Marjorie Cohn , Professor Emerita at Thomas Jefferson School of Law and Dean of the People’s Academy of International Law - truthout
Stephan:
I have wondered for some time about the climate impact of all the wars the United States has been involved in since George Bush started the “war on terror” but could not find anything I thought was fact-based. The one thing that did become clear to me is that all these wars have been insanely profitable for the military-industrial complex President Eisenhower warned us about, and these conflicts have resulted in the death of millions. Here is the first fact-based report I have ever seen on this important climate issue. It is a very nasty story.
A soldier in the Afghan National Army (ANA) walks past a burn pit at a command outpost recently handed over to the ANA from the United States Army on March 22, 2013, in Kandahar Province, Zhari District, Afghanistan. Credit: Andrew Burton / Getty
This week marks 23 years since George W. Bush declared a U.S.-led “war on terror” and the people of Afghanistan and Iraq are still suffering its consequences.
After the U.S. invaded Iraq, an estimated half a million Iraqis were killed and at least 9.2 million were displaced. From 2003-2011, more than 4.7 million Iraqis suffered from moderate to severe food insecurity. Over 243,000 people have been killed in the Afghanistan/Pakistan war zone since 2001, more than 70,000 of them civilians. Between 4.5 and 4.6 million people have died in the post-9/11 wars.
The U.S.’s “war on terror” also escalated the climate catastrophe, resulting in local water shortages and extreme weather crises that are only getting worse. In 2022, Afghanistan had its worst drought in 30 years and it is facing a […]
Jet-powered aircraft are significant contributors to the alteration of our atmosphere and climate change. Here is a first report on what looks like a new technology that could be some very good news.
A rendering of the ES-30 regional airliner Credit: Heart Aerospace
It was just this July that we heard about the ES-30, a hybrid-electric airliner being developed by Swedish firm Heart Aerospace. Well, the company has now unveiled a full-scale demonstrator version of the plane, which should fly next year.
To recap our previous coverage, plans call for the 30-passenger ES-30 to utilize what’s being referred to as a “reserve-hybrid” configuration.
What this means is that for flights of up to 200 km (124 miles), the aircraft will just use two electric motors located relatively close in to the fuselage on each wing. For going farther – up to 400 km (249 miles) – two small turboprop engines located farther out on the wings will kick in to extend the aircraft’s range.
One charge of the aircraft’s BAE-Systems-designed batteries should take only 30 minutes.
Like other electric airliners, the ES-30 should produce fewer carbon emissions than its conventional counterparts, while also being quieter, cheaper to operate, and easier to maintain. Additionally, because its electric motors quickly deliver maximum torque, it […]
When I say Americans are not prepared for what climate change is going to do, here is the data on one aspect of that. But it is only one aspect. One has to also factor in not being able to get insurance, or the failure of the Red state governments to prepare properly. And then there is the impact of the interna migrations. The net-net of all of this is that unless we elect politicians committed to fostering wellbeing, which means making appropriate preparations for climate change, the coming years are going to be very painful and difficult.
A drone view shows houses and streets flooded as Hurricane Debby affects the gulf coast in Suwannee, Florida, on August 5. Credit: Ricardo Arduengo/Reuters
The United States is in the midst of both hurricane and wildfire season. And US homeowners are likely keeping their fingers crossed that they and their families will be spared — not just physically, but also financially.
A quarter of US homeowners (26%) said they are financially unprepared for extreme weather events, according to Bankrate, which surveyed a nationally representative sampling of nearly 1,300 homeowners at the end of July. Those most likely to say they were unprepared lived in the South (29%), the West (28%) and the Northeast (25%). Those least likely to say so were in the Midwest (19%).
In response to a separate question in the survey, another 15% indicated they would have to go into debt to afford the deductible they would owe under their homeowner insurance policy if their property ever did get hit. That group is on top of the 7% who said they don’t even […]
When I was a boy in, I think, the 4th grade, we spent one session each day for a semester studying civics, how the country was structured, how elections worked, and what the Constitution and the Bill of Rights were about. Public schools and religious schools, and some private schools don’t seem to teach that any more. As a result a third of Americans can’t even name the three branches of government. You cannot preserve a democracy when a large percentage of the population don’t even know how the government is structured. I think teaching civics ought to be mandatory in both elementary school, and again at a more sophisticated level in high school, and there ought to be approved by historians not politicians textbooks used in those classes.
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA — Do you know your First Amendment rights? Can you name all three branches of the U.S. government? If you’re scratching your head, you’re not alone. A recent survey shows that, even in an election year, many Americans are still fuzzy on some basic civics concepts.
The Annenberg Constitution Day Civics Survey to celebrate Constitution Day on Sept. 17, offers a fascinating glimpse into what Americans know (and don’t know) about their government and constitutional rights.
First, the positive: nearly two-thirds of Americans (65%) can correctly name all three branches of government – executive, legislative, and judicial. It means most people understand the basic structure of our government and how power is divided.
When it comes to the First Amendment, though, things get a bit murkier. While almost everyone knows about freedom of speech (74% of respondents named it), the other four rights protected by this crucial amendment are far more problematic for Americans to name. Only 39% mentioned freedom of religion, 29% noted freedom of the press, 27% recalled the right to assembly, and a mere […]
Could it be any clearer? On the christofascist side we have the corruption of Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito and their wives, on the Democratic side we have Elena Kagan calling out for ethical standards. Here is the story. Can their be any doubt as to which side of the Supreme Court is honorable and ethical?
Even as Justice Elena Kagan leaned into her call for an enforcement mechanism, she retreated from a suggestion she made last year that Congress’ power to dictate ethics rules for the court was well established. Credit: Rich Pedroncelli / AP
NEW YORK, NEW YORK — Justice Elena Kagan is keeping up her public drive for an enforcement mechanism for the Supreme Court’s ethics code despite strident criticism from some voices on the right and skepticism about it among some legal ethics scholars.
“It seems like a good idea in terms of ensuring that we comply with our own code of conduct going forward in the future. It seems like a good idea in terms of ensuring that people have confidence that we’re doing exactly that,” Kagan said during an appearance Monday at New York University School of Law. “So, it seems like a salutary thing for the court.”
Humanity cannot seem to overcome our specie’s greed. We are allowing a small group of humans to feed like vampires on the wellbeing of humanity and Earth’s matrix of life. It is so very sad.
Gas flaring at an oil refinery. Credit: HHakim / E+ / Getty
While 155 countries have committed to reducing methane emissions by 30 percent by 2030 under the Global Methane Pledge, new research reveals that the world’s methane emissions have been rising at a record pace over the last five years.
In a new perspective article published in Environmental Research Letters, the researchers warn this dire pattern “cannot continue if we are to maintain a habitable climate.” The article was published with corresponding figures in Earth System Science Data.
Concentrations of methane in the atmosphere have grown to more than 2.6 times what they were during pre-industrial times and the highest the planet has seen in 800,000-plus years.
