Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The second-largest city in the country hosting this year’s international climate change conference, Alexandria in Egypt, will struggle for its life the rest of this century and may be 33% under water in only 30 years. We may be seeing the end of a city founded 2,353 years ago. The […]
Archives for November 2022
Churches Are Breaking the Law by Endorsing in Elections, Experts Say. The IRS Looks the Other Way
By Jeremy Schwartz and Jessica Priest | – Co-published with The Texas Tribune ( ProPublica) – Six days before a local runoff election last year in Frisco, a prosperous and growing suburb of Dallas, Brandon Burden paced the stage of KingdomLife Church. The pastor told congregants that demonic spirits were operating through members of the […]
China’s Decarbonization Miracle: “We are Witnessing a Fundamental Change in its Electricity Mix”
( Foreign Policy in Focus) – When it comes to a global clean energy transition, China is both part of the problem and part of the solution. On the problem side, China is the largest emitter of carbon dioxide in the world by a rather wide margin. In 2020, China was responsible for a little […]
As COP27 Climate Summit in Egypt Nears, World Needs to Realize Depth of Crisis, Urgency of Action
By Andrew King, The University of Melbourne | – (The Conversation) – World leaders and climate experts are gathering for pivotal United Nations climate change talks in Egypt. Known as COP27, the conference will aim to put Earth on a path to net-zero emissions and keep global warming well below 2℃ this century. The world […]
The Rise of Israeli Fascism as the Swing Vote in Parliament, and the Project of Ethnic Cleansing
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Despite Israeli propaganda about being a democracy that shares values with the liberal West, the country has for some time gone down a much darker path. Exit polling done by the major Israeli television channels in Tuesday’s election suggests that Bezalel Smotrich’s Religious Zionist Party, in a joint slate with […]
‘Bloody Friday’ highlights the Plight of the Baloch in Iran
By Samand Muhammad-Shahi | – ( Middle East Monitor ) – A month after a brutal massacre, protests continue in Iran’s restive region of Balochistan, home to the Baloch-Sunni ethno-religious minority. Six more people, including three children, were reported to have been killed on Friday as Iranian security forces opened fire on the demonstrators in […]
Droughts don’t need to result in famine: Ethiopia and Somalia show what makes the difference
By Joshua Busby, University of Texas at Austin | – The Horn of Africa is facing its worst drought in 40 years. Scientists suspect that a multi-year La Niña cycle has been amplified by climate change to prolong dry and hot conditions. After multiple failed harvests and amid high global food prices, the Horn is […]
The Planet Earth We Grew up With, R.I.P.
( Tomdispatch.com ) – Oddly enough, I’ve read obituaries with fascination from the time I was quite young. And yet, in all these years, I’ve never really reflected on that fact. I don’t know whether it was out of some indirect fascination with death and the end of it all or curiosity about the wholeness […]
Death Knell for Big Carbon? Globally, All New Electricity Demand was Met by Renewables in first 1/2 of ’22, with Fossil Fuels Flat
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – In the first half of 2022, there was no increase in the world’s use of fossil fuels, and all new electricity demand was met by renewables. The world is nearing a tipping point, estimated by the International Energy Agency to come in 2025, after which all new electricity demand will […]
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