To be blamed on the usual suspects, of course.
"Coal-fired power took a beating during the pandemic, study finds" by Veronica Penney New York Times, February 8, 2021
The share of energy generated from coal has dropped more sharply during the coronavirus pandemic than that of any other power source, according to a report Monday that looked at coal demand in some of the world’s largest emitters of greenhouse gases.
The shift away from coal power had a significant impact on global emissions of planet-warming carbon dioxide, the researchers said, and could lead to an acceleration of the global shift toward renewable energy.
Only problem is you can't power a modern society with it because the bang for the buck won't support industry.
Of course, if they were really serious they would have spent the trillions in bailouts on outfitting every home with solar energy with a fossil fuel back-up generator.
Of course, that would have cut out the energy companies so....
The report, led by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany and published in the journal Nature Climate Change, analyzed emissions and electricity demand in the United States, Europe, and India.
Ottmar Edenhofer, director and chief economist at the Potsdam Institute and an author of the study, said the findings were surprising because natural gas has traditionally had the highest operating costs of all power sources, so gas-fired plants are usually the first to be taken offline when demand for power falls. The sharp decline in gas prices during the pandemic, however, appears to have changed that calculation, making coal power more expensive than gas power.
Coal releases more carbon dioxide than any other form of power generation, so even the relatively small decreases in demand that caused coal plants to go offline resulted in substantial decreases in greenhouse gas emissions. Burning coal for power also pollutes the air, releasing toxins that have been linked to heart and lung problems and some neurological disorders.
They call that CV now.
The trend away from coal could outlast the pandemic, the report said. That’s because power plants that use renewable energy, like wind or solar, are expensive to build. Once they are complete, though, it is not necessary to purchase fuels to run them.
According to a separate study by Ember Climate, an energy research organization in London, global wind and solar power capacity increased last year despite the pandemic. That, combined with the relatively low operating costs, means that when power demand rebounds, a greater share of the total energy will quite likely come from low-emissions or renewable sources.
The authors of the Potsdam report noted, however, that so-called brown recovery plans that expand coal power are still a possibility. That is particularly a concern in parts of Southeast Asia, where energy demand is increasing quickly but high interest rates can lead to steep costs for renewable energy projects.
“We are not saying we predict that coal will be phased out,” Edenhofer said. “What we are saying is, this is now a splendid opportunity, and it would be good if energy ministers and finance ministers around the globe will take advantage of the situation.”
All part of the Great Re$et.
Katrin Ganswindt, who works on energy and finance campaigns for the German environmental nonprofit Urgewald, noted that market forces could push some countries to a brown energy recovery. She noted that in China, the appetite for new coal power plants is waning, leading coal corporations to pursue new coal projects in neighboring countries.
They mentioned India above, so.....
"Thousands of protesting farmers poured into New Delhi on Tuesday, using their tractors to pull apart barricades and challenging government forces who fired tear gas, blocked internet access and charged demonstrators with bamboo sticks to bring some order to a capital that felt under siege. It was the most violent escalation in two months of generally peaceful protests that have tested the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in unprecedented ways, forcing it to offer concessions to aggrieved farmers on new market-friendly laws that were intended to overhaul the country’s agriculture sector, but the farmers have insisted on nothing short of repealing the laws that were pushed through Parliament in September, leaving them, they say, vulnerable to corporate greed. The deadlock boiled over in what — for Modi at least — was an embarrassing showdown that came on a national holiday and in the midst of a pandemic and economic slowdown that have also challenged his leadership. As Modi saluted his officers and watched his country’s latest warplanes fly over a grand parade marking 72 years since India’s inception as a republic, protesters riding atop tens of thousands of tractors were dismantling barricades and rumbling toward the city center. By late evening, at least one person had died and many parts of the city seemed unnerved. Farm leaders, who had promised their march would be peaceful but had clearly lost control, distanced themselves from the violence and appealed to the protesters to return to the campsites they have occupied for the past two months at the capital’s borders....."
Before continuing, it is worthwhile to note that planned famine is also part and parcel to the power shutdown.
"The violent outburst had receded, the farmers and their tractors had cleared the streets of New Delhi, but a large security presence still remained in parts of India’s capital on Wednesday, a sign of tense days ahead. A day after the monthslong deadlock between protesting farmers and the government of Narendra Modi erupted into a dramatic confrontation that paralyzed the city and left one farmer dead and hundreds of police officers wounded, an uneasy quiet took hold as both sides assessed their positions, but the stalemate appeared unlikely to end any time soon. The government has enacted market-friendly laws to overhaul the country’s struggling agriculture industry, but increasingly desperate farmers say the changes will worsen their plight, removing the little protection they have from harsh economic forces. On Tuesday, two months of determined and peaceful demonstrations centered on protest camps on the city’s outskirts took a sharp turn, as farmers with tens of thousands of tractors pushed through barricades and poured into New Delhi, clashing with a police force that tried to push them back....."
Looks like they may have been framed like those at the Capitol:
"They were accused of plotting to overthrow the Modi government. The evidence was planted, a new report says; A report from Arsenal Consulting, a Massachusetts-based digital forensics firm, says an attacker used malware to infiltrate a laptop belonging to one of the activists before his arrest and deposited at least 10 incriminating letters on the computer" by Niha Masih and Joanna Slater The Washington Post, February 10, 2021
NEW DELHI — Key evidence against a group of Indian activists accused of plotting to overthrow the government was planted on a laptop seized by police, a new forensics report concludes, deepening doubts about a case viewed as a test of the rule of law under Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
That happens far more often than you would think, and has for a long time.
An attacker used malware to infiltrate a laptop belonging to one of the activists, Rona Wilson, before his arrest and deposited at least 10 incriminating letters on the computer, according to a report from Arsenal Consulting, a Massachusetts-based digital forensics firm that examined an electronic copy of the laptop at the request of Wilson’s lawyers.
Many of the activists have been jailed for more than two years without trial under a stringent antiterrorism law. Human rights groups and legal experts consider the case an attempt to suppress dissent in India, where government critics have faced intimidation, harassment, and arrest during Modi’s tenure.
Arsenal’s report on the Indian case does not identify the perpetrator of the cyberattack. The analysis, which has not been previously reported, was reviewed by The Washington Post. Three outside experts who reviewed the document at the Post’s request said the report’s conclusions were valid.....
It's not only the food supply that is threatened, either:
I'm told Michelle/Michael Obama is launching a Netflix children’s food show with a pair of puppets “to bring a bit of light and laughter to homes around the world.”
Let's hope the kids that suffered lead poisoning can get a few laughs out of it, 'eh, and that reminds me that it is time to feed the baby.
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Then you can go out and get a breath of fresh air:
"Burning fossil fuels kills an estimated 350,000 Americans a year, including 7,600 in Massachusetts, study finds" by David Abel Globe Staff, February 9, 2021
Nearly 9 million people a year are dying as a result of the burning of fossil fuels, a study has found, roughly twice the previous estimate by the World Health Organization.
Where is the wastepaper basket?
In the United States, ingesting the fine particulate matter produced by burning fossil fuels kills an estimated 350,000 people a year, including more than 7,600 people in Massachusetts, according to the study by researchers at Harvard and other universities.
Researchers linked the pollution to 18 percent of worldwide deaths in 2018, down from 21 percent in 2012. They attributed the decline to improved air-quality policies in China that reduced the use of fossil fuels by more than 40 percent.
The authors of the study, published by the journal Environmental Research, said the findings suggested policy makers should be accelerating efforts to eliminate the use of fossil fuels in vehicles and power plants, regardless of their impact on warming the planet. They also said those changes are even more urgent in a world ravaged by a pandemic that attacks the lungs.
“There’s a perception in the United States that we have this under control, but that’s a mistake,” said Joel Schwartz, a professor of environmental epidemiology at Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health and one of the study’s authors. “We need to work much harder to get the concentrations of particulate pollution down.”
So much for the coal ash.
The study found that regions with the highest concentrations of pollution from fossil fuels — Eastern North America, Europe, and Southeast Asia — also had the highest mortality rates.
The World Health Organization’s Global Burden of Disease report, the most comprehensive study on the causes of global mortality, has estimated that 4.2 million people die every year from all airborne particulate matter, which includes smoke from wildfires and agricultural burns, which use fire to manage vegetation.
They are pulling numbers out of thin air!
Previous research has relied on satellite and surface observations to estimate concentrations of particulate matter, but those studies couldn’t distinguish which particles came from fossil fuel emissions and which came from other sources, the scientists said.
To do so, they used computer models of atmospheric chemistry to estimate the impact of fossil fuels, which they sought to validate using surface, aircraft, and satellite observations, they said.
“We wanted to map where the pollution is, and where people live, so we could know more exactly what people are breathing,” said Karn Vohra, a graduate student at University of Birmingham and another author of the study.
Officials at the American Petroleum Institute, which represents producers and distributors of oil and gas, said they have been focused on promoting the transition to natural gas, which they said has helped reduce concentrations of particulate matter by 39 percent since 2000.
“We are committed to building on this progress and protecting public health through industry action, cleaner fuels and emissions reductions, all while safely providing the energy that modern life depends on,” said Bethany Aronhalt, a spokeswoman for the institute.
They are putting themselves out of bu$ine$$, and as for the electric cars, where do you think they get the energy to power them?
Tom Kiley, president of the Northeast Gas Association, a trade group representing utilities, noted that the study focused mainly on the impacts of coal, petrol, and diesel, but declined to comment further.
In New England, the main sources of fine particulate matter, also known as soot, are cars and trucks, especially those using diesel engines; coal and oil-burning boilers; wildfires; woodstoves; dust from roads and construction; agricultural operations; and cooking, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Other sources are power plants and industrial processes such as oil refining and paper production.
Something seems to be missing there as they further attack your ability to travel.
The scientists estimated more than 16,500 people are dying per year in New England as a result of fossil fuel pollution, with Massachusetts suffering the highest death toll. Connecticut, with an estimated 4,749 deaths, had the highest per capita rate of mortalities.
While the dangers of particulate pollution have been well known, few studies have linked the dangers to specific sources such as fossil fuels, the authors said.
“Tying the massive [death] toll to fossil fuel is important,” said Doug Brugge, a professor of public health at the University of Connecticut who was not involved in the study. “It has largely been assumed, but critical to tie down.”
OMG, it is a PRECONCEIVED IDEA that needs "evidence" to support it, so they will MANUFACTURE an AGENDA-PU$HING PIECE of $HIT STUDY like this!
Cough, cough, cough, cough!
Brugge said the study also highlights concerns about the impact of low levels of pollution. His own research has found that people who lived near Interstate 93 and the Massachusetts Turnpike have an increased chance of suffering a heart attack or stroke.
“Most recently, we demonstrated that reducing ultrafine particles in rooms next to highways had a positive effect on blood pressure of people spending time in the rooms,” he said. “Thus, the health impact of fossil fuel pollution could be even higher than reported by the Harvard study.”
The study found a higher death rate for long-term exposure to fossil fuel emissions, even at lower concentrations.
Eloise Marais, an associate professor of physical geography at University College London, said the study suggests policy makers must do more than eliminate the sale of fossil fuel vehicles, which Massachusetts plans to do in 2035. They need to remove millions of existing vehicles from the roads as soon as possible, she said.
“The timelines for these changes need to come sooner,” said Marais, a coauthor of the study. “There needs to be greater urgency to use cleaner forms of energy.”
That is when you want to hit the brakes!!
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You turn the page, and then receive an IN-YOUR-FACE INSULT:
"Here’s what it was like to fly on the Patriots’ plane and see Tom Brady win another Super Bowl; Jairah Zinni, a nurse in Massachusetts General Hospital’s emergency department, was one of 76 health care workers flown down to Florida by the Kraft family to take in the big game on Sunday" by Steve Annear Globe Staff, February 8, 2021
I'm told it was ‘incredible,’ but I'm wondering WHAT were the EMISSIONS on the ROUND TRIP?
As Jairah Zinni watched Miley Cyrus perform live during a Super Bowl pregame show on Sunday, she felt a sudden surge of hope.
I think I am going to vomit.
It had been at least a year since Zinni, a nurse in Massachusetts General Hospital’s emergency department, had been to a concert because of COVID-19 restrictions, but as she stood there — safely spread out — with other health care workers who have been battling the coronavirus on the front lines for months, she could see the light at the end of the tunnel.
That would be Trump's legacy.
Watching the performance was one of many memorable moments Zinni reflected on Monday afternoon, after returning home from Super Bowl LV in Tampa, where she watched quarterback Tom Brady and the Buccaneers rout the Kansas City Chiefs.
Zinni was among a group of 76 health care professionals from the region who were flown down to the game on the New England Patriots’ team plane on Sunday, where they were joined by thousands of front-line workers from across the country.
Ah, the perks of being members of the Party who promote the CV fraud!
The trip south came courtesy of Patriots chairman and chief executive Robert Kraft and his family as a way to thank health care workers for their efforts to help others throughout the pandemic.
As a longtime Patriots fan, Zinni said the experience was one she wouldn’t soon forget.
She said the group was greeted by Governor Charlie Baker and Robert Kraft’s son, Jonathan Kraft, the team’s president, before taking off for Tampa sometime after 10 a.m.
Must be why he sent the climate change bill back to Legislature.
Climbing the steps onto the plane, seeing the Patriots logo splashed across it, was a surreal moment, she said. Once inside, she relaxed in the roomy cabin and enjoyed complimentary food and Patriots swag in her “super comfy” seat.
Especially after the previous articles.
“They gave us a book, they gave us some memorabilia from the Patriots, they gave us a letter from them, encouraging us and thanking us for what we do as health care workers,” said Zinni. “I just thought that was really personal and special.”
They landed in Florida in the afternoon, kicking off a long day and night of festivities and celebrations.
“They led us to this tent right before the pregame show and they gave us food and an open bar. So that’s when I think the partying started,” she said with a laugh. “I thought [it] was so much fun to see health care workers ... sort of all relax and have a good time.”
Sick of making insulting dance videos are you?
Like other hospital workers who attended the event, Zinni, who was selected through a random, hospital-wide raffle, is fully vaccinated and had to follow basic health and safety guidelines, but the regulations didn’t interfere with the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Before she got to see Cyrus perform — a show she called “wild” and inspirational — local hospital workers were briefly greeted by Robert Kraft, who “gave us another little bag with hand sanitizers and masks and stuff,” Zinni said.
“He was so happy,” she said. “He was just so excited to meet us and take pictures with us.”
Later in the day, Zinni and her colleagues found their reserved seats — high up with a great aerial view — and settled in for the game. She said she was ecstatic to see former Patriots teammates Brady and Rob Gronkowski recapture their New England glory days together, albeit in Buccaneers jerseys.
“Just seeing them sync up again in a different atmosphere and knowing that’s something they built on the Patriots, that’s a relationship they built here,” she said, “and they were able to go forward with that, and I just thought it was really cool to see them come back again.”
Zinni said while watching Brady win his seventh Super Bowl was a great way to cap off an “incredible” trip, one of the most memorable parts of the day was witnessing the players’ families rush the field to celebrate the win.
“That’s something you know they’ll never forget,” she said.
The workers were flown back to Boston not long after the game ended and stayed the night at a hotel at Patriots Place. Zinni said they ate on the plane and then “basically we just all passed out.”
Was a really smooth ride from what I read.
While Zinni was admittedly exhausted Monday after the whirlwind journey, she said it was exactly what she and other health care workers needed.
“The Kraft family did a great job taking care of us,” she said.
Monday was a different kind of tired, Zinni added — not like the weariness that comes from tending to patients over so many long shifts during the pandemic.
“A good tired,” she said.
You know what I'm tired of?
YUP!!!
Related:
"The drive to vaccinate Americans against the coronavirus is gaining speed and newly recorded cases have fallen to their lowest level in three months, but authorities worry that raucous Super Bowl celebrations could fuel new outbreaks. More than 4 million more vaccinations were reported over the weekend, a significantly faster clip than in previous days, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Nearly one in 10 Americans have now received at least one shot, but just 2.9% of the U.S. population has been fully vaccinated, a long way from the 70% or more that experts say must be inoculated to conquer the outbreak. Newly confirmed infections have declined to an average of 117,000 a day, the lowest point since early November. That is a steep drop from the peak of nearly 250,000 a day in early January. Health officials say the decline in hospitalizations and new cases most likely reflects an easing of the surge that was fueled by holiday gatherings, and perhaps better adherence to safety precautions The drop-off in new cases comes as fewer tests for the virus are being reported, but experts say the decline in cases is real. It is more pronounced than the apparent slowdown in testing, and it is accompanied by other encouraging signs. “We are seeing a real decline because it’s been sustained over time and it’s correlated with decreasing hospitalizations,” said Dr. Amesh Adalja, an infectious disease specialist at Johns Hopkins University. “That tells you that there does seem to be something afoot.” The question, he said, is whether the lower numbers can be sustained as new variants of the virus take hold in the United States. President Joe Biden has announced plans to spend billions to increase rapid testing by the summer. COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. are still running at close to all-time highs, at an average of about 3,160 per day, down about 200 since mid-January. The death toll overall has eclipsed 460,000.Federal officials are warning states not to relax restrictions on dining out and other social activities. The sight of fans, many without masks, celebrating the Super Bowl in the streets, in sports bars and at game-watching parties has sparked worries of new outbreaks. “This isn’t how we should be celebrating the Super Bowl,” the mayor of St. Petersburg, Florida, Rick Kriseman, tweeted after a maskless party was hosted by Rapper Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson in a hangar at the city’s airport, not far from where the Tampa Bay Buccaneers won the title....."
They are just jerking us around with this garbage!
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Speaking of stink:
"As the oceans become more acidic, threat to sealife and industry grows, new study finds" by Gal Tziperman Lotan Globe Staff, February 9, 2021
The ocean’s growing acidity, which goes hand in hand with climate change and other human-driven factors, could have a devastating effect on the state’s coastal waters and the shellfish industries that rely on their ecosystems, according to a new report.
How can that be with less coal being burned?
The study, written by a group of state legislators, scientists, conservationists, and representatives of the commercial fishing industry, estimated that if current trends continue, the US shellfish industry could lose more than $400 million a year by the end of the century.
“Our coastal waters are incredibly valuable, and they’re under increasing stress,” said Steve Kirk, coastal program manager for The Nature Conservancy in Massachusetts and a member of the commission. “I’m hopeful that if we address ocean acidification now, we will give those coastal communities a better chance of thriving in the future.”
Looks like another excuse to explain empty shelves and keep food off your plate!
Oceans can become more acidic as they absorb carbon dioxide that is released into the atmosphere. Another major factor is nutrient runoff — wastewater, fertilizer, and other materials that make their way to the ocean and feed algae blooms that create a vicious cycle. Those blooms soak up large amounts of oxygen in their environment, depriving other organisms of it. As a result, those organisms can suffocate and die, producing more carbon dioxide as they decompose and making the water around them more acidic.
Oh, so it is REALLY the CHEMICALS that are responsible, not "climate change."
Changing the way wastewater is treated to remove some of those nutrients, like nitrogen, could make a big difference, Kirk said.
“We understand those processes and we know how to address them,” Kirk said. “So I’m looking forward to those recommendations being taken up and addressing those challenges.”
While some species, like algae and some sea grasses, adapt better to more acidic waters, certain mollusks, like eastern oysters, sea scallops, and Atlantic surf clams, become more vulnerable. The acidity and higher bicarbonate levels — a byproduct of increased carbon dioxide levels in the ocean — interfere with how the mollusks form their protective shells.
Those added stressors mean fewer mollusks live past the larval stage of their lives, and those that do are typically smaller, and if mollusks are vulnerable, so are the fishing economies that depend on them.
The commission was created by the Legislature to determine how acidification along the coasts might affect the environment and ocean industries.
“If left unaddressed, our state’s $688 million-dollar fishing industry will face unprecedented disruption and our blue economy will suffer,” state Representative Dylan Fernandes, a Falmouth Democrat, said in a statement.
Lobsters and crabs, both critical industries in New England, appear slightly more resilient to acidification, but some researchers believe exposure to acidic environments might make spider crabs less able to thrive in warmer waters, another danger they face in a changing climate. Not enough research has been done on how the animals fare with the dual effects of warming and acidification, but quick action can help mitigate some of those consequences, the report said. That includes more comprehensive studies of the impacts of acidification and temperature changes on shellfish species that keep the fishing industry afloat and organized efforts to limit nutrient runoff.
“If we work together, there are innovative solutions that we can implement, such as repurposing waste shells to improve the growth and vitality of shellfish in the wild,” said Kelly Kryc, director of ocean policy at the New England Aquarium. “That’s the wonder of science.”
Time to go fishing, and maybe they can do something about this:
"Lawmakers call for firing climate change official after controversial video; State representatives blast David Ismay for saying the state needs to break the will of ordinary people to reduce carbon emissions" by Katie Lannan State House News Service, February 10, 2021
Eight state representatives, mostly Republicans, called on Governor Charlie Baker to “immediately dismiss” a top state climate official over controversial comments he made about pushing consumers to lower their carbon emissions.
In a video clip posted by the conservative Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance, the state’s undersecretary for climate change, David Ismay, told the Vermont Climate Council that 60 percent of the state’s emissions come from residential heating and passenger vehicles. So efforts to combat climate change would have to include average people — “you, the person (inaudible) the street, the senior on fixed income.”
Not the airplane ride that belches a years worth of those emissions in a single flight.
“There is no bad guy left, at least in Massachusetts, to point the finger at, turn the screws on, and break their will so they stop emitting,” Ismay said in the recording. “That’s you, we have to break your will, right. I can’t even say that publicly.”
He can't say what state officials are thinking or the bells start tolling!
The lawmakers wrote Baker that amid the COVID-19 pandemic and economic slowdown, “the last thing this administration should be doing is ‘turning the screws’ on the ‘senior on fixed income’ and ‘the person across the street.’ ” They said that Ismay’s “position as a public servant is completely untenable.”
The statement was signed by Democratic Representative Colleen Garry and seven Republican representatives: Nicholas Boldyga, Marc Lombardo, David DeCoste, Peter Durant, Donald Berthiaume, Joseph McKenna, and Alyson Sullivan.
Last week, Baker said at a news conference that no one in his administration “should ever say or think anything like that,” and that Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Kathleen Theoharides would have a conversation with Ismay.
Baker also pointed to his veto last month of a wide-ranging climate change bill and the concerns he raised about the costs it would create. The climate bill is back on Baker’s desk after the House and Senate approved a refiled version of it now that the Legislature is into a new two-year session.
Prior to joining the Baker administration in 2019, Ismay was a senior attorney for the Conservation Law Foundation in Boston, where he focused on Massachusetts energy and climate policy and New England’s wholesale electricity and gas markets.
Maybe he can go to work for the Biden administration:
He's a white guy?
"In remarks at the White House Wednesday discussing his executive actions regarding climate change, President Biden included “poor whites” among the groups that he said will be positively affected by the executive order he signed Wednesday establishing a White House interagency council on environmental justice. Biden made the remark as he was discussing the impact he hopes his actions will have on “fence communities,” poor neighborhoods and communities of color that tend to be located near industrial sites. “With this executive order, environmental justice will be at the center of all we do, addressing the disproportionate health and environmental and economic impacts on communities of color, the so-called fence-line communities, especially those communities — brown, Black, Native American, poor whites,” Biden said....."
Biden cast many of his orders as job creators, among other things pledging to use the purchasing power of the government to buy a vast fleet of zero-emissions vehicles, saying it “will mean one million new jobs in the American automobile industry.”
Of course, Ismay will have to move to D.C. and forgo weekend trips home to $et a good example, right?
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NEXT DAY UPDATES:
I wonder if he is related to Bruce Ismay of Titanic fame.
Also see:
It's the waning of the oil age, folks.
