How Putin And His Allies Stalled Climate Reform. Yes, Trump was one of his allies:
He has been abetted by powerful world leaders who share his nationalist or authoritarian leanings and who, together, have swept in to buy his coal, oil and gas and enabled him to finance his war. While their motivations for backing Mr. Putin vary widely — driven largely by pressures they face at home — collectively they have bedeviled global climate cooperation at a time when the warming planet is wreaking havoc on Earth’s seven billion people.
Mr. Putin’s supporters hail from some of the most powerful and polluting nations.
Xi Jinping of China and India’s Narendra Modi stepped up after the attack on Ukraine to buy immense volumes of Russian coal and oil at bargain prices, cushioning their own economies from a global energy crisis while allowing Mr. Putin to keep profiting from energy exports, despite Western sanctions. Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro, who has denuded swaths of the Amazon rainforest for gold and beef, flew to the Kremlin just days before the invasion and, sitting side by side with Mr. Putin, offered “solidarity to Russia.” Afterward he announced Russia would send new supplies of desperately needed fertilizer and diesel.
Even Saudi Arabia — the world’s biggest oil exporter — bought more Russian fuel oil this year, taking advantage of exceptionally low prices. The Saudi crown prince, Mohammed Bin Salman, also joined Mr. Putin in cutting production by the oil producers’ cartel, OPEC Plus, hiking up global oil prices and replenishing Mr. Putin’s coffers. Myanmar’s junta chief, General Min Aung Hliang, met with Mr. Putin nine months into the war and scored an oil deal.
Setting the stage for the unraveling of global climate cooperation was one of Mr. Putin’s greatest admirers: former President Donald J. Trump. He pulled the United States, history’s largest polluter, out of the 2015 Paris climate accord, the agreement among nations to work together to slow climate change — a global moment of unity led by the United States and China.
Seriously, can’t someone take him out?
A Day In The Death Of Twitter. Musk eviscerates the company, fires half the employees. It won’t save the company. Employees have filed lawsuits b/c it looks like Musk clearly violated the law, and advertisers are fleeing. Musk blames–activists:
“Twitter has had a massive drop in revenue, due to activist groups pressuring advertisers, even though nothing has changed with content moderation and we did everything we could to appease the activists. Extremely messed up! They’re trying to destroy free speech in America.”
Personal to Matt Bittle: I see you’ve left Twitter. Where can we find you? I know it’s not TruthSocial. You’re more than welcome here.
Big Ag Pushing Pro-Climate Policies? Maybe, or maybe it’s just an exercise in PR:
Agriculture is the world’s largest industry. Pasture and cropland occupy around 50 percent of the planet’s habitable land and use about 70 percent of fresh water supplies. The climate crisis is challenging the industry across the world but the group’s call for change comes as the industry—which employs 1 billion people—is facing supply chain issues in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic and soaring inflation. It also comes amid mounting skepticism about promises to change from companies that have contributed to climate change.
The report studied three food crops—potatoes, rice and wheat—and has made policy recommendations it will present at Cop27. The task force’s members are working to make the short-term economic case for change more attractive to farmers. “It’s just not compelling enough for the average farmer,” said Reid. More widely the report argues industry and government must also work harder to address the knowledge gap and make sure farmers are following best practices. Third, all parties involved in the agriculture industry—from farmers to food producers to government, banks, and insurers—need to align behind encouraging a shift to more sustainable practices.
Color me skeptical–but mildly encouraged.
Yep, Delaware Is Skewing Progressive. Dr. Samuel Hoff tells us what we already know:
Dr. Hoff said the reason for the influx of progressives in Delaware’s legislature could be attributed to a variety of factors, including the change in the state’s demographics and voter registration totals.
“I know it’s a stereotype, but it has some credence: Younger folks tend to have a more liberal position than older folks, and I think that makes a difference,” Dr. Hoff said.
Similar stereotypes regarding the liberal political positions of women and minority groups like African Americans are also important to note, according to Dr. Hoff. The recent census study found that women outnumber men percentage wise in the state by a 51.6% to 48.4% margin; the study also found that the 22% of the state’s population is comprised by African Americans, a figure that is the eighth highest in the nation. While Dr. Hoff cautioned relying on stereotypes about gender or race for determining political positions, he said “it’s important to look at the state’s trends and recognize the pattern.”
What Hoff fails to mention is that the Senate leadership has become far more progressive and has passed a lot of progressive legislation. As he points out, we’ll have a lot more progressives in the House this year–raising the question as to whether the progressive influx will be reflected in leadership. It has now become time for progressives to make concerted runs at statewide offices. You know, pretty much everything but Lieutenant Governor.
What do you want to talk about?