Niger reinstates prison sentences for journalists for defamation, insult

LESE MAJESTE BY ANY OTHER NAME

 

 On June 7, Niger’s head of state Abdourahamane Tchiani, seen here declaring himself the country's leader after a July 2023 coup, reintroduced prison sentences and fines for defamation and insult via electronic means of communication, news reports said. (Screenshot: YouTube/The Times and the Sunday Times)

June 20, 2024 


Dakar, June 20, 2024—Nigerien authorities must decriminalize defamation and ensure that the country’s cybercrime law does not unduly restrict the work of the media, the Committee to Protect Journalists said on Thursday.

On June 7, Niger’s head of state Abdourahamane Tchiani, who overthrew the democratically elected president in July 2023, reintroduced prison sentences of one to three years and a fine of up to 5 million CFA francs (US$8,177) for defamation and insult via electronic means of communication, according to news reports.

A jail term of two to five years and a fine of up to 5 million CFA francs (US$8,177) were also set for the dissemination of “data likely to disturb public order or undermine human dignity,” even if such information is true, according to CPJ’s review of a copy of the law.

“The changes to Niger’s cybercrime law are a blow to the media community and a very disappointing step backwards for freedom of expression,” said CPJ Africa Program Coordinator, Muthoki Mumo, in Nairobi. “It is not too late to change course by reforming the law to ensure that it cannot be used to stifle journalism.”

Previously, the crimes of defamation and insult were punishable with fines of up to 10 million CFA francs (US$16,312), while dissemination of data likely to disturb public order carried a penalty of six months to three years’ imprisonment.

The government abolished criminal penalties for defamation and insult in 2022 to bring the 2019 cybercrime law into line with the 2010 press freedom law.

On June 12, Niger’s Minister of Justice and Human Rights Alio Daouda said in a statement that the 2022 amendments were made “despite the opposition of the large majority of Nigeriens.” He said that decriminalization of the offenses had led to a “proliferation of defamatory and insulting remarks on social networks and the dissemination of data likely to disturb public order or undermine human dignity” despite authorities’ calls for restraint.

“Firm instructions have been given to the public prosecutors to prosecute without weakness or complacency” anyone who commits these offenses, he said.

CPJ and other press freedom groups have raised concerns about journalists’ safety in the country since the 2023 military coup.

This April, Idrissa Soumana Maïga, editor of the privately owned L’Enquêteur newspaper, was arrested and remains behind bars on charges of undermining national defense. If convicted, he could face between five and 10 years in prison.

Several Nigerien journalists were imprisoned or fined over their reporting prior to decriminalization in 2022.

CPJ’s calls to the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights to request comment went unanswered.More On:

 Turkey’s proposal to kill stray dogs sparks outrage

June 20, 2024

By Dorian Jones

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's call for the culling of street dogs is provoking outrage that analysts say is crossing political lines across the country. As Dorian Jones reports from Istanbul, the proposal is resurrecting dark memories of Turkey’s past.

Farm labourer dies in Italy after arm severed by machine

GLOBAL LACK OF H&S FOR FARM LABOURERS


By Laura Gozzi, BBC News
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Migrants labourers work in fields south of Rome (file pic)


An Indian farm labourer in Italy has died after he was allegedly left on the side of the road following an accident in which his arm was severed and his legs crushed.

Satnam Singh was injured by heavy machinery while working in a vegetable field in Lazio, near Rome, on Monday.

According to Italian media, Mr Singh’s employer, Antonello Lovato, loaded him and his wife into a van and left them by the side of the road near their home.

The severed arm was placed in a fruit box.

Medical help did not reach Mr Singh until an hour and a half later. He was airlifted to a hospital in Rome but died on Wednesday.

Mr Lovato is now under investigation for criminal negligence and manslaughter.

Mr Lovato's father told Italian media: "My son had told [Mr Singh] not to go near the machinery, but he didn't listen."

Italy’s Minister of Labour, Marina Calderone, said death of Mr Singh had been an “act of barbarity”.

Mr Singh, who was in his early 30s, had reportedly been living and working in Italy as an undocumented migrant for around two years.

The Indian embassy in Italy said it was “deeply saddened by the unfortunate demise of an Indian national” and added it was “actively liaising with local authorities.”

The Flai CGIL trade union has called for a strike of agricultural workers on Saturday to protest the death of Mr Singh. Maurizio Landini, the union's secretary general, said: "We are faced with a situation of real slavery. The death of a worker - an undocumented worker - is of unprecedented gravity."

The area Mr Singh worked in is home to large agricultural farms and a substantial Punjabi and Sikh population, many of whom work as farmhands.

Undocumented labourers across Italy are often subject to a system known as “caporalato” – a gangmaster system which sees middlemen illegally hire labourers who are then forced to work for very low salaries. Even workers with regular papers are often paid well below the legal wage.

Almost a quarter of the agricultural workforce in Italy in 2018 was employed under this method, according to a study by the Italian National Institute of Statistics. The practice also affects workers in the service industry and building sectors.

The exploitation of farmhands – Italian and migrant - in Italy is a well-known issue.

Thousands of people work in fields, vineyards and greenhouses dotted across the country, often without contracts and in highly dangerous conditions.

Workers often have to pay their employers for the cost of transportation to and from remote fields. Many live in isolated shacks or shanty towns and typically have no access to schools or medical care.

The practice of caporalato was outlawed in 2016 following the death of an Italian woman who died of a heart attack after working 12-hour shifts picking and sorting grapes, for which she was paid €27 (£23) a day.

However, the exploitation of agricultural workers has proven difficult to eliminate entirely.

In 2018, 16 agricultural workers were killed in two separate road crashes in the region of Puglia.

In both cases, lorries carrying tomatoes collided with vans carrying the labourers home after their day's work. The deaths led African migrant labourers to go on strike to protest poor working conditions .

And earlier this month, two people were arrested in Puglia for caporalato after they were found to have recruited, underpaid and exploited several dozen workers.

MUTUAL AID

Monkeys got along better after hurricane - study

By Maddie Molloy, BBC Climate & Science
Dr Lauren Brent
As a result of hurricane impacts, macaque monkeys are getting along better with other monkeys in their social groups

Macaque monkeys got on better with others in their social groups after a devastating hurricane, according to researchers.

Researchers studied the impacts of a hurricane on a population of Rhesus macaques on an island off Puerto Rico.

Temperatures are often around 40C so shade is a precious resource for macaques, since tree cover is still far below pre-hurricane levels.

Macaques, who are known for being aggressive and competitive, have become more tolerant of one another to get access to scarce shade.

"It's extremely hot, it's not just uncomfortable, but actually dangerous for one's health if you don't manage to lower your body temperature," said Dr Camille Testard, a neuroscience research fellow at Harvard.

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In 2017 Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico, killing more than 3,000 people and destroying 63% of the vegetation on Cayo Santiago.

The island is also known as Monkey Island and is home to the macaques studied by the researchers.

The study, which was led by the universities of Pennsylvania and Exeter and published in the journal Science, found that storm damage changed the evolutionary benefits of sharing shade and tolerating others.

"We expected that after the disaster in a more competitive landscape with less shade resources, you would have perhaps more aggression. But actually, that's really not what we found. We found the opposite pattern," said Dr Testard.

Using data collected before and after the hurricane, the researchers examined the strength and number of social ties among macaques.

Whether it's food or shade, macaques aren't known for being very good at sharing resources.

Due to the increased tolerance, more macaques were able to access scarce shade, which is crucial to their survival.

"There's still competition within your groups the way it was before, but the rules of the game have changed since then. What really seems to be important, are the risks of not living, heat, stress and getting access to shade," said Professor Lauren Brent, from the University of Exeter.

Researchers found that the macaques' increased tolerance spilled over into other aspects of their daily lives.

Macaques that had been sharing shade were also spending time together in the mornings, before the heat forced them to seek shade.

In effect, the hurricane changed the rules of the game in the monkeys’ society.

Biden administration old growth forest proposal doesn’t ban logging, but still angers industry


 Climbing assistant Lawrence Schultz ascends the Three Sisters sequoia tree during an Archangel Ancient Tree Archive expedition to plant sequoia seedlings on Oct. 26, 2021, in Sequoia Crest, Calif. The Biden administration on Thursday, June 20, 2024 advanced its proposal to protect old growth trees that are increasingly threatened by insects, disease and wildfires as climate change worsens. (AP Photo/Noah Berger, File)Read More

In this Aug. 24, 2020 photo, fire burns in the hollow of an old-growth redwood tree in Big Basin Redwoods State Park, Calif. The Biden administration is advancing its plan to restrict logging within old growth forests that are increasingly threatened by climate change, with an environmental review of the proposal expected to be publicized Friday. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File)

BY MATTHEW BROWN
June 20, 2024

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — The Biden administration is advancing its plan to restrict logging within old growth forests that are increasingly threatened by climate change, with exceptions that include cutting trees to make forests less susceptible to wildfires, according to a U.S. government analysis obtained by The Associated Press.

The analysis — expected to be published Friday — shows that officials intend to reject a blanket prohibition on old growth logging that’s long been sought by some environmentalists. Officials concluded that such a sweeping ban would make it harder to thin forests to better protect communities against wildfires that have grown more severe as the planet warms.

“To ensure the longevity of old growth forests, we’re going to have to take proactive management to protect against wildfire and insects and disease,” Forest Service Deputy Chief Chris French told AP in an interview. Without some thinning allowed on these forests, he said there is a risk of losing more trees.
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The exceptions under which logging would be allowed are unlikely to placate timber industry representatives and Republicans in Congress. They’ve pushed back against any new restrictions. French asserted the impacts on timber companies would be minimal.

“There’s so little timber sales that occur right now in old growth...that the overall effects are very small,” French said.

The proposed changes mark a shift within an agency that historically promoted logging. They’re expected to be finalized before President Joe Biden’s first term ends in January and come after the Democrat issued a 2022 executive order that directed the U.S. Department of Agriculture to identify old growth forests across the nation and devise ways to conserve them.

That order touched off a flurry of disagreement over what fits under the definition of old growth and how those trees should be managed.

Old-growth forests, such as the storied giant sequoia stands of northern California, have layer upon layer of undisturbed trees and vegetation. There’s wide consensus on the importance of preserving them — both symbolically as marvels of nature, and more practically because their trunks and branches store large amounts of carbon that can be released when forests burn, adding to climate change.

Underlining the urgency of the issue are wildfires that killed thousands of giant sequoias in recent years. The towering giants are concentrated in about 70 groves scattered along the western side of the Sierra Nevada range.

Most old growth forests across the U.S. were lost to logging as the nation developed over the past few centuries. Yet pockets of ancient trees remain, scattered across the U.S. including in California, the Pacific Northwest and areas of the Rocky Mountains. Larger expanses of old growth survive in Alaska, such as within the Tongass National Forest.

Old growth timber harvests in the Tongass were limited in 2021 to small commercial sales. Those would no longer occur under the administration’s proposal.

The new analysis follows a separate report on threats to old growth forests that was finalized last week. It concluded wildfire, insects and disease have been the main killers of old growth trees since 2000, accounting for almost 1,400 square miles losses (3,600 square kilometers).

By contrast, logging on federal lands cut down about about 14 square miles of old growth (36 square kilometers). That figure has been seized on by timber industry representatives who argue further restrictions aren’t needed.

“A binding restriction on timber harvest is not where their priority ought to be,” said Bill Imbergamo with the Federal Forest Resource Coalition, an industry group. He added that exceptions by federal officials to allow some logging could be challenged in court, which could tie up even small logging projects that are focused on reducing wildfire risks.

Environmentalists have urged the administration to go even further as they seek to stop logging projects on federal lands in Oregon, South Dakota, Montana, Idaho and other states.

Jamie Williams, president of The Wilderness Society, said the proposal was “a step in the right direction.”

“But it must go further to protect and restore resilient old-growth forests in a way that meets the challenges of the changing climate,” he added.

The Forest Service inventory identified about 39,000 square miles (100,000 square kilometers) of old growth across the U.S. and 100,000 square miles (275,000 square kilometers) of mature forests that have not yet reached old growth status.

Environmentalists lobbied unsuccessfully for logging restrictions to be extended to those mature forests.

Under former President Donald Trump, federal officials sought to open up millions of acres of West Coast forests to potential logging. Federal wildlife officials reversed the move in 2021 after determining political appointees under Trump relied on faulty science to justify drastically shrinking areas of forest that are considered crucial habitats for the imperiled northern spotted owl.

Assisted-Suicide Activists Sue Catholic Hospital in Canada

'ACTIVISTS' ARE  'FAMILY MEMBERS'

NR ARE YANKEE CLOSET CATHOLIC CONSERVATIVES

(Darwin Brandis/Getty Images)

By THOMAS MCKENNA
NATIONAL REVIEW
June 20, 2024

Pro-euthanasia activists and the family of a patient killed by assisted suicide sued a Catholic health organization on Monday for refusing to provide the lethal procedure.

When a 34-year-old cancer patient at St. Paul’s Hospital requested assisted suicide last year, the Catholic hospital in Vancouver transferred her to another health facility that provided it. But her parents say the transfer violated their daughter’s rights under the Canadian constitution, and are suing Providence Health Care — the Catholic health organization that runs St. Paul’s — and the British Columbia Health Minister

The plaintiffs argue that all palliative care centers must provide in-house access to assisted suicide, regardless of religious beliefs. National Review first reported the details of the suit in February.

Activist group Dying with Dignity Canada is also a plaintiff in the suit and helped assemble a legal team. Daphne Gilbert, vice chairwoman of Dying with Dignity Canada, said in a February interview that she hopes the case will “pave the way for ending the ability of religion to dictate health care.”

The challenge is a “test case,” said Gilbert, for compelling religious medical institutions to provide abortions and “gender-affirming care,” in addition to assisted suicide.

“Religious institutions would either have to decide to get out of the business of offering medical care, and it could be taken over by the province,” Gilbert said, “or these institutions would have to align their care with the Constitution, even if it opposes their values.”

The suit argues religious health centers that do not provide MAID violate a patient’s “freedom of conscience and religion” and “right to life, liberty, and security” guaranteed in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Since patients under the Catholic hospital’s care are entitled to “freedom from religion,” the suit claims, Providence’s religious beliefs cannot dictate its health-care practices.

Jyothi Jayaraman, a palliative care doctor who left Providence, is also suing the health organization for preventing her from performing euthanasia. The lawsuit argues the policies of Providence and the B.C. government infringe on a clinician’s ability to “discharge their professional obligations and to practice medicine free from religious coercion and in a manner consistent with their own conscience.”

Canada is “five to seven years ahead” of the United States on these issues, said ​​Andrew Bennett, program director for faith communities at Cardus, a Canadian think tank.

“And I don’t mean in a positive direction — a very negative direction,” Bennett said.

The St. Paul’s patient denied access to assisted suicide, 34-year-old Samantha O’Neill, gained public attention last June. When O’Neill, who had been diagnosed with stage-four cancer, opted for a medically assisted death, St. Paul’s hospital could prepare her for the procedure but could not administer the drugs that would ultimately kill her. O’Neill’s parents said the transfer, which took a couple of hours, caused their daughter unnecessary pain and robbed them of their final moments with her.

In response to public pressure fueled by O’Neill’s transfer, the B.C. government in November appropriated land from the hospital, according to an Archdiocese of Vancouver publication, and announced it would build an assisted-suicide center adjacent to St. Paul’s Hospital. The new building will allow patients to more easily be transferred out of Providence’s care to receive MAID.


Gilbert is concerned that the deal does not go far enough, since the transfer of the patient could still be painful and separate them from their families, and since other facilities under Providence’s management would still not be required to provide MAID.

The constitutional challenge cites the Canadian Charter’s fundamental freedom of conscience and religion and argues that patients have a “conscience right” to choose euthanasia. St. Paul’s, she said, must provide MAID on-site.

“My argument would be that there is no freedom of religion for an institution,” Gilbert said. “Bricks and mortar don’t have conscience and religious beliefs. People within them might — and those people need to be respected and accommodated — but the four walls of the building are publicly funded health-care institutions.”

The Canadian Civil Liberties Association takes a similar view. Harini Sivalingam, director of equality programs, said she would not comment on the developing lawsuit against St. Paul’s but said the CCLA believes religious hospitals “shouldn’t be granted an exemption from providing MAID.”

“All publicly funded hospitals, which includes anything religious, should not be able to deny equitable health services,” said Sivalingam in February, “whether that’s access to abortion, gender-affirming care, or providing end-of-life services such as MAID.”


The day after Providence and the British Columbia government struck the deal, on November 29, the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops released a statement saying they “unanimously and unequivocally oppose the performance of either euthanasia or assisted suicide within health organizations with a Catholic identity.”

Assisted suicide was illegal in Canada until 2015, when the Supreme Court found the nationwide prohibition unconstitutional. In response, the Parliament passed the Medical Assistance in Dying Act, which legalized assisted suicide in certain circumstances.

Patients could receive MAID if their death was “reasonably foreseeable” and their illness “grievous and irremediable.” A 2021 amendment removed the “reasonably foreseeable” requirement.


Brian Bird, a lecturer at the University of British Columbia’s Peter A. Allard School of Law, claims the high court’s treatment of religious liberty has been on the wrong track. The St. Paul’s case, he said, could be “an opportunity to correct course.”

“It seems to me that what reconciliation could look like is allowing a health-care institution like St. Paul’s or other healthcare institutions to provide 99.5 percent of legal health-care services, but for conscientious or ethical or religious reasons, not provide certain procedures,” Bird said. “It’s quite a heavy-handed argument to say they must provide everything.”

Canada’s supreme court has been unfriendly to religious-liberty claims in recent years. A 2018 ruling by the supreme court denied accreditation to a law school proposed by Trinity Western University, a private university that adheres to Christian teachings on traditional marriage. Despite the university’s academic achievements and contributions, the court ruled that the school’s faith-based community standards could potentially harm the dignity of LGBT students.

Providence is “reviewing the court filing in order to determine next steps,” a spokesperson told NR in a Tuesday email statement.

“As Providence is a Catholic Health Care provider, MAiD is not available at our facilities,” the statement read. “Consistent with British Columbia’s regulations, Providence works to ensure patient requests for MAiD are addressed in a timely and safe manner and that patients requesting the service are brought to a health-care organization that provides it.”

Since its legalization, deaths from MAID have risen from 1,018 in 2016 to 13,241 in 2022, accounting for 4 percent of all deaths in Canada.

 NATURAL DISASTERS

Cascadia Subduction Zone, One of Earth’s Top Hazards, Comes Into Sharper Focus

Kevin Krajick

June 8, 2024

Off the coasts of southern British Columbia, Washington, Oregon and northern California lies a 600 mile-long strip where the Pacific Ocean floor is slowly diving eastward under North America. This area, called the Cascadia Subduction Zone, hosts a megathrust fault, a place where tectonic plates move against each other in a highly dangerous way. The plates can periodically lock up and build stress over wide areas―eventually to be released when they finally lurch against each other. The result: the world’s greatest earthquakes, shaking both seabed and land, and generating tsunamis 100 feet high or more. Such a fault off Japan caused the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster. Similar zones exist off Alaska, Chile and New Zealand, among other places. At Cascadia, big quakes are believed to come roughly every 500 years, give or take a couple hundred. The last occurred in 1700.

Scientists have long been working to understand the Cascadia Subduction Zone’s subterranean structures and mechanics, in order to delineate places most susceptible to quakes, how big they might be and what warning signs they might produce. There is no such thing as predicting an earthquake; rather, scientists try to forecast probabilities of multiple scenarios, hoping to help authorities design building codes and warning systems to minimize the damage when something happens.

A newly published study promises to greatly advance this effort. A research vessel towing an array of the latest geophysical instruments along almost the entire zone has produced the first comprehensive survey of the many complex structures beneath the seafloor. These include the geometry of the down-going ocean plate and overlying sediments, and the makeup of the overriding North American plate. The study was just published in the journal Science Advances.

A schematic cross section of the Cascadia Subduction Zone shows the ocean floor plate (light grey) moving under the North American continental plate, along with other features. (Courtesy USGS)

“The models currently in use by public agencies were based on a limited set of old, low-quality 1980s-era data,” said Suzanne Carbotte, a marine geophysicist at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, which is part of the Columbia Climate School. “The megathrust has a much more complex geometry than previously assumed. The study provides a new framework for earthquake and tsunami hazard assessment.”

With funding from the U.S. National Science Foundation, the data was gathered during a 41-day cruise in 2021 by Lamont’s research vessel, the Marcus G. Langseth. Researchers aboard the ship penetrated the seafloor with powerful sound pulses and read the echoes, which were then converted into images, somewhat similar to how physicians create interior scans of the human body.

One key finding: the megathrust fault zone is not just one continuous structure, but is divided into at least four segments, each potentially somewhat insulated against movements of the others. Scientists have long debated whether past events, including the 1700 quake, ruptured the entire zone or just part of it—a key question, because the longer the rupture, the bigger the quake.

Sub-seafloor map of the Cascadia Subduction Zone, showing depth of the fault between the eastward-moving Juan de Fuca place and the North American plate. Yellow/orange indicates shallow depths; green, deeper; blues/purples deepest. Diagonal black lines approximate divisions between different segments of the zone. Wavy red line to right indicates the seaward edge of rigid continental rocks that apparently cause the zone to break into these segments. (Modified from Carbotte et al., Science Advances, 2024)

The data show that the segments are divided by buried features including big faults, where opposing sides slide against each other perpendicular to the shore. This might help buffer against movement on one segment translating to the next. “We can’t say that this definitely means only single segments will rupture, or that definitely the whole thing will go at once,” said Harold Tobin, a geophysicist at the University of Washington and coauthor of the study. “But this does upgrade evidence that there are segmented ruptures.”

The imagery also suggests the causes of the segmentation: the rigid edge of the overriding North American continental plate is composed of many different kinds of rocks, formed at different times over many tens of millions of years, with some being denser than others. This variety in the continental rocks causes the incoming, more pliable oceanic plate to bend and twist to accommodate differences in overlying pressure. In some places, segments go down at relatively steep angles, in others at shallow ones.

The researchers zeroed in on one segment in particular, which runs from southern Vancouver Island alongside Washington state, more or less ending at the Oregon border. The subterranean topography of other segments is relatively rough, with oceanic features like faults and subducted seamounts rubbing up against the upper plate—features that might erode the upper plate and limit how far any quake may propagate within the segment, thus limiting the quake’s size. In contrast, the Vancouver-Washington segment is quite smooth. This means that it may be more likely to rupture along its entire length at once, making it potentially the most dangerous section.

Also in this segment, the seafloor is subducting under the continental crust at a shallow angle relative to the other segments. In the other segments, most of the earthquake-prone interface between the plates lies offshore, but here the study found the shallow subduction angle means it probably extends directly under Washington’s Olympic Peninsula. This might magnify any shaking on land. “It requires a lot more study, but for places like Tacoma and Seattle, it could mean the difference between alarming and catastrophic,” said Tobin.

With funding from the U.S. Geological Survey, a consortium of state and federal agencies and academic institutions has already been poring over the data since it became available to sort through the implications.

As for tsunami hazard, that is “still a work in progress,” said Kelin Wang, a research scientist at the Geological Survey of Canada who was not involved in the study. Wang’s group is using the data to model features of the seafloor off Vancouver Island that might generate tsunamis. (In general, a tsunami occurs when the deep seafloor moves up or down during a quake, sending a wave to the surface that concentrates its energy and gathers height as it reaches shallower coastal waters.) Wang said his results will go to another group that models tsunamis themselves, and after that to another group that analyzes the hazards on land.

Practical assessments that could affect building codes or other aspects of preparedness may be published as early as next year, say the researchers. “There’s a whole lot more complexity here than was previously inferred,” said Carbotte.

New Report Refutes 33 False Claims About Solar, Wind and Electric Vehicles

Jacob Elkin and Matthew Eisenson

June 11, 2024

Achieving the United States’ ambitious emissions reduction goals depends in large part on the rapid adoption of wind and solar energy and the electrification of consumer vehicles. However, misinformation and coordinated disinformation about renewable energy is widespread and threatens to undermine public support for the transition. In a new report, the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law, an affiliate of the Columbia Climate School, identifies and examines 33 of the most pervasive false claims about solar energy, wind energy and electric vehicles, with the aim of promoting a more informed discussion.

Photo: Kenueone / Pixabay https://pixabay.com/photos/electricity-sun-wind-1330214/

Many of these false claims center on three categories of impacts commonly attributed to renewable energy development: impacts to the environment, impacts to human health, and impacts to the economy. For example, our report examines the common misconceptions that electric vehicles have a net harmful effect on climate change (they do not); that electromagnetic radiation from wind turbines poses a threat to human health (it does not); and that solar energy development negatively impacts U.S. jobs (it does not). Some of the misconceptions examined in the report, such as the notion that whale deaths stem from noise related to wind farm surveys, are entirely unsubstantiated. Others have some factual basis but are commonly repeated without necessary context: for instance, the notion that solar panels produce significant waste, without the context that fossil fuel energy generates far more.

To identify the most common false claims regarding wind, solar and electric vehicles, the authors of the Sabin Center’s new report first reviewed social-media groups and websites created to oppose renewable energy projects or policies, as well as existing coverage about misinformation. The authors then developed transparent, fact-based responses to these false claims, relying to the greatest extent possible on peer-reviewed academic literature and government publications. The authors designed the report so that members of the public can cultivate balanced and informed opinions on frequently-contested topics related to renewable energy and electric vehicle deployment.

The Sabin Center’s report should be read in conjunction with other fact checks and studies refuting false claims about renewable energy and electric vehicles, such as those published by EPA, RMI, USA Today, Carbon Brief, the Center for American Progress, the Annenberg Public Policy Center’s website FactCheck.org, the Brown Climate and Development Lab and Heated.

Read the full report here.

This press release was originally published by the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law, an affiliate of the Columbia Climate School.

Here Comes the Sun—and the Extreme Heat

Olga Rukovets

June 20, 2024

News from the Columbia Climate School

Extreme heat. Credit: Drought.gov

We’re only on the precipice of summer, but already a major heat wave has swept much of the Midwest and Northeast, raising serious alarms in the United States and placing more than 94 million people under heat alert in recent days.

After an unprecedented 2023, which was the planet’s warmest year on record, it’s becoming increasingly clear that treacherously hot temperatures are something we’ll need to contend with for the foreseeable future—and they will only intensify as the effects of climate change persist.

Heat is already one of the highest weather-related killers in the United States, leading to more than a thousand fatalities per year, according to the CDC. However, extreme heat has not received the same classification—and therefore resources—as other disasters like tornadoes and floods. On Monday, dozens of health care, environmental and labor groups united to file a petition asking the Federal Emergency Management Agency to recognize extreme heat as a major disaster, which would grant vital funding and frameworks for responding to this phenomenon.

Heat waves are especially dangerous to populations who are already vulnerable—the elderly, children and newborns, individuals with chronic illness, as well as outdoor workers and those who can’t afford air conditioning. Related and potentially fatal illnesses can include heat exhaustion or heat stroke, but the higher temperatures can also exacerbate underlying or existing health conditions such as heart attacks, strokes or other cardiovascular diseases. The worse air quality and pollution brought about by extreme weather can likewise have an impact on individuals with respiratory conditions.

Historically underserved and lower-income communities have also suffered greater consequences from heat waves, with evidence showing that communities of color and lower-income areas are disproportionately exposed to heat islands, or urbanized centers that have much higher temperatures than their surrounding greener areas. According to the newly released 2024 New York City Heat-Related Mortality Report, which analyzed the effect of heat on the lives of New Yorkers, 350 heat-related deaths occur in the city every year (around 340 caused by underlying conditions that were exacerbated by heat, and approximately seven directly from heat stress), with numbers growing over the past decade and Black New Yorkers more likely to die from heat stress.

To address these critical issues, on July 10–12, Columbia Climate School will host an Extreme Heat Workshop, titled “Emerging Risks From Concurrent, Compounding and Record-Breaking Extreme Heat Across Sectors.” By bringing together multidisciplinary researchers and practitioners, the workshop aims to evaluate and progress the current understanding of heat extremes; pinpoint community needs; and create interdisciplinary infrastructure for assessing these risks on a variety of sectors, including public health, energy and agriculture, with an underlying focus on climate justice throughout these discussions.

As the summer continues, we’ll keep providing coverage of how warming temperatures are affecting our planet. For now, try to stay cool and read some of State of the Planet’s previous articles on heat waves below:

• Columbia Energy Exchange Podcast: What to Make of Extreme Weather Predictions: Why are extreme weather events worsening? How is climate change contributing to this development? And what measures are being taken to adapt to this new reality? 
• Putting This Summer’s Record Global Heat Into Context: A roundup of articles aimed at explaining the record-breaking heat last summer and why it occurred.
• How Can We Make Heat Waves Less Deadly? What makes heat waves so dangerous? Why do we underestimate their dangers, and what can we do about it?
• Greener Ways to Keep Cool During a Heat Wave: The world is warming and our air conditioners are making it worse. Here are some less energy-intensive ways to survive the rising heat.
• Exposure to Deadly Urban Heat Worldwide Has Tripled in Recent Decades, Says Study: A detailed analysis of temperatures and population trends in 13,115 cities shows where specific numbers of people are most affected.
• Study Maps Urban Heat Islands With Focus on Environmental Justice: In summer 2021, researchers collaborated with citizen scientists to map the heat in parts of upper Manhattan and the Bronx at the street level for the first time.
• Potentially Fatal Combinations of Humidity and Heat Are Emerging Across the Globe: A study identified thousands of incidents of previously rare or unprecedented extreme heat/humidity combinations in parts of Asia, Africa, Australia, South America and North America.

More people becoming dissatisfied with the function of democracy, survey finds

It's not just a U.S. problem — more people across the world are becoming disenchanted with their government.

GOVERNMENTS ARE PARLIAMENTS 

NOT DEMOCRACY

DEMOCRACY IS SOCIALISM



Photo by: Evan Vucci/AP
Peru's President Dina Ercilia Boluarte Zegarra shakes hands with President Joe Biden at the leaders retreat at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperative summit.

By: Scripps News Staff
Posted Jun 20, 2024

The proportion of people dissatisfied with democracy is growing in the U.S. and internationally, a new survey from Pew Research says.

According to the new survey, 31% of Americans said they were satisfied with the way democracy is working in the U.S., compared to 68% who said they were dissatisfied. In 2021, 41% of Americans said they were satisfied with the function of U.S. democracy.

In a survey that included citizens from 31 democracies throughout the world, just four had a higher proportion of satisfied respondents. Peru has the population most dissatisfied with its democracy, with 89% upset with how the government is functioning. According to The Associated Press, Peru President Dina Boluarte has been under investigation for allegedly acquiring an undisclosed collection of luxury watches since working for the government.

Greece is the nation next-most dissatisfied with its democracy. Like many Western nations, Greece has struggled with the cost of living, prompting Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis to make changes within his cabinet to focus on the economy.

Colombia and South Africa also had a high proportion of citizens dissatisfied with their democracy.

Several nations saw large drops in support for their respective democracies. The United Kingdom saw its democratic satisfaction go from 60% in 2021 to 39% in 2024. South Korea saw a drop from 53% satisfaction to 36%. Canada went from 66% to 52%.


Of the 31 nations surveyed, 54% said they were dissatisfied with their government's democracy, compared to 45% who were satisfied.

Singapore, India and Sweden reported having the highest satisfaction with their nations' democracies.

DIRECT DEMOCRACY IS @