2021-01-31: News Headlines

J.D. ALT (2021-02-01). Shooting Down Deficit Hawks. realprogressives.org Deficit hawks, like dive-bombing kamikazes, are out now again, circling the battleship of our collective efforts to save ourselves. Can we pay ourselves to produce, distribute, and administer the Covid vaccine to every American in six months? No! say the dive-bombing Kamikazes—we cannot collect enough taxes to pay for that. It would require the government to borrow hundreds of billions more, increasing our "deficit" and the national "debt." Can we pay ourselves to design and build a low-carbon infrastructure that will help put a cap on global warming? No and No! say the circling deficit hawks—and h…

Matthew Rozsa (2021-02-01). Why Phoenix may be uninhabitable by the end of this century. salon.com Factors like climate change and the destruction of urban foliage are causing cities like Phoenix to overheat…

Jack Delaney (2021-01-31). On The Green New Deal, Nationalization, & Class Politics. counterpunch.org Humanity has precious time to drastically and uniformly act to reduce carbon emissions and eliminate carbon-intensive economic activity before ecological collapse materializes. However, the struggle presented is not that simple. The challenge also requires providing economic relief for workers and recognizing contradictions in the prevailing economic model that created the climate crisis when undertaking a

The Conversation (2021-01-31). All Hands on Deck: Biden plans to fight climate change in a way no U.S. president has done before. juancole.com By Bill Ritter Jr. | — Joe Biden is preparing to deal with climate change in a way no U.S. president has done before — by mobilizing his entire administration to take on the challenge from every angle in a strategic, integrated way. The strategy is evident in the people Biden has chosen for his …

Kenny Stancil, staff writer (2021-01-31). 'We Should All Be Water Protectors': Ilhan Omar Visits #StopLine3 Organizers Day After Activists Block Enbridge Worksites. commondreams.org "We owe it to future generations, to the Indigenous communities we've signed treaties with, and to every living being on this planet to stop building fossil fuel infrastructure." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/line_3_jan2021.jpg

Minnesota Interfaith Power & Light (2021-01-31). Wednesday 2/10: Protect Sacred Water: Digital Rally to #StopLine3 w/ Indigenous Frontline Water Protectors. indybay.org Virtual protest…

Juan Cole (2021-01-31). Israeli Scientists make Strides toward Recyclable Perovskite Solar Panels. juancole.com Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) — Solar panels have plummeted 80% in price during the past decade, but they are still relatively expensive and depend on mined silicon. They are also a big waste challenge, since they aren't recyclable and they have toxic chemicals in them. Silicon panels last up to 30 years, but gradually lose …

Anand Naidoo (2021-01-30). The Heat: Leaders address climate and COVID-19 at Davos. america.cgtn.com Climate change, COVID-19 and the impact on the global economy topped this week's agenda at the World Economic Forum. We'll bring you the highlights…

Tina Gerhardt (2021-01-30). Stopping Keystone Pipeline Is First Step Toward Environmental Justice. zcomm.org Indigenous groups and environmental activists are also calling on President Biden to stop the Dakota Access Pipeline and Enbridge Line 3…

yenisafak (2021-01-30). Open toileting plagues cities in Zimbabwe. yenisafak.com With flies hovering all over the vicinity of the crowded slums of Epworth, an urban settlement approximately 25 kilometers (15.5 miles) east of the Zimbabwean capital Harare, laden plastic paper bags lie scattered on streets and sidewalks, with small children rummaging through garbage and vendors going about their normal business oblivious to the wafting stench of human waste.For 45-year-old Tambudzai Munondo, one of the residents in the slums of Epworth, strangely, they have become used to co-exist with human waste, saying they cannot do anything about it."Most of these homes you see here have no toilets and it'

The Canary (2021-01-30). Plans for a new coal mine undermine the UK's commitment to net zero climate targets. thecanary.co Approved plans for a new coal mine in Cumbria will produce more emissions than any of the others currently open in the UK, a climate group has warned. | What priorities?: | The Climate Change Committee (CCC) made the claim in a letter to Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick. It came after Jenrick decided not to call in the plans for an inquiry earlier this month. The new mine, near Whitehaven, will be used to extract coking coal for steel production. It was granted planning permission by Cumbria County Council in October 2020. | CCC chair lord Deben said in a letter to Jenrick that the decision not to cal…

Tina Landis (2021-01-29). Biden's climate orders: 9 things socialists should know. liberationnews.org The Biden administration's recent executive orders on climate action and environmental protections at first glance may inspire hope.

Andrea Germanos, staff writer (2021-01-29). #TheWorldIsWatching: Youth Activists Direct Ire Over Climate Inaction at WEF Elite. commondreams.org "If only leaders were as good [at] taking real action as they were giving speeches," said Greta Thunberg. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/theworldiswatching-fridays-future-wef.jpg

Dara Herman Zierlein‚Ä® (2021-01-29). Taking Action on Climate Change. thenation.com Taking Action on Climate Change…

Patrick Bond (2021-01-29). Biden-Kerry international climate politricks. zcomm.org Is U.S. President Joe Biden's January 27 Executive Order to address 'climate crisis' as good as many activists claim, enough to reverse earlier scepticism?>

Ashley Curtin (2021-01-29). China bans single-use plastic straws and shopping bags. nationofchange.org China is one of the world's biggest users of single-use plastic and in 2010, produced 60 million tonnes of plastic waste.

Staff (2021-01-28). As Biden Issues Groundbreaking Climate Orders, Activists Push to Ban Fracking. truthout.org On Wednesday, the Biden administration delivered a second surge of orders responding to activist demands to address the climate emergency head-on at every level of the federal government. Like no mandate a U.S. president has signed off on before, the

yenisafak (2021-01-28). Could Turkey-EU relations normalize? yenisafak.com The volatile climate that marked US foreign policy in the Donald Trump era not only harmed EU-Turkey relations, but also adversely affected US relations with the European Union. There is no question that this is not the first crisis in the transatlantic relations. For instance, the Bush administration's unilateral policies widened the gap between Washington and Brussels in 2003, as Europe and the USA, two transatlantic partners, "lost each other somewhere between Kabul and Baghdad," as Robert Kagan put it. Around the same time, we have started to hear about what began to be referred to as "two Wests". According t…

imperial.ac.uk (2021-01-28). Imperial experts join MPs and industry to debate Resources and Waste Strategy. imperial.ac.uk Imperial experts joined MPs, industry leaders and other officials to debate the future of the government's Resources and Waste Strategy.

Varshini Prakash (2021-01-28). Biden's Climate Agenda Must Go Beyond Undoing Trump's Damage. zcomm.org We need to see Biden working actively to organize his congressional colleagues to pass what we need to be the greatest green jobs and infrastructure recovery plan that this country has seen…

Pip Hinman (2021-01-28). Lendlease housing development a threat to koalas. greenleft.org.au A funeral procession for koalas was organised by Extinction Rebellion and other supporters of the endangered native, writes Kerry Smith.

Susan Price (2021-01-28). Change the system to save the climate. greenleft.org.au Andrew Chuter reviews a 2014 graphic novel that communicates the science, politics and personal impacts of what is arguably humanity's greatest existential threat.

WSWS (2021-01-28). The Biden climate plan, Part 2: Preparation for war. wsws.org Elevating longtime defender of US imperialism John Kerry as his international "climate envoy," Biden proposes to "rally the world" to fight climate change by isolating China and conducting military exercises on Russia's newly-melted Arctic Ocean coast.

WSWS (2021-01-28). New Zealand protest calls for action on climate change. wsws.org There is considerable frustration among young people over inaction on climate change, but the protest organisers continued to promote illusions that the Labour-Greens government, which has protected corporate polluters, will respond.