Chron Briefs
Pence’s allies launch super PAC as he moves toward possible White House run
Former Vice President Mike Pence’s allies are launching a super PAC to boost a potential presidential bid, the latest sign he is moving closer to a White House run.
Pence and advisers have hinted at a June launch for the presidency, potentially launching a historic matchup of a former president against his former vice president. The group, blessed by Pence’s top aides and called “Committed to America,” is partially designed to build a positive image for Pence, who has gained little traction against his former boss Donald Trump and other would-be Republican candidates, polls show.
Pence has yet to officially announce whether he’ll enter the 2024 GOP primary, though he is showing signs that he is leaning toward jumping in and has said publicly he will announce his decision by the end of June. Pence served Trump for four years in the White House, showing loyalty before breaking with him over Trump’s pressure to try to overturn the 2020 election results on Jan. 6, 2021, amid false claims of widespread voter fraud.
Almost 40% of land burned by western wildfires can be traced to carbon emissions
Almost 40% of forest area burned by wildfire in the western United States and southwestern Canada in the last 40 years can be attributed to carbon emissions associated with the world’s 88 largest fossil fuel producers and cement manufacturers, according to new research that seeks to hold oil and gas companies accountable for their role in climate change.
In findings published Tuesday in the journal Environmental Research Letters, the authors concluded that the emissions generated in the extraction of fossil fuels, as well as the burning of those fuels, have increased the amount of land burned by wildfire by raising global temperatures and amplifying dry conditions across the West. This growing dryness, or aridification, has caused the atmosphere to become “thirstier” for water, draining moisture from trees and brush and causing them to become more vulnerable to fire, the researchers say.
The study is the latest in a growing body of research known as extreme event attribution, or attribution science, which seeks to determine how much global warming has contributed to events such as heat waves, droughts and wildfires.
“We hope that people who are in communities that have been affected by wildfires will see this work and think about whether they want to hold these companies accountable,” said study author Kristina Dahl, principal climate scientist with the Union of Concerned Scientists.
To quantify the impact of the fossil fuel industry on wildfires, Dahl and her colleagues built on previous research that has shown that carbon emissions traced to the top 88 fossil fuel producers and cement manufacturers – including Exxon Mobil, BP, Chevron and Shell – have contributed significantly to the average temperature by which the Earth has warmed. (Cement production is responsible for 8% of human-generated carbon dioxide – significantly less than the burning of fossil fuels.)
Ukraine reports downing Six hypersonic Russian missiles
Eighteen Russian missiles were fired at Ukraine overnight, including six Kinzhal hypersonic missiles, the commander-in-chief of Ukraine’s armed forces, Valerii Zaluzhnyi, said on Tuesday.
All 18 missiles along with six Iranian-made kamikaze drones drones and three Russian reconnaissance drones were taken out by the Ukrainian air defenses, he said.
Zaluzhnyi said the missiles were launched from MiG-31K fighter planes and Russian warships in the Black Sea.
Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov rejected Ukraine’s version of events.
He said a U.S. Patriot air defense system in Kyiv had been destroyed in a Kinzhal precision strike.
The nighttime attack was centered on Kyiv and rattled parts of the city.
Rocket debris fell in many places in the capital including the city’s zoo, while cars were hit and an unoccupied building caught fire.
Rights Group: Global executions highest in five years
Executions around the world rose to the highest number recorded in five years in 2022, even as more countries moved to outlaw the death penalty, according to an annual report by Amnesty International released Tuesday.
At least 883 executions were recorded globally last year, a 53% increase over 579 deaths in 2021. Those numbers did not include China, which Amnesty said it believed had executed and sentenced to death “thousands” of people, because of a lack of transparency that made it difficult for the human rights group to make an accurate assessment.
About 90% of the executions recorded in 2022 were carried out by three of the world’s leading executioners, Egypt, Iran and Saudi Arabia, the report said.
Amnesty International’s secretary-general, Agnès Callamard, said the trend of increasing executions demonstrated a “callous disregard for human life” among governments in the Middle East and North Africa in particular. Executions in that region increased by 59%, Amnesty said.
In Iran and Saudi Arabia, many executions were for nonlethal crimes, like drug-related offenses, which is in violation of international law. Of the three countries, Egypt was the only one that recorded a decline in executions – 24 people in 2022 from at least 83 the year before.