Saturday, April 4th, 2015
Marc Gunther, - The Guardian (U.K.)
Stephan: This is one of the main reasons that America's response to climate change is so poor. Most corporations just seem to be functionally unable to assess a situation beyond short term profits.
The reluctance of so many companies to take a stand against climate change raises questions about the depth of corporate partnerships with NGOs. Credit: Charlie Riedel/AP
Many environmental groups consider the Obama administration’s plan to regulate carbon-spewing coal plants, which aims to cut carbon pollution by 30%, as one of our last chances to win the fight against climate change.
But the vast majority of their top corporate partners – companies like Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, FedEx, UPS, Target and Walmart, which have worked with environmental NGOs for years – aren’t backing them up, according to a Guardian survey.
The survey consisted of calls and emails to nearly 50 corporations that work with three environmental groups – Environmental Defense Fund, The Nature Conservancy and the World Wildlife Fund US – that have identified the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Power Plan as a top priority. These are Fortune 500 global companies that tout their sustainability efforts and celebrate their environmental partnerships.
Just three of them – Starbucks, Mars and Google – support the Read the Full Article
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Saturday, April 4th, 2015
James Gerken, - The Huffington Post
Stephan: Here is the other reason. Fox news is an explicit disinformation propaganda operation, and the most watched and powerful cable news network in the country.
The truth that I find it very distasteful to even think about is that America's place and influence in the world are very quickly unravelling because of the choices Americans make in the ballot box, which includes the choice to not vote at all.
More U.S. adults believe Fox News is a reliable source of information about climate change than believe President Barack Obama is, according to a new poll from St. Leo University.
The March poll of 1,016 Americans found that 17 percent trust Fox News on climate change, while only 11 percent trust the president. Twenty-two percent of respondents said they trust print, online and broadcast media outlets, “such as CBS, ABC, NBC, CNN, Associated Press, New York Times.”
Despite these poll results, Fox News and its hosts and commentators have received far more criticism for the accuracy of their climate change statements than Obama has.
In recent years, Fox News has called climate change a “superstition,” a “scam” and a “hoax.”
Fox hosts have also accused NASA of “fudging the numbers” on climate change and said the phenomenon is something only “corrupt” scientists believe in.
The president has been criticized for supporting an “all of the above” energy policy, advancing plans for offshore drilling and releasing a Climate […]
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Saturday, April 4th, 2015
, - David Suzuki Foundation
Stephan: Here is some more good news for bees... and humans, animals, and birds as well. Even fish.
Credit: www.prograssomaha.com
Ontario’s new pesticide regulation provides for the most comprehensive restrictions on lawn and garden pesticides in North America.
Despite certain limitations, the new provincial Canadian ban has the potential to meaningfully protect human health and the environment from an unnecessary source of chemical exposures.
The ban took effect on April 22, 2009 with certain provisions phased in over two to three years.
Background
In June, 2008, the Ontario legislature passed the Cosmetic Pesticide Ban Act, which amended the provincial Pesticide Act to ban the use and sale of lawn and garden pesticides. A new regulation and pesticide classifications announced on March 4, 2009, specify the details of the ban.
Highlights
The cosmetic1 use of 82 pesticide active ingredients is prohibited, along with the sale of 295 products containing these chemicals.
- Some well known pesticides that will fall under the ban include: Weedout herbicides, Killex herbicides, Later’s outdoor insecticides, “weed and feed” fertilizer-pesticide mixtures.
- An additional 97 “dual use” products will be subject to new display restrictions in stores, beginning in April 2011. These products contain active ingredients that are banned […]
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Saturday, April 4th, 2015
Stephan: When I was growing up one used to hear Latin American nations described as "banana republics" by which was meant they with essentially fascist and corrupt. The term has gone out of fashion but the reality of fascist corruption is as present today as it has ever been.
Washington, DC from the air.
Credit: www.sanfordkramer.com
Government corruption has become rampant:
- Senior SEC employees spent up to 8 hours a day surfing porn sites instead of cracking down on financial crimes
- NSA spies pass around homemade sexual videos and pictures they’ve collected from spying on the American people
Emily Atkin, - Climate Progress
Stephan: Like everywhere else Spain is making the transition out of carbon energy in fits and starts. But the starts outnumber the fits, and Spain is now well on the way to complete its conversion. This is good news.
Credit: REE.ES
Spain is getting the vast majority of its electricity from carbon-free sources, the country’s grid operator reported on Tuesday.
According to Red Electrica de Espana (REE), the Spanish peninsula got 69 percent of its electricity generation in March from technologies that produce zero carbon emissions — that is to say, renewable energy plus some of its nuclear power. Nuclear as a whole provided 23.8 percent of the country’s electricity in March, while 47 percent came solely from renewable sources.
Most of the renewable electricity being generated in Spain comes from wind, which alone provided 22.5 percent of the country’s electricity last month. Wind often competes with nuclear for the title of Spain’s top electricity generation source overall — in fact, though nuclear pulled through in March as the top source of electricity, wind has overall provided more electricity to Spain in the entirety of 2015. From January to March, according to REE, wind provided 23.7 percent of electricity generation while nuclear made up 22.7 percent.
Spain has long been […]
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