Kerry sees rekindled EU ties shifting global climate momentum
BRUSSELS — A renewed alliance between the U.S. and the European Union on climate issues could shift the dynamics of crucial global talks, encouraging China and other major polluters to step up their efforts to reduce emissions, U.S. climate envoy John Kerry said.
The new U.S. administration and the 27-nation bloc are tightening links in the fight against global warming in a sign that major international alliances will be key to making a crunch summit this November a success. Kerry arrived in Brussels Tuesday and discussed green diplomatic outreach with top European Commission officials.
Five years since nations pledged in the Paris Agreement to limit global warming and avoid the worst effects of climate change, countries are still well behind in their climate pledges.
The global level of ambition needs to increase between threefold and fivefold to deliver on the accord to try and limit warming to below 2 degrees Celsius, according to the United Nations Emissions Gap Report.
Kerry and EU climate czar Frans Timmermans urged all countries to ramp up climate action on Tuesday. China, which last year set a target to reach climate neutrality by 2060, pledged only incremental improvements in the near-term under its new five-year plan.
— Bloomberg News
Klete Keller pleads not guilty to charges related to US Capitol riot
Klete Keller, the Olympic gold medalist swimmer charged with participating in the U.S. Capitol riot, pleaded not guilty during a remote hearing in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday.
A grand jury indicted Keller on seven counts last month, including civil disorder, obstructing an official proceeding and disorderly conduct in a restricted building.
Keller appeared at the hearing via video from his home in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He didn’t say much beyond, “Good afternoon, doing well, thank you” after being introduced to the prosecutor, Assistant U.S. Attorney Troy Edwards, before the brief proceeding.
Edwards told Judge Richard J. Leon that Keller’s attorney, Edward B. MacMahon Jr., had been given “publicly available” evidence in the case and that the discovery material, which mainly consists of videos, would be turned over after a protective order was agreed on and approved.
Estimating the amount of discovery material is difficult, Edwards said, because the investigation is ongoing.
In response to a question from the judge, Edwards said he didn’t believe the government had the blue U.S. Olympic jacket that Keller was identified as wearing during the Jan. 6 riot. The distinctive jacket, with “USA” in large white letters, was key to Keller being publicly identified after a journalist captured him on video amid the chaos in the Capitol Rotunda.
“I would think that would be a fairly important piece of evidence,” Leon said.
MacMahon said he didn’t know if Keller kept the jacket but told the court that identifying his client wouldn’t be an issue because of his 6-foot-6 height and the jacket that made him stand out in videos of the riot.
Federal agents searched Keller’s home Jan. 14, the same day the FBI arrested him, but the search warrant and return remain sealed. The matter wasn’t discussed Tuesday.
Keller’s next hearing is scheduled for April 6.
— Los Angeles Times
Biden’s name will be left off stimulus checks to speed delivery
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden’s name will be left off the next round of stimulus checks in a bid to speed distribution to Americans, the White House said Tuesday.
“We are doing everything in our power to expedite the payments and not delay them, which is why the president’s name will not appear on the memo line of this round of stimulus checks,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Tuesday. “The checks will be signed by a career official at the Bureau of Fiscal Service.”
Democrats criticized the addition of former President Donald Trump’s name to an earlier round of coronavirus stimulus checks, saying the move politicized the payments and slowed down their distribution.
But a spokesperson for Trump’s Treasury Department said the checks were not delayed by the change and noted that the stimulus payments were sent out faster than payments made during the 2008 stimulus.
Most of the estimated 160 million Americans set to receive payments under the bill — which the House of Representatives is poised to approve Wednesday — won’t receive paper checks at all. For most, the money will be distributed via direct deposit to banking accounts used to pay their taxes or receive refunds.
Individuals who earn as much as $75,000, or couples making up to $150,000 — plus their children or adult dependents – will qualify for $1,400 payments under the bill.
— Bloomberg News
Missouri House passes bill to allow guns on public transit
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — The Missouri House on Monday gave final approval to a proposal that would allow Missourians to carry guns on public transit.
The legislation, sponsored by Rep. Adam Schnelting, R-St. Charles, allows concealed carry permit holders to bring firearms on publicly funded transportation systems. The proposal would not apply to Amtrak trains.
The legislation passed with a vote of 124-32.
Schnelting said the legislation helps protect Second Amendment rights and allows for self-defense.
— St. Louis Post-Dispatch
