TEXAS
Company confirms it has found new funding to build a massive gas terminal at the Port of Brownsville


Dylan Baddour, Inside Climate News
Thu, July 13, 2023 

The Boca Chica Wildlife Refuge on the Rio Grande delta, about 6 miles east of the proposed 750-acre site of the Rio Grande LNG facility. 

Credit: Dylan Baddour/Inside Climate News

After years of delays, an industrial developer said this week that it has secured funding to proceed with construction of a massive new gas liquefaction plant and export terminal in the wild greenfields and wetlands of the Rio Grande delta.

Houston-based NextDecade says it has secured $5.9 billion in financing from international partners to begin work on the terminal’s first three compressors to liquify natural gas from Texas’ shale fields for export on global markets.

When completed, five giant compressor units, each designed to process 5.4 million metric tons of liquified natural gas per year, will make the 750-acre Rio Grande LNG facility among the largest gas export terminals in the world.

Its location in the Port of Brownsville — the last major deepwater port in Texas that remains without large fossil fuel projects — will complete the energy sector’s coastal sprawl from Louisiana to Mexico. Once constructed in several years, Rio Grande LNG will join the growing Gulf Coast energy export boom, which has pushed oil and gas production in Texas to record high levels.

In the Wednesday announcement, NextDecade CEO Matt Schatzman called the financing agreement “a landmark event reflecting years of hard work and dedication by NextDecade’s employees, shareholders, construction partners, equipment suppliers, and customers.”

One of the project funders, Abu Dabi-based Mubadala, called the deal “the largest greenfield energy project financing in U.S. history.”

Seven such LNG export terminals have cropped up on U.S. coastlines in the last seven years, according to the Energy Information Agency. Another three are under construction and another 11 have been approved by federal regulators.

Along with the Rio Grande terminal, the planned Rio Bravo Pipeline will deliver 4.5 billion cubic feet of Permian gas per day to the South Texas coast, where compressor trains at Rio Grande LNG will super-cool the gas to minus-260 degrees Fahrenheit and then load it onto ocean-going tankers for sale overseas. The facility will occupy 750 acres of greenfield, including 182 acres of wetlands, on a 984-acre waterfront tract.

Initially scheduled for completion in 2023, yearslong delays have plagued the project. Campaigns by local activists and indigenous leaders prompted three French banks, SMBC Group, BNP Paribas and Société Générale, to withdraw their financial commitments. Three nearby municipalities of Laguna Vista, South Padre Island and Port Isabel adopted resolutions opposing the project.

A federal court ordered regulators to modify the conditions of their approval following challenges

by local organizers who hoped to preserve the Rio Grande Delta as the last major inlet on the Gulf Coast of Texas still free from fossil fuel facilities like refineries, chemical plants and terminals.

“The oil and gas companies and the politicians can’t find it in their hearts to keep the industry in an industrial space,” said Lela Burnell, the daughter of a shrimper in the Port of Brownsville and the plaintiff in multiple lawsuits against plans for Rio Grande LNG. “Why do they feel like they need to just inundate and take over the whole coast? They don’t want to leave one spot where there is a sanctuary or a safe zone for nature.”

The final frontier of the Texas Gulf Coast

In the last century, fossil fuel projects have cropped up on almost every major inlet of the Gulf Coast in Texas and Louisiana — from “Cancer Alley,” where the Mississippi River meets the sea, to refinery sectors in Lake Charles, Port Arthur and Houston, where the nation’s largest petrochemical complex lines 44 miles of Galveston Bay.

Further west is Dow Chemical on the mouth of the Brazos, Formosa Plastics on Lavaca Bay, Dow Chemical on San Antonio Bay and the sprawling industrial complex around Nueces and Corpus Christi Bays.

But after that, it’s 160 miles of dunes and beaches, including the nation’s largest stretch of undeveloped barrier island, to the mouth of the Rio Grande — a vast landscape of wetlands with three national wildlife refuges, a state park and the SpaceX rocket factory and launch pad.

Beside the river, the Brownsville Ship Channel runs 17 miles to the Port of Brownsville.

“There's not much else except the Port of Brownsville,” said Jordan Blum, editorial director for Hart Energy. “There are just little, completely undeveloped areas like Port Mansfield, Port O'Connor and Sargent.”

NextDecade initially proposed its Rio Grande LNG terminal in December 2015, one week after the legalization of U.S. oil and gas exports. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved the plans in 2019, but quickly faced challenges from local and national activist groups.

A coalition of local groups sued in 2020 to challenge the project’s wetlands permits with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and again to challenge FERC’s study of the project's air quality impacts, environmental justice impacts, mitigation measures, greenhouse gas emissions and the commission’s determination that the project was in the public interest.

Juan Mancias, chairman of the Carrizo Comecrudo Tribe of Texas, has campaigned against LNG terminals near the Rio Grande, stands outside the tract for a planned terminal on the Brownsville Ship Channel in April. 

Credit: Dylan Baddour/Inside Climate News

In August 2021, a federal court in Washington D.C. sided with the petitioners and remanded FERC’s approval order, asserting that the commission’s analyses of the projects’ impacts on climate change and environmental justice communities were deficient.

Social costs of carbon

The court ordered FERC to produce a calculation of the “social costs” of the project’s carbon emissions, a measure of the estimated future financial impacts created by releasing greenhouse gasses today.

The FERC determined that the 6.4 million tons of carbon-dioxide equivalent released by the export terminal and gas compressors each year would incur global social costs of about $18 billion in 2020 dollars, while the social costs of the Rio Bravo Pipeline were estimated at $2 billion.

“We recognize that the projects’ contributions to [greenhouse gas] emissions globally contribute incrementally to future climate change impacts,” FERC wrote in its April 2023 re-approval of project plans.

On Tuesday, the groups filed another lawsuit challenging FERC’s re-approval.

“We believe the future of our community is worth fighting for,” Jared Hockema, Port Isabel’s city manager, said in a press release Tuesday. “With the prospects of environmental degradation, harm to our natural resource-based economy or even an explosive disaster being so high, we are determined to continue this fight. We won’t rest until our community, and our people, are safe.”

NextDecade has also proposed a project to capture some of the facility’s carbon emissions and inject them underground.

The project got a major boost last month when energy giant TotalEnergies announced an investment and purchase agreement with NextDecade, acquiring a $219 million interest in the project. Total, a company from France where fracking is illegal, committed to purchasing 5.4 million tons of fracked gas per year from Rio Grande LNG.

In the announcement, Total CEO Patrick Pouyanné said, “Our involvement in this project will add 5.4 million tons per year of LNG to our global portfolio, strengthening our ability to ensure Europe's security of gas supply, and to provide our Asian customers with an alternative fuel to coal that emits half its CO2 emissions.”

Total touts LNG as a centerpiece effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

“LNG can contribute to the transition of our global energy economy towards a lower-carbon future,” the company wrote on its website.

Similar statements from across the energy sector have prompted charges of greenwashing from clean energy and environmental advocates.

Shruti Shukla, a senior advocate with the Natural Resource Defense Council in Washington D.C., said energy companies’ efforts to promote LNG around the world are impeding a global energy transition.

“Coal is a fossil fuel just like LNG, so replacing one with the other is not really a replacement, it’s just a continuation,” Shukla said. “Investments in LNG could end up marginalizing investments in cleaner and truly renewable resources that those countries could have.”

Three countries dominate most of the global LNG export market: Australia, Qatar and the U.S. — Shukla said the U.S. exports LNG to 42 countries.

“We just do not have the time or the leisure to wait or delay action on climate,” she said, pointing to the recent record-breaking heatwave in South Texas. “Adding LNG or natural gas to the mix does not help us.”

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Creature found lurking ‘in disguise’ in waters off Australia. See the new species


Aspen Pflughoeft
Thu, July 13, 2023 

A striped creature lurked “in disguise” amid the shadowy depths off the coast of Australia. The animal had gone relatively unnoticed and, even when spotted, was often misidentified. That all changed when scientists captured one of the animals and discovered it was a new species.

Researchers were surveying the Gascoyne Marine Park off the coast of Exmouth when they captured the striped shark, co-author and shark scientist William White said on Twitter.

The shark was “a striking, small, stripey hornshark,” White said. Researchers recognized it as a previously unknown species.

The new species was named Heterodontus marshallae, or the painted hornshark, according to a study published July 12 in the journal Diversity. It ranges in size from about 1 foot long to about 2 feet long.

Photos show the painted hornshark’s tan or grayish coloring and its darker, blackish stripes. The animal has a “blunt,” almost square-shaped head with a short, “triangular” snout, researchers said.



The painted hornshark “has a remarkably similar color pattern” to another species of hornshark, Heterodontus zebra, the study said. For decades, researchers misidentified any captured painted hornsharks as Heterodontus zebra hornsharks.

To identify the new species, researchers studied older archived specimens and newly collected specimens. They noticed several differences between painted hornsharks and other known species, the study said.

The painted hornshark lives deeper in the ocean and has different color patterns on its snout, gills and fins, the study said. DNA analysis also confirmed the painted hornshark was genetically distinct from other hornshark species.

Unlike other sharks, hornsharks cannot be identified by their teeth, the study said. Instead, researchers identify hornshark species based on their color patterns.

A Heterodontus marshallae, or painted hornshark, as seen from the top and side.

The new species was named Heterodontus marshallae “in honor of Dr. Lindsay Marshall, a scientific illustrator” and scientist who studies sharks and rays, researchers said. The name painted hornshark refers to both “the beautiful coloration of the species” and to Marshall “who has painted all the hornsharks in amazing detail.”

The painted hornshark is native to Australia and has been found in the waters from Exmouth to Bathurst Island, the study said. This area is on the opposite side of the country from Sydney.

The research team included White, Frederik Mollen, Helen O’Neill, Lei Yang and Gavin Naylor.

Cerberus: Why has Europe begun naming heatwaves?


Connor Parker
Thu, July 13, 2023 

Rome has been hit hard by the heatwave. (PA)

Italy and the Mediterranean are currently being gripped by a heatwave that could see the European temperature record broken any day.

For the first time European meteorologists have chosen to name the heatwave, calling it Cerberus.

The highest temperature ever recorded in Europe was in Syracuse, Sicily in August 2021 at 48.8C, with temperatures in recent days hitting 48.C.

President of the Italian Meteorological Society, Professor Luca Mercalli, said: "We know that there will be temperatures above 40C or 45C.

Read more: Cerberus heatwave: Southern Europe faces record 48.8C temperatures as first life lost

"We could get close to the record. Either way, the levels will be very high.”

Italy is the worst hit by the heatwave and it was the Italian meteorological society that decided to give the heatwave a name last week.

Cerberus specifically means the African anticyclone from the Sahara desert which hit Italy on Monday and is the cause of the extremely high temperatures.
Why name a heatwave?

Naming storms and hurricanes has been an adopted practice for decades and the same reasons are being applied to heatwaves.

Essentially meteorologists name weather events to raise awareness and improve communication about the coming threat.

By simply calling it 'Storm X' rather than 'the coming storm' meteorologists, governments and emergency services are able to better communicate their response.

All of this also helps to raise public awareness because named storms often get discussed more in the media and online.

With the rise in recent years of near-annual record-breaking heatwaves and the ever-increasing awareness of climate change, meteorologists have been calling for the same methodology to be applied to heatwaves.

Heatwaves are both more deadly and harder to see than a storm, so raising public awareness about them is important.

Read more: Cerberus heatwave: European data shows land temperatures are scorching - and it's about to get much worse

Tourists have had to take shelter in Rome. (PA)

Promoting the idea in 2020, climate communicator Susan Joy Hassol told Science News: "Naming heat waves will make something invisible more visible.

"It also makes it more real and concrete, rather than abstract."

Several local governments have taken up the ideas in recent years.

The first ever named heatwave, 'Zoe', was given its name by the local authority of Seville in the south of Spain last year.

The pilot programme was launched in June 2022 with the main aim of making residents aware of the threat of the heatwave.

Seville named another heatwave Yago in June this year when temperatures went above 40C.

When discussing Yago Mayor Juan Espadas said: "We are the first city in the world to take a step that will help us plan and take measures when this type of weather event happens."

Why Cerberus specifically?

Usually, when naming a weather event, meteorologists stick by an alphabet system, so the first big storm of the year will be given a name with 'A', then the next 'B', and so on.

But Cerberus is not the third heatwave to be named this year, instead, the name relates to the three climatic zones that Italy will be divided into during the extreme heat.

The name Cerberus originated from Dante's Inferno and was given to the three-headed dog that guarded the third circle of hell.

While temperatures right now in Italy are extremely high, in the north (which is dominated by the Alps) the mercury is only slightly above average.

Locals have been handing out free water all across Italy. (PA)

In the centre of the country, including Rome, temperatures are much higher than usual but are not the hottest.

The worst of the effects are being felt on the Mediterranean Islands of Sicily and Sardina, as well as along the southern western coast of the mainland.

"Metaphorically, the three heads indicate the three main climatic zones into which Italy will be divided," meteorologist Stefano Rossi told La Stampa.

A Ghost Ocean Might Have Dented Earth's Gravity

Tim Newcomb

POP MECH
Fri, July 14, 2023 

Henrik Sorensen - Getty Images

Researchers think they’ve found the reason for the most significant drop in Earth’s gravity, known as the Indian Ocean geoid low.

In this location in the Indian Ocean south of Sri Lanka, our planet’s gravity is at its weakest.

A new study says mantle movement that was part of the ghost ocean Tethys attributes to this anomaly.

We might be able to blame a ghost ocean for one of the wildest gravitational anomalies on Earth.

The existence of the deepest gravitational dip on our planet, known as the Indian Ocean geoid low (IOGL), has long puzzled scientists. For context, the “geiod” is a model that shows what the surface of the Earth would look like if the only influences were gravity and rotation—no land, no wind, nothing else that could disturb the surface. If the Earth were a uniform sphere, that geoid would be even, smooth, and largely uninteresting.

But the Earth isn’t a uniform sphere, and the geoid shows all the ways in which it can vary gravitationally. Areas of lower-than-average mass density, and therefore lower gravity, show up as dents in the geoid, whereas areas of higher-than-average mass density and higher gravity show up as peaks. These peaks and dents, known collectively as gravitational anomalies, indicate regions of particular strength and weakness in Earth’s gravitational field.

In a new study published in Geophysical Research Letters, a team of researchers ran dozens of computer simulations on the origin of the Indian Ocean geoid low, which spans 8 million square miles and is located south of Sri Lanka. Researchers now believe that this “elusive feature” is, in part, the result of some undersea movements that happened pre-Indian Ocean.

“Assimilating plate motion in global mantle convection models from the Mesozoic till the present day,” the authors write, “we attempt to trace the formation of this geoid low. We show that flow induced by downwelling Tethys slabs perturbs the African Large Low Shear Velocity province and gives rise to plumes that reach the upper mantle.”

Attreyee Ghosh, an assistant professor at the Indian Institute of Science and one of the authors on the study, says in a news release that, while there have been previous studies focused on this anomaly, most attributed it to a remnant of an earlier plate that dived beneath another plate and into Earth’s mantle beneath millions of years ago, none of them have provided what she would deem a sufficient explanation for the anomaly.

Ghosh and her team were not satisfied with that lack of explanation, and attempted to with their study to fill in the blanks. Over the course of their research, the scientists discovered that the gravity low could be attributed to the presence of lighter materials in the upper- to mid-mantel below the IOGL. This can be attributed to mantle plumes—caused by the rising of abnormally hot rock—and the team discovered there was hot material coming from the nearby African large low-shear-velocity providence, known as the African superplume.

“A geoid low or negative geoid anomaly would be caused by a mass deficit within the deep mantle,” Ghosh says. “Our study explains this low with hotter, lighter material stretching from a depth of 300 kilometers up to around 900 kilometers in the northern Indian Ocean, most likely stemming from the African superplume.”

Also known as the African blob, this geological feature that helped form the IOGL likely came from oceanic slabs from the Tethys Ocean, a “ghost ocean” that was possibly in place before India shifted and helped form the Indian Ocean.

Though the researchers say that the lower mantle slabs from the Tethys Ocean likely contributes less to the formation of the IOGL than the plumes, the team also call them “necessary” for the generation of this geoid low. So, apparently, combining plumes with a unique region of mantle structure makes the perfect recipe for the formation of a negative geoid anomaly.

Earth Has Tilted 31.5 Inches. That Shouldn't Happen.

Tim Newcomb

POP MECH
Thu, July 13, 2023 

Earth Has Tilted 31.5 Inches. That's Alarming.

PM Images - Getty Images

Humans pumping groundwater has a substantial impact on the tilt of Earth’s rotation.

Additionally, a new study documents just how much of an influence groundwater pumping has on climate change.

Understanding this relatively recent data may provide a better understanding of how to help stave off sea-level rise.

Water has power. So much power, in fact, that pumping Earth’s groundwater can change the planet’s tilt and rotation. It can also impact sea-level rise and other consequences of climate change.

Pumping groundwater appears to have a greater consequence than ever previously thought. But now—thanks to a new study published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters—we can see that, in less than two decades, Earth has tilted 31.5 inches as a result of pumping groundwater. This equates to.24 inches of sea level rise.

“Earth’s rotational pole actually changes a lot,” Ki-Weon Seo, a geophysicist at Seoul National University and study lead, says in a statement. “Our study shows that among climate-related causes, the redistribution of groundwater actually has the largest impact on the drift of the rotational pole.”

With the Earth moving on a rotational pole, the distribution of water on the planet impacts distribution of mass. “Like adding a tiny bit of weight to a spinning top,” authors say, “the Earth spins a little differently as water is moved around.”

Thanks to a study from NASA published in 2016, we were alerted to the fact that the distribution of water can change the Earth’s rotation. This new study attempted to add some hard figures to that realization. “I’m very glad to find the unexplained cause of the rotation pole drift,” Seo says. “On the other hand, as a resident of Earth and a father, I’m concerned and surprised to see that pumping groundwater is another source of sea-level rise.”

The study included data from 1993 through 2010, and showed that the pumping of as much as 2,150 gigatons of groundwater has caused a change in the Earth’s tilt of roughly 31.5 inches, thanks to. The pumping is largely for irrigation and human use, with the groundwater eventually relocating to the oceans.

In the study, researchers modeled observed changes in the drift of Earth’s rotational pole and the movement of water. Across varying scenarios, the only model that matched the drift was one that included 2,150 gigatons of groundwater distribution.

Surendra Adhikari, a research scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory who was involved in the 2016 study, says the additional research is important. “They’ve quantified the role of groundwater pumping on polar motion,” he says in a news release, “and it’s pretty significant.”

Where the water moves from—and to—matters. Redistributing water from the midlatitudes makes the biggest difference, so our intense water movement from both western North America and northwestern India have played a key role in the tilt changes.

Now that the impact of water movement is known for such a short–and relatively recent—time, digging through historical data may help show trends and provide greater depth to the understanding of groundwater movement effects.

“Observing changes in Earth’s rotational pole is useful,” Seo says, “for understanding continent-scale water storage variations.”

This data may also help conservationists understand how to work toward staving off continued sea level rise and other climate issues. Hopefully, changes can be properly implemented over time.

A Crucial Part of the San Andreas Fault Has Been Disturbingly Quiet for Too Long

AS IF WILDFIRES,FLOODS & DROUGHTS WEREN'T ENOUGH

Darren Orf
Fri, July 14, 2023 

A Lake May Explain Why San Andreas Fault Is Quiet

Lloyd Cluff - Getty Images

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The southern section of California’s San Andreas fault hasn’t experienced a major earthquake in 300 years, and is around a century overdo for a “big one.”

To understand this earthquake “drought,” scientists used computer modeling and analyzed 1,000 years of palaeoseismic data to figure out its cause.

A new paper details how low water levels of the Salton Sea, which was once a part of a much larger lake, could explain why earthquakes along this southern fault line have been less frequent.

The 800-mile San Andreas Fault is one of the largest fault lines in the world. A meeting of the North American and Pacific tectonic plates, this transform fault (where two tectonic plates move past each other) runs nearly the entire length of California, from Cape Mendocino in Redwood country to the desert landscapes of Joshua Tree National Park. Scientists divide the fault into three distinct areas—northern, central, and southern—and while the entire fault is a clear and present earthquake danger, it’s the Los Angeles-adjacent southern section that’s most concerning.

Scientists estimate that this section of fault—over the past 1,000 years—usually triggered a sizable earthquake every 180 years (give or take 40). But the southern San Andreas Fault (SSAF) hasn’t had a good shaking for more than 300 years (despite what mediocre Hollywood disaster films would have you believe).

Wanting to better understand this seismic outlier, scientists from San Diego State University (SDSU) and UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography investigated why the fault is behaving differently today than it has in the past. Their answer? Water, or to be more specific, the lack thereof. According to their paper—published on Wednesday in the journal Nature—the low water levels of the Salton Sea, located at the most southern end of the San Andreas Fault, could explain why this section of fault line has seen less movement over the past few centuries.

Mapping the extent of the prehistoric Lake Cahuilla and its relation to the SSAF.UC San Diego

The Salton Sea is a modern remnant of a much larger prehistoric lake called Lake Cahuilla. Some 32 times bigger than today’s landlocked sea, the water levels of Lake Cahuilla rose and fell over a millennia, and using new geologic and palaeoseismic data, scientists confirmed that the past six major earthquakes along the SSAF occurred when the lake was at its fullest. The frequency of earthquakes in China and around the Dead Sea have also previously been connected to water levels of nearby lakes.

But how does the full-ness of a lake impact something like an earthquake? Using computer models, scientists analyzed how the large, ancient Lake Cahuilla affected the fault line, and discovered two primary impacts. First, large volumes of water can cause the Earth’s crust to bend, which has the effect of unlocking the two plates and allowing for more seismic movement. Second, water can penetrate cracks in the Earth’s crust and increase fluid pressure, which also makes earthquakes more likely.

In a press statement, UC San Diego scientists described this hydraulic phenomenon like an air hockey table:

“The effect of increased fluid pressure in a fault is a bit like an air hockey table. With the air on, the puck glides easily, but when the air is off, friction makes it hard to slide the puck. So too with an increase in fluid pressure inside the fault, the water pushes out against the two sides of the fault, making it easier for them to overcome friction, slide by one another and trigger an earthquake.”

This new research adds even more complexity to proposed projects to ferry water from the Gulf of California into the Salton Sea, as adding more water too quickly could trigger potentially deadly seismic activity.

Unfortunately, the drought-like state of the Salton Sea is only one cog in a very complex seismic machine, and isn’t enough to stop earthquakes along the SSAF entirely. Scientists estimate that a magnitude 6.7 earthquake or higher will likely hit the greater Los Angeles area within the next 30 years as pressure continues to building.

When the SSAF finally breaks its 300-year-long silence, it’ll likely do so with an enormous bang.

Kenya's Ruto says further tax-hike protests will not be allowed



Reuters
Fri, July 14, 2023

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenyan President William Ruto vowed on Friday that protests planned next week would not be allowed following two rounds of demonstrations that have left at least 15 people dead.

Opposition leader Raila Odinga's party called earlier in the day for three more days of protests from next Wednesday against tax hikes that Ruto signed into law last month.

Ruto beat Odinga in last August's election. He pledged to be a champion for the poor, but his critics say the tax rises will hurt Kenyans already struggling to afford basic commodities such as maize flour.

"Elections ended August 9 last year. You cannot look for the leadership of this country using the blood of the citizens, the death of the citizens and the destruction of property," Ruto said at the opening of a road in the town of Naivasha.

"These demos will not happen. Listen to me carefully: you cannot use extrajudicial, extra-constitutional means to look for power in Kenya."

Odinga has failed to win the last five presidential votes, but has secured senior positions in government in the past by making deals with those in power following spasms of unrest.

The most recent demonstrations took place despite bans by the police, and Ruto did not say how he planned to stop the upcoming protests.

A spokesman for the U.N. Human Rights Office (OHCHR), Jeremy Laurence, said on Friday it was "very concerned by the widespread violence, and allegations of unnecessary or disproportionate use of force, including the use of firearms, by police during protests in Kenya".

Kenyan authorities have blamed the deaths on the protesters, some of whom have thrown rocks at police and vandalised public property. More than 300 people were arrested in connection with Wednesday's protests.

(Reporting by Humphrey Malalo and Thomas Mukoya; Writing by Hereward Holland; Editing by Aaron Ross and Alex Richardson)

Kenyan religious leaders urge the president to repeal a new tax law as protests surge


A protester burns tyres to block the road in the Kibera neighborhood of Nairobi, Kenya, Wednesday, July 12, 2023. Anti-government protesters are demonstrating in a number of Kenyan cities against newly imposed taxes and the cost of living. (AP Photo/Samson Otieno)

CARA ANNA
Fri, July 14, 2023 

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Christian and Muslim leaders in Kenya are urging President William Ruto to repeal a finance bill whose new taxes have sparked protests and police killings of civilians, warning that Kenyans face a level of hopelessness that “can easily inspire insurrection.”

Friday’s statement by national religious organizations came as the main political opposition group announced the next protest would take place next Wednesday, and as Ruto declared it would not be allowed.

Human rights watchdogs have asserted that police killed as many as 10 people in the latest protests this week, while a police official told The Associated Press that officers killed at least six across the country for disturbing businesses. Meanwhile, more than 50 children were sent to a medical clinic after tear gas was thrown into a school in the capital, Nairobi.

“Firearms should never be used to disperse protests,” the United Nations human rights office said Friday. It urged Kenyan authorities to ensure the right to peaceful assembly as guaranteed by the constitution.

Ruto’s government accused demonstrators of “extensive damage of major public assets” after hundreds on Wednesday dismantled part of an entrance to a recently constructed toll expressway that for some symbolizes inequality as everyday traffic surges in its shadow.

The government also blames longtime opposition leader Raila Odinga for the unrest. Odinga, who lost last year’s election to Ruto, has urged Kenyans to civil disobedience to protest the rising cost of living. Odinga’s movement seeks to protest Wednesday, Thursday and Friday next week.

Some Kenyans have described the new taxes as leaving them with the highest burden they've ever faced. The finance bill increased the value added tax on petroleum from 8% to 16%, boosted a business turnover tax from 1% to 3% and created a new 1.5% percent housing tax for salaried workers.

Pressure is rising on Ruto, who won election by appealing to Kenya’s “hustlers” as a man of humble childhood and by vowing to reduce the cost of living. But the country struggles with debt and has turned to the new taxes for some relief.

The statement by religious groups also warned Odinga that his calls for mass action risked pushing Kenya into insurrection. “Indeed, the destruction of businesses as well as public and private properties is pushing the cost of living higher, not lower,” it said.

The statement also urged all Kenyans to embrace dialogue and non-violence: “We must not allow the selfish interests of political leaders to destroy our homeland and push us into destitution," it said.

American companies are importing massive amounts of used cooking oil from China — all for one unexpected reason



Laurelle Stelle
Thu, July 13, 2023

The U.S. is importing an unprecedented volume of used cooking oil to make renewable diesel — a sustainable fuel made from food waste.

Renewable diesel is a type of biofuel that is chemically identical to traditional diesel fuel, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. This means it can be used in ordinary diesel engines and mixed in with diesel fuel. But instead of being made from crude oil, it’s made from vegetable oil or animal fat.

Rudolf Diesel, the inventor of the diesel engine, also experimented with vegetable oil as a power source, the EIA reports. However, it took until the early 2000s for companies to begin producing biofuel in bulk. Now the U.S. Department of Energy says that there are five plants in the U.S. making renewable diesel.

While this incredible fuel source is a smart investment, manufacturers still need raw materials to work with. As of now, they’re getting it from China. The analytics firm Kpler told Bloomberg that the 530,000 barrels shipped in the first two months of 2023 were the first imports of this type since the group began gathering data in 2017.

Renewable diesel is a good financial choice for companies because there’s a virtually endless supply of vegetable oil compared to a limited amount of crude oil. In addition, Bloomberg reports that there are government subsidies making it even more profitable to manufacture biofuel. As the market develops, these savings could be passed on to consumers.

This fuel source is also eco-friendly while harvesting crude oil from underground pollutes the environment. According to Bloomberg, making and using renewable diesel creates only about 20% as much heat-trapping gas as traditional diesel, helping slow down rising temperatures worldwide.

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. used almost one billion gallons of renewable diesel in 2020. It expects six new plants to open in the near future, increasing the U.S.’s capacity to produce renewable diesel by two billion gallons.

Ilhan Omar says 'no way in hell' she's attending Israeli president's address to Congress next week


FAUX NEWS OUTRAGED

Lawrence Richard
Thu, July 13, 2023

Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., said on Twitter that there is "no way in hell" she would attend when Israeli President Isaac Herzog delivers an address to a joint session of Congress next week, saying his presence sends an "absolute wrong signal" amid tensions between Israel and the West Bank.

"There is no way in hell I am attending the joint session address from a President whose country has banned me and denied [U.S. Rep. from Michigan] Rashida Tlaib the ability to see her grandma," Omar said in a series of tweets. She also said the U.S. government should not have invited him to speak in the first place.

"The United States can and should use its diplomatic tools to engage with the Israeli government, but giving the current government the honor of a joint televised address sends the absolute wrong signal at the wrong time," Omar continued.

Herzog, who was elected president in 2021, is scheduled to address Congress on July 19. The visit also coincides with Washington, D.C., celebrating 75 years since the founding of Israel, the anniversary of which was observed in April.

ILHAN OMAR GETS THE BOOT: HOUSE VOTES HER OFF FOREIGN AFFAIRS COMMITTEE AS DEMOCRATS CITE 'RACISM'

She added, "Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s address comes on behalf of the most right-wing government in Israel’s history, at a time when the government is openly promising to ‘crush’ Palestinian hopes of statehood—essentially putting a nail in the coffin of peace and a two-state solution."

Fox News Digital reached out to Omar's office for comment, but a response was not immediately received.

In her series of tweets, Omar said the invitation also comes as Israel’s "cabinet members directly attack President Biden" and as the country conducts an overhaul of its judicial system.

The Minnesota Democrat also said Palestinians in the West Bank suffered their "deadliest year," sharing a report that said at least eight Palestinians were killed, and 50 others were injured during a "major Israeli offensive" in the West Bank city of Jenin earlier this month.

HOUSE LAWMAKERS PREPARE TO REMOVE ILHAN OMAR FROM FOREIGN AFFAIRS COMMITTEE

Israeli President Isaac Herzog will address a joint session of Congress next week, on July 19, 2023.

She noted the U.S. continues to provide billions in military aid each year to Israel and said she similarly opposed a visit by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who delivered a joint address to Congress last month, citing his government’s human rights record.

OMAR LASHES OUT AT MCCARTHY FOR 'PERSONALLY WHIPPING VOTES' AGAINST HER: 'PATHETIC'

Omar was removed from the House Foreign Affairs Committee earlier this year as her congressional colleagues pointed to controversial remarks she made about Israel. The vote, 218 to 211, fell strictly along party lines, with one member voting "present."

Israeli President Isaac Herzog, left, meets with President Biden in the Oval Office of the White House on Oct. 26, 2022 in Washington, D.C.

Herzog last visited the U.S. in October 2022, when he met with President Biden and other U.S. leaders at the White House. Secretary of State Antony Blinken also visited Herzog in Jerusalem in January.

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Sharif launches $3.5 billion Chinese-designed nuclear energy project




tIn this photo released by Press Information Department, Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, center, with unidentified Chinese officials dig during the groundbreaking ceremony of 5th Unit of Chashma Nuclear Power Plant (Chashma-5) in Chashma, Mianwali, Pakistan, Friday, July 14, 2023. Sharif launched the construction of a 1,200-megawatt Chinese-designed nuclear energy project, which will be built at a cost of $3.5 billion as part of the government efforts to generate more clean energy in the Islamic nation.

 (Press Information Department via AP)

MUNIR AHMED
Updated Fri, July 14, 2023

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday launched the construction of a 1,200-megawatt Chinese-designed nuclear energy project, which will be built at a cost of $3.5 billion as part of the government efforts to generate more clean energy in the Islamic nation.

The ceremony marking the start of the project comes less than a month after Pakistan signed an agreement with China’s National Nuclear Corporation Overseas in the capital, Islamabad, to construct a Hualong One reactor — a third-generation nuclear reactor and is considered safer because of the latest security features.

Pakistan and China are longtime allies. Pakistan’s relations with Beijing are so close that its leadership calls China their “Iron Brother.” China is also building roads, bridges, power plants, and railways to link its far west with the Chinese-built port of Gwadar on the Indian Ocean.

The nuclear power plant known as Chashma-5 will be constructed at a site along the left embankment of the fast-flowing Indus River in Mianwali, a district in the eastern Punjab province. The site is already home to four Chinese-supplied nuclear power plants that were built in recent decades.

Sharif, in his televised remarks at a gathering of Pakistani and Chinese officials in Mianwali, said the Chashma-5 nuclear energy project by itself was a “huge milestone, a huge success story, and a wonderful symbol of the cooperation between two great friends.”

Pakistan will get clean, efficient and cheaper energy at the completion of the project, he said.

Pakistan got its first nuclear power plant from Canada and currently generates only 8% of its electricity from nuclear power plants. It plans to increase that figure to 20% by 2030.

In recent months, China gave $5 billion in loans to Pakistan to help it unlock a bailout from the International Monetary Fund to tackle a serious economic crisis. The IMF approved a $3-billion bailout Wednesday, after keeping it on hold since December.

On Friday, Sharif said his country will never forget the Chinese financial assistance that was given to his country when it faced a risk of default. It was a “very valuable contribution at a very difficult time, and the nation will never forget it,” he said.

Sharif, whose term as premier ends in August, said Pakistan is no longer at risk of a default.

EU Working on E-Bus for Lithium Deal With Latin American Nations


Jorge Valero
Thu, July 13, 2023 



(Bloomberg) -- European Union officials are working on a plan that can help provide electric buses to Latin American nations in exchange for lithium supplies, as they seek to curtail the bloc’s reliance on China for this critical raw material.

The European Commission, the bloc’s executive arm, is in talks with automakers and governments to create a private sector consortium that can supply e-buses to Latin America, according to people familiar with the plan who did not want to be named as the discussions are private. In return, this will facilitate access to lithium deposits for the EU firms in these resource-rich countries, they said.

The initiative is part of a broader push among western economies to ringfence their core industries and counter China, which has a stronghold over the green energy supply chain. For the Latin American countries, the deal will expedite a switch to cleaner public transport and curb carbon emissions.

The quid pro quo pact is part of the EU’s 300-billion-euro ($335 billion) plan called the Global Gateway, the people said. It aims “to boost smart, clean and secure links in digital, energy and transport sectors” globally, according to the commission’s website.

The EU has been “working intensively with its Latin American and Caribbean partners on an Investment Agenda,” a spokesperson for the commission said in an email, without sharing specific details. “The partnerships allow both sides to advance trade and investments into secure, sustainable and resilient raw materials value chains.”

The 27-nation bloc plans to invest around 10 billion euros in projects across Latin America and the Caribbean, with additional contributions coming from the Member States bilaterally and the private sector.

EU’s ambitious green goals are dependent on obtaining a large amount of minerals, including lithium whose demand is projected to surge 12 times by 2030 and 20 times by 2050.

“We have to act now and with the highest speed,” said Bernd Schäfer, chief executive officer of EIT RawMaterials that is co-funded by the EU. “It’s a make or break moment.”

Largest Reserves

The commission signed a pact with Argentina last month for developing “innovative and sustainable and responsible raw materials value chain projects.” It is expected to sign a similar agreement with Chile next week, two of the people familiar said. Chile and Argentina are among the countries with largest lithium reserves on the planet.

Europe is not the only one racing to tie-in raw materials for key sectors such as electric vehicles and clean energy.

A bill was introduced in the US this week to create a national strategy for securing supply chains of critical minerals from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Another US government program has given a $9.2 billion loan to Ford Motor Co. for building battery factories, in a bid to help local firms catch up to China in green technologies.

The commission is still discussing the details of the plan with member states and the industry, the people said. This includes how the European companies could benefit from being part of the consortium.

While the whole arrangement could take years to be finalized, the demand in the Latin American region — estimated at about 10,000 e-buses over the next few years — is large enough to stoke interest among European automakers, according to the people familiar.

Brussels Meeting

Leaders from the EU, Latin American and Caribbean nations are expected to discuss Global Gateway investment projects in Brussels early next week. Business leaders and officials will also hold a roundtable in the city on critical raw materials and mobility on Monday.

“It is not about buying lithium, but about sharing a resource that is scarce and that is strategic for sustainable mobility,” Xiana Mendez, Spain’s junior trade minister said in an interview.

She added that EU intends to set up manufacturing in these resource-rich countries and not just extract minerals from them.

“The difficulty would be for EU companies to cooperate,” she added. “It would be the first time something like this has been done.”

--With assistance from James Attwood, Jonathan Gilbert and Akshat Rathi.

Bloomberg Businessweek