It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Friday, March 04, 2022
MLBPA starts $1M fund for workers impacted by lockout; MLB follows suit
March 4 (UPI) -- The Major League Baseball Players Association is creating a $1 million fund to aid workers impacted by canceled games as a result of the ongoing lockout.
In addition, ESPN reported that MLB also will be setting up a fund for impacted workers. Details of MLB's fund have yet to be announced.
The MLBPA said in a statement Friday that the fund will be administered by the union and the AFL-CIO. The money will be distributed to stadium workers and others who are facing financial hardships caused by baseball's current labor dispute, which was in its 93rd day.
"Many aren't seen or heard, but they are vital to the entertainment experience of our games," union executive board members Max Scherzer and Andrew Miller said in a statement. "Unfortunately, they will also be among those affected by the owner-imposed lockout and the cancellation of games. Through this fund, we want to let them know that they have our support."
Spring training games failed to begin as scheduled on Feb. 26 due to MLB's work stoppage. Earlier this week, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred canceled the first two series for each club in the regular season, which was supposed to start March 31.
The Players Association listed broadcast and concession crews, security, ushers, electricians, transportation and janitors as among those needed for MLB games.
Former Amtrak engineer found not guilty for deadly Philadelphia train crash By Adam Schrader Workers surround the car of an Amtrak train that crashed on May 13, 2015, in Philadelphia. Amtrak engineer Brandon Bostian, 38, was acquitted of criminal charges Friday. File Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo
March 4 (UPI) -- A former Amtrak engineer who was operating a train when it derailed, killing eight people and injuring more than 200 others, was found not guilty of various charges Friday after the jury deliberated for fewer than 90 minutes.
Brandon Bostian, 38, was the sole engineer operating an Amtrak train headed to New York City in May 2015 when he accelerated into a curve at Frankford Junction, reaching speeds up to 106 mph before the train derailed, prosecutors said during the trial, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.
However, his attorneys said Bostian, who was required to know the route by memory, was distracted by radio reports of people throwing rocks at nearby trains.
Bostian, who had rejected a plea deal before his acquittal, had faced a sentence of up to life in prison if he had been found guilty on charges including involuntary manslaughter, causing a catastrophe, and 238 counts of reckless endangerment, according to KYW-TV.
Brian McMonagle, an attorney for Bostian, told reporters at the courthouse that his client now "gets a chance to take a deep breath" and live his life after his nearly seven-year legal battle.
Bostian was not charged initially after the crash, and the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office recused itself from the case when a judge ordered prosecutors to file charges against him. The case was prosecuted by the office of the state attorney general.
"We've said from the beginning this was a terrible accident," McMonagle said. "A couple hundred people were forever changed by it and a good man has been living the ordeal of being asked to pay for a crime he didn't commit."
Amtrak settled a lawsuit related to the crash for $265 million in 2016, years before Bostian's trial.
New stegosaurus dinosaur species is oldest discovered in Asia
By Doug Cunningham 3 / 3An armor plated Stegosaurus from the Jurassic period moves past Huxley the Paleontologist played by Jonathan Bliss during the 90-minute Walking with Dinosaurs - The Live Experience show at GM Place in Vancouver, British Columbia, January 31, 2008. File Photo by Heinz Ruckemann/UPI | License
March 4 (UPI) -- A new species of stegosaur -- Bashanosaurus primitivus -- is the oldest ever found in Asia, according to research published Thursday.
The peer-reviewed research published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology said this new species is the one of the oldest discovered anywhere on Earth.
Bones of this stegosaur were discovered by a team from the Chongqing Bureau of Geological and Mineral Resource Exploration and Development in China and London's Natural History Museum.
Bones from the back, shoulder, thigh, feet and ribs were found along with some armor plates.
The Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology article concluded that, "Bashanosaurus primitivus is the earliest record of Stegosauria in Asia and represents one of the earliest records of this clade from anywhere in the world. Geochronological data and analysis support a Middle Jurassic (Bajocian) age for the Shaximiao Formation in the vicinity of Pu'an Township, China."
Bashanosaurus primitivus was on Earth approximately 168 million years ago in the Middle Jurasic period, according to the research.
The bones discovered revealed a smaller, less developed should blade. The armor plate bases were narrower and thicker compared with all other Middle Jurassic stegosaurs discovered so far.
Dr. Dai Hui of the Chongqing Bureau of Geological and Mineral Resource Exploration and Development was lead researcher on the discovery.
"All these features are clues to the stegosaurs' place on the dinosaur family tree," Dr. Dai Hui told Phys.org, "Bashanosaurus can be distinguished from other Middle Jurassic stegosaurs, and clearly represents a new species."
The remains discovered indicated a small dinosaur.
"Based on the hindlimb size of Bashanosaurus primitivus, we estimate its total length is about 2.8 m," the research article said, "it is possible that this small size indicates that the holotype may be a subadult, an inference supported by a lack of fusion between the scapula and coracoid and the tibia and fibula; fusion between these elements is seen in adults of Stegosaurus but not in juveniles."
EV market facing tougher uphill from battery costs than vital mineral shortage
Rachel Koning Beals -
Securing key minerals that help with the battery power in electric vehicles, as well as overall strength in the battery market, were key points of interest as one of the most widely followed updates on sustainable-energy markets was released Thursday.
BloombergNEF (BNEF) and the Business Council for Sustainable Energy (BCSE) released their 2022 Sustainable Energy in America Factbook. The data-heavy and comprehensive look at sustainable markets from EVs to energy efficiency, natural gas electricity, wind and solar is regularly referenced by key decision makers in these markets.
Top of mind as volatile stock markets supply-chain issues, the COVID-19 recovery and geopolitically driven energy price swings percolate was stability for EVs. Some of these factors have picked up in 2022, beyond the scope of the 2021 recap.
The panel presenting the report Thursday was asked if demand for EVs and their batteries will far outrun the resources going into production.
According to BloombergNEF’s Head of Americas Ethan Zindler the issue is under watch, but is not yet worrisome.
EV markets remain a small share of overall auto purchases but are only headed higher, including as more makes bring cars, SUVs and pickup trucks online. Market tracker LMC Automotive expects EVs to make up 34.2% of new U.S. vehicle sales by 2030, well above today’s roughly 4%.
Lithium, cobalt and nickel are key minerals used to make the lithium-ion batteries used in EVs and the pandemic and shipping delays has hurt the mining and transporting of these necessities.
“There are definitely some questions around that going forward and a lot of efforts under way to invest in making more critical minerals available in more parts of the world than currently is the case, but we don’t see that as an immediate problem,” BloombergNEF’s Zindler said.
“I think maybe a little bit more immediate might be higher prices for batteries,” he said.
But Zindler said those prices might be absorbed in part because the surging price of gasoline is making the economic trade-off for consumers between EV and conventional cars easier.
GasBuddy analyst Patrick DeHaan has said that the current high prices could continue to climb as high as $4 a gallon, excluding taxes.
A note from Rystad Energy Thursday said that as the energy transition quickens and countries and consumers strive to decarbonize, global battery demand could surge exponentially and approach nine terawatt-hours (TWh) annually by 2030, 15 times the levels seen in 2021.
Rystad Energy research shows that although global battery demand in 2021 stood at 580 gigawatt-hours (GWh), more than double 2020’s total, global supply was still able to keep up. However, that is set to change in the coming years as the appetite for battery technologies in passenger vehicles and stationary storage grows significantly, straining the supply chain, the market-watchers said in a report.
In a broader look at what’s ahead for sustainable energy, the BloombergNEF report said despite the COVID-19 pandemic, 2021 was a record-breaking year for investment in the energy transition and the deployment of renewable power battery storage and sustainable transportation
Global private investment in the energy transition soared in 2021 to $755 billion with the U.S. setting a record of $105 billion.
This growth was fueled by strong consumer demand, unprecedented injection of new capital into companies, technologies, and projects, and a wave of supportive new policies.
“The conclusions drawn from the data not only point to the current momentum of the clean energy transition, but also underscore the need for additional public policy support that accelerates the speed and scale of the deployment of clean energy and energy efficiency solutions,” said Frank Maisano, senior principal, with a focus on energy markets, at the Washington-based Policy Resolution Group.
Also released Thursday, the Energy Information Administration issued its annual outlook. The report says U.S. energy consumption will increase over the next 30 years as population and economic growth outpace gains in energy efficiency.
EIA projects that renewable energy will be the fastest-growing source of energy through 2050, but oil and liquid fuels will remain the most-consumed source of energy.
Rod O’Connor, chief commercialization & engagement officer with the American Clean Power Association said growth in offshore wind power has been the market to watch. A record bidding has just wrapped on a new East Coast project. President Joe Biden has set a goal to install 30 gigawatts of offshore wind power by 2030, generating enough electricity to power more than 10 million homes.
According to BloombergNEF, relative energy costs of U.S. households remained historically low in 2021, even as consumers faced price increases due to supply chain disruptions and inflation.
But with 2022 came additional strains on energy and electricity, in large part as a Russian invasion of Ukraine roiled energy markets.
The Biden administration has been treading carefully around oil and gas issues as fuel prices — particularly at the gasoline pump — shoot higher and inflation hits several pockets of the economy simultaneously. This week’s State of the Union address focused on helping households, while Republicans stepped up their calls for more U.S. drilling to cut reliance on Russia and other global giants that may pose security risks.
Bernie Sanders hammers top GOP senator for pitching a Republican agenda that could imperil Social Security and Medicare
Joseph Zeballos-Roig,Brent D. Griffiths Fri, March 4, 2022 Sen. Bernie Sanders, independent from Vermont, and Sen. Rick Scott, a Republican from Florida.
Alex Brandon/AP;Susan Walsh/AP Sanders criticized a prominent GOP senator for unveiling an agenda with tax hikes.
He wrote on Twitter: " Oh, yeah. They sure LOVE working people. No doubt."
Sen. Rick Scott doubled down on his plan, escalating a feud with Mitch McConnell. Sen. Bernie Sanders hammered a top Republican senator on Friday for unveiling an agenda that would hike taxes on millions of Americans and potentially jeopardize Social Security and Medicare.
He mocked Republicans after Sen. Rick Scott of Florida unilaterally unveiled a GOP agenda that Democrats are seizing on to cast Republicans as out-of-touch with American families. It contained a proposal that would compel every American to pay some income tax, as well as a plan that would require Congress to reauthorize programs like Social Security and Medicare every five years.
"The GOP claims to be the party of the working class," the Vermont independent wrote on Twitter. "Yet, the head of the GOP campaign arm released a plan to raise taxes on half of Americans while imposing massive cuts to Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and education." He went on: "Oh, yeah. They sure LOVE working people. No doubt."
As the head of the GOP's Senate campaign arm, Scott is responsible for helping craft his party's midterm message as it tries to retake the majority. He is also widely viewed as harboring future presidential aspirations, which loom over the release and reaction to his 11-point plan.
"Bernie Sanders only knows how to do three things: lose Presidential elections, spend other people's money, and lie," Chris Hartline, a spokesperson for Scott, said in a statement to Insider.
He added Scott "looks forward" to hearing why Democrats are against his sprawling set of plans to reform the tax code, keep federal spending in check, mandate voter ID, shore up funding for law enforcement, and other conservative priorities.
"I'll be the majority leader, I'll decide in consultation with my members what to put on the floor," McConnell told reporters, after Scott, who was previously standing behind him, walked away. "And let me tell you what would not be part of our agenda. We will not have as part of our agenda a bill that raises taxes on half the American people, and sunsets Social Security and Medicare within five years."
Another plank of the Scott agenda would require Congress to reauthorize every federal law after five years, a step that could imperil Social Security and Medicare should a future Congress choose not to renew the programs. But McConnell's efforts to distance the party from the Scott agenda hasn't dissuaded Democrats from taking aim at Scott and Republicans writ large.
"This is just wrong, especially at a time when American families are looking for our help in lowering costs," Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said earlier this week.
Scott also doubled down on his measure to compel every American to pay some amount in income tax, arguing the poorest families are helping to "bankrupt" the US.
"Part of the deception is achieved by disconnecting so many Americans from taxation. It's a genius political move," he wrote in the op-ed. "And it is bankrupting us."
The Tax Policy Center modeled a hypothetical version of Scott's tax plan with a $100 minimum tax. Middle and low-income families would bear the brunt of the tax increases, the organization said.
Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez call for an investigation into Amazon's absence policy for workers
Isobel Asher Hamilton
(Left to right) Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.Lou Rocco/ABC via Getty ImagesEC/Joe Raedle/Getty Images/Win McNamee/Getty Images
Six Democrat lawmakers wrote to the Department of Labor and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
They asked for the DOL and EEOC to investigate whether Amazon's absence policy breaks federal laws.
The lawmakers said Amazon's policy penalizes workers for emergency time-off.
A group of Democrat lawmakers are calling on the Department of Labor and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to investigate Amazon's absence policy for workers, which the believe could be illegally penalizing workers.
Senators Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, and Richard Blumenthal as well as Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Cory Booker, and Cori Bush sent a letter to the DOL and EEOC Thursday.
In the letter, the lawmakers say they believe Amazon's absence policies could be in violation of the Family and Medical Leave Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act.
"Amazon's Attendance Points Policy punishes workers for missing work unexpectedly, regardless of the reason," the lawmakers wrote.
They cite a January report from legal advocacy nonprofit A Better Balance. In the report, A Better Balance included a screenshot of Amazon's policy on absences, which said the policy had taken effect on October 24, 2021.
The policy gives two examples of how workers can be penalized. The first is "Absence Submission Infractions," which workers accrue if they don't notify their warehouse of an absence more than two hours before their shift starts.
"Amazon will review your employment for termination if you get 3 ASIs in a rolling 60-day period," the policy states.
Workers can also accrue "attendance points," which they get for absences "not covered by leave of absence of an approved time-off option." According to the policy published by A Better Balance, eight absence points will result in Amazon reviewing a worker's employment.
The Democrat lawmakers said these policies don't take into account emergency time off, which is protected under federal law.
"For example, if a worker's child had a severe asthma attack the night before a shift, and the worker took the child to the emergency room, then, under the FMLA, Amazon cannot require the worker to leave the child to report the absence while the child is receiving emergency treatment," the letter states.
"Amazon's policy, however, appears to punish this legally-protected right if it results in delayed notice of an absence," it adds.
The letter also accused Amazon of failing to inform workers of their rights, "keeping workers in the dark about the existing protections to which they are entitled, and intimidating them from exercising these rights by threats of termination."
Amazon did not immediately reply when contacted by Insider for comment.
The DOL and EEOC did not immediately respond when contacted by Insider outside of normal US working hours.
Sens. Sanders and Warren urge investigation into Amazon's 'no-fault' attendance policy Workers push hand trucks on the incoming goods floor during operations at Amazon's Robbinsville fulfillment center in Robbinsville, New Jersey, U.S., November 29, 2021. Picture taken November 29, 2021. REUTERS/Mike Segar (Mike Segar / reuters)
Amrita Khalid ·Contributing Writer Thu, March 3, 2022
A group of Democratic lawmakers led by Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Bernie Sanders (I-VT) want regulators to take a closer look at Amazon’s points-based attendance policy, which they believe may be punishing workers for taking legally protected time off. First reported by Vice, the letter to the Department of Labor and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission focuses on Amazon’s “no-fault” approach to absences, which adds points every time an employee misses work without giving advance notice, regardless of the reason. If workers reach a certain number of points, they are automatically reviewed for termination.
Under the company’s attendance policy, an employee whose child has suddenly fallen ill or who suffers a medical emergency would still be penalized. Employees who don’t report absences at least 16 hours before the start of shift receive two points on their record. If they give notice less than two hours before a shift, they receive two points and an “absence submission infraction”. If workers receive three absence submission infractions and eight attendance points, Amazon will consider firing them.
Lawmakers believe that Amazon’s attendance policy could violate current laws that allow workers to take sick, family, medical and pregnancy leave. For example, the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) guarantees eligible workers unpaid leave for a variety of circumstances, including pregnancy or the need to take care of a sick family member.
“We field numerous calls from Amazon employees; while many workers know about Amazon’s punitive attendance policies, they describe never receiving information about the federal, state, and local laws that entitle them to legally protected time off—much less understanding how such laws apply in practice in their own lives,” noted labor rights group Better Balance in a letter to Congress.
Other companies with "no-fault" attendance policies have run into legal troubles in the past. Back in 2011, Verizon was ordered to pay $20 million after the EEOC found that the company's no-fault attendance policy made no exceptions for disabled workers.
Many warehouse workers have complained that Amazon neglected to inform them of their rights under FMLA or disability laws. The company has had a poor track record with how it treats workers at its many warehouses and fulfillment centers. A number of warehouses, in response to poor working conditions at the e-commerce giant, are currently pushing to unionize.
Correction: An earlier version of this story stated that workers don't have to give advance notice under FMLA. In fact, this only applies to unforeseeable circumstances. For non-emergency events, workers are asked to provide at least 30 days notice.
The many ways in which sanctions are squeezing the Russian middle class March 4, 2022
For Russians, the collapse of the Soviet Union granted entry into the world of consumer capitalism, and over the past three decades, the middle class has grown increasingly accustomed to the products and services of the West.
The US and European sanctions on Russia, over its invasion of Ukraine, will hinder the ability of Russian oligarchs to conduct business as usual. Higher prices, caused by a crashing ruble and the prospect of inflation, will hurt the poor; even before the invasion, the West’s prior sanctions on Russia, over its annexation of the Crimea, had already raised poverty levels in the country.
The middle class, though, is feeling a slow, certain squeeze: a gradual severance from the Western brands and products they’ve come to rely on. “The older generation tells me that they lived through the 1990s, and that they know how to deal with these situations,” said Anna, a researcher for a design firm in St Petersburg, who asked only to be quoted by her first name. “But we, the younger generation—we’re in shock.”
Russian sanctions are resulting in bank runs
Sanctions on Russian banks—particularly Sberbank, into which 60% of Russians’ wages are paid—are triggering panic about the safety of deposits. Anna said her mother spent half an hour in a queue at an ATM, and even that was relatively brief. “I was in a supermarket where there was an ATM, and the line for that went all over the supermarket,” Anna said. Her own bank card, issued by the as-yet-unsanctioned Tinkoff Bank, still works.
But systems connected to sanctioned banks, such as Apple Pay, Visa, and Mastercard, have been suspended, making it harder to pay for services online. Other online services, such as Spotify and Airbnb, have also stopped operations.
The list of manufacturers that have paused sales or exports to Russia is long, and growing: Nike, Boeing, Dell, Harley-Davidson, Honda, Swatch, H&M, Volkswagen, Apple, Disney, and more. Between that, the crashing ruble, and the halt of several shipping services, Russians are also stocking up on products before they are priced out of reach or simply vanish from shelves.
Anna’s mother bought supplies of her heart-disease medication, imported from Germany. Others are purchasing luxury goods, appliances, and electronics—possibly as a hedge, the economic historian Adam Tooze wrote, in case they can be resold if the ruble crashes further. “My friends are all buying iPhone chargers,” Anna said. Official Russian resellers of smartphones and laptops are running low on their products or declaring they’re unable to sell them, said Alex Suvalko, who stopped to inquire about an iPhone at several shops in Moscow over this past week.
On Wednesday (Mar. 2), Suvalko, a cultural studies scholar at a Moscow university, went to an IKEA to buy a refrigerator and other supplies for his new apartment, only to find that it had been cleaned out by shoppers. “I had to drive to an IKEA in Nizhny Novgorod, which is about 450 km away, to buy these things,” Suvalko said on Wednesday (Mar. 2). He was lucky; the next day, IKEA announced that it was closing its stores and factories in Russia.
Sanctions are hurting small Russian businesses and investors
When the sanctions hit big Russian firms, their market value tanked. Alex Grand, a talent management consultant for several Moscow companies, told Quartz that around 30% of the value of bank and oil stocks in his portfolio has evaporated. He’d anticipated this, though, he said. In preparation, he had invested in foreign currencies, which have appreciated as the ruble has fallen.
The uncertainty of the financial future is spooking businesses that rely on imports. A mid-level employee at a wine importer in St Petersburg says they used to receive overseas shipments daily before the war.
“On average, wine prices have already gone up 30-60%,” he said, asking to be quoted anonymously because he isn’t authorized to speak to reporters. “With some wines, 100%.” Retailers who had already bought bottles from the importer on credit before last week, at the dollar-ruble rate prevailing them, now have to figure out how much to mark up the bottles in accordance with the new exchange rate, he said.
And if they can at all, people want to leave, Anna said. “I have colleagues who want to move to Georgia or Armenia,” she said. “Because otherwise we’re sitting here waiting for the internet to be cut off, for borders to be closed, and then we’ll become like North Korea. The world considers us its enemy, but our own state also considers us its enemy. Everything is broken, and we don’t know what the future is.”
U.S. warns Moscow, Minsk against deploying nuclear arms in Belarus
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov addresses the Conference on Disarmament, in Geneva
Thu, March 3, 2022 By Emma Farge
GENEVA (Reuters) - The United States warned Russia and Belarus at a U.N. arms control meeting on Thursday not to deploy nuclear arms in Moscow's neighbouring ally following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
"Any movement of Russian nuclear weapons into Belarus would be dangerously provocative and further destabilize the region. We call on Belarus to reject Russia's policies of nuclear threat and intimidation," U.S. envoy Aud-Frances McKernan told the Conference on Disarmament (CD) in remarks provided by the U.S. mission.
Her comments come as the Geneva-based CD debated Russia's invasion after Kyiv accused Moscow at the forum of "violating all key disarmament treaties".
A referendum in Belarus on Sunday approved a new constitution ditching the country's non-nuclear status at a time when the former Soviet republic has become a launch pad for Russia's military operation, Russian news agencies said.
The new constitution could see nuclear weapons on Belarusian soil for the first time since the country gave them up after the 1991 break-up of the Soviet Union.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba had said this week that Russian shelling during its offensive amounted to war crimes.
Russia calls its actions in Ukraine a "special military operation" that it says is not designed to occupy territory but to destroy its southern neighbour's military capabilities and capture what it regards as dangerous nationalists.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told the CD meeting earlier this week that Kyiv had been seeking to acquire nuclear arms, saying Moscow needed to prevent that.
International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi told reporters in Vienna on Wednesday that the U.N. nuclear watchdog had no evidence to support Lavrov's allegation.
"For us it is very clear. We do not have any information that would question the non-proliferation credentials of Ukraine," Grossi said when asked about Lavrov's comment.
"It's important to say...that we continue our (nuclear) safeguards operation and we don't have information that there's any deviation of material, any undeclared material or activities leading to the development of nuclear weapons."
Some delegates saw the Ukraine crisis as an opportunity to revitalise the Conference on Disarmament, which has an ambitious formal mandate to negotiate weapons cuts but has not struck a deal since the 1996 Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.
However, experts said there was little hope of a concrete outcome on the allegations of Ukraine and other members against Russia since the 65-member forum must decide by consensus.
(Additional reporting by Stephanie Nebehay in Geneva and Francois Murphy in Vienna; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
S. Korean conservatives unify as 1 leaves presidential race South Korea's presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung of the ruling Democratic Party poses for a photo before a televised debate for the upcoming March 9 presidential election at KBS studio in Seoul on Wednesday, March 2, 2022.
(Jung Yeon-je/Pool Photo via AP)
HYUNG-JIN KIM Wed, March 2, 2022
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Two leading conservatives in South Korea’s presidential race unified behind one of them Thursday in a last-minute political deal that could boost their chances of victory in next week’s election. In a hastily arranged joint news conference, Ahn Cheol-soo, who ran a distant third in recent opinion surveys, said he would withdraw to support Yoon Suk Yeol, the more popular conservative contender who remains in a tight race with ruling liberal party candidate Lee Jae-myung.
Ahn said he and Yoon agreed to merge their political parties and form a coalition government if Yoon wins the election next Wednesday.
“I have no doubts at all that a complete shift in power would be realized through our announcement on a single candidate today,” Ahn said. “We are one team.”
Yoon said that he’ll surely win the election and launch a successful coalition government with Ahn.
Recent opinion surveys showed Yoon running as a unity candidate leading Lee by a few percentage points or running neck-and-neck.
Lee didn’t directly comment on the deal and said later Thursday he would trust the people and keep pushing to find ways to revive the economy and promote peace on the Korean Peninsula. His top campaign manager, Woo Sang-ho, separately called the conservatives' deal a political ruse to share power that he said would be judged by voters.
The victor in next week’s vote takes office in May for a single five-year term to succeed current liberal President Moon Jae-in, who by law cannot seek reelection.
Moon became president after winning a special byelection in 2017 following the disgraceful exit of his conservative predecessor Park Geun-hye over a huge corruption scandal. Moon’s party has since scored a series of victories in parliament and mayoral elections, as conservative were in disarray.
The election comes as South Korea grapples with challenges such as economic woes, surging COVID-19 outbreaks, an intensifying U.S.-China rivalry and growing North Korean nuclear threats.
Conservatives have accused the Moon government of aggravating an internal divide and undermining national security and the alliance with the United States by tilting toward North Korea and China. During Thursday’s conference, Ahn said he and Yoon’s coalition government would promote national unity, push for reforms and focus on supporting small business owners and others hit the hardest by the pandemic.
CALIFORNIA
Environmentalists hail another county move to tighten control over oil drilling
Cheri Carlson and Kathleen Wilson,
Ventura County Star Fri, March 4, 2022
Environmental groups are hailing a recent decision to shorten a permit for oil drilling near the Sespe Wilderness as a precedent-setting shift toward drawing down oil and gas production.
The Ventura County Planning Commission voted to halve the duration of Carbon California’s permit renewal from 20 to 10 years and set limits on re-drilling wells. The company has one active well and two idle ones on the site.
The Feb. 17 hearing came after three groups – Los Padres ForestWatch, Keep Sespe Wild, and Climate First: Replacing Oil & Gas – appealed the county planning director's renewal of the permit last year. The groups cited problems with the environmental review, inadequate surety bonds and other issues.
Jeff Kuyper, executive director of Los Padres ForestWatch, called the decision precedent-setting and “a good first step” toward winding down oil production.
“We were pleased to see the planning commission recommend several changes to the project that really signal a shift from business as usual,” he said.
A county planning manager, though, did not consider the decision a milestone.
“We were absolutely fine with the outcome,” said Mindy Fogg, who handles oil and gas permits at the county Planning Division. “It is not a blanket change in our minds.”
Carbon originally asked for a 30-year extension, she said, but planners recommended 20 because it is considered the norm.
Jane Farkas, Carbon's vice president of land and regulatory affairs, called the commission’s vote a “win-win,” with the company getting the permit extended and the time period cut to 10 years as the environmental groups wanted.
The Sespe oilfield, which dates back to the late 1800s, is a checkerboard of federal and private land in the steep mountains above Fillmore.
The county, which regulates leases on private land, has authorized 21 conditional-use permits covering around 200 wells, Kuyper said. More than half of them are decades old and generally have no expiration dates or caps on the number of wells that can be drilled.
Known as "antiquated" permits, the county granted them in oil-rich unincorporated areas from the late 1940s to the mid-1960s. That made the Carbon California permit renewal relatively rare – the first in the Sespe oilfield to get updated in 25 years, Kuyper said.
“These opportunities don’t come around that often,” he said.
The county first approved a permit for Carbon's wells on the site in 1968 and the latest extension expired in 2018.
The environmental groups urged the commission to require a more extensive environmental review before considering another extension and, if the renewal is granted, to limit the permit to 10 years.
During the hearing, commissioners said the 10-year timeframe made sense.
"Some of the points that were made during this hearing and in the documents that we've read are very compelling,” Commissioner Nora Aidukas said.
The 4-0 vote also limited re-drilling, added restoration requirements for an unused portion of the site and refunded a $1,000 appeal fee to the environmental groups. Commissioner Jim King was absent.
Though the groups had hoped for "a more robust environmental study,” Kuyper said the commission's decision “certainly signaled a willingness to look more carefully at these issues and scrutinize the future of oil drilling in the county.”
The commission’s vote aligns with other recent county steps to toughen oversight of the oil industry, moves that have sparked a volley of lawsuits and a voter referendum.
The county Board of Supervisors narrowly adopted a new general plan in September 2020 with buffer zones between new wells and homes tripling from 500 to 1,500 feet.
Two months later, the board updated standards for reviewing project requests under the antiquated permits. But that change has yet to take effect. Opponents mounted a successful petition drive to put the issue on the June 7 primary ballot.
The board has also directed planners to draft land-use changes that would require more frequent review of permits and higher financial assurances from permit holders.
The proposed changes, originally due last November, are not expected to arrive until this fall. Resource Management Director Kim Prillhart attributed the delay to the complexity of the work and pandemic-related staff shortages.
Cheri Carlson covers the environment for the Ventura County Star. Reach her at cheri.carlson@vcstar.com or 805-437-0260.
Kathleen Wilson covers the Ventura County government, including the county health system, politics and social services. Reach her at kathleen.wilson@vcstar.com or 805-437-0271.
