British Gas to bump up energy bills by £97 a year for millions
Move expected to hit 2.3 million customers who use standard gas and electricity tariff

No attempt to explain the size of "green" subsidies on every household's bill. For real information on that, one has to go away from the MSM to someone who does the sums:

Homeowners Fleeced By Renewable Subsidies

Mexico was once a climate leader – now it's betting big on coal
As the climate crisis worsens, Andrés Manuel López Obrador plans to buy nearly 2m tons of thermal coal from small producers

The men on the midnight shift smoked cigarettes and cracked jokes in the glow of their helmet lights as they prepared to go underground. They were loading safety equipment and coils of pipe on to wheelbarrows, in readiness for a second shift due to start working later that week.

“We’re reactivating the industry,” said Arturo Rivera Wong, who had just taken on 40 more workers at the mine he owns in the scrublands of the border state of Coahuila.

“Four furnaces at the big thermoelectric plant are going to be reactivated,” he explained. “This is going to kickstart coal sales.”

As the climate crisis worsens and clean energy prices plunge, governments around the world have been weaning their economies of coal and other fossil fuels.

Mexico is moving in the opposite direction.

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, popularly known as Amlo, has unveiled plans to buy nearly 2m tons of thermal coal from small producers like Rivera. He also plans to reactivate a pair of coal-fired plants on the Texas border, which were being wound down as natural gas and renewables took a more prominent role in Mexico’s energy mix.

Not only is López Obradorbetting big on fossil fuels, he is also curtailing clean energy.

The populist president has promoted a vision of energy sovereignty, in which state-run bodies – the oil company Pemex and the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) – pump petroleum and generate electricity. Private players, which have heavily invested in clean energy, are relegated to a secondary role in López Obrador’s vision – while emissions and climate commitments are an afterthought....

The Guardian view on Germany's Greens: opportunity knocks
Editorial
Election year could deliver the best result in the party’s 40-year history, and send a message on climate targets from Europe’s most powerful state

Nordstream2? Lignite power stations?

The Guardian's Australian climate/politics obsession continued:

Barnaby Joyce pushes clean energy finance amendment to allow coal investment
Former Nationals leader announces he will try to amend his own government’s legislation

and

TUC calls on Raab to reject Australian candidate to lead OECD
Trade union body says Mathias Cormann would set back fight against poverty and the climate crisis

The life-altering effects heat is having on American children
Global heating takes a disproportionate toll on Black and Latino children – and the danger begins before they are even born

...The analysis of dozens of medical studies found women of color, particularly Black women, and their babies are most likely to suffer low birth weights, pre-term births and stillbirths from climate-driven threats. Hot temperatures can cause strain upon women and their unborn children, while heat can also react with pollutants from cars and power plants to create ozone, a ground-level pollutant that can cause an array of health problems.

“This pollution cause placental inflammation and affects the baby,” said Pacheco. “This can cause impacts in childhood but also bad outcomes when they are adults, such as heart and kidney disease. Even what we would consider limited exposures can affect the development of the baby.”

The climate crisis is shaping the lives of Black children and children of color before they take their first breath, but it doesn’t stop there. Once a Black or Latino child is born, there is a good chance they will live in a neighborhood that gets even hotter than nearby, whiter suburbs. Researchers have found that in US cities including New York, Dallas and Miami, poorer areas with more residents of color can be get up to 20F hotter in summer than wealthier, whiter districts in the same city....

I wonder how that's going down in Texas right now?

Energy pact divides EU as Spain threatens walkout
Governments fear lawsuits for going green.

EU countries are split over plans for a revamp of an international energy treaty, which some fear could lead to lawsuits for switching from coal to green power.

The Energy Charter Treaty, dating back to 1994, is supposed to boost cross-border energy cooperation and includes an investment protection provision that's aimed at safeguarding companies from arbitrary political decisions. That may have made sense in the early 1990s as a way to lure investors to ex-communist countries, but it now raises the danger of governments being sued for decisions to slash emissions that affect investments in projects like coal-fired power plants.

The European Commission is trying to renegotiate the pact to make it fit better with today's priorities. It put forward its negotiating position on Monday and talks on reforming the treaty take place on March 2-5.

But there are deep divisions within the EU over the treaty, with some countries, along with the Commission, allowing for a long period of talks among the 55-member grouping of treaty members, while others are threatening to walk out if it's not revamped before the end of the year.

Spain could quit the treaty if it can't be brought quickly into line with the EU's green ambitions, Deputy Prime Minister Teresa Ribera told POLITICO.

Ribera, along with two other Spanish ministers, sent a letter to the European Commission last week, asking it to draw up plans to withdraw from the treaty. She warned that Madrid could pull out alone if other countries don't want to join. “We are not very optimistic on the possibilities to get a successful result from the coming rounds of negotiation,” Ribera said.

A recent draft of the Commission's position, obtained by POLITICO, showed Brussels wants to maintain the treaty's protections for new investments in natural gas power infrastructure for 10 years, or — if negotiations drag on for the rest of the decade — until 2040....

More global warming in action:

In pictures: Greece's Acropolis blanketed in snow

Unusually heavy snowfall in parts of Greece has blanketed ancient monuments, disrupted transport and halted some coronavirus vaccinations.

Temperatures as low as -19C (-2.2F) have been recorded in the north-western city of Florina.

At least three deaths have been blamed on the freezing conditions and extra supplies have been sent to refugee camps hit by low temperatures.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has urged people to stay at home.

"Our big concern is the electricity grid," the prime minister said after an emergency cabinet meeting. "We need patience to resolve this problem which is truly exceptional."

Police said there had been almost 250 calls for help from people trapped in cars and homes, according to Reuters.

Covid-19 vaccinations were postponed in the capital, Athens, where roads were closed and public transport disrupted by the storm.

Ferry travel has also been interrupted by the wintery weather conditions and high winds....

Could churches do more to fight climate change?

Both the Archbishop of Canterbury and Pope Francis have spoken out about climate change in recent years, but some young Christians say they want to see more action in their own churches.

A recent survey of young Christians suggested that a large proportion of young people questioned were concerned about climate change, but around two-thirds had never heard a Sunday sermon on the issue.

BBC News heard from young churchgoers on their thoughts about faith and the battle to halt climate change.

Gateshead show homes highlight hydrogen heating

Two show homes where all the appliances are powered entirely by hydrogen are being built in Gateshead.

The boilers, hobs, cookers and fires at the properties in Low Thornley will release no carbon emissions and showcase how the fuel has potential as a greener replacement for natural gas.

Members of the public will be able to see how these appliances compare with ones run on natural gas.

It is part of the government's drive to phase out the use of fossil fuels.

Unlike natural gas, which is responsible for over 30% of the UK's carbon emissions, hydrogen's only by-product at the point of use is water.

The project secured a £250,000 grant from the government's Hy4Heat Innovation programme and is being run by gas company Northern Gas Networks and Cadent.

Energy Minister Anne-Marie Trevelyan said: "From running a hot bath and cooking our evening meals to turning on the heating, most of us use natural gas every day.

"However, to tackle climate change, we need to find alternatives to fossil fuels and move towards making clean energy the norm.

"While these new houses in Gateshead will look like any other, they will showcase how low carbon hydrogen can transform the way we power our homes."

This thought provoking contribution from the iea.

https://iea.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Viral-Myths-pdf.pdf