XPost: alt.global-warming   
      
   *Biden sets goal for 50% of new US vehicles to be electric by 2030   
      
   Oliver Milman, The Guardian via Carbon Brief   
      
   US president Joe Biden has set a goal for half of all new US vehicle   
   sales to be electric by 2030, while also tightening pollution   
   standards for cars and trucks, the Guardian reports. Yesterday, Biden   
   signed an executive order aimed at making 50% of all new cars and   
   trucks sold by the end of the decade be powered by electric batteries,   
   the paper explains. In addition to fully electric vehicles, the target   
   "will also include plug-in hybrids, which have gasoline engines to   
   backup their batteries, and hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles, which   
   currently make up a tiny fraction of US sales", reports Politico. It   
   adds: "The target isn't binding on consumers or automakers, but sets   
   expectations for action over the coming decade, said the official who   
   conducted the press briefing." It is "backed up by new proposed rules   
   to strengthen upcoming federal tailpipe requirements through 2026,   
   with even stricter regulations expected for the following years" the   
   outlet adds. The suite of new goals and mandates was "forged after   
   months of talks with car manufacturers, autoworkers and environmental   
   groups", says the Washington Post. Speaking to the press, Biden said:   
   "The biggest thing that's happening here is there's a realisation, on   
   the part of both labour and business now, that this is the future. We   
   can't sit by," reports Reuters.   
      
   The 3 biggest US carmakers have welcomed the target, says BBC New:   
   "Responding to the Biden announcement, Ford, General Motors and   
   Stellantis [formerly known as Fiat Chrysler] expressed their "shared   
   aspiration" for 40-50% of sales to be electric vehicles including   
   battery electric, fuel cell and plug-in hybrid vehicles by 2030. One   
   of America's largest unions, United Auto Workers (UAW), supports the   
   initiative, while European and Japanese carmakers BMW, Honda,   
   Volkswagen and Volvo have applauded it." A Wall Street Journal   
   editorial describes this as a "political advertisement that automakers   
   staged with President Biden...endorsing the administration's stricter   
   fuel-economy rules and climate agenda. Behold Big Business colluding   
   with Big Government to grab subsidies and raise consumer prices". The   
   updated tailpipe regulations would reverse "Trump-era loosening of   
   vehicle emissions rules with a new plan to boost efficiency 10% in the   
   2023 model year and aiming for a fleet average of 52 miles per gallon   
   by 2026", Reuters says. The White House estimates that this would cut   
   2bn tonnes of CO2 - about one-third of the total annual CO2 emissions   
   in the US, reports the New York Times, and prevent the burning of   
   about 200bn gallons of gasoline. The order "doesn't function as a   
   mandate, but it does create the conditions for us to meet that goal,"   
   Treasury secretary Pete Buttigieg tells CNBC, adding: "We have got to   
   act, the transportation sector is the biggest part of our economy   
   emitting greenhouse gases, and cars and trucks are one of the biggest   
   parts of that." The New York Times has another article under the   
   headline: "How Biden's EV plan could help Tesla and squeeze Toyota."   
   Bloomberg, Inside Climate News, the Hill and Wall Street Journal all   
   have the story, while the Washington Post has a piece on "where we are   
   on the road to electric vehicles".   
      
   In other transport news, DeSmog reports that a "new report by   
   backbench MPs opposing the UK govt's ban on new petrol and   
   diesel cars from 2030 is funded by the freight and haulage industry".   
      
   Meanwhile, Reuters reports that the White House also announced it is   
   committing more than $3bn in new funding for local govts to   
   increase their resilience to climate change. The move marks "a shift   
   in US disaster policy as climate change gets worse", says the New York   
   Times: "Rather than smaller, more targeted investments, the govt   
   is throwing huge sums of money at disaster preparation as fast as it   
   can." The Hill also has the story.   
      
   --   
   Covid Updates: Known Global Toll Reaches 200 Million Virus Infections   
   The New York Times, 05 Aug 2021 04:41Z   
   [30 years to go!]   
      
   NSW woman, 34, becomes Australia's seventh AstraZeneca-related death   
   ABC News, 05 Aug 2021 07:14Z   
   The Therapeutic Goods Administration says the woman died on Wed from a   
   confirmed case of thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome.   
      
   [Lockdown 6.0:]   
   BREAKING (5 Aug): In a press conf still going to air Prem Andrews has   
   announced Vic would go back into lockdown for 14 days starting in 3   
   hrs time (8pm).  The call has been made after new cases were found   
   during the day after 6 were found connected with a suburban school   
   overnight.  The whole state will be locked down because virus has been   
   found in some rural community wastewater.  The lockdown will start   
   from 8pm this time because lockdown 5.0 (that ended just 7d ago)   
   started at midnight and it has since been discovered some key   
   infections had been transmitted in the last few hrs before that   
   lockdown started. While some of the 8 cases now detected in the prev   
   24 hrs are "mystery cases" at least one person that came out of   
   quarantine in NSW has visited someone that now has tested +ve.   
      
   [Sturgis 2.0!]   
   Sturgis Motorcycle Rally Is Back Despite The Delta Variant   
   NPR, 04 Aug 2021 23:43Z   
      
   As hurricane season enters its peak, NOAA's updated forecast calls for even   
   more storms: 21 named systems   
   USA TODAY, 04 Aug 2021 16:39Z   
   Matthew Rosencrans, lead seasonal hurricane forecaster at NOAA's Climate   
   Prediction Center, said "a mix of competing oceanic and atmospheric...   
      
   California's largest wildfire explodes as hot weather threatens new blazes   
   The Guardian, 04 Aug 2021 22:39Z   
      
   Rare California water restrictions hit farmers amid dire shortages   
   The Guardian, 04 Aug 2021 22:38Z   
      
   [Uh, oh!]   
   Victoria records 2 new COVID-19 cases, on top of 6 confirmed yesterday   
   ABC News, 04 Aug 2021 23:07Z   
   Three of the new cases reported in the past day were in the community while   
   infectious and genomic sequencing is underway to figure out how they caught   
   the virus.   
      
   At least 17 killed by lightning at Bangladesh wedding party   
   ABC News, 05 Aug 2021 01:06Z   
   Lightning strikes a wedding party on a boat in northwestern Bangladesh,   
   killing more than a dozen guests and injuring the groom.   
      
   [New records!]   
   NSW records highest number of daily COVID cases since pandemic began,   
   five deaths   
   ABC News, 05 Aug 2021 02:04Z   
   NSW records 262 new COVID cases and 5 deaths with Premier Gladys   
   Berejiklian announcing a snap lockdown for the Hunter and Upper Hunter regions.   
      
     Newcastle, Hunter in snap lockdown as COVID cases grow   
     ABC Newcastle, 05 Aug 2021 01:05Z   
     Residents in Newcastle and the Hunter Valley will face the same restrictions   
     as Greater Sydney when they enter a period of lockdown tonight that will   
     last until August 12.   
      
   Biden wants travellers to get the jab before being allowed to enter the US   
   ABC News, 05 Aug 2021 02:04Z   
   The Biden administration is developing a plan to require nearly all foreign   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)