash and Uber Eats issued statements this week announcing changes to their respective tipping policies in response to a new minimum wage increase for app-based food delivery workers in New York City.

Earlier this fall, the New York State Supreme Court ruled that “apps should immediately pay delivery workers the Minimum Pay Rate of at least $17.96 per hour,” according to the New York City Department of Consumer Worker Protection.

In a statement in late November, following the state Supreme Court decision, Vilda Vera Mayuga, commissioner of the New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection, hailed the ruling, saying, “The minimum pay rate of at least $17.96 per hour will help lift thousands of New Yorkers and their families out of poverty, while still allowing flexibility for both apps and workers … We thank the court for making the right decision and thank the hundreds of delivery workers who fought for their right to earn a dignified wage.”

Maria Torres-Springer, deputy mayor for Housing, Economic Development, and Workforce, added separately, “Delivery workers are a critical part of our city’s workforce and play a critical role in our local economy, yet to date, they have not been able to earn a living wage. We are grateful for the appellate court’s decision today and expect the delivery apps to start implementing the minimum pay rate immediately. When we lift up working New Yorkers, the whole city succeeds.”

In what they said was a direct result of that ruling, DoorDash and Uber Eats announced plans on Monday for New York City customers that do away with the formerly standard tipping prompt on the checkout page of the apps and add a new service fee to each transaction. Customers can still choose to include a tip once the delivery has been completed, and both companies assured delivery drivers that they will receive 100% of those tips.

While some consumers unaware of the city’s changes may have been caught off guard, DoorDash made an extensive push to explain how its updates would allow it “to better balance the impact of bad policies in NYC for everyone who uses our platform.”

“As we have repeatedly made clear in recent months, the ill-conceived, extreme minimum pay rate for food delivery workers in New York City will have significant consequences for everyone who uses our platform,” DoorDash said in statement about its New York City customer experience. “Unfortunately, these regulations will significantly increase the costs of facilitating delivery in NYC and force us to make a number of operational changes, which is why we’re providing an update on what local consumers and Dashers will be seeing beginning today.”

When the earnings standard was announced in June, DoorDash issued a statement saying the outcome would create unpopular consequences for the delivery worker experience.

In order to meet the new minimum pay rate, DoorDash said at the time that its platform and others would “have to increase costs on each order or reduce services in New York City,” stating that other impacts of the coming changes could include fewer opportunities for Dashers to work when they choose, customers potentially priced out of orders, and possible jobs lost at local restaurants.

DoorDash, Uber Eats and Grubhub set out on a united front earlier this year to argue against the City Council measure in an effort to block such pay raises, but failed when New York Acting Supreme Court Justice Nicholas Moyne rejected those arguments.

“Policies have consequences, and these changes come as a direct result of the extreme earnings standard imposed in New York City,” a DoorDash spokesperson told “Good Morning America” on Thursday. “The City itself acknowledged that platforms could make changes to our tipping structure to help meet the significantly increased costs, which is exactly what we’re doing and therefore should come as no surprise.”

They added, “We’re hopeful that these changes will allow us to better balance the impact across everyone who uses our platform and continue providing the best possible experience as we explore further changes to the platform in the months to come.”

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