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jgo's JournalArizona Judge Refuses to Sanction Kari Lake, Finding That Her Election Lawsuit Was 'Not Successful'
Source: Law and Crime
An Arizona judge declined to issue sanctions against defeated gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake, finding that the election challenge that she filed was “not successful” but also “not groundless.”
Thompson did find, however, that certain costs for witness fees were warranted under the law, both in Hobbs’s capacity as Arizona’s current Secretary of State and in her separate capacity as its future governor.
“Defendant, Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, has presented her request for $5,900.00 in expert witness fees for Mr. Ryan Macias who was retained as an expert and testified at the hearing,” the judge wrote. “A separate request for expert witness fees in the amount of $22,451.00 was submitted by Defendant, Katie Hobbs sued in capacity as Governor-Elect.”
Thompson found those fees “appropriate.”
Read more: https://lawandcrime.com/2022-midterms/arizona-judge-refuses-to-sanction-kari-lake-finding-that-her-election-lawsuit-was-not-successful-but-not-groundless/
'A sea change': Biden reverses decades of Chinese trade policy
Forget tariffs. Biden’s actions to crack down on Beijing’s tech development will do more to hinder the Chinese economy — and divide the two nations — than Trump ever did.
After decades of U.S. efforts to engage China with the prospect of greater development through trade, the era of cooperation is coming to a screeching halt.
The White House and Congress are quietly reshaping the American economic relationship with the world’s second-largest economic power, enacting a strategy to limit China’s technological development that breaks with decades of federal policy and represents the most aggressive American action yet to curtail Beijing’s economic and military rise.
The new federal rules, executive orders and pending legislation aimed at China’s high-tech sectors, which began this fall and will continue in 2023, are the culmination of years of debate spanning three administrations. Taken together, they represent an escalation of former President Donald Trump’s tariffs and trade disputes against Beijing that could ultimately do more to slow Chinese technological and economic development — and divide the two economies — than anything the 45th president did while in office.
Read more:
https://www.politico.com/news/2022/12/26/china-trade-tech-00072232
'Enough really is enough': Kari Lake's attorneys hit with sanctions filing day after Christmas
Source: Raw Story
Prior to Judge Peter Thompson's ruling against Lake's effort to overturn the 2022 election for governor, Maricopa County Attorney Tom Liddy informed the court that the defendants would be asking to sanction opposing counsel.
Thompson ordered defendants to file sanctions documents with the court by 8 a.m. on Dec. 26. The Maricopa County Superior Court website confirmed on Monday that the motion for sanctions had been filed.
Attorneys for Lake have until 5 p.m. on Monday to respond to the request for sanctions. The defendants have also asked Lake to pay attorney fees.
Read more: https://www.rawstory.com/kari-lake-sanctions/
Shifting gears: why US cities are falling out of love with the parking lot
Cities are loosening rules on building parking spots with new buildings: ‘It’s about the climate, it’s about walkability’
Mon 26 Dec 2022 05.00 EST
They are grey, rectangular and if you lumped their population of up to 2bn together they would cover roughly the same area as Connecticut, about 5,500 sq miles. Car parking spaces have a monotonous ubiquity in US life, but a growing band of cities and states are now refusing to force more upon people, arguing they harm communities and inflame the climate crisis.
Read more:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/dec/26/us-cities-parking-lots-climate-walkability
Hybrid wheat hitting U.S. fields as war, climate threaten global food supplies
CHICAGO, Dec 21 (Reuters) - Global seed maker Syngenta will release a new type of wheat developed with complex cross-breeding techniques in the United States next year, beating out rival companies that are also trying to develop higher yielding wheat at a time of diminishing global grain supplies.
The hybrid wheat, which combines positive traits from two parent plants, arrives after severe weather slashed grain harvests and the Ukraine war disrupted shipments to hungry importers, sending prices to record highs this spring.
Syngenta, which began working on hybrid wheat in 2010, told Reuters enough seeds will be on the market next year for U.S. farmers to plant about 5,000 to 7,000 acres.
Though a tiny fraction of the nation's plantings, the previously unreported total represents the company's biggest ever release of hybrid wheat. It could open the door for larger seedings in 2024 and beyond, as war and climate change make the world's food supplies increasingly vulnerable.
Read more:
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/hybrid-wheat-hitting-us-fields-war-climate-threaten-global-food-supplies-2022-12-21/
World Bank to lend $500 million to help Brazil meet climate goals
SAO PAULO, Dec 23 (Reuters) - The World Bank´s board of directors approved late on Thursday a $500 million project in Brazil to expand sustainability-linked finance and strengthen the private sector’s capacity to access carbon credit markets and help the country curb deforestation.
The initiative, in collaboration with Brazilian state-controlled lender Banco do Brasil, adopts an approach to lending linked to sustainability to help Brazil meet its climate goals and deliver "robust" mitigation benefits, a bank statement said.
Sustainability-linked financing (SLF) allows for lower financing costs when certain environmental, social and governance (ESG) requirements are met by a company but does not require the funds to be used for climate-friendly purposes.
At the start of December, the World Bank and its partners launched a global tracking system to clean up the opaque market for carbon credits and help developing countries raise much-needed climate finance quickly and more cheaply.
Read more:
https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/world-bank-lend-500-million-help-brazil-meet-climate-goals-2022-12-23/
7 reasons our planet might not be doomed after all
- clip from article -
Scientists estimate that around 1 million species are at risk of extinction, some within decades, and populations of major animal groups, including birds and fish, have declined on average by nearly 70 percent in the last half-century. A new study, appearing in the journal Science Advances, found through modeling that the planet could lose as much as 10 percent of its plant and animal species by 2050.
But while it’s hard to ignore the warning signs, there are plenty of reasons to still have hope for our planet’s future — starting with what happened at COP15. In Montreal, I asked roughly a dozen experts, from Western scientists to Indigenous leaders, about what’s inspiring them.
See:
https://www.vox.com/down-to-earth/23511348/cop15-montreal-biodiversity-experts-hope-environment
Dutch leader apologizes for Netherlands' role in slave trade
Source: Associated Press
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte apologized Monday on behalf of his government for the Netherlands’ historical role in slavery and the slave trade, despite calls for him to delay the long-awaited statement.
Rutte went ahead with the apology even though some activist groups urged him to wait until next year’s July 1 anniversary of the country’s abolition of slavery. Some even went to court last week in a failed attempt to block the speech.
He said the government would establish a fund for initiatives that will help tackle the legacy of slavery in the Netherlands and its former colonies.
Read more: https://apnews.com/article/netherlands-slavery-the-hague-mark-rutte-81a0abdf1b17ea32a962d3b6b9bdf7e1
California approves far-reaching strategy for tackling climate change. So what's next?
Source: Capital Public Radio
California’s air board today unanimously approved a sweeping state plan to battle climate change, creating a new blueprint for the next five years to cut carbon emissions, reduce reliance on fossil fuels and speed up the transition to renewable energy.
Called a scoping plan, the 297-page strategy could serve as a roadmap for other states and countries to follow, including a long list of proposed measures that, once adopted, would slash California’s greenhouse gases and clean up air pollution in the smoggiest state in the nation.
The California Air Resources Board’s plan sets an aggressive target of cutting greenhouse gases by 48% below 1990 levels by 2030, up from the 40% by 2030 required by state law. The ultimate goal is to cut use of oil 94% and become carbon neutral — which means the amount of carbon removed is greater than the carbon generated — by 2045.
“This is an extraordinary exercise and document, and it’s the most comprehensive, detailed plan for getting to net zero anywhere in the world,” said Air Resources Board Member Daniel Sperling, who also is director of the Institute of Transportation Studies at UC Davis.
Read more: https://www.capradio.org/articles/2022/12/18/california-approves-far-reaching-strategy-for-tackling-climate-change-so-whats-next/
El Paso mayor declares state of emergency over influx of migrants from Mexico border
Source: Reuters
The mayor of the Texas border city of El Paso declared a state of emergency on Saturday, citing the hundreds of migrants sleeping on the streets in cold temperatures and the thousands being apprehended every day.
Mayor Oscar Leeser, a Democrat, said the emergency declaration would give city authorities the resources and ability to shelter migrants who have crossed the Mexican border.
"We wanted to make sure people are treated with dignity. We want to make sure everyone is safe," Leeser told reporters.
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/el-paso-mayor-declares-state-emergency-over-influx-migrants-mexico-border-2022-12-18/
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