(HAWKINSVILLE, Ga.) — The search is on for three “violent” inmates who remain at large days after escaping from a Georgia jail, authorities said.
Tyree Williams Jr., 33; Brandon Pooler, 24; Dennis Penix Jr., 28; and two other inmates fled the Pulaski County Jail, about 130 miles south of Atlanta, on the night of Nov. 12, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said.
They had two Tasers and were last in a stolen white 2015 Kia Sedona van with Georgia license plate CMP8628, the GBI said.
One of the five escapees, Tyree Jackson, was taken into custody Sunday, the GBI said.
A second inmate, Lewis Wendell Evans III, was taken into custody late Sunday night in Warner Robins, about 100 miles south of Atlanta, the GBI said.
As the search continues for the remaining three escapees, the U.S. Marshals Service is offering a reward of up to $5,000 for information leading to any arrests, the GBI said.
Proposed drilling in the Gulf of Mexico – ABC News Photo Illustration, U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management
(WASHINGTON) — On the heels of his stirring plea at the just-completed Glasgow Climate Conference for “every nation to do its part” to solve the climate crisis, President Joe Biden’s administration is preparing this week to hold an auction for drilling rights in the Gulf of Mexico over impassioned objections from environmental organizations.
“It’s hard to imagine a more dangerous, hypocritical action in the aftermath of the climate summit,” said Kristen Monsell, a lawyer for the nonprofit Center for Biological Diversity. “Holding this lease sale will only lead to more harmful oil spills, more toxic climate pollution, and more suffering for communities and wildlife along the Gulf Coast.”
The auction, set for Wednesday, will grant oil companies the opportunity to bid on nearly 80 million acres of lucrative federal waters, which would produce an estimated 1.12 billion barrels of oil and 4.2 trillion cubic feet of natural gas over the next 50 years.
The winning bidder will have the right to build platform rigs up to 231 miles from shore and drill for oil at underwater depths of up to 11,000 feet. Environmental groups say the distance from shore and depth of drilling increases the likelihood of a repeat of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, which caused 4 million barrels of oil to leak into the Gulf.
Brettny Hardy, an attorney with the environmental nonprofit group Earthjustice, said the development of those waters would amount to a “huge climate bomb” that would “compromise our future and move our climate action in the exact wrong direction.”
Biden promised to end new drilling on federal lands during his presidential campaign, and issued an executive order pausing the lease sales during his first week in office, pending a review of their environmental impact.
In June, however, a federal judge ordered the resumption of those lease sales, siding with 13 states that sued the administration for overstepping its authority.
The administration has appealed the judge’s ruling, but agreed to go forward with the leases while the matter works its way through the courts.
A spokesperson for the Department of Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, which is tasked with coordinating the auction, said the administration is just adhering to the court’s orders.
“[The administration] is complying with a U.S. District Court’s injunction regarding [the auction] while the government appeals the decision,” said spokesperson John Filostrat. “The Biden Harris Administration is continuing its comprehensive review of the deficiencies associated with its offshore and onshore oil and gas leasing programs.”
The Interior Department said in August that, while it would adhere to the court’s ruling, it will also “continue to exercise the authority and discretion provided under the law to conduct leasing in a manner that takes into account the program’s many deficiencies.”
But environmental advocates argue that the Biden administration has not exhausted its legal “authority and discretion” — and in fact has several options at its disposal to delay or cancel the bidding.
“The administration has more than sufficient authority to choose not to hold the lease sale and to cancel it,” Monsell said.
The Justice Department could file an emergency injunction to pause the lease pending its appeal, according to Hardy, or make the case in court that the environmental effects of the sale could conflict with other federal laws, like the National Environmental Policy Act.
Monsell and Hardy are leading a coalition of environmental groups in suing the administration to prevent the auction from moving forward, with the goal of winning an injunction before the leases come into effect, which the government said would be on Jan. 1.
In a press release announcing their lawsuit, the environmental groups accused the Biden administration of “folding to the oil industry,” which has promoted the auction as “welcome news for the American worker and our national security.”
“As global energy prices rise, continued Gulf of Mexico leasing can help avert inflationary risks and proactively ensure affordable energy for all walks of life, especially low-income communities,” said Erik Milito, the president of the National Ocean Industries Association, an offshore energy trade group.
Neither the Interior Department nor the White House has responded to allegations that the administration is buckling to pressure from the oil industry.
In Glasgow, Biden promised a return of American leadership on climate change issues, pledging to halve greenhouse emissions by 2050.
“We’ll demonstrate to the world the United States is not only back at the table, but hopefully leading by the power of our example,” he said.
Environmental groups said Biden’s words ring hollow as long as these oil leases move forward.
“This isn’t just hypocritical, it’s outright deceitful,” said Jeremy Nichols of WildEarth Guardians, a nonprofit environmental group. “It truly calls into question whether the Biden administration’s climate agenda is nothing but broken promises.”
(WASHINGTON) — Shortly after the Jan. 6 insurrection, Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell did something extraordinary: He decided to disinvite Donald Trump from President Joe Biden’s upcoming inauguration because he was worried Trump could use the occasion to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power, according to a new book by ABC News Chief Washington Correspondent Jonathan Karl.
Karl’s book, Betrayal: The Final Act of the Trump Show, details how after the Capitol attack, McConnell told aides he wanted the top Congressional leaders to draft a letter telling the then-sitting president that he was not welcome to attend the inauguration.
The events eventually prompted Trump to send off what would be his final tweet before being banned by the social media platform, according to Betrayal, set to be released on Nov. 16.
“McConnell felt he could not give Trump another opportunity to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power,” Karl writes in the new book. “McConnell wanted to get a letter together from the top four congressional leaders informing Trump that he had been disinvited.”
But not everyone in Republican leadership was on board with McConnell’s plan.
“Kevin McCarthy opposed the idea, arguing it would be an important message of unity to have Trump attend the ceremony as Biden took the oath of office,” according to the book. “But McConnell was determined to disinvite Trump regardless of whether McCarthy would sign the letter.”
McCarthy, Karl writes, would alert the White House about McConnell’s plan to disinvite Trump. And before the letter could be drafted, “Trump sent out a tweet saying he wouldn’t be attending.”
“To all of those who have asked, I will not be going to the Inauguration on January 20,” Trump wrote on Jan. 8.
“Trump apparently wanted people to think it was his decision alone to become the first outgoing president after an election to fail to attend an inauguration since Andrew Johnson skipped the inauguration of Ulysses S. Grant in 1869,” Karl writes.
Following an initial suspension following the Capitol attack, Twitter had briefly reinstated Trump’s account on Jan. 7, during which time Trump reverted back to complaining about the election, writing, “The 75,000,000 great American Patriots who voted for me will not be disrespected or treated unfairly in any way, shape or form!!!”
But his tweet about not attending the inauguration would be his last.
Following that tweet, the social media company responded by issuing a “permanent suspension” of Trump’s account, determining that in the context of the Capitol attack, Trump’s tweets violated its glorification of violence policy.
(NEW YORK) — Around 150 former Afghan Air Force pilots and personnel, who were trapped in Tajikistan for months after fleeing Afghanistan, have been airlifted by the United States out of the country to the United Arab Emirates.
The pilots had spent nearly three months in detention in Tajikistan after they used their military aircraft to fly to Afghanistan’s northern neighbor as the Taliban seized Kabul in August. But some of the pilots found themselves in a frightening limbo, detained in a hotel complex by Tajikistan’s authorities, where they said they spent weeks held largely incommunicado and unsure if they might be sent back to the Taliban.
The pilots who spoke with ABC News also said they were poorly fed and were often without electricity in detention. Among them was a female pilot nine months pregnant, they said.
The pilots were taken to the airport in Tajikistan’s capital Dushanbe by staff from the U.S. embassy last Tuesday and put on a charter flight to Dubai, according to the pilots and Department of Defense. There, the evacuees were placed in quarantine in a hotel and are now beginning the process of being assessed for resettlement to the U.S. Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said Tuesday that the pilots were evacuated as part of a group of approximately 191 Afghans.
The evacuation occurred as the U.S. continued to wrestle with the colossal task of resettling tens of thousands of Afghans who served the U.S. and Afghanistan’s toppled American-backed government and who are now at risk of mistreatment or execution by the Taliban.
“It’s just a huge relief,” said David Hicks, a former brigadier general and CEO of Sacred Promise, a nongovernmental organization run by current and ex-U.S. military officers that have been working on getting the pilots out. “The team is tremendously relieved and happy to have those individuals out and moving onto their next step to freedom.”
In August, as the Taliban closed in, around 400 pilots and personnel also used their aircraft to fly to Uzbekistan, where they too were detained. But the U.S. was able to negotiate their release in Uzbekistan more quickly, flying the group out in mid-September, officials said.
But negotiations to arrange the evacuation for those in Tajikistan took longer and the pilots said they had been unsure whether they might be sent back. The Taliban had called on the pilots to return and have promised a general amnesty for former Afghan military personnel. But few of the pilots said they did not trust the guarantees.
“It was a rough time over there,” said Ahadi Ab Wajid, a lieutenant who piloted A-29 light reconnaissance aircraft and was evacuated Tuesday.
Speaking by phone from Dubai, he said in Tajikistan, the pilots had lived in poorly heated accommodation and at times had to drink river water.
Ab Wajid said the pilots were still worried about their families, who many had left in Afghanistan.
“It’s hard for them, because they left the place we used to live in. Now they’re living somewhere else and nobody is there to support and help,” he said. “But still thanks God, thanks God that we are out of there,” he said, referring to Tajikistan.
The pilots in Dubai are now being processed to allow them to be resettled in the U.S.
Family of 5 in hiding from Taliban pleads for help getting out of Afghanistan
“All the guys are happy,” said Haseebullah Ibrahimkhail, a helicopter pilot also on Tuesday’s flight. “You can see it in their faces.”
Ibrahimkhail said he was missing his wife and two young daughters who are in Hungary now, having fled Afghanistan. He said he was also preoccupied with thinking about his comrades still in Afghanistan.
Thousands more former Afghan Air Force and other military personnel are still trapped in Afghanistan, with many still appealing for evacuation by the U.S., according to Hicks. Ibrahimkhail said his former comrades fear execution if found, and are barely venturing outside, meaning they are unable to work and are now struggling to feed their families.
The Taliban are reportedly searching for former military personnel and some pilots have told ABC their relatives had been questioned about their whereabouts.
Hick’s NGO, Sacred Promise, is lobbying the U.S. to prioritize the evacuation of the pilots still in Afghanistan, where he said the danger to them was growing.
“We get stories, pretty much daily, either of beatings or having to move,” said Hicks. “And frankly, it’s not going to go away anytime soon — this is going to continue either until we get them out or until the worst case happens.”
(NEW YORK) — As the COVID-19 pandemic has swept the globe, more than 5 million people have died from the disease worldwide, including over 763,000 Americans, according to real-time data compiled by Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Systems Science and Engineering.
Just 68.8% of Americans ages 12 and up are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Nov 15, 7:17 am
Israel approves COVID-19 vaccination for younger children
Israel’s Ministry of Health announced Sunday that children ages 5 to 11 would be eligible for vaccination against COVID-19.
The decision follows an advisory panel’s approval last week of the low-dose Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for 5- to 11-year-olds.
“The majority of experts on the committee were of the opinion that the benefit of vaccinating this age group outweighed any risk,” the health ministry said in a statement Sunday.
A starting date for the inoculation campaign will be announced soon, the health ministry said. COVID-19 vaccination for this age group will not be made mandatory and parents will be given the choice to decide.
More than 62% of Israel’s 9.2 million people have already received two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine, while nearly 44% have also gotten a booster shot, according to data from the health ministry.
(LONDON) — Queen Elizabeth II canceled a planned public appearance Sunday after spraining her back.
In a statement, Buckingham Palace said the queen “has decided this morning with great regret that she will not be able to attend today’s Remembrance Sunday Service at the Cenotaph.”
It said she was “disappointed that she will miss the service.”
This is the first time the 95-year-old monarch has missed the Cenotaph because of ill health, ABC News royal contributor Victoria Murphy said. She has missed the event, which commemorates the contribution of British and Commonwealth military and civilian servicemen and women in the two World Wars for other reasons, in the past.
The queen’s son, Charles, the prince of Wales, attended the event in her place Sunday, and placed a wreath at the memorial on her behalf. Charles’ wife, Camilla, the duchess of Cornwall, and Prince William and Kate Middleton, the duke and duchess of Cambridge, also attended.
Others who attended included the earl and countess of Wessex, the princess royal and vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence, the duke and duchess of Gloucester, the duke of Kent and Princess Alexandra.
Last month, the queen spent one night in the hospital for “preliminary investigations.” She was released on Oct. 21 and was back at her desk at Windsor Castle that afternoon, according to a palace spokesperson.
The queen had also been scheduled to attend an evening reception on Nov. 1 at the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, or COP26, in Glasgow, but had been advised by doctors to rest. Murphy said the queen’s sprained back is unrelated to that advice.
Since doctors have advised Queen Elizabeth to rest, the royal household has scaled back her diary, keeping engagements light.
(WASHINGTON) — Debra Ward — a military wife and mother — assumed her husband’s more than 25 years of service would provide a safety net whenever their child became sick.
The couple’s only son, 22-year-old Joel, was diagnosed diabetes over a a decade ago and has already suffered from three life-threatening hypoglycemic shocks while in college.
So when renewing her son’s insurance card, it came as a surprise that he would only be eligible for the plan’s benefits until he was 23, not 26 like most other dependents in the U.S. After that, she would need to start paying more than $450 in monthly premiums to remain insured under TRICARE, the civilian care component of the Military Health System.
“I didn’t believe it at first, with my husband being in active duty and all,” Ward said. “Looking at the premiums they were asking for, I thought surely something had been messed up.”
While dependents under civilian insurance plans are eligible to remain under their parents’ coverage at no additional cost or requirements until the age of 26 as dictated by the Affordable Care Act, the same protocols do not apply to children of military families using TRICARE.
Instead, dependents like Ward’s son receive coverage until they turn 21 (or 23 if enrolled full-time at a university), at which point they can either find employment that offers independent coverage or pay hefty premiums through a program called TRICARE Young Adult to hold on to benefits until the age of 26.
“We’re not expecting any special treatment, but it does seem like we ought to be at least getting the same treatment everybody else in the country has been receiving for the last 11 years,” Ward said.
Across the country, families like Ward’s say they are frustrated at a lack of congressional response to what many see as the unjust treatment of military members’ dependents.
Despite bipartisan concern about the young cut-off age and high premiums for young adults, Congress has yet to hold a vote on changing TRICARE’s young adult provisions.
A bill introduced last year by Rep. Elaine Luria, D-Va., and Rep. Michael Waltz, R-Fla., to extend dependents’ coverage until age 26 without premiums failed to make the final version of the fiscal 2021 National Defense Authorization Act.
A similar bill introduced this year by Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., and Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., also aims to eliminate premiums for dependents, but it awaits a vote in both the Senate and House.
“Our bipartisan bill allows every military child under the age of 26 to continue receiving steady coverage under their parents’ plan, enabling these young adults to finish school or start their careers without worrying about what happens if they get sick,” Tester said in a release.
There are currently about 9.6 million beneficiaries under TRICARE, according to the Military Health System. Of those, 37,000 are unmarried, adult children of military sponsors enrolled in TYA.
Eileen Huck, senior deputy director of government relations for the National Military Family Association, said that TRICARE Young Adult is simply too expensive for many dependents, often requiring them to enroll in a university even if they are not prepared for higher education.
“We run into various families and individuals who ran into unexpected costs because their children decided to delay enrolling in college,” Huck said. “And whether it’s a special needs student, or just someone for whom college isn’t the right choice, those life-changing decisions shouldn’t’ be driven by whether or not they’re worried about losing their health care coverage.”
TYA’s Select and Prime programs were created in 2011 following passage of the Affordable Care Act because military service members are exempt from the national health care reform law, requiring separate legislation to extend benefits. The difference between TYA’S two options is largely the same as PPO versus HMO programs: Those covered under TYA Prime are restricted to receiving coverage from Veterans Affairs clinicians.
The 2011 legislation, however, required that no government funding would be used to cover the cost of TYA , necessitating premiums based on commercial insurance rates and coverage.
The price for the two options of TYA has only been rising since the law went into effect. In 2021, monthly premiums for were set at $257 per month for TYA Select and $459 per month for TYA Prime, a 12.7% and 22% increase from 2020, respectively. For comparison, a study from the Kaiser Family Foundation found that ACA rates have only increased by a median of 1.1% in the last year.
Huck said these steep price tags stem from the nature of TYA that requires all the costs to be borne by the beneficiaries, in addition to a decreasing number of TYA participants.
“Oftentimes we have healthier young adults leaving the program for cheaper but less comprehensive marketplace plans, which means the people with conditions that need more treatments covered through TRICARE end up remaining but paying more as the pool of people participating gets smaller,” she said. “It turns into a vicious cycle.”
Many military affairs advocates like Jennifer Akin, director of research at Blue Star Families, remain optimistic that bills to address these issues will either be passed independently or included in next year’s defense budget.
“I think it’s a parity issue,” Akin said. “It’s very difficult to make the case that military children shouldn’t have access to the same health care rights that civilian children do by virtue of their parents’ service.”
(ATLANTA) — A woman killed while walking her dog in an Atlanta park this past summer was stabbed and cut over 50 times, according to a medical examiner’s report released this week.
Katherine “Katie” Janness, 40, was found dead in Piedmont Park around 1 a.m. on July 28, along with her slain dog, Bowie, in what police described as a “gruesome” scene.
Janness had more than 50 wounds on her face, neck, chest, back, arms and hands, according to the Fulton County medical examiner’s report.
“It is my opinion that Katherine Janness died due to sharp force injuries of her face, neck, and torso that caused injuries of major blood vessels and internal organs,” Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Karen Sullivan wrote in the report, dated Nov. 10. “The manner of Ms. Janness’ death is classified as a homicide.”
At least 15 of the cuts were on Janness’ face, and more than a dozen were on her lower back, according to the autopsy report. The letters “F,” “A” and “T” were also found etched onto her chest, the medical examiner said. Janness also suffered from blunt force injuries.
Janness’ partner of seven years, Emma Clark, said Janness went to walk Bowie after dinner but didn’t return, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Clark tracked Janness’ phone’s location to Piedmont Park, where she discovered Janness and their dog.
Following the release of the medical examiner’s report, Emma Clark’s father, Terrell Clark, released a statement on behalf of the family to ABC Atlanta affiliate WSB.
“With today’s release of Katie’s autopsy report it’s more important than ever that the search for her killer be a top priority for APD and the FBI,” the statement said. “The report is extremely heartbreaking to read and know the exact nature of what Katie endured in her final moments on this Earth. Whoever is responsible is very disturbed and remains a danger to everyone’s safety. Please be vigilant and aware of your surroundings for we would hate for any family to be put through this nightmare.”
The Atlanta Police Department and FBI are investigating the murder, and a $10,000 reward is being offered for information that could help lead to an arrest.
The investigation into Janness’ murder “remains open and very active,” Officer Steve Avery, a spokesperson for the Atlanta Police Department, told ABC News on Saturday.
“Our investigators continue working tirelessly to find the person(s) responsible,” Avery said in a statement. “We understand it is frustrating for there to be so little information released publicly. However, to ensure the investigation isn’t compromised, we simply cannot release much information on our active investigation. We know how important this case is to those in our communities and we will continue our work to bring this investigation to a resolution.”
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Atlanta Police Homicide Unit or Crime Stoppers at 404-577-8477 or online.
(KENOSHA, Wisc.) — Local authorities are gearing up as the murder trial of Kyle Rittenhouse draws to a close and the jury will begin deliberations early next week.
Closing arguments in the high-profile trial are scheduled for Monday morning in Wisconsin’s Kenosha County Circuit Court, followed by deliberations. In advance of the verdict, Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers has authorized about 500 National Guard troops to be on standby to support public safety efforts if needed, state officials said Friday.
“We continue to be in close contact with our partners at the local level to ensure the state provides support and resources to help keep the Kenosha community and greater area safe,” Evers said in a statement. “I urge folks who are otherwise not from the area to please respect the community by reconsidering any plans to travel there and encourage those who might choose to assemble and exercise their First Amendment rights to do so safely and peacefully.”
The National Guard soldiers will “stand ready” to protect the Kenosha community “should a request from our local partners come in,” Maj. Gen. Paul Knapp, Wisconsin’s adjutant general, said in a statement.
Hundreds of officers from volunteering law enforcement agencies will also be on hand in Kenosha, according to the Wisconsin National Guard.
The Kenosha Police Department and the Kenosha County Sheriff’s Department plan to “monitor” the trial, the departments said in a joint statement this week.
“We recognize that there are varying opinions and feelings that revolve around the trial that may cause concerns,” Interim Chief, Eric Larsen and Kenosha County Sheriff David Beth said in a statement. “Both of our departments have dedicated staff working in conjunction with local, State and Federal law enforcement partners to ensure the safety of our communities.”
Evers previously mobilized about 500 National Guard troops to Kenosha in January, in advance of the Kenosha County district attorney’s decision to charge Rittenhouse.
Rittenhouse, 18, has been charged with killing two people and wounding a third last year during riots that erupted in Kenosha over a police officer shooting Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old Black man, paralyzing him. Riots, vandalism and looting broke out, prompting an online call for armed “patriots” to come to the city to protect lives and property.
Rittenhouse, who was 17 at the time of his alleged crimes, claimed he shot and killed Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, and Anthony Huber, 26, and wounded Gaige Grosskreutz, 27, in self-defense because he was being attacked by a mob and feared for his life.
The teen has pleaded not guilty to felony charges of first-degree reckless homicide, first-degree intentional homicide and attempted first-degree intentional homicide. He has also pleaded not guilty to a misdemeanor charge of possession of a firearm by an individual under the age of 18.
Judge Bruce Schroeder indicated in court Friday that he will likely give the jury the opportunity to consider whether Rittenhouse provoked Rosenbaum into attacking him. The prosecution contends Rittenhouse is seen doing just that by raising his gun in a drone video that was discovered during the course of the trial. Defense attorneys suggested Rosenbaum lunged for Rittenhouse’s gun.
Schroeder is also weighing whether to allow the jury to consider several lesser charges.
“If I allow those, then the jury, if they are unable to agree that you’re guilty of the charged offense, will have the opportunity to consider whether you’re guilty of the less serious offense,” Schroeder told Rittenhouse Friday.
Jury instructions are expected Monday, and deliberations could begin as early as that afternoon following closing arguments.
ABC News’ Bill Hutchinson and Whitney Lloyd contributed to this report.
(GLASGOW, Scotland) — Leaders from nearly every country in the world have converged upon Glasgow, Scotland, for COP26, the United Nations Climate Change Conference that experts are touting as the most important environmental summit in history.
The conference, delayed by a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, was designed as the check-in for the progress countries are making after entering the Paris Agreement, which aims to limit global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius, a value that would be disastrous to exceed, according to climate scientists. More ambitious efforts aim to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
Not one country is going into COP26 on track to meeting the goals of the Paris Agreement, according to experts. They will need to work together to find collective solutions that will drastically cut down on greenhouse gas emissions.
“We need to move from commitments into action,” Jim Harmon, chairman of the World Resources Institute, told ABC News. “The path to a better future is still possible, but time is running out.”
All eyes will be on the biggest emitters: China, the U.S. and India. While China is responsible for about 26% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions, more than all other developed countries combined, the cumulative emissions from the U.S. over the past century are likely twice that of China’s, David Sandalow, a senior research scholar at Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy, told ABC News.
Latest headlines:
-US, China announce joint statement addressing climate crisis
-America ‘ready to take on the challenge,’ Pelosi says
-Obama addresses COP26, endorses Biden’s ‘Build Back Better’ bill
-American agriculture is ready to tackle climate change, agriculture secretary says
-US needs to ‘get in the game’ on clean energy transitions, energy secretary say
-Biden, world leaders push to conserve global forests
Here’s how the conference is developing. All times Eastern.
Nov 13, 3:15 pm
COP26 adopts Glasgow Climate Pact
COP26 has officially adopted the Glasgow Climate Pact, a 10-page document that lays out the groundwork for how the world will attempt to prevent the worst impacts of climate change.
Nearly 200 countries agreed on the importance of addressing climate change but deep divisions still remained about the future of fossil fuels and rich countries’ reluctance to provide full-fledged financial support to countries more vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.
Representatives from several countries said the pact did not go far enough to address the climate crisis but they could not justify leaving Glasgow without any progress on the issue.
-ABC News’ Stephanie Ebbs
Nov 12, 5:10 pm
Final Glasgow deal yet to come as negotiations continue on last day
Despite being the last stipulated date for the COP26, country representatives continue to work on finalizing the draft of the Glasgow deal. The negotiations are expected to continue into the night.
Countries continue to dispute who bears the financial burden of climate action and the deadlines for carbon emissions reductions. Some disagreements also took place over the semantics of the draft as representatives argued over whether “requests” or “urges” was a better fit when talking about climate goals.
The final day also witnessed walkouts and protests from climate activists around the world who claimed their voices were not being heard.
Crowds outside chanted: “Fighting for justice, and for liberation.”
Nov 11, 4:33 pm
Developing, vulnerable countries point fingers at rich countries, COP26 draft letter
Developing countries, including top emitters China and India, are asking for changes to the COP26 draft letter focusing more on reparations from established countries.
On Wednesday, Diego Pacheco Balanza, the head of Bolivia’s delegation and spokesman for the Like-Minded Developing Countries group, along with 21 other countries released an opposition to the draft agreement.
They say it is unfair for rich countries who built their economies on fossil fuels to tell developing countries what to do without recognizing that historical responsibility.
“We will never achieve the targets they are putting forward for the entire world. So we need to fight — the developing world — against this carbon colonialism,” Balanza said at a press conference Friday.
The statement comes amid rising concerns from vulnerable countries in the Global South, which claim that COP26 isn’t focusing enough on their needs.
Uganda’s Vanessa Nakate emphasized that any additional global temperature warming could lead to more suffering in her country.
“A 2.4-degree [warmer] world is a death sentence for communities like mine; 1.2 degrees is already hell for us,” Nakate told reporters Wednesday night.
Similarly, Elizabeth Wathuti from Kenya spoke about climate-related starvation in her country, urging leaders to keep those affected by it at the front of their minds.
“The big question is, are the leaders here going to step up to do what must be done to save those lives and livelihoods that are at stake?” Wathuti asked. “I come from Kenya where over 2 million Kenyans are facing climate-related starvation and I need answers when I go back to my communities to my country. What are we going to tell these people whose lives and livelihoods are at stake when we go back?”
Nov 10, 3:29 pm
US, China announce joint statement addressing climate crisis
Top carbon emitters U.S. and China have committed to working together on reducing emissions and transitioning to renewable energy over the next decade, according to U.S. Special Envoy for Climate John Kerry.
Kerry said it’s important that the countries work together on climate issues.
“And as I’ve said many times, the United States and China have no shortage of differences. But on climate, cooperation is the only way to get things done,” he told reporters Wednesday.
ABC News’ Stephanie Ebbs
Nov 09, 1:39 pm
America ‘ready to take on the challenge,’ Pelosi says
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi focused on the domestic political success of the Build Back Better plan and its investment in climate change while speaking to reporters at COP26, continuing the message that America is back on the international climate stage.
“We come here equipped, ready to take on the challenge to meet the moment,” Pelosi said.
Pelosi said she still plans to pass the reconciliation bill the week of Nov. 15 and backed up remarks made by former President Barack Obama on Monday — that both he and President Biden could take more aggressive action on climate change if it wasn’t for near Republican control on Capitol Hill.
“Let me just say that when President Obama was president and we had majority in the first term … we did pass in the House a very strong climate bill,” she said.
“Sixty votes in the Senate is an obstacle that is very hard to overcome and is another subject for another day.”
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez also declared that “America is back” but was more critical, saying that leaders will need to “actually deliver.”
“We’re here to say that we’re not just back, we’re different … and we are more open, I think, to questioning prior assumptions about what is politically possible and that is what is exciting about this time,” she said.
