Goofy Greens and Regulators Threaten Nuclear Revival
5 hours ago Guest Blogger

By Duggan Flanakin

April 16, 2024

Despite its commitment to “no more gas, oil, or coal,” Friends of the Earth has launched a campaign against one of the nation’s “greenest” governors, California’s Gavin Newsom. Their goal? To stop the U.S. Department of Energy from doling out $1 billion to keep the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant (no gas, oil, or coal there) open past its planned 2025 closure date.

Newsom, whose policies are among the world’s most aggressive against gasoline- and diesel-powered vehicles and tools, last year stated that, “the Diablo Canyon power plant is important to support energy reliability as we accelerate progress towards achieving our clean energy and climate goals.” Diablo Canyon today supplies nearly a tenth of California’s electricity.

The aptly named FOE claims that “the environmental impacts from extending the lifespan of this aging power plant at this point in time have not been adequately addressed or disclosed to the public.” Other groups, too, spread fear about nuclear energy. But by far the most powerful obstacle for nuclear energy enthusiasts to overcome lies within the federal government.

https://wattsupwiththat.com/2024/04/26/goofy-greens-and-regulators-threaten-nuclear-revival/

Decolonizing environmentalism: Addressing ecological and Indigenous colonization through arts-based communication
Geo Takach https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3192-6642 geo.takach@royalroads.ca and Kyera CookView all authors and affiliations
OnlineFirst
https://doi.org/10.1177/09632719231224115
 
This article seeks to advance connecting the two societal priorities of environmental protection and what has been called ‘Indigenous reconciliation’ through arts-based communication (and particularly arts-based research), to help engage and inspire people towards sustaining a healthy planet and a just society. Through lenses of social justice, decolonizing critique and holistic environmental ideologies, this work explores theoretical and practical, real-world intersections of environmentalist, Indigenous and arts-based imperatives and ways of knowing. The goal is twofold: first, to seek to engage readers in viewing the colonization of the planet and its First Peoples as intimately related, and ultimately, to bring together diverse literatures to suggest ideas, language and a model to foster communication aimed at redressing both of those colonialist evils. To acknowledge this intersection of environmental and Indigenous approaches in arts-based settings, the term ‘environmental conciliation’ is proposed and defined as ‘environmental protection in ways that acknowledge, address, and aim to redress imbalances in power among Indigenous people and non-Indigenous settlers honestly, respectfully, openly, creatively and positively.

Positioning the researchers
As authors, we recognize the significance of sharing our life and work connections to this research in Coast Salish Territory. One of the authors, Kyera, a non-Indigenous academic, began her relationship with the Indigenous community when her mother pursued a First Nations program, connecting their family to Coast Salish events in the unceded territories of the Snuneymuxw, Snaw-Naw-As, Quw’utsun and Tla’amin (Nanaimo area). During her master's thesis, Kyera collaborated with tribal park guardians in Tla-o-qui-aht territory (Nuu-chah-nulth Nation), deepening her understanding of the impact of colonization on Indigenous communities and the environment. Working with the Squamish Nation at their outdoor school cultural programs further enriched her knowledge of Indigenous elders. Now, alongside Professor Geo Takach, she is devoted to fostering conciliation through arts-based communication. Author Geo is a non-Indigenous product of parents who fled colonization of their homeland to settle on lands sometimes called Canada, where he was born and awakened to issues of social and environmental justice. After spending most of his life on Treaty 6 lands, he landed in Lekwungen-speaking territory (AKA the Songhees and Esquimalt Nations on what's sometimes called Vancouver Island) to take up full-time faculty duties at Royal Roads University (RRU), where he is grateful to learn and work with Indigenous luminaries who continue to inspire his life and work. A key recent adventure is his collaboration with RRU's Director of Indigenous Education, Russell Johnston, to co-develop and co-teach their undergraduate course, Communication in Indigenous Contexts. His research and teaching in communication and culture interweave environmental, Indigenous and arts-based approaches to encourage good relations with the Earth and also Her First Peoples.1

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/09632719231224115

The right to free speech doesn’t mean a group can impede on others’ right to access or travel through a public area.

Handing out the pamphlets was a good idea. 

Guidelines and consequences of those actions in writing.

All colleges should do this.

https://www.usasupreme.com/university-of-florida-students-choose-to-break-down-encampment-after-receiving-list-of-allowable-and-prohibited-activities-see-the-consequences-for-non-compliance-screenshot/

Growth slowing, inflation rebounding: Fresh, bitter Bidenomics pills
Opinion by Post Editorial Board • 15h •


Literally the day after President Biden bragged, “We’re following my blue collar blueprint to rebuild America, and guess what? It’s working!” Bidenomics struck with a vengeance Thursday: The economy grew at just a 1.6% annualized rate in the first quarter, a third less than the consensus forecast.
 
And while growth is slowing (from 4.9% in last year’s third quarter, to 3.4% in the fourth, and now 1.6%), inflation is heating back up.

A key gauge of price hikes, the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index, excluding food and energy, surged at a 3.7% rate in the first quarter.

And that suggests interest rates will stay sky-high, since the Federal Reserve wants PCE closer to 2% before it starts easing up.

Even before Thursday, real median wages (that is, inflation-adjusted) began dropping again (as they have for most of the Biden presidency), while most of the new jobs being created are part-time positions — and many of the rest are government jobs.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/growth-slowing-inflation-rebounding-fresh-bitter-bidenomics-pills/ar-AA1nFRjf?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=HCTS&cvid=699c6be855684e03ae39c2c30c274e8f&ei=40

 
Over 200 US businesses put on notice with major new government regulations: 'This is about life and death'
© Provided by The Cool Down

In a move that advances the country's commitment to environmental justice, the Biden
Administration announced new government regulations that strive to reduce toxic pollution released from industrial plants and protect the health of disadvantaged communities nearby.

As The New York Times reported, under the new guidelines from the Environmental Protection Agency, over 200 chemical plants must reduce harmful chemicals that the federal government found to be carcinogenic.
 
The new rules focus on reducing two pollutants in particular: ethylene oxide, which is used as a sterilizer, and chloroprene, a toxin commonly used to make rubber footwear. The framework will apply to plants along the Gulf Coast, Ohio River Valley, and West Virginia.

The neighborhoods that surround the industrial plants are predominately Black and Hispanic, and their health has suffered over the years. In fact, one area has been labeled cancer alley, but the cries of injustice have finally been heard as the federal government holds big industry accountable. The hope is that the new policy will reduce cancer risk in these communities.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/over-200-us-businesses-put-on-notice-with-major-new-government-regulations-this-is-about-life-and-death/ar-AA1nGRUF?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=HCTS&cvid=699c6be855684e03ae39c2c30c274e8f&ei=34