NANNY STATE

The Chinese government are calling women, asking when their last period was, and urging them to get pregnant

Maya Oppenheim
Wed 30 October 2024 at 5:29 am GMT-6·2-min read

China has a plunging birth rate that keeps declining in the face of attempts to encourage citizens to have more babies (Vasileios Economou/iStock)


Women in China say they are receiving phone calls from government workers to ask if they are currently expecting a child and to urge them to get pregnant.

Jane Huang, a mother-of-one, said a government official who called her went so far as to probe her about when her most recent period was.

The 35-year-old, who lives in the province of Fujian, said the worker who called also suggested he could call her in the future to remind her when she should have another child.


“I laughed so hard when I told my husband about it,” Ms Huang told the china/politics/article/3284192/chinese-government-workers-call-women-urge-pregnancy-latest-birth-rate-push">South China Morning Post.

“The surveyor must be from the previous generation, who did not realise that she was talking to a whole different generation that values privacy, quality of life and choices much more”.

District-level officials from three coastal provinces, who did not want to be named, told the publication that Ms Huang’s feelings about the calls were “very common”.

CNA reports a post shared on the Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu, which states “I got a call from a grassroots (worker) this morning asking if I was pregnant” has received a great deal of traction - gaining more than 11,000 likes and thousands of comments.

The surveyor must be from the previous generation, who did not realise that she was talking to a whole different generation that values privacy, quality of life and choices much more

Jane Huang

China has a plunging birth rate that has continued to decline despite attempts to encourage citizens to have more children.

The country rolled out a stringent one-child policy in 1979 to curb the fast growing population – with the country’s birth rate plummeting since the late 1980s.

China was the country with the largest population in the world until irt was surpassed by India in April 2023 - with China axing the one-child policy in 2015 and instead introducing financial incentives for couples to have at least two children.

The situation in China reflects wider global trends, with fertility rates slowly declining around the world and falling by more than half since the early 1960s.

In 2022, the global total fertility rate was 2.3 children per woman, while it was 1.5 in the European Union.

On Monday new government data revealed the fertility rate in England and Wales has dropped to its lowest level since records began in the 1930s. Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show the total fertility rate – the average number of children a woman has in her lifetime – was 1.44 children per woman in 2023, the lowest since records started in 1938.

‘That’s so gay’ haunted me at school – why is it still so common now?

ALSO THE PERJORATIVE; ' FAGGOT'

Mia Bladon
Wed 30 October 2024 

(Image: Pixabay)


The bell rings on an icy winter’s morning. I step through the school gates, dressed in my crisp white shirt, pleated skirt and school blazer. To my right, a group of boys are laughing and mocking each other: “That’s so gay, mate!”

What they don’t know is that I’m a young, closeted lesbian. What they don’t realise is that their appropriation of the label “gay” as a derogatory term, under the guise of “banter”, will later come to haunt me, damaging my mental health as I come to terms with my own sexuality.

It took me years to figure it out, but today I proudly identify as a lesbian. I know now that being a lesbian is a beautiful and wonderful thing. However, I didn’t always feel this way.


As I navigated the already turbulent rollercoaster of adolescence, I was also struggling to manage compulsory heterosexuality and internalised homophobia. This self-hatred and the feelings of discomfort and shame that were directed inwards prevented me from accepting my identity for a long time. In fact, it took me until the age of 20 to finish unpicking the ruthless knots of comp-het that had been tangled up inside of me after years and years of hearing the terms ‘gay’, ‘lesbian’ and ‘queer’ used in a mocking or downright derogatory, hateful way.

I know I’m not alone. So many LGBT+ people of my generation will remember hearing queerness be falsely associated with embarrassment and humiliation, at the expense of juvenile laughter and mockery, and can likely relate to the harm it did to my mental health and the emotionally painful and prolonged journey of becoming comfortable with my identity.

But what I didn’t know was that school pupils today are experiencing the same things we did. New research from Just Like Us has shown that a shocking 78% of primary school pupils aged 9 to 11 say they’ve heard homophobic language, and 80% of secondary school pupils said the same.

Now, young people aren’t just hearing this language in the playground or outside the school gates, they’re also hearing it on social media. Pupils involved in the research cited TikTok trends, and parents have noticed their children playing “games” involving homophobic language that they’ve picked up online.
“Hearing ‘gay as an insult also stifles straight and cisgender young people’s ability to feel free to be themselves”

Not only is this incredibly damaging for LGBT+ pupils struggling with intense shame around their identities, like I did, it’s shaping how all young people view the world. Hearing gay as an insult also stifles straight and cisgender young people’s ability to feel free to be themselves too. For example, the same research found that a primary school age boy was labelled “gay” because his hair was long.

Using LGBT+ identities as insults feeds into societal prejudice against queer people. Dismissing the flippant use of “gay” or “queer” as “just a joke” insinuates that these identities are not deserving of respect and dignity.

All pupils should have the chance to learn about the diversity of our world, and that difference is something to be celebrated. If schools don’t tackle the issue of homophobic language, they are failing non-LGBT+ young people too.

Nowadays, I am a Just Like Us ambassador, which means I go into secondary schools to give talks to students on what it’s like growing up LGBT+. I have spoken to pupils about my experience growing up as a femme lesbian in a household in which LGBT+ topics weren’t openly discussed, as well as my experience moving away from home to university and feeling the freedom to fall in love with another girl for the very first time.

One of the many reasons that Just Like Us ambassadors give school talks like these is to normalise LGBT+ experiences. I endeavour to contribute to the destigmatisation of terms such as “lesbian”, “gay” and “queer”, letting pupils know that these words should only be used in a kind and respectful way.

These messages of respect, thoughtfulness and tolerance that my fellow ambassadors and I are conveying through our school talks are the messages that my peers at school needed to hear on that icy winter’s morning when the school bell rang.

After all, in a world where we are constantly expected to define ourselves through descriptors and labels, it would be cruel and unfair to mock that teenage girl, in her white shirt and pleated skirt and blazer, stepping through the school gates.

Mia is an ambassador for Just Like Us, the LGBT+ young people’s charity. Just Like Us needs LGBT+ ambassadors aged 18-25 to speak in schools – sign up now.

The post ‘That’s so gay’ haunted me at school – why is it still so common now? appeared first on Attitude.

What made iconic Aboriginal Australian weapons so deadly?

Vishwam Sankaran
Wed 30 October 2024

What made iconic Aboriginal Australian weapons so deadly?


A first-of-its-kind study has finally revealed how Indigenous Australians delivered deadly strikes with their two iconic weapons.

The research, published in the journal Scientific Reports last week, shows how Aboriginal Australians deployed the kodj and the leangle.

Kodj is an indigenous invention that is part hammer, part axe and part poking weapon, and its design is likely thousands of years old. The leangle is a fighting club with a hooked striking head that is used along with a parrying shield, both typically carved from hardwood.


Researchers at Griffith University in Australia used modern biomechanics technology to determine where the striking power of these weapons comes from, and what makes their ancient designs so deadly.

For the study, Larry Blight, an Indigenous Menang Noongar man from Western Australia, made a kodj using wattle wood for the handle and a sharpened stone for the blade.

The leangle and parrying shield were made from hardwood by Brendan Kennedy and Trevor Kirby from Wadi Wadi Country.

The kodj and leangle with parrying shield (Laura Diamond et al, Scientific Reports)

The researchers used wearable instruments to track human and weapon movement, including shoulder, elbow and wrist motions, as well as the power generated during kodj and leangle strikes.

They then studied the kind of coordinated movement and energy expenditure needed by humans to use these weapons effectively.

Swing of leangle delivers deadly blow (Laura Diamond et al, Scientific Reports)

“We present the world’s first evaluation of striking biomechanics and human and weapon efficiency regarding this class of implement,” they said in the study.

The leangle was found to be far more effective at delivering devastating blows than the kodj, which the researchers said was an easier-to-manoeuvre multi-functional tool but still capable of delivering severe blows.

“There were no previous studies describing human and weapon efficiency when striking with a handheld weapon, so we were starting from scratch,” study co-author Laura Diamond said.

“Although the design is critical for weapon efficiency, it is the human who must deliver the deadly strike.”

The findings also shed more light on archaeological evidence of ancient interpersonal violence documented over the years in Australia.

Biomechanics during kodj strike (Laura Diamond et al, Scientific Reports)

Such evidence mainly comprises fossil human skulls with depressions or “parrying fractures” to arm bones above the wrist.

These injuries are akin to what one might get while defending against weapons similar to the ones used in this experiment, scientists said.

They said they hope the methods employed in the study can be used to analyse the striking physics of other archaic weapons from other parts of the world.

Push for black and Asian soldiers’ input in world wars to be taught in UK schools

Aamna Mohdin 

Community affairs correspondent

THE GUARDIAN
Wed 30 October 2024

Khudadad Khan was awarded the Victoria Cross by King George V in 1915. He was the first Indian soldier ever to receive the award.Photograph: Popperfoto/Getty

Politicians and community leaders are calling for the history of black and Asian soldiers who fought for Britain in the world wars to be taught more widely in schools to help tackle ignorance, racism and anti-Muslim prejudice.

Speaking on the 110th anniversary of the first Muslim to be awarded the Victoria Cross, leading minority ethnic voices have said that raising awareness of black and Asian service men and women could help tackle racism and anti-Muslim prejudice after this summer’s riots.

Qari Asim, an iman in Leeds and the chair of the Mosques and Imams National Advisory Board, the Labour MP Calvin Bailey, who chaired the RAF ethnic minorities network, and Sayeeda Warsi, whose two grandfathers fought in the second world war, have come together to highlight the story of Khudadad Khan.


Khan, a machine gunner, was injured on 31 October 1914, while trying to prevent German troops taking vital ports in France and Belgium. As the line was pushed back, Khan, who was wounded and outnumbered, held off the German advance long enough for Indian and British reinforcements to arrive. He was the sole survivor of his team.

Khan was presented with the Victoria Cross by King George V in 1915 while recovering from his injuries at a hospital in the UK. He was the first Indian soldier ever to receive the award. After the war he returned to Pakistan, then India before it had been partitioned. His Victoria Cross is now displayed as part of the Ashcroft Collection at the Imperial War Museum in London.

Campaigners are calling for stories like Khan’s to feature prominently at next year’s commemorations of the VE Day 80th anniversary.

Asim said: “It was frightening this summer to see a toxic minority attacking mosques and threatening Muslims in their community. If they knew this country’s history – what Khudadad Khan and thousands of other Muslim soldiers did for Britain in the world wars – perhaps they would think differently.

“We should do more to raise awareness, among Muslims and non-Muslims alike, of this service and sacrifice. We are all part of Britain’s history and that’s something we can commemorate together.”

Bailey said: “Khudadad Khan’s bravery is a symbol of the shared history that explains who we are today. The service of men and women from Africa, Asia and the Caribbean was a massive part of the victories in both world wars. This is one of the many great stories that need to become well known.

Lady Warsi said: “We saw the very worst of Britain this summer, as an angry few turned their anger first on ethnic and faith minorities, and then on the police doing their job to protect people.

“Next month we will remember the men and women whose service and sacrifice helped defend our freedoms. Those armies in the world wars included men like Khudadad Khan and soldiers from Africa and the Caribbean; they included both my grandfathers too. Then, as now, Britain is at its best when we stand together.”

Research earlier this year by Focaldata for British Future found that more than three quarters of the public (77%) agreed it is important for integration today that children are taught in school about this shared history, while 85% agreed all those who fought for Britain in the world wars should be commemorated regardless of where they came from.

Most of the public (54%) agreed that the contribution of Commonwealth soldiers in the first and second world wars is not talked about as much as it should be.

Sunder Katwala of British Future said: “The story of Khudadad Khan and others like him should be on the school curriculum. And commemorating all those who served, from all backgrounds, could make Remembrance Sunday a moment that brings people together across communities.”

Ikea pledges millions over use of forced labour in East Germany

RFI
Wed 30 October 2024

Ikea has pledged €6 million to atone for the use of forced labour in Communist East Germany.

Ikea has pledged to contribute €6 million to a hardship fund for victims of the former East German dictatorship, acknowledging that some of its suppliers had used political prisoners as forced labourers.

The Swedish furniture company formally committed to the fund on Wednesday, handing a declaration of intent to Evelyn Zupke, Germany’s commissioner for the victims of East Germany’s communist-era injustices.

The agreement comes after “close exchanges over several years” between Ikea, the victims’ organisation UOKG and Zupke, who became the government commissioner on the issue in 2021.

"For me, Ikea's commitment to supporting the hardship fund is an expression of a responsible approach to the dark chapters of the company's history," Zupke said.

Ikea first acknowledged in 2012, after an independent investigation, that some of its suppliers in East Germany had employed political prisoners to produce goods for the company in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

When it took office in 2021, Germany's three-way coalition government pledged to establish a hardship fund for victims of crimes committed under the East German government before German unification in 1990.

The German parliament is due to vote on the establishment of the fund in the coming weeks.

Kadnar said Ikea had long ago assured the people affected that it would atone for the mistreatment they faced.


Read more on RFI English

Read also:
Ikea France goes on trial for allegedly spying on staff, customers
Prosecution calls for 'exemplary penalties' against IKEA in alleged spying case

Volcanoes 'hidden source' of CO2 in past climate change: study

Bénédicte Rey
Wed 30 October 2024 

Huge underground fields of magma have been linked to four of the five big mass extinctions on Earth (MAXIM FESYUNOV) (MAXIM FESYUNOV/AFP/AFP)

Massive fields of magma underneath ancient volcanoes spewed out carbon dioxide long after eruptions on the surface had ended, potentially explaining why past global warming episodes lasted longer than expected, a study said Wednesday.

Humans are emitting far more planet-heating carbon-dioxide (C02) than all the world's volcanoes put together. But scientists hope that by studying climate change in Earth's distant past, they can understand how the world heats up -- and crucially, how it can cool down again.

Scientists have long been puzzled by how long it took Earth's atmosphere to recover from a mass extinction event 252 million years ago that ended the Permian period.


It was the most severe extinction event in our planet's history, wiping out roughly 90 percent of marine species and 70 percent of those on land.

Scientists believe the upheaval was caused by huge volcanic eruptions in Siberia. The eruptions created what are called large igneous provinces -- huge underground regions of magma and rock -- which have been linked to four of the five big mass extinctions since complex life appeared on Earth.

It took Earth's climate nearly five million years to recover.

But according to scientific models, the world should have regrouped much more quickly.

"Earth's natural thermostat seems to have gone haywire during and after this event," said Benjamin Black, a researcher at Rutgers University in the United States and lead author of a new study in the journal Nature Geoscience.

- 'This gives me hope' -

To find out more, the US-led team carried out chemical analyses of lava, used computer models to simulate inner-Earth processes and compared climate records preserved in rock.

Their results suggested that even once volcanic activity had ended during past episodes, magma kept releasing carbon dioxide deep in the Earth's crust and mantle, which continued heating the globe.

"Our findings are important because they identify a hidden source of CO2 to the atmosphere during moments in Earth's past when climate has warmed abruptly and stayed warm much longer than we expected," Black said in a statement.

"We think we have figured out an important piece of the puzzle for how Earth's climate was disrupted, and perhaps just as importantly, how it recovered."

Black told AFP that the process described in the study "definitely cannot explain present-day climate change".

All the world's volcanoes currently "release less than one percent as much carbon to the atmosphere as human activities," he explained.

The type of volcanism the team investigated was last seen on Earth 16 million years ago, Black said, and was so enormous it could "cover the continental United States or Europe half a kilometre deep in lava".

But if the findings are confirmed, it could show that Earth's thermostat is working better than scientists had thought.

"This gives me hope that geologic processes will be able to gradually draw anthropogenic CO2 back out of the atmosphere," Black said.

"But it will still take hundreds of thousands to millions of years, which is obviously a long time for human beings."

ber/dl/tw

Buried Alive: Carbon dioxide release from magma deep beneath ancient volcanoes was a hidden driver of Earth’s past climate

A Rutgers-led study finds “cryptic carbon” from underground portions of enormous volcanic provinces contributed to climate warming during key moments in Earth’s past

Rutgers University

 

image: 

An international team of geoscientists journeyed to northeastern Oregon, where massive volcanism has been linked with climate warming 16 million years ago. For their study, the scientists zeroed in the Wallowa Mountains, which are laced with enormous sheets of flat magmatic dikes, created when molten rock flowed into cracks and solidified.

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Credit: Benjamin Black/Rutgers University

An international team of geoscientists led by a volcanologist at Rutgers University-New Brunswick has discovered that, contrary to present scientific understanding, ancient volcanoes continued to spew carbon dioxide into the atmosphere from deep within the Earth long past their period of eruptions.

In doing so, the research team has solved a long-standing mystery over what caused prolonged episodes of warming during turning points in Earth’s climate history. The work is detailed in today’s issue of the journal Nature Geoscience.

“Our findings are important because they identify a hidden source of CO2 to the atmosphere during moments in Earth’s past when climate has warmed abruptly and stayed warm much longer than we expected,” said Benjamin Black, who led the study and is an associate professor in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at the School of Arts and Sciences. “We think we have figured out an important piece of the puzzle for how Earth’s climate was disrupted, and perhaps just as importantly, how it recovered.”

 

In the present-day, humans are releasing vastly more carbon dioxide than all active volcanoes put together—but the new findings could shed light on how the planet’s climate will recover if and when human carbon dioxide emissions decrease. “Earth has natural climate control systems – sort of like the thermostat in your house,” Black said. “The question is—are there thresholds beyond which those climate control systems start to break down, making it much harder for climate to recover?”

 

For decades, scientists have been baffled by climate records showing the failure of the Earth’s atmosphere to recover as quickly as expected after what is known as the end-Permian mass extinction 252 million years ago – the most severe decrease in biodiversity known to have occurred on Earth. The mass extinction has been linked with tremendous volcanic eruptions in Siberia. Even after the eruptions ceased, Earth's climate took nearly 5 million years to stabilize.

 

“This delayed recovery has long puzzled scientists. Earth’s natural thermostat seems to have gone haywire during and after this event,” Black said. “We noticed that a similar pattern seemed to have occurred at multiple other times in Earth’s history with massive volcanism, and we set out to understand why.”

 

Black and an international team of colleagues looked back in time and found evidence for carbon dioxide emissions from this type of volcanic province that could last millions of years after most surface eruptions had ended. They did this by compiling chemical analyses of the lavas, developing computer models simulating melting inside the Earth, and comparing the results with records of past climate preserved in sedimentary rocks.

 

The analyses showed that massive ancient volcanic provinces shut down slowly. At the surface, eruptions may have stopped, but deep in the crust and mantle, magma was still releasing carbon dioxide, leading to prolonged climate warming.

 

“We call this CO2 from the subsurface magma ‘cryptic carbon’ because it comes from magmas lurking deep in the system,” Black said. “It’s as if the volcanoes were releasing carbon from beyond the grave.”

Black said the findings in the new study are significant because they identify a hidden source of atmospheric carbon dioxide during moments when the climate warmed abruptly. If the volcanoes kept “turning the temperature up,” it could mean the Earth’s thermostat may work better than scientists thought.

“If this is true, it could be good news for Earth's recovery after human-driven climate warming,” Black said. “It means that if we stop turning the thermostat up, on geologic timescales of hundreds of thousands to millions of years, climate can recover.”

Black emphasized that cryptic carbon from volcanoes cannot explain present-day climate change. “The type of volcanism we are investigating is rare, capable of generating enough magma to cover the continental United States half a kilometer deep in lava,” Black said. “This kind of volcanism has not occurred for 16 million years. All the volcanism taking place on the planet today releases less than one percent as much carbon dioxide as human activities.”

But scientists still hope to learn from these past eruptions about current and future climate. “These ancient eruptions appear to be some of the only events in Earth’s history that release carbon on the same scale as humans are doing today,” Black said. “So by studying these eruptions in the deep past we can learn more about how Earth’s climate systems respond to massive release of carbon to the atmosphere.”

These findings are just the beginning of a multi-year effort funded by the National Science Foundation to investigate how cryptic carbon could influence recovery after major disruptions of Earth’s climate. This summer, the team journeyed to northeastern Oregon, where massive volcanism has been linked with climate warming 16 million years ago. The scientists zeroed in the Wallowa Mountains, which are laced with enormous sheets of flat magmatic dikes, created when molten rock flowed into cracks and solidified. Because of erosion, the area known as the “Alps of Oregon” exposes these rocks that once constituted magma deep in the Earth.

 

Team members, including Black and colleagues and graduate students from Rutgers and other universities that are part of the National Science Foundation-funded team, clambered into the mountains, ranging between 5,000- and 9,000-feet high, and sampled the glass-like material at the edges of the dikes. These were created when magma came into contact with colder surrounding rocks. Back at their labs, the researchers are looking for evidence in the glassy rocks of ancient emissions of carbon dioxide and other gases.

Other scientists on the study included: Leif Karlstrom of the University of Oregon; Benjamin Mills of the University of Leeds, Leeds, UK; Tamsin Mather, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK; Maxwell Rudolph, University of California-Davis; Jack Longman, Northumbria University, Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK; and Andrew Merdith, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia.

 

---

Journal

Nature Geoscience

DOI

10.1038/s41561-024-01574-3 

Method of Research

Observational study

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

Cryptic degassing and protracted greenhouse climates after flood basalt events

Article Publication Date

30-Oct-2024

World's most indebted oil firm is headache for new Mexico leader

Former President, Andrés Manuel López Obrador celebrates with successor Claudia Sheinbaum [Getty Images]

Will Grant - BBC Mexico correspondent
Mon, October 28, 2024 


After handing the reins of power to Claudia Sheinbaum on 1 October, Mexico’s outgoing president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, hoisted her arm aloft in a joint show of victory.

López Obrador – a hugely popular but controversial figure in Mexico – bequeathed more than just the presidential sash to his political protégé.


She inherits a nation, and an economy, that is performing well in some areas, and facing significant challenges in others.

The good news from her government’s perspective is that Mexico has strengthened its trade position with its neighbour to the north, displacing China as the US’s biggest trading partner.

Mexico has benefitted from “nearshoring” – that is, the relocation of US and Asian firms from China to northern Mexico to bypass punitive US tariffs on Chinese exports.

“Mexico has always been attractive to capital flows because of our geographical position, our free trade agreements with North America, our work force,” former Mexican trade negotiator Juan Carlos Baker Pineda told me before the election.

“But over the past few years, it increasingly seems that if you [a foreign firm] want to do business with the US you need some kind of footing in Mexico.”

The outlook is optimistic, he believes, pointing to Amazon’s recent announcement that it will invest $5bn (£3.8bn) in Mexico over the next 15 years, and an additional $1bn investment by German carmaker Volkswagen. Mr Baker Pineda also cites promising plans from South African, Japanese and Chinese firms.


Critics are less convinced that the relocation of manufacturing from Asia to northern Mexico benefits the Mexican economy rather than just bolstering the companies involved. The key, Mr Baker Pineda believes, lies in creating the right “corporate and government decisions in this country to sustain this trend in the long-term”.

When it comes to the immediate economic problems President Sheinbaum faces, the most pressing is state-run energy firm Pemex. It has debts of around $100bn, making it the world’s most indebted oil firm.

“The debt is a problem not just for Pemex but for Mexico,” says Fernanda Ballesteros, Mexico country manager for the Natural Resource Governance Institute.

In recent years, the López Obrador administration has reduced the amount of tax Pemex has had to pay the government. This has been cut by 60% to 30%.

At the same time, the outgoing government gave Pemex a number of cash injections, which López Obrador says he would like to see continue.

However, a steady decline in productivity at Pemex in recent years has further complicated the financing of the state-owned energy giant, which employs around 1.3 million people according to the government’s own statistics.

State-owned oil firm Pemex is struggling under a debt mountain [Getty Images]

“President López Obrador’s policies and priorities were to double down on fossil fuels and give unconditional support to Pemex,” says Ms Ballesteros. The company is now poorly positioned, she argues, for the necessary transition to cleaner and more efficient energies in the coming decades.

“Over the past six years, 90% of Pemex’s infrastructure investments have gone towards a new refinery in Dos Bocas in Tabasco state, and the acquisition of a refinery in Deer Park in Texas.”

The government says it is on course to achieve its goal of total self-sufficiency in fuels by the first quarter of 2025. However, Pemex’s ongoing economic difficulties mean the Sheinbaum administration has its hands tied over servicing the colossal debt.


Environmental expert Eugenio Fernández Vázquez says that Pemex is a “big challenge” for Sheinbaum. “Not just in dealing with the oil industry, which is huge in terms of Mexico’s GDP, but also in taking Pemex’s massive debt burden off the public’s shoulders,” he explains.

Sheinbaum must strike a difficult balance, he adds, in getting Pemex to sell more of its products “which are obviously fossil fuels and oil-based, while at the same time addressing Mexico’s climate change responsibilities and dealing with urgent issues in our cities, like air pollution”.

For a president championed as Mexico’s most environmentally conscious leader – before entering politics, Sheinbaum was an accomplished environmental engineer – that must rankle. Especially while also spending billions in public money to prop up a greenhouse gas-emitting behemoth.

Back in the realm of Mexico’s complex relationship with its northern neighbour, President Sheinbaum faces two very different prospective partners in Washington - either the first female president of the US in Kamala Harris or a second Trump presidency.


Whoever wins in November, there are some tricky cross-border issues to address, whether on trade or undocumented immigration, the illegal traffic of guns into Mexico, or fentanyl into the US.

Furthermore, the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) free trade deal is up for renegotiation in 2026, with everything from minor tweaks to major rewrites possible.

USMCA was introduced in 2020, when it replaced the previous North American Free Trade Agreement between the three countries.

Sheinbaum also has to keep an eye on the peso. In the days after her election victory in June, the currency tumbled against the dollar.

This was largely in response to a decision by the outgoing president to press ahead with a wholesale reform of the country’s judicial system under which all 7,000 judges and magistrates in Mexico will be chosen by popular vote. The plan is also supported by Sheinbaum.

Washington’s disapproval of the measure, as publicly expressed by the US Ambassador to Mexico, Ken Salazar, suggested it could complicate, even jeopardise, parts of the USMCA renegotiation. Relations between Ambassador Salazar and the new administration are already notably frostier.

The peso has been under pressure this year [Getty Images]

Diplomatic spats aside, marrying the new constitutional rules with the legal requirements of the free trade agreement could prove far thornier than first anticipated.

Still, these are the very first days of President Sheinbaum’s administration. As part of her predecessor’s legacy, she enjoys an almost unprecedented level of support with the ruling party in an unassailable position across the country.

Her key election promise – to extend López Obrador’s social programmes in pensions, family stipends and student grants, and build what she calls the “second floor” of his political project – secured her the backing of millions of Mexicans.

She can also count on a loyal congress and, following the reform, potentially the control of the judiciary, too.

Taking office in such a powerful position is a luxury, one which supporters and critics alike expect her to use to properly address some of Mexico’s main economic obstacles.

China's critical mineral dominance puts Washington's supply chain hopes at risk

South China Morning Post
Mon, October 28, 2024 

Beijing's dominance in the resource-rich central African nation Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) may complicate Washington's ambitions to de-risk its critical minerals from China's supply chains, according to new analysis.

London-based minerals research and pricing firm Benchmark Mineral Intelligence said that most of the DRC's cobalt - a crucial component in electric vehicle batteries and other electronics - is already in the hands of mining companies from China.

Chinese companies control two-thirds of cobalt in the DRC, which accounts for an estimated 74 per cent of global output, putting it at a "high risk" of falling foul of the foreign entity clause in the US Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).

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CMOC, previously known as China Molybdenum, is a top cobalt producer from its two main sites in the DRC - Tenke Fungurume mine and Kisanfu project - and a potential target for the IRA's foreign entity of concern clause (FEOC), Benchmark Minerals said.

Benchmark's study noted that 60 per cent of the global supply of mined cobalt in 2024 is expected to come from assets classified as FEOC or at "high risk" of becoming part of that category.

The clause captures entities owned, controlled or subject to the jurisdictions of China, Russia, Iran and North Korea.


The Benchmark study also found that 79 per cent of the world's supply of refined cobalt in 2024 will originate from assets that are either already FEOC or at high risk of becoming so.

"The majority of DRC volumes fall under the 'high risk' category, owing to high levels of Chinese ownership in assets in the country, and therefore are likely to be ineligible for consumer tax credits under the IRA," said Will Talbot, research manager at Benchmark.

"Over time, we do expect the share of material coming from high risk or FEOC countries will decline marginally as more ex-China supply comes online, but we forecast it to remain significant," he said.


The Tenke Fungurume mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo in central Africa is one of the largest copper and cobalt mines in the world. Photo: AFP alt=The Tenke Fungurume mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo in central Africa is one of the largest copper and cobalt mines in the world. Photo: AFP>

DRC President Felix Tshisekedi, who began his second term in January, pushed for a renegotiation of the previous administration's minerals-for-infrastructure deals with China, to ensure that the DRC's citizens benefit from its mineral wealth.

Tshisekedi's visit to China in 2023 was followed by this year's revised agreement on the Sicomines copper and cobalt joint venture that will see Sinohydro Corporation and China Railway Group invest up to US$7 billion in infrastructure.

The Benchmark study found that Chinese firms are deeply embedded in the DRC's mining sector, having secured several of the country's key assets in the past decade as Western countries ceded many of these interests to China.

According to Benchmark Minerals, chief among these acquisitions was the sale by US-based Freeport-McMoran of two of the world's largest cobalt assets - the Tenke Fungurume mine and Kisanfu project - to CMOC in 2016 and 2020, respectively.

The acquisitions more than doubled CMOC's cobalt supply and the company last year surpassed its Swiss rival Glencore to become the world's largest producer of the mineral in terms of output.

Concerns over the Chinese mining giant's outsize role in the DRC have led to Washington's recent initiatives to challenge China's grip on the critical minerals market.

The US is angling for a share of the battery metals and in 2022 signed a memorandum of understanding with Zambia and the DRC to bring funding and expertise into their mining industries.

The US is currently leading its allies in a multibillion-dollar investment to revamp the Lobito railway corridor between Angola and Zambia through the DRC, with the aim of developing transcontinental connectivity from the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean.

The project involves refurbishing an existing section of the 1,344km (835 miles) Benguela railway into southern DRC, and construction of an 800km (497 miles) railway line through northwestern Zambia.

Tanzania has also signed a deal with the US to allow the expansion of the Lobito Corridor to reach the Indian Ocean and Tanzania's nickel deposits. An expanded Lobito could also bring copper-cobalt exports from the DRC or Zambia into Western markets.

Chris Berry, president of ­New York commodities advisory firm House Mountain Partners, said that US investment in the Lobito Corridor is indeed part of a plan to de-risk and diversify cobalt supply chains.

"[However] it's likely that the US and much of the world will be reliant on DRC-sourced cobalt for years to come," he said, adding that the assets in the DRC are extraordinarily large and high grade - "a very tough combination to compete with".

According to Berry, various US government entities, including the Defence Department and the Export-Import Bank, have provided capital in the form of grants and loans to North American cobalt, copper and nickel assets such as Electra or Jervois.

Berry said this "positive momentum" must be sustained through volatile metals price cycles. "There is no quick fix here, as there is a dire need for FEOC-compliant material, but it will take some years to build a sustainable supply chain."

Washington was also reported to be behind moves to block Norin Mining - a subsidiary of China's state-owned defence company Norinco - from acquiring Chemaf Resources, operator of the Etoile copper mine.

According to the Financial Times, US officials encouraged state-owned miner Gecamines to review the sale of Chemaf, which is also developing Mutoshi, one of the DRC's largest pipeline copper-cobalt projects. The deal was rejected.

The Benchmark study said that the US has also reportedly tried to assist Swiss trading firm Mercuria's bid to acquire copper-cobalt mines from Eurasian Resources Group (ERG), contingent upon the removal of sanctions against Israeli billionaire Dan Gertler.

Carlos Lopes, a professor at the Nelson Mandela School of Public Governance at the University of Cape Town in South Africa, said Washington's approach to "de-risking" cobalt supply chains is a sign of intensifying geopolitical competition.

According to Lopes, the US seems increasingly focused on securing critical minerals for its own economic and security interests.

"This rivalry-driven approach narrows the scope for a partnership with Africa based on mutual benefit and long-term development. The continent, and the DRC in particular, should not be seen merely as a resource base to fuel external interests," he said.

Lopes noted that while the significant investment in the Lobito rail corridor aligns with the broader US agenda to diversify and secure mineral supply chains beyond Chinese influence, there are also risks

"Without a genuine commitment to local development, it risks perpetuating Africa's role as a supplier of raw materials rather than fostering economic transformation on the continent," he said.

To be truly beneficial, these efforts must include investment in value-addition industries and infrastructure that support African economies and employment, not just US supply chain security, according to Lopes.


Copyright (c) 2024. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.

Countries launch nature coalition at UN COP16 talks, warn of human extinction

Tue, October 29, 2024 

Colombian President Gustavo Petro attends the opening of the 16th United Nations Biodiversity Summit in Cali

By Jake Spring

CALI, Colombia (Reuters) - Colombia at the U.N. COP16 biodiversity talks on Tuesday launched a coalition with 20 other countries seeking to make "peace with nature," as leaders warned that the rapid destruction of the environment risks humanity's own extinction.

The summit of nearly 200 countries under way in the mountain-ringed city of Cali is tasked with figuring out how to halt the decline of nature by 2030, as humans drive habitat loss, climate change, pollution and other activities that destroy biodiversity.

The coalition includes countries from four continents including Mexico, Sweden, Uganda and Chile, although none from Asia-Pacific.

The coalition is open to countries that agree to a set of principles aimed at changing humanity's relationship with nature, to live in harmony with the environment.

That includes marshaling money toward conservation and sustainable development, cooperating internationally and mobilizing all of their society toward preserving nature.

At the opening of Tuesday's COP16 meeting with six presidents and more than 100 government ministers, leaders warned that by destroying nature, humanity is killing itself.

"We are beginning the era of human extinction. I do not think I am exaggerating," Colombian President Gustavo Petro said.

Petro said that the world cannot wait for it to be profitable to save nature and that the market will not save humans, adding that the value of life should be placed over money.

"Nature is life. And yet we are waging war against it. A war where there can be no winner," said U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. "This is what an existential crisis looks like."

Leaders said COP16 could be a turning point for conservation as the summit seeks to implement 23 goals to stop nature loss by 2030 laid out in the 2022 Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, that includes mobilizing $200 billion annually for conservation and preserving 30% of the Earth.

Countries as of Tuesday were far from reaching an agreement on how to advance the wide-ranging agenda, remaining at an impasse on how to ramp up finance. A handful of nations announced millions of dollars in new commitments to a global fund for biodiversity, but observers said it falls far short of the billions of dollars needed.

"Today we can change," Ecuador's President Daniel Noboa said. "I want to believe we can change and the world is not going to end."

(Reporting by Jake Spring; Editing by Sandra Maler)

UN chief calls for more pledges, private sector input to save global biodiversity at Colombia summit

STEVEN GRATTAN
Tue, October 29, 2024 

FILE - Fog drifts over the woods of the Taunus forest near Frankfurt, Germany, Oct. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Probst, File)ASSOCIATED PRESS

FILE - U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres addresses the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Sept. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)ASSOCIATED PRESS

Boats maneuver low water levels amid a drought on the Amazon River, at a port that connects Colombia with Peru, in Leticia, Colombia, Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Ivan Valencia)ASSOCIATED PRESS

Animals in risk of extinction display is exhibited in the green zone, a day ahead of the COP16 United Nations biodiversity conference, in host city Cali, Colombia, Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)ASSOCIATED PRESS

An artist spray paints the finishing touches on a mural a day ahead of the COP16 United Nations biodiversity conference, in host city Cali, Colombia, Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)ASSOCIATED PRESS

FILE - A member of the Pakanyo tribe set a fire in protected forest land at Chiang Mai province, Thailand, Monday, April 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit, File)ASSOCIATED PRESS

FILE - A fisherman casts his net in a lake polluted by oil on the outskirts of Moanda, western Democratic Republic of Congo, Dec. 23, 2023. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy, File)ASSOCIATED PRESS

FILE - A cormorant gets a running start to take off from the calm waters of Northeast Harbor, Maine, at sunrise Oct. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty, File)

CALI, Colombia (AP) — United Nation's Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged countries on Tuesday to make new pledges to help save global biodiversity and called for the private sector to come on board.

“Nature is life, and yet we are waging a war against it, a war where there can be no winner,” Guterres said in his opening remarks at the U.N. biodiversity summit, known as COP16, in Cali, Colombia.

“Every day, we lose more species. Every minute, we dump a garbage truck of plastic waste into our oceans, rivers and lakes,” he said. “This is what an existential crisis looks like.”

The two-week summit is a follow-up to the historic 2022 accord in Montreal, which includes 23 measures to save Earth’s plant and animal life.

Guterres' comments came a day after talks gridlocked over how to fund conservation. On Monday, eight governments pledged an additional $163 million to the Global Biodiversity Framework Fund, which environmental advocates say is far off the billions needed to save global biodiversity.

So far a total of $400 million is in the fund that provides targeted support to countries and communities to conserve and restore plant and animal species and ecosystems.

“We need a lot more committed, from many more nations,” said Kristian Teleki, CEO of the conservation charity Fauna & Flora.



The 2022 agreement signed by 196 countries calls for protecting 30% of land and water by 2030, known as 30 by 30. When the agreement was signed, 17% of terrestrial and 10% of marine areas were protected — and it hasn’t changed significantly.

A report released Monday by the International Union for Conservation of Nature said 38% of the world’s trees are at risk of extinction and that the number of threatened trees is more than double the number of threatened birds, mammals, reptiles and amphibians combined.

Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro made a 40-minute opening speech where he repeatedly warned a shift away from oil and gas energy is needed to save the world.

“Another way of producing is needed .. in order to safeguard life on this planet and of humanity,” Petro said.

Guterres said no country, rich or poor, is immune from the devastation inflicted by climate change, biodiversity loss, land degradation and pollution.

“These environmental crises are intertwined. They know no borders ... they are devastating ecosystems and livelihoods, threatening human health and undermining sustainable development,” he said, blaming outdated economic models for driving the problems.

Guterres said finance promises from countries must be turned into action and support to developing countries accelerated.

"We cannot afford to leave Cali without new pledges ... and without commitments to mobilize other sources of public and private finance to deliver the Framework,” he said. “And we must bring the private sector on board. Those profiting from nature cannot treat it like a free, infinite resource.”

The U.N. leader highlighted the importance of Indigenous people, people of African descent and local communities as the “guardians of nature”.

“Their traditional knowledge is a living library of biodiversity conservation," he said. "They must be protected. And they must be part of every biodiversity conversation.”

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Follow Steven Grattan on X: @sjgrattan

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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.

COP16 Biodiversity Summit: Urgent calls for action as global leaders gather in Cali

Cyril Fourneris
Tue, October 29, 2024 

COP16 Biodiversity Summit: Urgent calls for action as global leaders gather in Cali

The United Nations COP16 biodiversity summit is entering its final week in the Colombian city of Cali, where international negotiations are underway to clarify the implementation of the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), adopted by nearly 200 countries at the end of 2022.

The conference is pivotal in shaping global biodiversity policies, focusing on the urgent need for action against environmental degradation.

The GBF includes 23 targets, including the famous ‘30 by 30’ target in which more than 100 countries committed to protecting 30% of the planet’s lands and oceans by 2030.



The UNEP report found countries have made some headway on pledges, but that expansion of the global network must accelerate over the next six years to meet the goal.

The report says 17.6% of land and inland waters and 8.4% of the ocean and coastal areas globally are within documented protected and conserved areas.

“The increase in coverage since 2020, equivalent to more than twice the size of Colombia, is to be celebrated,” UNEP said in a news release. “But it is a rise of less than 0.5 percentage points in both realms.”
Progress remains slow

The summit in Cali is being attended by representatives of indigenous communities from all over America, who are calling on countries to honour these commitments they made two years ago.

“Our governments are not making quick decisions; they are slow to implement changes. They are focused on enforcing laws and standardising policies but are not taking action to reverse harmful activities or work toward restoring and conserving biodiversity,” says Teddy Sinacay Tomas, President of CECONSEC, an organisation which defends the territorial and civil rights of indigenous communities in the region.

Sandra Valenzuela, CEO of WWF Colombia, also highlighted the need for accelerated action. "So far, we have 17% globally in terrestrial areas and only 8% in marine and coastal regions," she said.

Valenzuela also stressed that national action plans must not only enhance protection but also promote restoration efforts to achieve these targets effectively.

Meanwhile, the European Union has positioned itself as a leader in the fight for biodiversity.

“We had Natura 2000 which is a vast network of connected protected sites. Because of that and the nature restoration law, we are quite confident that the 2030 goal for the land, we will relatively soon reach,” says Florika Fink-Hooijer, Director-General of the Environment Department at the European Commission.

Fink-Hooijer did, however, acknowledge the complexities surrounding water protection and the need for a comprehensive water resilience strategy.

In addition to environmental policies, major financial discussions are underway.

According to the United Nations, there is an urgent need to triple green investments to meet the ambitious targets set for 2030.

Slight progress in global biodiversity protection efforts but some species decline, new reports find

STEVEN GRATTAN
Mon, October 28, 2024

FILE - McCain Maximo runs back into the trees filled with bridled tern nests on the northern end of the sand bar on Helen Island, Palau, on July 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Yannick Peterhans, File)ASSOCIATED PRESS

Deforestation is visible near areas of several wood pellet production companies in Pohuwato, Gorontalo province, Indonesia, Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Yegar Sahaduta Mangiri)ASSOCIATED PRESS

FILE - People tour the green zone of COP16, the United Nations Biodiversity Conference, in Cali, Colombia, Oct. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara, File)ASSOCIATED PRESS

FILE - Police stand guard in front a hotel at COP16, the United Nations Biodiversity Conference, in Cali, Colombia, Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara, File)ASSOCIATED PRESS

FILE - Signs of drought are visible on the Amazon River, near Santa Sofia, Colombia, Oct. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Ivan Valencia, File)ASSOCIATED PRESS

FILE - A snorkeler watches fish near a shipwreck off Cubagua Island, Venezuela, Jan. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix, File)ASSOCIATED PRESS

FILE - Antelope run as they migrate through national parks and surrounding areas in South Sudan, June 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga, File)ASSOCIATED PRESS

CALI, Colombia (AP) — Global efforts to protect the world's plants and animals have made slight progress and some species remain in serious decline, according to two reports released Monday at a major United Nations biodiversity summit in Colombia.

A report from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) evaluated global progress since its biodiversity report in 2020. Two years ago, 196 countries signed a historic treaty to protect biodiversity on 30% of the planet by 2030.

The biodiversity summit underway in Cali, Colombia is a follow-up to the 2022 accord in Montreal, which includes 23 measures to halt and reverse nature loss. One calls for putting 30% of the planet and 30% of degraded ecosystems under protection by 2030.

The UNEP report found countries have made some headway on pledges, but that expansion of the global network must accelerate over the next six years to meet the goal. The report says 17.6% of land and inland waters and 8.4% of the ocean and coastal areas globally are within documented protected and conserved areas.

“The increase in coverage since 2020, equivalent to more than twice the size of Colombia, is to be celebrated,” UNEP said in a news release. “But it is a rise of less than 0.5 percentage points in both realms.”

An area of land roughly the size of Brazil and Australia combined and sea area larger than the Indian Ocean need to be protected and conserved by 2030 to meet the global target, said UNEP.

“It is ... equally important that these areas are effective and that they do not negatively impact the people who live in and around them, who are often their most valuable custodians," said UNEP Executive Director Inger Andersen. “Today’s landmark report shows some progress has been made in the past four years, but we are not moving nearly far or fast enough."

The UNEP's report uses the latest official data reported by governments and other initiative stakeholders.

“The ‘30 by 30’ is an ambitious target, but one that is still within reach if the international community works together across borders, demographics and sectors,” said Grethel Aguilar, director general at The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

The IUCN reported Monday that 38% of the world’s trees are at risk of extinction.

The Swiss-headquartered organization says its Red List of Threatened Species now includes 166,061 species — 46,337 of them threatened with extinction.

Trees now account for over one quarter of species on its endangered list, and the number of threatened trees is more than double the number of threatened birds, mammals, reptiles and amphibians combined, IUCN said.

Tree species are at risk of extinction in 192 countries around the world, the organization said. The highest proportion of threatened trees is found on islands since they are particularly at high risk due to deforestation for urban development and agriculture, as well as invasive species, pests and diseases.

“This comprehensive assessment presents the first global picture of the conservation status of trees, which enables us to make better informed conservation decisions and take action to protect trees where it is urgently needed,” said Malin Rivers, Global Tree Assessment lead at Botanic Gardens Conservation International.

Global loss of trees is a major threat to thousands of other plants, fungi and animals, according to IUCN.

The report also noted the conservation status of the Western European hedgehog has deteriorated and it's now listed as “near threatened,” with numbers reduced by an estimated 16 to 33% over the past 10 years.

The worst declines have been documented at up to 50% in Bavaria, Germany, and Flanders, Belgium. The decline is driven by “increasing human pressures, particularly the degradation of rural habitats by agricultural intensification, roads and urban development,” the report said.

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Amazon announces plan to develop 4 nuclear reactors along Columbia River

Aimee Plante
Tue, October 29, 2024 



PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – Amazon has announced plans to develop four nuclear reactors along the Columbia River in Washington in an effort to consistently achieve net-zero carbon.

The facility, a small modular reactor (SMR) created in collaboration with Energy Northwest, will be stationed near the Columbia Generating Station nuclear energy facility in Richland, Wash.

Kevin Miller, Amazon’s vice president of global data centers, said the company is investing in nuclear energy to “help power our operations and provide net-new, safe sources of carbon-free energy to the grid.”

“This new SMR project is a significant step toward Amazon’s Climate Pledge commitment to reach net-zero carbon across our operations by 2040, and signifies our continued dedication to becoming a more sustainable company,” Miller said.

According to Energy Northwest, the four reactors will produce 320 megawatts of energy — and could be built out with eight additional reactors to produce up to 960 megawatts. For context, the Northwest Power and Conservation Council says an average megawatt can power 796 homes for a year.

“Amazon’s announced investment in small modular reactors gives me hope for the future of the Northwest power grid,” Benton Public Utility District GM Rick Dunn said. “Under 100% non-emitting electricity requirements, nuclear power is the only technology capable of reliably delivering the massive amounts of around-the-clock energy our society needs, while also positioning utilities to meet aggressive electrification goals. I am ecstatic and deeply grateful to Amazon for their bold and visionary leadership.”

It is not clear when the reactors will be installed and ready for use.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved.

WA nears energy crisis as Amazon funds nuclear reactors, sparking controversy

Taylor Winkel
Mon, October 28, 2024


WASHINGTON - A new report indicates Washington could face an energy crisis within five years as its power capacity approaches its limit.

The growing demands from AI and major tech companies like Amazon, Microsoft, and Google are driving this strain on the state's energy resources.

As the ink dries on the deal Amazon just signed with Energy Northwest and X-energy, investing in four new nuclear reactors along the Columbia River in Richland — near Hanford, the most contaminated nuclear site in the U.S. — some groups are asking why we’re risking this again?

"Nuclear kills," Leona Morgan, an indigenous organizer said during a panel hosted by the organization Columbia Riverkeeper. "And nuclear is killing my people. Nuclear is what we call 'a slow genocide.’"

Morgan says the health impacts her family and other indigenous people face stem from radioactive exposure and contamination on their land.

"Just because we can’t see it, it’s out of sight out of mind, doesn’t mean it’s not happening. And if you need proof of it, come visit us," Morgan added. "See an abandoned uranium mine anywhere in the world? On Navajo, we have over 2,000."

The panel came just after Amazon's SMR announcement.

Columbia Riverkeeper maintains nuclear energy is far from clean.

"It’s the most expensive, complicated, dirtiest way to boil water," said Morgan, explaining that the carbon footprint of nuclear is only counted at the power plant, not during the process to building it and the toxic waste left behind.

Billions in federal and local funds go toward nuclear site decommissioning and cleaning every year.

Washington state just approved a record $3 billion to spend on cleanup at the Hanford site this year.

Money Amazon is investing in Small Modular Reactors near Hanford could be better invested in other renewables like solar, wind and hydro, according to Columbia Riverkeeper, which says nuclear isn’t the clean energy savior that big tech makes it out to be.

"When it comes to companies like Google, Microsoft and Amazon, the public has plenty of reasons to be angry at them," panelist M.V. Ramana said. "These companies steal your data, they do bad things, they want to pretend to be good citizens. The reason they can use investment in nuclear energy as a way to pretend they are good citizens is because the hard work of convincing the public has already been done by the nuclear lobby."

Ramana is the author of the book "Nuclear is not the Solution: The Folly of Atomic Power in the Age of Climate Change." He says we should focus on energy conservation instead.

Kelly Rae, who works in corporate communications with Energy Northwest, tells Fox 13 Seattle that the permits for the SMR’s haven’t been secured yet, although lawmakers from Jay Inslee down are already lining up behind the project.

Rae says Amazon’s funding will pay for a feasibility study over the next two years, in which after they are hopeful to fund the SMR’s. If they’re successful, the energy generated from the first four reactors would be available to Amazon only. Rae says after that, other utility companies and municipalities could come to the table to help Amazon fund additional reactors to provide energy for Washingtonians.

Energy Northwest is a collection of 28 utility districts, including Seattle City Light, Tacoma Public Utilities and Snohomish County PUD. Amazon didn’t say how much it's spending on the project, or how much, if any, will come from Energy Northwest.

So far, there aren’t any other small modular reactors like the ones Amazon is investing in, operating in the U.S.


60 MW: Small Swiss nuclear reactor to supercharge data centers, feed hungry AI

Interesting Engineering
Updated Tue, October 29, 2024 


Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience.Generate Key Takeaways


Deep Atomic, a Switzerland-based nuclear energy startup, has unveiled plans for a small modular reactor (SMR) to satisfy data centers' growing energy demands.

The small nuclear reactor called the MK60 offers a compact and scalable solution by supplying 60 megawatts of electricity and 60 megawatts of cooling for the data centers, according to a press release by the firm.

“Data centers (DCs) are the backbone of digital innovation, but their massive energy needs have become the critical bottleneck blocking growth,” William Theron, Founder and CEO of Deep Atomic, said in the press release.

Deep Atomic's SMR is "designed to be installed on-site at data centers, delivering reliable zero-carbon electricity and energy efficient cooling, thereby significantly reducing carbon footprints, and helping data centers meet their increasingly stringent sustainability goals."

With the integrated "data center-centric design," this digital infrastructure can be zero-carbon and highly efficient in power and cooling, lowering operating costs and environmental impact.

The company claims the reactor is well-suited for energy-sucking artificial intelligence (AI) applications, cryptocurrency, and traditional cloud services.
MK60 'hits a sweet spot'

Deep Atomic has purposefully chosen a smaller 60 MW design, defying the trend of bigger 300 MW reactors typical in the nascent SMR sector.


“A 60 MW reactor with additional 60 MW of cooling capacity hits a sweet spot for data centers," stated the startup's head of engineering, Freddy Mondale, while explaining the rationale behind the reactor.

"It's large enough to power significant compute infrastructure, yet small enough to allow for modular deployment and scaling.”

The reactor's scalable power solution can benefit data centers in different locations, particularly those with restricted grid access.

Its sophisticated safety features enable placement close to urban areas, supporting edge data centers with reduced latency and speedier service for high computing.


“This size also reduces initial capital costs and project risks compared to larger SMRs, making it more attractive for DC operators," added Mondale.

"The MK60 can be deployed in multiples, allowing scalability from 60 MW up to over 1 GW to meet growing energy demands.”

By bypassing the grid restrictions, the MK60 on-site reactors allow ideal placement without putting additional load on the infrastructure. The reactor works regardless of grid reliability and continues all-weather operations around the clock.
Race to limitless nuclear power

Many companies, including tech giants like Google, Microsoft, and OpenAI, have signed massive deals recently to acquire nuclear power to feed their energy-hungry data centers.

Earlier in October, Google inked the first contract in its history to purchase electricity from several SMRs, a move designed to support the company's growing energy needs driven by AI.

On the other hand, a three-mile closed island in Pennsylvania that previously operated as a US nuclear plant will reopen to meet the energy needs of Microsoft’s data centers.

Meanwhile, the Zurich-based Deep Atomic claims its MK60 reactor design policy focuses on risk mitigation and practical deployment, particularly rooted in decades-old nuclear technology tailored specifically for data centers.

“Our core philosophy is to design to be built. We're not reinventing nuclear technology, but rather refining it for data center applications," said Deep Atomic Co-founder and Chief Design Officer Rea Stark.