U.S. wind and solar energy hit a key benchmark last month: Report

Ben Adler
Senior Editor

Yahoo News
Tue, May 10, 2022,

The United States electricity sector reached an important milestone in April, when wind and solar energy accounted for 20% of electricity generation for the first time in history, according to the London-based global energy think tank Ember.

The 20% figure is noteworthy because the International Energy Agency calculates that to avert catastrophic climate change, wind and solar energy need to reach one-fifth of global energy production by 2025.

U.S. wind and solar energy production typically reaches its highest annual output in April. Spring is the windiest time of year on average, and the sun shines strongest in the spring and summer. Last April, wind and solar accounted for 17% of U.S. electricity, which was the all-time high until last month.

U.S. wind and solar energy have grown dramatically in recent years, primarily due to dropping costs. For 2021 as a whole, wind and solar created 14% of U.S. electricity, up from just 6% in 2015.

Solar panels at the Sutter Greenworks Solar Site in Calverton, N.Y., in 2021. (Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

Solar energy dips in months with less sunshine, and its production is less efficient in warmer weather. Wind and solar also decrease as a percentage of the total in the summer months, because higher demand for air conditioning leads to more use of coal- and gas-fired “peaker” power plants.

America is not alone in experiencing its wind and solar boom. In 2021, wind and solar were the fastest-growing sources of energy worldwide for the 17th year in a row, according to Ember. Globally, wind and solar doubled their share of electricity production to 10% between 2015 and 2021.

The Biden administration is enthusiastically promoting wind and solar energy production as part of its agenda to combat climate change. The Department of the Interior is leasing offshore wind turbines, and the president’s Build Back Better legislative agenda includes billions of dollars in subsidies for solar panel production and purchases.

There are, however, potential impediments on the horizon. Much of the recent wind energy boom has occurred on the windy plains of the Midwest, where local governments worried about loss of farmland are beginning to restrict local renewable energy development. President Biden’s energy agenda is stuck in the Senate, where opposition from Republicans and Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia has stymied its passage.

Sen. Joe Manchin at a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee meeting on May 5.

 (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

The solar industry is being pinched by tariffs on imported solar technology imposed by then-President Donald Trump, which Biden has declined to rescind. The Solar Energy Industries Association cut its forecasts of new solar installation for 2022 and 2023 by 46% as a result.

Still, renewables are growing and will continue to do so; the only question is by how much. On March 29, wind was the second-largest source of electricity in the U.S. in a 24-hour period for the first time. And on April 3, California set a record when its power grid briefly ran on 97% renewable energy.

“Wind and solar are breaking records around the world,” Ember COO Phil MacDonald said in a statement. “The process that will reshape the existing energy system has begun. Wind and solar provide a solution to the ‘trilemma’ of achieving a sustainable, affordable and secure energy supply. This decade they need to be deployed at lightning speed.”

GREEN CAPITALI$M IS STILL CAPITALI$M

Scotland’s largest wind farm ‘using net-zero loophole to exploit cost of living crisis’

Emma Gatten
Tue, May 10, 2022

Boris Johnson - Jane Barlow/Pool/AFP via Getty Images

Scotland’s largest wind farm is using a net-zero loophole to exploit the cost of living crisis, government sources have suggested.

Ministers are planning to tighten rules over contracts with wind farms as they ordered talks with Moray East, after it emerged owners were making profits from record energy prices instead of paying back to the taxpayer.

Kwasi Kwarteng, the Business Secretary, is looking into ways to stop the loophole being exploited in future contracts, amidst concerns that wind farms are profiting whilst households struggle to pay bills.

Developers could lose out on subsidies for planned new wind farms, or be forced to pay a forfeit in future contracts if they profit from high gas prices.

The Government provides wind farm producers a guaranteed price for their electricity in order to stimulate the development of renewable energy.

However, some developers are choosing to sell freely on the wholesale market during record energy prices to avoid returning potentially tens of millions in profits to the taxpayer.

Mr Kwarteng believes developers acting this way are “undermining the renewables scheme and not behaving within its spirit”, a source said.

Kwasi Kwarteng - Hollie Adams/Bloomberg

The move by wind farm operators is within the rules set by the Government when the contracts were drawn up in 2017 because Whitehall officials did not predict a gas price spike.

Ministers now want to close the loophole, given the likelihood of future volatility within energy markets.

Sam Hall, the director of the Conservative Environment Network, said that the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy should close the loophole, adding: “In return for government backing, developers should be making sure consumers also benefit from the renewable energy dividend.

“The developer is only able to exploit this loophole because of how cheap wind power is compared to gas, which sets the wholesale electricity price.”

Under contracts with the Government, new wind farms agree to a set price for the electricity they produce.

When electricity wholesale prices are lower than the agreed price, the Government pays the difference in the form of a subsidy. But when wholesale prices are high, the wind farms pay back.

The money is returned to the renewables scheme and is intended to be fed back to billpayers. However, new wind farms have delayed the start of their government contracts to allow them to keep the profits from record-high wholesale electricity prices.

Moray East, which became Scotland’s biggest wind farm when it became fully operational last month, agreed a price of £57.50 per megawatt hour (MWh) with the Government for its electricity.

However, it has delayed the start of its government contract for 12 months, meaning it will instead receive the wholesale price, which hit £95.10 MWh last week, and avoid having to pay the difference back.

The Triton Knoll wind farm, off the coast of Lincolnshire, has also delayed the contract for its third phase, which is fully operational.

The Government cannot change existing contracts, but will now review the design of new contracts to avoid the loophole being exploited again.

A government spokesman said: “The Contracts for Difference scheme incentivises private investment in clean, home-grown energy and has driven down the price of offshore wind by 65 per cent. Projects will not receive payments while they are generating on market terms, and ministers keep the scheme under review to ensure value for money for consumers.”

A spokesman for Moray East said: “Moray East is on course to sign its CfD [contract for differences] within the contractual terms set by the process.”

A spokesman for RWE, J-Power and Kansai Electric Power, the owners of Triton Knoll, told The Times that they were working within the terms of the contract which allowed them “to vary the start date, enabling a project to allow for delays and losses incurred during the construction process”.

Official climate reports pile up. 

But do they connect with the public?


Stephanie Hanes

Christian Science Monitor
Tue, May 10, 2022

In early April, more than a thousand scientists around the world decided to protest. They chained themselves to government buildings, blocked intersections, and staged sit-ins. In Spain, they threw fake blood on the facade of the parliament building. In Los Angeles, police arrested a lab-coated crew who had attached themselves to a JPMorgan Chase building to oppose the financing of fossil fuels.

“The scientists of the world have been being ignored,” said NASA climate scientist Peter Kalmus, voice trembling, as he stood with the other Los Angeles protesters. “It’s got to stop. We’re going to lose everything. ... We’re not lying; we’re not exaggerating.”

The impetus for these demonstrations was a new report from some 200 authors and a United Nations group called the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). For Dr. Kalmus and many others involved in climate research, the document screamed both warning and accusation – proof that governments, businesses, and individuals must immediately change course to avoid increasingly catastrophic impacts of climate change. It also gave road maps for avoiding worst-case scenarios – if people will follow them.

But what’s clear to the scientists isn’t always straightforward to everyone else.

In a study last year, researchers found that most Americans are confused by terms traditionally used to convey climate information, such as “tipping point” or “mitigation.” Add the acronym-heavy international climate world, with its multiple working groups, assessments, and “COPs” that have nothing to do with policing, and it’s easy to understand why the public’s reaction to these reports can differ from the scientists’.

“I don’t think people necessarily get how the IPCC works,” says Jacquelyn Gill, a paleoecologist and climate communications expert at the University of Maine. “Acronyms, scientific jargon, all of those things, they become a persistent bumper in scientific communications.”

What is the IPCC and why does it matter?

The World Meteorological Organization and the U.N. Environment Program joined forces in 1988 to create the IPCC, an international body with the goal of reviewing the science, economic impact, and future threats of climate change. Since then, hundreds of scientists have volunteered every IPCC “assessment period,” which lasts about seven years, to go over tens of thousands of published studies and distill their meaning.

“It’s taking this mass of knowledge, taking all the experts involved, saying ... ‘This is what we know; this is what policymakers need to know,’” says David McCollum, senior scientist at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee and an IPCC author.

This “big picture” process is both exhaustive and bureaucratic. The IPCC staff carefully picks scientists to represent different regions and disciplines. Expert reviewers and representatives from the world’s governments look at what the scientists have written, and negotiate line by line in order to come to a consensus about the summary report.

This last step ensures that U.N. member countries have “buy-in” to the reports, explains Katherine Leitzell, a communications specialist who worked with the IPCC.

“The governments can’t just come back and say no, that’s nonsense.”

Within the IPCC, three “working groups” of scientists tackle three big aspects of climate change: the physical science, such as how oceans are warming; who and what is vulnerable and how they might adapt; and mitigation, or ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

This “trilogy” of IPCC work goes alongside another U.N. process, the Conference of the Parties, or COP, which focuses on policymaking.

The IPCC reports are supposed to help policymakers, businesses, municipalities, and even individuals make the most informed climate decisions possible.
What do the IPCC reports actually say?

Even though these reports are based on existing research, they still pack a message.

As Inger Andersen, executive director of the U.N. Environment Program, put it in a press conference last month, the first two reports in the IPCC’s current cycle show that climate change is happening and is causing huge disruption to both the natural and human worlds. The third, most recent report shows that “we are still not doing enough to cut greenhouse gas emissions.”

A quick pause here.

 “Greenhouse gas emissions” means the heat-trapping gases – such as carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide – that humans are releasing into the atmosphere alongside natural volumes of these gases. Carbon dioxide makes up the bulk of these, so that’s why there’s a lot of talk about “carbon footprints” or “decarbonization.” Most of our carbon emissions come from burning fossil fuels. But we also release carbon dioxide in chemical processes, such as the one that makes cement, or by cutting down trees.

The past 20 years saw the highest increase in emissions in human history. 

And greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere are also at their highest levels in the history of humans on Earth, researchers say. That means that unless there are big, quick changes, it is all but inevitable that the impacts on human society and the natural world will get more severe.

“The jury has reached the verdict and it is damning,” said U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres at a press conference in April. The new report “is a file of shame, cataloging the empty pledges that firmly put us on track towards an unlivable world. We are on a fast track to climate disaster.”

Back up. Climate disaster?

Well, here’s the thing about the concept of a climate disaster: Scientists know that with more warming come more negative impacts, and also the chance for natural cycles to reach “tipping points,” or moments when normal natural processes unravel, potentially causing even more warming. But it’s not so easy to describe what “disaster” means. Many people already are suffering catastrophic impacts of climate change, such as increased wildfires, deeper drought and crop failure, and extra-severe storms.

And what, actually, will happen in the future largely depends on one unknown variable: human behavior.

“The biggest uncertainty when it comes to our climate future is what we do,” says Dr. Gill. “Not what the Earth is going to do.”

So what can we do?

Humans – whether operating as governments, businesses, or individuals – can take steps to either limit warming or allow it to continue exponentially. And across society, we already have the tools to lower emissions. The most recent IPCC report explored how this could happen in various sectors, including transportation, agriculture, and energy, and also in different countries, with their unique economies, development statuses, and existing challenges.

“Scientists and governments know how to reduce emissions quickly,” says Dr. McCollum, whose work with the IPCC focused on assessing models of future warming, under differing scenarios of human behavior. Achieving the most ambitious goals would require massive changes, he says, “but there are things we know how to do now.”

This includes everything from speeding up the electrification of transportation systems (think electric cars and a robust charging station network), to making sure new construction meets stringent energy efficiency standards, to revamping financial systems to ensure adequate funding for experimental climate technology.

A rapid decrease of fossil fuel use is necessary to quickly lower emissions, the report’s authors found. And the more we do, and quickly, is better.

But scientists caution against seeing climate change as a pass-fail situation, where if the world surpasses a certain warming level – 1.5 degrees Celsius is the one mentioned regularly – we’ve “lost.”

“Every fraction of a degree is worth fighting for,” says Dr. Gill. “And that will always be true.”

UK

Climate change still ‘chronic threat’ despite new world politics, Sharma says

Emily Beament,

 PA Environment Correspondent
Tue, May 10, 2022

Climate change remains a “chronic threat” despite the change to international politics caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Alok Sharma said ahead of an international gathering of ministers.

The Cop26 president is leading the climate meeting in Denmark with Egypt’s foreign affairs minister Sameh Shoukry who will lead this year’s climate talks, Cop27, in Sharm El-Sheikh.

More than 40 countries will come together in Copenhagen this week to assess action that is needed to deliver on key commitments made at the Cop26 talks in Glasgow last November.

It is the first of a series of meetings that it is hoped will continue to drive action to tackle dangerous global warming even as the world confronts the war in Ukraine, energy and food security and the ongoing effects of the pandemic.

It comes as the Met Office warns the world has a 50-50 chance in the next five of temporarily exceeding the 1.5C global warming limit which countries pledged to meet in the Paris Agreement in 2015 and confirmed in Glasgow.

Reports from the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) science body have warned the window to limit temperature rises to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels, the threshold beyond which the worst impacts will be felt, is rapidly closing.

Ministers at the meeting will focus on how to drive down emissions in sectors such as reducing coal production and deforestation, UK officials said.

Alok Sharma (Aaron Chown/PA)

They will also consider efforts to adapt to climate change and support to address loss and damage suffered communities on the front line of global warming.

Russia’s aggression towards Ukraine has caused prompted moves by countries that help or hinder climate action, by increasing pressure to boost production of fossil fuels elsewhere or speeding up the transition to clean tech such as renewables and electric vehicles and heat pumps.

Mr Sharma said: “Since the Glasgow Climate Pact was signed at Cop26, the IPCC reports on adaptation and mitigation have shown unequivocally that the window of time we have left to secure a liveable future is closing rapidly.

“And of course, the Putin regime’s brutal and illegal invasion of Ukraine has changed international politics fundamentally.

“However, the chronic threat of climate change remains, which is why I am pleased to co-chair this ministerial meeting on implementation bringing countries together to drive forward action on pledges already made.

Mr Shoukry, minister of foreign affairs of Egypt and Cop27 President designate said: “Climate action has never been more important.

“The world needs to demonstrate its continued commitment to curb emissions, enhance adaptation, and deliver on climate finance.

“Cop27 should see us all coming together to renew our determination, take stock on where we stand on implementation, and lay out a clear path towards turning pledges into tangible action on the ground.”

Tension high as water rises in Fort Liard, holds steady in Fort Simpson


Tue, May 10, 2022

Water is slowly rising in Fort Simpson, N.W.T., as of Tuesday afternoon, but it still remains below the threshold for concern. (Submitted by Chuck Blyth - image credit)

With a highly anticipated spring breakup underway in the Dehcho, residents in Fort Liard and Fort Simpson N.W.T., are seeing rising water.

In Fort Liard, water is reaching the main road in the community, falling about 400 meters short from the general store.

"It's happening so fast, it seems," said Robert Low, who works at the band office there.

He said that some people are currently stranded at the general store and that others are being taken to safety.

The ice along the river appeared to be flowing, up until a big sheet of ice came, then Low said: "everything stopped."

Submitted by Brittany Berreault

Water slowly rising in Simpson

Meanwhile, in Fort Simpson, N.W.T., water levels have been fluctuating, but continue to remain under the threshold for concern. The flow of ice has stopped and started again a few times over the past day, which is typical for breakup.

The ice reportedly stopped moving at 2:30 on Tuesday which caused water levels to slowly rise, although it changes quite rapidly.

So far, water levels have peaked at just over 11 meters, according to the village website, which has spring breakup updates. A mandatory island-wide evacuation wouldn't be triggered until 15 meters.

Many residents are watching the river, anxiously anticipating what may happen in the coming days.

Dieter Cazon hasn't been able to get much sleep lately. Last year, he and his family of six were displaced from their Fort Simpson home for 189 days, living in a motel in the community.

Now, he's watching as other communities experience flooding like Fort Simpson did last year, which has been challenging to see.

Ultimately, Cazon said that "there's only so much preparation you can do, and then. like, the ball's not really in your court. The river is going to do what it's going to do."

Kevin Corrigan is Fort Simpson's senior administrative officer.

"I know everyone in town here is going to feel a lot better when the breakup is over," he said by phone Tuesday morning. "So hopefully it's soon enough we'll be able to all relax."

"We're quietly confident that we're through the worst of it," said Corrigan, "but, you know, we can't be sure just yet, so we'll have to just wait and see."

Water levels consistent in Jean Marie River

Upstream from Fort Simpson, people in Jean Marie River are holding tight.

A 24-hour flood watch was announced Monday, after ice had begun to shift near the community, according to a post on the community's Facebook page.

Chief Nolene Hardisty of the Tthets'éhk'edélî First Nation told CBC on Tuesday afternoon that there hasn't been much movement since Monday and that water levels remain consistent.

MLA says N.W.T. should do more to prepare communities for climate disasters


Mon, May 9, 2022

Katrina Nokleby, left, MLA for Great Slave, speaking with interim Dehcho Grand Chief Stanley Sanguez. Nokleby recently visited both Fort Simpson and Jean Marie River First Nation to see the recovery from last year's flooding. 

(Submitted by Katrina Nokleby - image credit)

Katrina Nokleby, MLA for Great Slave, said the N.W.T. should be establishing long-term plans for dealing with climate change, and not putting the onus on individual communities.

Speaking with CBC News after she visited both Fort Simpson and Jean Marie River First Nation last week, she said the trip was informative, but also showed her where the territory had fallen short.

"There's a lot of things that don't really look like they've been thought out," she said.

As Hay River deals with flooding during spring breakup, other communities are preparing for the worst. With summer approaching there is fear of what forest fire season will bring.

Nokleby said the territory needs to be proactive and not put things like flood preparation solely on the community governments.

"We are always, constantly, not giving the municipalities any power or the ability to do anything," she said.

"And now when it comes to this critical climate change driven, unknown scenario where they say it's only on them to do it when they're already being underfunded, with no increase for how many years?"

Submitted by Katrina Nokleby

Flood preparation was something Fort Simpson Mayor Sean Whelly said he felt the territorial government should be offering more assistance on.

"The territorial government still doesn't fund flood mitigation," he told CBC News in an interview in late April.

"Any of the preparation falls on the community and it's tough for a small community like Fort Simpson."

In an interview with CBC News last week, Shane Thompson, minister of municipal and community affairs, said the department has made a few changes for emergency management preparedness.

The majority of work falls on the superintendent role and MACA has established five positions for staff who will help manage the response and stay in close contact with community leaders.

Thompson said the severity of last years flooding caught many people off guard.

"This was the worst flood, when I talked to Elders about it, like, they have never, ever seen it this bad before," he said.

Northern premiers call on feds for more support

On Monday, the premiers of Yukon, N.W.T. and Nunavut issued a joint statement calling on the federal government to provide more support to the North in dealing with climate change.

"Canada's North is warming up three to four times faster than the global average and northern communities are seeing these impacts first-hand," the statement reads.

The premiers called for support and investment in climate-resilient infrastructure, renewable energy systems, emergency preparedness, northern research, health and wellness, preservation of cultural identity and economic opportunities.

In November 2021, Nokleby attended the United Nations Climate Change Conference, more commonly known as COP26.

She said some of what she learned was how important it is to involve Indigenous people and governments in the discussions around preparing for climate change.

"The only way we're going to solve things is to empower the Indigenous people to do so and get them into positions of government because they care about this land and they're invested," she said.

Short-term fixes

While visiting both communities Nokleby said another issue she recognized was how short-term some of the recovery is. Many homes that were damaged, especially in Jean Marie River, remained in the same place, just raised higher off the ground.

Luke Carroll/ CBC

"Kind of the idea is hoping that flood waters aren't going to come up that high," she said.

Nokleby said many flood victims were happy to be getting any sort of replacement, but it took a long time — one year later, many still haven't moved in.

She said many homes only have one exit which could be a fire hazard, and a lot of homes are built on dirt pad slopes which can risk erosion after a good rainfall or if flood waters reach.

"Just a lot of really like half done things," Nokleby said.

Northern premiers call for more federal funding in fight against climate change
Mon, May 9, 2022


WHITEHORSE — Canada's territorial premiers are calling on the federal government to increase funding for clean energy projects and to adapt to climate change.

Yukon Premier Sandy Silver, Nunavut Premier P.J. Akeeagok and Northwest Territories Premier Caroline Cochrane are meeting in Whitehorse this week for their annual Northern Premiers’ Forum.

They say in a joint statement that Canada’s territories are warming up three to four times faster than the global average and it is already affecting communities.

The statement says climate change is causing growing concerns about food security, health, public safety, the resilience of infrastructure and preservation of cultural identity.

It says the territories are doing their part, but more federal collaboration and investment is needed to meet climate action targets.

The Yukon government says in a separate news release that all the decisions reached at the forum will be raised later this summer at the Western Premiers’ Conference and at the Council of the Federation, when all Canada's premiers gather.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 9, 2022.

Climate change tops agenda as northern premiers meet face-to-face again

CBC
Mon, May 9, 2022, 

N.W.T. Premier Caroline Cochrane, left, with Yukon Premier Sandy Silver and Nunavut Premier P.J. Akeeagok in Whitehorse on Monday. The premiers met for the first in-person Northern Premier's Forum since 2019.

 (Vincent Bonnay/Radio-Canada - image credit)

After two days of talks, Canada's three territorial premiers agreed to call on the federal government to provide more support and funding in seven key areas.

As a first step, the premiers said they want to see more funding in the North for climate change mitigation and adaptation, clean energy and monitoring.

Speaking to media on Monday afternoon after their meeting in Whitehorse, Yukon Premier Sandy Silver said they didn't have a specific number in mind.

"It's not necessarily a dollar value. It's based on what the premiers recognized across Canada, the unique needs and concerns and considerations of being a territory," said Silver. "Per capita spending is not enough."

Issues connected to climate change

The seven areas the premiers agreed on, which are detailed in the pan-northern leaders' statement on climate change, are climate-resilient infrastructure, renewable and alternative secure energy systems, emergency preparedness, northern research, knowledge and capacity building, supporting health and wellness, preservation of cultural identity and economic opportunities.

In the statement, which was also signed by many Indigenous governments, the premiers state the North is warming up three to four times more than the global average.

Silver added there aren't many issues in the North that aren't connected to climate change.

He said it affects infrastructure, food security, health, energy systems, emergency preparedness and public safety and that more investments by the federal government are needed.

Silver also singled out housing as an issue.

He said the premiers acknowledged that the lack of housing affects individuals and the resilience of communities.

"We understand that access to affordable, adequate and suitable housing is linked with all aspects," he said.

Taltson hydro expansion project

N.W.T. Premier Caroline Cochrane added the whole world is recognizing the effects of climate change and governments are talking about it more and more, but warned they also need to act.

"We can change a lot of things with money but if we don't start working on [climate change] seriously, we're going to be impacted. Climate change will be here for decades. And money can't fix things if it's too late. So it's time to start working on it now," she said.

She said the best example she can give to support climate in the N.W.T. is for the federal government to support the expansion of the Taltson hydro project.

"That is the way that we will get more communities off diesel, but it's not going to be the answer for all communities," said Cochrane, adding governments will have to keep looking for more solutions to reduce emissions.

Carl Bernstein Rips 'Rogue' Justice Clarence Thomas On Call For Respect Of Institutions

Mary Papenfuss

Mon, May 9, 2022,

Famed journalist Carl Bernstein slammed “rogue” Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas on Monday for demanding respect for U.S. government institutions after Thomas’ own wife worked to topple the results of the 2020 election.

After protests erupted over the news that the high court is poised to gut the landmark abortion rights decision Roe v. Wade, Thomas chided Americans for being incapable of “living with” rulings they don’t like and complained that a lack of faith in U.S. institutions “bodes ill for a free society.” He added that the court would not be “bullied” by the public.

On CNN’s “New Day” on Monday, Bernstein derided Thomas’ comments as “disingenuous” and “a little misguided — given particularly the role of his wife in the ‘Stop the Steal’ movement” and her efforts to overthrow an election.

“The wife of a Supreme Court justice doing what Ginni Thomas did is utterly unheard of in the history of the United States,” Bernstein told hosts Brianna Keilar and John Avlon.

“Justice Thomas, talking about [the] legitimacy of institutions — either the White House or the court itself — he should recuse himself, which he refuses to do, from any case involving the president of the United States and the election” because of the role his wife played, said Bernstein.

“There is a real failure of institutions, especially on the Supreme Court, by a rogue justice who would not say, ‘I’m going to step aside,’” Bernstein added. “Let’s look at what Ginni Thomas did ... and we have texts of what she was saying. It is crazy stuff ... encouraging the president of the United States, really, to stage a coup.”

In an even more chilling observation, Bernstein called former President Donald Trump the nation’s “first seditious president ... who staged a coup to stay in office and not allow the transfer of power to a duly elected president.”

Watch the full interview below.

 

If the Supreme Court’s legitimacy is threatened, Justice Thomas, whose fault is that? | Opinion


Leonard Pitts

MIAMI HERALD
Tue, May 10, 2022


To the Honorable Clarence Thomas, associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States:

Dear Sir:

Have you ever met your wife?

Yes, it’s an impudent question, but it seems justified by the speech you gave Friday at a judicial conference in Atlanta and a question-and-answer session that followed. In an obvious reference to the bombshell leak of a draft opinion overturning Roe v. Wade, you bemoaned that institutions are being “bullied” and said the judiciary is threatened if people are unwilling to “live with outcomes we don’t agree with.”

You said this despite the fact that your bride of 35 years, conservative activist Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, made headlines earlier this year when it was revealed she schemed with the Trump White House to keep him in power despite his election defeat. She echoed his baseless claims of fraud and even joined the Jan. 6 mob that rallied to overturn the election, though she claims she broke off from them before they stormed the U.S. Capitol.

Mrs. Thomas, then, it might fairly be said, is a poster child for those who would bully institutions or refuse to live with outcomes they dislike. For you to raise those concerns with a straight face and no mention of her name suggests that either the two of you have not been properly introduced or that you are a man of staggering hypocrisy and deep intellectual dishonesty. One would hate to find those qualities in a man overseeing traffic court, much less in one sitting on the Supreme Court.

Here’s the thing, sir: There are rules. The adherence to them, the ability to trust them, is what allows a society to function. Some of the rules are written, others are not, but the fact that they aren’t makes them no less critical. One such unwritten rule is that the collegial confidentiality of the high court is sacrosanct. So yes, it’s unfortunate some leaker leaked.

But he or she is hardly the first person to violate the court’s unwritten norms. One of your colleagues occupies a seat stolen for him from President Obama. Another occupies a seat she was crammed into eight days before the 2020 election by the same Republicans who had said that nine months out was too close to Election Day 2016 to consider Obama’s nominee. Some transparently lied when they testified in confirmation hearings that they respected Roe as settled law. And really, sir, isn’t it a bit unseemly for the wife of a Supreme Court justice to be part of a conspiracy to overturn an election? Or for him to fail to recuse himself from any cases arising therefrom?

As Americans, we have traditionally respected Supreme Court rulings even when they were godawful, even when they set the nation back, because however dumb or dreadful they were, we considered the court itself an apolitical and duly constituted tribunal. In a word, it was legitimate. But in their bare knuckles, end-justifies-the-means approach to the court, conservatives have devastated that bit of civic faith.

Small wonder a September Gallup poll found approval of the court at 40%, the lowest Gallup has ever recorded, and down sharply from 58% the year before. One cringes to think where it stands right now. And one wonders: If the Court loses its legitimacy, can its authority be far behind?

In the face of that question, your issue is that an anonymous leaker violated confidentiality? Sir, maybe that person just wonders why he or she should be required to respect the rules.

It doesn’t seem like anyone else is.

Pitts

I wrote a handbook for navigating post-Roe America. Here's how to protect yourself and your abortion access.

Fortesa Latifi

INSIDER
Mon, May 9, 2022

Robin Marty (left) and her book (right).Courtesy of Robin Marty

• The US Supreme Court may overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 ruling that enshrined the right to abortion.

• Robin Marty is the communications director for the West Alabama Women's Center and author of "Handbook for a Post-Roe America."

• These are Marty's tips for proceeding in a post-Roe America, as told to writer Fortesa Latifi.

This as-told-to essay is based on a transcribed conversation with Robin Marty, the communications director for the West Alabama Women's Center and author of the 2019 book "Handbook for a Post-Roe America." It has been edited for length and clarity.

After news broke that the Supreme Court may overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 ruling that enshrined the right to abortion, people across the country began to consider the true reality of a post-Roe America.

How will pregnant people access abortion if Roe v. Wade truly is overturned, and how can they keep themselves safe in the increasingly surveilled world we live in? I can help.

The pandemic gave abortion advocates the chance to test-run a post-Roe situation

With the pandemic, many states decided that abortion wasn't a "mandatory and necessary medical procedure" and closed clinics in the spring of 2020. This simulated a post-Roe world, and advocates jumped into action and helped spread the word about Aid Access, an initiative started by Dutch physician Rebecca Gomperts that delivers abortion pills through the mail.

But these packages of abortion pills were sometimes held up at customs and border checkpoints for too long — some people got their packages weeks after they ordered, when it was sometimes too late for them to be effective.

Through that experience, I've come to suggest that anyone who thinks they have the possibility of becoming pregnant to get abortion pills ahead of time, before they're needed. That way, if you find yourself in the position of needing them, you're not stuck waiting for a package to make its way through customs.

Even with abortion pills, there are concerns

It's a worry that a person could order abortion pills while their data isn't protected, and authorities be able to access that information. I also want people to know that while abortion pills are safe, accessing them can be illegal in some states. Some states have criminal penalties like fines and prison time. (Abortion pills also expire, so check the packaging.)

With that in mind, I urge people to protect their data ahead of time. If you're using a period-tracking app, you should delete it and use Euki, which doesn't upload your data and is completely private. You can even guard access to the app with a password pin.

Periods have been tracked before under the guise of public health, specifically within the context of abortion. Protecting your period data is an unfortunate reality, but in a post-Roe world where surveillance is king and phones are tracking your every move, people need to protect themselves.

It's also important to lock down your online privacy as much as possible

If you're looking for information on abortion on Reddit, for example, make sure you make a throwaway account to search and post. Make your Facebook profile private, and if you're looking for help on Facebook, use a fake profile.

Abortion support groups have been infiltrated by anti-abortion activists, and there's the worry the information could be used against the people looking for support.

Even if the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, activists are still ready to help

If a person ever has a pregnancy complication like miscarriage or self-performed abortion and police or medical professionals are asking questions, there's help out there. One organization, If When How, has a reproductive health legal help that you can contact for advice or a lawyer.

The biggest fear we have going into a post-Roe country is for the people who are going to be targeted the most: Black people, brown people, trans people, people in rural areas, people of lower socioeconomic status, and members of other marginalized communities.

Marginalized communities are already at more risk in our country, and in a post-Roe America, that risk will be even greater (like in Texas, where there's a bounty for information on people who allegedly aid and abet abortion).

We need to make sure we protect the people who are most harmed by these restrictions

We know who is most at risk, and if we have any privilege, we need to be willing to protect those people.

Moving forward, my advice would be, even outside of legal risks when it comes to abortion access, to only use Signal to communicate. Unlike text messages, Signal is private, deletes messages, and protects anonymity. It's the easiest way to wipe your footprint and make sure it stays out of the hands of big corporations.

Sadly, I also suggest being very careful about whom you share reproductive and pregnancy news with

If someone knows you're pregnant and then they know you're not anymore, whether through miscarriage or abortion, you could be at risk if other states choose to adopt bounties like Texas.

The entire point of this political movement against abortion is to increase stigma and put it back into the shadows. I won't let that happen, and I know so many other advocates who are working their hardest not to let it either.

Nearly 65 per cent of Americans do not want to overturn Roe v Wade, new poll finds

Graig Graziosi
Mon, May 9, 2022


A new CBS poll has found that more than half of the US public opposes the overturning of Roe v Wade, suggesting the leaked Supreme Court draft decision aiming to strike down the landmark ruling would undermine the desires of most Americans.

According to the CBS poll, 64 per cent of Americans want the Supreme Court to keep Roe v Wade in tact. Only 36 per cent said they wanted to see the law overturned.

Last week, Politico reported on a leaked draft decision suggesting the Supreme Court was aiming to overturn the law later this year. Five of the nine Supreme Court justices agreed with the decision authoried by Justice Samuel Alito.

Three of the justices who agreed — Justices Bret Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett, and Neil Gorsuch — told Congress that they would uphold Roe v Wade as a precedent during their confirmation hearings, leading to calls from the public and some lawmakers that the justices lied under oath.

The news of the likely overturning of Roe v Wade set off protests across the country, including still-continuing protests outside the home of Mr Kavanaugh.

Joe Biden said he would fight to ensure that Roe v Wade is not overturned, but there may be little ha can do at this point. Democratic Senators Krysten Sinema and Joe Manchin have already indicated their refusal to support the elimination of the filibuster, which would be necessary for Democrats to force the ruling to be codified into law.

Nearly half of the US states have trigger laws in place to ban most if not all abortions as soon as Roe v Wade is overturned. Further frustrating pro-choice advocates and women across the country are plans by Republican lawmakers to use the ruling as a springboard to push for a federal abortion ban.

Several states already have restrictive abortion laws, and others have moved recently to enact their own. Last month, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed a bill into law banning most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. That law is modeled off of a similar law in Mississippi, which is the basis of the Supreme Court case that appears likely to spell the end of Roe v Wade.

Oklahoma's legislature also approved a bill prohibiting abortions after six weeks of pregnancy based on a similar law in Texas. The Texas law also allows individuals to report anyone who performs, seeks, or "aids and abets" an abortion, offering a $10,000 bounty for successful prosecution.

Some states, like Missouri, are attempting to find ways to penalise people who leave the state to seek abortions in liberal areas where abortion rights are upheld.

Though not yet signed into law, several current and prospective Republican lawmakers are also attempting to push even more draconian laws to further force women into parenthood. Senator Marsha Blackburn of Tennesee called Griswod v Connecticut – which guarantees legal access to birth control – "legally unsound," suggesting it should be challenged and sent to the Supreme Court.

Blake Masters, who is running for a Senate seat in Arizona, also said recently he supported banning contraception, including condoms. Some Republicans in Idaho have similarly stated their interest in banning IUDs and Plan B pills.

Other states, like California and Colorado, have pledged to ensure that abortion rights will always be in-tact within their borders, though it is unclear what that would mean if Republicans successfully pass a national ban on abortion following the 2022 midterm elections.

Ashley Judd speaks out against reversal of Roe v Wade in Mother’s Day tribute to late Naomi Judd
Meredith Clark
Mon, May 9, 2022

(Getty Images)

Ashley Judd has reflected on her first Mother’s Day without her own mom, Naomi Judd, just one week after the country music star’s death on 30 April. While paying tribute to her mother, Judd spoke up on the important topics of motherhood, mental health, and a woman’s right to choose.

In an essay for USA Today published on 6 May, Judd questioned how society values mothers after a leaked draft opinion showed the Supreme Court’s intention to overturn Roe v Wade, a decision that enshrined the legal right to an abortion nationwide almost 50 years ago.

“This Sunday is abruptly, shockingly, my first Mother’s Day without my mama,” the Divergent actress began the essay. “It wasn’t supposed to be this way. We were supposed to have sweet delight in each others’ easy presence. Instead, I am unmoored. But my heart is not empty. It is replete with gratitude for what she left behind. Her nurture and tenderness, her music and memory.”

She explained that her heart is also filled with “incandescent rage” over the mental health issues her mother had “carried from a lifetime of injustices that started when she was a girl”.

In 2020, Naomi Judd revealed to Country Music Success Stories that she gave birth to her first daughter, Wynonna Judd, after she had been “date-raped” 1964, the summer before her senior year of high school.

“But motherhood happened to her without her consent,” Ashley Judd wrote. “She experienced an unintended pregnancy at age 17, and that led her down a road familiar to so many adolescent mothers, including poverty and gender-based violence.”

The Golden Globe nominee used her mother’s unintended pregnancy to create awareness for the issues faced by mothers around the world, including gender-based violence and childbirth mortality rates.


“Our country, the richest in the world, has one of the highest maternal death rates in the developed world – with Black and indigenous women two to three times more likely to die,” she said, citing a study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“So often, motherhood happens because of violence, because of neglect, because schools and health systems fail to provide reproductive health information, because they fail to teach the right of individuals to make their own choices about sex and contraception,” Judd said.


Ashley Judd’s essay comes after a leaked opinion draft indicated that the Supreme Court’s conservative majority will uphold a Mississippi law criminalising abortion care at 15 weeks of pregnancy. Politico published the leaked draft opinion on 2 May, which appeared to be authored by Justice Samuel Alito.

The draft opinion stated that Justice Alito, along with Justices Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett, voted to overturn key rulings Roe v Wade and Planned Parenthood v Casey after hearing oral arguments in the case of Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization.

“We hold that Roe and Casey must be overruled,” he wrote in the draft. “It is time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people’s elected representatives”.

The impact of such a decision would outlaw abortion throughout the US and would allow states to create their own laws surrounding abortion.

Naomi Judd died at the age of 76 on Saturday, 30 April after a long battle with mental illness. The country music star was represented by her daughters Wynonna and Ashley at her induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame on 1 May, just one day after they announced her death. Judd was also married to her husband, Larry Strickland, since 1989.

If you are experiencing feelings of distress and isolation, or are struggling to cope, The Samaritans offers support; you can speak to someone for free over the phone, in confidence, on 116 123 (UK and ROI), email jo@samaritans.org, or visit the Samaritans website to find details of your nearest branch.

If you are based in the USA, and you or someone you know needs mental health assistance right now, call National Suicide Prevention Helpline on 1-800-273-TALK (8255). The Helpline is a free, confidential crisis hotline that is available to everyone 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

If you are in another country, you can go to www.befrienders.org to find a helpline near you.