VOL. CLXVII . . . No. 58,082 © 2018 The New York Times Company NEW YORK, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2018

C M Y K Nxxx,2018-09-11,A,001,Bs-4C,E2

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WASHINGTON — The Trumpadministration, taking its thirdmajor step this year to roll backfederal efforts to fight climatechange, is preparing to make itsignificantly easier for energycompanies to release methaneinto the atmosphere.

Methane, which is among themost powerful greenhouse gases,routinely leaks from oil and gaswells, and energy companies havelong said that the rules requiringthem to test for emissions arecostly and burdensome.

The Environmental ProtectionAgency, perhaps as soon as thisweek, plans to make public a pro-posal to weaken an Obama-era re-quirement that companies moni-tor and repair methane leaks, ac-cording to documents reviewedby The New York Times. In a re-lated move, the Interior Depart-ment is also expected in comingdays to release its final version ofa draft rule, proposed in February,that essentially repeals a restric-tion on the intentional venting and“flaring,” or burning, of methanefrom drilling operations.

The new rules follow two roll-backs this year of regulations that,taken together, represent thefoundation of the United States’effort to rein in global warming. InJuly, the E.P.A. proposed weak-ening a rule on carbon dioxide pol-lution from vehicle tailpipes. Andin August, the agency proposedreplacing a rule on carbon dioxidepollution from coal-fired powerplants with a weaker one thatwould allow far more global-warming emissions to flow un-checked from the nation’s smoke-stacks.

“They’re taking them down,one by one,” said Janet McCabe,the E.P.A.’s top climate and clean-air regulator in the Obama admin-istration.

Officials from the E.P.A., the In-terior Department and the WhiteHouse did not respond to emailsand telephone calls seeking com-ment.

Industry groups praised the ex-pected changes. “It’s a neat pair”of proposals on methane, saidKathleen Sgamma, president ofthe Western Energy Alliance, anassociation of independent oil andgas companies that is based inDenver. The Obama-era E.P.A.

WHITE HOUSE SETTO WEAKEN RULESCURBING METHANE

INDUSTRY HAILS CHANGE

Looser Monitoring andRepair Schedules for

Oil and Gas Wells

By CORAL DAVENPORT

Continued on Page A13

WASHINGTON — The Trumpadministration is consideringsanctions against Chinese seniorofficials and companies to punishBeijing’s detention of hundreds ofthousands of ethnic Uighurs andother minority Muslims in largeinternment camps, according tocurrent and former American offi-cials.

The economic penalties wouldbe one of the first times the Trumpadministration has taken actionagainst China because of humanrights violations. United States of-ficials are also seeking to limitAmerican sales of surveillancetechnology that Chinese securityagencies and companies are usingto monitor Uighurs throughoutnorthwest China.

Discussions to rebuke China forits treatment of its minority Mus-lims have been underway formonths among officials at theWhite House and the Treasuryand State Departments. But theygained urgency two weeks ago, af-ter members of Congress askedSecretary of State Mike Pompeoand Treasury Secretary StevenMnuchin to impose sanctions onseven Chinese officials.

Until now, President Trump haslargely resisted punishing Chinafor its human rights record, oreven accusing it of widespread vi-olations. If approved, the penal-ties would fuel an already bitterstandoff with Beijing over tradeand pressure on North Korea’s nu-clear program.

Last month, a United Nationspanel confronted Chinese diplo-mats in Geneva over the deten-tions. The camps for Chinese Mus-lims have been the target of grow-ing international criticism and in-vestigative reports, including byThe New York Times.

Human rights advocates and le-gal scholars say the mass deten-tions in the northwest region ofXinjiang are the worst collectivehuman rights abuse in China indecades. Since taking power in2012, President Xi Jinping hassteered China on a hard authori-tarian course, which includes in-creased repression of large ethnicgroups in western China, notablythe Uighurs and Tibetans.

On Sunday, Human RightsWatch released a detailed report

U.S. May ActAgainst ChinaFor Detentions

Economic Punishmentfor Anti-Islam Camps

By EDWARD WONG

Continued on Page A6

ATLANTA — As HurricaneFlorence gained muscle over theAtlantic Ocean on Monday andsped toward the shores of Northand South Carolina, governmentofficials in both states were takingfew chances, exhorting more thana million residents and tourists incoastal areas to grab their essen-tials, jump into their cars and headinland as part of a great coastalemptying.

The National Hurricane Centerwarned that the storm, whichjumped to Category 4 strength onMonday with 140 mile-an-hourwinds, could pummel the shorewith life-threatening storm surgesand soak a wide area with rains soheavy that freshwater floodingwould become a major threat. It isexpected to make landfall Thurs-day night near the North Carolina-South Carolina border.

In Myrtle Beach, S.C., TneahBrown was listening to the warn-ings. At work on Monday after-noon, she weighed the many com-plications that would soon flowfrom the order issued by Gov.Henry McMaster of South Car-olina, calling on people in eightcounties nearest the shore to getout.

Storm Closes InAs One MillionFlee Carolinas

By RICHARD FAUSSET

Hurricane Florence, seen from the International Space Station, was building strength on Monday as it headed for the East Coast.NASA, VIA ASSOCIATED PRESS

Continued on Page A11

These are not the stories thatcandidates usually turn to thecamera and open up about in ads.

One talked about her father’s vi-olent temper and how she oncewatched him throw her motherthrough a plate glass door. An-other recalled watching his broth-ers struggle to find steady workbecause of their criminal records.A third spoke of suffering a decadeof sexual abuse as a child.

The wave of female, minorityand outsider candidates that isbreaking cultural barriers andtoppling incumbents in the Demo-cratic Party is also sweeping asidea longstanding norm in cam-paigns: That the public image of

politicians — especially women —should be upbeat, uncontroversialand utterly conventional.

For many of these Democratswho were running against better-financed rivals, the breakthroughmoment came after they got per-sonal in relatively low-cost videosthat went viral, reaching millionsof people. Using documentary-style storytelling, which can lastfor several minutes, candidateshave found a successful alterna-tive to the traditional model of

raising huge sums of money thatget spent on expensive, 30-secondtelevision commercials.

The videos are chiefly intendedas ads, but they also served afund-raising purpose. For a frac-tion of the cost, these videos canhelp to spread a candidate’s storyin a way that is easily shareableand can inspire donations.

Jahana Hayes, a Connecticuteducator and first-time candidatewho won a primary for Congresslast month, produced a video forless than $20,000 that brought in$300,000 in donations. In it, shedescribed the difficult circum-stances of her upbringing — beingraised by her grandmother whileher mother battled addiction andthen getting pregnant at 17.

In the housing project where

Baring a Bit of Your Soul to Connect With VotersBy JEREMY W. PETERS

and SAPNA MAHESHWARI

Continued on Page A14

Candidates Turning toLow-Budget Videos

to Get Noticed

SUKIONIAI, Lithuania — Forthe tiny village of Sukioniai inwestern Lithuania, the exploits ofGeneral Storm, a local anti-Com-munist hero executed by the Sovi-et secret police in 1947, have longbeen a source of pride. The villageschool is named after him, and hisstruggles against the Soviet Un-ion are also honored with a memo-rial carved from stone next to thefarm where he was born.

All along, though, there havebeen persistent whispers thatGeneral Storm, whose real namewas Jonas Noreika, also helpedthe Nazis kill Jews. But these werelargely discounted as the work ofill-willed outsiders serving a well-orchestrated campaign by Mos-

cow to tar its foes as fascists.Blaming Russian propaganda,

however, has suddenly become alot more difficult thanks to Mr.Noreika’s own granddaughter, Sil-via Foti, a Lithuanian-Americanfrom Chicago who has spent yearsresearching a biography of herrevered relative and went publicin July with her shocking conclu-sion: Her grandfather was a fierceanti-Semite and Nazi collaborator.

Her unequivocal verdict — an-

A Lithuanian Hero, or a Nazi Ally? Maybe BothBy ANDREW HIGGINS

A monument for Jonas Noreika. He signed documents ordering the seizure of Jewish property.BRENDAN HOFFMAN FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

Continued on Page A8

Descendant’s ResearchExposes Complicity

President Trump’s national se-curity adviser, John R. Bolton,strayed from his boss with skepti-cism for North Korea. Page A6.

Strident Tone From Bolton

Most mammals rely on ancient genes toproduce teeth and tusks. But someelephants in Africa show how nature isable to alter the code. PAGE D1

SCIENCE TIMES D1-6

How Tusks Became LiabilitiesA Guatemalan mother, back with hertwo children after 51 days of forcedseparation, is seeking asylum. PAGE A10

NATIONAL A10-14

Making a New Life in OregonAn anti-graft commission is investigat-ing President Jimmy Morales, who isaggressively fighting back. PAGE A4

INTERNATIONAL A4-9

A Crisis in Guatemala

The Education Department said pro-posed rules would decrease the numberof investigations in schools. PAGE A12

Reducing Campus Rape Cases“Climate change is the defining issue ofour time, and we are at a defining mo-ment,” the U.N. leader said. PAGE A6

An Alarm on Global Warming

After Sam Darnold threw an early inter-ception, the Jets regrouped to rout De-troit, 48-17, and open with a road victoryfor the first time since 2009. PAGE B8

SPORTSTUESDAY B8-13, 16

Jets Win in Rookie’s DebutA brother-and-sister rabbi team heldtheir usual unusual Rosh Hashanaservice, with a gospel choir singingsongs in Hebrew. PAGE A15

NEW YORK A15-17, 20

Preaching Less Oy, More Joy

Leslie Moonves took CBS from thedepths to the top of television. Then hiscareer came crashing down. PAGE B1

BUSINESS DAY B1-7

The Rise and Fall of Mr. TV

A decade after Lehman Brothers implod-ed, the crisis still sets the political tone,Andrew Ross Sorkin writes. PAGE B1

Crash Echoes, 10 Years Later

In the new series “The First” on Hulu,the years ahead are not quite the dysto-pian nightmare that seems to be invogue now with other shows. PAGE C1

ARTS C1-8

A Not-So-Dark Future

Martina Navratilova PAGE A19

EDITORIAL, OP-ED A18-19

As students have returned toschool, they have been greeted byteachers who, more likely thannot, are white women. That meansmany students will be continuingto see teachers who are a differentgender than they are, and a differ-ent skin color.

Does it matter? Yes, accordingto a significant body of research:Students, especially nonwhite stu-dents, tend to benefit from havingteachers who look like them.

The homogeneity of teachers isprobably one of the contributors,the research suggests, to the stub-born gender and race gaps in stu-dent achievement: Over all, girlsoutperform boys, and white stu-dents outperform those who areblack and Hispanic.

Yet the teacher work force is be-

coming more female: 77 percentof teachers in public and privateelementary and high schools arewomen, up from 71 percent threedecades ago. The teaching forcehas grown more racially diversein that period, but it is still 80 per-cent white, down from 87 percent.

There are many things that con-tribute to children’s academicachievement, including teachers’experience and training; schoolfunding and zoning; and families’incomes and home environment.And teachers have long been pre-

The teaching pool is still 77 percent female and 80 percent white.REED SAXON/ASSOCIATED PRESS

Continued on Page A11

Students ThriveWhen TeachersAre Like Them

By CLAIRE CAIN MILLER

Late EditionToday, cloudy, humid, warmer,showers or thunderstorms, high 81.Tonight, showers or thunderstorms,low 71. Tomorrow, thunderstorms,high 80. Weather map, Page B16.

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