Saturday News: Climate-Change-Fueled Irma Zeroes In; West Virginia Vacates Mountain Valley Pipeline Permit

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Saturday, September 9.

• ‘Heed the warnings’: Officials sound alarm as Irma bears down (“Millions ordered to leave in Florida; Carolinas and Georgia declare emergencies”)
• Mass Flight in Florida as Irma Bears Down: ‘You Don’t Want to Be Here’
• It Is a Time to Talk About Climate Change (And why we MUST NOT build new fossil fuel infrastructure, such as new fracked gas pipelines, which are very damaging from a climate perspective.)
• Florida governor has ignored climate change risks, critics say (Disgraceful and unforgiveable.)
• 5 Ways Climate Change May Be Making Hurricanes Worse
• How Harvey and Irma Will Impact Our Economy (“Forecasters surveyed by The Wall Street Journal expect Harvey to continue to depress employment throughout the third quarter of this year, reducing monthly job gains by an average of 27,000. By quarter’s end, the analysts expect that the storm will have shaved 0.3 percent off the growth rate of America’s GDP.”)
• How Bad Could Irma Be for Miami? (“Even if the building codes and precautions taken by homeowners are able to mitigate the damage of Irma’s winds, the storm surge will be impossible to stop.”)
• Congress Isn’t Happy About the Equifax Breach
• Will Miami’s Skyscrapers Withstand Irma?
• New White House Chief of Staff Has Chosen an Enforcer (“The first step in taming the White House, John F. Kelly believes, is installing a No. 2 who is willing to be hated: Kirstjen Nielsen, his brusque, no-nonsense aide.”)
• Mueller seeks to interview Spicer, Priebus and others for Russia probe: report
• U.S. Calls for UN Vote Monday on Fresh North Korea Sanctions
• Irma Zeroes in on Florida With $200 Billion Damage Toll Seen
• Rush Limbaugh Argues Hurricane Forecasts Are Liberal Conspiracies, Is Also Evacuating Because of Hurricane Forecast (Among the worst examples of our species right here…)
• Trump signs Harvey aid, debt ceiling package (“Trump on Friday signed a bipartisan spending package that would provide disaster aid to victims of Hurricane Harvey, while raising the debt ceiling and funding the government for three months.”)
• White House communications director Hope Hicks retains lawyer in Russia probe
• 5 Reasons Why a Dreamer Bill Could Really Happen
• A Requiem for Florida, the Paradise That Should Never Have Been (“As Hurricane Irma prepares to strike, it’s worth remembering that Mother Nature never intended us to live here.”)
• Fox News has fired host Eric Bolling (It’s still a hideous, reeking cesspool of a network.)
• House Republicans lash Mnuchin, Mulvaney behind closed doors
• Miami’s mayor on Hurricane Irma: ‘If this isn’t climate change, I don’t know what is’
• Equifax slammed after major data breach
• Facebook Wins, Democracy Loses
• Ed Gillespie flirts with toxic ideas at his own risk (“There is a moral cost to winking at the most noxious elements in the electorate; there may also be a political cost, especially in Virginia. Increasingly dominated by the cosmopolitan suburban precincts of Northern Virginia, the state’s electorate has not rewarded candidates who have flirted with extremists. Mr. Gillespie might bear that in mind as he zigzags his way across the commonwealth.” Stop saying Gillespie’s a “moderate,” which he absolutely is not at this point.)
• Carly Fiorina will not run for Senate, eases path to nomination for Corey Stewart (Tom Davis: “That makes Corey the undisputed frontrunner at this point. That wraps it up.”)
• Kaine praises Trump’s foreign policy team, critiques president, talks about Corey Stewart in RTD interview (“Look, my prediction, I think you’re going to see in these Virginia elections the harbinger of what’s going to happen in 2018 and beyond, which is incredible energy.”)
• Virginia just decertified its most hackable voting machines
• Virginia Republicans to Democrat Ralph Northam: Where’s your tax plan? (“Ed simply wants to give fiscally irresponsible tax breaks to the wealthy.”)
• Virginia scraps touch-screen voting machines as election for governor looms
• Gubernatorial candidates Gillespie, Northam discuss children’s issues
• Virginia First Ladies Gather for Education Discussion (“First ladies of Virginia both past and present gathered for a round table on Friday, September 8, in Charlottesville to discuss education. They were joined by Democratic gubernatorial candidate Ralph Northam’s wife, Pam.”)
• Developers ask regulators to OK Atlantic Coast Pipeline soon (Screw that!)
• WV DEP vacates permit for Mountain Valley Pipeline (“The state Department of Environmental Protection said in a Thursday letter to the pipeline developers and other state and federal agencies that it ‘hereby vacates and remands’ its water quality certification for the controversial natural gas pipeline.” See Virginia? If West Virginia can do it, so can we. Just say no to these fracked gas monstrosities!)
• W.Va. environmental agency to reconsider water quality permit for Mountain Valley Pipeline (“DEP’s announcement came as the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality considers whether to issue 401 water quality certifications for the Mountain Valley Pipeline and the separate but similar Atlantic Coast Pipeline.” On climate change grounds alone, the answer should be “no” and “no.”)
• Virginia governor declares state of emergency ahead of Irma
• Editorial: A little bit of corporate welfare for downtown Richmond
• As Irma continues westward, it looks like Hampton Roads won’t feel much from the hurricane
• This weekend will be gorgeous. But keep an eye on Irma for next week.