Wyoming Wants to Sell 640 Acres Inside Grand Teton National Park

Katie Hill
Mon, November 20, 2023 

The Kelly parcel provides crucial habitat for wild bison, elk, pronghorn, and other species. It also provides ample hunting and fishing opportunities.


A 640-acre parcel of Wyoming trust land that's rich in wildlife habitat and hunting and fishing access is on the chopping block as the Wyoming Office of State Lands and Investments considers auctioning it off to the highest bidder. The “Kelly Parcel,” which has been valued at over $62 million for its unfettered Teton views and access to the Gros Ventre River, also resides squarely within the Grand Teton National Park boundary.

The section's location is just one layer of this complicated issue, which is currently the source of much protest in Teton County and across the state. If the State Board of Land Commissioners votes to move forward with the auction, it would be the first time in U.S. history that a state body auctioned off a piece of land adjacent to a national park, the Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance says. Wyomingites are concerned that the land would go to a real estate developer who would make quick work of the untainted expanse, building multi-million-dollar second homes and cashing in on the ever-growing wealth boom in the American West.

The parcel borders the Bridger-Teton National Forest and the National Elk Refuge and sits on an ancient elk and pronghorn migratory corridor. It also offers habitat to dozens of other species of nongame mammals, birds, and fish and hosts premier elk and bison hunting access and ample fishing opportunities on the Gros Ventre, according to Joel Webster, the vice president of Western conservation for the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership. If the National Park Service were to acquire the parcel, conditions allowing for bison hunting could be written onto the deed when it transfers hands, Webster tells Outdoor Life. (A very limited elk hunt already occurs in Grand Teton National Park every year as part of the park’s elk management strategy.)

The Kelly Parcel, labeled "State of Wyoming," is technically within the Grand Teton National Park boundary (purple). The National Elk Refuge (green) is to the southwest and the Bridger-Teton National Forest opens up to the east.

But even if bison hunting opportunities were lost in a NPS acquisition, he says, keeping the habitat intact is the obvious best-case-scenario for the conservation community.

“Given the importance of this parcel for fish and wildlife, specifically big game species, it makes the most sense for this piece to go to the Park Service. So whatever the state chooses to do, that needs to be the outcome,” Webster says. “The worst option is some big roller from New York City comes in, buys this land, and subdivides it. Not only are the hunting opportunities gone, but the wildlife habitat value is gone, too.”

In Wyoming, the Office of State Lands and Investments has a fiscal responsibility to the state’s public schools, from K-12 to the state university system. (State trust lands contribute funds and real estate to other state entities as well, like the penal and healthcare systems.) Revenue from state trust lands makes up a portion of the state’s education budget, which is also funded through mineral royalties, motor vehicle registration fees, and a variety of other sources. Currently, the only money the Kelly Parcel makes for the state comes from grazing leases, conservation easements, and “temporary use permits.” This revenue totals $2,845.65 a year, or .000046 percent of the current valuation of the land. (That’s less than half of one ten-thousandth of a percent.)

During a public meeting in Jackson on Nov. 9, one member of the public pointed out that, at $97,000 an acre, that would make this land shockingly cheap when compared to other property values in the region.

“Anyone else in the room shocked that an acre of land with pristine Teton views is appraised at $97,000?” she asked the room packed with concerned residents, according to Wyoming Public Media. “I’d like to buy one—or five. That’s crazy!”

Although the unidentified speaker suggests the property is undervalued, the process by which the $62,425,000 valuation was reached is detailed in a 156-page appraisal report from July 2022. Even if the parcel is fairly priced and the land were to go to auction, it would be difficult for the NPS to win a bidding war against private sector money.

The state has always planned to transfer the state’s four inholdings in Grand Teton National Park to the DOI, per an agreement between the state and the NPS from 2010. The first purchase—mineral rights on the Jackson Lake Parcel—happened in 2012. The second purchase occurred in 2013 when the DOI bought the 86-acre Snake River Parcel from the state for $16 million. Then, after much back-and-forth, the state sold the 640-acre Antelope Flats Parcel to the DOI for $46 million in 2016. This transfer occurred through legislative action at the state level, which solidified both the buyer and the price in the bill. The Kelly Parcel is the state’s final inholding in Grand Teton National Park, and the state has tried and failed multiple times to legislate the transfer.

The public comment period on the proposal will remain open until Dec. 1. The State Board of Land Commissioners will vote on the proposal on Dec. 7.

Consumer groups, lawmakers seek to reduce impact of $2 billion cost of closing Wisconsin coal plants

Karl Ebert, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Wed, November 22, 2023 

WEC Energy Group's recent announcement that it will be coal-free by 2032 is likely to bring new urgency to questions about how to pay off outstanding debt on unwanted coal-generation plants and whether utilities should be able to profit from them even after they're shut down.

WEC, the parent company of We Energies and Wisconsin Public Service Corp., recently laid out a schedule that reiterates its commitment to closing the four oldest coal-burning units at Oak Creek over the next two years, while for the first time putting a 2031 closing date on what will be the last coal-burning plant operated by the state's largest utilities.

The company estimates replacing coal generation with renewable energy resources will result in about $2 billion in customer savings over the next 20 years, including $50 million in operations and maintenance costs at Oak Creek.

Alliant Energy is projecting similar savings as it prepares to shut down its two remaining coal-burning plants by 2026.

That's welcome news for customers, but retirement of the plants doesn't, in and of itself, mean lower electricity bills.
How to handle millions in debt remains to be determined

The shutdowns are driven by changed energy economics that have made wind and solar cheaper than coal, resulting in plant retirements before millions of dollars of debt owed to bondholders and investors are repaid. Those costs need to be recouped, and that money will come from the utility's electric customers.

Statewide, the Wisconsin Industrial Energy Group estimates those "sunk costs" will add up to more than $2 billion dollars, mostly due to pollution controls installed by the utilities in the past decade.

Meanwhile, Wisconsin's utilities project billions in spending to develop renewable resources to replace the coal-burning plants and meet future demand, costs that also will be borne by ratepayers.

Those costs are a necessary step toward meeting state, local and corporate carbon reduction goals, but they can be counterbalanced by measures that prevent utilities from profiting on that outstanding debt, said Tom Content, executive director of the Wisconsin Citizens Utility Board.

"Nobody was banking on spending all that money and not having that generation last," Content said. "But the economics of coal changed, the utilities' decarbonization plans and interest in renewable energy changed. The shareholders are doing very, very well on all this new investment and we really want customers to get a break on plants that are no longer being used shut down. That's why our our tagline is no profit for dead coal."
Bill would expand options for reducing customer burden

Wisconsin has a little-used system for protecting customers from some of those costs, a financing tool known as securitization.

First authorized by the state Legislature in 2004, securitization involves issuing bonds to refinance the remaining value of a coal plant. The savings come from the difference between the interest rate on the bonds and the rate of return, or profit, the utility would otherwise be able to collect from customers. In Wisconsin, utilities' profits rates are between 9% and 10%.

More than a decade passed before the law was used for the first time, when We Energies refinanced $100 million in outstanding debt after it decommissioned the Pleasant Prairie Power Plant in 2018. Refinancing that debt is estimated to save We Energies customers $40 million over 15 years.

We Energies also agreed last year in a proposed settlement of its rate case to securitize $100 million of the $656 million it still owes on the Oak Creek power plant. That agreement was rejected by the Wisconsin Public Service Commission, which sought more information about the amount for refinancing and whether it could be bigger.

The We Energies Power Plant in Pleasant Prairie closed in 2018. The following year the Wisconsin Public Service Commission approved refinancing $100 million of the plant's unpaid debt resulting in about $40 million in savings for for the utility's electric customers.

Why refinance only part of that debt? The answer is twofold.

First, state law limits the use of securitization to certain pollution controls. That was the rationale for using it to refinance only about one-fourth of the outstanding debt at Pleasant Prairie.

Second, refinancing requires a utility to forgo profit on the plant's remaining value, which can be at odds with maximizing shareholder returns, and the law requires securitization to be voluntary.

Those issues came into play earlier this month, when the PSC set Alliant's 2024 and 2025 gas rates. In comments submitted during the rate case, consumer advocates and the Wisconsin Industrial Energy Group argued for securitization of some, if not all of the $385 million in remaining debt on air-pollution control equipment at Alliant's Edgewater Generating Station. Those costs represent the majority of the $472 million that's still owed on the plant, which is scheduled to shut down in 2025.

PSC Chairwoman Rebecca Cameron Valcq pointed out that securitization was off the table because Alliant had not proposed it despite a request from commissioners during the previous rate case for the company to come back with a suite of financing alternatives.

"It's clear that the state statute as is currently written does not allow this commission to require securitization to be used. It is as clear as the day is long. That's the way the statute is written," Valcq said. "So all of the noise about requiring them to securitize, requiring them to use environmental trust financing, all that time and energy, in my opinion, would be better utilized, lobbying for changes to the statute, because we're not within our authority to order securitization. If it comes to us as a proposal, we have an ability to look at it."

As commissioners reviewed each of the investor-owned utilities' rates over the past month, they repeatedly stressed that finding ways to reduce the impact on customers of shutting down coal plants needs to be included during consideration of their next rate adjustments.

"I think all utilities adequately put on notice that this is going to be an issue," Valcq said during final consideration of We Energies' 2024 rates.

Alliant Energy plans to close the Edgewater Power Plant, a coal- powered generating facility in Sheboygan in 2025.

Proposal would allow utilities to refinance all plant retirement costs

A bill introduced recently by state Sens. Robert Cowles, R-Green Bay, and Duey Stroebel, R-Saukville, would change that. The bill would allow utilities to refinance all of the costs associated with retiring a coal plant and also give the PSC authority to order securitization.

Cowles said the bill is an attempt to provide some relief for the state's electric customers at a time when large increases in electric rates have pushed Wisconsin electric costs above most other Midwest states.

"We''ve got something like $2.5 billion of plants that are going to close, and the idea is that you're going to rate base all this? Rather than securitize it?" Cowles said. "If you securitize it, you're going to be able to do it in a much cheaper way. That's the purpose of the bill."

The bill also would require utilities to submit biennial resource and reliability plans to the PSC to ensure new construction best meets the state's needs and provide advance notification to the PSC of any plans to shut down large power-generating facilities.

Todd Stuart, executive director of the Wisconsin Industrial Energy Group, said the manufacturers WIEG represents, 25 of the state's largest energy users, share consumer advocates' concerns about rising electric rates. Stuart declined to comment directly on Cowles' legislation, but he noted WIEG has been an active proponent of using securitization in the We Energies and Alliant rate cases.

"Now is a good time to raise questions regarding the speed and cost of the massive utility capital spend in Wisconsin," he said. "We still need to address the problem of rate recovery for power plants that are about to be retired."

The state's utilities have already voiced their opposition to the bill through the Wisconsin Utility Association, the lobbying group that represents the state's investor-owned gas and electric utilities. WUA circulated a memo earlier this month urging lawmakers not so sign on as co-sponsors of Cowles' bill and several others that aim to create greater transparency on energy issues for consumers.

"They need to be free to make their own financial decisions at the best time for when they believe them to be instead of having the commission order them. They just need the flexibility to be able to do that when it's appropriate," said Bill Skewes, WUA's executive director.

Cowles said that opposition was not unexpected and overcoming the utilities' lobbying power is no small challenge. But, he believes, recent electric rate increases across the state have put the issue of energy costs at the forefront of all classes of utility customers and lawmakers are hearing about it.

"Hopefully we get a hearing on this bill, and hopefully the commissioners come, or at least the chairman comes in and says we want this authority," Cowles said. "And hopefully the governor comes in. This is one of these things where we have an opportunity to make things less financially difficult for people. Do we take advantage of it or not? We'll see."

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Bill aims to cut customer impact of $2 billion cost of closing Wisconsin coal plants

India wants private money for coal-fired plants despite Western opposition

Sarita Chaganti Singh
Tue, November 21, 2023



 Smoke billows from the cooling towers of a coal-fired power plant in Ahmedabad

By Sarita Chaganti Singh

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India on Tuesday asked private firms to ramp up investments in new coal-fired power plants to meet a dramatic rise in electricity demand and bridge nearly 30-gigawatts of additional requirement by 2030, despite international pressure to stop building such facilities.

India's power and renewable energy minister R K Singh in New Delhi asked private companies to invest in coal projects and "not miss the growth opportunity," according to three sources present in the meeting.

The Indian government meeting with private investors comes weeks before the U.N. climate conference, at which France, backed by the United States, plans to seek a halt to private financing for coal-based power plants, according to a Reuters report.

India's power ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The private investment share in the Indian power sector started dwindling after 2018, when it was more than, or at par with, government investments. Currently, it stands at 36% of the country's total installed capacity.

Most of the coal-based capacity under development is being set up by state-owned companies, with Adani Power and JSW Energy the only private companies building such plants.

Many private companies stopped building new coal-based plants in India over a decade ago due to a lack of financing in the absence long-term power supply bids from consumers.

In recent years, however, energy demand has outpaced expectations in India, the world's most populous country, as economy activity picked up.

Since August, the South Asian nation's energy demand rose 18% to 20% year-on-year. The government expects it to rise by at least 6% annually till end of this decade.

During the meeting, Singh said new estimates see India's peak power demand reaching 335-gigawatts by 2030 versus the present 240-gigawatts, according to the three sources.

Private power companies were told that the majority of the peak-hour electricity demand in India can be met by coal-based power stations, since storage technologies are costlier to support solar and wind-based energy generation, officials said.

A total coal-based capacity addition of 58 gigawatts is in the pipeline, leaving an expected gap of over 30-gigawatts, they said.

"The Minister assured that the government may look at funding support to such projects (from private firms) from state-run financiers such as Power Finance Corp and REC Ltd," one of the sources said.

All three sources at the meeting asked not to be identified as they were not authorized to speak to media.

Singh told the meeting that despite adding coal-based capacity, India will still meet its climate goals of shifting to 50% non-fossil-based power capacity since the country is also adding renewable energy projects.

(Reporting by Sarita Chaganti Singh; Editing by Bill Berkrot)

Exclusive-France, US to propose ban on private finance to coal-fired plants at COP28 - sources

Sarita Chaganti Singh, Kate Abnett and Valerie Volcovici
Mon, November 20, 2023 

 'Cop28 UAE' logo is displayed on the screen during the opening ceremony of Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week (ADSW) under the theme of 'United on Climate Action Toward COP28', in Abu Dhabi

By Sarita Chaganti Singh, Kate Abnett and Valerie Volcovici

NEW DELHI/BRUSSELS/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - France, backed by the United States, plans to seek a halt to private financing for coal-based power plants during the U.N. climate conference later this month, three sources familiar with the deliberations told Reuters in India and Europe.

The plan, which was communicated to India earlier this month, will deepen divisions at the COP28 summit in Dubai running from Nov. 30 to Dec. 12, with India and China opposed to any attempt to block construction of coal-fired power stations for their energy-hungry economies.

France's minister of state for development Chrysoula Zacharopoulou told the Indian government about the plan, called the "New Coal Exclusion Policy", for private financial institutions and insurance companies, two Indian officials said.

The plan to stop private financing for coal-fired power plants has not been previously reported.

A spokesman for Zacharopoulou did not directly comment on emailed queries from Reuters but said the question of financial investments in coal had been discussed at several different multilateral forums over the past few years.

India's environment, power and renewable energy, coal, external affairs and information ministries, the OECD and the French embassy in New Delhi did not respond to Reuters' requests for comment.

A source in Europe familiar with the plan said the aim was to dry up private funding for coal power and that it was a top priority for French President Emmanuel Macron during COP28, seen as a crucial opportunity to accelerate action to limit global warming.

The proposal provides for the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to set coal-exit standards for private finance firms whose financing could be tracked by regulators, rating agencies and non-governmental organisations, the two Indian officials said.

The U.S., European Union and Canada, among others, have been seeking a plan to expedite the phase-out of coal, which they have cited as the "number one threat" to climate goals.

They are concerned private international financing continues to support large additions to coal capacity in developing nations, according to the plan shared by France with India.

Some 490 gigawatts of new coal capacity, roughly equal to one-fifth of existing global capacity, is planned or under construction, mostly in India and China, the officials said.

Rick Duke, Deputy U.S. Special Envoy on Climate Change, did not comment directly on the proposal but noted the expansion in coal-fired plants.

"We are pushing to set an expectation globally that countries need to join us in the fastest possible power sector transition, including all that clean power deployment," Duke said.

"And countries need to stop digging a deeper hole by building new unabated coal power plants, because unfortunately, there's still some 500 gigawatts of new coal-fired power plants in the pipeline globally, and the IPCC and the International Energy Agency have both been quite clear that that needed to stop already."

Member countries are divided on emissions abatement technologies that are yet to evolve to commercial scale for use in developing countries, one of the Indian officials said.

About 73% of electricity consumed in India is produced using coal, even though the country has increased its non-fossil capacity to 44% of its total installed power generation capacity.

The country intends to resist the push to fix a deadline for a fossil fuel phase-out or phase-down at COP28, as coal will be its main energy source for a few more decades, and may ask members to shift their focus on reducing emissions from other sources. It may also push developed nations to become carbon negative rather than carbon neutral by 2050.

(Reporting by Sarita Chaganti Singh, Valerie Volcovici in Washington and Kate Abnett in Brussels; Additional reporting by Benjamin Mallet in Paris; Editing by Sonali Paul)

Giant batteries drain economics of gas power plants

Sarah McFarlane and Susanna Twidale
Updated Tue, November 21, 2023

A wind turbine and an electricity pylon are seen in Finedon, UK

LONDON (Reuters) - Giant batteries that ensure stable power supply by offsetting intermittent renewable supplies are becoming cheap enough to make developers abandon scores of projects for gas-fired generation world-wide.

The long-term economics of gas-fired plants, used in Europe and some parts of the United States primarily to compensate for the intermittent nature of wind and solar power, are changing quickly, according to Reuters' interviews with more than a dozen power plant developers, project finance bankers, analysts and consultants.

They said some battery operators are already supplying back-up power to grids at a price competitive with gas power plants, meaning gas will be used less.

The shift challenges assumptions about long-term gas demand and could mean natural gas has a smaller role in the energy transition than posited by the biggest, listed energy majors.

In the first half of the year, 68 gas power plant projects were put on hold or cancelled globally, according to data provided exclusively to Reuters by U.S.-based non-profit Global Energy Monitor.

Recent cancellations include electricity plant developer Competitive Power Ventures decision announced in October to abandon a gas plant project in New Jersey in the United States. It cited low power prices and the absence of government subsidies without giving financial detail.

British independent Carlton Power dropped plans for an 800 million pound ($997 million) gas power plant in Manchester, northern England, in 2016. Reflecting the shift in economics in favour of storage, this year it launched plans to build one of the world's largest batteries at the site.

"In the early 1990s, we were running gas plants baseload, now they are shifting to probably 40% of the time and that's going to drop off to 11%-15% in the next eight to 10 years," Keith Clarke, chief executive at Carlton Power, told Reuters.

Without providing price detail, which companies say is commercially sensitive, Clarke said Carlton had struggled to finance the planned gas plant in part because of uncertainty over the revenues it would generate and the number of hours it would run.

MODELS UNDER SCRUTINY

Developers can no longer use financial modelling that assumes gas power plants are used constantly throughout their 20-year-plus lifetime, analysts said.

Instead, modellers need to predict how much gas generation is needed during times of peak demand and to compensate for the intermittency of renewable sources that are hard to anticipate.

"It does become more complex," Nigel Scott, head of structured trade and commodity finance at Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, said.

Investors are putting increased scrutiny on the modelling, he added.

Banks are focused on financing plants that have guaranteed revenues, three bankers involved in energy project finance said, asking not to be named because they were not authorised to speak to the press.

Many countries world-wide, but especially in Europe, provide payments for standby power plants through capacity markets. In these markets, power producers bid to be back-up suppliers.

The system has long been criticised by environmental campaigners on the grounds it can amount to a subsidy to fossil fuel. Its advocates say it is necessary to ensure the smooth integration of renewable power and that the payments can also reward batteries.

Those selected to provide back-up generation are paid to keep plants ready to come online at short-notice to meet peak demand, or to cover for outages at other plants, or to compensate for variance in wind or solar power generation.

These payments can improve the economics for gas-fired plants, but are insufficient to guarantee long-term profits.

Carlton Power secured a capacity auction contract for its planned UK gas plant, but had to relinquish it because of delays in securing investment due to uncertainty over the project's future revenues.

The UK first introduced a capacity market in 2014, and more than a dozen countries followed with similar schemes.

Battery and interconnector operators are also participating in these auctions, and have begun to win contracts.

The cost of lithium-ion batteries has more than halved from 2016 to 2022 to $151 per kilowatt hour of battery storage, according to BloombergNEF.

At the same time, renewable generation has reached record levels. Wind and solar powered 22% of the EU's electricity last year, almost doubling their share from 2016, and surpassing the share of gas generation for the first time, according to think tank Ember's European Electricity Review.

"In the early years, capacity markets were dominated by fossil fuel power stations providing the flexible electricity supply," said Simon Virley, head of energy at KPMG. Now batteries, interconnectors and consumers shifting their electricity use are also providing that flexibility, Virley added.

RISING RISKS

The start-up in March of UK energy company SSE's Keadby 2, a gas power plant in eastern England, was supported by a 15-year government contract signed in 2020 to provide standby electricity services to the grid from 2023/24. The plant was financed by the company before it had the standby contract, and took four-and-a-half years to build.

The economics for such a plant would look different now, said Helen Sanders, head of corporate affairs and sustainability at SSE Thermal.

"I don't think we'd be taking an investment decision without revenue security through some sort of mechanism now because of the inherent risk associated with revenue security," Sanders said.

"If you're investing in something purely based on merchant market exposure, you're really going to have to see very, very high power prices, if you're only running for a lower number of hours."

Efforts to cut carbon emissions may add another cost to fossil-fuel plants: countries including the UK and the United States are considering requiring operators to retrofit plants with carbon capture infrastructure.

European Union rules introduced in January require gas plants seeking to access green finance to be built with carbon capture or be able to switch to using low carbon gases such as hydrogen from 2035.

OFF SWITCHES, EVs

As the energy transition gathers pace, other developments may reduce the need for back-up plants.

UK energy retailer Octopus Energy last year ran trials that offered to pay households a small fee to stop using electricity for an hour at a time during periods of strong demand.

The trials covered the equivalent amount of power demand that a small gas plant would meet, or what could be saved by turning off more than half of London for an hour.

Electric vehicles are a further disrupter as they can be charged when demand is weak and then power homes or send power back to the grid during peak demand periods.

A typical EV sits parked 90% of the time with a battery capable of storing enough energy to power the average modern home for two days, energy software platform Kaluza said in a report published in December.

In Europe, 40 million electric vehicles are expected by 2030, capable of displacing around one third of the region's gas power capacity, according to Kaluza.

"There are lots of things the grid can look to when it starts to look away from conventional generation," Carlton's Clarke said.

($1 = 0.8025 pounds)

(Reporting By Sarah McFarlane and Susanna Twidale; Editing by Simon Webb and Barbara Lewis)

U.S. thwarts plot to kill Sikh separatist, issues warning to India - FT

Reuters
Wed, November 22, 2023 

NEW DELHI (Reuters) -U.S. authorities thwarted a plot to kill a Sikh separatist in the United States and issued a warning to India over concerns the government in New Delhi was involved, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday, citing unnamed sources.

There was no immediate response from India's foreign ministry, or from the U.S. embassy in New Delhi, to requests for comment on the report.

The Financial Times said that the sources did not say if the protest to India resulted in the plot being abandoned by the plotters, or if it was foiled by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).


The protest to New Delhi was registered after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was welcomed on a state visit by President Joe Biden in June, the report said.

The report comes two months after Canada said there were "credible" allegations linking Indian agents to the June murder of a Sikh separatist leader, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, in a Vancouver suburb.

India has rejected Canada's accusations.

Apart from the diplomatic warning to India, U.S. federal prosecutors have also filed a sealed indictment against at least one suspect in a New York district court, the FT report said.

The paper identified Gurpatwant Singh Pannun as the target of the foiled plot.

The FT report said Pannun had declined to say whether U.S. authorities had warned him about the plot, but quoted him as saying he would "let the U.S. government respond to the issue of threats to my life on American soil from the Indian operatives".

Pannun, like Nijjar, is a proponent of a decades-long, but now a fringe demand to carve out an independent Sikh homeland from India named Khalistan.

Canada worked very closely with the United States on intelligence that Indian agents had been potentially involved in Nijjar's murder, a senior Canadian government source told Reuters in September.

The Financial Times report mentioned that the U.S. shared details of the thwarted plot with a wider group of allies after Canada's public accusation.

(Reporting by Shivam Patel, Krishn Kaushik in New Delhi; Editing by Andrew Heavens and Alex Richardson)


India's anti-terror agency files case against Sikh separatist for Air India threat

Updated Tue, November 21, 2023 

Air India passenger aircraft are seen on the tarmac at Chhatrapati Shivaji International airport in Mumbai

By Shivam Patel

NEW DELHI (Reuters) -India's anti-terrorism agency has filed a case against a Sikh separatist leader for warning Air India passengers that their lives were in danger and threatening not to let the flag carrier operate anywhere in the world.

The agency said security forces were on alert after the threats by Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, who acts as general counsel of Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), a group campaigning to establish an independent Sikh homeland called Khalistan carved out of India.

The case against Pannun has been registered under provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act 1967 and sections of the Indian Penal Code, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) said in a statement on Monday.

"Pannun threatened that Air India would not be allowed to operate in the world ... in his video messages, released on Nov. 4," it said, adding that he had urged Sikhs not to travel on Air India flights from Sunday, "claiming a threat to their lives".

Reuters has not independently verified the video messages, which were widely shared on social media this month.

Pannun told Reuters in an emailed response that his message was to "boycott Air India not bomb" and that the Indian government was engaging in a disinformation tactic to "crush freedom of expression".

He added that the "government can not stop SFJ from running secessionist Khalistan referendum, which is the real motive why NIA filed frivolous terror case."

Air India declined to comment on the matter. The NIA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The demand for Khalistan has resurfaced many times, although it now has little support in India, which sees the movement as a security threat.

A violent insurgency in the 1970s and 1980s by Sikh militants paralysed the northern state of Punjab, where Sikhs are a majority, for more than a decade.

India banned the SFJ as an "unlawful association" in 2019, citing that it was involved in "anti-national and subversive" activities.

It listed Pannun as an "individual terrorist" in 2020, stating that he was issuing appeals to "Punjab-based gangsters and youth" to fight for Khalistan.

The interior ministry said that year that Pannun, originally from a village in Punjab, was residing in the United States. Media said he has citizenship of U.S. and Canada.

Interpol has rejected two requests by India to issue a red corner notice against him, The Indian Express newspaper said in October last year. The SFJ says it has offices in Britain, Canada and U.S.

The threats come as Canadian agencies investigate allegations linking India's agents to the killing of a Sikh separatist leader there, which has frayed ties between the two countries. India has rejected Canada's suspicions.

In the wake of the threats, investigations have been launched in Canada, India and some other countries where the airline owned by the Tata Group conglomerate operates, the NIA said.

Air India has previously been targeted by Sikh militants, who were blamed for a bombing in 1985 of its Boeing 747 aircraft flying from Canada to India that killed all 329 people aboard off the Irish coast.

Pannun has also previously threatened to disrupt railways and thermal power plants in India, the agency said.

(Reporting by Shivam Patel; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and David Gregorio)

'HUMANS' RESPONSIBLE FOR THE CLIMATE CRISIS 

IDENTIFIED

World's richest 1% emit as much carbon as 5 billion people, report says
Li Cohen
Tue, November 21, 2023

Dimitrios Kambouris

The "polluter elite" are disproportionately driving climate change, according to a new report — with the wealthiest 1% of people in the world putting out as much carbon pollution as the poorest two-thirds.

The report, by The Guardian, the international charity Oxfam and the Stockholm Environment Institute, found that climate change and "extreme inequality" have become "interlaced, fused together and driving one another."

Researchers found that of all the carbon emissions in the world in 2019, 16% was produced by the top 1% wealthiest people worldwide — a group that includes billionaires, millionaires and those who earn more than $140,000 a year. The analysis found their contribution "is the same as the emissions of the poorest 66% of humanity" — roughly 5 billion people.


The report also found that the richest 10% percent of people worldwide made up roughly half of emissions that year.

"It would take about 1,500 years for someone in the bottom 99% to produce as much carbon as the richest billionaires do in a year," Chiara Liguori, Oxfam's senior climate justice policy adviser said. "This is fundamentally unfair."

The amount of carbon dioxide emissions the top 1% was reported to have produced in 2019 — 5.9 billion tonnes — is enough to change global temperatures enough to lead to the deaths of an estimated 1.3 million people, the report says, citing a widely-used methodology known as "mortality cost of carbon."

The report also highlighted that just 12 of the world's richest billionaires have contributed nearly 17 million tonnes of emissions from their homes, transportation, yachts and investments — an amount it said was more than 4 1/2 coal power plants over the course of a year.

At the top of that list is Carlos Slim Helu, who according to Forbes has a net worth of $94.7 billion. He was followed by Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, and luxury retail magnate Bernard Arnault.

Earth is "under siege"

Oregon State University ecology professor William Ripple, who is also the director of the Alliance of World Scientists, told CBS News that the report's methodology and findings are "broadly consistent with some recent peer-reviewed scientific literature on this topic."

"Carbon inequality and climate justice are major issues," he said. "To address climate change, we'll need to dramatically reduce inequality and provide support and climate compensation to less wealthy regions."

Last month, Ripple and a team of other scientists published a paper finding that Earth is "under siege" and "in an uncharted territory." They found several all-time high records related to climate change and "deeply concerning patterns of climate-related disasters." They also found that efforts to address these issues have had "minimal progress."

The Guardian and Oxfam report called for a number of steps to help humanity "break free from the climate and inequality trap," including a transition to renewable energy sources. It also suggested a 60% tax on the income of the worlds wealthiest 1%, which the report calculated would lead to a 700-million-ton reduction in global emissions.

U.N. report shows a dangerous "emissions canyon"

The report on the climate wealth gap came out the same day the United Nations issued its own new report on the cost of climate adaptation. The U.N. Environment Programme found that despite "clear signs" the risks from climate change are increasing, nations are falling further behind in the investments needed in response.

That "adaptation finance gap" is between $194 billion and $366 billion every year, the U.N. report found, saying there needs to be at least 50% more financial investment, and noting that developing countries have "significantly higher" costs and needs than others.

Greenhouse gas emissions — which trap heat in the atmosphere and drive warming — have increased 1.2% since last year, reaching record highs.

Sobering climate change report says we're falling short of promises made in Paris Climate Agreement

U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres told reporters Monday that "if nothing changes, in 2030 emissions will be 22 gigatons higher than the 1.5 degree limit would allow" — referencing the goal of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius higher than pre-industrial times. It's expected that the world may surpass that level within the next five years.

"All of this is a failure of leadership, a betrayal of the vulnerable and a massive missed opportunity. Renewables have never been cheaper or more accessible," Guterres said. "...The report shows that the emissions gap is more like an emissions canyon — a canyon littered with broken promises, broken lives and broken records."

CBS News correspondent Pamela Falk contributed to this report.

‘Sacrificing us at the altar of their greed’: Richest 10% in EU emit as much carbon as poorest 50%

Ian Smith
Mon, November 20, 2023 

The richest 10 per cent in the EU are responsible for as much carbon pollution as the poorest 50 per cent, a new report by Oxfam reveals.

“Their increasingly luxurious lifestyles and escalating opulence are wreaking havoc on our planet," says Oxfam EU tax expert Chiara Putaturo. “Meanwhile ordinary people are burdened with rising costs and the dire consequences of heatwaves, floods, and landslides caused by human greed.”

These outsized emissions of Europe’s richest will cause 67,800 heat-related excess deaths by 2100, the equivalent of almost 850 deaths every year.

Should Europe introduce a new wealth tax?

The charity is calling for a European wealth tax to raise nearly €250 billion a year which could be used to reduce pollution and inequality.

Through the European Green Deal the EU has set out ambitious climate targets, but question marks still remain over the financing of its implementation.

World on track for nearly 3C of warming under current climate plans, UN report warns

“We need a European wealth tax. Economists want it, multi-millionaires want it and people want it,” Putaturo says.

The report also outlines the stark global inequalities fuelling the climate crisis.

The richest 1 per cent of the world’s population, which includes billionaires, millionaires and those making above $140,000 (€128,172), produced as much carbon pollution in 2019 as the five billion people who made up the poorest two-thirds of humanity.

It argues that we need “a radical new approach if we are to stand any chance at overcoming the catastrophe unfolding before us.”

Greta Thunberg slams the greed of rich people

In a foreword to the new report Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg condemns the richest 1 per cent for “sacrificing us at the altar of their greed.”

She continues: “The people most responsible for the climate crisis – mainly white, privileged men – are also the ones who have been given a leading role in getting us out of it.

“How have we left the culprits in charge when there is so much at stake?”

How can we address global inequalities?

Oxfam is calling on governments to dramatically reduce inequality by a global redistribution of income in the form of a wealth tax.

It also calls for a quick and just transition away from fossil fuels and a change in mindset that prioritises the wellbeing of humans and the planet over endless profit and consumption.

Experts overwhelmingly blame one person for climate change confusion: ‘One of the greatest climate villains’

Leo Collis
Tue, November 21, 2023 



Rupert Murdoch announced in September that he would step down as chairman of Fox Corp and News Corp.

The Australian’s impact on the media landscape since the 1950s has had far-reaching and damaging consequences.

Speaking to the Guardian, climate scientist at Australian National University Joëlle Gergis said: “It’s hard to think of another person who has single-handedly done more to muddy the public’s understanding of climate change.”

Other scientists did not give Murdoch particularly glowing reviews upon the news of his decision to hand over control of the media empire to his son, Lachlan.

Climate scientist and University of Pennsylvania professor Michael Mann added, per the Guardian: “He has wielded his global media empire as a cudgel to sow confusion and doubt about the science and the solutions. He will go down in history as one of the greatest climate villains.”

Murdoch’s role in climate science denial is nothing new. In 2013, the Australian Centre for Independent Journalism studied 602 articles across 10 newspapers in Australia and found that 32% either dismissed or questioned whether human activity was responsible for global heating.

The findings were summarized by the Guardian, and the contribution of Murdoch’s News Corp to that figure was shocking.

The Guardian said that 97% of comment pieces in the Herald Sun, under Murdoch’s media empire, published climate-skeptic views. Syndicated columnist Andrew Bolt was responsible for a number of these articles, with similar work also published in The Advertiser, NT News, and Daily Telegraph.

Murdoch was also criticized for inaccurate statements regarding climate science in the past; a 2014 Sky News interview contained misguided comments, as reported by the Guardian.

The Conversation has detailed several troubling or inaccurate stories News Corp pushed in Australia as part of a Mission Zero 2050 campaign, which was supposed to encourage the country to move toward a net-zero future.

There were articles about how renewable sources are an unreliable source of power, while another praised Australia’s coal industry as cleaner than coal industries in most other countries.

“He’s a true villain on a global scale,” one Redditor said of Murdoch when commenting on the Guardian’s unflattering review of his climate impact during his career.

“This dude will be responsible for the deaths of millions,” added another.

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Mexican officials admit secrecy-shrouded border train project had no environmental impact study

DANIEL SHAILER
Updated Tue, November 21, 2023

FILE - Construction continues for a new train line in northern Mexico, in San Lorenzo, Sonora state, Mexico, Monday, Nov. 13, 2023. Residents in the northern state of Sonora are battling the new train line which they say threatens to displace their homes and cut up the local ecosystem. The governor of Mexico’s northern state of Sonora acknowledged Tuesday, Nov. 21, that a secrecy-shrouded train project was an army undertaking that has not yet submitted any environmental impact statement, months after construction already started. (AP Photo/Luis Castillo, File) 


MEXICO CITY (AP) — The governor of Mexico’s northern state of Sonora acknowledged Tuesday that a secrecy-shrouded train project was an army undertaking that has not yet submitted any environmental impact statement, months after construction had already started.

The rail link between the port of Guaymas and the border city of Nogales threatens to cut through and damage environmentally-sensitive conservation lands.

Sonora Gov. Alfonso Durazo justified the new rail line project saying it would solve the problem of a rail line that passed through the center of Nogales by diverting rail traffic outside the city.


But while the state is partially financing the project, Durazo said it is "being carried out by the Defense department,” adding that the state's operational role is limited to helping the Army secure the rights-of-way.

The Sonora state government is trying to convert Guaymas, on the Gulf of California, into a major container port, but the current railway connection to the United States cuts the city of Nogales in half.

The new rail line cuts a completely new path well south of Nogales that threatens to cut through the Aribabi ranch, a federally designated Natural Protected Area, and the town of Imuris, 40 miles (65 kilometers) south of the U.S.-Mexico border.

The project illustrates the power that Mexico’s president Andrés Manuel López Obrador has given to the army, which has been allowed to sidestep normal permitting and environmental standards. This has been the case of the Maya Train tourist rail line on the Yucatan peninsula, which cut a swath through the jungle.

In the face of court challenges and criticism, López Obrador in 2021 passed a law stating the projects of importance to “national security” would not have to submit impact statements until up to a year after they start construction.

Under Mexico's environmental laws, sidestepping impact assessments ought to be “completely illegal," said said Alex Olivera, a senior scientist with the Center for Biological Diversity. “But this is AMLO’s government, so probably they will say that it is ‘strategic infrastructure’” like the Maya Train, and therefore exempt.

Opponents have been unable to get even the most basic information on the train line, with no federal, local or state authority willing to take responsibility for the $350 million project to build 40 miles (63 kilometers) of train line.

Even though parts are already under construction and government contractors have begun felling trees and bulldozing the path for the railroad toward the Aribabi ranch — home to a rare combination of black bears and jaguars — no environmental impact statement has ever been filed.

“Because it is a strategic project, it is the responsibility of the Environment Department and we have a year to submit the environmental impact, and that is well under way,” Durazo said.

Durazo stressed the line was part of an “integrated plan” for transporting freight from Guaymas to the U.S., but that plan appears to have neglected existing train lines north of the border, where Omaha, Nebraska-based Union Pacific operates the line running into Nogales.

“Union Pacific has no plans (for) moving the track in Nogales,” a company spokesperson told The Associated Press.

Local residents also feel left out of Durazo's plan saying there has been no official communication or consultation. The project is not mentioned on any state or federal government websites, or in Sonora state’s development plans.

Omar del Valle Colosio, Sonora state's chief development officer, said all rights-of-way were being negotiated with residents.

“The project being carried out is only being done with the authorization of the public,” Del Valle Colosio said Tuesday.

But local residents say the state’s infrastructure and urban development department has offered to buy portions of some properties for as little as 1.80 pesos (10 U.S. cents) per square meter.

According to a map leaked by a local official in the spring, the project will create a second rail line for a portion of the existing route between Nogales and the port of Guaymas, this time following the Cocospera river south before cutting through the west perimeter of the Aribabi ranch and then pulling west, into Imuris.

Locals say the route rides roughshod over their farms’ irrigation canals and threatens the reservoir that provides water for the township’s 12,500 residents.

In addition to disrupting wildlife that rely on the river, construction will also cut up an important migration corridor over the Azul and El Pinito mountains for ocelots, black bears and jaguars, according to the Center for Biological Diversity.

____

Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america

Sam Altman is back as OpenAI CEO just days after being removed, along with a new board

The Canadian Press
Wed, November 22, 2023 



The ousted leader of ChatGPT-maker OpenAI is returning to the company that fired him late last week, culminating a days-long power struggle that shocked the tech industry and brought attention to the conflicts around how to safely build artificial intelligence.

San Francisco-based OpenAI said in a statement late Tuesday: “We have reached an agreement in principle for Sam Altman to return to OpenAI as CEO with a new initial board."

The board, which replaces the one that fired Altman on Friday, will be led by former Salesforce co-CEO Bret Taylor, who also chaired Twitter's board before its takeover by Elon Musk last year. The other members will be former U.S. Treasury Secretary Larry Summers and Quora CEO Adam D’Angelo.

OpenAI’s previous board of directors, which included D'Angelo, had refused to give specific reasons for why it fired Altman, leading to a weekend of internal conflict at the company and growing outside pressure from the startup's investors.

The chaos also accentuated the differences between Altman — who's become the face of generative AI's rapid commercialization since ChatGPT's arrival a year ago — and members of the company's board who have expressed deep reservations about the safety risks posed by AI as it gets more advanced.

Microsoft, which has invested billions of dollars in OpenAI and has rights to its current technology, quickly moved to hire Altman on Monday, as well as another co-founder and former president, Greg Brockman, who had quit in protest after Altman's removal. That emboldened a threatened exodus of nearly all of the startup's 770 employees who signed a letter calling for the board's resignation and Altman's return.

One of the four board members who participated in Altman's ouster, OpenAI co-founder and chief scientist Ilya Sutskever, later expressed regret and joined the call for the board's resignation.

Microsoft in recent days had pledged to welcome all employees who wanted to follow Altman and Brockman to a new AI research unit at the software giant. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella also made clear in a series of interviews Monday that he was still open to the possibility of Altman returning to OpenAI, so long as the startup's governance problems are solved.

“We are encouraged by the changes to the OpenAI board,” Nadella posted on X late Tuesday. “We believe this is a first essential step on a path to more stable, well-informed, and effective governance.”

In his own post, Altman said that “with the new board and (with) Satya's support, I'm looking forward to returning to OpenAI, and building on our strong partnership with (Microsoft)."

Co-founded by Altman as a nonprofit with a mission to safely build so-called artificial general intelligence that outperforms humans and benefits humanity, OpenAI later became a for-profit business but one still run by its nonprofit board of directors. It's not clear yet if the board's structure will change with its newly appointed members.

“We are collaborating to figure out the details,” OpenAI posted on X. “Thank you so much for your patience through this.”

Nadella said Brockman, who was OpenAI's board chairman until Altman's firing, will also have a key role to play in ensuring the group “continues to thrive and build on its mission.”

Hours earlier, Brockman returned to social media as if it were business as usual, touting a feature called ChatGPT Voice that was rolling out to users.

“Give it a try — totally changes the ChatGPT experience,” Brockman wrote, flagging a post from OpenAI's main X account that featured a demonstration of the technology and playfully winking at recent turmoil.

“It’s been a long night for the team and we’re hungry. How many 16-inch pizzas should I order for 778 people,” the person asks, using the number of people who work at OpenAI. ChatGPT's synthetic voice responded by recommending around 195 pizzas, ensuring everyone gets three slices.

As for OpenAI's short-lived interim CEO Emmett Shear, the second interim CEO in the days since Altman's ouster, he posted on X that he was “deeply pleased by this result, after (tilde)72 very intense hours of work.”

“Coming into OpenAI, I wasn't sure what the right path would be,” wrote Shear, the former head of Twitch. “This was the pathway that maximized safety alongside doing right by all stakeholders involved. I'm glad to have been a part of the solution.”

Matt O'brien, The Associated Press

SEE

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2023/11/wowzers-chatgpt-maker-openai-ousts-sam.html

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2023/11/workers-power-nearly-all-of-openai.html

Who is Banksy? Everything we know about his identity

The full name of the renowned Bristol street artist has finally been revealed after years of uncertainty about his identity.


Connor Parker, Emily Cleary and Ellen Manning
Updated Tue, November 21, 2023 

Banksy has been linked The Crown pub in Somerset. (Getty and SWNS)

Renowned graffiti artist Banksy revealed his real name in a newly unearthed BBC interview from 2003.

Former BBC reporter Nigel Wrench interviewed the renowned street artist ahead of the 2003 Turf War show in East London, where he was heard confirming his first name.

Wrench asked Banksy if he could include his real name in the interview, asking the artist if he is called Robert Banks, in which he replied “ It’s Robbie.”

Over the years, speculation has risen about the Bristol-based artist - who had remained anonymous for decades - but his identity has never been confirmed.

In July, the BBC released an edited version of the recording where Banksy describes his approach to art as “quick,” adding “I want to get it done and dusted.”

The elusive artist’s real identity has never been officially revealed but a 2008 interview sheds light on who the real Bansky is.

After listening to the podcast, Wrench was inspired to revisit the recording where he discovered information about the artist that was never used- this was then included in a special bonus episode of the BBC podcast series.

Banksy who was in his 20s at the time of the interview, was also heard defending his art, which is considered by some to be vandalism.

"I'm not here to apologise for it," he told Wrench. "It's a quicker way of making your point, right?"

Read more: Banksy migrant ship detained in Italy for 'breaking rules'

Banksy's has become famous for his distinctive street art. (Getty) (Mondadori Portfolio via Getty Images)
Has Banksy's identity ever been revealed?

Over the years, there have been various theories and claims about Banksy's identity, but none have been confirmed.

Banksy's intentional anonymity allowed him to operate without facing legal repercussions for his often unauthorised street art, which can be considered vandalism in some jurisdictions.

It also allowed him to operate however he pleases without fear of being followed by fans or the media.

Read more: Banksy artwork sold at auction for three times estimate by band who changed name for piece

Banksy does not support the sale of his art. 

(Getty) (Mondadori Portfolio via Getty Images)

Many have tried to guess who the artist is and the general assumption is he lives in or near Bristol, but other than that very little was known about him.

In the recording of The Banksy Story (available on BBC Radio 4), he described himself as a “painter and decorator” and explaining why he likes to glue works of art to buildings like the Louvre, saying: “You don’t want to get stuck in the same line of work your whole life long, do you?”

The podcast was the latest clue as to the identity of the elusive artist, after a village pub near Glastonbury was rumoured to have been bought by him and refurbished to the tune of £1m.

At the time Owain Powell, who runs the The Crown in Pilton, Somerset, with partner Rowena Draper, denied Banksy's involvement.

What is Banksy's real name and how has he remained anonymous?

According to the recording his real name is Robert Banks, but since emerging to the scene in the early 1990s, he has always chosen to keep his identity a mystery- often wearing masks in the rare interviews he does.

He also never reveals the place he will be doing his next artwork, which is often only noticed after members of the public circulate them on social media.
How does Banksy make money?

Banksy generates income through various means, despite his anonymous persona and unconventional approach.

Part of his persona even rejects the concept of "commercial success" and has in the past encouraged people not to buy his work.

Speaking to Village Voice in 2013, the artist said: "Graffiti art has a hard enough life as it is, before you add hedge-fund managers wanting to chop it out and hang it over the fireplace.

"For the sake of keeping all street art where it belongs, I’d encourage people not to buy anything by anybody, unless it was created for sale in the first place."

Despite this, he has still likely made a significant sum of money from his work.

Read more: Art fan who pushed Banksy to make a piece in Herne Bay 'heartbroken' after work destroyed by builders

Banky's satirical graffiti has become famous across the world. (Getty) (Mondadori Portfolio via Getty Images)

He has published several books in his time, including best-seller Wall and Piece and likely generates royalties from that.

Banksy has also directed an award-winning documentary called Exit Through The Gift Shop, exploring modern and underground art, which generated more than £3m in profit.

On occasion, Banksy has offered the purchase of some of his art through Pest Control, which is the only way he approves of its sale.

His recent Cut & Run exhibition in Glasgow, attracted about 180,000 visitors, during its 10-week show – his first solo show in 14 years.
Where is Banksy from and how much is he worth?

Although it is hard to know where an anonymous artist is from he rose to fame in the early 1990s with spray-painted murals on walls in Bristol and has stayed connected to it ever since.

The latest Mail report suggests that Banksy is Bristol-born, 53-year-old and public school-educated.

Banksy's art is all over the world in London, New York City, Paris, Bethlehem and elsewhere.

It is difficult to guess how much the artist is worth, but his creations are estimated to be worth nearly £40m.

Read more: Banksy giant seagull mural ‘worth millions’ removed from house

'The Armed Dove' street art by Banksy near the Israeli separation West Bank Wall in Bethlehem. (Getty) (NurPhoto via Getty Images)

However, this valuation is based on the sale of his art which he has not condoned, and the profits usually go to the people who owned the site where the art was located.

Some of the profits of Banksy's art may have made its way back to him but no one knows for sure.
Is Banksy married?

Although never revealed publicly, Banksy fans have identified Joy Millward, who runs a lobby group that campaigns on behalf of charities, as a potential candidate for his wife.

She is married to Robin Gunningham, who has several times been named as the most likely person to be Banksy, including the latest report.

Millward and Gunningham maintain an extremely private life and very little is known about them.

Whether this is a personal choice, or because they are sick of the speculation around supposedly being Banksy and Banksy's wife or if Gunningham is in fact Banksy, we may never know.

Rosalynn Carter Hired a Wrongfully Convicted Murderer to Serve as White House Nanny. They Remained Lifelong Friends

Kathy Ehrich Dowd
Mon, November 20, 2023

Amy Carter playing on the White House grounds with Mary Prince. 

Credit - National Archives and Records Administration/Wiki Commons

Mary Prince, a Black woman who had been convicted of murder, was already a controversial figure at Jimmy Carter’s 1977 Presidential Inauguration.

Although she was incarcerated, Prince was given permission to travel to Washington, D.C. for the event and arrived in a dress made of material given to her by her fellow inmates at the Fulton County Jail and the Atlanta Work Release Center. At the end of the celebration, Prince remembers newly minted First Lady Rosalynn Carter pulling her aside. "Before I left, Mrs. Carter said, 'How would you like to work in this big old place?'" Prince told People that year.

Rosalynn Carter and Prince had known each other for years at that point, and had developed a close bond. Prince had been young Amy Carter's nanny when the family lived at the Georgia governor's mansion, not long after Prince was accused of—and subsequently sentenced to life for—murder. When the Carters arrived at the White House, most political operatives would have advised the family to keep their distance from Prince. But the first couple did the opposite.

After the inauguration, Prince told Rosalynn that she would indeed be interested in working at the White House. And Rosalynn pulled out all the stops: She secured a reprieve for Prince, helped make President Carter her parole officer and officially hired her to serve as Amy Carter's nanny at the White House.

Rosalynn Carter, who died on Sunday at the age of 96, and her husband remained lifelong friends with Prince, and were both staunchly convinced she was wrongly convicted in the 1970 shooting death of a man outside a bar in Lumpkin, Ga., after an argument involving Prince’s cousin.

Read more: Rosalynn Carter, Transformative First Lady and Mental Health Advocate, Dies

“She was totally innocent,” Rosalynn Carter told Kate Anderson Brower for her 2015 book, The Residence: Inside the Private World of the White House, bristling at the slightest hint of wrongdoing. “She had nothing to do with it.”

Both Rosalynn and Jimmy Carter earned a reputation for decency over the decades, and their relationship with Prince, who grew up in poverty in Georgia and dropped out of school in the seventh grade to care for her younger sister, gives more credence to their interest in helping the most vulnerable members of society.

The Carters first met Prince in late 1970 when Jimmy Carter was serving as Georgia governor, and Prince applied for a job as part of a program to put prisoners to work. Prince quickly made a positive impression on Rosalynn Carter, who asked the young woman if she would be interested in taking care of a then-3-year-old Amy Carter. It was a match made in heaven: the toddler bonded so much with her new nanny that she reportedly cried every time Prince left.

In his 2006 book, Our Endangered Values, Jimmy Carter wrote about how Prince was unfairly victimized by the criminal justice system because of her race. He noted that Prince only met her court-appointed lawyer on the first day of her trial, and that the lawyer convinced her to plead guilty after incorrectly promising a light sentence instead of the life sentence that was ultimately handed down.

“She was fortunate and could just as easily have been executed,” Carter wrote. “If the victim had been white, we would never have known Mary Prince.” (Prince, who was also known by the name Mary Fitzpatrick before her formal separation from her husband, was eventually pardoned after a reexamination of her case.)

The Carters raised eyebrows with their decision to move Prince into the White House, both from other members of the White House staff, who were skeptical of her innocence, and from the public at large. Saturday Night Live even spoofed the Carters' relationship with Prince, with Sissy Spacek playing a young Amy Carter and Garrett Morris, in drag, as Prince. The cringe-worthy skit includes dialogue that calls Prince’s innocence into question and hints that the Carters hired her for publicity.

After Carter's one term in the White House, Prince moved just a few blocks from the former first couple in Plains, Ga., where she continued to babysit for their grandchildren. President Carter went on to dedicate his 2004 book Sharing Good Times to “Mary Prince, whom we love and cherish.”

Anderson Brower interviewed both Rosalynn Carter and Prince for her book, and told C-SPAN in 2015 that the two women’s bond remained ironclad. "She's still a huge part of the Carter family," she said at the time. "They consier her one of their own, and they just love her."