Tag Archives: US
Pipe Dream: The wind and solar power myth has finally been exposed
Many governments in the Western world have committed to “net zero” emissions of carbon in the near future. The US and UK both say they will deliver by 2050. It’s widely believed that wind and solar power can achieve this. This belief has led the US and British governments, among others, to promote and heavily subsidize wind and solar. These plans have a single, fatal flaw: they are reliant on the pipe dream that there is some affordable way to store surplus electricity at scale. Wind and solar need to be backed up, close to 100 per cent, by some other means of power generation. If that backup is provided by open-cycle gas or worse, coal, net zero will never be achieved: nor anything very close to it. >click to read< 09:02
Offshore Wind Farms Could Cause ‘Cataclysmic Destruction’ Of Ecosystems
Wind energy, cheap electricity from the elements. Surely a great idea? But has it just become a cash cow for big industry and governments, with precious little benefit to citizens – and, ironically, all at the expense of the natural world? I’ve written many times over the years about the potential for ecological damage caused by badly planned wind farms, particularly large offshore developments, the detrimental effects of which have been vastly underestimated. Now, as the industry expands at an alarming pace, we disregard the evidence at our peril. >click to read< By Jason Endfield 13:29
Privatizing the sea: How private corps stole the sea from the commons
Since 1945, when the US unilaterally asserted ownership of the continental shelf and parts of the high seas around its shores, much of the ‘blue commons’ has been converted into private property. In 1982, UNCLOS (United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea) endorsed the biggest enclosure in history, granting countries exclusive economic zones (EEZs) that extended 200 nautical miles from their coastlines. This set in train procedures and institutional mechanisms that have expanded privatisation and financialisation to all parts of the marine economy. It also cemented neocolonialism, granting ex-imperial countries such as the US, France and the UK millions of square miles around lands far from their shores — their so-called ‘overseas territories’. >click to read< 09:18
America’s Food Distribution Chain Is Essential
The disruptions in the food supply chains can be attributed to two primary causes – outbreaks of Coronavirus at some meat-processing and other food-packaging plants have led to closures across the country, and meanwhile, the sweeping closures of restaurants by state and local governments have disrupted the demand for a wide variety of food items. Over the past few days, fifteen percent of the pork processors have closed their doors. America’s fish supply provides a powerful example of what happens when states unilaterally shutter dine-in services at restaurants. The fishing industry knows something the central planners seem not to have known: Americans have a strong preference for eating fish in restaurants, rather than cooking it. >click to read<
Meat processing plants across the US are closing due to the pandemic. Will consumers feel the impact? – video, >click to read< 11:56
US, Chile to announce new marine sanctuaries at “Our Ocean” conference
President Barack Obama will declare new marine sanctuaries in the tidal waters of Maryland and Wisconsin’s Lake Michigan Monday, while Chile is expected to block off a more than 200,000 square miles of sea from commercial fishing and oil and gas exploration in an area of the Pacific Ocean near the world-famous Easter Island. The announcements were to be made when top officials, including U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, attend an international conference on marine protection in the Chilean port city of Valparaiso on Monday. The “Our Ocean” conference,,, Read the rest here 08:36
US, China to cooperate on ocean preservation
The U.S. and China said Wednesday they are stepping up cooperation on preserving the ocean and combating illegal fishing despite their differences on maritime security. This week’s talks are a prelude to Xi’s visit, his first to the U.S. since 2013. Despite growing tensions over cybertheft and China’s island-building in the disputed South China Sea, the U.S. and China are stressing how they can work together on less contentious issues, such as climate change. (gagging now) Read the rest here 17:43
Historic Agreement: EU, US, and Canada Sign ‘Galway Statement on Atlantic Ocean Cooperation’ today
business world – Ireland, and Galway in particular, today sees the signing of an historic agreement between the EU, the US and Canada, all of whom share a North Atlantic coastline. The ‘Galway Statement on Atlantic Ocean Cooperation’ was signed today at a high level conference at the Irish Marine Institute in Galway. continued
