2020-12-26: News Headlines

EcoEquity (2020-12-26). America's Climate Fair Share. zcomm.org One recent study tells us that, under the climate shadow, ninety-seven per cent of young Americans are worried about having children of their own. We're facing an emergency and we know it…

Staff (2020-12-26). Extinction Rate Is Doubling in One of the Most Biodiverse States in the Country. truthout.org When longtime environmental journalist Ben Raines started writing a book about the biodiversity in Alabama, the state had 354 fish species known to science. When he finished writing 10 years later, that number had jumped to 450 thanks to a bounty of new discoveries. Crawfish species leaped from 84 to 97 during the same time. | It's indicative of a larger trend: Alabama is one of the most biodiverse states in the country, but few people know it. And even scientists are still discovering the…

Barbara Peterson (2020-12-25). Climate activists mount utility strike to urge the shutdown of New England coal plant. nationofchange.org The Strike Down Coal campaign provides a COVID-safe form of disobedience, building on more than a year of direct actions to shut down Merrimack Station.

_____ (2020-12-25). COVID-19, The Climate Crisis, And Mutual Aid. popularresistance.org After COVID-19 struck in spring 2020, the absence of a concerted federal response prompted people across the country to begin self-organizing everything from food distribution to sewing squads to shelter. That work continues today, drawing on a long tradition. | "Mutual aid," a concept coined by the Russian naturalist and anarchist Peter Kropotkin in his 1902 Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution, refers to the principles of cooperation, and of people joining together to help each other. It ran counter to the then-hegemonic Darwinian theories emphasizing competition and survival of the fittest. Kropotkin did not deny…

teleSUR (2020-12-25). Colombia: Duque Extends Peace Accord's Follow-up Until 2022. telesurenglish.net Colombia's government and militants of the Revolutionary Common Alternative Revolutionary Force (FARC) Thursday extended until January 2022 the Commission devoted to promoting the Peace Agreement's implementation. | RELATED: | The decision was taken during a meeting of the Commission for the Promotion, Follow-up, and Verification of Implementation (CSIVI) of the Peace Agreement signed with the extinct Colombian Armed…

Jessica Corbett (2020-12-25). Coalition sues Trump administration over 'outrageous assault' on Tongass National Forest protections. nationofchange.org "Trump's reckless plan to clearcut old-growth trees in the Tongass will irreversibly damage our climate, kill wildlife, and devastate Southeast Alaska communities."

Amanda Mills (2020-12-25). EU bans plastic waste exports to poorer countries. nationofchange.org "This is an important milestone in fighting plastic pollution, transitioning shifting to a circular economy, and achieving the aims of the European Green Deal."

Joseph Winters (2020-12-25). Climate change is giving "Christmastown, USA" an identity crisis. salon.com My Christmassy hometown is looking less and less like a winter wonderland.

Jen Moore (2020-12-25). No Holiday for Honduran Anti-Mining Activists Fighting for Freedom. commondreams.org A judge has refused to release eight water protectors detained for more than a year for protesting against a mining project that threatens local rivers. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/photo-demo-courthouse-3.jpg

commondreams (2020-12-24). 'The Courts Are a Sham': New Hampshire Supreme Court Refuses to Hear Rights of Nature, Healthy Climate Arguments. commondreams.org ______________________________…

Anand Naidoo (2020-12-24). The Heat: Climate Change Challenges for 2021. america.cgtn.com In 2020, the world reeled from the worst public health crisis in a century and extreme weather events brought on by climate change. So, what challenges lie ahead in 2021?>

Online News Editor (2020-12-24). El Salvador works to save endangered sea turtles that hatch along its coast. laprensalatina.com By Sara Acosta San Salvador, Dec 23 (efe-epa).- On the coasts of El Salvador at least four species of sea turtles, two of them in critical danger of extinction, lay their eggs and are protected by the residents of the areas together with environmental NGOs. In central ?La Libertad, specifically on San Diego beach, the …

A Guest Author (2020-12-23). Since Paris Agreement — the five hottest years ever. workers.org By Mayana Ashley-Carner On Dec. 12, 2015, politicians and world leaders signed the Paris Agreement, an international pledge to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to decrease the effects of climate change. But as climate activist Greta Thunberg reported in a recent video, data shows that the past five years have . . . |

Matthew Rozsa (2020-12-23). Did the pandemic stave off climate change? Here's what the science says. salon.com Humans drove less, flew less, and commuted less in 2020. But greenhouse gas accounting is notoriously tricky…

Scott Williams (2020-12-23). The Youth Are the Vanguard. workers.org A talk given at a "Young Communists Speak: Why Join a Revolutionary Party?" webinar sponsored by Workers World Party on Dec. 10. We are gathered here today to talk about the crisis facing young workers and the intense radicalization of younger generations here in the heart of the empire. It . . . |

Justin Mikulka (2020-12-23). How the fracking revolution is killing the US oil and gas industry. nationofchange.org "Does investing in oil and gas companies still make sense?"

Shawgi Tell (2020-12-23). Charter Schools Spend Millions On Advertising and Marketing. dissidentvoice.org Unlike public schools, private businesses like charter schools spend millions of public dollars a year on advertising and marketing. Putting aside widespread fraud and corruption in the segregated charter school sector, this is an enormous waste and abuse of public funds, especially at a time when public schools are being starved of much-needed public funds …

Gary M. Kramer (2020-12-23). With "Midnight Sky," George Clooney directs a visually arresting post-apocalyptic yawnfest. salon.com Based on the book "Good Morning, Midnight," the Netflix film offers an intriguing premise but wastes its cast…

Brett Wilkins, staff writer (2020-12-23). Climate Cost of Organic Meat Is Just as High as That of Conventionally Grown Animals: Study. commondreams.org "The prices are lying," said one of the study's researchers. "Climate costs are rising and we are all paying these costs." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/pigs_0_0.jpg

David Kotz (2020-12-23). Green Social Democracy Offers the Most Viable Path Toward a Sustainable Future. zcomm.org If a period of green social democracy emerges in the next five or 10 years, we could see significant progress against global climate change and improvement in the lives of working people, young people and people of color…

The Xerces Society (2020-12-23). Much-Needed Federal Protection for America's Beloved Monarch Butterfly Warranted, but Precluded. indybay.org U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agrees that monarchs are threatened with extinction, but does not yet provide the protection that monarchs need to recover.

imperial.ac.uk (2020-12-23). 7 optimistic environmental stories from this year. imperial.ac.uk This year, we saw large strides in combating one of the greatest issues of our time — climate change.