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Biden turns attention to climate crisis with new executive orders today – live updates Biden turns attention to climate crisis with new executive orders today – live updates
(32 minutes later)
President, who has already cancelled Keystone XL pipeline, will address nation on the environmentPresident, who has already cancelled Keystone XL pipeline, will address nation on the environment
School closures have been disruptive for students across the United States but, for many students of color in Milwaukee’s public school system, the immediate impacts have been downright alarming.
In the long run, educators fear, Covid and a long history of segregation and discrimination have formed a toxic cocktail that could reverberate for decades to come.
“It’s not only a question of how we get these kids back to where they would have been had the pandemic not occurred, but how do we get them back to where they should be?” said Dan Rossmiller of the Wisconsin Association of School Boards.
“And that, of course, was the preexisting problem.”
Virtual instruction has been the norm in Milwaukee public schools since March, when schoolhouse doors were first forced to close because of Covid. And in few places are the concerns about its impacts more acute than on Milwaukee’s north side, a majority-Black area in one of the most segregated cities in the nation. In the neighborhoods surrounding Martin Luther King Jr elementary, a school on the city’s near-north side, 55% of children live in poverty – nearly four times the state average for children in poverty.
Angela Harris, a 41-year-old teacher at the school, recalled the distress among students when she told them in the spring they wouldn’t be returning to the classroom.
She remembers rushing to the stockpile of snacks she kept in the classroom for hungry students and how she had loaded them into children’s backpacks so they’d have something to eat if food at home was scarce. She recalls one student in particular, wearing a green and black jacket donated by a local NBA star, and the way his face tightened in devastation at the news he might not see his teacher again.
“I can just visualize his face, in that coat, in that moment, asking me, ‘Mrs Harris, but what do I do if mommy is mean to me again?’ And me not knowing how to help him,” Harris said.
Read more of Mario Koran’s report from Milwaukee: Milwaukee was already failing students of color. Covid made it worse
By the way, if you want to get a sense of the pace at which Joe Biden has been attempting to set his agenda for the next four years, NBC News have published a list of all of Biden’s executive orders to date. Elizabeth Janowski has gathered 40 so far – with more expected today.
Read more here: NBC News – Here’s the full list of Biden’s executive actions so far
There’s a markedly different tone in foreign relations coming out of the Biden administration already compared to his predecessor. This morning Joe Biden has published a clip of a call he had with Nato General Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, and he didn’t appear to complain once about how much money the US spent on defense in Europe.
Instead, Biden said “I intend to rebuild and re-establish out alliances, starting with Nato. I strongly, strongly, strongly support our collective defense based on mutual democratic values. I want to re-affirm the United States’ commitment to article 5. It’s a sacred commitment.”
Article 5 provides that if a Nato member is the victim of an armed attack, each and every other member of Nato will consider this an armed attack against all members. It was invoked for the first time after the 9/11 terror attacks.
You can view the clip here:
Investigators have found no evidence that terrorism, politics or any bias motivated the rampage of a 64-year-old Oregon man who witnesses said repeatedly drove into people along streets and sidewalks in Portland, Oregon, killing a 77-year-old woman and injuring nine other people, police said.Investigators have found no evidence that terrorism, politics or any bias motivated the rampage of a 64-year-old Oregon man who witnesses said repeatedly drove into people along streets and sidewalks in Portland, Oregon, killing a 77-year-old woman and injuring nine other people, police said.
Police identified the driver as Paul Rivas of Oregon City. He was booked into the Multnomah county detention center on initial charges of second-degree murder, assault and failure to perform the duties of a driver, Portland police said.Police identified the driver as Paul Rivas of Oregon City. He was booked into the Multnomah county detention center on initial charges of second-degree murder, assault and failure to perform the duties of a driver, Portland police said.
Rivas is accused of striking the woman, who was dragged a short distance beneath the wheels of a small SUV, and then continuing to drive, hitting other people and vehicles. After the driver fled on foot, neighbors surrounded him until police arrived.Rivas is accused of striking the woman, who was dragged a short distance beneath the wheels of a small SUV, and then continuing to drive, hitting other people and vehicles. After the driver fled on foot, neighbors surrounded him until police arrived.
The Oregon state medical examiner determined that Jean Gerich died of blunt force trauma and ruled her death a homicide. Police released a statement from her family thanking the people at the scene who tried to help her.The Oregon state medical examiner determined that Jean Gerich died of blunt force trauma and ruled her death a homicide. Police released a statement from her family thanking the people at the scene who tried to help her.
“Jean Gerich was not a nameless victim. She was a loving mother of two. She was a proud grandmother of five, ages 4 to 16. She would have turned 78 in twelve days. She beat cancer five years ago. She received her first vaccination shot last week and was overjoyed to get out in the world again,“ the family said.“Jean Gerich was not a nameless victim. She was a loving mother of two. She was a proud grandmother of five, ages 4 to 16. She would have turned 78 in twelve days. She beat cancer five years ago. She received her first vaccination shot last week and was overjoyed to get out in the world again,“ the family said.
Read more here: Police say no evidence of terror motive in deadly Portland car attackRead more here: Police say no evidence of terror motive in deadly Portland car attack
More than 10,000 people whom Ohio believed had “abandoned” their voter registration cast ballots in the 2020 election, raising more concern that officials are using an unreliable and inaccurate method to identify ineligible voters on the state’s rolls.More than 10,000 people whom Ohio believed had “abandoned” their voter registration cast ballots in the 2020 election, raising more concern that officials are using an unreliable and inaccurate method to identify ineligible voters on the state’s rolls.
In August, Ohio’s Republican secretary of state, Frank LaRose, released a list of 115,816 people who were set to be purged after the November election because the election officials in each of Ohio’s 88 counties flagged them as inactive. Voters could remove their name from the list by taking a number of election-related actions, including voting, requesting an absentee ballot, or simply confirming their voter registration information.In August, Ohio’s Republican secretary of state, Frank LaRose, released a list of 115,816 people who were set to be purged after the November election because the election officials in each of Ohio’s 88 counties flagged them as inactive. Voters could remove their name from the list by taking a number of election-related actions, including voting, requesting an absentee ballot, or simply confirming their voter registration information.
Last week, LaRose’s office announced that nearly 18,000 people on the initial list did not have their voter registration canceled, including 10,000 people who voted in the November election. About 98,000 registrations were ultimately removed from the state’s rolls, LaRose’s office announced last month. There are more than 8 million registered voters in the state.Last week, LaRose’s office announced that nearly 18,000 people on the initial list did not have their voter registration canceled, including 10,000 people who voted in the November election. About 98,000 registrations were ultimately removed from the state’s rolls, LaRose’s office announced last month. There are more than 8 million registered voters in the state.
In a statement, LaRose said the fact that so many people prevented their voter registrations from being canceled is a success of the state’s unprecedented efforts to notify voters at risk of being purged. But voting rights groups say the fact that Ohio nearly purged thousands of eligible voters is deeply alarming and underscores the inaccurate and haphazard way the state goes about maintaining its voter rolls.In a statement, LaRose said the fact that so many people prevented their voter registrations from being canceled is a success of the state’s unprecedented efforts to notify voters at risk of being purged. But voting rights groups say the fact that Ohio nearly purged thousands of eligible voters is deeply alarming and underscores the inaccurate and haphazard way the state goes about maintaining its voter rolls.
Read more of Sam Levine’s report here: Ohio nearly purged 10,000 voters who ended up casting 2020 ballotsRead more of Sam Levine’s report here: Ohio nearly purged 10,000 voters who ended up casting 2020 ballots
President Joe Biden is expected to sign an executive order tomorrow to reopen the HealthCare.gov insurance markets for a special sign-up opportunity geared to people needing coverage in the coronavirus pandemic.President Joe Biden is expected to sign an executive order tomorrow to reopen the HealthCare.gov insurance markets for a special sign-up opportunity geared to people needing coverage in the coronavirus pandemic.
Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar reminds us for the Associated Press that although the number of uninsured Americans has grown because of job losses due to the economic hit of the coronavirus, the Trump administration did nothing to authorize a “special enrollment period” for people uninsured in the pandemic.Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar reminds us for the Associated Press that although the number of uninsured Americans has grown because of job losses due to the economic hit of the coronavirus, the Trump administration did nothing to authorize a “special enrollment period” for people uninsured in the pandemic.
Former president Trump’s repeatedly promised a new healthcare plan, but in his four years in office did not produce it. Meanwhile his administration continued trying to find ways to limit Obamacare or unravel it entirely. A supreme court decision on Trump’s final legal challenge to the Affordable Care Act is expected this year.Former president Trump’s repeatedly promised a new healthcare plan, but in his four years in office did not produce it. Meanwhile his administration continued trying to find ways to limit Obamacare or unravel it entirely. A supreme court decision on Trump’s final legal challenge to the Affordable Care Act is expected this year.
Biden’s plan will not re-open the market immediately. Instead, the White House wants to provide time for the Department of Health and Human Services to mount a marketing campaign, and for insurers to get ready for an influx of new customers.Biden’s plan will not re-open the market immediately. Instead, the White House wants to provide time for the Department of Health and Human Services to mount a marketing campaign, and for insurers to get ready for an influx of new customers.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki signaled Tuesday that Biden is also looking at limiting or reversing Trump administration actions that allowed states to impose work requirements for able-bodied low-income adults as a condition of getting Medicaid. Such rules are seen as a way to cull the program rolls.White House press secretary Jen Psaki signaled Tuesday that Biden is also looking at limiting or reversing Trump administration actions that allowed states to impose work requirements for able-bodied low-income adults as a condition of getting Medicaid. Such rules are seen as a way to cull the program rolls.
“President Biden does not believe, as a principle, it should be difficult ... for people to gain access to health care,” she said. “He’s not been supportive in the past, and is not today, of putting additional restrictions in place.”“President Biden does not believe, as a principle, it should be difficult ... for people to gain access to health care,” she said. “He’s not been supportive in the past, and is not today, of putting additional restrictions in place.”
President Joe Biden’s nominee for energy secretary, Jennifer Granholm, is expected to face questions on the administration’s push to compete with China on electric vehicles at her Senate confirmation hearing later today.President Joe Biden’s nominee for energy secretary, Jennifer Granholm, is expected to face questions on the administration’s push to compete with China on electric vehicles at her Senate confirmation hearing later today.
While governor of auto-manufacturing Michigan from 2003 to 2011, Granholm led a charge to secure $1.35 billion in federal funding for companies to produce electric vehicles (EVs) and batteries in the state.While governor of auto-manufacturing Michigan from 2003 to 2011, Granholm led a charge to secure $1.35 billion in federal funding for companies to produce electric vehicles (EVs) and batteries in the state.
Granholm, 61, who is expected to be confirmed by the Senate in days after the hearing, wants to steer the department to help the United States compete with China on EVs and green technologies like advanced batteries and solar and wind power.Granholm, 61, who is expected to be confirmed by the Senate in days after the hearing, wants to steer the department to help the United States compete with China on EVs and green technologies like advanced batteries and solar and wind power.
“We need to be the leader, rather than passive bystanders, or otherwise we’re going to allow other countries like China and others we’re fighting to be able to corner this market,” Granholm told ABC News last month.“We need to be the leader, rather than passive bystanders, or otherwise we’re going to allow other countries like China and others we’re fighting to be able to corner this market,” Granholm told ABC News last month.
She would be the second female US energy secretary after Hazel O’Leary served in the 1990s. Granholm has done few media appearances since being nominated by Biden, but said on Twitter this month she was doing a “deep dive” into the department and was awed by the work of its lab scientists.She would be the second female US energy secretary after Hazel O’Leary served in the 1990s. Granholm has done few media appearances since being nominated by Biden, but said on Twitter this month she was doing a “deep dive” into the department and was awed by the work of its lab scientists.
Timothy Gardner of Reuters reports that Granholm is likely to be asked about the department’s Loan Programs Office, or LPO, founded with stimulus funding in 2009 during the Obama administration. The office has loaned money and been paid back by successful businesses including Tesla, but has been slammed by some Republicans for support of Solyndra, a failed solar company.Timothy Gardner of Reuters reports that Granholm is likely to be asked about the department’s Loan Programs Office, or LPO, founded with stimulus funding in 2009 during the Obama administration. The office has loaned money and been paid back by successful businesses including Tesla, but has been slammed by some Republicans for support of Solyndra, a failed solar company.
The LPO has more than $40 billion available for loans and loan guarantees for advanced technologies that went unused by the Trump administration. Nearly $18 billion can go to direct loans for green cars, which could spark Biden’s support for the industry, though the department would likely need Congress to approve more money to make sweeping changes.The LPO has more than $40 billion available for loans and loan guarantees for advanced technologies that went unused by the Trump administration. Nearly $18 billion can go to direct loans for green cars, which could spark Biden’s support for the industry, though the department would likely need Congress to approve more money to make sweeping changes.
Energy secretaries traditionally promote the interests of the fossil fuels industry but with Biden’s promise to make curbing climate change one of the pillars of his administration, Granholm will almost certainly focus less on oil and gas than her predecessors.Energy secretaries traditionally promote the interests of the fossil fuels industry but with Biden’s promise to make curbing climate change one of the pillars of his administration, Granholm will almost certainly focus less on oil and gas than her predecessors.
Giovanni Russonello’s On Politics newsletter for the New York Times today has an interesting exchange with their chief Washington correspondent Carl Hulse on the calculation in the Senate around the filibuster.Giovanni Russonello’s On Politics newsletter for the New York Times today has an interesting exchange with their chief Washington correspondent Carl Hulse on the calculation in the Senate around the filibuster.
As it stands at the moment, debate in the Senate on a measure can only be cut off if at least 60 senators support doing so, giving ample opportunity for Republicans to delay Biden’s legislation. Hulse says:As it stands at the moment, debate in the Senate on a measure can only be cut off if at least 60 senators support doing so, giving ample opportunity for Republicans to delay Biden’s legislation. Hulse says:
Reuters report that Russia’s upper house of parliament, the Federation Council, has voted to ratify an extension of the New Start nuclear arms control treaty, a move towards preserving the last major pact of its kind between Russia and the United States.Reuters report that Russia’s upper house of parliament, the Federation Council, has voted to ratify an extension of the New Start nuclear arms control treaty, a move towards preserving the last major pact of its kind between Russia and the United States.
The Kremlin said yesterday that the two countries had struck a deal to extend the pact, signed in 2010 and set to expire next week, which limits the numbers of strategic nuclear warheads, missiles and bombers that Russia and the US can deploy.The Kremlin said yesterday that the two countries had struck a deal to extend the pact, signed in 2010 and set to expire next week, which limits the numbers of strategic nuclear warheads, missiles and bombers that Russia and the US can deploy.
The lower house of Russia’s parliament, the State Duma, earlier voted to ratify the extension.The lower house of Russia’s parliament, the State Duma, earlier voted to ratify the extension.
By the way, if you haven’t been following the extraordinary stock market developments over the last few days involving GameStop, then Edward Helmore has a report on it here. It’s well worth a read:By the way, if you haven’t been following the extraordinary stock market developments over the last few days involving GameStop, then Edward Helmore has a report on it here. It’s well worth a read:
Investors on the WallStreetBets subreddit forum have been promoting GameStop aggressively, with many pitching it as a battle of regular people versus hedge funds and big Wall Street firms.Investors on the WallStreetBets subreddit forum have been promoting GameStop aggressively, with many pitching it as a battle of regular people versus hedge funds and big Wall Street firms.
“This is quite the experience for my first month in the stock market. Holding till infinity,” posted one user on the thread. Another user said: “We’re literally more powerful than the big firms right now.”“This is quite the experience for my first month in the stock market. Holding till infinity,” posted one user on the thread. Another user said: “We’re literally more powerful than the big firms right now.”
In some cases, they’ve been right, with larger investors like Citron Research taking a sharp lesson in what can happen when “herd investors” squeeze a stock higher.In some cases, they’ve been right, with larger investors like Citron Research taking a sharp lesson in what can happen when “herd investors” squeeze a stock higher.
Citron’s founder, Andrew Left, called GameStop a “failing mall-based retailer” in a report earlier this month and then predicted that the stock would plunge to $20 in a video he posted to Twitter on Thursday. According to CNN, Left has now given up on shorting the stock, citing harassment by the stock’s backers.Citron’s founder, Andrew Left, called GameStop a “failing mall-based retailer” in a report earlier this month and then predicted that the stock would plunge to $20 in a video he posted to Twitter on Thursday. According to CNN, Left has now given up on shorting the stock, citing harassment by the stock’s backers.
About 71.66m GameStop shares are currently shorted – worth about $4.66bn. Year-to-date, those bets have cost investors about $6.12bn, which includes a loss of $2.79bn on Monday.About 71.66m GameStop shares are currently shorted – worth about $4.66bn. Year-to-date, those bets have cost investors about $6.12bn, which includes a loss of $2.79bn on Monday.
“As someone who started trading stocks in the late 90s in college, I would always remember watching when the small retail trading groups would get crushed by hedge funds and savvy short-sellers,” Oanda market analyst Edward Moya said in a report. “What happened with GameStop’s stock is a reminder of how times are changing.”“As someone who started trading stocks in the late 90s in college, I would always remember watching when the small retail trading groups would get crushed by hedge funds and savvy short-sellers,” Oanda market analyst Edward Moya said in a report. “What happened with GameStop’s stock is a reminder of how times are changing.”
Read more here: How GameStop found itself at the center of a groundbreaking battle between Wall Street and small investorsRead more here: How GameStop found itself at the center of a groundbreaking battle between Wall Street and small investors
Andrew Gawthorpe, host of the podcast America Explained, writes for us today that the Democrats’ priority in power must be to stop minority rule:Andrew Gawthorpe, host of the podcast America Explained, writes for us today that the Democrats’ priority in power must be to stop minority rule:
The case for the Democratic Party to commit itself to a radical pro-democracy agenda is simple. The last four years have shown the horrors of minority rule. Political institutions like the Electoral College, the Senate and gerrymandered House districts reward Republicans for appealing to a narrow minority of the population. They take this easily-won power and use it not for the good of the country as a whole but to push through extremist policies and fight culture wars. When they abuse their power, as Donald Trump did, little can be done to stop them.The case for the Democratic Party to commit itself to a radical pro-democracy agenda is simple. The last four years have shown the horrors of minority rule. Political institutions like the Electoral College, the Senate and gerrymandered House districts reward Republicans for appealing to a narrow minority of the population. They take this easily-won power and use it not for the good of the country as a whole but to push through extremist policies and fight culture wars. When they abuse their power, as Donald Trump did, little can be done to stop them.
As inheritors of this situation, it is the duty of Democrats to do what they can to alter it. This is no time for incrementalism. Only a radical program aimed at strengthening American democracy and preventing the return of rightwing minority rule in the future will rise to the moment.As inheritors of this situation, it is the duty of Democrats to do what they can to alter it. This is no time for incrementalism. Only a radical program aimed at strengthening American democracy and preventing the return of rightwing minority rule in the future will rise to the moment.
The specifics of such a program have already been spelled out. Many of them are contained in the For The People Act, a bill passed by the Democratic House in 2019. This bill would create apolitical committees to draw House district boundaries, create a national voter registration program, remove barriers to voting enacted by states, enforce transparency in campaign finance, and much more besides. It died in the Senate when Mitch McConnell declined to bring it up for a vote – but the Senate is now under new management.The specifics of such a program have already been spelled out. Many of them are contained in the For The People Act, a bill passed by the Democratic House in 2019. This bill would create apolitical committees to draw House district boundaries, create a national voter registration program, remove barriers to voting enacted by states, enforce transparency in campaign finance, and much more besides. It died in the Senate when Mitch McConnell declined to bring it up for a vote – but the Senate is now under new management.
Democrats should not stop there. Though important, these reforms would not alone save America from minority rule. There is a need to be bolder still – firstly, by admitting new states to the union, and secondly, by abolishing the Senate filibuster.Democrats should not stop there. Though important, these reforms would not alone save America from minority rule. There is a need to be bolder still – firstly, by admitting new states to the union, and secondly, by abolishing the Senate filibuster.
Read more here: Andrew Gawthorpe – The Democrats’ priority in power must be to stop minority ruleRead more here: Andrew Gawthorpe – The Democrats’ priority in power must be to stop minority rule
Alexander Bolton at The Hill has rounded up some of the key Republican reaction to yesterday’s impeachment developments in the Senate, in particular that of Alaskan Senator Lisa Murkowski.Alexander Bolton at The Hill has rounded up some of the key Republican reaction to yesterday’s impeachment developments in the Senate, in particular that of Alaskan Senator Lisa Murkowski.
Read more here: The Hill – Senate GOP boxes itself in on impeachmentRead more here: The Hill – Senate GOP boxes itself in on impeachment
The National Nurses United union will be holding a series of socially-distanced events in more than 19 states today to demand that their hospital employers put patients first above profit motives.
The union has repeatedly been critical of the protection measures afforded to its members during the pandemic. So far the union has documented the deaths of more than 3,000 US healthcare workers after frontline Covid exposure, a number which they say is likely undercounted.
2021 marks a year where there will be a series of contract negotiations with major healthcare employers, and the union says it will be aiming to improve health and safety and infectious diseases provisions. In a statement the NNU says it will also aim to address the racial disparities in health care outcomes they observe daily.
Jenn Caldwell, a registered nurse at Research Medical Center in Kansas City, Missouri said “We have learned the hard way through this Covid pandemic that our hospital employers do not value the essential nursing care we risk our lives daily to give. Instead, they view us as disposable. They found every excuse to deny us the personal protective equipment, the staffing, the testing, the contact tracing, the sick leave, the resources, and all the other proper infection control measures we know we need to stay safe and keep our patients safe.”
Amazon is attempting to force workers planning to unionize at an Alabama warehouse to vote in person rather than by mail as it fights off a landmark attempt by its staff to organize.
The company is appealing against a ruling by a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) officer to permit 5,800 employees at Amazon’s warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama, to begin casting ballots by mail to be represented by the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union.
The NLRB, the federal agency responsible for enforcing US labor law, favors manual elections but has moved to supporting mail-in ballots during the coronavirus pandemic. Between March and November 2020, 90% of union election representation cases presided by the NLRB were conducted by mail rather than in-person.
On Monday the state said there had been 350,988 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Alabama since March and 6,662 confirmed deaths.
The appeal was filed on 21 January by attorneys representing Amazon, who argued a mail-in ballot election would take too long and involve too many resources, and requested the board postpone the election until the NLRB reviews Amazon’s appeals.
The NLRB is currently scheduled to begin mailing out ballots for the election on 8 February. The union filed their initial petition requesting a union election on 20 November.
If successful, Amazon workers at the BHM1 warehouse in Bessemer would be the company’s first warehouse in the United States to unionize.
Read more of Michael Sainato’s report here: Amazon seeks to block workers from voting by mail in landmark union drive
The Washington Post this morning have a piece to tee-up some of the climate crisis action expected from Joe Biden later today. They say that the president “plans to make tackling America’s persistent racial and economic disparities a central part of his plan”.
Read more here: Washington Post – Biden to place environmental justice at center of sweeping climate plan
There were 142,511 new coronavirus cases recorded in the US yesterday, and 3,990 further deaths. That’s the fifth highest daily death toll recorded in the US since the pandemic began.
In a more positive sign, Covid hospitalizations in the US fell again for the 14th consecutive day. They stand at 108,957, the lowest level since 13 December, according to the Covid Tracking project.
At least 19.9 million people in the US have received one or both doses of the vaccine. There have been 44.4 million doses distributed. This still leaves the Biden administration three weeks behind the schedule set out by the outgoing Trump White House, which had promised to vaccinate 20m people by the end of December, and which did not. Yesterday, Biden vowed to vaccinate 300m people in US by end of summer or early fall.
Alaska, West Virginia, New Mexico and Connecticut have become the first states to deliver at least one vaccination dose to over 8% of their population.
The Biden administration’s climate policies aren’t just facing opposition at home, as Leyland Cecco in Toronto reports:
US president Joe Biden’s move to cancel a controversial pipeline project has hit Canada like “like a gut punch”, according to one political leader, and left the country to weigh the future prospects of its ailing oil and gas industry.
On 20 January, one of Biden’s first executive orders was to reverse approval of the Keystone XL pipeline, making good on a campaign promise to kill the project as a broader strategy to address the climate crisis.
Environmental groups in Canada have applauded the decision, but the cancellation has left the country’s western provinces in disbelief.
“The Biden administration refuses to give this country sufficient respect to hear us out on this pipeline. In that policy context then, yes, there absolutely must be reprisals,” Alberta premier Jason Kenney told CBC News. “We need to stand up for ourselves.”
The outspoken provincial leader, who called the decision a “gut punch”, has largely tied his province’s prosperity to the success of oil and gas projects – and demanded that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau move swiftly to reverse the decision.
“Obviously the decision on Keystone XL is a very difficult one for workers in Alberta and Saskatchewan who’ve had many difficult hits,” Trudeau told reporters last week, adding that it would be a top priority in his first call with president Biden. But Trudeau has stopped short of endorsing Kenney’s calls for “economic sanctions” against Canada’s largest trading partner.
Read more of Leyland Cecco’s report here: Alberta leader says Biden’s move to cancel Keystone pipeline a ‘gut punch’
Mark Meadows, Trump’s former White House chief of staff, has a new job. Well according to what Axios are labelling a scoop this morning, anyway,. They report:
Read more here: Axios – Mark Meadows’ new gig
One concern overnight was that Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy was taken to hospital “out of an abundance of caution” after being taken ill in the Capitol, hours after the 80-year-old Democrat began presiding over the impeachment trial of former president Donald Trump. He’s now at home.
Leahy, who’d been in his Capitol office, was taken to George Washington University Hospital after being examined by Congress’ attending physician, Leahy spokesman David Carle said.
Associated Press remind us that Leahy is presiding because he is the Senate’s president pro tempore, a largely ceremonial post. The Senate president pro tempore job normally goes to the longest-serving member of the Senate’s majority party. Chief Justice John Roberts presided over Trump’s first impeachment trial a year ago when Trump was still president.
Here’s a reminder of what happened in the Senate last night. After Senators were sworn in as the jury for Trump’s second impeachment trial and signed the oath book – each using a different pen due to coronavirus precautions – Republican Rand Paul of Kentucky challenged the legitimacy of the trial.
Chuck Schumer, the Democratic majority leader, dismissed Paul’s theory as ‘flat-out wrong’, but 45 Republican senators went on to vote to dismiss the entire trial. The move failed, but it suggests that a vote to convict the former president is unlikely.
Welcome to our coverage of US politics for Wednesday. Here’s a catch-up on where we are and a little of what we might expect from today…
President Joe Biden vowed to ramp up vaccination programs so that most of the US population is inoculated by the end of summer or early fall.“This will be enough vaccine to fully vaccinate 300m Americans by the end of the summer,” the US president said.
There were 142,511 new coronavirus cases recorded, and 3,990 deaths, the fifth highest daily death toll recorded in the US since the pandemic began. In a more positive sign, Covid hospitalizations in the US fell again for the 14th consecutive day.
There will be a Covid task force briefing from Dr Anthony Fauci and team at 11am EST (4pm GMT), and they will also participate at a CNN “Town hall” event in the evening.
Yesterday Biden signed more executive orders in an effort to advance US racial equity. Domestic policy chief Susan Rice said “every agency will place equity at the core”.
Attention will turn today to the climate crisis – Biden will speak about the environment ahead of signing executive orders related to climate change at 1:30pm EST (6:30pm GMT).
Jen Psaki will give a press briefing at 12:15 EST (5:15 GMT) where she will be joined by climate envoy John Kerry and White House national climate advisor Gina McCarthy.
Senators were sworn in for Trump’s impeachment trial. Afterward, 45 Republican senators voted to dismiss the trial. That move failed, but it did signal that Democrats are extremely unlikely to win over enough Republicans to convict the former president.
The Senate voted to confirm Biden’s nominee for Secretary of State, Antony Blinken. And Kamala Harris swore in Janet Yellen as the nation’s first female Treasury secretary.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Biden held a phone call with Russian president Vladimir Putin. She said Biden pressed Putin on a litany of contentious issues, including election interference, the arrest of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, and the country’s “ongoing aggression” to Ukraine, among other topics.
Bernie Sanders and progressive lawmakers in both chambers unveiled new legislation to raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour. Sanders called it a “moral imperative”.
Pete Buttigieg, Jennifer Granholm, Denis McDonough and Linda Thomas-Greenfield will all be up before the Senate today as the process of confirming Joe Biden’s cabinet contiues.
Joe Biden will address the nation about the climate crisis later today, and sign further executive orders aimed at environmental impacts. Those directives include spelling out how US intelligence, defense and homeland security agencies should address the security threats posed by worsening droughts, floods and other natural disasters under global warming. Biden’s appearance is due at 1:30pm EST (6:30pm GMT).
Before that, White House press secretary Jen Psaki will also hold an event, joined by climate envoy John Kerry and White House national climate advisor Gina McCarthy.
Kerry has already been laying the ground for today’s environmental announcements since taking up his role. Ellen Knickmeyer writes for the Associated Press that he has been trying to make clear that the US isn’t just revving up its own efforts to reduce oil, gas and coal pollution but that it intends to push everyone in the world to do more, too.
Kerry’s diplomatic efforts match the fast pace of domestic climate directives by the week-old Biden administration, which created the job Kerry now holds.
At 77, Kerry is working to make a success out of the global climate accord that he helped negotiate in Paris as president Barack Obama’s secretary of state and that he then saw rejected by president Donald Trump
Success for Kerry is hardly assured. At home, he faces pushback from the oil and gas industry and loud Republican concerns that jobs will be lost.
Internationally, there’s uncertainty about whether Biden’s climate commitments can survive the United States’ intensely divided politics, let alone the next presidential transition. Meanwhile, environmentalists are pushing Kerry to be more aggressive – demonstrating outside his house on his first full day on the job.
Already Kerry has spoken virtually with US mayors, foreign presidents and premiers, government ministers and others. His message is: put your big one-off Covid economic recovery funding into projects that boost cleaner energy. Get green projects going fast in Republican-leaning U.S. states to prove renewable energy can mean jobs and build needed political support. Get everyone to talk to China about things like stopping the building of dirty-burning coal-fired power plants.
If China and the US, as the world’s No. 1 and 2 top carbon emitters, don’t spell out exactly how they will curb climate-damaging emissions more quickly, “we’re all going to lose credibility,” Kerry told an online gathering of American mayors last weekend.
The US has to have the “credibility to go to the table, show people what we’re doing and push them to do more,” Kerry said then. “So everybody can can understand it’s not fake, it’s not a phony, empty promise it really is getting real. They’re not going to believe it when we just say it. We have to do it.”