Investigation debunks defamation story on Chinese mining investment in Zimbabwe

A recent story published by The Guardian alleged that Chinese companies involved in granite mining in Zimbabwe have aroused fear and upset among local people

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— “People lied that I fainted. It’s not true. They didn’t tell the truth,” said Salison Ranjisi, an 82-year-old man, who was described by The Guardian as “collapsed when he heard the news” that he would be relocated.

— Commenting on the story by The Guardian, Rangarirai Shoko, editor-in-chief of New Zimbabwe Inter-Africa News Agency, said Western media have lost their predominant positions that they held in the world with the publication of lies.

by Tafara Mugwara, Zhang Yuliang and Cao Kai

MUTOKO, Zimbabwe, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) — A recent story published by The Guardian alleged that Chinese companies involved in granite mining in Zimbabwe have aroused fear and upset among local people.

The article, titled “‘They want to remove us and take the rock,’ say Zimbabweans living near Chinese-owned mines,” claimed that Chinese mining companies in Mutoko District, Mashonaland East Province, are unjustly displacing villagers to pave the way for their mining operations.

However, a Xinhua investigation on the ground showed a different picture from the one painted by The Guardian.

 

UNFOUNDED ALLEGATIONS

The story alleged that 50 families in Nyamakope village in Mutoko District have been told by a Chinese mining company that they will have to leave their homes and land.

In contrast, only three families in Nyamakope have so far been moved by Jinding Mining Zimbabwe, a Chinese granite mining company based in the area, said Salison Ranjisi, an 82-year-old man, who is among the relocated families.

Ranjisi, who was described by The Guardian as “collapsed when he heard the news” that he would be relocated, said he never fainted, but suffered from high blood pressure after the relocation process while his new house was being built.

“People lied that I fainted. It’s not true. They didn’t tell the truth,” Ranjisi said.

Salison Ranjisi poses for a photo in a field in Mutoko, Mashonaland East Province, Zimbabwe, on Jan. 20, 2022. (Photo by Shaun Jusa/Xinhua)

Furthermore, the Guardian story alleged that the families “were given 2,500 U.S. dollars to rebuild their homes.”

Ranjisi emphasized he moved after signing a contract and receiving a compensation worth 4,800 dollars, and that there was no one forcing him to leave.

According to the 2021 Zimbabwe Rural Livelihood Assessment Report by Zimbabwe Vulnerability Assessment Committee, the average monthly income for rural households in the country was 75 dollars in 2021, which means the compensation for Ranjisi’s family is far more than the average annual income for rural households in Zimbabwe.

Another Chinese mining company that was mentioned in the story, Shanghai Haoyun, was wrongfully written as “Shanghau Haoying” Mining Investments.

“They even spelled wrongly our company name. We are currently undertaking exploration works required before the commencement of mining operations, let alone the relocation of villagers,” according to a statement from Shanghai Haoyun.

Robert Mavhuta, a local councilor for Ward 10 in Zisengwe-Nemagunde village, Mutoko District, said no family in his ward has been relocated by Shanghai Haoyun, which has been granted mining rights in his area.

“In case there is any family which is to be displaced, we will sit down and talk, and they (the families) will be compensated accordingly and justly,” he told Xinhua, adding the procedures of relocating local people will be fair.

A boy on an ox-drawn cart passes a granite mountain in Mutoko, Mashonaland East Province, Zimbabwe, on Jan. 21, 2022. (Photo by Shaun Jusa/Xinhua)

REAL BENEFITS

Citing mineworkers, the Guardian story also indicated labor malpractices by the Chinese companies, including long working shifts and low pay, which have been proven untrue.

Blessmore Karimazondo, a front-end loader operator, has been working in Jinding for the past two years.

Karimazondo said he works eight hours a day and the salary is good for him, given that the inflation rate is high in the country.

Before Chinese investments came to Mutoko, the black granite was an unexploited resource with no economic value, said Robert Machinga, a local villager and a junior rig operator at Shanghai Haoyun.

Known as the Zimbabwean marble, the stone is perfect for cladding buildings and decorating kitchens and bathrooms.

Robert Machinga (C) and his colleagues check samples of granite stones at Shanghai Haoyun mine in Mutoko, Mashonaland East Province, Zimbabwe, on Jan. 21, 2022. (Photo by Shaun Jusa/Xinhua)

“We used to see these stones and we had no idea that these stones are wealth, but with the coming of Chinese investors who brought jobs, we can see that our lives are changing,” he said.

The Chinese mining companies have also benefitted local communities through their skills transfer initiatives, he said.

“I gained skills to operate machinery. Many people can now fend for their families, unlike previously when you would wake up and spend the day sitting at home. So many things have changed,” he added.

With more Chinese mining companies moving into the area, the livelihoods of the villagers will greatly improve, Machinga said.

In fact, Chinese companies in Zimbabwe have created numerous jobs and contributed a lot to the local economy. Across the country, they have built roads, bridges, borehole wells and schools.

In 2020, bilateral trade between China and Zimbabwe reached 1.399 billion dollars, up 4.2 percent year-on-year, according to figures from China’s Ministry of Commerce.

“Chinese companies welcome competition, but not malicious smear. Let’s compete for the title of top contributor to the Zimbabwean economy and the wellbeing of Zimbabwean people,” said Guo Shaochun, Chinese ambassador to Zimbabwe.

ULTERIOR MOTIVE

The Western countries want China out of Zimbabwe and its lucrative natural resources sector in order to push Zimbabwe into a development trap, Zimbabwe’s largest daily newspaper The Herald pointed out in an editorial in response to the Guardian story, adding that the anti-China rhetoric in Western press aims to tarnish relations between Zimbabwe and China.

“Out of sheer jealousy, envy and pique, Western countries have begun a spirited campaign against Chinese investments in Zimbabwe using a phalanx of corrupt media, paid activists and civil society organizations,” it said.

According to an investigation conducted by The Herald last year, local journalists were allegedly paid to peddle lies and sensationalize issues by portraying Chinese businesses as unethical, reckless, criminal and causing harm to communities, the environment and workers.

The journalists were allegedly offered 1,000 dollars for each anti-Chinese enterprise story they wrote.

In response to a latest defamation report on Chinese investment by a number of civic society groups in Zimbabwe published on Jan. 20, Christopher Mutsvangwa, the ruling ZANU-PF’s Politburo member and secretary for information and publicity, said all investments are welcome in Zimbabwe regardless of their origins.

Zimbabwe continues to “welcome and receive investments from across the world and our all-weather friend China, at a time when others are investing sanctions and hostility” to a resilient but hospitable people of Zimbabwe, Mutsvangwa was quoted by State-run Sunday Mail Newspaper as saying.

In the wake of increasing rhetoric against Chinese investments, Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa has said again and again that investments from the Asian country are most welcome.

Workers use a drilling machine to cut a granite rock at Jinding mine in Mutoko, Mashonaland East Province, Zimbabwe, on Jan. 20, 2022. (Photo by Shaun Jusa/Xinhua)

Commenting on the story by The Guardian, Rangarirai Shoko, editor-in-chief of New Zimbabwe Inter-Africa News Agency, said Western media have lost their predominant positions that they held in the world with the publication of lies.

“These guys are playing economic warfare against China. It is played out in places like Zimbabwe, in places like Namibia and Zambia,” said Shoko.

“I don’t worry much about the Western media anymore. They do a good job of discrediting themselves and killing themselves,” he said.

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Half of US SMEs raised salaries in January amid tightening labour market

Bill Dunkelberg, NFIB’s chief economist


Reade Pickert
February 04 2022

A record 50pc of US small-business owners said they raised compensation in January amid still-elevated job openings, the National Federation of Independent Business said yesterday

With some 47pc of small businesses reporting job openings last month they weren’t able to fill, employers have been raising wages to attract skilled candidates – a trend that doesn’t appear to be reversing any time soon.

Over a quarter of small businesses are planning to raise compensation in the next three months, still historically high but lower than the record high seen in the previous three months, NFIB data show.

“Small-business owners are managing the reality that the number of job openings exceeds the number of unemployed workers, producing a tight labour market and adding pressure on wage levels,” Bill Dunkelberg, NFIB’s chief economist, said.

“Reports of owners raising compensation continues at record-high levels to attract applicants to their open positions.”

The share of firms that raised compensation was the largest in monthly data back to 1986 and up two points from December.

And despite the surge in Covid-19 infections in January, 59pc of small employers reported hiring or trying to hire.

A net 26pc of owners plan to create new jobs in the next three months.

CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M
Beef giant JBS to pay $52.5M to settle price-fixing lawsuit



By: JOSH FUNK, Associated Press
Posted at 7:33 PM, Feb 03, 2022

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Meatpacking giant JBS has agreed to a $52.5 million settlement in a beef price-fixing lawsuit that some say supports their concerns about how the lack of competition in the industry affects prices.

Colorado-based JBS didn't admit any wrongdoing as part of the settlement and a spokeswoman said the company will continue to defend itself.

The giant beef processors have argued that supply and demand factors, not anticompetitive behavior, drive the price of beef and the amount ranchers receive for cattle, but the industry's practices have been questioned by the White House and Congress. And the Justice Department has been investigating possible price fixing in the industry at least since 2020.

US okays F-16 sales to Jordan, air defense boosts for Saudi Arabia, UAE

Pentagon says deals will help bolster regional partners while countering Iran and other hostile actors, amid flurry of drone and missile attacks blamed on rebels in Yemen, Iraq

By TOI STAFF

A THAAD missile defense system. (US Army Europe)


The US State Department approved potential sales of fighter jets and air defense systems to Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to help stabilize the region and counter Iran, Washington said Thursday.

The proposed sales include fighter jets, munitions and other equipment for Amman, with a price tag of $4.21 billion; $23.7 million in upgrades to Saudi Arabia’s missile defense systems; and $65 million in spare parts for missile defense systems deployed by the UAE, according to the US Defense Department, which announced the approvals.

None of the sales will alter the military balance in the region, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency said, a determination meant to assure Congress that Israel’s qualitative military edge in the Middle East would be maintained.

The UAE has been targeted several times in recent weeks by attack drones and missiles thought to have been launched by Iran-backed militias in Yemen. US and Emirati forces jointly intercepted two recent aerial attacks, including one earlier this week as Israeli President Isaac Herzog began a historic visit to the Gulf Arab country.

Saudi Arabia has also been a frequent target of drones and missiles from Yemen’s Houthi rebels, who have been battling a Saudi-led coalition as part of Yemen’s seven-year civil war.

On Wednesday, the Emirates said it intercepted attack drones later claimed by an Iran-backed group in Iraq that has previously targeted Saudi Arabia.

Illustrative — US soldiers near a Patriot missile battery at Al-Dhafra Air Base in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, May 5, 2021 

(Staff Sgt. Jao’Torey Johnson/US Air Force via AP)

The Pentagon said it could sell 31 MIDS-LVT data link systems to upgrade Riyadh’s THAAD air defense platforms, supplementing similar systems already installed on its Patriot missile defense array.

“The proposed sale will provide the Saudi armed forces with the equipment, training, and follow-on support necessary to protect Saudi Arabia, and the region, from the destabilizing effects of terrorism, countering Iranian influence, and other threats,” the Pentagon said in a notice to Congress.

The Defense Department said it had approved upping UAE acquisitions of spare parts for its Patriot, THAAD and HAWK air defense systems from $30 million, which had been previously approved, to $65 million.

The sale will support “maintaining the operational readiness of critical air defense systems,” the Pentagon said.

Jordan was given the go-ahead to purchase 16 F-16 Block 70 aircraft, along with related equipment and hundreds of various Joint Direct Attack Munition tail kits to upgrade its munitions.

A US F-16 fighter jet takes part in the “Blue Flag” multinational air defense exercise at the Ovda air force base, north of the Israeli city of Eilat, on November 11, 2019. (Jack Guez/AFP)

The Defense Department said the sale would modernize Jordan’s air force and support the goals of the US-led regional coalition “such as countering violent extremist organizations, countering malign state and non-state actors, and border defense.”

The announcements are required by law before a possible sale. The statements indicated that the deals had yet to be finalized.

US officials have scrambled in recent days to assure Gulf strategic allies, including Saudi Arabia and the UAE, of US defensive support.


Interceptors are launched over Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates to hit incoming missiles, January 24, 2022. (video screenshot)

“America will have the backs of our friends in the region,” US President Joe Biden told reporters after a drone attack on Monday.

The Biden administration has appeared reluctant to sell offensive weapons to the Saudis, who are accused of human rights abuses during its long engagement in Yemen’s civil war. The Houthis and the UAE, which withdrew forces from the conflict in 2019 but have continued to back anti-Houthi rebels, have also been accused of abuses.

Progressive Lawmakers Back Union Push by Hill Staffers

With low pay and toxic work environments in many offices, said Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Congress "sounds like a perfect place for a union."

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and staff members arrive at a press conference with Rep. Andy Levin (D-Mich.) on February 6, 2020 in Washington, D.C. 

(Photo: Samuel Corum/Getty Images)

JULIA CONLEY

February 4, 2022

Progressives in Congress offered their full-throated support to Capitol Hill staffers as they launched a unionization effort on Friday, with several lawmakers acknowledging that low pay and poor treatment are common in many congressional offices.

"I'm proud to pay my staff a living wage and offer the most generous benefits Congress has to offer," tweeted Rep. Mondaire Jones (D-N.Y.). "But that's the exception. That's why we need to allow congressional staff to unionize."

Following numerous anonymous social media posts by Hill staffers about racial and gender discrimination at work and struggling to afford essentials in Washington, D.C.—among the most expensive cities in the U.S.—the newly-formed Congressional Workers Union publicly announced Friday that workers plan to organize individual offices of lawmakers as well as congressional committees to join the union.

The staffers are unionizing "in solidarity with our fellow workers across the United States and the world," said the group.

"While not all offices and committees face the same working conditions, we strongly believe that to better serve our constituents will require meaningful changes to improve retention, equity, diversity, and inclusion on Capitol Hill," organizers said. "That starts with having a voice in the workplace."

The statement was released a day after Drew Hammill, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's (D-Calif.) deputy chief of staff, tweeted that the Democratic leader would support staffers' efforts to organize their workplace.

Rep. Andy Levin (D-Mich.), a former organizer for the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), was among the first lawmakers on Friday to offer his support after the union released its statement.

A report released last month by the Congressional Progressive Staff Association found that out of more than 500 staffers who responded, nearly half struggle to pay their monthly bills, 85% believe Congress is a "toxic work environment," and more than a quarter do not have at least one month's rent in savings in case of an emergency. More than 90% of the respondents said they wanted more protections at work.

On social media, staffers have posted anonymous accounts in recent years—with activity on an Instagram account called "Dear White Staffers" increasing last month—detailing abusive treatment by some lawmakers, compensation low enough for workers to qualify for SNAP benefits and housing assistance, and high turnover on Capitol Hill.

Congress, tweeted Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), "sounds like the perfect place for a union."

Ocasio-Cortez announced after taking office in 2019 that her staff members would be paid a minimum salary of $52,000 per year, far higher than the median annual salary of about $38,000 made by entry-level staff assistants in 2020.

Reps. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), and Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) were also among the lawmakers who expressed support for the Congressional Workers Union.

"I am in full support of this effort to unionize the very people who help serve the residents we fight for," tweeted Tlaib. "Let's get it done."

To recognize the workers' union, the House and Senate could each pass resolutions implementing provisions in the 1995 Congressional Accountability Act.

"It's time for Congressional staff to unionize and I'll do whatever I can to help them make it happen," said Bowman.

Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.

Support Growing for Congressional Staffers Who Want to Unionize

BY JAKE THOMAS 

ON 2/3/22

Congressional staff seeking to unionize over what they say is low pay and grueling work conditions gained the support of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other members of Congress on Wednesday.

A survey of congressional staff released last month by the Congressional Progressive Staff Association found that nearly half of respondents struggled to make ends meet and nearly a third of non-management staff had a second job to supplement their income.

Congressional staffers have taken to an anonymous Instagram account called "Dear White Staffers" to complain of low pay and "toxic" work environments.

A spokesman for Pelosi, a California Democrat, announced the House Speaker's support for the push to unionize staff on Twitter.

"Like all Americans, our tireless Congressional staff have the right to organize their workplace and join together in a union, " Drew Hammill, deputy chief of staff for Pelosi, said in a tweet. "If and when staffers choose to exercise that right, they would have Speaker Pelosi's full support."

Speaking to reporters earlier on Wednesday, Pelosi dodged a question about whether she supported efforts by staff to unionize.

"Well, we just unionized at the [Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee], and I supported that, yeah. I supported that," said Pelosi, who moved on to another question.

Pelosi was referring to how staff for the Democrats' congressional campaign arm voted last week to form a collective bargaining unit under the auspices of Teamsters Local 238. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee staff union is the largest collective bargaining unit within the Democratic Party, according to a press release from Teamsters Local 238.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi said she would support efforts by congressional staff to unionize. Above, Pelosi addresses reporters during a press conference to unveil the Joseph H. Rainey Room in the U.S. Capitol on Thursday. Rainey was the first elected Black member of the House of Representatives, serving from 1870 to 1879.GREG NASH/GETTY IMAGES

The unionization follows a vote last month of staff at the Democratic National Committee, who approved joining SEIU Local 500.

There are about 31,000 congressional staffers, according to the Federal Managers Association, which represents managers and supervisors. Of those employees, 12,500 work directly for members of Congress and 6,000 for committees. The remainder working at the Library of Congress and the Government Accountability Office.

Congressional staffers on average are age 35, younger than the average 47 for federal employees, according to the association. Roughly 85 percent have at least a bachelor's degree, "but tend to be paid less and work longer hours than Executive Branch employees," according to the Congressional Progressive Staff Association.

Federal law permits congressional staff to form a union. The Capitol Police, the Congressional Research Service and the Government Accountability Office have unions.

Newsweek has reached out to the Congressional Progressive Staff Association, as well as the Office of Congressional Workplace Rights, which performs many administrative functions for congressional staff, for comment.

Pelosi's announcement was followed by other members of Congress throwing their support behind efforts of staff to unionize.


"Congressional staff need unions now!" Representative Andy Levin (D-Mich.), said on Twitter. "Congress couldn't run without them and I'm committed to supporting their voice at work."

California Democratic Representative Eric Swalwell also reacted by saying, "They'd also have my support."

Mount Everest Glacier Took 2,000 Years to Form, 25 Years to Melt

(Prakash Mathema/AFP via Getty Images)

By Eric Mack    |   Thursday, 03 February 2022 

Ice from the highest glacier on the world's tallest mountain, Mount Everest, took around 2,000 years to build up, but it has melted in around 25 years, according to a new study.

The South Col Glacier has melted 80 times faster than it formed, a study published in Nature Portfolio Journal Climate and Atmospheric Science found.

While the glacier is mostly out of reach, the study concludes human effects of climate change are working to cause the ice melt at the farthest reaches of Earth.

''The answer is a resounding yes, and very significantly since the late 1990s,'' University of Maine Climate Change Institute expedition leader Paul Mayewski told CNN.

''It's a complete change from what has been experienced in that area, throughout probably all of the period of occupation by humans in the mountains, and it's happened very fast.''

Mayewski's team of scientists visited the South Col Glacier in 2019 to collect samples from a 10-meter ice core and install weather stations to collect data at the two highest points on Earth. One was at the ''death zone'' about 8,000 meters, which lacks enough oxygen to sustain life beyond short periods of time, according to the report.

The fact the glacier's ice core has been exposed after years of being snowpacked means it can no longer reflect radiation from the sun and has melted more rapidly.

''Polar bears have been the iconic symbol for warming of the Arctic and the loss of sea ice,'' Mayewski told CNN. ''We're hoping that what's happened high up on Everest will be another iconic call and demonstration.'

US flood risk is about to explode — but not for the reasons you think

A new study projects that the number of Americans exposed to flooding will double in 30 years. Development is largely to blame.

Hurricane Dorian hits Cape Hatteras in North Carolina

 Jose Luis Magana / AFP via Getty Images

Jake Bittle
PublishedFeb 04, 2022
TopicClimate + Extreme Weather

Extreme flooding has struck almost every corner of the country over the past year, from rural areas in Tennessee and California to the Michigan suburbs and the streets of Brooklyn, New York. Floods have always been by far the most widespread and costliest weather disaster in the U.S., and they have only gotten worse as climate change has accelerated. Total damages from floods and hurricanes last year eclipsed $100 billion, according to data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA.

A new study published this week in the journal Nature Climate Change projects that the number of people in the U.S. who are exposed to flooding will almost double over the next 30 years — but not for the reasons you might think. Most new risk will come not from climate change but from population growth in areas that are already vulnerable to flooding. The findings underscore a hard truth with dire implications for climate adaptation policy: The lion’s share of U.S. flood risk does not stem from the changing nature of storms and seas, but instead from our decisions about where to build and where to live.

That’s not to say climate change isn’t playing a major role: The study’s authors found that climate change will render around 700,000 more people vulnerable to flooding by 2050, mostly as a result of rising sea levels and stronger hurricanes. The lion’s share of current flood risk is borne by low-income white communities in places like Appalachia, but the new climate-driven risk that will arrive by 2050 will fall hardest on Black communities. (People of color are more likely to live in flood zones overall.) Many of these are located in coastal cities or hurricane-vulnerable Southern states, which puts them right in the crosshairs of rising seas and whopper storms.

When the authors measured the role of future population growth on flood vulnerability, though, they found an even stronger effect. The report finds that population growth in flood-prone areas will put over 3 million more people at risk of flooding by 2050 — four times the increase that will result from climate change. Unlike the new risk that results from climate change, most of the new risk from population growth will come in places that don’t have very much exposure to flooding right now, from Arkansas to Kansas to Idaho. As cities and suburbs in these areas sprawl out onto untouched land, more people will put themselves in the water’s way.

“Yes, climate change will intensify floods on average across America,” said Oliver Wing, a researcher at the University of Bristol and the lead author on the study. “But the much more sensitive component is where people are going to be living. Because ultimately, a flood is only risky if there are people and property in the way of it.”

This study complements other recent research about the relationship between climate change and population dynamics, though it adds a concerning twist. A landmark study published last year in Nature found that more people are moving into flood-prone areas across the globe, ratcheting up risk levels worldwide; the study concluded that the world’s flood-prone population grew by as much as 25 percent between 2000 and 2015. Population data from the recent U.S. census shows that Americans are still rushing to vulnerable coastal cities like St. Petersburg and Fort Myers, Florida, and that more people than ever are living in the hurricane-prone Gulf of Mexico. The long-term demographic shift toward Sun Belt cities has yet to slow down.

According to a recent survey by the real estate company Redfin, almost half of Americans say climate change is a factor in their moving decisions, which suggests that people are growing more cautious about moving to places that have suffered the worst climate disasters. Even if Americans begin to move away from these places, though, they may only be laying the groundwork for future disasters.This danger is exacerbated by the fact that U.S. flood mapping is widely believed to underestimate risk: A 2020 New York Times analysis found twice as many flood-vulnerable properties nationwide as appeared on the official government flood maps issued by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA.

The study points to a gaping hole in existing climate adaptation policy. In the past few decades, the federal government has pumped more and more money into adaptive measures such as home buyouts and living shorelines, which use natural materials to absorb flood impacts. The infrastructure bill signed into law by President Joe Biden last year contains billions of dollars more for such measures. If executed well, such projects could reduce risk in areas that are already vulnerable to flooding or stand to suffer from a changing climate. By erecting coastal storm surge barriers or buying out neighborhoods in the floodplain, the federal government can counteract some of the new climate-driven risk that Wing’s paper projects.

When it comes to forestalling future population growth, though, the policy solutions are much trickier. The federal government doesn’t have direct authority over local zoning codes, which means it’s up to local towns and cities to choose whether they permit development in flood-prone areas. From an economic perspective, most municipalities have strong incentives to allow this kind of development: More houses means more people, which means more jobs, which means more revenue from sales taxes and property taxes.

“There’s not really an established practice by which a town or village or city can say, ‘well, we’re going to lose population from a particular area based on this increasing hazard, so what does that look like?’” said Mathew Sanders, a manager of the Pew Charitable Trust’s Flood-Prepared Communities initiative. In other words, governments don’t have much practice moving beyond a narrowly-focused pro-growth mentality.

Still, added Sanders, more development doesn’t have to mean more flooding.

“It’s not a fait accompli,” he told Grist. “We have enough landmass to accommodate everyone, so it’s about strategic decision-making.”

Sanders pointed to measures like the Federal Flood Risk Management Standard, an investment guideline just reinstated by the Biden administration that sets standards for what can be built in floodplains with federal money, as an example of how the government can channel resources toward safe development. He also said that new tools like the First Street Foundation’s Flood Factor mapping tool should help developers make decisions about flood risk without relying on outdated FEMA maps.

“The conclusion that the study draws — that is a possible outcome,” says Sanders. “I don’t think that has to be the ultimate outcome.”

But the risk posed by future growth means that climate adaptation is far more complicated than just moving to high ground. Reducing flood risk will require not only intensive federal investment but also a sea change in local policy. There are examples of such policies already, such as the resilience-based zoning code implemented in Norfolk, Virginia, but in most of the country it’s still business as usual. For as long as that’s the case, said Wing, the cost of flooding is going to keep going up.

“The majority of [flood] risk is historical risk — risk that has failed to be dealt with right across decades of policy failure,” he told Grist. “The compound risk [of climate change] is interesting, but the bigger problem is not adapting to the problem in front of us.”

“We’re Getting More Pollution and Fewer Jobs”

A new study shows that fossil fuel industry groups have once again drastically overstated how many jobs rely on oil and gas drilling.

(AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)

FEB 4, 2022 JULIA ROCK

The oil and gas industry routinely claims that they employ millions of Americans as a way to perpetually delay action on climate change. New research shows it’s a total lie.

In 2020, the American Petroleum Institute (API), Washington’s top oil and gas lobby, published a study asserting that a national ban on fracking and federal oil and gas leasing could cost a whopping 7.5 million U.S. jobs. Another API report in 2021 claimed that the oil and gas industry directly employs 2.5 million people.

According to a new analysis by the corporate watchdog Food and Water Watch, the actual number of people directly employed by the fossil fuel industry is only about half a million. Moreover, the Food and Water Watch report shows that the fossil fuel industry has been shedding jobs for years, even with oil and gas output at record levels.
Tip Jar

The new report is the latest and most extreme example of how the fossil fuel industry has been regularly inflated jobs numbers to falsely suggest that taking much-needed climate action amounts to a war on workers.

In reality, oil and gas companies have gotten ever better at doing their jobs — burning fossil fuels — with fewer and fewer employees. Oil and gas production increased in the United States by a third between 2014 and 2020. In that same time period, employment in those sectors has fallen by a third, too.

“While oil and gas production has overall increased, jobs have not increased in tandem,” explained Oakley Shelton-Thomas, a senior researcher at Food and Water Watch who worked on the report. “So we’re presented with the idea that there’s a choice between, we have pollution and we also get jobs, but in reality we’re getting more pollution and fewer jobs.”

The Food and Water Watch report presents a very different picture of employment in the fossil fuel industry than the one industry groups like the API have provided to further their political aims.

In February 2020, as Democratic presidential candidates were debating a fracking ban, API released a study finding that banning federal leasing and fracking could cost 7.5 million jobs.

The report, entitled “America’s Progress At Risk,” warned that nearly five percent of America’s workforce could lose their jobs by 2022 if these policies were implemented. In truth, only about 0.5 percent of the American workforce is involved in oil and gas. The inflated numbers, according to the Food and Water Watch report, may come from “what appear to be basic arithmetic errors such as double counting and the inclusion of entirely unrelated jobs in their estimates.”

For example, people employed at gas stations — including those who work in the convenience stores attached to gas stations — constituted about half of the jobs that the API said were “directly” tied to the oil and gas industries.

“With regards to the impact of a federal leasing and drilling ban, the 7.5 million number reflects the economy-wide employment impact, not just jobs lost directly in the natural gas and oil industry but across the supply chain as well as jobs lost in other sectors due to higher energy costs,” an API spokesperson told The Daily Poster.

But experts suggest curbing fossil fuels won’t necessarily lead to the end of gas stations. Electric vehicles will need to be charged, and the vast majority of gas station jobs are in food and retail.

That’s true of other jobs API has claimed are dependent on oil and gas drilling, such as organic chemical and fertilizer manufacturing. Fossil fuels are used in the manufacturing process, but aren’t intrinsic to the production of certain chemicals or fertilizers.

“The broad trend is that these industries use oil and gas products as inputs in their industrial processes. But it’s not necessary to use hydrocarbons as inputs,” said Shelton-Thomas. “A bunch of the manufacturing jobs they include are far afield from oil and gas production.”

Meanwhile, “indirect” jobs, and “induced jobs,” or jobs within the oil and gas supply chain or whose wages are supported by oil and gas, account for nearly three-quarters of the jobs that oil and gas companies are claiming their industry provides.

The fossil fuel industry has weaponized these inflated job numbers to delay a transition to renewable energy.

“The oil and gas industry uses promises of employment to gain political leverage, which has impeded the necessary transition to clean, renewable energy,” said Shelton-Thomas.

These promises have informed media narratives and political discussions around climate policy.

During the 2020 Democratic presidential primaries, corporate media spent months railing against Democratic presidential candidates who promised to ban fracking, arguing that such a job-killing position would amount to “political suicide,” especially in Pennsylvania.

One such New York Times article cited an API-provided statistic that fracking “supports more than 350,000 related jobs” in Pennsylvania. But according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, only about 25,000 people were employed in the fossil fuel industry in Pennsylvania in 2020. And oil and gas jobs in Pennsylvania declined by more than 20 percent in 2020, even while the state produced record amounts of natural gas, according to the Food and Water Watch report.

This is all part of a national trend. Not only have oil and gas companies overstated how many jobs they create, but their job numbers have presented a dishonest narrative of how the boom in domestic fracking has actually impacted the American economy.

Part of the reason for those job losses is automation in the fossil fuel industry, including through collaborations with tech companies to make humans obsolete on drilling rigs. Over the next decade, the number of workers required to operate a drilling rig could fall by as much as 20 to 30 percent due to automation, Kate Aronoff has reported in The New Republic.

During the COVID pandemic, even as fossil fuel companies were raking in federal aid, fossil fuel companies continued to conduct mass layoffs.

There’s another way forward that could be better for workers and the future of the planet. Mounting research has found that, dollar-for-dollar, investments in renewable energy create far more jobs in the near-term than fossil fuel investments.

Tibetans in India Demonstrate Against Beijing Olympics

A large number of Tibetans have been living in exile in India since spiritual leader the Dalai Lama fled Tibet after a failed uprising in 1959

By Shonal Ganguly • Published February 4, 2022

Altaf Qadri/AP
Exiled Tibetans burn a Chinese flag during a protest against Beijing Winter Olympic Games in New Delhi, India, Feb. 4, 2022.

Hundreds of Tibetan exiles marched near the Chinese Embassy in the Indian capital of New Delhi on Friday and held a protest rally while denouncing the Beijing Winter Olympics and demanding freedom for their region.

The protesters waved Tibetan flags and held placards bearing messages like “No Rights, No Games” and “Say No To Genocide Games.” They demanded that China leave Tibet and implored the international community to stand up against Beijing.

“The Olympic Games symbolize the spirit of love and peace but this time they are being hosted by Beijing, which is responsible for the deaths of thousands of Tibetans and human rights violations of millions of people,” said protester Sonam Tsering, the General Secretary of the Tibetan Youth Congress.


Hong Kong Activist rrested Ahead of Olympics Protest

The protesters also raised other slogans against China and burned the Chinese flag. Some were detained by police after they jumped over security barricades and tried to run toward the Chinese Embassy.

A large number of Tibetans have been living in exile in India since spiritual leader the Dalai Lama fled Tibet after a failed uprising in 1959. China doesn’t recognize the self-declared Tibetan government-in-exile in India and accuses the Dalai Lama of seeking to separate Tibet from China.

Human rights groups have dubbed the Beijing Winter Olympics the “genocide games,” and the U.S. and other countries have cited rights abuses in leading a diplomatic boycott of the event.

Athletes speaking up for social change have boycotted sporting events before - here are 6 famous times from sports history.

China denies any human rights abuses, calling them the “lie of the century.”

Meanwhile, India won’t be sending its top diplomat in Beijing to the Winter Olympics after the honor of carrying the Olympic torch went to a Chinese soldier who was wounded in a deadly border clash between the countries two years ago.

Madeline Morgan fought to teach Black history in schools. 80 years on, her vision is not yet realized.

The Chicago educator urged students to think critically about African American history, but her pioneering curriculum was short-lived. 

FILED UNDER:

• FIRST PERSON

By Michael Hines  Feb 4, 2022, 

A James Baldwin quote is displayed at the National Museum of African American History

 and Culture.

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First Person is where Chalkbeat features personal essays by educators, students, parents, and others thinking and writing about public education.

“...we still haven’t got all our rights, and that’s that.”

The words were written by Louis Brown,* a Black eighth grader at Emerson Elementary in Chicago. I first read them in late 2020, against a backdrop formed by the racial and economic inequities exposed by the pandemic, the seemingly daily drumbeat of police killings, and the surging protest movement for Black Lives. They struck me in their rawness, their immediacy. Brown, however, had written his words in the spring of 1943, sitting at a desk in school that had long since been shuttered.

I was reading his work in the archives of the George Cleveland Hall Branch Library and its Vivian G. Harsh Research Collection, where much of the city’s African American past is preserved. As a historian of education, finding the voices of students in historical archives is rare. When those voices speak to the present in ways that collapse the distance of nearly 80 years, it is even more remarkable.

Michael Hines

 Courtesy photo

Brown’s statement about what the nation owed its Black citizens, and the still unpaid nature of that debt, was sparked by the introduction of a pioneering Black history curriculum at his school. Called the Supplementary Units for the Course of Instruction in Social Studies, it was adopted and used in Chicago schools between 1942 and 1945.

Back when most social studies texts marginalized or ignored Black Americans as a matter of course, the Supplementary Units were a groundbreaking contrast. Lessons included material on West Africa and its connection to the Black diaspora; honest accounts of the brutality of the slave trade; information on slave revolts, abolitionism, and Black military service during the Civil War; and descriptions of the accomplishments of Black artists, intellectuals, explorers, and inventors.

The lessons prompted students to think deeply and critically about Black history and about American history more broadly. Oftentimes those discussions also led to questions about the present, especially as the U.S. championed democracy on the battlefields of Europe while continuing to tolerate Jim Crow laws, lynching, restrictive covenants, a segregated military, and separate schools at home.

The Supplementary Units and their author, Madeline Morgan (later Madeline Stratton Morris) are the subject of my forthcoming book, “A Worthy Piece of Work: The Untold Story of Madeline Morgan and the Fight For Black History in Schools.” In it, I follow Morgan from her childhood in Bronzeville, the beating heart of Chicago’s Black intellectual and cultural scene, through her education at Chicago Normal College (now Chicago State University) and Northwestern University, and into the classroom, where she began the push for Black representation. Her efforts ultimately manifested in the Supplementary Units.

Black women often remain unacknowledged in the history of American education. Yet their contributions are beyond dispute.

Along the way, I look at Morgan alongside other Black women educators. Black women often remain unacknowledged in the history of American education. Yet their contributions both as theorists and practitioners are beyond dispute. From the antebellum era on, Black women worked as school teachers and administrators, community activists and social workers, librarians, and archivists. They were knit together nationally through women’s clubs, civil rights organizations, and sororities. Morgan’s story is, in many respects, the story of these women and the networks that supported and sustained their educational activism.

The book also traces the historical moment that allowed Morgan to campaign so successfully for the inclusion of Black history in schools. World War II exposed the contradictions inherent in America’s claim to be the defender of freedom and equality. At the same time, it increased Black militancy in the fight for Civil Rights. Black Americans became committed to a Double Victory over the enemies of democracy, both foreign and domestic. Black teachers and their progressive white allies pushed for intercultural education, an early form of what we now think of as multiculturalism. Several cities and school districts took up these efforts during the war years. It was at this time that Morgan convinced Chicago school officials to back her creation of a Black history curriculum. Leaving the classroom for the district’s central office, she researched, wrote, compiled, and tested the materials for over a year.

Morgan’s curriculum received national attention, wide interest, and public praise. But it was short-lived. As the war ended and national priorities shifted, interculturalism and diversity efforts fell out of favor among white educators. Black teachers, meanwhile, faced increasing barriers to teaching Morgan’s Supplementary Units.

By the late 1940s, Cold War conservatism reigned, and Morgan’s work was largely abandoned. But her call to reframe how schools taught history by including Black voices could not be denied. It has resurfaced again and again, decade after decade. It lives today in the demands of organizations like Black Lives Matter at School, which echoes Morgan’s call to make Black history a central part of the school curriculum.

At a moment when conservative attacks on Critical Race Theory have turned school board meetings into open melees, governors have passed laws encouraging parents to report educators who teach about racism and discrimination, and history standards committees are forced to fear for their physical safety, Morgan’s legacy is more relevant than ever. For me, the current effort to police how our collective past is taught and understood shows just how far we still have to go to make Morgan’s vision a reality.

For Morgan, an honest account of the nation’s past was a critical step towards full citizenship for Black Americans. That we are still fighting for such histories is a reminder that, as Louis Brown put it, “we still haven’t got all our rights, and that’s that.”

*the student’s name has been replaced with a pseudonym.

Michael Hines is an assistant professor at the Stanford Graduate School of Education, and a former K-12 history teacher. His first book, “A Worthy Piece of Work: The Untold Story of Madeline Morgan and the Fight for Black History in Schools” is available for preorder now and will be released May 17, 2022.