THE UNHOLY STATIST ALLIANCE OF LIBERALS AND NDP

New broadcasting bill could regulate all your Facebook, Instagram and YouTube posts, experts say

Rachel Gilmore 

GLOBAL NEWS

30/4/2021

Recent government changes to the bill meant to modernize the Canadian broadcasting act could expand regulation to everything individual Canadians put on Facebook, Instagram or YouTube.

© Getty Images Content you upload to YouTube, Instagram and Facebook could be subject to CRTC regulations.

The bill, in its current state, would turn the YouTube video of a kid’s soccer game, or the Instagram reel you posted of your brunch, into a “program” that could be subject to regulation under the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission’s (CRTC) rules.

"It's your Facebook post. It's your tweet. It's your cat videos. It's your pictures of your children and grandchildren and that sort of stuff," said Peter Menzies, a former CRTC vice-chair and past newspaper publisher.

"What it means is that somebody will be watching that, from the government, or a government regulator, and will be able to order it to be taken down if they find that it doesn't suit whatever purposes they have."

One goal of the proposed law is to ensure large online streaming services contribute to the "creation, production and discoverability of Canadian content," according to Camille Gagné-Raynauld, a spokesperson for the Canadian heritage minister.

"The bill specifically targets professional series, films, and music. Ensuring that large broadcasters, online or not, contribute to our broadcasting system is a crucial element in asserting our cultural sovereignty in English, French and Indigenous language," she explained.

VIDEO

 "Facebook calls for increased content regulation in Canada"

 "Liberals propose new Canadian Broadcast Act rules for online streaming platforms"


More broadly, the bill is aimed at modernizing the Broadcasting Act to reflect the fact that Canadians consume things like music and movies differently nowadays -- often using streaming services or social media.

By bringing platforms like YouTube and Netflix under the Act, they'd be forced to pay a portion of their revenue into the Canada Media Fund, which funds Canadian programming, and would be forced to make Canadian content more visible on their platforms.

Originally, the law exempted user-generated content from regulation – so the videos you post wouldn’t be subjected to Canada’s rules for broadcasters, like the ones Global News have to follow.

But on Friday, the government decided to take that provision out of the bill.

“The effect of the removal is to take the position that all user-generated content, all TikTok videos, Instagram uploads, YouTube videos and the like … all that content is subject to CRTC regulation,” explained Michael Geist, who holds the Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-commerce Law at the University of Ottawa.

Currently, the CRTC dictates a certain percentage of television programs and music on the radio has to be Canadian content.

This bill would extend those rules to social media -- so the TikTok algorithm could be required to offer up more Canadian videos, or YouTube might have to recommend artists like Arcade Fire and Arkells.

Read more: Broadcasters, Netflix push politicians on separate visions for sweeping regulation changes

The current legislation extends those requirements to individual users too.

"Putting the CRTC in charge of the entire...internet, I mean, that's like putting a logging company in charge of the Great Bear Rainforest," Menzies said.

"It's not going to end well."

And while the government insists that individual Canadians won’t be hauled in front of the regulator to atone for the lack of Shania Twain in their playlists, there’s still one big issue with the legislation, according to the experts: platforms like Facebook, Instagram and YouTube will carry the onus for ensuring the content you upload meets those CRTC rules.

“Social media companies (would be) legally responsible for all these videos that users post as though they're somehow broadcasting programs,” explained Emily Laidlaw, Canada research chair in cybersecurity law at the University of Calgary.

Read more: Liberals propose new rules for streaming platforms like Netflix, Spotify

She warned that if those changes go through, social media giants might just leave.

“They're either going to heavily regulate this or they're going to exit the market. Canada is not exactly a big market for them, so I would not be surprised if there is significant pushback by social media,” said Laidlaw.

Menzies agreed that this bill may prompt companies to toy with leaving the Canadian market.

"Any company, when faced with uncertainty or what they might believe is unfair treatment or inappropriate treatment or even unconstitutional treatment, I mean, companies sit down and they develop options," he said.

"I'm quite sure that's one of the options that's on the table."

Despite the concerns from experts, the government isn't worried about the possibility of these companies leaving Canadians behind.

"There is no realistic scenario where Canadians are banned by platforms," said Gagné-Raynauld.

"The amendment to remove section 4.1 would effectively allow the CRTC to potentially require contributions from platforms that curate professional content, like YouTube. All major foreign companies have informed us they intend on respecting the laws and regulations of this country."

Video: Petition to create support fund for Canadian musicians

Global News contacted YouTube, Facebook and Instagram to ask whether the latest change to the bill could force them out of the Canadian market. The companies did not directly answer that question.

“Like many, we were surprised to see the Heritage Committee extend Bill C-10 to include social media and user-upload services and apps,” wrote a spokesperson for Google, which owns YouTube, in an emailed statement.

“This potentially extends CRTC regulation to all audio and audio-visual content on the internet, which has profound implications for not just social media, but virtually all websites, podcasting, online hosting and much more.”

The company said YouTube remains “concerned” about the “unintended consequences” of the bill.

“Until we see the final legislation, we cannot predict or comment on the breadth of impacts on YouTube and our users,” the spokesperson wrote.

Facebook gave a similarly vague response when asked directly if they’d consider an exit from the Canadian market -- but they did not rule it out.

“We haven't yet had a chance to fully review the changes,” a Facebook company spokesperson wrote in an emailed statement.

“We know that creating rules to govern speech online is complex and important work, and we look forward to being consulted as the government develops their plans."

Video: Music fans feeling mixed as Neil Young, other artists sell song rights

For Canadian musicians, though, the legislation is getting at an issue they say needs to be addressed.

“Global platforms like Spotify have been incredible for a lot of Canadian artists, and it's important to keep that playing field level,” said Andrew Cash, a former NDP MP who now serves as president and CEO of the Canadian Independent Music Association.

Video: Instagram unveils its new safety features

He added that many companies "are paying" the artists.

The issue at hand, rather, is about ensuring the same rules apply across all platforms, according to Cash. If the government hadn't removed the bill's section that exempted user-generated content, Cash said, social media companies would have been left out of the new rules.

"Fundamentally, what's happening here is that the rules that are going to apply to something like Spotify or Apple Music have to apply to YouTube as well. And that's the issue," Cash said.

He said he believes the legislation is "attempting to clarify" the grey areas of the music streaming world

“It’s never been super easy to make a living in the arts, for sure. But it's a lot harder when the playing field isn't even and the chips are stacked up against you … I think if the playing field evens out, you're going to see the market change. And our feeling is it is going to change for the better.”

He said he supports the legislation as it stands now, despite concerns being voiced by the social media companies.

“Music’s a great way to … get rich, but a lousy place to make a living,” Cash said.

“And I think C-10 has the potential to move us closer to a place where it's a better place to make a living.”

VINFAST 

Vietnam's answer to Tesla has U.S. in its electric sights

THIS POST FORDISM IS CAPITALIST PRODUCTION WITH AUTHORITARIAN CHARACTERISTICS

By James Pearson and Phuong Nguyen 

REUTERS 4/30/2021

5

© Reuters/THANH HUE A labourer works in VinFast's factory in Hai Phong City

HAIPHONG, Vietnam (Reuters) - Move over Tesla, how about a VinFast?

That's the proposition being offered by the automobile arm of Vietnam's largest conglomerate, Vingroup. It's betting big on the U.S. market with its VinFast line of cars and hoping that electric SUVs and a battery leasing model will be enough to woo consumers away from homegrown market leaders like Tesla and General Motors Co.

A recent arrival on the automotive scene and the No. 5 car brand in Vietnam, VinFast is not short on ambition, with its sights set on a U.S. listing and a valuation of as much as $60 billion, according to two sources familiar with its plans.


(GRAPHIC: VinFast fifth in terms of Vietnam sales in 2020 - https://graphics.reuters.com/VIETNAM-VINFAST/rlgvdzyjgvo/chart.png)

It will launch in North America and Europe in 2022, CEO Nguyen Thi Van Anh told Reuters, joining a crowded field of players seeking to compete with Elon Musk's Tesla, including a slew of loss-making upstarts fuelled by a Wall Street fundraising craze.

"We are going to North America - U.S., Canada - and Europe at the same time. In Europe, we're going to Germany, France and the Netherlands," Van Anh said in an interview at the company's sprawling factory complex near the northern port of Haiphong.

Standing behind VinFast is Vingroup, Vietnam's answer to a South Korean chaebol or catch-all conglomerate. Founded as an instant noodle business in post-Soviet Ukraine, the company's trajectory has mirrored that of Vietnam, one of Asia's fastest-growing economies, with interests spanning real estate, resorts, schools, hospitals and smartphones.

Even with such formidable local backing, VinFast has its work cut out as industry giants such as General Motors, Toyota and Volkswagen spend tens of billions of dollars to develop electric and driverless vehicles.

Founded in 2017 with a team led by former General Motors Co executives, the company is aiming to compete on vehicle size and price – pitching an electric SUV that Van Anh described as "more luxurious" than those currently on offer.

VinFast cars will also come with a battery leasing scheme that means the cost of the battery, one of the most expensive components of an electric car, will not be included in the final price.

"I'm going to give you a better product. I'm giving you an SUV. I'm giving you a more spacious car," said Van Anh, who will relocate next month from Hanoi to Los Angeles to head VinFast's U.S. operations.

According to a presentation prepared by the company for potential investors, VinFast cars will be cheaper compared to other electric-vehicle (EV) models.

A Tesla SUV sells for around $50,000, but Van Anh, who declined to discuss potential competitors, would not be drawn on how much a VinFast SUV would sell for. Two of the company's three electric models are destined for the United States, where the company is targeting annual sales of 45,000 cars, she said.

(GRAPHIC: Sales of battery electric vehicles in the U.S. market - https://graphics.reuters.com/VIETNAM-VINFAST/rlgvdzdojvo/chart.png)

AN EDGE OVER THE COMPETITION?

There is precedent for Asian carmakers cracking the U.S. market. Toyota in the 1970s and Hyundai in the 1980s overcame initial scepticism with products that eventually stole market share from U.S. manufacturers.

VinFast, which achieved annual sales of around 30,000 units last year in Vietnam and has yet to make a profit, faces an uphill battle.

"Their biggest challenge is convincing consumers that they have a solid product and a compelling value proposition," said Bill Russo, head of Shanghai-based consultancy Automobility Ltd and a former Chrysler executive.

"The product itself looks to have the right appearance and features, but this will only get you in the game. Winning requires a technology or business model edge over the competition."

(GRAPHIC: VinFast finances - https://graphics.reuters.com/VIETNAM-VINFAST/dgkvlyobmpb/chart.png)

The company is betting its battery leasing scheme – where customers would pay a monthly amount roughly equivalent to what the average consumer might spend on petrol – will win over U.S. customers.

When the battery, which uses cells from South Korea's Samsung SDI, is at 70% of its full lifespan, VinFast will replace it, Van Anh said.

A similar scheme has already been rolled out in China by Tencent-backed electric vehicle maker Nio, whose ES6 SUV has a starting price of around 358,000 yuan ($55,272).

No EV maker can compete with Tesla in the near future, according to Michael Dunne, chief executive of automotive consulting firm ZoZo Go, pointing to the U.S. company's across-the-board strengths.

"But the good news is that companies like VinFast do not have to beat Tesla to win. All they really need to do is convert a portion of the 65 million consumers who bought gasoline-powered cars in 2020 to switch over the electrics," said Dunne.

VinFast, whose manufacturing facility in Vietnam has the capacity to churn out 250,000 cars a year, is planning on conducting most of its U.S. sales online, removing the need for a costly dealership network. It has had 15,000 advance orders so far for its VF e34 electric car in Vietnam.

The company has hired Jeremy Snyder, a 10-year Tesla veteran, as its U.S. Chief Growth Officer.

Snyder told Reuters he was VinFast's first employee on the ground in the United States but, between full-time employees and consultants, the company now has around 100 people working there.

"It's very exciting to bring Vietnam and the United States closer through VinFast," he said.

TAPPING THE SPAC?

Vingroup's founder, Pham Nhat Vuong, Vietnam's richest man, has pledged to invest $2 billion of his own money into the car division and Vingroup has poured hundreds of millions of dollars into VinFast by issuing international bonds and selling off stakes in other units.

But expansion over the years has pushed up Vingroup's debt and losses at some of its ventures have squeezed its cashflow. To turbocharge its growth, VinFast will need more cash. The company is looking at tapping into a funding frenzy in the United States, where investors, including some of the world's biggest money managers, have poured billions into auto startups via blank-check companies known as special-purpose acquisition companies or SPACs.

Three sources with direct knowledge of the plans said VinFast was leaning towards a SPAC, although Van Anh declined to comment on when or how the company would generate funding in the United States.

Officials from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission will visit Vietnam soon to meet with Vingroup executives about its efforts to list, two separate sources said. If VinFast does list in the United States it will be the first Vietnamese company to do so. "When it happens, how it happens, whether by SPAC or by another method, we'll make the right decision at the same time," said Van Anh.

There are hundreds of SPACs searching for companies to take public and investors are desperate to identify the next Tesla, whose stratospheric market rally has made Musk one of the world's richest men.

Nio, which made a net loss last year of $860 million, has a market cap of around $67 billion, according to its New York stock listing and sold just under 44,000 cars last year, close to what VinFast is targeting in the United States.

A stream of EV-related startups notched up multi-billion dollar valuations last year despite not having products ready to sell but their shares have taken a knocking recently.

VinFast likes to distinguish itself from other EV startups.

"If you look at some of the SPAC deals that already happened, they do not really have what we currently have," said Van Anh.

"Even if we don't have a product in the world market, we have the products here."

($1 = 6.4771 Chinese yuan renminbi)

(Additional reporting by Khanh Vu in Hanoi, Kane Wu in Hong Kong and Norihiko Shirouzu in Shanghai; Editing by Carmel Crimmins)

NO WAY TO CELEBRATE MAY DAY
Port of Montreal to resume operations as legislation forces dock workers back to work

MONTREAL — Operations at the Port of Montreal were expected to resume gradually beginning Saturday after the Senate passed legislation forcing striking workers back on the job.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

The House of Commons approved the bill Thursday, and it was debated and approved by the Senate late Friday.

The Maritime Employers Association issued a brief statement Saturday saying activities at the port would gradually ramp up.

The Port of Montreal said resuming operations and reestablishing the normal flow of goods will take several days and clients waiting to import or export goods should expect delays.

"The process established by the legislation will lead to establishing a new collective agreement between the parties, with no possibility of work stoppages," the port authority said in a statement.

"While a prior settlement between the parties would have been preferable, the strategic character of port operations has led to a decision that highlights the need to resume this major economic activity."

About $275 million worth of goods moves through Port of Montreal docks each day, including food, pharmaceuticals and construction equipment.

Michel Murray of the Canadian Union of Public Employees local that represents the dockworkers has called the federal back-to-work legislation an attack on the workers' constitutional right to strike.

He told reporters at a May Day protest in Montreal on Saturday the union would take legal action and file complaints with the International Labour Organization.

A spokeswoman for the union confirmed that its members would be back on the job as of Sunday.

The new legislation stipulates that a mediator-arbitrator will be selected in the coming days and the most recent collective agreement will be extended until a new deal is established.

The 1,150 workers at the port have been without a contract since December 2018.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 1, 2021.

The Canadian Press

THE BEGINING OF THE STIMULUS

Americans' personal income shot up 21.1% in March, a record dating back to at least 1946

© Steven Senne, File via AP Passers-by examine a storefront window on Boston's Newbury Street shopping district. Personal income and spending both jumped in March. Steven Senne, File via AP

Personal income for Americans climbed by 21.1% in March, the Commerce Department said Friday.

It's the highest on record in data that goes all the way back to 1946; spending was up by 4.2%.

The income jump was supported by the $1.9 trillion stimulus signed into law by President Biden.

Income for American households in March surged by the largest amount ever, fueled by massive fiscal stimulus released by the US government to limit the economic damage from the COVID-19 health crisis.

Personal income soared by an estimated 21.1% last month, or by $4.21 trillion, the Bureau of Economic Analysis said Friday. The figure compares to a 20.3% increase expected in an Econoday survey of economists. The March figure marked a swing from February's income decline of 7%.

The monthly income leap was the biggest on record in data that goes back to 1946.

THE ORIGINAL GIG WORKER

"Incomes soared as a result of the stimulus payments made under the March relief bill," said Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, in a Friday note, referring to the $1.9 trillion stimulus package that President Joe Biden signed into law, which unleashed $1,400 checks to most Americans.

Income readings "will correct in both April and May, but income from employment will rise much more strongly over the next few months and, in any event, most of the payments have not yet been spent," wrote Shepherdson.

The Commerce Department's report also showed that spending, or personal consumption, leapt by 4.2% last month. "The jump in March spending ... was clearly signaled by the retail sales numbers," Shepherdson said.

Retail sales pushed higher by 9.8% in March to a record $619.1 billion, the Census Bureau said earlier this month.

Jason Furman, a Harvard economics professor and chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers to former President Barack Obama, wrote on Twitter about the unique nature of the report. He noted that the real disposable personal income shooting up 23% was a one-time bump attributable to stimulus checks, and that it normally takes about two years for real personal consumption expenditures to shoot up by 3.6%.

The White House commented that the report shows the importance of government support during the pandemic. It said the largest contribution to income during the pandemic came from government benefits, which were up over $300 billion over the month (almost $4 trillion at an annualized rate). Americans' saving rate of 28% was the second-highest on record, it noted, and much higher than the average pre-crisis saving rate of 7.5%.

Sen. Bernie Sanders wrote of the report on Twitter that "We are BEGINNING to create an economy that works for all. But more must be done," and called for an increase of the minimum wage, universal healthcare, lower prescription drug costs, student-debt forgiveness, and higher taxes on corporations and the wealthy.

First of its kind nuclear project about creating new energy solution in Canada

Canada's SMR (small modular reactor) Action Plan provides concrete steps to help achieve its 2030 climate reduction targets under the Paris Agreement, and overall goal of net-zero emissions by 2050 using nuclear energy to get there. Global First Power, a joint venture between USNC-Power and Ontario Power Generation (OPG) is well on its way to developing a commercial demonstration project, the first of its kind that will set the stage for future deployment of SMRs, said Ken Darlington, USNC-Power’s vice-president of corporate development.

The project, located at Chalk River, has been ongoing for a number of years and the 50-50 partnership was formed mid-2020. “This is not a pilot plan,” said Mr. Darlington. “It is really the design that is intended to be put into market.” The reactor can generate up to five megawatts (MW) of electricity so it is sized more for the remote and off-grid market such as mining projects and small communities. “Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL) has a program to site this SMR at Chalk River and we’re at the third stage of their four-stage process,” he said. “We’re the only company at the stage. All the others are still at stage one.”

Global First Power has signed a project hosting agreement with CNL and Atomic Energy Canada Limited (AECL) for the whole site of the project and is the only project in Canada right now with an actual site. “We’re also in the second stage of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission’s (CNSC) safety process on the licencing,” he added. “That is very high level.”

“This project is about taking an idea, putting a lot of work and a lot of money into it and taking this to hardware to prove itself,” said Mark Mitchell, president of USNC-Power. He is responsible for the development of the company’s technology. There are about a dozen families of technologies and about 140 advanced reactor designs, of which a dozen are currently being discussed in Canada.

“The technology we are deploying is not actually that new,” said Mr. Mitchell. “The first nuclear reactor technologies used gas cooling graphite moderated reactors and in fact, this is that type. The technology we are deploying is not actually that new. The specific type is a high temperature gas cooled reactor and the first of those were built in the late 1950s so our philosophy is not to try to use the most advanced technology but to try technology that is to some extent proven, that has a track record that we understand, and deploy in a slightly new way that makes use of its advantages.”

“There are a lot of real advantages to nuclear technology,” he added. “Specifically, the fuel has a high-energy density. It generates power for a long time (there’s very little waste). It’s in the micro reactor size range which is the 5 MW Ken was talking about. Our reactor is specifically designed for Canadian climates. We can put it down for about 20 years. We don’t have to refuel it. We don’t have to replace it.” After 20 years, the reactor can be shut down, cleaned up, decommissioned and taken away. “That’s the kind of idea behind the use of this technology.”

“The fact that there’s reactors of a similar type out there operating gives us something to refer to,” he said. There’s a track record that can be referred to. “There’s no free pass from the regulatory agencies, but at least there’s not a lot of unknown unknowns and that’s going to help us. The good thing is there’s no surprises and there’s people we can call and talk to.”

The Chalk River project is really helping the Canadian regulatory framework to evolve for this new generation of nuclear technology evolve because right now the licencing process is very much predicated on large scale older nuclear technology, said Mr. Darlington. “Part of what we’re doing at Chalk River is really working with CNSC in their preparations to adapt to this type of technology and the fact that we’re looking at multiple deployments in remote areas. It triggers a number of things they need to think about to facilitate projects and that’s one of the goals of Chalk River.”

The CANDU reactors currently in operation in Ontario, across Canada and globally are clearly safe and set the industry standard, Mr. Mitchell said. “They have a really good performance and Canada is one of the leading providers of reactors in the world. What new technologies give you is potentially improved safety but with much, much simpler systems and much less expense, as well as different ways of scaling and different ways of operating. That’s the opportunity in this. CANDU is a great technology but they’re pretty big. There’s a lot of Canada that’s not grid connected that can’t use a thousand megawatts of power so it’s not really a fair apples to apples comparisons to compare safeties. I think our approach and our technologies are all, in USNC-Power’s case, at achieving industry leading safety. That’s with industry leading economics and in a different way.”

One concern that has arisen about SMRs relates to their transportation. “It will be possible to fuel and transport the reactors but just because you can do it, should you do it is always the question, right?” asked Mr. Mitchell. “A reactor that hasn’t been used is essentially just a big pile of steel and materials. It’s not inherently risky. But again, it’s heavy and hard to transport, so we would probably not transport a whole reactor, not even if it’s technically possible. You can be assured of the safety of that.”

In terms of waste, packaging and transporting waste is something that’s technically quite achievable and done every day, he added. “We don’t think we’d change anything in terms of the industry and the trick with these micro reactors is the waste they generate is so small it’s almost vanishing, I’ll put it that way. In terms of numbers, I’ll say the generation of low level waste will be maybe a drum a year. That’s not a lot of waste. Over its lifetime that’s 20 drums. Can you safely store, transport and dispose of this type of material? Yes. Is it easier than larger volumes? Probably, yes.”

Part of planning for safety is mitigating how often you have to transport fuel or transport waste, added Mr. Darlington. “So our reactor design considers 20 years of fuel. Yes, transportation of fuel needs to happen but it’s not something that will happen every three or four years or even yearly so you don’t have an ongoing risk associated with fuel disposal.”

Engagement is part of their first priority at the Chalk River project, Mr. Darlington said. “We see the regulatory side, licencing in Canada as inevitable. The social licence is really where you need to invest that time. At Chalk River it started on day one. There’s multiple First Nations engaged in that process and there’s been various agreements reached with them. Our last community town hall featured 5,000 people. You can’t just walk in somewhere and say here’s a reactor off you go. It does need to start at an early stage and it requires trust and investing in those relations. It’s also about making First Nations and Indigenous peoples part of the process and offering them real opportunity beyond being a beneficiary of the project but potentially having economic benefits as well.”

“We’re not asking people to accept something based on trust,” added Mr. Mitchell. “We’re actively building an SMR in a very controlled environment. The laboratory at Chalk River is an excellent place for things like this. There’s good infrastructure that’s already had nuclear reactors there and a community that understands the technologies. I think that gives you a way of showing people, not just telling them.”

Nuclear energy and SMRs is an enormous opportunity for Canada, Mr. Darlington said. “The energy density of a nuclear energy reactor is phenomenal when you compare it to other types of energy. As an example, one 5 MW microreactor displaces 250 million litres of diesel fuel over its 20-year life. That represents 600,000 tonnes of C02 emissions averted. If you look at a mining operation that requires 20 MW and you have four units to meet that need, you’re displacing a billion litres of diesel fuel and you’re displacing the supply risk and potential carbon taxes. There are absolutely climate change advantages to SMRs. With 2030 targets and 2050 targets, the resources industry is positioning to start to make a real change. Timing is very important for us and for them to start showing that reduction in those emissions and it’s tangible.”

The goal is for the reactor to be operational by 2026, which aligns with CNL program to site an SMR by that date, said Mr. Darlington. “We optimistically think it could be sooner but that is the date that is currently scheduled and that we’re working towards for commissioning and start up and operations.”

Lori Thompson, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Manitoulin Expositor

ANOTHER DELAWARE RADICAL
Senator Tom Carper Proposes EPA Adopt Plan Ending Gas Vehicle Sales By 2035


Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.) is urging the U.S. to follow more progressive anti-pollution standards by aiming to end sales of new gasoline-powered vehicles by 2035.

Leigh Vogel/Getty Images Sen. Tom Carper (D-DE) questions Neera Tanden, nominee for Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), at her confirmation hearing before the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs committee on February 9, 2021 at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC. In a letter to the EPA, carper is proposing the administration aim to phase out gasoline-powered vehicles by 2035.

Carper, who chairs the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, sent a letter to the Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday saying the administration should follow the standards of a deal brokered between California and automakers to achieve Biden's plan of slashing America's greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030.

"Strong policies in the United States will encourage those investments to be made here," Carper wrote in the letter to EPA Administrator Michael Regan that was obtained by the Associated Press. He cited likely U.S. gains in "research and development, manufacturing and ultimately export opportunities in automotive technology."

Under Carper's proposal, the EPA would apply California's 2019 framework agreement on emissions standards reached between Ford, Volkswagen, Honda, BMW and Volvo. That deal would cut greenhouse gas emissions by 3.7 percent per year from 2022 through 2026, raise fuel economy requirements by a like amount and give automakers credits toward meeting the requirements for selling zero-emissions battery electric and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles.

Greta Thunberg Boldly Tells World Leaders On Climate Change: 'Choose Wisely'

After that, the administration would have to enact much stricter standards to meet Carper's goals. Half of all new vehicles sold would be electric by 2030 and sales of new gasoline-powered passenger vehicles would be banned by 2035.

"If the U.S. does not establish a robust policy that leads to zero-emission vehicle deployment, combined with appropriate incentives, we will be at risk of losing our automotive jobs and industry leadership to other nations, as well as enduring unnecessary public health impacts from pollution," Carper wrote.

For more reporting from the Associated Press, see below.

Carper noted that the industry is already moving in the direction of zero-emission electric vehicles and that it's critical to lay markers now to ensure that the U.S. positions itself as a top player in auto manufacturing over foreign competitors such as China.

Carper's push comes as the Biden administration takes steps to reverse former President Donald Trump's bid to end California's ability to set its own automobile tailpipe pollution standards. That move could pave the way for the U.S. to broker an industrywide deal that follows California's agreement, although reaching such an agreement faces challenges.

Most of the rest of the auto industry, for instance, opposed the California deal and sided with Trump in rolling back the standards to a 1.5% increase in fuel economy per year through 2026. In early talks with the Biden administration last month, a coalition of automakers said it wanted mileage standards lower than those brokered by California.

Biden has said he wants stronger standards to deal with the effects of climate change, and in his address to Congress on Wednesday he said the U.S. "can own the electric car market." His climate proposal, however, does not detail the greenhouse gas reductions that his administration envisions for each sector of the economy.

Biden's top climate adviser, Gina McCarthy, appeared to signal that deeper cuts in emissions would have to come from sectors other than the auto industry to reach the goals.

To increase sales of electric vehicles, the administration plans to spend $15 billion to build a half-million charging stations by 2030 as well as offer unspecified tax credits and rebates to cut the cost.

However, experts said it will be difficult to replace the 279 million passenger vehicles now on U.S. roads—most of which burn gasoline—with electric vehicles in less than 15 years. The average U.S. vehicle is now nearly 12 years old, so they stay on the roads longer than in the past. And without an immediate change, the number of gasoline-powered vehicles will continue to grow. IHS Markit predicts it will be 284 million by 2025.

Each year, automakers sell about 17 million new vehicles in the U.S., most of them running on gasoline. If every new vehicle sold were electric starting today, it would take more than 16 years to replace all of the gasoline vehicles.

© Orlin Wagner)/AP Photo In this Monday, April 5, 2021 file photo, a Tesla electric vehicle charges at a station in Topeka, Kan. With strong sales of its electric cars and SUVs, Tesla on Monday, April 26, 2021 posted its seventh-straight profitable quarter. Sen. Tom Carper is proposing to phase out gasoline-powered vehicles by 2035. Orlin Wagner)/AP Photo

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New book 'Empire of Pain' looks at the family behind OxyContin drug
Duration: 03:53 

Bestselling author and investigative journalist Patrick Radden Keefe discusses his new book Empire of Pain, which looks at the family behind the marketing and sale of OxyContin - a drug that helped create the opioid drug

BLM = RACE HATERED OF WHITE VOLK
Oklahoma state GOP lawmaker compares Black Lives Matter to KKK on House floor

Celine Castronuovo 

THE HLL 30/4/2021


An Oklahoma state Republican representative on Thursday garnered outrage from fellow lawmakers for comparing the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement to the Ku Klux Klan (KKK)

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© Getty Images Oklahoma state GOP lawmaker compares Black Lives Matter to KKK on House floor

The comment occurred during discussions regarding an Oklahoma House bill that would ban "critical race theory" at state college and universities as well as other designated topics on sex and race.

Rep. Justin Humphrey (R) said the KKK, the centuries-old white supremacist group, was "terrible."

"Everybody agrees on this floor that they have burned, that they have threatened, that they have destroyed, that's what they're famous for," he added.

Humphrey then asked the education bill's co-author, GOP state Rep. Kevin West if he would "agree that when people burn, threaten, kill, intimidate, that they are a terrorist group, and that Black Lives Matter meet that same description?"

The comment was met with audible gasps from some other lawmakers, before West responded, "I would agree."

Democratic state Rep. Emily Virgin then asked that lawmakers avoid using profane, obscene or indecent language on the House floor, prompting Humphrey to apologize for his word choice.

Local ABC affiliate KOCO-TV reported that a small group of protesters then went to Humphrey's office following the comments.

When reached for comment, Humphrey told The Hill that while he supports "every Black movement that" participates in "peaceful protests," he doubled down on his argument that "BLM is a terrorist group."

"There is no country that does more for civil rights than America," he added, though he noted that "there has been injustice done to the Black community."

Humphrey in his explanation for why he supported the education bill cited the famous quote from the late civil rights icon and leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who said he had a "dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."

"I think that's what we've lost," he told The Hill. "We're teaching race, we're teaching hatred toward race."

The House bill, first proposed in February, in part prohibits state colleges and universities from requiring sexual diversity training or counseling, and also bans school employees from teaching specified topics on race and sex, including that "one race or sex is inherently superior to another race or sex," and that an individual "by virtue of his or her race or sex, is inherently racist, sexist or oppressive."

The bill, which passed 69-19 on Thursday, was already passed by the Oklahoma Senate, and now heads to Gov. Kevin Stitt's (R) desk for approval.

Wind energy could generate 3.3 million jobs within five years, industry body claims

Anmar Frangoul CNBC 4/30/2021

Around the world, governments are laying out targets to cut emissions and increase renewable energy installations.

Any move away from fossil fuels will be a significant challenge requiring huge change.

© Provided by CNBC A rope access technician standing on the hub of a wind turbine.

The expansion of the wind energy industry could create 3.3 million jobs in the next five years, according to analysis from industry body the Global Wind Energy Council.

The projection includes direct roles in onshore and offshore wind as well as jobs across the sector's value chain. The latter comprises jobs in areas such as installation, manufacturing, project planning and development, operation and maintenance and decommissioning.

These roles would service an industry forecast to install an extra 470 gigawatts of onshore and offshore capacity between 2021 and 2025, the GWEC said.

The Brussels-based organization's outlook for jobs is based on what it described as "market growth data" from GWEC Market Intelligence and "global studies by the International Renewable Energy Agency … on job creation for onshore and offshore wind projects from 2017 and 2018."

Joyce Lee, the council's head of policy and projects, said Thursday the energy transition would "have to accelerate over the next decade to safeguard our chances of achieving carbon neutrality by mid-century."

"The good news is that the transition offers net employment and economic gains," Lee said. "Governments across the world can tap into the socioeconomic benefits by setting more ambitious renewable energy targets, streamlining permitting for wind projects, and building energy markets that account for the true costs of fossil fuels."

Around the world, governments are indeed laying out targets to cut emissions and increase renewable energy installations, with a number aiming to make wind energy a crucial tool in their pivot away from fossil fuels.

Last month, for instance, the U.S. said it wanted to expand its offshore wind capacity to 30 GW by 2030, a move the Biden administration hopes will generate thousands of jobs and unlock billions of dollars in investment in coming years.

Across the Atlantic, the U.K. wants its offshore wind capacity to hit 40 GW by 2030, while the European Union wants offshore installations to amount to at least 60 GW by the end of this decade and 300 GW by 2050.

Despite these targets, the reality on the ground shows that for many countries, any move away from fossil fuels will be a significant challenge requiring a huge amount of change.

In the U.S., for example, fossil fuels comfortably remained the biggest source of electricity generation in 2020, according to the Energy Information Administration.

Cancer rates much higher in medieval Britain than previously realized, study suggests

By Katie Hunt, CNN  30/4/2021

The earliest description of cancer is from an ancient Egyptian papyrus, and going back further, even dinosaurs suffered a form of the disease. But cancer long has been thought to have become a common disease only in the last two centuries or so.

© Cambridge Archaeological Unit/St John's College The remains of numerous individuals were unearthed on the site of the former Hospital of St. John the Evangelist in the city of Cambridge, UK. Skeletal remains were investigated as part of the study.

This is, in part, down to longer life expectancies, habits like smoking, and exposure to tumor-inducing chemicals post-industrial revolution.

However, new research published in the journal Cancer on medieval skeletons has suggested that cancer was more widespread than previously realized -- although still less common than today.

In the first study of its kind, researchers from the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom analyzed 143 skeletons from six cemeteries from the Cambridge area that were dated to between the sixth and 16th centuries. To detect malignant lesions, the team focused on three areas most likely to contain secondary malignant growth in people with cancer -- the spinal column, pelvis and thigh bone.

The scientists visually inspected the bones and used radiographs and computed tomography scans. The team found that 3.5% of the individuals showed evidence of metastatic cancer -- that is, when the malignant tumor spreads to a different part of the body from where it started.

"The majority of cancers form in soft tissue organs long since degraded in medieval remains. Only some cancer spreads to bone, and of these only a few are visible on its surface, so we searched within the bone for signs of malignancy," said Piers Mitchell, a senior research associate and director of the Ancient Parasites Laboratory at the University of Cambridge's department of archaeology, in a news statement.

Taking into account data on modern populations that shows CT scans detect bone metastases around 75% of the time and the proportion of cancer deaths that involve spread to the bone, the researchers estimated that 9% to 14% of medieval Britons developed cancer.

"Modern research shows a third to a half of people with soft tissue cancers will find the tumor spreads to their bones. We combined this data with evidence of bone metastasis from our study to estimate cancer rates for medieval Britain," explained Mitchell, the study's lead author.

Major affliction

Prior research into cancer rates using the archaeological record has been limited to examining the surface of the bone for lesions. These past studies suggested that cancer was rare, affecting less than 1% of the population, the study said.

"Until now it was thought that the most significant causes of ill health in medieval people were infectious diseases such as dysentery and bubonic plague, along with malnutrition and injuries due to accidents or warfare," said coauthor Jenna Dittmar, who was an associate researcher at the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research at the University of Cambridge while undertaking the study analysis.

"We now have to add cancer as one of the major classes of disease that afflicted medieval people," Dittmar said in the statement.

Even with this higher estimate, cancer was still much less widespread in medieval times than in modern Britain, where there is a 40% to 50% prevalence of cancer at time of death, the study said.

Unanswered question

One key question that remains unanswered, the study said, is to what extent the effects of tobacco smoking and the toxins and pollutants from industrialization have had on the risk of developing cancer.

"The best way we have to answer this question would be to study data from before the Industrial Revolution of the 1700s and 1800s and before tobacco became available in Britain following the transatlantic settlement of the Americas by Europeans in the 1500s," the study said.

The researchers said the study did have limitations. Diagnosing cancer in those lain dead for many centuries is challenging -- skeletons can't describe their symptoms or have blood tests. Plus, other diseases during life can cause changes in bones that may mimic the lesions made by metastases, and decomposition can also affect the bone after death.

Also, the sample size was limited by the number of available skeletons with good preservation of the spine, pelvis and thigh bone, which leads to a larger margin of error.

"We need further studies using CT scanning of apparently normal skeletons in different regions and time periods to see how common cancer was in key civilizations of the past," Mitchell said

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© Jenna Dittmar A human vertebra dating back to medieval times shows evidence of cancer