NO GREEN WASHING JUST PROFITEERING

Chevron Shareholders Reject Proposal to Disclose Climate Risks


Author of the article:
Bloomberg News
Paul Takahashi
Publishing date:May 26, 2022 • 

(Bloomberg) — Chevron Corp. shareholders rejected two proposals calling for the US oil major to disclose climate risks to its business and set more rigorous targets to cut pollution.

More than 60% of shareholders voted against the proposals during Chevron’s annual meeting on Wednesday, according to preliminary results issued by the company.

The votes come as historic profits by oil majors such as Chevron eclipse concerns about combating climate change. Similar proposals at ConocoPhillips Co. and Occidental Petroleum Corp. also failed to garner votes this month.

Dutch investor group Follow This proposed that Chevron set targets to reduce carbon emissions, including those of its customers, in line with the Paris Agreement.

Chevron’s board opposed the measure, saying it has already developed a “portfolio carbon intensity” metric that measures emissions from oil and gas production and from its customers. The company also said it wouldn’t reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by changing its fossil-fuels portfolio, because it wouldn’t serve its shareholders who benefit from its “strong asset base.”

Shareholders also rejected a proposal requesting Chevron provide reports on how the International Energy Agency’s net-zero by 2050 plan would impact the company’s business. Investors overwhelmingly approved a Chevron-supported proposal to report on the reliability of the company’s methane emission disclosures.

Proposals seeking to avoid doing business with governments involved in crimes against humanity and an audit on racial equity and environmental racism also failed.

©2022 Bloomberg L.P.

Patients who use marijuana may need more sedation during endoscopies

By HealthDay News

Marijuana users were more likely to require higher total sedation -- defined as more than 5 mg of midazolam, or more than 100 mcg of fentanyl, or the need for diphenhydramine -- during gastric endoscopy, but not during colonoscopy, a recent study found. Photo by CBD-Infos-com/Pixabay

If you use pot, you may need more sedation than normal during a gastric endoscopy, according to a new study.

"Patients didn't have increased awareness or discomfort during procedures, but they did require more drugs," lead author Dr. Yasmin Nasser said in a news release from the American Gastroenterological Association. Nasser is an assistant professor in the Institute for Chronic Diseases at the University of Calgary School of Medicine in Canada.

With increases in marijuana legalization and use, doctors need to be aware of patients' use of the drug and prepare themselves and their patients for the possible need of increased sedation and associated risks, the study authors said.

In an endoscopy, a tube with a camera is inserted down the throat to examine the upper digestive system. Patients typically receive conscious sedation, meaning they're partially conscious but relaxed during the procedure.

RELATED Medical marijuana reduces pain, opioid use among cancer patients

In this study, researchers assessed the link between marijuana and sedation in 419 adult outpatients undergoing gastric endoscopy or colonoscopy at three centers in Canada.

The patients were asked about their pot use and their awareness and comfort level during the procedure. The researchers analyzed the use of the sedatives midazolam, fentanyl and diphenhydramine during the patients' procedures.

Marijuana users were more likely to require higher total sedation -- defined as more than 5 mg of midazolam, or more than 100 mcg of fentanyl, or the need for diphenhydramine -- during gastric endoscopy, but not during colonoscopy.

Gastric endoscopy generally requires more sedation than colonoscopy because the scope irritates the upper part of the gastrointestinal tract, often triggering the gag reflex, the researchers explained.

Nasser presented the study Saturday at the American Gastroenterological Association's Digestive Disease Week meeting, in San Diego. Studies presented at meetings are usually considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed medical journal.

The researchers noted that they only compared users and non-users of marijuana, but did not examine how the timing, amount or method of pot use could affect the need for greater conscious sedation.

They pointed out that their study did not look at marijuana's impact on propofol sedation, which is more commonly used in the United States.

More information

For more on gastric endoscopy, go to the U.S. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.

Copyright © 2022 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

Children of same-sex parents as well-adjusted as others

By HealthDay News

Children raised by same-sex parents are just as well-adjusted as kids raised by different-sex parents, researchers say.

In the new study, the researchers compared 62 Dutch children (aged 6 to 16 years) whose parents were the same sex with 72 kids whose parents were different sexes. The investigators considered prosocial behavior, hyperactivity, peer problems, emotional adjustment and general behavioral problems.

"The new findings clearly show that same-sex families have strong resilience strategies to protect their children from prevailing legal hurdles and societal rejection. For example, parents create an environment in which their children receive appreciation and recognition from others and where other same-sex families provide positive role models," said Dr. Mirjam Fischer. She is with the University of Cologne's Institute of Sociology and Social Psychology in Germany.

Same-sex families have strong resilience strategies to protect their children from prevailing legal hurdles and societal rejection, a new study shows. Natasha Kramskaya/Shutterstock

"However, it should not be necessary in the first place that parents have to develop these strategies," Fischer said in a university news release.

Past research has found that same-sex parents face significant stress factors related to their sexual orientation that has led to decreased physical and mental health for the parents. It was thought that this emotional turmoil could lead to adjustment problems in the children, but this study did not find that.

The researchers recommended that research and policymakers move away from deficit-driven comparisons between same-sex and different-sex families. Instead, support services for same-sex families should build on their existing resilience structures and strengthen them further, the authors said.

The findings were published online recently in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.

More information

The organization Family Equality has more resources and facts for LGBTQ+ families.

Copyright © 2022 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

MY HOMETOWN HAS SNAKES IN TREES
Firefighters rescue 6-foot pet snake from tree


Firefighters in Edmonton, Alberta, came to the rescue of a pet snake that escaped from its owner's home and climbed 15 feet up a tree. Photo courtesy of Edmonton Fire Rescue Services/Facebook

May 25 (UPI) -- Firefighters in Alberta were called out to perform an "unusual animal rescue" when a resident's 6-foot snake escaped and climbed 15 feet up a tree.

Edmonton Fire Rescue Services said in a Facebook post that personnel from Fire Station 26 responded to a residential neighborhood on a report of a pet snake stranded in a tree.

Firefighters said the snake, named Whiskey, had escaped from its owner and climbed to a tree branch about 15 feet off the ground.

The rescuers used a ladder to reach the serpent and bring it safely back to the ground for a reunion with its owner.

A German surfer broke the Guinness World Record for riding the largest wave -- an 86-foot monster off the coast of Portugal.

Guinness World Records announced Tuesday that Sebastian Steudtner, 36, broke the world record when he rode the 86-foot wave off the coast of Praia do Norte, Nazare, in October 2020.

"It feels amazing," Steudtner told Guinness at the Tuesday ceremony announcing his record. "I have achieved everything there is in my sport. It has been a crazy journey to get here and the record is much more than just a number."

The wave earned Steudtner the World Surf League Biggest Wave Award in 2021 -- the third time he has received the award.

Guinness World Records said measuring the wave was a long and difficult process that involved taking frames from a video of Steudtner's ride and using other objects in frame -- including the surfer's own body -- as points of reference to determine the height of the water.

Steudtner took the record from Brazilian surfer Rodrigo Koxa, who set the record in 2017 at the same location that Steudtner would later visit for his own record-breaking.

US Study reveals barriers preventing access to abortion pill

By Alan Mozes, HealthDay News

Among primary care doctors who were trained and currently providing abortion care, 60% said they didn't offer abortion pill prescriptions as part of their family practice, but only at specialized reproductive health clinics. File Photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI | License Photo

Even with Roe v. Wade still the law of the land, primary care doctors in the United States have difficulty prescribing U.S. federally approved abortion pills, a new study finds.

Getting in the way is a complex combination of state and federal regulations, insufficient training and institutional hurdles, researchers found when they surveyed dozens of doctors.

"As family physicians provide comprehensive medical care to individuals throughout their life course -- including supporting their reproductive choices -- they are prime individuals to provide medication abortion," explained study lead author Dr. Na'amah Razon.

"We found a range of barriers that prevented family physicians from integrating medication abortion into their primary care practices," said Razon, an assistant professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of California, Davis.

RELATED FDA to permanently allow delivery of abortion pills by mail

It's a landscape that will likely only gets worse, said Razon, whether or not Roe v. Wade is actually overturned, although a leaked draft from the U.S. Supreme Court indicates it will be.

"Given the recent movement toward restricting abortions in the United States, family physicians could face increasing barriers in providing medication abortion," she noted.

The two-pill regimen consists of mifepristone and misoprostol. Planned Parenthood notes this noninvasive method is safe and 94%-96% effective. And the Guttmacher Institute says that the medicinal approach now accounts for more than half of all abortions in the United States.

Until December 2021, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration only allowed mifepristone to be administered in-person at a clinic, a hospital or under the direct supervision of a certified medical provider. Retail pharmacy pickup and mail orders were not allowed. The December FDA ruling did away with the in-person requirement, allowing telehealth consultation, though all the doctors in the current study were interviewed before that decision came down.

For the study, 48 U.S. primary care doctors were interviewed in 2019 and classified into one of three groups: those who did not provide abortions and had not been trained to do so (11 doctors) those who didn't provide abortions, despite having received training (20 doctors), and those who had been trained and did provide abortion services (17 doctors).

Roughly two-thirds were not providing abortions at the time they were surveyed.

RELATED Study: Abortion medically safe, unwanted pregnancy poses greater health risk

Those in the untrained/non-provider group said their lack of training was the main reason for not offering abortion care.

Such doctors variously said their lack of abortion care skills left them "uncomfortable," unfamiliar with the medications involved, and/or unconvinced that abortion services truly falls within the realm of family medicine. They were also the most likely to point to their state's anti-abortion political climate, a lack of community support, and a poor understanding of local hospital regulations as discouraging factors.

By contrast, those who didn't provide abortion services despite their training generally said they understood all too well the wide range of primary care, clinic and hospital restrictions in place in their region.

This group also cited the federal Hyde Amendment as a red-tape barrier to providing care in their own practice and elsewhere. That law prevents any federal funds from being used for abortion.

In addition, the group highlighted the FDA's REMS (Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy) as another impediment. REMS is a drug safety protocol applied to certain medications. Since 2011, the FDA has applied REMS to mifepristone to restrict how, where and when it can be prescribed and obtained.

Among primary care doctors who were trained and currently providing abortion care, 60% said they didn't offer abortion pill prescriptions as part of their family practice, but only at specialized reproductive health clinics.

Researchers also found that practitioners who offered abortion pill prescriptions in their primary care setting were located in either the Northeast or West none resided in states with highly restrictive abortion laws in place.

Some also noted that the institutions and/or hospital ob-gyn departments with which they worked prohibited abortion services of any kind.

Several said that in order to make abortion pills available at a family practice or a specialized clinic it was necessary to have a "champion" on board willing to jump through the regulatory hoops involved.

Elisa Wells is co-founder and co-director of Plan C, an organization dedicated to ensuring unrestricted and non-stigmatized access to abortion pills. She expressed frustration with the status quo.

"The science about the absolute safety of medication abortion doesn't support these added barriers to access," Wells said. "Many primary care providers we have talked to are not in practices that allow them to do abortion, so that's a huge hurdle," even among those who are trained and willing.

Wells, who was not involved in the study, said that ensuring widespread abortion pill access will mean convincing the FDA to remove all REMS restrictions for mifepristone.

"Mifepristone is an extremely safe medication," she noted, "and any licensed provider should be able to write a prescription for a patient who qualifies for it, and the patient should be able to fill that prescription at any pharmacy."

The findings were published in the May-June issue of the Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine.

More information

There's more on abortion medication at Plan C.

Copyright © 2022 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

EPA proposes protections for Alaska's salmon-rich Bristol Bay


The EPA announces new proposals to protect Alaska's salmon-rich Bristol Bay. 

Photo courtesy of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

May 25 (UPI) -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced plans Wednesday to protect Alaska's salmon-rich Bristol Bay with a move that would block construction of Pebble Mine.

The EPA's proposed ban, under the Clean Water Act, would restrict the use of the Bristol Bay watershed as disposal sites for dredge associated with mining gold and copper at the Pebble Deposit. The EPA will take comments on the proposal at public hearings next month.

Bristol Bay's rivers, streams and wetlands support the world's largest sockeye salmon fishery, along with Alaska Native communities. Its salmon resources generate 15,000 jobs and were estimated to be worth more than $2.2 billion in 2019.

"Where that mine is is the spawning beds of the greatest salmon-producing rivers in the world," Curyung tribal chief Tom Tilden said earlier this month at the U.S. Capitol.

RELATED EPA to restore protections for Alaska's Bristol Bay

Pebble Limited Partnership has lobbied for years to build the open-pit gold and copper mine, claiming it would enrich the region with high-paying jobs. The company also argued its state-of-the-art mine design would have no significant effect on Bristol Bay's fish run.

"Two decades of scientific study show us that mining the Pebble Deposit would cause permanent damage to an ecosystem that supports a renewable economic powerhouse and has sustained fishing cultures since time immemorial," said Casey Sixkiller, Regional Administrator for EPA Region 10. "Clearly, Bristol Bay and the thousands of people who rely on it deserve protection."

The Obama administration initially blocked the Pebble Mine project in 2014. Trump administration officials reversed the decision after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers determined the operation would have "no measurable effect" on fish populations. EPA reversed the mine decision again last September.

EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan said Pebble Limited Partnership's Mine Plan would destroy 8.5 miles of streams, resulting in fish displacement, injury and death.

"EPA is committed to following the science, the law and a transparent public process to determine what is needed to ensure that this irreplaceable and invaluable resource is protected for current and future generations."

Lidar study reveals much more dense early urban Amazon settlements


Rio Branco in the Amazon rainforest of Roraima state, Brazil. 

May 25 (UPI) -- Evidence of early urbanism has been found in the Amazon through the first-time use of Light Detection and Ranging technology. The lidar study found evidence of much more dense urban settlements than were previously thought to exist.

According to research from the University of Bonn, lidar revealed remarkably large sites where urban settlements once existed.

The new study mapped a total of 200 square kilometers of the Casarabe cultural area in the Mojos Plains, a southwestern fringe of the Amazon region.

The Casarabe cultural area dates to the period between 500 and 1400 AD.

Excavations done there more than 20 years ago found two mounds and many visible traces of settlements in the time before Spanish colonization in the 16th century.

Conventional archeological surveys uncovered a terraced core area, canals and a ditch-wall enclosing the site. But deeper structural details were not revealed until now with the lidar tool.

"So the entire region was densely settled, a pattern that overturns all previous ideas," says Carla James Betancourt, who is a member of the Transdisciplinary Research Area "Present Pasts" at the University of Bonn.

The study's conclusion said that this work has "put to rest arguments that western Amazonia was sparsely populated in pre-Hispanic times."

Instead the lidar findings show that the inhabitants of the Casarabe cultural area created a new social and public landscape through monumentality.

"The scale, monumentality, labor involved in the construction of the civic-ceremonial architecture and water-management infrastructure, and the spatial extent of settlement dispersal compare favorably to Andean cultures and are of a scale far beyond the sophisticated, interconnected settlements of southern Amazonia, which lack monumental civic-ceremonial architecture," the study said.

RELATED Florida professor predicts Amazon rainforest collapse by 2064

The researchers on this study said the real archeological work in this region of the Amazon is just beginning. They said the goal now is to understand how these large regional centers functioned.

ABOLISH THE DEATH PENALTY

Texas court resentences 2 death row prisoners to life

 Both on their claims of intellectual disability

Steven Butler was sentenced to death in 1988 for the shooting death of Velma Clemons during the robbery of a Houston-area dry cleaning store where she worked in 1986. Photo courtesy of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice

May 25 (UPI) -- A Texas appellate court on Wednesday resentenced two death row prisoners to life in prison, both on their claims of intellectual disability.

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals resentenced Steven Anthony Butler, 60, and Juan Ramon Meza Segundo, 59, after previously denying both of their intellectual disability claims, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.

Butler, originally from Natchez, Miss., was sentenced to death in 1988 for the shooting death of Velma Clemons during the robbery of a Houston-area dry cleaning store where she worked in 1986.

Butler's lawyers argued he was intellectually disabled and that his execution would violate Eighth Amendment protections against cruel and unusual punishment. They said he may not have been competent to stand trial since he blamed imaginary people for his crimes.

Segundo, meanwhile, was sentenced to death for the 1986 rape and murder of Vanessa Villa, an 11-year-old girl, at her home in Fort Worth. Her mother had left her home alone to run errands and the girl was found strangled to death in her bed.

DNA evidence linked Segundo to the crime in 2006, and prosecutors accused him of two other rapes and murders, The Texas Tribune reported.

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals halted Segundo's scheduled execution in October 2018 based on his lawyers' questions about his intellectual disability. His IQ was tested to be 75, and his brother testified that he had fallen down the stairs as a baby and seemed to be "always in a daze."

I WOULD HOPE SO

Hyundai recalls 239,00 vehicles over exploding seat belts


Hyundai said it would contact owners of the recalled vehicles by July 15.

 File Photo by James Atoa/UPI | License Photo


May 25 (UPI) -- Hyundai has recalled some 239,000 vehicles over reports that seat belts may explode "abnormally" during a crash.

The Seoul-based automaker said the pyrotechnic-type seat belt pretensioners may deploy, sending metal fragments into the interior compartment of the vehicle, possibly injuring occupants.

The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration said two people in the United States and one person in Singapore was injured by the seat belt problem.

The recall includes 2019-22 Hyundai Accents, 2021-23 Hyundai Elantras and 2021-22 Hyundai Elantra HEVs. The company said owners of the vehicle will be notified by mail to bring their vehicles to a Hyundai dealer to have repairs made at no cost.

The repair consists of attaching a cap to the seat belts' pretensioners, which tighten the seat belts into place in the event of a crash.