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German politicians from the Social Democrats (SPD) and the Greens on Wednesday proposed raising the value added tax (VAT) on meat to the standard rate of 19%. Currently, meat is taxed at a reduced rate of 7%.
"I am in favor of abolishing the VAT reduction for meat and earmarking it for more animal welfare," said Friedrich Ostendorf, agricultural policy spokesperson for the Greens.
His SPD counterpart Rainer Spieging added that: "a meat tax, such as increasing the VAT to 19%, could be a way forward."
The lawmakers proposed using the additional funds raised by the tax increase to support animal welfare in the country at a time when the meat industry is coming under increased scrutiny for how it treats livestock.
The agriculture spokesperson from Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU) was open to the plans. Under one condition:
"Such a tax can be a constructive proposal," said Albert Stegemann. "However, the additional tax revenue should be used to support livestock farmers to help them restructure."
Controversial Measures
Meat consumption has come under increased scrutiny over the past decade, with meatless diets, such as vegetarianism and veganism, gaining traction across the globe.
Scientists have labeled the meat industry one of the highest emitters of CO2, a key contributor to climate change. They have called for bold measures to decrease meat consumption as part of a holistic approach to combating climate change.
Opposition parties, including the Left Party and the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), have rejected the proposed measures, according to German media.
3 Reasons a Meat Tax Is a Good Idea https://t.co/azkVrDbXyc @peta @OrganicConsumer @regeneration_in @ewg @foodandwater #MeatTax
— EcoWatch (@EcoWatch) January 29, 2018
Reposted with permission from our media associate DW.
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A bald eagle chick inside a nest in Rutland, Massachusetts. Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife
A bald eagle nest with eggs has been discovered in Cape Cod for the first time in 115 years, according to the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife (Mass Wildlife), as Newsweek reported.
<p><br/></p>
<p>That nest is part of a dramatic uptick in the number of active nests, with more than 70 spotted this spring, according to a post on the Mass Wildlife website, as <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/28/us/bald-eagles-massachusetts-scn-trnd/index.html" target="_blank">CNN</a> reported. While spotting active nests is not rare, one with eggs is. Also, for the first time, there is a documented case of eagles nesting on nearby Martha's Vineyard.</p><p>The 1905 nest with eggs was in the town of Sandwich.</p><p>On its website, Mass Wildlife said the population of bald eagles is soaring this season. The birds are currently in the middle of their nesting season, according to <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/bald-eagle-nest-eggs-spotted-on-cape-cod-for-the-first-time-in-115-years/" target="_blank">CBS News</a>.</p>
<p>The return of bald eagles is a testament to the strength of the Endangered Species Act, since the birds have recovered from the brink of extinction. Bald eagles recently improved from threatened to special concern on the Massachusetts Endangered Species Act list thanks to successful <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/conservation" target="_self">conservation</a> measures. Mass Wildlife embarked on an eagle reintroduction program in the 1980s that has led to an uptick in the population of bald eagles in the New England area, as <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/28/us/bald-eagles-massachusetts-scn-trnd/index.html" target="_blank">CNN</a> reported.</p><p>A bald eagle that hatched in Massachusetts holds the record for the oldest bald eagle in New Hampshire. The eagle, which was photographed in New Hampshire this spring, was identified by banding records as a 23-year-old male that hatched in Ware, Massachusetts, in 1997, according to <a href="https://www.wcvb.com/article/bald-eagle-nest-with-eggs-spotted-on-cape-cod-massachusetts-for-first-time-in-105-years-officials-say/32692454" target="_blank">WCVB</a>, Boston's ABC News affiliate.</p>
<p>While bald eagles are no longer on the <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/endangered-species" target="_self">endangered species</a> list, they are still <a href="https://www.fws.gov/midwest/eagle/history/protections.html" target="_blank">protected under multiple federal laws</a>, including the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.</p><p>However, their new found strength could spell trouble for other birds.</p><p>In one example, Mass Wildlife said, "[a]n eagle pair took over an osprey nest and were incubating eggs when the ospreys returned from their wintering grounds. The osprey pair that most likely built the nest harassed the incubating eagle who would flip upside down with its talons in the air in defense. Eventually the eagle cracked the eggs doing this, and this historic nesting attempt failed."</p>
<p>In another example, "[t]wo other eagle nests on the mainland have also failed as a result of an intruding eagle invading the territory and killing the chicks in the nest."</p><p>"Although difficult for observers to witness, these events are all signs of a thriving eagle population in Massachusetts," MassWildlife said, as <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/bald-eagle-nest-eggs-spotted-on-cape-cod-for-the-first-time-in-115-years/" target="_blank">CBS News</a> reported. "On the upside, more and more people across the Commonwealth are experiencing the thrill of seeing eagles in their own neighborhoods as these birds continue to expand their range to urban and suburban landscapes."</p><p>Bald eagles build the largest nests of any bird in North America. Mating pairs build their nests in winter months and then return to them every year to add to the nest.</p><p>The species holds the record for the largest nest ever recorded, with a nest spotted near St. Petersburg, Florida, in 1963 that measured nine feet, six inches wide and 20 feet deep, and was estimated to weigh more than 4,400 pounds, according to <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/bald-eagle-nest-cape-cod-first-time-century-1507010" target="_blank">Newsweek</a>.</p>
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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>
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Frederic Edwin Church's The Icebergs reveal their danger as a crush vessel is in the foreground of an iceberg strewn sea, 1860. Buyenlarge / Getty Images
Scientists and art historians are studying art for signs of climate change and to better understand the ways Western culture's relationship to nature has been altered by it, according to the BBC.
<p>Scientists have used art to help reconstruct historic weather and climatic conditions, such as the behavior of the Lower Grindelwald Glacier in the Swiss Alps prior to the invention of photography. Over the last 150 years, artists' depictions and use of ice has changed wholesale.</p>
<p>In 1861, Frederic Edwin Church's grand work, <em>The Icebergs,</em> showed humans' fragility in the face of the sublime power of Arctic ice floes. "Later pieces of art," on the other hand, "are about the ice melting because of what we've done to it," according Karl Kusserow, curator of American art at the Princeton University Art Museum. "There's a 180-degree switch from a world that we have no control over, to one in which we are actually controlling the fate of the planet, and recognizing that we're not doing a very good job on it."</p>
<p><strong>For a deeper dive:</strong></p><p><a href="https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20200528-the-climate-change-clues-hidden-in-art-history?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=88687841&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_t3KAl8PxZcWuaJm354sogYACZWWrYhJ-xB0nIbDi1w9baaxmVQhjVMV2iVCHLhZt-WbcScHl5bPaJnzE0BMvZSLjAkANlNKv9a5o6XwWD73aliG4&utm_content=88687841&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">BBC</a><br/><a href="http://www.chron.com/technology/businessinsider/article/EPA-blasts-Associated-Press-journalist-over-12170978.php" target="_blank"></a></p><p><em>For more </em><a href="http://ecowatch.com/climate-change-news/" target="_blank"><em>climate change</em></a><em> and </em><a href="http://ecowatch.com/business/renewables/" target="_blank"><em>clean energy</em></a><em> news, you can follow Climate Nexus on </em><a href="https://twitter.com/ClimateNexus" target="_blank"><em>Twitter</em></a><em> and </em><a href="https://www.facebook.com/ClimateNexus/" target="_blank"><em>Facebook</em></a><em>, and sign up for daily </em><a href="http://climatenexus.us4.list-manage1.com/subscribe?u=d1f5797e59060083034310930&id=7c84c08aaa" target="_blank"><em>Hot News</em></a><em>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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Esben Østergaard, co-founder of Lifeline Robotics and Universal Robots, takes a swab in the World's First Automatic Swab Robot, developed with Thiusius Rajeeth Savarimuthu, professor at the Maersk Mc-Kinney Moller Institute at The University of Southern Denmark. The University of Southern Denmark
By Richard Connor
The University of Southern Denmark on Wednesday announced that its researchers have developed the world's first fully automatic robot capable of carrying out throat swabs for COVID-19.
<p><br/></p>
<p>The equipment uses a 3D-printed disposable arm that is automatically swapped after each patient. The robot takes a swab with a specially designed disposable tool that hits the exact part of the throat from which the sample should be taken.</p><p>It then drops the swab into a jar and seals the sample by screwing the lid.</p><p>A team of ten researchers has been working around the clock to develop the prototype as quickly as possible.</p><p>"I was one of the first to be swabbed by the robot, project leader Professor Thiusius Rajeeth Savarimuthu told the university website "It went really well. I'm still sitting here."</p><p>"I was surprised at how softly the robot managed to land the swab at the spot in the throat where it was supposed to hit, so it was a huge success."</p>
<iframe width="100%" height="150" scrolling="no" class="rm-shortcode twitter-embed-1265508926222741508" id="twitter-embed-1265508926222741508" lazy-loadable="true" src="/res/community/twitter_embed/?iframe_id=twitter-embed-1265508926222741508&created_ts=1590555814.0&screen_name=TheEinarkist&text=A+Danish+robotics+research+team+headed+by+Professor+Thiusius+Rajeeth+Savarimuthu+from+SDU+Robotics+have+developed+a%E2%80%A6+https%3A%2F%2Ft.co%2F0QAgY3ARsr&id=1265508926222741508&name=Einar+Petersen" frameborder="0" data-rm-shortcode-id="8cb285f4499e0064625c4be2f61c988c"></iframe>
<p>The invention could help relieve healthcare workers from the monotonous work of testing. But crucially, it could also reduce their risk of exposure.</p><p>The team had found out about the demand for such equipment after speaking to research colleagues at Odense University Hospital.</p><p>Hospital medical director Kim Brixen said there was a great advantage in the fact that robots don't get tired and bored of monotonous work.</p>
<p>"Currently, healthcare professionals are carrying out throat swabs for Covid-19; but working conditions can be a challenge," said Brixen. "The task entails long working days of monotonous work. At the same time, the employees are in great demand in other functions."</p><p>A prototype to swab patients is expected by the end of June, with plans to have the robots ready for the market by autumn in the event of a second or third wave of the coronavirus.</p><p>It's also expected that the technology might be adapted to help with testing for other viruses, such as flu.</p>
<p class=""><em>Reposted with permission from </em><em><a href="https://www.dw.com/en/danish-robot-swabs-throats-for-coronavirus/a-53592080?maca=en-VAM_volltext_ecowatch-28485-html-copypaste" target="_blank">Deutsche Welle</a>.</em><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/r/entryeditor/2646125352#/" target="_self"></a></p>From Your Site Articles
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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>
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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>
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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>
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<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>
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<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
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