The results of the midterm elections may have dampened hopes for additional action on climate change at the federal level, with Republicans expected to take control of the U.S. House of Representatives for the next two years.
But wins for Democrats in state legislative and governor races could lay the groundwork for even stronger action on climate change at the state level, which is exactly where a lot of the hard work of reducing greenhouse gas emissions — and spending the federal climate funding made available through landmark legislation over the past two years — needs to happen.
Tuesday’s election cemented Democratic “trifectas,” or control of both the governor’s office and both houses of the state legislature, in Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan and Minnesota, opening the door to more aggressive climate policies in those states. And across the country, 17 governors who support climate policies that could collectively yield an 80 percent reduction in their state greenhouse gas emissions won election or reelection, according to nonprofit advocacy group Evergreen Action.
“In states like Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota, Pennsylvania [and] New Mexico, voters delivered a clear mandate on climate by electing governors who campaigned on climate action,” Jamal Raad, Evergreen Action’s executive director, said in a Thursday press conference.
That’s important, because state-level actions could make or break the country’s trajectory toward cutting greenhouse gas emissions quickly enough to forestall the greatest harms of global warming. State lawmakers and regulators are the key actors in setting mandates for utilities to close down fossil-fuel-fired power plants and increase the share of zero-carbon resources such as wind and solar power, for example. That’s a vital step in reducing the carbon-intensity of grid power needed for electric vehicles, heating and cooling in buildings, industrial processes and other fossil-fueled parts of the economy — all sectors where states have their own roles to play as well...
House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy served further notice Sunday that his potential speakership will be politically volatile, saying he will try to keep three high-profile Democrats off of certain committees.
Democrats said McCarthy will do whatever his right wing wants him to do because he still lacks the votes to land the speaker's job.
In stumping for the position, McCarthy has targeted Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee; and Reps. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., and Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., members of the House Intelligence Committee.
McCarthy and other Republicans have for months said these members' past statements and actions regarding issues like Israel, China and Russia should keep them off these committees.
"I'll keep that promise" to remove them, McCarthy told Fox News' "Sunday Morning Futures."
Schiff and other Democrats said McCarthy is trying to court support from hard-right conservatives like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga. – who was expelled from committees during a 2021 vote of the full House because of her incendiary statements about Democrats.
"I suspect he will do whatever Marjorie Taylor Greene wants him to do," Schiff said on ABC's "This Week." "He is a very weak leader of his conference, meaning that he will adhere to the wishes of the lowest common denominator. And if that lowest common denominator wants to remove people from committees, that’s what they’ll do."...
... The striking absurdity of this World Cup rose along Al Shamal Road, a main highway that cuts out of Doha and through the desert, past rubble and excavators and nothingness, and up to Al Khor. The landscape gets more barren as you go — until, in the distance, a massive Bedouin tent-style structure, the Al Bayt Stadium, appears through miles of smog and dust.
It was built by people, migrants, who aren’t here anymore; and for other people, Qataris, who crawled in SUVs down the highway toward it on Sunday. Which is why this World Cup has been so scandalous. But for better or worse, on a cool, windy evening, it began. [snip]
There were also the inescapable reminders of the inequality that underpins both Qatar and this World Cup. There were hundreds of migrants, mostly South Asians, standing outside one entrance for hours — as they waited to work concessions. Meanwhile, there were men on camelback and horseback lining another entrance to greet FIFA president Gianni Infantino and the Emir, among others. Saudi leader Mohammed bin Salman joined them in a luxury box.
All around the cavernous stadium, there were probably 40,000 Qataris out of the 67,372 announced in attendance — and they were not at all representative of the nation they came to salute. Spend a week in Doha, in any non-downtown district, and you’ll meet the Indians, Nepalis, Kenyans, Ugandans and more who come to work. Migrants and the children of migrants comprise almost 90% of the Qatari population. The wealthy sliver of Qatar that is actually Qatari — the ones who enjoy the exclusive benefits of citizenship, which is almost impossible for non-natives to obtain — is, compared to most countries in the world, razor thin...
The Qatari team lost it's first game, the first World Cup hosts to lose the opening game. Meanwhile, we can think of a more appropriate box for Mohammed bin "Bone Saw" Salman.
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