German plan to phase out coal would cost a cool $64 billion.

Berlin: Germany will spend tens of billions of dollars to end its use of coal power within two decades, if a plan agreed to by representatives of the power industry, environmental movement, miners and local interest groups becomes official policy.

Protesters hold a poster before the meeting of a panel
of experts on the exit of the use of coal in Germany on Friday.

The deal, hammered out on Saturday after more than 20 hours of intense, often fractious negotiating among a 28-member commission appointed last year by Chancellor Angela Merkel, would be one of the most significant energy transformations a nation has yet attempted in the face of climate change.

Read the story from The Age by Melissa Eddy - “German plan to phase out coal would cost a cool $64 billion.”

US weather: Record-shattering cold reaches as far south as Florida; parts of Niagara Falls freeze over

A record-shattering arctic cold in the United States has reached as far south as Florida, with freeze warnings in place from Texas to the Atlantic Coast and the north-east of the country facing another cold wave at the end of the week, forecasters said.

The brink of the Horseshoe Falls in Niagara Falls turns to
icicles as the area is hit with a cold blast.

Temperatures were from 11 to 17 degrees Celsius below normal across the US east of the Rocky Mountains, with only southern Florida untouched by the arctic blast.

"That degree of cold will be with us until tomorrow," National Weather Service meteorologist Brian Hurley said.

"Tuesday morning, we're looking at temperatures with very high probability of record lows."

Along Alabama's Gulf Coast, the temperature in the city of Mobile could hit a low of -9C overnight.

Read the ABC News story - “US weather: Record-shattering cold reaches as far south as Florida; parts of Niagara Falls freeze over.”