Nitric Oxide joins the fight against COVID-19
FAST & FURIOUS LAUGHING GASSES PANDEMIC
A Canadian-based company using Nitric Oxide (NO) to treat topical and respiratory infections has found success using their product to combat COVID-19. In an interview with Chris Miller, Chief Scientific Officer and Cofounder at SaNOtize, we learn about the company that is attacking the virus before it can attack you.
Chris Miller published his first review article on Nitric Oxide in 1992, he says, “I was trying to figure out what to research in my Ph.D. and I had read an abstract about the molecule nitric oxide, so while I knew very little about it at the time, I had an epiphany and Nitric Oxide answered the questions about what I would be doing for the rest of my life.” Miller had been working as a respiratory therapist prior to his Ph.D. and says “I was working with gasses and helping people on life support, so I wanted to learn more about a gas that had been previously considered poisonous.” Miller explains that there was no way to easily measure NO in those days and it was contained in high pressure cylinders, so his team focused on making devices to measure and deliver NO. “In those days, the recently retired Bruce Murray was my right hand man, he stuck by me for decades on this journey.” Murray and Miller worked with another large company to use NO as an approved drug to save infants with Blue Baby Syndrome from 1998 on, significantly decreasing the amount of related deaths.
Miller shares that “during that time I became fascinated with finding that the NO produced in our bodies works as our first line of defence in our innate immune system and basically did another Ph.D. trying to see how we could use this outside the body to help reduce microbes and infection.” The high pressure cylinders were cumbersome so the team started to explore how they could create and deliver nitric oxide in a liquid and with the help of major grants and his new business partner, Dr. Gilly Regev. Regev and Miller began working together in 2009 and created a liquid that kills microbes very fast. The liquid treatment was developed as far as phase 2 human trials, proving safe and effective for potential use for chronic sinusitis and diabetic foot ulcers. Originally, the team wanted to use their findings to help combat the common flu and cold but knew those would be expensive undertakings, so, prior to the pandemic, they were focusing on uses much cheaper to develop. Miller himself would use the nasal spray before and after plane rides and found the method effective to keep him free of common respiratory illnesses for the past decade.
The pandemic changed the focus for team SaNOtize, as they decided to jump in right away to see if they could help in the fight against the SARS-CoV-2 virus, or COVID-19 infection. In March 2020 they began independent lab testing at Utah State University and showed that their NO releasing solution could eradicate the SARS-CoV-2 virus in under two minutes. The SaNOtize nasal spray works similarly to a hand sanitizer for the nose. Miller explains “if you think you’ve been exposed to the virus, you can spray the mist into your nose, which is the major entry point for COVID. The NO in the liquid acts as a physical and chemical barrier using multiple mechanisms to combat the virus.” Miller shares, “If you think of the COVID spike proteins like a key, and your cells like a lock, one mechanism of action is that the NO twists the spikes into a knot so the key cannot enter the lock, and another mechanism is that it acts like pouring glue into the lock itself so the key cannot insert.” He adds, “also if NO gets into the lock/cells, it prevents replication of the virus.”
Miller and Regev’s company has finished a phase 2 clinical trial in the United Kingdom (UK), where “we had a breakthrough that proved a rapid and impressive reduction in SARS-CoV-2 in infected people -- the study conducted by the Ashford & St. Peter’s Hospital in London to people who self-administered the nasal spray, basically eradicated high levels of the virus in 24-72 hours. The most impressive point was it worked equally well against the mutant UK variant of the virus.” These findings have been submitted for publication in a medical journal, and the company has filed these with Health Canada to support their drug submission. Even though the NO is very low, administered topically and approved as an over the counter device in other countries, in Canada NO is already approved as a prescription drug and SaNOtize is obligated to go through the lengthy process of prescription drug for use as a nasal spray to prevent and treat COVID-19 infection in people. Miller states “we have met with Health Canada and are working on the process for submission for emergency use during the pandemic. They have been very helpful and we are working together to get rapid approval- it can never go fast enough but we are still going as fast as we can while keeping the public safe so we don’t cut corners and can prove the safety for users.” The group is designing and starting, under Canada Health’s direction, two phase 3 trials, one for prevention, and one for treatment. Interested parties can keep an eye on their website for future advertisements looking for participants. Miller says “we hope the public helps us with the prevention trial, there will be eligibility criteria, but also we need informed consent. Sadly, someone needs to be grouped in the 50% that receive a placebo of only salt water and are at risk of contracting COVID, but from a risk-benefit perceptive, this study is the only way to get SaNOtize approved as a drug.”
Currently only two countries approve the use of SaNOtize nasal spray to combat COVID-19 infection, but the goal is to make the product affordable and accessible to all, especially in places where vaccines are not readily available. It is in mass production in Israel, as “we couldn’t get access to manufacturing sites in Canada or many parts of the world because vaccine production is, understandably, tying up factories’’. Mass production was instead started in Israel and the current singular production line is producing 20 bottles a minute around the clock. Three more production lines have been ordered and will soon begin, quadrupling the rate at which the product is made for countries like Israel and Bahrain where it has been approved for use. Many countries are currently reviewing the studies and considering approving the use of the SaNOtize nasal spray and the company hopes to eventually bring production back to Canada.
The nasal spray could be especially effective in other countries who don’t have the vaccine. Miller hopes SaNOtize “could bridge the gap while these countries wait for the vaccine” and aid in the prevention of COVID -19 infection. He adds “what I love most about our nasal spray is that this was never just designed just for treating/preventing COVID-19 infection, the effectiveness does not seem to differ by variant, and works on all viruses including the flu and common cold viruses”. This new tool in the tool belt that could reduce the necessity of masking, as the small and simple bottle can be carried in a purse or pocket and sprayed once or twice a day when a person has been possibly exposed.”
Those interested in supporting the work of SaNOtize can continue to encourage regulatory and government agencies to “help small companies like ourselves to be able to move innovative ideas like this forward.” Not a large Pharma company, SaNOtize is not as equally equipped to fund large prevention trials costing tens of millions of dollars to conduct. Many government, non-profit agencies and countries are getting on board with sponsoring and helping to fund the trials, but Canada has not offered financing assistance at this time.
In the meantime, the group is “working with the World Health Organization and other foundations who see the potential of the nitric oxide nasal spray, and want to move forward”. Groups in India, Mexico, and Brazil are working with SaNOtize to get emergency approvals so that their unique corner of the globe can have equal access to the new weapon combatting COVID-19.
Elizabeth Thompson, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Temple City Star
Friday, April 23, 2021
Nevada sees lithium ‘white gold rush’ as demand set to skyrocket
In the Nevada desert, there’s a quiet frenzy building over a rare resource that will be crucial to meeting the country’s goals to slow down climate change.
VIDEO The 'white gold rush': Inside a lithium mine, where stores of recyclable energy lie
Lithium, the crucial component in batteries for electric vehicles and renewable energy storage, has mostly been produced in countries like Australia, Chile and China.
There’s only one commercial lithium mine operating in the U.S., a facility in Silver Peak, Nevada, that has been using ponds to evaporate groundwater and harvest lithium since the 1960s. At least two more mines are waiting for final approval to begin construction, one of which would produce enough lithium for 400,000 electric vehicles a year for the next 50 years, according to the company.
ABC NewsMORE: Why 2021 is shaping up to be a pivotal year for electric vehicles
But demand is set to explode as much as 1000% by 2030, according to the Energy Information Administration, and possibly even more if more countries continue to adopt policies to encourage the adoption of electric vehicles and renewable energy. And with President Joe Biden's push to manufacture more electric vehicle components in the United States, the focus has turned to how and where the country can collect rare minerals like lithium responsibly
But demand is set to explode as much as 1000% by 2030, according to the Energy Information Administration, and possibly even more if more countries continue to adopt policies to encourage the adoption of electric vehicles and renewable energy. And with President Joe Biden's push to manufacture more electric vehicle components in the United States, the focus has turned to how and where the country can collect rare minerals like lithium responsibly
.
ABC News ABC News Chief Meteorologist Ginger Zee and Albemarle Global Business Director Eric Norris tour the company's lithium mine in Silver Peak, Nevada, on April 13, 2021.
At the facility in Silver Peak run by Albemarle Corporation, neon blue pools of water from an underground aquifer evaporate for 12 to 18 months until the company can remove the lithium in a powderlike form, which is then processed into the form used to make batteries.
“It's the lightest metal known to man; it's very energy dense," Eric Norris, lithium president for Albemarle, said.
"That reactivity in nature makes it hard to come by, so you can find it is in the surrounding mountains here and the clays, but not in very what we consider economic concentrations," he said. "So, what's happening here in this closed basin over tens of thousands of years is Mother Nature, and we do get some rain here, not a lot, gradually bringing it into this valley."
At the facility in Silver Peak run by Albemarle Corporation, neon blue pools of water from an underground aquifer evaporate for 12 to 18 months until the company can remove the lithium in a powderlike form, which is then processed into the form used to make batteries.
“It's the lightest metal known to man; it's very energy dense," Eric Norris, lithium president for Albemarle, said.
"That reactivity in nature makes it hard to come by, so you can find it is in the surrounding mountains here and the clays, but not in very what we consider economic concentrations," he said. "So, what's happening here in this closed basin over tens of thousands of years is Mother Nature, and we do get some rain here, not a lot, gradually bringing it into this valley."
ABC News ABC News Chief Meteorologist Ginger Zee and Albemarle Global Business Director Eric Norris tour the company's lithium mine in Silver Peak, Nevada, on April 13, 2021.
Extracting lithium, like any kind of mining, can still create greenhouse gas emissions and toxic waste that could threaten the environment, though one argument for increasing the amount of mining in the United States is increased oversight of those impacts compared to other countries. The amount of the mineral is also finite, and the country will need more ways to recycle lithium-ion batteries if they continue to be used in the future.
Extracting lithium, like any kind of mining, can still create greenhouse gas emissions and toxic waste that could threaten the environment, though one argument for increasing the amount of mining in the United States is increased oversight of those impacts compared to other countries. The amount of the mineral is also finite, and the country will need more ways to recycle lithium-ion batteries if they continue to be used in the future.
MORE: Biden administration faces increasing calls to stop companies from 'greenwashing'
Norris said Albemarle is working to produce lithium as efficiently as possible, so they can fulfill the promise that electric vehicles produced with it are better for the environment.
"This is very important to the automotive industry. Our customer base, they're very focused on this, because the promise they're giving to you as a consumer is, this is going to be good for the earth, right? So, they've got to make sure their supply chain is doing it responsibly,” he told ABC News.
Some environmental advocates are also worried about the impact more production would have on another desert resident that relies on lithium: a rare wildflower that grows on lithium-rich soil called Tiehm’s buckwheat.
© ABC News The area of southwestern Nevada known as Rhyolite Ridge is the site of a proposed mine to harvest minerals like lithium, but is also the home of a rare wildflower called the Tiehm''s Buckwheat.
Patrick Donnelly, Nevada state director for the Center for Biological Diversity, has been working to block one of the proposed mines that he says threatens the wildflower. He said there’s a “white gold rush” for lithium in Nevada and that while he knows lithium is important to tackling the climate crisis, he also thinks it’s important to protect biodiversity in the region.
“This special little wildflower is the reason that we're standing here today,” he told ABC News' chief meteorologist, Ginger Zee.
“For our part, and as we said, if they could build this mine without destroying this little wildflower, you know, we would probably walk away from this mine and go find a gold mine to fight instead," he said.MORE: Giant screens, spartan interiors: Electric vehicles go high tech
Donnelly and the Center for Biological Diversity have filed to declare Tiehm’s buckwheat an endangered species, which would trigger more protections from activity in the area.
Patrick Donnelly, Nevada state director for the Center for Biological Diversity, has been working to block one of the proposed mines that he says threatens the wildflower. He said there’s a “white gold rush” for lithium in Nevada and that while he knows lithium is important to tackling the climate crisis, he also thinks it’s important to protect biodiversity in the region.
“This special little wildflower is the reason that we're standing here today,” he told ABC News' chief meteorologist, Ginger Zee.
“For our part, and as we said, if they could build this mine without destroying this little wildflower, you know, we would probably walk away from this mine and go find a gold mine to fight instead," he said.MORE: Giant screens, spartan interiors: Electric vehicles go high tech
Donnelly and the Center for Biological Diversity have filed to declare Tiehm’s buckwheat an endangered species, which would trigger more protections from activity in the area.
© Patrick Donnelly/Center for Biological Diversity via AP, FILE This June 1, 2019, file photo provided by the Center for Biological Diversity shows Tiehm's buckwheat blooming at Rhyolite Ridge in the Silver Peak Range of Western Nevada.
West of Silver Peak, the Rhyolite Ridge Project would extract lithium and boron from the ridge by drilling and blasting ore, crushing it and then drawing the minerals out with diluted sulfuric acid, according to the company’s website.
Ioneer, the company planning the Rhyolite Ridge mine, disputes claims its operation would drive the buckwheat to extinction and says it believes it can relocate and protect the plants.MORE: Mine OK'd in Trump's last days may boost Biden energy plan
“We are going to put enormous effort to support this plant and to expand this plan and create a conservation zone that we will never let anybody ever touch,” Ioneer CEO James Calaway told ABC News.
Calaway said that even with the company’s plans, he can’t 100% guarantee the Tiehm’s buckwheat would survive forever, but that it would be a shame if that was the only reason to deny the project.
“To have any chance to meet the targets for electrification in the United States and not be wholly dependent on the Chinese, we really do need to build this project, and we need to build it now, because the time is very important. We are reaching a point where we're going to have excess demand around the world versus supply,” he told ABC News.
West of Silver Peak, the Rhyolite Ridge Project would extract lithium and boron from the ridge by drilling and blasting ore, crushing it and then drawing the minerals out with diluted sulfuric acid, according to the company’s website.
Ioneer, the company planning the Rhyolite Ridge mine, disputes claims its operation would drive the buckwheat to extinction and says it believes it can relocate and protect the plants.MORE: Mine OK'd in Trump's last days may boost Biden energy plan
“We are going to put enormous effort to support this plant and to expand this plan and create a conservation zone that we will never let anybody ever touch,” Ioneer CEO James Calaway told ABC News.
Calaway said that even with the company’s plans, he can’t 100% guarantee the Tiehm’s buckwheat would survive forever, but that it would be a shame if that was the only reason to deny the project.
“To have any chance to meet the targets for electrification in the United States and not be wholly dependent on the Chinese, we really do need to build this project, and we need to build it now, because the time is very important. We are reaching a point where we're going to have excess demand around the world versus supply,” he told ABC News.
© ABC News The Tiehm's Buckwheat is a rare wildflower that has adapted to grow on lithium-rich soil, but advocates say faces threats from mining activity.
The debate over Nevada’s white gold rush could pose a test for the Biden administration and whether the government can balance the demand for domestically produced minerals to be used in clean energy technology with the strain increased mining could put on the desert ecosystem around it.
Donnelly said the world is facing an extinction crisis as well as the climate crisis and that even as more minerals such as lithium are needed, there needs to be more conversation about how to do so without harming the environment.MORE: Rare wildflower could jeopardize lithium mine
“Our advocacy to protect this little wildflower here does not mean that we're trying to avoid those hard questions or we're fighting working on lithium as part of our future,” he said.
“And so, you know, we need to have a reckoning about how to do it without destroying biodiversity.”
ABC News’ Lissette Rodriguez and Andrea Amiel contributed to this report.
For more on this story, check out the It's Not Too Late: Earth Day Special, available on Hulu and wherever you stream ABC News Live at 8 p.m. Thursday, April 22.
The debate over Nevada’s white gold rush could pose a test for the Biden administration and whether the government can balance the demand for domestically produced minerals to be used in clean energy technology with the strain increased mining could put on the desert ecosystem around it.
Donnelly said the world is facing an extinction crisis as well as the climate crisis and that even as more minerals such as lithium are needed, there needs to be more conversation about how to do so without harming the environment.MORE: Rare wildflower could jeopardize lithium mine
“Our advocacy to protect this little wildflower here does not mean that we're trying to avoid those hard questions or we're fighting working on lithium as part of our future,” he said.
“And so, you know, we need to have a reckoning about how to do it without destroying biodiversity.”
ABC News’ Lissette Rodriguez and Andrea Amiel contributed to this report.
For more on this story, check out the It's Not Too Late: Earth Day Special, available on Hulu and wherever you stream ABC News Live at 8 p.m. Thursday, April 22.
Lithium treats intellectual defects in mouse model of Bardet-Biedl Syndrome
Learning and memory problems were linked to defective cilia
IMAGE: IMAGE OF CILIA IN A MOUSE BRAIN USING SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPY, IMAGED AND PROCESSED BY CALVIN S. CARTER. view more
CREDIT: CALVIN S. CARTER
Mice with symptoms that mimic Bardet-Biedl Syndrome (BBS) have difficulty with learning and generating new neurons in the hippocampus. However, according to a new study by Thomas Pak, Calvin Carter, and Val Sheffield of the University of Iowa, published April 22nd in the journal PLOS Genetics, these mental defects can be successfully treated with lithium.
BBS is a rare genetic disorder that causes intellectual disability, vision loss and obesity, and sometimes kidney problems and extra fingers and toes. It is one of several ciliopathies, which are diseases that stem from defective cilia--tiny, finger-like projections on the surface of cells that play important roles in moving fluids, sensing the environment and signaling between cells. Pak, Carter, Sheffield and colleagues wanted to learn more about how ciliopathies cause intellectual disability, so they studied a type of mouse with the same symptoms as people with BBS.
In the new study, the researchers showed that normal mice could quickly be trained to associate a specific environment to a fearful event, but the BBS mice had a harder time with fear memory. Further investigation showed that these learning problems come from an inability to make new neurons in the hippocampus. Treating the mice with lithium, however, increased cell production and improved their learning and memory.
Intellectual disability is the most common type of neurodevelopmental disorder, but few drugs are available to treat it. The new study suggests that lithium may be an effective treatment for the learning and memory defects caused by BBS, and the researchers suggest that further studies should be performed to test the use of this FDA-approved drug. The new findings also demonstrate a novel role for cilia in learning and memory in the brain, potentially improving our understanding of the mechanisms that cause intellectual disability.
Pak adds, "A mouse model of a cilia disease, Bardet-Biedl Syndrome, has impaired fear memory and hippocampal neurogenesis. In this mouse model, lithium treatment improves fear memory and hippocampal neurogenesis."
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Peer-reviewed Experimental study Animals
In your coverage please use this URL to provide access to the freely available article in PLOS Genetics:
http://journals.
Citation: Pak TK, Carter CS, Zhang Q, Huang SC, Searby C, Hsu Y, et al. (2021) A mouse model of Bardet-Biedl Syndrome has impaired fear memory, which is rescued by lithium treatment. PLoS Genet 17(4): e1009484. https:/
Funding: This work was supported by National Institute of Health grants (https:/
Competing interests: The authors have declared that n
HI TECH CHEATING
New research finds advanced shoe technology reduces top race times for elite athletes
IF PERFORMANCE ENHANCING DRUGS ARE BANNED WHY NOT BAN HI TECH PERFORMANCE ENHANCERS
For elite runners competing in long-distance races, every second counts. So when Nike introduced "advanced shoe technology" in 2017, questions arose about whether the new design would significantly affect performances in professional sports. A new paper published in Frontiers in Sports and Active Living found that the new footwear indeed reduced running times for both elite male and female competitors.
The study analyzed seasonal best times for elite male and female runners in three race categories - 10 kilometers, half marathon and marathon races - between 2012 and 2019. The researchers found a statistically significant decrease in race times after 2017, which coincided with the premiere of the Nike Vaporfly 4%.
Female elite athletes appeared to gain the most benefit from the design improvement, which features a thicker, lighter foam and rigid plate along the midsole. Their seasonal best times between 2016 and 2019 decreased anywhere from 1.7 to 2.3 percent, versus 0.6 to 1.5 percent for the men. For example, the new shoe technology improved female marathon time by about 2 minutes and 10 seconds, a 1.7 percent boost in performance.
"As far as chronometric performance is concerned, it is in our opinion a major advancement," said Dr. Stéphane Bermon, lead author of the paper and director of the World Athletics Health and Science Department.
The mechanics behind the improvements in performance remain somewhat of a mystery. One advantage of the new shoe technology is that it uses the latest generation of lightweight foam in the midsole, which provides the runner with a higher energy return. The embedded stiff plate in the midsole also contributes to maximizing energy return in each step. In effect, the shoe works to propel the runner forward with a little less effort.
The statistical gap between genders was unexpected, according to Bermon. One advantage could come down to weight between the sexes.
"Women are lighter and could possibly benefit more from the enhanced rebound effect achieved by the foam/stiff plate combination," he said. "Their slightly different running pattern, compared to men, could represent a more favorable condition for this footwear technology to play its ergogenic role."
A previous 2018 statistical analysis had already suggested a 3 to 4 percent decrease in half marathon and marathon race times based on hundreds of thousands of self-reported results. However, the present study was the first to look at the top seasonal best times for elite athletes.
While the research included a majority of results from East African runners, like Ethiopian and Kenyan, who have come to dominate the sport, the paper noted that non-East-African elite runners experienced similar improvements in performance.
"These results confirm that advanced footwear technology has benefits to the elite male and female distance runners," Bermon said. "Whether this technology will be banned or simply controlled, as it is currently, is still to be decided by World Athletics."
No immediate follow-up studies are planned, though Bermon said additional research is needed to understand whether mass adoption of the new footwear by both recreational and elite runners causes more or fewer injuries, especially in light of all the different types of running styles.
THEY STILL GET BEAT BY
BAREFOOT RUNNERS FROM ETHIOPIA
CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M BUISNESS AS USUAL
Exclusive: Texas energy fund shuts, founder says millions squandered
By Shariq Khan
4/23/2021
By Shariq Khan
4/23/2021
© Reuters/ANGUS MORDANT FILE PHOTO: The sun sets behind a crude oil pump jack on a drill pad in the Permian Basin in Loving County
(Reuters) - The founder of a Texas oil and gas investment firm that raised about $31 million shut the business this month and acknowledged in a Reuters interview that he had squandered investors' cash on "bad" and "non-arm's-length" deals.
Christopher Bentley, who founded Bellatorum Resources LLC in 2016 and raised funds from about 150 wealthy individuals, closed its doors on April 9 and contacted U.S. prosecutors. His firm bought mineral rights in Texas shale fields, betting on appreciation as oil and gas drilling rose.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation and Department of Justice are reviewing the company's records, Bentley said in the interview on Tuesday. Bentley has not been charged.
The FBI said it does not confirm or deny the existence of any investigations and referred questions on Bentley to the U.S. Attorney's office. A spokeswoman for U.S. Attorney Jennifer Lowery of the Southern District of Texas did not reply to several requests for comment.
Alongside this year's spectacular investment busts, Bellatorum's is small. This year's failure of highly leveraged equity investor Archegos Capital saddled investors with billions of dollars in losses. But Bellatorum stands out for its founder's mea culpa email to investors and decision to turn himself into authorities.
'I WAS OVERLY CONFIDENT'
At times contrite about his failings, the 40-year-old former energy worker and U.S. Marine admitted to acquiring "bad" and "non-arm's-length" deals, overspending on corporate overheads, and failing to hire professionals to advise him. He said he lost some of his own money in the venture.
"I was overly confident that if I can hit even one home run that’ll make everything right," Bentley said of his hiding the fund's financial troubles from investors and employees. "I kept digging the hole. I turned myself in because I couldn't live the lie any longer."
The buying and selling of mineral rights, an about $2.1 billion-a-year business in the United States, took off in the shale patch around 2016 as drilling activity jumped, said Enverus M&A analyst Andrew Dittmar. But the business slumped last year as deals dried up with oil demand.
Bentley had borrowed money using fund assets in a last-ditch effort to generate enough cash to pay investor distributions. Instead, he used some of the cash to finance Bellatorum's daily operations and cover distributions to early fund investors, he told Reuters.
"I have made serious mistakes in an effort to keep the operation going," he told investors in the email dated April 9 and seen by Reuters. The company's two largest funds have almost no assets left, he said, after he borrowed $6.6 million against the assets and the lender foreclosed earlier this year.
'TIME WILL TELL'
Jeff Voelkel, an investor in Bellatorum's third and smallest fund who has reviewed its records, said less than half the $2.6 million that 40 investors put into the fund was used to buy assets, with the rest apparently consumed by expenses.
Voelkel described Bentley as "open and forthcoming with information" since the April 9 email, but added: "Only time will tell if he siphoned anything off for himself."
Bentley stressed to Reuters he had not diverted funds, saying he had sold his own assets and put money into the company. But he admitted working nights and weekends to keep the losses hidden from his employees and investors. Bellatorum staff, 21 employees at its peak, were unaware of his actions, he said.
"I didn’t let them have access to information. That's why they didn’t end up working for me for long," he said.
(Additional reporting by Liz Hampton in Denver; Writing by Gary McWilliams in Houston; Editing by Howard Goller)
(Reuters) - The founder of a Texas oil and gas investment firm that raised about $31 million shut the business this month and acknowledged in a Reuters interview that he had squandered investors' cash on "bad" and "non-arm's-length" deals.
Christopher Bentley, who founded Bellatorum Resources LLC in 2016 and raised funds from about 150 wealthy individuals, closed its doors on April 9 and contacted U.S. prosecutors. His firm bought mineral rights in Texas shale fields, betting on appreciation as oil and gas drilling rose.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation and Department of Justice are reviewing the company's records, Bentley said in the interview on Tuesday. Bentley has not been charged.
The FBI said it does not confirm or deny the existence of any investigations and referred questions on Bentley to the U.S. Attorney's office. A spokeswoman for U.S. Attorney Jennifer Lowery of the Southern District of Texas did not reply to several requests for comment.
Alongside this year's spectacular investment busts, Bellatorum's is small. This year's failure of highly leveraged equity investor Archegos Capital saddled investors with billions of dollars in losses. But Bellatorum stands out for its founder's mea culpa email to investors and decision to turn himself into authorities.
'I WAS OVERLY CONFIDENT'
At times contrite about his failings, the 40-year-old former energy worker and U.S. Marine admitted to acquiring "bad" and "non-arm's-length" deals, overspending on corporate overheads, and failing to hire professionals to advise him. He said he lost some of his own money in the venture.
"I was overly confident that if I can hit even one home run that’ll make everything right," Bentley said of his hiding the fund's financial troubles from investors and employees. "I kept digging the hole. I turned myself in because I couldn't live the lie any longer."
The buying and selling of mineral rights, an about $2.1 billion-a-year business in the United States, took off in the shale patch around 2016 as drilling activity jumped, said Enverus M&A analyst Andrew Dittmar. But the business slumped last year as deals dried up with oil demand.
Bentley had borrowed money using fund assets in a last-ditch effort to generate enough cash to pay investor distributions. Instead, he used some of the cash to finance Bellatorum's daily operations and cover distributions to early fund investors, he told Reuters.
"I have made serious mistakes in an effort to keep the operation going," he told investors in the email dated April 9 and seen by Reuters. The company's two largest funds have almost no assets left, he said, after he borrowed $6.6 million against the assets and the lender foreclosed earlier this year.
'TIME WILL TELL'
Jeff Voelkel, an investor in Bellatorum's third and smallest fund who has reviewed its records, said less than half the $2.6 million that 40 investors put into the fund was used to buy assets, with the rest apparently consumed by expenses.
Voelkel described Bentley as "open and forthcoming with information" since the April 9 email, but added: "Only time will tell if he siphoned anything off for himself."
Bentley stressed to Reuters he had not diverted funds, saying he had sold his own assets and put money into the company. But he admitted working nights and weekends to keep the losses hidden from his employees and investors. Bellatorum staff, 21 employees at its peak, were unaware of his actions, he said.
"I didn’t let them have access to information. That's why they didn’t end up working for me for long," he said.
(Additional reporting by Liz Hampton in Denver; Writing by Gary McWilliams in Houston; Editing by Howard Goller)
Biden plans 'real money' for jobs training, unions, economic adviser says
By Jarrett Renshaw
(Reuters) - President Joe Biden wants to put "real money" toward helping laid-off workers get new jobs in growth industries like green energy and healthcare as part of his $2.3 trillion jobs and infrastructure package, a top economic adviser said.
Biden is attempting a delicate balancing act as he calls for a reshaping of the nation's energy industry by reducing reliance on fossil fuels and coal-powered electric plants to meet aggressive climate emission goals.
Those industries offer high-paying, union jobs that Biden promised to replace while courting the blue-collar vote on the campaign trail.
"What we're trying to do here is put some real money where our mouths are," Jared Bernstein, who serves on the White House Council of Economic Advisers, told Reuters. "You don't just train somebody for a job that might or might not exist. Instead, you look around the corner and see where labor demand is going to be next year."
A $40 billion job-training plan in the infrastructure proposal would help workers who lost jobs through no fault of their own land a new job in a growth industry, and direct income to help them pay the bills while training and utilize case managers to navigate the system, he said.
The training funding is part of a package of measures included in Biden's plan that seeks to boost unions. The Democratic president has promised to build union jobs in the United States, which he sees as key to building back a stronger middle class.
In 2020, some 35 percent of public-sector employees could collectively bargain for wages and benefits, while just 6.3 percent of the private sector was unionized. But roughly half of U.S. states block public employees from collective bargaining.
That "is by far the biggest barrier," said a senior White House official.
The White House wants to guarantee public workers across the country the right to collective bargaining, expand apprentice programs and ensure that all federally funded construction projects use union labor.
Biden is seeking a further $38 billion in funding to expand union apprentice programs, a gateway to a union job, which the White House says will create 1 million to 2 million registered apprenticeship slots, to fill the demand created by the spending on new construction projects.
Biden and Democrats delivered on a high-priority item for unions when they included an $83 billion pension bailout in the COVID relief bill passed in March. Labor leaders, facing declining enrollment that is crushing their self-funded retirement systems, say the money will shore up to 200 plans.
(Reporting by Jarrett Renshaw; Editing by Peter Cooney)
By Jarrett Renshaw
(Reuters) - President Joe Biden wants to put "real money" toward helping laid-off workers get new jobs in growth industries like green energy and healthcare as part of his $2.3 trillion jobs and infrastructure package, a top economic adviser said.
Biden is attempting a delicate balancing act as he calls for a reshaping of the nation's energy industry by reducing reliance on fossil fuels and coal-powered electric plants to meet aggressive climate emission goals.
Those industries offer high-paying, union jobs that Biden promised to replace while courting the blue-collar vote on the campaign trail.
"What we're trying to do here is put some real money where our mouths are," Jared Bernstein, who serves on the White House Council of Economic Advisers, told Reuters. "You don't just train somebody for a job that might or might not exist. Instead, you look around the corner and see where labor demand is going to be next year."
A $40 billion job-training plan in the infrastructure proposal would help workers who lost jobs through no fault of their own land a new job in a growth industry, and direct income to help them pay the bills while training and utilize case managers to navigate the system, he said.
The training funding is part of a package of measures included in Biden's plan that seeks to boost unions. The Democratic president has promised to build union jobs in the United States, which he sees as key to building back a stronger middle class.
In 2020, some 35 percent of public-sector employees could collectively bargain for wages and benefits, while just 6.3 percent of the private sector was unionized. But roughly half of U.S. states block public employees from collective bargaining.
That "is by far the biggest barrier," said a senior White House official.
The White House wants to guarantee public workers across the country the right to collective bargaining, expand apprentice programs and ensure that all federally funded construction projects use union labor.
Biden is seeking a further $38 billion in funding to expand union apprentice programs, a gateway to a union job, which the White House says will create 1 million to 2 million registered apprenticeship slots, to fill the demand created by the spending on new construction projects.
Biden and Democrats delivered on a high-priority item for unions when they included an $83 billion pension bailout in the COVID relief bill passed in March. Labor leaders, facing declining enrollment that is crushing their self-funded retirement systems, say the money will shore up to 200 plans.
(Reporting by Jarrett Renshaw; Editing by Peter Cooney)
CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M
The ex-convict's tale: Germany's role in Wirecard scandal under microscopeBy John O'Donnell and Tom Sims 6 hrs ago
© Reuters/Hannibal Hanschke
FILE PHOTO: Investigative committee on Wirecard accounting scandal in Berlin
FRANKFURT (Reuters) - In February 2019, after a steep drop in Wirecard's share price, German authorities launched criminal probes into short-sellers and journalists who had accused the company of fraud, and banned investors from betting against the company.
Documents seen by Reuters show for the first time that the only independent information - beyond Wirecard's representations - received by Munich prosecutors who launched the criminal probes was a third-hand account of events from a convicted money launderer, Daniel James Harris.
The rationale that led to the decisions of prosecutors and regulators to launch the criminal probes and short-selling ban, and whether they were overzealous in supporting Wirecard, are central issues being investigated by a parliamentary inquiry into the company's collapse in Germany's biggest post-war fraud scandal.
The criminal probes and short-selling ban were launched by authorities after Wirecard complained it was being targeted by unidentified speculators who it said were in cahoots with two Financial Times journalists and had advance knowledge of a negative report that it said baselessly alleged accounting manipulations.
Some Wirecard executives were in fact engaged in a sophisticated global fraud at that time, the German government, prosecutors and regulators said last year after the payment company filed for insolvency, owing creditors almost $4 billion.
The trove seen by Reuters includes thousands of pages of emails, chat messages and memos provided by German authorities to the parliamentary inquiry, which reaches a climax this week with testimony from Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday.
The witness testimony from Harris was provided by Wirecard, with a lawyer for the company delivering the two-page written statement in person to a prosecutor on Feb. 14, 2019, according to the documents.
In the statement, Harris identified himself as an equities trader in Essex, southern England, and said he met his broker, whom he didn't identify, on Jan. 30, 2019, the day Wirecard's share price plunged up to 22%.
The broker said he had been told that investors were trading in anticipation of a negative FT report about the company, which was published in the afternoon of that day, according to the statement seen by Reuters.
"He told me he had spoken with a friend of his," Harris said. "My broker said that this friend had told him that an article was about to be published about Wirecard."
In his statement, Harris said he didn't act on the information. However Wirecard argued that market talk of a negative article ahead of publication was proof that investors were trading on inside information, and perhaps in collusion with journalists. At the time, the FT denied this, characterising Wirecard's claims as a "smokescreen".
Reuters was unable to contact Harris or his lawyers for comment.
Harris was sentenced to a two-year jail term in February 2017 for money laundering for drug dealers who ran a moped delivery service in London and Essex, according to Britain's National Crime Agency.
A spokeswoman for the Munich state prosecutors said Harris' statement corroborated Wirecard's claims that it was unfairly targeted by speculators.
"The statement under oath was used by legal representatives of Wirecard to substantiate the legal complaint," she added.
In February this year, the state prosecutor told the parliamentary inquiry that he did not speak to Harris, without elaborating.
Munich prosecutors dropped the inquiry into the journalists last year, concluding there was no evidence of any collusion with investors, while no action has yet been taken against the several short-sellers investigated.
'VERY CONCRETE INFORMATION'
The documents seen by Reuters include correspondence by executives and officials from Wirecard, prosecutors and financial regulator BaFin provided to lawmakers.
The prosecutors' office emailed Harris' statement to BaFin on Feb. 15, 2019, a Friday, the documents show, and the following Monday BaFin announced the first short-selling ban on a single stock in German history.
BaFin's ban was a watershed in the saga, according to lawmakers who have said it implicitly vouched for the company's credibility, while halting investors that doubted it.
A BaFin spokeswoman said the Harris witness statement played "no role" in the short-sale ban, but that it did fit into its examination of market manipulation.
Yet Sebastian Kimmer, a member of BaFin's staff who corresponded with Munich prosecutors, testified before lawmakers in February this year that the Harris statement provided "very concrete information" that supported Wirecard's complaint.
Kimmer said the information from prosecutors was deemed serious and credible by the regulator. He added that Harris' statement, along with the allegations from Wirecard relayed by prosecutors, were escalated to his superiors.
No details about Harris' statement have been publicly disclosed.
Munich prosecutors have previously defended their role, saying they acted impartially in alerting BaFin to Wirecard's fears that it was going to be targeted by short-sellers.
Felix Hufeld, then president of BaFin but who has since resigned in the wake of the scandal, had defended the short-selling ban as a means to maintain confidence in Germany's stock market.
But three lawmakers on the parliamentary inquiry said that the prosecutors' and BaFin's actions in February 2019 showed their readiness to side with Wirecard against critics, even in the face of what they characterised as flimsy evidence.
Florian Toncar, one of the lawmakers, said the Munich prosecutors had shown a tendency to take a "one-sided view on the Wirecard case".
"They held the unsigned draft of a vague testimony ... as a plausible story," he added.
(Reporting by John O'Donnell and Tom Sims; Editing by Pravin Char)
FRANKFURT (Reuters) - In February 2019, after a steep drop in Wirecard's share price, German authorities launched criminal probes into short-sellers and journalists who had accused the company of fraud, and banned investors from betting against the company.
Documents seen by Reuters show for the first time that the only independent information - beyond Wirecard's representations - received by Munich prosecutors who launched the criminal probes was a third-hand account of events from a convicted money launderer, Daniel James Harris.
The rationale that led to the decisions of prosecutors and regulators to launch the criminal probes and short-selling ban, and whether they were overzealous in supporting Wirecard, are central issues being investigated by a parliamentary inquiry into the company's collapse in Germany's biggest post-war fraud scandal.
The criminal probes and short-selling ban were launched by authorities after Wirecard complained it was being targeted by unidentified speculators who it said were in cahoots with two Financial Times journalists and had advance knowledge of a negative report that it said baselessly alleged accounting manipulations.
Some Wirecard executives were in fact engaged in a sophisticated global fraud at that time, the German government, prosecutors and regulators said last year after the payment company filed for insolvency, owing creditors almost $4 billion.
The trove seen by Reuters includes thousands of pages of emails, chat messages and memos provided by German authorities to the parliamentary inquiry, which reaches a climax this week with testimony from Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday.
The witness testimony from Harris was provided by Wirecard, with a lawyer for the company delivering the two-page written statement in person to a prosecutor on Feb. 14, 2019, according to the documents.
In the statement, Harris identified himself as an equities trader in Essex, southern England, and said he met his broker, whom he didn't identify, on Jan. 30, 2019, the day Wirecard's share price plunged up to 22%.
The broker said he had been told that investors were trading in anticipation of a negative FT report about the company, which was published in the afternoon of that day, according to the statement seen by Reuters.
"He told me he had spoken with a friend of his," Harris said. "My broker said that this friend had told him that an article was about to be published about Wirecard."
In his statement, Harris said he didn't act on the information. However Wirecard argued that market talk of a negative article ahead of publication was proof that investors were trading on inside information, and perhaps in collusion with journalists. At the time, the FT denied this, characterising Wirecard's claims as a "smokescreen".
Reuters was unable to contact Harris or his lawyers for comment.
Harris was sentenced to a two-year jail term in February 2017 for money laundering for drug dealers who ran a moped delivery service in London and Essex, according to Britain's National Crime Agency.
A spokeswoman for the Munich state prosecutors said Harris' statement corroborated Wirecard's claims that it was unfairly targeted by speculators.
"The statement under oath was used by legal representatives of Wirecard to substantiate the legal complaint," she added.
In February this year, the state prosecutor told the parliamentary inquiry that he did not speak to Harris, without elaborating.
Munich prosecutors dropped the inquiry into the journalists last year, concluding there was no evidence of any collusion with investors, while no action has yet been taken against the several short-sellers investigated.
'VERY CONCRETE INFORMATION'
The documents seen by Reuters include correspondence by executives and officials from Wirecard, prosecutors and financial regulator BaFin provided to lawmakers.
The prosecutors' office emailed Harris' statement to BaFin on Feb. 15, 2019, a Friday, the documents show, and the following Monday BaFin announced the first short-selling ban on a single stock in German history.
BaFin's ban was a watershed in the saga, according to lawmakers who have said it implicitly vouched for the company's credibility, while halting investors that doubted it.
A BaFin spokeswoman said the Harris witness statement played "no role" in the short-sale ban, but that it did fit into its examination of market manipulation.
Yet Sebastian Kimmer, a member of BaFin's staff who corresponded with Munich prosecutors, testified before lawmakers in February this year that the Harris statement provided "very concrete information" that supported Wirecard's complaint.
Kimmer said the information from prosecutors was deemed serious and credible by the regulator. He added that Harris' statement, along with the allegations from Wirecard relayed by prosecutors, were escalated to his superiors.
No details about Harris' statement have been publicly disclosed.
Munich prosecutors have previously defended their role, saying they acted impartially in alerting BaFin to Wirecard's fears that it was going to be targeted by short-sellers.
Felix Hufeld, then president of BaFin but who has since resigned in the wake of the scandal, had defended the short-selling ban as a means to maintain confidence in Germany's stock market.
But three lawmakers on the parliamentary inquiry said that the prosecutors' and BaFin's actions in February 2019 showed their readiness to side with Wirecard against critics, even in the face of what they characterised as flimsy evidence.
Florian Toncar, one of the lawmakers, said the Munich prosecutors had shown a tendency to take a "one-sided view on the Wirecard case".
"They held the unsigned draft of a vague testimony ... as a plausible story," he added.
(Reporting by John O'Donnell and Tom Sims; Editing by Pravin Char)
ONTARIO
Advocates want “atrocities” committed at Pine Ridge to be remembered
It is often said that those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it, and local advocates are working to make sure the “atrocities” committed behind the brown-brick walls of Pine Ridge, now a Provincial government building at Yonge and Bloomington, are never forgotten.
Originally built as a De La Salle College, Pine Ridge served as a residential facility for people with developmental disabilities between 1963 and 1984. In 2016, surviving residents of Pine Ridge and 11 other similar facilities across Ontario were part of a class action lawsuit that resulted in a settlement of $36 million to those who were harmed.
It stands as a mute testament to what went on behind its walls, and recent reports leading up to its heritage designation did not touch fully upon the realities that building represents to survivors.
But that could soon change thanks to local residents who took the matter to this month’s meeting of the Town’s Heritage Advisory Committee (HAC).
Len Bulmer and Kathy Kantel came together this month to bring these realities to the table.
It is not the first time they have done so; Mr. Bulmer said they have presented survivors’ accounts to Mayor and Council but were largely “met with silence.”
“We know it is not easy to acknowledge difficult history,” said Mr. Bulmer, “but we also know that not acknowledging this difficult history means repeating it. We have survivors of that institution living right here still in the community. They are among the most vulnerable among us. Not acknowledging what happened to them erases their experience. We believe in cultural and heritage preservation, not historical erasure.
“What are we asking for? An acknowledgement of what happened in that building, a reconsideration of that designation with all of the facts on the table. We are not necessarily calling for the designation to be revoked, but we want acknowledgement and sensitivity. As part of the reconsideration of that designation and if the designation is retained, the Town could perhaps work with the survivor and advocate communities to have a display in the Town Hall entryway, perhaps the Historical Society could arrange for speakers on the topic. Perhaps Town Staff and elected officials would be willing to have a more-depth acknowledgement in June during National Accessibility Week.”
The Province, he added, “may be open” to an acknowledgement on site.
To underscore the importance of acknowledging what took place behind the walls of Pine Ridge, Ms. Kantel read an account of survivor Martin Levine:
“They stripped me, took all my clothes off. They led you down on a stretcher, tied your body down tight across your chest, so you couldn’t move. Tight across your legs. Then they rolled you down the hall, you were all tied down and they would take you right into the shower. Then, while you’re all tied down, not able to move or get away, you would suddenly have the freezing cold water come down on you. You were freezing and you couldn’t move. Cold. Naked. Soaking wet and restrained on the bed. Then they’d yell, ‘what do you think of this now? Do you want to apologize to us now?’ After that, then they put you in the side room in isolation. They would leave you just shivering. Everyone could look to the window at you all naked lying on the floor. You didn’t even get fed when you were in the side room like that. That is what they did to you there. One day, staff came in. He was slurring, I could see he was drunk by the time he was talking. The Head Supervisor was the same. He was angry, he grabbed me, had me undressed and put me in the side room. It wasn’t good. Some things I just don’t talk about too much. I think I’ll stop that part there. That’s enough for now.”
HAC member Neil Asselin, who was on the Committee at the time of Pine Ridge’s initial designation said he was “shocked” in hindsight there was no mention of this at the time and agreed that there needs to be acknowledgement of Pine Ridge’s sad legacy.
“I don’t believe in running from the truth and I don’t believe our history is clean,” he said. “If ten people were murdered by their parents in a house, I don’t care if they built this town, I want to know that something happened there too and I want to honour the people who have suffered to build this town just as much as the ones who have done great things.”
Added Councillor Sandra Humfryes: “History should be included with the building. I’m aware of the atrocities that have happened there and I think it is very important to have that story told as it was.”
Brock Weir, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Auroran
It is often said that those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it, and local advocates are working to make sure the “atrocities” committed behind the brown-brick walls of Pine Ridge, now a Provincial government building at Yonge and Bloomington, are never forgotten.
Originally built as a De La Salle College, Pine Ridge served as a residential facility for people with developmental disabilities between 1963 and 1984. In 2016, surviving residents of Pine Ridge and 11 other similar facilities across Ontario were part of a class action lawsuit that resulted in a settlement of $36 million to those who were harmed.
It stands as a mute testament to what went on behind its walls, and recent reports leading up to its heritage designation did not touch fully upon the realities that building represents to survivors.
But that could soon change thanks to local residents who took the matter to this month’s meeting of the Town’s Heritage Advisory Committee (HAC).
Len Bulmer and Kathy Kantel came together this month to bring these realities to the table.
It is not the first time they have done so; Mr. Bulmer said they have presented survivors’ accounts to Mayor and Council but were largely “met with silence.”
“We know it is not easy to acknowledge difficult history,” said Mr. Bulmer, “but we also know that not acknowledging this difficult history means repeating it. We have survivors of that institution living right here still in the community. They are among the most vulnerable among us. Not acknowledging what happened to them erases their experience. We believe in cultural and heritage preservation, not historical erasure.
“What are we asking for? An acknowledgement of what happened in that building, a reconsideration of that designation with all of the facts on the table. We are not necessarily calling for the designation to be revoked, but we want acknowledgement and sensitivity. As part of the reconsideration of that designation and if the designation is retained, the Town could perhaps work with the survivor and advocate communities to have a display in the Town Hall entryway, perhaps the Historical Society could arrange for speakers on the topic. Perhaps Town Staff and elected officials would be willing to have a more-depth acknowledgement in June during National Accessibility Week.”
The Province, he added, “may be open” to an acknowledgement on site.
To underscore the importance of acknowledging what took place behind the walls of Pine Ridge, Ms. Kantel read an account of survivor Martin Levine:
“They stripped me, took all my clothes off. They led you down on a stretcher, tied your body down tight across your chest, so you couldn’t move. Tight across your legs. Then they rolled you down the hall, you were all tied down and they would take you right into the shower. Then, while you’re all tied down, not able to move or get away, you would suddenly have the freezing cold water come down on you. You were freezing and you couldn’t move. Cold. Naked. Soaking wet and restrained on the bed. Then they’d yell, ‘what do you think of this now? Do you want to apologize to us now?’ After that, then they put you in the side room in isolation. They would leave you just shivering. Everyone could look to the window at you all naked lying on the floor. You didn’t even get fed when you were in the side room like that. That is what they did to you there. One day, staff came in. He was slurring, I could see he was drunk by the time he was talking. The Head Supervisor was the same. He was angry, he grabbed me, had me undressed and put me in the side room. It wasn’t good. Some things I just don’t talk about too much. I think I’ll stop that part there. That’s enough for now.”
HAC member Neil Asselin, who was on the Committee at the time of Pine Ridge’s initial designation said he was “shocked” in hindsight there was no mention of this at the time and agreed that there needs to be acknowledgement of Pine Ridge’s sad legacy.
“I don’t believe in running from the truth and I don’t believe our history is clean,” he said. “If ten people were murdered by their parents in a house, I don’t care if they built this town, I want to know that something happened there too and I want to honour the people who have suffered to build this town just as much as the ones who have done great things.”
Added Councillor Sandra Humfryes: “History should be included with the building. I’m aware of the atrocities that have happened there and I think it is very important to have that story told as it was.”
Brock Weir, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Auroran
Mexico's drought reaches critical levels as lakes dry up
MEXICO CITY — Drought conditions now cover 85% of Mexico, and residents of the nation's central region said Thursday that lakes and reservoirs are simply drying up, including the country’s second-largest body of fresh water
MEXICO CITY — Drought conditions now cover 85% of Mexico, and residents of the nation's central region said Thursday that lakes and reservoirs are simply drying up, including the country’s second-largest body of fresh water
.
© Provided by The Canadian Press
The mayor of Mexico City said the drought was the worst in 30 years, and the problem can be seen at the reservoirs that store water from other states to supply the capital.
Some of them, like the Villa Victoria reservoir west of the capital, are at one-third of their normal capacity, with a month and a half to go before any significant rain is expected.
IsaÃas Salgado, 60, was trying to fill his water tank truck at Villa Victoria, a task that normally takes him just half an hour. On Thursday he estimated it was taking 3 1/2 hours to pump water into his 10,000-litre tanker.
“The reservoir is drying up,” said Salgado. “If they keep pumping water out, by May it will be completely dry, and the fish will die.”
Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum said that as the drought worsened, more people have tended to water their lawns and gardens, which worsens the problem.
The capital's 9 million inhabitants rely on reservoirs like Villa Victoria and two others — which together are at about 44% capacity — for a quarter of their water; most of the rest comes from wells within city limits. But the city’s own water table is dropping and leaky pipes waste much of what is brought into the city.
Rogelio Angeles Hernandez, 61, has been fishing the waters of Villa Victoria for the last 30 years. He isn’t so much worried about his own catch; in dry seasons of the past, residents were able to cart fish off in wheelbarrows as water levels receded.
But tourism at reservoirs, like Valle de Bravo further to the west, has been hit by falling water levels.
In the end, it is the capital that is really going to suffer.
“Fishing is the same, but the real impact will be on the people in Mexico City, who are going to get less water,” Angeles Hernandez said.
Farther to the west, in Michoacan state, the country is at risk of losing its second-largest lake, Lake Cuitzeo. About 75% of the lake bed is now dry, said Alberto Gómez-Tagle, a biologist and researcher who chairs the Natural Resources Institute of the University of Michoacán.
Gómez-Tagle said that deforestation, roads built across the shallow lake and diversion of water for human use have played a role, but three extremely dry years have left the lake a dusty plain.
“2019, 2020 and so far 2021 have been drier than average, and that has had a cumulative effect on the lake,” he said.
Michoacan Gov. Silvano Aureoles said so much of the lake has dried up that shoreline communities now suffer dust storms. He said communities might have to start planting vegetation on the lake bed to prevent the storms.
In a petition to the government, residents of communities around the lake said only six of 19 fish species once present in Cuitzeo now remain. They said the dust storms had caused tens of thousands of respiratory and intestinal infections among local residents.
Fernando Llano, The Associated Press
The mayor of Mexico City said the drought was the worst in 30 years, and the problem can be seen at the reservoirs that store water from other states to supply the capital.
Some of them, like the Villa Victoria reservoir west of the capital, are at one-third of their normal capacity, with a month and a half to go before any significant rain is expected.
IsaÃas Salgado, 60, was trying to fill his water tank truck at Villa Victoria, a task that normally takes him just half an hour. On Thursday he estimated it was taking 3 1/2 hours to pump water into his 10,000-litre tanker.
“The reservoir is drying up,” said Salgado. “If they keep pumping water out, by May it will be completely dry, and the fish will die.”
Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum said that as the drought worsened, more people have tended to water their lawns and gardens, which worsens the problem.
The capital's 9 million inhabitants rely on reservoirs like Villa Victoria and two others — which together are at about 44% capacity — for a quarter of their water; most of the rest comes from wells within city limits. But the city’s own water table is dropping and leaky pipes waste much of what is brought into the city.
Rogelio Angeles Hernandez, 61, has been fishing the waters of Villa Victoria for the last 30 years. He isn’t so much worried about his own catch; in dry seasons of the past, residents were able to cart fish off in wheelbarrows as water levels receded.
But tourism at reservoirs, like Valle de Bravo further to the west, has been hit by falling water levels.
In the end, it is the capital that is really going to suffer.
“Fishing is the same, but the real impact will be on the people in Mexico City, who are going to get less water,” Angeles Hernandez said.
Farther to the west, in Michoacan state, the country is at risk of losing its second-largest lake, Lake Cuitzeo. About 75% of the lake bed is now dry, said Alberto Gómez-Tagle, a biologist and researcher who chairs the Natural Resources Institute of the University of Michoacán.
Gómez-Tagle said that deforestation, roads built across the shallow lake and diversion of water for human use have played a role, but three extremely dry years have left the lake a dusty plain.
“2019, 2020 and so far 2021 have been drier than average, and that has had a cumulative effect on the lake,” he said.
Michoacan Gov. Silvano Aureoles said so much of the lake has dried up that shoreline communities now suffer dust storms. He said communities might have to start planting vegetation on the lake bed to prevent the storms.
In a petition to the government, residents of communities around the lake said only six of 19 fish species once present in Cuitzeo now remain. They said the dust storms had caused tens of thousands of respiratory and intestinal infections among local residents.
Fernando Llano, The Associated Press
Alberta didn't consider impact of mountain coal mining on tourism: official
EDMONTON — Alberta revoked a long-standing policy that protected its mountains and foothills from open-pit coal mines without considering how that might affect its most popular tourist attraction, a government official has acknowledged.
"There was no analysis around the implications of the coal policy on the 10-year tourism strategy," Kate White, deputy minister of jobs, economy and innovation, told a legislature committee this week in response to a question from NDP environment critic Marlin Schmidt.
Alberta's 10-year tourism plan, announced in October 2019 by then-minister Tanya Fir, was to double the industry's revenue to $20 billion by 2030.
A letter from Fir dated about the same time suggests the government was already planning to expand the province's coal industry.
"I look to hearing from you on the progress of your project," Fir wrote to the head of Valory Resources, which plans an open-pit mine in the Rockies west of Red Deer, Alta.
"Do not hesitate to contact me if there is anything I can do to help in the completion of your mining project."
In May 2020, the United Conservative government quietly revoked a 44-year-old policy that had protected the eastern slopes and summits of the Rocky Mountains from coal mines. The change led to a rush of exploration leases. At least six companies secured dibs on tens of thousands of hectares along the mountains.
The government reinstated the policy earlier this year and stopped new lease sales. But drilling and road-building on leases already sold is expected to continue this summer.
Alberta's national parks are top tourism draws and are not threatened by mining.
But parks officials are already concerned about the number of visitors to popular sites such as Lake Louise in Banff National Park. Tourism operators have been hoping to expand into areas such as Bighorn Country west of Rocky Mountain House.
Municipal officials there have already expressed concern about how coal-mining could affect their tourism plans.
"We have given no policy advice in (2019-20) with reference to coal policy," White told the committee. "The issue of coal development was not a prominent file for the department."
In an interview Thursday, Schmidt pointed out Fir's ministry — then called Economic Development, Trade and Tourism — was in charge of the industry.
"It seems to me a significant oversight," he said.
"I would think developing coal mines in our most popular tourist areas might have some impacts. The fact the department didn't give that potential any serious thought is extremely concerning."
Justin Brattinga, spokesman for current minister Doug Schweitzer, said the tourism strategy is being completely revised due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
"The development of the strategy will require extensive consultation with the tourism industry, that will cover a range of topics, including Alberta’s world-leading resource extraction industries.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 22, 2021.
— Follow @row1960 on Twitter
Bob Weber, The Canadian Press
EDMONTON — Alberta revoked a long-standing policy that protected its mountains and foothills from open-pit coal mines without considering how that might affect its most popular tourist attraction, a government official has acknowledged.
 |
| MOUNTAIN TOP STRIP MINING COAL ON BC SIDE OF THE ROCKIES |
"There was no analysis around the implications of the coal policy on the 10-year tourism strategy," Kate White, deputy minister of jobs, economy and innovation, told a legislature committee this week in response to a question from NDP environment critic Marlin Schmidt.
Alberta's 10-year tourism plan, announced in October 2019 by then-minister Tanya Fir, was to double the industry's revenue to $20 billion by 2030.
A letter from Fir dated about the same time suggests the government was already planning to expand the province's coal industry.
"I look to hearing from you on the progress of your project," Fir wrote to the head of Valory Resources, which plans an open-pit mine in the Rockies west of Red Deer, Alta.
"Do not hesitate to contact me if there is anything I can do to help in the completion of your mining project."
In May 2020, the United Conservative government quietly revoked a 44-year-old policy that had protected the eastern slopes and summits of the Rocky Mountains from coal mines. The change led to a rush of exploration leases. At least six companies secured dibs on tens of thousands of hectares along the mountains.
The government reinstated the policy earlier this year and stopped new lease sales. But drilling and road-building on leases already sold is expected to continue this summer.
Alberta's national parks are top tourism draws and are not threatened by mining.
But parks officials are already concerned about the number of visitors to popular sites such as Lake Louise in Banff National Park. Tourism operators have been hoping to expand into areas such as Bighorn Country west of Rocky Mountain House.
Municipal officials there have already expressed concern about how coal-mining could affect their tourism plans.
"We have given no policy advice in (2019-20) with reference to coal policy," White told the committee. "The issue of coal development was not a prominent file for the department."
In an interview Thursday, Schmidt pointed out Fir's ministry — then called Economic Development, Trade and Tourism — was in charge of the industry.
"It seems to me a significant oversight," he said.
"I would think developing coal mines in our most popular tourist areas might have some impacts. The fact the department didn't give that potential any serious thought is extremely concerning."
Justin Brattinga, spokesman for current minister Doug Schweitzer, said the tourism strategy is being completely revised due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
"The development of the strategy will require extensive consultation with the tourism industry, that will cover a range of topics, including Alberta’s world-leading resource extraction industries.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 22, 2021.
— Follow @row1960 on Twitter
Bob Weber, The Canadian Press
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