RMT ‘will not endorse’ Network Rail reforms even if members vote to end strikes

Neil Lancefield, PA Transport Correspondent
Thu, 9 March 2023 



Britain’s biggest rail union has pledged to continue to oppose maintenance reforms at Network Rail even if its members vote to end strikes at the company.

The Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) has suspended its industrial action at Network Rail after receiving a new offer on pay and benefits.

A ballot of its members on whether to accept the proposal opened on Thursday and will run until March 20.

The RMT said the offer amounts to an uplift on salaries of between 14.4% for the lowest paid workers to 9.2% for those earning the most.

Network Rail has always insisted pay rises can be funded only through modernising how it carries out maintenance.

It has already opened local consultations on changes, but no major reforms are expected in the short term.

In a video message to members, RMT senior assistant general secretary Eddie Dempsey said: “This offer is not conditional on our acceptance of modernising maintenance, which this union will not endorse.

“But to be absolutely clear, you will be casting your vote on the basis that acceptance of this deal will settle all aspects of this trade dispute, and this dispute will be terminated.

“We may be able to continue to challenge modernising maintenance in the company processes and through raising our safety concerns to the regulator, but this dispute will be concluded.”

If the offer is rejected, the union will “continue in strike action and in our industrial campaign to pursue a new deal”, Mr Dempsey said.

He added: “The matter is now in your hands as rank and file members, and is for you to determine the next steps for this trade union.”

Network Rail chief executive Andrew Haines said: “The deal protects jobs, ensures a pay rise and will help us move forward as a business and a railway.

“I recognise that there may still be disruption for passengers this month due to other strike action, but this is a constructive step forward and I hope that my colleagues in the RMT will vote to accept this package.”

The RMT has been engaged in national rail strikes since June last year, frequently disrupting services.

Strikes by RMT members at 14 train companies are still scheduled to take place on March 16, 18 and 30 and April 1, and are expected to cause major disruption.

The Rail Delivery Group, which represents the companies, has urged the union to also call off those walk-outs and put its latest offer to a vote.

The RMT said on Wednesday it has been invited for talks by the RDG on condition next week’s strikes are suspended.

The union went on: “The RMT NEC (national executive committee) has decided that the scheduled action will remain in place but that the union will be available for discussions and will attend any meetings on creating a resolution to the dispute through an improved offer.

“The union will contact the RDG seeking such a meeting.”

Strikes bill could breach UK workers' human rights and expose the government to legal challenges

Tonia Novitz, Professor of Labour Law, University of Bristol

The Conversation
Thu, 9 March 2023

UK workers’ human rights are at risk under government plans to curb strike activity, according to a report by parliament’s Joint Committee on Human Rights. The strikes (minimum service levels) bill 2023 aims to set requirements for the level of service needed in certain key sectors during strike action.

The bill is making rapid progress through parliament. But it has already sparked concern from various quarters, including unions and the International Labour Organization (ILO), a UN agency set up to protect social and economic justice via labour standards.

Most recently, a report from the Joint Committee on Human Rights said the bill falls short of UK human rights obligations. It has proposed five amendments to the new rules that it believes are needed to protect UK workers’ human rights.

The committee wants the government to provide more detail within the legislation about when restrictions on strike activity can be imposed, how far these limits can go and who should be involved in discussions before strikes. It also suggests more clarity on how employers decide who needs to work during a strike and greater protection from dismissal for people that do strike.

But even with the amendments, which are based on international standards for freedom of association and protection from discrimination at work, the UK government could still be at odds with these standards if the current version of the bill is passed.

The bill would allow the UK secretary of state to set minimum service levels for striking workers in the health, fire and rescue, education and transport sectors, as well as people working in the decommissioning of nuclear installations, the management of radioactive waste and spent fuel, and border security.

Under the legislation, employers in these industries would give a “work notice” to trade unions seven days before a strike. This would identify the services covered by the rules and the names of employees required to work during the strike.

The employer would have to consult with the union about the content of the notice, with the trade union then taking “reasonable steps” to ensure the named persons comply with the notice. Failing to do so could leave the union liable for up to £1 million, while employees that join the strike would lose their automatic protection from dismissal. Any person named in the notice that refuses to comply would also lose this protection.

A focus on specific human rights

When it launched the bill in January 2023, the government argued the new rules were “necessary in a democratic society”, reflecting “a pressing social need”. But the committee disagreed after examining the government’s policy statements and the impact assessment for the bill. The latter has already been called “not fit for purpose” by the Regulatory Policy Committee, an independent watchdog.

The joint committee’s five suggested amendments aim to address concerns about workers’ rights. They are based primarily on Article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights (which covers freedom of association). The amendments draw on the views about these issues of the European Court of Human Rights in case law which applies in UK law under the Human Rights Act 1998.

In its report, the committee states that “freedom of association” under Article 11 covers the right to strike and that the bill does not adequately protect this right. The committee also warns that minimum service requirements could affect some groups more than others, such as women that work as nurses. This would breach Article 14 which protects against discrimination.

Bolder claims around “forced labour”, which is covered by Article 4 of the ECHR, were not addressed in the committee’s report. This may be because the committee members represent a wide range of political views and they needed to reach a consensus on the report’s conclusions.
Amendments in line with ILO standards

The first amendment to the bill proposed by the committee reflects ILO standards, which the European Court of Human Rights also follows. It sets out when minimum service levels should be triggered:

to protect the life, personal safety or health of the whole or part of the population


against an acute national crisis endangering the normal living conditions of the population or


to protect public services of fundamental importance.

Second, the committee says the bill needs more specific details about limits on strike activity to make sure that any minimum service levels set by the secretary of state do not make strike activity ineffective. The House of Lords Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee has also requested greater detail on the minimum levels and services covered by the bill. It said that the powers given to the secretary of state would be “inappropriate” if this information is not clearly stated in the legislation.

The third amendment again follows ILO norms. Rather than asking employers to simply “consult” with unions on work notices, the committee argues there should be a negotiated settlement of minimum service levels. It also suggests bringing an independent body into any disputes that arise.

The fourth amendment put forward by the committee would further restrict employers’ ability to choose who must work during a strike. The aim here is to ensure an employee’s trade union activity doesn’t influence their selection because, again, that could make strike action less effective.

Can the Strikes Bill be salvaged?

The fifth amendment in the committee’s report would prevent striking workers from losing their automatic protection from unfair dismissal if a union failed to take “reasonable steps” to ensure named employees comply with a work notice issued under the bill. This is important because employees have no control over the steps a union might take in this situation.

However, this proposed amendment falls short. The committee’s report repeatedly says that it is unclear what steps would be “reasonable” or how a trade union or its members could know that this requirement was being met. This aspect of the bill clearly interferes with Article 11 rights relating to freedom of association, but the committee’s current amendments would not address this flaw in the new rules.

Overall, the recommendations would go some way towards protecting UK workers under international human rights law if the strikes bill is enacted. But even if it accepts these committee recommendations, the government could still be open to legal challenges to the bill, whether through judicial review before the European Court of Human Rights, or at the ILO.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Tonia Novitz is Professor of Labour Law at the University of Bristol and a Vice-President of the Institute of Employment Rights, but the opinions provided here are her own. She gave evidence to the UK Joint Committee on Human Rights at a session held on 8 February 2023.

Anti-strikes law would 'strip workers of unfair dismissal protections', watchdog warns

Thu, 9 March 2023 


The anti-strikes bill could be in breach of international law and strip workers of unfair dismissal protections, the equalities watchdog has warned.

The government is facing renewed calls to drop the "nasty" Minimum Service Legislation (MSL) bill following a scathing report by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC).

The EHRC said it is "concerned that an employee would lose automatic unfair dismissal protection" if they fail to comply with a notice ordering them to work on days of industrial action.

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The organisation warned staff could also be sacked if their trade union has failed to take reasonable steps to ensure minimum service levels are in place during a strike, as "they would not know" before participating in a walkout if that is the case or not.

Paul Nowak, general secretary of the TUC, said: "The EHRC is right to warn that this draconian legislation could see striking workers losing a vital right - protection from unfair dismissal.

"The Conservatives are trying to keep people in the dark about the true nature of this legislation. But make no mistake - this bill is undemocratic, unworkable and almost certainly illegal."

Mr Nowak accused the government of launching a "brazen attack" on workers' rights which will likely "poison industrial relations and exacerbate disputes rather than help resolve them".

"It's time for ministers to protect the fundamental right to strike and drop this nasty bill," he said.

What does the anti-strikes bill mean?

Under the government's draft Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill, the right to strike would be restricted by imposing "minimum service levels".

That means if the bill becomes law, some trade union members would be required to continue working during a strike.

The bill does not set out what the minimum service levels would be for each industry, but they could include maintaining core service provision in emergency services and ensuring key transport, travel and trade routes don't completely shut down on strike days.

The government has argued the legislation is necessary to ensure minimum safety levels at a time of widespread industrial action.

But the plans have drawn backlash from unions and opposition MPs.

Critics say, thanks to the proposed changes, bosses would be legally able to fire employees who ignore a "work notice" ordering them to work on days of industrial action.

The EHRC contrasted this with similar laws in Italy, where "legislation provides that an individual cannot be dismissed for failing to comply with a Minimum Service Level agreement".

It said the bill in its current form raises "several human rights considerations", specifically in relation to Article 4 (Prohibition of Slavery and Forced Labour), Article 11 (Freedom of Assembly and Association) and Article 14 (prohibition of discrimination) of the European Convention on Human Rights.

The report also criticised ministers for failing to properly consult on the legislation with worker and employer organisations.

"It is not clear why this more collaborative approach - as practised in some states in Europe - was not pursued in the current bill," the watchdog said.

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Anti-strike bill: The arguments and what it means for workers

The intervention comes days after the Joint Committee on Human Rights criticised the bill "for failing to meet human rights obligations".

Last week, a House of Lords report also expressed concerns the bill would give ministers too much power while providing virtually no detail on what counts as minimum service.

There was a further backlash when the Regulatory Policy Committee, another independent watchdog, ruled the government's impact assessment of the legislation was "not fit for purpose" in a damning report last month.

And in January, 50 civil liberty groups - including Oxfam and Human Rights Watch - warned the bill would allow "a further significant and unjustified intrusion by the state into the freedom of association and assembly".

A government spokesperson said: "The purpose of this legislation is to protect the lives and livelihoods of the public and ensure they can continue to access vital public services.

"We note this report and will consider it in full, but the government needs to maintain a reasonable balance between the ability of workers to strike and the rights of the public, who work hard and expect essential services to be there when they need them."

New Utah oil railroad by river is health and climate risk, campaigners say

Nina Lakhani in New York
Thu, 9 March 2023 

Photograph: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Developers are seeking billions of dollars in tax breaks for a new oil railroad in Utah that will threaten the Colorado River and be a risk to the health and safety of millions of Americans while damaging Joe Biden’s climate credentials, campaigners say.

The 88-mile proposed Uinta railway is forecast to quadruple crude oil production in the Uinta Basin by connecting it to the national rail network and coastal refineries.

According to the plans shared with federal agencies, up to five two-mile-long oil trains a day would run more than 100 miles directly alongside the Colorado River – a vital drinking water source for 40 million Americans, 30 tribal nations and millions of acres of farmland. A derailment could be catastrophic for the river, which is already in crisis due to the region’s mega-drought, rising temperatures and reduced snowpack on the Rocky mountains, warn campaigners.

The railway could spur an additional 350,000 barrels of oil extraction a day, campaigners estimate, exacerbating the poor air quality in Utah, Colorado and Gulf coast communities while releasing millions of tonnes of planet-warming greenhouse gases into the atmosphere annually.

Federal agencies have issued or signalled their willingness to issue key permits, despite the president’s goals to slash planet-heating emissions in half by 2030, tackle environmental inequities and transition to clean energy.

The railway company says environmentalists are overstating the climate footprint, risk of derailment and ecological harm. It recently emerged that the developers are seeking authorization from the Department of Transport (DoT) to issue up to $2bn in tax-exempt bonds to construct and operate the oil train, through a program that has mostly helped fast-track rail and road projects with public benefits.

“If this goes forward it will be a triumph of corporate greed,” said Kristen Boyles, a managing attorney at Earthjustice, an environmental legal group. “The fact that we continue to have disasters like East Palestine and near misses over and over again is a regulatory failure that demonstrates the absolute power of railroad industry lobbying.”

More than a thousand trains derail every year in the US, and the number of derailed cars carrying hazardous material is rising. In the past decade, the railroad industry has spent around $280m lobbying Washington, and more than $50m on campaign contributions, according to political finance trackers Open Secrets.

The Uinta basin in eastern Utah contains large reserves of oil and gas but extraction, which is done by fracking and conventional drilling, has been limited by poor transport links. The Republican-controlled legislature, Utah’s governor and local officials support building taxpayer subsidised transport links to ramp up production, arguing that it would benefit the state’s economy.

One option involves flattening a section of the nine-mile canyon, known as the largest prehistoric art gallery, to build a road fit for a steady flow of heavy oil tankers; the other is the 88-mile railway.Interactive

The Uinta Basin Railway company is a public-private partnership between the asset management firm DHIP Group, formerly known as Drexel Hamilton Infrastructure Partners, the railroad company Rio Grande Pacific and the Seven County Infrastructure Coalition. The seven county commissioners last month tentatively adopted a resolution to seek authorization to issue up to $2bn in tax exempt bonds.

The DoT was directed by Congress to issue up to $30bn in tax exempt private activity bonds via its Build America Bureau, which have so far mostly been to finance highways, bridges, and transit projects of public benefit. The seven-county coalition is expected to formalise its support for the bonds at a public meeting on Thursday. The final decision is down to Pete Buttigieg, the transport secretary.

The DoT did not respond to requests for comment.

Meanwhile opposition from elected officials in Colorado has been mounting since the catastrophic derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, on 3 February.

“The governor continues to share a number of the concerns that our communities and Colorado’s recreation and tourism industry have raised with the proposal,” said a spokesperson for Jared Polis, the Democratic governor.

“Derailments are seen as a cost of doing business but we’ve seen the future in East Palestine and for us this would be like killing the golden goose,” said Jonathan Godes, mayor of Glenwood Springs, a picturesque mountain town in Eagle county popular with tourists. “This railway will not impact what we pay at the pump but could add 1% to the country’s climate emissions, which I just can’t square with Biden’s climate goals.”

A coalition of environmental groups and Eagle county in Colorado have filed lawsuits to the DC circuit arguing that the Surface Transportation Board’s (STB) permit – the cornerstone requirement for freight rail projects – was granted without an adequate environmental impact review.

“East Palestine highlighted that every train incident can be catastrophic, and the risks have not been adequately reviewed,” said Matt Scherr, Eagle county commissioner. “These limited bonds are meant to be used for the public good, how can something so climate impactful ever be appropriate.”

A separate lawsuit challenging a provisional decision by the Forest Service indicating it would allow a section to be built through a 12-mile roadless area of the Ashley national forest is also ongoing. On Monday, senator Michael Bennett and congressman Joe Negusse from Colorado wrote to Tom Vilsack, the agriculture secretary responsible for the Forest Service, calling for the ruling on the roadless exception to be suspended until a proper environmental review is undertaken.

In contrast to the information submitted to the STB, according to Mark Michel, president of Uinta Basin Railway, said that many of the trains would go through northern Utah and Wyoming, not Colorado, and that the crude oil would be used for lubricants, base oils, cosmetics, and plastics not fuel.

In a statement Michel added: “The waxy crude is transported as a solid and thus, not a flammable or hazardous liquid which presents an environmental problem or concern to the ecological system if there were to be a derailment … think of this as a big candle being transported inside a tank.

“In the unlikely case of a derailment, clean up crews would simply pick up a ‘bunch of candles’ with shovels. For opponents to claim this would be an environmental catastrophe, shows a lack of understanding of the physical properties of the oil and how it is transported. Furthermore, the route through Colorado that Eagle county and other communities seem to be so concerned about has been a line in existence for a century. More hazardous things are transported up and down that line than this Uinta crude oil.”

Deeda Seed, the Utah public lands senior campaigner at the Center for Biological Diversity which is campaigning to stop the railway, said: “Science shows even if the waxy crude doesn’t burn following a spill, the mess will be difficult to clean up … This is a project with appalling consequences that will benefit only a few private businesses, it is entirely contrary to public interest.”

Shell slammed for ‘outrageous’ pay and bonuses package of up to £21m for ex-boss

Holly Williams, PA Business Editor
Thu, 9 March 2023 

Shell has fuelled calls for a higher windfall tax on the sector after the oil giant revealed that its ex-boss saw his pay package soar to £9.7 million last year and is in line for further potential payouts of more than £11 million.

The company’s annual report showed that former chief executive’s Ben van Beurden’s pay jumped by 53% in 2022, including a £2.6 million annual bonus and a £4.9 million long-term shares award on top of his £1.4 million annual salary.

Mr van Beurden – who was replaced by Wael Sawan at the start of 2023 – is also set to pick up another £2.13 million this year for advisory work and loss of office, plus a maximum possible £1.8 million pro-rata bonus dependent on company performance, as well as a potential £7.4 million in long-term awards for 2021 and 2022 share plans.

It comes after the oil giant posted a record 84.3 billion US dollars (£71.1 billion) in core profit for 2022 as it benefited from soaring energy prices, branded “obscene” at the time amid heavy criticism over the amount of tax paid by the group.

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey condemned the pay package as “outrageous” and called for an increase in windfall taxes on the sector.

He said: “It is outrageous that oil and gas bosses are raking in millions in bonuses while families struggle to heat their homes.

“Rishi Sunak’s refusal to properly tax these eye-watering bonuses and record profits is mind-boggling and shows how out of touch he is.

“It is completely unfair at a time when the Conservative Government is choosing to put people’s energy bills up.

“Whether it is executive bonuses or soaring profits, the money being made out of (Russian President Vladimir) Putin’s illegal war should be helping struggling families, not oil and gas barons.”

Non-governmental organisation (NGO) Global Witness said Mr van Beurden’s 2022 pay package is 294 times the UK’s median salary of £33,000.

Ben van Beurden was chief executive of Shell for nearly a decade (Daniel Leal-Olivas/PA)

Alice Harrison, fossil fuels campaign leader at Global Witness, said: “Shell’s CEO earnt in one year what a typical UK worker would earn in six lifetimes.”

“It’s a sign of just how broken our energy system is,” she added.

The NGO is urging the Government to change the windfall tax on the oil and gas sector to also cover executive bonuses.

“We’re calling on the UK Government to implement a people-first windfall tax in next week’s Spring Budget which includes executive bonuses, and to ensure a rapid transition to homegrown renewable energy sources that are cleaner and cheaper than oil and gas, and better for energy security,” Ms Harrison said.

BP is also expected to publish its annual report on Friday, which is set to reveal multimillion-pound bonuses for its boss, Bernard Looney.

The spotlight has been thrown on energy firms after a record-breaking set of annual results from the sector, which stoked controversy given the cost-of-living crisis affecting firms and businesses.

A spokesman for Shell said the former chief executive’s pay package is “considered the appropriate quantum for running a group of Shell’s scale and complexity”.

He said: “The CEO’s remuneration package is reviewed carefully on an annual basis against a range of UK and international companies, to ensure reward packages are appropriately positioned against market.”

He added: “We fully appreciate the difficulties that the cost-of-living crisis is causing many people across the world.

“Shell are taking steps to address it, such as doubling the hardship fund for vulnerable customers of our UK retail energy business.”

The group’s annual report also showed that Mr Sawan – Shell’s former head of gas and renewables – was appointed on a £1.4 million annual salary, in line with his predecessor, plus a potential annual bonus worth £1.75 million, or 125% of salary, and long-term shares worth up to a maximum potential of £4.2 million, or 300% of salary.

Profits ‘all but wiped out’ by windfall tax, says oil giant Harbour Energy

August Graham, PA Business Reporter
Thu, 9 March 2023 



The UK’s biggest oil and gas producer said it had seen a nearly eight-fold increase in its profit “all but wiped out” as the Government’s windfall tax on energy companies kicked in.

Harbour Energy said it would pay close to 1.5 billion dollars (£1.3 billion) due to the new rules, which were put in place last May amid surging energy prices.

As a result, and thanks to the company’s normal tax bill, Harbour’s pre-tax profit of 2.5 billion dollars (£2.1 billion) was reduced to eight million dollars (£6.7 million) after tax.

“The UK Energy Profits Levy, which applies irrespective of actual or realised commodity prices, has disproportionately impacted the UK-focused independent oil and gas companies that are critical for domestic energy security,” chief executive Linda Cook said.

“For Harbour, the UK’s largest oil and gas producer, it has all but wiped out our profit for the year.”

Harbour has said that it plans to cut both jobs and investment due to the windfall tax, despite a loophole in the tax which would have allowed it to write off much of any new investments in the North Sea.

But it did not stop Harbour from handing cash to its investors, clubbing through 600 million dollars (£504 million) in shareholder distributions in 2022.

The windfall tax – officially called the Energy Profit Levy – was introduced last year to ensure that oil and gas producers in the UK’s North Sea were not able to massively benefit from the war in Ukraine.

It has been less impactful for oil and gas giants BP and Shell because most of their production comes from outside the UK, so is not covered by the tax.

But Harbour Energy is largely focused on extracting oil and gas off British shores, so a much larger percentage of its profits were impacted by the levy.

Harbour said it had produced an average of 208,000 barrels of oil equivalent every day in 2022, up 19% from the year before. Extracting each barrel cost 13.90 dollars (£11.69), a reduction of 8.5%.

“In our first full year as a publicly listed company, Harbour delivered materially higher production which – together with improved margins – enabled us to continue to deleverage and make material shareholder distributions,” Ms Cook said.

“We further developed our net-zero strategy, setting ourselves an interim target, and built significant momentum in our flagship Viking CCS project. Most importantly, we achieved all of this while improving our safety record.”

Fossil fuels received £20bn more UK support than renewables since 2015

Helena Horton Environment reporter
Thu, 9 March 2023 

Photograph: Oliver Dixon/Rex/Shutterstock

The UK government has given £20bn more in support to fossil fuel producers than those of renewables since 2015, the Guardian can reveal.

The research, commissioned by the Liberal Democrats, found that while renewable energy was given £60bn in support over that time, fossil fuel companies were given close to £80bn.

In 2020, renewable energy support was greater than fossil fuel support for the first time. However, fossil fuels have been receiving greater additional investment recently. From 2020 to 2021 they received an extra £1bn support from the government compared with 2020, a 10.7% increase. For renewable energy in the same year, total support for projects increased by just £1m, or 0.01%.

Analysis by the House of Commons library found that a fifth of the money given directly to the fossil fuel industry was to support new extraction and mining. In 2021, support for fossil fuel extraction rose by 20% to nearly £2bn.

Politicians have asked the government to put net zero at the heart of policy decisions instead of funding fossil fuel corporations.

Wera Hobhouse, the Liberal Democrat climate and energy spokesperson, said: “It is extremely alarming that the Conservative government has been giving these staggering amounts to the fossil fuel industry. Not only have the Conservatives failed to properly tax the record profits of the oil and gas giants, they have showered these companies with taxpayer money too.

“We have been through one of the toughest winters on record and the energy crisis is still biting hard. The government squandered the opportunity to shield us from these spiralling energy bills through their lack of long-term thinking. For years, they gave billions to the fossil fuel industry, rather than actually improving our energy security by investing properly in renewables.

“This is just yet more proof of the government’s legacy of failure on climate change. They need to get a grip and start putting net zero at the heart of all our policy decisions. It will grant us the energy-secure, green future we desperately need.”

She added that, when in the coalition government, the Liberal Democrats tripled renewable energy generation, and said the Lib Dems would also end new listings of fossil fuel companies on the London Stock Exchange and require existing fossil fuel companies to set out how they will transition to net zero.

Fossil fuel companies have been criticised for not investing sufficiently in renewables, despite getting tax breaks and funding from government. Shell and BP made £32bn and £23bn in profit last year respectively while energy bills rose. Shell invested nearly £10bn into oil and gas projects over the year, compared with just £3bn in its renewable energy division. Similarly, BP has announced that it is scaling back the ambition for its emission-cutting targets. Previously, the fossil fuel producer had said it wanted to cut emissions by 35-40% by 2030, but now it has committed to a 20-30% reduction.

A government spokesperson said: “This is utterly misleading analysis. The Climate Change Committee themselves have said we’ll still need some fossil fuels as part of our move towards the net zero target, which is why we must ensure we remain an attractive investment for all energy sectors, as we have consistently been for renewables.

“Our domestic oil and gas industry have a vital role ensuring energy security and the transition to net zero, and alongside that since 2010 the UK has seen more than a 500% increase in the amount of renewable electricity capacity connected to the grid, making the UK a world leader in offshore wind with the most installed capacity in Europe. This will play a key role in achieving net zero by 2050, and will create thousands of new jobs around the country.”

UN nuclear chief raises alarm over power outages at Ukraine plant

Thu, 9 March 2023 


The UN nuclear agency's chief warned on Thursday of the danger of repeated electricity outages at Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia power plant, after a new missile strike left it running on diesel generators.

Electricity is essential to operate pumps that circulate water to cool reactors and pools holding nuclear fuel.

"Each time we are rolling a dice," IAEA chief Rafael Grossi told the agency's board of governors.

"And if we allow this to continue time after time then one day our luck will run out."

Grossi has been in consultations with Kyiv and Moscow for several months to try to set up a protection zone around the plant, but the talks appear to have stalled.

"We must commit to protect the safety and security of the plant," Grossi said. "And we need to commit now. What we need is action.

"Let me remind you – this is the largest nuclear power station in Europe," he said.

Grossi noted this was the sixth time that the Zaporizhzhia facility had been cut off from the electricity grid since Russia captured it a year ago, and the first time since November.

"This cannot go on," he said, adding, "I am astonished by the complacency –- what are we doing to prevent this happening? he asked, vowing to pursue his efforts.

The strike came during a fresh wave of Russian attacks across Ukraine which killed at least nine people and led to power outages across the country.

"The last power line between the occupied Zaporizhzhia NPP and the Ukrainian power system was cut off as a result of rocket attacks," the operator Energoatom said.

The emergency diesel generators can provide the facility's energy needs for 10 days, it said.

"The countdown has begun. If it is impossible to renew the external power supply of the station during this time, an accident with radiation consequences for the whole world may occur," Energoatom said.

Russian authorities that control the plant said diesel generators had been switched on following a "short-circuit" on power lines, without providing details.

anb/bg/bp/jmm

Movement rekindled to rename N.B. university connected to 'torturer' of Acadians

Wed, March 8, 2023


MONTREAL — A movement has been rekindled in New Brunswick to shed a francophone university's connection to Robert Monckton, a British military figure who played an active role in the imprisonment and deportation of thousands of Acadians.

More than 1,000 people from Canada's Acadian community — including dignitaries, academics and artists — have signed a petition to rename Université de Moncton, the country's largest French-language university outside Quebec.

“We have mobilized and are creating an irreversible movement," Acadian activist Jean-Marie Nadeau said in an interview Tuesday. "There has never been such a large and popular mobilization (on this issue) like the one we have."

The university was founded in 1963 and took the name of the City of Moncton, the location of one of its three campuses and the second-largest city in the province, after Saint John.

Moncton is also home to many of Canada's Acadians, whose ancestors were forcibly deported from the Maritimes after Great Britain won the Seven Years' War. Between 1755 and 1763 approximately 10,000 Acadians were expelled from their land by the British.

Nadeau said the debate to rename the university has resurfaced at least once a decade since the 1970s. The latest revival came after he wrote an essay on Feb. 7 in local newspaper Le Moniteur Acadien calling for the change. About one week ago, Nadeau and Jean-Bernard Robichaud — rector of the university from 1990 to 2000 — started a petition on social media to change the name of the school.

Acadian signatories include current and former politicians, chancellors, and lawyers, as well as novelist Antonine Maillet, singer-songwriter Edith Butler, musician Zachary Richard and filmmaker Renée Blanchar.

“We are doing this movement because we are tired of dragging the name of Monckton like a ball and chain attached to our university," Nadeau said. "Monckton was one of our main torturers and executioners-in-chief, responsible for the logistics of the deportation in 1755."

In the letter attached to the petition, Nadeau and Robichaud ask why the people in charge of the university continue to refuse to change the name.

“Is the name of our university consistent with its identity? For the signatories of this letter, the answer is an unequivocal no. You have the power to change this name to reflect the Acadian reality," the letter says.

Representatives for Université de Moncton did not respond to a request for comment on Tuesday.

The mayor of Caraquet, N.B., Bernard Thériault, also signed the petition. He said that as a French-speaking Acadian who graduated from Université de Moncton, it's time for change.

“The Acadian community is strong enough today to take on this change,” Thériault said, adding that the community had never clearly expressed its desire as strongly as it is doing now.

Nadeau said he was inspired by recent events across the country over the last few years, during which monuments to controversial historical figures were torn down and street names linked to them were changed.

He mentioned the Nova Scotia communities that removed from their property the name of former governor Edward Cornwallis, who issued a "scalping proclamation" in 1749 that offered a bounty to anyone who killed Mi'kmaq men, women or children.

Nadeau also cited the former Ryerson University — now Toronto Metropolitan University — which used to be named after Egerton Ryerson, who helped create the country's residential school system.

“So, we are also part of this new movement, and the time is right," Nadeau said. "The Acadian people stand tall and are proud, and by changing its name, l’Université de Moncton will be one of the most beautiful symbols of this rediscovered pride and dignity.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 8, 2023.

—

This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Meta and Canadian Press News Fellowship.

Marisela Amador, The Canadian Press

The story of Evangeline [microform] : adapted from Longfellow

by Stokes, Winston, 1886-1950; 

Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth, 1807-1882. Evangeline

Publication date 1913

Publisher Toronto : Copp, Clark

https://archive.org/details/cihm_991027

Evangeline

by Henry W. Longfellow

Publication date 1807-1882

Collection internetarchivebooks

https://archive.org/details/evangeline0000henr

Earthquakes at 2 Alaska volcanoes could signal eruption


In this photo provided by the Alaska Volcano Observatory/U.S. Geological Survey is the Tanaga Volcano near Adak, Alaska, on May 23, 2021. A swarm of earthquakes occurring over the past few weeks has intensified at a remote Alaska volcano dormant for over a century, a possible indication of an impending eruption. The Alaska Volcano Observatory raised the alert level to advisory status for Tanaga Volcano late Tuesday, March 7, 2023, after the quakes became very vigorous. 

(Matt Loewen/Alaska Volcano Observatory/U.S. Geological Survey via AP) 


Thu, March 9, 2023

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A second volcano in remote Alaska is experiencing elevated earthquake activity this week, signaling an increased potential for eruption, officials said.

Earthquake activity near Takawangha Volcano increased over the past 48 hours and are continuing, Alaska Volcano Observatory officials said in a news release Thursday.

That volcano is west of Anchorage in the western Aleutian islands and about 5 miles (8 kilometers) from Tanaga Volcano, which scientists said earlier this week had seen intensified earthquake activity.

The Alaska Volcano Observatory raised the alert level to advisory status for Tanaga Volcano late Tuesday after the quakes became vigorous.

The observatory on Thursday raised the alert level to watch status for Takawangha Volcano.

Analysts at the observatory continue to monitor the situation closely. Up to several earthquakes per minute are occurring under Tanaga Island, where both volcanoes are located, the observatory said. The largest quake over the previous 24 hours was a magnitude 3.9 located under Tanaga Volcano.

No eruptive activity or signs of unrest was detected in satellite or other monitoring data.

The island is about 1,250 miles (2,012 kilometers) southwest of Anchorage. There are no communities there, but Adak, a city of about 170 people on another island, is about 65 miles (105 kilometers) away and could see ashfall.

If one of the volcanoes were to erupt, it could be a problem for aircraft. The Aleutians are below the routes that jets fly between North America and Asia. Volcanic ash is angular and sharp and can cause airplane engines to shut down. Past eruptions had both ash clouds and viscous lava that moves slowly, much like what happened at Mount St. Helens in Washington state in 1980.

No historical eruptions are known from Takawangha but field work shows recent eruptions have occurred and it's possible historic eruptions attributed to Tanaga may instead have come from Takawangha, according to scientists.

The last eruption from Tanaga Volcano was in 1914.

Is Canada prone to a devastating earthquake? Answer isn't so simple

Nathan Howes
Wed, March 8, 2023 


Canada is certainly not immune to earthquakes, but what are the chances of deadly events on the magnitudes of the Turkey-Syria tremors occurring here?

The earthquakes in early February 2023 caused catastrophic damage, pegged at more than $100 billion in Turkey alone, and massive fatalities, which have since risen to more than 52,000. It's natural to then ponder about the potential of disastrous and deadly tremors in Canada in the future.

SEE ALSO: Turkey earthquake damage set to exceed $100 billion: UN agency

Mark Robinson, meteorologist and Storm Hunter at The Weather Network, spoke with Tiegan Hobbs, research scientist with the Geological Survey of Canada (GSC) -- the national organization for geoscientific information and research -- to get the answer.

Red Cross - Turkey and Syria donation appeal

Because earthquakes aren't as high of seismic hazards in Canada as they are in Turkey, we don't expect to get the same frequency or severity of tremors, Hobbs said.

"Here in Canada, it's a little bit different. We've got the Cascadia subduction zone on the West Coast and then [we] can also get what we think of as shallow, crustal earthquakes," said Hobbs.

The shallow earthquakes happen where the surface of the Earth is "just crushing around," she added. These tremors occur in Eastern Canada, in a zone stretching from the Great Lakes to the St. Lawrence River, which includes major cities like Toronto, Hamilton, Ottawa, Montréal and Québec City.

The good news for Eastern Canada is these kinds of earthquakes are unable to register on a large-scale magnitude such as an 8 or 9, which happen in the Cascadia subduction zone, Hobbs noted.

CASCADIAZONE

The largest earthquake recorded in Eastern Canada was the Nov. 18, 1929 (7.2 magnitude) event off the Grand Banks of Newfoundland. Twenty-eight people perished after a tsunami rushed ashore.

"You really don't want them happening near a city, which, as we saw in Turkey, was a shallow, crustal earthquake that was quite big for [that type of tremor]," said Hobbs. "It happened near a populated centre and that's why it was such a devastating sequence of events."

Although there have been several large earthquakes in Canada, some occur in incredibly remote regions with no threat to life. Injuries, damage and the risk of deaths increase along the B.C. coast, however, with the hazard of a tsunami near the top of the list.

SUBDUCTIONZONE
Certain buildings don't hold up against earthquakes

The bigger the population and the more infrastructure a community has, the higher the risk of a disastrous earthquake, she said.

Bricks, or unreinforced masonry as they're categorized as, are examples of the types of infrastructure that won't offer much protection during a tremor. A wood building, on the other hand, tends to be a "really good performer" during earthquakes, she said.

"[It is] pretty flexible, so [when there] is shaking, the building can shake and that's just fine. A lot of our wood buildings are maybe one, two or three storeys, so you're not going to have some of the effects you have to worry about when you have high-rise buildings," said Hobbs.

GETTY: Emergency kit

(Getty Images)

While Canadians aren't as likely to experience catastrophic earthquakes, such as the ones that occurred in Turkey and Syria last month, it's always good to be prepared. This includes having an emergency kit, creating and reviewing an evacuation/earthquake plan, and practise dropping, covering and holding in a safe place.

Thumbnail courtesy of Getty Images.

With files from Tyler Hamilton, a meteorologist at The Weather Network.

Follow Nathan Howes on Twitter.

Artists honour women, pay tribute to Turkey, Syria earthquake victims in Vancouver exhibit

Wed, March 8, 2023 

Artist Inanna Cusi says her painting of a woman's cracking body holding up the earth symbolizes women's strength and vulnerability. (Rafe Arnott/CBC - image credit)

Artists in Metro Vancouver are honouring women and paying tribute to the victims of the devastating earthquakes in Turkey and Syria in an exhibit for International Women's Day and the centennial anniversary of the Turkish Republic.

The exhibit, titled Women's Art On Women's Day, will be held at Simon Fraser University's Segal Building in Vancouver, featuring the works of 15 artists, all of them women.

Although preparations for the event began months ago, when the powerful earthquakes hit in February, the artists decided to change their projects, and work on paintings related to the quakes and the strength of women simultaneously.

"The quakes affected us deeply … I lost a very dear friend of mine," said Eser Ince, who moved to Canada from Turkey in 2011 and now lives in North Vancouver.

Rafe Arnott/CBC

Nilufar Moayeri, an Iranian-born artist who grew up in Istanbul, is organizing the exhibition with the Turkish-Canadian Society. Proceeds from the artists' paintings will go towards supporting survivors of the quake.

"After that painful tragedy, we were all prepared to paint a woman to show how strong they are," Moayeri said.

'I tried to capture the strength of women'

Moayeri's painting shows a woman's face in light and darkness. The dark side shows damaged buildings and people trying to help others out of the rubble, while the light side, full of blues and yellows, represents hope, she says.

Inanna Cusi, an Austrian-Mexican painter and filmmaker, will be showcasing a piece titled Gaia after the ancient Greek goddess of the Earth. It features the body of a woman carrying the planet. The body and the ground are full of cracks.

"I tried to capture the strength of women and how we are holding together the world but also the doom … the earthquake destroying our world and the hardships that we're enduring at the same time," she said.

"So I guess it's up to interpretation how optimistic or pessimistic you see it."

Rafe Arnott/CBC

Ince's painting shows a building full of cracks and diagonal lines, representing fault lines. A woman is seen at the bottom — an homage to the friend she lost in the earthquake.

Her friend was visiting her mother in a hospital in İskenderun when the earthquake struck.

"I was really deeply hurt and traumatized by what happened," Ince said.

Since the earthquakes shook southern Turkey and northern Syria one month ago, killing more than 45,000 people, hundreds of thousands of people are still in need of adequate shelter and sanitation, according to the United Nations. An appeal for $1 billion to assist survivors is only 10 per cent funded, hampering efforts to tackle the humanitarian crisis.

About two million survivors have been housed in temporary accommodation or evacuated from the earthquake-devastated region, according to Turkish government figures. Around 1.5 million people have been settled in tents while another 46,000 have been moved to container houses.

Showcasing 'the power of women'

Moayeri and Ince say it's essential to showcase "the power of women" through the paintings, especially as part of celebrations of the Turkish Republic's centenary and the collapse of the Ottoman Empire.

In 1923, Turkey started efforts to modernize and secularize the country, which included passing equality legislation. Turkish women got the right to vote in 1934.

"It's a very important day," Ince said.

For Moayeri, it's doubly important to create art that empowers women because of the women's movement in Iran that began in the fall of 2021.

Stephanie Keith/Getty Images

Protests were held around the world after 22-year-old Mahsa Amini died after being detained by Iran's morality police, allegedly for not wearing her hijab properly.

"As a woman," she said, "I always try to tell with my paintings that women are powerful.