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TUESDAYS — YOUR INBOX — ASSUREDLY
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CURATED ECOLOGICAL NEWS
The pendulum swings: but will corporate Democrats stymie progressives?
“Now that Democrats have secured earth-shattering wins in both chambers of Congress, the party’s progressives are sending a message to their more moderate leaders: It’s time to deliver for voters who are demanding meaningful action. Democrats now have the legislative breathing room to deliver on their promises to reduce the cost of living, root out government corruption, and end Trump’s failed war in Iran.
“Which of their goals will progressives prioritize when their ranks swell come January? Said Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Greg Casar, ‘Every single week, we should now be sending a bill to Donald Trump’s desk that is overwhelmingly popular with the American people, that cracks down on corporate greed, that cracks down on price gouging, that cracks down on big money and politics’.
“Sen. Bernie Sanders said ‘We have to do more to fulfill the mandate that goes beyond incrementalism, corporate-friendly triangulation, and tepid solutions to the hardships the nation’s working class has long endured. No more excuses. Democrats must deliver’.
“Sanders added that his two top priorities when the new Congress is sworn in will be working to enact a Medicare for All healthcare system and taxing billionaires. Sanders listed other specific policy items popular not just among Democrats and progressives, but among American voters overall — 57% want a $20/hour minimum wage, 63% want a data center moratorium, 58% want to end military aid to Israel, 73% want to ban super PACs, 79% want a 10% credit card interest rate cap.
“Both Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) are under pressure to recognize that the base of the Democratic Party is moving away from the kind of leadership the pair of New York lawmakers represent as key members of the Establishment wing.” [click the links for the full articles]
Chuck Schumer, Senate minority leader, riding the fence on AI
“A bill that could speed up AI data center construction is being pushed ‘in blatant disregard for the overwhelming public backlash against data centers’, said one environmental advocate. The bill, known as the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act (BAAJA), is aimed at speeding the permitting process for energy infrastructure, including renewable energy projects, transmission lines, oil and gas pipelines, and AI data centers.
“The Senate is preparing for a procedural vote on Monday to advance the bill, which will require Democrat support. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has not publicly taken a position on the legislation.
“The bill has faced opposition from environmental justice and Indigenous rights groups who warn it will gut long-standing environmental protections, undermine tribal sovereignty, and fast-track fossil fuel and other polluting projects.
“They warn that the legislation would also accelerate the expansion of energy-hungry artificial intelligence data centers and the gas-fired power plants and pipelines needed to power them, while making it harder for state and local communities to block or challenge their development.” [click the link for the full article]
Democrats say they will reign in AI data centers
“America’s data center buildout suffered a resounding defeat in the midterms at all levels of government. Candidates and ballot measures in favor of restricting or altogether stopping the development of the facilities powering the artificial intelligence boom won overwhelmingly on election night.
“Newly elected Democrat governors in Georgia, Ohio, and Texas have promised moratoriums on new data center construction. The trend carried over in various congressional races. Many local communities passed close to 40 proposals restricting data center development.
“Democrats are planning to unleash a flood of new legislation targeting artificial intelligence systems and data-center development when they take control of the US Congress in January. Democrats plan on introducing bills aimed at shielding consumers from rising electricity costs tied to data centers, requiring independent testing of advanced AI systems, and clarifying when AI companies can be held liable for harm caused by their products.
“But Democrat lawmakers and outside advocates said control of congressional committees would give the party a platform to advance proposals, compel testimony from industry leaders and build support for action. Abdul El-Sayed, a Michigan Democrat who won a Senate seat on Tuesday, called during his campaign for an independent agency to oversee AI regulation with the power to police tech companies developing the technology.” [click the links for the full articles]
AI billionaires suffer at the polls
“Thursday was a bad day to be a tech boss. The world’s nine wealthiest tech titans saw just over $150 billion wiped from their combined fortunes in a single day due to a frenzied rout in AI and chip stocks. Investors sold off tech stocks in anticipation of Democrats reining in AI and data-center spending after winning control of the House and Senate in the US midterm elections this week.
“Elon Musk took the biggest hit to his net worth as Tesla stock tanked 11% and SpaceX stock tumbled 9% on the day. The richest man on the planet saw his wealth shrink by about $80 billion, or over 9%, to $785 billion.” [click the link for the full article]
As goes Elon Musk, so goes the Cybertruck.
“Elon Musk has officially called time on the Cybertruck. Produced for less than four years, the polarizing pickup is seemingly dying as it lived, with the news being greeted in a flurry of replies in praise of the EV as well as deriding it.
“The Cybertruck is exclusively made at Gigafactory Texas, the only Tesla facility equipped with the machinery required to manufacture the truck’s unique stainless steel body, which supposedly started to rust in some cases. Despite whipping up a fevered number of reservations — allegedly more than a million according to Musk — the truck failed to sell, shifting less than 50,000 units in total by March last year.
“The Cybertruck proved not only to be wildly unpopular, it was also beset by troubles before it even reached customers. A leaked Tesla report dated January 25, 2022 showed the Cybertruck had basic design flaws, and that the preproduction ‘alpha’ version was struggling with problems with its suspension, body sealing, noise levels, handling, and braking.” [click the link for the full article]
Canadian youth sue for climate relief
“Supporters gathered outside the Federal Court building in Vancouver BC in solidarity with Canada’s first youth-led climate trial. 15 young people from across Canada challenged the federal government’s actions and failure to adequately address greenhouse gas emissions, arguing that these violate their constitutional rights under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
“Julius Frauenheim, co-president of the UBC Environmental Policy Association, said Canada has been ‘backsliding’ in its commitment to addressing climate change. ‘It’s a historic trial because it’s the first youth-led climate trial in Canada, and it’s also a movement that all of us who care about the planet and want to see real transformative change can get behind’.
“Catherine Boies Parker, counsel for the plaintiffs, noted that while Canada has been aware of its impacts for nearly four decades, it has repeatedly failed to meet both international commitments and its own, inadequate, GHG reduction targets. The trial is slated to continue into late November, with closing arguments expected in February.” [click the link for the full article]
Democrat control brings environmental funding opportunities
“In Tuesday’s midterm elections, the Democrat party had secured control of both the Senate and the House of Representatives, as well as several state governments. The sweep will have profound consequences for climate action in the United States.
“Democrats will set the agenda for hearings and will wield investigative powers, able to issue subpoenas. Their victory allows for a level of oversight that’s simply not possible for the minority party. Appropriations could be a focus, given that the Trump White House has repeatedly withheld funds appropriated by Congress.
“Democrats will also have control over must-pass funding bills, and Trump will have to negotiate with them in order to avoid a government shutdown. The party could seek to reimpose some of the clean energy tax credits that Republicans rescinded last year. They’ll also have more power to block Trump nominees for senior agency and judicial jobs going forward.
“At the state level, Democrats gained full control of the state government in Wisconsin, Arizona, and Pennsylvania. In Georgia, Democrats flipped both the governor’s mansion and control of the Public Service Commission, which regulates electric utilities.
“Chellie Pingree, the Democrat who oversees funding for the Environmental Protection Agency and Interior Department, intends to use the power of the purse to force the administration to spend climate money. Funding bills could include provisions that would deny agencies core operational funds unless they doled out solar and energy funding as Congress previously instructed them to.” [click the links for the full articles]
Atacama Desert in bloom from El Niño rains
“A vast swathe of Chile’s Atacama Desert is now a patchwork of pinks, yellows, lilacs and purples stretching across the craggy desert floor as far as the eye can see. This winter, heavy rains brought by the El Niño super cycle caused flash floods in the Atacama Desert, with some areas receiving the heaviest rainfall since records began in the 1950s.
“More than 200 species are in flower. here are patches of desert in bloom where flowers have never previously been recorded, suggesting that bulbs have remained dormant there since before the phenomenon was first studied in detail in 1997.
“‘This is a natural seed bank, a dormant archive that becomes a living one with the rains’, says Moisés Grimberg, the administrator of Llanos de Challe National Park. ‘But it’s a race against time — this brief biological window allows these species to complete their life cycle, which lasts roughly two to three months’.
“This bloom occurs every few years in what is the driest nonpolar desert on Earth. But scientists say the phenomenon is becoming more frequent as changes in the climate bring unseasonal rains.” [click the link for the full article]
Brazil’s election repudiates Trump as well
“Just as it has throughout Latin America, the Trump administration was openly working to defeat a left-wing government in Brazil and replace it with a far-right one. With Lula’s victory, Trump failed.
“Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s election victory is one of the great political comebacks of our time, by a candidate who had been stuck in a prison cell as recently as 2019.
“But it’s all the more impressive because it required Lula to overcome not just the powerful forces arrayed against the Left inside Brazil, but also a hostile administration in Washington bent on removing him from power outside of it.
“Flávio Bolsonaro declared himself the ‘true president’ of Brazil after losing October’s presidential election and fleeing to the United States. Bolsonaro disappeared for more than 24 hours until entering Argentina by land. From there he boarded a Gulfstream IV, registered LV-JQW.
“Bolsonaro, the son of the jailed former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro, took off on the jet, made a brief stop in Ecuador, and continued on to the Miami-Opa Locka airport, a private aviation hub.
“Toppling a leftist leader there would have been a major prize for Trump’s ‘Donroe Doctrine’; instead it has shown the limits of his power. Lula’s government has responded with defiance, formally accusing Washington of interfering in the election. As Trump has refused to recognize Lula’s win, one former Lula adviser shrugged it off.” [click the links for the full articles]
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