Monday News: “UN to world leaders: To curtail warming, you must do more”; Pfizer Says COVID Vaccine “safe and effective in children ages 5 to 11”; “Democrats confront ‘Rubik’s cube on steroids'”; “Can Southwest Virginia remake itself as a laboratory for renewables?”

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Monday, September 20.

• Global Methane Pledge Offers Hope on Climate in Lead Up to Glasgow (“An international effort to slash methane emissions could quickly address climate change if the US and EU can stick to their pledges and get other countries to join.”)
• UN to world leaders: To curtail warming, you must do more
• World leaders face furious push to act quickly on climate change (“The presidents and prime ministers gathering at the United Nations this week have six weeks to go until a crucial global climate summit in Scotland where they must join forces to slow the warming of the planet — something they have struggled to do in the past.”)
• Oil Companies to Be Sidelined at U.N.’s Climate Conference
• Special Report: BP gambles big on fast transition from oil to renewables
• ‘The potential for solar is huge’: future looks bright for Lightsource BP
• Indonesia clings to coal despite green vision for economy (Totally unacceptable.)
• Records smashed as renewables break through 60pct, coal output at new low (“Records continued to tumble on Australia’s main electricity grid on Monday, with the share of renewable energy smashing through 60 per cent for the first time, just a day after it had set a new record of 59.8 per cent…AEMO is expecting rooftop solar alone to reach 100 per cent of demand in the state of South Australia some time this spring – most likely in October – which would be a first for a gigawatt-scale grid in the world. It is also predicting that rooftop solar could meet up to 75 per cent of demand on the entire main grid at certain times over the next five years, and is preparing the national grid to accommodate times of up to 100 per cent wind and solar by 2025.”)
• Global Stocks, U.S. Futures Fall on China Property Fears
• Thousands flee as volcano erupts on Spain’s La Palma island, homes destroyed
• Vaccine gap stokes super spreader fears ahead of UN’s first post-Covid meeting
• Bats in Laos Caves Harbor Closest Relatives to Covid-19 Virus
• Biden to Push Global Plan to Battle Covid as Vaccination Gaps Widen (“The U.N.-backed vaccine program is so far behind schedule that not even 10 percent of the population in poor countries is fully vaccinated, experts say. President Biden will aim to persuade vaccine-producing nations to balance domestic interests with distributing doses to countries with the biggest need”)
• Climate Populism Is a Gathering Storm in Europe
• Low dose of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is safe and effective in children ages 5 to 11, companies’ study finds
• The AP Interview: UN chief warns China, US to avoid Cold War
• Justin Trudeau’s bid for third term in balance as Canada goes to polls (“Post-vaccination election gamble may backfire as parties face off in tightly contested vote battle”)
• Explainer: In tight Canada election, another minority government is likely
• 5 Things To Watch In Canada’s Big Election
• Japan urges Europe to speak out against China’s military expansion
• Biden seeks a phone call with France’s Macron to calm the waters
• UK-France defence summit cancelled in Aukus row
• Macron’s Not Ready to Calm Down After Submarine Humiliation (“The French president is looking for an adequate response, officials say, and will speak with U.S. President Joe Biden in the coming days.”)
• Russia shooting: Gunman kills several at Perm University
• Pro-Putin party wins majority in Russian elections despite declining support (“Partial results show ruling United Russia party will retain power in parliament after winning over 45% of the vote”)
• Russian pro-Putin party wins majority after crackdown; foes cry foul
• Syrian detention camp is rocked by dozens of killings blamed on Islamic State women
• Haiti Protests Mass U.S. Deportation of Migrants to Country in Crisis
• US launches mass expulsion of Haitian migrants from Texas
• ‘The pay is absolute crap’: Child-care workers are quitting rapidly, a red flag for the economy
• Covid-19 cases forcing hospitals to ration care is unfair and unacceptable, expert says
• Voters still don’t like the GOP’s answer to the coronavirus
• This Powerful Democrat Linked to Fossil Fuels Will Craft the U.S. Climate Plan
• Scoop – Manchin: Delay Biden plan to ’22 (Hell no.)
• Senate parliamentarian deals blow to Dems’ immigration push
• Democrats unlikely to get immigration measure in $3.5 trillion budget proposal after Senate parliamentarian ruling
• Pelosi on Center Stage With Biden’s $4 Trillion Agenda at Risk (“She must navigate deep Democratic rifts and a minefield of promises she’s made to keep moderates and progressives moving toward her goal.”)
• Democrats confront ‘Rubik’s cube on steroids’
• Medicare Expansion Clashes With Health Care for the Poor as Budget Bill Shrinks (“Under pressure to cut the bill’s cost, Democrats disagreed over whether to offer more benefits to older Americans or to cover more of the working poor”)
• As House returns, Democrats face hard choices on Biden mega-bill, infrastructure
• If Republicans can’t get behind an issue as fundamental as voting, Democrats must push through their bill
• Drug companies on verge of sinking longtime Democratic priority
• Biden pushes back at Democrats on taxes
• Juan Williams: Shame on the anti-mandate Republicans (They have no shame.)
• Republicans Hope to Re-Energize Tea Party in Spending Fight
• How Democrats can capitalize on the MAGA crowd’s frequent humiliations (“Flop after flop should encourage Democrats.”)
• Trump, allies launch onslaught as midterms kick into gear
• Trump Looks for Challenger to Depose Mitch McConnell as Split Widens
• GOP Senators Reportedly Refuse to Go Along With Trump’s Plan to Depose McConnell
• Nearly 900 state legislators urge Supreme Court to uphold Roe v. Wade in major abortion case (“Arguments in the case involving Mississippi’s 15-week abortion are scheduled to begin this fall.”)
• Op-Ed: Are Supreme Court justices ‘partisan hacks’? All the evidence says yes
• White Evangelicals Shun Morality for Power
• The Exvangelicals (“Even as evangelicals maintain their position as the most popular religion in the U.S., a movement of self-described “exvangelicals” is breaking away, using social media to engage tens of thousands of former faithful.”)
• In attack on abortion rights, new Texas law could turn state courts into litigation Thunderdomes
• Georgia Is How American Democracy Falls Apart (“Through a bevy of bills and rule changes, Georgia Republicans are trying to codify the essential goal of the Jan. 6 riots: a rigged system in which Democrats can’t win elections.”)
• Chris Wallace Says He Occupies ‘So Much Space In Donald Trump’s Brain Rent-Free’ (“’I’m not talking about him, but yet, he still wants to talk about the Sept. 29, 2020 debate,’ the Fox News host said.”)
• The Trump Organization Is Back In Court To Fight Tax Fraud Charges In New York
• Opinion: Facebook is too secretive. Its oversight board should change that
• Lincoln Project says ad attacking Greg Abbott pulled from Texas football game (“Anti-Trump Republican group targets governor with ad showing border wall made of coffins of Covid victims”)
• Eric Adams and the Hopes of Radical Centrism (“New York’s likely next mayor is already positioning himself as a Democrat of national importance.”)
• Covid-stricken Alabama had more deaths than births last year, a first in its recorded history.
• Tate Reeves and the high cost of covid incompetence
• Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves attacks vaccine mandates, downplays state’s high death toll
• Mississippi GOP governor defends Covid response despite highest number of deaths per capita in US
• Scoop: Beto plans Texas comeback in governor’s race
• Pennsylvania Republicans invade voters’ privacy in service of the ‘big lie’
• Anthony Gonzalez gets what Democrats need to know (“For all of Biden’s honorable efforts to pull the nation together, and his earlier habit of downplaying the radical nature of today’s Republicanism, our politics remain as dangerously abnormal as Gonzalez warns.”)
• Gabby Petito’s Disappearance: a Timeline
• Gabby Petito: Body matching missing woman found in Wyoming
• Youngkin is saying the right thing on election fraud. So is election integrity still his ‘top priority’?
• With 44 Days to Go, Where Does Virginia’s Gubernatorial Election Stand Right Now? For Instance, Is Glenn Youngkin “Trumpy” Enough to Really Rile Up Democratic “Base” Voters, as Happened in California with Larry Elder? (Also, has Youngkin “blown it” on COVID-19 vaccine mandates?)
• While running to the middle, gubernatorial candidates paint their opponents as extreme during events over the weekend (Youngkin definitely isn’t running to the “middle” – maybe he’s moved rhetorically from far-right to just plain right wing?)
• Virginia patients will soon have access to at-home abortion medication (“The expansion comes as Democratic legislators consider ways to preserve abortion rights in state code”)
• Virginia to add tests to find pandemic-related learning gaps
• Can Southwest Virginia remake itself as a laboratory for renewables? (“As coal continues to decline, region zeroes in on diversification”)
• Halfway into month, September already on track to be children’s hospital’s worst yet for coronavirus
• To start a recall election in Portsmouth, residents may need to provide a specific reason
• Enrollment declines 2% at VCU, a lingering effect of the pandemic on low-income families, says school president
• Stafford voter redistricting process begins
• Self-defense claim being investigated after man fatally shot in Fairfax County home
• D.C.-area forecast: Nice and warm through midweek before a fall front brings rain and cooler temperatures