Earth's Carbon Concentrations Soar to Levels Not Seen in 800,000 Years
Anton Woronczuk | truthout.org | 2018-08-04
As temperatures bust heat records across the globe and wildfires rage from California to the Arctic, a new report produced annually by more than 500 scientists worldwide found that last year, the carbon dioxide concentrations in the Earth's atmosphere reached the highest levels "in the modern atmospheric measurement record and in ice core records dating back as far as 800,000 years." | While the most significant jump was the global average for carbon dioxide (CO2)–which, at 405.0 parts per million (ppm), saw a 2.2 ppm increase from the previous year–concentrations of other dominant planet-warming greenhouse gases, methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O), also hit "record highs," according to State of the Climate in 2017 released Wednesday. | Considering those rates, Greg Johnson, an oceanographer at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory in Seattle,
truthout.org/articles/earths-carbon-concentrations-soar-to-levels-not-seen-in-800000-years/

Pompeo Warns Russia, China to Heed Sanctions Against North Korea
Staff | truthdig.com | 2018-08-04
The U.S. secretary of state speaks out after the United Nations reports that North Korea has not stopped its nuclear and missile programs and is violating U.N. sanctions through illicit ship-to-ship transfers of oil and in other ways. | The post Pompeo Warns Russia, China to Heed Sanctions Against North Korea appeared first on Truthdig: Expert Reporting, Current News, Provocative Columnists.
truthdig.com/articles/pompeo-warns-russia-china-to-heed-sanctions-against-north-korea/

Afghanistan: The Taliban Have Fought the U.S. to the Negotiating Table
Dr. Binoy Kampmark | globalresearch.ca | 2018-08-04
Note to readers: please click the share buttons above | "Attempting to control rural areas in Afghanistan always eventually ends up boiling down to personal survival." — Evan McAllister, former Marine staff sergeant, New York Times, July 28, 2018…
globalresearch.ca/afghanistan-the-taliban-have-fought-the-u-s-to-the-negotiating-table/5649546

Fighting for a Way of Life in the Arctic
Debbie S. Miller | progressive.org | 2018-08-04
The coastal plain, opened for oil drilling by the Trump Administration, is the birthplace and nursery for the Porcupine caribou herd, and land that the Gwich'in call, "The Sacred Place Where Life Begins."
progressive.org/dispatches/fighting-for-a-way-of-life-in-the-arctic-180804/

This Idea Helped Rescue a City of 3.8 Million From a Water Crisis
Anton Woronczuk | truthout.org | 2018-08-04
July 10, 2018 — Twenty-five years ago, Chennai, a city on the southeastern coast of India, could barely supply enough water to its 3.8 million citizens. Many of its families depended on water drawn into plastic pots from public stand pipes and pumps. There was not enough water to go around, and municipal supply was unpredictable, with the taps running only intermittently. | People who could afford to do so began to hire private water tankers. Others drilled deep boreholes that tapped discontinuous and unsustainable aquifers in the bedrock of the soil — over 60 meters (200 feet) under the surface. A very small proportion of the population had access to freshwater in subsurface aquifers close to ground level. Today the population of Chennai has more than doubled. The city gets water from four large suburban reservoirs and two desalination plants. River-water &ne…
truthout.org/articles/this-idea-helped-rescue-a-city-of-3-8-million-from-a-water-crisis/

Head of German secret service advised far-right Alternative for Germany
wsws.org | wsws.org | 2018-08-04
The president of Germany's Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution met with then-AfD Chairperson Frauke Petry in 2015 to advise her on how to avoid surveillance by the state.
wsws.org/en/articles/2018/08/04/germ-a04.html

Body of Olivia Lone Bear Found in North Dakota as Native Women Face Crisis
Samantha Borek | truthout.org | 2018-08-03
After an agonizing 9-month search, the body of Olivia Lone Bear was found Tuesday in a pickup truck submerged in a lake right by her house on the Fort Berthold Reservation. The mother of five went missing in late October in New Town, North Dakota. Her disappearance has sparked renewed attention to the disproportionately high rates of disappearance, rape and murder of Native American women across the United States. These already-alarming rates are particularly high in areas of oil extraction, like North Dakota's Bakken Shale, which is the origin point for the Dakota Access pipeline. We speak with Olivia Lone Bear's brother Matthew, who spent the last nine months searching for his sister. We also speak with Mary Kathryn Nagle, a citizen of Cherokee Nation and a partner at Pipestem Law, a law firm dedicated to the restoration of tribal sovereignty and…
truthout.org/video/body-of-olivia-lone-bear-found-in-north-dakota-as-native-women-face-crisis/

Mass Media Fail to Link Heat Waves and Climate Change
Jocelyn Dombroski | therealnews.com | 2018-08-03
Even though studies show that human-caused climate change is doubling the likelihood of heat waves, major news outlets consistently fail to make the link, which makes dealing with the problem far more difficult than it should be | The post Mass Media Fail to Link Heat Waves and Climate Change appeared first on The Real News…
therealnews.com/stories/mass-media-fail-to-link-heat-waves-and-climate-change

The End of the Line — A Climate in Crisis
Robert Hunziker | counterpunch.org | 2018-08-03
The world of academia is starting to pick up on the concept that humanity is unknowingly cruising on a train ride to doomsday, a surefire encounter with collapse of society based upon climate crises brought on by exponential climate change. The depth of the problem: It's inevitable and inescapable. Nonetheless, people do not want to…
counterpunch.org/2018/08/03/the-end-of-the-line-a-climate-in-crisis/

Capitalism Killed Our Climate Momentum, Not "Human Nature"
Naomi Klein | theintercept.com | 2018-08-03
Nathaniel Rich, in his massive New York Times Magazine article, argues "human nature" kept "us" from fixing climate change in the 1980s. He's dead wrong. | The post Capitalism Killed Our Climate Momentum, Not "Human Nature" appeared first on The Intercept.
theintercept.com/2018/08/03/climate-change-new-york-times-magazine/

You Can't Sue Fossil Fuel Industry Over Climate Change
Manuel García, Jr. | counterpunch.org | 2018-08-03
"Turns out cities can't sue oil companies for climate change" reads the title of an article in Wired.Com magazine. Well, obviously; the purpose of the US judiciary is to protect massed capital from popular democracy. The truth is that climate change denial is primarily a failure of the U.S. Government (and other governments), from –…
counterpunch.org/2018/08/03/you-cant-sue-fossil-fuel-industry-over-climate-change/

Can Baltimore Take on Big Oil?
Jocelyn Dombroski | therealnews.com | 2018-08-01
Baltimore City Solicitor Andre Davis explains why the city is suing big oil companies and responds to critics who say the suit doomed to fail | The post Can Baltimore Take on Big Oil? appeared first on The Real News Network.
therealnews.com/stories/can-baltimore-take-on-big-oil

The Baltimore Bureau Podcast Show July 30, 2018
Hezvo Mpunga | therealnews.com | 2018-07-31
Dharna, Eze, and Khalilah discuss movements to fight climate change and to create a Black arts & entertainment in Baltimore, Afro-Latina day, and the history of "activist entrepreneurs" | The post The Baltimore Bureau Podcast Show July 30, 2018 appeared first on The Real News Network.
therealnews.com/stories/the-baltimore-bureau-podcast-show-july-30-2018

Portland mayor's office violated Constitution by denying ICE protection during protest, union claims
RT | rt.com | 2018-07-31
Portland mayor's office violated the US Constitution by telling police not to interfere with a protest against federal immigration policies, a letter sent by their union said.
rt.com/usa/434715-ice-portland-police-constitution/

Blue Lives Matter claims Facebook's 'fake news' rules have halved its audience
RT | rt.com | 2018-07-30
Blue Lives Matter, a group advocating for greater protections for police in the US, has claimed that Facebook's new rules to combat fake news has almost halved the number of people it can reach on the platform.
rt.com/usa/434659-blue-lives-matter-facebook/

'Every necessary precaution': Fear of Ebola spreading places Denver hospital on lockdown
RT | rt.com | 2018-07-30
A possible Ebola infection has prompted Denver Health Medical Center to go into temporary lockdown, as medical staff in hazmat suits handled a patient who recently returned from a visit to the Democratic Republic of Congo.
rt.com/usa/434601-denver-ebola-possible-contamination/

State of emergency in Michigan county as tested water is 20 times the safe level for PFAS chemicals
RT | rt.com | 2018-07-30
A state of emergency has been declared in Kalamazoo County, Michigan, after high levels of man-made PFAS chemicals were found in the drinking water in two towns. The contaminants pose severe health risks and can lead to cancer.
rt.com/usa/434600-parchment-water-contamination-emergency-pfas/

Noam Chomsky on Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's "Spectacular" Victory & Growing Split in Democratic Party
Democracy Now! | democracynow.org | 2018-07-27
The 2018 midterm election season has been roiled by the internal divisions between the Democratic Party's growing progressive base and the more conservative party establishment. In New York City, this division came to a head with the most shocking upset of the election season so far, when 28-year-old Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez handily defeated 10-term incumbent Representative Joe Crowley, the fourth-ranking Democrat in the House. Ocasio-Cortez ran a progressive grassroots campaign as a Democratic Socialist advocating for "Medicare for All" and the abolition of ICE. For more on her victory and what it means for the…
democracynow.org/2018/7/27/noam_chomsky_on_alexandria_ocasio_cortezs

Venezuela: Maduro Announces Economic Reforms Including Monetary Reconversion, Tax Breaks & Currency Control Changes
Paul Dobson | venezuelanalysis.com | 2018-07-26
The measures also transfer an entire oilfield from PDVSA to the Central Bank.
venezuelanalysis.com/news/13967

Glimmers of Economic Recovery amid Mixed Reports about Venezuelan Oil Production
Cira Pascual Marquina | venezuelanalysis.com | 2018-07-20
Lower levels of oil production have been reportedly offset by rising prices and reduced domestic consumption.
venezuelanalysis.com/news/13958

Trump Admin Closes Venezuela Sanctions Loophole in Favour of US Bondholders
Paul Dobson | venezuelanalysis.com | 2018-07-20
The measure opens the way for seizures of Venezuela's US-based oil assets should the Maduro government default on PDVSA bond payments.
venezuelanalysis.com/news/13955

Venezuela's Defunct National Assembly Attempts to Privatise Oil Industry
Paul Dobson | venezuelanalysis.com | 2018-07-12
Grassroots movements have frequently denounced de facto back-door privatisation in PDVSA.
venezuelanalysis.com/news/13935

Trump Head Fakes to Center, Emails Base to Say Kavanaugh is Hard Right
Jud Lounsbury | progressive.org | 2018-07-10
Ah yes, heading back to the good ol' days when the Constitution's "equal protection" language somehow co-existed with Jim Crow and women not being able to vote or hold office.
progressive.org/dispatches/trump-head-fakes-to-center-emails-base-scotus-kavanaugh-is-hard-right-180710/

China Approves US$5Bn Loan for Venezuelan Oil Development
TEV | venezuelanalysis.com | 2018-07-05
Venezuelan officials said Chinese cooperation opens up alternative networks outside the sanctions of the United States.
venezuelanalysis.com/news/13918