Vermont forms reconciliation panel after eugenics apology

By LISA RATHKE

yesterday

Don Stevens, chief of the Nulhegan Band of the Coosuk-Abenaki Nation, holds a stack of papers at his home in Shelburne, Vt., showing family members who were on the Eugenics Survey of Vermont in the early 1900s that led to institutionalizations and sterilizations. Vermont has formed a truth and reconciliation commission to create a public record of discrimination caused by state laws and policies against certain marginalized populations. (AP Photo/Lisa Rathke)

SHELBURNE, Vt. (AP) — Two years ago, the Vermont Legislature apologized to all Vermonters and their families who were harmed by state-sanctioned eugenics policies that started in the early 1900s and led to institutionalizations and sterilizations, targeting Native Americans, French Canadians and disabled and poor people.

Legislators also vowed to do more. Now the state has formed a truth and reconciliation commission with the task of creating a public record of discrimination against certain marginalized populations caused by state laws and policies, as well as making recommendations for repairing the damage and preventing it from happening again.

“An apology’s only words,” said state Rep. Tom Stevens, a Democrat. “You have to really follow it up with actions, and we said in the apology that we would.”

The three commissioners were appointed last month to three-year terms, with annual salaries of $80,000 each. Last year’s act to create the commission allocated $748,000 in state funds this fiscal year to the panel, which also will hire an executive director and other staff.

The panel will create commissions to examine discrimination caused or allowed by state laws and policies experienced by Native American or Indigenous people; people with physical, psychiatric or mental conditions or disabilities and their families; people of color; and people with French Canadian, French Indian or other mixed ethnic or racial heritage. At the commission’s discretion, discrimination against other populations and communities may be considered.

“It’s definitely a broader scope than normal truth and reconciliation commissions,” said commissioner Mia Schultz, president of the Rutland Area NAACP. “I think the theme is this intergenerational trauma proliferated through state policy and law.”

The other two commissioners are Melody Walker Mackin of the Elnu Abenaki Tribe, who is an artist and educator and serves on the Vermont Commission on Native American Affairs, and Patrick Standen, a St. Michael’s College professor, author and disability rights advocate.

More than 50 truth commissions have been established worldwide with some focusing on a single event and others centered on a specific time period, according to Virginie Ladisch of the International Center for Transitional Justice, which helped Vermont with its effort.

Peru’s commission, for example, was tasked with investigating terrorist violence and the violation of human rights from May 1980 to November 2000. A commission in Kenya had a wider scope of investigating, analyzing and reporting on what happened between 1963 and 2008 regarding human rights violations, economic crimes, illegal acquisition of public land, marginalization of communities, ethnic violence and state repression, Ladisch said by email.

“The broad scope of the Vermont TRC’s mandate gives the commission a chance to explore the various forms of structural harm that are part of the state’s history and that continue into the present,” Ladisch said.

Don Stevens, chief of the Nulhegan Band of the Coosuk Abenaki Nation, said his family was one of the largest targeted by the Eugenics Survey of Vermont organized in 1925 by University of Vermont professor Henry Perkins.

Some Vermonters of mixed French Canadian and Native American heritage, as well as poor, rural, white people, were placed on a state-sanctioned list of “mental defectives” and degenerates and sent to state institutions.

Vermont authorized voluntary sterilizations in 1931, becoming one of more than two dozen states to do so. More than 250 people were sterilized in Vermont, with two-thirds of those women and many labeled as “mentally deficient,” according to the University of Vermont.

Steven’s grandmother, the last of his relatives to be on the survey, was listed as a “cripple.” She changed her name several times to try to escape recognition, he said.

“She was born as Lillian May, and she was married as Pauline, and she died as Delia in the ’90s,” Steven said. “She changed her name to avoid the surveys like so many others did, but they were very good at following people.”

Among the “defects” of others on the survey were wanderer, illiterate, feeble-minded, liar, deserted husband, town pauper, obstinate, alcoholic and bearer of stillborn twins.

Stevens, who worked on the state apology and one from UVM, said he supports the Vermont truth and reconciliation commission and making the experiences for kids and future generations better.

“I wanted people to know about the history,” Stevens said. “You can’t avoid something unless people know about it.”

Greece to allow pets into more than 120 archaeological sites

April 27, 2023

In this Wednesday, March 31, 2021, file photo, women wearing face masks walk with their dogs at Areopagus hill, in front of ancient Acropolis hill, as a rainbow is seen in the cloudy Athenian sky. Greece's culture ministry announced on Thursday, April 27, 2023, that pets will soon be allowed into more than 120 archaeological sites across the country, although not in some of the top tourist draws such as the Acropolis in Athens. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris, File)

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Pets will soon be allowed into more than 120 archaeological sites across Greece, the country’s Culture Ministry announced Thursday, although not in the Acropolis or some of the other top tourist draws.

The move, unanimously approved by the country’s powerful Central Archaeological Council, will relax current rules which only allow guide dogs for disabled visitors into archaeological sites. The ministry did not specify when the new regulations would be implemented.

The decision is “a first, but important, step toward harmonizing the framework of accessibility to monuments and archaeological sites with the standards of other European countries, where entry rules for pets already apply,” Culture Minister Lina Mendoni said in a ministry press release.

The council approved the entry of pets provided they are kept on a leash no more than one meter (3 feet) long, or carried by their owners in a pouch or a pet carrying case. Owners will also need to show their pet’s health certificate and carry the necessary accessories to pick up their animal’s droppings in order to be allowed entry, the ministry said. Larger dogs will have to be muzzled.

But some of the most popular archaeological sites, such as the Acropolis of Athens, Knossos in Crete, Ancient Olympia or Delphi, which tend to get very crowded, will still remain pet-free, as will ancient theaters, temples, graves and monuments with mosaic floors.

Cages will be installed at the entrances of more than 110 other archaeological sites, the ministry said, so owners can park their pets during their visit.

Tourism is one of Greece’s main industries, generating billions of euros in revenue each year.

For Arbor Day, plant a tree resilient to climate change

By JESSICA DAMIANO

April 25, 2023

This image provided by Bugwood.org shows a street lined with sugar maple trees (Acer saccharum), the state trees of West Virginia. (John Ruter/University of Georgia/Bugwood.org via AP)

Trees are long-term investments that often outlive the people who plant them. And with the world’s climate changing fast, we now need to consider whether the trees we plant today will be able to withstand the changing conditions in our gardens over the next 30, 50 or even 100 years.

“Things are changing faster than the lifespan of trees,” said Daniel Herms, an entomologist specializing in the resiliency of trees at the research branch of the Davey Tree Expert Co., a landscaping firm based in Kent, Ohio.

Over the next few decades, some trees will thrive and others won’t, “depending on traits that make them adapt to the changing climate,” he said. Those changes include rising temperatures, and rain and drought patterns.

Even some iconic state trees are not considered resilient in their own states, Herms said. For example, California’s coastal redwoods “are very dependent on the moisture that comes from fog, and that fog is being reduced.”

Other state trees that are vulnerable to climate change in their state, although they could be resilient elsewhere, include, according to Herms:

•  Colorado’s blue spruce •  Idaho’s Western white pine •  Maine’s Eastern white pine •  Minnesota’s red pine •  Nevada’s single-leaf pinon •  New Hampshire’s white birch •  New Mexico’s pinon pine •  Oregon’s Douglas fir •  Pennsylvania’s hemlock •  South Dakota’s black hills spruce •  Utah’s blue spruce •  West Virginia’s sugar maple

If you are growing a tree that has been deemed vulnerable in your area, there’s no need to replace it, he said.

“In most cases, it can continue to grow in the residential landscape with a proactive healthcare program,” he said. That means making conditions as favorable as possible by providing proper irrigation, insect and disease protection and treatment, and a good nutrition program, all of which help trees tolerate stress better. A credentialed, certified arborist can help.

When selecting new trees, gardeners and landscapers should choose species that are well-adapted not only to the current environment but that can adapt to the new one they’ll experience in their lifetime, Herms said.

This is especially important since trees are one of the solutions to climate change.

In addition to producing oxygen, trees provide shade and natural cooling during the summer, especially in cities. “They also reduce stormwater runoff and sequester and store carbon, so they can contribute to climate goals as we get closer to net zero,” Herms said, using a term defined by the U.N. as the goal of “cutting greenhouse gas emissions to as close to zero as possible, with any remaining emissions re-absorbed from the atmosphere, by oceans and forests.”

Arbor Day, which falls nationally this Friday (April 28) in the U.S., is the annual observance of the importance of planting trees. The date varies in some states and countries based upon the ideal tree-planting date there.

If you’re planning to plant a tree this spring, Herms suggests selecting a species that currently thrives in your horticultural zone (see https://planthardiness.ars.usda.gov/ ) as well as two zones warmer. For example, a homeowner in Zone 6 should seek out trees that are well-suited for Zones 6-8.

Your local cooperative extension office and some large arboretums with research divisions in your state may be able to offer further guidance on tree selection, as many are compiling data and formulating recommendations.

To reduce stress and help ensure your new tree thrives, dig a hole exactly as deep and twice as wide as the tree’s root ball. Incorporate a generous helping of compost into the backfill. Keep it well watered, especially during the first three years as it becomes established. Trees generally require 1 inch of water per week, either from rainfall, supplemental irrigation or a combination, Herms said.

As the old saying goes, “the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second-best time is today.”

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Jessica Damiano writes regular gardening columns for The Associated Press. She publishes the award-winning Weekly Dirt Newsletter. Sign up here for weekly gardening tips and advice.

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Pandemic sent high school sex to new low, survey finds

By MIKE STOBBE

April 27, 2023

- People are silhouetted against the sky as the sun sets Wednesday, May 11, 2022, in Kansas City, Mo. According to a report released by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday, April 27, 2023, the first years of the pandemic saw a huge decline in high school students having sex. Teen sex was already becoming less and less common before COVID-19. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File)

NEW YORK (AP) — The first years of the pandemic saw a huge decline in high school students having sex, according to a government survey.

Teen sex was already becoming less and less common before COVID-19.

About three decades ago, more than half of teens said they’d had sex, according to a large government survey conducted every two years. By 2019, the share was 38%. In 2021, 30% of teens said they had ever had sex. That was the sharpest drop ever recorded by the survey.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday released reports analyzing the latest findings from the survey that looks into risky youth behaviors, including smoking, drinking, having sex and carrying guns.

More than 17,000 students at 152 public and private high schools responded to the 2021 survey. Participation was voluntary and required parental permission, but responses were anonymous.

The CDC also noted declines in students who said they were currently having sex or who’d had at least four sex partners.

The declines clearly had a lot to do with the pandemic that kept kids isolated at home for long stretches and, often, under extended adult supervision, experts said.

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Health officials generally like to see trends that result in fewer teen pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections, but the decline in teen sex coincided with increased reports of social isolation and poor mental health.

“I think these together paint a picture of high school students building fewer strong interpersonal connections that can be protective of good mental health,” said Laura Lindberg, a Rutgers University researcher who studies adolescent sexual behavior.

“This is an opportunity to say maybe teens are having too little sex,” said Lindberg, who was not involved in the reports.

The CDC’s Kathleen Ethier said the decline may be a good thing if it reflects more young people making healthy decisions to delay sex and reduce their number of partners.

“But what concerns me is this is potentially a reflection of social isolation,” said Ethier, director of the CDC’s division of adolescent and school health.

The 2023 survey, which will show if the decline was temporary, is currently underway.

Another finding: The proportion of high school kids who identify as heterosexual dropped to about 75%, down from about 89% as recently as 2015. Meanwhile, the share who identified as lesbian, gay or bisexual rose to 15%, up from 8% in 2015, when the survey began asking about sexual orientation.

There were also increases in the proportion who said “other” or that they were questioning or uncertain, the CDC found. The changes may be at least partly related to social changes that have reduced the stigma about identifying as not heterosexual, Lindberg said.

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

Robots run the show as Swiss radio tests AI voices for a day

By JAMEY KEATEN

April 27, 2023

GENEVA (AP) — The voices sound like well-known personalities, the music features trendy dance beats and hip-hop syncopations, and the jokes and laughter are contagious. But listeners of an offbeat Swiss public radio station repeatedly got the message on Thursday: Today’s programming is brought to you by Artificial Intelligence.

Three months in the making, the French-language station Couleur 3 (Color 3) is touting a one-day experiment using cloned voices of five real, human presenters — in what managers claim is a world first — and never-aired-before music composed almost entirely by computers, not people. From 6 a.m. to 7 p.m., the station said, AI controlled its airwaves. Every 20 minutes, listeners got a reminder.

With an eerie, Sci-Fi movie-like track whirring in the background, a soothing, raspy female voice said: “AI is taking your favorite radio by storm.”

“For 13 hours, our digital alter egos have taken the reins, broadcasting their voices and their messages across the airwaves, without mercy or respite,” the voice said, at times almost taunting listeners. “The boundaries between human and machine have been blurred, and it’s up to you to unravel what’s real and what’s fake.”

“Our voice clones and AI are here to unsettle, surprise and shake you. And for that matter, this text was also written by a robot.”

The explosive emergence of ChatGPT last autumn and other “Generative AI” tools have caused a stir — and often fear, confusion, fascination, laughter, or worry — about the long-term economic, cultural, social and even political consequences. Some musicians have complained that AI has ripped off their styles.

In the face of such recalcitrance, the Swiss station, which falls under the umbrella of public broadcaster Radio Television Switzerland, notes the concerns about AI — and embraces and seeks to de-mystify it.

Antoine Multone, the station’s chief, said Couleur 3 could get away with the experiment because it’s already known as “provocative.”

While some might fear the project could be a first step toward the obsolescence of people on the air — and firings of personnel too — or could weaken journalism, he defended the project as a lesson on how to live with AI.

“I think if we become ostriches ... we put our heads in the sand and say, ‘Mon Dieu, there’s a new technology! We’re all going to die!’ then yeah, we’re going to die because it (AI) is coming, whether we like it or not,” Multone said by phone. “We want to master the technology so we can then put limits on it.”

Some have gone even further, like Seven Hills, Ohio-based media company Futuri, which has rolled out RadioGPT that relies on AI.

At Couleur 3, the voices of the presenters were cloned with the help of software company Respeecher, which has worked with Hollywood studios and whose website says its team is mostly based in Ukraine.

Station managers say it took three months to train the AI to understand the needs of the station and adopt its quirky, offbeat vibe. The tracks aired during the day were at least partially composed by AI and some were entirely, “and that’s also a first,” Multone said. AI was behind the voices that sang songs broadcast in the morning, and it played DJ in the afternoon — selecting copyrighted music.

To avoid any possible confusion with today’s real news, the synthetic voices — indistinguishable from a real person’s — served up top-of-the-hour news flashes that were way too futuristic to be believable: A temporary ban on spaceship flights over Geneva airspace due to noise complaints; the opening of the first underwater restaurant in Lake Zurich; extraterrestrial tourists who mistook swans on Swiss lake for inflatable toys.

The AI had been instructed to come up with news that might be read in the year 2070.

Multone acknowledged a lot of discussion among staffers about whether to go through with it, and “I was ready to pull the plug on the project if I had seen that my team wasn’t 100% motivated to try it.”

Hundreds of messages poured into the station in the morning shortly after the programming began, Swiss public radio said in a statement. One complained of boring jokes. Another listener, stupefied, admitted to being stumped. One critic called the project a waste of time for a station that gets public funding.

“The main feedback we get, in 90% of the messages, is: ‘It’s cool, but there’s a human element missing. You can sense these are robots, and there are fewer surprises, less personality,’” Multone said, noting an on-air discussion of the experiment was planned Friday — by real people.

“Many messages just said: ‘Give us back our humans!’” he said. “I think that’s great.”

Company seeks first-time restart of shuttered nuclear plant

By JOHN FLESHER

April 26, 2023

Palisades Nuclear Generating Station in Covert, Mich. Holtec Decommissioning International, a company that tears down closed nuclear power plants wants to do in Michigan what has never been done in the U.S.: restore a dead one to life. Activists who long criticized Palisades as poorly maintained and dangerous don't want it resurrected. (John Madill/The Herald-Palladium via AP, File)

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) — A company that tears down closed nuclear power plants wants to do in Michigan what has never been done in the U.S.: restore a dead one to life.

Holtec Decommissioning International bought the Palisades Nuclear Generating Station last June for the stated purpose of dismantling it, weeks after previous owner Entergy shut it down. Fuel was removed from the reactor core. Federal regulators were notified of “permanent cessation of power operations.”

But with support from Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and leaders in the Lake Michigan community where Palisades was an economic driver for 50 years, Holtec soon kicked off a campaign to bring the plant back. The 800 megawatt facility had generated roughly 5% of the state’s electricity.

“Keeping Palisades open is critical for Michigan’s competitiveness and future economic development opportunities,” Whitmer said in a letter to Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, herself a former Michigan governor, requesting federal funding for the restart.

Activists who long criticized Palisades as poorly maintained and dangerous don’t want it resurrected.

They note its years of mechanical problems, including what the Nuclear Regulatory Commission described as among the nation’s worst cases of nuclear fuel container weakening. A degrading seal on a device controlling the atomic reaction led Entergy to close the plant nearly two weeks earlier than planned in May 2022.

“This is uncharted risk territory,” said Kevin Kamps, radioactive waste specialist for a group called Beyond Nuclear, who vowed to “fight this proposal at every turn” after Holtec pitched it during a March 20 NRC meeting.

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Holtec says a primary reason for its about-face on Palisades was a $6 billion federal initiative to prolong older nuclear facilities, part of President Joe Biden’s infrastructure law.

Nuclear is key to his goal of an economy with net zero carbon emissions by 2050. Fission generates no carbon dioxide, the primary global warming gas, although fossil fuels can be used in mining and refining uranium ore for reactors. Its waste remains lethally radioactive for thousands of years.

“Nuclear reactors support energy independence by ensuring the reliable availability of clean, resilient and affordable power,” the Energy Department said in March, announcing a second funding application period for aging plants.


The department awarded up to $1.1 billion last fall to spare the Diablo Canyon plant in California, scheduled for decommissioning in 2024 and 2025.

Palisades was turned down. But the department emphasized that recently shuttered plants would be eligible in the next round. Instead, Holtec is applying for about $1 billion in federal loans under a different program that’s “a better fit,” spokesman Patrick O’Brien said.

The company also wants $300 million from the state, said state Rep. Joey Andrews, a Democrat whose district includes the plant.

Holtec Decommissioning President Kelly Trice told the NRC that government assistance was vital, along with regulatory exemptions and finding a utility to buy the power. He didn’t disclose the expected Palisades restart cost.

Resurrecting the plant would be “a massive challenge,” said Jacopo Buongiorno, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology nuclear engineering professor.

In addition to hiring and training hundreds of operators and engineers, the company would have to check thousands of parts — making repairs or replacements as needed — and order more uranium fuel.

Palisades’ license now prohibits reactor operation, so Holtec would need a revision or rule exemptions for a restart. The NRC would agree only if convinced the plant “has been brought back to working order,” Buongiorno said.

No significant steps have been taken toward dismantling the plant, company Vice President Jean Fleming said during the March meeting. Some 380 employees departed after closure while about 220 remain, handling site and security upgrades and preparing to transfer spent fuel from a cooling pool to dry cask storage.

Holtec hopes to get funding and NRC approval by October. Even then, the restart probably would take a couple of years, Trice said.

Commission regulators told Holtec officials their plan appeared to cover necessary topics but were noncommittal about approval.

“They would have to put applications before technical staff, provide evidence to show that what they’re requesting is in accordance with the law and meets our basic requirements for maintaining public health and safety,” said NRC spokesperson Scott Burnell.

If successful, Palisades would become the first U.S. nuclear reactor to restart after its fuel has been removed and its license revised to prohibit further operation, Burnell said.

“Every other U.S. reactor that’s submitted documentation that says, in effect, ‘We have permanently defueled the reactor and are done operating it,’ ... has moved onto decommissioning.”

———

Skeptics question Palisades’ fitness — and Holtec’s financial strategy.

“The plant when it was operating had serious safety issues,” said Edwin Lyman, director of nuclear power safety with the Union of Concerned Scientists. “Now it’s been shut down, normal inspection and maintenance procedures have stopped; NRC oversight has stopped.”

Before committing to a restart, Holtec would be confident about getting the plant in good shape, spokesperson O’Brien said. “It would be safe nuclear power, the most heavily regulated industry in the world.”

If the company abandons the plan or is rejected by the NRC, it would revert to dismantling Palisades and restoring the 432-acre (175-hectare) lakeshore site.

Holtec estimated decommissioning costs at $633 million in December, when a trust fund to pay for it totaled $547 million. To close the funding gap, the project would be spread over nearly two decades, with a 10-year slowdown so investment earnings could outpace spending.

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel argues the fund is inadequate and Holtec and Entergy are understating decommissioning costs. That could leave taxpayers on the hook, she said in seeking an NRC order that the companies provide an additional $200 million.

The companies said the fund had “a sufficient cushion” and they could get more money if needed.

The NRC hasn’t ruled on the issue.

Beyond Nuclear accuses Holtec of improperly dipping into the decommissioning fund — generated through assessments on ratepayers — to bankroll the proposed restart.

Company president Trice told the NRC the fund was “what we’re using to pay the salaries right now,” according to a recording provided by the anti-nuclear nonprofit.

Kamps of Beyond Nuclear said the remark acknowledged the fund was being used for work unrelated to decommissioning. His group asked the NRC’s inspector general to investigate.

Justin Poole, an NRC project manager who led the meeting, said Trice’s comment referred to payment of on-site decommissioning workers. Holtec spokesman O’Brien said roughly $44 million had been withdrawn from the fund — only for decommissioning activities. The parent company is covering restart costs, he said.

“Reasonable people can disagree” about the meaning of Trice’s comment, said Burnell, the NRC spokesperson.

———

Many southwestern Michigan government and business leaders want Palisades restarted.

“A very reliable and steady tax base for our community,” Zack Morris, head of a business development organization, told the NRC.

Andrews, the legislator who supports state funding, said he previously worked in renewable energy and prefers wind and solar. Yet a reliable supplier is needed for when wind doesn’t blow or sun doesn’t shine, he said, and nuclear beats carbon-spewing coal and natural gas.

But the potential comeback is a nightmare for those who opposed the plant and were relieved it shut down.

“If there’s an accident at Palisades, it could make it so we can’t live here any more,” said Kraig Schultz, whose home is 50 miles (81 kilometers) away but close to Lake Michigan, where he swims and his son surfs. “We’re playing a losing game when we keep running something until it fails.”

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Follow John Flesher on Twitter: www.twitter.com/JohnFlesher.

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Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives support from several private foundations. See more about AP’s climate initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

INDIA

Climate solution: Green hydrogen company Ohmium raises $250M

By JENNIFER McDERMOTT

April 26, 2023

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An engineer works in the research and development area at the Ohmium manufacturing facility in Chikkaballapur, outside Bengaluru, India, Tuesday, April 25, 2023. The company announced Wednesday, April 26, it has raised $250 million to expand production of machines that can make clean hydrogen and displace fossil fuels. Ohmium's role is to make electrolyzers, the devices that take water and split it into hydrogen and oxygen. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)

In what could prove a milestone for an industry that hopes to help address climate change, the Silicon Valley company Ohmium announced Wednesday it has raised $250 million to increase production of machines that can make clean hydrogen and displace fossil fuels.

Some climate experts say burning hydrogen can substitute for burning coal, oil or gas, for example in making steel or cement — without contributing to climate change. That’s been largely theoretical, but real world examples are now growing.

Just four or five years ago, a company working on clean hydrogen from water would not have been able to raise several hundred million dollars, said Daryl Wilson, executive director of the Hydrogen Council. But now there’s rapid growth and demand for it, and a broader recognition that it’s key to addressing climate change, he said.

Mark Viehman, a hydrogen and clean fuels expert at the consulting firm Capgemini, called $250 million a “very impressive” fundraise, and said its own recent research found that 64% of energy and utility companies plan to put money into low-carbon hydrogen efforts by 2030.

Ohmium’s role is to make electrolyzers, the devices that take water and split it into hydrogen and oxygen.

CEO Arne Ballantine said the company will use the $250 million to scale up its plant in Chikkaballapur, outside Bengaluru, India, continue research at the Fremont, California headquarters to reduce the cost of production, and add to its 400-person workforce. Private equity group TPG’s Rise climate fund is the lead investor.

Ballantine said he plans to make enough electrolyzers each year to supply 2 gigawatts’ worth of hydrogen — enough for a few steel or fertilizer plants or several refineries.

Countries and industries are setting ambitious targets to cut carbon dioxide from heavy manufacturing using hydrogen. There are also plans to use it in power generation and transport. The United States, European Union, Canada and India are offering tax credits and production incentives for clean, or green, hydrogen.

The International Energy Agency said in September that global hydrogen demand reached 94 million tons in 2021. Nearly 200 million tons will be needed by 2030 to get on track for net zero emissions by 2050, it said. There are about two dozen major electrolyzer manufacturers.

An electrolyzer produces clean hydrogen if it draws electricity from a grid that’s powered by renewable energy, such as wind and solar. Ballantine said Ohmium clients are completely focused on this method. This will be a major change, because less than 1% of hydrogen produced globally now comes from renewable energy, according to the IEA.

It will take a significant ramp-up in electrolyzer manufacturing and in zero-carbon electricity to meet the demand for low-emissions hydrogen, said Emily Kent, the U.S. director for zero-carbon fuels at the Clean Air Task Force. That’s because it requires massive amounts of electricity to run the electrolyzers.

Most hydrogen today is made from natural gas, which means greenhouse gases are released to get it out of the ground, and then more can leak as it travels through pipelines. Then to crack the hydrogen from natural gas, companies burn more fossil fuel to make steam, releasing more planet-warming greenhouse gases, unless carbon capture technology is used. This common method does not require an electrolyzer and the hydrogen then goes on to be used mainly in the refining and chemical sectors.

Some U.S. power plants plan to use Ohmium’s “Lotus” electrolyzer as a partial substitute for natural gas. Ohmium is also collaborating with Spanish energy company Cepsa and renewable energy developer Amp Energy India on green hydrogen projects. It announced an agreement last week to send an electrolyzer to a liquified natural gas import terminal in Andalusia, Spain.

Each electrolyzer can generate up to 50 tons of hydrogen per year, costs a few hundred thousand dollars and comes in a cabinet 8 feet high by 5 feet wide by 6 feet long, according to Ohmium. They’re interlocking and modular, in case more than one is needed.

Ballantine said it can be difficult to grasp exactly what hydrogen gas is and how it is useful in lessening climate change. But if he shows someone a piece of steel and says it was made releasing far less greenhouse gases, because we burned hydrogen made from water instead of burning coal to heat it up, then they get it, he said.

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Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives support from several private foundations. See more about AP’s climate initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

Bank: Asia must quit coal faster to stem worst climate woes

By SIBI ARASU

April 27, 2023

A couple walk on a hill called 'Teletubbies Hill', a locally popular tourist attraction, as the chimneys of Suralaya coal power plant looms in the background, in Cilegon, Indonesia, Sunday, Jan. 8, 2023. Asia must rapidly cut fossil fuel subsidies and plow more money into a clean energy transition to avoid catastrophic climate change that puts its own development at risk, according to a new report Thursday, April 27, from the Asian Development Bank. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

BENGALURU, India (AP) — Asia must rapidly cut fossil fuel subsidies and plow more money into a clean energy transition to avoid catastrophic climate change that puts its own development at risk, according to a new report Thursday from the Asian Development Bank.

The region’s economic development is being fueled in a carbon-intensive way that is well above the world average, said David Raitzer, an ADB economist and one of the authors of the report. He urged quick action on an energy transition for greater benefits and lower costs.

“Ambitious action on climate change with well-designed policies can have a massive payoff,” Raitzer said.

Several countries are developing new coal-fired power plants in Asia, which accounts for 94% of the global pipeline of coal-fired power plants under construction, planned, or announced, according to the report.

Even as China, India and Indonesia accounted for a third of all emissions of planet-warming gases in 2019, six of the top 10 countries most affected by extreme weather in the first two decades of this century were in Asia, according to earlier studies. It’s estimated that up to $1.5 trillion in losses and damage to property were recorded in the region during that period, including unprecedented flooding in Pakistan that affected 33 million people last year.

The report estimated that 346,000 lives would be saved annually by 2030 if developing countries in Asia meet their goals for shifting to clean energy, leading to reduced air pollution. And it projected social and economic benefits from the shift equal to five times the cost of climate change impacts.

But investment in clean energy is lacking. Developing countries in Asia spent $116 billion in 2021 on subsidizing fossil fuels — much more than subsidies for renewables. Raitzer said international coordination is essential to change that.

“To reduce emissions efficiently, perverse subsidies for fossil fuels that exist now must be removed and there should be no new coal,” said Raitzer.

Other energy experts agree.

“A lot of development in Asia is linked to fossil fuel systems, which becomes a problem,” said Swati D’Souza, a New Delhi-based energy analyst with the Institute for Energy, Economics and Financial Analysis who has been researching Asia’s energy transition for most of a decade.

New investments in fossil fuels should be avoided, D’Souza said.

“They will become stranded assets and the costs of dealing with them will fall on governments and ultimately the local communities and people,” she said.

The report said $397 billion has been invested in the clean energy transition in Asia’s developing countries, but an average annual investment of $707 billion is needed in those countries to keep global temperatures from rising more than 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) called for in the Paris agreement to avoid the worst effects of climate change.

The report recommends reducing subsidies for fossil fuels, putting a price on greenhouse gas emissions and providing more policy incentives for clean energy. It said a carbon price of $70 per ton of carbon dioxide equivalent by 2030 and $153 by 2050 would help achieve net-zero goals.

Carbon pricing can take many forms, but generally is a way to make companies or governments pay the potential costs of climate change — heat waves, unseasonable rains, health effects — made worse by their emissions.

“Kicking the can down the road by waiting until after 2030 to strongly reduce emissions will not be in the region’s or the world’s best interest,” said Raitzer.

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Follow Sibi Arasu on Twitter at @sibi123

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Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives support from several private foundations. See more about AP’s climate initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

California passes 1st-in-nation emission rules for trains

By SOPHIE AUSTIN

yesterday

1 of 8
Los Angeles skyline is seen above the Union Pacific LATC Intermodal Terminal is seen on Tuesday, April 25, 2023 in Los Angeles. California's Air Resources Board is set to vote on a rule to cut greenhouse gas and smog-forming emissions from diesel-powered locomotives used to pull rail cars through ports and railyards.

 (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)


SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California approved Thursday a first-in-the-nation, ambitious rule limiting rail pollution to aggressively cut greenhouse gas emissions in the state’s latest move to establish itself as a global leader in the fight against climate change.

The rule will ban locomotive engines more than 23 years old by 2030 and increase the use of zero-emissions technology to transport freight from ports and throughout railyards. It would also ban locomotives in the state from idling longer than 30 minutes if they are equipped with an automatic shutoff.

“It is time to kickstart the next step of transformation, with trains,” said Davina Hurt, a California Air Resources Board member.

The standards would also reduce chemicals that contribute to smog. They could improve air quality near railyards and ports.

But some say it’s too soon for the locomotive standards. Wayne Winegarden, a Pacific Research Institute senior fellow, said the rule would be expensive for rail companies, and increased costs will mean higher prices for many goods that move by rail.

The Association of American Railroads said in a statement “there is no clear path to zero emissions locomotives.”

“Mandating that result ignores the complexity and interconnected nature of railroad operations and the reality of where zero emission locomotive technology and the supporting infrastructure stand,” the group wrote.

Freight railways are an efficient means to transport the roughly 1.6 billion tons of goods nationwide across nearly 140,000 miles (225,308 kilometers), much cleaner than if those goods were trucked, it said.

The transportation sector contributed the largest share of greenhouse gas emissions nationwide in 2020, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. But rail only accounts for about 2% of those emissions.

Kristen South, a Union Pacific spokesperson, said in a statement the rail company is “deeply disappointed” by the vote, adding that the rule is too ambitious for the current technology and infrastructure.

Union Pacific is working to cut greenhouse gas emissions in part by spending $1 billion to modernize locomotives and testing out engines powered by electric batteries, South wrote.

California passes rules to reduce train emissions

The California Air Resources Board has approved new rules to cut emissions and air pollution from diesel-powered trains. The railroad industry opposes the rules and questions whether California's authorities to regulate trains. (April 27) (AP Video/Terry Chea)

Cecilia Garibay, a project coordinator with the 50-member Moving Forward Network based at Occidental College, said California needs “the strongest, most protective in-use locomotive regulation” that sets an example for the nation.

The standards would need approval from the Biden administration to move forward. They follow rules approved by the EPA to cut emissions from heavy trucks.

Locomotives pull rail cars filled with food, lumber, oil and other products through railyards near neighborhoods in Oakland, Commerce, San Bernardino and other California cities.

They run on diesel, a more powerful fuel than gasoline, producing greenhouse gases and pollution that is harmful for nearby residents.

Other states can sign on to try to adopt the California rule if it gets the OK from the Biden administration.

The rule is the most ambitious of its kind in the country.

“The locomotive rule has the power to change the course of history for Californians who have suffered from train pollution for far too long, and it is my hope that our federal regulators follow California’s lead,” said Yasmine Agelidis, a lawyer with environmental nonprofit Earthjustice, in a statement.

Diesel exhaust is a health hazard. According to California regulators, diesel emissions are responsible for some 70% of Californians’ cancer risk from toxic air pollution. The rule would curb emissions on a class of engines that annually release more than 640 tons of tiny pollutants that can enter deep into a person’s lungs and worsen asthma, and release nearly 30,000 tons of smog-forming emissions known as nitrogen oxides. The rule would also drastically cut greenhouse gas emissions from locomotives, by an amount akin to removing all heavy-duty trucks from the state by 2030.

It’s important to tackle emissions from a sector that often burdens low-income residents and communities of color, and that has plans to expand passenger rail, said Air Resources Board Chair Liane M. Randolph.

Rail companies can participate in incentive programs run by the state to ease the cost of transitioning to zero-emissions locomotives, the agency said.

California has already set out to make big emissions cuts in other areas. The state approved a transition to zero-emissions cars and a roadmap to achieve carbon neutrality, meaning it would remove as many carbon emissions as it releases, by 2045. The board is also considering a rule to electrify a group of heavy trucks that transports goods through ports.

For activists and residents who’ve lived in areas affected by heavy rail pollution, the fight for cleaner trains is decades in the making.

Jan Victor Andasan, an activist with East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice, grew up in West Long Beach and now organizes residents there. It’s a neighborhood near the twin ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach that is “surrounded by pollution” from trains, trucks and industry.

“We support rail, but we support rail if they’re doing all their best to mitigate their emissions,” Andasan said.

Residents shared stories Thursday of children who live near railways having to share inhalers to ease asthma symptoms and families taking extreme measures to rid their homes of diesel fumes.

Some activists would like California to go further, for example, to limit locomotive idling to 15 minutes. They are also concerned that increased demand from online shopping is causing more rail traffic that burdens communities.

The EPA recently approved California rules requiring zero-emission trucks, depending on the type, to make up between 40% and 75% of sales by 2035.

Heidi Swillinger lives in a mobile home park in San Pablo, a small city in the San Francisco Bay Area, along the BNSF Railway. She estimates that her home is just 20 feet (6 meters) from the tracks. She said it’s not uncommon for diesel fumes to fill her house, resulting in a “thick, acrid, dirty smell.”

“Nobody wants to live next to a railroad track,” Swillinger said. “You move next to a railroad track because you don’t have other options.”

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Sophie Austin is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow Austin on Twitter: @sophieadanna

Berlin sees 10th day of road blockades by climate activists

By FRANK JORDANS

yesterday

A police officer attempts to remove the hand of a climate activist from the road at Grosser Stern, in front of the Victory Column, in Berlin, Friday, April 28, 2023. Climate activists staged a tenth straight day of protests in Berlin on Friday, blocking key roads during rush hour and bringing parts of the German capital to a standstill.

Members of the group Last Generation glued themselves to the road, causing long tailbacks for commuters driving into the city. 

(Kay Nietfeld/dpa via AP)

BERLIN (AP) — Climate activists staged a 10th straight day of protests in Berlin, blocking key roads during rush hour and bringing parts of the German capital to a standstill Friday before being removed by police.

Members of the Last Generation group glued themselves to the road, causing a traffic jam for commuters driving into the city. The group wants to draw attention to the threat of global warming and the need for governments to step up measures to curb greenhouse gas emissions.

At a crossing in the north of the capital, many drivers waited patiently for police to clear the road, though some hurled abuse at the activists, calling them “terrorists” and “scum.” Several pedestrians applauded the protesters, giving them a thumbs-up, while one passerby offered them food and water.

Last Generation has acknowledged that its protests are provocative, but it argues that by stirring friction it can encourage debate within society about climate change.

“Sure, there are those who insult or criticize us,” activist Theodor Schnarr said. “But I’ve got the feeling that more and more people are coming to us on the streets and saying they think this is a good thing.”

Schnarr said the group believes disruptive but peaceful protests are justified, because of the enormity of the climate crisis and the urgent need to tackle it.

“We have all the solutions. The German government just needs to implement them,” he said.

But Frank Silzle, a motorist who was inconvenienced by Friday’s blockade, said that while he agreed with the group’s aims, he objected to its tactics.

“Ultimately I think it’s counterproductive, what they’re doing,” Silzle said. “I understand their cause completely, but the way they’re going about it is sadly causing a counterreaction within the population that is very, very harmful to the cause.”

Berlin police said that about 500 officers were deployed to deal with more than a dozen blockades Friday.

The protests come at an awkward time for the government, which is hosting an international climate meeting in the capital next week where it will push for other countries to do more to curb planet-warming emissions even as it faces criticism at home for failing to do enough.

German government spokesperson Christiane Hoffmann said the government “shares, in principle, the goal of drastically reducing CO2 emissions in order to stop and prevent climate change.”

“We just think the path taken by the climate movement, or some of these activists, is the wrong path for drawing attention to this,” she told reporters.

Hoffmann said the Petersberg Climate Dialogue, an event taking place in Berlin on May 2-3, remains focused on achieving the goal of the 2015 Paris Agreement of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) compared to pre-industrial times.

Some German politicians have called for tougher police measures and sentences against activists for blocking roads. So far, most courts have either acquitted activists or issued them fines, though three Last Generation members recently received prison sentences ranging from three to five months in southern Germany.

The group plans to meet with Germany’s transportation minister next week to discuss its demands. They include the introduction of a universal speed limit on German highways, a move that experts say would be a quick and cheap measure to cut emissions.

Meanwhile, activists from the organization Extinction Rebellion staged a protest Friday outside the Danish parliament in Copenhagen.

The protest’s goal was “to pressure the government to bow to our simple demands for more protected nature and less industrial agriculture in Denmark,” the demonstrators said in a statement.

“If politicians still do not do what is clearly necessary, we will return and rebel again on May 12,” they said.

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Jan M. Olsen in Copenhagen contributed to this report.

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Follow AP’s coverage of climate change at https://apnews.com/hub/climate-and-environment

Police officers unglue a climate activist from the road in Berlin, Friday April 28, 2023

Earth in hot water? Worries over sudden ocean warming spike

By SETH BORENSTEIN

April 27, 2023

The sun rises above the Atlantic Ocean as waves crash near beach goers walking along a jetty, Dec. 7, 2022, in Bal Harbour, Fla. The world's oceans have suddenly spiked much hotter and well above record levels, with scientists trying to figure out what it means and whether it forecasts a surge in atmospheric warming.

 (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee, File)

The world’s oceans have suddenly spiked much hotter and well above record levels in the last few weeks, with scientists trying to figure out what it means and whether it forecasts a surge in atmospheric warming.

Some researchers think the jump in sea surface temperatures stems from a brewing and possibly strong natural El Nino warming weather condition plus a rebound from three years of a cooling La Nina, all on top of steady global warming that is heating deeper water below. If that’s the case, they said, record-breaking ocean temperatures this month could be the first in many heat records to shatter.

From early March to this week, the global average ocean sea surface temperature jumped nearly two-tenths of a degree Celsius (0.36 degree Fahrenheit), according to the University of Maine’s Climate Reanalyzer, which climate scientists use and trust. That may sound small, but for the average of the world’s oceans — which is 71% of Earth’s area —to rise so much in that short a time, “that’s huge,” said University of Colorado climate scientist Kris Karnauskas. “That’s an incredible departure from what was already a warm state to begin with.”

Climate scientists have been talking about the warming on social media and amongst themselves. Some, like University of Pennsylvania’s Michael Mann, quickly dismiss concerns by saying it is merely a growing El Nino on top of a steady human-caused warming increase.

It has warmed especially off the coast of Peru and Ecuador, where before the 1980s most El Ninos began. El Nino is the natural warming of parts of the equatorial Pacific that changes weather worldwide and spikes global temperatures. Until last month, the world has been in the flip side, a cooling called La Nina, that has been unusually strong and long, lasting three years and causing extreme weather.

Other climate scientists, including National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration oceanographer Gregory C. Johnson, say it doesn’t appear to be just El Nino. There are several marine heat waves or ocean warming spots that don’t fit an El Nino pattern, such as those in the northern Pacific near Alaska and off the coast of Spain, he said.

“This is an unusual pattern. This is an extreme event at a global scale” in areas that don’t fit with merely an El Nino, said Princeton University climate scientist Gabe Vecchi. “That is a huge, huge signal. I think it’s going to take some level of effort to understand it.”

The University of Colorado’s Karnauskas took global sea surface temperature anomalies over the past several weeks and subtracted the average temperature anomalies from earlier in the year to see where the sudden burst of warming is highest. He found a long stretch across the equator from South America to Africa, including both the Pacific and Indian oceans, responsible for much of the global temperature spike.

That area warmed four-tenths of a degree Celsius in just 10 to 14 days, which is highly unusual, Karnauskas said.

Part of that area is clearly a brewing El Nino, which scientists may confirm in the next couple months and they can see it gathering strength, Karnauskas said. But the area in the Indian Ocean is different and could be a coincidental independent increase or somehow connected to what may be a big El Nino, he said.

“We’re already starting at such an elevated background state, a baseline of of really warm global ocean temperatures, including in the tropical Pacific and Indian Ocean. And suddenly you add on a developing El Nino and now we’re like off the chart,” Karnauskas said.

It’s been about seven years since the last El Nino, and it was a whopper. The world has warmed in that seven years, especially the deeper ocean, which absorbs by far most of the heat energy from greenhouse gases, said Sarah Purkey, an oceanographer at the Scripps Institution for Oceanography. The ocean heat content, which measures the energy stored by the deep ocean, each year sets new record highs regardless of what’s happening on the surface.

Since that last El Nino, the global heat ocean content has increased .04 degrees Celsius (.07 degrees Fahrenheit), which may not sound like a lot but “it’s actually a tremendous amount of energy,” Purkey said. It’s about 30 to 40 zettajoules of heat, which is the energy equivalent of hundreds of millions of atomic bombs the size that leveled Hiroshima, she said.

On top of that warming deep ocean, the world had unusual cooling on the surface from La Nina for three years that sort of acted like a lid on a warming pot, scientists said. That lid is off.

“La Nina’s temporary grip on rising global temperatures has been released,” NOAA oceanographer Mike McPhaden said in an email. “One result is that March 2023 was the second highest March on record for global mean surface temperatures.”

If El Nino makes its heavily forecasted appearance later this year “what we are seeing now is just a prelude to more records that are in the pipeline,” McPhaden wrote.

Karnauskas said what’s likely to happen will be an “acceleration” of warming after the heat has been hidden for a few years.
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Follow AP’s climate and environment coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/climate-and-environment

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Follow Seth Borenstein on Twitter at @borenbears

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Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives support from several private foundations. See more about AP’s climate initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

In Arizona, fresh scrutiny of Saudi-owned farm’s water use

By SUMAN NAISHADHAM

yesterday

This image shows an Almarai logo in Cairo, Egypt, on Wednesday, April 26, 2023. Fondomonte Arizona, a subsidiary of Almarai Co., has for nearly a decade grown alfalfa in the American Southwest that is sent to the Gulf kingdom to feed cows there. Arizona rescinded a pair of drilling permits that would have allowed Fondomonte to pump up to 3,000 gallons of water per minute to irrigate its forage crops.

 (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)

In rural Arizona’s La Paz County, on the state’s rugged border with California, the decision by a Saudi-owned dairy company to grow alfalfa in the American Southwest for livestock in the Gulf kingdom first raised eyebrows nearly a decade ago. Now, worsening drought has focused new attention on the company and whether Arizona should be doing more to protect its groundwater resources.

Amid a broader investigation by the state attorney general, Arizona last week rescinded a pair of permits that would have allowed Fondomonte Arizona, a subsidiary of Almarai Co., to drill more than 1,000 feet (305 meters) into the water table to pump up to 3,000 gallons (11 kiloliters) of water per minute to irrigate its forage crops.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Attorney General Kris Mayes said she thought most Arizonans see it as “outrageous” that the state is allowing foreign-owned companies “to stick a straw in our ground and use our water for free to grow alfalfa and send it home to Saudi Arabia. We just can’t — in the midst of an epic drought — afford to do dumb things with water in the state of Arizona anymore.”

Mayes, a Democrat, sought the revocations after she said her office had found inconsistencies in the permit applications. Mayes vowed to look into Fondomonte’s operations and water use last year after the Arizona Republic reported that the Arizona State Land Department leased the company thousands of acres of farmland for below market value.

Fondomonte did not respond to multiple requests for comment from the AP. Its lawyers have said previously that the company legally leased and purchased land in the U.S. and spent millions on infrastructure improvements.

Years of drought have ratcheted up pressure on water users across the West, particularly in states like Arizona, which relies heavily on the dwindling Colorado River. The drought has also made groundwater — long used by farmers and rural residents with little restriction — even more important for users across the state.

Saudi Arabia, struggling with its own water shortages in the past decade, restricted the growth of some forage crops in the country. That Fondomonte chose Arizona as a place to grow such crops has angered some in the state, which has faced two consecutive years of federal water cuts from the Colorado River, a primary water source for the state.

Officials from both parties have criticized the use of state water by foreign-owned entities, with Gov. Katie Hobbs, also a Democrat, saying in her January state of the state address that she, too, would look into the practice. The state’s groundwater, Hobbs said, “should be used to support Arizonans, not foreign business interests.”

That same month, Republican state legislators introduced a bill to prohibit sales of state lands to foreign governments, state enterprises and any company based in China, Russia or Saudi Arabia.

“There’s a perception that water goes to local uses,” said Andrew Curley, a professor of geography and the environment at the University of Arizona. “When you recognize it’s going far away, that the products and benefits of this water are exported overseas, that really provokes people’s attention.”

Foreign entities and individuals control roughly 3% of U.S. farmland, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Canada is the largest holder — mainly of forestland. Fourteen U.S. states have restrictions on foreign individuals or entities owning farmland, but limitations vary widely and no state completely prohibits it.

Fondomonte also farms in California’s Palo Verde Valley, an area that gets its water from the Colorado River. Those operations have attracted less scrutiny. And it’s not the only foreign company that farms in the Southwest. The United Arab Emirates-owned Al Dahra ACX Global Inc. grows forage crops in Arizona and California, and is a major North American exporter of hay.

U.S. farmers themselves export hay and other forage crops to the Middle East — mainly to Saudi Arabia. China is the primary export market for U.S. hay.

In Arizona, renewed attention to Fondomonte’s water use is raising questions about the state’s lack of regulation around pumping groundwater in rural parts of the state.

Phoenix, Tucson and other Arizona cities have restrictions on how much groundwater they can pump under a 1980 state law aimed at protecting the state’s aquifers. But in rural areas, little is required of water users besides registering wells with the state and using the water for activities, including farming that are deemed a “beneficial use.”

“Frankly, I believe they are not doing their jobs,” Mayes said about Arizona’s Department of Water Resources’ oversight of rural areas. The department declined to comment on the revoked drilling permits or the need for more groundwater regulation.

Mayes, along with hydrologists and environmental advocates, says more studies are needed of groundwater basins in rural areas — such as La Paz County, an agricultural county of about 16,000 people. Currently, Arizona doesn’t measure how much groundwater users pump in such areas, which means there is little understanding of how much water an operation like Fondomonte — or other farms — uses.

Almarai’s holdings in the Southwest are just one example of the farmland the company and its subsidiaries operate outside Saudi Arabia. It farms tens of thousands of acres in Argentina, which has also faced severe drought conditions in recent years.

Holly Irwin, a member of the La Paz County Board of Supervisors, has long opposed Fondomonte using water in the county. She said she’s fielded complaints from residents for years that it’s getting harder to pump water in nearby wells and has repeatedly asked the state to do something about it.

“We need to have some sort of regulation so it’s not all just being pumped out of the ground,” Irwin said.

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The Associated Press receives support from the Walton Family Foundation for coverage of water and environmental policy. The AP is solely responsible for all content. For all of AP’s environmental coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/climate-and-environment

Brittney Griner gets emotional discussing Russian detainment

By JOHN MARSHALL

April 27, 2023

Brittney Griner holds court with Phoenix Mercury

Brittney Griner speaks out as she heads back to the WNBA with the Phoenix Mercury; doesn't discuss Russia imprisonment. (April 27)

PHOENIX (AP) — Hope bounced around Brittney Griner like a buoy and an anchor.

Hope of returning home, hope of a miracle, was all she had all those months in custody in Russia. On the days hopelessness crept in, days that grew as her detainment stretched into a second winter, optimism drowned in despair.

Photos of her family half a world away kept Griner afloat.

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“Just being able to see their faces, that did it for me,” Griner said Thursday in her first news conference since being released. “The moment where you kind of want to give up, you look at the photos and it kind of brings you back to what you’re waiting on. You’re waiting to be back with your families, with your loved ones in a safe place.”

Griner has been safe since a nearly 10-month detainment in Russia on drug-related charges ended with a prisoner swap in December.

Griner kept a low profile following her return to the U.S. while adjusting to life back home, outside of appearances at the Super Bowl, the PGA Tour’s Phoenix Open and an MLK Day event in Phoenix.

She returned to the spotlight at a news conference on Thursday, an event attended by roughly 200 people inside the lobby of the Footprint Center, home of the Phoenix Mercury and the NBA’s Phoenix Suns.

Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs, Griner’s wife, Cherelle, and members of the Mercury organization gave the WNBA star a standing ovation as she appeared from behind a banner and climbed onto the riser.

“Different than a basketball press conference today,” said Griner, her eyes beaming and a huge smile across her face. “A LOT of media in here today.”

Griner gained international attention in February 2022, when she was arrested after Russian authorities said a search of her luggage revealed vape cartridges containing cannabis oil. She later pleaded guilty and was sentenced to nine years in prison.

After months of negotiations between Washington and Moscow, Griner was exchanged in the United Arab Emirates for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout on Dec. 8.

Griner kept her emotions in check during the news conference while thanking everyone who helped secure her release, including President Joe Biden, but had to take a moment to compose herself after being asked about her resiliency through the ordeal.

“I’m no stranger to hard times,” Griner said, fighting back tears. “Just digging deep. You’re going to be faced with adversities in life. This was a pretty big one. I just relied on my hard work to get through it.”

Griner faced an adjustment period once she returned to the U.S., one that’s still ongoing.

She spent some time in San Antonio, where she picked up a basketball for the first time in nearly a year. Wearing low-stop shoes on an outdoor court, Griner put up a few shots, even trying to see if she can still dunk (yes, she can).

“I thought I was like 16 again,” she said. “I mean, my ankles did not like it, but it was good.”

Once back in Phoenix, Griner walked around town, taking in the scenery of her hometown with a newfound appreciation that comes with a freedom she didn’t have for nearly 10 months.

“Walking around town was a little bit different, but it felt good being back to being on U.S. soil, especially when you’re back here in the Valley,” Griner said. “It was really warming and nothing but love, being out and about, just trying to get back to just being normal.”

From left; Artist Antoinette Cauley, Cherelle Griner, WNBA basketball player Brittney Griner, Neda Sharghi, chair of Bring Our Families Home, and Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs pose for photographers after unveiling a 30-foot mural depicting individuals detained abroad, Thursday, April 27, 2023, outside the Footprint Center in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Matt York)

Normal will include a return to the Mercury.

Griner announced shortly after her release that she would play in the WNBA this season and re-signed with the Mercury on a one-year deal. The seven-time WNBA All-Star and two-time league defensive player of the year started slowly and has ramped up training in preparation for the Mercury’s opening game on May 19.

“I feel like I’ve hit the corner and just loving it now, but at first there was a point where it was like, wow, dang, I really want to do this this fast right now?

“But no, it was so worth it. So worth it.”

Griner is returning to the WNBA but won’t be playing abroad again, unless it’s with Team USA.

“I’m never playing overseas again,” the two-time Olympic gold medalist said. “The only time I would want to would be to represent the USA.”

Griner’s new normal also will include working with Bring Our Families Home, a campaign formed in 2022 by the family members of American hostages and wrongful detainees held overseas.

Griner said her team has been in touch with the family of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who’s being detained in Russia on espionage charges.

Griner and BOFH unveiled a mural outside the Footprint Center with the faces of Americans detained overseas and will work to bring as many of them home as possible.

“No one should be in any of the conditions that I went through or they’re going through,” she said.

The Russian prison conditions at times spiraled Griner into hopelessness. The familiar faces of her family always brought her back, hope returning until she was finally able to reunite with them.

Intelligence chief: Russian spy ring had ‘source’ in France

THEY HAVE SINCE THE TIME OF THE TSAR

By JOHN LEICESTER

yesterday

Head of France's intelligence agency DGSI Nicolas Lerner, center, attends a remembrance gathering for murdered Stephanie Monferme, a mother and local police employee, in Rambouillet, southwest of Paris on April 30, 2021. The French chief of counter-intelligence has given new details about a Russian spy ring broken up last year by France. The director of the DGSI security agency said the six Russian intelligence agents were caught red-handed interacting with a source on French soil.

 (Ludovic Marin, Pool via AP)

LE PECQ, France (AP) — The French chief of counterintelligence has given new details about a Russian spy ring broken up by France in the wake of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, saying the six intelligence agents were caught red-handed interacting with a source on French soil.

The director of the DGSI counterintelligence and counterterrorism agency, Nicolas Lerner, was speaking to a French parliamentary enquiry looking into foreign efforts to influence or corrupt political parties, leaders and opinion-makers in France. His testimony was delivered behind closed doors in February. But the website of the National Assembly, France’s lower house of parliament, published his comments this week.

Lerner described the unmasking of the Russian agents as “one of the most significant counter-intelligence operations carried out by the DGSI in recent decades.”

The six intelligence officers were “caught in the act of treating with a source on the national territory” and expelled, Lerner said, without giving more details.

At the time, in April 2022, France’s Foreign Ministry said the Russian “clandestine operation” was unmasked by “a very long” DGSI investigation. It said the six agents posed as diplomats and that their activities were “contrary to our national interests.” Its statement made no mention of a source in France.

France’s interior minister, Gérald Darmanin, also made no mention of a French source for the spies in his tweet last April that hailed the “remarkable counterespionage operation” by the DGSI which “obstructed a network of Russian clandestine agents.”

A week prior to those expulsions, as the horrors of war crimes committed by Russian forces in Bucha, Ukraine, were coming to light, France also expelled 35 Russian diplomats. saying their activities were ” contrary to our security interests. ”

Expulsions, including tit-for-tat retaliations by Moscow, have been a feature of the deepening gulf between Russia and countries opposed to its war in Ukraine. Sweden this week expelled five Russian Embassy employees suspected of spying. Norway expelled 15 Russian diplomats earlier this month. Russia this week responded by ordering 10 Norwegian diplomats in Moscow to leave.

In his sworn testimony, Lerner told lawmakers that Russia had long been running the largest spy operation in France, using intelligence officers posing as diplomats.

“The country that historically has the most important system is Russia. This tradition continued to the present day. In each Western country, several dozen officers — their number has diminished significantly since the start of the Ukraine crisis — from the three Russian intelligence services carry out intelligence and interference actions under diplomatic cover.”

He added that China also “maintains a network under diplomatic cover that is much less developed than Russia’s.”

Lerner suggested to lawmakers that they also should be on their guard about the risk of intelligence agents seeking to ensnare them. He said the DGSI was in regular contact with lawmakers to alert them and “if necessary to let them know who they are dealing with.”

“In recent months, we have done this several times, after detecting contacts with Russian intelligence officers under diplomatic cover,” he said.

More broadly, the French counterintelligence chief said that previous unwritten rules that rival countries observed in the Cold War were collapsing in a new era of more aggressive and direct confrontation.

“From 1945 to the fall of the Berlin Wall, certain tacit rules, which one can like or disagree with, governed relations between nations,” he said.

“Each bloc broadly respected the other’s sphere of influence. All of that has disappeared. Now, the way some countries see it is that the only rules are the fait accompli and the law of the strongest.”

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