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What if animals sang like humans Vol.2 đ¤đ
What if animals sang like humans Vol.2…it's a classic đđ¤â ď¸Sound on team! â ď¸đđ #Springwatch
Posted by BBC Springwatch on Saturday, August 10, 2019
By Eliza Erskine     October 14, 2019
(Bloomberg) — The Trump administration dealt a fresh blow to renewable energy developers on Friday by stripping away an exemption the industry was counting on to weather the presidentâs tariffs on imported panels.
The U.S. Trade Representative said Friday it was eliminating a loophole granted about four months ago for bifacial solar panels, which generate electricity on both sides. Theyâll now be subject to the duties Trump announced on imported equipment in early 2018, currently at 25%. The change takes effect Oct. 28.
The exclusion had been a reprieve for the solar industry, which lost thousands of jobs and put projects on ice as a result of the tariffs. Some panel manufacturers had already begun shifting supply chains to produce more bifacial panels. Stripping the exemption is a blow to developers who build big U.S. solar projects. American panel makers First Solar Inc. and SunPower Corp. will regain an edge on foreign competitors.
âThe solar tariffs are back,â Tara Narayanan, an analyst at BloombergNEF, said in an interview Friday. âU.S. solar developers cannot buy products with lower costs and higher output as they briefly thought they could.â
First Solar, the largest U.S. solar panel maker, rose 0.5% to $59.60 at 5:16 p.m. SunPower gained 0.7% to $10.62.
What BloombergNEF Says
âThe withdraw of tariff exemption for bifacial will cool down its popularity in the U.S. a little, but not stop the rise of the technology, which introduces improved economics even without tariff exemption.â– Xiaoting Wang, solar analyst
Developers that have used bifacial panels and stand to take a hit from ending the exclusion include Renewable Energy Systems Americas Inc.and Swinerton Inc.
While bifacial panels accounted for just 3% of the solar market last year, BloombergNEF had projected a swift ramp-up in production as manufacturers tried to insulate themselves from U.S. tariffs.
The trade group Solar Energy Industries Association fought to preserve the exemption, saying bifacial technology held âgreat promise for creating jobs, right here in America.â
âWeâre obviously disappointed,â the groupâs general counsel, John Smirnow, said Friday. âWe look forward to making sure the bifacial exemption gets a fair hearingâ during the solar tariffâs mid-term review process.
The U.S. Trade Representative said in its filing that âthe exclusion will likely result in significant increases in imports of bifacial solar panels, and that such panels likely will compete with domestically producedâ products.
SunPower, based in San Jose, California, opposed the exemption without a cap, saying that it would otherwise defeat the purpose of the tariffs. âIt just means everyone is going to make a bifacial,â the companyâs chief executive officer, Tom Werner, said in a Sept. 23 interview.
–With assistance from Joe Ryan and Ari Natter.
To contact the reporters on this story: Brian Eckhouse in New York at beckhouse@bloomberg.net;Christopher Martin in New York at cmartin11@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Lynn Doan at ldoan6@bloomberg.net, Joe Ryan, Pratish Narayanan
Š2019 Bloomberg L.P.
At a closed-door meeting this summer, oil and gas industry lawyers criticized the Trump administration’s failure to recruit enough qualified people to secure policy victories that would outlast this presidency, according to a recording of the gathering.
The audio from an Independent Petroleum Producers of America meeting in Colorado Springs, Colo., obtained by the Western Values Project and shared with POLITICO, contains some of the most unvarnished opinion coming from an industry that has been happy with the administrationâs talk on oil and gas but frustrated with its results.
âTwo and a half years later, I donât see the agencies getting better,â Mark Barron, head of energy litigation in the Denver office of Baker – Hostetler, told the group. âI donât see that leadership or competence in the administration.â
The June meeting came amid mounting frustration over the slow pace of the Trump administrationâs major energy policies, including regulatory rollbacks at EPA and efforts from the Interior Department to spur new production. A commitment to open up more federal waters to offshore drilling has stalled amid legal and political pushback, the administration’s move to expedite permitting of pipelines, including for Keystone XL and the Mountain Valley Pipeline has been challenged in court, and states have sued over a rollback on methane emissions rules that even some oil companies have complained is too broad.
During the meeting, Wayne DâAngelo, head of energy litigation at D.C.-based Kelley Drye & Warren LLP, noted that EarthJustice, Natural Resources Defense Council and other groups had sued the administration more than three hundred times over its rollbacks of Obama-era rules, including those on methane emissions and hydraulic fracturing.
âThere is a metric buttload of litigation going on in respect to the regulatory agenda,â DâAngelo said, adding that there were âa lot of early wins for environmental lawsuits.â
âI think youâll see the agencies focusing on fewer high impact rulesâ as the 2020 election nears, DâAngelo added. âMaybe continue to do stuff with guidance, in full knowledge thatâs easy-come, easy-go. Whatever you do through guidance can be taken away through guidance.â
Barron said the agenda was struggling because of a talent deficit at federal agencies, which he attributed to an unwillingness among many experts to work for President Donald Trump.
“For some, the reticence that comes out of the administration on non-energy components, some of the things he may say about some other issues or you may read tweets about, may suggest to yourself that you donât want to have speeches like this for the next 25 years or get introduced as such-and-such from the Trump administration,” he said. “Thereâs a real reluctance for some real competent people to serve in this administration, apart from the fact they werenât going to invite you in if you werenât supporting him from the beginning.”
Barron singled out Interior Secretary David Bernhardt as a rare “competent technocrat,” among a mostly inexperienced staff. “They may want to implement policy, but at some point you need people who are familiar with Washington, who know how to draft a regulatory rule, have experience doing that at a big level,” he said.
The trade association did not dispute the recording’s authenticity. “It seems to be from that meeting,” IPAA spokesperson Jennifer Pett said in an email. “However, it was off-the-record, so we did not transcribe or record the conversation; so this document cannot be verified as 100 percent accurate.”
In the audio, Katie Schroder, a partner at Davis Graham & Stubbs LLP in Denver who focuses on energy development on federal lands, noted that government lawyers could drop defense of the ongoing lawsuits if Trump loses in 2020.
âAt this point, we have to look at the shot clock,â Schroder said at the meeting. âWeâre not far from 2020, weâre not far from the next election. Will some of this litigation be resolved by the time the next administration comes in? Thatâs always part of the calculus.”
She said the industry wanted to see more than guidance documents and executive orders from the administration.
“The real win is to get some regulatory changes in place. … I donât know if thereâs enough energy and drive at Interior to do those things,â she said.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this report misstated the name of the Independent Petroleum Association of America.
Jordan Davidson    September 27, 2019
     EPA offices in DC. Skyhobo / E+ / Getty Images
September 25, 2019
âWeâve been talking about saving the Amazon for 30 years.â â Harrison Ford urged UN leaders to listen to young people and let them save the planet from the climate crisis
Harrison Ford Urges Leaders to Get Out of Young Activists' Way on Climate
âWeâve been talking about saving the Amazon for 30 years.â â Harrison Ford urged UN leaders to listen to young people and let them save the planet from the climate crisis
Posted by NowThis Politics on Wednesday, 25 September 2019
September 18, 2019
Where Your Tax Dollars Really Go
Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress claim that America spends too much on things like food stamps, welfare, and foreign aid. But letâs look at how the government actually spends your federal tax dollars each year.
Posted by Robert Reich on Wednesday, September 18, 2019
Nearly 10,000 farmers and ranchers are endorsing the Green New Deal as the climate policy battleground expands from the oil fields to the agricultural fields.
In a letter sent to Congress on Wednesday morning, the newly formed bipartisan coalition U.S. Farmers & Ranchers for a Green New Deal threw its weight behind the sweeping industrial plan outlined in a resolution that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) proposed in February.
But zeroing out the countryâs planet-heating emissions by mid-century requires a transformation in agriculture as dramatic as shifting the energy sector away from fossil fuels, the letter says.
âWe believe these climate goals are achievable,â the letter argues, âbut only if the GND includes policies that spur two large-scale transitions: the transition away from fossil fuels toward renewable energy alternatives, and the transition away from industrial agriculture toward family farm-based organic and regenerative farming and land-use practices that improve soil health and draw down and sequester carbon.â
The letter was signed by more than 500 individual farms and 50 organizations representing close to 10,000 members. Regeneration International, a sustainable farming nonprofit, organized the missive with the climate justice group Sunrise Movement. It also hosted a Wednesday morning press conference in Washington.
A month ago, the United Nations released a dire new report urging major changes to food production and land management and warning that emissions cuts alone will fall short of halting catastrophic global warming.
Taking cues from those pushing for a Green New Deal, several Democratic presidential hopefuls have made farming practices central to their climate proposals. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) earmarked $410 billion in his Green New Deal proposal to help âfarms of all sizes transition to ecologically regenerative agricultural practices.â Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) called for breaking up agriculture monopolies as part of her broad rural platform. South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg vowed to âsupport farmersâ by âpaying them to capture carbon.â
Yet even as farmers reel from the effects of President Donald Trumpâs trade war with China, Democratic candidates are far from guaranteed their votes. Farmers supported the Trump administrationâs proposal last week to finalize the rollback of the Obama-era Waters of the U.S. rule, which had put new restrictions on which waterways agribusiness could pollute. Early on, Republican opposition to the Green New Deal itself coalesced around the idea that such a program would ban beef production, although supporters have clearly said it would not.
âWe call on Congress to put the âGreenâ in the Green New Deal,â Wednesdayâs letter reads, âby empowering us to revitalize the health and economic security of this countryâs middle class, to make family farming economically viable again, and to help reverse climate change and improve Americaâs air and water quality by making our ecosystems healthy again.â
Activism works.
So act.
See you in the streets!
20-27th of September #ClimateStrike
#FridaysForFuture #schoolstrike4climate #Amnesty
Activism works. So act.See you in the streets! 20-27th of September #ClimateStrike #FridaysForFuture #schoolstrike4climate #Amnesty
Posted by Greta Thunberg on Tuesday, September 17, 2019
By Lauren Gambino    September 17, 2019
At a meeting of the Senate climate crisis task force on Tuesday, lawmakers praised a group of young activists for their leadership, their gumption and their display of wisdom far beyond their years. They then asked the teens for advice on how Congress might combat one of the most urgent and politically contentious threats confronting world leaders: climate change.
Greta Thunberg, the 16-year-old Swedish activist who has galvanized young people across the world to strike for more action to combat the impact of global warming, politely reminded them that she was a student, not a scientist â or a senator.
âPlease save your praise. We donât want it,â she said. âDonât invite us here to just tell us how inspiring we are without actually doing anything about it because it doesnât lead to anything.
âIf you want advice for what you should do, invite scientists, ask scientists for their expertise. We donât want to be heard. We want the science to be heard.â
In remarks meant for Congress as a whole, she said: âI know you are trying but just not hard enough. Sorry.â
The audience laughed. Supporters broke into applause. Senator Ed Markey, the Massachusetts Democrat who co-sponsored the Green New Deal and leads the Senate task force, was perhaps surprised by her bluntness. But he smiled.
Seated at the table with the teens were some of the most sympathetic and vocal supporters of bold action on climate change in Congress. But facing a Republican-controlled Senate and a hostile White House, the prospect of enacting reforms at the scale and scope called for by activists â and many scientists â is bleak.
âWe need your leadership,â he told Thunberg. âYoung people are the army politically, which has arrived in the United States. You put a spotlight on this issue in a way that it has never been before. And that is creating a new X factor.â
Still, Markey vowed to try: âWe hear you. We hear what youâre saying and we will redouble our efforts.â
Thunberg was one of several youth activists invited to address the task force during two days of action and speeches aimed at urging lawmakers to support âtransformative climate actionâ. She was joined by activists from across the US and South America, part of a âmultiracial, intergenerationalâ effort to combat climate change.
The meetings and speeches in Washington are intended to raise awareness ahead of a global climate strike on Friday in which students and workers will walk out of schools and offices to pressure their governments to act as world leaders gather in New York for the annual United Nations summit.
âThe generation of the Green New Deal will not only survive but we will thrive,â said Nadia Nazar, co-founder of the advocacy group Zero Hour, at a news conference earlier on Tuesday.
âWe will no longer be known as the kids fighting the apocalypse. We will be known as the solution to the climate crisis.â
In the US, support for sweeping action on climate change is polarized. Many Republicans â among them Donald Trump â are still openly skeptical of the science behind global warming. Republican leaders have mocked Democrats for introducing a Green New Deal and have used the proposal as a cudgel against lawmakers and presidential candidates.
The Green New Deal is an ambitious 14-page resolution that calls for a â10-year national mobilizationâ that would eliminate the nationâs emissions in one decade. Scientists say limiting warming to 1.5C would require cutting man-made carbon levels by 45% by 2030 and reaching net zero around 2050.
Markey said their movement is shifting the political landscape. The senator pointed to the 2020 presidential debates as evidence of what has changed. Candidates are being asked about climate change and pushed to introduce plans to combat global warming. This is in stark contrast to 2016.
âWhat has happened? You have happened,â he told the activists. âYou are giving this extra level of energy to the political process that is absolutely changing the dynamics of politics in the United States.â
The 2020 election, Markey said, will in many ways be a âreferendum on climate changeâ.
Thunberg arrived in the US after crossing the Atlantic on a solar-powered yacht. She rose to international prominence after launching âFridays for Futureâ: student-led strikes that have spread to 135 countries. She has been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize.
On Monday, she met Barack Obama. The former president shared a photo from their meeting, in which he praised Thunberg as âone of our planetâs greatest advocatesâ and someone who is âunafraid to push for real actionâ.
Barack Obama: Just 16, @GretaThurnberg is already one of our planetâs greatest advocates. Recognizing that her generation will bear the brunt of climate change, sheâs unafraid to push for real action. She embodies our vision at the @ObamaFoundation: A future shaped by young leaders like her.
Later on Tuesday, the group was scheduled to meet Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who is a co-sponsor of the Green New Deal in the House.
On Wednesday, Thunberg will deliver what has been billed as a âmajor addressâ to members of Congress.
⌠The Guardian is committed to keeping the story front and center daily, giving issues of environmental degradation, pollution and species extinction the prominence they deserve.
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This is a groundbreaking initiative to increase nationwide media coverage of the climate emergency. We will be sharing a portion of our climate coverage with partners in the network, in the hope that news organizations without dedicated environment desks will have the opportunity to provide in-depth reporting on this issue. By increasing the reach of our climate coverage, our goal is to spark action from our leaders, inspire citizens, and point to systematic change.
But we need your ongoing support to keep delivering quality journalism on the climate crisis–and the many other critical issues we cover, from widespread inequality to the influence of big tech on our lives. At a time when factual information is a necessity, we believe that each of us, around the world, deserves access to accurate reporting with integrity at its heart.
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