Jupiter and Saturn Will Form ‘Double Planet’ This December for the First Time in 800 Years
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Science
On Dec. 21, Jupiter and Saturn will be so closely aligned that they will appear as a "double planet." NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory / YouTube
The night sky has a special treat in store for stargazers this winter solstice.
<p>On Dec. 21, Jupiter and Saturn will be so closely aligned that they will appear as a "double planet," Rice University astronomer Patrick Hartigan announced in a university <a href="https://news.rice.edu/2020/11/19/christmas-week-worlds-will-align-for-spectacular-heavenly-sight-2/" target="_blank">press release</a>. This is called a conjunction, and the last time such a close one between the two planets was visible from Earth was in 1226.</p><p>"That's just [shy] of 800 years ago" <a href="https://www.cfa.harvard.edu/" target="_blank">Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics</a> spokeswoman Amy Oliver <a href="https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/12/03/2020-great-conjunction-rare-christmas-star-jupiter-saturn-align/3808185001/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">told USA TODAY</a>. "Call [2020's conjunction] a unique, holiday gift to the world. Maybe it's the soothing band-aid for 2020."</p>
<span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="5337d80301fe60e7bb3f852458f07708"><iframe lazy-loadable="true" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/NEVCDhEyKx0?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span>
<p>A conjunction occurs when two celestial objects appear close together when seen from Earth. The conjunction between Jupiter and Saturn occurs when the orbits of the two planets align with Earth's, something that only happens once every 20 years and is referred to as a "great conjunction," <a href="https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/resources/2567/whats-up-december-2020-video/#:~:text=In%20fact%2C%20Saturn%20will%20appear,as%20some%20of%20Jupiter's%20moons.&text=This%20event%20is%20called%20a,together%20in%20our%20nighttime%20sky." target="_blank">according to NASA</a>.</p><p>However, this great conjunction brings the planets even closer together than usual. They will appear to be separated by just a tenth of a degree, or the thickness of a dime held at arm's length.</p><p>"On the evening of closest approach on Dec 21 they will look like a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_planet" target="_blank">double planet</a>, separated by only 1/5th the diameter of the full moon," Hartigan said in the press release. "For most telescope viewers, each planet and several of their largest moons will be visible in the same field of view that evening."</p>
<p>However, if the skies are cloudy the night of the 21st itself, the planets will still be close from Dec. 16 to 25. The space between them will be less than the diameter of the full moon.</p><p>The phenomenon will be easiest to see from the equator, but should be visible everywhere on Earth. To see it, look to the low western sky for about an hour after sunset. However, those in northern latitudes should try to look for the sight as closely after sunset as possible.</p><p>"The further north a viewer is, the less time they'll have to catch a glimpse of the conjunction before the planets sink below the horizon," Hartigan explained.</p>
<p>If you miss this conjunction, another so close won't be visible until 2080. After that, it will not occur again until after 2400. While the last time the phenomenon was visible was in the Middle Ages, a similar alignment occurred in 1623, but it was too close to the sun to be seen from Earth, USA TODAY explained.</p><p>"You would be lucky to see this once in a lifetime," Andrew Jacob of the Sydney Observatory said, as the <a href="https://www.standard.co.uk/news/world/jupiter-saturn-great-conjunction-christmas-800-years-b155652.html" target="_blank">Evening Standard</a> reported.</p><p>The event is also known as the "Christmas Star" or the "Star of Bethlehem."</p><p>German astronomer Johannes Kepler theorized in 1614 that a similar conjunction might have been the source of the bright "star" that the Wise Men followed to visit the baby Jesus in the nativity story.</p>
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Rough handling can result in birds becoming injured before slaughter. Courtesy of Mercy for Animals
By Dena Jones
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) was sued three times this past summer for shirking its responsibility to protect birds from egregious welfare violations and safeguard workers at slaughterhouses from injuries and the spread of the coronavirus.
<p>Over the years, it has become abundantly clear that federal regulators not only let animal abusers off the hook but also placate the factory farm industry by subverting worker and consumer interests. On July 27, a growing number of animal advocacy organizations joined a lawsuit that <a href="https://mercyforanimals.org/mercy-for-animals-joins-lawsuit-challenging" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">challenged the USDA</a> over its recent bird flu response plan, which indemnifies factory farms and fails to address how intensive confinement contributes to disease outbreaks. One day later, unions representing workers across six states <a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/us/articles/2020-07-28/unions-sue-usda-over-faster-chicken-plant-production-speeds" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">sued</a> the USDA over its approval of faster slaughter line speeds that they say will endanger workers.</p>
<p>In August, my organization, the Animal Welfare Institute (AWI), and Farm Sanctuary <a href="https://awionline.org/press-releases/usda-sued-compel-humane-handling-birds-slaughter" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">sued</a> the USDA over its persistent failure to require humane handling of poultry at slaughter, resulting in damaged or contaminated products that violate the federal <a href="https://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/topics/rulemaking/poultry-products-inspection-acts" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Poultry Products Inspection Act</a> and compromise food safety and meat quality.</p><p>Our lawsuit comes after we initially <a href="https://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/wcm/connect/e138fe1a-d380-42b2-88b7-f24a11ed7d7f/Petition-AWI-PPIA-121713.pdf?MOD=AJPERES" target="_blank">petitioned</a> the department in 2013 to uphold its congressional mandate and codify poultry humane handling standards into enforceable regulations. After six years, during which time federal inspectors documented <a href="https://awionline.org/sites/default/files/publication/digital_download/20TheWelfareBirdsSlaughter.pdf" target="_blank">more than 2,000 incidents</a> of poultry mistreatment, the USDA denied our petition <a href="https://www.natlawreview.com/article/animal-rights-groups-file-lawsuit-against-usda-to-tackle-inhumane-treatment-poultry" target="_blank">in 2019</a>. At the same time, the department denied a second petition asking it to address the <a href="https://awionline.org/sites/default/files/uploads/documents/temp/FA-AWI-Poultry-loading-transport-holding-incidents.pdf" target="_blank">problem</a> of birds being abandoned in the holding areas of slaughter plants — often in extreme heat or cold for extended periods.</p>
<p>Ongoing reviews of USDA enforcement records by AWI reveal that every year, government inspectors document the suffering of tens of thousands of birds from suffocation, blunt force trauma, and heat or cold stress before even reaching the slaughter line. This widespread suffering is entirely preventable, as it is caused by neglect, inadequate worker training, faulty equipment, and intentional acts of cruelty at slaughterhouses.</p><p>In 2018, for instance, <a href="https://awionline.org/sites/default/files/uploads/documents/Butterfield-2018-incident.pdf" target="_blank">Butterfield Foods Company failed to protect its hens</a> during their transportation to a Minnesota slaughter plant in subzero temperatures, resulting in nearly 10,000 deaths, with many birds frozen to their cages. More than 9,000 birds died in a <a href="https://awionline.org/sites/default/files/uploads/documents/Butterfield-2020-incident.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">similar incident at the same plant this past winter</a>.</p><p>A Butterball plant in North Carolina held a truck of turkeys for 31 hours last year, <a href="https://awionline.org/sites/default/files/uploads/documents/Butterball-holding-incident-Jan-2019.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">depriving them of food and water</a>. By the time they were unloaded, a large number of birds had perished, and some had begun cannibalizing weaker birds.</p>
<p>Each year, about <a href="https://downloads.usda.library.cornell.edu/usda-esmis/files/pg15bd88s/kw52js65h/d217r6115/pslaan20.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">9 billion chickens and turkeys are slaughtered</a> in the United States, yet plants suffer no consequences when most forms of mistreatment are observed during USDA audits. There are no fines, no slowing or stopping of the slaughter line, and no shuttering of a plant even if egregious or repeat violations occur.</p><p>For instance, a Jennie-O slaughter plant in Minnesota was <a href="https://awionline.org/sites/default/files/uploads/documents/Jennie-O-Turkey-repeated-laceration-incidents.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">written up 10 times in 2018 from February to August for severe injuries to turkeys</a>, including large areas of torn skin, hemorrhaging and muscle mutilation — all due to malfunctioning equipment — yet the USDA did not penalize the plant or require operators to fix the problem.</p><p>Even incidents of willful mishandling are tolerated. At the Southern Hens facility in Mississippi, <a href="https://awionline.org/sites/default/files/uploads/documents/Southern-Hen-repeated-bird-tossing-incidents.pdf" target="_blank">USDA inspectors cited the plant 10 times in the month of March 2020 alone</a> because workers were seen tossing crates to the ground six feet below as the live birds inside frantically flapped their wings and tried to escape. This callous indifference not only causes stress, injuries and painful deaths for animals; it can also <a href="https://awionline.org/sites/default/files/uploads/documents/RelationshipBetweenAnimalHandlingMeatQuality.pdf" target="_blank">damage the final meat product</a> for the consumer.</p>
<p>Under the Poultry Products Inspection Act, the USDA is required to reduce the incidence of damaged and/or potentially unsafe (or "adulterated") poultry products. But while federal inspectors have issued official notices and directives drawing a connection between the mistreatment of live birds and adulteration, they have taken <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/poultry-slaughter-plants-2625984903.html" target="_self">no concrete steps to stop it</a>.</p><p>Instead, the USDA permits the poultry industry to police itself through voluntary standards that — based on the department's own records — are clearly inadequate. Meanwhile, industry executives falsely claim that when inhumane handling occurs, government inspectors take action. Each side contends that the other is responsible for animal welfare. In reality, no one is protecting birds at slaughter.</p><p>The USDA has repeatedly demonstrated that it is unwilling to act against industry interests — even when doing so would improve poultry product quality and help prevent the abuse of the vast majority of land animals killed for food.</p><p>You can help protect birds at slaughter by <a href="https://awionline.org/compassion-index#/243" target="_blank">sending a message to the USDA</a>, asking the agency to change its regulations and policies to prevent neglect and abuse of birds at slaughter.</p>
<p><em>Dena Jones is the director of the Farm Animal Program for the nonprofit <a href="https://awionline.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Animal Welfare Institute</a> (AWI) in Washington, DC. Since 1951, AWI has sought to alleviate suffering on animals inflicted by humans.</em></p><p><em>This article was produced by </em><a href="https://independentmediainstitute.org/earth-food-life/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Earth | Food | Life</em></a><em>, a project of the Independent Media Institute.</em></p>
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ice water with recycled straws
Photo by abillionveg on Unsplash
There's no shortage of CBD products on the market today, especially when it comes to CBD oils. These tinctures are the most popular way to take CBD, but there is so much variety amongst CBD oils it can be hard to know which one is the right choice for you. Among the different flavor options, CBD strengths, and types of hemp extracts (like full-spectrum CBD oil vs CBD isolate), there is another potential differentiator when it comes to CBD oil: water solubility.
<h2>What is Water Soluble CBD?</h2><p>Cannabidiol (CBD for short) is a well-known cannabinoid found within cannabis plants that is widely used as a wellness supplement in oil form.</p><p>Water soluble CBD is an up-and-coming product that exists primarily to simplify the process of adding CBD oil to beverages since it mixes easily with liquids. Traditional CBD oil tinctures don't blend as well into liquid drinks because the oil is less dense than water and separates easily. However, water soluble CBD oil may also provide other advantages through its potential enhancement of bioavailability.</p><p>You see in order to make water soluble CBD oil, the Cannabidiol molecules must be transformed into "nanoparticles." These tiny CBD particles are "nano-emulsified" and might be easier for the body to absorb due to their smaller size. This is a common process that has been used in pharmaceutical medicine for years, and the technology may prove to be beneficial in the CBD industry as well.</p><p>However, water soluble CBD can be harder to come by since it involves a more intense production process in order to create these nanoparticles of CBD. Fortunately I've had the benefit of trying hundreds of CBD oil products, some of which are water soluble, and below are my top three recommendations based on several factors including price, hemp source, customer service and reviews, as well as my own experience after trying these products.</p><h2>Best Water Soluble CBD Products</h2>
<h2>Is Water Soluble CBD Better Than CBD Oil?</h2><p>Due to the ease of absorption for nano CBD, the effects of water soluble CBD oil may be much more effective than regular CBD hemp oil. Because of this, water soluble CBD is making headway as the next big thing in the hemp market, but not everyone is convinced of its efficacy.</p><h2>Risks and Benefits of Water Soluble CBD</h2><p>While plenty of brands tout the enhanced effects of water soluble CBD, it's unclear how exactly how these nanoparticles react within the body. Additionally, it's also unknown whether there is any advantages to using nano CBD (or water soluble CBD oil) when compared to traditional CBD oils.</p><p>With that being said, water soluble CBD is likely to have many of the same benefits as CBD oil, including anxiety reduction, pain relief, and improvements in sleep. Water soluble CBD may also prove to be more cost effective if its bioavailability is truly greater than traditional CBD tinctures, although more research is needed to validate this assumption.</p><h2>Is Water Soluble CBD Right for You?</h2><p>Water soluble CBD oils and powders are great options for people who prefer to get their daily dose of CBD without taking an oily dropper sublingually (below their tongue), or eat an infused CBD edible that tastes like earthy hemp. These water soluble products can easily be added into any food or beverage for a discreet and easy way to ingest CBD. Not to mention, they present little to no side effects, and are considered generally safe to consume.</p>
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<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDg2NzE3Mi9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1OTg5OTkxM30.SsHX2Wj9Gg2cbit_rghGcy4jBQil-Zi-8ud4GU6KI7s/img.png?width=980" id="555ac" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="8717dccb7529d642bc22c48215e93f49" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" /><p>HOLISTIK is a member of the <a href="https://www.holistikwellness.com/blogs/news/making-a-positive-impact-together-with-impact-collective" target="_blank">IMPACT COLLECTIVE</a>, a group of forward-thinking brands committed to making an immediate and positive environmental impact. For every HOLISTIK STIK sold, the brand will pull one plastic bottle out of the ocean. We like supporting a brand that thinks about their place in the world. </p><p>We also like their CBD products. A standout is their stress relief STIK. They are blended with lemon balm extract to promote relaxation and focus. You mix them in your drink of choice, feel better, and do a tiny bit to help the sea. </p>
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Liweli Super Lemon 20-Pack
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDg2NzIzOS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxMzY3MDcwN30.Zdryzz73N3ViVXJCMZPt9c-ZaIQatZtsOIb_T-_jt2g/img.jpg?width=980" id="5b343" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="552717389a75940908a2efc4b569d692" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" /><p>Liweli water soluble CBD packets make getting a regular dose of CBD simple and convenient. You can keep these lemon-flavored pouches in your purse or backpack and add them to your drink of choice. They dissolve well, which is key for a product like this, and taste nice. Liweli is a best bet for anyone on-the-go. </p>
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CBDistillery CBDelicious Powder
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDg2NzIwOC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxNDY0Mzg1OH0.HYq74_mRfh-WzVZOazd3kghZcz2IwDYpOIbYOgIeR4k/img.jpg?width=980" id="69852" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="a2883e054f8e6af6467e48463d26d2b7" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" /><p>If you're not an "oil" person, there's always the option of a CBD powder. CBDistillery has several different options to choose from, including isolate, broad spectrum, and full spectrum water soluble CBD powders that can easily be added into foods or drinks to help you get a dose of CBD at anytime.</p>
$28
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A view of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge during Arctic Bird Fest on June 25, 2019. Lisa Hupp / USFWS
By Julia Conley
Conservation campaigners on Thursday accused President Donald Trump of taking a "wrecking ball" to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge as the White House announced plans to move ahead with the sale of drilling leases in the 19 million-acre coastal preserve, despite widespread, bipartisan opposition to oil and gas extraction there.
<p><br/></p>
Twitter
<div id="21f45" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="a6afe64073afbbc1a8de578a912fe75c"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1334553961173450753" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Today’s decision to guide @Interior’s Arctic Refuge drilling strategy is deeply flawed: It violates Indigenous righ… https://t.co/ypkVlab9WZ</div> — NRDC 🌎🏡 (@NRDC 🌎🏡)<a href="https://twitter.com/NRDC/statuses/1334553961173450753">1607017433.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>Seven weeks before Trump is set to leave office, the administration <a href="https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/528550-trump-admin-to-sell-oil-leases-at-arctic-wildlife-refuge-before" target="_blank">announced</a> it plans to conduct the sale virtually on Jan. 6. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) will enter a notice about the sale in the Federal Registry next week.</p><p>The announcement comes a week after Bank of America <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/12/01/lame-duck-trump-pushes-arctic-pillage-bank-america-latest-bank-rule-out-drilling" target="_blank">became the latest bank </a>to rule out financing of drilling projects in the Arctic Refuge. JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and Wells Fargo have also stated in the past year that they will not give financial backing to fossil fuel extraction in the Arctic, leading the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency last month to <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/11/20/trump-administration-accused-trying-bully-banks-financing-arctic-fossil-fuel" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">propose a new rule </a>that would bar financial institutions from refusing to lend to specific sectors in the name of "fair access."</p><p>"Arctic Refuge drilling makes zero sense in today's reality of high oil market volatility and with every major U.S. bank and many international banks unwilling to invest in risky, expensive Arctic oil projects," said Adam Kolton, executive director of the Alaska Wilderness League. "The administration is simply rushing to sell off one of the wildest places left on earth for pennies on the dollar before President-elect Biden takes office in January."</p>
<div id="aa452" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="eb00932e62d3b20ed13dffb5594ec80a"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1334510970195111960" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Every major US bank has now walked away from destructive, risky drilling in the Arctic refuge. Banks recognize this… https://t.co/XM7z8EOZMg</div> — Senator Jeff Merkley (@Senator Jeff Merkley)<a href="https://twitter.com/SenJeffMerkley/statuses/1334510970195111960">1607007183.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>According to Kolton, Trump's plan to move forward with his deeply unpopular leasing plan is "yet another dangerous political favor" to the fossil fuel industry and an action which suggests he is eager to do as much damage to the environment before Biden — who opposes drilling in the Arctic Refuge — is inaugurated.</p><p>"President Trump's electoral fate has been sealed and his days in office are numbered," he said. "The fact that the sale will be officially noticed on December 7, one day after we celebrate the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the Arctic Refuge by Republican President Dwight Eisenhower, symbolizes the degree to which the president has taken a wrecking ball to decades of bipartisan conservation support."</p><p>The timing of the announcement, added the Natural Resources Defense Council, makes "a mockery of the ongoing public comment period."</p>
<p>The Gwich'in people, who have hunted caribou on the land that is now the Arctic Refuge for thousands of years, are among the most vocal opponents to drilling in the region. In August the tribe <a href="https://www.sierraclub.org/press-releases/2020/08/gwich-allied-groups-sue-trump-agencies-for-illegal-lease-program-arctic" target="_blank">sued</a> the Interior Department and the BLM over the Trump administration's plan to sell leases in the refuge's 1.5 million acre coastal plain.</p><p>"The Interior Department's Arctic Refuge leasing process has been flawed from the outset, ignoring science and Indigenous voices throughout and failing at every turn to sufficiently analyze the impacts drilling will have on our climate, our air and water quality, the health of wildlife or the future of local Indigenous communities," said Kolton.</p><p>In addition to negatively impacting the Gwich'in people, opponents <a href="https://earthjustice.org/news/press/2019/public-overwhelmingly-opposes-drilling-in-arctic-refuge" target="_blank">say</a> drilling in the Arctic Refuge would also harm the polar bears that live there and have already been harmed by the warming of the planet, numerous fish species, and nearly 200 species of migratory birds.</p><p>"For decades, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge has stood as a symbol of our nation's strong natural legacy," said Ellen Montgomery, public lands campaign director for Environment America. "Its breathtaking landscape is home to endangered polar bears, caribou, wolves, muskoxen, and migratory birds that travel annually to all 50 states. Destroying their home in the craven desire for more oil is a tragic mistake."</p><p>"Once this seal is broken, there is no going back," Montgomery added. "Industrial-level oil and gas drilling in the Arctic Refuge cannot occur without doing catastrophic damage to vital habitats."</p><p>According to a poll released in August by Morning Consult, just 31% of Americans<a href="https://morningconsult.com/2020/08/24/oil-gas-drilling-public-lands-arctic-refuge-poll/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> support</a> drilling in the Arctic Refuge.</p><p>In light of public opinion, banks' unwillingness to fund drilling projects, and signs that renewable energy industries are <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/2219927-us-green-economy-has-10-times-more-jobs-than-the-fossil-fuel-industry/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">poised to grow faster</a> than the fossil fuel sector in the coming years, Kolton said, "any oil company bidding on this sale will face not only economic challenges, but enormous reputational and legal risks as well."</p><p>"America is transitioning to a new administration that has already pledged to protect the refuge," said Montgomery. "We are rapidly moving to renewable energy and clean transportation options. We don't need the current administration to jam this through, using a 'going out of business sale' approach. We strongly urge oil companies to take a pass." </p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDg2NzI0OC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxMzM1NTAxMn0.p0VJn1wad-svlR0j6HZIKdjTdplbcN8XPG4YwXeAvbw/img.jpg?width=980" id="e3345" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="e2e7747f5ec85c57a804b5a38c48d874" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/12/03/just-days-exit-trump-plans-going-out-business-sale-arctic-drilling-leases" target="_blank">Common Dreams</a>.</em></p>The Sheenjek River in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Alexis Bonogofsky / USFWS
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The Bond Fire, started by a structure fire that extended into nearby vegetation on Thursday, Dec. 3, 2020 in Silverado, CA. Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times / Getty Images
Hot, dry and windy conditions fueled a wildfire southeast of Los Angeles Thursday that injured two firefighters and forced 25,000 to flee their homes.
<p>As of Thursday evening, the Bond Fire had spread to 6,400 acres and was only 10 percent contained, the Orange County Fire Authority (OCFA) <a href="https://twitter.com/OCFA_PIO/status/1334707425090289667" target="_blank">tweeted</a>. It comes as <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/california" target="_self">California</a> has already experienced its worst year for wildfires, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/wildfires-california-fires-a73ac9314c83900cf0b252ec1b26eb5c" target="_blank">The Associated Press reported</a>. The Bond Fire is also burning close to where the Silverado Fire forced tens of thousands to evacuate in October. Among them was Kolbi Winters, who had to evacuate again Thursday.</p><p>"I had one month literally to enjoy myself before another fire happened," Winters told The Associated Press. "If this continues happening, and we don't take care of this, one day, I'm not going to have a home."</p><p>California's worsening fires have been linked to the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change/" target="_self">climate crisis</a>, as warmer temperatures make the state and its vegetation drier, fueling the flames.</p>
<p>The Bond Fire began in a house before 10:15 p.m. Wednesday night, <a href="https://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2020/12/03/bond-fire-firefighters-hurt-irvine-silverado/" target="_blank">CBSLA reported</a>. However, three factors influenced its spread, according to <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2020/12/03/weather/southern-california-edison-power-outage/index.html" target="_blank">CNN</a>. A combination of Santa Ana winds up to 70 miles per hour, humidity as low as four percent and the hottest temperatures across the continental U.S. created a "particularly dangerous situation" for fires in the region, the National Weather Service Los Angeles said. These factors prompted utilities to shut off power to 123,000 customers as a preventative measure and sparked several fires, of which the Bond Fire was the largest, according to The Associated Press. High winds helped turn the house fire into a wildfire.</p><p>"When crews arrived it was a fully engulfed house and the winds were extremely strong and they pushed flames into the vegetation," OCFA spokeswoman Colleen Windsor told The Associated Press.</p><p>The blaze then damaged other structures.</p>
<p>"We know that a number of houses have been damaged, potentially destroyed," OCFA chief Brian Fennessy said at a press conference, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/03/us/bond-fire-california.html" target="_blank">The New York Times</a> reported.</p><p>Fennessy also said that more than 500 firefighters from more than 30 agencies were helping to battle the flames. Two of those firefighters, who were with the U.S. Forest Service, were injured sometime Thursday afternoon, according to CBSLA. They were treated by paramedics and taken to a hospital, where their condition was not known. However, their injuries were not life-threatening, according to The New York Times.</p><p>The fire forced 25,000 to evacuate, though some evacuation orders were lifted, CNN reported. Evacuations were complicated by the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/coronavirus" target="_self">coronavirus</a> pandemic. Because of the contagious disease, authorities could not set up an overnight shelter and <a href="https://twitter.com/OCFA_PIO/status/1334486964922249216" target="_blank">advised</a> people to stay with family or in a hotel.</p>
<p>The Red Cross set up an evacuation point and said it had provided hotel rooms for 170 people, The New York Times reported.</p><p>The combination of back-to-back fires and the pandemic have taken a toll on the local community and its small businesses.</p><p>"Because of the fire, the quality of the air is very bad," 47-year-old Mohadeseh Sadollahi, who owns the Bellaria Coffee House in the evacuated community of Foothill Ranch, told The New York Times. "People can't sit outside, and they can't sit inside. As a small-business owner paying all my bills and rent, I can't fix it very easily."</p>
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Hospital workers evacuate patients from the Feather River Hospital during the Camp Fire on Nov. 8, 2018 in Paradise, California. People in 128 countries have experienced an increased exposure to wildfires, a new Lancet report finds. Justin Sullivan / Getty Images
The climate crisis already has a death toll, and it will get worse if we don't act to reduce emissions.
<p>That's the warning from the latest Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change, an annual <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/public-health" target="_self">public health</a> report <a href="http://www.thelancet-press.com/embargo/climatecountdown.pdf?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=101740057&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_a4k1xKrc4iQK5UG0pgWB-t3pa1Jt2r8ygJQx_Q6eEw3Ex7v3n470_GZ8yKLSRc2lhjD2LJgE8M4eWcjcjuKrnzya4hg&utm_content=101740057&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">released Wednesday</a>.</p><p>"This past year, we have seen the harms of our converging crises — COVID-19, climate disasters, and systemic racism; it's been a preview of what lies ahead if we fail to urgently make the necessary investments to protect health," <a href="https://www.massgeneral.org/doctors/19364/Renee-Salas" target="_blank">Renee Salas</a>, lead author of the U.S. Lancet Countdown Policy Brief, said in a statement reported by <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/12/02/2020-just-a-preview-if-we-dont-fix-climate-change-the-lancet.html?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=101740057&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_q0ii1o9A1XUEYGGfwsCbUnhzEoZ6MBWNMdhJ193M2NK1JOwrCCsu5fPc_zFsIiNkpX8vNt1nCVdmDLwxSUdNcYH4qjg&utm_content=101740057&utm_source=hs_email" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">CNBC</a>.</p>
<p>Wednesday's report was the work of more than 100 experts from 35 institutions or universities including the World Health Organization and University College London (UCL). The Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change has been running since 2015, when the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/paris-agreement" target="_self">Paris agreement</a> was negotiated, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/dec/02/covid-pandemic-offers-chance-to-act-on-climate-report-says?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=101740057&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--gcNgs9GFu8_wOcYinzepbFuzmlWytO9wqVQ9TJbowk-QSdSkvXnqxsWJnJQMGgx7gloJpBKi2AaTqqwHblzUgtfnz7g&utm_content=101740057&utm_source=hs_email" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Guardian pointed out</a>. However, this year, the health impacts of climate change were their "most worrying" since the report began. All 16 health indicators monitored in the report are worsening, according to <a href="https://institutions.newscientist.com/article/2261184-health-impacts-of-climate-change-have-reached-worrying-levels/?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=101740057&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--ZcLh0Q6ozgSQetEAzToko4gEB-3DVWhTRKmSRTvlnd07ArL3U2Pa99bp1XsUAqWlnjJ47GXG-oTk9ykBE_eywbIHiMw&utm_content=101740057&utm_source=hs_email" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">New Scientist</a>.</p><p>"Climate change-induced shocks are claiming lives, damaging health and disrupting livelihoods in all parts of the world right now. That means no continent or community remains untouched," Ian Hamilton of UCL told New Scientist.</p><p>For example, the number of people over 65 who died prematurely because of <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/heat-waves" target="_self">heat waves</a> increased by almost 54 percent between 2000 and 2018 to reach 296,000, mostly in Japan, China, India and Europe.</p><p>The number of people exposed to <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/wildfires" target="_self">wildfire</a> risk also increased in 128 countries when 2016 to 2019 were compared with 2001 to 2004.</p>
<div id="97b40" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="bd1b9e4c781bce94f654197bd26031cf"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1334439131938762756" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">The #COVID19 pandemic and #ClimateChange represent converging crises. Wildfires and tropical storms in 2020 have tr… https://t.co/LbZRp9te5i</div> — The Lancet (@The Lancet)<a href="https://twitter.com/TheLancet/statuses/1334439131938762756">1606990056.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>The report found that the health impacts of the climate crisis were unevenly distributed and disproportionately impacted the people who had done the least to contribute to the crisis. However, this does not mean that wealthier countries are immune.</p><p>"A nation's wealth offers no protection against the health impacts of even a 1.2C global average temperature rise," Hugh Montgomery, Lancet Countdown co-chairman and a UCL intensive care medicine professor, said in a statement reported by the <a href="https://news.trust.org/item/20201202230439-fiytx/?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=101740057&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_rNCyinSosAHluXOeDjnopyyWWrdIJKs_cH4rHOLV7Zd96HJjRSmO37Meums4COi3x8dvAzdmFsjHhHw9aRlhrb8KrQA&utm_content=101740057&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">Thomson Reuters Foundation</a>. "Flames, floods and famine do not respect national borders or bank accounts."</p><p>In the U.S., for example, heat waves killed 19,000 people over 65 and pollution claimed more than 68,000 lives, according to CNBC.</p><p>However, these effects were also distributed unequally within the U.S. itself.</p><p>"In the U.S., we see clear evidence of how certain communities are more burdened by pre-existing inequities," Dr. Jeremy Hess, author on both the global report and the U.S. breakout, told CNBC.</p>
<p>The report authors put forward specific policy recommendations for the incoming Biden administration, including an end to subsidies for <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/fossil-fuel" target="_self">fossil fuels</a>, supporting public transportation and reducing the use of nitrogen fertilizers, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/02/climate/climate-change-health-risks.html" target="_blank">The New York Times reported</a>.</p><p>"The overarching theme I stress to the incoming administration is making health central," Salas told reporters. "Climate action is a prescription for health."</p><p>Globally, the report authors recommended that governments use the recovery from the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/coronavirus" target="_self">coronavirus</a> pandemic as an opportunity to also fight climate change and meet the goals of the Paris agreement.</p><p>"The only way you can meet the Paris agreement is by taking advantage of this moment … by combining the recovery from COVID-19 with the response to climate change," report coauthor and chief sustainability officer for the UK's National Health Service Dr. Nick Watts told The Guardian.</p>
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'Stop the Plunder and Start the Healing,' UN Chief Urges in State of the Planet Speech
03 December
Climate
Workers harvest asparagus in a field by the Niederaussem lignite coal power plant in Cologne, Germany. Greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel burning are reaching new highs. Henning Kaiser / picture alliance via Getty Images
By Stuart Braun
The UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres addressed the dire threat of climate change Wednesday in a speech on the state of the planet delivered at Columbia University in New York.
<p>"The state of the planet is broken, humanity is waging war on nature," he said. "Nature always strikes back, and is doing so with gathering force and fury."</p><p>Referring to the World Meteorological Organization's (WMO) provisional report, <a href="https://public.wmo.int/en/our-mandate/climate/wmo-statement-state-of-global-climate" target="_blank">The State of the Global Climate 2020</a>, that was released Wednesday, he reiterated that the last decade was the hottest on record, and that ice sheet decline, <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/siberia-heatwave-climate-change/a-54192654" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">permafrost melting</a>, vast climate fires and unprecedented hurricanes were just some of the consequences.</p><p>"Stop the plunder," Guterres added, referring to the ongoing <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/brazil-amazon-deforestation-races-to-12-year-high-under-bolsonaro/a-55779726" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">deforestation</a> that is also fueling climate change. "And start the healing."</p><p>Climate policies have failed to rise to the challenge, Guterres said, noting that emissions in 2020 are 60% higher than in 1990. "We are heading for a temperature rise of 3 to 5 degrees Celsius (by 2100)."</p><p>Yet the secretary-general sees hope for 2021, saying it's time to "build a truly global coalition towards carbon neutrality."</p><p>This goal will require net zero emissions of greenhouse gases by 2050. More than 110 countries are already committed to carbon neutrality by this date, he noted, representing more than 65% of emissions. Central to achieving this goal will be to encourage renewable energy by instituting a carbon price and phasing out fossil fuel financing and subsidies.</p><p>"There is no vaccine for the planet," he said regarding the need to build a global climate action movement.</p>
<h2>Last Six Years Are Six Hottest on Record</h2><p>The WMO state of climate report referenced by Guterres confirms that 2020 is currently placed as the second warmest for the year-to-date when compared to equivalent periods in the past.</p><p>The annual climate scorecard details a litany of symptoms of a heating planet: a high frequency of severe droughts, unparalleled major hurricanes, retreating sea ice, heavy rain and flooding across Asia and Africa and extensive marine heat waves.</p><p>Headlining the global climate report is confirmation in 2020 that global heating is accelerating. Though 2016 remains the warmest year on record to date, it kicked off with a very strong El Niño warm phase, via which hotter oceans elevate global temperatures.</p><p>Four years later, these <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/global-heating-could-pass-key-mark-in-5-years-un/a-54116525" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">peak temperatures</a> have continued, despite a cooler La Niña weather phase that started in September, and comparatively weak El Niño conditions. The global mean temperature for January to October 2020 was around 1.2°C above the 1850–1900 baseline.</p><p>"With 2020 on course to be one of the three warmest years on record, the past six years, 2015–2020, are likely to be the six warmest on record," states the WMO climate report.</p><p>In the <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/siberia-heatwave-climate-change/a-54120019" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Siberian</a> Arctic, temperatures were more than 5 degrees Celsius above average in 2020, reaching as high as 38 Celsius at Verkhoyansk in late June, provisionally the highest known temperature anywhere north of the Arctic Circle.</p><p>"We saw new extreme temperatures on land, sea and especially in the Arctic," said WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas. "Wildfires consumed vast areas in Australia, Siberia, the U.S. West Coast and South America, sending plumes of smoke circumnavigating the globe."</p>
<h2>Despite Pandemic, Greenhouse Gases Still Rising</h2><p>The lockdowns implemented to slow the coronavirus pandemic have only resulted in a "temporary reduction in emissions" in 2020, according to the report. As a result, there will be a "practically indistinguishable" slowing of the fast-increasing CO2 concentrations recorded in 2019.</p><p>Greenhouse gas (GHG) concentrations generated largely by fossil fuel burning reached new highs in 2019, with carbon dioxide (CO2), <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/why-we-should-be-worried-about-methane/a-55241028" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">methane (CH4)</a> and nitrous oxide (N2O) levels rising to a larger degree from 2018 (2.6 parts per million) than the increases from the previous two years.</p><p>"Real-time data from specific locations, including Mauna Loa (Hawaii) and Cape Grim (Tasmania) indicate that levels of CO2, CH4 and N2O continued to increase in 2020," stated the report.</p><p> This increase comes at a time when there should be rapid cuts in emissions in line with the IPCC Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5 °C.</p>
<h2>Global Heating Symptoms Getting Worse</h2><p>The report also notes that sea levels have risen at a higher rate year-on-year due partly to increased melting of ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica.</p><p>Meanwhile, over 80% of the ocean area has experienced at least one marine heat wave in 2020. In addition, 43% of the ocean experienced marine heat waves that were classified as "strong."</p><p>2019 also saw the highest ocean heat content on record.</p><p>Heavy rain and extensive flooding affected large parts of Africa and Asia in 2020, especially across much of the Sahel, the Greater Horn of Africa, the India subcontinent and neighboring areas, China, Korea and Japan. With 30 named storms (as of November 17, 2020), the north Atlantic hurricane season recorded the highest ever number of named storms.</p><p>Moreover, severe drought affected much of the interior of South America in 2020, with the badly affected areas including northern Argentina, Paraguay and western border areas of Brazil.</p><p>"Climate and weather events have triggered significant population movements and have severely affected vulnerable people on the move, including in the Pacific region and Central America," the climate report said.</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/un-chief-antonio-guterres-theres-no-vaccine-for-the-planet/a-55796224?maca=en-VAM_volltext_ecowatch-28485-html-copypaste" target="_blank">DW</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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Tyson Exploits Consumers Just Like Its Animals and the Workers Who Raise Them
03 December
Insights + Opinion
The miserable ones: Young broiler chickens at a feeder. The poor treatment of the chickens within its supply chain has made Tyson the target of public campaigns urging the company to make meaningful changes. U.S. Department of Agriculture / Flickr
By David Coman-Hidy
The actions of the U.S. meat industry throughout the pandemic have brought to light the true corruption and waste that are inherent within our food system. Despite a new wave of rising COVID-19 cases, the U.S. Department of Agriculture recently submitted a proposal to further increase "the maximum slaughter line speed by 25 percent," which was already far too fast and highly dangerous. It has been made evident that the industry will exploit its workers and animals all to boost its profit.
<p>The revelations continued when Tyson Foods, the world's second-largest producer of chicken, beef and pork, cooperated with the Department of Justice to avoid scrutiny into the company's role in the monopolization of the industry to <a href="https://www.fooddive.com/news/new-chicken-price-fixing-indictment-charges-6-more-with-conspiracy/586595/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">fix prices</a> of chicken for both consumers and retailers. This news comes at a time when Tyson has already been <a href="https://talkbusiness.net/2020/06/tyson-foods-reports-199-positive-covid-19-cases-at-springdale-plant/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">under fire</a> for <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2020/04/17/tyson-foods-officials-call-plant-close-over-coronavirus-cases/5158361002/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">exposing</a> its workers to an enormous risk of contracting COVID-19. We can now add competitors and consumers to the ever-growing list of those victimized by the corporate giant. This is further evidence that it's time for our nation's food supply chain to change in a big way.</p>
<p>Tyson Foods former CEO Noel White, <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/08/03/tyson-foods-names-new-ceo-as-coronavirus-raises-costs.html" target="_blank">replaced</a> by Dean Banks in October, rushed to cooperate under the Department of Justice's antitrust leniency program, <a href="https://stjosephpost.com/posts/5ee39382ebfb13423b279658" target="_blank">stating</a>, "I am proud to lead a company that took appropriate and immediate actions in reporting the wrongdoing we discovered to the Department of Justice." What White failed to mention is that cooperating will afford Tyson protection from public scrutiny and legal fines, at the expense of its competitors.</p><p>Unethical business practices seem to be the norm for Tyson Foods. Due to a lack of proper safety measures and harsh attendance policies, <a href="https://www.foodandwine.com/news/10000-tyson-employees-positive-covid-19" target="_blank">more than 10,000 Tyson plant workers</a> tested positive for the virus, substantially more than any other U.S. meat company. Before the pandemic, <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2019/09/04/interview-how-us-making-meatpacking-jobs-even-more-dangerous" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">working on a meat processing line was one of the most dangerous jobs</a> in the United States. Now, with the constant threat of COVID-19 looming over these elbow-to-elbow assembly lines, meat processing may be among the <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/why-meatpacking-plants-have-become-covid-19-hot-spots/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">most deadly</a> jobs in the world. <a href="https://thehumaneleague.org/article/whats-more-essential-workers-lives-or-meat-on-the-table" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Workers</a> are not just getting sick from this virus—they're dying.</p><p>The pandemic has led to <a href="https://www.inddist.com/supply-chain/article/21131454/keough-pandemic-has-caused-supply-chain-disruptions-for-80-of-us-businesses" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">major disruptions in the supply chain</a>. While Tyson has not yet engaged in the mass "<a href="https://thehumaneleague.org/article/emergency-legal-petition-filed-with-usda-to-end-depopulation" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">depopulation</a>" of animals that other producers resorted to, in a typical week, the company slaughters an estimated <a href="https://sentientmedia.org/tyson-foods/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">37 million chickens</a>. The poor treatment of the chickens within its supply chain—including <a href="https://thehumaneleague.org/article/study-reveals-the-chicken-we-eat-live-in-agony" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">breeding</a> birds to grow at such an unnaturally fast rate that they can't even hold up their own bodies—has made Tyson the target of <a href="https://www.change.org/p/tyson-stop-neglecting-workers-animals-and-public-health" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">public campaigns</a> urging the company to make meaningful changes.</p><p>More than 120 labor, food justice, animal welfare and environmental organizations have banded together to <a href="https://thehumaneleague.org/article/120-organizations-target-tyson-foods-for-failing-to-protect-workers-covid19" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">take action against</a> the company. Tyson must take immediate action to protect the safety and well-being of its workers, make improvements to support animal welfare and reduce its harsh impact on the <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2019/01/commission-report-great-food-transformation-plant-diet-climate-change/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">environment</a>.</p><p>For too long, the unethical, avaricious practices of the meat industry have been hidden from view. The scandals surrounding Tyson and other major producers are making clear that vulnerable workers, abused animals and a rigged system are the foundation of an unethical and destructive business model.</p><p>Tyson had a role in creating the industrialized system, and it must step up its role in fixing it. The meat giant has had one singular focus since its inception: profit. The company's greed has caused it to exploit anyone in its path. Tyson's disregard for human and animal life extends to its workers, animals killed in its plants, consumers and now its competitors. Tyson took ownership for rigging the system using price-fixing. It's time for Tyson to take ownership for exploiting and endangering its more vulnerable victims as well.</p><p><a href="https://www.change.org/p/tyson-stop-neglecting-workers-animals-and-public-health" target="_blank"><em>Sign the petition</em></a><em> urging Tyson to stop neglecting workers, animals and public health.</em></p><p><a href="https://actnow.thehumaneleague.org/live-shackle-slaughter/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Sign the petition</em></a><em> urging the U.S. chicken meat industry to end the cruel practice of boiling birds alive.</em></p><p><em> David Coman-Hidy is president of <a href="https://thehumaneleague.org/broken-food-system" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Humane League</a>, a global nonprofit working to fix our broken food system and end the abuse of animals raised for food.</em></p><em><p><em>This article first appeared on </em><a href="https://truthout.org/articles/tyson-exploits-consumers-just-like-its-animals-and-the-workers-who-raise-them/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Truthout</em></a><em> and was produced in partnership with </em><a href="https://independentmediainstitute.org/earth-food-life/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Earth | Food | Life</em></a><em>, a project of the Independent Media Institute.</em></p></em>
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Altamira, state of Para, north of Brazil on Sept. 1, 2019. Amazon rainforest destruction surged between August 2019 and July 2020, Brazil's space agency reported. Gustavo Basso / NurPhoto via Getty Images
According to Brazil's space agency (Inpe), deforestation in the Amazon rainforest has surged to its highest level since 2008, the BBC reported.
<p>Despite Brazil previously setting a goal of slowing the pace of deforestation to 3,900 sq km annually by 2020, deforestation increased 9.5% from last year, and a total of 11,088 sq km (4,281 sq miles) of rainforest was destroyed from August 2019 to July 2020, according to the news report. That area is just smaller than the state of Connecticut, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/30/world/americas/brazil-amazon-rainforest-deforestation.html" target="_blank">The New York Times</a> noted.</p><p>Scientists blame part of this acceleration on far-right Brazilian President <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/jair-bolsonaro" target="_self">Jair Bolsonaro</a>, who was elected on a pro-development promise and took office in Jan. 2019. <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/bolsonaro" target="_self">Bolsonaro</a> encourages agriculture and mining in the world's largest rainforest and has <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/brazil-bolsonaro-bill-open-indigenous-land-2645088985.html" target="_self">actively introduced policies and bills that open up the forest to loggers, ranchers and mining operations</a>. He has also cut critical funding for federal enforcement agencies that police farmers and loggers breaking environmental laws, the BBC reported.</p>
<p>Bolsonaro has simultaneously shunned outside influence from other countries, especially concerning the development of the Amazon. He has been accused of <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/brazil-amazon-deforestation-coronavirus-2645950493.html" target="_self">using the coronavirus shutdowns as a smokescreen</a> to promote more deforestation and exploitation of forest resources. He has argued that he wants to develop the forest's resources to lift the area out of poverty, The New York Times reported.</p><p>As a result, deforestation and forest fires have increased under Bolsonaro's leadership. Fires are often used to clear vegetation from clear-cut areas of the forest to prepare them for illegal cattle-raising and agriculture, the report said.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/bolsonaro-amazon-deforestation-court-2646172097.html" target="_self">Civil society groups and public prosecutors in Brazil filed lawsuits against the Bolsonaro government</a> to stop deforestation, taking issue with the president's reduction of inspections of exported timber and freezing of climate funds that help preserve the forests when other countries use these to offset their carbon emissions.</p><p>The trees in the Amazon are a vital component in the fight against the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change/" target="_self">climate crisis</a> because they absorb billions of tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere each year, The New York Times reported. As the Amazon is cut down, <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/amazon-deforestation-carbon-emissions-2645127492.html?rebelltitem=2#rebelltitem2" target="_self">it is becoming a carbon source instead of one of the world's largest carbon sinks</a>. This will have dire consequences for global temperatures.</p>
<p>The rainforest is also home to roughly three million species of plants and animals and one million indigenous people, the BBC reported. As habitat is lost, many species could be driven to extinction before they are even discovered. Protected tribal lands serve as a buffer against deforestation, and <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/indigenous-tribes-drone-protect-amazon-2647584474.html" target="_self">indigenous tribes survey the land to protect the trees</a>. Their way of life and actual lives are at risk as the forest is cut down.</p><p>Despite the total size of deforested land being at a 12-year high, at least one federal official highlighted the slowing percentage-of-growth figure (9.5%) as a sign of progress because it is far lower than the 34% increase seen in 2019, The New York Times reported.</p><p>"While we are not here to celebrate this, it does signify that the efforts we are making are beginning to bear fruit," Vice President Hamilton Mourão said.</p><p>Environmentalists and scientists disagree and remain skeptical because Bolsonaro has asserted that "deforestation and fires will never end" because they are "cultural," reported <a href="https://www.axios.com/brazil-amazon-deforestation-12-year-high-0a7991c6-68e2-48f3-8a2d-715b49209cad.html" target="_blank">Axios</a>.</p><p>"The [new] figures show that Bolsonaro's plan worked, Brazilian non-governmental organization <a href="http://www.observatoriodoclima.eco.br/en/" target="_blank">Climate Observatory</a> said in a statement, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-brazil-environment/deforestation-in-brazils-amazon-skyrockets-to-12-year-high-under-bolsonaro-idUSKBN28A2RG" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Reuters</a> reported. "They reflect the result of a successful initiative to annihilate the capacity of the Brazilian State and the inspection bodies to take care of our forests and fight crime in the Amazon."</p>
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United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres speaks during a press briefing at United Nations Headquarters on February 4, 2020 in New York City. Angela Weiss / AFP / Getty Images
By Kenny Stancil
"The state of the planet is broken. Humanity is waging war on nature. This is suicidal."
That's how United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres began a Wednesday address at Columbia University, in which he reflected on the past 11 months of extreme weather and challenged world leaders to use the recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic as an opportunity to construct a better world free from destructive greenhouse gas emissions.
<p>Guterres' plea for countries to invest in a more just and sustainable future, transforming the economy and curbing climate change at the same time through the development of renewable energy among other green industries, coincided with the publication of two U.N. reports detailing the relationship between the continued extraction of fossil fuels and 2020's extreme weather.</p><p>In its annual <a href="https://library.wmo.int/doc_num.php?explnum_id=10444" target="_blank">report</a> on the state of the global climate, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said that "global temperatures from January to October were around 1.2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, putting 2020 on track to being one of the<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/10/14/planet-earth-says-noaa-just-had-its-hottest-september-record" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> three warmest years </a>on record," <em>Bloomberg Green</em> <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-12-02/global-temperatures-already-1-2-c-above-pre-industrial-levels" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">reported</a> Wednesday. "This decade will be the hottest on record, with the warmest six years all happening since 2015."</p><p>The <em>Associated Press</em> <a href="https://apnews.com/article/pandemics-climate-climate-change-paris-floods-d144cda34053abbd0758e22d9ff8f7c6" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">noted</a> as well that "the WMO's report found global warming is worsening in all seven key climate indicators, but the problem is increasing human suffering in an already bad year."</p><p>According to the report, "over 50 million people have been <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/08/31/wake-lauras-devastation-and-amid-pandemic-and-heat-wave-calls-emerge-end-climate" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">doubly hit</a> [in 2020]: by climate-related disasters (floods, droughts, and storms) and the Covid-19 pandemic." Guterres <a href="https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/sg/statement/2020-12-02/secretary-generals-address-columbia-university-the-state-of-the-planet-scroll-down-for-language-versions" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">emphasized </a>that "the impacts fall most heavily on the world's most vulnerable people."</p>
<p>"Those who have done the least to cause the problem are suffering the most," the U.N. leader pointed out,<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/12/01/without-climate-action-number-low-income-homes-affected-flooding-projected-triple" target="_blank"> including</a> in the deeply unequal developed world where "the marginalized are the first victims of disasters and the last to recover."</p><p>Guterres summarized the worsening toll of the world's interrelated environmental crises:</p><blockquote>Biodiversity is collapsing. One million species are at risk of extinction. Ecosystems are disappearing before our eyes. Deserts are spreading. Wetlands are being lost. Every year, we lose 10 million hectares of forests. Oceans are overfished—and choking with plastic waste. The carbon dioxide they absorb is acidifying the seas. Coral reefs are bleached and dying. Air and water pollution are killing 9 million people annually—more than six times the current toll of the pandemic. And with people and livestock encroaching further into animal habitats and disrupting wild spaces, we could see more viruses and other disease-causing agents jump from animals to humans. <br></blockquote>
<p>The U.N. leader also spelled out the catastrophic contours of the climate emergency:</p><blockquote>Ocean heat is at record levels. This year, more than 80 percent of the world's oceans experienced marine heatwaves. In the Arctic, 2020 has seen exceptional warmth, with temperatures more than 3 degrees Celsius above average—and more than 5 degrees in northern Siberia. Arctic sea ice in October was the lowest on record—and now re-freezing has been the slowest on record. Greenland ice has continued its long-term decline, losing an average of 278 gigatons a year. Permafrost is melting and so releasing methane, a potent greenhouse gas. Apocalyptic fires and floods, cyclones and hurricanes are increasingly the new normal.<br></blockquote><p>"Covid-19 lockdowns have temporarily reduced emissions and pollution," Guterres added, "but carbon dioxide levels are still at record highs—and <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/11/23/no-time-lose-climate-action-atmospheric-co2-continued-rise-2020-despite-covid-19" target="_blank">rising</a>," along with other greenhouse gases. </p><p>Despite the gravity of the situation, "climate policies have yet to rise to the challenge," the U.N. leader lamented. </p><p>In a special<a href="http://productiongap.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/PGR2020_FullRprt_web.pdf" target="_blank"> report</a> on the production gap—"the discrepancy between countries' planned fossil fuel production and global production levels consistent with limiting warming to 1.5 to 2 degrees Celsius"—researchers from the U.N. Environment Program (UNEP), the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI), and other institutions explained that the world must decrease fossil fuel production by 6 percent per year between 2020 and 2030 to limit catastrophic global warming.</p><p>Instead, countries are planning on increasing fossil fuel production by 2 percent per year, putting the world on pace to burn more than twice the amount of carbon by the end of the decade than deemed compatible with a 1.5 degree Celsius pathway. </p>
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<p>"As we seek to reboot economies following the Covid-19 pandemic, investing in low-carbon energy and infrastructure will be good for jobs, for economies, for health, and for clean air,"<a href="https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/press-release/worlds-governments-must-wind-down-fossil-fuel-production-6-year" target="_blank"> said</a> UNEP executive director Inger Andersen."Governments must seize the opportunity to direct their economies and energy systems away from fossil fuels, and build back better towards a more just, sustainable, and resilient future."</p><p>Ivetta Gerasimchuk, a sustainable energy expert at the International Institute for Sustainable Development and a co-author of the production gap report, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/pandemics-climate-climate-change-paris-floods-d144cda34053abbd0758e22d9ff8f7c6" target="_blank">explained</a> to <em>AP</em> that "investing in oil, coal, and gas no longer makes economic sense because renewable energy is becoming <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/10/13/so-what-are-you-waiting-say-climate-campaigners-after-iea-says-solar-now-cheapest" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">cheaper</a> than fossil fuels," especially after what she <a href="https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/press-release/worlds-governments-must-wind-down-fossil-fuel-production-6-year" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">called</a> "the pandemic-driven demand shock and the plunge of oil prices this year."</p><p>Nevertheless, she <a href="https://apnews.com/article/pandemics-climate-climate-change-paris-floods-d144cda34053abbd0758e22d9ff8f7c6" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">told</a> <em>AP</em>, "We see that instead of governments letting these fossil fuel projects die, they resurrect them from the dead," channeling billions of dollars in public <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/10/01/100-billion-lifeline-while-most-americans-are-being-left-behind-report-details" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">subsidies</a> to the production and consumption of fossil fuels.</p><p>Guterres implored government officials to treat the trillions of dollars being invested in the post-coronavirus crisis recovery process as a <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/11/18/no-vaccine-climate-change-coronavirus-has-been-disastrous-says-red-cross-global" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">mechanism</a> to catapult the world onto a more equitable, inclusive, and sustainable <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/09/world-closing-paris-warming-limit-un-report-makes-case-transformational-action" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">trajectory</a>. </p>
<p>He stated unequivocally that devoting more funds to dirty energy than to clean energy at this pivotal moment in history, which<a href="http://productiongap.org/" target="_blank"> locks in</a> "unsustainable fossil fuel pathways," is an injustice inflicted on future generations as well as society's most vulnerable members who bear the least responsibility for climate risks and disruptions.</p><p>"The science is clear," Guterres <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-55147647" target="_blank">told</a> the <em>BBC</em>. "Unless the world cuts fossil fuel production by 6 percent every year between now and 2030, things will get worse. Much worse."</p><p>The solution, <a href="https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/press-release/worlds-governments-must-wind-down-fossil-fuel-production-6-year" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">said</a> Michael Lazarus, director of the SEI's U.S. Center and a co-author of the report on the production gap, is "government policies that decrease both the demand and supply for fossil fuels and support communities currently dependent on them." </p><p>Gerasimchuk <a href="https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/press-release/worlds-governments-must-wind-down-fossil-fuel-production-6-year" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">acknowledged </a>that "this may be one of the most challenging undertakings of the 21st century, but it's necessary and achievable."</p><p>"It's time," <a href="https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/press-release/worlds-governments-must-wind-down-fossil-fuel-production-6-year" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">said</a> SEI's executive director Måns Nilsson, "to imagine, and plan for, a better future."</p><p>Watch Guterres' entire address here:</p>
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Scaling up offshore renewable energy is one of the ways that governments can improve ocean sustainability efforts. BerndBrueggemann / Getty Images
On Wednesday, governments responsible for 40 percent of the world's coastlines and 20 percent of global fisheries announced a series of new commitments that comprise the world's biggest ocean sustainability initiative.
<p>The <a href="https://newsletter.climatenexus.org/e2t/tc/VW_ypy3S_jgNN9byR2ys4BzfW824bMN4k7sNjN1YBnv93p_8SV1-WJV7CgNTvW9lfXJd8Fkx0GW5DDTkJ49SyXxW1dVD6l3GPhxqW3pj49q59Yv1YN7nnMSZvnSpjW7HfmFt5wwRTrW6mC5VB1wCPgyW6qF3Pg2sCSF-W8z9Mzy5hzzCDVJHN8W53qh_6VdPWX39c5V7wW5tGWbp13HrrCW9kjgt71hRg7MW1blDfF4_LL4bW2Jh8Pw2Jhmx0W1yBYXL3yTLnMV6KD3l8Kq5FrW8_TXGL79rTMpN2K08B9YP9qDW20s99V5wybyfW349WdH7brMdpW8p2dkf4zJQJl35S_1" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">fourteen countries</a>, which combined control an ocean area the size of Africa, committed to sustainably manage their national waters by 2025 and encouraged all other nations to join them by 2030. </p><p>In practice, this means that these governments will pursue a range of strategies, including reducing shipping emissions, reducing marine pollution, scaling up offshore renewable energy, and taking a precautionary approach to deep sea mining. </p><p>"You can't just prosper, prosper, prosper—fish more, drill more," Jane Lubchenco, an environmental scientist, former NOAA administrator, and one of the panel's expert co-chairs, told Fast Company.</p>
<p>"You have to do it in a way that minimizes the impacts on the ecosystem and maximizes the equitable benefit." </p><p>The new sustainable ocean agenda, if achieved worldwide, would dramatically increase food and renewable energy production, and contribute a fifth of the greenhouse gas pollution reductions required to stay within 1.5°C of global warming.</p>
<p><strong>For a deeper dive:</strong></p><p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/dec/02/global-sustainable-fishing-initiative-agreed-by-14-countries?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=101740057&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_UWMXguHF4B8mDRgLMPfsNbTEZWLXr2iO9m1C_OOJ5RXJqUEZCuHm1ZpfkTqtz_kbAuLwIQ2qcG8bXRzcCvZLRun3B0wqw6Hd67TBFFD-5WjQihwk&utm_content=101740057&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>, <a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/90581007/14-countries-launch-a-new-plan-to-achieve-a-sustainable-ocean-economy?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=101740057&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8eHPkod09Lrg8Olfh8Rc8t1dqwdt7DkRJG7ZSBgLdxj50vaR-bmOaOyn7aogHUlftEA3W064mZFANV2PKwax17ZFL0VJx7s51jFvDRHE90ulz_Hfk&utm_content=101740057&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">Fast Company</a>, <a href="https://www.nature.com/immersive/d42859-020-00084-7/index.html?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=101740057&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8aHFAlO_LqaMAAZlXr_dLoOJIoDZOdIrB_yIyCdJUXBS5vynN4PGaVhtwUokL1XYzT7o6MN57Re1x1hQfO6Aq9KzPyiSXNyDRmPsPiKk5ij5morsg&utm_content=101740057&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">Nature,</a> <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/oceans-key-to-solving-climate-crisis-say-world-leaders/a-55789573?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=101740057&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_ascIVyKdy3ucnvJQIbAyxCLhXw2y5t8dkt02FOqfFYZiMl_aOCDpD86z33ei5xjwhXkL-c-DV2vJTWBkZkcFfeieRg77HaIPcPaY77lqwv-1hbc4&utm_content=101740057&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">Deutsche Welle</a>, <a href="https://soundcloud.com/oceanpanel/bbc-world-service-with-pm-solberg-of-norway?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=101740057&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_WkSVHR0EtEthuS5HEYKxTL0MThvp12bEdGOc3BBtkP4BBK_SHhza8_CkpYOg3FRTp1zHD1GAwkxCcuUdu_RvrDWgB7uhS3cJT4pZLGO3hC4zKy0k&utm_content=101740057&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">BBC Radio</a>, <a href="https://www.undercurrentnews.com/2020/12/02/14-nations-commit-to-manage-sustainably-their-waters-by-2025/?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=101740057&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_JundZm7dqs79UkBXFXwOYFOHNuKpGM7ttOVH7QyH3zCxjiibJhyhhi_imQLbWeuRks4_zUEswZjN20kdG03AP6wxEXEqY4HW8jHOFWnNHSZXLdLg&utm_content=101740057&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">Undercurrent News</a>, <a href="https://www.seafoodsource.com/news/environment-sustainability/world-s-biggest-ocean-sustainability-initiative-signed-by-14-countries?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=101740057&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-9lnymFpaQ5SYT7ihvf-KB6OHlRD1h2YmBE2vUI0KGEZjL5JNKaM-trcJpO03T7NxoRmu2KnKeR4PP6N2sjhiDc8GIW_KLgayzH9yciuIYmSPpu214&utm_content=101740057&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">Seafood Source</a>, <a href="https://blog.nationalgeographic.org/2020/12/02/key-fishing-nations-endorse-the-protection-of-30-of-the-ocean/?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=101740057&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--koAEW4Ll_dwV60oqQazyGoxxnw-t1kwDqzskZXHjGG_aJGf9XnyTBlwgRAGfPlEFzRb8bl6A37uGxREfm6sQJEMVamLsel0o2C76_YbURgvBRPuo&utm_content=101740057&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">National Geographic</a>; Commentary: <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-03303-3?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=101740057&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--STJt6CIUuKWYBNapAcJj35oaKn8XqMcBhePyf8rXh3bENLGMVinUwsVuJxIqw2EVfiSAp9kUd6ZcVbgkOJkg1Bya52Iy3sgeep0dfL1WyB6Y6Sp4&utm_content=101740057&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">Nature, Jane Lubchenco, Peter Haugan, Mari Elka Pangestu comment</a>, <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-03302-4?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=101740057&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8T5OTZHQQTzZYnSOW3cS-bSiqCGwcH2PBruHmvxGwH16S4Ku_1BPQekFufmWHoYo7vtcC97aA-VPxrCompd7j-gtGrSfP8GM3_mAiHboxPY1q7ABw&utm_content=101740057&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">Nature, Erna Solberg op-ed</a></p><p><em>For more </em><a href="http://ecowatch.com/climate-change-news/" target="_blank"><em>climate change</em></a><em> and </em><a href="http://ecowatch.com/business/renewables/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>clean energy</em></a><em> news, you can follow Climate Nexus on </em><a href="https://twitter.com/ClimateNexus" target="_blank"><em>Twitter</em></a><em> and </em><a href="https://www.facebook.com/ClimateNexus/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Facebook</em></a><em>, and sign up for daily </em><a href="http://climatenexus.us4.list-manage1.com/subscribe?u=d1f5797e59060083034310930&id=7c84c08aaa" target="_blank"><em>Hot News</em></a><em>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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Sheep like these will no longer be exported from England and Wales for slaughter under a proposed ban. Chris Jackson / Getty Images
The UK has taken steps toward becoming the first European country to ban the export of live animals for slaughter.
<p>Environment Secretary George Eustice announced the new plans Thursday, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/dec/03/uk-to-become-first-country-in-europe-to-ban-live-animal-exports" target="_blank">The Guardian reported</a>. The ban would fulfill a campaign promise from the ruling Conservative Party, <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-55167473" target="_blank">BBC News explained</a>.</p><p>"We are committed to improving the welfare of animals at all stages of life," Eustice told <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/live-animal-export-ban-uk-defra-b1765196.html" target="_blank">The Independent</a>. "Today marks a major step forward in delivering on our manifesto commitment to end live exports for slaughter."</p><p>The ban would apply to live animals exported for slaughter from England and Wales, BBC News reported. The plan will first undergo an eight-week consultation period that will cover how to improve animal welfare during transport within the UK. The results will be presented to Parliament in the summer of 2021 and should go into effect by the end of 2021.</p>
<p>The plan already includes a few exceptions. Animals will still be exported from Northern Ireland, and the export of poultry or animals intended for breeding will not be covered by the ban, according to The Guardian. The results of the eight-week consultation will be used to discuss a joint ban with Scotland.</p><p>The announcement won wide praise from UK <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/animal-welfare" target="_self">animal welfare</a> groups. Both the <a href="https://www.rspca.org.uk/" target="_blank">RSPCA</a> and <a href="https://www.ciwf.org.uk/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Compassion in World Farming</a> told The Independent that they had campaigned against the practice for more than 50 years.</p><p>"There is absolutely no reasonable justification to subject an animal to an unnecessarily stressful journey abroad simply for them to be fattened for slaughter," RSPCA chief executive Chris Sherwood told The Independent. "Ending live exports for slaughter and further fattening would be a landmark achievement for animal welfare."</p>
<p>The government stressed that the proposed ban was made possible by Brexit.</p><p>"Now that we have left the EU, we have an opportunity to end this unnecessary practice. We want to ensure that animals are spared stress prior to slaughter," Eustice told The Independent.</p><p>In 2012, for example, a local government in Kent tried to ban the practice after a truck full of lame sheep was discovered at a port and had to be put to sleep, BBC News reported. However, the High Court ruled that the ban violated EU free trade laws.</p><p>"The government has long maintained that exporting live animals was a practice which could be ended as a result of Brexit — a good example of where leaving the EU would bring benefits," BBC political correspondent Helen Catt wrote. "No surprise then that it is keen to deliver on it fully."</p>
<p>The government has also promised a number of other post-Brexit animal protection measures.</p><p>"This announcement marks the start of renewed efforts from government to raise standards on animal welfare even further now we are outside the EU, including taking steps to ban primates as pets and crack down on the illegal smuggling of dogs and puppies, with further proposals to improve standards and eradicate cruel practices expected to be set out in the coming months," the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said in a statement, The Independent reported.</p><p>However, a <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/brexit-environment-risk-2559682645.html?share_id=3522712" target="_self">2018 analysis</a> from <a href="https://friendsoftheearth.uk/" target="_blank">Friends of the Earth</a> found that Brexit was likely to weaken environmental regulations overall in both the UK and the EU.</p>
<p>Yet there are also moves within the EU to restrict the practice of animal export, according to The Guardian. In September the Dutch suggested that animal transport should be limited, and a European parliamentary committee on the protection of animals during transport has been holding hearings since October.</p><p>Animal welfare groups in the EU also responded favorably to the news of the proposed UK ban.</p><p>"This is great news, it is far too stressful to export live animals for slaughter," Iris Baumgaertner from Germany's Animal Welfare Foundation told The Guardian.</p>
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A group of climate activists that have been cycling from the North of the country in stages to draw attention to the climate case are arriving to the Court of Justice on the day that the climate lawsuit against Shell starts in The Hague, on December 1st, 2020. Romy Arroyo Fernandez / NurPhoto / Getty Images
By Julia Conley
Representing more than 17,000 claimants who support climate action, the international organization Friends of the Earth on Tuesday opened its case against fossil fuel giant Shell at The Hague by demanding that a judge order the corporation to significantly reduce its carbon emissions in the next decade.
<p>Milieudefensie, the Dutch arm of Friends of the Earth, <a href="https://www.euronews.com/2020/12/01/climate-change-activists-take-energy-giant-shell-to-court-in-the-hague-over-emissions" target="_blank">says</a> Shell has broken the law in The Netherlands by knowingly standing in the way of the country's phase-out of fossil fuels. Shell says it has set a goal of cutting its emissions to net zero by 2050, but the group is demanding a more rapid reduction. </p><p>"We are relying on the Dutch courts to protect communities around the globe," tweeted Nils Mollema, a policy advisor at ActionAid, which is supporting Milieudefensie in the case. </p>
<div id="47348" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="5afbc9986f5a700bcaa4f88e3046024b"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1333715559301713922" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Today in The Hague: Shell on trial for its role in climate catastrophe. @Shell must take responsibility and correct… https://t.co/siy20sVKxF</div> — Nils Mollema (@Nils Mollema)<a href="https://twitter.com/MollemaNils/statuses/1333715559301713922">1606817543.0</a></blockquote></div><p>The case comes five years after the Dutch government was ordered to reduce its emissions by at least 25% from 1990 levels by the end of 2020. Under the Paris climate agreement, the European Union has committed to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by at least 40% by 2030.</p><p>"The claimants therefore conclude that Royal Dutch Shell's corporate policy is on collision course with global climate targets," Roger Cox, a lawyer representing Milieudefensie in the civil case, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/dutch-climate-activists-take-shell-to-court-over-emissions/2020/12/01/ed68d494-33ac-11eb-9699-00d311f13d2d_story.html" target="_blank">told</a> a panel of three judges at The Hague District Court on Tuesday. </p><p>The organization has vehemently rejected Shell's defense in the case, in which the multinational corporation is suggesting that it is no more responsible for solving the climate emergency than other businesses or individuals.</p><p>"What will accelerate the energy transition is effective policy, investment in technology, and changing customer behavior," Shell <a href="https://www.euronews.com/2020/12/01/climate-change-activists-take-energy-giant-shell-to-court-in-the-hague-over-emissions" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">said</a> Tuesday as the first of four days of hearings began. "None of which will be achieved with this court action."</p><p>Cox noted in his opening remarks that Shell is responsible for about 1.2% of the planet's industrial fossil fuel emissions.</p><p>"The main argument of Shell is that everybody is responsible: the consumer, the state, the international community, everybody is responsible except Shell, except the biggest polluter of the Netherlands, one of the 10 biggest polluters in the world," said Donald Pols, director of Milieudefensie, on Monday. "And we are going to change that."</p><p>The case opened a month after Shell drew outrage from climate action campaigners by <a href="https://twitter.com/Shell/status/1323184318735360001" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">posting a poll </a>on its official Twitter account, asking ordinary citizens what they plan to do to help mitigate the climate crisis. </p><p>"I'm willing to hold you accountable for lying about climate change for 30 years when you secretly knew the entire time that fossil fuels emissions would destroy our planet," U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/11/02/shell-oil-asked-what-people-are-willing-do-reduce-emissions-im-willing-hold-you" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">replied</a> at the time, denouncing the company's "audacity."</p><p>On Monday, Pols called the opening of the case at The Hague "a historic moment."</p><p>"This is actually 'the People versus Shell,' a company that has got away with greenwashing for too long," he said in statement. "This case will make it clear to everyone that more than 95% of what Shell does is causing dangerous climate change. This has to change as soon as possible."</p><p><span></span><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/12/01/friends-earth-vs-shell-historic-moment-climate-movement-takes-big-oil-hague" target="_blank">Common Dreams</a>. </em></p>
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