Episode 04 Text and Sources

Hear the episode here: https://www.spreaker.com/user/14101666/episode-04-larrnell-oni-from-the-autisti

Broken Planet Headlines 4

1.  Beginning with recent science, a study published in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution calculates the so-called "deforestation footprint" of individual countries: adding their domestic deforestation to the deforestation impacts caused by imported goods.  It found that rich countries such as France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the UK all imported more than 90% of their deforestation footprints from abroad between 2001 and 2015, about half of which came from tropical forests.  Some of the main traded goods driving deforestation include soy, beef, palm oil and timber.  Residents of the wealthy G7 nations drove an average loss of 3.9 trees each in 2015, with the per capita deforestation footprints of G7 members Canada and the U.S. being the highest in the group.  This news comes as another report from the World Resources Institute found that global tree cover loss increased in 2020, and was the third worst year on record since monitoring began in 2002.

In other forest news a separate study published in Nature Ecology & Evolution has found that only 6.5% of global forests are truly protected, with protected status often merely slowing - rather than stopping - deforestation.  Meanwhile a study in the journal Biological Conservation finds that almost half of the 57 environmental deregulation measures passed so far under Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro were pushed through during the first seven months of the COVID pandemic, whilst environmental fines dropped 70% during the same period.  Finally, Drax Group PLC, the operators of the world's largest wood burning power station in Northern England, has further committed to its conversion from coal to biomass with the purchase of Canada's largest wood pellet manufacturer, Pinnacle.  Pinnacle has been linked to harmful practices in Canada such as clearcutting and logging whole trees from primary forests, with a growing body of evidence suggesting that biomass is worse for the climate than fossil fuels.

2.  New research finds that doctors hired by coal companies are far less likely to diagnose black lung disease in coal miners than independent doctors or those hired by miners themselves.  The study, published in the health journal Annals of the American Thoracic Society, looked at thousands of cases and determined that company-hired doctors found an absence of the disease nearly 85% of the time, in contrast to miner-hired doctors who found an absence just 51% of the time.  It also found that company-hired doctors generally received fees around 10 times higher than those hired by employees.  The U.S. Department of Labor estimates that between 1968 and 2014 there were over 76,000 deaths from black lung disease and $45 billion was paid in federal compensation to disabled miners, while a 2018 CDC study found that rates of black lung in central Appalachia were at their highest rates in 25 years, with 1 in 5 miners diagnosed.

Meanwhile, a strike by coal miners in Alabama is continuing after a vast majority of miners rejected a proposed deal between the union and their employer.  The 1,100 United Mineworkers of America members began picketing Warrior Met Coal over unfair labor practices on April 1st, arguing that the miners have kept the company afloat while Wall Street owners rewarded upper management with huge bonuses.  The contract included only a partial restoration of pay cuts and benefits that miners were stripped of in 2016, with union President Cecil Roberts shouted down and denounced as a sellout during recent informational meetings.  Recent reporting from the nonprofit group BailoutWatch found that fossil fuel companies received $8.2 billion in tax-based bailouts under last years CARES act relief bill, whilst still slashing over 60,000 jobs. 

Another recent analysis from the NGO Global Energy Monitor finds that more coal power capacity in the U.S. was retired under President Trump than during President Obama's second term, a finding the authors say is further evidence of coals structural decline.   Finally in coal news the legislature of Kansas has passed a bill that could make it easier to retire coal plants before they have been paid off by utilities, although language usually present in such bills requiring that the savings be invested in clean alternatives was not included.

3.  The Biden administration has released its infrastructure proposal, the American Jobs Plan, a $2 trillion bill that Democrats hope to pass in the next few months.  Relevant climate proposals in the plan include $213 billion to build and weatherise affordable housing; $100 billion in power grid upgrades; $35 billion in clean technology research and development; $16 billion employing oil and gas workers to cap abandoned wells and clean up mines; a federal clean electricity standard for utilities; and the establishment of a $10 billion Civilian Climate Corps.  The bill also includes an increase in corporate tax rates and the possible elimination of billions in fossil fuel subsidies.  In transport the act proposes $174 billion for electric vehicle infrastructure, including consumer tax credits and the building of half a million charging stations, $85 billion for public transit and $115 billion for repairing and paving roads.  That money could give a boost to tar sands companies, as asphalt is derived from the heaviest forms of petroleum.  Passenger train advocates say that the $80 billion earmarked for Amtrak would be 8 times bigger than any previous federal investment in passenger trains, but would fail to cover the full capital needs of even just the Northeast corridor, due to decades of under-investment in the network. 

Progressive critics argue that Biden began from a weak negotiating position, with moderate West Virginia Democrat Joe Manchin signalling that he would be willing to support a bill costing $4 trillion, and that when stretched out over 10 years as the bill intends the funding is not nearly substantial enough.  Days before the Biden plan was announced the Congressional Progressive Caucus re-introduced the THRIVE Act, a $10 trillion green infrastructure proposal.  The administration is rumoured, through what appear to be strategic leaks, to be on the verge of announcing a 50% cut in emissions by 2030 target, based on 2005 levels.

4.  In other green infrastructure news the UK government of Prime Minister Boris Johnson has scrapped its Green Homes Grant scheme to help homeowners in England become more efficient.  The 2 billion pound program began in September and was intended to run through March of 2022, but the deadline for applications was abruptly moved up towards the end of this March following a pattern of mismanagement.  Around 10% of the 600,000 homes that the government expected to provide grants for will be completed.   The initially planned short duration of the program - just 6 months - discouraged installation businesses from making the investments to get accredited.  Those that did often found themselves overwhelmed with a backlog of orders while waiting months for homeowner applications to be approved.  Others ran into deep into debt due to a lack of reimbursement from the scheme, with some having to lay off employees.  Many in the building industry are furious with the cancellation, claiming that confidence in retrofitting programs has been destroyed for years to come.  A previous Conservative government cancelled a similar home efficiency program in 2015.

The government outsourced the administration of the scheme to the American consulting firm ICF, whose work on the project was described by Parliament's Environmental Audit Committee as "nothing short of disastrous."  ICF has in the past done consulting work for the U.S. EPA and was recently contracted to do climate work for the European Commission

5.  The pre-pandemic CO2 emissions of major European airlines have been made public for the first time, compiled by the campaign groups Transport & Environment and Carbon Market Watch.  The data reveals that three of the biggest recipients of European aviation bailouts - Lufthansa, British Airways and Air France - are the three biggest polluters, all emitting 14 to 19 million tonnes of CO2 in 2019.  Carbon dioxide represents just a portion of the global heating footprint of planes.  The findings reveal that the 3 companies only pay a carbon price on an average of 18% of their CO2 emissions, on those flights that take place exclusively within Europe and the EU Emissions Trading Scheme.  In 2008 the EU tried to add long haul flights to the trading scheme, but pressure from the aviation industry and the United States resulted in their inclusion being delayed indefinitely.  It is revisiting the idea this coming June but according to feedback submitted last August the U.S. representation in Brussels still appears to be opposing the effort.  Transport & Environment also recently revealed that emissions from flights within Europe plummeted by 64% last year.

Meanwhile another recently published study from the UK charity Possible finds that relatively small numbers of people take the vast majority of flights in high emitting countries.  The report, titled Elite Status, shows that in the U.S. just 12% of people take two thirds of all flights, in France 2% of the population take a full half of flights, and in the UK 15% of people take 70% of flights.  In most countries studied less than half the population takes a single flight in any given year.  Possible suggests that the fairest way to reduce demand for flying is a frequent flyer levy that increases as a person takes more flights or flies more distance within a year.

6.  A new survey of senior legal managers in the oil and gas industry finds that they consider climate change activism the biggest "real risk" to the sector.  The Oil and Gas Dispute Survey was conducted with more than 50 legal insiders across Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Africa and Latin America.  Around a third of respondents identified so-called net-zero activism by investors, shareholders or activists as a real risk to the companies they served and around a quarter identified protester disruption of worksites as a real risk, with all other risks coming in at lower figures.  The survey also asked which geographic regions were considered the most risky for the industry in terms of disputes, with the UK continental shelf being selected by 37% of respondents, followed by Africa at 28% and Latin America at 17%, although the rankings shifted slightly when only considering responses from those currently operating in the respective regions.  The UK government recently approved new oil and gas drilling permits in the North Sea, the primary area for continental shelf drilling.  The London-based company that conducted the survey, CMS, provides legal services to assist the oil and gas industry.

The results come as two expert witnesses in a court challenge in England have testified that plans for a 27 billion pound road expansion package will increase emissions 100 times more than the UK government's official figures.  In Scotland the ruling Scottish National Party made a pledge this week to reduce vehicle miles travelled by cars, or VMT, by 20% by 2030, if it is re-elected in next months election.  In other oil news the U.S. Energy Information Administration is forecasting an increase in domestic motor fuel consumption over the summer of 2020, including a 15% increase in highway travel, although it is not predicted to reach the levels of travel seen in the summer prior to the pandemic.  Transportation agencies in the states of Minnesota and California also recently adopted preliminary plans to reduce VMT on their roads, with Minnesota proposing to reduce the number of miles travelled by 20% by 2050. 

7.  And finally, Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil exporter, has announced plans to generate half of its energy from renewables by 2030.  The Saudi Green Initiative also includes a 10-billion strong tree planting program for the coming decades.  In addition the kingdom recently commissioned enough solar capacity to power 600,000 homes and last year announced plans for building what would be the world's largest green hydrogen plant.  Renewables currently power a small fraction of 1% of Saudi Arabia's electricity.   No comment has been made on cutting oil production for export.  In January it was reported that Saudi Aramco, the state-owned oil and gas company, had been misleading investors over its carbon emissions, hiding around 55 million tonnes of emissions off the books.  The discovery of oil in Saudi Arabia in the 1930s is often credited with the unification of the country's various tribal factions under the ruling monarchy.

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