INTERNATIONAL CAMPAIGN TO ABOLISH NUCLEAR WEAPONS – The title of a new study by Toon et al, published this week in Science Advances, speaks volumes: “Rapidly Expanding nuclear arsenals in Pakistan and India portend regional and global catastrophe.”
Category: Big Picture
Major Media Bury Groundbreaking Studies of Pentagon’s Massive Carbon Bootprint
JOSHUA CHO – US military is responsible for the most egregious and widespread pollution of the planet, yet this information and accompanying documentation goes almost entirely unreported.
The US Is Spending $1.25 Trillion Annually on War
WILLIAM D. HARTUNG and MANDY SMITHBERGER – There are at least 10 separate pots of money dedicated to fighting wars, preparing for yet more wars, and dealing with the consequences of wars already fought. So the next time a president, a general, a secretary of defense, or a hawkish member of Congress insists that the U.S. military is woefully underfunded, think twice. A careful look at U.S. defense expenditures offers a healthy corrective to such wildly inaccurate claims.
America’s Great Climate Exodus Is Starting in the Florida Keys
PRASHANT GOPAL – Mass migration begins as coastal homes are bulldozed in the state facing the biggest threat from climate-driven inundation.
To Stop the Worst Effects of the Climate Crisis, Report Says ‘The Level of Ambition Needs to be Tripled’—At Minimum
EOIN HIGGINS – The new U.N. report referencing increasing impacts of the climate crisis underscores the need for urgent action.
U.S. Invasion of Iraq Left a Plethora of Environmental Poisons
DAVID MASCIOTRA – First the U.S. invaded Iraq — then we left it poisoned. Bombs, bullets and military hardware abandoned by U.S. forces have left Iraq “toxic for millennia.”
Sanders’ New Plan to Rein In Corporate Misbehavior
DAVID SWANSON – Meet the corporations that could lose their federal contracts when President Sanders signs a new executive order protecting workers’ rights.
Virgin Plastic Pellets are the Biggest Pollution Disaster You’ve Never Heard Of
ZOE SCHLANGER – “Pellets make up the second most common type of microplastic that we find, second to fragments which break down from things that are bigger,” says Sherri Mason, a plastics pollution researcher at Pennsylvania State University who has published foundational studies on microplastics found in freshwater. She spends much of her time collecting and counting bits of plastic in the environment. “I can go to any beach, give me five minutes and I’ll find a nurdle,” she says. “Along a river, 10 minutes. Once you know what a nurdle looks like you find them everywhere.”
2019’s States with the Most Underprivileged Children
ADAM MCCANN – In an ideal world, all children would live worry-free and have access to their basic needs: nutritious food, a good education, quality health care and a secure home. Emotionally, they all would feel safe and be loved and supported by caring adults. When all such needs are met, children have a better chance of a stable and happy adult life. But in reality, not every child is so privileged — even in the richest and most powerful nation in the world.
‘Completely Terrifying’: Study Warns Carbon-Saturated Oceans Headed Toward Tipping Point That Could Unleash Mass Extinction Event
JULIA CONLEY – The continuous accumulation of carbon dioxide in the planet’s oceans—which shows no sign of stopping due to humanity’s relentless consumption of fossil fuels—is likely to trigger a chemical reaction in Earth’s carbon cycle similar to those which happened just before mass extinction events, according to a new study.
OR Lawmakers Send Campaign Contribution Cap to Voters
ERIC TEGETHOFF – Oregon voters will have a chance to weigh in on the role of money in politics next year.
Insurance Giant Ditching Coal Industry Called ‘Major Step Forward’-Especially If Others Follow
JON QUEALLY – Chubb has become the first major U.S. insurance company to acknowledge the key role the insurance industry has to play in stopping the climate crisis.
Nuclear Weapons: Experts Alarmed by New Pentagon ‘War-Fighting’ Doctrine
JULIAN BORGER – US joint chiefs of staff posted then removed paper that suggests nuclear weapons could “create conditions for decisive results.”
Let’s Not Spend $1.7 Trillion on Our Nukes, a Group of N.J. Professors Says. Let’s Get Rid of Them, and the Threat of a Catastrophic War.
ZIA MIAN, ALAN ROBOCK and SHARON WEINER – On May 23rd, the New Jersey General Assembly approved Resolution 230, urging the federal government to pursue a broad range of measures to reduce the danger of nuclear war and to join the United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. California and some American cities have already adopted similar resolutions to call for action in Washington on nuclear weapons. Here’s why.
Norway Refuses to Drill for Billions of Barrels of Oil in Arctic, Leaving ‘Whole Industry Surprised and Disappointed’
HARRY COCKBURN – The largest party in Norway’s parliament has delivered a significant blow to the country’s huge oil industry after withdrawing support for explorative drilling off the Lofoten islands in the Arctic, which are considered a natural wonder.
US Department of Energy is Now Referring to Fossil Fuels as “Freedom Gas”
MEGAN GEUSS – The Department of Energy is on its path to “energy dominance” with bizarre re-branding.
Plastics Found in Stomachs of Deepest Sea Creatures
MATTHEW TAYLOR – Very worrying finding’ from nearly 11km deep confirms fears that synthetic fibres have contaminated the most remote places on Earth.
Pentagon Wastes Taxpayer Dollars, GAO Study Finds
RICHARD SISK – Major Problems Persist With the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV), Zumwalt Destroyer, GAO Finds.
Oregon Agency Says No To Jordan Cove LNG Project
Pentagon Spending Set to Hit Near-Record Levels, But ‘Establishment Says We Can’t Afford’ Progressive Policies
JAKE JOHNSON – The Congressional Progressive Caucus asserts that “very few in Congress are questioning how the U.S. can afford to spend $7.5 trillion on the military.”
North American Drilling Boom Threatens Big Blow to Climate Efforts, Study Finds
OLIVER MILLMAN – More than half of the world’s new oil and gas pipelines are located in North America, with a boom in US oil and gas drilling set to deliver a major blow to efforts to slow climate change, a new report has found.
Our Oceans Broke Heat Records in 2018 and the Consequences are Catastrophic
JOHN ABRAHAM – We scientists sound like a broken record. Every year we present the science and plead for action. Not nearly enough is being done. We can still tackle climate change, but we must act immediately. We have the means to make a difference, we lack only the will.
Will Ethnocide in Western China Become Genocide?
J.P. LINSTROTH – At this moment, China has as many as one million Uighurs, Kazakhs, and other Muslim minorities held in concentration camps in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) in northwestern China. This has been ongoing for some time now and is beginning, finally, to be noticed.
‘People Power Beats Corporate Greed’: After Years of Pressure, JPMorgan Agrees to Divest from Private Prisons
JULIA CONLEY – Civil and immigrant rights groups celebrated a victory Tuesday, March 5, after JPMorgan Chase announced it was finally heeding their calls to end its financing of private for-profit prisons.
House Launches Probe of US Nuclear Plan in Saudi Arabia
By BBC News The US is rushing to transfer sensitive nuclear power technology to Saudi Arabia, according to a new congressional report. A Democratic-led House panel has launched an inquiry over concerns about the White House plan to build nuclear…
‘Space is not your property!’ Beijing Blasts US Report on China & Russia ‘Weaponizing’ Space
RT – A new US intelligence report portraying Moscow and Beijing as trying to bring warfare into the heavens has drawn the ire of China, which insists that space is not Washington’s “private property.”
From Premature Deaths to Planet-Heating Emissions, Analysis Reveals Costs of Trump’s Fossil Fuel Giveaways
JESSICA CORBETT – “Trump is letting his corporate friends wreck the planet and our health.”
‘An Insult to the American People’: Outrage After Pentagon Fails First-Ever Audit
JESSICA CORBETT – After years of empty promises and demands from frustrated members of Congress, the Pentagon finally conducted its first-ever comprehensive audit—and unsurprisingly failed it, Deputy Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan revealed.
Guide to the Climate Change Policies That Actually Work
DAVID ROBERTS – Climate change policy can be overwhelming. Here’s a guide to the policies that work. A new book from veteran energy analyst Hal Harvey simplifies decarbonization.
Keep Your Eye on HR1 – the Most Consequential Pro-Democracy Legislation in Half a Century
ROBERT WEISSMAN – Our democracy is in a double crisis. We face the immediate threat posed every day by Donald Trump, with his combination of unprecedented corruption, disdain for the rule of law and autocratic governance. We also face the deeper rooted problems of Big Money dominance of our elections, shocking voter suppression, extreme gerrymandering and outrageous corporate influence over the policymaking process. After the 2018 election, we have the chance to do something about this double crisis
New Energy Development: Emissions-Free Energy System Saves Heat from the Summer Sun for Winter
CHEMESTRY AND ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT OF CHALMERS UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY – A research group from Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, has made great, rapid strides towards the development of a specially designed molecule which can store solar energy for later use.
‘A Staggeringly Bad Idea’: Outrage as Pelosi Pushes Tax Rule That Would ‘Kneecap the Progressive Agenda’
JAKE JOHNSON – “It would be a profound mistake for House Democrats to retake Congress with dozens of candidates who ran on Medicare for All and then pass an absurd, right-wing framed rule that would actively prevent us from taking action on it.” -Democracy for America
US to Stop Refueling of Saudi Aircraft in Yemen War
LOLITA C. BALDOR and MATTHEW LEE – The United States will stop refueling Saudi Arabian aircraft fighting Houthi rebels in Yemen, the Pentagon and the Saudi kingdom said late Friday.
Trust with US must be Built before Korean Peninsula can be Reunited, DPRK Insists at UN
UN NEWS – Despite taking goodwill measures over the past year, including dismantling a nuclear test site, there was “no way” the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea would unilaterally disarm itself without rebuilding trust with the United States, DPRK’s Foreign Minister told the United Nations in September.
Facebook’s New Propaganda Partners
FAIRNESS AND ACCURACY IN REPORTING (FAIR) — That a single corporation — Facebook — has a monopoly over the flow of worldwide news is already problematic, but the increasing meshing of corporate and US government control over the means of communication is particularly worrying. All those who believe in free and open exchange of information should oppose Facebook becoming a tool of US foreign policy.
‘We’re moving to higher ground’: America’s Era of Climate Mass Migration is Here
OLIVERE MILMAN – By the end of this century, sea level rises alone could displace 13m people. Many states will have to grapple with hordes of residents seeking dry ground. But, as one expert says, ‘No state is unaffected by this’
Jordan Cove LNG Campaign Contributions Raise Questions
TED SICKINGER – Controversy over foreign meddling in the 2016 Election has been swirling around Washington D.C. since the day Donald Trump was elected president. But some southern Oregon residents are convinced they’ve got their own case of foreign interference. And if it’s not OK for the Russians, they say, why would it be OK for Canadians?
Second Hanford Radioactive Tunnel Collapse Expected, And it could be More Severe
ANNETTE CARY – The possible collapse of a second Hanford tunnel storing radioactive waste is both more likely than thought a year ago and the effects potentially more severe, according to Hanford officials.
Trump is Breaking the Environment Beyond Repair
LINDA J. BILMES – Humpty Dumpty famously cannot be “put back together” again. For those who care about the environment, every day since Donald Trump took office is a Humpty Dumpty day — with something being broken beyond repair.
In an internal memo, the White House considered whether to simply ‘ignore’ federal climate research
CHRIS MOONEY and JULIET EILPERIN – White House officials last year weighed whether to simply “ignore” climate studies produced by government scientists or to instead develop “a coherent, fact-based message about climate science,” according to a memo obtained by The Washington Post. The document, drafted Sept. 18 by Michael Catanzaro, President Trump’s special assistant for domestic energy and environmental policy at the time, highlights the dilemma the administration has faced over climate change since Trump took office. Even as Trump’s deputies have worked methodically to uproot policies aimed at curbing the nation’s carbon output, the administration’s agencies continue to produce reports showing that climate change is happening, is human-driven and is a threat to the United States.
Putin Takes Ax to Military Spending
FRED WEIR – Amid the current worries in the West over Russia, the idea that Russia would be cutting its military spending seems counterintuitive to us. But that’s just what Vladimir Putin is doing with his new budget, in which plans for a major infrastructure boost are coming at the expense of some of the Kremlin’s more ambitious defense projects.
Courtroom Science Lab: Federal Judge Tutored in Climate Change
DAVID DEBOLT – Opponents in a lawsuit rarely find themselves in the same corner of a legal boxing match. In federal court here on March 21, though, the gloves stayed on: Leading climate change experts and oil industry representatives largely agreed our planet is warming, our seas rising.
Federal Judge’s Unprecedented Order on Climate Science ‘Could Open Floodgates’ for Big Oil Lawsuits
JESSICA CORBETT – With a decision that could have far-reaching implications, a federal judge in California has ordered the first ever U.S. court hearing on climate science for a “public nuisance” lawsuit, meaning that major oil and gas companies for the first time may have to go on the record regarding what they knew about the planetary impacts of their products—and when.
Four Senators Request Negotiations with Russia
WASHINGTON POST – Amid heightened tension with Russia, U.S. Senators Edward J. Markey (D-MA), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), and Bernie Sanders (I-VT) today urged Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to begin a new round of strategic talks with Russia without delay.
Meet the Well-Funded Players Working Hard to Thwart Oregon’s Climate Progress
ERIC DE PLACE and PAELINA DESTEPHANO -Oregon is on the cusp of a climate protection breakthrough in 2018. The state legislature is weighing the Clean Energy Jobs bill, a remarkable opportunity to join its West Coast neighbors in lowering carbon pollution while raising money to invest in clean energy and transportation. The money raised would also provide assistance for low-income state residents. (Sightline’s Kristin Eberhard wrote an excellent summary of the legislation.) Nevertheless, Oregon’s climate proposal has garnered backlash from a range of shadowy conservative groups determined to halt the bill’s progress. Many of these organizations are linked to anti-tax and anti-union politics, and many seem specifically designed to obscure their backers and operations from public view. It’s a rogues’ gallery of climate-protection opponents in Oregon, and Sightline takes a hard look at who’s who in this movement and casts some light into the shadows.
Inter-American Court of Human Rights Solidifies the Right to a Healthy Environment
CENTER FOR INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL LAW – On February 8th, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights released a precedent-setting opinion which recognizes the right to a healthy environment as fundamental to human existence and enumerates key duties of States in protecting that and other environment-related rights.
Plastics Found in Stomachs of Deepest Sea Creatures
MATTHEW TAYLOR – Animals from the deepest places on Earth have been found with plastic in their stomachs, confirming fears that manmade fibres have contaminated the most remote places on the planet.
Trump “Nuclear Posture” Approves New Warheads & Factories; Opens the Door to Testing
TRI-VALLEY CARES – On January 10th, the Huffington Post leaked a draft of the Trump Administration’s Nuclear Posture Review, a Pentagon document that dictates the overall strategy for United States nuclear forces. The leaked document, which is rumored to be the final draft, demonstrates an aggressive shift from the Obama posture review by mandating “more usable” low-yield nuclear weapons, doubling down on building new bomb plants, and lowering the threshold to resume nuclear weapons testing.
This is How An Arms Race Starts: Russian Senator Wants More Nuclear Weapons if US Violates START-3
INTERFAX – Russia will have justification for a symmetrical response if the US boosts its nuclear forces in violation of the START-3 treaty, the chairman of the Defence Committee of the Federation Council (parliament’s upper house), Viktor Bondarev, has said.
Poll: Public Overwhelmingly Opposed to Military Interventions
JAMES CARDEN – Last week, the Committee for a Responsible Foreign Policy—a bipartisan advocacy group calling for congressional oversight of America’s lengthy list of military interventions abroad—released the results of a survey that show broad public support for Congress to reclaim its constitutional prerogatives in the exercise of foreign policy (see Article 1, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution) and for fewer U.S. military interventions generally. Undertaken last November by J. Wallin Opinion Research, the new survey revealed “a national voter population that is largely skeptical of the practicality or benefits of military intervention overseas, including both the physical involvement of the U.S. military and also extending to military aid in the form of funds or equipment as well.