Suncor's revised focus on oil production proof of need for emissions cap: Guilbeault

Story by The Canadian Press •8h


OTTAWA — Recent statements by the CEO of a major oilsands company further the case for federal regulations to cap greenhouse-gas emissions in the oil and gas sector, Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault said.

In an interview with The Canadian Press, Guilbeault called the Aug. 15 comments by Suncor CEO Rich Kruger "disappointing," particularly in the middle of a summer when "tens of thousands of Canadians" were forced to flee wildfires and global temperatures hit record highs in July.

"To see the leader of a great Canadian company say that he is basically disengaging from climate change and sustainability, that he's going to focus on short-term profit, it's all the wrong answers," Guilbeault said.

"If I was convinced before that we needed to do regulation, I am even more convinced now."

This fall, Guilbeault intends to publish draft regulations to cap emissions from oil and gas production and then force them downward over time. Oil and gas contributed 28 per cent of Canada's total emissions in 2021, and the oilsands alone account for 13 per cent.

Suncor contributed 17.4 million tonnes, or 2.5 per cent of the national total. Suncor's emissions in 2021 were 50 per cent higher than they were in 2011. Canada's total emissions have fallen six per cent compared with 10 years ago.

Guilbeault hasn't yet said exactly what the first cap will be, but the Emissions Reduction Plan published in 2022 included a cut of more than 40 per cent to oil and gas emissions by 2030.

Kruger, who only took over as Suncor CEO in April, told investors during Suncor's second-quarter results conference call that the company had a "disproportionate" focus on the longer-term energy transition to low-emitting and renewable fuels.

"Where we stand is we judge that our current strategic framework ... is insufficient in terms of what it takes to win," he said, according to a transcript of the call posted on the company's website.

That included, he said, a "lack of emphasis on today's business drivers."

"Today, we win by creating value through our large integrated asset base underpinned by oilsands," he said.

He promised a "revised direction and tone" focused more on the immediate financial opportunities in the oilsands.

In that same call, Suncor reported second-quarter earnings of $1.9 billion, down from $4 billion in the second quarter of 2022, when oil prices soared following Russia's invasion in Ukraine.

Kruger said the company remained committed to the Pathways Alliance, a consortium of six oilsands companies working together to install carbon-capture technology and reach net-zero emissions by 2050.

Net-zero is the term used to describe a situation where any remaining greenhouse-gas emissions produced are captured by technology or nature. Carbon capture is an emerging technology that traps emissions and funnels them back underground.

Pathways executives have long said that they want to contribute to Canada's climate targets, but that the federal timeline for cutting their emissions was unrealistic.

Both Suncor and Pathways have been approached for comment for this story but neither have yet responded.

Kruger's comments come almost a year after his company announced it would sell off its wind and solar power assets, ending its two-decade long foray into the renewable energy business. Earlier this year, Suncor expanded its oilsands operations when it bought the Fort Hills oilsands mine from Teck Resources and TotalEnergies.

Guilbeault said the federal government isn't asking the oil and gas sector to do more than its fair share, and is not singling it out. He noted zero-emission vehicle regulations being finalized now require one in five new vehicles sold to be electric by 2026, and bar the sale of new combustion engine cars and trucks in 2035.

Draft regulations to eliminate emissions from Canada's electricity sector were published earlier in August and are still in the comment period.

The oil and gas cap regulations were expected already, but Guilbeault acknowledged they have been delayed.

"It is a complex piece of regulation," he said.

But the minister said they are coming, and industry has to do its part.

"I don’t think in 2023 you can be a good corporate citizen and not play your role," he said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 29, 2023.

Mia Rabson, The Canadian Press

Thousands have died in the Mediterranean. Why don't we care?

Story by Joseph Brean •

Migrants swim next to their overturned wooden boat during a rescue operation south of the Italy's Lampedusa island on the Mediterranean Sea in August 2022. More than 25,000 migrants have died trying to cross the Mediterranean since 2015, according to the United Nations.© Provided by National Post

Lampedusa is about as close to Africa as you can get and still be in Europe.

That is why the little island between Sicily and Tunisia is a major destination in the migrant crisis of the central Mediterranean, a human catastrophe that is accelerating into its second decade with no end in sight.

This weekend marked a little milestone, a record of sorts, when 65 boats landed at Lampedusa on Friday, then another 55 on Saturday, with 2,172 people arriving within 24 hours, more than ever before, sending the Italian island’s emergency reception centre so far over capacity the island’s chief official said it was beyond “humane.”

The Mediterranean migrant crisis is as inhumane as any natural disaster, exposing thousands of people to the risk of drowning as they try to reach safety. Already this year 2,300 people have been lost at sea this way, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees , and more than 25,000 have died since 2015, when tracking began in earnest. It is a smuggling trade, so the true numbers are almost certainly higher.

But over this first decade, the human catastrophe has failed to shock like others of similar scope, or different cause. The drownings simply accumulate. Like mass shootings in America, each new horror is muted by its familiarity.

Earlier this month, a seven-metre long boat carrying 45 people, including three children, left from Sfax in Tunisia but sank soon after. Four people survived in the sea before clambering aboard another empty boat, likely from a previous crossing attempt. In response to this shipwreck, and advocating generally but vaguely for political and diplomatic solutions, Pope Francis said the crisis is “an open wound on our humanity.”

In the last few days, the NGO SOS Mediterranée has reported rescuing more than 400 people from flimsy vessels in the central Mediterranean, including more than 30 unaccompanied children and nine babies. They were the lucky ones.


Migrants wait to be rescued on the Mediterranean Sea, 100 kilometres north of Al-Khums, Libya, in February 2018.© Olmo Calvo/AP, File

In June, a vastly overloaded trawler named the Adriana, sailing from Tobruk in Libya, was wrecked off the southern Greek town of Pylos, killing more than 80 of the perhaps 700 migrants on board. No one even had life jackets.

It is not always like this, just another distant disaster, barely registering anymore with the Canadian public.

Once, it exploded into global consciousness, with the picture of the boy on the beach. This was two year old Alan Kurdi, photographed face down, dead in the waves on the Turkish shore in September 2015. He was a Syrian refugee whose family was trying to reach Vancouver, where his aunt was ready to sponsor them. Canadians in particular were so moved that it became a major issue in the 2015 election that saw the Conservatives replaced by the Liberals.

But, like the conflicts and civil wars that feed the Mediterranean migrant crisis — from the Sahel through the Horn of Africa to Yemen and beyond into Central Asia, even as far away as Bangladesh — these horrors soon slip back beneath the surface.


The numbers of dead rise like a tide, too slow to notice unless you measure over a long time. Drip by drip, the numbers reach into the thousands.

It has become a perennial issue of European politics, no longer the acute crisis that rallied the world’s attention in 2015. It has become a campaigning focus for a surging far-right racist nativism that blames migrants for perceived European decline, from street crime to culture. And it remains a seemingly impossible dilemma for mainstream governments.


Attendees look at a mural depicting Alan Kurdi, the young refugee found dead on a Turkish beach, at a press conference where political and community leaders called on the federal government to expedite the process of admitting displaced Syrian refugees into Canada, London, Ont., September 13, 2015.

© Craig Glover/The London Free Press/Postmedia/File

French President Emmanuel Macron is trying to pass immigration reforms, but in highly adverse conditions, alienating both the left and the right with a plan to fast-track asylum cases and legalize undocumented workers, while also tightening the path to long-term residency and enabling greater deportation.

In Britain, far from the Med, migrants who have crossed into France from Italy make another dangerous sea crossing of the Channel, seeking more favourable treatment than on the European mainland. Overwhelmed as much as France or Italy, the Conservative government under Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has been trying to enact a policy of sending asylum seekers to Rwanda for processing and settlement, only to be told by the Court of Appeal this summer that the plan is unlawful because Rwanda is not safe, a decision Sunak has pledged to appeal. It has also recently set up a barge in a Dorset harbour to house migrants awaiting a hearing.

Just like in the Mediterranean, though, the boats keep coming, every one of them too small and ill-equipped to make the journey safely, overfull with people desperate for safety.

The plain need to do something has rattled the European project as much as Brexit or the sovereign debt crisis, stressing charity and cooperation beyond their practical limits, and placing a disproportionate impact on Greece and Italy. Italy alone has recorded well over 100,000 migrant arrivals by sea this year.

Under a new right-wing populist government run by a party that once pledged to blockade North Africa, Italy has moved to prevent civilian rescuers, even levelling fines against Doctors Without Borders for failing to comply with onerous rules about how rescues at sea must be carried out and reported, and detaining the SOS Mediterranée boat Ocean Viking at the port of Civitavecchia for more than a week.

UN High Commission for Human Rights Volker Türk called this policy of criminalizing and discouraging civilian rescue efforts “simply wrong.” But he has also urged solidarity with Italy for its primary role in the crisis, as it faces a “steep increase in the number of desperate people putting their lives at grave risk.”

“We cannot afford to dither, and to become embroiled in yet another debate about who is responsible. Human lives are at stake,” Türk said in April. “Now is the time for solidarity with Italy and enhanced cooperation to safeguard the protection of the human rights of all people on the move.”



A wooden boat with about 100 migrants travels on the Mediterranean Sea to Lampedusa, illuminated by a searchlight coming from a lifeguard boat of the NGO Open Arms on March 29, 2021.

© Carlos Gil/Getty Images/File

As this weekend’s minor record in Lampedusa shows, this remains a distant goal. Mark Green, a former American Ambassador to Tanzania and president of the Woodrow Wilson International Centre for Scholars, recently wrote about the low profile of this crisis.

“So why aren’t we paying more attention? Why are these terrible tragedies unlikely to be talked about a month from now, let alone a century from now? Some might say it’s a sign of the difficulty we have in fully processing the rapid release of news during the age of social media. Others say that stories of the war in Ukraine and increasing hostilities with China are taking up all the time and space our media are willing to devote to international affairs. Still others would argue that news consumers simply aren’t stirred by tragedies involving people who ‘don’t look like us.’ The only certainty is that there will be more migrants crossing the Mediterranean Sea in coming months — and more dying in the effort.”

The unofficial tally of about 30,000 migrants dead or missing dates to 2014, but the crisis is older still. In 2013, the late Sunday Times writer and critic A.A. Gill went to Lamepdusa and wrote about a small wooden boat, “like a child’s drawing, with a high wheelhouse,” that set out from Tripoli with 520 refugees.

“This is the last journey, whatever the outcome,” he wrote . They had come from Eritrea mostly, the young men fleeing conscription into a conflict that continues today, a decade later. They pushed through Libya where they were persecuted, locked up for bribes, eventually in effect chased out into the Mediterranean.

Usually, migrant boats are tracked and escorted to port by Italian authorities. This one got missed, ran out of fuel, foundered near cliffs as the passengers burned fabric to alert people on shore. Then it sank, and 368 people died.

Gill spoke to the mayor, who said: “This is not a new crisis. It is not a crisis at all. We have been taking in refugees every week for 15 years. They are not the problem. They are not the fault.”

Dogs have nose for COVID-19, studies show. Why aren’t they used for testing?

Story by Sean Previl •

Two dogs wait for a reward as they are trained in testing for COVID-19 at Vancouver Coastal Health.© Vancouver Coastal Health

As the availability of COVID-19 tests dwindle across Canada, another option to detect the virus in the form of a furry friend may be the next best thing.

Multiple studies show that dogs can be more effective, faster and potentially less expensive than the current tests on the market.

The research has grown since 2020, with University of California Santa Barbara professor Tommy Dickey finding the collective research shows trained scent dogs are "as effective and often more effective" than both the rapid antigen tests many people keep in their homes, and even the PCR tests deployed at clinics and hospitals.

But even with studies showing their effectiveness, COVID-19-detecting dogs are deployed only in certain jurisdictions in various countries.

One such place is the Canines for Care program at Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH), which started looking into the possibility of training dogs to detect COVID-19 in early 2021.

Dr. Marthe Charles, division head of medical microbiology and infection prevention and control at VCH, said the idea stemmed from the early reliance on laboratory testing.

"I think there was a will from public health at the time and also from the various levels of government to try to find a way that was fast, accurate and non-invasive to be able to detect and train as many people as possible," Charles told Global News in an interview.

Three dogs — two Labrador retrievers and an English springer spaniel — were brought in for training. The dogs were exposed to items such as masks that were worn by patients either negative or positive for the virus. This trained the dogs to recognize what is and is not COVID-19.

Video: Health Matters: COVID sniffing canine

Charles said the dogs were trained since being puppies to associate the scent of COVID-19 with food and were rewarded each time they correctly detected a positive case of the virus.

"So from early on in their lives, they've associated the scent of a case of COVID to a rewarding scent," she explained.

This reward method is not just used by VCM. It was also used with a group of dogs sourced in early 2021 for a French study, trained at detection using toys — usually tennis balls — as rewards.

Dr. Carla Simon, owner of Hunter's Heart Scent Detection Canines in Calgary, said this method of training dogs is common. By using rewards, it can help motivate them to find the scent.

"We would pair, let's say, the sweat samples with COVID, with their reward, and they notice that every time they find their reward, there's that special smell," she explained. "We just have to make it rewarding for the dog."

She added, however, that the dog chooses the reward so trainers can ensure the canines "show up every day and want to do their job."

Earlier this month, Dickey along with Heather Junqueira of BioScent, Inc. gathered several peer-reviewed studies into a review that was published in the Journal of Osteopathic Medicine. Dickey said the number of peer-reviewed studies over the past few years went from four to 29, incorporating the work of more than 400 scientists from more than 30 countries and 31,000 samples.

The review noted the effectiveness of dogs' ability to detect COVID-19 comes down to their noses.   Duration 2:05 View on Watch

"The nose is not like humans," Simon said. "It's massively different, orders of magnitude different, and they can detect things without us being able to smell them."

Humans have about five to six million olfactory receptors in their noses, while dogs have hundreds of millions. One-third of their brain is devoted to the interpretation of smell — something only five per cent of a human's brain is committed to, according to Dickey's review.

The study found dogs' noses may even be able to detect pre-symptomatic COVID-19 cases, or even those who will develop symptoms later.

Dickey told CBS News in an interview that this could help limit or stop the virus from spreading.

"The longer the wait is between your test and your result, that's a latent period," he said. "During that time you're running around spreading COVID and you don't know it. The dogs with a direct sniff will be done in seconds.”

Many of the studies conducted, including the work at VCH through the Canine for Care program, have shown dogs' ability to detect the disease correctly with a success rate of more than 90 per cent. Additionally, the studies also showed a high speed at which the dogs could identify cases. In one study in Thailand, researchers reported the dogs had gone through thousands of samples in just a few weeks.

"The dogs take only one to two seconds to detect the virus per sample. Once they detect a patient, they will sit down," said Chulalongkorn University professor Kaywalee Chatdarong, who led the 2021 project. "This takes only one to two seconds. Within one minute, they can manage to go through 60 samples."

Even though the research suggested deploying scent-detection dogs could also be less expensive than rapid or PCR tests, Charles cautioned the logistics that go into training the dog is where it becomes "more prohibitive."

Video: Dogs trained to detect COVID-19 in Vancouver hospitals

In VCH's case, training of the dogs included the medical microbiology lab to provide samples for use, working with infection prevention teams and control nurses, and if a dog identifies an area of concern, cleaning services may need to be utilized. And when it comes to rolling out testing using the dogs, enough staffing is needed for mass screening.

Despite this, while Charles says deploying the dogs widely could be difficult due to staffing and training, they are still one of several tools that can be used in COVID-19 detection.

"I think the way to see those dogs from my perspective is really like another tool in the toolbox and trying to prevent further transmission of pathogen of concern," she said.

Dickey and Junqueira say dogs should have a place in "serious diagnostic methodology" including in helping should the world face a future pandemic.

India's moon rover confirms sulfur and detects several other elements near the lunar south pole

India's moon rover confirms sulfur and detects several other elements near the lunar south pole© Provided by The Canadian Press

NEW DELHI (AP) — India’s moon rover confirmed the presence of sulfur and detected several other elements near the lunar south pole as it searches for signs of frozen water nearly a week after its historic moon landing, India’s space agency said Tuesday.

The rover's laser-induced spectroscope instrument also detected aluminum, iron, calcium, chromium, titanium, manganese, oxygen and silicon on the lunar surface, the Indian Space Research Organization, or ISRO, said in a post on its website.

The lunar rover had come down a ramp from the lander of India’s spacecraft after last Wednesday’s touchdown near the moon’s south pole. The Chandrayan-3 Rover is expected to conduct experiments over 14 days, the ISRO has said.

The rover "unambiguously confirms the presence of sulfur,” ISRO said. It also is searching for signs of frozen water that could help future astronaut missions, as a potential source of drinking water or to make rocket fuel.

The rover also will study the moon's atmosphere and seismic activity, ISRO Chairman S. Somnath said.

Chandrayaan-3: Pragyan Rover detects Sulphur on Moon, set to uncover more secrets | WION Pulse
3:33

Chandrayaan 3's Pragyan Rover Confirms Sulphur's Presence On Moon's Surface | English News | News18

3:35

Amaze Lab  India’s Lunar Lander Just Sent Back the First Ever Images of the Moon’s South Pole

1:09

On Monday, the rover's route was reprogrammed when it came close to a 4-meter-wide (13-foot-wide) crater. "It’s now safely heading on a new path," the ISRO said.

The craft moves at a slow speed of around 10 centimeters (4 inches) per second to minimize shock and damage to the vehicle from the moon's rough terrain.

After a failed attempt to land on the moon in 2019, India last week joined the United States, the Soviet Union and China as only the fourth country to achieve this milestone.

The successful mission showcases India’s rising standing as a technology and space powerhouse and dovetails with the image that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is trying to project: an ascendant country asserting its place among the global elite.

The mission began more than a month ago at an estimated cost of $75 million.

India’s success came just days after Russia’s Luna-25, which was aiming for the same lunar region, spun into an uncontrolled orbit and crashed. It would have been the first successful Russian lunar landing after a gap of 47 years. Russia’s head of the state-controlled space corporation Roscosmos attributed the failure to the lack of expertise due to the long break in lunar research that followed the last Soviet mission to the moon in 1976.

Active since the 1960s, India has launched satellites for itself and other countries, and successfully put one in orbit around Mars in 2014. India is planning its first mission to the International Space Station next year, in collaboration with the United States.

Ashok Sharma, The Associated Press

Israeli PM orders ministries to get his OK before secret talks, as drama over Libya meeting persists


JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued an order Tuesday mandating that his office approve all secret diplomatic meetings in advance, his spokesperson said, as officials scrambled to contain the growing diplomatic firestorm over Israel's disclosure that its top diplomat had met with his Libyan counterpart.

The exposure of the first-ever known encounter between Israeli and Libyan foreign ministers ignited angry street protests in several Libyan cities and sent Libyan Foreign Minister Najla Mangoush fleeing to Turkey for fear of her safety. Libyan Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, who heads one of the country's rival governments, said he was temporarily suspending Mangoush from her position over the reported meeting. Libya has a history of unremitting hostility toward Israel.

Netanyahu sent the directive Tuesday to all government ministries, requesting they receive approval from his office before conducting any covert political talks. The order also asked that Netanyahu personally approve the publication of news concerning such sensitive meetings. A Netanyahu aide, Topaz Luk, said Netanyahu issued the order in response to fallout from the Libya scandal. It was not known if Netanyahu knew about Foreign Minister Eli Cohen's meeting with Mangoush ahead of time.

Israel's Foreign Ministry announced Sunday that Cohen met Mangoush in Rome last week in what it hailed as a “historic” step toward the normalization of ties with Libya. Having established diplomatic ties with Gulf Arab sheikhdoms, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, during the Trump administration, Netanyahu's government anxiously wants to do so with other Arab states — including Saudi Arabia — to change its status in its long-hostile neighborhood and end its regional isolation.

Related video: Libyan Foreign Minister Fired: Protests over meeting with Israeli foreign minister (Al Jazeera)   Duration 2:28   View on Watch

But the backlash served as a glaring reminder that despite the warming ties between Israel and the Arab world, challenges remain as ordinary citizens in the region still oppose closer relations with Israel.

Within hours of the revelation, Mangoush was on a plane to Turkey, Dbeibah announced her suspension and Netanyahu's political opponents were seizing on the crisis to criticize the foreign minister and his lack of discretion.

A ministry official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss behind-the-scenes diplomacy, said the ministry was forced to go public after an Israeli news site learned about the meeting. Israeli media said the acting United States ambassador to Israel, Stephanie Hallett, had expressed American displeasure with the Israeli announcement in a meeting with Cohen on Monday. The U.S. Embassy had no immediate comment.

In Libya, protests erupted for a second straight night Monday over the prospect of normalization with Israel. Demonstrators set tires ablaze, waved Palestinian national flags and chanted against Dbeibah, the prime minister.

The leader of Libya's Tripoli-based administration in the country's west, Dbeibah has defied calls for him to hand over power. The oil-rich nation has for years been split between two rival governments in its eastern and western halves. Each side has been backed by armed groups and foreign governments.

Libya was plunged into chaos after a NATO-backed uprising toppled longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi in 2011. Gadhafi was hostile to Israel and a staunch supporter of the Palestinians, including radical militant groups.

Isabel Debre, The Associated Press

Native nations on front lines of climate change share knowledge and find support at intensive camps

PORT ANGELES, Wash. (AP) — Jeanette Kiokun, the tribal clerk for the Qutekcak Native Tribe in Alaska, doesn't immediately recognize the shriveled, brown plant she finds on the shore of the Salish Sea or others that were sunburned during the long, hot summer. But a fellow student at a weeklong tribal climate camp does.

They are rosehips, traditionally used in teas and baths by the Skokomish Indian Tribe in Washington state and other tribes.

“It’s getting too hot, too quick,” Alisa Smith Woodruff, a member of the Skokomish tribe, said of the sun-damaged plant.

Tribes suffer some of the most severe impacts of climate change in the U.S. but often have the fewest resources to respond, which makes the intensive camps on combatting the impact of climate change a vital training ground and community-building space.

People from at least 28 tribes and intertribal organizations attended this year’s camp in August in Port Angeles, Washington, and more than 70 tribes have taken part in similar camps organized by the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians across the U.S. since 2016.

They heard from tribal leaders and scientists and learned about a clam garden that is combatting ocean acidification. They visited the Elwha River, where salmon runs were recently restored after the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe fought to have two dams torn down. They also learned how to make the most of newly available federal funds to add climate staff, restore habitats and reduce carbon emissions. And they set aside time to focus on cultural practices, such as cedar weaving, to unwind from the harsh realities of climate change.

“(What) this camp has done for us is to help us know that there is the network, there is a supporting web out there, that we can help one another," said Jonny Bearcub Stiffarm, a member of the climate advisory board for the Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes in Montana. "So we make new songs. We make new stories. We make new visions that we embrace for the positive outcome of our people. We make new warrior societies, new climate warrior societies.”

Knowledge-sharing between tribes is not new. There were trade routes across North America before colonization. During first contact, tribes on the East Coast would send runners as far west as possible to share the news, said Amelia Marchand, citizen of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation.

“This is kind of like a revitalization and an extension of that,” she said.

Kiokun is one of only three fulltime employees for the Qutekcak Native Tribe. In 2022, a landslide cut off a major road and hurled debris into a bay, damaging a popular fishing spot for tribal elders, said Jami Fenn, the tribe’s financial grant manager.

Out of last year's camp came a group made up of tribes and Native villages across the Chugach region in Alaska, including the Qutekcak Native Tribe, focused on responding to climate change. The group is now working to get a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration grant so they can rebuild fish habitats ruined by the landslides and add liaisons with federal entities on climate change issues.

Camp participants include those first starting to consider actions to counter the effects of climate change to those who have long had plans in place.

The Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe in Washington attended for the first time last year. Soon after, they added a staff member focused on climate change, installed their first solar panels, and kicked off a friendly competition with the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation to see which could become carbon neutral by 2032. This year, the tribe co-hosted the camp.

Loni Greninger, Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe vice chair, said a comment from a participant last year had stuck with her, about how the Western red cedar — which is central to the tribe's cultural identity — could die off in the Pacific Northwest because of excessive heat due to climate change.

“To think about a world where there wouldn’t be cedar anymore, where I can’t smell it, where I can’t touch it, where I can’t work with it, where I can’t weave with it, where I can’t use it anymore. That caught my attention,” she said. “I don’t want to be in a world like that.”

This year’s camp had added urgency. The federal government has granted more than $720 million through the Inflation Reduction Act to help tribes plan and adapt to climate change. But Marchand, from the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians, said navigating these opportunities can be “overwhelming” for tribal staff juggling many responsibilities.

The training helps tribes see “what the low-hanging fruit is ... where they can leverage their energy," she said.

Near the end of the camp, each tribal team presented projects they were working on and discussed the impact of climate change.

The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes in Montana was among the first tribes in the U.S. to develop a climate response plan, and the tribe's climate change advisory committee chairman willingly shared that with other camp attendees.

“You don’t have to steal it, it’s yours," Michael Durglo Jr. told the group. “Everything I have is yours.”

The Qutekcak Native Tribe is planning a tribal youth climate camp in Alaska, and Durglo has already agreed to teach part of the six-week program.

Kiokun, the tribe's tribal clerk, also plans to help with this work.

“I think I’ve found a new passion," she said.

___

Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives support from several private foundations. See more about AP’s climate initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

Hallie Golden, The Associated Press

'Like Snoop Dogg's living room': Smell of pot wafts over notorious U.S. Open court



NEW YORK (AP) — It’s become a stink at the U.S. Open: a pungent marijuana smell that wafted over an outer court, clouded the concentration of one of the world’s top players and left the impression there’s no place left to escape the unofficial scent of the city.

While the exact source of the smell remained a mystery Tuesday, one thing was clear: Court 17, where eighth-seeded Maria Sakkari complained about an overwhelming whiff of pot during her first-round loss, has become notorious among players in recent years for its distinctive, unmistakable odor.

“Court 17 definitely smells like Snoop Dogg’s living room,” said Alexander Zverev, the tournament's 12th-seeded man who won his opening match on the court Tuesday. “Oh my God, it’s everywhere. The whole court smells like weed.”

Stung by stories in the wake of Sakkari’s match Monday that made it appear the U.S. Open's stands are the sporting equivalent of a Phish concert, the United States Tennis Association conducted its own investigation, of sorts, to weed out the source of the smell.

Spokesman Chris Widmaier said the USTA questioned officials and reviewed video of the midday match and found “no evidence” anyone was smoking pot in the stands of Court 17, leading to the speculation it may have come just outside the gates of the intimate stadium from adjacent Corona Park.

And he may not be just blowing smoke. Sakkari herself suggested just that when she complained to the chair umpire while up 4-1 in the first set: “The smell, oh my gosh. I think it’s from the park.”

After her 6-4, 6-4 loss to Rebeka Masarova, Sakkari told reporters: “Sometimes you smell food, sometimes you smell cigarettes, sometimes you smell weed. I mean, it’s something we cannot control, because we’re in an open space. There’s a park behind. People can do whatever they want.”

Flushing Meadows security staffer Ricardo Rojas, who was working the gate outside Court 17 on Monday, said he took a break in the park around the time of Sakkari’s match and "there was definitely a pot smell going on.” But he noted that while he enforces a strict no-smoking policy inside the USTA’s Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, the park is “outside my jurisdiction.”

It’s legal in New York for adults 21 and older to possess up to three ounces of cannabis and up to 24 grams of concentrated cannabis for personal use, and they may smoke or vape cannabis wherever smoking tobacco is allowed.

Adam Placzek, who attended Monday’s match on Court 17 with two friends from Hartford, Connecticut, said he smelled pot but didn’t see anyone in the stands it could have been coming from. He admits he “partakes from time to time” but never would dream of lighting up at the U.S. Open.

“My boss heard about the pot story at the U.S. Open and texted me,” Placzek said. “We told him we were there and he was like, ’Well that explains the smell!”'

Other players in past years have complained about the pot smells emanating from Court 17, a 2,500-seat arena that opened in 2011 in the extreme southwest corner of the complex with little buffer to the park.

Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova, who easily won her match on Court 17 on Tuesday, told a similar story: “I smelled it actually today also. You smell it a lot. I think it's just Court 17. That court is so far away, it's almost in the park. I think it’s coming from the park.”

Sakkari, a semifinalist at the U.S. Open two years ago, said the smell didn’t affect her while playing. Still, some fans at Flushing Meadows had little patience for the notion that a top player would be thrown off mentally by the smell of pot.

“It’s New York. It’s everywhere,” fan Diane Patrizio of Southampton, New York, said as she stood in line to enter Court 17. “But what are you going to do?

“There’s so many distractions at the U.S. Open. To hone in on that one thing and let that rattle you? You just can’t do that," she said.

Security staffer Rojas said cannabis odors have become an inescapable fact of life. "Turn every corner and you smell it. It’s part of our world now. You’ve got to get used to it.”

So what would he tell Sakkari or any other player who complains about pot during a world-class competition?

“Try it. ... It might help you relax.”

___

AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis

James Martinez, The Associated Press

New Mexico's top prosecutor vows to move ahead with Native education litigation



ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — It's been five years since a New Mexico judge issued a landmark ruling finding that the state was falling short in providing an adequate education to Native American students and many others, and the pace of progress since has been frustratingly slow for tribal leaders.

New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez said he intends to take over the ongoing litigation that led to the ruling from Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s administration to ensure that the state complies with court-ordered mandates.

The announcement was made public Tuesday, just days after Torrez met with Pueblo governors. The leaders welcomed Torrez's move, saying that many students who have graduated over the last five years were unable to reap the benefits of any changes.

"Now, my hope is that policies will finally be put in place and education programs will be developed, along with recurring funding, so that our children get the education they richly deserve both now and in the future,” said Randall Vicente, the governor of Acoma Pueblo and a member of the All Pueblo Council of Governors.

Torrez, a Democrat, told the tribal leaders during their monthly meeting that the litigation — known as the Yazzie v. Martinez case — identified systemic issues within the state’s education system and was monumental in setting a precedent for Native American and other minority students.

New Mexico historically has been at the bottom of the list when it comes to educational outcomes nationwide. Struggles to address lagging test scores and low graduation rates predated the coronavirus pandemic, and lawmakers have been pouring millions of dollars into efforts to boost access to broadband across the rural state as a way to get more students connected to the services they need.

The attorney general's office confirmed Tuesday that Torrez and members of his civil rights team already have met with lawyers representing the plaintiffs, including the New Mexico Center on Law and Poverty, and the advocates and experts who helped draft a plan for meeting the needs of Native students.

Preliminary discussions also included Lujan Grisham, a Democrat who initially sought to have the case dismissed in 2020. Lujan Grisham has since defended her administration, saying progress has been made. That includes adding more classroom time to the school year, paying teachers more, providing free school lunches and creating an office dedicated to special education.

Caroline Sweeney, a spokeswoman for the governor, said in an email Tuesday that the Lujan Grisham administration inherited the case and that Lujan Grisham has enacted “all the right policies” and has funneled more money to public schools.

The governor's office placed the onus on local school officials.

“The bottom line is this: We need to find a way to more directly hold school boards and school districts accountable for fully implementing the critical investments this administration has made over the last four years,” Sweeney said. “The attorney general’s office has the power to do just that. We have raised this issue with sovereign nations, and they agree.”

Native American leaders have complained that legislative efforts and funding allocations to address the public education system’s deficiencies have been piecemeal. The state Public Education Department also has yet to finalize its own plan to address the ongoing education lawsuit after soliciting public comment in the summer of 2022.

It's too early to say what effects the attorney general's intervention might have, but advocates said they are willing to work with anyone from the state to get results for students.

Other plaintiffs include low-income students and those learning English as a second language.

Advocates have been talking with students, parents and teachers from different New Mexico communities and hearing similar stories about teacher shortages, scarce resources, limited technology and internet access, and not enough culturally relevant instructional materials.

“For years the state has wasted resources on a legal defense that’s protecting the current system, instead of deeply examining and getting to the root of the problems to fix things,” Melissa Candelaria, an attorney and the education director at the New Mexico Center on Law and Poverty, said in a statement.

Susan Montoya Bryan, The Associated Press

Supermoon could team up with Hurricane Idalia to raise tides higher just as the storm makes landfall


Supermoon could team up with Hurricane Idalia to raise tides higher just as the storm makes landfall© Provided by The Canadian Press

Arare blue supermoon could raise tides above normal just as Hurricane Idalia takes aim at Florida’s west coast, exacerbating flooding from the storm.

The moon will be closest to the Earth on Wednesday, the same day Idalia is expected to make landfall in Florida. While a supermoon can make for a spectacular backdrop in photos of landmarks around the world, its intensified gravitational pull also makes tides higher.

“I would say the timing is pretty bad for this one,” said Brian Haines, the meteorologist in charge at the National Weather Service office in Charleston, South Carolina.

It’s expected to make tidal flooding worse not only in Florida, but in states such as Georgia and South Carolina, where Haines’ office has been warning residents that parts of Charleston could be under water by Wednesday night.

When the moon is full, the sun and the moon are pulling in the same direction, which has the effect of increasing tides above normal ranges, said Kerry Emanuel, professor emeritus of atmospheric science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The moon's gravitational pulls are even stronger when it's closer to Earth, so the tides are even higher.

The storm surge is often the greatest killer when hurricanes strike. The ocean water pouring onto land could be up to 15 feet (4.6 meters) along parts of Florida’s west coast, the National Hurricane Center projected in its latest briefings Tuesday. Farther south, up to 7 feet (2.1 meters) of storm surge is expected in the Tampa Bay area.

Storm surge that can be taller than a person is a concern with any major hurricane. The tides and the influence of a supermoon can increase that somewhat.

"There’s a saying that you hide from the wind and run from the water, and hopefully people are heeding that advice,” said Brian Tang, associate professor of atmospheric science at University at Albany in New York.

The part of northwest Florida that could be hit by Idalia is especially vulnerable to storm surge because of the region's geography. The continental shelf extends so far out from the coast and has a gradual slope, allowing the ocean to grow higher as hurricane winds drive the water onto land, Tang said. The shape of the coast in that region – known as Florida’s Big Bend area – is also curved inward, which can focus the storm surge to make it even more dangerous, he said.

In South Carolina, there’s concern that Idalia’s path will take it near the historic city of Charleston and the surrounding area known as the Low Country. That would add water to the high tide that’s in the forecast, Haines said.

“Wednesday evening looks really nasty for coastal flooding here,” he said.

The weather service is forecasting an 8.2-foot (2.5 meter) tide in Charleston Wednesday evening, which could produce widespread flooding in downtown Charleston, Haines said. Even with a 7.5 foot tide (2.3 meters), some roads in the city flood and become impassible, he said.

Jeff Martin, The Associated Press

Tribal ranger draws weapon on climate activists blocking road to Burning Man; conduct under review



NIXON, Nev. (AP) — A tribal ranger's conduct is under review after he pointed a weapon Sunday at environmental activists and plowed his patrol vehicle through their blockade on the road leading to the annual Burning Man counter-culture festival in the Nevada desert.

The incident unfolded on a rural stretch of highway on the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe reservation in northwestern Nevada. The protest calling attention to climate change stopped traffic as attendees were headed to the Black Rock Desert north of the reservation for opening day of Burning Man.

A news release from the tribe's chairman, James J. Phoenix, described the incident as a ranger using his patrol vehicle to clear “debris” out of the roadway after climate activists refused to leave.

Videos on social media, however, showed the ranger had slammed his vehicle into the blockade — a metal travel trailer frame that some of the protesters had chained themselves to — then drove back toward the activists while announcing on a bullhorn, “I'm going to take you all out!”

Phoenix declined to answer questions Tuesday from The Associated Press, including which agency is conducting the review into the ranger's conduct and whether the weapon pointed at the activists was a handgun or a Taser.

“Bottom line up front, we are on it,” Phoenix said.

The ranger, whose name has not been released, then exited his vehicle, drew the weapon and yelled for the protesters to get down on the ground, according to videos taken from multiple angles. The ranger approached a woman as she lowered herself to the ground and grabbed her arm, pulling her down and kneeling on her back.

Related video: Chaotic footage shows police breaking up Burning Man climate protest (FOX News) Duration 5:30   View on Watch

Other protesters can be heard in the videos repeatedly announcing they were unarmed and “nonviolent.”

“We have no weapons,” yells Emily Collins, one of the activists who had chained herself to the blockade.

Seven Circles, the coalition that organized the demonstration, called the ranger's actions excessive in a statement released Tuesday.

“The excessive response is a snapshot of the institutional violence and police brutality that is being shown to anyone who is actively working to bring about systemic change within the United States, including the climate movement,” the statement said.

According to the tribe’s chairman, rangers cited five of the demonstrators, who had traveled to Nevada from New York, Washington, California and the European country of Malta. The chairman did not say what they were cited for.

Collins and her partner, Tom Diacono, traveled from Italy to participate in the protest, opting to skip Burning Man this year after attending the festival for many years.

“The planet is burning,” Diacono said. “It's a bit absurd to continue with the festival while the planet is begging for a change.”

Diacono said they parked the travel trailer across the two-lane highway, placing signs around their blockade that included a call for a ban on private jets. Diacono had expected to make some festival attendees angry by causing traffic jams, but the demonstration's outcome took him by complete surprise, he said.

“If you asked me to imagine 100 scenarios," Diacono said, "police ramming us with their truck was not one of them."

Associated Press, The Associated Press

Chaotic video shows police breaking up Burning Man climate protest blocking road and causing traffic jam

Greg Norman
Mon, August 28, 2023 

A video captured the chaotic moments when tribal police in Nevada dispersed at gunpoint a group of climate protesters who were blocking a road and causing a massive traffic jam for those looking to get to the Burning Man festival.

The footage taken Sunday at the beginning of the annual gathering in northern Nevada’s Black Rock Desert shows a law enforcement vehicle smashing into a sign that reads, "Burners of the World Unite," and a trailer that had been set up across the road behind it.

"We are not violent! Please... we have no weapons at all, we are environmental protesters!" a woman is heard yelling as police handcuff one of the demonstrators.

In the buildup to the police response, the same woman appears to have chained herself to the trailer, which members of the public are seen trying to move so traffic can start flowing again.

"People are getting hurt because of climate change. Look at what happened in Maui, look at what is happening right now in Canada," she said as tensions were escalating.

"Get out of the way!" a woman responded.

The video, taken by FreedomNewsTV, begins with people arguing with the demonstrators over the trailer in the road. Leaning up against the trailer are signs that say, "General Strike for Climate" and, "Abolish Capitalism."

"We got to get through, help us, we got s--- to do!" a man in a cowboy hat is heard saying as he starts trying to dismantle the trailer.

"You’re going to hurt someone," a male protester tells him.

"I don’t care... there are people with medical problems here and you are causing them to be in the f------ hot sun," he responds.

As the two sides continue to argue, the male protester then says, "This is a democracy, we have a right to protest! Get the cops! F------ unbelievable," before adding, "This is how we are trying to wake up the community."

A person then asks him, "How are we going to change the world doing this, man?" pointing to the scene in the road.

"Every change in society came from civil disobedience, all of them!" he says.

Police then finally show up with their sirens blaring.

"Get out now! On the ground! All of you on the ground now!" an officer says as he exits his Rangers truck with his weapon drawn.

"Stop resisting!" a voice then yells as police handcuff a woman.

The video footage ends with police picking up the climate protesters’ signs and tossing them on the side of the road while making more arrests.

A timelapse video of the traffic jam showed at least 150 vehicles, including several tour buses, backed up as a result of the protest.

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