PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Shaedon Sharpe had 32 points, including a key 3-pointer down the stretch, and the Portland Trail Blazers withstood a late rally by the Atlanta Hawks for a 114-110 victory on Sunday night.
Dalano Banton added 23 points for Portland, which has won its last three games.
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Atlanta Hawks guard Dyson Daniels, left, looks to shoot over Portland Trail Blazers guard Scoot Henderson, center, as Hawks center Clint Capela, right, defends during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Portland, Ore., Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Steve Dykes)
Atlanta Hawks guard Vit Krejci, right, passes the ball on Portland Trail Blazers forward Deni Avdija, left, as forward Kris Murray, center, defends during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Portland, Ore., Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Steve Dykes)
Atlanta Hawks center Clint Capela, left, shoots the ball over Portland Trail Blazers center Donovan Clingan, right, during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Portland, Ore., Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Steve Dykes)
Atlanta Hawks guard Dyson Daniels, left, looks to shoot as Portland Trail Blazers center Donovan Clingan (23) defends during the first half of an NBA basketball game Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024, in Portland, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)
Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young, left, shoots the ball over Portland Trail Blazers forward Jerami Grant, right, during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Portland, Ore., Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Steve Dykes)
Atlanta Hawks forward Jalen Johnson drives to the basket during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Portland Trail Blazers, Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024, in Portland, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)
Atlanta Hawks guard Dyson Daniels, left, looks to shoot over Portland Trail Blazers guard Scoot Henderson, center, as Hawks center Clint Capela, right, defends during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Portland, Ore., Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Steve Dykes)
Atlanta Hawks guard Vit Krejci, right, passes the ball on Portland Trail Blazers forward Deni Avdija, left, as forward Kris Murray, center, defends during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Portland, Ore., Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Steve Dykes)
Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young (11) is fouled as Portland Trail Blazers guard Dalano Banton (5) defends during the first half of an NBA basketball game Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024, in Portland, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)
Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young (11) drives to the basket as Portland Trail Blazers forward Toumani Camara (33) defends during the first half of an NBA basketball game Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024, in Portland, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)
Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young, left, looks to pass the ball against Portland Trail Blazers center Robert Williams III (35) as Trail Blazers forward Toumani Camara (33) defends during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Portland, Ore., Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Steve Dykes)
Portland led 94-81 heading into the last period, but the Hawks went on a 10-0 run to get within 99-96 before Trae Young's 3-pointer tied it at 99. Young made another 3 that gave Atlanta a 102-101 lead.
Sharpe's shot-clock beating 3-pointer with 1:03 left put Portland ahead 109-108, and the Blazers hung on the rest of the way. Sharpe had Portland's last 11 points.
The Blazers trailed by as many as 16 points in the first half, but went ahead 77-76 on Banton's 3-pointer in the third quarter.
The Hawks jumped out to 25-9 lead but Portland got within 56-54 late in the first half on Deni Avdija's jumper.
Young finished with 29 points for the Hawks, who led 64-56 at the break.
Hawks: Forward De'Andre Hunter missed the game with right knee injury management, but he could play Monday when the team visits Sacramento. Hunter has played in three games this season.
Trail Blazers: DeAndre Ayton missed his third straight game with what the Blazers said Sunday was a deep contusion in his right index finger. ... Anfernee Simons missed a second game because of an illness. ... Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel was at the game.
Sharpe made three straight dunks midway through the third quarter that helped Portland close to within 76-74 and energized the Blazers.
Atlanta's Dyson Daniels has at least one steal in 12 straight games, the second-longest active streak in the NBA.
Hawks: Visit the Sacramento Kings on Monday night.
Trail Blazers: Visit the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday.
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba
Atlanta Hawks center Clint Capela, left, shoots the ball over Portland Trail Blazers center Donovan Clingan, right, during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Portland, Ore., Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Steve Dykes)
Atlanta Hawks guard Dyson Daniels, left, looks to shoot as Portland Trail Blazers center Donovan Clingan (23) defends during the first half of an NBA basketball game Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024, in Portland, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)
Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young, left, shoots the ball over Portland Trail Blazers forward Jerami Grant, right, during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Portland, Ore., Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Steve Dykes)
Atlanta Hawks forward Jalen Johnson drives to the basket during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Portland Trail Blazers, Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024, in Portland, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)
Atlanta Hawks guard Dyson Daniels, left, looks to shoot over Portland Trail Blazers guard Scoot Henderson, center, as Hawks center Clint Capela, right, defends during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Portland, Ore., Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Steve Dykes)
Atlanta Hawks guard Vit Krejci, right, passes the ball on Portland Trail Blazers forward Deni Avdija, left, as forward Kris Murray, center, defends during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Portland, Ore., Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Steve Dykes)
Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young (11) is fouled as Portland Trail Blazers guard Dalano Banton (5) defends during the first half of an NBA basketball game Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024, in Portland, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)
Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young (11) drives to the basket as Portland Trail Blazers forward Toumani Camara (33) defends during the first half of an NBA basketball game Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024, in Portland, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)
Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young, left, looks to pass the ball against Portland Trail Blazers center Robert Williams III (35) as Trail Blazers forward Toumani Camara (33) defends during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Portland, Ore., Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Steve Dykes)
MANAUS, Brazil (AP) — Speaking from the Amazon rainforest, President Joe Biden declared Sunday that there’s no going back in America’s “clean energy revolution” even as the incoming Trump administration vows to spur fossil fuel production and scale back efforts against climate change.
Biden, the first sitting U.S. president to visit the world’s largest tropical rainforest, saw up close the ravages of deforestation. The Amazon, which is about the size of Australia, stores huge amounts of the world’s carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas driving climate change. But development is rapidly depleting the long-verdant region, where rivers have been running dry.
Flanked by giant ferns in the forest, Biden said the fight against climate change has been a defining cause of his presidency — he’s pushed for cleaner air, water and energy and achieved legislation that steered unprecedented federal spending to the fight against global warming.
But he's about to hand off to Republican President-elect Donald Trump, who is highly unlikely to prioritize the Amazon or anything related to climate change, which he's cast as a “hoax."
Trump has pledged to again pull out of the Paris agreement, a global pact forged to avert the threat of catastrophic climate change, and he says he'll rescind unspent money in energy efficiency legislation.
“It’s true, some may seek to deny or delay the clean energy revolution that’s underway in America,” Biden said from a podium set up on a sandy forest bed. “But nobody, nobody can reverse it, nobody — not when so many people, regardless of party or politics, are enjoying its benefits.”
The question now, he said, is “which government will stand in the way and which will seize the enormous opportunity.”
His trip comes as the U.N. climate conference is underway in Azerbaijan. Brazil will hold the talks next year.
During a helicopter tour, Biden saw severe erosion, ships grounded in one of the Amazon River’s main tributaries and fire damage. He also passed over a wildlife refuge for endangered species of monkeys and birds and the expansive waters where the Negro River tributary flows into the Amazon. He was joined by Carlos Nobre, a Nobel Prize-winning scientist and expert on how climate change is harming the Amazon.
Biden met Indigenous leaders — introducing his daughter and granddaughter — and visited a museum at the gateway to the Amazon where Indigenous women shook maracas as apart of a welcoming ceremony. He then signed a U.S. proclamation designating Nov. 17 as International Conservation Day.
The U.S. president leaned into the symbolism of his trip, saying the Amazon might be the “lungs of the world,” but “in my view, our forest and national wonders are the heart and soul of the world. They unite us. They inspire us to make us proud of our countries and our heritage.”
The Amazon is home to Indigenous communities and 10% of Earth’s biodiversity. About two-thirds of the Amazon lies within Brazil. Scientists say its devastation poses a catastrophic threat to the planet.
During brief remarks from the forest, Biden sought to highlight his commitment to the preservation of the region. He said the U.S. was on track to reach $11 billion in spending on international climate financing in 2024, a sixfold increase from when he started his term. Poorer nations struggling with rising seas and other effects of climate change say the U.S. and other wealthier nations have yet to fulfill their pledges to help.
“The fight to protect our planet is literally a fight for humanity,” he said.
Biden's administration announced plans last year for a $500 million contribution to the Amazon Fund, the most significant international cooperation effort to preserve the rainforest, primarily financed by Norway.
The U.S. has said it has provided $50 million, and the White House announced Sunday an additional $50 million contribution.
Biden's trip was significant, but "we can’t expect concrete results from this visit," said Suely Araújo, former head of the Brazilian environmental protection agency and public policy coordinator with the nonprofit Climate Observatory.
She doubts that a “single penny” will go to the Amazon Fund once Trump is in the White House.
The Biden administration touted a series of new efforts aimed at bolstering the Amazon and stemming the impact of climate change.
That includes the launch of a finance coalition looking to spur at least $10 billion in public and private investment for land restoration and eco-friendly economic projects by 2030 as well as a $37.5 million loan to support the large-scale planting of native tree species on degraded grasslands in Brazil.
The Amazon has been suffering under two years of historic drought that have dried up waterways, isolated thousands of river communities and hindered riverine dwellers’ ability to fish. It's also made way for wildfires that have burned an area larger than Switzerland and choked cities near and far with smoke.
When Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva took office last year, he signaled a shift in environmental policy from his far-right predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro.
Lula has pledged “zero deforestation” by 2030, though his term runs through 2026. Forest loss in Brazil’s Amazon dropped by 30.6% in the 12 months through July from a year earlier, bringing deforestation to its lowest level in nine years, official data released last week said.
In that 12-month span, the Amazon lost 6,288 square kilometers (2,428 square miles), roughly the size of the U.S. state of Delaware. But that data fails to capture the surge of destruction this year, which will only be included in next year’s reading.
Despite the success in curbing Amazon deforestation, Lula’s government has been criticized by environmentalists for backing projects that could harm the region, such as paving a highway that cuts from an old-growth area and could encourage logging, oil drilling near the mouth of the Amazon River and building a railway to transport soy to Amazonian ports.
While Biden is the first sitting president in the Amazon, former President Theodore Roosevelt traveled to the region with the help of the American Museum of Natural History following his 1912 loss to Woodrow Wilson. Roosevelt, joined by his son and naturalists, traversed roughly 15,000 miles, and the former president fell ill with malaria and suffered a serious leg infection after a boat accident.
Biden is making the Amazon visit as part of a six-day trip to South America, the first to the continent of his presidency. He traveled from Lima, Peru, where he took part in the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit and met with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
After his stop in Manaus, he was heading to Rio de Janeiro for this year's Group of 20 leaders summit.
Sa Pessoa reported from Sao Paulo, and Long from Washington.
President Joe Biden poses after signing a proclamation designating Nov. 17 as International Conservation Day following a tour of the Museu da Amazonia, Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024, in Manaus, Brazil. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
President Joe Biden walks to speak following a tour of the Museu da Amazonia, Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024, in Manaus, Brazil. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
President Joe Biden, left, walks with Henrique Pereira, director of the National Institute for Research in the Amazon, during a tour of the Museu da Amazonia in Manaus, Brazil, Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
President Joe Biden speaks following a tour of the Museu da Amazonia, Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024, in Manaus, Brazil. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
President Joe Biden signs a proclamation designating Nov. 17 as International Conservation Day following a tour of the Museu da Amazonia, Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024, in Manaus, Brazil. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
President Joe Biden, second right, joined by daughter Ashley Biden, third from right, and granddaughter Natalie Biden, right, meets with indigenous and other leaders during a tour of the Museu da Amazonia in Manaus, Brazil, Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
Marine One carrying President Joe Biden flies over the Amazon during a tour, Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024, in Manaus, Brazil. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
Marine One carrying President Joe Biden flies over the Amazon during a tour, Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024, in Manaus, Brazil. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
Marine One carrying President Joe Biden flies over the Amazon during a tour, Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024, in Manaus, Brazil. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
Marine One carrying President Joe Biden flies over the Amazon during a tour, Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024, in Manaus, Brazil. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
Activists from the "Amazônia de Pé" movement hold a banner with a message that reads: "World Leaders: The Amazon is watching" during a protest aimed at drawing the attention of leaders attending the upcoming G20 Summit on the Amazon Rainforest and the environmental crises, at Botafogo Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Bruna Prado)
President Joe Biden, with granddaughter Natalie Biden, boards Air Force One, Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024, in Lima, Peru. Biden is traveling to Manaus, Brazil. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
FILE - A river borders an area that has been illegally deforested by land-grabbers and cattle farmers in an extractive reserve in Jaci-Parana, Rondonia state, Brazil, July 11, 2023. (AP Photo/Andre Penner, File)
President Joe Biden shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping before a bilateral meeting, Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024, in Lima, Peru. (Leah Millis/Pool Photo via AP)
President Joe Biden meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping during a bilateral meeting, Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024, in Lima, Peru. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
