UK

PM Rishi Sunak’s cabinet office has largest gender pay gap of all government departments

‘These findings speak to a wider culture of women being held back and facing a gender glass ceiling in government,’ says Angela Rayner

Maya Oppenheim
Women’s Correspondent

Bonuses women were paid in 2022 in the cabinet office were lower than those given to men by an average of around £783

Rishi Sunak’s cabinet office has the heftiest gender pay gap of all government departments, new figures reveal.

The gap between the earnings of male and female staff in the department rose by more than two-thirds from April 2021 to March 2022 - increasing from 9.8 to 16.6 per cent, according to a new government report.

Bonuses women were paid in 2022 in the cabinet office were lower than those men pocketed by an average of around £783.

In the report, the cabinet office said: “The increase in both the mean and median pay gap by 1.5 per cent and 6.8 per cent respectively since last year is incredibly disappointing.”

Angela Rayner, Labour’s deputy leader and shadow chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, told The Independent the findings “speak to a wider culture of women being held back and facing a gender glass ceiling in government”.

“It sets a terrible precedent for women working across the public sector,” she added.

Conservatives ‘lost decade of sluggish wage growth’ mean female workers losing out on up to £3,000 a year

Ms Rayner, also shadow secretary of state for the future of work, called for the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster to “now explain why his department is lagging so far behind and outline what action he is taking to turn the tide”.


The report researchers noted that women are “underrepresented in the more senior grades, with a decrease in representation in comparison to last year” as they conceded “there is clearly much work to be done”.

The report added: “The deteriorating figures for this year require more detailed analysis and liaison with colleagues across the department”.

The report comes after the Fawcett Society, the UK’s leading gender equality charity, recently warned that it was “deeply disappointing” that the gender pay gap in wider society has scarcely narrowed in recent years.

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Last month, Fawcett Society, which analysed the latest data from the Office for National Statistics, said the mean hourly gender pay gap for full-time workers was currently 11.3 per cent, while it was 11.9 per cent last year, and 10.6 per cent in 2020.


Equal pay day - the day in the year when women effectively start to work for free in comparison to men due to lower pay - fell on 20 November this year, the charity said.

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Jemima Olchawski, Fawcett Society’s chief executive, said: “It is deeply disappointing that the gender pay gap has barely shifted in the past few years, especially given the cost of living crisis is hitting women the hardest and forcing them to make impossible choices.

“Other data indicates that the pay gap may be even worse for women of colour - though we still don't know the full picture.”

A Cabinet Office spokesperson said: “While the latest data shows there are proportionally more women employed in the civil service than ever before and the median gender pay gap across government is falling, there’s clearly more to do.

“We need a Civil Service bringing in the very best talent from across the country, and that is what our new ministers are focused on.”

UK

Give workers right to request four-day week with no pay cut, unions and MPs say

Right to request flexible working should be extended to the four-day week, business minister told

Jon Stone
Policy Correspondent

Some companies are switching to a four-day week
(Getty Images)


The government should give workers the legal right to request a four-day working week from their employers with no loss of pay, MPs and unions have urged.

It comes as businesses across the country pilot or switch to a four-day week, amid emerging evidence it is good for productivity and staff wellbeing.

In a letter to business minister Kevin Hollinrake, the MPs and trade unionists said the five-day week was "no longer conducive to the needs of the 21st century", having been created over 100 years ago for an "unrecognisable" industrial and agricultural economy.

Signatories of the letter include John McDonnell, the former shadow chancellor, Caroline Lucas, the Green MP, and Mark Serwotka, the general secretary of the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union.

It is also backed by the TUC's head of rights Kate Bell, and Peter Dowd, the Labour MP for Bootle, who has brought forward a private members' bill that would enshrine the right in law if passed.

Employees already have a right to request flexible working under the Flexible Working Regulations 2014 and ministers are now being urged to update those rules to cover a four-day week with no loss of pay.

Under the existing rules, bosses have to handle requests for flexible working in a "reasonable manner", generally by assessing the advantages and disadvantages of the application.

These requests can include the right to work from home, to compress existing hours into a number of days, or to do their jobs as "flexitime".

A genuine four-day week varies from compressed hours, which instead see workers doing longer days to compensate.

It comes after The Independent reported on Monday that over 100 companies had already switched to a four-day working week.

The 4 Day Week Campaign, which argues for the change in working patterns, has accredited dozens of companies.

To gain accreditation, the companies must prove that they have genuinely reduced working hours for staff rather than just condensed the same number of hours into fewer days.

The letter's signatories say that the Covid-19 pandemic "has shown us that the future of work can and should look different if we want to create a model that is better suited to the needs of families, women and carers".

"Numerous studies from across the world have shown that a four-day, 32-hour working week with no loss of pay increases productivity and is good for the economy.

"Furthermore, it can offer us an opportunity to create a more flexible way of working that accommodates for caregiving responsibilities and strong family life."

The letter was also signed by Labour MPs Kim Johnson, Tony Lloyd, Mick Whitley, Dan Carden, and Clive Lewis; former Green Party leader Baroness Bennett as well as Dr Mary-Ann Stephenson, director of the Women's Budget Group.

Dr Stephenson said: “The 9-5, five-day working week is an outdated model of work which sets families, carers and women up to fail.

“We’re long overdue an update to working hours and giving workers the right to request a four-day week is the necessary first step towards embracing the future of work.

“A four-day, 32-hour working week would result in a more equal share of paid and unpaid work between men and women such as childcare, housework and caring responsibilities.”

The letter was also backed by think tanks including Mathew Lawrence, director of Common Wealth; Will Stronge, director of research at Autonomy, and Dan Firth, director of campaigns and engagement at The New Economics Foundation.

Interim results of the 3,300-worker UK four-day week trial released in September found that 88 per cent of participants surveyed believed the scheme was working well for them. The trial began in June and covers from than 70 companies across a variety of industries.

Joe Ryle, director of the 4 Day Week Campaign, said: “Flexible working benefits both employees and employers as it increases job satisfaction, recruitment and retention.

“However, currently accepted forms of flexible working do little to improve wellbeing or productivity.



“We want to see a four-day, 32-hour working week with no loss of pay included in the legislation to encourage employers to embrace the growing popularity behind a four-day week.”

Asked about the idea, a spokesperson for the government’s business department spokesperson said: “There are no plans for the government to mandate a four-day working week.

“The Government is putting choice at the heart of our approach to flexible working and employers are free to offer four-day weeks if they choose to.”

1933

UK Government accused of ‘weakening’ Online Safety Bill as it removes ‘legal but harmful’ requirement

Ministers ‘snatching defeat from the jaws of victory’ in face of free speech concerns over long-delayed plans to police the internet

Andy Gregory

The government has amended its Online Safety Bill before it returns to parliament next week
(Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire)

The government has removed measures from its Online Safety Bill which would have forced social media sites to take down material designated “legal but harmful”, in what Labour called a “major weakening” of the legislation.

Some Conservative MPs had previously warned that the axed measures could threaten free speech and could lead to “political censorship”, and culture secretary Michelle Donelan argued on Monday that removing these aspects of the much-delayed bill would help to finally get it “into law”.


But the Samaritans warned the removal of the measures was “a hugely backwards step” and accused the government of “snatching defeat from the jaws of victory” before the bill returns to parliament next week.

Under the original bill’s plans, the biggest platforms – such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube – would have been compelled to not only remove illegal content, but also any material which had been named in the legislation as legal but potentially harmful.

Instead, platforms will now only be required to remove illegal content, as well as take down any material that is in breach of its own terms of service.

And instead of the ‘legal but harmful’ duties, there will now be a greater requirement for firms to provide adults with tools to hide certain content they do not wish to see – including types of content that do not meet the criminal threshold but could be harmful to see, such as the glorification of eating disorders, misogyny and other forms of abuse.

The government is labelling these three requirements a “triple shield” of online protection, which Ms Donelan insisted to the BBC meant that the bill was “certainly not weaker in any sense”.

Tech firms will also now be required to publish summaries of risk assessments in regard to potential harm to children on their sites, show how they enforce user age limits and publish details of enforcement action taken against them by Ofcom – the new regulator for the tech sector.

The updated rules will also prohibit a platform from removing a user or account unless they have clearly broken the site’s terms of service or the law.

But campaign group Big Brother Watch warned that the government’s “revival of plans to give state backing for social media companies’ terms and conditions ... is utterly retrograde, brushes aside months of expert scrutiny, and poses a major threat to freedom of speech in the UK”.

Julie Bentley, chief executive of Samaritans, described dropping the requirement to remove “legal but harmful” content as “a hugely backward step”, saying: “Of course children should have the strongest protection but the damaging impact that this type of content has doesn’t end on your 18th birthday.

“Increasing the controls that people have is no replacement for holding sites to account through the law and this feels very much like the government snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.”

Shadow culture secretary Lucy Powell said the amendments were a “major weakening” of the bill, adding: “Replacing the prevention of harm with an emphasis on free speech undermines the very purpose of this bill, and will embolden abusers, Covid deniers, hoaxers, who will feel encouraged to thrive online.”

The Centre for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) also warned that social media sites might feel “off the hook” because of the new focus on user controls “in place of active duties to deal with bad actors and dangerous content”.

The bill is due to return to parliament next week after being repeatedly delayed, and the government hopes for it to become law before the summer recess.

“Unregulated social media has damaged our children for too long and it must end,” said Ms Donelan, the culture secretary. “I will bring a strengthened Online Safety Bill back to parliament which will allow parents to see and act on the dangers sites pose to young people.

“It is also freed from any threat that tech firms or future governments could use the laws as a licence to censor legitimate views. Young people will be safeguarded, criminality stamped out and adults given control over what they see and engage with online.

“We now have a binary choice: to get these measures into law and improve things or squabble in the status quo and leave more young lives at risk.”

The Molly Rose Foundation, a suicide prevention campaign set up by the family of Molly Russell, said it was “disappointed” that the bill had been “watered down”, adding: “Freedom of speech is an important issue but, this isn’t about freedom of speech, it’s about the freedom to live.”

But the group said it accepted the changes if they mean that the bill will finally be passed into law.

The latest changes come in the wake of other updates to the bill, including criminalising the encouragement of self-harm and of ‘downblousing’ and the sharing of pornographic deepfakes – changes which were welcomed by the CCDH campaign group, among others.

The government also confirmed further amendments will be tabled shortly aimed at boosting protections for women and girls online.

In addition, the Victim’s Commissioner, Domestic Abuse Commissioner and Children’s Commissioner will be added as statutory consultees to the bill, meaning that Ofcom must consult them with drafting new codes of conduct it will create that tech firms must follow in order to comply with the bill.

Children’s Commissioner for England, Dame Rachel de Souza, said this would ensure “children’s views and experiences are fully understood”.

“We cannot allow any more children to suffer. The loss of children by suicide, after exposure to hideous self-harm and suicide content, are tragic reminders of the powerful consequences of harmful online material,” she said.

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UK

Ikea to hand workers 6% cost-of-living payrise

Swedish-based retailer Ikea is to hand its workers a pay rise and improved benefits as part of a £12 million investment in cost-of-living support. 

GENERAL MERCHANDISE

28 November, 2022 | by Natalie Fresen

Swedish-based retailer

Swedish-based retailer Ikea is Ikea is to hand its workers a pay rise and improved benefits as part of a £12 million investment in cost-of-living support.

The Sweden-based retail giant said its hourly paid staff will receive an increase in earnings to £10.90 an hour, or £11.95 for those based in London.

Salaried workers will also receive a pay rise of 6% on average.

Ikea also said it will ramp up its existing benefits package for workers. It said this will include doubling the staff discount to 30% across over 2000 home-furnishing items which reduce energy water and food waste.

Staff will also receive more free food options, travel season ticket discounts and other benefits.

Ikea said every eligible member of staff throughout the UK and Ireland will receive a bonus of approximately one month’s salary ahead of Christmas.

Darren Taylor, country people and culture manager, IKEA UK & Ireland, said: “Our people are at the heart of the success of our business and we have always been committed to paying a fair, sustainable rate of pay based on the cost of living.

“This year is no different. Recognising the increasing challenges brought by the rising cost of living, we are pleased to share some of the additional measures we are taking to ensure needs are met; and hope that it will ease some of the pressures of the current climate.

“By building on our existing co-worker benefits and by heightening the focus in this area, we want to ensure that our colleagues feel supported during this challenging period.”

Great Barrier Reef Should Be on UN’s ‘In Danger’ List, Report Says



Ben Westcott
Mon, November 28, 2022 

(Bloomberg) -- Australia’s iconic Great Barrier Reef is once again at risk of being categorized as endangered, after the United Nations reported ongoing threats to the natural wonder including pollution and climate-fueled bleaching.

A monitoring mission sent to Queensland in March to study the dangers to the Great Barrier Reef found not enough had been done to improve water quality and recommended it be placed on the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s List of World Heritage in Danger. It made 10 high priority recommendations, including a clear government commitment to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels by year-end.

Australia has for years lobbied to keep the natural wonder off the list, and in July 2021 the UN body said it had decided to not add the landmark. The mission came before the Labor government came to power in May on a platform that sought to reverse the nation’s reputation as a global climate laggard, including a stronger emissions reduction target of a 43% cut by 2030 from 2005 levels.

“With the election of the new Labor Government, Australia has stepped up to play our part,” Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek said in a statement. “Since the Monitoring Mission undertook their work, the Government has engaged in constructive dialog with UNESCO, and taken a number of significant steps forward.”

The dangers to the Great Barrier Reef are increasing, with the ecosystem experiencing six mass bleaching events in close succession due to warmer ocean temperatures sparked by climate change. Repeated bleaching can leave the reef’s coral unable to recover from disastrous events and cause permanent, wide-scale damage.

Scientists Try to Bolster Great Barrier Reef in Warmer World

The UN team’s high-priority recommendations for the reef also included measures to prevent damage from agriculture and fishing and supporting scientific research and funding to enable adaptation mechanisms.

“The Great Barrier Reef has been at the frontline of climate change damage,” WWF Australia Head of Oceans Richard Leck said in a statement. “The love for our great Reef goes beyond Australian borders, and there are many eyes watching to see if the government are willing to do what it takes to save our icon.”

FLIP FLOP
Alberta premier pushing organizations to drop mandates, shelves unvaccinated rights bill

Mon, November 28, 2022 

Premier Danielle Smith has backed away from one of her key promises — to amend the Alberta Human Rights Act to prevent employers from refusing to employ Albertans who aren't vaccinated against COVID-19. (Dave Bajer/CBC - image credit)

Premier Danielle Smith says the Alberta government will work to protect the rights of the unvaccinated without forthcoming legislation and has already prompted at least one organization to drop its mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy.

"For instance, the Arctic Winter Games wanted $1.2 million from us to support their effort and they were discriminating against the athletes, telling them they had to be vaccinated," Smith said at a news conference in Edmonton on Monday.

"So we asked them if they would reconsider their vaccination policy in the light of new evidence and they did."

The Arctic Winter Games announced on Nov. 18 that it was revoking its mandatory vaccination policy. The games are scheduled to take place in the Wood Buffalo region from Jan. 29 to Feb. 4, 2023.

Smith has also asked one of her ministers to call a film production set because she heard they wouldn't employ hairstylists who refused to get vaccinated.

"Those are the kind of things that we'll do," Smith said. "We just want to remind people that in this province we do not discriminate against people for any reason.

"So I'm quite prepared to make those phone calls and have my ministers make those phone calls if there are other examples."

Smith added that she want people to tell their MLAs about businesses and employers with vaccine mandates.

Smith's comments came on the same day it was revealed she was backing away from one of her key promises — to amend the Alberta Human Rights Act to prevent employers from refusing to employ Albertans who aren't vaccinated against COVID-19.

In a speech to the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce on Oct. 20, Smith said making that change was one of her priorities for the fall sitting which starts on Tuesday.

But earlier on Monday, Government House Leader Joseph Schow said the bill wasn't on the legislative agenda. He said the government wanted to focus on affordability issues and the Alberta sovereignty act instead.

When asked about it later, Smith said solving the issue requires a larger legislative review.

"Just trying to change one piece of one act was not going to solve the problem that we encountered over this this past two and a half years," she said.

"I want to make sure that when we come through with a new pandemic planning proposal and a new pandemic plan that we're addressing all of the the problems that we saw in existing legislation."

Informal policy

Lisa Young, political science professor at the University of Calgary, noted that upholding the rights of unvaccinated Albertans was one of Smith's signature promises during the leadership campaign so her decision not to move ahead with legislation is notable.

"This is a significant pivot," Young said.

Young is troubled that Smith will pressure companies and organizations behind closed doors to drop vaccine mandates, instead of passing legislation that can be challenged in court.

She said the Alberta government is adding new conditions to funding that aren't in writing.

"It isn't policy that can't be challenged because it's not written down," Young said. "So it really takes us into this very problematic place."

The Opposition NDP said Smith's admission she and her ministers are making calls to businesses and organizations will push away potential investors.

"Instead of calling these companies and organizations to intimidate them, we should be welcoming them to come and do business in Alberta," Justice critic Irfan Sabir said.

Smith made her remarks at a news conference confirming her government's commitment to tie AISH and other social benefits to changes in the cost of living.

AISH recipients will get a six per cent bump to their payments starting Dec 22. The government is committing to increase benefits to match inflation going forward.

Alberta not proceeding with Premier Smith's bill to protect COVID-19 unvaccinated

Mon, November 28, 2022

EDMONTON — Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is rolling back on a promise to introduce legislation this fall that would have outlawed restrictions on people not vaccinated against COVID-19.

Government house leader Joseph Schow says such a bill will not be introduced this fall, as the focus is on other priorities.

He declined to say whether the bill is gone for good.

Smith won the leadership of the United Conservative Party this summer promising to make the change, adding last month that the COVID-19 unvaccinated were the most discriminated group she had seen in her lifetime.

Smith said the human rights changes were also needed to prevent small and medium-sized businesses from arbitrary, suffocating government rules and to send a message that Alberta believes in freedom.

The Alberta legislature begins its fall sitting Tuesday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 28, 2022.

The Canadian Press

Manitoba suspends new cryptocurrency operations, citing high energy demand


Mon, November 28, 2022 



WINNIPEG — The Manitoba government is temporarily halting any new connections of cryptocurrency operations to the hydroelectric grid, citing a potential for overwhelming energy demands and low economic return.

The 18-month pause will not affect the 37 current operations in the province, but will temporarily halt a growing number of requests from operators who have the capacity to consume a sizable portion of the province's electricity supply.

"We can't simply say, 'Well anyone can take whatever (energy) they want to take and we'll simply build dams,'" Finance Minister Cameron Friesen, the minister responsible for Crown-owned Manitoba Hydro, said Monday.

"The last one cost $13 billion if you priced in the (transmission) line."

The technology that underpins cryptocurrencies — blockchain — requires a large amount of electricity to run complex financial transactions. Manitoba is an attractive place for high-energy users, as it has traditionally had the second-lowest electricity rates in Canada, behind Quebec.

Hydro-Québec earlier this month announced it was asking its provincial regulator to suspend the energy allocation process to the blockchain industry.

Friesen said there have been recent requests to Manitoba from another 17 operators that would require 371 megawatts of power — more than half the power generated by the Keeyask generating station, which became fully operational earlier this year.

There have also been other, less formal inquiries, Friesen said, which would total more than 4,600 megawatts.

Manitoba Hydro is still carrying debt from its last series of construction work. The utility saw its debt triple in 15 years as it built two megaprojects, the Keeyask generating station and the Bipole III transmission line, which ran a combined $3.7 billion over budget.

Part of the Progressive Conservative government's concern is that blockchain operations may not produce many jobs, Friesen said.

"You can be utilizing hundreds of megawatts and have a handful of workers."

The vice-president of the Canadian Blockchain Consortium, an industry group, said high-paying jobs are involved in operating the servers.

"Somebody's going to have to service them, check on them, make sure they're running," Jade Alberts said from Calgary.

Blockchain operators also have the ability to adapt to the needs of the grid, he said. Operators in Texas shut down when extreme heat or cold push energy demand among Texas residents high, he said.

The Manitoba government's review is to analyze, among other things, the economic impact of cryptocurrencies and a potential for a regulatory framework for approving new large connections to the grid.

"Manitoba Hydro (currently) cannot make discretionary decisions about who to hook up," Friesen said.

"If we have a new Tim Hortons in downtown Portage la Prairie ... and we have a mine with 500 employees, there is a queue that must be respected."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 28, 2022.

Steve Lambert, The Canadian Press

Crypto contagion spreads as BlockFi files for bankruptcy

In a court filing, BlockFi listed FTX as its second-largest creditor, with $275m owed on a loan extended earlier this year. 

Photo: Rafael Henrique/Sopa Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

Hannah Lang, Niket Nishant and Manya Saini
November 28 2022 

Major cryptocurrency lender BlockFi has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection along with eight affiliates, the latest crypto casualty to follow the spectacular collapse of the FTX exchange earlier this month.

The filing in a New Jersey court comes as crypto prices plummet, with bitcoin down more than 70pc from a 2021 peak.

New Jersey-based BlockFi had links with FTX, which filed for protection in the United States earlier this month after traders pulled $6bn (€5.78bn) from the platform in three days and rival exchange Binance abandoned a rescue deal.

In a court filing, BlockFi listed FTX as its second-largest creditor, with $275m owed on a loan extended earlier this year. It said it owes money to more than 100,000 creditors.

Under a deal signed with FTX in July, BlockFi was to receive a $400m revolving credit facility while FTX got an option to buy it for up to $240m.

BlockFi's bankruptcy filing also comes after two of BlockFi's largest competitors, Celsius Network and Voyager Digital, filed for bankruptcy in July citing extreme market conditions that had resulted in losses at both companies.

Crypto lenders, the de facto banks of the crypto world, boomed during the pandemic, attracting retail customers with double-digit rates in return for their cryptocurrency deposits. On the flip side, institutional investors such as hedge funds looking to make leveraged bets paid higher rates to borrow the funds from the lenders, who profited from the difference.

Crypto lenders are not required to hold capital or liquidity buffers like traditional lenders and some found themselves exposed when a shortage of collateral forced them – and their customers – to shoulder large losses.

BlockFi's largest creditor is Ankura Trust, a company that represents creditors in stressed situations, and is owed $729m. Valar Ventures, a Peter Thiel-linked venture capital fund, owns 19pc of BlockFi equity shares.

BlockFi also listed the US Securities and Exchange Commission as one of its largest creditors, with a $30m claim. In February, a subsidiary of BlockFi agreed to pay $100m to the SEC and 32 states to settle charges in connection with a retail crypto lending product the company offered to nearly 600,000 investors.

In a blog post, BlockFi said its Chapter 11 cases will enable the company to stabilise its business and maximise value for all stakeholders.

"Acting in the best interest of our clients is our top priority and continues to guide our path forward," BlockFi said.

BlockFi had earlier paused withdrawals from its platform and acknowledged it had "significant exposure" to FTX and its associated entities, including "obligations owed to us by Alameda, assets held at FTX.com, and undrawn amounts from our credit line with FTX.US".

At the end of June, a third of BlockFi's $1.8bn in outstanding loans were unsecured, according to the company.

US rule would limit methane leaks from public lands drilling

Mon, November 28, 2022



WASHINGTON (AP) — The Interior Department on Monday proposed rules to limit methane leaks from oil and gas drilling on public lands, the latest action by the Biden administration to crack down on emissions of methane, a potent greenhouse gas that contributes significantly to global warming.

The proposal by Interior's Bureau of Land Management would tighten limits on gas flaring on federal land and require energy companies to better detect methane leaks that add to planet-warming greenhouse gas pollution.

The actions follow a more comprehensive methane-reduction plan announced by President Joe Biden earlier this month. The Nov. 11 proposal, announced as Biden attended a global climate conference in Egypt, targets the oil and gas industry for its role in global warming even as the president has pressed energy producers for more oil drilling to lower prices at the gasoline pump.

Oil and gas production is the nation’s largest industrial source of methane, the primary component of natural gas, and is a key target for the Biden administration as it seeks to combat climate change.

The proposal announced Monday would prevent billions of cubic feet of natural gas from being wasted through venting, flaring and leaks, boosting efficiency while at the same time reducing pollution, administration officials said.

“This proposed rule will bring our regulations in line with technological advances that industry has made in the decades since the BLM’s rules were first put in place, while providing a fair return to taxpayers,” Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said in a statement.

Venting and flaring activity from oil and gas production on public lands has significantly increased in recent decades. Between 2010 and 2020, total volumes of natural gas lost to venting and flaring on federal and tribal lands averaged about 44.2 billion cubic feet per year — enough to serve roughly 675,000 homes, Interior said. The figure represents a sharp increase from an annual average of 11 billion cubic feet lost to venting and flaring in the 1990s.

“No one likes to waste natural resources from our public lands,'' said BLM Director Tracy Stone-Manning. She called the draft rule a common-sense, environmentally responsible solution to address the damage that wasted natural gas causes. The rule "puts the American taxpayer first and ensures producers pay appropriate royalties'' for natural gas flaring, she said.

Interior had previously announced a rule to restrict methane emissions under former President Barack Obama. The plan was challenged in court and later weakened under former President Donald Trump. Competing court rulings blocked enforcement of the Trump and Obama-era rules, leading the agency to revert to rules developed more than 40 years ago.

Jon Goldstein, an oil and gas expert at the Environmental Defense Fund, said new standards are needed to “end the waste of taxpayer-owned energy resources that has become far too routine on federal and tribal lands across the U.S.″

He called BLM’s proposal “an important first step, consistent with its long-standing authority to minimize waste.″

The rule would impose monthly limits on flaring and charge fees for flaring that exceeds those limits.

Some conservation groups faulted the rule, saying it does not do enough to eliminate gas flaring. “BLM must go further to implement strong action to reduce methane waste and avoid creating what amounts to little more than a pay-to-pollute system,'' said Anne Hedges of the Montana Environmental Information Center.

"The climate crisis requires immediate and strong action to reduce emissions, especially when there are technologies available today to minimize methane emissions at the well,'' she said.

The Environmental Protection Agency rule announced in Egypt targets emissions from existing oil and gas wells nationwide, including smaller drilling sites that now will be required to find and plug methane leaks.

The rule comes as Biden has accused oil companies of “war profiteering” and raised the possibility of imposing a windfall tax on energy companies if they don’t boost domestic production.

Besides the EPA rule, a sprawling climate and health law approved by Congress in August would impose a fee on energy producers that exceed a certain level of methane emissions. The fee, set to rise to $1,500 per metric ton of methane, marks the first time the federal government has directly imposed a fee, or tax, on greenhouse gas emissions.

The law includes $1.5 billon in grants and other spending to improve monitoring and data collection of methane emissions, with the goal of finding and repairing natural gas leaks.

The BLM will accept comments on the proposed rule through early February, with a final rule expected next year.

Matthew Daly, The Associated Press

 'It's tone deaf': Family practice doctors in Ontario baffled by ministry memo asking them to stay open longer

Elianna Lev
Fri, November 25, 2022 


A notice from the Ontario’s Ministry of Health, asking primary care providers to stay open seven days a week in an effort to ease wait times in hospitals, is being met with disbelief by many medical workers.

The notice was sent by Nadia Surani, the director of the primary health care branch in the Ministry of Health. It addresses the issues that are plaguing hospitals this fall, with an onslaught of COVID-19, influenza and Respiratory syncytial virus, which is expected to continue into the winter.

"I am writing to call on your support and requesting your organizations to offer clinical services 7 days a week, including evening availability, until further notice, to meet the needs of your patients,” the notice reads. “Please advise your patients of this availability so they may seek care in the appropriate place for their health concerns."

Nadia Alam is a family doctor in Georgetown, Ontario and past president of Ontario Medical Association. As she juggled a full work day and four kids at home who have respiratory syncytial virus, Alam says the notice made her feel disheartened and demoralized.

"Even though they say 'we see you're working hard, thank you for that but we need you to do more,'" she tells Yahoo News Canada. "It's tone deaf."

She says all throughout the pandemic, family doctors and nurses who work in primary care have been told they haven't been doing enough.



This isn't an isolated incident, this is an on-going narrative that we need to do more to help hospitals and ER that are overwhelmed. It's frustrating because you can't expect a subset of the healthcare system to fix what is really a healthcare system problem.Nadia Alam, family doctor in Georgetown, Ontario

On social media, many family care workers were stunned by the memo.

“And who supports the family doctors: nurses, admin…are they expected to also work these horrendous hours,” Instagram user meggsd99 wrote on a post that shared the province's notice. “This government is out of their minds! Most MDs are already working well above their mental, emotional and physical abilities but sure let’s burn them and support staff out even more.”

In a note to its members, the Association of Family Health Teams of Ontario followed up that many clinics across Ontario are keeping their doors open longer in order to address the high number of patients with respiratory illnesses, and that the ministry’s memo was not meant to be taken as a command.

"In discussions with the ministry, this memo was not intended to be directive nor prescriptive but was a request to communicate to your patients about how to access care, especially for sick children, with a focus on receiving care through their primary care teams first so that your patients do not seek care in the hospital if not needed," the association wrote.