Free Republic

The invasion of Ukraine has seen rapid rises in the prices of coal, oil and gas as countries scramble to replace Russian sources. But Antonio Guterres warns that these short-term measures might "close the window" on the Paris climate goals. He also calls on countries, including China, to fully phase out coal by 2040. ---SNIP--- "This is madness. Addiction to fossil fuels is mutually assured destruction." Countries must "accelerate the phase out of coal and all fossil fuels," and implement a rapid and sustainable energy transition. It is "the only true pathway to energy security."

The Rev. Al Sharpton portrayed Mayor Rahm Emanuel as a hypocrite Saturday for criticizing Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx’s handling of the Jussie Smollett case when the mayor long was silent on the police murder of Laquan McDonald. **SNIP** “The reason this is of national significance to me, there is a marked difference between how they reacted to this and how they reacted to the Laquan McDonald case. They were not outraged when the video was withheld until after the mayor’s election,” Sharpton said of Emanuel, police Superintendent Eddie Johnson and other top police officials. “There was a fox...

Attempts to incorporate a key scientific study into global climate talks in Poland have failed. The IPCC report on the impacts of a temperature rise of 1.5C, had a significant impact when it was launched last October. Scientists and many delegates in Poland were shocked as the US, Saudi Arabia, Russia and Kuwait objected to this meeting "welcoming" the report. Instead they wanted to support a much more lukewarm phrase, that the conference would "take note" of the report. The dispute dragged on as huddles of negotiators met in corners of the plenary session here, trying to agree a compromise...

The United States joined a controversial proposal by Saudi Arabia and Russia this weekend to weaken a reference to a key report on the severity of global warming, sharpening battle lines at the global climate summit in Poland aimed at gaining consensus over how to combat rising temperatures. Arguments erupted Saturday night before a United Nations working group focused on science and technology, where the United States teamed with Russia, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait to challenge language that would have welcomed the findings of the landmark report, which said that the world has barely 10 years to cut carbon emissions...