Weeds dying in a soybean field impacted by dicamba spraying. JJ Gouin / iStock / Getty Images
A federal court overturned the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) approval of dicamba Wednesday, meaning the controversial herbicide can no longer be sprayed in the U.S.
<p>The product, originally designed by <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/monsanto" target="_self">Monsanto</a>, is opposed by some farmers and environmental groups because it can drift when sprayed, damaging <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/wildlife" target="_self">wildlife</a> and other crops.</p><p>"Today's decision is a massive win for farmers and the environment. It is good to be reminded that corporations like Monsanto and the Trump Administration cannot escape the rule of law, particularly at a time of crisis like this," lead counsel George Kimbrell of the <a href="http://salsa3.salsalabs.com/o/1881/p/salsa/web/common/public/signup?signup_page_KEY=10186" target="_blank">Center for Food Safety</a> told <a href="https://usrtk.org/pesticides/court-orders-epa-approvals-of-bayer-dicamba-herbicide-vacated-says-regulator-understated-the-risks/" target="_blank">U.S. Right to Know</a>. "Their day of reckoning has arrived."</p>
<p>The Center for Food Safety sued the EPA together with <a href="https://nffc.net/" target="_blank">National Family Farm Coalition</a>, <a href="https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/" target="_blank">Center for Biological Diversity</a> and <a href="http://www.panna.org/" target="_blank">Pesticide Action Network North America</a>. The groups argued that the EPA broke the law when it ruled on the safety of a kind of dicamba designed by Monsanto to be sprayed widely over crops genetically engineered to be resistant to the herbicide. This method means the dicamba can drift to other, non-resistant crops.</p><p>The herbicide is believed to have damaged 3.6 million acres of soybeans in 2017, and more than 1 million in 2018, <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-06-03/bayer-s-dicamba-registration-pulled-by-court-on-herbicide-s-risk" target="_blank">Bloomberg News reported</a>.</p><p>The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that the EPA "substantially understated the risks" of the herbicides and also "failed entirely to acknowledge other risks," according to U.S. Right to Know.</p>
<iframe width="100%" height="150" scrolling="no" class="rm-shortcode twitter-embed-1268328882094116872" id="twitter-embed-1268328882094116872" lazy-loadable="true" src="/res/community/twitter_embed/?iframe_id=twitter-embed-1268328882094116872&created_ts=1591228144.0&screen_name=careygillam&text=The+court+found+%40EPA+refused+to+estimate+the%0Aamount+of+dicamba+damage%2C+characterizing+such+damage+as+%E2%80%9Cpotential%E2%80%9D+an%E2%80%A6+https%3A%2F%2Ft.co%2Fev2bah3opD&id=1268328882094116872&name=carey+gillam" frameborder="0" data-rm-shortcode-id="77896b9baa08d7fa5905f98e506d5e7f"></iframe>
<p>One of the risks the EPA failed to acknowledge was the "enormous social cost to farming communities" where the herbicide's use "has turned farmer against farmer, and neighbor against neighbor," the court wrote, according to Bloomberg. A farmer was shot and killed because of a dicamba-related argument in Arkansas in 2016.</p><p>The ruling impacts the dicamba-based herbicide sold by <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/bayer" target="_self">Bayer</a>, which acquired Monsanto in 2018. It also prohibits the use of BASF's Engenia and Corteva Agriscience's FeXapan, <a href="https://uk.mobile.reuters.com/article/amp/idUKKBN23B0JA" target="_blank">Reuters reported</a>.</p><p>Bayer told Reuters that the ruling impacted a 2018 EPA approval that expires in December and that it is currently at work on a new 2021 approval.</p><p>"Depending upon actions by the EPA and whether the ruling is successfully challenged, we will work quickly to minimize any impact on our customers this season," Bayer said.</p>
<p>The ruling comes around four months after a jury ruled against Bayer and BASF and in favor of a Missouri farmer who said the companies' dicamba products destroyed his peach orchard, according to Bloomberg.</p><p>That was the first of around 140 pending dicamba suits awaiting trial.</p><p>The dicamba suits are not the only suits Bayer inherited when it acquired Monsanto, Reuters pointed out. Wednesday's dicamba decision came days after arguments were heard in an appeal of the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/jury-finds-monsanto-liable-in-the-first-roundup-cancer-trial--2595446068.html" target="_self">first</a> case to go to trial over whether or not the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/glyphosate" target="_self">glyphosate-based</a> weedkiller <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/roundup" target="_self">Roundup</a> causes cancer.</p>
From Your Site Articles
- Bayer and BASF Ordered to Pay $265 Million to U.S. Peach Farmer ... ›
- Trump's EPA Backs Bayer's Appeal in Roundup Verdict Appeal ... ›
- 'Dangerous Drift-Prone Pesticide' Threatens Millions of Acres ... ›
Related Articles Around the Web
Read More
Show Less
Sockeye salmon are seen swimming at a fish farm. Natalie Fobes / Getty Images
By Peter Beech
Using waste food to farm insects as fish food and high-tech real-time water quality monitoring: innovations that could help change global aquaculture, were showcased at the World Economic Forum's Virtual Ocean Dialogues 2020.
<p>Two young entrepreneurs addressed a breakout session of the event called <em>Harnessing the Power of Innovation to Achieve SDG14.</em> Syrine Chaalala, co-founder of the French-Tunisian company <a href="http://nextprotein.co/" target="_blank">nextProtein</a>, and Charlotte Dupont, co-founder of the French company <a href="https://www.bioceanor.com/products-and-services" target="_blank">BiOceanOr</a>, revealed the ideas that drove their rapidly accelerating startups.</p><p>Chalaala's nextProtein uses food waste to mass-produce insect protein to feed farmed fish in place of fishmeal – the production of which, often from corporate fisheries' by-catch, can lead to the depletion of ecosystems and the collapse of local fisheries. As our demand for farmed fish is growing 8% a year, her innovation could play a vital role in reducing the knock-on impact of aquaculture on the ocean.</p><p>She said that farming insects requires a fraction of the space as animal feed production – 100 square meters (1,076 square feet) of space can produce as much protein as 100 hectares (247 acres) of soy field.</p><p>"Because we wanted to have maximum impact, we wanted to provide solutions to other problems," said Chalaala, naming food waste and land scarcity as two key issues her business tackles. "Here, we can convert 20 kilos (44 pounds) of food waste into 1 kilo (2 pounds) of product."</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzM2NjM0OS9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTU5ODgwNzI4Mn0.97Q4mo_iOgbdUuiRS35PKdK1-e0QKv8C3-ewjkAmhTg/img.png?width=980" id="e712b" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="94432f70b397eba50b44653468421d60" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Fly fishing. nextProtein
<p>The method uses vertical farming, little energy and almost no water – testament, said session host Christian Lim of <a href="https://www.blueoceanspartners.com/" target="_blank">Blue Oceans Partners</a>, to the efficiency of the insects at thriving on low input. The insect nextProtein uses is the Black Soldier Fly, selected due to its high-yield quality, and the ease of processing it into powder, oil and fertilizer. Her business is aiming to produce 100,000 tonnes of insect protein annually by 2025 – or around 10% of the insect meal market.</p><p>Meanwhile Charlotte Dupont and her colleagues at BiOceanOr have developed what they term "the first underwater weather station for real-time monitoring of water quality." One of its many applications is for fish farmers who aren't yet monitoring their water quality in real time.</p><p>She painted a picture of an industry that is only reluctantly changing, with water quality largely still monitored by hand. Since this process is time-consuming and arduous, it's generally done only once a day. But once the firm's underwater 'weather-stations' are installed, farmers can get a moment-by-moment grasp on conditions for their stock.</p><p>"Our first customer called us a few days later to tell us our tool wasn't working – the oxygen levels couldn't be so low," she said. But the equipment was fine: the unprecedented readings had thrown him. He was used to taking his readings only once a day, in the late morning, and had no idea how low oxygen levels could get overnight.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzM2NjM1My9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxMTIyMTUyNn0.x-eiOr4B5_0GZvmVnYiD0YYGyDR32PO0YJ0H-3tFrzM/img.png?width=980" id="b4249" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="8a25143f13bdf53b3e5fdfd0833eaf7c" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
BiOceanOr's AquaREAL system. BiOceanOr
<p>"There are a lot of aquaculturists who don't realize right now the power of real-time monitoring," said Dupont. "It's a knowledge that they transmit from generation to generation, like agriculture a century ago: 'I know it because my father knows it.' They think there's nothing you can learn from tools, but just as in agriculture, there's a lot you can learn."</p><p>"I think data will be really central in the future," said Dupont, predicting a future where people subscribe to the water forecast just as today they subscribe to a weather forecast.</p><p>"With sensitive ecosystems like reefs and coastal systems, people will be able to subscribe to the data and see what is going on," she said. These water-quality forecasts will play a vital role in protecting ocean health.</p><p>Their session provided a short but telling insight into two crucial innovations in aquaculture as we set a course for a sustainable blue economy in the post-COVID-19 era. For more from the Virtual Ocean Dialogues 2020, you can access the whole event <a href="https://www.weforum.org/events/virtual-ocean-dialogues-2020/" target="_blank">here</a>.</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/06/virtual-ocean-dialogues-water-forecasting-fish-farms-waste-innovation-blue-economy/" target="_blank">World Economic Forum</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
- Environmental Innovation Will Transform Business as Usual ... ›
- How an Army of Ocean Farmers Is Starting an Economic Revolution ... ›
- 3 Innovations Leading the Fight to Save Our Ocean - EcoWatch ›
- 3 Innovations Leading the Fight to Save Our Ocean ›
Related Articles Around the Web
Read More
Show Less
EcoWatch Daily Newsletter
The Pile River flows into the northern end of Lake Iliamna. The lake and its tributaries are the headwaters of the Bristol Bay region, one of the richest salmon fisheries in the world. Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) wrote a letter to the Army Corps of Engineers last week to say that it would not oppose or put a stop to a huge copper and gold mine near the world's largest sockeye salmon fishery, as The Washington Post reported.
<p>The Pebble Mine, a vast copper and gold deposit, is worth an estimated $500 billion in natural resources. However, it is in the Bristol Bay region of southwest <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/alaska">Alaska</a>, a resource that brings in $1.5 billion annually and provides a vital food source for thousands of Alaska Native residents who live there, according to <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/alaska-pebble-mine-bristol-bay/" target="_blank">PBS</a>. An effort to build the mine at the heart of the Bristol Bay watershed has been an ongoing fight in Alaska.</p><p>The project was seemingly dead in 2012, but it got a new lease on life with the <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/trump-watch/">Trump</a> administration when the Pebble Partnership filed for a permit with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in late 2017. The EPA has raised many concerns about the project, saying that it may result in substantial and unacceptable impacts to "aquatic resources of national importance," as <a href="https://www.alaskapublic.org/2020/05/28/in-showdown-over-pebble-mine-epa-blinks/" target="_blank">Alaska Public Media</a> reported.</p>
<p>In response, the Army Corps of Engineers announced what that the least damaging way to bring the ore out of the mine would be to take it out around the north side of Lake Iliamna, according to <a href="https://www.alaskapublic.org/2020/05/28/in-showdown-over-pebble-mine-epa-blinks/" target="_blank">Alaska Public Media</a>.</p><p>Christopher Hladick, the EPA's regional administrator for Alaska and the Pacific Northwest, wrote to the Alaska district engineer, Col. David Hibner, that the agency's serious concerns about the plan continued. He noted that the concerns include the fact that dredging for the open pit mine "may well contribute to the permanent loss of 2,292 acres of wetlands and ... 105.4 miles of streams," as <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2020/05/29/epa-opts-not-delay-controversial-alaska-mine-now/" target="_blank">The Washington Post</a> reported.</p><p>The EPA will still have the authority to veto the project, but the latest letter makes it unlikely to do so.</p>
<p>Mark Ryan, a lawyer in private practice who served as regional counsel in EPA Region 10 between 1990 and 2014, told <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2020/05/29/epa-opts-not-delay-controversial-alaska-mine-now/" target="_blank">The Washington Post</a> that the EPA's letter appears contradictory.</p><p>"It's a very odd letter," Ryan said. "It points out the mine's very serious environmental damage but then does not invoke EPA's powers to elevate the issue for further discussion."</p><p>"Today's decision ... gives us more reason to believe that there will be no veto," Pebble CEO Tom Collier said in a written statement, as <a href="https://www.alaskapublic.org/2020/05/28/in-showdown-over-pebble-mine-epa-blinks/" target="_blank">Alaska Public Media</a> reported. "This is consistent with our observation that (the Corps) and EPA, and the other cooperating agencies, have been working well together to resolve all outstanding issues."</p>
<p>Opponents of the project argue that the mine will damage the salmon, which are critical for the economy, for sustenance and for the region's cultural heritage.</p><p>"There are still many substantive issues with the project proposal that have yet to be resolved," said Daniel Cheyette, the vice president of Bristol Bay Native Corp., whose Alaska Native corporation opposes the mine, which would be the largest in North America, as <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2020/05/29/epa-opts-not-delay-controversial-alaska-mine-now/" target="_blank">The Washington Post</a> reported.</p>
<p>While the Army Corps of Engineers has said the mine will have minimal impact on the salmon, environmental groups strongly disagree.</p><p>"It's about four times larger than the largest mine the EPA said that it was willing to consider for permitting," said Joel Reynolds of the Natural Resources Defense Council, to <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/alaska-pebble-mine-bristol-bay/" target="_blank">PBS</a>. "The notion that the contaminants can be contained in any reliable fashion in that kind of environment has never been proven, never been tested, and in the judgment of virtually any independent scientist, simply can't be done."</p>
From Your Site Articles
- Trump Pushed for Mining Project That Could Destroy Alaska Salmon ... ›
- The Resource War Over Pebble Mine in Alaska's Bristol Bay ›
- 'The Wrong Mine in the Wrong Place': Former Republican EPA ... ›
Related Articles Around the Web
Read More
Show Less
The office of Rover.com sits empty with employees working from home due to the coronavirus pandemic on March 12 in Seattle, Washington. John Moore / Getty Images
The office may never look the same again. And the investment it will take to protect employees may force many companies to go completely remote. That's after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued new recommendations for how workers can return to the office safely.
<p>If companies choose to follow the guidelines, it would lead to a dramatic change in the corporate work experience, and likely increase pollution. One of the most striking features of the recommendations is that they upend years of environmental activism that urged people to take public transportation or car-pool. The new recommendations suggest avoiding public transportation and driving to work alone, as <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/28/health/cdc-coronavirus-offices.html" target="_blank">The New York Times</a> reported.</p>
<p>The CDC's new recommendations suggest making this cost-effective. "Offer employees incentives to use forms of transportation that minimize close contact with others, such as offering reimbursement for parking for commuting to work alone or single-occupancy rides," the guidelines say.</p><p>However, the guidelines did not address the environmental impact of such policies or the health impacts from increasing traffic congestion.</p>
<p>Besides making the commute a lonelier and less environmentally friendly, the guidelines also make the office environment lonelier. The CDC recommends placing workers six feet apart. If that's not possible, then companies should erect plastic shields around desks, remove seats in common areas, and avoid perks like coffee machines and snack bins that encourage communal activities and many people touching them, according to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/28/health/cdc-coronavirus-offices.html" target="_blank">The New York Times</a>.</p><p>In another environmentally damaging recommendation, the CDC does leave room for replacing those items with pre-packaged single-serve coffee and snacks.</p><p>"Replace high-touch communal items, such as coffee pots, water coolers, and bulk snacks, with alternatives such as prepackaged, single-serving items," the <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/office-buildings.html" target="_blank">guidelines</a> say.</p>
<p>The guidelines also address the technical aspects of the office. The CDC recommends employers ensure that building ventilation systems are operating properly. It also encourages allowing as much fresh air as possible by opening windows and doors, when feasible, to "increase circulation of outdoor air as much as possible," as <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/health/amid-coronavirus-cdc-offers-guidelines-on-office-reopenings" target="_blank">Fox News</a> reported.</p><p>The guidelines also eliminate many office norms and pleasantries that were once common place. The guidelines tell employers to "[p]rohibit handshaking, hugs, and fist bumps." It also recommends that employees wear a cloth face mask "in all areas of the business," as <a href="https://www.axios.com/cdc-guidelines-coronavirus-office-business-jobs-ab19791a-357e-412a-9a5d-516f78610b4c.html" target="_blank">Axios</a> reported.</p><p>The guidelines encourage daily health checks, including temperature screenings before employees enter the workplace, and to send home sick workers. Then the office should go through enhanced cleaning and disinfection, as <a href="https://www.axios.com/cdc-guidelines-coronavirus-office-business-jobs-ab19791a-357e-412a-9a5d-516f78610b4c.html" target="_blank">Axios</a> reported.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/28/health/cdc-coronavirus-offices.html" target="_blank">The New York Times</a> noted that many white-collar offices have successfully transitioned to a fully distributed workforce and are finding that their office environment is able to continue through video conferencing and Slack channels. With that in mind, companies might find the cost of putting protective measures in place too steep, or they might find that isolation in the office makes it difficult to recruit and retain talent. Businesses may decide to allow their workers to stay home.</p><p>Already companies like Twitter and Square have decided that their employees never need to come back to the office.</p><p>"Companies, surprisingly, don't want to go back to work," said Russell Hancock, president and CEO of Joint Venture Silicon Valley, a nonprofit think tank, to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/28/health/cdc-coronavirus-offices.html" target="_blank">The New York Times</a>. "You will not see the drum beat and hue and cry and rush to get back to the office."</p>
From Your Site Articles
- Trump Admin Rejects CDC Reopening Guidelines - EcoWatch ›
- Trump Labor Department Encourages States to Report Workers ... ›
- White House Ordered Coronavirus Meetings Be Classified - EcoWatch ›
Related Articles Around the Web
Read More
Show Less
Jackson Family Wines in California discovered that a huge amount of carbon pollution was caused by manufacturing wine bottles. Edsel Querini / Getty Images
Before you pour a glass of wine, feel the weight of the bottle in your hand. Would you notice if it were a few ounces lighter? Jackson Family Wines is betting that you won't.
<iframe style="border: none" src="//html5-player.libsyn.com/embed/episode/id/14386703/height/45/theme/standard/thumbnail/yes/direction/backward/" height="45" width="100%" scrolling="no" allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen oallowfullscreen msallowfullscreen></iframe>
<p>The California winery started analyzing its carbon pollution in 2008.</p><p>"For us it was really eye opening," says Julien Gervreau, vice president of sustainability.</p><p>He says they discovered that a huge amount of carbon pollution was caused by manufacturing wine bottles.</p><p>"The big 'aha moment' that we saw around our emissions was really with glass," he says. "When you look at the supply chain for glass, it's a pretty energy- and emissions-intensive process."</p>
<p>So now, the winery not only invests in renewable energy and efficiency, it's reduced the weight of each glass bottle of its Kendall-Jackson and La Crema Lines by a couple ounces.</p><p>"And in addition to emissions savings, we saw a pretty significant financial savings associated with having to buy less glass," Gervreau says.</p><p>The winery was careful to avoid affecting the bottles' look and feel, and Gervreau says customers have not complained. Meanwhile, shipping and sales clerks appreciate lifting lighter cases.</p><p>So cheers! Here's to lighter wine bottles. And don't worry, there's still the same amount of wine inside.</p>
<p class=""><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.yaleclimateconnections.org/2020/05/california-winery-finds-a-clever-way-to-cut-carbon-pollution/" target="_blank">Yale Climate Connections</a>.</em></p>
Read More
Show Less
The SpaceX crew capsule will launch out of Cape Canaveral, Florida. SpaceX
After a minor setback, a new era in space travel and tourism is set to launch this weekend.
<p>On Wednesday, a <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/spacex" target="_self">SpaceX</a> rocket launch carrying NASA astronauts was postponed 16 minutes before liftoff due to weather concerns.</p><p>"We had simply too much electricity," said Jim Bridenstine, NASA administrator, to <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-52809664" target="_blank">BBC</a>. "There was a concern that if we did launch, it could actually trigger lightning."</p><p>They will try again at 3:22 p.m. EDT on Saturday, May 30 and on Sunday, May 31 should the former also get scrapped.</p><p>The joint-mission, <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/feature/nasa-s-spacex-demo-2-briefings-events-and-broadcasts" target="_blank">Demo-2</a>, will make history as the first-ever manned commercial space flight and will take place in SpaceX's spacecraft "Crew Dragon."</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzM0OTI0OS9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0MDM5ODk3MH0.u837y0JZgcAG-_e0DLTNW9bn9LG0uqUwi00DKl7tzac/img.png?width=980" id="6cf6d" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="0908068303f5758667a1bded49a27f69" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
When the SpaceX shuttle launches its private spacecraft, the Crew Dragon, with NASA astronauts in tow, it will mark the beginning of commercialized space exploration. SpaceX
<p>The endeavor is actually a groundbreaking public-private partnership between NASA and SpaceX, who both hope the collaboration will further open up the universe of space exploration, literally.</p><p>In 2011, NASA retired its aging space shuttle program. Since then, the U.S. hasn't launched its own astronauts into space, booking them tickets instead to train on and launch from Russia's Soyuz spacecraft, reported <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/26/tech/spacex-nasa-launch-may-27-scn/index.html" target="_blank">CNN</a>.</p><p>When the Crew Dragon launches, it will mark the return of America's ability to launch its own astronauts into space.</p>
<p>"When we launch from America with a rocket built in America by an American company who's only been flying vehicles for the last decade or so, that is a success story straight out of the movies," said Douglas Hurley, one of the two NASA astronauts manning the mission, reported <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rokzTKl8FDo" target="_blank">NBC News</a>. "The Russians have been great partners, but it's important for the United States to have its own launch capabilities."</p><p>NASA hopes that its partnership with SpaceX will also usher in a new commercial marketplace for low-Earth orbit transportation.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzM0OTM4MS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzOTYzMjI0MH0.Mt22Fatx1PdZxG97qDA5jheIoaf3zlferTiYyvqqllM/img.jpg?width=980" id="e9091" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="7cd4a685e37b624699cdf2e2d25fee3a" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken will man the SpaceX Crew Dragon to the International Space Station. NASA
<p>Rather than finance a replacement for the Space Shuttle, NASA has created the <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/exploration/commercial/crew/index.html" target="_blank">Commercial Crew Program</a> to outsource "safe, reliable, and cost-effective transportation" of cargo and crew to and from the International Space Station (ISS) to the private sector. The underlying objective was to free up <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/updates-to-coverage-of-landmark-nasa-spacex-commercial-crew-test-flight" target="_blank">NASA</a>'s time and resources for deeper space exploration, reported <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/26/tech/spacex-nasa-launch-may-27-scn/index.html" target="_blank">CNN</a>.</p><p>"NASA has an ability to be a customer in a very robust commercial marketplace in low-Earth orbit," Bridenstine told <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rokzTKl8FDo" target="_blank">NBC News</a>. The top NASA official also envisioned a future where that marketplace is "entirely commercialized," where NASA is "one customer of many customers," and where numerous providers continue to compete on cost, innovation and safety, reported <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-52809664" target="_blank">BBC</a>.</p>
<p>SpaceX senior advisor Garrett Reisman told <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_SrhPnffNs" target="_blank">Bloomberg</a> that the "new venture" is a different model from what the space agency has used in the past. Private companies can now retain their intellectual property and own and operate the new technology, a huge upside for innovators.</p><p>"It's also the beginning of a whole new age, a whole golden age of commercial space flight," he continued, reported Bloomberg. "One of the things that is different is the fact that NASA doesn't own the Falcon 9 [rocket] and Dragon [spacecraft]; SpaceX does. So after this mission is over, we can use the same rocket, the same spacecraft to take ordinary citizens up into space. It's opening up all kinds of new possibilities."</p>
<p>The outsourcing has potentially saved taxpayers $20-30 billion dollars, Reisman estimated, reported Bloomberg. While seats on the Soyuz cost NASA up to $86 million each, Crew Dragon seats cost the agency roughly $55 million each for this mission, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/26/tech/spacex-nasa-launch-may-27-scn/index.html" target="_blank">CNN</a> found. According to CEO <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/elon-musk" target="_self">Elon Musk</a>, filling all seven seats in the SpaceX capsule will lower costs to $20 million per astronaut, reported <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-05-27/spacex-nasa-flight-to-iss-opens-up-space-tourism,-moon-and-mars/12290080" target="_blank">ABC News</a>.</p><p>With the successful completion of this last test mission, which is also SpaceX's first flight with humans aboard ever, the company will have the green light to ferry crew to the ISS regularly starting in August or September, reported ABC News.</p><p>"This is a huge milestone for NASA, for the country, and for SpaceX, but there will be other milestones after this," Reisman told <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_SrhPnffNs" target="_blank">Bloomberg</a>. He said it is "extremely realistic" that the Crew Dragon will be used to fly private citizens into space in 2021.</p>
<p>"This era of commercial space travel and space tourism is literally right around the corner," he added, reported Bloomberg.</p><p>Musk will continue to seek out potential new clients for his budding space transport business, perhaps space tourists looking for a <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/elon-musk-mars-plan-2492016693.html" target="_self">quick getaway to the Moon or Mars</a>, reported Bloomberg.</p><p>The news report also found that SpaceX's success has catalyzed the competition, with <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/quote/BA:US" target="_blank">Boeing</a> also gearing up to carry astronauts to orbit under the same NASA Commercial Crew Program. New market entrants like Blue Origin, financed by Amazon.com Inc. founder Jeff Bezos, are trying to <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/spacex-recycled-rocket-elon-musk-2338284296.html" target="_self">cut costs using reusable rockets</a>, a strategy Musk is also exploring.</p>
<p>"We're standing at the threshold of all of this commercial activity in space," said Wayne Hale, who led NASA's space shuttle program, reported Bloomberg. "One of the whole points of this exercise is to build a commercial business that can go on and do things in space that are not funded by the taxpayer, that actually create wealth and jobs."</p><p>After launch, Hurley and Robert Behnken, the other NASA astronaut, will spend roughly 19 hours aboard the Crew Dragon before arriving at the ISS, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/26/tech/spacex-nasa-launch-may-27-scn/index.html" target="_blank">CNN</a> reported. They will stay in space to staff the ISS for anywhere from 30 to 110 days, according to NASA. Then, the SpaceX Crew Dragon will return on its second manned mission with fresh crew and to bring the veteran astronauts back to Earth, CNN reported.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Meet the NASA astronauts that will make history with <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/LaunchAmerica?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#LaunchAmerica</a> SpaceX flight <a href="https://t.co/PqKHxUsjbg">pic.twitter.com/PqKHxUsjbg</a></p>— Bloomberg QuickTake (@QuickTake) <a href="https://twitter.com/QuickTake/status/1265426021521686529?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 26, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
From Your Site Articles
- SpaceX Launches and Lands World's First Recycled Rocket ... ›
- Dear Elon Musk: Your Dazzling Mars Plan Overlooks Some Big ... ›
Related Articles Around the Web
- Everything you need to know about SpaceX's historic astronaut launch ›
- Crew Dragon Launch Day Timeline: From Suit up to Docking with ... ›
- Updates to Coverage of NASA SpaceX Commercial Crew Test Flight ... ›
- SpaceX's first ever commercial space flight a pit stop on Elon Musk's ... ›
- SpaceX will launch private citizens into orbit - The Verge ›
Read More
Show Less
Former Federal Reserve Governor Rebukes Fed for Using Covid-19 Funds to Bail Out Fossil Fuel Industry
29 May
Politics
A former Federal Reserve board of governors member on Thursday called on her former colleagues to stop using Covid-19 relief funds to bail out the "dying" fossil fuel industry. Douglas Sacha / Getty Images
By Eoin Higgins
A former Federal Reserve board of governors member on Thursday called on her former colleagues to stop using Covid-19 relief funds to bail out the "dying" fossil fuel industry, calling the decision a threat to the planet's climate and a misguided use of taxpayer money.
<p>"These concessions to the fossil fuel industry are a risky investment in the past," Sarah Bloom Raskin <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/28/opinion/fed-fossil-fuels.html" target="_blank">wrote</a> in a <em>New York Times</em> op-ed. "The Fed is ignoring clear warning signs about the economic repercussions of the impending climate crisis by taking action that will lead to increases in greenhouse gas emissions at a time when even in the short term, fossil fuels are a terrible investment."</p>
<iframe width="100%" height="150" scrolling="no" class="rm-shortcode twitter-embed-1266004825050939393" id="twitter-embed-1266004825050939393" lazy-loadable="true" src="/res/community/twitter_embed/?iframe_id=twitter-embed-1266004825050939393&created_ts=1590674046.0&screen_name=collinrees&text=The+last+thing+the+Fed+should+be+doing+is+bailing+one+of+world%27s+riskiest+industries+%E2%80%94+fossil+fuels.%0A%0AWe+know+Big+O%E2%80%A6+https%3A%2F%2Ft.co%2Fu4d5SoHy83&id=1266004825050939393&name=Collin+Rees" frameborder="0" data-rm-shortcode-id="a0e370c95211a3c2f9a65eda5a075be6"></iframe>
<p>Raskin's opinion piece sparked praise from climate campaigners like 350.org co-founder Jamie Henn.</p><p>"This should cause some waves," Henn <a href="https://twitter.com/jamieclimate/status/1266002932626886658" target="_blank">tweeted</a>.</p><p>Henn on Thursday <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2020/05/28/big-oil-pretending-it-doesnt-want-bailout-thats-bullshit" target="_blank">penned</a> an opinion piece for <em>Common Dreams</em> arguing that Mike Sommers, CEO of the American Petroleum Institute (API), is spewing lies to the public when he claims the industry doesn't want—and hasn't actively pushed for—a bailout from the Fed.</p><p>As Henn wrote:</p><blockquote>The truth is that despite Sommer's best efforts to spin a fairytale about oil companies tightening their belts and lifting themselves up by their bootstraps, corporate socialism is exactly what API wants. In fact, the fossil fuel industry, and the American Petroleum Institute in particular, have been at the forefront of corporate efforts to profit off the coronavirus pandemic and government relief efforts.<br></blockquote>
<p>Climate advocacy group Friends of the Earth program manager Lukas Ross, in a statement Wednesday, also <a href="https://foe.org/news/api-ceo-spews-double-talk-on-polluter-bailout/" target="_blank">rejected</a> Sommers' protestations.</p><p>"Oil lobbyists are spewing blatant lies, and we have the receipts," said Ross. "Big Oil has already nabbed $1.9 billion in giveaways thanks to corporate tax cuts from the last stimulus."</p><p>"If polluters want to deny the existence of the ongoing bailout," Ross added, "Congress should swiftly repeal these blatant corporate tax giveaways and make fossil fuels ineligible for stimulus lending programs."</p>
<iframe width="100%" height="150" scrolling="no" class="rm-shortcode twitter-embed-1266068654724132864" id="twitter-embed-1266068654724132864" lazy-loadable="true" src="/res/community/twitter_embed/?iframe_id=twitter-embed-1266068654724132864&created_ts=1590689264.0&screen_name=Western_Values&text=Oil%2C+gas%2C+and+coal+companies+are+set+to+receive+billions+in+federal+aid+from+both+the+%23PPP+and+%23CARESAct.+Many+of+t%E2%80%A6+https%3A%2F%2Ft.co%2FmX370hwkg1&id=1266068654724132864&name=Western+Values+Project" frameborder="0" data-rm-shortcode-id="c000bc798f2c320613914689edb3c330"></iframe>
<p>The bailout is presenting taxpayers with a burden, Raskin wrote, citing the industry's debt and unsustainable business model.</p><p>"For taxpayers, shouldering these liabilities is a bad deal," wrote Raskin. "Buying this bad debt is not likely to support the creation of jobs or even ensure that existing jobs survive."</p><p>Friends of the Earth <a href="https://twitter.com/foe_us/status/1265674388499763202" target="_blank">agreed</a>. </p><p>"Trump's administration has been exploiting this pandemic to bailout Big Oil companies that have been struggling long before coronavirus," the group tweeted.</p><p>The pandemic, wrote Raskin, "provides an unexpected opportunity to build an economy that is stronger in the long term."</p><p>"The decisions that the Fed makes today will go a long way to determining whether tomorrow's economy is one that remains susceptible to more chaos and vulnerability or builds economic security and resilience," she wrote.</p>
<p class=""><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/05/28/former-federal-reserve-governor-rebukes-central-bank-using-covid-19-lending-power" target="_blank">Common Dreams</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
- The $88 Billion Fossil Fuel Bailout for Oil, Gas and Coal Exploration ... ›
- Fossil Fuel Firms With Ties to Trump Administration Get Small ... ›
- Big Oil Taking $1.9 Billion in CARES Act Tax Breaks - EcoWatch ›
Related Articles Around the Web
Read More
Show Less
A Tyson plant in Wallula, Washington that has also seen a coronavirus outbreak. David Ryder / Getty Images
A Tyson Foods pork plant in Storm Lake, Iowa announced it would close Thursday after more than 20 percent of its workforce tested positive for the new coronavirus.
<p>The closure comes about a month after President <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/donald-trump" target="_self">Donald Trump</a> <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/trump-orders-meat-plants-open-coronavirus-2645870365.html" target="_self">issued an executive order</a> for <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/meat" target="_self">meat</a> processing plants to stay open despite virus outbreaks at several slaughterhouses. Those outbreaks led to the closure of around 20 plants in April, <a href="https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-usa-meatpacking/tyson-foods-will-shut-us-pork-plant-as-more-workers-catch-covid-19-idUKKBN23434R" target="_blank">Reuters reported</a>.</p><p>Tyson Foods announced the closure late Thursday, hours after the Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH) had confirmed 555 coronavirus cases at the plant out of a workforce of 2,517, the <a href="https://eu.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/politics/2020/05/28/coronavirus-outbreak-confirmed-tyson-foods-storm-lake-pork-processing-plant-kim-reynolds/5274618002/" target="_blank">Des Moines Register reported</a>.</p>
<iframe width="100%" height="150" scrolling="no" class="rm-shortcode twitter-embed-1266044429732888576" id="twitter-embed-1266044429732888576" lazy-loadable="true" src="/res/community/twitter_embed/?iframe_id=twitter-embed-1266044429732888576&created_ts=1590683488.0&screen_name=SLTimes&text=This+is+out+of+2%2C517+tested%2C+equalling+22%25+of+the+workforce+at+Tyson+Pork+so+far.&id=1266044429732888576&name=The+Storm+Lake+Times" frameborder="0" data-rm-shortcode-id="6549fd2dd2cb8add3af93c9edac813da"></iframe>
<p>"I honestly feel like the company has failed its employees," Storm Lake League of United Latin American Citizens of Iowa Vice President Mayra Lopez told the Des Moines Register. "With 555 cases confirmed, that seems pretty steep."</p><p>Lopez, who has friends and family among the plant's many minority workers, said that she had heard of employees waiting up to a week for coronavirus test results.</p><p>"By the time they get the results, it could be too late and they've passed it on to someone else," she said.</p><p>Tyson Foods said that the closure was due to a delay in testing results and the absence of employees due to quarantine. It said it would stop slaughtering and finish all processing over the next two days.</p><p>"Additional deep cleaning and sanitizing of the entire facility will be conducted before resuming operations later next week," the company said in a press release reported by the Des Moines Register.</p>
<p>The incident has added to concerns about employee safety in meatpacking plants forced to remain open despite the fact that crowded working conditions make social distancing difficult. Tyson said it implemented wide scale testing at the Storm Lake plant and required employees to wear masks, but the <a href="http://www.ufcw.org/" target="_blank">United Food and Commercial Workers International Union</a> (UFCW) said that meat companies and the Trump administration could do more to protect workers, Reuters reported. More than 3,000 U.S. meatpacking workers have tested positive for COVID-19 and 44 have died, the union said.</p><p>"Too many workers are being sent back into meatpacking plants without adequate protections in place, reigniting more outbreaks in the plants and our communities," Nick Nemec, a South Dakota farmer who is part of an advocacy group that works with UFCW, told Reuters.</p><p>Previously, coronavirus outbreaks had forced Tyson Foods to shutter plants in Waterloo, Columbus Junction, and Perry, Iowa, as well as in Dakota City, Nebraska; Logansport, Indiana; and Pasco, Washington, according to the Des Moines Register. However, most of those plants have since reopened, <a href="https://thehill.com/changing-america/resilience/natural-disasters/500016-555-workers-at-tyson-foods-facility-in-iowa" target="_blank">The Hill reported</a>.</p>
<p>In April, Tyson Chairman John Tyson <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/meat-shortages-coronavirus-slaughterhouses-2645861788.html" target="_self">warned</a> that "the food supply chain is breaking." The warning preceded Trump's executive order by two days.</p><p>However, a recent <a href="https://foodandwaterwatch.org/" target="_blank">Food and Water Watch</a> <a href="https://foodandwaterwatch.org/news/USDA-spent-memorial-day-weekend-distorting-meat-production" target="_blank">report</a> has cast doubt on industry claims of shortages. It found that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) reported that cold storage of beef, pork, chicken and turkey was up 2.1 percent in April 2020 compared with April 2019. Further, meat exports have been on the rise in May.</p><p>At the same time, plants have persisted in switching to the New Swine Inspection System, which allows fewer inspectors and faster slaughter speeds. Plants that have switched to this system have seen increased coronavirus cases. One such plant in Guymon, Oklahoma reported 440 cases, the most in the state.</p>
<iframe width="100%" height="150" scrolling="no" class="rm-shortcode twitter-embed-1265764789948764161" id="twitter-embed-1265764789948764161" lazy-loadable="true" src="/res/community/twitter_embed/?iframe_id=twitter-embed-1265764789948764161&created_ts=1590616817.0&screen_name=foodandwater&text=The+USDA%27s+warning+of+an+impending+meat+shortage+was+false.%0A%0A%22Claims+of+impending+food+shortages+are+hogwash+%E2%80%94+meat%E2%80%A6+https%3A%2F%2Ft.co%2F1aCs8HtVNM&id=1265764789948764161&name=Food+%26+Water+Watch" frameborder="0" data-rm-shortcode-id="0d3bbf61d6982ac74705a73c51f9c22d"></iframe>
<p>"The USDA itself is showing that industry claims of impending food shortages are hogwash — meat exports are actually increasing and cold storage stockpiles of meat are growing. Meanwhile, the numbers of workers in deregulated plants are proving for us the importance of meat slaughter line speed caps and federal meat inspection," senior government affairs representative for Food & Water Action Tony Corbo said in a statement. "USDA should take a long, hard look in the mirror and reverse course immediately by forcing industry to cap line speeds, follow federal inspection guidelines, mandate worker safety protocols, and keep plants closed as long as necessary to prevent the spread of COVID-19."</p>
From Your Site Articles
- Meat Processing Plants Close as Working Conditions Encourage ... ›
- 'Dangerous Proposal': USDA Seeking to Replace Government ... ›
- Tyson Foods Warns of Meat Shortage Following Coronavirus ... ›
Related Articles Around the Web
Read More
Show Less
Trending
"Most of this fossil fuel finance flowed to wealthier countries," the report says, noting that China (pictured), Canada, Japan, and Korea provided the most public finance for dirty energy projects from 2016 to 2018.
Kevin Frayer / Stringer / Getty Images
Kevin Frayer / Stringer / Getty Images
By Jessica Corbett
Even after the world's largest economies adopted the landmark Paris agreement to tackle the climate crisis in late 2015, governments continued to pour $77 billion a year in public finance into propping up the fossil fuel industry, according to a report released Wednesday.
<p>The new <a href="http://priceofoil.org/2020/05/27/g20-still-digging/" target="_blank">report</a>, from Oil Change International and Friends of the Earth (FOE) U.S., focuses on financing for oil, gas, and coal projects from members of the Group of 20 (<a href="https://g20.org/en/about/Pages/whatis.aspx" target="_blank">G20</a>), which comprises governments and central bank governors from 19 countries and the European Union.</p><p>Although U.S. President Donald Trump <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/11/04/delivering-catastrophic-message-moment-great-urgency-trump-formally-begins-ditching" target="_blank">began</a> the one-year withdrawal process for ditching the Paris accord in November 2019 after years of <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/06/01/destructive-fossil-fuel-puppet-trump-ditches-climate-deal-fact-free-speech" target="_blank">threats</a>, other G20 nations remain committed to the agreement, which aims to keep global temperature rise well below 2°C (35.6 F) and further limit it to 1.5°C (34.7 F) by 2100.</p><p>Despite their public commitments to the Paris agreement, "G20 countries continue to subsidize the fossil fuel industry even as it makes bad business decisions that hurt people and the planet," FOE U.S. senior international policy analyst Kate DeAngelis <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2020/05/27/report-g20-governments-bankrolling-fossil-fuel-industry-least-77-billion-year" target="_blank">said</a> in a statement.</p><p>"Our planet is hurtling towards climate catastrophe and these countries are pouring gasoline on the fire to the tune of billions," she said. "We must hold G20 governments accountable for their promises to move countries toward clean energy. They have an opportunity to reflect and change their financing so that it supports clean energy solutions that will not exacerbate bad health outcomes and put workers at greater risk."</p>
<iframe width="100%" height="150" scrolling="no" class="rm-shortcode twitter-embed-1265419719403876353" id="twitter-embed-1265419719403876353" lazy-loadable="true" src="/res/community/twitter_embed/?iframe_id=twitter-embed-1265419719403876353&created_ts=1590534546.0&screen_name=PriceofOil&text=%E2%9A%A1%E2%9A%A1Just+Released%3A+Our+new+report+w%2F+%40FoE_US+reveals+G20+countries+provided+at+least+%2477+billion+a+year+in+public+fin%E2%80%A6+https%3A%2F%2Ft.co%2FwizlSeXnRT&id=1265419719403876353&name=Oil+Change+International" frameborder="0" data-rm-shortcode-id="fc626c0dd110d303e518e96fd2453ab1"></iframe>
<p>The new report—<a href="http://priceofoil.org/content/uploads/2020/05/G20-Still-Digging.pdf" target="_blank"><em>Still Digging: G20 Governments Continue to Finance the Climate Crisis</em> </a>(pdf)—warns that "with the health and livelihoods of billions at immediate risk from Covid-19, governments around the world are preparing public spending packages of a magnitude they previously deemed unthinkable."</p><blockquote>In normal times, development finance institutions (DFIs), export credit agencies (ECAs), and multilateral development banks (MDBs) already had an outsized impact on the overall energy landscape and more capacity than their private sector peers to act on the climate crisis. In the current moment, their potential influence has multiplied, and it is imperative that they change course. The fossil fuel sector was showing long-term signs of systemic decline before Covid-19 and has been quick to seize on this crisis with requests for massive subsidies and bailouts. We cannot afford for the wave of public finance that is being prepared for relief and recovery efforts to prop up the fossil fuel industry as it has in the past. Business as usual would exacerbate the next crisis—the climate crisis—that is already on our doorstep.<br></blockquote><p>As Oil Change International research analyst Bronwen Tucker put it: "Fossil fuel corporations know their days are numbered. Their lobbyists are using the Covid-19 crisis as cover to try to secure the massive new government handouts they need to survive."</p><p>Echoing <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/05/26/hundreds-medical-professionals-and-groups-say-covid-19-stimulus-plans-must-be" target="_blank">recent calls</a> from climate campaigners, advocacy groups, progressive policymakers, and healthcare professionals, the report urges G20 governments and multilateral development banks to support a global, just recovery to the coronavirus pandemic.</p><p>"Government money must instead support a just transition from fossil fuels that protects workers, communities, and the climate—both at home and beyond their borders," said Tucker. "Instead of bankrolling another major crisis—climate change—our governments should invest in a resilient future."</p><p>Based on information from Oil Change International's Shift the Subsidies database, the report details financing from public institutions controlled by G20 governments—DFIs, ECAs, and MDBs. Key findings include that support for the fossil fuel industry has "stayed steady" since the Paris agreement and ECAs are "the worst public finance actors."</p><p>"Most of this fossil fuel finance flowed to wealthier countries," the report says, noting that China, Canada, Japan, and Korea provided the most public finance for dirty energy projects from 2016 to 2018.</p>
<iframe width="100%" height="150" scrolling="no" class="rm-shortcode twitter-embed-1265623289118015492" id="twitter-embed-1265623289118015492" lazy-loadable="true" src="/res/community/twitter_embed/?iframe_id=twitter-embed-1265623289118015492&created_ts=1590583080.0&screen_name=envirodefence&text=New+research+from+%40PriceofOil+%26amp%3B+%40foe_us+shows+Canada+has+the+2nd+highest+public+finance+for+fossil+fuels+in+the+G20%E2%80%A6+https%3A%2F%2Ft.co%2FCC21WVmLhZ&id=1265623289118015492&name=EnvironmentalDefence" frameborder="0" data-rm-shortcode-id="3a8dab253abb0ab96502809508dffa35"></iframe>
<p><em>Still Digging</em> examines just one way these nations support planet-wrecking oil, gas, and coal projects, acknowledging that "unlike the 2017 version of this report, <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/07/05/talk-cheap-g20-told-end-public-subsidy-all-dirty-fuels-2020" target="_blank"><em>Talk is Cheap</em></a>, it does not include public finance directly from G20 government departments due to a gross lack of transparency."</p><p>The report also doesn't cover "majority government-owned banks without a clear policy mandate, sovereign wealth funds, or public finance institutions with subnational governance," or "subsidies to fossil fuel production at the national level in G20 state budgets, which previous analysis has indicated may provide an additional $80 billion per year in support to fossil fuel production."</p><p>However, <em>Still Digging</em> suggests that G20 public finance institutions—as entities owned by governments party to the Paris accord—could be catalysts for more climate-friendly financing decisions "due to their economic and political power."</p><p>"Private and public financial investors alike will need to shift rapidly," the report says, "but the role of public institutions is unique because of both their outsized influence on energy finance and their capacity and mandate to lead on climate action."</p>
<iframe width="100%" height="150" scrolling="no" class="rm-shortcode twitter-embed-1265668484349992961" id="twitter-embed-1265668484349992961" lazy-loadable="true" src="/res/community/twitter_embed/?iframe_id=twitter-embed-1265668484349992961&created_ts=1590593856.0&screen_name=PriceofOil&text=%F0%9F%93%96New+Report%F0%9F%93%96%3A+As+%23G20+governments+spend+historic+levels+of+public+finance+on+%23COVID19+stimulus%2C+our+new+report+w%2F%E2%80%A6+https%3A%2F%2Ft.co%2Fbw8awZru86&id=1265668484349992961&name=Oil+Change+International" frameborder="0" data-rm-shortcode-id="4c26ee7a9cd92203449579ca4aa553e7"></iframe>
<p>More than 30 groups from across the globe endorsed the report—including Justica Ambiental, or FOE Mozambique, which has worked to raise alarm about international public finance supporting the expansion of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in southern African country.</p><p>"It is unacceptable that such a high investment, which will provide billions of profits for foreign companies like Total, is contributing to the impoverishment and oppression of already vulnerable local communities," said Justica Ambiental director Anabela Lemos.</p><p>"Peasant and fishing families have lost their livelihoods for a lifetime," Lemos added. "The discovery of gas has stolen their identity and failed to provide them with the conditions stipulated in the so-called community consultation processes."</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/05/27/new-report-details-how-g20-nations-spend-77-billion-year-destroy-climate" target="_blank">Common Dreams</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
- Fossil Fuel Firms With Ties to Trump Administration Get Small ... ›
- Taxpayers Charged $7 Billion a Year to Subsidize Fossil Fuels on ... ›
- Government Subsidizes Fossil Fuel Industry With $20+ Billion in ... ›
Related Articles Around the Web
Read More
Show Less
An aerial view shows new vehicles that were offloaded from ships at Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics on April 26, 2020 in Wilmington, California. "Vehicles are the biggest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions in America," said California Attorney General Xavier Becerra. David McNew / Getty Images
Twenty-three states and Washington, DC launched a suit Wednesday to stop the Trump administration rollback of Obama-era fuel efficiency standards for cars and light trucks.
<p>The Trump rollback, <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/trump-fuel-efficiency-pollution-2645597122.html" target="_self">finalized in March</a>, slashed a requirement that automakers increase fuel efficiency by five percent a year through 2026 to 1.5 percent, <a href="https://uk.mobile.reuters.com/article/amp/idUKKBN2332UT" target="_blank">Reuters reported</a>. The lower standard undid the single greatest U.S. attempt to fight the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change/" target="_self">climate crisis</a>, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/27/climate/lawsuit-fuel-economy-climate.html" target="_blank">The New York Times pointed out</a>, and the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/epa" target="_self">Environmental Protection Agency's</a> (EPA) own scientists warned it could increase deadly <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/air-pollution" target="_self">air pollution</a>.</p><p>"Vehicles are the biggest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions in America, and pollution-related respiratory illnesses make people more susceptible to Covid-19," California Attorney General Xavier Becerra told The New York Times.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BREAKING?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BREAKING</a>: we’re suing the Trump Administration over its reckless rollback of national <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/CleanCarStandards?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#CleanCarStandards</a>.<a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@RealDonaldTrump</a>’s so-called SAFE rule is a job killer and a public health hazard. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SaveCleanCars?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SaveCleanCars</a> <a href="https://t.co/1dILJu88yC">https://t.co/1dILJu88yC</a> <a href="https://t.co/6ceaoC8F2t">pic.twitter.com/6ceaoC8F2t</a></p>— Xavier Becerra (@AGBecerra) <a href="https://twitter.com/AGBecerra/status/1265700972858208256?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 27, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<p>President <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/donald-trump" target="_self">Donald Trump</a> has touted the new standards as the most important rollback of his time in office and argued they would help the economy and the auto industry. The industry, however, is split on the new rules, with the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, which includes General Motors and Toyota, backing the administration, while Ford, Honda, BMW and Volkswagen <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/automakers-emissions-california-trump-2639356453.html" target="_self">have struck a deal</a> with California to follow tougher standards.</p><p>Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, whose state has also joined the suit, told Reuters the new standards would actually decrease auto industry employment by four percent.</p><p>Nessel also called the new rule a "gift to the fossil fuel industry" and "a slap in the face to public health," according to Reuters and The New York Times respectively.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">AG Nessel Files Lawsuit Challenging Federal Government's Reckless Rollback of National Clean Car Standards ➡️ <a href="https://t.co/jSMnG8xhFv">https://t.co/jSMnG8xhFv</a> <a href="https://t.co/1NzIzPIXIF">pic.twitter.com/1NzIzPIXIF</a></p>— Michigan Attorney General (@MIAttyGen) <a href="https://twitter.com/MIAttyGen/status/1265722254371028998?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 27, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<p>The EPA did not comment on the lawsuit, but defended the new standards as a "sensible, single national program that strikes the right regulatory balance, protects our environment, and sets reasonable targets for the auto industry," according to Reuters. However, the administration's own figures show the new rule would increase greenhouse gas emissions by at least 867 million metric tons compared to the original standards, The New York Times reported. The difference amounts to more than the yearly emissions of many midsized countries.</p><p>This is the 82nd lawsuit California has filed against the Trump administration, according to Becerra, and most of the suits have targeted environmental rollbacks. The suit claims the reduced standards violate national laws requiring the government to issue the highest possible standards for automakers, <a href="https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/499770-23-states-sue-trump-over-rollback-of-obama-fuel-efficiency" target="_blank">The Hill explained</a>.</p><p>The states are joined in the suit by the cities of New York City, Denver, San Francisco and Los Angeles, Reuters reported.</p><p>Moments after the state lawsuit was filed, a coalition of 12 environmental groups including the <a href="https://www.sierraclub.org/" target="_blank">Sierra Club</a> issued a separate legal challenge to the new rules, The Hill reported.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Bit of a litigious day when you've got ~40 parties suing you over your clean car rule all at once.<br><br>Obama rule: 55 mpg by 2025<br>Trump rule: 40 mpg by 2026<a href="https://t.co/ZLVvFYmxKO">https://t.co/ZLVvFYmxKO</a></p>— Rebecca Beitsch (@RebeccaBeitsch) <a href="https://twitter.com/RebeccaBeitsch/status/1265730658250481665?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 27, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<p>"This flawed rule — which will increase pollution, endanger public health, cut auto jobs, and further burden American families with higher fueling costs — will not hold up in court, just like the vast majority of the Trump Administration's unjustified actions," the Sierra Club said in a statement reported by The Hill. </p>
From Your Site Articles
- Trump Dismantles Environmental Protections Under Cover of ... ›
- Trump Admin Goes After States for Protecting the Environment ... ›
- Justice Department Drops Investigation Against Four Automakers ... ›
- Trump Expected to Announce Weakened Fuel Efficiency Rules ... ›
Related Articles Around the Web
Read More
Show Less
Dominion Resources' coal-fired power plant located in central Virginia beside the James River. Edbrown05 / CC BY-SA 2.5
Corporations that flouted environmental regulations and spewed pollutants into the air and dumped them into waterways will not be required to pay the fines they agreed to during the pandemic, according to The Guardian.
<p>The forbearance of payments totals $56 million from ten corporations for a variety of violations across the country, including polluting air and water in already vulnerable communities, like East Chicago, Indiana, according to legal proceedings.</p><p>The companies agreed to settlements with the U.S. government that forced them to pay fines without admitting liability. However, the U.S. Department of Justice advised most of the companies of extensions in letters that were obtained by the government watchdog group <a href="https://www.accountable.us/" target="_blank">Accountable.US</a> via public records requests, as <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/may/27/epa-corporation-environmental-fines-decision" target="_blank">The Guardian</a> reported.</p><p>The Department of Justice said the move is intended to "mitigate the financial impact" of the coronavirus. However, enforcement attorneys who have spent years targeting the companies expressed shock over the blanket policy, according to <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/493216-doj-lets-companies-skip-paying-penalties-during-pandemic" target="_blank">The Hill</a>.</p><p>"It's unprecedented in how broad it is," said Francis Lyons, a partner with Schiff Hardin LLP who previously worked on environmental enforcement issues at the Justice Department, to <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/493216-doj-lets-companies-skip-paying-penalties-during-pandemic" target="_blank">The Hill</a>. "I think this policy goes beyond what is necessary under the circumstances."</p>
<p>In one example that <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/may/27/epa-corporation-environmental-fines-decision" target="_blank">The Guardian</a> provided, KP Kauffman, a Denver-based oil and gas company, has spent $200,000 lobbying the <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/epa">EPA</a> in 2019 and 2020. It also hosted a meeting with oil executives and Donald <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/donald-trump">Trump</a> in 2016. Now, the company has stopped paying the fines it agreed to for allegedly violating air pollution laws when the company emitted smog-forming compounds in the Denver-Julesburg Basin, an area that wasn't meeting smog standards.</p><p>"This is exactly the time to make sure support is flowing to the federal, state and local governments that need a hand with responding to the coronavirus crisis and with the environmental problems that these special interests have caused," said Chris Saeger, director of strategic initiatives at Accountable.US, as <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/may/27/epa-corporation-environmental-fines-decision" target="_blank">The Guardian</a> reported.</p><p>"When we're facing a public health crisis that causes respiratory problems, this is a time to be holding companies to a higher standard of air quality, not a lower one."</p>
<p>Not surprisingly, a number of companies that do not have to pay the fines they agreed to are ones with deep ties to the Trump administration. Dominion Energy in Virginia agreed to pay for a coal ash impoundment that seeped pollutants into the groundwater along the James River. That company has several ties to the administration, including a former top EPA enforcement official and Attorney General William Barr, who leads the Department of Justice.</p><p>Similarly, ArcelorMittal, one of the world's largest steel companies, agreed to pay $5 million for polluting the air in Indiana and Ohio. Its CEO dined with Trump in Davos in January and was part of the president's roundtable in India in February. And Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross is a former employee of ArcelorMittal, as <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/may/27/epa-corporation-environmental-fines-decision" target="_blank">The Guardian</a> reported.</p><p>"This policy cuts off income to the federal government at a time when there's this massive spending by the federal government to keep the economy afloat, so you'd think they'd care about other funds coming in," said Joel Mintz, a former EPA enforcement attorney who later worked as a law professor at Nova Southeastern University in Florida, to <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/493216-doj-lets-companies-skip-paying-penalties-during-pandemic" target="_blank">The Hill</a>. "It kind of sends a message to these companies that you're letting them off the hook."</p>
From Your Site Articles
- Cost of Polluter Penalties at 20-Year-Low Under Trump's EPA ... ›
- Penalties Against Polluters Drop 60% Under Trump - EcoWatch ›
- Oil Companies Were Not Held Accountable for 10.8 Million Gallons ... ›
Related Articles Around the Web
Read More
Show Less