Virgin Orbit reports 'anomaly' in satellite launch from UK

Mon, January 9, 2023 



LONDON (AP) — A mission to launch the first satellites into orbit from Western Europe suffered an “anomaly” Tuesday, Virgin Orbit said.

The U.S.-based company attempted its first international launch on Monday, using a modified jumbo jet to carry one of its rockets from Cornwall in southwestern England to the Atlantic Ocean where the rocket was released. The rocket was supposed to take nine small satellites for mixed civil and defense use into orbit.

But about two hours after the plane took off, the company reported that the mission encountered a problem.

“We appear to have an anomaly that has prevented us from reaching orbit. We are evaluating the information,” Virgin Orbit said on Twitter.

Virgin Orbit, which is listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange, was founded by British billionaire Richard Branson. It has previously completed four similar launches from California.

Hundreds gathered for the launch cheered earlier as a repurposed Virgin Atlantic Boeing 747 aircraft, named “Cosmic Girl,” took off from Cornwall late Monday. Around an hour into the flight, the plane released the rocket at around 35,000 feet (around 10,000 meters) over the Atlantic Ocean to the south of Ireland.

The plane, piloted by a Royal Air Force pilot, returned to Cornwall after releasing the rocket.

Some of the satellites are meant for U.K. defense monitoring, while others are for businesses such as those working in navigational technology. One Welsh company is looking to manufacture materials such as electronic components in space.

U.K. officials had high hopes for the mission. Ian Annett, deputy chief executive at the U.K. Space Agency, said Monday it marked a “new era” for his country's space industry. There was strong market demand for small satellite launches, Annett said, and the U.K. has ambitions to be ”the hub of European launches."

In the past, satellites produced in the U.K. had to be sent to spaceports in other countries to make their journey into space.

The mission was a collaboration between the U.K. Space Agency, the Royal Air Force, Virgin Orbit and Cornwall Council.

The launch was originally planned for late last year, but it was postponed because of technical and regulatory issues.

Sylvia Hui, The Associated Press

UK rocket launches robot factory to forge cutting-edge alloys in space


Sarah Knapton
Mon, January 9, 2023 

LauncherOne rocket containing the ForgeStar satellite is attached to wing of former Virgin Atlantic 747 - UK Space Agency/PA Wire

The Welsh have a proud history of cutting-edge metalworking.

So it may come as no surprise Wales’ first satellite is a robotic space factory, capable of forging alloys and other materials which are impossible to make on Earth.

Welsh startup Space Forge was due to launch its ForgeStar-0 satellite on board Virgin Orbit’s ‘Start Me Up’ mission from Spaceport Cornwall in Newquay on Monday evening.

The inaugural trip into Low Earth Orbit will test the satellite’s ability to return to Earth, but subsequent satellites will autonomously manufacture metal alloys, electronic components and even pharmaceuticals over several months, before bringing them home.

Creating materials in space has major advantages, because there is no oxygen, very cold temperatures and microgravity.

Under such perfect conditions, the suitcase-sized space factory should be able to produce better and lighter metal alloys than can be created currently on Earth, where gravity can cause the metals to separate into two layers, with the densest at the bottom.

It could also usher in a new era of flawless semiconductors, which are found in electronic devices, from mobile phones and televisions to refrigerators and computers.

At around 35,000ft the LauncherOne rocket detaches and launches into space, discharging its cargo when it reaches orbit - UK Space Agency/PA Wire

Semiconductors are made from crystal lattices of molten silicon, but the gravity of Earth can cause defects which impact performance.

Making them in space could dramatically improve the quality of silicon crystals, the company believes, which could extend the lifespans for everyday equipment.

A space factory can also work in temperatures close to absolute zero, which allows for ultra-fast ‘curing’ and again avoids flaws. The manufacturing will take a few months, before the precious space-built cargo is brought back down to Earth.

Space Forge co-founder Joshua Western said: “It will be the world’s first fully returnable and re-launchable satellite platform to create materials in space which are impossible to manufacture on Earth.

“Space Forge will leverage the benefits of the space environment, namely microgravity, vacuum and temperature.”

Virgin Orbit was scheduled to make its inaugural UK flight shortly before 10pm on Monday evening in the first historic lift-off from British soil.

Unlike traditional vertical launches, the ‘LauncherOne’ rocket containing the ForgeStar satellite and eight others is attached to a wing of a former Virgin Atlantic 747 passenger plane - dubbed ‘Cosmic Girl.’

The plane takes off as normal, and at around 35,000ft the rocket detaches and launches into space, discharging its cargo when it reaches orbit.

Newquay Airport was chosen as Britain’s first spaceport because it had a runway suitable for 747 aircraft, and a flight path close to the sea, in case of mishaps.


Other satellites making their maiden voyage include Open Cosmos’ DOVER-Pathfinder satellite.

Named after the Dover Strait, the narrowest part of the English Channel which has the densest shipping lanes, the satellite will help craft navigate the waters.

University College London (UCL) is also sending up two tiny instruments aimed at monitoring space weather and its effects on the Earth’s atmosphere as part of the CIRCE mission.

Usually Earth is protected by its magnetic field and even when solar storms penetrate they are usually only responsible for the spectacular auroras seen at the North and South Poles.

It is the more violent outbursts which can be catastrophic. The most severe incident - known as ‘the Carrington Event’ - happened in 1859, shorting telegraph circuits, starting fires and causing the Northern Lights to dance in the sky as far south as Hawaii.

If it happened today researchers estimate there is a 71 per cent chance the British power grid would be affected, while mobile phone reception could die, and airlines would be grounded without GPS.

The CIRCE mission consists of two nano satellites known as CubeSats, which each contain an instrument, and will fly in tandem 344 miles above the Earth’s surface.

Professor Anasuya Aruliah (UCL Physics & Astronomy), part of the science team who will be analysing the data from CIRCE, said: “Predicting space weather requires constant monitoring of the sun through to the response of the Earth’s environment.

“Meteorological weather forecasting relies on a worldwide network of weather balloons launched every 12 hours.

“The CIRCE mission will provide some of the first ever ‘space weather balloons’ to provide high spatial resolution in-situ measurements for research and forecasting models.”

Western Europe's first satellite launch mission takes off






UK's First launch of Virgin Orbit's LauncherOne rocket in Newquay

Mon, January 9, 2023 
By Paul Sandle

NEWQUAY, England (Reuters) -Virgin Orbit's "Cosmic Girl" carrier aircraft took off from Newquay's spaceport in Cornwall on Monday night, the initial stage of Western Europe's first ever satellite launch.

The modified Boeing 747 with a rocket under its wing took to the air and then soared out over the Atlantic Ocean, where after an hour the LauncherOne rocket with a payload of nine small satellites will be released at 35,000 feet (10,670 meters).

Virgin Orbit, part-owned by British billionaire Richard Branson, said the satellites would be deployed into lower Earth orbit (LEO) in its first mission outside its United States base.


More than 2,000 space fans cheered when the aircraft lifted from the runway in the seaside resort in southwest England.

The "horizontal" launch in Newquay - population 20,000 and famous for its reliable Atlantic waves - enabled Britain to beat Sweden, Norway and others in launching orbital satellites.

Britain's Minister for Science George Freeman said it was a historic moment.

"Assuming all goes according to plan, we will have won the European Space Race and be the first country to launch satellites from Europe," he told Reuters before take-off.

"We are sending a big signal tonight that we are intent on being a force in the space economy of tomorrow."

The new spaceport will launch small satellites at a critical time after the Ukraine war cut access to its use of Russian Soyuz vehicles. The European Space Agency's (ESA) Ariane 6 rocket, which launches from Kourou in French Guiana, is designed to carry large satellites and has also had delays.

The Ukraine war has highlighted the importance for tactical military purposes of smaller satellites, like those being launched from Newquay, which can get into low orbit at much shorter notice than bigger ones.

The UK Space Agency said it would be a moment of national pride for Britain's growing space industry.

Deputy Chief Executive Ian Annett said more small satellites were built in Britain than anywhere outside of the United States, and the country hosted operation centres for companies like Inmarsat.

"So we have the full spectrum except launch," he told Reuters. "If you have launch, you have everything."

The mission, called "Start Me Up" after the Rolling Stones track, will deploy breakfast cereal boxes-sized satellites to fulfil tasks such as maritime research and detecting illegal fishing, as well as national security, Virgin Orbit said.

The company has previously launched from California. Chief Executive Dan Hart said the protocols would stay the same, joking to reporters: "Pasties versus hamburgers, it's a significant shift."

He added that partnerships with the UK Space Agency, Spaceport Cornwall, the British aviation regulator and the Royal Air Force had made the launch possible.

START ME UP

Space enthusiasts with tickets for the launch secured positions in a viewing area as rock group Europe's "Final Countdown" blasted from loudspeakers on Monday evening.

Retired teacher Pauline Clifton, who had come from Falmouth in the south of the county, said she was always confident that the spaceport would come to fruition. "To be leading the way in anything is quite something for Cornwall," she said.

Virgin Orbit's focus on LEO satellites is at the other end of the scale from the large satellites in geostationary orbit that are launched by vertical rockets.

UKSA's Annett said the LEO economy had boomed in recent years, noting Jeff Bezos' Kuiper Systems and Elon Musk's rival Starlink constellations.

But he said smaller satellites were also doing vital research in climate change, and they were a growing opportunity for an industry employing 47,000 people and worth 16.5 billion pounds ($20.09 billion) a year in Britain.

Getting the mission off the ground has taken time. It was delayed from late last year due to the myriad regulatory clearances needed for the inaugural flight.

Virgin Orbit Shares Readiness For UK Rocket Launch


Anusuya Lahiri
Mon, January 9, 2023 


Virgin Orbit Holdings, Inc (NASDAQ: VORB) shared its readiness for the Start Me Up mission for a historic U.K. launch on January 9.

Start Me Up is a collaborative effort between the U.K. Space Agency (UKSA), Cornwall Council, the Royal Air Force, and Virgin Orbit.

The Start Me Up mission will carry satellites from seven customers to space, including commercial and government payloads from several nations and a collaborative U.S.-U.K. mission.

The LauncherOne system that will conduct the mission is now a modified Boeing Co (NYSE: BA) 747, dubbed Cosmic Girl, at Spaceport Cornwall.

Virgin Orbit's LauncherOne system completed an end-to-end launch rehearsal verifying the system's health and readiness of the team.

Ian Annett, Deputy CEO at the U.K. Space Agency, said: "The development of new orbital launch capabilities is already generating growth, catalyzing investment, and creating jobs in Cornwall and other communities across the United Kingdom. This will lead to new careers, improved productivity, and inspire the next generation of space professionals, and this is just the beginning."

Virgin Orbit, which usually operates from the Mojave Desert, put plans for a pre-Christmas U.K. launch on hold amid last-minute snags, Bloomberg reports

Are N.W.T. residents eligible for boarding home compensation?

Tue, January 10, 2023 at 6:58 a.m. MST·3 min read

Lawyers for the Federal Indian Boarding Homes (Percival) class-action lawsuit say an agreement-in-principle has been reached with the federal government.

The lawsuit, initiated by Reginald Percival of Nisga'a Nation, was filed in 2018. It focuses on what Indigenous children experienced not at residential schools, but at boarding homes where they were forcibly placed in order to attend public schools.

"Probably almost all of us lived under the same kind of conditions that they had in the residential schools, which was a lot of abuse," Percival said in an interview with the CBC.

"The abuse was not only physical. It was sexual. It was mental. We had to deal with a lot of systemic racism. We were not allowed to contact family. We weren't allowed to write letters or make phone calls."

The class action covers Indigenous students who were placed in boarding homes between 1951 and 1992. Claimants will receive between $10,000 and $210,000. Between 11,000 and 220,000 people are estimated to be eligible.

But David Klein, a managing partner of Klein Lawyers and lead counsel for the case, isn't sure how many will be Northwest Territories residents.

While records show that many N.W.T. children were placed in boarding homes to attend school, the issue comes down to the same legal technicality that has prevented other N.W.T. survivors from collecting compensation: confusion over which government is legally responsible for what happened.

"My understanding is that Canada continued to place children in the boarding homes program in the Northwest Territories past that time, but I don't have all the documentation to confirm that," said Klein.

"If the children were placed by the territorial government, they would not be members of the class. So that's something we'll have to look at carefully. But I don't have an answer for you today."

In 1969, the federal government transferred authority over all N.W.T. schools to the territorial government, but in many cases remained active in funding and operating the schools.

The issue is further complicated by the fact that the territorial government didn't fully devolve from the federal government until 2014.

There is legal precedent to suggest Northwest Territories residents could prove they qualify for federal claims.

In 2018, a Nunavut judge ruled that Canada should still be held responsible for residential schools the federal government asked the GNWT to run. “The funding of the GNWT by Canada and the project of devolution between them was still evolving. Canada remained involved in education-related matters in the Northwest Territories," that ruling stated.

But the issue remains a legal grey area, even for class action litigators.

"It's an important point, it's just something I hadn't looked at. And it absolutely has to be looked at," said Klein. "Because we have to be able to provide clarity to the people who contact us."

An online form for survivors, to see if they qualify for the boarding home class action, is already open to the public.

With the deadline to submit a claim to the Federal Indian Day School class action rapidly approaching on January 13, it's unlikely these questions will be resolved in time for many survivors of those schools to benefit from compensation.

But as this lawsuit's deadline has yet to be determined, there may still be time for boarding home survivors to make their case. For many, the moral and financial recognition these claims present have both a spiritual and practical significance.

"It represents an acknowledgement of a harm that was done to thousands of Indigenous children from coast to coast to coast, and an opportunity to have that recognized, compensated, and for the healing process to begin," said Klein.

Caitrin Pilkington, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Cabin Radio

Europe had second-warmest year on record in 2022, EU scientists say

Kate Abnett
Tue, January 10, 2023 



By Kate Abnett

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Europe experienced its second-warmest year on record in 2022, European Union scientists said on Tuesday, as climate change unleashed record-breaking weather extremes that slashed crop yields, dried up rivers and led to thousands of deaths.

The EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) said 2022 was also the world's fifth-warmest year, by a small margin. C3S records date back to 1950, but other, longer datasets confirm 2022 was the world's fifth-warmest year since at least 1850.

The last eight years were the world's eight hottest on record, C3S said.

GRAPHIC: How climate change unfolded in 2022 https://www.reuters.com/graphics/CLIMATE-CHANGE/EU-SCIENCE/zgvobrbbxpd/graphic.jpg

The planet is now 1.2C warmer than in pre-industrial times, as a result of human-caused climate change, C3S said. Copernicus said temperatures in Europe have increased by more than twice the global average over the last three decades.

"We are already experiencing the devastating consequences of our warming world," said C3S deputy director Samantha Burgess, who called for urgent action to cut CO2 emissions and adapt to the changing climate.

Last summer was Europe's hottest on record, smashing temperature records in countries including Italy, Spain and Croatia. Severe heatwaves caused more than 20,000 "excess" deaths in countries including France, Germany, Spain and Britain.

GRAPHIC: Record breaking temperatures in Europe

 https://www.reuters.com/graphics/CLIMATE-CHANGE/EU-SCIENCE/klvygzgzgvg/graphic.jpg

Combined with a dearth of rain, the heat triggered a widespread drought that initial analysis ranked as Europe's worst in 500 years. Low water levels delayed shipping along Germany's Rhine, while the lack of rain hit hydropower generation and slashed maize and soybean crop yields.

The hot, dry spell fuelled intense wildfires in countries from Spain to Slovenia, unleashing more emissions across the EU and Britain than in any summer of the last 15 years.

Britain experienced its hottest year on record in 2022, its national weather service said on Wednesday.

GRAPHIC: Temperature deviation in 2022 https://www.reuters.com/graphics/CLIMATE-CHANGE/EU-SCIENCE/egvbymymkpq/graphic.jpg

Global temperatures will only stop rising if countries reduce their emissions to "net zero" - meaning they release no more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere than they remove.

The 27-country EU, Britain, Canada, Japan and others have pledged to reach that goal by 2050, with China and India aiming to achieve it later.

Despite those long-term pledges, global emissions continue to rise. Carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere averaged around 417 ppm in 2022 - the highest level for over 2 million years, C3S said.

Other parts of the world faced a year of climate devastation, as global warming continued to hit the world's poor and vulnerable populations hardest. Flooding in Pakistan killed at least 1,700 people, while drought decimated livestock populations in Somalia.

(Reporting by Kate Abnett; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky)

WHITE COLLAR CRIME PAYES

Tips on shady finances 'may not get investigated' amid police constraints: RCMP note


Tue, January 10, 2023 



OTTAWA — The RCMP says many tips from Canada's financial intelligence agency about possible crimes "may not get investigated" due to a lack of policing resources and conflicting priorities.

The Mounties make the candid admission in a briefing note prepared for Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino on the working relationship between the national police force and the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada, known as Fintrac.

The Canadian Press used the Access to Information Act to obtain the briefing memo, which was approved by RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki last Sept. 1.

The RCMP receives financial intelligence from Fintrac, which could shed light on money laundering or terrorist financing, in two ways.

The first is through a response to a voluntary information record, which advises Fintrac of potential criminal activity and might prompt the centre to release information related to suspects.

The second is through proactive disclosures from Fintrac when they point to possible criminal activity gleaned from analysis of information the centre receives from banks, casinos and reporting organizations.

The RCMP briefing note says Fintrac's analysis is of "significant tactical importance" to the force, as it may uncover previously unknown conspirators, assets, transfers and relationships.

"In some files, assets may only be identified through Fintrac intelligence — which is key for the RCMP to obtain restraints and forfeitures," it goes on.

However, receipt of intelligence through voluntary information records, or VIRs, "can be a lengthy process," the note says.

Fintrac's turnaround time to produce a non-urgent financial disclosure can take several months, "which affects the ability to investigate in a timely manner" and can hinder probes.

"Many of the proactive disclosures provided may not get investigated based on the capacity of law enforcement to analyze the information in a timely manner, as well as conflicting operational priorities," the briefing note adds.

"Fintrac should prioritize the disclosure of intelligence based on VIRs provided by law enforcement before any proactive work."

Asked about the note, Fintrac said its proactive disclosures to law enforcement and national security agencies are key to helping protect vulnerable Canadians, fulfilling the centre's "detection" mandate and meeting international obligations.

It pointed to Project Protect, a public-private partnership combatting human trafficking for sexual exploitation, in which 90 per cent of the centre's disclosures to law enforcement were done proactively, "identifying criminals and criminal networks that were previously unknown and helping to rescue and save the lives of numerous victims across the country."

Overall, Fintrac's financial intelligence contributed to 335 major, resource-intensive investigations in 2021-22 as well as hundreds of other individual investigations at the municipal, provincial and federal levels, the centre said.

"Many of the recipients of Fintrac's disclosures have told the centre that they will not start a major project-level investigation without seeking out its financial intelligence."

The addition of almost $90 million in the last federal budget is helping Fintrac upgrade tools to ensure its financial intelligence "is even more timely and responsive," the centre added.

Mendicino's office declined to comment on the briefing note.

RCMP spokeswoman Robin Percival had little to add, saying the force's partnership with Fintrac is key in the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing.

"The RCMP continues to work collaboratively with Fintrac in both an investigative context and on proactive crime prevention efforts."

The RCMP note suggests the government consider broadening the scope of federal proceeds of crime and terrorist financing legislation to include other criminal offences, as the "current narrow focus" limits Fintrac's analysis.

Percival said changes to information-sharing practices between the RCMP and its partners require legislative change, which takes time.

"The RCMP continues to work closely with the Department of Finance and Public Safety, providing recommendations on potential improvements to the anti-money laundering regime."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 10, 2023.

Jim Bronskill, The Canadian Press

'No amnesty!': Brazilian protests demand jail for rioters


Mon, January 9, 2023 



RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — “No amnesty! No amnesty! No amnesty!”

The chant reverberated off the walls of the jam-packed hall at the University of Sao Paulo’s law college on Monday afternoon. Hours later, it was the rallying cry for thousands of Brazilians who streamed into the streets of Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, penned on protest posters and banners.

The words are a demand for retribution against supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro who stormed Brazil’s capital Sunday, and those who enabled the rampage.

“These people need to be punished, the people who ordered it need to be punished, those who gave money for it need to be punished,” Bety Amin, a 61-year-old therapist, said on Sao Paulo’s main boulevard. The word “DEMOCRACY” stretched across the back of her shirt. “They don’t represent Brazil. We represent Brazil.”

Protesters' push for accountability evokes memories of an amnesty law that for decades has protected military members accused of abuse and murder during the country's 1964-85 dictatorship. A 2014 truth commission report sparked debate over how Brazil has grappled with the regime's legacy.

Declining to mete out punishment “can avoid tensions at the moment, but perpetuates instability,” Luis Felipe Miguel, a professor of political science at the University of Brasilia, wrote in a column entitled “No Amnesty” published Monday evening. “That is the lesson we should have learned from the end of the military dictatorship, when Brazil opted not to punish the regime’s killers and torturers.”

Brazilian police on Monday had already rounded up roughly 1,500 rioters, with some caught in the act of trashing Brazil's Congress, the Supreme Court and the presidential palace, while the majority were detained the following morning at an encampment in Brasilia. Many were held in a gymnasium throughout the day, and video shared on pro-Bolsonaro social media channels showed some complaining about poor treatment in the crowded space.

The Federal Police’s press office told The Associated Press the force plans to indict at least 1,000 people, and has begun transferring them to the nearby Papuda prison.

The administration of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva says that is only the start.

Justice minister Flávio Dino vowed to prosecute those who acted behind the scenes to summon supporters on social media and finance their transport for crimes including organized crime, staging a coup, and violent abolition of the democratic rule of law. He also said authorities would investigate allegations that local security personnel allowed the destruction to proceed unabated.

“We cannot and will not compromise in fulfilling our legal duties," Dino said. "This fulfillment is essential so such events do not repeat themselves.”

Lula signed a decree ordering the federal government to assume control of security in the capital Sunday. It was approved by Congress' Lower House on Monday night, and now proceeds to the Senate.

The riot in Brasilia was a reminder of the threat to democracy posed by far-right elements that refuse to accept Bolsonaro’s electoral defeat. Since his Oct. 30 loss, they have camped outside military barracks, pleading for intervention to allow Bolsonaro to remain in power and oust Lula. When no coup materialized, they rose up themselves.

Decked out in the green and yellow of the national flag, they broke windows, toppled furniture and hurled computers and printers to the ground. They punched holes in a massive Emiliano Di Cavalcanti painting at the presidential palace and destroyed other works of art. They overturned the U-shaped table where Supreme Court justices convene, ripped a door off one justice’s office and vandalized a statue outside the court. Hours passed before police expelled the mob.

"It's unacceptable what happened yesterday. It's terrorism," Marcelo Menezes, a 59-year-old police officer from northeastern Pernambuco state, said at a protest in Sao Paulo. “I’m here in defense of democracy, I’m here in defense of the people.”

Cries of “No amnesty!" were also heard during Lula's Jan. 1 inaugural address, in response to the president detailing the neglect of the outgoing Bolsonaro administration.

Bolsonaro, a former army captain, has waxed nostalgic for the dictatorship era, praised a notorious torturer as a hero and said the regime should have gone further in executing communists. His government also commemorated the anniversary of Brazil’s 1964 coup.

Political analysts had repeatedly warned that Bolsonaro was laying the groundwork for an insurrection in the mold of that which unfolded in the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. For months, he stoked belief among hardcore supporters that the nation’s electronic voting system was prone to fraud — though he never presented any evidence and independent experts disagreed.

Results from the election, the closest since Brazil's return to democracy, were quickly recognized by politicians across the spectrum, including some Bolsonaro allies, as well as dozens of other governments. The outgoing president surprised nearly everyone by promptly fading from view, neither conceding defeat nor emphatically crying fraud. He and his party submitted a request to nullify millions of votes, which was swiftly dismissed by the electoral authority.

None of that dissuaded his die-hard backers from their conviction that Bolsonaro belonged in power.

In the immediate aftermath of the riot, Lula said that the so-called “fascist fanatics” and their financial backers must be held responsible. He also accused Bolsonaro of encouraging the uprising.

Bolsonaro denied the president’s accusation Sunday. Writing on Twitter, he said peaceful protest is part of democracy, but vandalism and invasion of public buildings cross the line.

Authorities are also investigating the role of the federal district's police in either failing to halt protesters' advance or standing aside to let them run amok. Prosecutors in the capital said local security forces were negligent at the very least. A supreme court justice temporarily suspended the regional governor, who oversees the force, for what he termed "willful omission". Another justice blamed authorities across Brazil for not swiftly cracking down on “homegrown neofascism.”

The upheaval finally prompted municipal and state governments to disperse pro-Bolsonaro encampments outside military barracks that have lasted since the election. Their tents and tarps were taken down, and residents were sent packing.

But pro-democracy protesters on Monday sought to ensure that their message — “No amnesty!” — was heard by the authorities responsible for investigating and prosecuting, as well as far-right elements who might dare defy democracy again.

“After what happened yesterday, we need to go to the street,” said Marcos Gama, a retiree who protested Monday night in Sao Paulo. “We need to react.”

___

AP videojournalist Mello reported from Sao Paulo.

David Biller And Felipe Mello, The Associated Press

MANITOBA

School airflow upgrades years away


Mon, January 9, 2023

The COVID-19 pandemic will all but certainly be over by the time highly-anticipated ventilation assessments and upgrades to limit infectious disease transmission in Manitoba public schools are complete.

A total of $11.3 million, a combination of provincial and federal dollars, was earmarked to improve air quality in K-12 buildings during the ongoing global health crisis.

The Winnipeg School Division, the largest in the province, was allocated approximately $2.5 million — about $85 per student — for projects scheduled in 78 facilities, according to a breakdown of grant distribution.

“Testing, adjusting and balancing (TAB) contract work is underway and is expected to take at least another two years to complete and be analyzed for optimization,” division buildings director Mile Rendulic said in a statement.

To date, maintenance teams have been allowing heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) units to run continuously throughout the school day so air exchange is maximized, Rendulic said.

The school division has already purchased standalone air filters for portable classrooms and used ventilation-specific dollars to update central systems with new MERV 13 air filters, where possible, and CO2 sensors.

The Pembina Trails School Division has purchased upwards of 150 CO2 sensors for its buildings’ central HVAC systems to date. These sensors monitor return airflow from all classrooms and adjust fresh air intake accordingly.

These devices were “the most sustainable solution” to bettering air quality, given the capital city division’s existing infrastructure, per its facilities and operations department.

In Seven Oaks, superintendent Brian O’Leary said priority has been placed on ensuring maximum airflow in each respective building and commissioning older HVAC systems; he likened the latter to a tune-up to ensure a vehicle is running smoothly.

“The things that can be done quickly are limited to cleaning coils, recommissioning, some duct work, but it takes a while to do whole systems,” O’Leary said, adding ventilation challenges are generally in older buildings and K-12 facilities built as open-area schools.

Public and independent schools have used grants to replace aging windows with new ones that open, upgrade bathroom fans, retrofit air handling units, buy control valves, and undertake duct cleaning — a general maintenance service not recommended for infectious disease control.

The most modern and advanced HVAC systems are still not good enough to 100 per cent protect a building’s occupants from airborne diseases, said Amy Li, assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Waterloo.

The Ontario researcher, who studies indoor air quality and filtration devices, is a vocal proponent for a multi-layered approach — with mandatory masks as a starting point — when it comes to reducing the risk of COVID-19 transmission indoors.

“There is a hierarchy of approaches to improve indoor air quality: the first one would be source removal, the second one is ventilation, and then after that, it is air cleaning,” she said.

Li said following proper HVAC maintenance is critical and can be complemented with portable air filters effective at removing particulate matter from the air, although she indicated frequent monitoring is necessary to know when to swap out dirty filters.

One University of Toronto academic said his school-age daughter informed him a machine running a HEPA filter placed in her classroom early on in the pandemic was unplugged soon after it arrived because “it was too loud.”

As far as civil engineering Prof. Jeffrey Siegel is concerned, there is one extremely underrated, low-cost way to improve air quality: educating occupants on risk and response.

Siegel said school staff should be equipped with knowledge to make informed decisions to protect their communities during high-risk activities — be it by opening windows, promoting temporary mask-wearing, moving outdoors or cranking up a HEPA filter, among other options.

If a classroom has a CO2 sensor, the ability to observe readings over time can prove useful to identify riskier periods, he said.

“Schools, in particular, are very strapped for cash and as parents, we don’t tend to care about the HVAC system in our kids’ schools — but we really should,” Siegel said, adding emerging research shows there is reduced transmission of viruses in classrooms when ventilation and filtration is improved.

Not only does improved overall air quality reduce the COVID-19 risks, he noted, but it can also address concerns about asthma, allergies and respiratory illnesses overall — and ultimately, result in higher attendance and academic performance.

Maggie Macintosh, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Winnipeg Free Press

WAIT, WHAT?!

Canada to purchase U.S. missile defence system for Ukraine


Tue, January 10, 2023 

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau meets with U.S. President Joe Biden at the InterContinental Presidente Mexico City hotel in Mexico City on Tuesday. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press - image credit)

The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) has announced that Canada will buy a U.S.-made missile defence system for Ukraine and will welcome U.S. President Joe Biden for a visit in March.

The news came during the North American Leaders' Summit in Mexico City on Tuesday, following a meeting between Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Biden.

A PMO readout of the meeting said Trudeau informed Biden that Canada will purchase a National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System (NASAMS) for Ukraine.

The Department of National Defence (DND) confirmed the purchase in a news release later Tuesday.

"Canada's NASAMS donation will help Ukraine strengthen its air defence systems against destructive air attacks on military sites, civilian critical infrastructure and population centres," DND said in the news release.

The release said the donation would cost approximately $406 million and would come from $500 million in aid to Ukraine that Trudeau announced in November 2022. The release did not say when the system is expected to arrive in Ukraine.

In an interview airing Tuesday on CBC's Power & Politics, Defence Minister Anita Anand told guest host Catherine Cullen the government is "working with the United States to get it to Ukraine as soon as possible."

"All options will always be on the table in terms of our support for Ukraine," Anand said.

The missile defence system was designed and developed jointly by the American defence company Raytheon and Norway-based Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace.

"NASAMS provides air defenders with a tailorable, state-of-the-art defence system that can maximize their ability to identify, engage and destroy current and evolving enemy aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles and emerging cruise missile threats," Raytheon says on an online information page.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has asked for air defence systems in his requests for military aid.

Zelenskyy thanked Trudeau for the donation in a tweet Tuesday.

"Dear @JustinTrudeau, your true leadership in standing for democracy and human rights has been vividly proven again," Zelenskyy said in the tweet.

"Thank you for helping us to protect our sky. NASAMS procured for us by Canada will be a strong shield for our cities and citizens."

Anand said she spoke with her Ukrainian counterpart Oleksii Reznikov earlier Tuesday about Ukraine's defence needs.

"I spoke with Ukrainian Defence Minister @OleksiiReznikov this morning and heard it directly: air defence systems are Ukraine's top priority," Anand said in a tweet.

"That's why Canada is purchasing a National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System (NASAMS) from the United States to donate to Ukraine."

Anand said in a followup tweet that this is the first air defence system Canada has purchased for Ukraine.

"In the face of Russia's brutal airstrikes on Ukraine, this air defence system will help to protect Ukrainian population centres and critical infrastructure against drone, missile and aircraft attacks," she said.

In November of last year, the United States government awarded Raytheon a $1.2 billion contract to supply Ukraine with six NASAMS units.

Canada has provided over $3.4 billion in military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine since Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an intensified invasion of the country in February of 2022.

Alexandra Chyczij, national president of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress (UCC), said the UCC welcomes the purchase.

"Assisting Ukraine with the weapons Ukraine requires to defeat Russia is the best investment in the future peace, stability and prosperity of all Europe," Chyczij said in a statement.

"Ukraine needs assistance defending its cities, its hospitals, its schools, its infrastructure from vicious Russian air and missile attacks."

Biden to make first visit to Canada

The readout said Trudeau invited Biden to Canada and that the president will visit in March. It did not give a location or date.

It will be Biden's first official trip to Canada since he became president in January 2021.

A readout from the White House on the meeting confirmed the March visit.

"During the meeting, the President also stated he looks forward to traveling to Canada in March of this year," the readout said.

The PMO readout said Trudeau and Biden discussed trade issues between the two countries, including the Biden administration's "Buy America" policy and the softwood lumber dispute.

LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: Search results for PERMANENT ARMS ECONOMY 

CBC Young Calgary

Teen entrepreneur uses childhood illness as launchpad to help other Black girls and women


Tue, January 10, 2023

Eleora Ogundare has turned her experience as a child suffering sickle cell disease into a business, creating a line of products to help other women and girls with specific hair types and needs. (Jo Horwood/CBC - image credit)

Eleora Ogundare was diagnosed with sickle cell disease when she was eight years old.

During the course of treatments and chemotherapy for the red blood cell disorder, her hair started falling out.

"My hair was my confidence because the kids I was around, they had like the long, nice long hair," said Eleora, who decided with her mum to cut her hair and make the change quick, hoping kids in school wouldn't make comments.

"I felt, like, naked almost because, the thing that was like giving me confidence, I didn't have it anymore. I had to cut it all off."

Eleora is now a healthy 15-year-old, but instead of closing that chapter of her life, she decided to help others facing a similar challenge with their hair — and their sense of identity.

Strands of identity

While Eleora was battling for her health, her mum was trying to find solutions for her young daughter's hair, and with it, her sense of self.

"The struggle for them is identity, you know, trying to understand why their hair is not as silky as the next person in her class," said Eugenia Ogundare, Eleora's mother, who says hair for a Black women is "her crown."

"But then having to lose that hair was a whole different ball game altogether."

Jo Horwood/CBC

Eugenia says during months of treatments, they spent time trying out different oils, butters, and creams, eventually determining their own formula and using it to launch a line of products geared toward Black hair types.

"One of the problems Black women actually face would be the edges, so that's the first thing we get, that, 'Oh, it actually works for my edges'," said Eugenia, who has received plenty of positive feedback about the products she and her daughter work together on.

"And then we get the mothers who say, 'Oh, my daughter's hair was hard to manage. It's more manageable [now]'."

Adedoyin Omotara sells the Eleora Beauty line through both her salon, Adoniaa Beauty, and the Adoniaa Collective, a store for Black entrepreneurs at Westbrook Mall.

Jo Horwood/CBC

"It's a huge part of what makes us us, especially physically, but we need to understand the impact it has on us inside," said Omotara, who says she understands the pressures to conform that can sometimes arise for Black kids as they become more conscious of their environment and who they are.

Omotara says her own three-year-old has already questioned why his hair is so curly or difficult to comb compared to the hair of his friends.

"Especially for younger people, they need to understand that there are products that can actually work for our hair so that they don't start to put toxic product in their hair, just to want to look like another Sharon on the street or another Anita on the street."

Regaining health, hair, and herself

Now long past the illness she suffered as a child, Eleora hopes that the products created through her experience help other young Black girls feel empowered to be themselves.

"Our hair is beautiful the way it is and it's different in a good way ... it just expands our culture and really shows who we are," said the teen, who recently chose to cut her hair again.

"It wasn't as bad this time. Like, I'm more confident in it, and I also just want to teach other, like, young Black girls that, you know, like short hair or like long hair. You can rock it either way."

Jo Horwood/CBC

Omotara says the young entrepreneur's story is one that should give hope to their community.

"Whatever problems we have in our community, we remain the solution to those problems because we know where it bites the most, right? And that is why we are the ones to proffer the solution."

"I think we're making a difference in like, young girls lives," said Eleora.

"When I was younger, I kinda wish I had something like this too, to make me feel more confident. But I'm happy that I'm doing it now to help other people."

Feds may expand solar, wind across the West, including in the California desert


Janet Wilson, Palm Springs Desert Sun
Tue, January 10, 2023 

Lights from a solar transfer station taken at night from Lake Tamarisk retirement community in Desert Center, CA. December 2022

Mark Carrington, 72, thought he had found his piece of heaven in the vast California desert two years ago, when he bought a trailer pad in Lake Tamarisk Resort in Desert Center, 70 miles east of Palm Springs. He parked his RV and prepared to live out a peaceful retirement. The dark, star-spangled night skies and soaring mountain vistas of Joshua Tree National Park were a thrill.

Then the jackhammers started pounding and a pall of dust blotted the open sky.

He and other neighbors in the 55-plus community were shocked to learn a large-scale solar project called Oberon was being built on 2,600 acres of land, half a mile from their homes. Mature trees were ripped out, shrubby desert scraped bare, and the birds, rabbits, foxes and occasional desert tortoise disappeared. Then they learned two more huge projects have been proposed, including one 750 feet from their homes, Carrington said.

All told, they calculated the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and Riverside County have now approved nearly 18,000 acres of large-scale solar in the area. Another 6,000 acres of development are being weighed. And the projects, first built several miles away, are coming closer and closer, complete with truck traffic, chain link fencing and searing night lights on workstations and solar inverters.

“It’s very frustrating,” Carrington said. “When these projects are complete this will literally be like a prison compound. We will no longer be an oasis in the middle of a living desert, we will be an island in a solar sea that’s completely dead.”

More could be on the way.

Federal officials are now considering a major expansion and possible modification of designated solar zones on public lands across the West, to include five more states, wind as well as solar projects, and slopes as well as flat areas. The agency will kick off a dozen public “scoping meetings” on the redesign effort on Friday via a virtual session and an in-person meeting in Sacramento on Jan. 18.

BLM Director Tracy Stone-Manning said in a prepared statement that the agency “is committed to expanding renewable energy development on public lands to help lead the nation into a clean energy future, enhance America’s energy security, and provide for good-paying union jobs. She added, ”“We look forward to hearing from the public on effective ways to expand our nation’s capacity for producing solar energy while continuing to ensure robust protection of our public lands and waters.”

Chopped, destroyed ironwood trees on land cleared for Oberon solar project, Desert Center CA. in late 2022.

For Carrington and others in this tight-knit, isolated hamlet 50 miles from a grocery store, it's the latest blow in what they call the eradication of their community identity and way of life. The study also may look at amending California’s 10 .8 million acre Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan, a separate, hard-fought and carefully negotiated compromise agreement between federal and state agencies, developers, environmentalists and others that designated both development zones and conservation areas.

Renewable energy trade representatives say modifying the plans could actually reduce conflicts between rural residents and developers.

"There's plenty of land," said Ben Norris, senior director of regulatory affairs for the Solar Energy Industry Association, based in Washington, D.C. “We actually think certain changes would open up more lands for solar away from populated areas,”

But residents here are not convinced.

"I don't like it," Carrington said, noting many of the slopes and what remains of the open space around them are part of carefully preserved "areas of critical environmental concern" that should not be modified. They're already battling two more proposed projects, the Easley and the Sapphire solar farms, that they knew nothing about until they started sleuthing.

Public notice is an ongoing concern. Residents of the retirement park were not notified of the potential major expansion, despite promises by BLM officials that they would be added to official lists after they discovered the two other huge solar projects.

Carrington and his neighbors in the retirement park say they also were not notified in advance by federal or county officials or the developer, Intersect Power, about the Oberon project. Now they want a 5 mile buffer zone between their rural community and any more renewables, including Easley and Sapphire.

Their timing might or might not be good.

Ironwood trees leveled for new large-scale solar farm in Desert Center, CA
Push is on for large renewables across the West, amid rural objection

With climate change and its impacts taking hold, federal officials are now weighing broadly expanding but also potentially modifying development zones for large-scale solar and wind projects across the West, including in the California desert, where industrial renewables proposals have faced local backlash. Neighboring San Bernardino County in 2019 banned large renewables projects on 1 million acres of private land, including near 14 rural communities, after loud protests from residents.

To do it, the BLM may amend its sweeping 2012 Western Solar Plan and a related "programmatic environmental impact statement" that governs commercial solar development on public lands in six southwestern states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah. A new, sweeping environmental impact study designed to cover millions of acres in one fell swoop will weigh adding energy development zones in five more states: Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington and Wyoming, and may include wind power areas and hilly slopes left out of the original plan. Ultimately, as with the current plan and its accompanying PEIS, it could streamline renewable development in designated areas, and allow set-asides of other lands when habitat and species destruction can’t be avoided.

Most of the approvals issued by BLM since 2012 for solar projects have actually occurred via variances for work outside the designated areas.

Industry trade officials are highly supportive. They say while initial mapping of so-called solar energy zones, or SEZ’s, was done with good intentions by the Obama administration, they have not worked perfectly on the ground. They say it’s time for an update that might better avoid rural communities and truly expedite clean energy.

Norris with the solar industry group noted the current plan and PEIS only allow projects on flat land and with high solar radiation, which was done to fit now largely out-of-date technology.

“Easing those limits would, first, align the document with current 2023 technologies, and second, allow companies to consider more sites that could present lower potential for issues with surrounding communities.” said Norris. ”We very much appreciate BLM’s efforts to take another look at this high level environmental review document.”

He said North Dakota should also be added, and added that a 2021 Department of Energy report had found up to 10 million acres of renewable projects are needed to decarbonize the country’s electric grid by 2050. The 2012 Western Solar Plan designated about 285,000 acres as priority solar energy zones and excluded about 79 million acres from solar development. The plan also identified 19 million acres available for development under a variance process.

But Carrington and neighbors say despite being told by BLM they would be notified 15 days in advance of any new activity, they learned about the potential huge redesign effort accidentally, when he was searching for a phone number of a local staffer on the proposed Easley project. They’re also not happy that the California meeting will be in Sacramento, not in eastern Riverside County.

“How are we supposed to get there?” Carrington asked. “They should come here, and see where it’s happening.”

BLM press secretary Brian Hires, in response to questions from The Desert Sun, said in an email that the proposed update includes lands across California. ”The BLM determined that holding a meeting in Sacramento would allow for significant public participation.” He also noted the agency “will hold two virtual meetings accessible to the public for those that are not able to attend an in-person meeting.”

The study may also look at California’s 10 .8 million acre Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan, a separate, hard-fought and carefully negotiated compromise agreement between federal and state agencies, developers, environmentalists and others that designated both development zones and conservation areas.
Choking dust, lost views and water worries

The clock is ticking. BLM is pushing to meet a 2020 mandate set by Congress under the Trump administration, requiring them to authorize at least 25 gigawatts of renewable power by 2025,, enough to power close to 19 million homes.

Within a week of taking office, President Joe Biden signed an executive climate change order that in part requires the Secretary of the Interior to “review siting and permitting processes on public lands” to increase “renewable energy production on those lands . . . while ensuring robust protection for our lands, waters, and biodiversity and creating good jobs.”

As of last month, BLM, which reports to the Interior Secretary, had permitted 34 projects expected to produce 8,140 megawatts of electricity, about a third of the required 25 gigawatts by 2025, Hines said. Projects to produce nearly 3 gigawatts more are undergoing federal environmental reviews. Those totals include about one gigawatt built or is underway in and around Desert Center, enough to power about 750,000 homes.

Teresa and Skip Pierce, retiree residents of Lake Tamarisk Resort retirement community in Desert Center, CA

Teresa Pierce, 70, and a resident of the Lake Tamarisk retirement community for six years, is helping spearhead community opposition to more huge projects in their area. She said industrial projects on fragile desert landscapes are the wrong path to slowing greenhouse gas emissions from power production.

“Really it should be on every rooftop in California and the nation,” she said. They “should not destroy deserts, since they sequester the carbon dioxide (the main greenhouse emitted into the atmosphere), and therefore disturbing the soil releases it.”

Norris with the solar trade group and some national environmental groups say rooftop solar and commercial solar are both needed.

Area environmentalists and tribal members who’ve opposed specific projects in the past are keeping a wary eye on the proposal, which they note is in the early stages. They also point out that any increased commercial development must be examined in the context of separate federal and state proposals, dubbed “30 by 30,” to preserve nearly a third of available and valuable open spaces by 2030.

"We look forward to seeing concrete proposals once scoping is complete," said Chris Clarke, associate director of the California deserts program for the National Parks Conservation Association. "We strongly feel that the DRECP should be taken as a working model and not amended or weakened, and that overall landscape level planning in other states is a must, and that planning HAS to protect areas of significant resource conflict from development. This process absolutely must not undermine the administration’s 30 by 30 goals."

Close to home, Pierce said the traffic from Oberon construction is “horrible,” and she and other mostly older residents now suffer from allergies, aggravated COPD and other woes from the dust. Those and other concerns were laid out in a comment letter submitted to Riverside County planners last week about the proposed Easley project, signed by scores of residents. They include the possibility of dangerous silica being present in windblown construction dust, excessive water being drawn from an ancient underground aquifer for the solar projects, and the loss of dark night skies and daytime hiking routes.

Fugitive dust from the Oberon commercial solar construction project, one-half mile south of Lake Tamarisk retirement community in Desert Center, CA. Taken December 11, 2022 at 9:30am during 16 mph southwest winds, with gusts to 30 mph.

Solar developer pushes back

An Intersect Power representative gave a different version of what has occurred with the Oberon project, and said the Easley project is in the very early stages.

“The Oberon project represents one of the largest habitat mitigation efforts of any single energy development project in California’s history, and is a great example of clean energy and conservation going hand-in-hand,” wrote Elizabeth Knowles, Intersect’s Director of Community Engagement, in an email. “This project will permanently protect nearly 6000 acres of high quality desert habitat for the Mojave desert tortoise, the desert kit fox, migratory birds, and other protected species.”

While that habitat is off-site, she said, “the Oberon … development footprint also avoids about 2,000 acres of sensitive on-site habitat for wildlife, ensuring habitat connectivity between conservation areas north and south of the project. The Oberon project is also complying with hundreds of conservation and mitigation measures to protect public health and safety and the environment.”

In December 2021, as that project neared final approval over objections from area environmentalists,, an Intersect spokesman said in total 80 acres or less of woodlands would be cleared on the 2,600 acre site, and areas of impact in a buffer zone had been reduced to about 55 acres.

Knowles said the public was notified about the Oberon project via BLM press releases and notices published in the Federal Register. The latter is a voluminous daily record of legal activity by more than 400 public agencies and the White House. She said while the Easley project “is in the very early stages of development and design decisions have not yet been finalized,” it could not be moved to a new location.

“We actively explored siting the Easley project in alternative locations, including east of Hwy 177, but the area was technically prohibitive,” she said.

But, she added, “the Lake Tamarisk community is actively involved in the public process for the Easley project. Since being made aware of their concerns, we have been in close contact with (them) and surrounding neighbors to understand and address any questions and concerns they have regarding our projects in the Desert Center Area. We will continue to work with them throughout the planning, construction and operations of the project.”

Carrington and Pierce said Knowles and other Intersect staff had met with them on Pierce’s patio, and the company might consider dimming or redirecting powerful night lights to help keep the skies above dark. But they said such small measures would do little.

“What’s occurring is just a pure disregard for us as a community, and us as human beings,” Pierce said.

In addition to Sacramento, BLM will hold public scoping meetings in Phoenix, Arizona; Grand Junction, Colorado; Washington, DC; Boise, Idaho; Billings, Montana; Albuquerque, New Mexico; Reno, Nevada; Bend, Oregon; Salt Lake City, Utah; Spokane, Washington and Cheyenne, Wyoming. A second virtual meeting will be held on Feb. 13.

Public comments will be accepted for 15 days after the last public scoping meeting. For the most current information, to register for the virtual sessions. and to view related documents, visit BLM’s ePlanning web site at https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2022371/570.

Janet Wilson is senior environment reporter for The Desert Sun, and co-authors USA Today's Climate Point. She can be reached at jwilson@gannett.com and on Twitter @janetwilson66

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Feds may expand solar and wind across the West, including the CA desert

Biden's climate agenda has a problem: Not enough workers


A wind farm shares space with corn fields the day before the Iowa caucuses, where agriculture and clean energy are key issues, in Latimer, Iowa

Tue, January 10, 2023 
By Nichola Groom and Valerie Volcovici

(Reuters) - U.S. clean energy companies are offering better wages and benefits, flying in trainers from overseas, and contemplating ideas like buying roofing and electric repair shops just to hire their workers as firms try to overcome a labor shortage that threatens to derail President Joe Biden's climate change agenda.

The Inflation Reduction Act, signed into law last year, provides for an estimated $370 billion in solar, wind and electric vehicle subsidies, according to the White House. Starting Jan. 1, American consumers can take advantage of those tax credits to upgrade home heating systems or put solar panels on their roofs. Those investments will create nearly 537,000 jobs a year for a decade, according to an analysis by BW Research commissioned by The Nature Conservancy.

Graphic: The Inflation Reduction Act's green jobs promise https://www.reuters.com/graphics/USA-LABOR/CLEANENERGY/movakkxyyva/chart.png

But with the U.S. unemployment rate at an historic low of 3.5%, companies say they fear they will struggle to fill those jobs, and that plans to transition away from fossil fuels could stall out. Despite layoff announcements and signs of a slowdown elsewhere in the economy, the labor market for clean energy jobs remains tight.

"It feels like a big risk for this expansion. Where are we going to find all the people?" said Abigail Ross Hopper, president of the Solar Energy Industries Association trade group.

The shortage is anticipated to hit especially hard in electric vehicle and battery production and solar panel and home efficiency installations, forcing some of the companies into bold new approaches to find workers.

Korea's SK Innovation Co Ltd, which makes batteries for Ford Motor Co's F-150 Lightning all-electric pickup truck in Commerce, Georgia, has pumped up pay and benefits as it ramps up its U.S. workforce to 20,000 people by 2025 from 4,000 today.

The battery maker is advertising pay between $20 and $34 an hour, above Georgia’s median hourly wage of $18.43, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. It is also covering 100% life insurance costs and matching retirement plan contributions up to 6.5%, above the national average of 5.6%, according to the Plan Sponsor Council of America. And the company is providing free food on the job.

"Georgia’s talent pool is not really massive. But we are trying to improve some of our policies to better source and retain workers," said an SK official who declined to be named, citing the sensitivity of the matter.

Georgia state officials said SK's hiring has been a success considering how quickly production had to ramp up to meet the company's obligations to automakers.

While national residential solar installer SunPower Corp is recruiting aggressively, Chief Executive Peter Faricy said the company is also looking at what he called "crazy ideas" to secure labor – including buying up companies just for their workers.

"I’m not suggesting we will do this, but I want to give you an order of magnitude of what we’re considering. Like, should we acquire a roofing company and make them all solar installers? Do we go buy an electrical company and acquire 100 electricians?" he said.

SunPower also held talks within the last year with panel manufacturer First Solar Inc about developing a solar panel that would be easier to install, enabling crews to outfit two homes a day instead of just one, Faricy said.

SunPower’s competitor, Sunrun Inc, is deploying drones to survey roofs ahead of installation, reducing the number of workers required to scale roofs. It is also rewarding top crews with office parties.

"As best you can game-ify the experience for the employee... it just makes the industry more fun, more attractive," Chris McClellan, Sunrun's senior vice president of operations, said in an interview.

Offshore wind developer Orsted, a Danish company that is planning to build projects off the East Coast, hopes to fly in employees from projects in the United Kingdom and Asia to help train staff. State reports have indicated that New York and Massachusetts face large offshore wind workforce gaps.

“We’re creating sort of an ecosystem where we don't just have an offshore wind academy, but really train the trainers of the future,” said Mads Nipper, Orsted’s CEO, told Reuters.

The Biden Administration has repeatedly promised that new green energy jobs would be well-paying union jobs.

But many of those jobs have lagged the fossil fuel industry in pay, according to a 2021 study by BW Research, as clean energy companies have sought to contain costs to compete with entrenched industries. The IRA seeks to address that by tying prevailing wage and apprenticeship requirements to the subsidies.

Those provisions -- and the hiring challenges -- have put pressure on some employers to use unionized labor.

Learning from its earlier hiring challenges in Europe and Asia, Orsted signed an agreement with North America's Building Trades Unions to secure workers.

Even Amazon.com Inc, a company that has been embroiled in disputes with workers trying to organize, has used union labor to build the electric charging infrastructure for its fleet of electric delivery vehicles in Maspeth, Queens, NY.

Amazon did not respond to requests for comment.

Corrine Case, an electrician represented by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, said she was paid $43 an hour to install the charging system at Amazon.

A single mother, Case said she was excited about the job security offered by the rising demand for electricians to install charging stations.

“Our field is constantly changing because of new energy sources and to be a part of that is amazing,” she said.

FREE WORKER TRAINING

In their hunt for workers, solar, wind and electric vehicle companies have expanded programs offering free and subsidized training to military veterans, women and the formerly incarcerated.

SK told Reuters that it has been recruiting at military job fairs and American Legion chapters and collaborating with programs like the Georgia National Guard’s Work for Warriors and the Manufacturing Institute’s Heroes MAKE America.

Some solar companies have tried to recruit veterans, saying the skills learned in military life translate well to the industry.

Utility scale solar developer SOLV Energy, SunPower and Nextracker last year teamed up with nonprofit Solar Energy International to fund a women-only training program for solar installers. More than 30 women attended the week-long course in Colorado.

In October, the nonprofit Solar Hands-On Instructional Network of Excellence (SHINE) teamed up with the Virginia Department of Corrections on a pilot program to train 30 prison inmates and recently incarcerated people in solar panel installation. SHINE’s director David Peterson said the group is discussing expanding the program.

In California, the nonprofit Grid Alternatives has trained 150 inmates at the Madera County jail in solar installation since 2017 and is expanding its program this year to other facilities in the state. Potential employers are more open to hiring the formerly incarcerated once they see they have received some training, Tom Esqueda, the nonprofit's outreach manager, said.

In Los Angeles, nonprofit Homeboy Industries, which works to rehabilitate former gang members, is using the potential job opportunities for solar panel installers to help recruits for its state-funded jobs program. Homeboy trains 50-60 people a year as solar panel installers.

More than 80% of the people who have gone through the training in the last year have found jobs in solar, according to Jackie Harper, who oversees the program.

“I’m going to be sticking with this,” said Marco Reyes, 28, who went through the program after his release from prison in February and earns $23 an hour as an installer in Valencia, California.

He now plans to train in the electrical end of solar installation, which would bump up his pay.

“Everyone has a chance to move up the ladder into a better position,” he said. “This job to me is a life changer.”

(Reporting by Nichola Groom and Valerie Volcovici; Edited by Richard Valdmanis and Suzanne Goldenberg.)