ECOCIDE

Massive fire engulfs chemical plant near Houston

A fire burning at a Houston-area chemical distribution plant on Wednesday led to a shelter-in-place order for two nearby neighborhoods. The thick black smoke from the fire could be seen for miles.

 Duration: 00:44 

WE HAVE CHEMICAL PLANTS IN THE CITY OF EDMONTON #YEG

WW3.0
Nation-state cyber attacks could lead to cyber conflict

Allen Bernard 4/8/2021 

A new report from HP released Thursday, Nation States, Cyberconflict and the Web of Profit, found that nation-state cyber attacks are "moving us closer to a point of advanced cyber conflict."

© Provided by TechRepublic Image: iStock/CROCOTHERY

"Nation-state conflict doesn't take place in a vacuum; as evidenced by the fact enterprise is the most common victim within those attacks analyzed," Ian Pratt, global head of Security for Personal Systems at HP, said in a statement. "Whether they are a direct target or a stepping-stone to gain access to bigger targets, as we have seen with the upstream supply chain attack against SolarWinds, organizations of all sizes need to be cognizant of this risk."

The research, which was sponsored by HP and conducted by Mike McGuire, senior lecturer in criminology at the University of Surrey, found a 100% rise in "significant" nation-state incidents between 2017-2020. McGuire, who looked at over 200 cybersecurity incidents associated with nation-states since 2009, found that enterprise-class organizations are now the most common target (35%), followed by cyber defense (25%), media and communications (14%), government bodies and regulators (12%) and critical infrastructure (10%).

"Nation-states are devoting significant time and resources to achieving strategic cyber advantage to advance their national interests, intelligence gathering capabilities, and military strength through espionage, disruption and theft," McGuire said in a statement. "Attempts to obtain IP data on vaccines and attacks against software supply chains demonstrate the lengths to which nation-states are prepared to go to achieve their strategic goals."

McGuire also relied on first-hand intelligence gathering from informants across the Dark Web and consultations with an expert panel of 50 leading practitioners in relevant fields (such as cybersecurity, intelligence, government, academia and law enforcement) to develop his findings. What he found was a "clear picture of escalations in tensions" that are being supported by increasingly complex structures that intersect with the underground cybercrime economy known as the "Web of Profit."

Other findings include:

The increase in attacks represent a "worrying" or "very worrying" escalation in tensions
COVID-19 presented a "significant opportunity" for nation-states to exploit

Supply chain attacks such as the SolarWinds hack increased 78% in 2019

Between 2017 and 2020 there were 27 software supply-chain attacks associated with nation-state actors

Over 40% of cyber attacks involved targets with physical and digital components such as an energy plant—a phenomenon known as "hybridization"

Nation-states may be "stock-piling" Zero Day exploits

Most experts believe nation-states are monetizing cybercrime

Nation-states are recruiting cybercriminals to conduct attacks

Nation-states and the Web of Profit

The study also found that nation-states are buying tools and services from the Dark Web and thus contributing to the Web of Profit. Likewise, tools developed by nation-states are making their way onto the black market. The Eternal Blue exploit that was used by the WannaCry hackers in 2017 is a good example, the report said.

Even though 20% of incidents involved sophisticated, custom-made weapons such as targeted malware or weaponized exploits that were likely developed by nation-state cybersecurity programs, half involved low-budget, straightforward exploits that could be easily purchased on the Dark Web.

Half (50%) of the tools used were built for surveillance, 15% enabled network incursion and positioning, 14% were for damage or destruction, and 8% for data extraction. The mix of tools suggests that nation-states are more focused on listening than stealing data.



"Cybercrime economies are shaping the character of nation-state conflicts," McGuire said in a statement. "There is also a second generation of cyber weaponry in development that draws upon enhanced capabilities in computing power, AI [artificial intelligence] and cyber-physical integrations."

Nation-states also are weaponizing chatbots to deliver phishing messages, react to new events and send messages via social media sites. In the future, deep fakes, drone swarms capable of disrupting communications or engaging in surveillance, and quantum computers capable of breaking almost any encryption algorithm will all be part of the digital battlefield, he said.

To de-escalate cyber-tensions and prevent nation-states from being drawn into further acts of cyberconflict, 70% of the expert panel say it is necessary to create a cyberconflict treaty, but few believe it will happen anytime soon.

Europe's oldest map is a carved stone slab from the Bronze Age

By Amy Woodyatt, CNN 4/8/2021


A slab of stone, engraved with intricate lines and motifs dating to the Bronze Age, has been revealed to be Europe's oldest map, researchers say.

© From Bournemouth University

Using high-resolution 3D surveys and photogrammetry, researchers re-examined the Saint-Bélec Slab -- an engraved and partly broken piece of stone that was discovered in 1900 but forgotten about for almost a century.

Researchers from the French National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research (Inrap), the UK's Bournemouth University, the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) and the University of Western Brittany say the recent study of the stone has revealed it to be the oldest cartographic representation of a known territory in Europe.

The slab, which boasts intricate carvings and scattered motifs, has had a busy life: unearthed from a burial mound in western Brittany, it is thought to have been reused in an ancient burial toward the end of the early Bronze Age (between 1900 and 1640 BCE), experts say, where it formed a wall of a small, coffin-like box containing human remains. At the time of excavation, the 12.7-foot-long slab was already broken and missing its upper half.

In 1900, it was moved to a private museum, and until the 1990s, it was stored in the National Museum of Archaeology in the castle of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, in a niche in the castle moat. In 2014, it was rediscovered in one of the museum's cellars.

Upon studying the rediscovered slab, researchers found the carvings resembled a map, with repeated motifs joined by lines.

They noticed that its surface was deliberately 3D-shaped to represent a valley, with lines in the stone thought to depict a river network.

The team noticed similarities between the engravings and elements of the landscape of western Brittany, with the territory represented on the slab appearing to show a region of about 19 miles by 13 miles, along the course of the Odet river.

Clément Nicolas, a postdoctoral researcher at Bournemouth University and first author of the study, told CNN that the discovery "highlights the cartographic knowledge of prehistoric societies."

But there are still many unknowns, including why the slab was broken in the first place.

"The Saint-Bélec Slab depicts the territory of a strongly hierarchical political entity that tightly controlled a territory in the early Bronze Age, and breaking it may have indicated condemnation and deconsecration," Nicolas said.

The study was published in the French journal Bulletin de la Société préhistorique française.

© From Bournemouth University Researchers noticed that the slab's topography resembled a valley, with lines representing a river network.

Yes, Some Plants Do "Scream" When They're Cut -You Just Can't Hear It
Haley Lyndes 
POPSUGAR

4/8/2021

To put it simply: plants are smart. While they may not have brains like humans do, plants talk to one another through smell and even communicate with insects to maintain survival. Like any living thing, plants want to remain alive, and research shows that when certain plants are cut, they emit a noise that can be interpreted as a scream. But before you feel guilty for all the leafy greens you've cut over the years, it's important to note that as humans, we process pain because we have a nervous system - plants do not. Because of this, we can't say a plant's "scream" is due to suffering, but is rather a form of communication for survival.

© Getty / Grumpy Cow Studios 

Yes, Some Plants Do "Scream" When They're Cut -You Just Can't Hear It

What Is a Plant's Scream?

According to a study on tobacco and tomato plants by Tel-Aviv University, researchers found that when stressed, certain plants produce an ultrasonic sound that is undetectable to the human ear. Keep in mind that being stressed can be caused by drought, insects, and yes, by being cut. Certain organisms can detect these sounds up to several meters away and respond accordingly to protect themselves. Researchers say if humans could understand these sounds, we'd better understand the condition of plants. However, it's still unclear if all plants emit a sound when they're threatened, so don't worry about your houseplants producing secret screams - it's probably not happening as often as you think.

Is It OK to Cut Plants If They Do Scream?

Yes - similar to humans, not all stress is bad, and in most cases pruning or trimming plants stimulates growth. The best time to prune or trim plants is during their growing seasons (spring or summer), with vines and trees being some of the best plants to trim, along with most houseplants. Keep in mind that certain houseplants like palms and tree ferns are more particular, so trim those plants with ease. Trimming or pruning plants is good to do when there are yellowing or dead sections of your plant, and to encourage fuller growth!

Mandrake History – Learn About Mandrake Plant Lore

Mandragora officinarum is a real plant with a mythical past. Known more commonly as mandrake [1], the lore generally refers to the roots. Beginning in ancient times, the stories about mandrake included magical powers, fertility, possession by the devil, and more. The fascinating history of this plant is colorful and even popped up in the Harry Potter series.

About Mandrake History

The history of mandrake plants and their use and legends goes back to ancient times. Ancient Romans, Greeks, and Middle Eastern cultures were all aware of mandrake and all believed the plant had magical powers, not always for good.

Mandrake is native to the Mediterranean region. It is a perennial herb with a large root and poisonous fruits. One of the oldest references to mandrake is from the Bible and probably dates to 4,000 B.C. In the story, Rachel used the berries of the plant to conceive a child.

In Ancient Greece, mandrake was noted for being a narcotic. It was used medicinally for anxiety and depression, insomnia, and gout. It was also used as a love potion. It was in Greece that the resemblance of the roots to a human was first recorded.

The Romans continued most of the medicinal uses that the Greeks had for mandrake. They also spread the lore and use of the plant throughout Europe, including Britain. There it was rare and costly and was often imported as dried roots.

Mandrake Plant Lore

The legendary stories about mandrake are interesting and revolve around it having magical, often menacing powers. Here are some of the most common and well-known myths about mandrake from earlier times:

The fact that the roots resemble the human form and have narcotic properties is likely what led to the belief in the plant’s magical properties.

The human shape of the mandrake root supposedly screams when pulled from the ground. Hearing that scream was believed to be fatal (not true, of course).

Because of the risk, there were many rituals surrounding how to protect oneself when harvesting mandrake. One was to tie a dog to the plant and then run. The dog would follow, pulling out the root but the person, long gone, would not hear the scream.

As described first in the Bible, mandrake was supposed to boost fertility, and one way to use it was to sleep with the root under a pillow.

Mandrake roots were used as good luck charms, thought to bring power and success to those who held them.

They were also thought to be a curse because of the ability to kill with the root’s scream.

Mandrake was thought to crop up under gallows, wherever the body fluids of condemned prisoners landed on the ground.

Article printed from Gardening Know How: https://www.gardeningknowhow.com

URL to article: https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/flowers/mandrake/mandrake-history-plant-lore.htm

URLs in this post:

[1] mandrake: https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/flowers/mandrake/mandrake-plant-growing.htm

 CANADA
Victims of gun violence slam feds over gun-control reform

TORONTO — The federal government's proposed gun-control laws are "toothless and cowardly," victims of gun violence in Ontario said Thursday.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

The Danforth Families for Safe Communities advocacy group as well as other families affected by gun violence sent a letter to Public Safety Minister Bill Blair outlining their disappointment as the national Liberal convention gets underway this week.

The group of victims and families affected by Toronto's Greektown mass shooting that left two dead and 13 hurt say the government's plan to allow municipalities to ban handguns should be scrapped and replaced with a federal law banning handguns outright.

"The handgun piece is just a disaster, it's an abdication of their responsibilities," said Ken Price, whose daughter, Samantha, was injured after being shot on July 22, 2018 by a young man on a rampage.

Bill C-21 would give municipalities discretion to ban handguns, if they choose, through bylaws restricting their possession, storage and transportation.

It also proposes a buyback of many recently banned firearms that the government deems to be assault-style weapons, but owners would be allowed to keep them under strict conditions.

The group said Blair, a former Toronto police chief, failed by not delivering a stronger handgun ban.

While the group applauded the federal government for banning military-style rifles, it slammed the optional "buyback" program.

"You must do better," the families wrote to Blair.

Gun violence continues to worsen in Canada.

The rate of violent gun offences increased for a fifth straight year in 2019, according to a 2020 Statistics Canada report.

In Toronto, the number of people killed or injured by guns has increased significantly since 2015, when the Liberals came to power. That year, 24 people died after being shot and 126 people were injured after 288 total shootings.

In 2020, 39 people died and 178 others hurt in 462 shootings in Toronto.

Those who wrote to Blair also criticized a proposed "red flag" portion of the legislation that would allow residents to seek a court order to have someone's guns seized if they think that person is a threat to public safety. The idea is to help women facing domestic violence, or families of those who are suicidal.

"Women already don't trust police or courts to protect them from domestic abuse or sexual assault, so why would we expect police or courts to protect us from guns?" said Alison Irons.

Her daughter, Lindsay Wilson, was shot and killed by her ex-boyfriend, who then killed himself in 2013 in Bracebridge, Ont.

"I'm a diehard Liberal but I see this bill as toothless and cowardly," she said.

Irons played an instrumental role in a different piece of gun-reform legislation – Bill C-71 – part of which would allow a background check on a gun-buyer's entire life. Currently, background checks are limited to the past five years.

While that bill has been enacted, it hasn't been fully implemented, including the extended background check provision, Irons said.

"My daughter's killer had a criminal record or personal violence that he hid from her," she said.

He had been convicted of forcible confinement and an assault related to a drug deal, Irons said, and received two years probation. The man then applied for his gun license and received it, she said.

"It's an appalling example of how the system is failing Canadians," Irons said.

The group said they will fight the Liberal government on the issue, especially if an election is called this year.

Mary-Liz Power, a spokeswoman for Blair, said the Liberal government seeks to end gun violence in the country.

"We have taken the strongest and most extensive action to end gun violence that our country has ever seen," Power said.

She said "significant elements" of Bill C-71 will be implemented this summer.

Power also said if Bill C-21 is passed, owners of prohibited weapons would need a license and enhanced storage requirements.

"These measures will give our government information about where these prohibited weapons are, and who has them; information that will ensure our buyback program is effective in retrieving these weapons that are too dangerous for our communities," Power said.

"The federal government would like to thank the members of Danforth Families for Safe Communities for their advocacy, and their commitment to a future free from gun violence."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 8, 2021.

CANADA

Advocates demand sweeping changes to military complaints process for sexual violence

"We talk about this masculine warrior ideal, and men who have been raped by their fellow soldiers are deeply embarrassed and they end up deeply affected by it. So they suffer even more, in silence."

OTTAWA — Advocates are calling for fundamental reforms to the process for reporting sexual violence in the Canadian Armed Forces, deeming decades-old patterns of misconduct a "national embarrassment" amid a broken military justice system.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

Christine Wood, co-chair of the military sexual-trauma survivors group It's Just 700, told a parliamentary committee Thursday that complaints and investigations must occur outside the chain of command, and that a greater focus on victim recovery is essential.


A former air force reservist, Wood is demanding an independent mechanism for complaints and a national platform for therapy and online peer support.

"It is simply unethical to ask them to come forward without a plan in place to support them," she said, stressing the "moral injury of betrayal" by fellow service members.

"The people I know that have fought the hardest for so many years are burning out, and they are at the edge ... I have a dear friend who is right now writing emails to herself to remind her of all the reasons that she should not commit suicide."

Wood and Julie Lalonde, an anti-harassment educator, said the Armed Forces needs a clearer definition of military sexual trauma to properly respond to a sexualized culture that is hostile to women.

"You cannot change something that you won’t even name," Lalonde said.

Acting defence chief Lt.-Gen. Wayne Eyre said last month the military is developing a suite of new programs aimed at tackling inappropriate behaviour in the ranks, including a "playbook" for handling misconduct allegations against senior officers and an updated code of conduct with more concrete definitions of unacceptable actions.

The House of Commons committee on the status of women is the second panel of MPs to probe the Liberal government's handling of allegations of misconduct against senior military officers.

Those include former defence chief Gen. Jonathan Vance and his successor Admiral Art McDonald, whose seat Eyre is filling after McDonald temporarily stepped aside last month, only a few weeks after taking over from Vance.

Wood drew on her own experience with the complaints process around sexual violence, which she says happened hours after her drink was spiked in the officer's mess in 2011.

"The reporting process itself was terrifying. It was me in a room with men for about two hours, three hours. I was videotaped. I felt like a suspect," she said, calling the ordeal "traumatic."

Recovery programs are similarly flawed, she said.

"I’ve been offered a seat in a group therapy session. They’re all men. And they’re all there with combat trauma. And I don’t even know who raped me. So there’s no way I’m going into that room.

"Sexual trauma is not necessarily worse or easier than combat trauma, it’s just different," she added, stating that the military places "exceptional roadblocks" to accessing proper care.

Sexual trauma is not automatically recognized as an operational stress injury, a categorization that would open up additional support programs and therapies, Wood said.

In 2015, retired Supreme Court justice Marie Deschamps issued an explosive report detailing a highly sexualized culture in the Armed Forces. She noted in February that some of her recommendations are still gathering dust.

Those include establishing a truly independent centre outside the military's chain of command that would be the main authority for receiving reports of inappropriate and criminal behaviour from service members and the military as a whole.

The federal government did set up what is known as the Sexual Misconduct Response Centre in September 2015, which Wood called a "skeleton." Part of the civilian arm of the Department of National Defence, it provides support for victims and information to military leaders.

The acting chief of the defence staff said in March the military will also wind down its all-encompassing effort to end sexual misconduct, a campaign dubbed Operation Honour that was launched by Vance upon his taking command of the Armed Forces in July 2015.

Some, most notably Lt.-Col. Eleanor Taylor, who recently announced that she was quitting the military following its failure to address misconduct in the ranks, have suggested that Operation Honour was poisoned because senior leaders failed to set good examples.

“The greatest thing about Operation Honour is that it acknowledged that there is a problem and it brought the conversation out into the open. But it failed to define the issue," Wood said.

"I really believe that sexual misconduct in the CAF is a national embarrassment."

Toxic masculinity can be at least as destructive for male service members who have suffered sexual trauma.

"The stigma and the shame is multiplied by a thousand for them," Wood said.

"We talk about this masculine warrior ideal, and men who have been raped by their fellow soldiers are deeply embarrassed and they end up deeply affected by it. So they suffer even more, in silence."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 8, 2021.

Christopher Reynolds, The Canadian Press

Geothermal power generation potential raised by both NDP and Sask. Party

Regina – The potential of using geothermal power generation was brough up by both the environment minister and leader of the opposition in scrums with reporters following question period on April 7.

That was the day after the government’s budget announced there would be a $150 tax for road usage imposed on electric vehicles per year, at the time of registration.

Environment Minister Warren Kaeding was asked several questions about that, but one of his answers referenced the Deep Earth Energy Production project near Torquay. He said, “Well, I would say even directly supporting the electricity is going to be generated to support electric vehicles, SaskPower has made a commitment that they will be going up to 50 per cent renewable by 2030, which isn't very, very long from now. So you've seen a number of facilities that have been built on a commercial scale, solar facilities that have been built on a on a commercial scale. We've done a lot of other community green energy projects like the DEEP geothermal energy, the bio energy facility is just going to be completed up in Meadow Lake, utilizing that waste from the forest industry. So there's a number of sources of energy now that that is being produced that will have a renewable, or green component.”

A few minutes later, New Democratic Party Leader Ryan Meili was asked about carbon capture and storage with coal-fired electrical generation, small modular reactors, or both. He replied, “We should be going ahead with what is available and ready now. We could be leading in geothermal, there's incredible technology available with closed loop thermo that we could get people who are good at drilling and putting pipe in the ground, of which there are a lot of people here in this province, building tomorrow and be creating power from it. Their incredible opportunities in solar. This premier killed the solar industry, we could be doing so much more than wind and biomass. We need to explore every option, but we know that SMRs are always on the horizon and never ready, we need to do the things that are available now.”

Asked about Ontario Power Generation’s Darlington New Nuclear Project, which is a small modular reactor planned to be online by 2028, he said, “We'll see, we'll see. Right? It's been, it's been a few years down the road for 30 years.”

Brian Zinchuk, Local Journalism Initiative reporter, Estevan Mercury

China's bitcoin mining is threatening its climate change targets, study says
Sam Shead 

Some 75% of the world's bitcoin mining is done in China, where there is cheap electricity and relatively easy access to manufacturers who make specialized hardware, according to the study.

Unlike most forms of currency — issued by a single entity like a central bank — bitcoin is based on a decentralized network and needs to be "mined."

This mining on computers uses vast amounts of electricity, especially when conducted on a large scale.

© Provided by CNBC Technicians make repairs to bitcoin mining machines at a mining facility operated by Bitmain in Ordos, Inner Mongolia, China, on Friday, Aug. 11, 2017.

China could end up exceeding its emissions reduction targets as a result of carbon-intensive bitcoin mining, according to a study published this week.

Some 75% of the world's bitcoin mining is done in China, where there is cheap electricity and relatively easy access to manufacturers who make specialized hardware, according to the study. As a result, the nation's bitcoin carbon footprint is as big as one of its ten largest cities, the paper claims.

Unlike most forms of currency — issued by a single entity like a central bank — bitcoin is based on a decentralized network and needs to be "mined."

This takes place when bitcoin transactions, recorded on a public ledger called the blockchain, are "verified" by miners. These miners run purpose-built computers to solve complex mathematical puzzles that effectively allow a bitcoin transaction to happen; the miners then receive bitcoin as a reward.

This mining on computers uses vast amounts of electricity, especially when conducted on a large scale.

The research on China's mining activities — published by peer-reviewed journal Nature Communications on Tuesday — was conducted by academics from the University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Tsinghua University, Cornell University and the University of Surrey.

It comes despite rhetoric from China that it is keen to become more environmentally friendly. President Xi Jinping said last year that the country is targeting peak carbon dioxide emissions by 2030 and carbon neutrality by the year 2060. But bitcoin threatens to derail those plans.

"Without appropriate interventions and feasible policies, the intensive bitcoin blockchain operation in China can quickly grow as a threat that could potentially undermine the emission reduction effort taken place in the country," the authors wrote.

Worldwide, bitcoin mining consumes an estimated 128.84 terrawatt-hour (Twh) per year of energy — more than entire countries such as Ukraine and Argentina, according to the Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index, a project of the University of Cambridge.

Video: How to mine cryptocurrencies sustainably (CNBC)

"The growing energy consumption and associated carbon emission of bitcoin mining could potentially undermine global sustainable efforts," wrote the authors of the latest study.

"Without any policy interventions, the annual energy consumption of the bitcoin blockchain in China is expected to peak in 2024 at 296.59 Twh and generate 130.50 million metric tons of carbon emission correspondingly."

The authors note that China's bitcoin energy usage by 2024 will surpass the total energy consumption of Italy or Saudi Arabia.

While the study was published in a peer-reviewed journal, some have said it lacks the necessary data.

Nic Carter, partner at venture capital firm Castle Island Ventures and co-founder of crypto website Coin Metrics, wrote on Twitter that the paper "leaves a lot to be desired."

"I expected most of the paper to be about province-level data covering energy mix of Chinese miners," wrote Carter. "But that's missing. Instead, they claim to have taken this into account... but don't show their work. They just assert they've quantified this."

The authors did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for comment.
Taking action

China's Inner Mongolia region said last month that it plans to ban new cryptocurrency mining projects and shut down existing activity in a bid to cut down on energy consumption.

Inner Mongolia, located in northern China, failed to meet central government assessment targets regarding energy use in 2019 and was scolded by Beijing. In response, the region's development and reform commission laid out plans to reduce energy consumption. Part of those plans involve shutting down existing cryptocurrency mining projects by April 2021 and not approving any new ones.

The motives for China's intensive bitcoin mining could go beyond making money (bitcoin's value has soared from $7,000 to almost $60,000 in the last year). Silicon Valley billionaire Peter Thiel expressed concerns this week that bitcoin could be used as a "Chinese financial weapon against the U.S."

"Even though I'm sort of a pro-crypto, pro-bitcoin maximalist person, I do wonder whether at this point bitcoin should also be thought in part of as a Chinese financial weapon against the U.S., where it threatens fiat money, but it especially threatens the U.S. dollar, and China wants to do things to weaken it, so China's long bitcoin," Thiel said on Tuesday at a virtual event held by the Richard Nixon Foundation.

The PayPal and Palantir co-founder has invested in bitcoin companies and previously said he was "long bitcoin" and considers it the "digital equivalent of gold."

— Additional reporting by CNBC's Arjun Kharpal.

CANADA

The sense of urgency around climate change is trending up

Monica Gattinger and Nik Nanos 4/8/2021

Monica Gattinger is Director of the Institute for Science, Society and Policy, Chair of Positive Energy, and a Full Professor at the University of Ottawa’s School of Political Studies

Nik Nanos is the Chair and CEO of Nanos Research and Chair of Positive Energy’s Advisory Council.

© Used with permission of / © St. Joseph Communications. People march during a climate change protest in Vancouver on March 27, 2021 (Liang Sen/Xinhua via ZUMA Press)

It has been over a year since the pandemic struck and governments restructured the economy and society around physical distancing. COVID has dramatically altered our day-to-day lives; it has also altered our policy priorities. In early 2020, the environment was the number one policy issue on Canadians’ minds. Four months into the pandemic, the environment had fallen behind COVID, the economy and health care.

Since Summer 2020, the University of Ottawa’s Positive Energy program and Nanos Research have tracked Canadians’ climate ambition in the midst of the pandemic. Do people think it is a good time to be ambitious in addressing climate change? What is driving their views?

Our latest round of tracking shows that Canadians continue to lean towards climate action, and the sense of urgency to act is growing. We have been asking Canadians on a scale of zero to 10, where zero means absolutely the worst time and 10 absolutely the best time, how good a time it is for Canada to be ambitious in addressing climate change. Our latest results show that one in two Canadians believe now is the best time to be ambitious about climate change (7-10) rather than an OK time (4-6, about one in five) or the worst time (0-3, about one in four). The results remain relatively consistent across time. Across all three surveys, we observed greater support for climate ambition among Québécois and Atlantic Canadians, women, and ideologically left-leaning Canadians, with less support among Canadians in the Prairies, men, and ideologically right-leaning Canadians

© Provided by Maclean's

(Nanos Research)

We scratched beneath the surface by asking respondents why they gave the answer they did. Here, we see a clear trendline. As the pandemic continues, the public appears increasingly sensitive to the urgency of climate change. The first time we asked this question, 21 per cent of respondents said, “We need to act now, climate change can’t wait”. In the latest round of tracking, this number is up to 39 per cent. No other response has seen this type of growth. Here, the results are fairly conclusive: Canadians feel greater urgency to act on climate change now than they did in the early months of the pandemic.

But not all Canadians are ambitious about climate, nor do they see the urgency to act now. Using the zero to 10 scale helps to show the strength of disagreement among some Canadians on this issue. Here, our survey results reveal a troubling pattern: each time we’ve asked the question, between 34 and 39 per cent of respondents answered either 0 or 10 (split about evenly between the two categories). In other words, a sizeable number of Canadians hold very strong opinions either for or against climate action. What’s more, when we break out the data across regional, partisan or ideological lines, the percentage of those answering 0 or 10 jumps even higher. Polarized views like this are challenging for the political system to deal with. When peoples’ opinions harden in this way, they’re less likely to be open to compromise and change.

Looking forward to the federal budget, our 2030 targets, and beyond, policymakers and decision-makers must navigate this context carefully. One crucial piece of this is understanding which segments of the public trust them when they speak. We asked respondents to use a scale of 0 to 10 to rate how much they trust a variety of information sources on climate change.

Peer-reviewed science / researchers are by far the most trusted sources on climate change, with more than three in four Canadians scoring them between 7 and 10. Environmental organizations and traditional news media were the next two most trusted source (52 per cent and 43 per cent of respondents answering between 7 and 10). For public sector sources, Canadians distinguish between government agencies and politicians, trusting agencies three times more than politicians (38 per cent versus 12 per cent). Industry is trusted about the same as politicians—not very much. Social media is by far the least trusted information source, a somewhat reassuring finding for those concerned about misinformation.
© Provided by Maclean's

(Nanos Research)

Interestingly, trust in peer-reviewed science and researchers holds across ideological, partisan and regional lines. This is good news as it suggests Canadians will look to research and science to inform their views. That said, our findings suggest that ideologically right-leaning Canadians are less trusting of all information sources. In our November survey, we asked Canadians what information sources they trust for climate issues. The most common response among ideologically conservative Canadians was none. This is a challenge.

Building public confidence in decisions will be crucial to charting Canada’s energy future in an age of climate change. Our findings show that Canadians’ level of climate ambition is holding steady during the pandemic and the sense of urgency is growing. Yet the size and strength of opposition is large and concentrated enough to challenge initiatives that have majority support. Understanding the nature and scope of opposition, and mobilizing trusted information sources, will be vital going forward.

Source: Positive Energy/Nanos Research, RDD dual frame hybrid telephone and online random survey, February 28th to March 4th, 2021, n=1016, accurate 3.1 percentage points plus or minus, 19 times out of 20.

Report details at www.nanos.com

https://www.uottawa.ca/positive-energy

IMF warns that debt overhang and financial vulnerabilities pose double threat to economic recovery
Sam Meredith 

CNBC

4/8/2021

The IMF is praising the U.S. for extraordinary stimulus but is warning that these measures can cause longer-term damage to worldwide economies.

"There's no question that stimulus in the United States presents a very favorable backdrop to the growth projections that we have made," said the IMF's Geoffrey Okamoto.

IMF warns debt overhang and financial vulnerabilities pose double threat

LONDON — Policymakers and central banks need to be "very selective" with stimulus measures to avoid endangering global economic growth over the medium term, according to a top official at the International Monetary Fund, with a debt overhang and financial vulnerabilities identified as possible risks.

The warning comes as the IMF appears to be trying to orchestrate a delicate balancing act at its spring meetings this week.

The Washington-based institute has singled out the U.S. for praise in enacting extraordinary stimulus amid the coronavirus crisis to fast-track a global economic recovery, while also warning about the potential for these measures to cause longer-term structural damage to worldwide economies.

"There's no question that stimulus in the United States presents a very favorable backdrop to the growth projections that we have made," Geoffrey Okamoto, first deputy managing director of the IMF, told CNBC's Joumanna Bercetche on Wednesday.

"I wouldn't characterize it as a crutch. This is a tailwind, right, that countries should be able to use or capitalize on to try and ride through the remaining amount of time until they can get all of their citizens jabbed and their economies reopen," he added.

The IMF said in its World Economic Outlook on Tuesday that the global economy was on track to expand 6% this year, upgrading its forecast for the second time in three months. It comes after an estimated 3.3% contraction in 2020 and the worst global recession since World War II.

IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva said the brighter outlook was underpinned by the rollout of coronavirus vaccines and economic stimulus measures, "especially in the United States."

In a move expected to supercharge the U.S. economic recovery, President Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion stimulus package passed last month. The White House has since sought to make a $2 trillion infrastructure plan the administration's next legislative priority.

When asked whether policymakers and central banks were at risk of overeating economies as a result of ultra-accommodative measures, Okamoto replied: "Both on fiscal and monetary policy posture, keeping accommodation in place for too long does invite risks."

'Risks to growth'

"On the monetary policy side, keeping monetary policy accommodation in place for too long does invite certain vulnerabilities to come into the financial sector," Okamoto said, adding the institute had said in its Global Financial Stability Report that regulators would need to contain these risks.

The IMF report, published Tuesday, said that while there is a pressing need to avoid a legacy of vulnerabilities, actions taken during the coronavirus pandemic "may have unintended consequences such as stretched valuations and rising financial vulnerabilities."

It also highlights a stark divergence between a small number of advanced economies and emerging market economies, with low-income countries seen to be at risk of falling further behind during a multispeed recovery.

© Provided by CNBC A worker works on a production line to produce electrical products for domestic and Southeast Asian markets in Hai 'an city, east China's Jiangsu province, March 29, 2021.

"On the fiscal side, just because rates remain low and your borrowing capacity is there doesn't mean you can borrow unlimited amounts of money for any purpose," Okamoto said.

"We want people to spend resources prudently both to get through the pandemic and to make the proper investments to set themselves on a growth trajectory coming out of the crisis. But that requires being very selective and making sure that you're funding the projects with the highest economic rates of return."

Okamoto said a failure to be selective with these projects would invite a debt overhang, "and both the debt overhang or the financial vulnerabilities could invite risks to growth over the medium term."