Supreme Court will hear biggest climate change case in a decade
In the most important environmental case in more than a decade, the Supreme Court on Monday will hear arguments in a dispute that could restrict or even eliminate the Environmental Protection Agency’s authority to control the pollution that is heating the planet. A decision by the high court could shred President Joe Biden’s plans to halve the nation’s greenhouse emissions by decade’s end. “They could handcuff the federal government’s ability to affordably reduce greenhouse gases from power plants,” said Michael Oppenheimer, a professor of geosciences and international affairs at Princeton University. The power sector is the nation’s second-largest source of the carbon emissions that are driving climate change.
‘Atmospheric river’ threatens to pummel Northwest
The Pacific Northwest is bracing for what meteorologists call an “atmospheric river,” a stream of water vapor that is set to arrive from the Pacific Ocean on Sunday night and bring heavy rains and flooding through Wednesday. The brunt of the storm system was expected in the mountains of northern Oregon and western Washington, where up to 7 inches of rain might flood the rivers that flow off the mountain ranges, said Dustin Guy, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Seattle. It was too early on Sunday afternoon to know which rivers might have the most flooding, so the weather service had not yet posted any flood warnings.
First Jan. 6 trial to open, allowing prosecutors to set out broad case
When the first trial stemming from the attack on the Capitol opens Monday, it will set the stage for prosecutors to do more than merely lay out the details of how the defendant, Guy Wesley Reffitt, sought to storm the building with a pistol at his hip. For the first time in a courtroom, they will present a broad portrait of the violent chaos that erupted that day and seek to persuade a jury that the pro-Trump mob that Reffitt is accused of joining struck at the heart of democracy by disrupting the transition of presidential power. The trial begins Monday with jury selection in U.S. District Court in Washington.
More countries ban Russian flights from their airspace
A growing number of countries announced Sunday that they were closing their airspace to Russian planes in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Union commission, said the EU would ban all Russian aircraft after Canada and several European countries such as Belgium, Denmark, France and Italy had announced similar decisions Sunday. As more airspace was closing to Russian planes, the United States said citizens should consider departing Russia immediately via commercial options still available. The Hungary-based airline Wizz Air also said Sunday that it would cancel its flights to Russia for at least a week.
By wire sources
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