Climate-friendly foam building insulation may do more harm than good

GREEN SCIENCE POLICY INSTITUTE

Research News

 

The use of the polymeric flame retardant PolyFR in "eco-friendly" foam plastic building insulation may be harmful to human health and the environment, according to a new commentary in Environmental Science & Technology. The authors' analysis identifies several points during the lifecycle of foam insulation that may expose workers, communities, and ecosystems to PolyFR and its potentially toxic breakdown products.

With the climate crisis fueling demand for energy-efficient insulation, the production of PolyFR is increasing rapidly. That's because this flame retardant is added to all foam plastic building insulation in North America to comply with flammability codes, replacing the flame retardant hexabromocyclododecane that has been globally phased out due to its toxicity and persistence. PolyFR is commonly assumed to be safe. However, the authors question that assumption.

The presumed safety of PolyFR hinges on the claim that as a large molecule called a polymer, it has few opportunities for release from foam insulation. But the authors' analysis shows that in fact, PolyFR in building insulation has significant opportunities for release into the environment during manufacturing, installation, and disposal of foam insulation. Once released, the PolyFR may break down into harmful chemicals that can end up in people and ecosystems.

"Since so much PolyFR is being used and so little is known about its release into the environment, we need to have realistic assessments of the potential for PolyFR across its life cycle to harm human and environmental health," said Miriam Diamond, Professor at University of Toronto and corresponding author of the study.

PolyFR is a polymer made from butadiene and styrene, which are both carcinogens. Bromine is added making it a brominated flame retardant--such flame retardants studied in the past were found to be toxic and many have been phased out of use.

A greater understanding of the potential for health harm associated with the increasing production of PolyFR, as well as its eventual breakdown and disposal, is needed to protect workers, fenceline communities near waste disposal sites, and others exposed throughout this flame retardant's lifecycle.

Importantly, alternative insulation materials already exist which do not require the use of potentially hazardous flame retardants. Inherently flame-resistant mineral fibers, such as glass wool or stone wool, can be used instead. Also, the fire safety benefit of adding flame retardants should be established before such chemicals are used.

"Making buildings more energy-efficient is a key part of tackling the climate crisis," said co-author Arlene Blum, Executive Director of the Green Science Policy Institute. "But we need to be careful not to create new health and environmental problems along the way. A 'green building' with potentially hazardous insulation isn't a green building at all."

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Novice drivers talking on hand-held smartphones are more likely to run red-lights

Young novice drivers who speak into hand-held smartphones while driving are also likely to drive while under the influence of drink or drugs

LERO

Research News

 

Young novice drivers who speak into hand-held smartphones while driving are also likely to drive while under the influence of drink or drugs, according to researchers at Lero, the Science Foundation Ireland Research Centre for Software.

The study "Smartphone Use While Driving: An Investigation of Young Novice Driver (YND) Behaviour," also found that speaking on a hand-held phone is strongly correlated with high-risk driving behaviours such as overtaking on the inside of the car ahead, speeding, driving without a valid licence and driving while intoxicated.

Lero researchers, surveyed 700 German Young Novice Drivers (YNDs), with an average age of just over 21. While the data relates to Germany, it may point to young drivers' risky driving behaviour in other motorised countries, enabling road safety authorities to target information campaigns designed for younger drivers, the authors believe.

Dr Darren Shannon of Lero and University of Limerick said car crashes are the leading cause of death for those between the ages of 15-29, according to the World Health Organisation, with smartphone use acting as a significant contributory factor.

"The data also indicates a moderately-strong effect between talking on a hand-held phone and speeding more than 20 km/h over the speed limit in urban areas. Speeding in built-up areas is moderately correlated with reading notifications, sending texts, or voice messages.

"There is a strong association between those who speak on their phone and those who engage in risky activity with potentially fatal consequences, such as intoxicated driving, ignoring red traffic lights, and driving with more passengers than seatbelts," added Dr Shannon, a specialised vehicle collision researcher with the Emerging Risk Group (ERG), Kemmy Business School, UL.

Lero's Dr Martin Mullins said the work carried out by the team points to the prevalence of certain attitudes in young people who drive while using mobile phones. In Germany, for example, the research shows that a sizeable number of novice motorists deliberately disobey the law by hiding their phones while driving.

"These attitudes have implications for the safety of other road users. Our work allows for road safety authorities to accurately target information campaigns designed for younger drivers. Targeted campaigns should increase awareness that all smartphone-related activities can significantly increase the risk of a crash or near-crash event.

"We don't just see policymakers as responsible. Carmakers are making their cars seem like a place of entertainment. This may have induced a false perception that behaviours like changing the music while driving are perceived as safe, and should instead engage in efforts to reduce this type of behaviour," added Dr Mullins, Co-Leader of the ERG at UL.

Lero researcher and PhD student Tim Jannusch of Institute for Insurance Studies of TH Köln said that the overall high percentage of Young Novice Drivers using their phone for music-related activities may suggest that they might perceive music-related activities as less dangerous.

"This could be attributed to the fact that drivers are allowed to use the car stereo while driving, which implies that changing or searching for music is safe. Nevertheless, changing music while driving, like reading or writing text messages, can cause cognitive, visual and physical distraction and significantly increase the risk for road traffic collisions," said Mr Jannusch.

Dr Shannon said policymakers could use their results for public information policy development, and to tailor financial penalties for those engaging in smartphone behaviour linked to dangerous driving. "Our findings can also be used in a Usage-based Insurance (UBI) context to financially incentivise safer driving," he added.

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Brookfield and partners formally launch hostile bid for Inter Pipeline

CALGARY — Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. and its partners have formally launched a hostile bid to acquire Inter Pipeline Ltd., nearly two weeks after its public interest was rebuffed.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

Brookfield says the offer to acquire the stake in Inter Pipeline it doesn't already own is contained in documents filed with Canadian securities regulators.

Brookfield Infrastructure is offering $16.50 per share in cash or 0.206 of a Brookfield Infrastructure Corp. class A exchangeable share. The maximum cash available under the plan is $4.9 billion.

The fully financed offer that implies a value for Inter Pipeline of $7.1 billion expires on June 7.

Brookfield said it has previously discussed prices with Inter "in the range of $17 to $18.25'' per share but would need to study its books to "substantiate'' its growth potential and commercialization objectives for the company's $4-billion Heartland Petrochemical Complex, under construction near Edmonton, before increasing its offer.

Calgary-based Inter Pipeline has initiated a review of strategic alternatives in response to the hostile takeover bid.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 22, 2021.

Environmental policies not always bad for business, study finds

CORNELL UNIVERSITY

Research News

 

ITHACA, N.Y. - Critics claim environmental regulations hurt productivity and profits, but the reality is more nuanced, according to an analysis of environmental policies in China by a pair of Cornell economists.

The analysis found that, contrary to conventional wisdom, market-based or incentive-based policies may actually benefit regulated firms in the traditional and "green" energy sectors, by spurring innovation and improvements in production processes. Policies that mandate environmental standards and technologies, on the other hand, may broadly harm output and profits.

"The conventional wisdom is not entirely accurate," said Shuyang Si, a doctoral student in applied economics and management. "The type of policy matters, and policy effects vary by firm, industry and sector."

Si is the lead author of "The Effects of Environmental Policies in China on GDP, Output, and Profits," published in the current issue of the journal Energy Economics. C.-Y. Cynthia Lin Lawell, associate professor in the Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management and the Robert Dyson Sesquicentennial Chair in Environmental, Energy and Resource Economics, is a co-author.

Si mined Chinese provincial government websites and other online sources to compile a comprehensive data set of nearly 2,700 environmental laws and regulations in effect in at least one of 30 provinces between 2002 and 2013. This period came just before China declared a "war on pollution," instituting major regulatory changes that shifted its longtime prioritization of economic growth over environmental concerns.

"We really looked deep into the policies and carefully examined their features and provisions," Si said.

The researchers categorized each policy as one of four types: "command and control," such as mandates to use a portion of electricity from renewable sources; financial incentives, including taxes, subsidies and loans; monetary awards for cutting pollution or improving efficiency and technology; and nonmonetary awards, such as public recognition.

They assessed how each type of policy impacted China's gross domestic product, industrial output in traditional energy industries and the profits of new energy sector companies, using publicly available data on economic indicators and publicly traded companies.

Command and control policies and nonmonetary award policies had significant negative effects on GDP, output and profits, Si and Lin Lawell concluded. But a financial incentive - loans for increasing renewable energy consumption - improved industrial output in the petroleum and nuclear energy industries, and monetary awards for reducing pollution boosted new energy sector profits.

"Environmental policies do not necessarily lead to a decrease in output or profits," the researchers wrote.

That finding, they said, is consistent with the "Porter hypothesis" - Harvard Business School Professor Michael Porter's 1991 proposal that environmental policies could stimulate growth and development, by spurring technology and business innovation to reduce both pollution and costs.

While certain policies benefitted regulated firms and industries, the study found that those benefits came at a cost to other sectors and to the overall economy. Nevertheless, Si and Lin Lawell said, these costs should be weighed against the benefits of these policies to the environment and society, and to the regulated firms and industries.

Economists generally prefer market-based or incentive-based environmental policies, Lin Lawell said, with a carbon tax or tradeable permit system representing the gold standard. The new study led by Si, she said, provides more support for those types of policies.

"This work will make people aware, including firms that may be opposed to environmental regulation, that it's not necessarily the case that these regulations will be harmful to their profits and productivity," Lin Lawell said. "In fact, if policies promoting environmental protection are designed carefully, there are some that these firms might actually like."

###

Additional co-authors contributing to the study were Mingjie Lyu of Shanghai Lixin University of Accounting and Finance, and Song Chen of Tongji University. The authors acknowledged financial support from the Shanghai Science and Technology Development Fund and an Exxon-Mobil ITS-Davis Corporate Affiliate Fellowship.

Study: Effects of past ice ages more widespread than previously thought

Cold temperatures during North America's last ice age may have shaped landscapes well beyond the reach of glaciers, according to a new study led by a U of A geologist

UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS

Research News

 

IMAGE: THE EXTENT OF FROST CRACKING IN MODERN NORTH AMERICA AND DURING THE LAST GLACIAL MAXIMUM view more 

CREDIT: JILL A. MARSHALL

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Cold temperatures, prevalent during glacial periods, had a significant impact on past and modern unglaciated landscapes across much of North America, according to a recent study by University of Arkansas geologist Jill A. Marshall.

Marshall, assistant professor of geosciences, is the first author of the study, published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.

The findings help shape understanding of the earth's "Critical Zone," the relatively thin layer of the planet that extends from where vegetation meets the atmosphere to the lowermost extent of weathered bedrock. "Climate and ecosystems determine how quickly bedrock weathers, how soil is produced, how sediment moves on land and in rivers and other factors that shape the landscape," the authors wrote.

In cold lands, such as Alaska today, frost can crack or weather rock that is at or near the surface of the earth - making it more porous and turning solid rock into sediment. By applying a frost-weathering model to North America paleoclimate simulations tracking temperatures during the Last Glacial Maximum approximately 21,000 years ago, Marshall and her team determined that a large swath of North America, from Oregon to Georgia and as far south as Texas and Arkansas, were likely affected by such periglacial processes.

While permafrost landscapes like the modern Arctic experience frozen ground for two years or more, periglacial landscapes, though not permanently frozen, experience below-freezing temperature for much of the year. Though the evidence of past periglacial processes is easily hidden by vegetation and/or erased by subsequent geological processes, the teams' results suggest that frost weathering (and by extent other periglacial processes) covered an area about 3.5 times larger than the mapped extent of permafrost during the Last Glacial Maximum. This predicted influence of past cold climates on below ground weathering may significantly influence modern landscape attributes that we depend on such as soil thickness and water storage.

"Based on the widespread occurrence of glacial-period frost weathering over meter-scale depths, we suggest that past cold climates have had a significant impact on modern landscapes, both through lingering impact on subsurface pathways for water and thus chemical weathering, and the rock damage that contributes to the rate at which rock disaggregates into sediment and potential instability due to non-steady rates of hillslope and river processes," the paper states.

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'All hell broke loose': 

Staff, customers, alleged thug all firing guns — inside a gun store

WHERE ELSE WOULD YOU FIRE THEM

Shari Kulha 

It was a busy Saturday afternoon at the Jefferson Gun Outlet in Metairie, a suburb of New Orleans. Customers and staff were in the store, some were in the shooting range and others were in a class on concealed weapons

© Provided by National Post The Jefferson Gun Outlet sells discount guns and ammunition.

The Associated Press reported that one person entered the store and fatally shot two people , prompting customers and staff to open fire on the shooter, according to Jefferson Parish Sheriff Joseph Lopinto. Dead are store clerk Noah Fischbach, 47; customer Veronica Billot, 59; and the shooter, Joshua Jamal Williams. Lopinto said two men also were hit by gunfire and were hospitalized in stable condition.

According to Action News Jax , the 27-year-old Williams of New Orleans carried an unholstered pistol with an extended clip into the shop, and was told he couldn’t carry a loaded gun until he was in the shooting range area — which is normally accessed by an exterior side door.

Michael Mayer, vice-president of operations at the gun outlet, said in an email to NOLA.com that Williams “became agitated by the request and pulled his gun out of his pants and started firing. Our armed and trained employees, as well as some armed permitted customers, returned fire and eliminated the threat.”

One relative told NOLA.com that the initial shooter had gone to the store with his brother and some children “ just to spend time together on a Saturday .” This person, who would not give his name, wondered why the first shots were fired. To him, it made no sense that the brothers would have arrived intending to shoot anyone, in a place known as an off-hours spot for law enforcement officers and military personnel.

“That would be a death sentence,” he said.

A report from WDSU News said an update would be forthcoming.

Video: Man injured in custody at Headingley jail dies (cbc.ca)

The outlet sits on a main road, across from a large park, where people say they heard up to 50 shots. One mother posted this on Facebook:

During this time, six people were in the conceal-and-carry course in a classroom at the store. Dan Baird, interviewed by WDSU , said “All hell broke loose. It wasn’t guns in the range, it was guns in the hallway and it went on for like 20 seconds.” He said one instructor stayed with the students, barring the door, while two others headed toward the sound of gunfire.

“One of them came back and asked for a tourniquet,” Baird said, which the remaining instructor was able to provide.

Another student said he heard screams and gunshots and “a lot of commotion. I was on the ground, praying.”

The class had not yet begun its second segment, during which they would have been in the shooting range.

Also in the class were Tyrone Russell and Wanetta Joseph, who heard what they described as rapid firing, much louder than the usual muffled shooting that comes from inside the shooting range.

Joseph said she hid with other students under a table — not knowing if there were multiple shooters or if one was near the classroom.

Once police led them out, Russell described seeing shattered glass, bullet casings strewn about the store and that out in the parking lot, he could see a guy “laid out” not far from his car, which was struck by bullets.

Nancy Fischbach, the wife of the store clerk who was fatally wounded, said her husband was a special effects expert and an armorer, who supervises the use of all weapons on a film set and gives actors and staff instruction for how to properly and safely use them. Because of COVID-19 and its restrictions on the film industry, Fischbach had been working more hours at the gun store.

Martin Gugino, 75-year-old protester pushed by Buffalo police, files lawsuit against city, mayor and officers

By Mirna Alsharif and Alec Snyder, CNN


Martin Gugino, the 75-year-old protester who was knocked to the ground by police officers last year in Buffalo, New York, filed a civil lawsuit against the city Monday, according to court documents.

© @MikeDesmondWBFO/Twitter Elderly man pushed by police 

in Buffalo, New York Fair use per RACI

Gugino is also suing Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown; officers Robert McCabe, Aaron Torgalski and John Losi; Police Commissioner Byron Lockwood; and Deputy Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia, according to the document.

Gugino fractured his skull when he fell after the officers pushed him to the ground June 4, during a protest against racism and police brutality, his lawyers have said. Among the counts Gugino alleges in his lawsuit are unlawful use of force and violation of his right to freedom of movement.

Earlier this month, a grand jury decided not to indict Torgalski and McCabe for pushing Gugino. However, the two officers remain suspended pending the results of an internal investigation into the incident.

After the grand jury's decision, Gugino told Spectrum News Buffalo, a CNN affiliate, he was "a little surprised" jurors did not indict the two officers.

"There's no reason for the police to break that up, short of them thinking there's some kind of lawless action about to take place, clear and present danger to somebody over something," Gugino said. "It wasn't really a curfew. It was an intent to suppress dissent."

Gugino is accusing the defendants of violating his constitutional rights, specifically his rights to freedom of speech, peaceful assembly, protest, movement, unreasonable seizures, freedom from the unlawful use of force by government agents, and due process of law, according to his lawsuit.

"You do not have freedom of speech unless you have freedom of protest," said one of his attorneys, Melissa Wischerath, in the statement. "If any one person's rights are suppressed by the state, it harms all of us by eroding the foundation of our constitution."

Gugino's attorneys told CNN they are requesting a jury trial.

CNN has reached out to the mayor's office and Buffalo Police Department for comment on the lawsuit.

The Buffalo Police Benevolent Association declined to comment when reached by CNN on Monday.

Rescuers race to save dozens of stranded pilot whales in New Zealand
Elle Hunt in Wellington 

A team of experts and volunteers are racing the tides to save a pod of pilot whales stranded at Farewell Spit at the northern tip of New Zealand’s South Island

.

© Photograph: Project Jonah/AFP/Getty Images Rescuers race to save dozens of pilot whales that beached on a stretch of New Zealand coast at Farewell Spit.

Dozens of the roughly 50 long-finned pilot whales have already died since they stranded on Monday, and the remaining animals stayed in the shallows on Tuesday morning despite efforts to move them out to sea.

The Department of Conservation responded to the stranding on Monday afternoon with a team of about 65 people, including volunteers from the marine mammal rescue charity Project Jonah.

Rescuers managed to refloat many of the whales with the high tide that evening, forming a human chain to guide them out to deeper water. But the pod remained in the shallows about 80 metres offshore overnight as the outgoing tide worked against them.

Related: 'What is the sea telling us?': Māori tribes fearful over whale strandings | Eleanor Ainge Roy

On Tuesday morning rescuers had relocated the pod at dawn to find a further 17 whales had died overnight, adding to the nine deaths on Monday.

Though volunteers stood with the whales for more than an hour in chest-deep water, they did not seem motivated to swim out to deeper water.

Karen Stockin, director of the Cetacean Ecology Research Group at Massey University who was at the scene, said at noon on Tuesday that 28 whales remained alive – roughly half the number that first stranded – but were still at risk.

“We’ve been in the water pretty much since the first light … Now we’re losing the tide really quickly, and the real risk is the ones that are in the shallows now.

“We’re needing to be prepared for the possibility that there will be a re-stranding of the 28 [alive], based on the tide going out.”

© Provided by The Guardian Farewell Spit is notorious for mass strandings of whales and dolphins. Photograph: Project Jonah/AFP/Getty Images

Farewell Spit – a 5km-long stretch of sand at the top of the South Island – is a frequent site of whale and dolphin strandings, especially early in the year, though scientists are not sure what draws the animals to the spot.

The last mass stranding there was in February 2017, when an estimated 600-700 whales were beached at Farewell Spit – leading to 250 deaths.

Last year nearly 100 pilot whales and bottlenose dolphins died in a mass stranding on the remote Chatham Islands, about 800km (497 miles) off New Zealand’s east coast.

Stockin said research was being carried out at the Farewell Spit site in the hope of understanding the whales’ behaviour and what factors might contribute to their survival in future stranding events.

“As strandings go for Golden Bay, 49 or so animals is small, which we’re very grateful for – but by the same token, some have now perished.”

#ESG GREEN CAPITALI$M
Is financial regulation the way to advance a climate agenda?

Martha C. White 

President Joe Biden plans to use every tool at his disposal in the fight against climate change, including financial regulation. While not an intuitive choice, supporters say mandating that public companies and investment firms quantify and disclose climate risks — and the costs associated with them — is a bold step that could make ESG (environmental, social and governance) data as commonplace in corporate financial reports as sales and profit figures.

© Provided by NBC News

“The recent change in administration in Washington has contributed to a renewed sense of urgency around environmental issues,” said Leahruth Jemilo, head of the ESG advisory practice at Corbin Advisors.

The Treasury Department is reportedly adding a “climate czar,” the Wall Street Journal reported earlier this month. At the New York Times DealBook virtual conference on Monday, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen floated an idea of what a framework for evaluating climate risk might look like, saying that banks and insurers could be subject to climate stress tests.

Although they would not limit companies’ ability to pay out dividends or impose new capital requirements, Yellen said they could still be an effective risk-discovery and -mitigation tool. She clarified that implementation and oversight would fall under the purview of the Federal Reserve and other banking regulators, not the Treasury, although she said the Treasury could “facilitate” the process.

Yellen also seemed to dismiss the idea that voluntary oversight measures on the part of the financial services industry would suffice, saying, “It certainly requires policy.”

The Securities and Exchange Commission already has created a new, climate-focused senior policy adviser position, and the Federal Reserve in December joined the Network of Central Banks and Supervisors for Greening the Financial System, a consortium of more than 80 countries.

Ben Koltun, director of research at consulting firm Beacon Policy Advisors, said these announcements are a signal to investors, executives and policymakers. “It does speak to the whole-government approach the Biden administration is taking with climate change,” he said.

Climate activists such as environmental nonprofit group Ceres want Gary Gensler, the former Commodity Futures Trading Commission chair who is Biden’s nominee to lead the SEC, to mandate that public companies disclose their exposure to climate risks and the potential costs that could be incurred, on top of documenting metrics such as greenhouse gas emissions, water usage and plastic consumption.

Failing to do so could constitute securities fraud. It might sound drastic, but advocates of this expanded regulatory scope say climate change is a crisis of such monumental significance that using financial regulations as a lever to advance environmental policy is less extreme than it sounds.

Advocates say climate change is a crisis of such monumental significance that using financial regulations as a lever to advance environmental policy is less extreme than it sounds.

“I think it is justified to some extent. While climate change is a real risk and crisis, we still don't have a clear regulatory guideline to handle what that means, what that entails for corporations,” Koltun said.

Video: Administration is discussing climate, infrastructure deals, but no details yet (CNBC)

Some Congressional Republicans have warned that using a regulatory infrastructure intended for banking and markets to accomplish climate policy goals could produce unintended consequences, such as inhibiting access to capital markets by companies involved in fossil fuel production. “There's a concern that there isn’t a clear framework and it could lead to concerns of regulatory overreach,” Koltun said.

Centralizing the federal government’s approach to climate change could help mitigate those concerns, Koltun said. The alternative — multiple agencies working with different, sometimes overlapping rules — could overwhelm smaller companies’ bandwidth for regulatory compliance management and erode support from the business community. “The regulatory process is already pretty cumbersome,” he said. “The benefit is you have a hub for organizing this… It creates a better workflow and it creates a more seamless messaging process to voters and companies.”

For regulatory agencies like the SEC, getting the broad contours in place will be only the first step: Crafting detailed standards for how companies must define and quantify their exposure to risks related to climate change will be the heavy lift.

Even defining what a “green” or investment incorporates or entails will be a challenge. Some institutions that have marketed funds as sustainable have faced investor blowback when investments in companies like fossil fuel producers — historically not a sector that has been viewed were publicized. According to Jemilo at Corbin, 48 percent of institutional investors say their biggest challenge regarding ESG disclosures is the lack of a uniform standard for measuring and reporting that information.

“This renewed emphasis on [environmental disclosure] will only further drive home the need for companies to decide on a framework or standard to use in measuring and reporting on ESG efforts,” she said.

By framing climate change mitigation as a driver of job growth, rather than just environmental stewardship, Biden has built support for this push from some unlikely allies. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has endorsed Washington’s holistic approach to fighting climate change, saying in a statement: “The impacts of climate change are far reaching and it will take smart policies across a wide spectrum of issues to achieve meaningful global emissions reductions while also supporting economic growth and job creation.”

“This policy is as much about jobs and job creation as it is about clean energy,” Koltun said. “You want to get as big a coalition as possible… That’s the political tightrope they have to walk — they want to focus on the climate crisis, but their concern is building the economy.”

Dan North, chief economist for North America at Euler Hermes, said companies are coming around to the realization that regulation to mitigate climate change is inevitable, and market pros have largely priced in these expenses as a cost of doing business. “We’re going to be having more regulation. That’s where this is going, and anytime there’s more regulation, there’s a cost to businesses,” he said.

Some aren’t waiting for the regulators. Major corporate entities such as Amazon, Microsoft and Morgan Stanley have pledged to achieve carbon neutrality and set target dates for reaching zero-emission status. Millennials, who make up a growing share of the workforce and are moving into leadership roles, are cognizant of the costs of continued climate inaction and bringing those values into boardrooms and onto trading desks. An increasing number of retail investors also are voting with their dollars. Morningstar data shows that sustainable fund balances are up 67 percent year over year, and currently total nearly $1.7 trillion.

“Companies that incorporate meaningful ESG into their business strategy are better positioned for long-term value creation,” Jemilo said. “Those that are taking ESG seriously — not greenwashing — will be better able to target specific investors and open doors to additional capital.”

“It’s very popular with investors,” North said. “They've gone away from the Milton Friedman model that return to investors is everything. ESG is important, as well.”

Bright green fireball meteor lit up the pre-dawn sky over Alberta

Scott Sutherland


Embedded content: https://players.brightcove.net/1942203455001/B1CSR9sVf_default/index.html?videoId=6234427346001

The pre-dawn sky over central Alberta briefly turned green Monday morning, lit up by an impressive fireball meteor blazing through the air.

According to NASA, it's estimated that Earth sweeps up several metric tons worth of space dust every day, as the planet travels along its orbit around the Sun. Once in a while, however, something a little bigger gets in our way, and it makes itself known to us in spectacular fashion.

This is what occurred at around 6:22 a.m. MST, on the morning of February 22, 2021, a little over 50 kilometres north of Edmonton, Alberta.

© Provided by The Weather Network

This dashcam view of the fireball (and closeup, inset) shows off the meteor's brightness and green tinge. Credit: Joey Joey/UGC

A small meteoroid — exactly how big is not known — plunged into the upper atmosphere, and blazed a bright green trail through the air before it fizzled out. This meteor flash was so intense, and occurred so high above the ground, that witnesses from hundreds of kilometres around spotted it.

© Provided by The Weather NetworkThis 'heat map' shows the approximate location of the meteor trail (green arrow), with the splotches of colour indicating the concentration of the reports received by the American Meteor Society as of the afternoon of February 22. Credit: AMS

Due to the relatively clear skies over the west Monday morning, the flash was reported from as far south as Helena, Montana (roughly 500 km south of Calgary). As of the afternoon of February 22, the American Meteor Society had a total of 158 reports of this meteor.

Anyone who spotted it is encouraged to submit their own report, to get the most complete record of the event possible.

SEEN FROM SPACE

This fireball was not only bright enough to be seen by witnesses from hundreds of kms around, it was also seen by satellites in space.

Both Geostationary Lightning Mapper instruments, on board the GOES-16 and GOES-17 geosynchronous weather satellites, spotted the meteor flash.

Alberta fireball from GOES 17 GLM. Better view angle, but clearly high and fast. GLM automatically projects to lightning - type heights, so this was further south than shown against the map. Appears to be moving almost East-West.

@amsmeteors

@WesternU

Embedded content: https://twitter.com/pgbrown/status/1364020147044892672

WHAT'S GOING ON HERE?

Out in space, between the planets, there are likely millions of tiny bits of rock and ice and dust, floating around the Sun. These are all leftover pieces from the formation of the solar system, over 4.5 billion years ago. As they orbit the Sun, these meteoroids are travelling at speeds of tens to hundreds of thousands of kilometres per hour. So, if their path happens to intercept Earth, they plunge into the atmosphere at high speed. 

© Provided by The Weather Network

As the meteoroid encounters air molecules in its path, it compresses those molecules together. This slows the meteoroid down, and if it compresses the air hard enough, that air will glow. This is the 'meteor' flash that we see.

If these meteoroids are extremely small, such as microscopic dust grains, we may not notice at all. If something bigger — the size of a grain of sand up to a pebble or even larger — passes over places we inhabit, though, they are much more noticeable. The larger and faster moving the meteoroid is, the brighter the resulting meteor will be. Brighter ones are referred to as fireballs, while the brightest (which usually involve the meteoroid exploding during flight) are often called bolides.

The colours of these meteors depend on a number of factors. This includes the concentration of gases that are compressed ahead of the meteoroid, and even what kinds of minerals and metals are found in the meteoroid, itself.

If a meteoroid is large enough, and moving slowly enough as it makes its plunge through the atmosphere, pieces of it can reach the ground intact. If we find these, we call them meteorites

Edmonton psychiatry professor aims to treat mental illness with psychedelics through new company

Jeff Labine 

An Edmonton startup company is laying the foundation to be a major player in the growing global medical psychedelic market by studying the drug’s effects on mental health.

© Provided by Edmonton Journal EDMONTON, ALBERTA: MARCH 18, 2013--Principal investigator, and Faculty of Medicine researcher Peter Silverstone speaks during a press conference about research done with Edmonton Police officers being more likely to quickly identify mental health issues during a call, and less likely to use physical force or a weapon in those situations after taking a one day training program through the faculty. Taken at police headquarters on March 18, 2013 in Edmonton. Greg Southam/Edmonton Journal ORG XMIT: gsoutham@edmontonjournal.com

Dr. Peter Silverstone, interim chair of the department of psychiatry at the University of Alberta, is going public with the plans this week. He aims to use his new company, PsiloTec Health Solutions, to run clinical trials on psychedelics. Then once it’s legal to prescribe, he would grow it, treat patients in a local clinic, and run online clinics as a resource to empower doctors elsewhere.


Silverstone has spent more than 30 years studying the brain and pharmaceuticals. For years, he took an interest in the study of psilocybin, the psychedelic compound found in magic mushrooms, and its effects on mental health.

Silverstone said in an exclusive interview with Postmedia that he believes psychedelics can be used as a new form of treatment to help people suffering from some types of mental illness, such as depression, and has created a company called PsiloTec Health Solution in order to achieve that dream.

“The need for mental health support and treatment is absolutely overwhelming and of course, it’s being made worse in the COVID-19 environment,” he said. “We hope and intend to be in a position where we are the leading producer of different varieties of psilocybin containing mushrooms organically grown and have a rich database of high-quality clinical research showing when it is more efficacious. I think that will not only help us but also help regulatory authorities.”

Silverstone said the first step will be to acquire an exemption to run clinical studies on the benefits of psychedelics from Health Canada.

The federal government has granted exceptions before. The SYNTAC Institute, a non-profit organization in Calgary, was allowed in December to provide psilocybin-assisted treatment to a patient with severe mental health challenges under the supervision of medical staff.

Silverstone said where psychedelics are legal, private clinics are beginning to offer them but charge several thousand dollars. His clinic and online resource would make psychedelics more accessible.

Silverstone said it may take up to two years before Canada makes psychedelics legal and when that happens, he hopes to be ready to help as many people as possible. He said he hopes to be able to start the first set of clinical trials within six months. The plan is to then have more intensive studies sometime in 2022.

The psychedelic market is still very new but interest has been growing over the last few years. According to Data Bridge, a market research company, the North American psychedelic market is forecast to have a compound annual growth rate of nearly 16 per cent from 2020 to 2027. By the end of that forecast period, the market is expected to reach more than $6.8 billion US.

Psychedelics have often been compared to cannabis but Silverstone said the two are fundamentally different.

“(Psychedelics) is not the new cannabis,” he said. “Unlike cannabis, (psychedelics are) not focused on the recreational market. It is only focused on the medical market. I think that’s the biggest difference. Obviously, there are similarities; (cannabis is) a new product that’s grown, that has some health benefits. But for me, psychedelics are all about new treatments.”

jlabine@postmedia.com

Twitter.com/jefflabine

Editor’ note : This story has been changed to reflect the type of mushrooms produced and the market’s anticipated worth by 2027.

UCP RENT A CROWD PROTESTS UCP GOVERNMENT

Premier condemns hate groups at Saturday protest; police review Saturday protest videos after officers punched

Author of the article:Lauren Boothby
Publishing date:Feb 23, 2021 •
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Anti-mask protestors during a rally at the Alberta legislature on Saturday, Feb. 20, 2021 in Edmonton. PHOTO BY GREG SOUTHAM /Postmedia
Article content

Premier Jason Kenney on Monday evening condemned hate groups and racism connected to an anti-lockdown protest at the legislature on Saturday.

In an email to Postmedia Monday evening, Kenney says that while Albertans value freedom of speech and assembly, the event’s connection to hate groups must be condemned. Promotional materials for the event included images from a 2017 white nationalist torch rally in Charlottesville and some raised tiki torches at the event.

Premier condemns hate groups at Saturday protest; police review Saturday protest videos after officers punched


“Prominent racists promoted Saturday’s protest at the legislature, and individuals attended the event from known hate groups like the ‘Soldiers of Odin’ and ‘Urban Infidels’. I condemn these voices of bigotry in the strongest possible terms,” he says in a statement.

“Albertans believe in the dignity of every human being, and have no time for these voices of division and hate, or the symbols that they represent.”

He also noted that the protest’s attendees likely included people with varying views, including some who came only because they were opposed to the public health restrictions, which he reiterated are meant to protect vulnerable people and hospital capacity.

“There is no doubt that some people came just to register their opposition to public health measures, which is their democratic right,” he wrote.

“But these people also have a responsibility to disassociate themselves from the extremists who peddle hatred and division, and who played a role in this event.”

Earlier in the day, NDP Leader Rachel Notley and others questioned why the premier had not publicly condemned the rally’s connection to hate groups. She responded to his statement in a news release noting the delay.

“His statement raised more questions than it answered. While acknowledging certain elements of the racism at the rally, he omitted others and he proceeded to defend the majority of the rally’s attendees,” she says.

“Torch rallies have been associated with some of the most heinous displays of racism in history and Albertans deserve a Premier who is unequivocal in condemning hate and racism.”

Minister of Culture, Multiculturalism and Status of Women Leela Sharon also condemned the protest Monday\

Police reviewing protest videos

Edmonton police are looking at protest footage after four officers were allegedly punched while trying to make an arrest, according to Sgt. Mike Elliot, president of the Edmonton Police Association.

Elliot said the officers aren’t going to lose any time off because they were not injured.

“Right now we’re reviewing video footage to identify the suspect or suspects involved in this,” he says.

“Usually it’s best to try and identify and then contact that person later instead of in a heated, dynamic situation.”

Edmonton police said on Twitter Sunday one person was arrested for “causing a disturbance” and later released.

Police would not confirm the person’s identity but the man was identified as Dawid Pawlowski in a Facebook video posted by his brother, Artur Pawlowski, on Monday.

Video from the protest shows a crowd surrounding police officers as they attempt to arrest the man. The crowd follows police with several unmasked protestors screaming in officers’ faces yelling “shame!”

– With files from the Canadian Press

NDP pitches venture capital fund to bolster Alberta's growing tech sector

Alberta’s NDP Opposition is proposing a government-backed venture fund to take advantage of a technology sector weathering the COVID-19 pandemic better than others

.

© Provided by Edmonton Journal Alberta NDP Leader Rachel Notley.

New Democrat Leader Rachel Notley likened the idea of a $200-million Alberta Venture Fund – which would invite equity investments from Albertans – to former Social Credit premier Ernest Manning’s Great Canadian Oil Sands project.

“Are we growing at a rate that is fast enough to make up for the jump on Alberta that so many other jurisdictions have successfully earned as a result of our provinces’ failure to engage aggressively?” said Notley in Calgary Monday.

The NDP’s bid to reinstate axed programs like the digital media tax credit and invest in research comes as the province sees record-breaking investments in technology and artificial intelligence. Edmonton-based online platform Jobber announced in January it had attracted a US $60 million investment .

“We could see much more activity right now if the rug had not been pulled out from underneath these programs by the UCP government,” said Notley.

Jobs, Economy and Innovation Minister Doug Schweitzer said in a statement he was pleased to see NDP economic development and innovation critic Deron Bilous recognize tech jobs and sector growth in his report.

“I am looking forward to discussing his proposals to see continued growth in Alberta’s tech industry,” he said.

Last year, the government announced Alberta Enterprise Corporation funding aimed at supporting tech start-ups would total $175 million over three years, and an i nnovation employment grant covering up to 20 per cent of research and development costs opened in January .

But Trent Johnsen, founder and CEO of Liveweb, said gaps in government support, including the lack of an investor tax credit, were holding Alberta back.

“As Albertans, our ability to succeed in this new technology innovation-based economy will determine how successful we are as a province, our quality of life, and our children’s quality of life in the 21st century,” he said at the NDP news conference.

Johnsen and Notley said recent good news out of the sector was the result of resiliency and hard work.

“These Alberta tech success stories that we are seeing recently are actually occurring despite the government of the day, which has chosen not to participate or support,” said Johnsen.

Access to capital and a talented, creative workforce will attract businesses to the province, Johnsen said.

Bilous added that quality of life is a higher priority for businesses than the the low eight per cent tax rate implemented by the UCP government.

The latest in a series of NDP discussion papers includes initiatives that, if adopted together, would have an estimated cost of more than half a billion dollars over five years.

Days before Alberta is set to release a bleak pandemic budget, Notley said the province’s debt-to-GDP ratio, while important, should not be the defining measure of an economic plan.

“Job creation is to me the fundamentally most important measure,” said Notley.

lijohnson@postmedia.com

twitter.com/reportrix

NASA releases Mars landing video: 'Stuff of our dream

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA on Monday released the first high-quality video of a spacecraft landing on Mars, a three-minute trailer showing the enormous orange and white parachute hurtling open and the red dust kicking up as rocket engines lowered the rover to the surface.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

The footage was so good — and the images so breathtaking — that members of the rover team said they felt like they were riding along.

“It gives me goose bumps every time I see it, just amazing,” said Dave Gruel, head of the entry and descent camera team.

The Perseverance rover landed last Thursday near an ancient river delta in Jezero Crater to search for signs of ancient microscopic life. After spending the weekend binge-watching the descent and landing video, the team at Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, shared the video at a news conference.

“These videos and these images are the stuff of our dreams," said Al Chen, who was in charge of the landing team.

Six off-the-shelf colour cameras were devoted to entry, descent and landing, looking up and down from different perspectives. All but one camera worked. The lone microphone turned on for landing failed, but NASA got some snippets of sound after touchdown: the whirring of the rover’s systems and wind gusts.

Flight controllers were thrilled with the thousands of images beamed back — and also with the remarkably good condition of NASA's biggest and most capable rover yet. It will spend the next two years exploring the dry river delta and drilling into rocks that may hold evidence of life 3 billion to 4 billion years ago. The core samples will be set aside for return to Earth in a decade.

NASA added 25 cameras to the $3 billion mission — the most ever sent to Mars. The space agency's previous rover, 2012's Curiosity, managed only jerky, grainy stop-motion images, mostly of terrain. Curiosity is still working. So is NASA's InSight lander, although it's hampered by dusty solar panels.


Video: What's next for Mars exploration? (cbc.ca)
Duration 7:32

They may have company in late spring, when China attempts to land its own rover, which went into orbit around Mars two weeks ago.

Deputy project manager Matt Wallace said he was inspired several years ago to film Perseverance's harrowing descent when his young gymnast daughter wore a camera while performing a backflip.

Some of the spacecraft systems — like the sky crane used to lower the rover onto the Martian surface — could not be tested on Earth.

“So this is the first time we’ve had a chance as engineers to actually see what we designed,” Wallace told reporters.

Thomas Zurbuchen, NASA’s science mission chief, said the video and also the panoramic views following touchdown “are the closest you can get to landing on Mars without putting on a pressure suit.”

The images will help NASA prepare for astronaut flights to Mars in the decades ahead, according to the engineers.

There's a more immediate benefit.

“I know it's been a tough year for everybody,” said imaging scientist Justin Maki, “and we're hoping that maybe these images will help brighten people's days.”
___

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

Marcia Dunn, The Associated Press

Manchin, Romney and Collins make it clear they won’t stand for mean tweets — unless a man does it: columnist

Sarah K. Burris RAW STORY
February 22, 2021

Susan Collins (Screen Shot)

Senators Susan Collins (R-ME), Mitt Romney (R-UT) Joe Manchin (D-WV) made it clear with their opposition to Neera Tanden to be the director of the Office of Management and Budget, that it isn't acceptable for a woman to send mean tweets. But as Aaron Blake made clear, those senators find it acceptable from a man.

"This has led to charges of hypocrisy and a new standard," Blake wrote in a Washington Post column Monday. "In particular, many Republicans who now appear primed to vote against Tanden's nomination often turned a blind eye to former president Donald Trump's controversial tweets (or claimed they hadn't seen them)."

Richard Grenell faced questions in 2018 when he was nominated to be Trump's ambassador to Germany. He was later appointed to be the acting director of national intelligence. Those senators never took issue with Grenell's so-called mean tweets.

"Some of the most oft-cited past Tanden tweets include her calling Collins 'the worst,'" said Blake. "She attacked Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR.) as a fraud, said vampires have 'more heart' than Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), and she latched on to a very-online effort to label then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY.) as 'Moscow Mitch.'"

Ironically, even Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) joked that someone could shoot Ted Cruz on the Senate floor and be acquitted by the Senate for it. Some of Cruz's colleagues were just as annoyed with the Texas senator last week, though their language was less colorful.

"I believe her overtly partisan statements will have a toxic and detrimental impact on the important working relationship between members of Congress and the next director of the Office of Management and Budget," Manchin said in a statement.

"Her past actions have demonstrated exactly the kind of animosity that President Biden has pledged to transcend," Collins agreed.

But when Grenell came before the Senate for a vote, Manchin didn't take issue with his partisan attacks on former President Barack Obama and Secretary Hillary Clinton.

"Without a teleprompter, Oh-bahh-mahhh isss ahhh slowww and weakkk speakerrrr ahhhh …#syria," Grenell tweeted in 2012 about Obama. He also tweeted: "Hating people who make more than you is the product of having a community organizer as president. #AnyoneButObama"

He attacked Hillary Clinton for her appearance and Michelle Obama for exercising and "sweating on the East Room carpet" as part of her "Let's Move" campaign to encourage children to be more active and eat healthily.

Neither Manchin nor Collins commented on the "toxic and detrimental impact" Grenell's attacks could have on working with Democrats.

Tanden also went after Democrats, but Grenell similarly attacked members of his own party, Blake explained.

In addition to making fun of Newt Gingrich's weight, he asked if Gingrich's wife, Callista's "hair snaps on." He later said that Gingrich's third wife "stands there like she is wife #1," asking, "does callista speak?" (sic)

Grenell passed it all off as a joke and he was approved by the Senate.

"It begs for a declared standard when it comes to who is confirmation-worthy," Blake closed. "Can someone be extremely partisan but not attack senators? Is it okay for someone to attack someone's appearance on social media and still be confirmed? And how much are apologies for past statements operative?"

He noted that questions about Tanden's qualifications for OMB are absolutely valid, but it appears the calls of hypocrisy came too late for her nomination.

Read the full column at the Washington Post.

U.S. Supreme Court to review a hardline Trump immigration rule
2021/2/22  ©Reuters


By Andrew Chung

(Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday agreed to examine the legality of one of former President Donald Trump's hardline immigration rules that bars immigrants deemed likely to require government benefits from obtaining legal permanent residency.

President Joe Biden, who has criticized Trump's immigration approach, is widely expected to dump the so-called "public charge" rule.

The justices agreed to take up an appeal that the Trump administration had filed of a lower court ruling that found the rule likely violated federal immigration and administrative law by impermissibly expanding the definition of who counts as a "public charge" and greatly increasing the number of people who would be rejected for residency.

Trump's hardline stance toward legal and illegal immigration was a hallmark of his presidency. Primarily at issue in the litigation, filed in federal courts in New York and Illinois, is which immigrants would be eligible for legal permanent residency, known as a "green card." U.S. immigration law has long required officials to exclude people likely to become a "public charge" from permanent residency.

U.S. guidelines in place for the past two decades had said immigrants likely to become primarily dependent on direct cash assistance or long-term institutionalization, in a nursing home for example, at public expense would be barred.

Trump's policy expanded the public charge bar to anyone deemed likely to receive a much wider range of public benefits for more than an aggregate of 12 months over any 36-month period including the Medicaid healthcare program, housing and food assistance.

The challengers in the New York case were three states - New York, Connecticut and Vermont - and a coalition of immigrant advocacy groups. A federal judge blocked the rule in 2019 for likely violations of federal law, and last August the New York-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld that decision.

The justices did not act in a separate dispute over the rule in which Cook County, Illinois, and an advocacy group sued in federal court in that state and the Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld an injunction as well last June. Then-Judge Amy Coney Barrett, who is now a justice on the Supreme Court appointed by Trump, dissented from that decision, finding that the government's rule was reasonable interpretation of the public charge law.