[GWSG] Biden's climate plans; EPA sabotages; elsewhere, too; record heat in 2020; German EV sales; Mann interview

[Tilley, Al]

1. The senate wins in Georgia mean that the Biden administration has more of an opportunity for vigorous climate action. The Build Back Better plan is expected to be an early priority. https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2021/01/07/biden-climate-senate/?utm_campaign=Carbon%20Brief%20Daily%20Briefing&utm_content=20210108&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Revue%20Daily

2. The EPA has been more effectively sabotaged by the Trump administration than the Biden climate team anticipated. It will take a bit of time to disentangle the mess. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/biden-climate-team-says-it-underestimated-trumps-damage/

3. Similar difficulties lie in wait elsewhere for the Biden administration. The Trump damage is so pervasive “It could actually take much of an entire term in office to reverse that reversal.” One simplifying tool is the executive action. The Biden team has listed ten possibilities. Foreign policy is another area allowing fairly swift action. The public is ready to support action, and so are many business interests.    https://www.vox.com/21549521/climate-change-senate-election-joe-biden

4.  2020 tied with 2016 for the hottest year on record. Despite a 7% drop in emissions atmospheric CO2 reached record levels. The earth is now 1.15C hotter than in preindustrial times. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jan/08/climate-crisis-experts-2020-joint-hottest-year-ever-recorded

5. In Germany plugin electric vehicles went from 4% of auto sales in December 2019 to 27% in December 2020. Hybrids accounted for another 13.5%. https://cleantechnica.com/2021/01/08/german-ev-market-reaches-escape-velocity-record-27-share-in-december/

6. In an interview Michael Mann discusses his book The New Climate Wars, Biden’s climate programs, the current tactics of the fossil fuel industry, and the necessity of putting a price on carbon. https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/michael-mann-the-new-climate-war-book-1110937/

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