Governor Edwards is pushing to have the state carbon-neutral by 2050. The Climate Initiatives Task Force met for the first time today to discuss how to make that happen…
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Saturday’s LSU football game versus number one ranked Alabama is in jeopardy, because of a COVID-19 outbreak involving the Tigers. Jeff Palermo has the story…
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Governor Edwards has signed a bill to allow clergy members into healthcare facilities to visit patients during public health emergencies. Freshman Minden Senator Robert Mills says his measure requires the state health department to craft rules and regulations for patient access.
Healthcare facilities will also receive immunity from most civil lawsuits for injury or death for the exposure of clergy members to COVID or other infectious diseases. Mills says most clergy members do not have issue with immunity.
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Mills is hoping to meet with public health officials and have rules in place in the next several months, he’s been informed it can be a long and tedious process. Mills says it was important that the intent of the bill be known.
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The Climate Initiatives Task Force met today to begin discussing how Louisiana could meet the Governor’s goals of reducing the state’s greenhouse gas emissions.
Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority Chair Chip Kline says the task force will work to plot out a feasible path towards reducing emissions and provide education on how it can be done.
Edwards is aiming for a 26 percent reduction in emissions by 2025, a 40 to 50 percent reduction by 2030, with the goal of net-zero emissions by 2050.
Kline says the hard truth is that either we make substantial changes, or the climate will.
The framework for emissions reductions follows the Paris Climate Accord agreement that states the world can only afford another 1.5 degrees of average global temperature increases or we risk catastrophic worldwide ecological collapse. President Trump exited the US from the agreement this month but President-Elect Biden has vowed to rejoin.
Kline says they’ve brought in stakeholders from the oil and gas industry to sit on the task force, but acknowledged it will be a challenge to get everyone on board.
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On a day the state eclipses 188-thousand reported COVID-19 cases, Pfizer says the early results from its coronavirus vaccine show the shot is 90-percent effective. Assistant Dean for Translational Research at LSU Health New Orleans School of Medicine, Dr. Lucio Miele, says 90-percent effectiveness is impressive
Pfizer study has not ended its study but it’s possible they could apply to the Food and Drug Administration later this month for emergency-use approval.
Miele says Pfizer used messenger-RNA technology to create a vaccine that prompts the immune system to make antibodies to prevent COVID. He says it’s among ten possible vaccine candidates in late-stage testing around the world…
Miele says there’s still a lot we don’t know about these vaccine candidates and one of the bigger unknowns is how long can they provide immunity and how will the virus react…
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LSU Coach Ed Orgeron says he met with freshman wide receiver Koy Moore and his family after Moore stated he was violated by Baton Rouge Police Officers Saturday night. Moore, who is black, said that officers pulled guns on him and tried to unzip his pants as they suspected he had a gun and drugs in his possession. Orgeron says there is no place in America for racism or social injustice.
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Moore claims officers backed off after he said he was an LSU football player. Baton Rouge Mayor Sharon Weston Broome has promised a thorough investigation and Police Chief Murphy Paul has already placed the three officers involved on administrative leave.
In addition to the investigation involving police and Moore, Orgeron also announced the team is dealing with another coronavirus outbreak days before playing number one ranked Alabama.
Orgeron says starters are among the group of players who are in quarantine. The coach would not say how many and he was asked if it was enough to appeal to the SEC to postpone the game.
Orgeron also said quarterback Miles Brennan is out for the Bama game and could miss the rest of the year due to an injury he suffered in the third game.