FLASH: Harvard board backs president
1 Climate summit attendees agree to ditch “fossil fuels”
2 Electric vehicle charger rollout slow
3 Israel began pumping seawater into tunnel network in Gaza
4 FBI issues public safety warning for the holidays
5 China dominates industry in new report
1862 Battle of Fredericksburg
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FLASH: Harvard board stands by president, will not fire her in wake of congressional testimony
1 Climate summit attendees approve agreement to transition away from “fossil fuels”
More than 190 governments at the United Nations climate conference approved an agreement Wednesday calling for the world to transition away from fossil fuels. The deal, the result of all-night talks, calls for “transitioning away from fossil fuels in energy systems, in a just, orderly and equitable manner.” It says the shift to clean energy for the global economy should accelerate this decade with the aim of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
Scientists say governments face a tall order: They must cut global emissions by 43% by 2030 compared with 2019 to limit warming to 1.5 degrees. Global emissions are still rising and U.N. analyses have said government plans put the world on track for 2.5 degrees of warming. The new deal is not legally binding and can’t, on its own, force any country to act. (WSJ, NYT)
2 Electric vehicle charger rollout slow
More than two years after President Biden signed legislation allocating $5 billion for a nationwide network of taxpayer-funded electric vehicle chargers, the first one finally opened last Friday in Ohio. That slow pace is making it harder to achieve Biden's ultimate goal of EVs making up half of all new cars sold by 2030.
The U.S. will need 28 million home and public charging ports to support a potential 33 million plug-in electric vehicles by 2030, per the Energy Department's National Renewable Energy Laboratory. With 60,000 public chargers — including only 8,560 fast chargers — available today, the country still has a long way to go. (Axios)
3 Israel began pumping seawater into Hamas tunnel network in Gaza
Israel’s military has begun pumping seawater into Hamas’s vast complex of tunnels in Gaza, according to U.S. officials briefed on the Israeli military’s operations, part of an intensive effort to destroy the underground infrastructure that has underpinned the group’s operations. (WSJ)
4 FBI issues public safety warning for the holidays related to Israel-Hamas war
Three American government agencies issued a warning Tuesday about heightened threats to public safety in the U.S. during the holiday season associated with the Israel-Hamas war. The FBI, the Department of Homeland Security and the National Counterterrorism Center said in a public service announcement that ongoing tensions over the conflict "likely heighten the threat of lone actor violence." (Axios)
5 China dominates industry in new report
China’s efforts and investment in advanced industries has paid off as it continues to gain market share from the rest of the world in sectors including computers and electronics, chemicals, basic metals and motor vehicles, according to a report by a US-based technology group.
As of 2020, China was the world’s leading producer in seven of the 10 industries covered by the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation (ITIF) report released on Wednesday. (South China Morning Post)
This day in history
1862 Battle of Fredericksburg
On December 13, 1862, Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia repulses a series of attacks by General Ambrose Burnside’s Army of the Potomac at Fredericksburg, Virginia. The defeat was one of the most decisive loses for the Union army, and it dealt a serious blow to Northern morale in the winter of 1862-63. The Yankees suffered around 12,650 killed and wounded, while Lee lost only about 4,200 men.