Daily Archives: April 27, 2021

2021-04-27: News Headlines

Fight Back (2021-04-28). Appleton, WI: Community rallies for climate justice to honor Earth Day. fightbacknews.org Appleton, WI – On April 24, a coalition of seven local environmental and social justice groups assembled with more than 100 members of local communities to make demands for a livable future. The event was led by Sunrise Appleton, a youth-led movement that works to advocate the adoption of Green New Deal policies, reducing carbon emissions by building new sustainable sources of energy and infrastructure, and putting a stop to climate change. | The energy of the crowd was one of fervent anti-capitalism. At one point a speaking representative from Sunrise stated, "We are no longer asking, we are demanding" as they s…

Eurasia Review (2021-04-28). New EU Climate Target Could Phase Out Coal Power In Europe As Early As 2030. eurasiareview.com Tightening the EU emissions trading system (EU ETS) in line with the EU Green Deal would dramatically speed up the decarbonization of Europe's power sector – and likely cause a demise of the coal industry. In a new study a team of researchers from Potsdam, Germany has quantified the substantial shifts Europe's electricity system is about to undergo when the newly decided EU climate target gets implemented. Higher carbon prices, the authors show, are not only an inevitable step to cut emissions – they will also lead much faster to an inexpensive electricity system powered by renewable energies. | "Once the EU t…

Randall G. Holcombe (2021-04-28). President Biden's Climate Pledge: Aspirations Versus Policies — OpEd. eurasiareview.com With regard to climate policy, the main problem with President Biden's declaration is that he has suggested no actua…

Eurasia Review (2021-04-28). Persuading Consumers To Go Green. eurasiareview.com Shopping habits and escalating consumption of many consumers are inflicting a heavy environmental toll, and while the majority of customers seem hesitant to act "green" on their own, companies are increasingly expected to implement effective eco-friendly tactics. But efforts to increase towel reuse at hotels, paperless adoption in the banking industry or "ugly" food consumption at grocery stores have been challenging. | As a result, millions of tons of cosmetically imperfect produce are wasted every year in the United States while about one billion trees worth of paper are thrown away. Electricity consumption…

Eds. (2021-04-27). Climate scientists: concept of net zero is a dangerous trap. mronline.org Sometimes realization comes in a blinding flash. Blurred outlines snap into shape and suddenly it all makes sense. Underneath such revelations is typically a much slower-dawning process. Doubts at the back of the mind grow. | April 27, 2021 | Newswire…

The Conversation (2021-04-27). Mammals face an uncertain future as global temperatures rise. juancole.com By Maria Paniw and Rob Salguero-Gómez | — Even with fires, droughts and floods regularly in the news, it's difficult to comprehend the human toll of the climate crisis. It's harder still to understand what a warming world will mean for all the other species we share it with. This is true for even our …

Staff (2021-04-27). No, Biden's Not Banning Burgers — But Meat Is a Real Climate Problem. truthout.org Fact-checkers are slamming Republicans and the right-wing media for repeating false claims that President Joe Biden's climate plan would require Americans to drastically reduce consumption of red meat. While the rumors about Biden have been thoroughly

EMMA (2021-04-27). The People's Party has officially registered in Oregon! peoplesparty.org The timber-rich state is plundered on an industrial scale by Wall Street corporations, leaving rural communities impoverished in the east. Meanwhile, staggering rents have forced thousands of unhoused people into the streets in the cities to the west. | The People's Party will end those injustices. Our representatives will guarantee EVERY American housing, food, a good-paying job, a basic income, a college education, expanded social security, strong unions, and a livable climate. We will guarantee freedom from militarized police, mass incarceration, war, and monopolies and trusts. | If you live in Oregon, we need…

ecns.cn (2021-04-27). China to take further steps to tackle climate change. ecns.cn China will take solid steps to further lower its carbon intensity and tackle climate change, an ecological official said Tuesday.

commondreams (2021-04-27). Wells Fargo Top Shareholders Maintain Status Quo, Fail to Act on Climate. commondreams.org ______________________________…

Ed Markey (2021-04-27). America Needs a 21st-Century Civilian Climate Corps. commondreams.org "Solutions must have the scale and scope of President Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal. But this time, frontline communities and communities of color must be at the center," writes Senator Ed Markey. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/markey-1.jpg

Julia Conley, staff writer (2021-04-27). Wall Street Titans Rebuked for Backing 'Climate Destruction' of Wells Fargo. commondreams.org "While acknowledgments and commitments may mark a change in thinking within BlackRock and Vanguard, it is action that is needed to curb the climate crisis." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/em-210417-stopthemoneypipeline-014_2_1.jpg

Pip Hinman (2021-04-27). Climate Council: 'Too late to limit warming to 1.5 ∞C'. greenleft.org.au A decade of inaction means that the Paris Agreement goal of limiting warming to 1.5 ∞C will not be met, according to the Climate Council. Patrick McDonald reports.

ecns.cn (2021-04-27). Researchers explore method to reduce heavy metal contamination in crops. ecns.cn Chinese researchers have proposed a cost-effective and practical solution for the safe utilization of farmland polluted with low to moderate levels of heavy metals.

Save California Salmon (2021-04-27). California Tribal Members and Fishermen Call on Newsom to Provide Water for Salmon. indybay.org State of the Salmon address planned for April 28th, Day of Action May 4th | Sacramento, California – California Tribes, fishermen, and environmental groups are calling on Governor Gavin Newsom to direct state agencies to take action to stop fish kills of California salmon runs that are nearing extinction and to protect water quality. Salmon and good water quality are key to the health of California's Native people, economy and drinking water supplies. Without immediate action to scale down agricultural water deliveries and protect rivers and reservoir's water supplies the State will be complicit in causing fish k…

ecns.cn (2021-04-26). IAEA to invite Chinese experts over Fukushima wastewater disposal: FM spokesperson. ecns.cn Experts from China will be invited to be part of an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) technical working group pertaining to Japan's disposal of nuclear wastewater, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Monday…

Binoy Kampmark (2021-04-26). Virtual Bunny Hugging: Boasting About Climate Change Goals. counterpunch.org He seemed frustrated. While Scott Morrison's international colleagues at the Leaders Summit on Climate were boastful in what their countries would do in decarbonising the global economy, Australia's feeble contribution was put on offer. Unable to meet his own vaccination targets, the Australian prime minister has decided to confine the word "target" in other areas

Anonymous103 (2021-04-26). Capitalism is an Environmental Failure, Latin American Leaders Warn. southfront.org Illustrative image | Written by Alejandra Garcia, originally published at "Mother Earth does not belong to us, we are part of her. Savage capitalism has turned life into a big market and has destroyed the essential balance that must exist between nature and human beings," Bolivia's President Luis Arce said in commemorati…

webdev (2021-04-26). GOP Criminalizes Dissent with Anti-Riot Laws Targeting Black Lives Matter & Anti-Pipeline Protests. democracynow.org We look at a slew of anti-protest laws pending in Republican-led states, and some that have already passed, such as in Florida, where Republican Governor Ron DeSantis signed a controversial measure known as the "anti-riot bill" that is widely viewed as a response to the Black Lives Matter movement and calls to "defund the police." Under the new law, a public gathering of three or more people can be classified as a "riot," and anyone who "willingly" participates in such a gathering can be charged with a third-degree felony. Many of the anti-protest bills pending in other states have the exact same language as the…

Staff (2021-04-26). GOP Criminalizes Dissent with Anti-Riot Laws Targeting Black Lives Matter & Anti-Pipeline Protests. democracynow.org We look at a slew of anti-protest laws pending in Republican-led states, and some that have already passed, such as in Florida, where Republican Governor Ron DeSantis signed a controversial measure known as the "anti-riot bill" that is widely viewed as a response to the Black Lives Matter movement and calls to "defund the police." Under the new law, a public gathering of three or more people can be classified as a "riot," and anyone who "willingly" participates in such a gathering can be charged with a third-degree felony. Many of the anti-protest bills pending in other states have the exact same language as the…

Eds. (2021-04-26). Is Biden's big climate pledge real? mronline.org Joe Biden chose Earth Day (April 22) to convoke world leaders to a virtual climate summit and pledged to cut U.S. carbon emissions in half by 2030 compared to 2005 levels. | April 26, 2021 | Newswire…

In These Times Editors (2021-04-26). AOC and Ed Markey Want a Civilian Climate Corps. zcomm.org Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Ed Markey just introduced a new plan to employ millions of Americans in good-paying jobs that respond to climate change. Who's in?>

Juan Cole (2021-04-26). Methane Menace and Global Heating: Why President Biden is wrong and Fracking must be Banned. juancole.com Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) — When running for office, Joe Biden pledged that the federal government would not ban hydraulic fracturing or fracking. This environmentally disastrous method of extracting petroleum and natural gas from shale rock beneath the earth involves pumping water down there under enormous pressure to break up the rocks and release the …

Juan Cole (2021-04-26). Methane Menace and Global Heating. zcomm.org Why President Biden is wrong and Fracking must be Banned…

Gerson Smoger (2021-04-26). Growing Opposition to the Bayer Monsanto Roundup Settlement. globalresearch.ca Tens of thousands of people have sued Monsanto owner Bayer AG …

news.un (2021-04-26). 'Disasters know no borders' says Guterres, 35 years on from Chernobyl nuclear accident. news.un.org In his message for Chernobyl International Remembrance Day on Monday, the UN chief reminded that "disasters know no borders".

RobertAlvarez (2021-04-26). Transit Equity Report Finds Riders and Workers Continue to Need Better Access to Affordable & Reliable Public Transit to Meet Essential Needs and for Economy Recovery and Climate Action. ips-dc.org The Transit Equity Network released a new report, "Community Hearing on Transit Equity 2021: Findings and Recommendations."

_____ (2021-04-26). Joe Biden's New Climate Pledge Isn't Fair Or Ambitious. popularresistance.org On Thursday, President Joe Biden announced that the United States will cut emissions by 50 to 52 percent below 2005 levels by 2030 as part of its commitment to the 2016 Paris Agreement on climate change. | Biden's announcement came during the administration's virtual Leaders Summit on Climate, which aimed to push climate action around the world. | A key goal of the summit was "to keep a limit to warming of 1.5 degree Celsius within reach." A 2018 special report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) concluded that global greenhouse gas emissions need to drop by 50 percent by 2030 to keep warming…

_____ (2021-04-26). Earth Day Was Peace Day. popularresistance.org New Haven, CT – At the direction of local musician Freddy B, New Haveners marked Earth Day by singing, clapping and waving posters to the chorus of the anti-war classic "Give Peace A Chance." | Freddy B (aka Freddy Brown) was among more than 30 people who gathered by the Amistad memorial outside City Hall late Thursday afternoon for a combined Earth/Peace Day celebration organized by the City of New Haven Peace Commission and Teen Climate Activists with help from New Haven Climate Movement, CT Climate Crisis Mobilization, Greater New Haven Peace Council, and New Haven Friends. | The event united organizations tha…

IPS (2021-04-26). US-China Cold War Could Lead To A More Dangerous Nuclear Stand-Off — OpEd. eurasiareview.com By Joseph Gerson* | Despite the negotiation of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), we are confronted by the increasing dangers of great power war, even nuclear war. | Instead of making necessary investments to ensure public health, reverse climate change and ensure the security of their peoples, trillions of dollars are being wasted to construct new nuclear weapons and their delivery systems, including new hypersonic delivery systems. | The U.S. and Russia are the lead drivers of this race to annihilation, with more than 90% of the world's nuclear weapons. The U.S. is in the process of upg…

Eurasia Review (2021-04-26). Implications Are Global In New Study Predicting Human Exodus In Bangladesh. eurasiareview.com Rising sea levels and more powerful cyclonic storms, phenomena driven by the warming of oceans due to climate change, puts at immediate or potential risk an estimated 680 million people living in low-lying coastal zones (a number projected to reach more than one billion by 2050). In nations like Bangladesh these populations are already moving to escape sea-level rise. | In a new study, "Modeling human migration under environmental change: a case study of the effect of sea level rise in Bangladesh," researchers led by Maurizio Porfiri, an engineer at the Center for Urban Science and Progress (CUSP) at the NYU T…

Eurasia Review (2021-04-26). Homes In Floodplains Overvalued By Nearly $44 Billion. eurasiareview.com Buyer beware: single-family homes in floodplains – almost 4 million U.S. homes – are overvalued by nearly $44 billion collectively or $11,526 per house on average, according to a new Stanford University-led study. The study, published in Proceedings of the National Academies of Science, suggests that unaware buyers and inadequate disclosure laws drive up financial risks that could destabilize the real estate market. The threat is likely to grow as climate change drives more frequent extreme weather. | "The overvaluation we find is really concerning, especially given the increases in climate risk that are comin…

Eurasia Review (2021-04-26). Icy Clouds Could Have Kept Early Mars Warm Enough For Rivers And Lakes. eurasiareview.com One of the great mysteries of modern space science is neatly summed up by the view from NASA's Perseverance, which just landed on Mars: Today it's a desert planet, and yet the rover is sitting right next to an ancient river delta. | The apparent contradiction has puzzled scientists for decades, especially because at the same time that Mars had flowing rivers, it was getting less than a third as much sunshine as we enjoy today on Earth. | But a new study led by University of Chicago planetary scientist Edwin Kite, an assistant professor of geophysical sciences and an expert on climates of other worlds, uses a c…

Eurasia Review (2021-04-26). Social Tensions Preceded Disruptions In Ancient Pueblo Societies. eurasiareview.com Climate problems alone were not enough to end periods of ancient Pueblo development in the southwestern United States. | Drought is often blamed for the periodic disruptions of these Pueblo societies, but in a study with potential implications for the modern world, archaeologists have found evidence that slowly accumulating social tension likely played a substantial role in three dramatic upheavals in Pueblo development. | The findings, detailed in an article in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, showed that Pueblo farmers often persevered through droughts, but when social tensions were incre…

imperial.ac.uk (2021-04-26). Scientists improve how global climate progress can be calculated. imperial.ac.uk Researchers have worked out how to improve the assessment of progress towards limiting global heating to 2 ∞C above preindustrial levels.

imperial.ac.uk (2021-04-26). Ship tracks show how aerosols affect clouds fast and slow. imperial.ac.uk Satellite images show how quickly clouds respond to aerosols emitted by ships, helping inform climate modelling.

Zach Conti (2021-04-26). Biden Vows Cut to US Emissions as Yellen Commits Full Power of Treasury to Address Climate. indybay.org Financial decisions play a critical role in solving climate change, advocated Treasury Secretary Yellen during a US-hosted climate summit.

commondreams (2021-04-26). Biden's Climate Summit Falls Short. commondreams.org ______________________________…

Julia Conley, staff writer (2021-04-26). Slashing Methane Emissions Must Play Larger Role in Fighting Climate Crisis, UN Says. commondreams.org "If we can make a big enough cut in methane in the next decade, we'll see public health benefits within the decade, and climate benefits within two decades." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/methane_1.jpg

Justin Mikulka (2021-04-26). Struggling to make a profit, fracking investors are searching for the exit. nationofchange.org "Banks are losing money and investors are stuck in investments they can't get rid of."

ecns.cn (2021-04-26). China deliberates extra fees for food wasters. ecns.cn Chinese lawmakers are considering a new draft law that would allow restaurants to charge diners an extra fee if they waste excessive amounts of food.

_____ (2021-04-26). Leaving Afghanistan: Better Late Than Never. strategic-culture.org The waste of life and treasure might finally be coming to an end, but we've learned nothing from it. | By Peter VAN BUREN | President Biden Biden speaks more plainly about failure than any previous president.We cannot continue th…

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