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)
Tuesday, September 13, 2022
'Workers Are Angry': Looming US Railroad Strike Puts Pressure on Biden
"If this contract is presented to our members in its current form, it will not pass," said one union spokesperson.
Workers want to be able "to take a sick day or vacation day without the fear of termination."
BNSF workers arrive in Golden, Colorado on August 22, 2018.
(Photo: Joe Amon/The Denver Post via Getty Images)
As negotiations between rail carriers and unions trying to secure sick days and other basic benefits for tens of thousands of workers in the freight industry have stalled, White House officials are engaged in a last-ditch effort to prevent a nationwide railroad strike that could force much of the country's economy to grind to a halt as soon as the end of this week.
Many workers remain unsatisfied with the compromise proposed last month by President Joe Biden's appointed arbitrators, saying that it ignores their demands for more humane workplace policies and isn't enough to keep them from going on strike.
As the Washington Post reported Monday, citing three unnamed sources familiar with the matter:
Biden administration officials have started preparing for a potential shutdown and have warned that a strike could seriously damage the U.S. economy, while also warning it could hurt Democrats in the upcoming midterm elections, two of the people said. Labor Secretary Marty Walsh was part of meetings led by the White House National Economic Council last week, and President Biden is also personally tracking the matter, the two people said. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is also involved in trying to broker the impasse.
Walsh has postponed travel to Ireland to remain in talks.
"Our members are being terminated for getting sick or for attending routine medical visits as we crawl our way out of a worldwide pandemic."
"The parties continue to negotiate, and last night Secretary Walsh again engaged to push the parties to reach a resolution that averts any shutdown of our rail system," a Labor Department spokesperson said Monday. "All parties need to stay at the table, bargain in good faith to resolve outstanding issues, and come to an agreement."
If labor and management are not able to agree on a new contract by midnight on Friday, workers can strike. An unnamed spokesperson from one of the two rail unions still opposed to the White House proposal told CNBC on Monday that "if this contract is presented to our members in its current form, it will not pass."
"The workers are angry," said the spokesperson. "They want movement on attendance policies and [to] not be afraid to take a sick day or vacation day without the fear of termination. There will be no ratification unless this is addressed."
Should it materialize, the first national rail shutdown since the early 1990s would freeze an estimated 30% of the country's freight and most of its passenger and commuter rail services. The Transportation Department has estimated that the U.S. economy could lose up to $2 billion per day as a result.
"The last thing the [White House wants] right now is a major strike in a key sector like this," said Dean Baker of the Center for Economic and Policy Research. "I think Biden is going to be pushing really hard to get a deal. He'll presumably push on the employer side but I'm sure he'll push the union side as well... though there's a question of how hard he'll be willing to push the workers."
Railroads are currently enjoying record profits after decades of deregulation, consolidation, and "just-in-time" operations transformed the industry into what Sarah Miller, executive director of the American Economic Liberties Project, calls "another monopolized cash cow for Wall Street." Rather than improve pay and job conditions, owners have continued to squeeze workers and jeopardize public safety by cutting staff and increasing hours. Meanwhile, investors have been rewarded with stock buybacks and dividend bumps.
"The railroad has brought its labor woes on itself," one unnamed source with knowledge of the negotiations told CNBC. "They have made steep staffing cuts to appease shareholders and improve their bottom line. Workers are burned out. You have heard from the railroads they are hiring but they are not retaining talent because of the point system where you are on call for 12 hours a day and you have to be an hour or less away from your job. They are being held hostage."
The American Prospect's Ryan Cooper opined on social media that a "situation like this really calls for the government to step in and force management to make concessions."
As Labor Notes reported recently, the Presidential Emergency Board (PEB)—a three-person panel established by Biden earlier this summer in a bid to resolve heated negotiations between rail carriers and union officials—has "recommended 22% raises over the course of the five-year contract (dating back to 2020), which would be the highest wage increases rail unions have seen in decades. But they are offset by increases in healthcare costs—and come in the midst of high inflation."
"The PEB also refused to touch almost any of the unions' demands on work rules and conditions, either denying them outright or suggesting that the unions return to the slow negotiation and arbitration process they have already languished in since November 2019," the outlet noted. "Unions have been demanding a sick leave policy—rail workers have no sick days—and the PEB refused them. The PEB also refused to take a position on the strict attendance policies have infuriated many rail workers."
Since they were first issued on August 16, the PEB's non-binding recommendations have caused a previously united bargaining coalition representing 115,000 workers to splinter, with some rail union leaders seeking to turn the White House's proposal into a deal before a 30-day "cooling off" period expires.
As of Monday, 10 out of 12 unions have reached tentative agreements with railroad operators, up from five last week. But the two largest—the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail, and Transportation Workers–Transportation Division (SMART-TD) and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET)—representing some 57,000 engineers and conductors are still not on board with the PEB's recommendations.
"We must make improvements to the working conditions that have been on the bargaining table since negotiations began," SMART-TD president Jeremy Ferguson and BLET president Dennis Pierce said Sunday in a joint statement.
"Penalizing engineers and conductors for getting sick or going to a doctor's visit with termination must be stopped as part of this contract settlement," said Ferguson and Pierce. "Let us repeat that, our members are being terminated for getting sick or for attending routine medical visits as we crawl our way out of [a] worldwide pandemic."
"No working-class American should be treated with this level of harassment in the workplace for simply becoming ill or going to a routine medical visit," they continued. "Sadly, the Presidential Emergency Board recommendation got it wrong on this issue. As we have said from the day that they were implemented, these policies are destroying the lives of our members, who are the backbone of the railroad industry."
"The railroads are using shippers, consumers, and the supply chain of our nation as pawns in an effort to get our unions to cave into their contract demands."
The freight industry has already begun preparing for a strike. As reported by The Associated Press, railroads announced late Friday that they planned to curtail "shipments of hazardous materials and other chemicals on Monday to ensure carloads of those dangerous products won't be stranded along the tracks if the trains stop moving."
According to Ferguson and Pierce, "This completely unnecessary attack on rail shippers by these highly profitable Class I railroads is no more than corporate extortion."
"Our unions remain at the bargaining table and have given the rail carriers a proposal that we would be willing to submit to our members for ratification, but it is the rail carriers that refuse to reach an acceptable agreement," said the pair. "They cannot legally lock out our members until the end of the cooling-off period. Instead, they are locking out their customers beginning on Monday and further harming the supply chain in an effort to provoke congressional action."
"The railroads are using shippers, consumers, and the supply chain of our nation as pawns in an effort to get our unions to cave into their contract demands," the duo added. "Our unions will not cave into these scare tactics, and Congress must not cave into what can only be described as corporate terrorism."
As Bloomberg reported over the weekend: "Pressure is building from industry groups and Republicans alike for Congress to intervene in the dispute... Lawmakers have the authority to extend the deadline beyond 12:01 am ET on September 16 or impose a contract on the two sides, preventing workers from striking for a better deal."
Lawmakers from both major parties, Jacobin noted recently, have invoked the Railway Labor Act several times to undermine the right to strike, "often ramming settlements down the throats of striking workers."
Ferguson and Pierce pointed out that "self-appointed titans of industry complain constantly about government regulation and interference—except now when it comes to breaking the backs of their employees."
"It's time for the federal government to tell the CEOs who are running the nation's railroads into the ground that enough is enough," they added. "Congress should stay out of the rail dispute and tell the railroads to do what other business leaders do—sit down and bargain a contract that your employees will accept."
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A rail strike could result in a 'damaging' economic shock. What will Biden do?
Ben Werschkul ·Washington Correspondent Mon, September 12, 2022
There could be a major blow to the U.S. economy coming down the line: Freight railroads are preparing for possible strikes as a years-long labor dispute sits at an impasse ahead of a key Friday night deadline.
A strike would not only add to the nation's supply chain woes, but throw a monkey wrench into President Biden's plan to tout the nation's economic progress as midterm elections approach.
On one side are freight companies like Union Pacific (UNP), CSX (CSX), and BNSF Railway, owned by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-A). On the other side are labor unions representing around 140,000 workers who are pushing for improvements in wages, working conditions, and time off.
And in the middle sits the Biden Administration. Labor Secretary Marty Walsh is rearranging his schedule to tend to the talks—and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is warning that failure would mean a “damaging supply shock to the economy.”
“The White House is closely monitoring the negotiations,” Yellen said Sunday during an interview on CNN while figures across the administration reportedly engage in a series of emergency meetings to head off the confrontation.
President Biden meanwhile is said to be monitoring the situation closely. He has long positioned himself as defender of unions, but is facing strong incentives this week to avoid a strike at all costs. A spokesperson for the Department of Labor told Yahoo Finance that a “shutdown of our freight rail system is an unacceptable outcome for our economy and the American people, and all parties must work to avoid that.” President Joe Biden speaks to reporters at Joint Base Andrews
on Monday before a trip to Boston. (REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque)
A recent report from the Association of American Railroads found that a stoppage could cost the U.S. economy $2 billion per day and result in widespread supply chain snarls potentially, shutting down 30% of the country’s freight capacity and also halt most passenger and commuter rail services. The White House’s role
At spokesperson for BNSF Railway told Yahoo Finance that securing the material needs to happen now because "while we have made significant progress with several of the unions, we must have every union under an agreement."
Back in July, Biden appointed a Presidential Emergency Board to “make sure America’s freight rail system continues to run without disruption.” Then, in mid-August the Board released their recommendations outlining ideas that included annual lump-sum payments, healthcare adjustments, and changes to work rules.
In a statement at the time, the Association of American Railroads which represents the industry said the recommendations would "provide a useful basis to reach a resolution.”
A Union Pacific rail car is seen parked at a train yard in Seattle in 2017.
(REUTERS/Chris Helgren)
But progress has been slow. Because of government rules, even after a mandatory 30-day “cooling off period,” strikes or lockouts are possible. That clock runs out at 12:01 am ET on Friday.
A spokesperson for the Department of Labor told Yahoo Finance that Secretary Walsh - who often touts his time as a union official - is “engaged to push the parties to reach a resolution.” The two holdout unions say that the key remaining issue are policies that, they say, penalize engineers and conductors for getting sick. They want stronger protections than what the Biden administration has proposed saying “sadly, the Presidential Emergency Board recommendation got it wrong on this issue.”
Policymakers do have some options when it comes to further action if the deadline is breached.
A continued impasse could open the door not only to strike, but also to Congressional intervention. The Congressional Research Service notes that there are a range of options for both executive and legislative action.
A key option would be legislation from Capitol Hill that could prohibit a strike or require the two sides to submit to another emergency board, in effect of delaying a strike. Lawmakers could also simply force all parties to accept a board’s recommendations.
Trains are lined up in a residential neighborhoods in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi on May 27, 2022. (Emily Kask for The Washington Post via Getty Images)
These types of disputes are governed by the Railway Labor Act which deems that direct intervention from Washington is warranted when the dispute threatens substantially to interrupt interstate commerce. But report also notes that the law is vague on exactly how such a threat is determined.
Groups representing interests like agriculture and trucking are already urging Congress to intervene with lawmakers - many of whom are just returning to Washington after the summer recess.
Meanwhile, the two remaining holdout unions remain wary. “Congress," they said Sunday, "should stay out of the rail dispute and tell the railroads to do what other business leaders do — sit down and bargain a contract that your employees will accept.”
Ben Werschkul is a Washington correspondent for Yahoo Finance. Dani Romero contributed to this report.
Railroad strike wouldn't be an economic black swan, Goldman Sachs chief economist says
Brian Sozzi ·Anchor, Editor-at-Large Mon, September 12, 2022
A potential railroad strike in the U.S. shouldn't be viewed as a black swan event, according to Goldman Sachs chief economist Jan Hatzius, but it could still have an impact on the economy.
"I don't think it's a black swan," Hatzius told Yahoo Finance Live at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia + Technology Conference on Monday (video above). "I think it's an indication, along with other indications of more labor strife and maybe more tensions, that labor still has a very significant amount of market power relative to the last several decades. The labor market is extremely tight. Employers have to concede bigger wage increases and better working conditions, and strikes are sometimes the consequence of that."
More than 90,000 workers at the country's freight railroads, including Union Pacific, BNSF, CSX, and Norfolk Southern, could go on strike should the railroads fail to reach an agreement with unions by Friday, Sept. 16. Workers are demanding higher wages and better overall treatment, especially around scheduling and time off. A BNSF rail terminal worker monitors the departure of a freight train,
on June 15, 2021, in Galesburg, Ill. (AP Photo/Shafkat Anowar, File)
If a railroad strike occurs, 30% of the country's freight could come to a screeching halt, the Federal Railroad Administration estimated. That could amount to an economic hit to the tune of $2 billion a day.
Supply chain pressures have begun to ease from the worst of the pandemic, though that could change if there is a stoppage. Any strike could cause inflation — particularly in food prices — to push higher again at a time when households are already struggling to make ends meet.
But Goldman's Hatzius played down the impact of a railroad strike on food prices.
"I don't think it's going to have a major impact on food prices, certainly beyond the very near term," Hatzius said.
Analysts at Bank of America upgraded shares of the three largest publicly-traded railroad operators on Monday, despite the threat of a labor strike that could paralyze the industry later this week.
Ken Hoexter and his team at Bank of America Global Research upgraded shares of Canadian National (CNI), Canadian Pacific (CP), and Union Pacific (UNP) to Buy from Neutral in a note to clients on Monday, citing improving volume and labor trends.
"We recognize we are raising ratings days before Friday's deadline for the rails to agree [to new labor deals]," Hoexter wrote. "We would view any stoppage as a buying opportunity, as we would expect Congress to mandate back to work terms."
Shares of all three companies rose on Monday amid a broader rally for the U.S. equity market.
Hoexter notes rail carload volumes have trended higher of late, rising for 10 straight weeks after having declined for 37 of the prior 43 weeks. Carload volumes are still down 1.4% over last year and off 4% when compared to 2019, but so far in Q3 volume is up 1.4% against last year.
Increased hiring at the railroads has, in part, boosted recent performance, with Hoexter writing: "Rail volumes year-to-date have been constrained by a lack of capacity as shortages in Train, Engine, & Yard (TE&Y) staff limited the carriers' service."
A surge in hiring during the last several months has seen headcount at the Class 1 rails — which include the three companies BofA upgraded, as well as BNSF, Amtrak, CSX, Norfolk Southern, and Kansas City Southern (which is being acquired by Canadian Pacific) — rise to nearly 81,000 during the quarter, up 2.9% from last year.
Hiring at railroads has accelerated this year as operators look to clear a backlog caused in part by being short-staffed. (Source: Bank of America Global Research)
More than 90,000 rail workers from 13 unions around the country have threatened to strike Friday if the unions that represent them can't reach an agreement with the National Railway Labor Conference, which represents the rail companies. Leaders of 11 of the 13 unions have reached a tentative deal but two of the biggest unions representing rail workers are still holding out.
"Failure to act could idle more than 7,000 trains daily and trigger retail product shortages, widespread manufacturing shutdowns, job losses and disruptions to hundreds of thousands of passenger rail customers," AAR President and CEO Ian Jefferies wrote in a statement.
Some railroads have made plans to reduce services in preparation for a potential strike.
A Union Pacific freight train passes the railroad crossing in Nipton, California on Aug. 30, 2019. (Photo By Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Union Pacific Railroad announced late last week the company, "will begin to secure hazardous and other security-sensitive materials on our property for the safety of our customers, employees and communities we serve. In addition, we will embargo new shipments of hazardous commodities until those shipments can safely arrive at their destination. This is a proactive measure we are taking ahead of any potential work stoppages due to an impasse in labor negotiations."
If there is no contract this week, Congress could intervene by imposing a settlement on both sides or order a new cooling-off period.
Ultimately, more hiring and the likely resolution of labor disputes will improve service for the railroads, which is the most important factor, long-term, for these companies' stocks.
"Service performance has been a driver of rail stocks, more so than rising rates given the rails ability to sustain price above inflation," Hoexter wrote.
"While the pull back of fuel and higher labor costs will impact near term results, improvement in service should allow rails to continue relative outperformance. Rails outperformed the S&P 500 in 20 of the past 22 years."
Shares of all three railroads have outperformed the S&P 500 so far this year.
Fossil Fuel Giants Have Targeted 150+ Activists With 'Judicial Harassment': Report
"People must be able to add their voice, without fear of retaliation, to the public debates that will determine the future direction of our country and our planet."
Millie Wahl stands in solidarity with the nationwide "Native Nations Rise" march against the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline on March 10, 2017 in Portland, Oregon.
(Photo: Alex Milan Tracy/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)
In a first-of-its-kind analysis, the nonprofit legal organization EarthRights International on Monday published research showing how the fossil fuel industry has targeted more than 150 climate campaigners and community leaders in recent years with lawsuits aimed at silencing protests, as well as other forms of "judicial harassment."
"We cannot let the oil, gas, and mining industries weaponize the legal system to silence their critics."
The group identified 152 cases in which fossil fuel companies used judicial intimidation tactics to stop critics from organizing against oil, gas, and coal extraction, including 93 strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPP) and 49 "abusive subpoenas" directed at individuals and groups.
"The fossil fuel industry has responded to growing public concern about climate change by retaliating against those who challenge its practices," said Kirk Herbertson, senior policy adviser for EarthRights and the author of the report. "We cannot let the oil, gas, and mining industries weaponize the legal system to silence their critics."
According to EarthRights, the report—titled The Fossil Fuel Industry's Use of SLAPPs and Judicial Harassment in the United States—is the first to quantify the lengths fossil fuel companies go to within the judicial system to silence their critics, such as four anti-fracking activists in Colorado and a reporter who filmed their protests in 2018, numerous groups and people who demonstrated against the Dakota Access Pipeline, and a grassroots group that spoke out about public health concerns regarding a coal ash landfill in Alabama.
Oil company Energy Transfer Partners filed the lawsuits against Greenpeace, Earth First Movement, and several individuals who supported the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in its campaign to stop the Dakota Access Pipeline, and openly admitted the cases were meant to intimidate the protesters and others who would speak out against fossil fuel projects. The company sought $900 million in damages and invoked the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act.
As the report says, Energy Transfer Partners CEO Kelcy Warren told a North Dakota news anchor: "Could we get some monetary damages out of this thing, and probably will we? Yeah, sure. Is that my primary objective? Absolutely not. It's to send a message—you can't do this, this is unlawful, and it's not going to be tolerated in the United States."
For years, said Greenpeace USA on Monday, Big Oil has tried to "shut us up, shut us down, and strip away our First Amendment right to free speech" using SLAPPs.
In addition to dozens of SLAPP cases, the report details "abusive subpoenas," a legal tactic used frequently by oil companies ExxonMobil and Chevron, among others. Although many of the subpoenas sought by fossil fuel giants were dismissed by courts, they can still have "a chilling effect" and discourage campaigners from communicating about their work.
"In 2012, Chevron tried to obtain the private communications of dozens of activists, lawyers, and scientists in retaliation for criticism of its environmental pollution in the Amazon region," the EarthRights International reports says.
The group released its analysis two days before Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) was set to lead a congressional hearing on "the legal assault on environmental activists and the First Amendment." A Greenpeace representative is scheduled to testify.
EarthRights included in its analysis a number of recommendations for legislatures, media organizations, courts, and other stakeholders to stop powerful corporations from weaponizing the judicial system against people and groups who exercise their First Amendment rights. The group recommendations included that:The U.S. Congress and state lawmakers adopt strong anti-SLAPP laws, building on the progress made in 32 states, where laws of varying scope and quality have been passed; Lawyers who take on their powerful clients' SLAPP cases be sanctioned by courts and disciplined by bar associations, which ostensibly prohibit "lawyers from bringing frivolous lawsuits where there is no basis in law or fact"; and The federal government take steps to ensure that law enforcement and security agencies are not perpetuating "myths that treat environmental activists and social justice leaders as terrorists," making them more vulnerable to violence and retaliation than campaigners focused on other issues.
"In the coming decades, debates over the future of energy will continue as climate change affects more communities across the United States," said EarthRights. "People must be able to add their voice, without fear of retaliation, to the public debates that will determine the future direction of our country and our planet."
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'Hidden Killer': Experts Urge Action After Study Shows How Air Pollution Causes Lung Cancer
"If you want to address human health, you have to address climate health first," said Charles Swanton, who led the research team. Steam rises from the cooling towers of the Jänschwalde lignite-fired power plant—which is to be taken off the grid and shut down by 2028 as Germany phases out coal—on January 6, 2022.
(Photo: Patrick Pleul/dpa-Zentralbild/picture alliance via Getty Images)
Experts emphasized the importance of more ambitiously addressing air pollution from fossil fuels after the presentation of a new breakthrough on lung cancer in Paris on Saturday.
"The same particles in the air that derive from the combustion of fossil fuels, exacerbating climate change, are directly impacting human health."
Scientists at the Francis Crick Institute and University College London (UCL) shared their findings—part of the TRACERx lung study funded by Cancer Research U.K.—at the annual conference of the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO).
"Our study has fundamentally changed how we view lung cancer in people who have never smoked," said Cancer Research U.K. chief clinician Charles Swanton, who led and presented the research.
The way air pollution causes cancer differs from cigarettes and sunlight. Tobacco smoke and ultraviolet light damage the structure of DNA, creating mutations that cause cancer. Air pollution causes inflammation in the lungs, affecting cells that carry mutations.
"Cells with cancer-causing mutations accumulate naturally as we age, but they are normally inactive," Swanton explained. "We've demonstrated that air pollution wakes these cells up in the lungs, encouraging them to grow and potentially form tumors."
The team analyzed 463,679 individuals from England, South Korea, and Taiwan, and examined lung tissue samples from humans and mice following exposure to particulate matter, or PM2.5—air particles that are no larger than 2.5 micrometers in diameter.
They found higher rates of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutant lung cancer—and other types of cancers—in people who lived in areas with higher levels of PM2.5 pollution. They also found that, at least in mice, blocking a molecule which causes inflammation and is released in response to PM2.5 exposure prevents cancers from forming.
"According to our analysis, increasing air pollution levels increases the risk of lung cancer, mesothelioma, and cancers of the mouth and throat," noted Emilia Lim, co-first author and postdoctoral researcher at the Francis Crick Institute and UCL. "This finding suggests a broader role for cancers caused by inflammation triggered by a carcinogen like air pollution."
"Even small changes in air pollution levels can affect human health," she said, adding that 99% of the global population lives in areas that exceed annual World Health Organization (WHO) limits for PM2.5, "underlining the public health challenges posed by air pollution across the globe."
The WHO—when updating guidelines on air quality last September for the first time in over 15 years—warned that "the burden of disease attributable to air pollution is now estimated to be on a par with other major global health risks such as unhealthy diet and tobacco smoking, and air pollution is now recognized as the single biggest environmental threat to human health."
While most of the human population is exposed to unhealthy levels of air pollution—which is tied to other health issues including asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), dementia, and heart disease—research has repeatedly shown it's often worse in the poorest communities.
One 2021 study found that air pollution reduces the average global citizen's life by over two years. Citing an estimate that it is tied to more than eight million deaths worldwide per year, Swanton called air pollution a "hidden killer," according to Agence France-Presse.
Swanton stressed in a statement that "the same particles in the air that derive from the combustion of fossil fuels, exacerbating climate change, are directly impacting human health via an important and previously overlooked cancer-causing mechanism in lung cells."
"As consumption of fossil fuels goes hand in hand with pollution and carbon emissions, we have a strong mandate for tackling these issues."
"The risk of lung cancer from air pollution is lower than from smoking, but we have no control over what we all breathe," the scientist said. "Globally, more people are exposed to unsafe levels of air pollution than to toxic chemicals in cigarette smoke, and these new data link the importance of addressing climate health to improving human health."
"It's a wake-up call on the impact of pollution on human health," he told The Guardian. "You cannot ignore climate health. If you want to address human health, you have to address climate health first."
Tony Mok of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, who was not involved in the study, similarly said in a statement that "as consumption of fossil fuels goes hand in hand with pollution and carbon emissions, we have a strong mandate for tackling these issues—for both environmental and health reasons."
Like the scientists who conducted the study, Mok also pointed out how it could help with the prevention of lung cancer among nonsmokers.
"This research is intriguing and exciting as it means that we can ask whether, in the future, it will be possible to use lung scans to look for pre-cancerous lesions in the lungs and try to reverse them with medicines," Mok said.
"We don't yet know whether it will be possible to use highly sensitive EGFR profiling on blood or other samples to find nonsmokers who are predisposed to lung cancer and may benefit from lung scanning," he added, "so discussions are still very speculative."
Suzette Delaloge, head of the cancer prevention program at France's Gustave Roussy institute, was also not involved in the research but discussed it with AFP in Paris this weekend.
"The study is quite an important step for science—and for society too, I hope," she said, noting that it was "quite revolutionary, because we had practically no prior demonstration of this alternative way of cancer forming."
"This opens a huge door, both for knowledge but also for new ways to prevent" cancer, added Delaloge. "This level of demonstration must force authorities to act on an international scale."
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15,000 Minnesota Nurses Launch Historic Strike to Put 'Patients Before Profits'
"We feel like this is the only thing we can do," said one nurse. "Hospitals tell us it's our fault, but we've been actively involved and getting nowhere."
Nurses at Children's Minnesota and United Hospital in St. Paul were among some 15,000 nurses in the Twin Cities and Twin Ports who walked off the job on September 12, 2022 for a three-day strike.
(Photo: John Autey/MediaNews Group/St. Paul Pioneer Press via Getty Images)
About 15,000 nurses in Minnesota walked off the job on Monday for a historic three-day strike after months of failed contract negotiations during the Covid-19 pandemic.
"I can't give my patients the care they deserve."
Members of the Minnesota Nurses Association (MNA) last month voted overwhelmingly in support of what the union says is the "largest private sector nurses strike in U.S. history."
Nurses with MNA argue that hospital executives who make millions of dollars per year "refuse solutions to short-staffing, retention, and better patient care."
Strikers carried signs highlighting their frustration. Messages included: "Patients before profits," "Put an end to corporate healthcare," and "The frontline is fed up with excuses!"
Chris Rubesch, MNA vice president and a nurse at Essentia Health in Duluth, told The Washington Post that "I can't give my patients the care they deserve."
"Call lights go unanswered. Patients should only be waiting for a few seconds or minutes if they've soiled themselves or their oxygen came unplugged or they need to go to the bathroom, but that can take 10 minutes or more," he explained. "Those are things that can't wait."
Minnesota Reformer reports that in addition to demanding staffing fixes and more paid sick and parental leave, nurses seek a "30% wage increases over the next three years. Hospitals have countered with around 10% increases over three years and say they can't afford to go any higher."
The outlet noted that "nurses at Essentia Health's Moose Lake Clinic, who have been negotiating a first contract for two years, were also set to strike but decided on Sunday night to hold an informational picket instead."
At the 15 hospitals in the Twin Cities and Twin Ports where nurses did strike on Monday, participants and supporters shared updates on social media.
Along with various local and state-level officials, including Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, national political figures also expressed solidarity with the striking nurses—whose action comes amid resurgence of the U.S. labor movement.
"I'll be out standing in solidarity with our nurses at Abbott, Children's, and Fairview today!" said Congresswoman Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), who represents metropolitan Minneapolis. "Come join us and show your support."
Backing their fight for "safer care, fair scheduling, and higher wages," U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). tweeted that "nurses are the backbone of our healthcare system. They understand what's best for their patients."
Spokespeople for Allina Health and Twin Cities Hospital Group, two of the systems where workers walked out, blamed the nurses for the impacts of the strike, pointing out to the Post that they have refused to go to mediation. But striking nurses say the walkout was forced by intractable management.
"We're really sad and disappointed that it has come to a strike," Brianna Hnath, a nurse at North Memorial in Robbinsdale, told the newspaper. "But we feel like this is the only thing we can do to show administration how incredibly important a strong nursing core is to a hospital. Hospitals tell us it's our fault, but we've been actively involved and getting nowhere."
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Mixed feelings in Kenya around Queen's death
Sat, September 10, 2022 a
STORY: As condolences pour in, there are mixed feelings in Kenya - and among some other Africans - about the late Queen Elizabeth and her country's colonial legacy.
Britain once ruled more than half of Africa. Many have fond memories of its longest serving monarch, who smiled and waved at crowds in 20 countries across the continent during her 70-year reign.
But others remember colonial times. Like the brutal 1950s crushing of Kenya's Mau Mau rebellion as the sun set on Britain's empire.
Ninety-eight-year-old Kenyan Gitu Wa Kahengeri was 17 when he joined the rebellion against British rule.
He says he mourns Elizabeth as a human being but won't forget being detained in a camp by British forces, beaten and denied food.
"They occupied my land, my birthright," he says.
"I am not a believer of forgetting, therefore we will say okay you did what you did, you have written a regret letter, if you want to apologize in the future you can do so. But we will not forget, I personally will not forget that I was incarcerated for seven years, I cannot forget, I was put together with my father, I cannot forget I left my children for seven years without food, without education, that I will never forget."
Elizabeth was on a visit to Kenya aged 25 with her husband Philip when she learned of the death of her father King George VI and her accession to the throne in 1952.
She was to return many times to Africa as queen.
Kenyan cartoonist Patrick Gathara encouraged people not to forget Britain's colonial past.
""There is a tendency by some to sort of say well that past is the past, just ignore it, it's a nice old lady who has passed, but I am also encouraged by the fact that there is - especially online - quite a vocal number of people who are refusing to be taken in by this, we are insisting that, no - the history has to be told as it is, we've got to remember it as it is and especially now when all these tributes are flowing, when the fundamentals of that history are being laid down that we don't accept to be erased any longer, our stories have to be included the good and along with the bad."
King Charles's accession to the throne has also stirred renewed calls from politicians and activists in former colonies in the Caribbean to remove the monarch as their head of state - and for Britain to pay reparations for slavery.
Mixed feelings among some in Africa for Queen Elizabeth
Fri, September 9, 2022 By Tim Cocks and Ayenat Mersie
JOHANNESBURG/THIKA, Kenya (Reuters) -As condolences poured in from around the world after Queen Elizabeth's death, there were mixed feelings among some Africans about the monarch and her country's colonial legacy on a continent where Britain once ruled more than half the territory.
Some had fond memories of Britain's longest serving monarch -- who came to smile and wave at crowds in 20 countries across the continent during her 70-year reign.
Others however have retained anger at British colonial times and recalled things like the brutal 1950s crushing of Kenya's Mau Mau rebellion as the sun set on Britain's empire, and a huge diamond the British royal family acquired from colonial South Africa in 1905, which the queen never returned despite calls to do so.
Elizabeth was just 25 and on a visit to Kenya with her husband Philip when she learned of her father King George VI's death and her accession to the throne on Feb. 6, 1952.
She was to return many times to Africa as queen.
"When the queen visited Uganda in 1954, I was a young boy in primary school. She was a young and small woman who looked very humble. She was very admirable and smiling," Vincent Rwosire, an 84-year-old retired postal worker, told Reuters.
"We could not believe that such a young woman could have so much power," he said by phone from Mbarara, western Uganda.
Ghana's President Nana Akufo-Addo, whose country the queen visited in 1961, four years after it became one of the first African countries to get independence, lowered flags and said Ghana was proud to be part of the Commonwealth of nations.
Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, whose first name means freedom in Swahili and whose country gained independence in 1963, called her "a towering icon of selfless service".
'THEY OCCUPIED MY LAND'
Many were less enthusiastic about celebrating the life of a monarch whose country has a chequered history in Africa -- like 98-year-old Kenyan Gitu Wa Kahengeri, who was 17 when he joined the Mau Mau rebellion against British rule.
"They occupied my land; my birthright," he said, twirling a black cane at his home in Thika as he recalled being detained in a camp by British forces, beaten and denied food.
"But we are mourning (the) queen because (she) is a person. A human being," he said. "We are sorry for people to die."
South Africa's Marxist opposition party, the Economic Freedom Fighters, said: "We do not mourn the death of Elizabeth".
"Our interaction with Britain has been one of pain, ... death and dispossession, and of the dehumanisation of the African people," it said, listing atrocities committed by British forces in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Despite this view of her, Elizabeth forged a close relationship with late South African leader Nelson Mandela, the first post-apartheid president, and visited South Africa twice after the end of white minority rule.
She was an enthusiastic advocate for the Commonwealth of 56 nations, most of them former British colonies.
Some Nigerians recalled Britain's support in the 1960s for a military dictatorship that crushed the Biafra rebellion in the east of the country. Igbo officers launched the rebellion in 1967, triggering a three-year civil war that killed more than 1 million people, mostly from famine.
Uju Anya, an Igbo professor who is now living in the United States, sparked controversy when she wrote on Twitter late on Thursday of her "disdain for the monarch who supervised a government that sponsored the genocide that massacred and displaced half my family and the consequences of which those alive today are still trying to overcome".
Her comments were "liked" 67,000 times, but her Carnegie Mellon University distanced itself from her messages, which the university called in a statement "offensive and objectionable".
Britain's monarchy plays a largely figurehead role, so while the queen formally appointed prime ministers and held regular meetings with them, she did not make policy.
Meanwhile, the accession of King Charles to the throne has stirred renewed calls from politicians and activists for former colonies in the Caribbean to remove the monarch as their head of state and for Britain to pay slavery reparations.
(Additional reporting by Elias Biryabarema in KampalaEditing by Frances Kerry)
How sunlight could turn seawater into freshwater for coastal communities
By Nell Lewis, CNN Mon September 12, 2022 Photos: How desalination is being is used to tackle water scarcity Desalination – According to World Bank calculations, MENA accounts for nearly half of the world's desalination capacity, making it the largest desalination market in the world. Desalination is widely practiced in the oil-rich nations of the Gulf, at plants like this one in Qatar.
Water scarcity is a growing problem in many parts of the world. One solution is to remove salt from seawater in a process called desalination. Abu Dhabi-based startup Manhat has created a floating device that captures water evaporated from the ocean's surface and condenses and collects it as freshwater. Manhat envisages the devices eventually being used to irrigate floating farms, as shown in this rendering.
Groundwater – The Middle East and North Africa is home to just 1% of the world's freshwater resources. Countries in the region are withdrawing water from underground reservoirs faster than it can be replenished. This is mainly to irrigate farmland: agriculture accounts for nearly 80% of water usage in MENA, according to a report from the World Bank. Pictured here: Crop circles in Saudi Arabia draw on groundwater for irrigation.
Desalination – To overcome water scarcity and meet increasing demand, MENA countries have long been producing their own water, using large-scale desalination plants -- such as this one in in Tel Aviv, Israel.
Desalination – According to World Bank calculations, MENA accounts for nearly half of the world's desalination capacity, making it the largest desalination market in the world. Desalination is widely practiced in the oil-rich nations of the Gulf, at plants like this one in Qatar. Desalination – But desalination in the Middle East has a significant environmental cost because it relies on energy-intensive thermal desalination plants. Waste left over from the process is often discharged into the sea and can damage marine ecosystems. Here, discharge from a plant in Kuwait flows into the Persian Gulf.
Cloud seeding – The United Arab Emirates has invested in another solution to tackle the water problem -- rainfall-enhancing technology called cloud seeding. During cloud seeding missions, aircraft eject salt crystals from flares mounted on their wings to stimulate condensation and the growth of water droplets. Rainwater harvesting – Rainwater harvesting is another low-cost solution in the region whereby rainwater runoff is collected, filtered and stored for use. Such measures have been used for millenia in the region, according to the World Bank. Tanks and cisterns -- such as this one in Yemen -- provide important supply sources for many rural and urban communities.
(CNN)A summer of extreme heat and drought around the world has been a reminder that water scarcity is a pressing issue and one that will only get worse with climate change. Already, more than two billion people worldwide lack easy access to clean water, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
For some countries, desalination plants offer a solution -- removing salt from seawater to satisfy their freshwater needs. The Middle East has the highest concentration of these in the world. But such plants, still mostly powered by fossil fuels, are energy-intensive and the process creates an extremely salty wastewater known as brine, which can damage marine ecosystems and animals when it's pumped back into the sea.
That's why some startups and researchers are updating centuries-old solar still technology, which uses only sunlight to purify water. While the technology is still a long way off from producing the volume of freshwater generated by desalination plants, it could prove valuable for off-grid or coastal communities.
Manhat, an Abu Dhabi startup, is developing a floating desalination device.
Floating solar stills
Abu Dhabi-based startup Manhat, founded in 2019, is developing a floating device that distills water without requiring electricity or creating brine. It consists of a greenhouse structure that floats on the surface of the ocean: sunlight heats and evaporates water underneath the structure -- separating it from the salt crystals which, are left behind in the sea -- and as temperatures cool, the water condenses into freshwater and is collected inside.
Manhat wants to use its desalination devices for agriculture, creating floating farms surrounded by multiple devices for on-the-spot irrigation, as shown in this rendering. Credit: Manhat
"It's really similar to the natural water cycle," says Dr. Saeed Alhassan Alkhazraji, the company's founder and associate professor at Abu Dhabi's Khalifa University. He says solar evaporation has long been used for this purpose, but typically it involves putting water in a basin where, once the water has evaporated, salt is left behind.
Unlike traditional solar stills, Manhat's device floats in the ocean, drawing water directly from the sea. Salt does not accumulate in the device and the angle of the collection cylinder prevents water droplets evaporating back to the sea, says Alhassan.
Earlier this year, Manhat's patented technology won the Water Europe Innovation award for small and medium enterprises with breakthrough solutions in the water sector, commended for its ability to produce freshwater with "zero carbon footprint and zero brine rejection." The startup plans to harness its technology in floating farms, which would use its desalination devices to provide freshwater irrigation for crops without the need for water transportation and its associated emissions.
This would benefit arid coastal areas where land is intensively farmed, says Alhassan. "If you produce (fresh) water on the sea's surface and use it for farming, you can effectively allow arable land to be rejuvenated," he says, adding that the technology could work well for countries like the Maldives that have little land available for desalination plants.
Manhat wants to use its desalination devices for agriculture, creating floating farms surrounded by multiple devices for on-the-spot irrigation, as shown in this rendering. Credit: Manhat Others have also been innovating with solar stills. In 2020, researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) developed a free-floating desalination unit consisting of a multilayer evaporator that recycles the heat generated when the water vapor condenses, boosting its overall efficiency. While field tests are ongoing, it was touted as a technology that could "potentially serve off-grid arid coastal areas to provide an efficient, low-cost water source." Researchers suggested it could be configured as a floating panel on the sea, delivering freshwater through pipes to the shore, or it could be designed to serve a single household, using it atop a tank of seawater.
Scaling up
Geoff Townsend, who works on innovations in water scarcity for water treatment and hygiene company Ecolab, believes that while solar still innovations are unlikely to replace conventional desalination, they could "supplement existing technology, reducing the overall carbon footprint of desalination." But he cautions that "desalination typically needs to provide a very predictable supply of water," and that "there will be potential concerns on the extent to which diurnal (daily) and seasonal changes in performance could impact the ability to achieve the minimal production requirement." An even bigger challenge for this kind of technology is scale. "A drawback is their intrinsic low efficiency," says Townsend, adding that they tend to take up a lot of space for the small amount of water they produce.
MIT's device was found to produce around five liters of freshwater per hour for every square meter of solar collecting area. Manhat's current floating prototype, which covers 2.25 square meters but only has one square meter open to water, produces 1.5 liters of freshwater per day -- a drop in the ocean, considering the World Health Organization estimates that an average person needs at least 50 to 100 liters a day to be healthy
Alhassan says Manhat is working to increase this volume to five liters by optimizing materials and design, with the long-term goal of reaching at least 20 liters. The startup has raised $130,000 in funding so far, predominantly via a collaboration with Abu Dhabi Ports, but with increased investment he is confident these targets can be met.
A pilot of the floating farm concept will begin next year. By linking up multiple modular devices in a grid formation, Manhat believes that its current technology could provide enough desalination to grow less water-intensive crops, such as mushrooms, and as the devices improve they could start targeting other crops such as lettuce or tomatoes.
Despite the challenges, Alhassan believes solar stills will one day become an important source of freshwater. "We have to accept the fact that seawater should be a key player in providing freshwater," he says. "But we need to have a solution that will minimize CO2 emissions and eliminate brine altogether."
Offshore wind is Louisiana's green hydrogen secret super power.
Build Back Better Lives Again, Now With Green Hydrogen
Louisiana will get a chance to flex its offshore wind muscles, through a new green hydrogen hub funded by the Build Back Better Regional Challenge.
President Biden’s signature Build Back Better bill fell into the dustbin of history last summer, but apparently the US Department of Commerce did not get the memo. The agency has just put up $50 million for a green hydrogen hub in the New Orleans region under a new program called the Build Back Better Regional Challenge. That’s going to be a tough row to hoe, considering the grip of fossil fuel stakeholders on the Pelican State. However, Build Back Better is all about transformation, right? What Is The Build Back Better Challenge?
For those of you new to the topic, the Build Back Better bill was supposed to transform the US economy. It combined economic growth provisions with climate action, equity, and environmental justice.
Exactly zero Senate Republicans agreed to vote for the bill, so it needed support from all 50 Democratic Senators. The Democratic Senator from West Virginia, Joe Manchin, held out until the rest of his caucus agreed to tamp down on that transformational thing. A watered-down version finally passed last month under the title “Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.”
Although the IRA is no BBB, climate advocates are generally satisfied that it will spur significant progress on decarbonization.
Meanwhile, the Commerce Department has been plowing ahead with a test of the equity and environmental justice aims of BBB, in miniature. The agency launched the new Build Back Better Regional Challenge last year, deploying Covid-19 emergency funds from the American Rescue Plan.
As described by Commerce, the BBBRC aims to “transform regional economies” through a holistic, equity-driven approach governed by a “singular vision,” leading to the growth of new industries and the scaling-up of existing ones.
The Brookings Institution, for one, caught on to the idea that the BBBRC is a stealth mode version of the Build Back Better bill. Last week the Commerce Department announced a cohort of the New Orleans region and 20 other BBBRC awardees last week for a total of $1 billion in funding, and Brookings had this to say:
“…the BBBRC represents a critical test for key assumptions of the broader Biden administration economic framework: that major public investment can catalyze new markets and technologies; that growth and equity can be mutually reinforcing drivers of shared prosperity; and that federal agencies can unleash state and local innovation while requiring effective, on-the-ground implementation at the same time.”
Louisiana Already Front & Center In Green Hydrogen Race
Louisiana’s green hydrogen ambitions will put these key assumptions to the test. The global green hydrogen market is beginning to take off like a rocket, and renewable energy stakeholders in the Pelican State aim to go along for the ride.
Among other advantages, Louisiana can lay claim to offshore wind power in the Gulf of Mexico. Wind speeds in the Gulf are not optimal compared to the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, but last year the Energy Department’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory laid out the economic case for an offshore wind industry in Louisiana.
Offshore wind can provide the clean kilowatts to power electrolyzer systems, which push hydrogen gas from water. Natural gas is currently the feedstock of choice for hydrogen production alongside other fossil sources, but water electrolysis has the potential to push natural gas off the map as costs come down and the electrolyzer industry scales up.
Louisiana’s ammonia industry will also come into play. Ammonia (NH3) is another sector that leans heavily on natural gas, but with green hydrogen in hand the ammonia industry is already beginning to pivot into a more sustainable model. How To Win The Build Back Better Challenge
The $50 million Louisiana grant goes specifically to the South Louisiana region, under the umbrella of the “H2theFuture” initiative of the Greater New Orleans Development Foundation.
H2theFuture is tasked with cutting the cost of sustainable H2 and bringing it to parity with fossil-sourced hydrogen, while also adhering to the tenets of BBBRC.
“The need for systemic economic diversification in Louisiana is urgent. In the last decade, the region lost more than 22,000 good-paying jobs in the oil and gas industry, leaving it with legacy energy infrastructure, workforce, and a demand-base primed for transition,” explains the The Commerce Department’s Economic Development Administration.
Projects to be funded by the grant include cost-cutting test beds, hydrogen fuel for ships, and a hydrogen fueling barge at the Port of South Louisiana.
BBBRC is a justice program as well as an industry-supporting one, so H2theFuture also had to demonstrate the importance of transitioning to a fossil-free economy, in order to win funding.
“There is a strong and multifaceted equity argument for South Louisiana to make this transition to clean hydrogen – decades of structural inequities have affected the region, which are reflected in current statistics,” H2theFuture explains.
“In the energy industry, while jobs are well-paying, only 29% are held by minorities, compared to over 50% in the lower- wage hospitality sector (Emsi); average wages are $62,000 for whites compared to $33,000 for African Americans (ACS 5-Year Estimates),” they add.
“…air and soil pollution disproportionately affect communities living close to industry,” H2thFuture also notes. “According to the EPA, of the top 15 census tracts with the highest cancer risk in the nation, 7 are majority-black population tracts in South Louisiana.”
Among the equity provisions planned for the new hydrogen hub are:
— an inclusive entrepreneurship program
— an HBCU New Energy Specialization to position students from the region’s four Historically Black Colleges and Universities as hydrogen industry leaders in business, public policy, and law
— a workforce training and apprenticeship program
Follow The Money To Green Hydrogen
In an interesting twist, South Louisiana’s BBBRC grant dovetails with the Energy Department’s $8 billion plan to create a network of regional “Clean Hydrogen Hubs” throughout the US. The plan is funded through last year’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
The new grant could give H2theFuture a leg up on the sustainable H2 competition. They’ll need all they help they can get. Also competing for a share of the $8 billion pot is a powerful alliance of six northeast coastal states that are primed and ready to tap into their offshore wind resources. That group initially launched with Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey. Maine and Rhode Island have also hopped on board.
In another interesting twist, the Energy Department’s $8 billion hydrogen hub competition places an emphasis on principles that support the BBBRC.
“Principles of equity and justice will guide [Bipartisan Infrastructure Law] implementation, consistent with the Biden Administration’s commitments to ensure that overburdened, underserved, and underrepresented individuals and communities have access to federal resources,” the Energy Department explains.
If you’re wondering why the Energy Department is focusing on the word “clean” for its hydrogen hub competition, that’s a good question. As a creature of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the hydrogen hub program is designed to draw on multiple resources for hydrogen supply, and not all of them are renewable.
Specifically, the law provides for at least one hub has to incorporate nuclear energy for water electrolysis. That could work in H2theFuture’s advantage, though the northeast coalition could also call upon its remaining nuclear fleet.
The law also provides for the incorporation of natural gas with carbon capture. That could be another advantage to H2theFuture, considering Louisiana’s gas industry. However, a coalition of Appalachian states comprised of Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia already seems to have a lock on that angle. They have already announced a focus on natural gas with carbon capture.
Good luck with that. Manufacturers are scurrying to decarbonize their operations and clean up their supply chains including energy, materials, and parts. Hydrogen from natural gas is going to be a tough sell in the sparkling green economy of the future.
KEY POINTS Hydrogen could help decarbonize some very large sectors of the economy that are otherwise a real challenge, like long haul trucking and making iron and steel.
But hydrogen has to be synthesized with zero carbon emissions, otherwise it’s not a clean energy source.
A tax credit tucked into the Inflation Reduction Act gives the maximum tax credit, $3 per kilogram, to hydrogen produced with renewable energy and nuclear energy.
A sign for a hydrogen fuel pump at a train refueling station in Germany.
Hydrogen has a diverse range of applications and can be used in a number of industries. Krisztian Bocsi | Bloomberg | Getty Images
A tax credit tucked into Inflation Reduction Act could turbocharge the nascent clean hydrogen industry and turn it into a multitrillion-dollar business in the coming decades.
The tax credit will spur hydrogen producers to develop cleaner ways to synthesize hydrogen, which is used to make fertilizer and in other industrial processes. But it could also catalyze a whole new category of companies looking to use clean hydrogen as a replacement for fossil fuels in areas such as shipping, aviation, heavy industry, and as a way to store and transport energy.
The law will make it more economically feasible to use carbon capture and storage technology to reduce the carbon emissions from hydrogen creation. It will also open the door to a whole range of companies looking for cleaner ways to make hydrogen, and to use hydrogen as a replacement for fossil fuels in certain areas.
By 2050, between 60 and 80 percent of hydrogen production will be powered by renewables, according to a November report on the industry published by the Hydrogen Council, an industry group, in collaboration with McKinsey & Co. (This prediction was published before the tax credit was passed.)
This kind of industry transition will require a lot of investment — as much as $7 trillion to $8 trillion through 2050. But on the plus side, by that date the hydrogen economy could generate about $3 trillion in annual revenue, according to the Hydrogen Council and McKinsey report. What is hydrogen used for today, and how could it fight climate change?
Currently, roughly half of the hydrogen produced is used to make fertilizer and ammonia, with the balance used in petrochemical refineries or production, according to the Center on Global Energy Policy. The push for clean hydrogen is motivated both by a need to decarbonize current processes and because the use cases for hydrogen are expanding.
Industrial applications, which make up nearly all the demand for hydrogen today, will represent only 15% of total hydrogen demand by 2050, according to the Hydrogen Council/McKinsey report.
Hydrogen has the highest energy per mass of any fuel and does not release any carbon emissions when it is burned or turned to electricity in a fuel cell. Entrepreneurs and advocates believe hydrogen could be useful to decarbonize some very large sectors of the economy like long-haul trucking and industrial processes including making iron and steel, maritime cargo shipping, and aviation.
The largest end use for hydrogen by 2050 is expected to be mobility, including heavy trucking, long-range flights and container ships, according to the Hydrogen Council/McKinsey report. In these cases, hydrogen would produce electricity through a fuel cell, in which hydrogen atoms and oxygen atoms are combined in an electrochemical reaction to generate electricity, heat and water.
Current electric battery-powered vehicles can’t meet this need because batteries that could store enough energy for long-haul journeys would be too heavy and would take too long to recharge, Kent explained. A hydrogen tank and fuel cell would weigh less, take up less space and have the refueling time similar to gas or diesel.
“It’s possible that there’ll be huge breakthroughs and batteries or something else that would change things. But as it stands today, there aren’t great solutions,” Kent told CNBC. Digital generated image of wind turbines, solar panels and Hydrogen
containers standing on landscape against blue sky. Andriy Onufriyenko | Moment | Getty Images
Hydrogen can also be burned to produce electricity in a turbine, similar to natural gas. Currently, up to 20% hydrogen can be blended with natural gas burned in conventional natural gas turbines without needing to do any infrastructure changes, according to Kent.
“For higher blends of hydrogen or pure hydrogen, we’ll likely need adjustments to the turbines and infrastructure,” Kent told CNBC. “There are companies working on 100% hydrogen-ready infrastructure where pure hydrogen can be burned in a turbine to produce electricity.”
Hydrogen can be a way to store energy, which is going to be critical as renewable energy like wind and solar are ramped up and deployed across the country. Wind and solar energy don’t work when the wind doesn’t blow or the sun doesn’t shine, and so energy has to be stored somehow to be able to provide continuous, reliable energy. Meanwhile, battery technology is being ramped up, but batteries are not yet at the point in their development where they can store enough energy for long enough to make them sufficient backup for a fully renewable grid.
“If you produce a ton of solar in the summer, and you want to store a bunch of it away for the winter, hydrogen can be stored for sort of that many monthslong seasonal periods, and provide electricity back to the system when it’s needed,” Kent said.
Cleanly produced hydrogen is also being considered as a replacement for coking coal in a key part of the process in producing steel, a heavy-emissions industry which is considered a real challenge to decarbonize. And clean hydrogen will be needed for industrial processes that require especially high-grade heat, temperatures above 752 degrees Fahrenheit, like cement plants, glassmaking, and aluminum remelting, according to the Hydrogen Council/McKinsey report.
What is clean hydrogen?
Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe, but here on Earth, it only exists in compound forms with other elements — particularly with oxygen as part of water. Separating the hydrogen from the other atoms requires industrial processes and energy.
Currently, China is the largest producer of hydrogen, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a bipartisan, nonprofit policy research organization. Of the hydrogen that China makes, 60 percent is made using coal and about 25 percent comes from using natural gas, according to CSIS. Outside of China, the largest hydrogen producers are industrial gas companies like Linde and AirProducts, according to Teplinsky.
Seventy-six percent of hydrogen produced globally and 95% in the U.S. is produced with a process called steam methane reforming, in which a source of methane, like natural gas, reacts with steam at very high temperatures, according to the Center on Global Energy Policy. Natural gas releases greenhouse gas emissions when burned, and also from so-called fugitive methane leaks as it’s extracted and transported.
Globally, 22% (and 4% in the U.S.) is made with a process called coal gasification, where coal reacts with oxygen and steam in hot temperature and high pressure.
19 August 2021, Schleswig-Holstein, Geesthacht: Notes on the splitting of water into hydrogen and oxygen can be seen in a laboratory at the Helmholtz Centre hereon in Geesthacht. The Cluster Agency Renewable Energies Hamburg (EEHH) provided information on current developments in the topic as part of a media trip.
Photo: Christian Charisius/dpa
Some companies are working to capture the carbon dioxide emissions from these processes and store it in tanks underground. Hydrogen made this way is sometimes called “blue hydrogen.”
More promisingly from an emissions perspective, an electrolyzer can be used to split a water molecule into hydrogen and oxygen, and it can be powered with almost any energy source — including zero-emissions sources like solar or wind, creating what is known as “green hydrogen.”
Today, two percent of the hydrogen made globally and 1 percent in the U.S. is made with an electrolyzer.
Nuclear energy can also be used to power hydrogen synthesis with almost no additional CO2 emissions (this is sometimes called “pink hydrogen,” but the nomenclature varies). As a bonus, the steam and heat produced as byproducts of nuclear energy can be used in a high temperature electrolysis process, which is much more efficient. And with the advanced nuclear reactors in development that run at even hotter temperatures than conventional nuclear reactors, hydrogen can be produced in a thermo-chemical water-splitting process that doesn’t use an electrolyzer at all.
Because the majority of the cost of producing hydrogen with electrolysis is the cost of the electricity that goes into it, making hydrogen with nuclear energy and steam “really could have a tremendous contribution on lowering the costs of clean hydrogen production,” Teplinsky told CNBC.
The cost of producing hydrogen with these different methods varies tremendously and swings based on input costs, like natural gas and the source of power. Because of the Russian war in Ukraine and climate change, these input costs have themselves been swinging. A report published by nonpartisan nonprofit Resources for the Future in December 2020 said a kilogram of hydrogen made with steam methane reforming cost between $1 and $2 (including the costs of some carbon capture). Hydrogen made with electrolysis powered by wind and solar ranged from between $3 and $7 per kilogram. That’s where the tax credit comes in.
How does the new bill help?
The tax credit in the IRA is available for 10 years and scales depending on how clean the hydrogen production is. If hydrogen is produced without releasing any carbon emissions, the tax credit is maxed out at $3 per kilogram of hydrogen produced. It then scales down proportionally based on the amount of emissions released, as long as it’s less than current production techniques.
If hydrogen is produced with some carbon emissions, but fewer than are emitted in current production techniques, the tax credit is incrementally smaller, proportional to the emissions reductions.
The tax credit is “an absolute game-changer,” Akshay Honnatti, the leader of EY’s sustainability tax division for the United States, told CNBC. “There was no incentive to have hydrogen be cleaner. It costs to get hydrogen to be cleaner,” Honnatti added. “Now there’s a credit available for someone to make that additional level of investment and be able to justify that level of investment to their stakeholders and shareholders.”
The $3 per kilogram credit makes nuclear hydrogen highly competitive with fossil fuel produced hydrogen, Teplinsky said. The U.S. Department of Energy has as a goal, one of its Energy Earthshots Initiatives, to reduce the cost of clean hydrogen to $1 per kilogram in a decade.
For many of these burgeoning use cases for clean hydrogen, the tax credit included in the climate bill is going to give companies the chance to enter the market for making clean hydrogen without losing money. “They could go back to their shareholders, and they can say, ‘Look, we can we can do this economically — today. We don’t have to project a loss for the next five years to enter this market. We can actually enter this and have it be economic, or at least a breakeven project in the near future,’” Teplinsky said.
In the early days of the coronavirus outbreak, a theory widely shared on social media suggested that a science fiction text, Dean Koontz’s 1981 science fiction novel, The Eyes of Darkness, had predicted the coronavirus pandemic with uncanny precision. Covid-19 has held the entire world hostage, producing a resemblance to the post-apocalyptic world depicted in many science fiction texts.
Canadian author Margaret Atwood’s classic 2003 novel Oryx and Crake refers to a time when “there was a lot of dismay out there, and not enough ambulances”—a prediction of our current predicament.
In his 1992 survey of the history of telecommunications, How the World Was One, Arthur C. Clarke alludes to the famed historian Alfred Toynbee’s lecture entitled “The Unification of the World.” Delivered at the University of London in 1947, Toynbee envisions a “single planetary society” and notes how “despite all the linguistic, religious and cultural barriers that still sunder nations and divide them into yet smaller tribes, the unification of the world has passed the point of no return.”
Science fiction writers have, indeed, always embraced globality. In interplanetary texts, humans of all nations, races, and genders have to come together as one people in the face of alien invasions. Facing an interplanetary encounter, bellicose nations have to reluctantly eschew political rivalries and collaborate on a global scale, as in Denis Villeneuve’s 2018 film, Arrival.
Globality is central to science fiction. To be identified as an Earthling, one has to transcend the local and the national, and sometimes, even the global, by embracing a larger planetary consciousness.
In The Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula K. Le Guin conceptualizes the Ekumen, which comprises 83 habitable planets. The idea of the Ekumen was borrowed from Le Guin’s father, the noted cultural anthropologist Arthur L. Kroeber. Kroeber had, in a 1945 paper, introduced the concept (from Greek oikoumene) to represent a “historic culture aggregate.” Originally, Kroeber used oikoumene to refer to the “entire inhabited world,” as he traced back human culture to one single people. Le Guin then adopted this idea of a common origin of shared humanity in her novel.
Globality of the Pandemic
Many medical science fiction texts depict diseases afflicting all of humanity which must put up a unified front or perish. These narratives underscore the fluid and transnational histories of diseases, their impact and possible cure. In Amitav Ghosh’s 1995 novel, The Calcutta Chromosome, he weaves an interconnected history of malaria that spans continents over a century, while challenging Eurocentricism and foregrounding the subversive role of Indigenous knowledge in malaria research.
The epigraph quotes a poem by Sir Ronald Ross, the Nobel Prize-winning scientist credited with the discovery of the mosquito as the malaria vector:
Covid-19 has forced billions into social isolation and continues to wreak havoc on an unprecedented global scale. Eerily similar photographs of masked faces, PPE-clad front-line workers and deserted downtowns emerged from every corner of the world.
“What an Italian doctor discovers in Milan in the early morning might well save lives in Tehran by evening. When the UK government hesitates between several policies, it can get advice from the Koreans who have already faced a similar dilemma a month ago.”
Regarding Canada’s response to the crisis, researchers have noted both the immorality and futility of a nationalistic “Canada First” approach.
Clearly, a nation cannot insulate itself from the deleterious effects of the pandemic by closing its hearts and borders. Tightening immigration can temporarily stanch the flow of people, but the virus, like the “million-murdering death,” is treacherous in its border-defying agility. Presently, as many nations experience a resurgence of nationalism and exclusionary policies of walls and borders, the pandemic is a harsh reminder of the lived reality of our transnational interconnectedness. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
