Top science publisher withdraws flawed climate study

Roland LLOYD PARRY
Thu, August 24, 2023 

Experts point to widespread concerns about peer-review standards in the lucrative academic publishing industry. (NASA)

Top science publisher Springer Nature said it has withdrawn a study that presented misleading conclusions on climate change impacts after an investigation prompted by an AFP inquiry.

AFP reported in September 2022 on concerns over the peer-reviewed study by four Italian scientists that appeared earlier that year in the European Physical Journal Plus, published by Springer Nature.

The study had drawn positive attention from climate-sceptic media.

The paper, titled "A critical assessment of extreme events trends in times of global warming", purported to review data on possible changes in the frequency or intensity of rainfall, cyclones, tornadoes, droughts and other extreme weather events

Several climate scientists contacted by AFP said the study manipulated data, cherry picked facts and ignored others that would contradict their assertions, prompting the publisher to launch an internal review.

"The Editors and publishers concluded that they no longer had confidence in the results and conclusions of the article," Springer Nature told AFP in an email late Wednesday.

The journal's editors published an online note stating that the paper was retracted due to concerns over "the selection of the data, the analysis and the resulting conclusions".

- Peer-review standards -

It said the paper had been freshly reviewed by experts and the authors invited to submit an addendum in response to the criticisms.

But a review found this "not suitable for publication and that the conclusions of the article were not supported by available evidence or data provided by the authors".

Springer Nature said in its email that the investigation was conducted by its Research Integrity Group in line with guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

The paper's authors were identified in order as Gianluca Alimonti, a physicist at a nuclear physics institute; Luigi Mariani, an agricultural meteorologist, and physicists Franco Prodi and Renato Angelo Ricci.

The latter two were named as signatories of the World Climate Declaration, a text that repeated various debunked claims about climate change, an AFP fact check article found.

Their study was "not published in a climate journal," Stefan Rahmstorf, Head of Earth Systems at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, told AFP at the time.

"This is a common avenue taken by 'climate sceptics' in order to avoid peer review by real experts in the field."

Recent studies have indicated that climate misinformation has flourished online as governments push reforms to curb use of the fossil fuels that cause planet-warming carbon emissions.

A further investigation published by AFP in April 2023 showed that sceptics opposed to the scientific consensus on human-caused climate change had got other misleading studies published in peer-reviewed journals.

Experts pointed to widespread concerns about peer-review standards in the lucrative academic publishing industry.

Retraction Watch, a blog that tracks withdrawals of academic papers, counted 5,000 such cases in 2022 -- about a tenth of a percent of the total number of studies published, its co-founder Ivan Oransky told AFP.

rlp/mh/ach

Four million children in Pakistan have no safe water, a year after deadly floods

Rhea Mogul and Michelle Toh, CNN
Fri, August 25, 2023 

One year after catastrophic floods devastated swathes of Pakistan, some 4 million children in the South Asian nation remain without access to safe water, the United Nations children’s agency has warned.

In a news release Friday, UNICEF said it estimates that there are 8 million people in the country, around half of whom are children, who continue to live in flood-affected areas without clean water.

“Vulnerable children living in flood-affected areas have endured a horrific year,” Abdullah Fadil, UNICEF Representative in Pakistan, said in the statement.

“They lost their loved ones, their homes and schools. As the monsoon rains return, the fear of another climate disaster looms large. Recovery efforts continue, but many remain unreached, and the children of Pakistan risk being forgotten.”

Children play at a refugee camp for people displaced by monsoon floods, in the Karachi Division of Sindh province, Pakistan, on Sunday, May 21, 2023. - Asim Hafeez/Bloomberg/Getty Images

Flooding caused by record monsoon rains and melting glaciers in Pakistan’s northern mountain regions last year claimed the lives of nearly 1,600 people – more than a third whom were children – and impacted an estimated 33 million more.


The floods submerged a third of the country, with the force of the floodwater washing away homes, leaving tens of thousands stranded on the road without any food to eat or clean water to drink.

About 30,000 schools, 2,000 health facilities and 4,300 water systems were damaged or destroyed, UNICEF said.

“The climate-related disaster deepened pre-existing inequities for children and families in affected districts,” UNICEF said in the statement. “One third of children were already out of school before the floods, malnutrition was reaching emergency levels and access to safe drinking water and sanitation was worryingly low.”

As the floodwater began to recede, a plethora of water-related diseases began to infect thousands – many of whom were children. Parents desperately tried to seek help as their children became infected with diarrhea, dysentery, dengue fever and malaria.

Internally displaced flood-affected children attend a mobile school class near makeshift camp in the flood-hit area of Dera Allah Yar in Jaffarabad district of Balochistan province on January 9, 2023. - Fida Hussain/AFP/Getty Images

The flooding came as Pakistan was already grappling with a severe economic crisis, further compounding the economic misery of millions, pushing families into poverty and leaving many unable to afford essentials such as food, fuel and medicines.

The country’s predicament has been further complicated by political turmoil that has engulfed the nation in recent months after former Prime Minister Imran Khan was arrested on corruption charges, sparking deadly protests.

Khan was dramatically ousted from power in a no-confidence vote last year, after numerous accusations of bad governance, including economic mismanagement. He claims the allegations against him are political and being steered by the country’s powerful military.

Last month, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved a $3 billion bailout for Pakistan, giving the cash-strapped country a moment of reprieve in what has been a tumultuous year.

Until recently, the government had imposed tight import and dollar outflow controls, which stifled private sector activity, according to an April report by the World Bank.

But one condition of the IMF loan was that Pakistan let the country return to a market-based exchange rate, “which suggests the authorities now have limited room or appetite for currency intervention,” according to Shivaan Tandon, emerging Asia economist at Capital Economics.

Analysts say this may have contributed to a crash in Pakistan’s rupee this week, with the currency currently trading at 301 to the US dollar.

“We see the unfortunate consequence of a panic run when IMF terms force the government to open up trade,” said Stephen Innes, managing partner of SPI Asset Management.

Tandon also said the country was seeing higher imports, which was “likely to have put some pressure on the currency as demand for [US] dollars rose.”

“There seem to be a few factors at play,” he told CNN.

“Several emerging market currencies have come under pressure as dollar-denominated assets became more attractive due to the jump in US bond yields. Pakistan’s rupee is particularly vulnerable to risk aversion among investors due to elevated inflation, unfavorable fiscal dynamics and a wide external financing gap.”

Meanwhile, Pakistan’s poverty rate has reached a staggering 21.9%, covering more than one fifth of the population, according to IMF data.

Children pick vegetables from water at a flooded market after heavy rainfall in Lahore on June 26, 2023. - Arif Ali/AFP/Getty Images

The crushing poverty has driven many to flee the nation. Widespread hunger and rising prices have caused stress, anxiety and despair. In April, during Islam’s holy month of Ramadan, hundreds of people lined up on the streets for a single bag of free flour, leading to deadly stampedes and chaos.

UNICEF also warned earlier this month that the effects of the climate crisis and other extreme weather phenomenons are having a devastating impact on children in South Asia.

Nearly half a billion children in the region are exposed to extreme high temperatures as life-threatening heat waves caused by the climate crisis become stronger and more frequent, it said.

Its analysis of 2020 data showed an estimated 460 million children in countries including Afghanistan, India and Pakistan were exposed to temperatures where 83 or more days in a year exceeded 35 degrees Celsius (95 Fahrenheit) – making South Asia the hardest-hit region for those under age 18.

Fadil from UNICEF said the agency has called on the government of Pakistan and its partners to “increase and sustain investment in basic social services for children and families.”

He added: “We cannot forget the children of Pakistan. The flood waters have gone, but their troubles remain, in this climate volatile region.”

This article has been updated with the correct spelling of economist Shivaan Tandon’s name.

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com

Trump’s Tribal Record: The Destructive Era

BY AMBER TORRES 

 

AUGUST 22, 2023

Guest Opinion. As a nation and global society, we are still recovering from two life altering events: a pandemic and the Trump presidency. While the memories of these events seem to fade with time, as a former tribal leader, I am here with a stark warning: We cannot forget Donald Trump's record, especially on tribal matters, or that of his supporters and enablers.

Former Walker River Paiute Tribe Chairwoman Amber Torres (Photo/Nevada Governor's Office)

Many Americans are unaware of the government to government relationship between the federal government and tribal nations. It is a relationship recorded in the U.S. Constitution and initially practiced through the negotiation of treaties. However, the history largely ignores the treatment of tribes, which has been full of turmoil and shame as the nation broke its promises time and time again. Tribal leaders have traveled to Washington year after year advocating for meaningful forms of engagement, like tribal consultation. It is a method that I have seen Democrats embrace wholeheartedly through their efforts to optimize in practice. 

During the Trump administration, I saw firsthand how fast the doors of access were closed to tribes. He unleashed an era where Native people endured a constant assault on our spiritual health and wellness. Trump failed to reconvene the White House Tribal Nations Summit, an annual meeting that provides the administration and Tribal leaders with time to discuss ways to strengthen nation-to-nation relationships through federal investment and ensure that progress in Indian Country will endure for future generations. 

In addition to that failure, meaningful Tribal consultation was nearly nonexistent, and without these vital meetings, detrimental projects were approved near our tribal communities. For example, Trump immediately reduced the Bears Ears National Monument, home to thousands of sacred sites, by 85 percent, and his administration approved the advancement of the border wall that led to the destruction of Tohono O’odham Nation’s cultural and burial sites. 

Trump drained funds from the very programs created to fulfill the federal government’s trust and treaty responsibilities to Tribes. Year after year, tribal leaders had to fight against his proposals to cut funding for Native education and health programs. It is crucial to remember that he submitted budget requests to Congress every year that could have zeroed out funding for Bureau of Indian Education facilities and the only existing CDC Tribal budget item.

At times, Trump was outright transparent about his thoughts and feelings about the Native peoples. When asked about issuing a proclamation for Indigenous Peoples’ Day, he outright proclaimed, “Not as long as I’m president.” He appalled the nation when he could not even hold back expressing his racism during a White House event planned in honor of our national heroes, the Navajo Code Talkers. 

President Joe Biden ran on the promise to “restore the soul of the nation” and to rebuild the backbone of America, and since he took office, he has taken active steps towards healing the relationships his predecessor hurt. President Biden reconvened the White House Tribal Nations Summit and issued the Memorandum on Uniform Standards for Tribal Consultation to every executive department and agency head. Tribes have seen progress for our communities because we have a seat and voice at the table.

Bidenomics includes Indian Country with historic levels of funding specifically for Tribal communities and Native people, including $32 billion in the American Rescue Plan, $13 billion in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and $700 million in the Inflation Reduction Act.

President Biden became the first president to accomplish many positive firsts for tribal communities, including issuing a proclamation to designate Indigenous Peoples’ Day, appointing Native Americans, including Deb Haaland (Laguna Pueblo) as secretary of the Interior and Marilynn “Lynn” Malerba (Mohegan Tribe) as the Treasurer of the United States, and securing advance appropriations for the Indian Health Service.

Dignity and humility are two valued qualities in Native cultures. Importantly, these are two qualities that President Biden exemplifies, and this has had a positive impact on revitalizing tribal relations. He cares about people and their wellbeing, which is why he has dedicated resources and has supported Tribal courts in exercising special criminal jurisdiction to address the missing and murdered Indigenous peoples crisis. 

With all the progress that we have made under the Biden administration to uphold the government’s responsibility to tribal nations, why do we want to reopen the gates to power for people whose hearts are full of xenophobia and lies? 

This election matters. The presidency matters. The actions of a president matter.

Amber Torres is a tribal citizen of the Walker River Paiute Tribe in Schurz, Nevada. She has been elected to serve on the Walker River Tribal Council since 2010, and held the role of the Tribal Chairman between 2016 and 2023.

New York Governor Makes First Visit to the Onondaga Nation by a Governor in Over 50 Years

Onondaga Tad

BY NATIVE NEWS ONLINE STAFF 

 

AUGUST 24, 2023

Wednesday was a historic day on the Onondaga Nation as Tadodaho (Chief) Sid Hill greeted New York Governor Kathy Hochul (D) to the homelands of the Onondaga Nation for discussions to improve relations between his tribal nation and the State of New York. It was the first visit to the Onondaga Nation by a governor of the Empire state in over 50 years. 

Hill was joined by representatives from the Council of Chiefs and Clan Mothers in the Onondaga Nation Longhouse.

“We extend our gratitude in hosting Governor Hochul, an occurrence that marks the first visit by a Governor of New York to our Longhouse in no less than five decades. Anticipating collaboration with both her and State officials, our focus rests on securing the educational and healthcare support that our treaties guarantee for our community members,” Tadodaho Hill said. 

Gov. Hochul called the visit a significant step in strengthening the relationship between the Onondaga Nation and the State of New York.

“This meeting follows the momentous event of returning over 1,000 acres of land to the Onondaga Nation. During our constructive and profound conversations, we delved into the distinct challenges that the Onondaga Nation faces,” Gov. Hochul said. Moreover, we explored avenues through which our two administrations can collaborate, notably in the realms of education and healthcare. Our pledge involves sustaining an ongoing discourse regarding these pivotal matters and fostering a respectful partnership in the years that lie ahead."

Gov. Hochul was referring to the land return in June 2022 which was one of the largest transfers from a state to an Indigenous nation—was part of a 2018 Natural Resource Damage Assessment and Restoration settlement. The settlement is an agreement between the Dept. of the Interior’s trustees U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, and the landowner, Honeywell International Inc., to transfer the land title back to the Onondaga Nation. 

“Constructive dialogue serves as the cornerstone of amicable  government-to-government interactions. We concur that the restitution of 1,000 acres at the origins of Onondaga Creek stands as a long-delayed acknowledgment of the imperative to reverse the environmental deterioration of the land and waters that have nurtured our people since well before the arrival of European settlers,” Tadodaho Hill said.

“We hope this juncture signals the inception of an enduring and fruitful dialogue geared toward reinstating harmony and equity on our ancestral territories. The Onondaga Nation aspires for this meeting to accelerate the course of truth and healing between our two governance bodies, as we labor collectively toward enduring justice, serenity, and consideration for all who inhabit this region—the very homeland of the Onondaga Nation and its populace.” Tadodaho Hill continued.

Toronto couple wins lawsuit against Italian government for 'offensive use of their image'

One of the happiest moments of Toronto couple Frankie Nelson and BJ Barone's life turned into a nightmare. Seven years later, they have found solace

Corné van Hoepen
·Contributor, Yahoo News Canada
Fri, August 25, 2023 

One of the happiest moments of Toronto couple Frankie Nelson and BJ Barone's life turned into a nightmare when a far-right political party used a photo of them hugging their newborn son in an anti-surrogacy campaign in Italy.

"You can see in the moment of the photo that it was a culmination of all my dreams coming true," Nelson said in an interview with Yahoo Canada.

The photo shows an emotional moment captured shortly after Nelson and Barone welcomed their son Milo into the world in 2014 via surrogate. Caught up in the haze of new parenthood, the couple didn't think much of photographer Lindsay Foster's request asking if she could post the photo on social media.

The new parents agreed, and shortly after, Nelson received a call from a friend saying the photo had gone viral and garnered hundreds of thousands of views.

While the pair received an outpouring of love from around the world, in an unexpected twist, the photo was slapped onto an anti-surrogacy campaign without their consent by right-wing Italian political party Fratelli d’Italia in 2016, Nelson said.

Italy's now-ruling party — the FdI won the country's 2022 election, led by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni — has been ordered to pay Barone and Nelson 10,000 euros each for “offensive use of their image,” seven years after the ordeal began.

"I think this sends a strong message to the haters that pride and love is always going to win," Nelson said, though the couple has not received the payment yet as the government has appealed the court's decision. "I hope our win sets some sort of a precedent sending a message to Italy to stop doing this."

Posters featuring the couple were circulated around Italy by far-right political group Fratelli d'Italia for an anti-surrogacy referendum they were pursuing at the time. Translated from Italian to English, the poster read: "He will never be able to say mom."

"We just felt no control," Nelson said.

He added that they felt confused, wondering how the narrative of the photo — in which they only see love, care and joy — could shift so drastically by powers beyond their control thousands of kilometres away.

Unsure of how to even approach the situation, Nelson and Barone turned to social media posting a plea for help

.

Birth photo from Toronto couple used without consent in anti-surrogacy

 by Italian far-right group

Legal action

With both Nelson and Barone teaching at Toronto high schools at the time, the concept of hiring a legal firm seemed unattainable.

In a twist of fate, Italian LGBTQ+ law firm Gay Lex extended an offer to represent the couple pro-bono.

"We felt like we had nothing to lose and decided to sue," Nelson said.

Court proceedings against the political party dragged on for seven years.

"After year six we began to lose hope," Nelson admitted. "We did not expect COVID, We didn't expect a very-far right neo-fascist party to ever get elected, or expect to then be suing the party that rose to be Italy's leading party along with the (prime minister)."

In June of this year — Pride Month 2023, no less — Nelson and Barone received some long-awaited good news.

"We won! It blew our minds. It felt very fitting to us that it happened in June and during Pride Month, and our son Milo was born during World Pride in Toronto. It just felt full circle," Nelson said. 

Who are the Fratelli d’Italia?

The Fratelli d'Italia, also known as the Brothers of Italy, are a national-conservative and right-wing populist political party in Italy currently in power led by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

The political party's website states: "The Fratelli d'Italia movement promotes the peaceful coexistence of peoples, states, ethnic groups and religious confessions while respecting sovereignty, independence and national unity."

While campaigning, Meloni platformed a vision that was anything but peaceful coexistence of peoples.

Meloni, a self-professing Christian, litters her speeches with anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric and conservative stances on family values.

“Yes to natural families, no to the LGBT lobby, yes to sexual identity, no to gender ideology, yes to the culture of life, no to the abyss of death,” she said while addressing supporters of Spain’s rightist Vox party in Marbella in June 2022.

"Giorgia Meloni is really trying to promote the concept of a nuclear family, even though she is a divorced woman herself," Nelson said.

As Meloni has stepped into her role as prime minister, Italy remains the only western European country that has not legalized same-sex marriage.

In March 2023, Italian city halls were ordered to officially stop recording the names of both parents within city registers in the case of same-sex couples, a move that was denounced by gay activists, according to reports.

"Meloni says that for a child to grow up well, they need a mother and a father. It is insulting to hundreds of thousands of families with two same-sex parents," Yuri Guaiana of activist group All Out said in an interview with PBS News Hour.

More recently, in May 2023, Meloni dodged criticism from Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the G7 Summit about her government's stance on LGBTQ+ rights.

In a television interview, Trudeau can be heard saying “Canada is concerned about some of the positions Italy is taking on in terms of LGBT rights.”

Meloni looked on in annoyance, twiddled her thumbs and listened in silence offering little retort.

Fukushima: The fishy business of China's outrage over Japan's release

Frances Mao - BBC News
Fri, August 25, 2023 

China has banned Japanese seafood imports, citing safety risks from the Fukushima nuclear water release that have been disputed by science

Japan has called on China to remove a total ban on its seafood products, imposed after Tokyo began the scientifically-endorsed release of treated water from its Fukushima nuclear plant.

China, the leading buyer of Japan's fish, announced on Thursday it was making the order due to concerns for consumers' health.

However, the claim is not backed by science - with the consensus from experts being that the release poses no safety risks to ocean life or seafood consumption.

"The main reason is not really the safety concerns," international trade law expert Henry Gao told the BBC. "It is mainly due to Japan's moves against China," he said, noting Japan's closer alignment to the US and South Korea in recent years.

Following the waters' release on Thursday, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) monitors at the site said their tests showed the discharge had even lower radiation levels than the limits Japan has set - 1,500 becquerels/litre - which is about seven times lower than the global drinking water standard.

And despite Japanese fishermen's fears, analysts say the trade hit to Japan's industry will be short-lived and less than expected.

The main market for Japan's fish remains its domestic one.

Locals consume most of the catch, so top seafood companies Nissui and Maruha Nichiro have both said they expect limited impact from China's ban. Both companies' stock prices were slightly up at close of trade on the day of the ban's announcement, Reuters reported.

Beyond China, no other country has even hinted at a total ban - South Korea still bans seafood imports from Fukushima and some surrounding prefectures.

Experts say even people who scoff down lots of seafood will be exposed to only extremely low doses of radiation - in the range of 0.0062 to 0.032 microSv per year, said Mark Foreman, an associate professor of nuclear chemistry in Sweden.

Humans can safely be exposed to tens of thousands of times more than that - or up to 1,000 microSv of radiation per year, Associate Prof Foreman said.

Price to pay is not so high

Japan's government has admitted the local fishing industry will likely take a significant hit.

It had previously criticised Beijing for spreading "scientifically unfounded claims", and on Thursday evening, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida again beseeched Beijing to look at the research.

"We have requested the withdrawal (of China's ban) through diplomatic channels," Mr Kishida told reporters on Thursday night. "We strongly encourage discussion among experts based on scientific grounds."

• Sushi lovers grab last bites in Hong Kong

• China retaliates as Japan releases Fukushima water

China and its territories Hong Kong and Macau - had already instated a partial ban on seafood from some Japanese areas- but authorities now expanded that net.

Mainland China and Hong Kong are Japan's biggest international seafood buyers respectively, buying about $1.1bn (£866m) or 41% of Japan's seafood exports.

Local media reported that following China's ban, the head of a Japanese fisheries association called Japan's Industry Minister, urging him to lobby Beijing to retract the ban.

But industry watchers are calm, knowing the usual vagaries of supply and demand in global trade.

Prof Gao said he expects some short-term disruption but "soon the exporters shall be able to shift to other markets so the long-term effect will be small."



A protest against the ongoing release of water in Hong Kong on Friday - the Japanese PM is on the sign

And on the other side of the trade, restaurants in Chinese cities won't be lacking in seafood delicacies. Japan supplies just 4% of the seafood China buys from abroad- Beijing buys much more from India, Ecuador and Russia, according to Chinese customs data cited by Reuters.

China's ban on seafood will also barely scrape Japan's overall economy.

Marine products make up less than 1% of Japan's global trade, which is driven by car and machinery exports. Analysts say the impact of a seafood ban is negligible.

"The Fukushima water release is mostly of political and environmental significance," Stefan Angrick, an economist at Moody's Analytics, told Reuters.

"Economically, the ramifications of a potential ban on Japanese food shipments are minimal."

Still, public perception around the industry's damage and safety persists, not just in China, but South Korea where there have been crowds protesting.

• Facts are up against fear in Fukushima row

In the months leading up to the water's release, fishermen in South Korea reported a notable decline in the sale value of their catch - but prices remained stable the day after the release.

At home in Japan, polling also shows a divide. The government has made significant efforts to both reassure citizens and appease the industry. It has promised subsidies and an emergency buy-out if seafood sales dive.

On Friday, Osaka authorities proposed to serve Fukushima seafood at government buildings. Meanwhile, the company running the Fukushima plan, Tepco, said it would also provide compensation to local businesses if they suffered poor sales.

But locals are also hardy. Following China's announcement on Thursday, many Japanese on Twitter even celebrated the ban - wryly suggesting it could mean cheaper fish at home.

"Good news amid inflation…. Even Hokkaido sea urchin will be super cheap," one user tweeted.

Maui residents say development company took advantage of wildfires

Alicia Victoria Lozano and Ben Goggin and Lewis Kamb
Updated Fri, August 25, 2023 

LAHAINA, Hawaii — A group of farmers, activists and lawyers is rallying behind a top water official who was reassigned after the catastrophic wildfires, saying he has become a scapegoat in the ongoing finger-pointing about how the fires grew out of control so quickly.

Kaleo Manuel, who was a member of the state Commission on Water Resource Management when three wildfires erupted on Maui on Aug. 8, has come under intense scrutiny after a land developer wrote a letter to him accusing the water commission of delaying additional water resources during the blaze.

But Manuel’s advocates question the facts and motives behind West Maui Land Co.’s claim that the water commission had a hand in delaying a water diversion, and behind the state government’s decision to reassign him as criticism mounted.

M. KALEO MANUEL, DEPUTY DIRECTOR, Commission on Water Resource Management (Courtesy Hawaii.gov)

Maui taro farmers Charles and Lauren Palakiko have joined a growing chorus of Native Hawaiians demanding that Manuel be reinstated. Charles Palakiko said in an interview that West Maui Land Co., which supplies water to parts of Lahaina, is using the fires as a pretext to tap into his stream, which he needs to maintain his farm, where he grows the vegetable used in Native Hawaiian dishes.

“Kaleo had nothing to do with it,” Palakiko said. “They’re trying to destroy us, and they’re blaming him.”

Manuel did not respond to requests for comment.
Developer seeks more water during the wildfires

Glenn Tremble, an executive with West Maui Land Co., wrote to Manuel in an Aug. 10 letter reviewed by NBC News claiming the water commission delayed approving the company’s request on the day of the fires to divert more water to its reservoirs, which Tremble suggested firefighters could have used to slow the blaze, which destroyed most of Lahaina.

In the letter, Tremble said that an unnamed water commission representative instructed the company to contact a downstream farmer for permission but that the farmer, who was not named, did not immediately respond.

Tremble said in the letter that the water commission approved the diversion five hours after the initial request but that the company could not reach the equipment it needed to make the adjustment because the fires had spread.

The letter asked the commission to suspend the water diversion rules for the company during the declared emergency period, which would have allowed it to divert more water for “fire prevention,” and it sought changes to the rules that would allow its reservoirs to be filled during fires.

In a written response the same day, which was reviewed by NBC News, the commission’s chairperson, Dawn Chang, said she would grant the company’s requests.

After Tremble’s letter was reported by local and national news outlets, Manuel was criticized by conservative pundits and politicians, including Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy and Charlie Kirk, the founder of Turning Point USA. In a post on X, the site formerly known as Twitter, Ramaswamy said the alleged delay was connected to “the DEI agenda” but did not explain how the two might be linked. "DEI" is an initialism for "diversity, equity and inclusion."

The Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources announced Aug. 16 that Manuel had been reassigned to a different division. It did not say which one, and it said in the statement that it would not comment further on the matter.

“This deployment does not suggest that First Deputy Manuel did anything wrong,” the announcement said.

'A great deal of water conflict on Maui'

But Gov. Josh Green seemed to suggest at a news conference after the fires that Native Hawaiians were stymying efforts to divert water even during emergencies.

“One thing that people need to understand, especially those from far away, is that there’s been a great deal of water conflict on Maui for many years,” Green said last week. “It’s important that we’re honest about this. People have been fighting against the release of water to fight fires. I’ll leave that to you to explore.”

Green’s office declined to comment further.

The cascade of decisions and statements from government officials has alarmed and angered farmers and activists. Palakiko, the taro farmer, contests the core argument that water from his stream could have helped fight the fires, because, he said, his stream is not connected to the Lahaina water system.

The nearest reservoir, owned by West Maui Land Co., is best accessible by helicopter, Palakiko said, but hurricane-force winds prevented aerial crews from conducting water drops.

Palakiko said he immediately allowed the developer to use his stream after a company employee called and texted him on Aug. 8 around 3 p.m., two hours after West Maui Land had contacted the water commission, according to Tremble.

Palakiko said he is unaware of any earlier attempts by the company to contact him, even though Tremble said in his letter that “we had already made a concerted effort to contact the one downstream user.”

Palakiko said he agreed to the water diversion with the understanding that the company return the water flow after the fire was contained. More than two weeks later, his water allotment remains below its usual levels, he said, adding that a West Maui Land Co. employee told him this week that the developer was still drawing water from the stream.

In a text message to NBC News, Tremble said that the request for more water was purely for fire prevention. "Green fields and wet perimeters help with fire prevention," he said, including a photo of a burned portion of developed land with a singular saved home that he said used his company's irrigation system during the fires.

Tremble said there was precedence for the Maui Fire Department drawing from their reservoir, and that the fire department used water from them in 2022.
Residents demand water official get his former job back

West Maui Land Co. and its subsidiaries have a history of conflicts with Manuel and the water commission, which in 2018 fined a water company tied to the organization the maximum penalty of $1,500 for building a concrete dam on the Olowalu stream without permission, local media reported. In 2021, the Environmental Protection Agency fined the company $96,221 for cesspool violations.

In March 2022, Manuel wrote to Tremble saying the company was in violation of water usage regulations and had drawn stream water beyond the set limits. The commission recommended a $470,000 fine before a settlement was reached, according to the local newsletter Environment Hawaii.

“There was no intent to violate the law,” Tremble said at the time, according to Environment Hawaii. “We apologize.”

Manuel, who assumed his appointed position in 2019, was an important connection between developers and the native community, Lauren Palakiko said.

“Right now, we’re back to square one,” she said. “We’re at their mercy. They’re playing God with us.”

Two Maui residents sued the Commission on Water Resource Management and its chairperson, Chang, on Monday, asking that Manuel’s reassignment be reversed and saying they believe the move violated state law mandating a public comment and meeting process.

The plaintiffs’ attorney, Lance Collins, said he believes the developer is using the aftermath of the fires opportunistically.

“West Maui Land has finally found its opportunity to get everything it ever wanted,” he said. “And they’re threading it very carefully to do it. And at least at this moment, they seem to be successful, even though all of these actions are not actually based on law.”

In a text message to NBC News, Tremble said, "We have worked with Kaleo Manuel for years, and we respect his commitment and integrity." Tremble added, "The Attorney General recently announced that she is investigating all matters leading up to and during the fires. We leave the investigation to the Attorney General."
Diverted stream feeds an ancestral taro farm

Charles Palakiko, who also grows other native crops on his small, ancestral farm in Lahaina, said his family has been working for generations to restore the land and the streams after they turned dry and fallow when sugar plantations shut down.

Charles and Lauren Palakiko grow Taro which is a root vegetable on their farm that is used for native Hawaiian dishes. (Alicia Victoria Lozano / NBC News)

Palakiko’s farm, a lush oasis brimming with fruit trees and taro plants swimming in cool water, is surrounded by property owned by West Maui Land. His family has stewarded the plot for generations, having acquired control of it under terms of the Kuleana Act, which provided land parcels to Indigenous families and their descendants starting in the mid-1800s.

“Taro connects us, as people, to the land,” he said. “We look at it like an older brother that sustains and feeds us.”

The taro on Palakiko’s farm is descended from plants his father grew when the family moved back to its ancestral land in the late 1980s. Since then, Palakiko and his relatives have built a traditional irrigation system that winds through the taro patches and keeps water constantly flowing through their property. Taro requires constant running water, and if it dries out or stagnates, root rot sets in, and the plants will die.

Palakiko family on their farm. (Alicia Victoria Lozano / NBC News)

Hawaii’s water wars intensified after sugar plantations, which kept the land fertile, started to close in the 1990s and the 2000s.

David Jung, a tour boat captain who has lived and worked in Lahaina since 1970, said the decline of the sugar cane industry on Maui has led to dryer upland fields. As sugar cane mills closed, the once-highly irrigated land has been built over with subdivisions or overrun by invasive grasses prone to drying out, he said.

“Lahaina had sugar cane for close to 100 years,” said Jung, whose home and office burned down as he escaped Lahaina on one of his boats. “Those fields were managed and irrigated, and sugar cane that is irrigated does not burn. When they took out sugar cane, they let all that wild grass grow, and it’s not irrigated. It’s an incredible tinderbox now — and that’s your tinder for wildfire.”

Mana Shim, an advocate for Native Hawaiian rights, has seen the state’s water woes grow more complex as developers and wealthy people from the continental U.S. gobbled up beachfront property. The tangled system that has evolved must balance the interests of Indigenous communities, business owners, residents and tourism.

“The complexity of it really serves the developers,” she said of efforts to fast-track water allocations. “Blaming Manuel is very strategic.”

Lozano reported from Lahaina and Goggin from New York City.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com

Biden Visits Maui After Wildfires: What Hawaiians Are Saying About It

Kaili Berg

INDIAN COUNTRY NEWS
Wed, August 23, 2023 

(photo: White House Youtube)

President Joe Biden traveled to Maui, Hawai‘i on Monday, two weeks after deadly wildfires broke out across multiple islands, destroying countless structures and killing more than 100 people.

“The American people stand with you,” he said, according to a statement from the White House, to survivors of the wildfire, standing alongside Democratic Hawai‘i Governor Josh Green, Maui Mayor Richard Bissen, and the Hawaii Congressional Delegation. “For as long as it takes, we’re going to be with you.”

Biden pointed to his left, where stood a 150-year-old banyan tree, which was there in the former capital of the Kingdom of Hawai‘i, that has stood for generations as a sacred spot of exceptional significance.

“Today, it’s burned, but it’s still standing. The tree survived for a reason. I believe it’s a powerful symbol of what we can and will do to get through this crisis. And for as long as it takes, we're going to be with you, the whole country will be with you,” Biden said.

“We will be respectful of these sacred grounds and the traditions that rebuild the way the people of Maui want to build, not the way others want to build.”

But the Star-Advertiser warned Biden before he came to Maui that “a warm welcome may not be assured for Biden in some circles on Maui,” because of frustrations from survivors over applying for federal FEMA aid — many lost the government ID’s and paperwork FEMA requires for aid to the flames.

State Sen. Jarrett Keohokalole (D) who co-chairs the Legislature’s Native Hawaiian Caucus, told the Star-Advertiser that the failure of the state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands “to fulfill its obligation to build homes for the remaining 28,700 Native Hawaiians on the wait list” along with an apparent “lack of meaningful action since then-President Bill Clinton signed legislation in 1993 apologizing for the illegal overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom 100 years earlier,” both contribute to efforts on social media discouraging Native Hawaiians from applying for much-needed aid. “They’re trying to tap into that anger and frustration and stress,” he added.

Here’s what people in Hawai‘i are saying about Biden's recent trip to Maui:

Lynwood Hale: Mahalo Akua for an Empathetic President.

Kalani Santana: Please President….Keep your words and continue to help as much as you can! Mahalo.

Luka Kahele: Keep Lahaina lands in lahaina’s hands.

Punawai: Mahalo President for coming to Maui.

Mapuana Lee: People of Lahaina do not sell your property. Your land is worth more than your house. You will get to rebuild. I believe President Biden is good on his words.

Robert Yokoyama: There is so much cynicism and negativity in politics. I just hope he is sincere in his promise to Maui.

Komaki Masaaki Alahuapo’o: “Nobody wants to get sick from the compromised water supply filled to the brim with pfas forever chemicals.” He really doesn't have a clue at all.

Biden acknowledged the long road ahead for the island but reiterated that the federal government will continue to assist in recovery, sheltering, and rebuilding efforts for a long time.

About the Author: "Kaili Berg (Aleut) is a member of the Alutiiq\/Sugpiaq Nation, and a shareholder of Koniag, Inc. She is a staff reporter for Native News Online and Tribal Business News. Berg, who is based in Wisconsin, previously reported for the Ho-Chunk Nation newspaper, Hocak Worak. She went to school originally for nursing, but changed her major after finding her passion in communications at Western Technical College in Lacrosse, Wisconsin. "

Contact: kberg@indiancountrymedia.com

Government Fossil Fuel Subsidies Topped $1 Trillion In 2022

José Rodríguez Jr.
Fri, August 25, 2023 


Photo: Citizen of the Planet//Education Images/Universal Images Group (Getty Images)


In 2022, global governments subsidized fossil fuels to the tune of $1.3 trillion, according to the International Monetary Fund. It seems member countries of the G20 just can’t wean themselves off oil and gas. So much for all the big promises made by the G20 back in 2009, when subsidies were reportedly going to be phased out. Thanks, Obama. State-sanctioned subsidies for fossil fuels — including coal — have reached record-breaking highs this year, despite major countries pledging to reduce their reliance on these energy sources.

Axios cites research from the IMF and International Energy Agency, which estimates fossil fuel subsidies doubled from the previous year. The Russian invasion of Ukraine prompted much of the subsidies, which served as “policy interventions” shielding people from the brunt of highly volatile pricing in the global energy market. And yet, people still felt the effects of this volatility with high gasoline prices throughout 2022. That makes the subsidies that much more offensive since these come from public money

These “explicit” and “implicit” subsidies are tricky to parse. And the ethics behind them are, likewise, harder to determine given that subsides can “help poor people gain or retain access to vital energy supplies.” Even so, the subsidies are certainly wasteful and tend to go to the wealthy, per Axios.

While the energy crisis of 2022 is responsible for much of the government action regarding public spending on fossil fuels in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, research says that some $440 billion was earmarked for new fossil fuel production. This undercuts the argument that subsidies will be phased-out once prices are less volatile due to conflicts overseas. The damage will have been done by then.

Even so, the blame isn’t squarely on volatile energy pricing, because the G20 has consistently failed to meet its goals since 2009. It’s been nearly a decade and a half since the global summit that proclaimed government investments would be sunsetted, but subsidies show no sign of slowing down. One of the main problems behind these subsidies is that public help makes fossil fuels seem cheaper than renewable energy sources. That’s less true as renewables scale, and yet subsidies keep masking the true cost of our continued reliance on fossil fuels.

Photo: Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency (Getty Images)

 Jalopnik

NASA's Crew-7 launch aborted after last-minute safety hitch, pushed back 24 hours

Paul Godfrey
Fri, August 25, 2023 

NASA's Crew-7 mission launch early Friday of a SpaceX crew rotation flight to the International Space Station was canceled with just hours until liftoff due to technical issues. Photo courtesy SpaceX/Twitter


Aug. 25 (UPI) -- NASA's Crew-7 mission to the International Space Station was aborted about 5 hours before a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket was scheduled to blast off with four astronauts aboard at 3:49 a.m. EDT Friday from Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The launch was called off late Thursday evening by mission managers attending a final readiness meeting with NASA and SpaceX saying they were now targeting launch on Saturday at 3:27 a.m. EDT, with a backup option Sunday at 3:04 a.m. EDT, according to a NASA blog post.

Docking of the Crew Dragon spacecraft with the space station orbiting 250 miles above Earth has been pushed back accordingly and is now scheduled for 8:50 a.m. EDT Sunday, provided Saturday's launch occurs.

The weather for Saturday's rescheduled launch looks good for an on-time departure, with the latest forecast from the unit of the U.S. military that provides detailed forecasts for air and space operations in the United States predicting a 95% chance of favorable conditions and a low probability of rain or storms delaying liftoff from Launch Complex 39A.


Flight managers made the call to abort the launch after teams decided they needed more time to "reconfirm required factors of safety and operational margin on one of the Dragon spacecraft's environmental control and life support system components."

From left, members of the next NASA-SpaceX Crew-7 are Roscosmos cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov; ESA astronaut Andreas Morgensen; NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli and JAXA astronaut Satoshi Furukawa. They had just arrived at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Sunday, Photo by Joe Marino/UPI

"The new launch date provides teams additional time to complete the analysis and thoroughly review the necessary data ahead of launch," NASA said in a news release.

The Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft remained in good condition, NASA said, as teams worked to complete and discuss the final results of the additional analysis, with the crew ready to fly when the entire team was ready.

NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli waves to friends and media as she arrives at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Sunday. Photo by Joe Marino/UPI

The crew, American Jasmin Moghbeli of NASA, Andreas Mogensen of the European Space Agency, Satoshi Furukawa of Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and Konstantin Borisov of Russia's Roscosmos space agency, will spend six months aboard the space station, carrying out a range of scientific experiments, technology demonstrations, research and maintenance tasks.

The Crew Dragon capsule in which the four will ride previously flew NASA's Crew-3 and Crew-5 missions to and from the space station. The stage 1 booster stage of the Falcon rocket will be jettisoned about 9 minutes after lift-off and will descend to land on Landing Zone 1 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

Photographers set up as a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket that will deliver Nasa's Crew-7 mission to the ISS into orbit is readied for launch at Launchpad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center, Florida on Thursday. File Photo by Pat Benic/UPI

Minutes later the second stage separation will occur as the Dragon spacecraft enters into orbit.

German-born Moghbeli, 40, who hails from Baldwin, N.Y., to which she emigrated with her Iranian-born parents in the 1980s, is the mission's commander while Mogensen will fly the spacecraft and Borisov will serve as the flight engineer.

The mission's SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket topped with the Crew-7's Dragon Endurance capsule waits on Launch pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Thursday. Photo by Pat Benic/UPI

Aboard the ISS, they will join the Crew-6 astronauts, NASA's Stephen Bowen and Warren Hoburg, the United Arab Emirates' Sultan Alneyadi and Roscosmos' Andrey Fedyaev -- set to return to Earth aboard Dragon Endurance on Sept. 2.

Also aboard are Sergey Prokopyev, Dmitry Petelin and Francisco Rubio from Roscosmos' MS-22 mission, who are in their 10th month on the space station.

The Crew-6 mission's scheduled Feb. 27 launch was also delayed after it was scrubbed with only about 2 minutes and 30 seconds before liftoff over issues on the ground with the TEA-TEB ignition fluid that is used to ignite the rocket's engines.

The mission eventually successfully launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 three days later on March 2.

Scientists strengthen concrete by 30 percent with used coffee grounds

Just need to pyrolyze them at 350 degrees Celcius for a bit.

Andrew Tarantola
·Senior Editor
Wed, August 23, 2023 

Boy_Anupong via Getty Images

Humans produce around 4.4 billion tons of concrete every year. That process consumes around 8 billion tons of sand (out of the 40-50 billion tons used annually) which has, in part, led to acute shortages of the building commodity in recent years. At the same time, we generate about 10 billion kilograms of used coffee grounds over the same span — coffee grounds which a team of researchers from RMIT University in Australia have discovered can be used as a silica substitute in the concrete production process that, in the proper proportions, yields a significantly stronger chemical bond than sand alone.

“The disposal of organic waste poses an environmental challenge as it emits large amounts of greenhouse gases including methane and carbon dioxide, which contribute to climate change,” lead author of the study, Dr Rajeev Roychand of RMIT's School of Engineering, said in a recent release. He notes that Australia alone produces 75 million kilograms of used coffee grounds each year, most of which ends up in landfills.

Coffee grounds can't simply be mixed in raw with standard concrete as they won't bind with the other materials due to their organic content, Dr. Roychand explained. In order to make the grounds more compatible, the team experimented with pyrolyzing the materials at 350 and 500 degrees C, then substituting them in for sand in 5, 10, 15 and 20 percentages (by volume) for standard concrete mixtures.

The team found that at 350 degrees is perfect temperature, producing a "29.3 percent enhancement in the compressive strength of the composite concrete blended with coffee biochar," per the team's study, published in the September issue of Journal of Cleaner Production. "In addition to reducing emissions and making a stronger concrete, we're reducing the impact of continuous mining of natural resources like sand," Dr. Roychand said.

"The concrete industry has the potential to contribute significantly to increasing the recycling of organic waste such as used coffee," added study co-author Dr Shannon Kilmartin-Lynch, a Vice-Chancellor’s Indigenous Postdoctoral Research Fellow at RMIT. "Our research is in the early stages, but these exciting findings offer an innovative way to greatly reduce the amount of organic waste that goes to landfill,” where its decomposition would generate large amounts of methane, a greenhouse gas 21 times more potent than carbon dioxide.