by Lowell
Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Wednesday, February 17.
- Rate of new coronavirus cases declining around the world, WHO says
- Global ‘pandemic treaty’ needed, leaders say, as anxiety swells over Covid origins
- Vaccine diplomacy is here to stay, analysts warn, as Russia and China seek to boost global influence
- Europe’s Dizzying Pandemic Debt Is Setting Off Worry Over Who Will Pay
- Wind and solar projects join grid in record numbers, and connection queues grow
- ESG Funds Need to Shrink Their Carbon Footprint Faster
- The U.S. can’t meet its responsibilities alone. That’s why we believe in NATO.
- Poland steps up an assault on free expression. The U.S. response will be crucial.
- Myanmar coup protesters mass again, reject army’s claim it has public support
- Why Biden can’t ignore Iraq and Afghanistan, even if he might want to
- Heating Arctic may be to blame for snowstorms in Texas, scientists argue (“The wintry weather that has battered the southern US and parts of Europe could be a counterintuitive effect of the climate crisis”)
- US conservatives falsely blame renewables for Texas storm outages (“Lawmakers and the Murdoch media target wind and solar but grid operator says fossil fuel generators suffered biggest problems” Tip: right wingers ALWAYS blame clean energy, and it’s pretty much ALWAYS a lie.)
- A Glimpse of America’s Future: Climate Change Means Trouble for Power Grids (More like climate chaos.)
- Dangerous Arctic chill leaves more than a dozen dead, power outages across the southern U.S.
- The Texas grid got crushed because its operators didn’t see the need to prepare for cold weather
- Texas largely relies on natural gas for power. It wasn’t ready for the extreme cold.
- No, frozen wind turbines aren’t the main culprit for Texas’ power outages (Nope, that’s not what the data show AT ALL.)
- In Texas’s Black-Swan Blackout, Everything Went Wrong at Once
- U.S. Oil Output Slumps by Record One-Third as Permian Freezes
- Texas Power Plants Failed Because They Aren’t Dressed for Winter
- This Texas weather is a chilling reminder about our battered power grid
- First Thing: Biden pledges 600m vaccine doses available by late July
- 3 Million Vaccine Shots a Day (“Averting a wave of new COVID-19 fatalities could require some dramatic, untested, and controversial strategies.”)
- Biden brings centrism and a big-time vaccine promise to town hall (“He showed that the days of pandemic denial and indifference to America’s suffering are over”)
- Biden’s trip to swing state marks new stage in push for stimulus plan
- Biden says goal is to reopen schools five days a week in first 100 days
- ‘America, send us your ideas’: Biden pledges to protect 30% of US lands by 2030 (“To reach this conservation goal, the country will have to conserve more than 400m acres of land and waterways in the next 10 years…The so-called 30 by 30 conservation goal has already met with bipartisan support in Congress, and it aligns with science-based global preservation targets to reach an eventual target of 50% by 2050.”)
- How Republicans will try to cripple the commission investigating the insurrection
- What Could a Capitol Attack Commission Accomplish? (“In the wake of Trump’s second impeachment, Nancy Pelosi has called for a probe into the January 6 insurrection.”)
- Ted Lieu says the impeachment trial ‘cemented Trump’s infamous place in history’ (“Republicans have a problem, the impeachment manager argues.”)
- The trial is over. Now we can finally return to governance.
- Former President Trump faces serious criminal, civil investigations after White House
- Explainer: Trump’s acts as president are ‘fair game’ for criminal charges
- Only the truth will keep Trump away
- Republicans have tied themselves to an anvil (“Polls suggest the terribly unpopular former president will weigh down the party in future elections.”)
- Trump attacks McConnell as ‘political hack,’ says he will back pro-Trump candidates (So who’s done more damage to America and is a more disgusting human being, Trump or McConnell? Tough call!)
- Johnson: McConnell doesn’t ‘speak for the conference’ on Trump’s culpability for riot
- ‘Hell or high water:’ Manchin tells Biden he won’t back push to skirt Senate rules on relief bill
- How to fix the Senate without abolishing the filibuster (“Filibuster reforms are normal, and they happen all the time.”)
- U.S. Capitol Police Union Issues No-Confidence Vote For Top Leaders
- Psychiatrist James Gordon: How we begin to heal America’s collective trauma
- The GOP Finds the Riot’s Real Villain: Nancy Pelosi (“Cuz of course”)
- Want GM to go electric? Raise the gas tax.
- Democracy Is Weakening Right in Front of Us
- Republicans Have Emerged From The Capitol Insurrection United Against Democracy (This party is completely broken. Unless/until it’s fixed, not a single American should vote Republican.)
- The GOP Is Now the Party of Thugs, Terrorists, Racists and Dopes (“They don’t see the attempted insurrection of Jan. 6 as a crime, or even a loss of control to the most extreme elements of the party. They see it as a failure to seize control.”)
- How to Coup-Proof America (“Impeachment is over, but the threat to democracy isn’t”)
- Steve Bannon believed Trump had early stage dementia, TV producer claims (“Bannon ‘spoke of removing president with 25th amendment’”)
- Riot probe to likely focus on McCarthy-Trump call
- Big Tech’s Democratic critics discuss ways to strike back (“Congressional Democrats have begun discussions with the White House on ways to crack down on Big Tech including making social media companies accountable for the spread of disinformation.”)
- How Fox News is exploiting Texas’ power outages to fearmonger about clean energy (“Industry-backed climate deniers and The Wall Street Journal editorial board also join in to scapegoat renewable energy”)
- This Lawsuit Could Rip the Covers Off the Eternal Grift That Is Conservative Politics in America (“A donor now wants his money back, because he threw it down one of the oldest ratholes in American politics.”)
- Michigan Republicans Who Voted to Impeach Trump Face Backlash
- Dominion Says It Will Sue MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell Over Election Fraud Claims
- Brent Bozell IV, Son Of Prominent Conservative Activist, Charged In Capitol Riot (That family seems to have major, uh, “issues”)
- ‘BULLSH*T!’ Fox News Hot Mic Catches Larry Kudlow Raging at Kamala Harris For Claim About Vaccines
- Homeland Security officials scrap Trump-era union deal that could have stalled Biden’s immigration policies (Anything Cuccinelli had anything to do with should be reversed, because it’s guaranteed to suck.)
- Sen. Kaine agrees schools should offer in-person learning options
- Sen. Kaine to make trips across Virginia to discuss health care needs amid COVID-19
- State’s New Database Could Streamline Vaccinations
- UVA research: Two out of three people in the summer were asymptomatic; COVID cases likely about three times higher than reported
- Vaccine registration system opens in Va. with minor setbacks, major language accessibility concerns
- Tuesday (2/16) Virginia Data on COVID-19 Finds +1,770 Confirmed/Probable Cases (to 553,308), +98 Hospitalizations (to 23,042), +21 Deaths (to 7,037)
- Video: Governor Northam Announces $524 Million in New Funding for Virginia Rent Relief Program
- Federal Funding Will Help Virginia Families Keep Their Homes.
- Adult-Use Cannabis Legalization Passes Both House of Delegates, Senate (“The Virginia General Assembly took a historic step today in righting the wrongs caused by the failed war on drugs.”)
- Census data delay could freeze Virginia House districts, raises prospect of elections for three straight years (Yet again, the WaPo reports on something days after we did.)
- The General Assembly Has Approved Marijuana Legalization, But Details Up in the Air
- New Report: 100% Clean Energy Electrification Could Save Virginia Households $8 Billion and Create 200,287 Jobs
- Jennifer Carroll Foy Announces Comprehensive Healthcare Plan to Expand Access, Lower Costs Amidst COVID-19 Pandemic
- New Paper Examines “Why Virginia Needs a Study of Zoning Laws and Their Connection to Segregation” (“Housing is a racial justice issue, and exclusionary zoning practices have had a significant impact on wealth and racial inequity”)
- Bill to define sexual and workplace harassment in Va. is facing opposition
- Cox calls for returning $730 million in extra revenues to Virginians as tax rebate
- Committee Rejects Bill to Make Redistricting Meetings More Transparent (WTF?)
- Virginia General Assembly near to passing major consumer data privacy legislation
- An Important Reminder From Del. Danica Roem: Elections Really *Really* Have Consequences
- Virginia House Passes Bill to End Ban on Abortion Coverage on Health Exchange
- State Democrats Working Out Differences on Gun Control Legislation
- Lawmakers kill bill requiring officers render aid, report wrongdoing (Uh, why?)
- Will the House put the brakes on the electric school bus bill again? (“…opponents say the current bill is also facing resistance behind the scenes from Democratic delegates unhappy with the vote by a Senate committee Monday to kill a slate of utility reform bills, though none would discuss that dynamic on the record.”)
- Virginia lawmakers weigh bill to forgive overpayments by state’s unemployment insurance program
- Kaine visits vaccination sites in the Roanoke Valley
- Hampton’s VA Medical Center is cutting wait times. But there’s more to be done, Sen. Mark Warner says.
- UVa bans in-person events as cases surge
- Editorial: For Rosemary Trible, an indispensable partner and advocate
- Weather Journal: Prepare for another big wave of icy precipitation on Thursday
- If Thursday’s forecast bears out, central Va. will see another damaging ice storm
- Accumulating snow early Thursday, then changing to wintry mix; staying cold through the weekend
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