ENVIRONMENT, SOCIAL, GOVERNANCE

Citigroup and Exxon Must Let Investors Vote

on ESG Issues

Saijel Kishan
Mon, March 1, 2021


(Bloomberg) -- Citigroup Inc. and Exxon Mobil Corp. will have to let shareholders vote on resolutions tied to race and climate change -- an early sign that U.S. regulators are less likely to side with companies on environmental, social and governance issues under President Joe Biden.

Citigroup asked the Securities and Exchange Commission to let it exclude a proposal from CtW Investment Group that called for the bank to perform an audit on racial equity. Exxon requested the agency let it block a resolution from BNP Paribas Asset Management that urged the oil giant to report if, and how, its lobbying activities aligned with global efforts to fight global warming.

In both cases, the SEC said it didn’t agree that there was a basis to exclude the resolutions from being voted on during the companies’ annual meetings, according to decisions dated Feb. 26 that were posted on the regulator’s website.

CtW said Citigroup had a “conflicted history” regarding racial justice, and cited a fine it paid for failing to offer all eligible customers mortgage discounts and credits.

Citigroup said in a Monday statement that is is “acutely focused” on addressing racial inequity, especially in terms of the wealth gap. The lender said its committed more than $1 billion to such efforts, including expanding access to credit, investing in Black entrepreneurs and advancing anti-racist practices in the industry.

BNP said in its resolution there isn’t enough information available to assess how Exxon ensures that its lobbying activities, directly, and indirectly through trade associations, align with the objectives of the Paris climate accord. BNP said 200 large investors had asked the oil company how it was managing this issue but got no response. In contrast, Royal Dutch Shell Plc, BP Shell, BP Plc and Total SE have published reports showing the positions their trade associations are taking on climate change, BNP said.

GREEN CAPITALI$M

Exclusive: Lithium giant Albemarle slams Chile over 'unjust' withholding of Atacama study

© Reuters/Ivan Alvarado FILE PHOTO: An aerial view shows the brine pools and processing areas of the SQM lithium mine on the Atacama salt flat, in the Atacama desert of northern Chile

SANTIAGO (Reuters) - Albemarle Corp, the world's top lithium producer, has accused a Chilean regulator of "unjust" discrimination for refusing to make public a key report on the impact of mining on the Atacama salt flat, according to court filings.

U.S.-based Albemarle in July last year asked to see the publicly funded report but regulator Corfo rejected the request after Chilean miner SQM, a top competitor, objected on grounds it contained confidential information. A government watchdog upheld the decision.

Both Albemarle and SQM - the only two lithium miners on the salt flat - contributed data to the report. But while SQM's contract with the government allows it to review and comment on the study, Albemarle's agreement does not.

Albemarle blasted that discrepancy in previously unreported arguments made before a Santiago appeals court in February, saying it resulted in "arbitrary, unjust, illegal, and above all, unconstitutional discrimination." The company is appealing the watchdog's decision and demanding the report be made public immediately.

The spat underscores rising tensions between Albemarle and regulators in the Andean nation over operations in the high-altitude Atacama flat, home to one-quarter of the world's current supply of lithium.

Albemarle has for months also feuded with Corfo over royalty payments, and with another Chilean regulator over data used to determine its production quota.

The Atacama report and the true state of the flat's environmental health has long been an obsession of lithium industry watchers because of the area's huge importance in satisfying soaring global demand for the white metal, a vital component in the batteries that power electric vehicles.

Corfo told Reuters in a written statement that it had sent a final draft of the environmental study - meant to guide government regulation and oversight of the flat - to SQM for review on Feb. 16.

Corfo's contract with SQM requires it offer the company the opportunity to comment, but the agency is not required to implement the company's suggested changes.

The regulator said it would make the final draft public following SQM's review "provided that any eventual affected third parties did not oppose its release."

SQM did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on the case. The Chilean miner has previously argued in filings that releasing the study would put it at a competitive disadvantage, and says it has adhered to the terms of its contract with Corfo.

Albemarle told Reuters in a statement that it wants the study made public immediately.

"This report... should be a contribution towards ensuring the sustainability of the Salar de Atacama," the company said.

Lawmakers, academics, environmentalists, local communities, German carmaker Volkswagen and Chilean courts have all emphasized the importance of an environmental study to help dispel lingering questions on the impact of lithium mining in Chile.

Reporting by Dave Sherwood, editing by Adam Jourdan and Rosalba O'Brien

CANADIAN DAIRY FARMERS ELIMINATE USE OF PALM OIL
Opinion: Canadians all of a sudden paying more attention to what goes into dairy products

Sylvain Charlebois 

OPINION

 REGINA LEADER POST

3/4/2021

The Dairy Farmers of Canada did the right thing and should be commended for asking dairy farmers to stop using palmitic acids in feed while launching a national investigation on the matter. It was the right decision, full stop. For likely the very first time in its history, the very powerful lobby group, arguably the most powerful one in the country, opted to listen to Canadians. Not easy to admit publicly that something is not right, especially in Canadian dairy.

© Provided by Leader Post Butter sales increased by 21 per cent in 2020, according to Nielsen.

Early on, the Dairy Farmers of Canada stated that nothing was wrong. On Feb. 19, it did acknowledge that something needs to be addressed and created a committee to investigate the matter. On Feb. 25, the group halted the practice and launch an investigation. Quite the reversal.

Dairy boards are accustomed to receiving criticism. However, of the criticism in the past came from groups, such as animal welfare activists and vegans, who believed the sector should be outlawed. But this time was different. Criticism came from consumers who love Canadian dairy products. Whether or not the palm oil by-product is the reason why butter is hard or not is just one issue . What stunned most Canadians was to learn that palm oil, a product that comes from the other side of the world, was part of our dairy production process. Most Canadians just did not know. It also raises the question about other things we might want to know about dairy production but do not.

We protect and compensate our dairy farmers, and our love affair for dairy is long-standing. Most Canadians believed sustainability, local, natural and pureness are values embedded in the Blue Cow campaign we have seen for years. The image palm oil portrays just does not wed well with what the industry is all about. Most Canadians would concur, starting with dairy farmers themselves. For many Canadians, something did not feel right, and that is a problem for the industry, whether it agrees with the public outcry or not. Simply put, our social contract with the industry was compromised.

Many have mentioned that ButterGate is very much a first-world problem. Perhaps, but ButterGate was never to be considered as a scandal or a controversy . It simply pointed to a deep-rooted problem the dairy industry has had for a very long time without acknowledging it. Starting with the lack of transparency. For the most part, dairy regulates itself which is why dairy processors have little to say about the quality of ingredients they lawfully must buy. The focus of dairy research needs to change. Most of it has to do with increasing productivity and genetics at farmgate. Dairy research will need to address the disconnect we have between animal science, how we feed animals, and how these practices impact the quality of dairy products and human health over time.

When it comes to dairy product quality, we are literally flying in the dark in Canada. For whatever reason, at the retail level not many people look at butter’s ingredients. This has changed with the widespread talk of ButterGate. This has also forced the dairy industry to look hard at its practices. In more recent statements, the Dairy Farmers of Canada have claimed that the data suggests that the quantity of palmitic acid in milk fat meets the regulated standards. Yet, the dairy industry is now launching an investigation to see if our butter actually measures up to industry standards. The industry shouldn’t have to investigate, as it should already have the evidence.

Replacing the use of palmitic acids in feed will not be easy. Many scientists say that there are few alternatives right now. But again, with research, Canadian-made alternatives can be designed and marketed properly. Internationally, other countries, where the use of palmitic acids is also allowed, are now thinking of making changes to feed protocols as well. This could be an opportunity for Canadian dairy know-how to continue to shine and do well internationally in dairy energy supplements.

It is also important to note that not all dairy farmers are using palmitic supplements to feed their cows. We believe about 35 per cent to 40 per cent of them nationally are using them. So, it begs the question as to why some dairy farmers have chosen not to use palmitic acids in their feed despite its legality for at least a decade. As such, it would be important to perhaps set best practices in the industry, or at least revisit them while considering our dairy industry as a social system. In other words, whatever happens on the farm requires public acceptance. This is what ButterGate is all about.

The industry will come out of this stronger than ever on the other side of the investigation. What we have learned though over the past two weeks is this: Product characteristics at retail are just one issue and not the most significant one. Many Canadians hope ethical and moral considerations of farmgate practices will be in scope of the investigation. People involved in the investigation should not just be like-minded stakeholders who are already part of the vast and powerful incircles of the industry. The investigation should be open. It should not be just about productivity anymore, at least not in 2021. The investigation should also look at imported dairy products as well. Perhaps reciprocity is necessary to protect our farmers unless our own sector considers a palm oil-free position as a competitive advantage. Everything should be on the table at this point.

Dairy farmers are good, responsible people. They were doing what they thought was right for them, for their herds and for the Canadian public. Boards, on the other hand, should have known that society has changed, and the industry needs to adapt, like any other industry. We have supply management in Canada which allows for changes in farming protocols without financially penalizing farmers. We should use our system wisely, so it serves the Canadian population well.

Sylvain Charlebois is the senior director of the Agri-Food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University and a former member of the University of Regina faculty.

SEE

PALM OIL KILLS

How the Oil Lobby Learned to Love Carbon Taxes

Jennifer A Dlouhy and Leslie Kaufman 


(Bloomberg) -- Few saw the surprise disclosure earlier this week that the American Petroleum Institute is considering endorsing a price on carbon dioxide emissions and thought the fierce fossil fuel lobby was suddenly becoming climate-friendly. Rather, seasoned industry-watchers say it’s the clearest sign yet that fossil fuel companies see Washington’s shift on climate policy as a real and significant threat.

© Bloomberg Emissions rise from the Royal Dutch Shell Plc Norco Refinery in Norco, Louisiana, U.S., on Friday, June 12, 2020. Oil eclipsed $40 a barrel in New York on Friday, extending a slow but relentless rise that’s been fueled by a pick-up in demand and could signal a reawakening for U.S. shale production.

A carbon price—whether in the form of an emissions trading scheme or a tax on planet-warming pollution—seems antithetical to the fossil fuel industry’s interests, as it would effectively make their core product more expensive for consumers. Large oil and gas companies are likely worried that any other potential action from the Biden administration would be worse for them, said Joe Aldy, a public policy professor at the Harvard Kennedy School who previously served as a special assistant to former President Barack Obama. “They think the alternative climate policy may be a lot of regulations they would view as burdensome and inefficient.”

But the policy itself has a number of silver linings for polluters. For starters, unlike regulations restricting drilling or mandating clean energy, a carbon tax wouldn’t bar companies from extracting natural gas or force the fossil fuel out of the nation’s electricity mix. It could also drive investments in direct-air carbon capture and other technologies that would prolong the use of fossil fuels as a power source.

In the short run, putting a price on greenhouse gas emissions could give natural gas an even greater edge over dirtier-burning coal.

“All of the oil majors have natural gas assets they are trying to protect, and this is a way to do that,” said Mike McKenna, a former deputy director of the White House Office of Legislative Affairs. “Once they became natural gas companies and started competing in the electricity space, it was just a matter of time till they wanted to rub coal out.”

Megan Bloomgren, senior vice president of communications at API, said in a statement that the industry is “evolving,” and that API is “focused on supporting a new U.S. contribution to the global Paris agreement.”

A carbon tax has long been a favorite tool of economists, who say it’s a simple, efficient way to discourage emissions and ensure that the negative costs of climate change are embedded in the price of carbon-intensive products, from gasoline to cement. Right now, “we all pay the cost” of greenhouse gas emissions, special presidential envoy for climate John Kerry wrote in an op-ed last November. But a carbon price would put the onus on the ones doing the emitting, spurring companies and consumers to reduce their output, Kerry said. Years before she became Biden’s treasury secretary, former Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen dubbed a carbon tax “the textbook solution to the problem of climate change.”

It’s also a favored tool of the business community. Scores of companies, including solar developers and operators of nuclear power plants, have backed a plan to tax carbon dioxide and distribute revenue to consumers, including giants such as Exelon Corp. and First Solar Inc. The Chamber of Commerce and Business Roundtable have made their own pivots on the issue, attracted by the promise of a consistent policy that wouldn’t shift with each election cycle.

But many environmentalists are deeply skeptical of working with the fossil fuel industry on anything. They suspect there are catches to oil companies’ support—including, for example, demands that a carbon tax be paired with environmental deregulation.

Kathy Mulvey, the accountability campaign director for the Climate and Energy Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists, said API has a long history of disinformation when it comes to climate change that undermines its credibility on the issue. In 1998, the lobbying group coordinated a media campaign to highlight “uncertainties” in climate science, then waged war against the last carbon-pricing scheme to gain traction in Congress, the Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade bill, which died in the Senate in 2010.

“After decades of deception that have delayed action and exacerbated the climate crisis, API doesn’t get to set a ceiling on the scope and ambition of U.S. climate policies,” Mulvey said.

The concerns on the environmental side appear to have a solid foundation. The carbon tax-and-dividend plan that has emerged as businesses’ favored model in Washington, for example, would also preempt regulations governing carbon dioxide emissions from power plants and other industrial facilities. That horse trade is seen as an essential ingredient to retaining business support and luring Republican votes, but it’s anathema to many Democrats who want a belt-and-suspenders approach to climate regulation.

The shift in attitude among oil and gas companies came as majors in the industry began making investments in electric vehicles, natural gas, and renewable energy, which stand to benefit from a carbon price. Exxon Mobil Corp. endorsed a revenue-neutral carbon tax in 2009, and has already devoted lobbying dollars to the current push for legislation; so have ConocoPhillips, BP Plc and Royal Dutch Shell Plc. The policy could even give them a competitive advantage against smaller, independent oil producers and refiners—many of which are also API members—whose sole products are emissions-intensive fossil fuels, a situation that could cause tension in the ranks.

Supporting a carbon price would also give API and its members political cover from increasingly aggressive shareholders determined to ensure that oil companies’ ambitious carbon-cutting plans aren’t contradicted by their lobbying efforts. API has consistently opposed subsidies for EVs, which represent a threat to gasoline demand. Under the Trump administration, the group supported rolling back regulations directly limiting emissions of methane, a potent heat-trapping gas.

API changed tacks on methane in January, saying that it was willing to work with the Biden administration on replacement rules. Not long after, Total Corp. announced it wouldn’t renew its API membership, citing the group’s lobbying positions and its support of candidates opposed to U.S. participation in the Paris climate agreement. Activists are now pressuring BP and Royal Dutch Shell—both of which have made pledges to reach net-zero emissions by 2050—to pull out of API, as well.

A carbon tax would be difficult to enact in any political environment—many lawmakers still have battle scars from the 1993 debate over a heat energy tax blamed for helping Republicans take control of the House a year later. But it’s especially tricky now given the closely divided Senate and concerns about imposing new energy costs on a pandemic-ravaged economy.

Oil industry support could help change the calculus on Capitol Hill. Some more centrist Republicans—including Senators Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Mitt Romney of Utah—have indicated they are open to the idea. Even some lawmakers from coal-rich states, such as Democratic Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia, have kept the door open to a carbon tax that could dole money to mining towns planning a new future beyond fossil fuels.

API leaders and members are discussing a possible statement endorsing an economy-wide price on carbon this week, with a formal vote by the group potentially late this month.

Aldy warned that if policy-watchers want a real sense of a carbon price’s potential future, they should pay attention to how far oil companies are actually willing to go to make it happen. “The real question is not whether they issue a statement saying they support it, but do they actually start throwing political capital behind it?” he said. “Do they make it possible for moderate Republicans to support this?”

For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com

©2021 Bloomberg L.P.

Murder Among The Mormons Is Actually About Documents — Here’s How The Bombings Factor In

Sarah Midkiff REFINERY29

3/4/2021

In 1985, a series of pipe bombs exploded in the Salt Lake City, UT area, killing two people and severely injuring another. Investigators scrambled to find an explanation for why these bombs seemed to target members of the Church of Latter-Day Saints. The events made national news at the time, but not as much is known about the events leading up to it, which is exactly what Murder Among the Mormons, a new docuseries that quickly skyrocketed into Netflix’s Top 10, sets out to explain

.

© Provided by Refinery29

The murders sent a shockwave through the local Mormon community. It wasn’t random. It was definitely a targeted effort. “For those raised in the Mormon faith, ourselves included, the story of the 1985 bombings in Salt Lake City will forever be a part of the mythology of the culture,” directors Jared Hess and Tyler Measom told Refinery29. “It was a tragic and complex episode in Utah’s recent history, two innocent people lost their lives, and countless others were deceived. However, most people in the community prefer not to talk about it.” In order to understand why this happened, it is important to know what was going on in the Mormon community at large in the decade or so before.

It Starts With The Market For Mormon Documents In The 1970s

According to the series, in the 1970s, church historian Leonard Arrington began encouraging the collection of academic writing related to LDS Church history, specifically through the collection of archival documents. This search created an opportunity for a wealth of document dealers to go on the hunt for letters, old editions of books, and anything that would preserve the history of the Mormon religion founded by Joseph Smith 150 years ago. It was during this time that document dealer Mark Hofmann started his career scouring bookstores and collections to find pieces of Mormon history. Eventually, he expanded into finding and selling historic letters unrelated to the Mormon faith.
The Salamander Letter Emerges In 1980

After a series of history-making finds, Hofmann had made a name for himself in the document dealing world. His first major discovery was in 1980 when he supposedly found a document tucked away in an old bible supposedly written by the founder of the LDS Church, Joseph Smith. His second — and most controversial — find was the Salamander Letter which presented a divisive, magical interpretation of early church history that had many questioning the religion’s origin story.

At the time, the LDS Church started buying up documents to preserve its history. Though some believe it was also purchasing them in order to retain control over which narratives were recognized and which were never widely circulated, such as the Salamander Letter. One authenticator, Steven Christensen, worked for the LDS Church and bought multiple documents from Hofmann to then donate to the church’s collection.

Hofmann Fails To Produce The McLellin Documents In 1985

In 1985, Hofmann claimed that he was in possession of a number of historic documents known as the McLellin Collection which contained a letter from Smith’s wife, Emma Hale Smith, further casting doubts on the origins of the Mormon faith. With the help of Christensen, the LDS Church was arranging to buy the collection from Hofmann for $300,000 on the condition that they had a chance to examine the collection before it was publicized. The only problem? Hofmann didn’t have the collection and he couldn’t put the forgery together in time. It was then that Hofmann felt as though he needed a way out.
3 Bombings Hit Salt Lake City In October Of 1985

On October 15, 1985, a bomb detonated inside the Judge Building, an office building in downtown Salt Lake City, killing Christensen. The package it arrived in was addressed to him specifically, and upon opening it, it exploded. One hour later, a second explosion took place at the home of Christensen’s former business associate, Gary Sheets. However, Sheets was not at home, but the bomb went off, killing his wife, Kathy. Investigators immediately suspected that the two events were connected. Specifically, they think that someone connected to this community is responsible.

One day later, a third bomb is detonated. This time, it was Hofmann’s car. Both he and the McLellin Collection were inside. Hofmann survived and was rushed to the hospital with considerable injuries.
Hofmann Becomes A Bombing Suspect

Other document collectors were suspected and interviewed, but none could be connected to the murders. Around the same time, a rumor began circulating that a man in a green letterman’s jacket had been the one to drop off the package at the Judge Building. A fellow artifacts dealer recognized the description as Hofmann.

But Why Did Hofmann Bomb SLC… & Himself?

Despite having a suspect, investigators were still trying to establish a motive. Why would Hofmann want to harm people he’d worked with for years? At the start of 1986, the LDS Church offered the Salamander Letter to the FBI for analysis. After more than 100 hours of rigorous testing from top forensic document analyzers, it was revealed to be a forgery. Soon, the whole case unraveled and more and more documents found and sold by Hofmann were unveiled as fakes. In total, Hofmann may have swindled buyers out of more than half a million dollars.

In February 1986, law enforcement arrested Hofmann. But it would another almost another year before he was found guilty on two counts of second-degree murder and two counts of theft by deception. During a series of interviews from prison, Hofmann admitted to forging documents and that he believed the murders were a way to keep people from finding him out.

At the time these events were unfolding, many both inside and outside of the Mormon faith didn’t know the depths to which everything about these tragic incidents was intertwined. Hofmann had been forging for years and he tried to remain undetected by any means necessary. In the same interviews from prison, he admitted that the third bomb that exploded inside of his car was intentional — it was an attempt to take his own life.

In 2021 Hofmann Is Alive & In Prison

Hofmann was eventually convicted on two counts of second-degree murder and two counts of theft by deception. He is now serving a life sentence in Utah. He refused multiple times to be interviewed for the Netflix docuseries.

To this day, his crimes and misdeeds have left a lasting impact. Both co-directors, Jared Hess and Tyler Measom, grew up in the Mormon faith and heard about this story from a young age. “It’s in our DNA. This story, this saga, the biggest crime in probably Utah history was something we grew up knowing,” said Measom. “I didn’t know what was happening at the time, but as we got older, we learned about this subject and the layers of these crimes.”

Murder Among the Mormons is now streaming on Netflix.

#PANSPERMIA 

Water and organic materials found on the surface of an ASTEROID

Ryan Morrison For Mailonline 3/4/2021

© Provided by Daily Mail

The materials essential for life on Earth including organic matter and water have been discovered on the surface of an asteroid for the first time, a study shows.

Planetary scientists from Royal Holloway University of London examined a single grain of dust returned to Earth from asteroid Itokawa by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) as part of its first Hayabusa mission in 2010.

The water and organic matter originated on the asteroid itself, rather than arriving as part of a collision, suggesting it evolved chemically over billions of years.

It is the first time such material has been found on the surface of an asteroid, according to the British team behind the new study.

This is a major discovery that could 're-write the history of life on our planet,' scientists claim, as it is so similar to the evolution pathway on the early Earth.

'Although the organic matter is not directly suggesting life is carried on the asteroid, it tells us the asteroid carries the same raw materials that provided initial feedstock for the origin of life on Earth,' lead author Dr Queenie Chan told MailOnline

© Provided by Daily Mail Planetary scientists from Royal Holloway University of London examined a single grain of dust returned to Earth from asteroid Itokawa by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) as part of its first Hayabusa mission in 2010

© Provided by Daily Mail The water and organic matter originated on the asteroid itself, rather than arriving as part of a collision, suggesting it evolved chemically over billions of years

ITOKAWA: A NEAR EARTH ASTEROID VISITED BY JAXA

The 'near-Earth' asteroid Itokawa is about 330 metres in diameter and shaped roughly like a peanut.

It orbits between 0.9 AU and 1.7 AU - with 1 AU the distance between the Earth and the sun.

It was the first asteroid to be the target of a sample return mission - that is a spaceflight to take bits of rock and bring them back to Earth.

In 2005 the Japanese Hayabusa probe collected dust particles from the asteroid and returned them to Earth.

It has been extensively studied and findings have shown evidence of water and organic material 'native' to the asteroid itself.

The asteroid has been slowly incorporating the liquid and organic materials in much the same way the Earth does, according to the researchers.

Itokawa has been constantly evolving over billions of years by incorporating water and organic materials from foreign extra-terrestrial material, just like the Earth.

In the past, the asteroid will have gone through extreme heating, dehydration and shattering due to catastrophic impact, the study authors explained.

However, despite this, the asteroid came back together from the shattered fragments and rehydrated itself with water that was delivered via the in fall of dust or carbon-rich meteorites.

This study shows that S-type asteroids, where most of Earth's meteorites come from, such as Itokawa, contain the raw ingredients of life.

'S-type asteroids – the 'stony' type asteroids – might not contain as high abundance of carbon rich material as the carbonaceous asteroids, however, their chemistry and water content evolved in a similar way to our prebiotic Earth,' Chan told MailOnline.

'If other systems elsewhere in the wider universe had the same favourable conditions like the early Earth, these raw ingredients that carried by these asteroids could have kick-started life elsewhere.'

The analysis of this asteroid changes traditional views on the origin of life on Earth which have previously heavily focussed on C-type carbon-rich asteroids.

Dr Chan said this shows the value of bringing samples of space rock back to Earth.

'After being studied in great detail by an international team of researchers, our analysis of a single grain, nicknamed 'Amazon', has preserved both primitive (unheated) and processed (heated) organic matter,' she said.

'The organic matter that has been heated indicates that the asteroid had been heated to over 600°C in the past.

'The presence of unheated organic matter very close to it, means that the in fall of primitive organics arrived on the surface of Itokawa after the asteroid had cooled.'

Dr Chan, said studying the 'Amazon' sample allowed them to better understand how the asteroid constantly evolved by adding new water and organic compounds.

'These findings are really exciting as they reveal complex details of an asteroid's history and how its evolution pathway is so similar to that of the prebiotic Earth.'

© Provided by Daily Mail It is the first time such material has been found on the surface of an asteroid, according to the British team behind the new study

© Provided by Daily Mail This is a major discovery that could 're-write the history of life on our planet,' scientists claim, as it is so similar to the evolution pathway on the early Earth

DIFFERENT TYPES OF ASTEROIDS FROM THE SOLAR SYSTEM

Asteroid classification has proved controversial, with a number of letter-based systems developed.

According to NASA the three main types are labelled C, S and M.

C-type (chondrite) asteroids are the most common in the solar system and likely consist of clay and silicate rocks.

They are darker than other asteroids and the most ancient objects in the solar system - dating back to its birth.

S-type (stony) asteroids are made of silicate materials as well as nickel-iron and are the most common visitors to the Earth of the asteroid types.

M-type (nickel-iron) asteroids vary depending on how far from the sun they formed.

Some are partly melted with iron sinking to the centre and forcing volcanic lava to the surface.

Chan said the findings were both surprising and not particularly surprising at the same time - in part due to observations from 2005 of Itokawa.

Surprising because S-type asteroids generally contain very few water and organic material chemicals, she explained to MailOnline.

'In a mission like Hayabusa, which picked samples up from the asteroid surface by quick touchdowns, it would be difficult to sample carbonaceous material.

'Researchers have been attempting to look for organic matter from Hayabusa samples in the past, and it was very difficult to prove that the organic material was indigenous to the asteroid,' she told MailOnline.

'Only one group of scientists managed to find water in Hayabusa sample in 2019, but they did not look at the organic content.'

It wasn't particularly surprising to her that they found the material as the mission observed a 'huge black boulder' on the surface of the space rock in 2005.

'Scientists think that this big boulder is a huge carbonaceous meteorite, but never get to prove it. So, we expected that there would possibly be carbonaceous material on the surface of asteroid Itokawa,' she said.

The success of this mission and the analysis of the sample that returned to Earth has since paved the way for a more detailed analysis of material returned by missions such as JAXA's Hayabusa2 and NASA's OSIRIS-Rex missions.

These are other sample-return missions, with Hayabusa2 returning larger amounts of rock samples from the asteroid Ryugu in 2020 and OSIRIS-Rex expected to return samples of the asteroid Bennu in 2023.

'Both of these missions have identified exogeneous materials on the target asteroids Ryugu and Bennu, respectively,' said Chan.

'Our findings suggest that mixing of materials is a common process in our solar system,' adding studying more samples will hopefully confirm those findings.

The findings have been published in the journal Scientific Reports.

LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: Search results for PANSPERMIA 

Biden DOJ urges Supreme Court to dismiss 'sanctuary city' cases

By Caroline Kelly, CNN 3/4/2021

The Biden administration told the Supreme Court on Thursday that it should dismiss pending cases concerning "sanctuary cities," which limit cooperation between local law enforcement and federal immigration authorities.

In letters filed with the court in all three cases related to sanctuary cities, the Justice Department said it had come to an agreement with the parties on the issue. Under President Donald Trump, the department had won one and lost two of the challenges.

The legal filing is the latest from the new Biden Justice Department changing positions from those taken by the Trump administration. Lower courts had divided over a Trump policy that directed the Justice Department to withhold federal grant funds from jurisdictions that limited their cooperation with federal immigration authorities.

A federal appeals court ruled in February last year that the Trump administration could withhold federal money from seven states, as well as New York City, over cooperation on immigration enforcement.

The decision by the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a lower court ruling that blocked the Justice Department from withholding a key law enforcement grant the department said was available only to cities that complied with specific immigration enforcement measures.

The Trump administration fought a lengthy feud with "sanctuary cities," taking measures like barring New York residents from enrolling in certain Trusted Traveler programs, such as Global Entry, last year. In April, as states sought federal support to combat the coronavirus, Trump teased withholding aid to cities that limit cooperation between local law enforcement and federal immigration authorities, resorting to one of his long-standing immigration issues in the throes of the pandemic.

In a statement, New York Attorney General Letitia James said local police departments should not have their decisions overridden by the federal government.

"We're pleased that despite the Trump administration's attempts to exact revenge on cities and states through vindictive policies and continued litigation that we were able to work with the Biden administration to dismiss this case in the Supreme Court," James said. "We look forward to continuing to work with the administration to ensure state and localities never have to choose between protecting their autonomy and protecting the public's safety."

The issue dates back to early in Trump's presidency. In July 2017, then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that applicants for Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grants would have to comply with federal immigration enforcement. States pushed back and sued over the move.

Lower courts blocked the Justice Department from adding new requirements for the policing grants. In April 2018, the 7th US Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a ruling in favor of the city of Chicago.

Five Eyes alliance urged to forge ties with Greenland to secure minerals

© Reuters/HANS KRISTIAN SCHONWANDT Aerial view of the Kringlerne 

rare earth deposit, near the town of Narsaq

LONDON (Reuters) - The intelligence sharing alliance known as Five Eyes should forge ties with Greenland to boost supplies of critical minerals and cut dependence on China, a think tank said on Thursday.

Greenland has huge deposits of rare earths, a set of 17 minerals used in a myriad of applications from electric vehicles to defence goods, a report by the London-based Polar Research and Policy Initiative said.

China controls about 90% of the supply of rare earths.

The Five Eyes grouping of Australia, Britain, Canada, New Zealand and the United States, should expand its framework to include "resource intelligence, technical collaboration, major project financing and supply chain integration for minerals and materials critically important to national and economic security", the report said.

It is natural for the Five Eyes to target Greenland for its mining and rare earth potential because two thirds of the 41 licence holders in Greenland's mining sector were linked to Britain, Canada and Australia, the report added.

"Greenland’s vast critical minerals reserves and the sheer number of British, Canadian and Australian companies operating in Greenland make it a new frontier for Five Eyes," said the report, made available to Reuters ahead of its release on Friday.

U.S. President Joe Biden's administration said last month it will review key U.S. supplies, including rare earths, to ensure other countries cannot weaponise them against the United States.

Two Australia-based mining companies are racing for approval for mines in Greenland to dig into what the U.S. Geological Survey calls the world's biggest undeveloped deposits of rare earth metals.

"The UK, Canada and Australia have remained relevant to Greenland over recent decades as home to some of the world’s leading clusters of energy and mining expertise," the report said.

The head of the think tank, Dwayne Menezes, is also the director of the secretariat of Britain's all-party parliamentary group for Greenland.

(Reporting by Eric Onstad;Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)

3/4/20-21

UCP BUDGET HARMS CAPITOL CITY
Edmonton council disappointed with cuts to public sector, post-secondary in new Alberta budget

Natasha Riebe CBC 3/4/2021

© Natasha Riebe/CBC Edmonton will feel public sector and post-secondary jobs losses the most, councillors say of provincial budget.

Edmonton's mayor and city council are giving a thumbs down to the provincial government's budget, which cuts millions of dollars in infrastructure money to municipalities and post-secondary institutions.

At a meeting Thursday, Mary Persson, Edmonton's chief financial officer, gave council the initial lowdown on how the cuts may impact the city's plans and economy.

The provincial budget released last Thursday highlights projects that the government says will create thousands of jobs.

But post-secondary institutions are expected to lose the equivalent of 750 full-time positions in 2021 and 2022, although the breakdown by school isn't available yet, Persson said.

Mayor Don Iveson said cuts to colleges, universities and the public sector spell bad news for Edmonton.

"It may very well be a jobs budget for Alberta, but it ain't a jobs budget for Edmonton," Iveson said Thursday after a council meeting.

Coun. Ben Henderson said the forecast doesn't look good for the city.

"I am really worried about the cuts to post-secondary in this city, which is very much part of what makes our city tick."

The province plans to reduce the government workforce by 7.7 per cent over four years, with many of those positions in Alberta's capital city.

The public sector is expected to lose more than 300 jobs next year.

"I'm deeply puzzled by how this budget can be seen as a job creation budget," Henderson said during the meeting. "It does not look like that to me, sitting here in the city of Edmonton."

The province says the budget will support more than 50,000 direct and 40,000 indirect jobs through to 2024.

This includes new funding for 41 projects around the province totalling nearly $826 million over three years, the budget release says.

The province's Treasury Board and Finance branch said municipalities will receive about 25 per cent less in Municipal Sustainability Initiative (MSI) funding over the next three years.

Charlotte Taillon, the Treasury Board and Finance's press secretary, said Edmonton will receive $235 million in total MSI funding in 2021-22.

"We recognize grant funding is an essential part of municipal capital plans and budgets," Taillon wrote in an email to CBC News. "We're asking municipalities to keep working with us as we transition to the Local Governance Fiscal Framework in 2024-25."

MSI cuts 

UCP IS A REHASHED PC GOVERNMENT WHICH RULED FOR THE PAST 44 YEARS

Persson said that means the city faces a net loss of $30 million in 2022 in MSI funding, and $120 million in 2023-24 when the new fiscal framework replaces MSI.

The cuts may limit the city's ability to renew facilities and 325 km of arterial roads, she said.

"Difficult decisions will be ahead as we plan for the 2023 to 2026 capital budget cycle," Persson said.

Instead, the city will likely be limited to maintaining existing projects already on the books.

The city was eyeing green initiatives, affordable housing, infrastructure renewal including industrial and arterial roads, facilities and open spaces with that money, she noted.

"These potential opportunities are no longer realistic with the current budget cuts," Persson said.
Broken promises

It's not just the United Conservative government that council blames.

The province now collects more than $2 billion in education property tax, Iveson noted, a source of funding once promised to municipalities.

Several years ago, the province said it would give municipalities the equivalent of what it collects in education tax, in infrastructure funding, Iveson said.

"We never once got the full amount," he recalled.

Iveson said when times were tough, the funding was cut. Every time the economy came back, Iveson said promises were made about funding increases that never happened.

"It's actually just a declining staircase that continues in this budget of cuts to municipalities, and promises made and promises broken by successive governments."

Less funding makes it difficult for the city to plan for new initiatives, retain talent and invest in areas that keep companies growing, Iveson said.

City councillors directed administration on Thursday to take a historical deep dive at the years of what they call broken promises.

They passed a motion to get a summary of cuts to operating and capital funding, back to the beginning of MSI in 2007.

The finance branch is asked to report its findings during spring supplemental budget talks in April.

Advocacy group launches letter-writing campaign to address period poverty in Alberta

Kashmala Fida CBC

3/4/2021

© Kate Bueckert/CBC No Woman Without is an organization that started as a donation drive for menstrual products and is now doing advocacy work and raising funds so women everywhere in Canada can have access to clean tampons and pads.

To whom it may concern, I am on my period.

That's the beginning of every letter Scarlet Bjornson hopes women in Alberta send to their local MLAs and MPs every time they are menstruating to raise awareness about period poverty — the lack of readily accessible menstrual products for people who need them.

Bjornson, who is from Edmonton, is the founder of No Woman Without, an organization that started as a donation drive for menstrual products and is now doing advocacy work and raising funds so women everywhere in Canada can have access to clean tampons and pads.

Although Canada lifted federal tax on menstrual products in 2015, Bjornson said the letter-writing campaign, launched March 1, focuses on policy change to make tampons and pads available everywhere.

The idea is "to make sure they're available and free at all government buildings, all areas where people in general public access buildings," Bjornson said Thursday on CBC's Edmonton AM.

"We go into a public washroom. We always assume there will be toilet paper there. Tampons and menstrual products, those should be there as well."

No Woman Without has also started a fundraising campaign with the goal of raising $25,000 for the year. As of Thursday, the campaign had raised $400.

In Canada, menstruation typically begins between the ages of 11 and 14, and ends at menopause, around the age of 50, according to My Health Alberta. It's estimated the average person who menstruates will spend $6,000 in a lifetime for menstrual products.

A 2018 survey conducted by Always, a brand of menstrual and hygiene products, found that one in seven Canadian girls have missed school because they couldn't access menstrual products.

Bjornson said there is no local data available on period poverty but from her work at the Bissell Centre she has seen firsthand how women have to choose between groceries or personal hygiene.

"You have to consider how many folks that we have living on support, such as AISH [Assured Income for Severely Handicapped] ... and you have to consider after they pay rent and utilities, often when you're looking at their budgets, they don't even have additional funds for food," she said.

"When you need to take $20 … you're literally needing to choose between purchasing food or purchasing tampons or pads or whatever product you use."

Inadequate hygiene supplies can also be detrimental to a woman's health.

Women who use the same tampon for a prolonged time can develop infections that lead to toxic shock syndrome, a potentially fatal condition, according to a 2015 study published by the U.S.-based National Center for Biotechnology Information.

The study found that unsanitary measures during menstruation can lead to an increase in infections of the lower reproductive tract.

Bjornson said people experiencing homelessness face a lot of challenges when it comes to accessing products.

"You're risking your health, you're risking your dignity. There are so many problems that come along with it, especially if you're not using a clean or a proper product," she said.

"It's just very frustrating