Analysis-Biden's car-tech ban is a powerful new weapon against Chinese EVs

FILE PHOTO: Nio's Onvo L60 SUV in Shanghai

Updated Tue, September 24, 2024
By David Shepardson, Nora Eckert and Abhirup Roy

WASHINGTON/DETROIT (Reuters) -The Biden administration's proposed ban on Chinese connected-car technology could prove its strongest weapon yet to fend off an onslaught of cheap Chinese electric vehicles that has upended the global auto industry.

The ban on hardware and software, announced Monday by the U.S. Commerce Department, is the administration's latest salvo after imposing 100% tariffs on Chinese EVs and denying a $7,500 consumer EV subsidy to any vehicle with made-in-China components.


Unlike those measures, the connected-car tech prohibition would apply even to cars built by Chinese firms outside China - such as in Mexico or Europe, where they're planning factories.

"It's a powerful statement," said Michael Dunne, a consultant who closely follows the China auto industry. After imposing high tariffs, he said, U.S. officials "looked at it again and said: 'Is that going to be enough?' And they concluded - probably not."

Chinese EV leader BYD has said it plans a Mexico plant. While it has emphasized the factory would only serve the local market, U.S. trade groups are wary, saying Chinese EVs could cause an "extinction-level event" for U.S. automakers.

Biden's proposal also calls for barring Chinese software or self-driving cars from testing or deployment, effectively creating a trade barrier that could protect U.S. EV pioneer Tesla and other automakers seeking to develop robotaxis, analysts said. Tesla's Elon Musk has this year increasingly staked the company's future on autonomous technology, another sector where it faces stiff Chinese competition.

Analysts warn of China trade-policy retaliation, which could target Tesla's sprawling China operations. Tesla did not respond to a request for comment.


Biden administration officials on Monday cast the threat of Chinese vehicles and technology as both a national-security threat that could enable espionage and an economic threat. China's heavily subsidized EV sector has been a leader in both battery and software technology, including systems for in-dash driver features.

Few Chinese-made vehicles are currently sold in the United States - and none from Chinese brands. Monday's action aims to keep it that way by closing loopholes, U.S. Commerce officials said.

"If we had just said, 'No Chinese vehicles,' we would really have been leaving a front door open for China to come in via automotive software," said Liz Cannon, who heads the department's information and communications technology office.


The Biden plan would prohibit software in 2026, for 2027 model vehicles, and hardware for the 2030 model year. The administration hopes to finalize the new rules before Biden leaves office on Jan. 20, 2025.

Chinese officials warned before Monday's announcement that they would defend the nation's interests.

"China opposes the U.S. generalization of the concept of national security and discriminatory practices against Chinese companies and products," said China Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian.

China's foreign ministry declined to comment further on Monday.

Canada, whose auto industry is closely aligned with the U.S., is "absolutely" considering a similar ban, Canada's Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said on Tuesday.

SECURITY CONCERNS

U.S. lawmakers have expressed security concerns about Chinese autonomous-vehicle technology being tested in the United States.

Earlier this year, the Biden administration added China-based Hesai Group - whose lidars help autonomous-driving systems create three-dimensional road maps - to a list of companies allegedly working with Beijing's military. Hesai, whose customers include robotaxi firms including General Motors' Cruise and Amazon's Zoox, denied the allegations and sued the government.

On Monday, White House economic advisor Lael Brainard noted that China fired the first shot in the brewing trade war by limiting where Tesla vehicles, with their cameras, can drive in China, citing national-security concerns. Those restrictions were removed earlier this year after China officials found Tesla's data collection complied with its regulations.

The Biden administration officials raised national-security concerns in proposing the car-tech ban, citing fears that drivers' privacy could be invaded or their vehicles could be remotely controlled from abroad. But they also acknowledged seeking to protect the economic security of U.S. automakers.

"We also are very focused on the competition aspect and making sure that our manufacturers can compete fairly," Brainard said.

The White House said it has ample evidence of China malware in critical American infrastructure, but did not provide evidence China is using automobiles to spy.

BUY-AMERICAN PUSH

Electric vehicles and trade policy have been major themes of the 2024 U.S. presidential campaign, with anti-China measures being a rare point of bipartisan agreement.

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has suggested China could dominate auto production and railed against Biden's policies to promote electric vehicles. On Monday, Brainard said Biden doesn't want Chinese vehicles flooding the U.S. market.

"When Americans do choose electric vehicles, we want to make sure they choose an American vehicle - not a Chinese vehicle," she said.

Democrat Kamala Harris' campaign did not comment.

"There's Chinese tech in so many products that come into the U.S.," said Sam Fiorani, vice president at research firm AutoForecast Solutions. "Figuring out where you draw that line ... is going to be very difficult."

(Reporting by David Shepardson, Nora Eckert and Abhirup Roy, writing and additional reporting by Ben Klayman, editing by Brian Thevenot and Nick Zieminski)

In Ohio, drought and shifting weather patterns affect North America's largest native fruit

JOSHUA A. BICKEL and SUMAN NAISHADHAM

Updated Mon, September 23, 2024 

WASHINGTON COURT HOUSE, Ohio (AP) — Stubborn drought in Ohio and the shifting weather patterns influenced by climate change appear to be affecting North America’s largest native fruit: the pawpaw.

Avocado-sized with a taste sometimes described as a cross between a mango and banana, the pawpaw is beloved by many but rarely seen in grocery stores in the U.S. due to its short shelf life. The fruit grows in various places in the eastern half of North America, from Ontario to Florida. But in parts of Ohio, which hosts an annual festival dedicated to the fruit, and Kentucky, some growers this year are reporting earlier-than-normal harvests and bitter-tasting fruit, a possible effect of the extreme weather from the spring freezes to drought that has hit the region.

Take Valerie Libbey’s orchard in Washington Court House, about an hour’s drive from Columbus. Libbey grows 100 pawpaw trees and said she was surprised to see the fruit dropping from trees in the first week of August instead of mid-September.

“I had walked into the orchard to do my regular irrigation and the smell of the fruit just hit me,” said Libbey, who added that this year’s harvest period was much shorter than in previous years and the fruits themselves were smaller and more bitter.

While Libbey attributes the change to heat-stress, it’s not clear if drought alone — which is gripping parts of Ohio and Kentucky for the third year in a row — or increasingly extreme, unpredictable weather are affecting the fruit.

“Pawpaw growers are finding we just have to be prepared for more extreme weather events. Last year we were hit with late spring freezes that killed off a lot of the blossoms in the spring time period. This year we were hit by the drought,” Libbey said.

That’s in line with the effects human-caused climate change is having on the Midwest according to the National Climate Change Assessment, a government report that comes out every four or five years. Last year's report said that both extreme drought and flooding were threatening crops and animal production in the region.

“We’re definitely seeing kind of a change in our weather patterns here,” said Kirk Pomper, a professor of horticulture at Kentucky State University. He added that the easiest way to observe the effect of changing weather patterns on pawpaws is when the trees flower, which tends to happen earlier now than before.

Chris Chmiel, who owns and operates a small farm in Albany, Ohio, about 90 minutes southeast of Columbus, said he used to have several hundred pawpaw trees but is down to about 100 this year thanks to erratic weather patterns, including extremely wet weather some years followed by severe drought.

Chmiel said that pawpaw trees, which are generally considered low-maintenance, don't like to have their roots submerged in water for too long, which his trees experienced in 2018 and 2019 during particularly wet spring conditions.

Since then, Chmiel saw a large decline in his trees, especially the older ones, which produce ethanol when stressed and attracted an invasive beetle that was damaging to the tree.

“For years, we had great crops year after year,” said Chmiel, who described the invasive beetles as the biggest recent challenge. But, he added, some of his pawpaw trees come from the wild where the plants were exposed to several microclimates and habitats.

The pawpaw was domesticated by Native American tribes, and has supplemented many communities' diets since then.

Because pawpaw trees are native to the region, they have long been considered hardy. Chmiel is hoping that will help his remaining trees survive unpredictable weather and invasive species.

“I feel like that is a resilient system,” Chmiel said.

___

Naishadham reported from Washington, D.C.

___

For all of AP’s environmental coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/climate-and-environment ___

The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

Valerie Libbey holds a normal-sized pawpaw, left, next to a drought-affected pawpaw from her farm, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024, in Washington Court House, Ohio. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)
ASSOCIATED PRESS

US woman dies in controversial suicide capsule in Switzerland

Robin MILLARD
Tue, September 24, 2024 

The Sarco suicide pod causes death by hypoxia (ARND WIEGMANN) (ARND WIEGMANN/AFP/AFP)


A 64-year-old US woman took her own life inside a controversial suicide capsule at a Swiss woodland retreat, with police on Tuesday saying several people had been arrested.

The space-age looking Sarco capsule, which fills with nitrogen and causes death by hypoxia, was used on Monday outside a village near the German border.

The portable human-sized pod, self-operated by a button inside, has raised a host of legal and ethical questions in Switzerland. Active euthanasia is banned in the country but assisted dying has been legal for decades.


On the same day it was used, Switzerland's Interior Minister Elisabeth Baume-Schneider told lawmakers that the Sarco was "not legal".

Police in the northern Schaffhausen canton said several people had been taken into custody and face criminal proceedings.

- 'Peaceful, fast, dignified' -

The Last Resort, an assisted dying organisation, presented the Sarco pod in Zurich in July, saying they expected it to be used for the first time within months, and saw no legal obstacle to its use in Switzerland.

In a statement to AFP, The Last Resort said the person who died, who was not named, was a 64-year-old woman from the midwestern United States.

She "had been suffering for many years from a number of serious problems associated with severe immune compromise", the statement said.

The death took place "under a canopy of trees, at a private forest retreat".

The association's co-president Florian Willet was the only other person present, and described the woman's death as "peaceful, fast and dignified", according to the statement.

- Warning given -

The cantonal public prosecutor's office "has opened criminal proceedings against several people for inducement and aiding and abetting suicide... and several people have been placed in police custody," a police statement said.

The public prosecutor's office had been informed by a law firm on Monday that an assisted suicide had taken place at a forest hut in Merishausen.

The police, the forensic emergency service and the public prosecutor's office "went to the crime scene".

The Sarco suicide capsule was secured and the deceased taken away for an autopsy.

"We found the capsule with the lifeless person inside," said Schaffhausen's public prosecutor Peter Sticher.

He told Blick newspaper that several people were arrested "so that they were not colluding with each other or covering up evidence".

Sticher said the operators knew the risks of being arrested.

"We warned them in writing. We said that if they came to Schaffhausen and used Sarco, they would face criminal consequences," he said.

- Sarco: 3D-printable capsule -

The Sarco was invented by Philip Nitschke, a leading global figure in right-to-die activism.

The 3D-printable capsule cost more than 650,000 euros ($725,000) to research and develop in the Netherlands over 12 years. Future Sarcos could cost around 15,000 euros. The pods are reusable.

In a statement, Nitschke said he was "pleased that the Sarco had performed exactly as it had been designed to do: that is to provide an elective, non-drug, peaceful death at the time of the person's choosing".

To use the Sarco, the person wishing to die must first pass a psychiatric assessment.

The person climbs into the purple capsule, closes the lid, and is asked automated questions such as who they are, where they are and if they know what happens when they press the button.

In July, Nitschke explained that once the button is pressed, the amount of oxygen in the air plummets from 21 percent to 0.05 percent in less than 30 seconds.

The person inside quickly loses consciousness before dying within around five minutes.

Nitschke's Exit International organisation, which owns the Sarco, is a non-profit group funded by donations. The only cost for the user is 18 Swiss francs ($21) for the nitrogen.

- Suicide law -

In July, Willet said Switzerland was "by far the best place" for the Sarco to be used, due to its "wonderful liberal system".

Swiss law generally allows assisted suicide if the person commits the lethal act themselves.

But interior minister Baume-Schneider, taking questions in parliament on Monday, said: "The Sarco suicide capsule is not legally compliant."

"Firstly, it does not meet the requirements of product safety law and therefore cannot be placed on the market. Secondly, the corresponding use of nitrogen is not compatible with the purpose article of the Chemicals Act," she said.

Fiona Stewart, who is on The Last Resort's advisory board, said the group was acting on legal advice, which "since 2021 has consistently found that the use of Sarco in Switzerland would be lawful".


US woman dies in first use of ‘Sarco suicide pod’

Henry Samuel
Tue, September 24, 2024 

Dr Fiona Stewart, a lawyer on the board of Last Resort, exhibits the organisation’s ‘Sarco’ pod in July - Arnd Wiegmann/AFP via Getty


An American woman has become the first person to die through the use of a “Sarco suicide pod”.

Two people were arrested on charges of assisting her to use the unapproved, Dutch-made device, Swiss police said on Monday.

The 3D-printed capsule, invented by the controversial assisted-dying activist Dr Philip Nitschke, is designed to kill its occupant by starving them of oxygen as it fills with nitrogen gas.

It is not compliant with Swiss law, according to the country’s interior minister, who said on Monday that it “does not meet the requirements of product safety” and that such use of nitrogen does not comply with chemical regulations in Switzerland.

On Tuesday, Swiss police said they had arrested two people for aiding in the death of a US woman in a woodland area in Schaffhausen, a northern town near the German border.

A photographer from the Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant was at the scene to capture the moment the pod was used for the first time. He was detained by police, the newspaper said.

Dr Philip Nitschke, the inventor of the pod, demonstrates its use - Ahmad Seir/AP

Last Resort – the Swiss organisation founded in July 2023 specifically to develop the pod which states that “a good death is a fundamental human right” – confirmed in a statement that a 64-year-old woman died after using the device.

It said: “On Monday Sept 23, at approximately 4.01pm local time, a 64-year-old woman from the midwest in the US died using the Sarco device.”

The firm said its co-president, Dr Florian Willet, was the sole person present for the death, contrary to police reports.

Dr Willet said the woman’s death had been “peaceful, fast and dignified”, taking place “under a canopy of trees, at a private forest retreat in the Canton of Schaffhausen close to the Swiss-German border”.

The organisation said the woman “had been suffering for many years from a number of serious problems” associated with “severe” immunodeficiency.

Earlier this month, Peter and Christine Scott, a retired British couple who have been married for 46 years, said they had decided to end their lives at the same time in the pod after Mrs Scott, a former nurse, was diagnosed with early-stage vascular dementia.

The pod carries a quotation from the late astronomer Carl Sagan

 - Arnd Wiegmann/AFP via Getty

The 80 year-old and her husband, 86, who have six grandchildren, are on a waiting list of 120 applicants to use the device, according to Last Resort, with around a quarter of those on the list said to be British.

Under Swiss law, helping another person to die is not a criminal offence as long as there is no selfish motive.

However, several districts, including Schaffhausen, have threatened criminal proceedings if the suicide pod is used in their territory.

On Monday, federal councillor Elisabeth Baume-Schneider said the capsule did not comply with Swiss law as it failed to meet market safety requirements and the use of nitrogen was illegal.

A coffin-sized cabin

According to De Volkskrant, the unnamed woman, who had travelled to Switzerland especially for the purpose, started the assisted suicide process on Monday afternoon in a forest by pressing a button while lying in the capsule – a coffin-sized cabin with a window.

The news outlet said its photographer was being held by police after photographing the scene beforehand. A lawyer who was the sole person present at time of death was also thought to have been arrested.

The woman’s death was confirmed by Dr Nitschke, the Australian inventor of the pod, who monitored her oxygen and heart rate remotely through a camera from Germany.

The pod works by introducing nitrogen into its sealed interior - Arnd Wiegmann/AFP via Getty

The Sarco was set up outdoors, in a remote location. Through a window, the woman had a view of nature, trees and the sky during her last moments.

Dr Willet, who is Dr Nitschke’s wife, then informed police and the Schaffhausen public prosecutor who arrived at the scene and made the arrests and confiscated the capsule, according to reports.

The body was taken to the Institute of Forensic Medicine for an autopsy.

Last Resort said the woman who died made an oral statement before her death to Fiona Stewart, a lawyer who is on its advisory board, expressing her wish to die.

In the four-minute recording, she said she had wanted to die for “at least two years”, ever since she was diagnosed with a very serious illness that involves severe pain.

She insisted that her two sons “completely agree” that this was her decision. “They are behind me 100 per cent.”

Ms Stewart said both sons, not present in Switzerland, had separately confirmed this in written statements to Last Resort.

“When she registered, she said she wanted to die as soon as possible,” said Ms Stewart. The American woman was examined by a psychiatrist, who found her to be competent, with no psychiatric history, she added.
Controversial activist

Dr Nitschke’s actions have caused controversy in the past. In 2006, he created a worldwide stir by publishing The Peaceful Pill Handbook, in which he described dozens of suicide methods in detail. He moved to the Netherlands ten years ago.

“What if we dared to imagine that our last day on this planet would also be our most exciting?” he once said of the Sarco.

“The day we die is one of the most important days of our lives,” he told De Volkskrant. “Once death becomes inevitable, why don’t we embrace it? With this capsule, you can die anywhere you want: with a view of the mountains, or the ocean.

“Apart from this device, almost nothing is needed: no injection from a doctor, no illegal drugs that are difficult to obtain. This de-medicalises death.”

According to Dr Nitschke, the woman’s death was an important step for organisations that fight for self-determination when it comes to dying.



He said he had tested his pod several times in advance, even lying in it for five minutes this spring with an oxygen mask on his face, while it was filled with nitrogen.

He told De Volkskrant his invention was a more elegant version of “using gas and a bag over [one’s] head”, adding it was more akin to passengers being starved of oxygen when cabin pressure drops in an aeroplane.

“We know from people who have survived that it doesn’t feel like suffocation,” he is cited as saying. “People just keep breathing. After half a minute they start to feel disoriented.

“They don’t really notice what’s happening to them. Some experience mild euphoria. Then they just drift off.”

According to Last Resort, the woman only paid the 18 Swiss francs (£16) charge for the nitrogen.

“The use of the Sarco is free,” said Ms Stewart. ”We don’t want to make any money from this.” The woman did have to pay additional costs, such as her cremation, she said, adding that other legal assisted dying organisations charge thousands to dispose of the body.
Objections by Dignitas

However, other Swiss assisted-dying organisations have expressed opposition to the Sarco.

Dignitas told the SWI news site that professional medical suicide assistance must be carried out by “trained staff and that every accompanied suicide is checked by the authorities (public prosecutor’s office, police and medical officer)”.

“In light of this legally secured, established and proven practice, we cannot imagine that a technologised capsule for a self-determined end of life will meet much acceptance or interest in Switzerland,” it said.

According to Erika Preisig, a doctor and president of the Basel-based organisation Lifecircle, medical intervention also serves as a “gatekeeper” to prevent unnecessary suicides.

“I fear that people without sufficient information about alternatives to suicide and who have not thought their death wish through carefully will be unscrupulously helped to die,” she told SWI.

The Swiss organisations also describe Sarco as inhumane, because the person has to die “alone” in a closed capsule, separated from their relatives.

Dr Nitschke is seeking the Sarco pod’s use elsewhere. He recently wrote to Liam McArthur, the MSP seeking to legalise assisted suicide in Scotland, urging him to introduce the device.


Suicide advocates boast over apparent use of Sarco suicide capsule on US citizen in Switzerland

Timothy Nerozzi
Tue, September 24, 2024 


Suicide advocates boast over apparent use of Sarco suicide capsule on US citizen in Switzerland


Multiple people have been arrested in Switzerland in connection to the seemingly willing use of a "suicide capsule."

Police officials of Schaffhausen canton in northern Switzerland announced on Tuesday that multiple people have been detained following a tip indicating individuals were helped to kill themselves in a cabin in Merishausen.

An investigation into possible incitement and accessory to suicide is underway, and the premeditated death could be attributed to the first-ever use of a Sarco-brand suicide capsule.

Terminally Ill Missouri Woman, 79, Taking Trip To Switzerland For Assisted Suicide

This photograph shows the Sarco suicide capsule, during a media event organised by the "Last Resort", a Switzerland's human rights non-profit association focused on assisted suicide, in Zurich on July 17, 2024. The 3-D printed coffin-like Sarco suicide machine, can be activated from the inside by the person intending to die, by filling the capsule with nitrogen, which induces hypoxic death to the occupant.More

The Sarco pod is a suicide machine developed by Netherlands-based pro-euthanasia group Exit International.

The group seemed to take responsibility for the alleged crime in a statement, announcing the willful euthanization of an elderly woman who is a U.S. citizen and suffering from an intense immune disease.

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"In Switzerland on Monday, a 64-year-old woman died in a specially designed ‘suicide capsule’ containing nitrogen gas. It is the first time ever that this suicide capsule, called the Sarco, was used," Exit International boasted in an online press release. "The capsule, an airtight cabin the size of a coffin, offers, according to its creators, a ‘quick, peaceful and reliable death’ without the assistance of a doctor or medication."

Physically Healthy Dutch Woman Dies By Assisted Suicide At Age 29

"It is still unclear how Swiss justice will react to this," the pro-suicide group's statement continued. "The conditions set by the country are that the person with the death wish is mentally competent, that they carry out the final deadly act themselves and that the people who help have altruistic motives."

Exit International founder Dr. Philip Nitschke announced Tuesday that he was "pleased that the Sarco had performed exactly as it had been designed […] to provide an elective, non-drug, peaceful death at the time of the person’s choosing."

Exit International said Nitschke personally "confirmed" the U.S. woman's death.

Australian activist Philip Nitschke addresses a press conference of The Last Resort to present the Sarco suicide capsule in Zurich. The device, called "Sarco" for sarcophagus, is designed to enable people to take their own lives by pressing a button inside the capsule, which is supposed to release nitrogen.

Switzerland was the first country in the world to legalize assisted dying, legislating the accomodation in 1941.

Swiss law allows patients to be accommodated while killing themselves only if they do so without "external assistance" and are not aided by individuals with a "self-serving motive."

The Sarco capsule is designed to fill itself with Nitrogen gas, putting victims to sleep before suffocating them within 10 minutes of activation.

It is 3-D printed and was first unveiled at the Venice Design Festival in 2019.

Original article source: Suicide advocates boast over apparent use of Sarco suicide capsule on US citizen in Switzerland

Swiss police make arrests after suicide capsule is used for first time

Reuters
Tue, September 24, 2024 

FILE PHOTO: Presentation of the Sarco suicide machine in Zurich

ZURICH (Reuters) - Swiss police have arrested several people after a controversial futuristic-looking capsule designed to allow its occupant to commit suicide was used for the first time, authorities said on Tuesday.

Police in the northern canton of Schaffhausen bordering Germany said the so-called "Sarco" capsule had been deployed in a wood in the municipality of Merishausen on Monday.

Prosecutors in Schaffhausen have opened criminal proceedings against several people for "inducing and aiding and abetting suicide", a police statement said, adding several people were detained, without giving details about them or the deceased.

A spokesperson for the group behind the capsule, The Last Resort, said the deceased was a 64-year-old American woman who had been suffering from a severely compromised immune system.

Florian Willet, co-president of The Last Resort, was among the four detainees, along with a Dutch journalist and two Swiss people, the spokesperson said. Willet was the only other person present when the woman ended her life, the spokesperson said.

In a statement issued by The Last Resort, Willet had described the death as "peaceful, fast and dignified."

The Last Resort spokesperson said the woman had passed psychiatric evaluations prior to ending her life.

A spokesperson for prosecutors in Schaffhausen declined to give details or confirm there were four detainees.

Cast along sleek, aerodynamic lines, the "Sarco" causes death when its occupant releases nitrogen gas inside, lowering the amount of oxygen to lethal levels. It is the brainchild of Philip Nitschke, an Australian physician famous for his work on assisted suicide since the 1990s.

Switzerland has been a magnet for advocates of assisted suicide due to laws that make it legal there, and The Last Resort says its legal advice was that it could be deployed.

The capsule has generated considerable media attention and discussion among authorities on whether they would allow it.

Elisabeth Baume-Schneider, the Swiss minister responsible for health, said on Monday that the capsule does not meet the requirements of product safety law, and that its use of nitrogen is not legally compliant.

(Reporting by Dave Graham; Additional reporting by Paul Arnold, Editing by William Maclean)

California governor signs law banning all plastic shopping bags at grocery stores

Associated Press
Sun, September 22, 2024 

FILE - A plastic bag sits along a roadside in Sacramento, Calif., Oct. 25, 2013. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, File)


SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — “Paper or plastic” will no longer be a choice at grocery store checkout lines in California under a new law signed Sunday by Gov. Gavin Newsom that bans all plastic shopping bags.

California had already banned thin plastic shopping bags at supermarkets and other stores, but shoppers could purchase bags made with a thicker plastic that purportedly made them reusable and recyclable.

The new measure, approved by state legislators last month, bans all plastic shopping bags starting in 2026. Consumers who don't bring their own bags will now simply be asked if they want a paper bag.


State Sen. Catherine Blakespear, one of the bill's supporters, said people were not reusing or recycling any plastic bags. She pointed to a state study that found that the amount of plastic shopping bags trashed per person grew from 8 pounds (3.6 kilograms) per year in 2004 to 11 pounds (5 kilograms) per year in 2021.

Blakespear, a Democrat from Encinitas, said the previous bag ban passed a decade ago didn't reduce the overall use of plastic.

“We are literally choking our planet with plastic waste,” she said in February.

The environmental nonprofit Oceana applauded Newsom for signing the bill and "safeguarding California’s coastline, marine life, and communities from single-use plastic grocery bags.”

Christy Leavitt, Oceana’s plastics campaign director, said Sunday that the new ban on single-use plastic bags at grocery store checkouts “solidifies California as a leader in tackling the global plastic pollution crisis.”

Twelve states, including California, already have some type of statewide plastic bag ban in place, according to the environmental advocacy group Environment America Research & Policy Center. Hundreds of cities across 28 states also have their own plastic bag bans in place.

The California Legislature passed its statewide ban on plastic bags in 2014. The law was later affirmed by voters in a 2016 referendum.

The California Public Interest Research Group said Sunday that the new law finally meets the intent of the original bag ban.

“Plastic bags create pollution in our environment and break into microplastics that contaminate our drinking water and threaten our health,” said the group’s director Jenn Engstrom. “Californians voted to ban plastic grocery bags in our state almost a decade ago, but the law clearly needed a redo. With the Governor’s signature, California has finally banned plastic bags in grocery checkout lanes once and for all.”

As San Francisco’s mayor in 2007, Newsom signed the nation’s first plastic bag ban.

Authoritarianism Expert Spots New Donald Trump Boast That ‘Sends A Chill Down My Spine’

Lee Moran
Updated Mon, September 23, 2024 at 7:05 AM MDT·3 min read
1.6k

Authoritarianism expert Ruth Ben-Ghiat on Sunday summed up former President Donald Trump’s latest brag as “fascist talk.”

Trump, the Republican nominee, who has repeatedly boasted about his role in overturning Roe v. Wade that ended the constitutional right to abortion, this weekend declared at a campaign rally and also on his Truth Social platform that if he wins the 2024 election, “Women will be happy, healthy, confident and free. You will no longer be thinking about abortion, because it is now where it always had to be, with the states, and with the vote of the people.”

Ben-Ghiat, appearing on MSNBC’s “The Weekend” show, responded, “It sends a chill down my spine when Donald Trump says women won’t have to think about abortion anymore because he also said something similar about voting when he talked to a group of evangelicals.”

“He said, ‘After this election, you will not have to vote anymore,’ as if voting is a kind of burden,” continued the history professor at New York University. “And so this is fascist talk, where the fascist leader says, ‘I will free you from all decision-making. Just trust in me and you will not have to worry about any problems anymore.’”

Watch from the 4:30 mark here:


In a separate interview on MSNBC’s “Ayman” show, Ben-Ghiat drew damning parallels between the “dehumanizing rhetoric” that Trump and his running mate JD Vance are using towards immigrants to that spewed by Nazi German dictator Adolf Hitler.

On Hitler’s ascent to power in 1933, Ben-Ghiat noted that Germans had been hearing him slam and dehumanize Jews for more than a decade.

“One thing about propaganda is that you hear extreme things over and over again then they don’t seem so extreme anymore and they become familiar,” she explained. “Now Americans have been hearing Trump malign immigrants for almost a decade now and so what Trump’s method is, is to slowly introduce more and more extreme ideas.”

Trump and Vance are now “introducing this idea of remigration, which is really scary, because this is an idea that’s very popular with the most extreme far-right people in Europe and it holds that you should be deported and sent back to your country of origin regardless of your citizenship status because if you really want a racial state, a white-ethno state, then whether you’re legal or illegal doesn’t matter,” she said.

It’s been “a journey of language and a journey of concepts that these people have very knowingly taken Americans on” and it’s “really disturbing,” she added.

Watch that interview here:

 

Tugboat powered by ammonia sails for the first time, showing how to cut emissions from shipping

JENNIFER McDERMOTT and MICHAEL HILL
Updated Mon, September 23, 2024 

 

KINGSTON, N.Y. (AP) — On a tributary of the Hudson River, a tugboat powered by ammonia eased away from the shipyard dock and sailed for the first time to show how the maritime industry can slash planet-warming carbon dioxide emissions.

The tugboat used to run on diesel fuel. The New York-based startup company Amogy bought the 67-year-old ship to switch it to cleanly-made ammonia, a new, carbon-free fuel.

The tugboat’s first sail on Sunday night is a milestone in a race to develop zero-emissions propulsion using renewable fuel. Emissions from shipping have increased over the last decade — to about 3% of the global total according to the United Nations — as vessels have gotten much bigger, delivering more cargo per trip and using immense amounts of fuel oil.

CEO Seonghoon Woo said he launched Amogy with three friends to help the world solve a huge, pressing concern: This backbone of the global economy has not started to transition to clean energy yet.

“Without solving the problem, it’s not going to be possible to make the planet sustainable,” he said. “I don’t think this is the problem of the next generation. This is a really big problem for our generation.”

The friends met while studying at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In their free time during the COVID-19 pandemic, they brainstormed how to power heavy industries cleanly. They launched their startup in November 2020 in a small space at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. The name Amogy comes from combining the words ammonia and energy.

They looked for a boat and found the tug in the Feeney Shipyard in Kingston, New York, languishing without a mission. It could break ice, but little to no ice has formed on that part of the Hudson River in recent years, so it was available for sale.

“It represents how serious the problem is when it comes to climate change,” Woo said. The project, he said, is "not just demonstrating our technology, it’s really going to be telling the story to the world that we have to fix this problem sooner than later.”

They named the tugboat NH3 Kraken, after the chemical formula for ammonia and their method of “cracking” it into hydrogen and nitrogen. Amogy's system uses ammonia to make hydrogen for a fuel cell, making the tug an electric-powered ship. The International Maritime Organization set a target for international shipping to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by, or close to, 2050.

Shipping needs to cut emissions rapidly and there are no solutions widely available today to fully decarbonize deep-sea shipping, according to the Global Maritime Forum, a nonprofit that works closely with the industry. There is a lot of interest in ammonia as an alternative fuel because the molecule doesn’t contain carbon, said Jesse Fahnestock, who leads the forum’s decarbonization work.

Ammonia is widely used for fertilizer, so there is already infrastructure in place for handling and transporting it. Ton for ton, it can hold more energy than hydrogen, and it can be stored and distributed more easily.

“It certainly has the potential to be a main or even the main fuel,” Fahnestock said. “It has a potentially very friendly greenhouse gas footprint.”

Ammonia does have drawbacks. It's toxic. Nearly all of it currently is made from natural gas in a process that is harmful for the climate. And burning it has to be engineered carefully or it, too, yields traces of a powerful greenhouse gas.

Amogy’s technology is different.

The tugboat ran on green ammonia produced by renewable electricity. A 2,000-gallon tank fits in the old fuel tank space, for a 10-to 12-hour day at sea.

It splits liquid ammonia into its constituents, hydrogen and nitrogen, then funnels the hydrogen into a fuel cell that generates electricity for the vessel without carbon emissions. The process does not burn ammonia like a combustion engine would, so it primarily produces nitrogen in its elemental form and water as emissions. The company says there are trace amounts of nitrogen oxides that it's working to completely eliminate.

Amogy first used ammonia to power a drone in 2021, then a tractor in 2022, a semi-truck in 2023, and now the tugboat to prove the technology. Woo said their system is designed to be used on vessels as small as the tugboat and as large as container ships, and could also make electricity on shore to replace diesel generators for data centers, mining and construction, or other heavy industries.

The company has raised about $220 million. Amazon, an enterprise with immense needs for shipping, is among the investors. Nick Ellis, principal of Amazon’s $2 billion Climate Pledge Fund, said the company is excited and impressed by what Amogy is doing. By investing, Amazon can show ship owners and builders it wants its goods delivered with zero emissions, he added.

“Many folks will now get a chance to see and understand how real and promising this technology is, and that it could actually be in container ships or tugboats in a matter of a few years,” he said. “If you would've asked five years ago, I think a lot of people would have thrown up their hands ... And suddenly we have not only a compelling example, but a commercially-viable example. These types of things don’t come by every day.”

Other companies are developing ammonia-powered ships that still use some diesel.

In Singapore in March, Fortescue's Green Pioneer vessel showed how ammonia could be used in combination with diesel as a marine fuel. An ammonia-powered container ship, the Yara Eyde, will be on water in 2026 with an engine running on green ammonia, according to Yara Clean Ammonia. In Japan, the NYK Group converted the tugboat Sakigake to run on ammonia rather than liquified natural gas.

As a next step, Amogy is working with major shipbuilders to bring ammonia power to the maritime sector. South Korean shipbuilder Hanwha Ocean is purchasing its technology. HD Hyundai and Samsung Heavy Industries are working with Amogy on ship designs.

Sangmin Park said that because Amogy has made significant progress in proving ammonia's potential as a clean fuel, “we expect the industry to move towards adoption more quickly.” Park is senior vice president at HD Hyundai subsidiary HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering.

“For the past few years, the industry has recognized the potential of ammonia as a zero-carbon fuel,” Park wrote in an email, “but actually building and sailing the first vessel is a true landmark event.”

___

McDermott reported from Providence, R.I.


Amogy completes first sailing of ammonia-powered vessel

Noah Bovenizer
Tue, September 24, 2024 



Maritime technology company Amogy has conducted the first sailing of its ammonia-powered demonstration vessel in a significant step for the development of its carbon-free solution.

The retrofitted NH3 Kraken tugboat conducted its first sailing with Amogy’s ammonia-to-electrical power system on a tributary of the Hudson River in New York, US in the largest and first maritime application of the technology.

CEO Seonghoon Woo said: “By demonstrating our technology on the water for the first time, we’ve gained invaluable knowledge that will help us move quickly to commercialization and real-world applications.

“The opportunity to decarbonize the maritime industry is within reach, and for Amogy, it’s just the beginning.”

https://twitter.com/amogyinc/status/1838239744242733372

The ‘ammonia-cracking’ technology uses the colourless gas as its primary fuel source before converting it into hydrogen and nitrogen, using the former to power integrated fuel cells.

Amogy previously tested the technology at smaller scales, including a 200kW system used on a class eight truck, but the 1mW scale system used on the NH3 Kraken marks the final demonstration of the solution before the company begins deploying pilot projects.

The company has already seen a wide array of interest in its solutions with investment from major maritime players including Hanwha Ocean, Samsung Heavy Industries, and HD Hyundai Heavy Industries.

https://www.ship-technology.com/interviews/anastasija-kuprijanova-amogy-ammonia-qa/Speaking to Ship Technology earlier this year, Amogy’s director of maritime business development Anastasija Kuprijanova said the business was targeting full 

commercialisation of its technology in mid-2025.

"Amogy completes first sailing of ammonia-powered vessel" was originally created and published by Ship Technology, a GlobalData owned brand.

Climate Solution Ammonia Ship
A worker stands near the NH3 Kraken, a tugboat powered by ammonia, on Friday, Sept. 13, 2024, in Kingston, N.Y. (AP Photo/Alyssa Goodman)

Ukraine's Zelenskyy visits Pennsylvania ammunition plant to thank workers and ask for more

PENN HAS THE SECOND LARGEST UKRAINIAN DIASPORA IN THE USA

THE LARGEST IS CHICAGO

MICHAEL RUBINKAM and TARA COPP
Updated Sun, September 22, 2024


SCRANTON, Pa. (AP) — Under tight security, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday visited a Pennsylvania ammunition factory to thank the workers who are producing one of the most critically needed munitions for his country's fight to fend off Russian ground forces.

Rep. Matt Cartwright, a Democrat who was among those who met with Zelenskyy at the Scranton Army Ammunition Plant, said the president had a simple message: “Thank you. And we need more.”

The Scranton plant is one of the few facilities in the country to manufacture 155 mm artillery shells and has increased production over the past year. Ukraine has already received more than 3 million of them from the U.S.

Zelenskyy said he expressed his gratitude to all the employees at the plant.

“It is in places like this where you can truly feel that the democratic world can prevail,” he wrote on X. “Thanks to people like these — in Ukraine, in America, and in all partner countries — who work tirelessly to ensure that life is protected.”

Zelenskyy's visit kicked off a busy week in the United States. He will speak at the U.N. General Assembly annual gathering in New York on Tuesday and Wednesday and then travel to Washington for talks on Thursday with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, as he seeks to shore up support for Ukraine.

The area around the ammunition plant had been sealed off since Sunday morning, with municipal garbage trucks positioned across several roadblocks and a very heavy presence of city, regional and state police, including troopers on horseback.

As Zelenskyy’s large motorcade made its way to the ammunition plant in the afternoon, a small contingent of supporters waving Ukrainian flags assembled nearby to show their appreciation for his visit.

“It’s unfortunate that we need a plant like this, but it’s here, and it’s here to protect the world," said Vera Kowal Krewson, a first-generation Ukrainian American who was among those who greeted Zelenskyy's motorcade. “And I strongly feel that way.”

She said many of her friends’ parents have worked in the ammunition plant, and she called Zelenskyy’s visit “a wonderful thing.”

Laryssa Salak, 60, whose parents also immigrated from Ukraine, aid she was pleased Zelenskyy came to thank the workers. She said it upsets her that funding for Ukraine’s defense has divided Americans and that even some of her friends oppose the support, saying the money should go to help Americans instead.

“But they don’t understand that that money does not directly go to Ukraine," Salak said. ”It goes to American factories that manufacture, like here, like the ammunition. So that money goes to American workers as well. And a lot of people don’t understand that.”

The 155 mm shells made in the Scranton plant are used in howitzer systems, which are towed large guns with long barrels that can fire at various angles. Howitzers can strike targets up to 15 miles to 20 miles (24 kilometers to 32 kilometers) away and are highly valued by ground forces to take out enemy targets from a protected distance.

With the war now well into its third year, Zelenskyy has been pushing the U.S. for permission to use longer range missile systems to fire deeper inside of Russia.

So far he has not persuaded the Pentagon or White House to loosen those restrictions. The Defense Department has emphasized that Ukraine can already hit Moscow with Ukrainian-produced drones, and there is hesitation on the strategic implications of a U.S.-made missile potentially striking the Russian capital.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that Russia would be “at war” with the United States and its NATO allies if they allow Ukraine to use the long-range weapons.

At one point in the war, Ukraine was firing between 6,000 and 8,000 of the 155 mm shells per day. That rate started to deplete U.S. stockpiles and drew concern that the level on hand was not enough to sustain U.S. military needs if another major conventional war broke out, such as in a potential conflict over Taiwan.

In response the U.S. has invested in restarting production lines and is now manufacturing more than 40,000 155 mm rounds a month, with plans to hit 100,000 rounds a month.

Two of the Pentagon leaders who have pushed that increased production through — Doug Bush, assistant secretary of the Army for acquisition, logistics and technology and Bill LaPlante, the Pentagon's top weapons buyer — were to join Zelenskyy at the plant. Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, also joined the Ukrainian president.

The 155 mm rounds are just one of the scores of ammunition, missile, air defense and advanced weapons systems the U.S. has provided Ukraine — everything from small arms bullets to advanced F-16 fighter jets. The U.S. has been the largest donor to Ukraine, providing more than $56 billion of the more than $106 billion NATO and partner countries have collected to aid in its defense.

Even though Ukraine is not a member of NATO, commitment to its defense is seen by many of the European nations as a must to keep Putin from further military aggression that could threaten bordering NATO-member countries and result in a much larger conflict.

—-

Inside Zelenskyy’s visit to Scranton ammunition plant

Julie Dunphy
Mon, September 23, 2024


SCRANTON, LACKAWANNA COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked the hundreds of workers who play a vital role in Ukraine’s defense in their war with Russia.

We’re learning more about the conversation between President Zelenskyy and Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro. Shapiro expressed his pride in the state’s large Ukrainian heritage.

Zelenskyy is thankful for the workers in this ammunition plant, as he looks for continued support. Under tight security on Sunday, Ukrainian President Zelenskyy visited the Scranton Army Ammunition Plant.

Thanking the workers who are producing one of the most critically needed munitions for his country’s fight to fend off Russian ground forces.

President Zelenskyy also sat down with Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro along with other local leaders.

“We are blessed to have so many Ukrainians living here in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,” Shapiro said.

Pennsylvania is home to more than 150,000 Ukrainians and Americans of Ukrainian descent, the second largest number in the US.

“We feel a special kinship to them, and all of you in your work to defend Ukraine. We stand with you,” Shapiro explained.

“Thank you governor for such words,” Zelenskyy said.

During the meeting, the parties discussed regional cooperation between Ukraine and the United States.

“Let’s sign the agreement,” Ivan Fedorov said.

“Let’s do it,” Shapiro agreed.

Fedorov, head of the Zaporizhzhia Regional State Administration, a province in southeast Ukraine, and Governor Shapiro signed an agreement to support the region’s efforts to rebuild after the war.

The main areas of cooperation include energy, agriculture, digital technologies, and defense.

“The United States helped us from the very beginning of the full-scale war, but we still count on continuing support,” Zelenskyy explained.

The Scranton plant is one of the few facilities in the country to manufacture 155 mm artillery shells and has increased production over the past year.

Ukraine has already received more than three million of them from the US. Zelenskyy expressed his gratitude to all the employees at the Scranton plant.

“Thank you very much, you helped us to survive against Putin’s invasion,” Zelenskyy added.

Zelenskyy’s visit kicked off a busy week in the United States. He will speak at the United Nations General Assembly annual gathering in New York on Tuesday and Wednesday and then travel to Washington for talks on Thursday with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, as he seeks to shore up support for Ukraine.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.


‘The democratic world can prevail’: Zelensky begins US visit at ammunition factory
Our Foreign Staff

Sun, September 22, 2024 at 8:20 PM MDT·3 min read
16


Volodymyr Zelensky signs a missile on a tour of the Scranton Army Ammunition Plan on Sunday - COMMONWEALTH MEDIA SERVICES/Handout via REUTERS


Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday began a US visit by going to a factory in Pennsylvania that produces badly needed 155mm artillery shells.

“I began my visit to the United States by expressing my gratitude to all the employees at the plant,” Mr Zelensky said Sunday in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

The post included photos of him shaking hands with workers at the Scranton Army Ammunition Plant, where he said production had been ramped up.

“It is in places like this where you can truly feel that the democratic world can prevail,” he wrote.

He will next travel to New York and Washington.

Mr Zelensky arrived in the United States for a crucial visit to present Kyiv’s plan to end two and a half years of war with Russia.

He will present his proposals – which he calls a “victory plan” – to President Joe Biden, as well as presidential hopefuls Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, Agence France-Presse reported.

President Joe Biden meets President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office in September last year - Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images

The visit comes after a summer of intense fighting, with Moscow advancing fast in eastern Ukraine and Kyiv holding on to swaths of Russia’s Kursk region.

It also comes as Kyiv has for weeks pressed the West to allow it to use long-range weapons to strike targets deep inside Russia – so far to no avail.

When they meet at the White House on Thursday, Mr Zelensky is expected to try to convince Mr Biden to change his mind.

Mr Zelensky said the coming weeks would decide how more than 30 months of fighting that has killed thousands would end.

“It is now being determined what the legacy of the current generation of states leaders will be. Those in the highest offices,” he said.

US Major General John T. Reim Jr, joint program executive officer armaments and ammunition, greets President Zelensky at the Scranton Army Ammunition Plant on Sunday - Curt Loter/US Army/AFP via Getty Images

In comments before his trip, Mr Zelensky said the United States and UK have not given Ukraine permission to use the long-range weapons as they fear escalation, but hinted he had not given up hope.

“We have had some decisions in the history of our relationship with Biden - very interesting and difficult dialogues,” Mr Zelensky said earlier this week, adding: “He later changed his point of view.”

Moscow has said it considers such a go-ahead as Nato countries being “at war” with Russia.


Governor Shapiro welcomes Ukrainian President Zelenskyy to Scranton Army Ammunition Plant

FOX 29 Staff
Sun, September 22, 2024



SCRANTON, Pa. - Governor Josh Shapiro and his administration welcomed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to the Keystone State during a visit to the Scranton Army Ammunition Plant (SCAAP) in Lackawanna County Sunday.

During the visit, President Zelenskyy spoke with workers at SCAAP and thanked them for their efforts.

According to Shapiro’s office, SCAAP builds 155-millimeter howitzer rounds, some of the most vital equipment for Ukraine’s defense against Russia.

"Pennsylvania is the birthplace of American freedom – and our Commonwealth proudly stands with the people of Ukraine as they fight for their freedom against naked aggression," said Governor Shapiro. "I’m proud to welcome President Zelenskyy and his delegation to Scranton – to visit with the women and men who are fueling his country’s fight for freedom – and sign an agreement with Zaporizhzhia that will strengthen both states and foster collaboration for years to come. Pennsylvania looks forward to building a close relationship with Zaporizhzhia as we continue to stand on the side of freedom."

Governor Shapiro also signed an agreement with the Zaporizhzhia Regional State Military Administration, to leverage the strengths of both regions and support the Southeast Ukraine province’s efforts to rebuild after the war while still providing Pennsylvania businesses with an opportunity to participate in the reconstruction through its Department of Community & Economic Development (DCED).

Due to the agreement, Pennsylvania will work with economic leaders in Zaporizhzhia sharing best practices within multiple industries, including energy, agriculture, digital technologies, workforce development, and defense.

"Today is an exciting day for Zaporizhzhia and Pennsylvania," said DCED Secretary Rick Siger. "This agreement will help support the future economic revitalization of Ukraine, while boosting our economy and creating jobs for Pennsylvanians. Five of the sectors included in the agreement mirror those in our Economic Development Strategy, and we look forward to building a strong partnership with Zaporizhzhia in industries such as energy, agriculture, life sciences, robotics, advanced manufacturing, and more."

Shapiro’s office says defense cooperation for Ukraine is still essential.

The office reports that just this month, more than 150 soldiers from the Pennsylvania National Guard’s (PANG) 56th Stryker Brigade Combat Team deployed to Germany to support the Joint Multinational Training Group – Ukraine.

The national guard’s Task Force Independence is currently training Ukrainian forces in combined arms and maneuver training for battalion-sized units.

Back in December 2022, the U.S. Department of Defense announced it was expanding U.S.-led training for the Ukrainian Armed Forces (UAF).

Therefore, the U.S. program will train up to one Ukrainian battalion per month and will help develop the skills of Ukrainian units in specialized equipment.

"Training is key to Ukraine’s continued success on the battlefield," said Maj. Gen. Mark Schindler, Pennsylvania’s adjutant general and head of the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs (DMVA). "Our Pennsylvania National Guard soldiers are in Germany, away from their families and loved ones in support of this mission. They, along with more than a thousand other PANG members are currently serving overseas in support of our nation and its responsibility to operations around the globe. We are proud of their commitment and thankful for their service."

U.S. Rep. Matt Cartwright, PA-08, talks to Ukraine supporters before President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy's motorcade arrives at the Scranton Army Ammunition Plant in Scranton on Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024. The plant manufactures artillery ammunition which is used in Ukraine. (AP Photo/Laurence Kesterson