Crude Gamble: Oil-by-Rail Threatens Safety of People and Planet in Pacific Northwest
Bomb Trains: The Crude Gamble of Oil by Rail, a video produced and published this week by VICE News, investigates the rapid expansion of oil-by-rail transport. Producer and cinematographer Spencer Chumbley, accompanied by Nilo Tabrizy, traveled to the Pacific Northwest to speak with residents and experts on the front lines of the battle over bomb trains in the Seattle, Washington area.
"When you walk around Washington and Oregon with a camera in your hand and a tripod slung over your shoulder, people are going to come up and ask you what you are working on," said Chumbley in an email interview. "The Pacific Northwest lived up to its stereotype—community members are pretty engaged in environmental issues. And when we spoke to them about oil trains, I'd say 90 percent of the people we ran into were aware of the issue and had a strong opinion about it—either for or against."
The increase in oil-by-rail is due to the fracking boom and lack of pipeline infrastructure. In 2013, oil train accidents resulted in more than 1.15 million gallons of spilled oil, representing a 50-fold increase over the yearly average between 1975 and 2012.
This week, in response to a recent train derailment and the extreme threat facing communities, three Seattle-area residents blockaded train tracks at an oil facility at Tesoro’s Anacortes Refinery and were arrested. The protestors were demanding an immediate end to all new oil-by-rail terminals proposed in the Northwest.
Even Seattle Mayor Ed Murray believes oil-by-rail is a huge public safety issue and is advocating for less oil and coal coming through his city.
I asked Chumbley what his biggest takeaway was from filming this video and he said, "that proper regulation comes from relentlessness. The researchers, journalists and activists have to relentlessly pressure legislators, government agencies and other authorities to ensure their personal safety and the safety of the environment."
Matthew Micah Wright / The Image Bank / Getty Images
By Deborah Moore, Michael Simon and Darryl Knudsen
There's some good news amidst the grim global pandemic: At long last, the world's largest dam removal is finally happening.
<p>The <a href="https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2020-11-17/klamath-river-basin-dams-pacificorps-gavin-newsom-yurok-karuk-salmon-warren-buffett" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">landmark agreement</a>, which was finalized in November 2020 between farmers, tribes and dam owners, will finally bring down <a href="https://west.stanford.edu/news/blogs/and-the-west-blog/2020/winners-losers-and-landscape-might-emerge-if-klamath-river-dams-disappear" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">four aging, inefficient dams</a> along the Klamath River in the Pacific Northwest. This is an important step in restoring historic salmon runs, which have <a href="https://www.laprogressive.com/klamath-dam-removal/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">drastically declined in recent years</a> since the dams were constructed. It's also an incredible win for the Karuk and Yurok tribes, who for untold generations have relied on the salmon runs for both sustenance and spiritual well-being.</p><p>The tribes, supported by environmental activists, led a decades-long effort to broker an agreement. They faced vehement opposition from some farmers and owners of lakeside properties, but in 2010, they managed what had seemed impossible: PacifiCorp, the operator of the dams, signed a dam removal agreement, along with 40 other signatories that included the tribes and the state governments of Oregon and California. Unfortunately, progress stalled for years when questions arose around who would pay for the dam removals.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTcxMzU3NC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyNjc2NjI0OX0.ovlE1UYYtJdzrmYsh2UaJ95efnJ4cdYgyjjStRrR6yc/img.jpg?width=980" id="c13c2" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="98e08845f686773dcfe50815fb63b6a4" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="4928" data-height="3264" />
A young activist for a free-flowing Salween River. A team of campaigners and lawyers from EarthRights International joined Indigenous Karen communities on the Salween in 2018 to celebrate the International Day of Actions for Rivers on March 14. This year, EarthRights joined communities living in the Eu-Wae-Tta internally displaced persons camp for a celebration in solidarity with those impacted by dam projects on the Salween River. EarthRights International
<p>The dam removal project is a sign of the decline of the hydropower industry, whose fortunes have fallen as the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-46098118" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">troubling</a> cost-benefit ratio of dams has become clear over the years. The rise of more cost-effective and sustainable energy sources (including wind and solar) has hastened this shift. This is exactly the type of progress envisioned by the <a href="https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/read/17023836/dams-and-development-a-new-framework-for-decision" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">World Commission on Dams</a> (WCD), a global multi-stakeholder body that was established by the World Bank and International Union for Conservation of Nature in 1998 to investigate the effectiveness and performance of large dams around the world. The WCD released a damning landmark <a href="https://www.un.org/press/en/2000/20001117.dam.pressconferencepm.doc.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">report</a> in November 2000 on the enormous financial, environmental and human costs and the dismal performance of large dams. The commission spent <a href="https://www.un.org/press/en/2000/20001117.dam.pressconferencepm.doc.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">two years</a> analyzing the outcome of the trillions of dollars invested in dams, reviewing dozens of case studies and testimonies from over a thousand communities and individuals, before producing the report.</p><p>But despite this progress, we cannot take hydropower's decline as inevitable. As governments around the world plan for a post-pandemic recovery, hydropower companies sense an opportunity. The industry is eager to recast itself as climate-friendly (<a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/how-green-is-hydropower-1919539525.html" target="_self">it's not</a>) and <a href="https://www.hydropower.org/covid-19" target="_blank">secure</a> precious stimulus funds to revive its dying industry — at the expense of people, the environment and a truly just, green recovery.</p>Hydropower’s Troubling Record
<p>The world's largest hydropower dam removal project on the Klamath River is a significant win for tribal communities. But while the Yurok and Karuk tribes <a href="https://www.karuk.us/images/docs/press/bring_salmon_home.php" target="_blank">suffered</a> terribly from the decline of the Klamath's fisheries, they were by no means alone in that experience. The environmental catastrophe that occurred along the Klamath River has been replicated all over the world since the global boom in hydropower construction <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/hydropower" target="_blank">began</a> early in the 20th century.</p><p>The rush to dam rivers has had huge consequences. After decades of rampant construction, only <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2019/05/worlds-free-flowing-rivers-mapped-hydropower/" target="_blank">37 percent of the world's rivers remain free-flowing</a>, according to <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-019-1111-9" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">one study</a>. River fragmentation has <a href="https://academic.oup.com/bioscience/article/70/4/330/5732594" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">decimated freshwater habitats and fish stocks</a>, threatening food security for millions of the world's most vulnerable people, and hastening the <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffopperman/2020/10/13/freshwater-wildlife-continues-to-decline-but-new-energy-trendlines-suggest-we-can-bend-that-curve/?sh=f9d175a61ee4" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">decline of other myriad freshwater species</a>, including mammals, birds and reptiles.</p><p>The communities that experienced the most harm from dams — whether in Asia, Latin America or Africa — often lacked political power and access. But that didn't stop grassroots movements from organizing and growing to fight for their rights and livelihoods. The people affected by dams began raising their voices, sharing their experiences and forging alliances across borders. By the 1990s, the public <a href="https://tinyurl.com/y55lnlst" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">outcry</a> against large dams had grown so loud that it finally led to the establishment of the WCD.</p><p>What the WCD found was stunning. While large dam projects had brought some economic benefits, they had also <a href="https://www.irn.org/wcd/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">forcibly displaced an estimated 40 to 80 million people in the 20th century alone</a>. To put that number into perspective, it is more than the current population of present-day <a href="https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL?locations=FR" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">France</a> or the <a href="https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL?locations=GB" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">United Kingdom</a>. These people lost their lands and homes to dams, and often with no compensation.</p><p>Subsequent research has compounded that finding. A paper published in <a href="https://tinyurl.com/c7uznz" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Water Alternatives</a> revealed that globally, more than <a href="https://tinyurl.com/yxw8x7ab" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">470 million people living downstream from large dams</a> have faced significant impacts to their lives and livelihoods — much of it due to disruptions in water supply, which in turn harm the complex web of life that depends on healthy, free-flowing rivers. The WCD's findings, released in 2000, <a href="https://www.irn.org/wcd/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">identified</a> the importance of restoring rivers, compensating communities for their losses, and finding better energy alternatives to save rivers and ecosystems.</p>Facing a New Crisis
<p>Twenty years after the WCD uncovered a crisis along the world's rivers and recommended a new development path — one that advances community-driven development and protects freshwater resources — we find ourselves in the midst of another crisis. The global pandemic has hit us hard, with surging loss of life, unemployment and instability.</p><p>But as governments work to rebuild economies and create job opportunities in the coming years, we have a choice: Double down on the failed, outdated technologies that have harmed so many, or change course and use this transformative moment to rebuild our natural systems and uplift communities.</p><p>There are many reasons to fight for a green recovery. The climate is changing even <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-07586-5" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">faster</a> than expected, and some dams — especially those with reservoirs in hot climates — <a href="https://tinyurl.com/w6w29t8" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">have been found to emit more greenhouse gases than a fossil fuel power plant</a>. Other estimates have put global reservoirs' human-made greenhouse gas emissions each year on par with <a href="https://www.climatecentral.org/news/greenhouse-gases-reservoirs-fuel-climate-change-20745" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Canada's</a> total emissions.</p><p>Meanwhile, we now understand that healthy rivers and freshwater ecosystems play a <a href="https://www.environment.gov.au/system/files/resources/b55b1fe4-7d09-47af-96c4-6cbb5f106d4f/files/wetlands-role-carbon-cycle.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">critical role in regulating and storing carbon</a>. And at a time when <a href="https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/blog/2019/05/nature-decline-unprecedented-report/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">biodiversity loss is soaring</a>, anything we can do to <a href="https://academic.oup.com/bioscience/article/70/4/330/5732594" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">restore habitat is key</a>. But with <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/271996520_A_Global_Boom_in_Hydropower_dam_Construction" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">more than 3,700 major dams proposed or under construction</a> in the world (primarily in the Global South, with over <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/08/more-than-500-dams-planned-inside-protected-areas-study/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">500 of these in protected areas</a>), according to a 2014 report — and the hydropower industry <a href="https://www.hydropower.org/covid-19" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">jockeying</a> for scarce stimulus dollars — we must act urgently.</p>Signs of Hope
<img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTcxMzUyMS9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxOTcyNTc3OX0.EbqBVPs2kjhrY5AqnZXOb_GX-s6pw4qyJmmeISzKA6U/img.png?width=980" id="a81d0" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="87bc79d69f72e9334a78da8e0355e6ae" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="1620" data-height="1068" />Fish catch at the Siphandone on the Mekong River, prior to the completion of the Don Sahong Dam. Pai Deetes / International Rivers
<p>So what would a strong, resilient and equitable recovery look like in the 21st century? Let's consider one example in Southeast Asia.</p><p>Running through six countries, the Mekong River is the world's 12th-longest river, which is home to one of the world's most biodiverse regions, and includes the world's <a href="https://www.worldwildlife.org/places/greater-mekong#" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">largest</a> inland fishery. Around <a href="https://tinyurl.com/y6jrarjo" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">80 percent of the nearly 65 million people</a> who live in the Lower Mekong River Basin depend on the river for their livelihoods, according to the Mekong River Commission. In 1994, Thailand built the Pak Mun Dam on a Mekong tributary. <a href="https://tinyurl.com/y5ekfp4h" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Six years later</a>, the <a href="https://tinyurl.com/yxcvs6up" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">WCD studied the dam's performance</a> and submitted its conclusions and recommendations as part of its final report in 2000. According to the WCD report, the Pak Mun Dam did not deliver the peaking energy service it was designed for, and it <a href="https://tinyurl.com/y38p3jaw" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">physically blocked a critical migration route</a> for a range of fish species that migrated annually to breeding grounds upstream in the Mun River Basin. Cut off from their customary habitat, fish stocks plummeted, and so did the livelihoods of the local people.</p><p>Neighboring Laos, instead of learning from this debacle, followed in Thailand's footsteps, <a href="https://tinyurl.com/y4eaxcq2" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">constructing two dams on the river's mainstem</a>, Xayaburi Dam, commissioned in 2019, and Don Sahong Dam, commissioned in 2020. But then a sign of hope appeared. In early 2020, just as the pandemic began to spread across the world, the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/20/cambodia-scraps-plans-for-mekong-hydropower-dams" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Cambodian government reconsidered its plans to build more dams on the Mekong</a>. The science was indisputable: A government-commissioned report showed that further dams would <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/may/16/leaked-report-warns-cambodias-biggest-dam-could-literally-kill-mekong-river" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">reduce the river's wild fisheries, threaten critically endangered Irrawaddy dolphins</a> and <a href="https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/2013WR014651" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">block nutrient-rich sediment from the delta's fertile agricultural lands</a>.</p><p><a href="https://data.opendevelopmentmekong.net/dataset/4f1bb5fd-a564-4d37-878b-c288af460143/resource/5f6fe360-7a68-480d-9ba4-12d7b8b805c9/download/volume-3_solar-alternative-to-sambor-dam.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Studies</a> show that Cambodia didn't need to seek billions of dollars in loans to build more hydropower; instead, it could pursue more cost-effective solar and wind projects that would deliver needed electricity at a fraction of the cost — and <a href="https://www.worldwildlife.org/press-releases/wwf-statement-on-cambodian-government-s-decision-to-suspend-hydropower-dam-development-on-the-mekong-river" target="_blank">without the ecological disasters to fisheries and the verdant Mekong delta</a>. And, in a stunning reversal, Cambodia listened to the science — and to the people — and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/20/cambodia-scraps-plans-for-mekong-hydropower-dams" target="_blank">announced</a> a 10-year moratorium on mainstream dams. Cambodia is now <a href="https://www.voanews.com/east-asia-pacific/cambodia-halts-hydropower-construction-mekong-river-until-2030" target="_blank">reconsidering</a> its energy mix, recognizing that mainstream hydropower dams are too costly and undermine the economic and cultural values of its flagship river.</p>Toward a Green Recovery
<img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTcxMzUwOS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1MTMwMjk0M30.0LZCOEVzgtgjm2_7CwcbFfuZlrtUr80DiRYxqKGaKIg/img.jpg?width=980" id="87fe9" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="e6b9bfeb013516f6ad5033bb9e03c5ec" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="2100" data-height="3086" />Klamath River Rapids. Tupper Ansel Blake / U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
<p>Increasingly, governments, civil servants and the public at large are rethinking how we produce energy and are seeking to preserve and restore precious freshwater resources. Dam removals are increasing exponentially across <a href="https://www.americanrivers.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/DamsRemoved_1999-2019.pdf" target="_blank">North America</a> and <a href="https://damremoval.eu/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/DRE-policy-Report-2018-digitaal-010319.pdf" target="_blank">Europe</a>, and movements advancing <a href="https://www.rightsofrivers.org/" target="_blank">permanent river protection are growing across Latin America, Asia and Africa</a>.</p><p>We must use the COVID-19 crisis to accelerate the trend. Rather than relying on old destructive technologies and industry claims of newfound "<a href="https://www.hydrosustainability.org/news/2020/11/12/consultation-on-a-groundbreaking-global-sustainability-standard-for-hydropower" target="_blank">sustainable hydropower</a>," the world requires a new paradigm for an economic recovery that is rooted both in climate and economic justice as well as river stewardship. Since December 2020, hundreds of groups and individuals from more than 80 countries have joined the <a href="https://www.rivers4recovery.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Rivers4Recovery</a> call for a better way forward for rivers and natural places. This paradigm will protect our rivers as critical lifelines — supporting fisheries, biodiversity, water supply, food production, Indigenous peoples and diverse populations around the world — rather than damming and polluting them.</p><p>The promise of the Klamath dam removals is one of restoration — a move that finally recognizes the immense value of free-flowing rivers and the key role they play in <a href="https://f.hubspotusercontent20.net/hubfs/4783129/LPR/PDFs/Living_Planet_Report_Freshwater_Deepdive.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">nourishing both the world's biodiversity and hundreds of millions of people</a>. Healthy rivers — connected to watershed forests, floodplains, wetlands and deltas — are key partners in building resilience in the face of an accelerating climate crisis. But if we allow the hydropower industry to succeed in its <a href="https://www.world-energy.org/article/12361.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">cynical grab for stimulus funds</a>, we'll only perpetuate the 20th century's legacy of suffering and environmental degradation.</p><p>We must put our money where our values are. Twenty years ago, the WCD pointed the way forward to a model of development that takes humans, wildlife and the environment into account, and in 2020, we saw that vision flower along the Klamath River. It's time to bring that promise of healing and restoration to more of the world's rivers.</p><p><em>Deborah Moore is a former commissioner of the <a href="https://www.water-alternatives.org/index.php/alldoc/articles/vol3/v3issue2/79-a3-2-2/file" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="">World Commission on Dams</a>. Michael Simon was a member of the <a href="https://www.hydrosustainability.org/assessment-protocol" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="">Hydropower Sustainability Assessment Forum</a>. Darryl Knudsen is the executive director of <a href="https://www.internationalrivers.org" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="">International Rivers</a>.</em></p><p><em>This article first appeared on <a href="https://truthout.org/articles/damming-rivers-is-terrible-for-human-rights-ecosystems-and-food-security/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Truthout</a> and was produced in partnership with <a href="https://independentmediainstitute.org/earth-food-life/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Earth | Food | Life</a>, a project of the Independent Media Institute.</em></p>
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1-Month Hunger Strike: Chicago Activists Fight Metal Scrapper Relocation Into Black and Latinx Neighborhood
11h
Politics
Scrap metal is loaded into a shredder at a metal recycling facility on July 17, 2008 in Chicago, Illinois. Scott Olson / Getty Images
Hunger strikers in Chicago are fighting the relocation of a metal shredding facility from a white North Side neighborhood to a predominantly Black and Latinx community on the Southeast Side already plagued by numerous polluting industries.
<p>On Thursday the three original hunger strikers – Oscar Sanchez, Breanna Bertacchi and Chuck Stark – will complete their fourth week without food. "It is immoral, it is discriminatory and we cannot allow [this plant to operate] in a pandemic when we can prevent it," Byron Sigcho-Lopez, the 25th ward alderman who has joined the hunger strike for "as long as it's needed," told The Guardian.</p>
<p>The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (<a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/epa">EPA</a>) suspended its environmental justice investigation into whether Illinois discriminated against the predominantly Black and Latinx Southeast Side community after the Illinois EPA began "informal resolution agreement discussions," Block Club Chicago reported. Last month, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot also sought guidance from federal regulators and appears to be hoping the Biden administration will make the call over whether the scrap yard can be moved to the Southeast Side, according to the <a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/environment/ct-chicago-hunger-strike-update-20210219-2md32qwqvjgifcwnupofp6lx4e-story.html?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=113909889&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--pZDXggmnuVLpLtzQf1na4Whe6i5f9d-6QZWf6-tw6vx_Gb7KoBfUzPnV-SoOEyyTy0_SDgLRemt_fAg7WlKTXBdzGpg&utm_content=113909889&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Chicago Tribune</a>.</p>
<p>As reported by the <a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/environment/ct-chicago-hunger-strike-update-20210219-2md32qwqvjgifcwnupofp6lx4e-story.html?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=113909889&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--pZDXggmnuVLpLtzQf1na4Whe6i5f9d-6QZWf6-tw6vx_Gb7KoBfUzPnV-SoOEyyTy0_SDgLRemt_fAg7WlKTXBdzGpg&utm_content=113909889&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">Chicago Tribune</a>:</p><blockquote>Lightfoot has so far declined to meet the strikers' key demand. But by <a href="https://beta.documentcloud.org/documents/20488082-2021-2-17-chicago-law-dept-letter-to-usepa-on-rmg" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">reaching out to federal regulators</a> for guidance this week, the mayor for the first time raised the possibility that Reserve Management Group won't be allowed to operate its new facility along the Calumet River at 116th Street.</blockquote><blockquote>---</blockquote><blockquote>If the Biden EPA steps in and blocks the state permit, the Lightfoot administration would be spared from making a decision about a final city permit RMG needs before it can start shredding scrap metal on the Southeast Side.</blockquote><blockquote>RMG's opponents contend that locating more heavy industry in an already polluted, majority Latino and Black neighborhood is an immoral — if not illegal — example of environmental racism, a scourge both Biden and Lightfoot as candidates promised to aggressively confront.</blockquote>
<p><strong>For a deeper dive:</strong><br/></p><p><a href="https://blockclubchicago.org/2021/03/01/feds-suspend-investigation-into-states-approval-of-southside-recycling-permit/?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=113909889&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--xTxIr0hcqppId9AxkQcezDhkbBFSKwWOVk1ZJxhoBxNx5tiPU4kbbp5WVm1lijgdSV6PGNnVkEkSX5IOy_mmlvaPBDg&utm_content=113909889&utm_source=hs_email" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Block Club Chicago</a>, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/mar/01/chicago-hunger-strike-against-recycling-plant-grows?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=113909889&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8zqCb_GJ94BANzQiGEjWQs56Ut191_u6bZs0DER9rIeVJAuTlPuqaqnpscozSq_7p9kqRl06Wm4yeJPgMEvED-vkUdBw&utm_content=113909889&utm_source=hs_email" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>, <a href="https://grist.org/justice/chicago-hunger-strike-scrapyard-pollution-environmental-justice/?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=113909889&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-90wClo6lHzLFReXFGbg39XqQp9x8uRzCKJJJBK3JBQXGdDrYmvi5PHXbWk9LFwIghpg1qVMPumfBbY5_nsSEt1cc2TZA&utm_content=113909889&utm_source=hs_email" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Grist</a></p><p><em>For more </em><a href="http://ecowatch.com/climate-change-news/" rel="noopener noreferrer" 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" rel="noopener noreferrer" 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>, sign up for daily </em><a href="https://www.linktrack.live/hot-news-sign-up" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Hot News</em></a><em>, and visit their news site, </em><a href="https://nexusmedianews.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Nexus Media News</em></a><em>.</em></p>
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A new UK study links eating meat with increased risks for heart disease, diabetes and more. nata_zhekova / Getty Images
The World Health Organization has determined that red meat probably causes colorectal cancer in humans and that processed meat is carcinogenic to humans. But are there other health risks of meat consumption?
<p>A new study published in <a href="https://bmcmedicine.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12916-021-01922-9" target="_blank">BMC Medicine</a> on Tuesday sought to find out. Researchers investigated whether meat consumption was linked to any of the 25 leading causes of hospital admission in the UK, besides cancer. They found a connection between regularly eating red or processed meat with five non-cancerous diseases, including heart disease, diabetes and pneumonia. Meanwhile, frequent poultry consumption was associated with six different diseases, including gallbladder disease and diabetes.</p><p>"We have long known that unprocessed red meat and processed meat consumption is likely to be carcinogenic and this research is the first to assess the risk of 25 non-cancerous health conditions in relation to meat intake in one study," Dr. Keren Papier from the Nuffield Department of Population Health at the University of Oxford and lead author said in a <a href="https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2021-03-02-regular-meat-consumption-linked-wide-range-common-diseases#" target="_blank">press release</a>.</p><p>The researchers surveyed 474,985 middle-aged adults in the UK and asked them to complete a dietary questionnaire assessing how often they ate meat on a weekly basis. Researchers then compared the participants' meat consumption to hospital admission and mortality data.</p><p>In addition to the above findings, researchers determined that for every 70 grams of red or processed meat someone ate a day, their risk of developing heart disease increased 15 percent and their risk of diabetes increased 30 percent.</p>
<p>For every extra 30 grams of poultry someone consumed in a day, their diabetes risk increased 14 percent.</p><p>However, eating meat did have one health benefit: reducing the risk of iron deficiency. Researchers estimated a 20 percent risk reduction for every 50 extra grams of red meat a day and 17 percent for every 30 extra grams of poultry a day.</p><p>The researchers did find that people who ate meat three or more times a week were also more likely to engage in unhealthy behaviors such as smoking, drinking alcohol or eating fewer fruits and vegetables. They were also more likely to have a high body mass index. The researchers adjusted their calculations to remove those factors, and learned that the health risks from meat consumption were reduced after factoring out body mass index. </p><p>"Additional research is needed to evaluate whether the differences in risk we observed in relation to meat intake reflect causal relationships, and if so the extent to which these diseases could be prevented by decreasing meat consumption," Papier said.</p>
<p>The results don't mean that people should stop eating meat, according to <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/public-health" target="_self">public health</a> experts.</p><p>Instead, Public Health England recommended that anyone who eats more than 90 grams of meat a day should reduce it to 70 grams, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/food/2021/mar/02/eating-meat-raises-risk-of-heart-disease-diabetes-and-pneumonia?CMP=fb_gu&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook#Echobox=1614714138" target="_blank">The Guardian reported</a>.</p><p>"Globally the evidence suggests that people who eat red and processed meat should limit their intake," Dr. Alison Tedstone, the agency's lead nutritionist, told The Guardian. "While it can form part of a healthy diet, eating too much has been linked to increased risk of developing bowel cancer."</p><p>However, there are also environmental and ethical reasons one might choose to stop eating meat. Some studies have found that cutting out animal products is the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/vegan-earth-footprint-2574241439.html" target="_self">single biggest step</a> a person can take to limit their environmental impact. Papier has advice for those who do so.</p><p>"The result that meat consumption is associated with a lower risk of iron-deficiency anemia, however, indicates that people who do not eat meat need to be careful that they obtain enough iron, through dietary sources or supplements," she said.</p>
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A common cuttlefish like this can pass the "marshmallow test." Hans Hillewaert / CC BY-SA 4.0
Cuttlefish, marine invertebrates related to squids and octopuses, can pass the so-called "marshmallow test," an experiment designed to test whether human children have the self-control to wait for a better reward.
<p>The study, published in <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspb.2020.3161" target="_blank">Proceedings of the Royal Society B Thursday</a>, puts cuttlefish in the ranks of larger-brained vertebrates like great apes, parrots and corvids in terms of how long they can delay gratification and makes them the first invertebrates to demonstrate self control, <a href="https://www.livescience.com/cuttlefish-pass-marshmallow-test.html" target="_blank">Live Science reported</a>.</p><p>"Self-control is thought to be the cornerstone of intelligence, as it is an important prerequisite for complex decision-making and planning for the future," lead author and University of Cambridge psychology research associate Alex Schnell told Live Science.</p>
<p>The marshmallow experiment was first conducted in Stanford by Walter Mischel in the 1960s. To test the mechanisms behind self control, children were given a choice between having one marshmallow, or another treat, now or waiting 15 to 20 minutes to get two. Recent research has cast doubt on the idea that children's ability to wait determines success later in life, as <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2018/06/marshmallow-test/561779/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Atlantic explained</a>. Instead, both that ability and later achievements may be explained by external factors such as economic stability. Still, that hasn't stopped the test from becoming a viral meme among quarantine-weary parents, as <a href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/tanyachen/are-influencers-getting-better-at-accountability-or-social" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Buzzfeed explained</a>.</p>
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<p>For cuttlefish, the reward had to be modified slightly. Instead of sugary sweets, the cuttlefish had a choice between a preferred meal like grass shrimp or king prawn or a less preferred meal like Asian shore crab, Live Science explained. They were presented with two drawers. One that opened immediately with the less preferred meal and one that opened after a delay with the preferred meal. If they chose the first option, the second snack would disappear.</p><p>"Cuttlefish in the present study were all able to wait for the better reward and tolerated delays for up to 50-130 seconds, which is comparable to what we see in large-brained vertebrates such as chimpanzees, crows and parrots," Schnell told the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL), where the <a href="https://www.mbl.edu/blog/fast-learning-cuttlefish-pass-the-snacking-test/" target="_blank">research was conducted</a>.</p>
<p>The researchers then also tested the cuttlefish for intelligence, and found that the cuttlefish who were able to wait longer for their favorite foods also did better on a learning test. This marks the first time that intelligence and self-control have been linked in an animal other than humans or chimpanzees.</p><p>However, Schnell and her colleagues are not sure why cuttlefish need self-control. For social animals like parrots, crows, apes and humans, it is important for group solidarity. For example, humans wait to eat in order to share meal times. It may also be important for tool building animals who need to have patience to construct a tool before hunting.</p><p>In cuttlefish, the researchers hypothesize, self-control serves a different function.</p><p>"Cuttlefish spend most of their time camouflaging, sitting and waiting, punctuated by brief periods of foraging," Schnell told MBL. "They break camouflage when they forage, so they are exposed to every predator in the ocean that wants to eat them. We speculate that delayed gratification may have evolved as a byproduct of this, so the cuttlefish can optimize foraging by waiting to choose better quality food."</p><p>The fact that both camouflaging cuttlefish and social apes need self-control is an example of something called convergent evolution, a process in which animals develop the same traits by different mechanisms.</p>
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Yogyakarta Bird Market, Central Java, Indonesia. Jorge Franganillo / CC BY 2.0
By John R. Platt
The straw-headed bulbul doesn't look like much.
It's less than a foot in length, with subdued brown-and-gold plumage, a black beak and beady red eyes. If you saw one sitting on a branch in front of you, you might not give it a second glance.
<p>But this Southeast Asian native stands out in one notable way: It sings like an angel.</p><p>"It's arguably the most beautiful song of any bird," says Chris Shepherd, executive director of Monitor Conservation Research Society and an expert on Asian songbirds. "It's amazing," he adds.</p>
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<p>The bird's beautiful voice serves a vital ecological purpose: Males use it to attract mates. The better the song, the greater the chance of finding a female and propagating the species.</p><p>But the song has also come with a terrible modern cost. Humans have come to value the bulbul's calls so much that they've collected the birds from almost every inch of their habitat. Captured birds, quickly caged, have been shipped to markets throughout Southeast Asia. Due to this overwhelming commercial demand, the species has disappeared from most of its range and is now critically endangered. Only a few pocket populations continue to hang on.</p>
<p>And the straw-headed bulbul is far from alone in this decline. Practically every songbird species in Southeast Asia faces a similar predicament. Many birds face the very real risk of imminent extinction, leaving some forests in the region <a href="https://www.silentforest.eu/" target="_blank">eerily silent</a>.</p><p>Recent research finds that several songbirds have become perilously close to vanishing — if they haven't been lost already.</p><p>One Indonesian bird, the Simeulue hill myna, has only just been described as genetically and morphologically unique from other lookalike species. It probably went extinct in the wild <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/ibi.12839" target="_blank">in the past two or three years</a>, according to a paper published last spring in the journal <em>Ibis</em>. As the researchers wrote, "On multiple recent excursions to Simeulue, most recently in July 2018, we were unable to find the bird and learned from locals that there had been a great drive to catch the last survivors on the island in response to a wealthy person's bounty on these birds."</p>
<p>The paper calls this an "extinction-in-process" and warns that any remaining birds left in captivity may die without producing offspring. Even if they do manage to breed, the researchers fear they could be hybridized with other similar-in-appearance mynas, obscuring their genetic lineage.</p><p>That same phrase, <em>extinction-in-process</em>, has also been used to describe the Barusan shama, which according to a <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/343229160_The_extinction-in-progress_in_the_wild_of_the_Barusan_Shama_Copsychus_malabaricus_melanurus" target="_blank">2019 study</a> published in the journal <em>Forktail</em> has become one of the most threatened of Asian songbirds due to rampant collection. It's now gone from all but one island.</p><p>Like the Simeulue hill myna, the Barushan shama's plight went virtually unnoticed for years because many taxonomists have classified it as a subspecies rather than a full species. Newer research finds that it's a species with four subspecies, few of which may now survive.</p><p>Not that the species/subspecies disputes matter too much at this point.</p><p>"Taxonomic debates about the rank of these forms should not stand in the way of trying to ensure the survival of what is clearly an evolutionarily distinct lineage," says Frank Rheindt, a biologist with National University of Singapore and senior or lead author on both of the papers.</p><p>So what happens to these birds once they're taken from the wild?</p><p>That's where the story gets even bleaker.</p>
<h3>Disposable Love</h3><p>Songbirds are an important element of culture and tradition for many peoples in Southeast Asia. In Java, for example, it's almost assumed that every household will have at least one pet songbird. The more birds, <a href="https://www.silentforest.eu/about/the-asian-songbird-crisis/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the more prestigious the home</a>.</p><p>But wild songbirds in captivity…well, they don't tend to last long.</p><p>"We've often called the caged songbird trade like cut flowers," says Shepherd. "The birds look nice. They're often inexpensive. You bring one home. It sits in a cage for a couple of days and it dies just like a cut flower. They're not expected to live."</p><p>And because many Asian cities feature massive markets full of birds that have been easily snatched from the wild — usually illegally — any bird that dies is relatively easy and inexpensive to replace.</p>
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Cages line the Malang bird and animal market on Java in 2016. Andrea Kirkby / CC BY-SA 2.0
<p>Even bird traders don't put much value on their stock, since a new supply of wild-caught birds always seems to be waiting in the wings.</p><p>"I've seen some cages where the surviving birds are all sitting on top of dead birds in the cages," Shepherd says. "You can't see the floor of the cage. It's covered with a few layers of dead birds, and then there's some sick and half-dead birds perched on top of them. And they cost the dealers next to nothing. So, you know, even if they sell a few, they think they must be covering their costs or you wouldn't have a business model like that."</p><p>Although all of this seems to favor low-cost disposability, some species are captive bred by the thousands, and prices can soar for the right birds.</p><p>As with so many other groups of heavily traded species, the rarest birds fetch higher prices from collectors — a "better get them before they're gone" collector's mentality that pushes prices higher, drives further poaching and drives birds even closer to extinction.</p><p>The Simeulue hill myna, for instance, might have sold for about $100-$150, "certainly if a foreigner or non-Simeulue person asks," says Rheindt. "This is easily 2-4 monthly incomes for rural people on the island."</p>
<h3>The Caged Bird Sings</h3><p>Along with its rarity, a bird's appearance is clearly a valuable trait to collectors. Some of the birds are strikingly beautiful, like birds of paradise and the Javan white-eye.</p>
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A kingfisher, looking a little worse for wear, in the Malang bird and animal market in 2016. Andrea Kirkby / CC BY-SA 2.0
<p>But the quality that typically drives up a bird's market price?</p><p>That, of course, would be the song.</p><p>A good song can earn a bird owner <a href="https://theecologist.org/2019/oct/02/indonesian-songbird-crisis" target="_blank">a big payday</a>. Entire competitions have sprung up that offer cash prizes for the birds with the best songs — up to $50,000, according to some reports. On Java these events are known as <em>Kicau-mania</em> ("kicau" is Indonesian for "chirping").</p><p>The bird doesn't get much for his work. Perhaps some food and a chance to sing again.</p><p>But it can take a lot of human effort to inspire them to sing for their suppers.</p><p>"People will keep the male birds in captivity for a long time," says Shepherd. "Some birds don't want to sing in captivity and take a long time before they adjust to the point where they'll start to sing. Then they'll train the bird. They'll keep it near other males so it sings more frequently, because they naturally compete with their songs."</p><p>This forced companionship changes the very nature of the song.</p><p>"Some birds pick up notes and sounds from other species," Shepherd says. "Some of the species that are disappearing, they're just training birds. They're not even the ones used in competition. They just keep them beside other the species that compete so they have a more complex and unique song in the competition."</p><p>After that, it's a bit like a dog show.</p><p>"Everybody takes their bird in a cage and there are songbird judges. They walk around and listen to the song and there's big cash prizes for the bird with the best." (Most recently, these competitions have moved online due to COVID-19.)</p>
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<p>Through all of this, the gift nature gave these animals to help propagate their species — song — ends up driving them toward extinction.</p><p>This makes the trade similar to trophy hunting, which values the biggest animals or those with the most beautiful features. "The strongest bird in the wild, the one with the greatest song, would be the one that would pass on his genes," Shepherd says. "Those are the ones being removed from the wild. So, you know, only inferior birds are left behind."</p><p>Unlike trophy hunting, however, where an elephant's tusks can theoretically trade hands in perpetuity, a bird's song is ephemeral — sung once, then lost to time.</p>
<h3>Progress</h3><p>Shepherd says the Asian songbird crisis went virtually ignored for many years. Relatively few scientists studied it, and funding for conservation remained scarce. That's been a costly delay.</p><p>"One of the interesting and sad things is that lot of the species that I worked on in the early Nineties, the ones I tried to raise the alarm on, are now gone or almost gone," he says. "And then the ones I was working on that were extremely common at the time are now the next wave that's disappearing."</p><p>Fortunately, that's started to change. For one thing, scientific research about the trade and affected species continues to pick up. One of the most worrying studies came out last August and found that Java now has <a href="https://www.birdlife.org/worldwide/news/more-caged-birds-wild-javan-songbird-crisis-revealed" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">more songbirds in cages than in its forests</a>. The study found that one species, the Javan pied starling (<em>Gracupica jalla</em>), now has fewer than 50 birds remaining in the wild, while 1.1 million live on the island in captivity.</p><p>Meanwhile governments, NGOs and other researchers have also stepping up their game. Conservation experts came together in 2015 to hold an event called the Asian Songbird Trade Crisis Summit. Two years later they formed the <a href="https://www.asiansongbirdtradesg.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">IUCN Asian Songbird Trade Specialist Group</a>, which had its first official meeting in 2019. And over the past five years governments have started to take action, including seizing several <a href="https://www.traffic.org/news/indonesia-kicks-off-2021-with-a-bumper-crop-of-bird-seizures/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">large shipments</a> of poached birds, although the trade remains mostly illegal and unsustainable.</p>
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<p>Local groups have helped, too, which brings us back to the Simeulue hill myna and Barusan shama. A Simeulue-based organization called <a href="https://www.ecosystemimpact.com/saving-the-last-of-simeulues-endemic-birds" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Ecosystemimpact</a> set out to help the two birds at the beginning of 2020. Although their efforts were hampered by the COVID pandemic, they're still trying to acquire any captive birds they can find to keep them out of the trade. If they do rescue any Simeulue hill mynas — such as four juvenile birds that reportedly recently turned up for sale on Facebook — they'll need a permit from the government to breed them.</p><p>Even then, saving them from extinction won't be easy.</p><p>"Hill myna are notoriously hard to breed, requiring large, tall aviaries with good vantage points over forested areas," says program manager Tom Amey. "It's not out of the question that hill myna will breed within our aviaries, but given their specific requirements, we feel it is unlikely." They're working on raising funding for new aviaries designed specifically for hill mynas.</p><p>They also hope to educate the community, to turn its love of captive birds into one that also supports wild populations.</p><p>"There is a distinct lack of bird song on Simeulue, especially within close to medium proximity of [human] habitation," says Amey. "Our ambition is to bring the beautiful sounds of songbirds back to Simeulue's forests and culture. Songbirds have played an important role in Simeulue culture and many members of the community wish to see them return."</p>
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<p>As with everything in the past year, progress to protect Asian songbirds has slowed down of late. "Unfortunately, the COVID crisis has been a huge, but legitimate, distraction from the global fight against extinction, and very little attention has been paid to such issues in the last few months," says Rheindt.</p><p>Once the pandemic recedes, Shepherd suggests that tourism may play an important role in keeping birds alive, uncaged and in their natural habitats.</p><p>"There's a very big birdwatching community," he says, "and I think working with the community and with the birdwatching tour guides to raise awareness of the benefits of having songbirds around is important. The birdwatching industry's worth millions. I think we need to raise awareness of the fact that you can lose your birds, but also awareness of the facts that having birds around is good for the environment, it's good for your mental health, it's good for all kinds of things — but it's good for the economy."</p><p>Until those messages resonate more than the ka-ching of a cash register, however, Asian songbirds will remain in crisis.</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://therevelator.org/asian-songbird-crisis/" target="_blank">The Revelator</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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