Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Julien Mieville at AFP asks the big question: Has global demand for petroleum peaked? The meme of “peak oil” once referred to the notion that production would at some point peak and then fall, driving prices sky high, but that theory developed before the fracking revolution and was never very […]
Archives for July 2020
As ‘annexation’ looms, let’s expand our compassion to include Palestinians
By David Hart | – ( Waging Nonviolence ) – For decades, Israel has used talk of peace as a cover for expansion of an unjust system. We are now poised on a dangerous cliff that should offend everyone who believes themselves to be committed to human rights, international law or creative conflict resolution. I […]
Over Half of Germany’s Power Use in 1st Half of 2020 was from Wind and Solar, as Coal Sank
By Julian Wettengel | – Renewables covered more than half of Germany’s power consumption in the first six months of 2020, according to a first estimate by think tank Agora Energiewende*. As coal use dropped and demand was low due to the coronavirus crisis and energy sector emissions fell significantly. Germany will most likely reach […]
How racism in US health system hinders care and costs lives of African Americans
By Tamika C.B. Zapolski | – As the COVID-19 pandemic swept across the U.S., the virus hit African Americans disproportionately hard. African Americans are still contracting the illness – and dying from it – at rates twice as high as would be expected based on their share of the population. In Michigan, African Americans are […]
When will Palestine have its Declaration of Independence?
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Americans’ commemoration of the Fourth of July in 2020 was often a bit subdued, depending on where in the country you were, given the pandemic and its economic consequences. The subject of the celebration, however, was the foundation of a democratic republic that aspired to be made up of free […]
Is More Conflict What the Mideast Needs? Israel’s Dangerous Plan to Annex 1/3 of Palestinian West Bank
By Hazem Ayyad | – ( Middle East Monitor.) – As expected, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu postponed Israel’s annexation plan… on the pretext of finishing his consultations with an American delegation. His decision was not made known for certain to his Foreign Minister, retired General Gabi Ashkenazi, who told Israel’s Army Radio: “It seems unlikely […]
The Corporations that are Swinging behind Green Energy may make all the Difference in Climate Emergency
By Zdravka Tzankova | – The Research Brief is a short take about interesting academic work. The big idea My new analysis of companies that seek to buy renewable electricity finds that business is becoming a powerful new ally in the U.S. political battle to stop climate change. Driven by pressure from environmental groups and […]
For “Safety and Happiness:” On the 4th of July, we Need a Declaration of Independence from Donald Trump
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The founding generation of Americans was deeply concerned with well-being. The Declaration of Independence says that if a government won’t provide it, it is time “to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to […]
Netanyahu’s proposed annexation of the Palestinian West Bank could Provoke a ‘diplomatic tsunami’ against Israel
By Tony Walker | – In a deadly game of Middle East cat and mouse, Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is continuing to weigh his options in pushing ahead with plans to extend Israeli sovereignty over territories occupied by Israel in the 1967 war. This is a highly complex issue involving multiple calculations, diplomatic and […]