It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Sunday, April 24, 2022
Canada eyes new measures to protect economy from national security threats
WORKING TO PROTECT ECONOMY
The Canadian Press - Apr 24, 2022 | Story: 366895
Photo: The Canadian Press
Caution tape is seen around the front lawn of Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Tuesday July 7, 2020.
New measures to ensure Canada doesn't export sensitive technology to foreign adversaries are among the changes being eyed by Ottawa to bolster the country's economic security.
Other possibilities include making it easier to fine companies that fail to comply with investment screening rules and mapping supply chains to identify critical vulnerabilities, according to a federal consultation paper.
The paper, released through the Access to Information Act, was circulated to key parties in industry, academia and civil society last spring to canvass views on better protecting Canada from hostile players out to exploit the country's technologically advanced sectors.
Public Safety Canada is expected to publish a summary of the feedback shortly.
The paper says Canada benefits from the vast majority of the foreign investment in the country, trade in Canadian goods and technology, and research partnerships between foreign organizations and Canadian universities and research institutions.
However, it adds, some foreign states and non-state actors try to acquire technologies or forge commercial partnerships that can potentially jeopardize Canada's national security and long-term economic prosperity.
"Canadian companies, in almost all sectors of our economy, have been targeted."
The frequency and sophistication of state-sponsored threat activity is increasing, the consultation paper adds.
Threats come in the form of espionage, theft and cyberattacks.
But the government warns they can also be waged covertly in otherwise legal transactions such as foreign investments in sectors and industries integral to Canada's security, or the purchase or transfer of sensitive goods, technology and know-how that are currently not subject to export controls.
Other threats involve the purchase of controlled goods and intellectual property through front companies, brokers or others that misrepresent the end use, as well as foreign-funded partnerships between Canadian researchers and entities linked to adversaries.
The consultation paper does not mention specific countries of concern. However, Canadian security officials have long warned that Russia and China, in particular, target Canada's classified information and advanced technology.
Even so, the exercise is intended to ensure Canada's approach is effective in responding to threats, no matter the source.
Among the federal suggestions:
— Creation of a continuously updated list of businesses, research institutions, governments and people subject to specific export permit requirements to help Canadian businesses feel more secure in knowing their goods are not being shipped to a buyer of concern;
— more flexible or even stiffer penalties for breaching investment screening rules intended to protect Canada from national security threats;
— government help to companies to better understand vulnerabilities in their global supply networks for procuring goods;
— and providing federal venture capital to sensitive technology firms to get around the need for foreign investment from potentially risky sources.
The government has spearheaded the creation of national security guidelines to help protect federally funded research.
The recent federal budget included almost $160 million over five years, starting in 2022-23, and $33 million ongoing, to implement the guidelines fully, largely through work with colleges and universities.
The consultation paper also asks how various levels of government can better co-operate to safeguard sensitive and emerging goods and technologies, critical infrastructure and personal data.
Cybersecurity is a vitally important issue that affects businesses large and small since breaches can mean losses to customer privacy as well as operational productivity, said Mark Agnew, senior vice-president for policy and government relations at the Canadian Chamber of Commerce.
"So that one really stands out to me as such an important part of the conversation around the threats to national security."
Q:WHAT CAUSES INFLATION?
'Eye-popping': 90-year-old Burnaby house sells for $568K over the asking price
Have you thought about selling your home right now?
The latest example as far as sales go is a 90-year-old house on 12th Avenue that has a charming entrance and just sold for $2,168,000 – which is an eye-popping $568,000 over the asking price.
Another day, another really old house selling for huge money as the Burnaby real estate market stays hot.
More people are putting their old houses up for sale because they are getting good value for these homes. It's a really good time to sell your house, it seems. Someone has put a 55-year-old house up for sale on Government Road for just under $4 million - far more than many modern marble palaces are being priced at.
The latest example as far as sales go is a 90-year-old house on 12th Avenue that has a charming entrance and just sold for $2,168,000 – which is an eye-popping $568,000 over the asking price.
The house sold after just a week on the market. The house is deceptively large at more than 3,100 square feet and with six bedroom. The lot size is a little over 7,150 square feet.
The place has been lovingly cared for an updated in several areas of the home.
The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver's monthly report for March shows that two out of three Burnaby areas surpassed the $2-million mark for a benchmark price last month.
Burnaby South currently sits at a benchmark price of $2,067,100 (+4.2% in one month) while Burnaby North was at $2,021,400 (+4.9% in one month).
Burnaby East stayed under $2 million at $1,776,300 (+2.7% in one month).
Meanwhile, a forecast published by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation noted that, despite the expected moderation in prices and the number of sales throughout Canada, costs growth will continue to outpace income growth in several major cities – placing “greater pressure on the affordability of home ownership.”
“Improving levels of employment and immigration are expected to be key factors, as the impact of pandemic restrictions continues to recede,” said CMHC chief economist Bob Dugan in a statement about sales, prices and housing starts remaining elevated in 2022. “In 2023 and 2024, the growth in prices will trend closer to long-run averages, with sales and starts activity expected to remain above 5- and 10-year averages.”
The report paints the same picture for Metro Vancouver, Canada’s most expensive real estate market. According to the CMHC outlook, price growth of homes should slow down this year from the blistering pace seen in 2020 and 2021 – but immigration-driven demand and rising debt servicing costs will lead to a worsening of affordability.
CMHC projects the growth rate of home prices in the Greater Vancouver region will not continue on its double-digit rate beyond Q1 2022, and the rate of growth in prices will actually fall to below 5% year-over-year by 2023.
With files from Jess Balzer and the Canadian Press
Follow Chris Campbell on Twitter @shinebox44.
Canadians find other ways to grow wealth as housing escapes them
Iva Poshnjari, BNN Bloomberg Published Wednesday, February 2, 2022
Across the country, housing markets continue to soar beyond the reach of many. For most Canadians, the price of buying a home is completely unaffordable. For others, the large debt incurred from a mortgage is no longer justifiable.
Some potential buyers are walking away from the housing market and finding new investment strategies to grow what would have been a down payment. They are choosing to focus on stocks, art and alternative investments to appreciate their wealth.
Trevor Scott, president at the hedge fund Tidefall Capital, is well aware of the uncertainties that the stock market can bring, but still chooses to invest in it instead of purchasing a home in Canada.
A real estate sold sign is shown in Oakville, Ont., on Sunday, Dec.20, 2020. A topsy-turvy real estate market has opened up new opportunities for first-time home buyers this year — but those seeking to take advantage still face major hurdles.
“The advantage of Canadian stocks today is their high free cash flow yields relative to interest rates. This is the opposite of real estate which has record low rental yields, making renting attractive,” Scott said.
Scott pointed to investment opportunities that can be found in index funds that track the TSX, which is comprised mainly of financials and natural resources — both of which are positioned to do well during inflationary times, he noted.
While price spikes might boost many stocks found within the TSX, it should be noted that deflation and recession also go hand-in-hand, along with a drop in equities.
Sky-high prices for living in Canada gave Scott another reason to favour stocks over real estate. And then there's the risk of rising interest rates, he said.
While the Bank of Canada did hold interest rates steady at January’s meeting, Governor Tiff Macklem made it clear that interest rates are coming.
“If rates increase, a lot of these mortgages on million-dollar homes would be difficult to carry,” Scott added.
He's not the only one who feels this way.
Colby Mintram, a partner at Volt Strategic Partners, also jumped into the stock market after he decided it would be more advantageous than buying a home.
“I’m not paying $1 million to own a one-bedroom apartment,” he said.
Mintram justifies renting versus owning a home in this market through the healthy returns he receives from a mixture of U.S. equities, dividend stocks, alongside put and call options.
“I’m able to make more money investing in stocks than I would have if I sunk all that cash into a mortgage,” he explained.
Market intel is a lot more accessible now than it was 30 years ago, which informs Mintram on how to make money, he said.
If trading stocks is the traditional way to make money in the markets, investors have now found new vehicles like non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and cryptocurrencies to further their returns.
This is the avenue that Amir Parsa Yazdi decided to take.
Yazdi, a 27-year-old who works in data analytics, took his hobby of trading physical sports cards and expanded it into digital collectibles.
“I doubled down on alternative rare collectables and digital formats of cards and art instead of using my money to buy a home,” he said.
Yazdi said he grew his portfolio of digital and collectable assets — including NFTs like NBA Top Shot cards and Beeple art pieces — to roughly $50,000 from less than $10,000 over the course of the last 24 months.
The boom in digital art has also helped usher in young investors to the physical art world, said Brian Liss, the founder of Liss Gallery in Toronto, which saw a 20 per cent increase in sales last year driven by younger clients.
“Millennials are spending anywhere between US$500 to US$30,000 on some of our art pieces," Liss said.
Art as an alternative investment is one trend that even real estate firms see as a good opportunity.
While remaining committed to buying and selling real estate just outside Canadian city cores, Shaminder Gogna, the founder of Condoville, has placed under 25 per cent of his firm’s funds in physical art to hold until the housing market looks more attractive.
Condoville is also eyeing foreign real estate for clients where the pricing makes more sense.
The average cost of a home in Canada remained historically high in the month of December, at $713,500. That’s up 17.7 per cent from the same time in 2020, according to the Canadian Real Estate Association.
In the country’s more populated areas, the costs have risen even further.
As of December 2021, the average home price in the GTA was $1,157,849, according to the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board.
Vancouver home prices went for $1,910,200 on average for the month of December 2021, according to The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver.
Younger clients who waited for a pullback to happen two years ago have found that the market has now completely run away from them, said Mark Salerno, owner of Salerno Realty.
“Every house under $2 million is in a bidding war, and it’s simply because there is no inventory,” Sonata said.
One way for buyers to get their hands on real estate without actually buying a home is through a real estate investment trust (REIT).
Avenue Living Asset Management, a firm that oversees $3.2 billion in real estate assets, has noticed eligible investors flocking to several of its alternative fund offerings. That includes multi-family, residential, agricultural, and storage real estate, explained Jason Jogia, the firm’s chief investment officer.
This is one option, outside of direct ownership of real estate, that provides renters the chance to hedge against inflation, he added.
“Young people need to have a shot at real estate exposure in some capacity, so that generational wealth doesn’t escape them,” Jogia said.
Breakthrough in estimating fossil fuel carbon dioxide emissions
Weybourne Atmospheric Observatory, Norfolk, UK. Credit: Grant Foster
A team of scientists led by the University of East Anglia (UEA) has made a major breakthrough in detecting changes in fossil fuel carbon dioxide emissions more quickly and frequently.
In a study published today they quantified regional fossil fuel CO2 emissions reductions during the COVID-19 lockdowns of 2020–2021, using atmospheric measurements of CO2 and oxygen (O2) from the Weybourne Atmospheric Observatory, on the north Norfolk coast in the U.K.
The estimate uses a new method for separating CO2 signals from land plants and fossil fuels in the atmosphere. Previously it has not been possible to quantify changes in regional-scale fossil fuel CO2 emissions with high accuracy and in near real-time.
Existing atmospheric-based methods have largely been unsuccessful at separating fossil fuel CO2 from large natural CO2 variability, so that estimates of changes, such as those occurring in response to the lockdowns, must rely on indirect data sources, which can take months or years to compile.
The atmospheric O2-based method, published in the journal Science Advances, is in good agreement with three lower frequency U.K. emissions estimates produced during the pandemic by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, the Global Carbon Budget and Carbon Monitor, which used different methods and combinations of data, for example those based on energy usage.
Crucially, as well as being completely independent of the other estimates, this approach can be calculated much more quickly.
The researchers are also able to detect changes in emissions with higher frequency, such as daily estimates, and can clearly see two periods of reductions associated with two U.K. lockdown periods, separated by a period of emissions recovery when COVID restrictions were eased, during the summer of 2020.
Researchers at UEA—home of the U.K.'s only high-precision atmospheric O2 measurement laboratory—worked with colleagues at Wageningen University in the Netherlands and the Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, Germany.
The study's lead author, Dr. Penelope Pickers, of UEA's Center for Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, said: "If humans are to reduce our CO2 emissions from fossil fuels and our impact on the climate, we first need to know how much emissions are changing.
"Our study is a major achievement in atmospheric science. Several others, based solely on CO2 data, have been unsuccessful, owing to large emissions from land plants, which obscure fossil fuel CO2 signals in the atmosphere.
"Using atmospheric O2 combined with CO2 to isolate fossil fuel CO2 in the atmosphere has enabled us to detect and quantify these important signals using a 'top-down' approach for the first time. Our findings indicate that a network of continuous measurement sites has strong potential for providing this evaluation of fossil fuel CO2 at regional levels."
Currently, fossil fuel CO2 emissions are officially reported with a "bottom-up" approach, using accounting methods that combine emission factors with energy statistics to calculate emissions.
These are then compiled into national inventories of estimated greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to the atmosphere from anthropogenic sources and activities, such as domestic buildings, vehicles, and industrial processes.
However, inventories can be inaccurate, especially in less developed countries, which makes it more difficult to meet climate targets.
It can also take years for the inventory assessments to be completed, and at the regional scale, or on a monthly or weekly basis, the uncertainties are much larger.
An alternative method of estimating GHG emissions is to use a "top-down" approach, based on atmospheric measurements and modeling.
The U.K. emissions inventory is already successfully informed and supported by independent top-down assessments for some key GHGs, such as methane and nitrous oxide.
But for CO2, the most important GHG for climate change, this has never before been feasible, because of the difficulties distinguishing between CO2 emissions from fossil fuels and land plant sources in the atmosphere.
Dr. Pickers said: "The time taken for inventories to be completed makes it hard to characterize changes in emissions that happen suddenly, such as the reductions associated with the COVID pandemic lockdowns.
"We need reliable fossil fuel CO2 emissions estimates quickly and at finer scales, so that we can monitor and inform climate change policies to prevent reaching 2°C of global warming.
"Our O2-based approach is cost-effective and provides high frequency information, with the potential to provide fossil fuel CO2 estimates quickly and at finer spatial scales, such as for counties, states or cities."
The team used 10 years of high-precision, hourly measurements of atmospheric O2 and CO2 from Weybourne Atmospheric Observatory, which are supported by the U.K.'s National Center for Atmospheric Science. Having long-term measurements of these climatically important gases was crucial to the success of the study.
To detect a COVID signal, they had to first remove the effects of atmospheric transport on their O2 and CO2 datasets, using a machine learning model.
They trained the machine learning model on pre-pandemic data, to estimate the fossil fuel CO2 they would have expected to observe at Weybourne if the pandemic had never occurred.
They then compared this estimate to the fossil fuel CO2 that was actually observed during 2020-2021, which revealed the relative reduction in CO2 emissions.
"Novel quantification of regional fossil fuel CO2 reductions during COVID-19 lockdowns using atmospheric oxygen measurements," by Penelope A. Pickers et al., is published in Science Advances on Friday, April 22, 2022Video: Counting carbon
Britain's ETS CO2 emissions reached 107.8 million tonnes in 2021
By Reuters • Updated: 22/04/2022
LONDON -Carbon dioxide emissions covered by Britain’s emissions trading scheme (ETS) in the first year of its operation in 2021 were 107.8 million tonnes, the UK ETS Authority said.
The UK ETS – a scheme to incentivise big polluters to cut emissions by forcing them to buy permits to release CO2 – replaced the UK’s participation in the European Union’s ETS on Jan. 1, 2021.
It applies to energy intensive industries, the power generation sector and aviation. The first phase of the UK ETS will run until 2030.
UK government data shows that total greenhouse gas emissions in Britain in 2020 were estimated at about 405.5 million tonnes, down around 10% from the previous year, of which CO2 emissions made up around 79% of the total.
“As a result of changes to aviation and stationary scope, UK ETS emissions and UK emissions under the EU ETS are not directly comparable,” the UK ETS Authority said.
Under the EU scheme, emissions for aviation operators are recorded by origin of operator. But under the UK ETS, the rules capture UK domestic flights, flights between the UK and Gibraltar, and flights departing the UK to the European Economic Area by all aircraft operators, regardless of country of origin.
We can now tell how much CO2 in the air is due to fossil fuel burning
A way of distinguishing between natural carbon dioxide emissions and those from burning fossil fuels could help cities and countries monitor their progress in cutting emissions
A way of directly measuring the carbon dioxide released by burning fossil fuels could help cities and countries monitor their efforts to reduce emissions in near real time.
“We are in a shrinking window of time to do this, so I think we really need to know what the situation is as quickly and as accurately as possible,” says Penelope Pickers at the University of East Anglia, UK.
At present, governments and research organisations estimate countries’ overall emissions based on data such as how much oil or gas has been sold. While initial estimates are often made fairly quickly, it can take years to fully compile this information and estimates can vary substantially.
Measuring fossil fuel emissions directly would help confirm the accuracy of these inventory-based estimates and reveal more quickly if emission-reduction policies are working or not. It could also enable us to track how much specific regions or cities are emitting.
But such measurements are extremely difficult, because plants take up or release varying amounts of CO2 as the seasons shift and weather changes. It is like standing on a beach and immediately trying to tell whether the tide is going in or out, as waves are constantly coming and going.
So, while the long-term global rise in atmospheric CO2 due to human activity – from around 280 parts per million before the industrial revolution to nearly 420 ppm today – is crystal clear, the short-term, regional picture is much less so.
Researchers have tried various ways of directly measuring fossil fuel emissions. One is to determine what proportion of CO2 is in the form of the radioactive isotope carbon-14, which isn’t found in fossil fuels because it decays over time, and oil and gas supplies are millions of years old. But this requires the collection of samples in flasks, so continuous measurement isn’t possible. What’s more, some types of nuclear reactors emit carbon-14, obscuring the picture.
Pickers’s team has used an alternative approach based on measuring both atmospheric oxygen and CO2 simultaneously. When plant matter is used as food, or it decays or burns, the ratio of the oxygen lost from the atmosphere to increased CO2 is around 1.1. For coal, it is around 1.2 and for gas it is 2.
The researchers used measurements taken at the Weybourne Atmospheric Observatory on the Norfolk coast to calculate emissions from the southern UK since 2020. They used machine learning to estimate how changes in weather and wind direction affect oxygen and CO2 levels in the area.
The team was able to detect falls in fossil fuel emissions during the first and second covid-19 lockdowns in England. “Covid has been a great example of a quite sudden, abrupt change,” says Pickers.
With around four observatories, it would be possible to measure emissions from Britain, she says. More would be needed to monitor individual cities.
The study makes a strong case that the method is effective, says Brad Weir at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland. But building monitoring stations around the world would take a lot of time and money, he says.
“If we are going to have a fossil-fuel-carbon-monitoring system, it’s going to start with satellites,” says Weir.
His team reported last year that falls in carbon dioxide emissions due to the pandemic were detectable using existing CO2-sensing satellites, and there are plans to launch more missions focused on detecting this gas in the coming years.
Pickers says the problem with satellites is that they can’t detect CO2 through clouds and can’t distinguish between biological and fossil fuel emissions. Instead, satellite estimates rely on computer models of natural processes to determine fossil fuel emissions.
But these models are informed by data and can be highly accurate, says Weir, who points out that Pickers’s team relies on the “black box” of machine learning.
Ultimately, the best results may come from using all the different methods. “We should go for a combined approach,” says Pickers.
“We are going to have to integrate all of these observations,” says Weir.
Slovenia election: liberal newcomer Robert Golob defeats populist PM
Golob’s Freedom Movement wins 34.5% of the vote over Trump-admirer Janez Janša’s populist party in election billed as a ‘referendum on democracy’
Robert Golob, leader of the newly founded liberal Freedom Movement party, during the pre-election convention in Ljubljana on 19 March. His party won a landslide victory in Slovenia’s elections on Sunday.
Photograph: Jure Makovec/AFP/Getty Images
Agence France-PresseSun 24 Apr 2022 20.34 BST
Political newcomer liberal Robert Golob has defeated Slovenia’s three-time prime minister, populist conservative Janez Janša, in elections in a country split by bitter political divisions over the rule of law. Golob’s Freedom Movement (GS), which he launched only in January, has built on anger with Janša’s regime in the former Yugoslav state.
The opposition accuses Janša of having tried to undermine democratic institutions and press freedoms since he returned to power in 2020.
With almost all the votes counted on Sunday in the country of around two million people, GS stood at 34.5% of the vote compared with 23.6% for Janša’s Slovenian Democratic party.
“Our objective has been reached: a victory that will enable us to take the country back to freedom,” Golob told jubilant supporters late Sunday.
“People want changes and have expressed their confidence in us as the only ones who can bring those changes,” he said earlier via a livestream from his home where he was in isolation after contracting Covid-19.
The 55-year-old former power company manager has promised to restore “normality”, having billed the elections as a “referendum on democracy”.
Robert Golob speaks via videocall due to isolating with Covid, saying his party’s election victory ‘will enable us to take the country back to freedom’.
Photograph: Jure Makovec/AFP/Getty Images
Political analyst Miha Kovac said civil society and younger voters in particular had been mobilised. Analysts had expected an increased turnout and for voters to turn against Janša’s style Turnout stood at some 70% of the 1.7 million electorate – significantly higher than the 52% in the last parliamentary elections in 2018.
“The vote was a vote against Janša,” said Kovac. “Against Slovenia on the Hungarian path, against an illiberal democracy in Slovenia, against the government taking over the public television, against the control of judiciary.”
But he warned that GS had no government experience – even though it could partner with the more experienced Social Democrats (SD), who have 6.7% of the vote with almost all ballots counted.
“It’s like a company that abruptly grows,” Kovac added. “It has no infrastructure, no know-how, no people that know how to work in parliamentary bodies.”
Janša, 63, an admirer of US ex-president Donald Trump, had campaigned on promises of stability.
“Ahead of the new government there are many challenges, but during our mandate we have set a solid ground for a peaceful navigation,” he said late Sunday.
“It is easy to pay billboards, to have the backing of all media and the so-called civil society,” he said. “But then hard work and challenges come, and there nothing of that can help you.”
Uroš Esih, a columnist at one of Slovenia’s leading dailies Delo, told Agence France-Presse ahead of the elections that they represented a “breaking point” with “liberal and illiberal political forces clashing” in Slovenia.
The rise of Golob began when he took over a small Green party without parliamentary seats in January, renaming it Freedom Movement.
He tapped into the protests that had developed since Janša took power, as tens of thousands of people regularly attended anti-government rallies.
“I hope the situation will change ... It is obvious that most of the people are not satisfied with this government and the way it’s governing,” Sara Rigler, a 21-year-old psychology student, told AFP at a polling station in the capital Ljubljana earlier Sunday.
Janez Janša delivers a speech after Slovenia’s parliamentary elections on Sunday. Photograph: Jure Makovec/AFP/Getty Images
Janša already served as prime minister between 2004 and 2008, and 2012-2013.
Only a year into his second term as premier however, he was forced out by a corruption scandal.
Exxon Bans Outside Flags, Like the Pride Banner, From Company Flagpoles
Workers can display the banner on other areas of the company’s properties, including on lawns. The company is allowing a flag representing an L.G.B.T. employee group.
Exxon Mobil employees at the Pride parade in Houston in 2015, the first time the company participated in the parade.
Exxon Mobil will no longer allow banners of outside organizations on its flagpoles, angering some employees who in the past had flown a rainbow pride flag.
The new policy allows only government flags and those representing Exxon Mobil and its employee resource groups, which are employee-led affinity organizations that are generally blessed by employers. Workers can display the pride flag and representations of other groups like Black Lives Matter on other areas of the company’s properties, including on lawns or in digital spaces.
“It is a longstanding practice at our facilities around the world that E.R.G. flags can be flown during signature months,” Tracey Gunnlaugsson, vice president of human resources at Exxon Mobil, said in a statement. “The flags are directly related to our business and company support of our E.R.G.s.”
The logo for the company’s employee resource group for L.G.B.T. employees includes bubbles filled with several colors around the word PRIDE. That logo has been flown at offices and is used on T-shirts that employees wear at Pride parades.
Current Exxon employees declined to comment. J. Chris Martin, a former employee who used to head the resource group, said that a different flag featuring the Exxon logo on a rainbow background “was flown at many company locations last year without question” but that he had been told that approval to display that flag had been revoked “without explanation.”
“I’m also told that the employee resource groups were consulted only in a perfunctory way regarding this matter, based on momentary discomfort with displaying a symbol of open-mindedness and support for long-suppressed voices,” he said.
“While they may say nobody has lost anything, the symbolism is unmistakable,” he added.
The Human Rights Campaign, an organization that works to end discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, criticized the company for the policy, saying on Twitter: “There’s no such thing as ‘neutrality’ when it comes to our rights. Our flag isn’t just a visual representation of our identities. It is also a staple of allyship.”
The decision, first reported by Bloomberg News, came as corporations have increasingly been pressed to be more outspoken on cultural and political issues. Disney, long quiet on such matters, has been in a fight with Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida over a new state law, officially known as “Parental Rights in Education” — or, to its critics, “Don’t Say Gay.” The measure prohibits classroom instruction about sexual orientation and gender identity in some elementary school grades. Disney opposed the law, leading Mr. DeSantis and state lawmakers to revoke a special tax designation Disney enjoyed in the state.
Exxon was long considered a foe of gay rights, particularly after it merged with Mobil and eliminated that company’s policies that barred discrimination based on sexual orientation and provided benefits to same-sex couples. Exxon has since reinstituted those policies, and its rating in the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index has risen to 85 out of 100 in 2022, from negative 25.
Ivan Penn is a Los Angeles-based reporter covering alternative energy. Before coming to The Times in 2018 he covered utility and energy issues at The Tampa Bay Times and The Los Angeles Times. @ivanlpenn
A version of this article appears in print on April 25, 2022, Section B, Page 4 of the New York edition with the headline: Exxon Bans Outside Flags From Its Flagpoles.
STOCKHOLM: Global military spending rose again in 2021, setting new records as Russia continued to beef up its military prior to its invasion of Ukraine, researchers said Monday, predicting the trend would continue in Europe in particular.
Despite the economic fallout of the global Covid pandemic, countries around the world increased their arsenals, with global military spending rising by 0.7% last year, according to a report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri).
"In 2021 military spending rose for the seventh consecutive time to reach $2.1 trillion. That is the highest figure we have ever had," Diego Lopes da Silva, senior researcher at Sipri, told AFP.
Russia's spending grew by 2.9% -- the third year of consecutive growth -- to $65.9 billion.
Defence spending accounted for 4.1% of Russia's gross domestic product (GDP), "much higher than the world average", and making Moscow the fifth largest spender in the world, Lopes da Silva said.
High oil and gas revenues helped the country boost military expenditure. Lopes da Silva noted that Russia saw a sharp uptick in spending towards the end of the year.
"That happened as Russia amassed troops alongside the Ukrainian border preceding of course the invasion of Ukraine in February," the researcher said.
Whether Russia would be able to sustain its spending was difficult to predict, Lopes da Silva said, due to the wave of sanctions imposed by the West in response to the aggression in Ukraine.
In 2014, when Russia annexed Crimea, the country was also targeted with sanctions at the same time as energy prices fell, making it difficult to gauge how effective sanctions were on their own.
"Now... we have even tougher sanctions, that's for sure, but we have higher energy prices which can help Russia afford to maintain military spending at that level," Lopes da Silva said.
On the other side, Ukraine's military spending has risen by 72%F since the annexation of Crimea. While spending declined by over 8% in 2021 to $5.9 billion, it still accounted for 3.2% of Ukraine's GDP.
As tensions have increased in Europe, more NATO countries have stepped up spending.
Eight members countries last year reached the targeted 2% of GDP for spending, one fewer than the year before but up from only two in 2014, Sipri said.
Lopes da Silva said he expected spending in Europe to continue to grow.
The US, which far outspent any other nation with $801 billion, actually went against the global trend and decreased its spending by 1.4% in 2021.
Over the past decade, US spending on research and development has risen by 24% while arms procurement has gone down by 6.4%.
While both decreased in 2021, the drop in research was not as pronounced, highlighting the country's focus "on next-generation technologies."
"The US government has repeatedly stressed the need to preserve the US military's technological edge over strategic competitors," Alexandra Marksteiner, another researcher at Sipri, said in a statement.
China, the world's second largest military spender at an estimated $293 billion, boosted its expenditure by 4.7%, marking the 27th straight year of increased spending.
The country's military buildup has in turn caused its regional neighbours to beef up their military budgets, with Japan adding $7 billion, an increase of 7.3% -- the highest annual increase since 1972.
Australia also spent 4% more on its military, reaching $31.8 billion in 2021. India, the world's third largest spender at $76.6 billion, also increased funding in 2021, but by a more modest 0.9%.
The UK took over the number four spot, with a 3% increase in military spending to $68.4 billion, replacing Saudi Arabia which instead decreased spending by 17% to an estimated $55.6 billion.
Protesters Amass at White House, Demanding Action on Climate
In Washington, D.C., as well as Phoenix, Atlanta and scores of other cities across the country, demonstrators called on the government to enact bold climate action.
“Fight for Our Future” demonstrators gathered at Lafayette Park near the White House on Saturday to protest government inaction on climate change.
WASHINGTON — Environmental activists, distraught by the government’s slow pace of action on climate change, amassed in front of the White House Saturday afternoon, calling on President Biden and Congress to swiftly pass a climate bill that has been stalled in the Senate since December.
The White House demonstration was one of dozens of “Fight for Our Future” rallies held across the country to press the government to cut the pollution that is dangerously heating the planet, capping a week of events timed to coincide with Earth Day.
“We’re here because in North Carolina we keep getting hit by hurricanes back to back, and we ain’t got nothing fixed,” said Willett Simpkins, 68, a retired nursing home maintenance director from Wallace, N.C. “And it’s getting worse every year. It’s time for them to stop talking about it and do something about it.”
The event, which drew several hundred people under the pale green trees in Lafayette Park, was emceed by Rev. Lennox Yearwood of the Hip Hop Caucus, a nonpartisan group that tries to engage young voters.
Many in the crowd work for environmental organizations, but sprinkled among them were voters who wanted Mr. Biden to know that failure to enact climate legislation could cost him their vote.
Mr. Biden, who came into office promising urgent action on what he called the existential threat of climate change, has seen his ambitious plans pass the House but get watered down and stuck in the Senate because of unified opposition from Republicans as well as Senator Joe Manchin III, Democrat of West Virginia, a powerful swing vote in an evenly divided chamber.
Several hundred people attended the rally in Washington, D.C., which included a mix of activists and voters who wanted President Biden to know that failure to do more on climate change could cost him their vote.
Credit...Jason Andrew for The New York Times
Ava Bones, 10, at the Atlanta rally on Saturday. She made her own placard, which read, “No more pollution” and “Treat plants right.”Credit...Kendrick Brinson for The New York Times
Wisdom Cole, 28, National Director of the N.A.A.C.P. Youth and College Divison, urged the crowd at the D.C. rally to hold politicians accountable for their promises to act on climate.Credit...Kenny Holston for The New York Times
Spiking gas prices because of the war in Ukraine have led Mr. Biden to take steps that are anathema to climate activists. He released a record amount of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and pleaded with oil and gas companies to step up drilling. In keeping with an order from a federal judge, Mr. Biden said he would open more public lands to drilling, despite a campaign promise to stop new oil and gas extraction.
Gracie Chaney, 27, a doctoral candidate in physics at the University of Maryland, said those actions felt like betrayal. “I’m pretty disappointed,” she said. “There were a lot of promises that he broke. It feels like we’re going back to the 19th century or something.”
The events come at a moment when scientists say the window is rapidly narrowing for nations to avoid tipping the planet into an irreversible future of more deadly storms, wildfires, floods, drought, food scarcity and mass migration.
Willett Simpkins Jr. at the D.C. rally: “It’s getting worse every year. It’s time for them to stop talking about it and do something about it.”Credit...Kenny Holston for The New York Times
Grace Chaney: “It feels like we’re going back to the 19th century or something.”
Credit...Kenny Holston for The New York Times
Mr. Biden has pledged to cut greenhouse gases in half by 2050, a goal that is in line with what scientists say is needed from the United States to avert such catastrophes.
But if Democrats, who hold a razor-thin majority in Congress, do not enact major climate legislation within the next few months, many analysts say that window to meet that goal will slam shut. Republicans are favored to win control of at least one chamber of Congress in this fall’s midterm elections, and their steadfast opposition to climate action would likely doom the prospects for new legislation anytime soon.
Scientists have been declaring with increasing urgency that nations need to act now to avert a harrowing future. A major scientific report released earlier this month concluded that countries must immediately and drastically pivot away from the fossil fuels that have underpinned major economies for more than a century.
Max Reitzes, 10 months old, attended with his mother, Caroline, in Atlanta.
Credit...Kendrick Brinson for The New York Times
Speakers at the Atlanta rally included the city’s mayor, Andre Dickens.
Credit...Kendrick Brinson for The New York Times
Brenda Mallory, the chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, reminded the crowd that “Congress must act, too.”Credit...Jason Andrew for The New York Times The Earth has warmed an average of 1.1 degrees Celsius (1.9 degrees Fahrenheit) since the Industrial Age largely because of human activity, namely the burning of oil, gas and coal. Scientists say that every fraction of a degree of heating translates into more frequent droughts, more violent storms, more species extinction — impacts that are already being felt in every corner of the globe. Once the Earth passes a threshold of 1.5 degrees of warming (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit), the likelihood of devastating heat waves, drought, wildfires and storms rises significantly, scientists say.
Brenda Mallory, the chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, reminded the crowd about steps the Biden administration has taken to cut pollution. But she emphasized the need to pass his stalled legislation, which would provide more than $500 billion in tax credits designed to speed the country’s transition to wind and solar power as well as to electric cars.
“President Biden will use every lever, use every tool, and push every resource to tackle climate change,” she said. “But Congress must act, too.”
Mr. Simpkins has followed Mr. Biden’s actions, including a crackdown on planet-warming methane that leaks from oil and gas wells and a ban on hydrofluorocarbons, a greenhouse gas produced by refrigerator coolants.
“That stuff on the gas emissions, that was good,” he said. “The stuff on the Freon and air-conditioner stuff, that was good. But they need even more. Those trees that are getting burned down every year, they’re not getting replanted. The houses that are getting hit are not coming back.”
Mr. Simpkins voted for Mr. Biden in 2020, but he said that if Mr. Biden fails to deliver strong climate laws, he will sit out the 2024 election. “I hate to say that, but I wouldn’t vote,” he said.
Coral Davenport covers energy and environmental policy for the climate desk from Washington. She was part of a Times team that was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished public service journalism in 2020, and part of a Times team that received Columbia University’s John B. Oakes award for distinguished environmental journalism in 2018. @CoralMDavenport • Facebook
