Friday Politics Roundup | IPCC alarming climate report; Biden OKs Willow Project; Iowa passes anti-trans bills; woke capitalism; Trump warns death and destruction

<p>On Monday, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change issued its most comprehensive and alarming report to date about the “closing window of opportunity to secure a livable and sustainable future for all.” While this report and previous ones made it clear that the world needs to rapidly reduce and then eliminate using fossil fuels, a new fossil fuel emissions record was set in 2022. <a href='https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/mar/20/humanity-at-climate-crossroads-highway-to-hell-or-a-livable-future'>T</a><a href='https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/mar/20/humanity-at-climate-crossroads-highway-to-hell-or-a-livable-future'>he Guardian noted that the report foregrounded three signposts</a>: 1) the climate crisis is fundamentally a crisis of injustice; 2) any new fossil fuel developments are incompatible with hitting a net zero emissions goal; and, 3) there are key technology and finance needs. </p> <p>On March 13, <a href='https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/14/politics/willow-project-oil-alaska-explained-climate/index.html'>Biden green lighted the Willow Project</a> - massive new oil-drilling operation on federal lands in Alaska. The project is projected to produce around 600 million barrels of oil at a time when the UN’s IPCC is warning us that all new fossil fuel extraction must be prevented if we have any hope of preventing catastrophic impacts of climate change. Lots of younger voters and people who are deeply concerned about climate change perceive Biden’s actions as a “<a href='https://www.inquirer.com/opinion/biden-willow-climate-young-voters-20230316.html'>slap in the face.</a>” </p> <p><a href='https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/iowa-governor-signs-gender-affirming-care-ban-bathroom-law/ar-AA1903sc?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=0e908baa57de4cb9b5e91c10ea210fc5&ei=7'>Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds</a> has signed a pair of bills that force transgender students to use bathrooms of their gender assigned at birth and that ban gender affirming medical care. The Iowa law was signed one day after Arkansas signed