On the eve of Earth Day, 45 members of the U.S. House of Representatives delivered a letter to Special Presidential Envoy for Climate Change John Kerry accusing him of “abuse of power” for leaning on banks and other financial institutions to deny funding for fossil fuel-related entities in the name of fighting climate change. “We write to you to express concern with your decision, as reported in the press, to pressure U.S. banks to make radical, overly prescriptive commitments related to climate change that may not be in the best interest of their businesses, shareholders, employees or customers.1 Such pressure from a senior Administration official is a blatant abuse of power,” the letter said. “Your actions, and the broader actions of the Biden Administration on financial regulation, threaten to compromise the competitiveness of American financial institutions, ignore market demand in energy consumption, increase prices for consumers and kill American jobs.” The letter says, last year, 47 Republicans sent a letter to Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and Vice Chairman of Supervision Randal Quarles that outlined some of the methodological challenges of injecting climate change into financial supervision. “In that letter, we urged the Fed to take a measured, thoughtful and data-driven approach to their study of this topic, and not to be swayed by political forces or the ill-conceived actions of peer regulators in foreign jurisdictions,” the letter said. A “lack of historical data on the relationship between changing weather patterns and financial stress preclude inclusion of loosely defined climate change metrics in bank supervision or disclosure.” The letter noted that the Biden administration claimed climate change has led to an increase in costs to fight the damage from natural disasters. “This analysis ignores other potential contributors, such as poor zoning standards or increases in population density,” the letter said. “Climate change is a ...
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U.S Study Of Novavax COVID Vaccine Continues With 2 More Shots For Volunteers
AURORA, Colo. (CBS4) – Study of a promising COVID-19 vaccine by Novavax is continuing in the U.S. and Mexico. Now, clinical trial participants, including me , are rolling up our sleeves for a third shot and then, three weeks later, a fourth. “Today, Novavax began what we call a blinded crossover,” said Dr. Thomas Campbell, lead investigator at the study site at UCHealth, one of 115 sites. READ MORE: Scammers Using Bogus COVID Vaccine Survey To Trick Victims (credit: CBS) That means the participants who originally got two shots of the vaccine will get two shots of placebo and those who got two shots of placebo will get two shots of vaccine. “Everybody who is still in the study will know they’ve been vaccinated, but they won’t know when they got the vaccine,” explained Campbell. Results from a United Kingdom study showed the Novavax vaccine was 96% effective against the original virus, 86% against the UK variant and 60% against the South African variant. Thirty-thousand people enrolled in the US/Mexico clinical trial. Ninety of 285 volunteers at the UCHealth site in Aurora opted to be unblinded when they became eligible for a vaccine already on the market. The rest of us stayed blinded. READ MORE: Denver Weather: More Snow! 'Second Winter' Continues In Colorado Wednesday (credit: CBS) “That will provide an additional opportunity to assess safety and durability of the vaccine,” said Campbell. Campbell believes Novavax could release data and apply to the FDA for emergency use authorization (EUA) in late May. The Novavax vaccine approach is a tried and true method. It works by teaching the immune system to make antibodies to a lab-made version of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. It is made much like the HPV and HEP B vaccines. It doesn’t need to be deep frozen like the Pfizer vaccine. MORE NEWS: Skier Tumbles Estimated 2,000 Feet From Summit Of Colorado 14er Wilson Peak “We just need as many safe and effective vaccines as ...
Second Shot In Clinical Trial Of Novavax COVID Vaccine Comes With A Dose Of Confidence
AURORA, Colo. (CBS4) – Data from studies done in the United Kingdom show the COVID-19 vaccine made by Novavax is roughly 90% effective. That’s great news as the Phase 3 clinical trial of that vaccine in the United States is underway. (credit: CBS) CBS4 Health Specialist Kathy Wash is a volunteer in the U.S. study. She received her second shot on Tuesday, Feb. 2 at UCHealth, and this is her experience. READ MORE: Scammers Using Bogus COVID Vaccine Survey To Trick Victims The visit started with nurse practitioner Jennelynn asking a few questions and checking vital signs. I told her I had no side effects after my first injection three weeks ago. “We’ll see how you feel after the second injection,” said Jennelynn. She’s optimistic about the Novavax vaccine candidate. “I’m excited to see the United States numbers when we are done with enrollment,” she said. (credit: CBS) That’s because scientists are excited. A U.K. study found the vaccine was 95.6% effective against the Wuhan strain, the original virus predominant in the U.S. It was 85.6% effective against the U.K. variant, so 89.3 % overall effectiveness. “It’s very positive,” said Dr. Thomas Campbell, lead investigator for the trial site on the Anschutz Medical Campus. READ MORE: Denver Weather: More Snow! 'Second Winter' Continues In Colorado Wednesday So far, 216 people are enrolled at Anschutz. The goal is 30,000 participants over 115 sites in the U.S. and Mexico. Research nurse, Laurel, took my blood and Eric, an intern pharmacist, jabbed me for a second time. Did I get the vaccine or placebo? I don’t know, but Novavax is planning for what’s called a blinded crossover. All volunteers will come in for a second round of shots. “Everyone would know they got the vaccine, but they wouldn’t know when they got it,” Campbell explained. (credit: CBS) While the Novavax vaccine is promising, Campbell said don’t wait. “Get the vaccine that’s offered to you,” he said, ...
Federal Judge: L.A. Must House Every Homeless Person on Skid Row by Oct. 18
U.S. District Court Judge David O. Carter issued a preliminary injunction Tuesday ordering the city and county of Los Angeles to ensure that every homeless person living in the notorious Skid Row district has housing by October 18 this year. The Los Angeles Times reported : Judge David O. Carter granted a preliminary injunction sought by the plaintiffs in the case last week and now is telling the city and county that they must find single women and unaccompanied children on skid row a place to stay within 90 days, followed by helping families within 120 days and finally, by Oct. 18, offering every homeless person on skid row housing or shelter. “Los Angeles has lost its parks, beaches, schools, sidewalks, and highway systems due to the inaction of city and county officials who have left our homeless citizens with no other place to turn,” Carter wrote in a 110-page brief laced with quotes from Abraham Lincoln and an extensive history of how skid row was first created. Elsewhere in the decision , the Judge Carter — a Bill Clinton appointee — cited claims of “systemic racism,” and argued that homelessness is partly a result of historical racial discrimination. In an unusually complex set of instructions, Judge Carter also ordered $1 billion earmarked by the city for spending on the homeless, announced Monday evening as part of L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti’s “Justice Budget,” to be placed in an escrow account. He also ordered a 90-day audit of city and county spending on the homeless, and a 30-day “audit of any funds committed to mental health (MH) and substance use disorder (SUD) treatment.” The case, filed by a human rights group, has been going on since last March. One hearing in the proceeding was held inside a homeless shelter. The homeless population has skyrocketed in Los Angeles in recent years. Recent data on the number of homeless people is unavailable, because there was no population count last year, due to the coronavirus pandemic. ...
