Poilievre would rather 'watch the country burn' than fight climate change: Trudeau

The Canadian Press
Thu, May 16, 2024 
 

MAY 12,2024 --- ALL MPS ARE CONSERVATIVES

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre's pledges to axe carbon pricing come at a time of wildfires and other disasters and Poilievre would rather "watch the country burn" than continue the fight against climate change.

Trudeau says when Poilievre talks about scrapping the price on carbon, it would also mean the end of the rebate cheques that most families receive.

He says the parliamentary budget officer had confirmed that 80 per cent of families get more back through the Canada carbon rebate program than the extra they pay for gas and home heating because of the price on carbon.

His remarks come after Poilievre called for a "vacation" from carbon pricing from the upcoming Victoria Day long weekend to Labour Day.

Poilievre told a news conference at a gas station in Vancouver that his vacation proposal would lower gas prices by 35.6 cents per litre on average.

But Trudeau says his Liberal government designed the carbon pricing program to make sure pollution isn't free, while giving more money back to Canadians.

"Eight out of 10 families in regions where the federal carbon backstop applies do better with the cheques that come in through the Canada carbon rebate four times a year than it costs them extra on a tank of gas, or to heat their homes," he says.

Trudeau says Poilievre would scrap the price on pollution and take those cheques away at a time when Canadians are struggling with the cost of living, and as wildfires, flooding and other extremes are affecting people across the country.

"His ideology is so strong, he would rather watch the country burn and Canadians suffer than continue to fight against climate change and put the Canada carbon rebate in their pockets," the prime minister says of the Opposition leader.

Poilievre has said that in government he aims to "axe the tax" and greenlight large resource projects to bring production home to what is "the most environmentally responsible country on Earth."

"We will liquefy gas and send it over to Asia to shut down coal-fired plants there," he said.

Poilievre was also asked Thursday about the use of the expression "climate criminal" to describe people who work in extractive industries or drive large trucks.

He responded by saying people who use such "incendiary language" are trying to intimidate taxpayers. "We see this kind of really radical, extreme and wacko language from the Trudeau Liberals, where they attack people for driving automobiles, they say they want to ban roads," Poilievre said.

"Meanwhile, Trudeau and the NDP have no problem importing more products made by coal-burning dictatorships like China, which is responsible for the largest emissions of any country on planet Earth."

Poilievre said the Liberal government, with the support of the New Democrats, has been "piling on punishing carbon taxes," while "the vast majority of Canadians are struggling just to eat, heat and house themselves."

"Canadians are struggling, and they are unable to even afford a vacation. They need a break."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 16, 2024.

TOP PHOTO:  NORTHERN ALBERTA MAY 14, 2024

GRAPHICS THE WEATHERCHANNEL

 

WTF?! ATTACKING THE UCP BASE
The Rural Municipalities of Alberta fear trio of provincial bills are a power grab

FASCISTS DISUISED AS LIBERTARIANS

The Canadian Press
Wed, May 15, 2024 

EDMONTON — Alberta's rural municipalities are teeing off on a trilogy of provincial bills they say erode trust and attack local authority.

Paul McLauchlin, head of the Rural Municipalities of Alberta, says proposed legislation giving the province the ability to take control of local emergency responses isn't salvageable.

He says Premier Danielle Smith’s government hasn't offered a clear explanation as to how this change will do anything other than confuse and complicate critical situations.

"They never really listened to what we wanted, which was better financial clarity as it relates to disasters -- more certainly financially when it comes to disasters -- and increased communication,” McLauchlin said in an interview.

The emergencies bill is one of three pieces of proposed legislation introduced in the spring sitting that sparked concern Smith's United Conservatives are making a gratuitous, unnecessary power grab.

One bill would give the province gatekeeping power to veto federal funding deals with cities and towns while another would give Smith's cabinet broad authority to fire councillors and overturn local bylaws.

Despite assurances from the government that the bills maintain the status quo, McLauchlin said he’s “starting to get paranoid.”

"Are you just trying to move authority more and more into ministerial positions, and (cabinet) ministers can start making these decisions without any input of municipalities?" he said.

Public Safety Minister Mike Ellis said the emergencies bill is about clarifying existing powers, not creating new ones.

"Paul (McLauchlin) is quite frankly incorrect,” Ellis told reporters in the legislature Tuesday, calling the negative reaction “misinformation.”

“We are just creating a reporting structure, which is very common in any sort of critical incident.

"There is nothing nefarious in any of these bills.”

Ellis also promised that if the province does take over an emergency response, it will pick up the costs.

Last week, Municipal Affairs Minister Ric McIver, a former three-term councillor in Calgary, also rejected the suggestion the bills are an overreach.

He noted the province already has legal authority over municipalities.

“That is our reach,” said McIver.

“Not only our reach, it is our responsibility. They may not like the bills, I accept that, but using the phrase 'overreach' seems inappropriate.”

McLauchlin said he views the bills differently.

"We're being put into a smaller and smaller box and the government is taking more and more authority away from us, which makes no sense based upon our past relationship with this government," he said.

"It is extremely hard for a conservative government to make rural Alberta mad, and they've done that successfully in three acts.”

One contentious element of the emergencies bill would allow cabinet, during a crisis, to quickly direct water use and allow temporary low-risk water transfers between major water basins without the possibility for an appeal to the Environmental Appeals Board.

That board is an independent body that hears complaints about ministry decisions on things like water licenses and environmental protection orders.

Environment Minister Rebecca Schulz pledged last week that the government will engage with municipalities before approving large-scale inter-basin transfers.

“What this change allows us to do is enable or approve a low-risk inter-basin transfer for the purposes of providing drinking water to a municipality,” she said, a move that has rarely been made.

McLaughlin said with industrial users wanting to siphon water for things like fracking during droughts, the move from the government demands more debate.

"Creating legislation to deal with rare instances is not the best way to govern a society,” he said.

The emergencies bill, if passed, would also move the fixed election date to October 2027 instead of May that year in an effort to dodge the potential disruption of natural disasters.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 15, 2024.

Lisa Johnson, The Canadian Press

Trudeau calls New Brunswick's Conservative government 'a disgrace' on women's rights

The Canadian Press
Thu, May 16, 2024 

CARAQUET, N.B. — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau assailed New Brunswick's premier and other conservative leaders on Thursday, calling out the provincial government's position on abortion, LGBTQ youth and climate change.

During a news conference in Caraquet, N.B., Trudeau delivered his attack in response to a question about whether he would be campaigning with the New Brunswick Liberals ahead of the upcoming provincial election, which has to be held by October.

Despite his desire to "work with any government" in Canada, the prime minister said, "I do have issues with the current government of New Brunswick."

He said Progressive Conservative Premier Blaine Higgs doesn't respect a "woman's right to choose." The prime minister was referring to a New Brunswick regulation that prohibits public funding for abortions administered outside hospitals, a rule that was blamed for the closure earlier this year of Clinic 554, a private care provider in Fredericton.

The closure of that clinic, Trudeau said, and "the unwillingness to engage in allowing women to actually choose what happens to their future and their bodies is a disgrace."

"I will continue to call out the government of New Brunswick and any conservative leader who continues to go after women's rights."

Higgs's office did not return a request for comment. But in January after Clinic 554 closed, a provincial Health Department spokesman said abortions are publicly funded in the province by way of surgical abortion in hospitals or medical abortion with the pill Mifegymiso. Surgical abortions are offered at two hospitals in Moncton and one in Bathurst.

"The introduction of Mifegymiso as an alternative means of abortion has reduced demand for surgical abortions in New Brunswick," spokesman Sean Hatchard said at the time. "It is now the predominant form of abortion in our province and accounts for two-thirds of all abortions in New Brunswick."

Trudeau brought up the 2022 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the constitutional right to an abortion in that country, saying Canada could suffer similar restrictions if conservatives are in power.

Restrictions on abortion, Trudeau said, are "more likely to happen in Canada, particularly with conservative leaders who continue to not stand up for women's rights."

The prime minister also criticized the Higgs government's changes to the provincial policy on gender identity in schools. The revised policy requires teachers to have parental consent before they can use the preferred names and pronouns of transgender and nonbinary students under 16.

Trudeau said Higgs and other conservatives in the country are trying to score political points off "incredibly vulnerable" transgender and nonbinary children.

Higgs, for his part, maintains that parents have a right to be informed if their children are questioning their gender identity.

Finally, Trudeau lashed out at Higgs's calls for the removal of the federal carbon price, saying the premier wanted to "scrap" Canada's fight against climate change.

In February, shortly before the carbon price went into effect in New Brunswick, Higgs said, "the federal carbon tax has and will continue to result in higher prices on everything."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 16, 2024.

Lyndsay Armstrong, The Canadian Press

Eby warns about United-Conservative merger, says B.C. voters face 'starkest choice'

The Canadian Press
Thu, May 16, 2024 


VICTORIA — British Columbia's election campaign was unofficially launched on Thursday, five months ahead of the Oct. 19 vote, with Premier David Eby depicting it as "the starkest choice of a generation," between the NDP and two opposition parties flirting with a merger.

The final day of the spring legislative session saw Eby summon his New Democrat MLAs and party staff members to the caucus meeting room at the legislature where he delivered an election-style speech focused on the months ahead.

Eby said BC United Leader Kevin Falcon and Conservative Leader John Rustad had "let the mask slip" this week that exploratory talks were underway about putting forward a co-ordinated centre-right political opponent to the New Democrats.


"They told us whose side they are on and it's not your side," Eby said.

He said "powerful interests are trying to arrange a marriage of convenience" between Rustad and Falcon.

"Well, I've got a message for these lobbyists and John Rustad and Kevin Falcon, the next election will be decided at the kitchen table, not the board room table."

Eby said to applause and cheers that Rustad and Falcon both represent the same interests and that if elected "people will pay the price with higher fees, fewer services and fewer supports at the time when they need it the most."

Falcon said Thursday that BC United had sent two envoys in recent weeks to find “common ground” with Rustad's Conservatives but a merger was not likely.

However, he said he was consistently approached by people who say, “can you please, please don’t allow an NDP government to be re-elected on the basis of vote splitting."

Historically, centre-right parties have repeatedly been elected in B.C. after successfully uniting the right-of-centre vote, including the former Social Credit and B.C. Liberals governments.

The New Democrats have meanwhile benefited in other elections by splits on the right of the political spectrum.

Falcon said he was committed to doing whatever he could to prevent an NDP re-election, but a merger with the B.C. Conservatives is "problematic."

"There's also real challenges," he said. "There won't be a merger as I've said before. There's practical reasons why, but there's also many of their candidates (who) are frankly too extreme. I can't merge with a party that has candidates that equate vaccination with Nazism and apartheid.

"It's just not going to work," said Falcon. "Or candidates that say getting a vaccine shot, a COVID-19 shot, is going to turn you into a magnet."

Rustad also said talks between the two parties had occurred recently, but the B.C. Conservatives plan to run candidates in each of the province's 93 ridings in the fall.

BC United bluntly turned down overtures by the B.C. Conservatives to work together late last year, Rustad said.

Falcon ejected Rustad from the B.C. Liberals, now BC United, in August 2022 after the former cabinet minister started posting views on social media rejecting the idea that climate change was due to carbon dioxide emissions.

"There's some people who have talked at a backroom level between the two parties about there being some sort of opportunity," Rustad said. "I'm always open to having conversations because obviously we want to bring everybody together (that) we can to defeat this NDP government in October, but as far as the Conservative Party stands we will be running 93 candidates in this next election."

Eby took aim at the Conservatives earlier this week on the issue of child care, mentioning Rustad and his party 10 times, while referring once to the Opposition BC United, signalling which party the NDP considers their main political threat.

The current standings in B.C.'s 87-seat legislature are 55 New Democrats, 26 BC United, two Conservatives, two Greens and two Independents.

In his remarks to the caucus, Eby said he wanted to quote Dolly Parton: "We cannot direct the winds but we can adjust the sails."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 16, 2024.

Dirk Meissner, The Canadian Press

MAGA Rep’s Insane Biden Claim Is Too Much Even for Maria Bartiromo

Justin Baragona
Thu, May 16, 2024 at 10:33 a.m. MDT·3 min read


Fox Business Network


Rep. Greg Murphy (R-NC) made a bizarre claim Thursday, insisting that he has “evidence” to support his allegation that President Joe Biden was “jacked up on something” during the State of the Union address. He even offered to show his so-called proof to Fox Business Network host Maria Bartiromo “offline.”

The MAGA congressman’s wild accusation seemed to go too far for the pro-Trump conspiracy-loving Bartiromo, who once relied on “wackadoodle” claims made by a woman who thinks she’s a ghost to peddle 2020 election lies on Fox airwaves that eventually led the network to settle a massive defamation lawsuit.

Appearing on Fox Business’ Mornings with Maria, Murphy—a co-chair of the GOP Doctors Caucus— was asked to put his “doctor’s hat on” and give his take on the recently announced presidential debates between Biden and former President Donald Trump.

“Trump says he wants both of them to be standing for the two hours,” Bartiromo noted. “Biden says he doesn’t want a live audience, and it just has to be Trump and Biden, no [Robert F. Kennedy Jr]. How does this play out from your perspective?”

The North Carolina lawmaker immediately took a conspiratorial path that even Bartiromo wasn’t willing to fully follow.

Maria Bartiromo’s Strange Trip From ‘Money Honey’ to One of Trump’s Top Boosters

“I’ll just be very plain and simple. I was at the State of the Union address and Joe Biden must have been jacked up on something that day,” Murphy declared. “I absolutely believe that from a medical viewpoint, and have a good bit of knowledge that happened. He can’t stand, and he can’t stand under the lights for that long, and I don’t think he can keep a concept in his brain for that long.”

The congressman would go on to offer advice for Trump in the upcoming debates, urging the 2024 GOP hopeful to “stay presidential” and to “stay in his lane.” Bartiromo, however, wanted to get back to Murphy’s allegation about Biden receiving a pre-SOTU booster, asking what he meant about the president being “jacked up” at his speech.

“I believe they gave him something to sustain the lights and sustain the vigor that he had. That was not Joe Biden. I was in there. He screamed for two hours,” he replied.

While Fox News stars and Republicans have suggested the 81-year-old president was caffeinated or even given illicit substances for his fiery address, with Sean Hannity going so far as calling him “Jacked Up Joe,” none of them have claimed to have actual proof. Despite his bombshell allegations, Murphy wasn’t willing to reveal his hand publicly even as Bartiromo pressed him on air.

“Maybe we can talk offline and I’ll show you something that proves that,” he proclaimed, prompting a stunned Bartiromo to wonder what exactly he’d show her.

“I think I can have some evidence that shows that he was given something before,” the congressman responded.

With Bartiromo continuing to press Murphy on whether he meant “in terms of medicine,” the pro-Trump lawmaker pivoted to the octogenarian president’s physical appearance and purported “facelift” before alleging a vast Democratic-led conspiracy to prop up Biden.

“He’s been manufactured and puppeteered by the Democratic Party to be president of the United States, and I fully believe that has to do with pharmacology,” Murphy concluded. The Fox Business star, for her part, noted that she would follow up on his “compelling” accusations.

The congressman’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment asking if he could provide further details about his supposed hidden proof of drug use.

 The Daily Beast.

Vladimir Putin Is Promoting A Bonkers Conspiracy Theory About Earth Yet Again

Kate Nicholson
Wed, May 15, 2024 

Russian president Vladimir Putin is a firm believer in the dubious "golden billion" conspiracy theory. MIKHAIL KLIMENTYEV via Getty Images

Vladimir Putin has once again pulled out his favourite conspiracy theory in a new interview with a Chinese outlet to bash the West.

Speaking to news agency Xinhua last night, the Russian president said: “Earth is the cradle of humanity, our common home, and we are all equal as its inhabitants.

“I am convinced that this view is shared by most people on the planet.

“However, the countries that affiliate themselves with the so-called ‘golden billion’ do not seem to think so.”

According to NPR, the “golden billion” is a conspiracy theory that Putin has often referred to in his public speeches, although it dates back to the last few years of the Soviet Union.

The theory claims there is a secret faction of one billion global elites looking to hoard the world’s money and resources, while depriving everyone else.

Putin has regularly deployed this theory as a means to attack the West, and has previously described the supposed plot of the “golden billion” as “racist and neocolonial in its essence”.

Putin, an authoritarian leader who held a sham presidential election in March after eliminating all feasible opponents, is reportedly very wealthy, although it’s not clear how he has made his millions.

The Russian president also told the Chinese outlet that Moscow and its partners “reject Western attempts to impose an order based on lies and hypocrisy, on some mythical rules of no one knows whose making”.

He said: “We advocate for the primacy of international law, equal, indivisible, comprehensive and sustainable security at both the global and regional level with the UN’s central coordinating role.”

Putin overlooked his own role in causing international disruption by invading Ukraine more than two years ago in a conflict he rarely acknowledges as a fully-blown war.

The UN has openly criticised Russia’s illegal invasion, accusing Moscow of “unspeaking suffering and destruction”.

Naturally, Putin also took a direct pop at the US in his interview, saying: “US-led Western elites refuse to respect civilisational and cultural diversity and reject centuries-old traditional values.”

The interview was published just before Putin’s state visit to China, which the president called Russia’s “good neighbour and trusted friend”.

The US is worried about an invasion, but China could take control of Taiwan without firing a shot, war experts warn

Chris Panella
Thu, May 16, 2024

The US is worried about an invasion, but China could take control of Taiwan without firing a shot, war experts warn


The US and its allies are focused on preventing a Chinese invasion of Taiwan.


A new report argues there's a lack of readiness for other ways China could take control of Taiwan.


An aggressive Chinese coercion campaign is far more likely than an invasion and already happening, experts warn.

With the US and its allies focused on what a Chinese invasion of Taiwan could look like, and how American forces could defend Taiwan if necessary, they're missing a glaring alternative strategy China could employ to capture Taiwan, a new report argues.

Defense experts say that an aggressive Chinese coercion campaign, short of war but still threatening, is more likely than a full-scale invasion and the US needs to prepare for such an event.

A new report co-authored by war experts from the American Enterprise Institute and the Institute for the Study of War explores a scenario where China undergoes a "coercion campaign that remains far short of invasion but nevertheless brings Taiwan under Beijing's control," identifying such an event as a "significant gap in US strategic thought."


Elements of such a campaign are already underway and include China's military exercises both in the Taiwan Strait and around the island, which are growing in scale and raising worries about escalation. Economic and diplomatic pressure is notable, and Chinese misinformation operations and the potential to slowly set up a blockade of Taiwan are also concerns.

The increasing Chinese military presence around Taiwan, the report says, could exhaust and overwhelm Taiwan's military and fuel a narrative that it is unable to defend the island, decreasing "trust in the military and feelings of security among the Taiwanese populace."

Taiwan's AAV7 amphibious assault vehicle maneuvers across the sea during the Han Kuang military exercise, which simulates China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) invading the island, on July 28, 2022 in Pingtung, Taiwan.Annabelle Chih/Getty Images

The report identifies four things key to resisting Chinese coercion. The first is a US-Taiwanese strategic relationship that foregoes concerns that "cooperation directly precipitates further escalation, whereas peace and prosperity are just around the corner if this partnership is halted."

Second, Taiwan's government must function despite Chinese efforts to undermine it in the eyes of the Taiwanese people through things like "economic warfare, cyber warfare, sabotage, rigorous (and pseudo-legal) inspections of ships carrying goods to Taiwan, air and sea closures, electronic warfare, and propaganda critical of government mismanagement."

These efforts include significantly degrading Taiwan's essential services, like clean water and electricity.

The third point is that Taiwanese people must resist Chinese "cognitive and psychological campaigns" aimed at breaking their rejection of the Chinese government, including "intimidating supporters of resistance, sowing doubt and fear among the population, and generating demands to trade political concessions for peace."

And lastly, there has to be resistance against "widespread information campaigns" that "aim to decrease the US public's and political leadership's willingness to support Taiwan." Such campaigns are already occurring, prompting anxiety that the US public and government may see getting involved in defending Taiwan as heightening risks of war at a significant cost with little to gain. The AEI and ISW experts argue that is not the case.

Notably, the report says that "Taiwan is strategically vital to the larger US-led coalition to contain" China, arguing that a US-friendly Taiwan links America's allies in the northwestern Pacific with US partners and allies to the south."

A China-controlled Taiwan, however, "would become a springboard for further PRC aggression and would seriously compromise the US-led coalition's ability to operate cohesively."

A US-made AH-1W Super Cobra helicopter launches flares during an annual drill at the a military base in the eastern city of Hualien on January 30, 2018.MANDY CHENG/AFP via Getty Images

The authors of the new report present coordinated actions China could pursue to prompt Taiwan and its partners to accept reunification, referring to it as a "short-of-war coercion course of action."

Some of Beijing's biggest problems are Taiwanese resistance to China, which continues to grow, especially after the historic election of Democratic Progressive Party candidate Lai Ching-te, who is currently the vice president, in January, and continued support from the US and its regional allies.

The new report looks at a hypothetical timeline that begins with the inauguration of Lai this month and leads into 2028, imaging how China and Taiwan could, by that point, come to a "peace" agreement. China could ultimately be successful in such a campaign, the authors say, if the US and its allies fail to recognize Beijing's coercive tactics or strategically plan to deter them.

The US must clearly "recognize the possibility and danger of a coercion campaign that is far more intense than the one currently ongoing against Taiwan and develop ways to prevent Taiwan's isolation through means short of war," they write.

The report's authors argue that "increased efforts in the information domain will be key to ensuring that the US government and friendly international audiences do not fall prey to [Chinese] information operations intended to reshape the way Americans and key international actors think."

CM-11 tanks fire artillery during the 2-day live-fire drill, amid intensifying threats military from China, in Pingtung county, Taiwan, 7 September 2022.Ceng Shou Yi/NurPhoto via Getty Images

US-Taiwanese relations and concerns about an aggressive China in the Pacific region are often at the forefront of the minds of US officials and experts, but the focus is frequently on hard power elements, even if there is recognition of some of the coercive aspects of Chinese behavior.

In March, US Navy Adm. John Aquilano, then the commander of US Indo-Pacific Command, stressed that China was pursuing a massive military build-up not seen since World War II and "all indications" pointed to it "meeting President Xi Jinping's directive to be ready to invade Taiwan by 2027." He also told the US Armed Services House Committee China's actions indicated it would ready to unify Taiwan by force, if necessary.

Aquilano urged lawmakers to intensify the US' military development and posturing in the Pacific in order to deter such a fight.

And, earlier this month, over a dozen US lawmakers wrote to US Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro and Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall, raising concerns about what preparations were being made to harden the US presence in the Pacific and deter military action from China.

Of the lawmakers' concerns, the most prominent appeared to be the lack of active and passive defenses protecting US bases in the area, specifically on Guam and in Japan. "We are concerned about the alarming lack of urgency by the Department of Defense in adopting such defensive measures," they wrote, adding that "it is apparent that the Pentagon is not urgently pursuing needed passive defenses" to harden US bases and airfields from a vicious, preemptive strike by China's threatening missile force


Tracking China's 'grey zone' balloon flights over Taiwan

Thu, May 16, 2024 

Illustration shows Chinese and Taiwanese flags

By Jackie Gu and Yimou Lee

TAIPEI (Reuters) - About a month before Taiwan's January presidential election, China began sending intruders over the Taiwan Strait: more than 100 balloons, some of which passed through the island's airspace or busy, Taipei-controlled air corridors for civil aviation.

Experts say the balloons could be psychological warfare, carry surveillance tools or simply gather meteorological data. On some days, as many as eight were detected within a few hours; at other times, weeks passed without any balloons at all. In the week leading up to Taiwan's presidential election on Jan. 13, an average of three balloons were spotted each day.

Then on April 11, they stopped altogether.

The increased frequency has raised alarms both domestically and abroad.

A senior Taiwanese security official briefed on the matter said Chinese balloon flights near Taiwan took place on an "unprecedented scale" in the weeks leading up to Taiwan's elections and described the incidents as part of a Chinese pressure campaign – so-called grey-zone warfare designed to exhaust a foe using irregular tactics without open combat.

Taiwan inaugurates its new president, Lai Ching-te, on May 20. China, which views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory despite the island's objections, has a strong dislike of Lai, believing him to be a dangerous "separatist", whose repeated offers of talks it has rejected, including one in May.

China's defence ministry did not respond to a request for comment.

China's Taiwan Affairs Office referred Reuters to its comment on Jan. 31, in which it dismissed complaints about the balloons, saying they were for meteorological purposes and should not be hyped up for political reasons.

Before Dec. 8, balloon data was not public, making historical comparisons impossible.

But Jan Jyh-horng, the deputy head and spokesperson of the Mainland Affairs Council, Taiwan's top China policy-making body, told Reuters that in the past, a balloon would be spotted "maybe once a month".

Between December 2023 and April 2024, more than four balloons were detected on eight separate days. In total, just over a hundred balloons were flown during that period.

Three Taiwanese officials briefed on the matter confirmed that the number of Chinese balloons had increased significantly in recent months. The majority are weather balloons collecting atmospheric data, including wind, temperature and humidity, they said, but Taiwan still sees them as Chinese harassment.

The balloons have flown at an altitude of 11,000 to 38,000 feet, with a mean altitude of 22,294 feet – well under the usual altitude for meteorological balloons. According to the U.S. National Weather Service, weather balloons typically reach altitudes of more than 100,000 feet.

"Sending them over at that kind of altitude is dangerous," said Alexander Neill, strategic adviser on Indo-Pacific geopolitics formerly at the International Institute for Strategic Studies and the Royal United Services Institute. "You are within air traffic corridors, and the potential for a collision is concerning."

Jan agreed, saying the balloons are threats to aviation safety.

"They fly very slowly while planes move speedily," he said. "It could be too late when they were spotted, if they were sucked into the engines."

China's most frequent form of "grey zone" activity has been the almost daily air force and navy missions in the waters and skies around Taiwan, forcing the island's armed forces to repeatedly scramble to see off the intruders.

Other tactics Taiwanese officials have expressed concern about include sand dredging close to the Taiwan-controlled Matsu islands, which sit near the Chinese coast.

(For an interactive graphic tracking balloon’s over Taiwan, click )

A second senior Taiwanese senior security official said, citing intelligence gathered by Taiwan, that the data potentially collected by the balloons would be useful for the PLA's rocket forces, because atmospheric factors could affect missile launches.

"If China was planning to mount an air assault onto Taiwan, they would need to understand the meteorological conditions and wind patterns of the island," Neill said.

Wang Ting-yu, a senior lawmaker for Taiwan's ruling Democratic Progressive Party and chair of parliament's foreign affairs and defence committee, told Reuters balloons are hard for military radars to detect unless their sensitivity is set to high levels.

But ultra-sensitive radars are likely to spot objects such as birds, and as a result, Taiwan's military might miss other vital targets such as incoming missiles.

"It's a challenging task," he said.

Raymond Kuo, director of the RAND Corporation's Taiwan Policy Initiative, says he thinks the purpose of the balloons is primarily psychological.

"I personally am sceptical of what additional intelligence China could get from balloons that they couldn't get from other platforms," Kuo said. "I think they're mostly meant to signal to Taiwan that they can't even defend their airspace."

(Reporting by Jackie Gu and Yimou Lee; Additional reporting by Ben Blanchard, and Ryan Woo in Beijing. Editing by Gerry Doyle)

BLUE H2

CNX plans $1.5B hydrogen fuels plant at Pittsburgh airport, but wants federal tax credit to build it

ALL CAPITALI$M IS STATE CAPITALI$M

Wed, May 15, 2024 

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Natural gas producer CNX Resources said it plans to build a $1.5 billion facility at Pittsburgh's airport to make hydrogen-based fuels, but only if President Joe Biden’s administration allows coal mine methane to qualify for tax credits that are central to the Democrat's plan to fight climate change.

The proposed facility has the backing of Pittsburgh-area labor unions, which hope to fill thousands of construction jobs, and top Pennsylvania officials, including U.S. Sen. Bob Casey. But it is likely to face scrutiny from clean energy and climate change activists.

The announcement comes as Biden's administration decides how to tailor billions of dollars in tax credits in a massive effort to build out a hydrogen industry to be a cleaner alternative to fossil fueled energy and slash planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions.

CNX said the facility would remove a potent greenhouse gas from the atmosphere — methane vented from coal mines — and blend it with natural gas to produce enough hydrogen-based airline fuel to supplant almost all of the jet fuel consumption at Pittsburgh International Airport.

“We want to produce our gas here, use it here to solve complex problems and this is one of those that addresses a really hard problem to solve: decarbonizing aviation is a challenge," said Ravi Srivastava, CNX's president of new technologies.

CNX's partners include the airport and KeyState Energy, which is building a facility in northern Pennsylvania to produce hydrogen from natural gas.

Darrin Kelly, president of the Allegheny/Fayette Central Labor Council, called it the “most significant energy project" in years in a region where many boosters have hoped a natural gas boom would reindustrialize an economy battered by the collapse of coal and steel.

Climate change activists don't want coal mine methane and other fossil fuels to qualify for the tax credits.

They don't like coal mine methane escaping into the atmosphere, but producing hydrogen from fossil fuels, instead of from carbon-free electricity, would undermine the purpose of the entire hydrogen program to displace fossil fuels, they say.

“I fear that if we take this path, we’ll look up a decade down the line and see we’ll have just poured hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars into something that is not clean and does not move us in the right direction," said Julie McNamara, a senior energy analyst at the Union of Concerned Scientists.

Lobbying is heavy over the final rule, giving Biden a political hot potato in a premier battleground state with fewer than six months until November's election.

The Treasury Department hasn’t said when it will publish a final rule, and nothing may happen before the election.

A final rule could determine how qualifying hydrogen projects must calculate their emissions and direct billions of public tax dollars on a sliding scale. Qualifying projects with the lowest emissions scores would get bigger tax credits.

As part of that, the department could determine whether a project can use coal mine methane as a feedstock. The federal government considers methane capture to have a negative emissions score, which helps lower the emissions score of a project that also uses natural gas a feedstock.

CNX could draw natural gas from below the airport and it has the rights to capture methane from coal mines in northern Appalachia.

Methane from operating and shuttered coal mines is normally vented straight into the atmosphere. Capturing it requires expensive equipment and there are no regulatory requirements or incentives to capture it.

The tax credit, however, makes methane capture economically viable as part of a project "that is checking all the boxes when it comes to economy, jobs and climate that the law was intending to check,” CNX’s CEO Nicholas DeIuliis said.

The project isn't financially viable without a tax credit to price the aviation fuel competitively, CNX officials said.

The draft regulation for the tax credits — part of Democrats’ Inflation Reduction Act passed in 2022 — was published in December. At the time, the Treasury Department said it anticipated a final rule would allow “hydrogen production pathways” using coal mine methane.

Administration officials estimate the hydrogen production credits will help the U.S. produce 50 million metric tons of hydrogen by 2050.

Hydrogen is being developed around the world as an energy source and can be made by splitting water with solar, wind, nuclear or geothermal electricity, yielding little if any greenhouse gases.

Most hydrogen today is made from natural gas. About 10 million metric tons of hydrogen is currently produced in the United States each year, primarily for petroleum refining and ammonia production.

___

Follow Marc Levy at twitter.com/timelywriter.

Marc Levy, The Associated Press

Pembina.orgwww.pembina.org/pub/carbon-intensity-blue-hydrogen-production

Carbon intensity of blue hydrogen production | Pembina Institute

Carbon intensity of blue hydrogen productionAccounting for technology and upstream emissions ... There is significant interest in blue hydrogen right now, as ...

Shell.comwww.shell.com/business-customers/catalysts-technologies/licensed-technologies/refinery-technology/shell-blue-hydrogen-process.html

Blue Hydrogen Production - Shell Global

The Shell Blue Hydrogen Process is an end-to-end lineup that enables affordable responsible hydrogen production. By applying proven carbon capture technologies, ...

Petrofac.comwww.petrofac.com/media/stories-and-opinion/the-difference-between-green-hydrogen-and-blue-hydrogen/

The difference between green hydrogen and blue hydrogen - Petrofac

Green hydrogen is hydrogen produced by splitting water by electrolysis. This produces only hydrogen and oxygen. We can use the hydrogen and vent the oxygen to ...

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What is green hydrogen vs. blue hydrogen and why it matters - CNBC

Jan 6, 2022 ... Blue hydrogen is hydrogen produced from natural gas with a process of steam methane reforming, where natural gas is mixed with very hot steam ...

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Difference between green and blue hydrogen - Iberdrola

The main difference between green and blue hydrogen lies in the process of obtaining the hydrogen, and in its environmental impact. Blue hydrogen does not ...

Biden signs sweeping aviation safety, reform bill into law

Updated Thu, May 16, 2024 

Thanksgivng Holiday travel at Washington Dulles Airport in Virginia


By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -President Joe Biden signed on Thursday sweeping aviation legislation that will boost U.S. air traffic controller staffing, increase funding to avert runway close-call incidents and speed up refunds for canceled flights.

The $105 billion, five-year measure reauthorizes the Federal Aviation Administration. It prohibits airlines from charging fees for families to sit together, requires airplanes to be equipped with 25-hour cockpit recording devices, raises maximum civil penalties for airline consumer violations from $25,000 per violation to $75,000 and boosts aircraft production scrutiny.


"Following flight disruptions, runway close calls and consumer frustrations, this law is set to deliver the safest, most reliable aviation system in the world," said Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell. "Plane manufacturers will see more safety inspectors on factory floors and tougher safety standards from the FAA."

Biden has repeatedly clashed with air carriers, calling for new stricter consumer rules and harshly criticizing them for imposing fees. His administration has also aggressively moved to block further consolidation in the passenger airline industry, including successfully blocking a tie-up between JetBlue Airways and Spirit Airlines and quashing an alliance between JetBlue and American Airlines.

The law also adds five daily round-trip takeoff and landing slots at busy Washington National Airport, which Delta Air Lines had lobbied for. The bill also directs the FAA to deploy advanced airport surface technology to help prevent collisions.

Efforts to boost aviation safety in the United States have taken on new urgency after a series of near-miss incidents, as well as January's door plug mid-air emergency on an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 9 flight.

FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker said the bill "allows for more runway safety technology, more air traffic controllers and stronger oversight of aircraft production."

The bill also will allow Boeing to continue to produce its 767 freighter for another five years through 2033 in the United States, giving it an exemption from efficiency rules taking effect in 2028.

The bill aims to address a shortage of 3,000 air traffic controllers by directing the FAA to implement improved staffing standards and to hire more inspectors, engineers and technical specialists.

The bill does not raise the mandatory pilot retirement age to 67 as House lawmakers had sought to do last year and retains pilot training requirements.

Congress will not establish minimum seat size requirements, leaving that instead to the FAA. The bill requires the Transportation Department to create a dashboard that shows consumers the minimum seat size for each U.S. airline.

Lawmakers also rejected many other consumer provisions the Biden administration had sought, including requiring compensation for lengthy airline-caused delays as is the case in Europe.

The bill reauthorizes the National Transportation Safety Board and boosts staffing at the safety investigation agency. It also seeks to boost adoption of drones and flying air taxis into the national airspace and extends through Oct. 1 existing government counter-drone authority.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Susan Heavey, Brendan O'Boyle and Jamie Freed)

House signs off on FAA bill that addresses aircraft safety and and refund rights of passengers

DAVID KOENIG
Wed, May 15, 2024 

 A Federal Aviation Administration sign hangs in the tower at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York. Congressional negotiators have agreed on a $105 billion bill designed to improve the safety of air travel after a series of close calls between planes at the nation’s airports. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)


Congress gave final approval Wednesday to a $105 billion bill designed to increase the number of air traffic controllers, add more safety inspectors at aircraft factories, and require airlines to automatically pay refunds to travelers whose flights are canceled or significantly delayed.

The House passed the measure to reauthorize Federal Aviation Administration programs by a 387-26 margin and sent it to President Joe Biden. The Senate passed the measure last week.

Supporters called the provisions of the legislation a key step in improving aviation safety after a number of close calls between planes at U.S. airports in the last two years.

“This bill recognizes while our aviation system is safe, we have to continue raising the bar for safety,” said Rep. Sam Graves, R-Mo., chairman of the House Transportation Committee, which produced the first version of the legislation 10 months ago.

The Republicans and Democrats who lead the key aviation committees in the House and Senate negotiated over the bill's final shape last month, then fought off amendments that might have slowed the measure's passage.

One of the most contentious issues turned out to be the addition of 10 long-haul flights a day to and from Reagan National Airport outside Washington, D.C. Lawmakers from Virginia and Maryland tried to kill the provision.

Rep. Donald Beyer, D-Va., said the extra flights would “aggravate dangerous conditions” and cause more flight delays at the busy airport across the Potomac River from the nation's capital. But lawmakers from Western states, including Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, fought for the flights, as did Delta Air Lines.

The final version of the law authorizing FAA and National Transportation Safety Board programs for the next five years checked in at more than 1,000 pages. Congress has been critical of the FAA since it approved Boeing 737 Max jets that were involved in two deadly crashes in 2018 and 2019.

The bill's major provisions include directing the FAA to hire more air traffic controllers and safety inspectors, to increase the use of collision-avoidance technology at airports and to improve access for passengers with disabilities.

It also bans airlines from charging fees to let families sit together and requires them to issue automatic refunds when flights are canceled or delayed for several hours.

Airlines are suing the Biden administration to block a new Transportation Department rule on the automatic refunds, and inclusion of the provision in law could help the administration's legal case. Graves said the issue could lead to higher fares or result in refunds to travelers who would prefer being booked on another flight, but it didn't prevent him from supporting the bill.


House passes Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization bill

Clare Foran, Gregory Wallace, Tami Luhby and Haley Talbot

CNN
Wed, May 15, 2024 



The House has passed a major federal aviation bill that aims to improve aviation safety, enhance protections for passengers and airline workers and invest in airport and air travel infrastructure nationwide.

The bill renewing the Federal Aviation Administration’s authority for five years will next head to President Joe Biden to be signed into law. The legislation passed the Senate last week. The House vote was 387 to 26.

The bill would authorize more than $105 billion in funding for the FAA, as well as $738 million for the National Transportation Safety Board for fiscal years 2024 through 2028.

Although the package has drawn broad bipartisan support, it touched off contentious debate over certain policy issues.

One flashpoint centered on a provision to add longer-distance flights at Reagan National Airport, just outside of Washington, DC. A group of Washington-area Democratic senators pressed to strip the provision from the package, though the chamber didn’t ultimately move to do so.

Some lawmakers argue additional flights would give consumers more choices and bring down prices, while others say it would increase congestion and delays at the airport, as well as create safety issues. Lawmakers commute most weeks between their home states and Washington, and many could benefit from more convenient flights back and forth.

Other key provisions of the legislation include:

Hiring more air traffic controllers

The bill would require the FAA to hire and train as many air traffic controllers as possible to close a gap of 3,000 vacancies. It would also mandate more research into how many controllers are needed at each tower and center and would increase access to training simulators in more air traffic control towers nationwide.

Improving runway safety

To reduce the number of collisions and near-collisions on runways, the FAA would be required to install additional runway technology at medium and large hub airports.

The technology is only installed at about three dozen US airports, according to the FAA, and played a role in alerting controllers that American Airlines and Delta Air Lines passenger jets were about to collide on a John F. Kennedy airport runway in New York City in January 2023.

Passenger protections

In April, the Department of Transportation finalized a new rule on airline refunds: They’re due in cash – rather than vouchers – within a few days, and come automatically. That means no requirement to call the airline and complain when your flight is canceled or substantially delayed.

The compromise FAA bill as proposed originally did not go as far as the new DOT rule, which raised the possibility that a future DOT leadership could strip the automatic refund rule. After an outcry – including from an alliance of Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri and Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts – the bill’s negotiators returned to the drawing board and added the automatic component into the bill. Under the new language, if a passenger declines an airline’s rebooking request or does not respond to the request, the airline must issue an automatic refund.
Enhancing protections for airline workers

The legislation would put more teeth behind rules against attacks on aviation workers, which spiked during the Covid-19 pandemic, by expanding legal protections to ground-based employees like gate and check-in agents.

It would also enhance Transportation Security Administration-taught self-defense training for flight attendants so they can better protect themselves and respond to unruly passengers and other threats.

Setting a standard for travel credits

Under the bill, travel credits issued by airlines in lieu of refunds would have to be useable for at least five years.

Increasing cockpit voice recording

Commercial aircraft would have to carry 25-hour cockpit voice recorders under the legislation. That was a top ask of the NTSB and a substantial increase from the current two-hour standard.

The cockpit voice recorder is one of the two black boxes and is currently only required to capture two hours of sound from the cockpit. The NTSB says recordings that would be key to investigations have fallen outside the two-hour window and been overwritten.

Six Ways Congress Plans to Make Flying Better With the FAA Bill

Sana Pashankar
Wed, May 15, 2024 


(Bloomberg) -- Congress is aiming to make US airlines quicker to issue refunds and more transparent about their fees.

The House is on the verge of passing legislation to improve consumer protections and flying standards when it comes to buying, boarding and changing flights.

The Senate passed the same measure, a five-year authorization for the Federal Aviation Administration, last week. President Joe Biden is expected to sign the legislation ahead of a May 17 deadline.

Here’s how the reauthorization bill will affect travel:

Automatic Refunds

The legislation would allow passengers to receive full, automatic refunds for flights that are significantly delayed or canceled if the passenger chooses not to take that flight or accept a rebooking, voucher, credit or compensation.

This would apply to domestic flights that arrive three or more hours late and international flights that arrive six or more hours late.

Airline Vouchers

The lifespan of a flight voucher today depends on the airline, but typically these forms of coupons expire one to two years after they’re issued. The FAA bill would require airlines to accept vouchers, airline credits and other forms of flight compensation for at least five years.

Customer Service

In December 2022, Southwest Airlines’ software systems crashed during a winter storm. Millions of passengers across the nation were stranded in airports during the Christmas holiday and faced excessive wait times from customer service and little communication from the airline.

The reauthorization bill requires airlines provide free, 24/7 access to customer service agents by phone, text message, or live chat, partially as a reaction to Southwest’s holiday fiasco. Lawmakers emphasized that these forms of communication should be “without an excessive wait time, particularly during times of massive disruptions.”

Transparent Fees

Seemingly cheap flights can become exponentially more expensive between the ticket purchase and takeoff. The bill would require airlines to clearly show additional fees, such as for checking baggage or changing a reservation, before booking the flight.

Improved Accessibility

The legislation would mandate airlines accommodate specific seating requests for passengers with disabilities, such as a seat near the bathroom or one with more legroom. Airlines would also be required to provide information, upon request and on their public website, about reservations for an on-board wheelchair.

The legislation also would create a grant program to incentivize US airports to upgrade their accessibility standards.

Washington Flights

Perhaps the most contentious component of the bill is one that allows five additional round-trip flights to operate through Ronald Reagan Washington International, the closest airport to downtown DC

Opponents of the measure, including United Airlines and lawmakers from Virginia and Maryland, argue that allowing more flights would worsen delays and noise pollution, along with potentially jeopardizing passenger safety.

Proponents of the measure include lawmakers who live in states further from DC and want more convenient and frequent ways to travel home. Delta Airlines, which argued that the airport is underused, is also in favor of the expansion.

Bloomberg Businessweek