30,000 in Budapest, Hungary, celebrate Pride, protest anti-LGBTQ law


An estimated 30,000 people took to the streets of Budapest, Hungary, on Saturday,

 July 24, 2021, to celebrate Pride and protest against the Hungarian government's

 new anti-LGBTQ law. Photo by Zoltan Balough/HUNGARY OUT/EPA-EFE

July 24 (UPI) -- An estimated 30,000 people took to the streets of Budapest, Hungary, to celebrate the capital's annual Pride event and protest the country's recent passing of an anti-LGBTQ law.

Participants and speakers at the Pride event, which had been held virtually in 2020, spoke out against the Prime Minister Viktor Orban-backed law, which bars schools from discussing LGBTQ issues or teaching books with LGBTQ representation or themes.

The law also prohibits TV stations from showing programs with lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer representation in the daytime or early evening hours.

Speakers at the event included Budapest Mayor Gergely Karacsony, who called on Hungarians to show solidarity with LGBTQ citizens, Roma groups and other minorities.

The Pride parade was met with about 80 counterprotesters, who were kept behind a cordon. The group was heard shouting homophobic and pro-Nazi statements. Observers said there were no violent incidents between the groups.

Orban previously responded to international criticism of the new law, including from the European Union, which counts Hungary as a member, by proposing a five-question referendum on whether the public supports the "promotion" of LGBTQ content to children

The referendum suggestion was criticized by some at Saturday's march who said it was made up of leading questions.

RELATEDHungary PM Viktor Orban orders 5-question referendum on LGBTQ ban

"Even if you support LGBT rights, you wouldn't automatically say yes to these questions," LGBTQ activist Akos Modolo, 26, told CNN. "The government is using this as a political tool."

Modolo said the government's strategy is to "always look for an enemy to blame" so it can "appeal to the anger of the voters."

"It's important to have a discussion," Modolo said. "But this is not a discussion -- it's a hate campaign."

Record Budapest Pride stands up to anti-LGBTQ laws

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has threatened to refuse EU coronavirus aid after the bloc moved against his laws. LGBTQ people expressed fear at the direction the country was going.



Thousands of people took part in a gay pride parade in Budapest, Hungary

Record numbers of Hungarians took part in the annual Budapest Pride Saturday to protest against right-wing government attacks on LGBTQ rights that have drawn outrage from the European Union.

Organizers of the Pride march told protestors to stand up to the hatred of "power-hungry politicians" that were "using laws to make members of the LGBTQ community outcasts in their own country."

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has even threatened to turn down EU coronavirus aid if it is dependent on him backtracking over his proposed laws against the LGBTQ community. Hungary is due to receive €7.2 billion ($8.4 billion) from the EU Recovery and Resilience Facility

Watch video04:32 Hungary's LGTBQ community feels intimidated: DW's Fanny Facsar reports

What was the message from Budapest Pride?

The thousands of people who turned out for Budapest Pride were keen to show they would not be intimidated by the government's rhetoric and laws.

"The recent past has been very demanding, distressing and frightening for the LGBTQ community," its organizers said in a statement.

Budapest Pride spokesperson Jojo Majercsik told the Associated Press News agency that lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and queer people are "afraid" of Orbanꞌs policies.

LGBTQ marchers have slammed Victor Orban for his latest laws

"A lot of LGBTQ people don't feel like they have a place or a future in this country anymore," he added.

Mira Nagy, 16, told Associated Press said that as a member of the LGBTQ community her situation was "pretty bad" and "if things get worse, I will leave Hungary."
What has the international community said?

Earlier this week, over 40 foreign cultural institutions and embassies including the United States, Britain and Germany published a joint statement in support of the Budapest Pride Festival.

"Concerned by recent developments that threaten the principle of non-discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation or gender identity, we encourage steps in every country to ensure the equality and dignity of all human beings," they said.


This year's Pride march had record attendance

Last week,the European Commission launched legal action against Hungary for what it sees as discriminatory laws.

The new bill put limits on young people's access to information on LGBTQ rights and gender identities other than those assigned at birth. Orban has pledged a referendum on the law to get feedback from the public before elections next year.

jc/dj (AP, Reuters, dpa)

 https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2021/07/hungarys-lgbtq-community-we-are-afraid.html

Mexican president calls Cuba ‘example of resistance,’ wants OAS replaced

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador speaks during a ceremony marking the third anniversary of his presidential election at the National Palace in Mexico City, Thursday, July 1, 2021. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)


MEXICO CITY (AP) — President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said Saturday that Cuba is an “example of resistance,” and proposed the entire country should be declared a World Heritage site.

While much of Cuba seems stuck technologically in the middle of the last century, López Obrador did not appear to be speaking ironically when he proposed the world heritage designation, which is usually used by the United Nations to honor historical sites.

The Mexican leader praised Cuba’s ability to stand up to U.S. hostility since 1959. López Obrador did not mention recent street protests that were violently repressed by the Cuban government.

López Obrador has in the past stated his opposition to U.S. sanctions that limit commerce with the island, and said they should be ended.

López Obrador also said the Organization of American States should be replaced “by a body that is truly autonomous, not anybody’s lackey.”

Mexico has publicly disagreed with the OAS leadership over its role in the political situation in countries like Bolivia.

López Obrador spoke Saturday at a ceremony attended by Cuba’s foreign minister to mark the 238th birthday of Simón Bolívar, who led the fight to liberate several South American countries from Spanish rule in the early 1800s.

The Mexican government has said it is sending two navy ships to Cuba with food and medical aid on Sunday.

The Foreign Relations Department said the ships will will carry oxygen tanks, needles and syringes, and basic food items like rice and beans.

The announcement came on Thursday, the same day that the U.S. government tightened the sanctions on some Cuban officials after they violently put down rare street protests earlier this month. The new sanctions target a Cuban official and a government special brigade the United States says was involved in human rights abuses during the government crackdown.

Groups urge state to protect last wild Atlantic salmon in US

FILE - In this April 2, 2012 file photo, a 4-year-old Atlantic salmon is held at the National Fish Hatchery in Nashua, N.H. Maine is home to the last wild Atlantic salmon populations in the U.S., but a new push to protect the fish is unlikely to land them on the state's endangered list. (AP Photo/Jim Cole, File)

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Maine is home to the last wild Atlantic salmon populations in the U.S., but a new push to protect the fish at the state level is unlikely to land them on the endangered list.

Atlantic salmon once teemed in U.S. rivers, but now return from the sea to only a handful of rivers in eastern and central Maine. The fish are protected at the federal level under the U.S. Endangered Species Act, but a coalition of environmental groups and scientists said the fish could be afforded more protections if they were added to Maine’s own list of endangered and threatened species.

State law allows Maine Department of Marine Resources Commissioner Patrick Keliher to make that recommendation, but his office told The Associated Press he does not intend to do it. The department has done extensive work to conserve and restore the fish, and the commissioner “does not believe a listing at the state level would afford additional conservation benefits or protections,” said Jeff Nichols, a department spokesperson.

The environmentalists who want to see the fish on the state list said they’re going to keep pushing for it and other protections. Adding the fish to the state endangered list would mean conservation of salmon would be treated as a bigger concern in state permitting processes, said John Burrows, executive director for U.S. operations for the Atlantic Salmon Federation.

“The state of Maine and a handful of our rivers are the only places in the country that still have wild Atlantic salmon,” Burrows said. “It’s something that should happen, and should have happened.”

Atlantic salmon have disappeared from U.S. rivers because of damming, pollution and others environmental challenges, and they also face the looming threat of climate change. Nevertheless, there have been some positive signs in Maine rivers in recent years.

More than 1,400 salmon returned to the Penobscot River in 2020. That was the highest number since 2011, the Maine marine resources department found. The Penobscot is the most productive river for the salmon. It averaged only about 700 fish per year from 2012 to 2019.

Attempts to repopulate Atlantic salmon in other states have stalled. The federal government ended an attempt to restore Atlantic salmon in the Connecticut River basin in 2012 after several decades because of lack of success.

Getting the fish listed on the Maine endangered list has long been a goal of many environmental groups. The Maine Endangered Species Act includes 26 endangered species and 25 threatened ones. The list includes two fish: the endangered redfin pickerel and the threatened swamp darter.

The list is designed to provide state-level protection to jeopardized species and is a complement to the U.S. Endangered Species Act. A few species, including the piping plover, are listed on both.

Environmentalists supported a bill in the Maine Legislature earlier this year that would have required the marine resources commissioner to recommend a state listing for any species that is federally listed as endangered or threatened. The proposal died in committee in June.

A group of 19 organizations and 10 scientists and conservationists sent a letter to the state that said Maine is one of the few states that doesn’t mandate or recommend state-level listing of federally listed species. Dwayne Shaw, director of the Downeast Salmon Federation, said wildlife advocates will continue pushing for salmon protections.

“There would be great symbolism in this, but there would also be direct implications, positive implications for the species,” Shaw said.

Extreme Flooding Weighs On China’s Energy Supply Chain

By Haley Zaremba - Jul 24, 2021, 12:00 PM CDT

An entire year’s worth of rain fell in the span of just a few days in central China, devastating the city of Zhengzhou, with a population of about 5 million, and leaving dozens dead as floodwaters inundated Henan province. The flash flood halted at least 10 trains holding a cumulative 10,000 passengers. Three of those trains were left on the tracks, with no escape for the passengers, for 40 hours, and 12 of those train passengers are now deceased. Meanwhile, the heavy rains continue to fall and the death toll continues to rise in the region. The Chinese government has resorted to blasting a dam in the area to divert the flooding and to relieve the pressure caused by the mounting waters.

The terror and tragedy experienced by the people directly impacted by the severe flooding can’t be overstated and is far and away from the greatest concern, but it is just one part of the story. Indeed, the devastation and disruption caused by the torrential rains extend far beyond the borders of the Henan province. “The floods drenching central China and submerging swathes of a major economic and transport hub are threatening supply chains for goods ranging from cars and electronics to pigs, peanuts and coal,” Reuters reported on Thursday. 

The economic fallout from this slowdown will further burden the people of central China who have already grappled with days of power loss, lack of transportation, and other challenges from the flooding. “Power had been partly restored and some trains and flights were running on Thursday,” the Reuters report continued, “but analysts said disruption could last for several days, pushing up prices and slowing business across densely populated Henan and neighbouring provinces.”

One of the most severely impacted sectors is the coal sector, which China still relies on for the majority of its energy mix, even as it attempts to phase out the high-polluting fossil fuel. What’s more, the interruption to the coal supply chain is occurring at a moment of peak demand as consumers use up more energy trying to beat the summer heat. 

Related: The Renewable Energy Waste Crisis Is Much Worse Than You Think

While the flooding in central China is historic, it’s likely going to become more and more of a common sight in coming years, as will these kinds of disruptions to supply chains caused by an increased incidence of severe weather patterns around the world thanks to the advance of global warming. “China routinely experiences flooding in the summer months,” the Guardian reported this week, “but rapid urbanisation, and conversion of farmland, as well as the worsening climate crisis, has exacerbated the impact of such events.

China is far from alone. All over the world, countries’ energy security is threatened by global warming and ever-more-frequent natural disasters, and powerful storm systems. Earlier this year we saw the devastation that an extreme cold snap caused in Texas when abnormally freezing temperatures plus a massive grid failure caused hundreds of deaths. Experts have also warned that the United States’ aging nuclear fleet is unprepared for global warming and the results could be disastrous if industry and political leaders are not proactive.  

In an era that is so deeply defined by globalization and ever longer and more complex supply chains, incidents like this week’s flooding in China are shedding a light on the importance of either making these supply chains far more resilient or diversifying and shoring up local markets. Storms like the one continuing to pound Zhengzhou are growing more common and more severe all the time, and they have the power to cripple essential supply chains that impact people's access to food and power overnight. Energy security and sovereignty has never been more important. 

By Haley Zaremba for Oilprice.com

Water level in Utah's Great Salt Lake falls to historic low


The U.S. Geological Survey announced the water level in the southern portion of Utah's Great Salt Lake receded to a historic low on Friday, July 23, 2021. 

Photo courtesy of Andrew Freel/USGS

July 24 (UPI) -- The U.S. Geological Survey announced Saturday the southern portion of the Great Salt Lake in Utah reached it's lowest water level in recorded history.

The USGS released a statement Saturday saying information collected at the SaltAir gauge location found the water level on Friday averaged about an inch lower than the previous record of 4,191.4 feet, which was recorded in 1963.

The USGS said its records of Great Salt Lake elevations date back to 1847.

USGS Utah Water Science Center data chief Ryan Rowland said Friday's elevation is not likely to remain a record for long.

"Based on current trends and historical data, the USGS anticipates water levels may decline an additional foot over the next several months," Rowland said in the USGS statement. "This information is critical in helping resource managers make informed decisions on Great Salt Lake resources. You can't manage what you don't measure."

Researchers attributed the historic low to conditions including the low snowpack from last winter and the current hot and dry summer.

"While the Great Salt Lake has been gradually declining for some time, current drought conditions have accelerated its fall to this new historic low," said Brian Steed, executive director of the Utah Department of Natural Resources. "We must find ways to balance Utah's growth with maintaining a healthy lake. Ecological, environmental and economical balance can be found by working together as elected leaders, agencies, industry, stakeholders and citizens working together."

U.S. Geological Survey hydrologic technician Travis Gibson confirms Great Salt Lake water levels at the SaltAire gauge. The USGS said the lake's water level on Friday, July 23, 2021, was the lowest in recorded history. Photo courtesy of Andrew Freel/USGS

CCS BS

Carbon-capture pipelines offer climate aid; activists wary

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — Two companies seeking to build thousands of miles of pipeline across the Midwest are promising the effort will aid rather than hinder the fight against climate change, though some environmental groups remain skeptical.

The pipelines would stretch from North Dakota to Illinois, potentially transforming the Corn Belt into one of the world’s largest corridors for a technology called carbon capture and storage.

Environmental activists and landowners have hindered other proposed pipelines in the region that pump oil, carrying carbon that was buried in the earth to engines or plants where it is burned and emitted. The new projects would essentially do the opposite by capturing carbon dioxide at ethanol refineries and transporting it to sites where it could be buried thousands of feet underground.

Both companies planning the pipelines appear eager to tout their environmental benefits. Their websites feature clear blue skies and images of green fields and describe how the projects could have the same climatic impact as removing millions of cars from the road every year.

However, some conservationists and landowners are already wary of the pipelines’ environmental benefits and safety, raising the chances of another pitched battle as the projects seek construction permits.

“It seems like they are running a casino of risk and we are going to pay for it,” said Carolyn Raffensperger, the director of the Science and Environmental Health Network, expressing fears about a leak that could put North Dakota landowners like herself at risk. "We need to think this through very carefully, and I do not see the players in place to do that.”

The pipelines could fall into a longstanding divide among environmentalists. President Joe Biden and many Republicans are pushing a strategy for tackling climate change that offers a financial boon to industries that use carbon capture and storage to reduce their emissions. But others, such as Greenpeace and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, argue the focus should be completely on developing renewable energy sources and that carbon capture just prolongs dependence on fossil fuels.

Navigator CO2 Ventures, which is planning a pipeline that will stretch over 1,200 miles (1,931 kilometers) through Iowa, South Dakota, Nebraska, Minnesota and Illinois, says it is offering “carbon capture solutions for a greener planet.” While Summit Carbon Solutions, whose pipeline will connect refineries in Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska and South Dakota to a sequestration site in North Dakota, says it plans to build the world’s largest carbon capture and storage project. Both hope to start some operations by 2024.

“There’s so much societal momentum that says this is something we want to do — should do, need to do — for the public’s benefit,” said Matt Vining, the CEO of Navigator CO2 Ventures. “My project and many others will get done and should get done.”


Video: Carbon Transfer from Clean, Rich West to Developing World is Major Risk (Bloomberg)

Supporters say the pipelines are a much-needed win for both agricultural businesses and the environment. The two projects are expected to run into the billions of dollars, spurring construction jobs. And they advance a technology crucial to achieving a 2050 goal of net-zero carbon dioxide emissions — in which every gram of emissions is accounted for by providing a way to eventually suck it back out of the atmosphere.

“All sides win. You significantly reduce carbon emissions, but you can also maintain those industries that are the lifeblood of different regions of the country,” said Brad Crabtree, who oversees carbon management policy at the Great Plains Institute, a Minnesota-based organization that works with energy companies to develop environmental sustainability.

Crabtree, who also directs a group called Carbon Capture Coalition, sees it as a way to bridge partisan divides as the country addresses climate change. As evidence, he points to one high-profile Republican backer — North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum — who is pushing a plan to make the state carbon-neutral by 2030, “through innovation not regulation.”

The federal government set off the scurry of pipeline plans by increasing, by 2026, tax credits to $50 for every metric ton of carbon dioxide a company sequesters. California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard has sweetened the deal by requiring that distributors in that state buy only ethanol with a low carbon emissions impact; companies that produce such ethanol can get a higher price.

While the practice of storing carbon dioxide in rock formations has been around for almost 50 years, developing technology that captures carbon emissions has proven to be expensive and struggled to gain widespread use.

Ethanol refineries could represent the low-hanging fruit that helps push the technology forward into widespread use. Plants such as corn are natural sponges of carbon dioxide, absorbing the gas and storing carbon as they grow through the spring and summer. When those crops ferment into ethanol, which is eventually mixed with gasoline, it produces a steady, easily-captured stream of carbon dioxide.

“These early plants are relatively easy and that’s a good place to start,” said Greg Nemet, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who specializes in the development of climate-friendly energy technology. “As that gets shown and proven, you get some transportation networks, then it gets easier to do the harder stuff later.”

Achieving that harder stuff — sucking carbon dioxide already in the atmosphere or catching emissions at power plants — will almost certainly be crucial to beating back global temperature increases. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reached that conclusion in 2018 as it laid out a path to halting temperature increases to 1.5 C (2.7 F).

Despite concerns from Raffensperger and others about potential leaks from the pipelines or storage sites, the Environmental Protection Agency has concluded that storing carbon dioxide is safe as long as companies do it carefully. It is injected in a liquefied state into porous rock formations, where it eventually dissolves or hardens into minerals.

Crabtree said there has not been a single human fatality or serious injury in the United States from transporting or storing captured carbon dioxide. He thinks that as long as companies act responsibly, landowners will be convinced the pipelines are safe and can benefit from them.

But Raffensperger still has a range of concerns, including whether a technology that was developed by oil and coal companies can be trusted to make a transformative difference in curbing greenhouse gas emissions. Raffensperger’s organization joined over 500 other environmental organizations in an open letter to Biden denouncing carbon capture and storage as a climate solution.

“We don’t need to fix fossil fuels; we need to ditch them,” the group wrote in a Washington Post ad. “Instead of capturing carbon to pump it back underground, we should keep fossil fuels in the ground in the first place.”

Stephen Groves, The Associated Press

Can Israel criminalise Ben & Jerry’s ice cream in the US?

Israel threatens legal attack using anti-BDS laws passed by many US states, Palestinian advocates see pivotal moment.

Ben Cohen, left, and Jerry Greenfield, co-founders of Ben & Jerry's ice cream, are known for promoting social causes  [File: Patrick Semansky/AP Photo]

By William Roberts
23 Jul 2021

Ben & Jerry’s decision to stop selling ice cream in Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territories may prove a pivotal moment in the campaign against Israel’s apartheid system, Palestinian rights advocates say.

The United States-based ice cream maker, known for its creative, chunky flavours and progressive social stances, is already facing a punishing blowback by the Israeli government and rabbinical organisations worldwide.

KEEP READING

Ben & Jerry’s parent firm Unilever ‘firmly committed’ to Israel

Ben & Jerry’s to stop sales in occupied Palestinian territories

Israel will ‘act aggressively’ over Ben & Jerry’s ban, PM says

Palestinians not counting on change as Bennett replaces Netanyahu

Will Ben & Jerry’s, and its parent corporation Unilever, withstand the pressure and maintain its principled stand, or be forced to cave in? The questions will be a closely watched political and legal battle as Palestinian activists press US companies to boycott Israel.

“Ben and Jerry’s made a very courageous decision, and a risky decision,” said James Zogby, president of the Arab American Institute in Washington, DC.

“It’s really significant to focus on the calculation. Businesses don’t usually do stuff like that. This was a big deal,” Zogby told Al Jazeera.

But Alan Jope, the chief executive of Unilever, on Thursday distanced himself from Ben & Jerry’s decision, telling investors “that Unilever remains fully committed to our business in Israel”.

Jope, however, pointed out that Unilever, when it bought the ice cream company in 2000, agreed to allow Ben & Jerry’s and its independent board to continue their social justice activism.

The Israeli government is now threatening to use controversial anti-boycott laws that pro-Israel advocates have won in more than 30 US states to try to punish the ice cream maker for its decision.

If Israel fails in criminalising Ben & Jerry’s actions, that is likely to set a crucial precedent as the world increasingly views Israel as an apartheid state subject to boycotts like South Africa in the 1980s.

“It becomes a political struggle,” Zogby said. “This will be a big test to see whether or not Ben and Jerry’s can get away with it.”
Israel’s reaction

Ben & Jerry’s announced its decision on July 19, saying in a statement posted on its website that continuing sales in occupied Palestinian territories are “inconsistent with our values” and acknowledging “concerns shared with us by our fans and trusted partners”.


Ben & Jerry’s said it intends to stay in Israel, but not the settlements which are widely deemed illegal in international law, although Israel disputes that.

The Israeli government’s reaction was swift. Israel Prime Minister Naftali Bennett telephoned the CEO of Unilever and warned of “severe consequences”. Israel would move “aggressively against any boycott”, Bennett said.

Israel Foreign Minister Yair Lapid issued a tweet threatening to invoke anti-boycott laws in the US to take enforcement action against the ice cream maker.

Gilad Erdan, Israel’s Ambassador to the US and the United Nations, followed up on July 20 announcing he had sent letters demanding action against Ben & Jerry’s to the governors of 35 US states seeking to reverse the company’s decision through economic pressure.

“We view this decision very severely as it is the de-facto adoption of antisemitic practices and advancement of the de-legitimisation of the Jewish state and the de-humanisation of the Jewish people,” Erdan said in the letter.
Anti-BDS laws

In the US, dozens of states and localities have passed so-called anti-BDS laws – a reference to the pro-Palestinian Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) Movement.

The laws vary from state to state but generally seek to empower local governments to ban or cancel contracts with companies – like Ben & Jerry’s – that come out in support of boycotts, sanctions, or divestment from Israel.

Many of these anti-boycott laws have been ruled unconstitutional by courts as infringements of the right to free speech, which is protected under US and state constitutions.

“It’s disturbing that we have foreign officials here trying to enlist US lawmakers in cracking down on one of our country’s most time-honoured constitutional rights, in order to suppress growing dissent against Israel’s violation of Palestinian rights,” said Amira Mattar, a lawyer at Palestine Legal, which tracks anti-BDS legislation across the US.

“With public scrutiny comes action, and Ben & Jerry’s decision shows companies are listening and when they take a stand, it shakes the Israel lobby,” Mattar told Al Jazeera.


“It’s no surprise. Ben & Jerry’s is under tremendous pressure and I am sure there are calls to backtrack their support for Palestinian rights,” she said.

In 2019, the online accommodation service Airbnb, under fierce legal and political pressure from Israel and its supporters, reversed a decision to delist properties in Israeli settlements.
Biden against BDS, Congress divided

The official position of the US government and the Biden administration is to oppose any moves to boycott Israel.

“We firmly reject the BDS movement, which unfairly singles out Israel,” US State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters this week.

In the US Senate, a bipartisan pair of senators have re-introduced anti-BDS legislation that has failed to gain sufficient support in the past.

“The boycott, divestment, and sanctions movement is the single most destructive campaign of economic warfare facing the Jewish state of Israel today,” Senator Marco Rubio, a Republican, said in June.

The bill seeks to address court decisions striking down state laws by attempting to give states a right to prevent business transactions with participants in the BDS movement. Courts in Texas, Maryland, Arkansas and Georgia have overturned anti-BDS state laws.

BDS gains momentum

Ben & Jerry’s move gives more credence to the worldwide BDS movement and the issue will complicate Bennett’s upcoming visit to the US in August, Palestinian advocates say.

“What has become clear is that Israel is committing the crime of apartheid,” said Huwaida Arraf, a Palestinian-American activist and lawyer.

A United Nations list of more than 100 firms operating in Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank is a “warning to them of their complicity”, she told Al Jazeera.

On July 21, the Movement for Black Lives joined with the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights and the Adalah Justice Project to issue a joint statement in support of Ben & Jerry’s decision.

Israel’s anti-BDS drive against Ben & Jerry’s is likely to “backfire”, said Ahmad Abuznaid, executive director of the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights.

“A lot of activists are working on campaigns across the country targeting different corporations and they are taking notice,” Abuznaid told Al Jazeera.

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA

Illegal Aliens

Instead of worrying about Latino migrant workers Americans should worry about real illegal aliens. 

  It looks like a combination between a raccoon and a monkey, has a long tail and a taste for chicken. It has popped up around south Argyle, having been seen near Pleasant Valley Infirmary, North Road and near Route 40 in recent weeks. It’s apparently a coatimundi, a small mammal native to Central and South America that somehow has made it to the wilds of Washington County. Coatimundi look similar to monkeys, and Daniels said what he saw was swinging its arms as a monkey does. "I’m a hunter, and I’ve seen a lot of animals in the woods, but I’ve never seen anything like this before," he said. Ash said coatimundi eat mainly fruit, with some meat and eggs, but he said the ones he’s had haven’t targeted live animals. "They’re basically raccoons with a long nose and longer tail," he said. Ash said it’s ironic that the state does not allow residents to own native animals like raccoons or skunk, but residents can own a non-native species like a coatimundi without a permit. He said he’s aware of "three or four" other people in the area who have them.

Norway starts work on carbon storage program — says it’s “absolutely necessary”
The country believes simply reducing our emissions isn't enough -- we'll also need to sequester carbon underground.

 by Mihai Andrei
July 23, 2021
in Environment, Future, News


Norway is investing 1.7 billion euros into a full-scale carbon capture, transport, and storage project. The project named “Longship” is now under construction, and Norway is inviting other countries to join the project.

Image credits: Departments of Energy and Climate Change.
CCS


If we want to ensure a sustainable future without catastrophic climate damage, we need to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions — especially carbon dioxide. That can be done in several ways; one approach is to replace fossil fuel energy with renewable energy; another is to replace diesel cars with electric cars, or bicycles; changing our diets to less carbon-intensive foods can also make a big difference.

But there’s one area in which reducing emission has proven extremely difficult: factories — especially cement factories.

Cement alone represents around 8% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions and, overall, 20% of global emissions come from heavy industries, which are typically factory-based). If cement facilities were a country, it would be the world’s third-largest emitter behind only China and the US. This is where carbon capture and storage (CCS) would come into play.

“According to the UN Panel on Climate Change, the capture, transport and storage of CO₂ emissions from the combustion of fossil energy and industrial production is crucial in order to reduce the world’s greenhouse gas emissions,” the Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy writes on the project’s page.

“For some industries, especially cement production and waste incineration, the capture and storage of CO₂ is the only way to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions.”

CCS is the process of capturing carbon dioxide and sequestering it underground. It works best when the CO₂ is captured from large point sources like (you’ve guessed it) factories. The technology could also be used to extract existing carbon from the atmosphere, but that technique is far less mature.

Image credits: Sask Power.

The aim is to prevent the release of carbon into the atmosphere and instead, inject it into geological formations where it would stay indefinitely.

The problem is that CCS is still expensive, and the technology is still emerging. Without a firm tax on carbon, the technology is pretty much a money sink. Besides, you also require the right geology to inject the carbon.

But Norway, a country that could become carbon-neutral as early as 2030, has the right suitable geological conditions, and is willing to invest money into a pioneering project, with the approval of the Norwegian Parliament. CCS is “absolutely necessary” if the world is to avoid runaway climate change, a state secretary told Dezeen.

“If we succeed in capturing and storing CO₂, it will be significantly cheaper to achieve the climate goals. Longship contributes in making this more feasible and less costly,” the project’s page writes. The carbon dioxide will be buried under the North Sea, into suitable bedrock. There is enough bedrock at the site to store Norway’s current emissions for a thousand years.

The government is also working with several companies. Northern Lights, the organization tasked with transporting the greenhouse gas and storing it under the sea, is already in discussion with several industrial partners. Reportedly, 60 companies are already interested in the project. The first carbon capture will happen at the Norcem cement factory in Brevik.

From Brevik, the CO₂ will be transported by ship to a new reception terminal in Øygarden in Hordaland. Then, the CO₂ will be sent through pipelines and permanently stored in a geological formation about 2,600 meters below the seabed. Northern Lights (a venture that involves Equinor, Shell, and Total) will realize the transport and storage of CO₂ in Longship. However, it's not clear how much such a service could cost.


This is an encouraging step, but in order for CCS to work, it requires international cooperation -- not just for the storage itself, but also for developing and commercializing new technology. Without CCS, reaching our emissions goals is exceedingly difficult -- but we're still just getting started.

According to the Global CCS Institute, in 2020, CCS operations had a capacity of about 40 million tons of CO2 per year, with another 50 million tons per year in development. In contrast, the world emits about 38 billion tonnes of CO2 every year.

NO MORE WHEAT BOARD

Contract squeeze worries farmers

By Freelance writer, Mary MacArthur
WESTERN PRODUCER
Published: July 23, 2021

Farmers across the Prairies face significant yield losses this year because of heat waves and lack of rain. Now they may not be able to fill earlier-signed production contracts. | Randy Vanderveen photo


CAMROSE, Alta — As heat and drought burn up crops across the Prairies, many farmers wonder if they will have enough crop to fill what they thought were modest production contracts.

“I worry about my barley because my barley is 70 percent priced and my canola is at 50 percent priced. A lot of farmers are panicking,” said Gilles Roy, a farmer at Falher, in Alberta’s Peace River region, which has had very little rain since seeding.

Strong feed barley prices before seeding enticed Roy to price much of his barley because good crops of barley are common .

But drought stopped the plants from growing and heat may have stopped the heads from filling. Inquiries into whether he could cancel or buy out his priced contract haven’t eased his concerns.

“I didn’t cancel out of any of mine. It is so expensive, the fee they want to charge you. It is up to $30 a tonne penalty they want to charge you. I will wait until I have it all in the bin and see how much I have.”

Then, Roy will begin negotiations on the missing bushels and any penalty.

“I want to know the terms before I haul one bushel.”

Bryan Woronuk of Rycroft said last year, grain companies were letting farmers out of their contracts with no penalty, just a promise to remember their good deed, but last year’s good will seems to have disappeared.

“I contracted what I thought was a conservative amount of grain and now wondering how it can be filled,” said Woronuk.

It’s a story heard across the Prairies, said grain marketer Derek Squair of Exceed Grain Marketing.

“I have customers who have average-sized crops and are not too concerned, but I have customers in poorer areas who maybe might get 25 percent of an average crop, which is quite devastating financially.

“Feed barley is one that keeps popping up because prices are quite good. We’ve never really seen that strong of prices for feed barley off the combine before. So, I think a lot of farmers will get caught. They maybe went a little further on feed barley because they were such good prices than they normally would and barley seems to be getting hit hard from drought,” said Squair, of Regina.

Not all grain companies are sympathetic to farmers who locked in tonnage and price and now can’t fill those contracts. Grain companies have already sold the grain, planned their sales and are now wondering if they will get grain for the price contracted.

“Some smaller, more nimble companies will let you roll contracts over to next year. They know they will get that volume sometime and they are comfortable with that. Other companies are just holding producers’ feet to the fire and asking for exorbitant buy-out clauses and will not give you a buy-out price,” said Squair.

For farmers who are unsure if they will have enough crop to fill their contract, good communication is key, said Derek Drey, regional manager for Saskatchewan North with FarmLink Marketing.

“The best thing to do is to start an open conversation. It is very difficult to exit out of most of these contracts. Whether you buy out or roll it over to the next crop year, there are different strategies you can work together with your buyer on.

“But unfortunately, it is not a simple phone call to cancel your contract or get even a cost to get out of the contract. That is why there is so much emotional pain right now when it comes to these contract buyouts,” said Drey, who farms west of Saskatoon.

Drey said last year he wasn’t able to fill his canola contract. As soon as he realized he wouldn’t have the required bushels he called the grain company. Luckily for Drey, the company allowed him to roll the contract over to the following year instead of paying out any penalty and money for the missing bushels.

“What that did for our farm is alleviate the cash flow pain of having to put physical funds out to buy out a contract. That was more of a favourable outcome,” he said.

“I have a lot of empathy for my farmer friends right now. It is one extra stress level on top of not having a crop.”

Delivery contracts and priced contracts aren’t just for farmers with a high risk tolerance.

Contracts have become the norm for farmers who want to deliver grain at harvest and receive money to pay bills in the fall, said Squair.

“The industry has gone to the point where you have to do some pre-pricing if you want money at harvest. The cash demand on a family farm is very high so you have to get in the queue. If you don’t pre-price, you are not going to be selling grain until December or January,” he said.

“In order to pay bills, you need to have some sort of forward pricing just to have a spot to deliver. The producers who are the most cash strapped would be on the higher end of that scale, more like 30 percent sold, and those are the farmers that are going to get beat up the most.

“Farmers don’t have much of an option. Good communication is the first option, but the grain company is saying they don’t want to talk to you right now. If they do talk to you they give such a high number to buy out at it is ridiculous.”

Squair worries inflexible positions by grain companies will permanently damage relations in the industry.

“Grain companies that work with producers this year, will negotiate with producers or defer some of the tonnage of payment will make out better in the long run because those customers will be very loyal to those companies that help them through a tough time.

“It is going to make every producer very gun shy to ever do a forward contract again and it is going to hurt the grain companies because they use these forward contracts to plan logistics and trains and vessels and make sure they have everything in place and the sales on the books to move grain in a timely manner,” said Squair.

Marlene Boersch of Mercantile Consulting Ventures said that during a recent producer meeting in Weyburn, discussions turned to the one-sided contracts by grain companies who shift all the risk to farms for everything from lack of grain to poor railway service.

“As a grower, I cannot influence how the rail contracts work out, how the railroad performs and it’s even worse when you talk about problems with ocean freight. You have no negotiating power. Elevator agents who used to have a little bit of leeway in how they serviced their customers, that is no longer the case. Usually head offices in Winnipeg or Calgary said these are the contracts; full stop.”

Farmers and industry associations need to develop a new contract template that is fair to grain companies and farmers, she said.

“The fact that you have no negotiation power from the farmer side of the contract and have a three-page list covering everything from railroad to God knows what, is no longer fair, in my view.”

Grower associations that take check-off money from farmers for pulse, oats, wheat, canola and barley all need to be advocating for contracts that are not tilted in favour of grain companies.

“They live off the farmers’ money. They charge a checkoff. In my mind, you represent the farmers and you must find a better way. You must represent the interests, but it doesn’t happen,” she said.

It’s a sentiment echoed by Roy. The once strong farmer voice has been fragmented into small commodity groups only advocating for their own crop and not with a unified voice for farmers.

“I think farmers are left as an individual entity. We don’t have much of a body to go to bat for us,” said Roy.

Jim Beusekom, president of Market Place Commodities, a Lethbridge grain company, said they have received calls from farmers wanting to cancel their contracts. Some farmers want to buy out of their contract in hopes of cashing in on higher prices than the original contract. Others simply don’t have the grain to fill their contract.

“How do you separate the two? For the most part we take their word for it that they don’t have the crop,” said Beusekom.

Letting a farmer out of a contract is not a simple switch. Beusekom bought the grain and has since sold the grain to his customers.

“I do think it is both our problems.”

Letting a farmer out of a contract doesn’t solve his problem of finding grain. If one farmer doesn’t have a crop, likely neither does his neighbour.

“The farmer has it sold and it’s our grain and we have it sold to someone else.

“Trust me, we are really all in it together.”

Beausekom said many farmers carry crop insurance that helps cover their lost crop and will pay the difference between the contracted price and the now higher price.

“They do have a number of risk management options. We don’t have crop insurance for our company.”