Daily Archives: October 3, 2020

2020-10-03: News Headlines

Simon Butler (2020-10-03). Book Review: Corona, Climate, Chronic Emergency. mronline.org Gradual reforms can't do the job: only profoundly radical measures can ensure human survival in an epoch of global sickening.

Julia Conley (2020-10-03). As polls shows climate action winning issue, green campaigners mobilize for Democrats in key Senate and House races. nationofchange.org "Arizona, Iowa, Maine, and South Carolina could hardly be more different, but solid majorities of voters in each state support building a clean energy economy."

Dan Bacher (2020-10-03). Climate Advocates Criticize Newsom's Executive Order for Not Addressing Oil Drilling. indybay.org "If your climate leadership does not include relief for hundreds of thousands of Californians — the majority people of color — living with oil drilling in their neighborhood, then you are not serious about climate justice and creating healthier, more resilient communities," said Martha Arguà´llo executive director of Physicians for Social Responsibility-Los Angeles and co-chair of STAND-L.A.

The Lancet (2020-10-03). [Editorial] Building a resilient NHS, for COVID-19 and beyond. thelancet.com The UK response to the COVID-19 pandemic has been ill prepared, patchy, confused, and incompetent. From initial equivocations, to a series of policy U turns and conflicts with scientific advisers, to vague public health guidance, the UK's COVID-19 performance has fallen disastrously short and undoubtedly cost lives. It has pushed the National Health Service (NHS) to the brink. Having wasted a summer of opportunity to strengthen systems to suppress viral transmission following an easing of lockdown restrictions, the UK Government is facing a winter wave of COVID-19 with no strategy in sight.

Cobus Gerber, Richard Bade, Jason White (2020-10-03). [Correspondence] Amphetamine dependence in Australia. thelancet.com Chris McCall1 painted a bleak picture of amphetamine-type stimulant abuse in Australia. Amphetamine has little appeal in Australia, although methamphetamine is certainly its most problematic stimulant, despite both drugs having similar therapeutic effects. The World Report1 briefly mentioned the decade-long monitoring of drugs with abuse potential in South Australia.2,3 In 2016, this surveyance expanded to the National Wastewater Drug Monitoring Program, in partnership with the University of Queensland.

Jordan Davidson (2020-10-01). Climate crisis gets only 10 minutes at end of presidential debate. peoplesworld.org The first presidential debate seemed like it would end without a mention of the climate crisis when moderator Chris Wallace brought it up at the end of the night for a segment that lasted roughly 10 minutes. The raucous event in Cleveland, Ohio was notable for President Donald's Trump's constant interruptions and bullying behavior as he spoke over …

Laura Paskus (2020-10-01). Fracking's Fall in the San Juan Basin. counterpunch.org Rancher Don Schreiber remembers San Juan County, New Mexico, in the 1950s, when its largest city, Farmington, was a company town. That company, El Paso Natural Gas, ran everything from the wells to the gas stations. It donated money to 4-H and the hospital; it pitched in to build Little League fields and the first

RT (2020-10-01). Governor of Russia's remote & frozen far-eastern peninsula of Kamchatka plans to lift local mood with 'Ministry of Happiness'. rt.com Pharrell Williams would surely approve: the governor of the vast, but remote and sparsely populated Kamchatka region has proposed setting up a Ministry of Happiness to lift the mood on the wet and windy weather-beaten promontory. | Kamchatka, the size of the United Kingdom, with a population smaller than that of Malta, is snowbound for half the year, and has a climate ranging from subarctic in the south to polar in the north. Now, Governor Vladimir Solodov plans to get locals smiling, against the odds. The move forms part of wider reforms to government agencies on the peninsula. | In a statement on the Kamchat…

Eleanor J. Bader (2020-10-01). 'Pictures Are Remembered Better Than Words': Art Activism in the Age of Trump. progressive.org A new book highlights how visual artists have responded to the Trump Administration's mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic, immigration, racial injustice, and the climate crisis.

Marlee Kokotovic (2020-10-01). Americans demand climate change be a primary topic at 2020 presidential debates. nationofchange.org "The moderators of future debates should build on this foundation and investigate the candidates' divergent plans on the climate crisis."

Taylor Griggs (2020-10-01). Can You Afford to Breathe in the Pacific Northwest? zcomm.org As climate change worsens wildfires each year, unhoused people in Oregon and Washington experience the worst of the smoke…

_____ (2020-10-01). How Progressives Could Still Win The 21st Century. popularresistance.org Our era will be remembered for the triumphant march of authoritarianism in whose wake the vast majority of humanity have experienced unnecessary hardship and the planet's ecosystem has suffered avoidable climate destruction. | For a brief period — a period the British historian Eric Hobsbawm described as "the short 20th century" — establishment forces were united in dealing with challenges to their authority. It was a rare period in which the establishment had to face a variety of progressives, all seeking to change the world: social democrats, communists, self-management experiments, national liberat…

Staff (2020-10-01). New Technologies Should Be Regulated by Government — Not by Those Who Profit. truthout.org Humans are inventing new technologies at a breakneck pace, adding to the thousands of previous innovations that have created vast wealth and greatly expanded the possibilities for human well-being. But technology has also created the climate emergency, the As tec…

commondreams (2020-10-01). New Poll: Majorities Across Senate Battleground Back Bold Action on Climate. commondreams.org ______________________________…

Jessica Corbett, staff writer (2020-10-01). First-Ever Analysis Reveals How America's Top 100 Law Firms Are 'Accelerating the Climate Crisis'. commondreams.org "Law firms write the contracts for fossil fuel projects, lobby to weaken environmental regulations, and help fossil fuel companies evade accountability in court." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/dropexxon_0.jpeg

Alec Connon (2020-10-01). Whatever Happens in November, Wall Street Must Act on the Cimate Crisis. commondreams.org "There are two great centers of power in this nation: Washington DC and Wall Street," writes Connon. "Both are capable of changing the world, and both, should they choose to do so, are capable of bringing to heel the fossil fuel corporations that are the single greatest contributors of greenhouse gas emissions and the single greatest opponents of climate progress. If Washington falls to Trump, climate activists will need to turn to Wall Street." (Photo: Phillipp/cc/flickr) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/wall_street_0_3_1.jpeg

Alec Connon (2020-10-01). Whatever Happens in November, Wall Street Must Act on the Climate Crisis. commondreams.org "There are two great centers of power in this nation: Washington DC and Wall Street," writes Connon. "Both are capable of changing the world, and both, should they choose to do so, are capable of bringing to heel the fossil fuel corporations that are the single greatest contributors of greenhouse gas emissions and the single greatest opponents of climate progress. If Washington falls to Trump, climate activists will need to turn to Wall Street." (Photo: Phillipp/cc/flickr) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/wall_street_0_3_1.jpeg

Martha Grevatt (2020-09-30). Thousands raise up Black Lives outside presidential debate. workers.org Cleveland protest targets first presidential debate, Sept. 29. Cleveland While presidential candidates Joe Biden and Donald Trump were debating in what many have labeled a "shitshow," thousands of Greater Clevelanders came out for a "Protest for Black Lives and Climate Justice." A broad coalition spread the word about the action . . . |

Staff (2020-09-30). How the corporate media helps the fossil fuel industry dupe the American public on climate. therealnews.com The views of large businesses and opponents of climate action are given outsized coverage to sway climate debate.

Julie Brigham-Grette and Steve Petsch (2020-09-30). The Arctic hasn't been this warm for 3 million years — and that foreshadows big changes for the rest of the planet. nationofchange.org As geoscientists who study the evolution of Earth's climate and how it creates conditions for life, we see evolving conditions in the Arctic as an indicator of how climate change could transform the planet.

Leia Barnett (2020-09-30). Earth at the "Crossroads:" Finding our way in a time of extirpation. counterpunch.org Ten years ago, some humans came to the table. We sat down together and looked at the facts. We looked at each other. Looked at the world. And looked at the facts again. The scientific facts. The planet is warming, we said to each other. Species are dying. The Sixth Mass Extinction, we murmured under

Erik Molvar (2020-09-30). Trump Slaps California With Anti-Environmental Plan for Point Reyes National Seashore. counterpunch.org During its planning process for Point Reyes National Seashore, the National Park Service received overwhelming public input opposing commercial ranching on and supporting the recovery of the rare tule elk. The Trump administration, after sparring with the California state government on climate issues, has now unveiled a proposed plan that would expand ranch operations, and

_____ (2020-09-30). The Secret To Farming For The Climate. popularresistance.org A major change to how we farm is not only necessary, it's inevitable. The 2019 Climate Change and Land IPCC report described the need to focus on changing land use and current agriculture practices in order to address the climate crisis. A quiet but growing trend of stock-free, otherwise known as veganic, farming can protect and regenerate the environment, and offer a prosperous economic future for farmers and regions alike. | The agriculture 'value chain' (including deforestation, farming, processing, packaging, transportation, and waste) accounts for 25% to 57% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

Generation180 & Sierra Club Climate Parents (2020-09-30). Thursday 10/1: Students Lead the Charge for Clean Energy Solar Power Teach-in. indybay.org Online via Zoom. FOR MORE INFO link / Web link to event: us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_aTi6NOa2Ri64LuhEFT_SQQ

Jessica Corbett, staff writer (2020-09-30). From the Front Lines of California's Fires, Yolo County Joins 1,750+ Communities in Declaring Climate Emergency. commondreams.org The resolution's success, said one organizer, "is a testament to the social movement power demanding both transformative climate action and concrete steps to remedy the legacy of systemic racism." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/gettyimages-12677914941_1.jpg

Jessica Corbett, staff writer (2020-09-30). New Global Report Warns Nearly 40% of Plants at Risk of Extinction. commondreams.org "At a time of rapid biodiversity loss, we are failing to access the treasure chest of incredible diversity on offer and missing a huge opportunity for our generation." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/screen_shot_2020-09-30_at_17.00.44.png

Scott Ritter (2020-09-30). China, Climate Change and the Uighurs. thealtworld.com China's new national objective of achieving carbon neutrality by 2060 depends on bringing the remainder of its population out of poverty and then focusing on carbon-neutral technologies to achieve full sustainability. To support this ambition, China is counting on the economic and political success of its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) for foreign investment and development, and especially the New Silk Road transportation system connecting Chinese manufacturing and markets to consumers in Central Asia and Europe. This geographical pivot in trade and investment draws heavily on the vast spaces of western China [md…