| Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... |
by Lowell
Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Wednesday, January 15.
- The Bleak Future of Australian Wildlife (“The bushfires were a disaster waiting to happen for animals already fighting for survival.”)
- The Climate Crisis Is Starting to Scare the Money
- Activists cheer BlackRock’s landmark climate move but call for vigilance (“The decision by the private equity giant BlackRock – the world’s biggest fund manager – to exit investments that ‘present a high sustainability-related risk’ has been welcomed by environmentalists as a significant moment in the battle to reshape the relationship between money and the climate crisis.”)
- UN Proposes Protecting 30% of Earth to Slow Extinctions and Climate Change (“The draft update to a global biodiversity treaty aims to solve two global challenges at once by protecting critical wildlife habitat and carbon sinks.” I’d shoot for 50%, as the great E.O. Wilson has proposed.)
- Replacing Coal with Renewables Could Save Energy Customers $8 Billion a Year, Financial Analysts Find
- 2020 Outlook: Coal faces headwinds from aging plants, adverse market signals and high remediation costs
- Three-Quarters of New US Generating Capacity in 2020 Will Be Renewable, EIA Says (“2020 will be a record year for U.S. renewables construction as 6 gigawatts of coal capacity goes offline, according to new government figures.”)
- Solar, Wind Will Make Up 76% of New U.S. Electric Generating Capacity Additions in 2020. How About Virginia???
- New Video Shows Two Iranian Missiles Hit Ukrainian Plane
- Trump Set to Sign ‘Beautiful Monster’ Trade Deal With China
- Trump Gets His Trade Deal, China Gets the Win (“China has suffered short-term pain from the trade war, but it stands to gain in the long term.”)
- Senate Readies War Powers Bill to Limit Trump’s Iran Options
- Trump’s Regime Change Delusions (“The administration is hellbent on overthrowing the Iranian government. It should be careful what it wishes for.”)
- Why we’re introducing a resolution on war with Iran (Sen. Tim Kaine is the co-author of this piece)
- New War Powers Resolution Gains Key GOP Support, Boosting Chances Of Senate Passage
- Giuliani sought private meeting with Ukrainian president, documents show (“The records, released by the House Democrats, also appear to show that former Ukraine Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch was being monitored.”)
- House Dems release new impeachment evidence related to indicted Giuliani associate
- Ukraine prosecutor offered information related to Biden in exchange for ambassador’s ouster, newly released materials show
- Parnas Associate Tracked Ousted Ambassador’s Movements in Kyiv: Docs
- Trump plot to ‘steal’ $7.2B for border wall puts GOP lawmakers in a pickle
- McConnell courts GOP and Trump amid tensions over impeachment witnesses
- Democrats take a walk on the mild side (“The race may be exciting but the Des Moines debate was painfully dull.”)
- Winners and Losers of
the Democratic Debate (NY Times panel has it: Warren 7.2, Sanders 7.1, Klobuchar 6.6, Biden 6.2, Buttigieg 6.1, Steyer 4.6) - 5 Takeaways From the Democratic Debate In Iowa
- The handshake that wasn’t: Warren-Sanders alliance tested in debate
- Five takeaways from the Democratic debate
- How the Warren and Sanders Teams Are Spinning Their Post-Debate Conflict
- The Warren-Sanders Fight Dismantled the Worst Myth About 2016 (“How could anybody in a million years not believe that a woman could become president the United States?”)
- 6 takeaways from the Democratic debate in Iowa
- War Policy Dominates Democratic Debate After Trump’s Iran Strike
- Joe Biden says he’d consider Kamala Harris ‘for anything’ she wants, including VP
- Debate Highlights: Candidates engage on foreign policy, impeachment and sexism
- Trump counterprogrammed the Democratic debate with a rally featuring a rant about toilets (We need to “flush” Trump in November and “wipe” away the stain of this presidency.)
- Amy Klobuchar’s moderate case against Medicare-for-all
- Sanders camp admits anti-Warren script was deployed in multiple early states
- Amy Klobuchar’s Goldilocks Strategy (“Not too young, not too rich, not too left—but can she get past Buttigieg into the first tier?”)
- Trump counter-programs Democrats’ debate with his own rally
- Warren appears to snub Sanders’ handshake after Iowa debate
- Warren slams endless war during Democratic debate: ‘We’re going in circles’
- Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders engage in soul-sapping fireworks at Iowa debate: Who benefits? (“Sanders sticks by claim that he never said a woman couldn’t win; Warren tries to rise above the entire debate”)
- Democratic officials have reason to hope for a happy ending. The debate shows why.
- What Went Down At The January Democratic Debate (“A Largely Dull Debate To Kick Off 2020…Candidates Tangle Briefly Over Sexism In An Otherwise Snoozy Debate”)
- Hawaiian Electric plans for 70% renewables by late 2020s, exceeding targets
- Ted Cruz says presidents need approval to spend money — unless they’re Trump (Cruz, horrible as always.)
- Wisconsin appeals court puts voter rolls purge on hold
- Ken Jennings Is Officially the Greatest Jeopardy! Contestant of All Time (Just amazing.)
- The Evil List (“Which tech companies are really doing the most harm? Here are the 30 most dangerous, ranked by the people who know.” #1 is Amazon, #2 is Facebook, #3 is Alphabet)
- Northam to ban guns from Virginia Capitol grounds, two people briefed on his plans say (“The governor is set to announce the move Wednesday, according to two people briefed on his plans.”)
- AP EXCLUSIVE: Northam to ban guns from Capitol grounds (“The governor, a Democrat, plans to announce the plans at a news conference Wednesday afternoon because of credible threats of potential violence and extremism, one official said.”)
- State Tax Proposals Would Make Virginia’s Tax System More Fair (“HB 736 and SB 637 would restore Virginia’s estate tax and make sure that the wealthiest estates pay their share of state taxes.”)
- The Oceans Are Dangerously Heating, Australia’s on Fire, and…Virginia’s Not (Yet) Serious Enough About Combating the Climate Crisis (Virginia energy guru Ivy Main has posted her take on two major clean energy bills.)
- Video: “We Are On the Precipice of History” as Virginia House Committee Moves ERA to House Floor for Ratification Vote
- Equal Rights Amendment set to get pivotal vote after Virginia swings blue (“If passed, the amendment would cross the 38 state threshold for ratification.”)
- Democrats advance Equal Rights Amendment in Virginia General Assembly committee
- Virginia Lawmakers Renew National Debate Over ERA
- Virginia Lawmakers Are Poised For Historic Vote To Ratify The Equal Rights Amendment
- Environmentalists Rallied to Support Clean Energy Bills
- Organizers “Hope” This Gun Rally To Become The Next Charlottesville
- Northam expected to ban firearms from Capitol grounds ahead of large gun-rights rally
- Reaping the harvest of the (mis)information age (“Even if Democrats get all the gun control items on their wish list — and with the NRA lobbying some sympathetic Democratic senators pretty hard, there’s some reason to believe they might not — firearms still won’t be regulated half as stringently as motor vehicles. Keep that in mind amid all the sound and fury.”)
- Va. Democrats face a growing menu of redistricting reform options. Only one binds them for 2021.(The media *really* wants Democrats to do vote for a badly flawed constitutional redistricting amendment. Why is that?)
- Video: Delegate Marcia Price and Voting Rights Advocates Unveil Redistricting Reform Proposal
- Redistricting Reform May Divide Virginia’s New Democratic Majority
- Senate panel backs early voting bill, disclosure of pre-General Assembly session donations
- The End Of The World As We Know It: How Climate Change Is Affecting Local Species
- Va. Senate panel advances bill forcing lawmakers to reveal big pre-session donations
- Video: Debate Over Sen. Chap Petersen’s Bill Banning Dominion Energy Political Contributions Is VERY Revealing About Virginia’s Broken Political System (Among other things, Sen. Spruill unintentionally makes it crystal clear why we BADLY need to pass this bill!)
- Report: 80% of New Medicaid Enrollees Have Used Their Insurance
- Former Del. Chris Peace (R), Who Lost His Seat in Large Part Because He Supported Medicaid Expansion, Named Co-Chair of Virginia Consumer Healthcare Alliance (Former Sen. Rosalyn Dance (D) named the other co-chair.)
- Editorial: A failure to protect migratory birds (“Construction of the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel expansion recklessly eliminated the habitat used by thousands of migratory waterfowl. Surely Virginia should do better.” Absolutely – DO BETTER!)
- Shad Plank: Changing minds and consistency on catastrophic health insurance bill
- Virginia lawmakers considering a range of bills on pets (Need to ban “puppy mills” and, more broadly, encourage rescue/adoption over purchasing a pet.)
- Virginia County Rebuffs West Virginia’s Request To Join Them
- Federal judge questions premise of Hanover NAACP’s lawsuit over Confederate school names
- Former Virginia college student is charged in ‘swatting’ ring linked to neo-Nazis
- Partly sunny and mild today ahead of a cooler and windier Thursday
