2020-12-27: News Headlines

RT (2020-12-27). 'You can always go Downtown': Social media looks for hidden meaning as police say Nashville RV played 1960s pop hit before bombing. rt.com Before it exploded and laid waste to a street in downtown Nashville, Tennessee, an RV played a peculiar choice of song: Petula Clark's 1965 hit, 'Downtown'. Amateur sleuths on Twitter pondered why it had been chosen. | Police in Nashville said on Sunday that, shortly before it exploded next to an AT&T building, an RV parked in the city's downtown played an audio message over a loudspeaker: a recording of ' @MNPDNashville officer says the RV used in the

Sheila Bapat (2020-12-27). Local Candidates Embrace Bolder Climate Policies as Federal Policy Has Faltered. zcomm.org Hyperlocal activism is becoming a preeminent strategy to address climate change…

_____ (2020-12-26). The Pandemic and the Price of the New High Ground. strategic-culture.org Conn HALLINAN | When President-elect Joe Biden takes office Jan 21 he will be faced with some very expensive problems, from bailing out the Covid-19 economy to getting a handle on climate change. Vaccinating over 300 million people will not be cheap, and wrestling the US hydrocarbon-based economy in the direction of renewable energies will come with a hefty price tag. One place to find some of that would be to respond to Russian, Chinese and United Nations (UN) proposals to demilitarize space, heading off what will be an expensive—and destabilizing—arms race for the new high ground. | Last December th…

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…

Ralph Nader (2020-12-25). Recidivist Criminal and Constitutional Outlaw Trump Rushes to Pardon Criminal Lawbreakers. commondreams.org Trump and future presidents cannot be allowed to brazenly dishonor justice and undermine the rule of law. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/roger_stone_0_1.jpg

John Horning (2020-12-25). Oil and Gas is Costing New Mexico Dearly. counterpunch.org There's no denying the climate crisis is taking a terrible toll on New Mexico, putting the state's health, clean air and water, and its economic sustainability at risk. In spite of this, oil and gas industry lobbyists from Washington, D.C. would have us believe that anyone working to defend the climate and protect the state's

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.

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."

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…

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

yenisafak (2020-12-25). Environmental developments in Turkey during 2020. yenisafak.com Turkey has enacted many green policies this year to protect the environment and slow down climate change, closing dirty thermal power plants and establishing government offices to oversee further such steps.Here are the environmental developments compiled by Anadolu Agency in 2020: JANUARYJan. 1- Turkey shuts down five thermal power plants and partially closes one for failing to comply with a legal requirement to install filters, Environment Minister Murat Kurum and Energy Minister Fatih Donmez announced at a joint news conference.Jan. 16: – More than 1 million electric vehicles are estimated to be on the country's…

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 …

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 . . . |

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…

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.

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.

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