XPost: alt.global-warming   
      
   Climate leaders welcome reforming WTO chief, as carbon trade wars loom   
   Joe Lo, Climate Home News   
   Climate leaders are celebrating the election of Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala as   
   director-general of the World Trade Organization on a platform of reform,   
   according to Climate Home News. It says the election of the former Nigerian   
   finance minister, the first African and the first woman to lead the WTO,   
   came as the organisation is "set to become a battleground for climate action".   
   The EU is drawing up plans to tax high-emissions products at its border,   
   with the US and UK considering similar measures, it notes. While the WTO   
   will have a role in addressing any disagreements about such measures, which   
   have been challenged by Russia and Australia, experts caution   
   Okonjo-Iweala's influence "will be limited in the member-led forum", Climate   
   Home News adds.   
      
   --   
   [Compounding!]   
   Why is the power still out? ERCOT and CenterPoint explain outage   
   KHOU.com, 15 Feb 2021 20:41Z   
   Those in Houston and other parts of TX started experiencing power outages   
   as the grid was put under stress due to Arctic weather.   
      
     Frozen Wind Farms Are Just a Small Piece of TX's Power Woes   
     Yahoo Finance, 16 Feb 2021 01:41Z   
     (Bloomberg). Don't point too many fingers at TX wind turbines, because   
     they're not the main reason broad swaths of the state have been plunged into   
   ...   
      
   NEW McLaren Artura: A 205mph PLUG-IN Hybrid Supercar   
   AutoTrader, 17 Feb 2021 0:57Z   
      
   'We've never seen this sort of event': Dead, sick baby turtles wash up in   
   Queensland after eating plastic   
   ABC Capricornia, 17 Feb 2021 01:37Z   
   Scientists report an "unusually large number" of weeks-old flatback turtles   
   washing up on the Capricorn Coast with plastic debris in their systems.   
      
   NSW Premier says 35,000 frontline workers to receive COVID-19 vaccine   
   from Mon   
   ABC News, 17 Feb 2021 0:20Z   
   NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian says the process of vaccinating 35,000   
   frontline workers will take 3 weeks and will take place at three   
   Sydney hospitals.   
   [In Qld the govt has announced only 100 people will be vaccinated on Mon.   
   The Prem has called in Qld-ers not to panic at the slow rollout].   
      
   Some mask rules and home visit limits will remain once Victoria's snap   
   lockdown ends tonight   
   ABC News, 16 Feb 2021 at 10:48pm   
   Victoria's snap "circuit-breaker" coronavirus lockdown will end on schedule   
   tonight, Premier Daniel Andrews confirms, but masks will be mandatory in   
   most indoor and outdoor settings and caps on gatherings will be in place.   
      
   At Least 12 Deaths Tied to Winter Storm Uri as Millions Remain Without Power   
   in TX and Some Lose Water, Too   
   The Weather Channe, 16 Feb 2021 17:33Z   
   With mns of homes without power and the coldest temperatures in decades,   
   Texans endured a miserable night in the aftermath of Winter Storm Uri.   
      
     Biggest Oil Refineries in US Are Going Dark Amid the Cold   
     Yahoo Finance, 16 Feb 2021   
     (Bloomberg). After creating havoc in the power and natural gas markets, the   
     next commodity sector causing concern in TX is the state's enormous oil ...   
      
     Natural gas, not wind turbines, main driver of TX power shortage   
     PolitiFact, 16 Feb 2021 23:18Z   
     When a rare blast of Arctic air and ice hit TX and resulted in a massive   
     power outage, the critics of wind power were quick to focus on the wind   
     turbines that ...   
      
     You Can Thank Climate Change For Extreme Weather Patterns Wreaking Havoc in   
     TX and Across the US   
     NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth, 16 Feb 2021 21:21Z   
     As TX and other portions of the country shelter in place and brace for a   
     second wave of winter storms, some are questioning what role climate change   
     has ...   
      
   Severe weather, blackouts show the grid's biggest problem is infrastructure,   
   not renewables   
   TechCrunch, 15 Feb 2021 18:35Z   
   It's becoming harder for the US to ignore the very real effects of global   
   climate change - and despite the efforts of naysayers, it's not a push to   
   renewables ...   
      
   Barnaby Joyce pushes his own govt to allow 'green bank' to invest in coal   
   ABC News, 16 Feb 2021 13:19Z   
   Former deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce moves to change his own   
   govt's legislation to allow the Clean Energy Finance Corporation,   
   which invests in Australia's transition to lower emissions, to invest in   
   coal-fired power.   
      
   The coronavirus is here to stay - here's what that means   
   Nature.com, 16 Feb 2021 11:13Z   
   A Nature survey shows many scientists expect the virus that causes COVID-19   
   to become endemic, but it could pose less danger over time.   
      
   Winter weather: 3 dead in North Carolina tornado; mns still without   
   power in TX; more ice, snow coming   
   USA TODAY, 16 Feb 2021 15:10Z   
   The unrelenting winter weather is showing no signs of letting up. At least   
   three people were killed in a tornado that tore through a seaside North   
   Carolina town ...   
      
     Polar vortex brings extreme cold, winter weather to central US   
     News 19 WLTX, 15 Feb 2021 23:09Z   
      
   India's dramatic fall in virus cases leaves experts stumped   
   Associated Press, 16 Feb 2021 07:24Z   
   New Delhi. When the coronavirus pandemic took hold in India, there were   
   fears it would sink the fragile health system of the world's second-most ...   
      
   Blue-Green Algae Could Help Keep Humans Alive on Mars, Experiment Suggests   
   ScienceAlert, 16 Feb 2021 05:23Z   
   Mars may not have a lot going on at the moment, life-wise, but the dusty red   
   planet may not be as inhospitable as it seems.   
      
   The Colossal Weight of Cities Is Making Them Sink, Even as Sea Levels Are   
   Rising   
   ScienceAlert, 16 Feb 2021 02:21Z   
   Cities don't just have sea level rises to worry about - they're also slowly   
   sinking under the weight of their own development, according to new research,   
   which ...   
      
   Homeless to be evicted from hotel because WA Government won't pay, owner says   
   ABC News, 16 Feb 2021 05:46Z   
   A group of homeless people, including children and pregnant women, are set   
   to be evicted from a Perth hotel because the owner says the WA Government   
   has reneged on its promise to foot the bill -- but the govt disputes   
   it made the bookings.   
      
   Ross River virus infections reach record levels in NSW   
   ABC North Coast, 16 Feb 2021 05:45Z   
   Three months ago Graeme Stuart was playing golf, paddling a dragon boat and   
   loving life as a grey nomad. Now, thanks to the debilitating virus, even   
   simple tasks are sometimes beyond him.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)