Daily Archives: August 5, 2020

2020-08-05: News Headlines

Climate Reality Project (2020-08-05). Tuesday 8/11: Indigenous Leadership in the U.S. Environmental and Climate Justice Movements. indybay.org Online…

Peoples Dispatch (2020-08-05). Celebrating 100 years of the communist party in Britain. peoplesdispatch.org Communists in Britain organized a massive online event on August 1, Saturday, to mark the 100th anniversary of the foundation of the communist party in country. The centenary celebrations, which were titled the 'Red Wedge,' were held online due to the pandemic. The event organized by the Communist Party of Britain (CPB) saw discussions on a wide range of topics with thousands of participants joining in, including around 70 speakers representing different fronts. | As per reports, five sessions were held on Saturday, with deliberations on the themes of anti-racism and anti-fascism, environment and climate crisis,…

Mark Hertsgaard (2020-08-05). Will Climate Break Through in Big Media's Elections Coverage? thenation.com Will Climate Break Through in Big Media's Elections Coverage?

RT (2020-08-04). Hundreds injured in Beirut explosions so powerful they turned streets into wasteland (VIDEOS). rt.com Huge explosions in the Lebanese capital Beirut have killed at least 10 people, local security and medical sources told Reuters. The blasts smashed buildings and turned the city's streets into a debris-strewn wasteland. | An explosion rang out at Beirut's port shortly after 6pm local time on Tuesday, followed immediately by another, deafening blast. The explosions obliterated buildings at the port and shattered windows several kilometers away, sending a mushroom cloud towering up into the sky. Health Minister Hamad Hassan has blamed the explosion on a fireworks accident. | As the dust settled, Hassan ordered al…

_____ (2020-08-04). COVID-19, Climate Change, And Chaos. popularresistance.org COVID-19 and the protests for racial justice have drawn attention away from the mostly bad news about the environment. Yes, the skies in most parts of the world are a lot clearer these days as people stay home and auto emissions decline. But as one study points out, even if lockdown measures continue for the next several months, global carbon emissions will only drop by between 4 to 8 percent from last year. That drop would not be enough to make a dent in overall warming trends—and as the US and other economies recover, it will be back to "normal."

Lisa Newcomb, staff writer (2020-08-04). 'Has BP Just Woken Up to the #ClimateEmergency?' Oil Giant Announces 40% Production Cut by 2030. commondreams.org Green groups say oil giant has much further to go, but announcement marks major industry shift. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/bp_image.png

Eoin Higgins, staff writer (2020-08-04). Without Urgent Action, Study Warns, Climate Crisis Could Kill as Many People as All Infectious Diseases Combined by 2100. commondreams.org "We are studying the risk of death faced by our own children." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/apple_fires.jpg

David Korten (2020-08-04). Earth Is Warning Us We Must Change. Will We Listen? commondreams.org "The pandemic may be seen as a not-so-subtle warning to humanity that we may be sacrificed, if necessary, to protect the health of the planet," writes Korten. "On the path to human extinction, the most vulnerable will go first, but there will be no human winners." (Illustration: Malte Mueller/Getty Images) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/korten-earth-warning-us-1024×614.jpg

Eds. (2020-08-01). UK & Sweden's carbon targets half what is needed for 1.5C. mronline.org Climate progressive countries United Kingdom and Sweden have to ramp up their commitments to reach the Paris Agreement goal, according to a new study led by Kevin Anderson of the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research at the University of Manchester and Upsalla University.

Dana Drugmand (2020-08-01). Fossil fuel industry engaging in 'pervasive fraud' that threatens global economy, report warns. nationofchange.org Warning of an impending financial implosion driven largely by fossil fuel industry deception, a recent report calls on fossil fuel insiders and other potential whistleblowers to help expose and prosecute this fraud. According to this new report from the National Whistleblower Center (NWC) published July 23, fossil fuel executives' deception on the financial risks of climate …

_____ (2020-08-01). Trump's Golden Era Of Energy Is Turning To Lead. popularresistance.org It was just over a year ago that President Trump announced, "The golden era of American energy is now underway," saying that his policies focused on exploiting oil, gas, and coal were "unleashing energy dominance." | What a difference a year makes. On July 10, the Financial Times ran an article with a headline that asked, "Is the party finally over for U.S. oil and gas?" And there is no doubt that it has been quite a party for the last decade. At least, for the fracking executives who have enriched themselves while losing hundreds of billions of dollars investors gave them to produce oil and gas.

Eds. (2020-08-01). COVID-19, capitalism and climate. mronline.org No one should have been surprised by COVID-19. Epidemiologists have been warning for decades about the increasing danger of novel virus pandemics that could cause major human suffering, disrupt the economy and exacerbate the growing inequalities that characterizes the modern world.