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When I began Schwartzreport my purpose was to produce an entirely fact-based daily publication in favor of the earth, the inter-connectedness and interdependence of all life, democracy, equality for all, liberty, and things that are life-affirming. Also, to warn my readers about actions, events, and trends that threaten those values. Our country now stands at a crossroads, indeed, the world stands at a crossroads where those values are very much at risk and it is up to each of us who care about wellbeing to do what we can to defend those principles. I want to thank all of you who have contributed to SR, particularly those of you who have scheduled an ongoing monthly contribution. It makes a big difference and is much appreciated. It is one thing to put in the hours each day and to do the work for free, but another to have to cover the rising out-of-pocket costs. For those of you who haven’t done so, but read SR regularly, I ask that you consider supporting it.
Stephan: Because the Republican Party and the Trump administration are submissive to corporate carbon energy interests upon who they depend for funding, the United States is not only not a world leader in mitigating climate change, we are saboteurs of such efforts, as this report describes. Every American should feel ashamed, I certainly do, and wonder what I will tell my 8-year-old grandson when he is older and asks, "How did the people of America let this happen?"
A September 17, 2020 report by the Rhodium Group calculates that 1.8 billion tons more greenhouse gases will be released over the next 15 years as a result of climate change rollbacks the Trump administration has achieved so far. Pete Linforth / Pixabay / CC0
When President Donald Trump visited California on September 14 and dismissed the state Secretary of Natural Resources Wade Crowfoot’s plea to recognize the role of climate change in the midst of the Golden State’s worst and most dangerous recorded fire season to date, he gaslighted the tens of millions of West Coast residents suffering through the ordeal.
While Trump declared that the weather will just “start getting cooler” and that science is irrelevant to the wildfires, millions were struggling to breathe through the toxic smoke that gave Portland the week-long distinction of having the most hazardous air on the planet, with pollution levels in Seattle and San Francisco close behind. Whole towns in California and Oregon have been destroyed by the wildfires.
A growing body of scientific evidence over the last several decades confirms […]
Stephan: America has a serious overweight problem, and the data gets more and more definitive with each passing year that being overweight or obese is literally killing you. In the United States, 32.5% of American adults are overweight and 36.5% of adults are even fatter and considered obese. That is a total of 69% of Americans, and the percentage goes up every year. It has increased 28% since 2008.
Being overweight is linked to an increased risk for premature death, but which part of the body carries the added fat could make a big difference. Extra weight in some places may actually lower the risk.
Researchers, writing in BMJ, reviewed 72 prospective studies that included more than two and a half million participants with data on body fat and mortality. They found that central adiposity — a large waist — was consistently associated with a higher risk of all-cause mortality. In pooled data from 50 studies, each four-inch increase in waist size was associated with an 11 percent increased relative risk for premature death. The association was significant after adjusting for smoking, physical activity and alcohol consumption.
Waist size is an indicator of the amount of visceral fat, or fat stored in the abdomen around the internal organs. This kind of fat is associated with an increased risk for heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, cancer and Alzheimer’s disease.
But increased fat in two places appears to be associated with a lower risk of death. Three studies showed […]
Chelsea Harvey & E&E News Staff, - Scientific American/E&E News
Stephan: I have been writing about this for years, and the trend just keeps getting worse. Because humanity, and particularly America, is not taking climate change seriously the most basic factors of our climate are radically changing. The impact this is going to have on all human societies is going to be drastic and painful.
In this view from an airplane a lake of meltwater feeds a canal the meltwater has carved into the Greenland ice sheet near Sermeq Avangnardleq glacier on August 04, 2019 near Ilulissat, Greenland. Climate change is having a profound effect in Greenland, where over the last several decades summers have become longer and the rate that glaciers and the Greenland ice cap are retreating has accelerated. Credit: Sean Gallup /Getty
The vast Greenland ice sheet is melting at some of its fastest rates in the past 12,000 years. And it could quadruple over the next 80 years if greenhouse gas emissions don’t decline dramatically in the coming decades.
Research published yesterday in the journal Nature warns that the ice sheet’s future losses depend heavily on how quickly humans cut carbon emissions today.
Led by Jason Briner of the University at Buffalo, State University of New York, the study is among the first to compare the possible future of the ice sheet with its ancient past.
“Now we’re really able to put into perspective just how anomalous our current change […]
Stephan: Miami is the precursor of dozens of coastal cities in the U.S.. As the rich are forced by sea rise to leave their luxurious coastal properties they will move to higher ground and displace poorer families, largely families of color, who in times past moved into what had formerly been less expensive less desirable neighborhoods. Neighborhoods that are now very desirable because they are safe and dry. It will be a form of climate change driven gentrification, and the result will be the displacement of thousands. Here is the process described, as it will happen unless our government at every level plans for climate change based on policies that foster wellbeing.
Construction of a new high-rise condominium in Miami in 2014. Credit: Alamy
There is an inescapable truth about life in South Florida: This low-lying region is set to be swallowed by the sea. An array of powers — municipal, state, federal, and private — have begun to plan and borrow and spend to defend Miami and its environs. But as sea levels steadily rise, the porous limestone rock its residents walk on every day means there is no stopping the Atlantic Ocean.
The sea at the southern end of the Florida Peninsula has risen a foot since the 1900s, and almost 5 inches since 1993. The ocean reclaims chunks of land in the fall and spring during so called “sunny day” floods, which have become four times more common today than 15 years ago. Some scientists say that another 6 inches of sea level rise could very well arrive by 2030, and infrastructure planners are bracing for 2 feet by 2060. Five to 6 feet of sea level rise by 2100 is likely, and likely catastrophic: An inundation […]
Stephan: America has become a culture of ethical whores. For enough money, you can get almost anyone to do anything, no matter how hurtful. Worse of all this moral turpitude has destroyed our legal system. The most prestigious law firms in the country are ethically nothing more than terrorists. Here is the data proving what I have just said.
The top 100 legal firms in the United States “are accelerating the climate crisis” through their litigation, transactions, and lobbying on behalf of polluters, according to a first-ever report of its kind released Thursday by a newly launched law student organization.
“Our research is the first to expose the broad extent of firms’ role in driving the climate crisis.” —Alisa White, Law Students for Climate Accountability
“Law firms write the contracts for fossil fuel projects, lobby to weaken environmental regulations, and help fossil fuel companies evade accountability in court,” Alisa White, a Yale Law School student and lead author of the report, said in a statement. “Our research is the first to expose the broad extent of firms’ role in driving the climate crisis.”https://platform.twitter.com/embed/index.html?creatorScreenName=commondreams&creatorUserId=14296273&dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-0&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1311720779537625091&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.commondreams.org%2Fnews%2F2020%2F10%2F01%2Ffirst-ever-analysis-reveals-how-americas-top-100-law-firms-are-accelerating-climate&siteScreenName=commondreams&siteUserId=14296273&theme=light&widgetsVersion=ed20a2b%3A1601588405575&width=550px
Stephan: Every day for weeks now I have been getting emails from SR readers from other countries, and it is amazing to me how quickly America has gone from being the unquestioned world leader to being an object of pity, with an underlying trope of "you elected him, you deserve what is happening to your country."
Since the end of World War II, the United States of America has been both a beacon of freedom and a moral leader for the world. While that reputation has been declining in recent years, the current Republican leaders have chosen to totally abrogate any sense of ethical responsibility. The damage extends far beyond our geographic boundaries and is especially detrimental in developing nations.
For decades America has held itself out as a model of how democracies should function. The concepts of one-person one-vote, the majority wins, the rule of law, and equal protection for all were pillars of our established form of governance. Many people also believed that, while not perfect, America was exceptional and always striving to meet the high standards laid out by the founders. Other countries, we thought, should follow this sterling example.
It is acknowledged that democracies are messy, but by dialogue and compromise, we moved forward and worked in the best interests of all citizens. As a process, democratization brought learning, with lessons that cannot be injected into societies not […]
Stephan: Report after report has been coming out describing the infiltration of American law enforcement by the White Supremacist/Nationalist movement. Coming at the same time as the seemingly endless reports of law enforcement officers abusing their power by harassing, even murdering people of color, one has to conclude that the police departments of the United States need to be cleansed of personnel with these racist issues, and restructured so that they actually serve and protect, instead of bullying and harming.
A highway patrolman stands guard as the “Stars and Bars” Confederate flag flies in front of the South Carolina statehouse on July 9, 2015, in Columbia. Credit: John Moore/Getty
The FBI has long been concerned about the infiltration of law enforcement by white supremacist groups and its impact on police abuse and tolerance of racism, the unredacted version of a previously circulated document reveals.
The FBI threat assessment report was released by Rep. Jamie Raskin, chair of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform’s Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Subcommittee, ahead of a hearing about the white supremacist infiltration of local police departments scheduled for Tuesday.
A heavily redacted version of the 2006 document had previously been published, one of a handful of documents revealing federal officials’ growing concern with white supremacists’ “historical” interest in “infiltrating law enforcement communities or recruiting law enforcement personnel.” A different internal document obtained by The Intercept in 2017 had also noted that “domestic terrorism investigations focused on militia extremists, white supremacist extremists, and sovereign citizen extremists often have identified active links to law enforcement officers.”
Stephan: Underneath all the Covid news, I see another very alarming trend emerging: anti-Semitic White Racist nativism with a violent component. The data is clear, 76% of domestic terrorist acts are carried out by the participants in this movement. These Red Hats are encouraged by Trump, who sees them as an important part of his base, just as Hitler saw his Brown Shirts as an important part of his base. Indeed, as time has gone on, I see more and more parallels between Hitler, Mussolini and Trump.
A Kyle Rittenhouse supporter at a rally for Donald Trump on Sept. 18 in Bemidji, Minnesota. Credit: Stephen Maturen/Getty
If Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis gets his way, people who merely attend a protest that results in property damage will be prosecuted for felonies. Yelling at someone in a restaurant as part of such a protest will be a criminal offense. And a driver who kills demonstrators with his car will not be liable for their deaths, as long as he is “fleeing for safety from a mob.”
These are just a few of the policies proposed by DeSantis in a package meant to chill dissent and punish those in the streets demanding an end to racist police violence. Republican leaders in the Florida Legislature have promised to file the bill in 2021. By introducing it now, DeSantis clearly hopes to rile up Trump’s base in Florida, one of the most crucial swing states, with fears of black-clad cabals rampaging through their gated communities. But the specifics of the proposal are worth close consideration, because it represents a rising consensus among conservative leaders […]
