#That is DIRECTLY effecting the local climate

[specialagentartemis]

Some good things happening at the local level: Land Back edition

The Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians purchased back 2,000 acres of deeply historically significant land in Oregon, the site of both a massacre of Native people at the hands of the US army, and the site of a treaty signing that established a temporary truce and reservation. (Posted Jan 21, 2025)

The property was purchased directly from the previous landowner. The Nature Conservancy preserves a conservation easement on the land. The Siletz will continue to work closely with the Nature Conservancy and the BLM across the properties in the region to emphasize conservation and restoration. “To me, land back means, in its purest form, its return of lands to a tribe,” Kentta [citizen of the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians and the tribal council treasurer] said. “This is through purchase, and a significant amount paid out for the purchase. So for us, that is regaining of land back, but it's not a settlement or apology for things that happened in the past.”

The Tule River Tribe in California is moving forward with a plan to buy back 14,673 acres of rivers, forests, ranchland, and wetland in a conservation project partnering with The Conservation Fund, the Wildlife Conservation Board, and various California conservation organizations. It's set to move into Tule River control (or at least co-management? unclear to me) sometime this year. (Posted January 8, updated January 10, 2025)

Charmaine McDarment, chairwoman of the Tule River Tribal Council, said in a press release that the tribe appreciates help in restoring ancestral homelands. “As the climate crisis brings new pressures to address the effects of environmental mismanagement and resource degradation, the Tribe’s partnership with WCB is an important example of building relationships based in collaboration and trust. “The tribe remains committed to supporting co-stewardship efforts and fighting to ensure that disproportionate harms to Native American lands, culture, and resources are resolved in a manner that centers and honors Native American connections to ancestral lands.”

Illinois lawmakers voted to move Shabbona Lake State Park to the management of The Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation.  The Illinois governor has a lot on his plate right now, but is expected to sign the bill into law. (Posted January 14, 2025)

The state House approved SB 867, which would transfer Shabbona Lake State Park to the Prairie Band Potawatomi. The bill now heads to Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker for his signature.  The land transfer hinges on an agreement that the tribe continue to operate the property as a park, still open to the public. Final details will be established in a forthcoming land management agreement between the state and tribe.  Prairie Band Potawatomi Chairman Joseph “Zeke” Rupnick said the bill’s passage was a “meaningful step” toward righting a historic old wrong. The land was originally part of the tribe's 1,280-acre reservation in northern Illinois. During Chief Shab-eh-nay's visit to family in Kansas, the land was unlawfully auctioned off, violating federal requirements for Congressional approval of tribal land sales. The tribe has sought to reclaim the land for nearly two centuries.

A Wabanaki food sovereignty group secured a no-strings-attached land deal to buy 245 acres of farm and forest in Maine, to focus on local, traditional, and sustainable foods. (Posted January 19, 2025)

What sets this purchase apart is that the land transfer comes without conservation easements. These easements, which frequently accompany land returns or transfers, are often well-meaning. However, they can inhibit Indigenous stewardship by preventing practices such as prescribed burning, subdivision, or particular kinds of zoning for buildings or infrastructure.  A coalition of 12 organizations and several private donors helped secure the land for Niweskok [a nonprofit collective of Wabanaki farmers, health professionals, and educators] without easements, giving the Wabanaki nonprofit sovereignty over the property, according to Heather Rogers, Land Protection Program director for Coastal Mountain Land Trust. Her organization has helped finance the Goose River purchase through fundraising and advocacy efforts.  “The land trusts had to approach it with humility - there are other ways to care for land that can end up with better outcomes, and I think we have all come to that realization,” Rogers said. “I think now that we've done it once, I think we would be open to doing it again that way.” 

Conservation, food sovereignty, water management - a few hundred acres here, a thousand acres there, there is movement to put lands back in tribal control, which is a human rights win as well as an ecology/conservation one.  This is mostly happening at state and even private levels, and is something to continue advocating for, pushing for, donating to, and finding out if you have any local movements advocating for this kind of thing near you and calling state-level lawmakers and representatives about.

[reading-writing-revolution]

Over the past week I’ve had two big takes: The clouds are darkening, and the opposition is assembling.

Trump’s first 90 days have been both chaotic and predictable. Shortly after Trump’s election, we predicted he would overreach by steamrolling through Project 2025. We warned that our only effective strategy to halt the slide into authoritarianism depends on unified opposition. We recommended people organize that opposition on the ground. Since then we’ve seen a wave of methodical grassroots organizing that has produced the fastest growth in new locally led Indivisible groups since we started Indivisible more than 8 years ago.

But that opposition movement in Congress was flat-footed, in the words of one US Representative. In response to this “roll over and play dead” strategy, Trump did not moderate or slow down. He empowered his top donor, Elon Musk, to ransack the federal government. Together they dismantled agencies and defunded programs for special needs students, cancer researchers, and disaster preparedness. They have menaced the press, the business community, the law firms, the universities, the courts, America’s closest international partners, and the American public itself. 

When the bullies found lax opposition, they escalated their bullying.

We are building a unified opposition. In the days after the inauguration this year, Representatives like Maxwell Frost, Jamie Raskin, and Jasmine Crockett joined us at a boisterous rally outside the DOGE-ransacked US Treasury building. Frost asked the crowd, “Are we the minority or are we the opposition?” Chris Murphy has consistently been on the front lines using every bullhorn he can find to shout “THIS IS AN EMERGENCY.” Cory Booker gave the longest speech in history of the US Senate to bring attention to the crisis. AOC and Bernie have drawn enormous crowds for their anti-Oligarchy tour in red and blue states.

Days ago, Sen. Chris Van Hollen flew to El Salvador to meet with a Maryland father of three who Trump had disappeared to a torture prison. Van Hollen lambasted California Governor Gavin Newsom for calling the camps a distraction, “anybody who can't stand up for the Constitution and the right of due process doesn't deserve to lead.” When House Republicans tried to prevent House Dems from making similar trips, the Dems told them to shove it. 

In a moment like this, leaders of institutions, leaders of communities, and leaders in elective office are all looking around to see which way the people are going. Faced with a set of ridiculous demands from Trump, Harvard University boldly, clearly, and defiantly said NO. We have heard from credible sources who were organizing at Harvard, that their oppositional stance was directly influenced by the massive, peaceful, April 5 Hands Off! protests around the world. We have heard from our friends on Capitol Hill that the rolling waves of mass protest and town halls and empty chair town halls are injecting some courage into the halls of Congress. Organized people power is turning the tide -- it’s not happening all at once, or as fast as we might like, but it’s happening.

Regardless of what they throw at us -- we will organize. We desperately need this unified opposition to take shape, because the clouds continue to darken. In response to Harvard’s defiance, Trump escalated his bullying -- threatening to take away the university’s tax status. Inside DC and across the country, rumors are swirling that Trump could be coming after political opponents in nonprofits in the coming days. The rumored executive orders may target climate groups on Earth Day (tomorrow), or perhaps more broadly seeking to neutralize any nonprofits that could be seen as a threat.

At Indivisible, we are tracking this closely and will be responding quickly when and if these escalations against civil society materialize. But regardless of what comes, I want to be clear: Indivisible will not back down from peacefully and aggressively organizing the opposition to these power-hungry, money-grubbing authoritarians. If something big goes down in the coming days -- we will be communicating over email, text, and on BlueSky: Find me, Leah, and Indivisible there. And come hell or high water you can find me and Leah on a weekly live Whats The Plan discussion at 3pm ET on Thursdays. 

Courage is contagious. Read on to Indivisible’s weekly action items to help spread it around.

-- Ezra Levin Co-Executive Director, Indivisible

[hms-no-fun]

in your view of things right now, with the political climate so hot coming into the election, and companies doing worse than ever in terms of amassing greed and power and fucking us all over... what do you think has to change to find a way out?

oh boy, what a question. i've got a BA in film studies. i pay my bills by making youtube videos and writing homestuck fanfiction. i am not an authority, i only kind of vaguely know what i'm talking about in any given conversation. but i do think about this question a lot, and i've been wanting an excuse to arrange some of my thoughts on the matter. so, you know, don't take my words here as gospel, or as a coherent platform, or whatever. i'm just a goat with some opinions who hasn't read enough theory but means well.

alright. as a communist my answer is always gonna be "proletarian revolution," but that's an endgoal we're currently nowhere near achieving. the path to getting there is impossible to truly know, because of course revolutions are historically contingent on an organized vanguard being prepared to take control in a moment of national crisis. we don't have a leftist vanguard in this country, haven't done since the FBI and state governments went to war with the Black Panthers. my ideal vision of an effective communist party is one unlike any that currently exists on a large scale in the USA, built by organizing communities to coordinate neighborhood needs, as part of city/county organizations coordinating local needs, as part of state organizations that etc. right now political parties are exclusively focused on electoralism. i want a party that can organize eviction blockades, free community daycare, reading groups, high-capacity cafeterias, and all manner of mutual aid. i want a party that can operate with solidarity, as the Panthers did by supporting the 28 day 504 sit-in that resulted in the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act. an effective vanguard party interfaces directly with the working class and builds its policy platforms based on their needs with no apology, rather than the acceptable liberal half-measures we've grown so accustomed to.

but it's a loooooooong road to get even that far. and you might say such an organization would be offputting, but like. the Panthers won over a lot of moderates over time because they weren't just out on the streets posturing. they took care of people. we only have free school lunch programs at all because of them. this is the thing that drives me nuts about so many leftists today-- you don't win over a moderate or conservative by debating the merit of their ideas. you help improve the material conditions of their day to day life, thanklessly, as you'd do with everyone in that community, because you cannot adopt means testing by another name without selling off an essential part of yourself. slowly, over time, some of those people will be won over. it'll never be everyone, but it doesn't have to be everyone. it doesn't even have to be a majority. you can get a hell of a lot done with even just 30% of people, especially if those people are even mildly-disciplined members of a well-organized party apparatus.

so, okay, that's my sense of the broad strokes. i want a proletarian revolution by way of a militant vanguard party. not saying this is the ONLY way forward, just the one i think would be most likely to succeed under the right circumstances. but again, we're a million miles away from having a communist vanguard in this country. quite frankly, such a thing feels an impossible pipe dream at this exact historic moment. so the question for me then becomes, how do we create the conditions that would allow for such an organization to emerge, claim power, hold it long enough to build a substantial base, then act on it towards a revolutionary goal?

first you've gotta ask why it's so hard to imagine this fanciful 20th century ass operation today. obvious answers: it's fucking impossible for a third party to gain a foothold in the system as it stands, so let's fix that. ranked choice voting would be a good place to start. i'm no electoralist, but if we're presuming that the revolution isn't happening tomorrow then some element of its foundation must be in making our democracy an actual democracy that can reflect people's needs. repeal citizens united. put HUGE limits on campaign donations and make it harder to conceal donations through super PACs. redistricting is another essential piece of the puzzle-- there is precisely one map of every major usamerican city and it's the map of redlined districts where people of color were not allowed to buy property. look at wealth distribution in communities and it'll map 1 to 1 to historic redlining, guaranteed. we gotta fix gerrymandering, loosen restrictions on poll access (such as the ad hoc poll tax that is government ID requirements), and if we're really feeling frisky push for a mandatory federal voting holiday so that no one has to work on election day (which elections count for "election day" is a whole other quagmire of course). less obvious answers: the cops and the FBI are still imprisoning and murdering black, poc, native, and queer activists in broad daylight. the national prison population is an IMMENSE locus of potential revolutionary energy. some goals on that front: abolish prisons, massively defund the cops, and curtail the surveillance state. restore the convicted felon's right to vote, and otherwise remove the many bureaucratic roadblocks that artificially create the cycle of recidivism. put money into nationwide job training programs (NO PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS) not just for ex convicts but for everyone, for reasons we'll get to momentarily.

i focus on electoral reform at the start here because i think it's an illustrative example of just how sprawling the task before us is. my goal isn't to overwhelm you or make you feel doomed because "holy shit that's already a lot of stuff that feels totally impossible and you haven't even mentioned healthcare yet," but to hammer home that the class war is being fought on a million fronts. you will go completely numb if you expect any one person or organization to address all of these issues simultaneously and as soon as possible. in an ideal world, there are many many affinity groups working towards these ends all over the place, either as part of or in solidarity with our imagined vanguard. i'm trying to look at ways to materially improve the lives of people in our political economy as it currently exists, rather than just saying "we need revolution" and leaving it there.

alright then, so what about capitalism? another major factor in the systematic disenfranchisement of the working class is the role corporate employers play in maintaining the class war. nobody has time to participate in local political actions because everyone has to work crushing hours, and when they do have days to themselves they still have to personally drive to wherever things are happening and find parking, instead of grocery shopping, taking care of kids, just fucking relaxing, whatever. obvious answers: medicare for all. right now, healthcare access is tied to employment status unless you are COMICALLY poor (i just got kicked off of medicaid a couple months ago because i now make marginally more than the cutoff, which now means i'm paying $200+ more a month on healthcare and am now way more worried about money than when i was on welfare. what a great and functional system!). if you're afraid of losing your health insurance for any reason, then you are disincentivized from expressing any opinions you might have about the conduct of your employer by, say, quitting. just passing universal healthcare alone would cause some major turmoil in the US economy. invest in mass public transit with rigorous local neighborhood access, and now a hell of a lot more people are empowered to participate in civic duty. less obvious answers: get rid of at-will employment! make it much much harder for employers to fire people, and regulate the ability of corporations to do mass layoffs. this would go a long way towards throwing some wrenches into the methods corps use to invent economic prosperity through the creative application of spreadsheets. on top of that, let's nuke the absolute fuck out of means-testing for programs like food stamps, medicaid, social housing, or literally any other form of "charity" that made Reagan shit his pants.

speaking of means testing, let's talk about bullshit jobs. there are a TON of pointless, degrading, wasteful jobs in this country. corps playing middlemen to middlemen. endless state and business bureaucracy using hundreds of systems that rarely if ever communicate with one another, putting a huge administrative burden on working people while the rich beneficiaries of this exploitation get to launder their guilt through the public-facing punching bags of customer service representatives. too many people work at the office factory. there are a lot of industries that need to be massively curtailed if not outright destroyed, a fact that intersects with the threat of climate change when you include coal and oil jobs. it's not enough to get rid of these positions, you also have to have a plan for those displaced workers-- hence the job training program i mentioned before. if we actually want to see a transition into a more egalitarian society that doesn't run exclusively on fossil fuels, then there needs to be a pipeline that gives purpose to the people whose lives will inevitably be radically altered by the kinds of changes we're talking about. there's an important thing, actually-- we all need to be prepared for this line of questioning and have a good answer in the back pocket. there is no shift from pure capitalism to even lite democratic socialism that won't hurt some cohort of people that doesn't deserve it. unless you want them to fall in with the fascists, you're gonna want to have a plan for how to integrate them into the world you're trying to build.

here's a wildcard for you. a lot of folks are on that "break up the monopolies" grind these days, and i appreciate the sentiment. i also think we would be vastly better served in the long run by simply nationalizing the monopolies. obviously there are plenty of worthwhile concerns to be had about any usamerican government gaining that kind of control over anything at this precise moment, but we cannot let that impede the horizons of our imaginary. i don't want market reform, i want the abolition of markets. the internet should be a public utility and ISPs should be government institutions. tech needs UNENDING regulation as we are all aware. social media should be public and interoperable. there needs to be a rolling back of internet surveillance. i've been toying with the idea of a Federal Department of Digital Moderation as an intervention on the current fascist radicalization pipeline that is social media, but that raises so many other concerns that i don't have an answer for. mostly i just think that the profit motive needs to be excised from as many sectors of public life as possible, and nationalization is a pretty good way to get there.

affordable housing! lower rents means fewer hours at work to make ends meet means more time to spend with family & community means more chances for more people to participate in civic action. abolish student debt and make college free! and make it illegal for colleges to invest in shit like fucking israel! a more accessible system of higher education means a more educated proletariat. this wouldn't by any stretch automatically lead to a more leftist proletariat, but conservatives have worked very hard to curtail access to higher education and that alone is more than enough reason to push for it. i've really buried the lede here, honestly. to my mind, medicare for all, mass public transit, free education, and national rent control are THE milestones we ought to be aiming for in terms of domestic policy. it is simply impossible to estimate how seismically and immediately these four policies (if applied equitably and without means-testing) could transform civic life in the USA. any systemic social ill you can name has some connection to one of these four ideas. i personally hold prison abolition & police defunding as equally essential, but these are unfortunately a MUCH harder sell for a lot of folks and will require some solidaristic frog-boiling from the likeable progressives/socialists of the world to naturalize the idea. but then, on that front i'm speaking very much outside my lane, and would defer to the wisdom of actual abolition activists in a scenario where we were talking concrete policy.

then there's foreign policy. this post has gone on a long time and i'm not the person to talk about this at length, but: the united states military needs to be defunded, and its outposts across the world removed. to curtail global climate change, the american imperial project must end. our meddling in foreign affairs is directly responsible for the domination of capital, and so long as this and other western states exist as they do, no communist outpost is safe. then there comes the question of reparations. all those billionaires didn't invent their money, they stole it. in quite a lot of cases they stole it from US citizens, but they've stolen far more from the rest of the world. tax the rich at 99% and distribute billions no-strings-attached to african and pacific island nations? other countries deserve a right to self determination without the threat of foreign interference. our nation's wealth doesn't just need to be taxed and redistributed to working class usamericans (particularly black communities), it ought to be redistributed internationally to all the countries we've fucked with over the last century and a half. but that's a pretty late stage pipe dream.

i guess the last thing that i've been thinking a lot about is more esoteric, and certainly difficult to implement. i believe we need to seriously interrogate "progress" as a concept. right now our society is defined by technological advancements as encouraged by a capitalist economy. if you fuck around with old analog tech at all, you've probably said to yourself more than once "they really don't make em like this anymore." i think about that fucking Hot Ones interview with matt damon about how streaming has stabbed the established profit model in the heart, where he says something like "we had a pretty good thing going before they showed up." i think about small museums closing down in the pandemic because they couldn't turn a profit, small local shops closing down for the same reason. constant newness paired with engineered obsolescence. disruption of the equilibrium in order to steal profit. it's easy to argue that socialized healthcare is good because it's actually more cost efficient than private healthcare. but those are the terms set by capitalists. i believe that healthcare and profit-seeking should be mutually exclusive. i believe that some things are a public good, however small --museums, quirky shops, parks, art spaces, open lots, movies, music, theater, whatever-- and that these things should be protected from the market at all costs. the alternative is corporate consolidation of everything, as every piece of local color cannot compete with economies of scale and asphyxiates to death. i refuse to accept the idea that "progress" means throwing away anyone who specialized in the thing being progressed beyond. i refuse to accept the idea that "progress" is linear and exists beyond the purview of morals, values, and ideology, nor indeed that it is inevitable and in any event an unalloyed good.

i believe that it doesn't matter if making higher-quality clothes at greater cost in unionized factories is "less efficient" than fast fashion. all "efficiency" means is spread everything as thin as possible, just enough just on time regardless of context. it's a mask for robber baron bullshit. it's an attempt by the bourgeoisie to naturalize the laws of economics as if they were on the same level as the laws of gravity, and we just can't accept that anymore. there's that meme, "i want shorter games with worse graphics made by people who are paid more to work less and i’m not kidding." i think we ought to apply that sentiment far more broadly. if we truly believe in the dignity of a self-determined life, then we must agree that some things are above profit, above efficiency, and are worth doing right. i haven't quite nailed down yet how exactly to verbalize this idea in a way that can be easily & quickly understood. but i feel it intensely, and only moreso as time goes on. as we push for these seemingly-impossible policy changes, it's of equal importance that we not lose ourselves to the limitations of the system as it exists under capitalism. to transform the world we must transform ourselves. to save the world we must save ourselves. if we hold a value to be true, then it must be constant and uncompromising. we must agree that our lives are better off when certain things exist even if they aren't efficient or fail to turn a profit, and thus decimate whatever part of us has been raised to believe that efficiency and profit ought ever to enter the equation. of course, in any revolution costs quickly become a huge going concern. there will always be painful compromises in policy along the path, always disappointments and mistakes. no revolution can be perfect. but through all these material challenges, the world that must be needs a place at the table with us. impractical, impossible, unfeasible... necessary.

you will probably not live to see that world, anon, and neither will i. we are all in the long game now, and it can never stop with one good policy, one good politician, one needed win. it's everything or it's nothing. socialism or barbarism. it is this belief which guides me, that no one ought to suffer the indignities i've suffered in my years working for shit wages, struggling to find housing, watching family die from economic abandonment. that there is simply no reason for society to be the way that it is, and that "the world isn't fair" is no excuse when we are the engineers of that "world" in every way that matters.

anyway, those are some of my thoughts on the subject. i hope i haven't made a complete fool of myself here.

[courtana]

We, Black Curatorial, Kwanda, Twossaints, Black Eats London & West India Cinema Corporation have come together to fundraise for people affected by Hurricane Beryl across the West Indies. As West Indian people it is imperative that we support each other and ourselves in the building back of our communities, this is a duty. Hurricane Beryl has devastated hundreds of communities in the West Indies. This is not a freak storm, this is a direct impact of climate crisis in the region - fuelled and sustained by overconsumption and emissions in the Global North. The ocean waters are 4 degrees warmer than expected at this time of year, this has directly affected the speed and ferocity of the hurricane at the beginning of this year's hurricane season. To understand what the importance of AMOC (Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation) is for Hurricane season in the Caribbean and globally please watch this video. The impact of this hurricane is very much being felt, "90% of homes on Union Island had been destroyed", according to Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves. We’re fundraising for people and charities across Barbados, St Vincent & the Grenadines, Grenada and those affected across the region. The money raised will go towards helping local fishermen in Barbados to buy new boats, support roofing and housing materials for people in Carriacou, Union and Grenada and well as St Vincent to rebuild their livelihoods and homes. We are working collectively to disseminate these funds across the region ensuring they reach grassroots communities and people directly. The Hurricane is now a category 5 and on its way to Jamaica. We urge everyone to pray for its weakening and for the people currently effected by Beryl's peril. Please continue to share and donate to those affected! If you have any questions please email us.

WHERE ARE THE DONATIONS GOING?

This fund exists to go directly to grassroots organisations providing support for those across the following countries: Barbados St Vincent & the Grenadines Carriacou Petite Martinique Union Grenada Jamaica

HOW WILL THEY BE PROCESSED AND ADMINISTERED?

We are working with Kwanda to help disseminate the funds to the existing groups they work with in the affected countries. Black Curatorial work across Barbados and Jamaica administering funds for creatives via the Fly Me Out Fund our process of sending money via transfer is already set up to support and facilitate this fund's dissemination.

WHO'S INVOLVED?

Black Curatorial Kwanda West India Cinema Corporation Twossaints Black Eats London

[mariacallous]

In 2022, conservative groups celebrated a “great victory” over “wokeified” curriculum when the Texas State Board of Education squashed proposed social studies requirements for schools that included teaching kindergartners how Rosa Parks and Cesar Chavez “advocated for positive change.”

Another win came a year later as the state board rejected several textbooks that some Republicans argued could promote a “radical environmental agenda” because they linked climate change to human behavior or presented what conservatives perceived to be a negative portrayal of fossil fuels.

By the time the state board approved science and career-focused textbooks for use in Texas classrooms at the end of 2023, it appeared to be comfortably in sync with conservatives who had won control of local school boards across the state in recent years.

But the Republican-led state education board had not gone far enough for the conservative majority on the school board for Texas’ third-largest school district.

At the tail end of a school board meeting in May of last year, Natalie Blasingame, a board member in suburban Houston’s Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District, proposed stripping more than a dozen chapters from five textbooks that had been approved by the state board and were recommended by a district committee of teachers and staffers.

The chapters, Blasingame said, were inappropriate for students because they discussed “vaccines and polio,” touched on “topics of depopulation,” had “an agenda out of the United Nations” and included “a perspective that humans are bad.”

In a less-publicized move, Blasingame, a former bilingual educator, proposed omitting several chapters from a textbook for aspiring educators titled “Teaching.” One of those chapters focuses on how to understand and educate diverse learners and states that it “is up to schools and teachers to help every student feel comfortable, accepted and valued,” and that “when schools view diversity as a positive force, it can enhance learning and prepare students to work effectively in a diverse society.”

Blasingame did not offer additional details about her opposition to the chapters during the meeting. She didn’t have to. The school board voted 6-1 to delete them.

The decision to strip chapters from books that had already won the approval of the state’s conservative board of education represents an escalation in local school boards’ efforts to influence what children in public schools are taught. Through the years, battles over textbooks have played out at the state level, where Republicans hold the majority. But local school boards that are supposed to be nonpartisan had largely avoided such fights — they weighed in on whether some books should be in libraries but rarely intervened so directly into classroom instruction. Cypress-Fairbanks now provides a model for supercharging these efforts at more fine-grained control, said Christopher Kulesza, a scholar at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy.

[posttexasstressdisorder]

WhatMatters

Your guide to California policy and politics

By Lynn La

April 23, 2025

Presented by TURN - The Utility Reform Network, Californians for Energy Independence, Dairy Cares and Californians for a Connected Future, a Project of USTelecom

Good morning, California.

Californians continue to suffer toxic gas effects while officials ‘investigate’

A container of hazardous gas, likely methyl bromide, is seen at the outer berths at the Port of Los Angeles in San Pedro on April 8, 2025. Photo by Joel Angel Juarez for CalMatters

A CalMatters investigation of facilities emitting methyl bromide in Los Angeles County has found that local air quality officials won’t be monitoring the air or taking any immediate steps to protect people in nearby homes and schools.

As Alejandra Reyes-Velarde explains, methyl bromide is a highly toxic gas used to kill pests on imported produce. California health officials have classified the chemical as a reproductive toxicant, which means it can harm developing babies in the womb. High levels of short-term exposure can cause headaches and nausea, while exposure lasting a year or more can lead to neurological effects such as learning and memory difficulties.

The South Coast Air Quality Management District has reported that five fumigation facilities in Long Beach, Compton and the L.A. neighborhood of San Pedro may pose a health risk based on a preliminary review. 

In response to a public outcry in Long Beach, the county’s agricultural commissioner, which issues permits to the fumigation companies, required new permit conditions that aim to reduce emissions from the two Long Beach plants.

But permits obtained by CalMatters for three facilities in Compton and San Pedro show that they use much larger volumes of methyl bromide than the Long Beach facilities — yet their permit conditions remain unchanged.

In a letter to regulatory agencies, Democratic U.S. Reps. Nanette Barragán, Maxine Waters and Robert Garcia called for monitors to be installed near all L.A. County fumigation facilities, health assessments for affected communities and the public disclosure of inspection records.

But the South Coast air district does not plan to install air monitors or hold meetings with residents to notify them of potential risks. It is, however, screening facilities to determine whether a full analysis of their health risks is necessary. But even if that analysis is greenlit, the agency said companies would only be required to reduce their emissions if they emit the chemical at concentrations three times higher than the amount deemed a health risk by the state.

Sarah Rees, South Coast’s deputy executive office for planning, rule development and implementation: “We don't want to go out and unnecessarily concern folks if there isn’t (a health concern), but we are actively investigating this right now.”

Edvin Hernandez, a father whose son attends an elementary school near the Compton facility, told CalMatters there appears to be “no interest from the government to protect our health.”

“We’re surviving by the hand of God,” he said.

Read more here.

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Don’t miss this powerhouse panel: California Secretary of Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency Tomiquia Moss, L.A. County Supervisor Holly J. Mitchell and Riverside Mayor Patricia Lock Dawson join CalMatters’ Marisa Kendall on stage Thursday to dig into what’s working — and what’s failing — when it comes to addressing homelessness and affordable housing. Join us in Sacramento or tune in online. Register now.

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Other Stories You Should Know

First-of-its-kind program struggles to survive

A man experiencing homelessness walks by tents in Skid Row in Los Angeles on July 5, 2024. Photo by Etienne Laurent, Reuters

As California struggles to find stable housing for its 187,000 homeless residents, it must also contend with training and employing the people it needs to provide front-line homelessness services, write CalMatters’ Marisa Kendall and Adam Echelman.

Jobs that require face-to-face interaction with unhoused people — such as doing outreach in encampments, working at homeless shelters and being case managers — struggle to recruit and retain staff.

To meet the demands of L.A. County’s homeless population, Santa Monica College began a program last year to train prospective homeless service workers. A state fund provided the program with about $750,000, but once the money runs out, it’s unclear what will happen to the program. Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposed state budget in January did not include any money for the fund.

Compounding the situation is the fact that the L.A. Homeless Services Authority — the agency that funds the college’s training program — is experiencing its own turmoil. After a scathing audit, the L.A. County Board of Supervisors voted earlier this month to pull its money out of the agency. The city is also considering doing the same.

Read more here.

On the topic of homelessness: Encampment sweeps in San Diego have become more frequent since the city reduced its warning notice from 72 hours to 24. Marisa and CalMatters video strategy director Robert Meeks have a video segment on how these sweeps displace unhoused Californians as part of our partnership with PBS SoCal. Watch it here.

SoCalMatters airs at 5:58 p.m. weekdays on PBS SoCal.

 

CA launches education and workforce database

Students at Point Loma High School in San Diego on May 3, 2024. Photo by Adriana Heldiz, CalMatters

Though debuting months behind schedule, a new statewide education data system to track student progress officially launched Tuesday, reports CalMatters’ Adam Echelman.

Championed by Gov. Newsom, the Cradle to Career Data System gathers data from roughly 3.5 million California public high school graduates and discloses where students enrolled in college; what kinds of degrees they earned; and the wages they earned after receiving a college diploma or certificate. 

Similar tools have been developed by the state in years past, but the new database is more widely accessible to the public and collects data from more schools and state agencies. 

In its current form, the dashboards reveal just a small segment of the state’s education and workforce data. Officials say they will roll out updates to the database, though no specific timelines were given. 

For instance, information about students who attended private or out-of-state colleges will be integrated, as well as students who didn’t graduate high school. The state has also pledged to release other data as part of the Cradle to Career Data System, such as information about early childhood education and teachers’ training and retention.

Read more here.

 

And lastly: Fewer new CA students enrolled at UCs?

A student sits near the Leo and Dottie Kolligian Library at UC Merced on March 27, 2025. Photo by Larry Valenzuela, CalMatters/CatchLight Local

At a hearing Tuesday, officials at the University of California gave the strongest indication yet that the budget cuts state lawmakers are proposing may limit the ability of new students to enter California’s public universities. Find out more from CalMatters’ Mikhail Zinshteyn.

 

California Voices

CalMatters columnist Dan Walters: Given its record of overpromising on major projects, it’s not surprising that California’s goal to convert to carbon-neutral cars and trucks is already falling behind.

CalMatters contributor Loretta Lynch: The California Public Utilities Commission has been neglecting its responsibility to spend customer money wisely — repeatedly acquiescing to utility companies’ requests instead.

Other things worth your time:

Some stories may require a subscription to read.

Newsom says Democrats need to stop looking for a savior on a ‘white horse’ // NBC News

CA state Sen. Alvarado-Gil pulls mountain lion hazing bill after charged hearing // The Sacramento Bee

Why is a new office building for CA lawmakers costing as much as an NFL stadium? // KCRA

CA businesses are feeling the burn from Trump’s tariffs and trade war with China // San Francisco Chronicle

DOGE layoffs of federal mediators leave Southern CA grocery chain labor talks in limbo // Los Angeles Times

Utilities are planning to bury power lines after the LA-area fires. Should they? // LAist

Southeast Asians in LA region are being detained, deported at routine ICE check-ins // Los Angeles Times

Orange County Judge Ferguson, who killed his wife, convicted of murder // The Orange County Register

Zuckerberg-backed primary school in Silicon Valley to close next year // The Mercury News

CA may be the world’s black bear capital, according to state’s new bear plan // San Francisco Chronicle

 

See you next time!

Tips, insight or feedback? Email whatmatters@calmatters.org. Subscribe to CalMatters newsletters here. Follow CalMatters on Facebook and Twitter.

About Us· How We're Funded· Subscribe· Donate

 

CalMatters 1017 L Street #261 Sacramento, CA 95814 United States

[usafphantom2]

USAF crew faulted for Ellsworth B-1B crash

Ryan Finnerty26 July 2024

US Air Force investigators blame crew error for a January crash that saw the destruction of a Boeing B-1B Lancer strategic bomber.

The January 2024 incident occurred during a training flight from the aircraft’s (85-0085) home station of Ellsworth AFB in South Dakota. While attempting to make a night landing during poor weather conditions, the aircraft undershot the runway forcing a rare quadruple ejection of the B-1B’s crew.

B-1B crash

All four aviators survived, but the $450 million dollar jet bomber was deemed a total loss after skidding across the airfield and catching fire.

The lead investigator in the accident probe now says many of the factors that led to the catastrophic mishap are likely to be repeated.

In a report Colonel Erick Lord said the inquiry found that “many failures leading to this mishap were not a one-time occurrence or an aberration”.

The crew’s failure to conduct a composite crosscheck during the approach was seen as the primary cause of the accident.

“The mission crew did not follow the low-visibility approach to land communication and flying responsibilities,” the report states.

The mishap pilot apparently failed to brief the remaining crew on the expected vertical velocity during the approach, which prevented weapon systems officers from performing an adequate crosscheck. The pilot also descended below 200ft above ground level without approval from the onboard instructor pilot.

“The mishap pilot did not effectively crosscheck the airspeed, descent rate, and projected aircraft flight path leading up to the mishap,” investigators conclude.

“By failing to crosscheck using his instruments effectively, the mishap pilot did not recognise the [aircraft’s] deviations from the desired airspeed, descent rate and aircraft flight path.”

Deteriorating weather conditions during the winter training flight had forced the B-1B crew to cut the sortie short and attempt an instrument landing on a different runway than originally planned. The landing occurred during night hours with visibility even further reduced by dense fog in the local area, which investigators say exacerbated the Lancer crew’s deviation from established policy.

A ground-based flight supervisor also improperly directed the B-1B pilot to land on a runway that lacked adequate weather observation – violating a Notice to Airmen alert issued over the impaired visibility.

Investigators describe “undisciplined procedures” employed by the ground-based flight supervisors, including insufficient shift changeover and individual failure to review applicable airfield hazards, that resulted in the mishap B-1B making a dangerous and unauthorised approach.

As a result, the aircraft rapidly descended below its authorised altitude and impacted the ground before its intended landing zone.

While Lord notes that bad weather “substantially contributed” to the crash, he says a “culture of noncompliance and widespread deviation from established policy” amongst bomber crews within the B-1B squadron created the potential for such an incident.

“I find by a preponderance of the evidence that these leadership and climate issues directly contributed to the mishap,” he says in the investigation report.

He notes a failure by squadron leadership to conduct adequate supervision of flight operations and a lack of effective communication regarding airfield and weather conditions as examples of the poor safety culture at the 34th Bomb Squadron.

The investigation board also found an “unsatisfactory level of basic airmanship” within the Lancer squadron’s flight crews.

As further evidence of this, investigators note that the lead instructor pilot onboard the mishap aircraft apparently exceeded the maximum approved weight for the B-1B’s Collins Aerospace ACES II ejection seat, which is rated for 111kg (245lb) according to the USAF.

That individual apparently suffered more severe injuries during the ejection than the rest of the crew, according to the investigation report.

The B-1B ejection system is typically set so that an ejection initiated by one crew member triggers a rapidly sequenced firing of the remaining seats. This procedure is meant to prevent a collision between crew members.

Ryan FinnertyRyan Finnerty is the Americas defence reporter for FlightGlobal.com and Flight International magazine, covering military aviation and the defence industry. He is a former United States Army officer and previously reported for America’s National Public Radio system in New York and Hawaii covering energy, economics and military affairs.View full Profile

@violetpilot1 via X

[priteshwemarketresearch]

Green Ammonia Market Statistics, Segment, Trends and Forecast to  2033

The Green Ammonia Market: A Sustainable Future for Agriculture and Energy

As the world pivots toward sustainable practices, the green ammonia market is gaining momentum as a crucial player in the transition to a low-carbon economy. But what exactly is green ammonia, and why is it so important? In this blog, we'll explore the green ammonia market, its applications, benefits, and the factors driving its growth.

Request Sample PDF Copy:https://wemarketresearch.com/reports/request-free-sample-pdf/green-ammonia-market/1359

What is Green Ammonia?

Green ammonia is ammonia produced using renewable energy sources, primarily through the electrolysis of water to generate hydrogen, which is then combined with nitrogen from the air. This process eliminates carbon emissions, setting green ammonia apart from traditional ammonia production, which relies heavily on fossil fuels.

Applications of Green Ammonia

Agriculture

One of the most significant applications of green ammonia is in agriculture. Ammonia is a key ingredient in fertilizers, and its sustainable production can help reduce the carbon footprint of farming. By using green ammonia, farmers can produce food more sustainably, supporting global food security while minimizing environmental impact.

Energy Storage

Green ammonia can also serve as an effective energy carrier. It can be synthesized when there is surplus renewable energy and later converted back into hydrogen or directly used in fuel cells. This capability makes it an attractive option for balancing supply and demand in renewable energy systems.

Shipping Fuel

The maritime industry is under increasing pressure to reduce emissions. Green ammonia has emerged as a potential zero-emission fuel for ships, helping to decarbonize one of the most challenging sectors in terms of greenhouse gas emissions.

Benefits of Green Ammonia

Environmental Impact

By eliminating carbon emissions during production, green ammonia significantly reduces the environmental impact associated with traditional ammonia. This aligns with global efforts to combat climate change and achieve sustainability goals.

Energy Security

Investing in green ammonia can enhance energy security. As countries strive to reduce their dependence on fossil fuels, green ammonia offers a renewable alternative that can be produced locally, minimizing reliance on imported fuels.

Economic Opportunities

The growth of the green ammonia market presents numerous economic opportunities, including job creation in renewable energy sectors, research and development, and new supply chain dynamics. As demand increases, investments in infrastructure and technology will drive innovation.

Factors Driving the Growth of the Green Ammonia Market

Regulatory Support

Governments worldwide are implementing policies and incentives to promote the adoption of green technologies. These regulations often include subsidies for renewable energy production and carbon pricing mechanisms, making green ammonia more competitive.

Rising Demand for Sustainable Solutions

With consumers and businesses becoming increasingly aware of their environmental impact, the demand for sustainable solutions is on the rise. Green ammonia aligns with this trend, providing an eco-friendly alternative to traditional ammonia.

Advancements in Technology

Ongoing advancements in electrolysis and ammonia synthesis technologies are making the production of green ammonia more efficient and cost-effective. As these technologies mature, they will further enhance the viability of green ammonia in various applications.

Conclusion

The green ammonia market represents a promising avenue for sustainable development across agriculture, energy, and transportation sectors. As technology advances and regulatory support strengthens, green ammonia is poised to become a cornerstone of the global transition to a greener economy. Investing in this market not only contributes to environmental preservation but also opens up new economic opportunities for innovation and growth.

[rjzimmerman]

Supreme Court to Hear Challenge to California Tailpipe Emissions Limits. (New York Times)

My guess: The five neanderthals on the US Supreme Court (chief justice roberts and justices kavanaugh, alito, thomas and gorsuch), perhaps to be joined by barrett) will rule in favor or trump and the continued degradation of Earth. Why? Because trump wants them to do that, and because they have pea-sized brains and no sense of the law, other than what their pea-sized brains think the law is.

Excerpt from this New York Times story:

The Supreme Court agreed on Friday to consider whether business groups may challenge an unusual federal program that lets California set its own limits on tailpipe emissions to combat climate change.

The groups, including fuel producers and sellers, told the justices that the court’s intervention was needed to prevent California from effectively setting national policy. “Without this court’s immediate review,” their petition seeking review said, “California’s unlawful standards will continue to dictate the composition of the nation’s automobile market.”

The challengers asked the court to decide two questions: whether they had suffered the sort of injuries that gave them standing to sue and whether the Environmental Protection Agency program granting California a waiver to set its own standards for greenhouse gas emissions was lawful.

The court agreed to decide only the first question, on standing, and did not act on a separate petition from 17 states asking the court to rule on whether Congress had violated the Constitution in empowering the E.P.A. to give California a special status.

The law authorizes the E.P.A. to grant California a waiver from nationwide standards even though other states and localities are not free to set their own limits. In their petition, the challengers said the law improperly deputizes California to act as a “junior-varsity E.P.A.”

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, in an unsigned opinion in April, rejected the lawsuit, ruling that the challengers lacked standing. The appeals court reasoned that fuel producers would not be directly harmed by the waiver, which directly affects vehicle manufacturers.

The California waiver, created under the 1970 Clean Air Act, has for decades served as a tool to allow the state, which has historically had the most polluted air in the nation, to enact tougher state-level clean air standards than those set by the federal government.

[illustrioustalongiant]

Heating Contractor Solutions for Eco-Friendly Heating Options

Introduction

As the world shifts towards more sustainable living practices, homeowners and businesses alike are in search of eco-friendly heating solutions. The demand for energy-efficient systems has led to an evolution in the HVAC industry, pushing heating contractors to innovate and adapt. This article dives deep into various eco-friendly heating options available today, emphasizing the role of HVAC contractors, air conditioning contractors, and other relevant professionals in ensuring optimal comfort while minimizing environmental impact.

Heating Contractor Solutions for Eco-Friendly Heating Options

Heating contractor solutions encompass a broad range of services focused on providing efficient heating systems that are both effective and environmentally friendly. From installation to maintenance, these experts are pivotal in guiding property owners toward greener alternatives.

Understanding Eco-Friendly Heating Systems

What exactly qualifies as an eco-friendly heating system? At its core, such a system minimizes carbon footprint while maximizing energy efficiency. Common examples include:

Heat Pumps: These systems transfer heat rather than generating it directly, making them highly efficient. Solar Thermal Systems: Utilizing solar panels to capture sunlight for heating water or air. Biomass Boilers: Using organic materials like wood pellets for combustion.

Each of these systems has its unique benefits and challenges.

The Role of HVAC Contractors in Eco-Friendly Solutions

HVAC contractors play a critical role in installing and maintaining eco-friendly systems. They assess your home’s specific needs and recommend the best options based on size, insulation quality, local climate conditions, and budget.

Consultation Services: HVAC contractors can provide insights into which eco-friendly options would work best for your home. Installation Expertise: Proper installation is crucial for efficiency; qualified HVAC professionals ensure that your system operates optimally from day one. Regular Maintenance: Like any mechanical system, eco-friendly heaters require routine check-ups to maintain peak performance. Air Conditioning Contractors and Their Influence

Air conditioning contractors also contribute significantly to eco-friendly solutions by integrating energy-efficient cooling methods with heating technology. For instance:

Installing high SEER-rated AC units reduces energy consumption. Implementing smart thermostats allows better control over temperatures. Benefits of Eco-Friendly Heating Options Cost Savings on Energy Bills

One of the most appealing aspects of eco-friendly heating options is their potential to lower monthly utility bills significantly. Systems like heat pumps can reduce electricity Air conditioning contractor usage by up to 50%, leading to substantial savings over time.

Increased Property Value

Investing in green technology often yields higher property values. Homebuyers are increasingly seeking homes equipped with energy-efficient features — this trend adds value to properties that prioritize sustainability.

[allthebrazilianpolitics]

Friendly Fire

Where a proposal for our climate diplomacy is suggested

The smoky sky over São Paulo in recent weeks has intensified residents' concern about the fires in the Amazon. Among the challenges in addressing this issue is one related to the actions of environmental groups from developed nations, which is less known to the public. To understand this, some preliminary considerations are needed.

The fires are a direct and indirect consequence of deforestation in the Amazon. Directly, because land grabbers who illegally occupy public lands in the region resort to burning after deforestation to "clear" the area for livestock. Indirectly, because Amazon deforestation has reduced the flow of the "flying rivers": the vapor carried by winds from the region to the Midwest and Southeast, which significantly contributes to rainfall in those areas. Drought creates conditions favorable for the rapid spread of fire hotspots, severely hindering fire control, regardless of whether the fire is accidental or criminal.

An aerial image of a burned area shows smoke rising from various parts. The ground is light brown, and in the background, there is dense green vegetation, indicating the presence of forest. Smoke spreads through the air, creating a polluted atmosphere.

Amazon deforestation triggers a series of events culminating in the dramatic transformation of flying rivers into ducts of smoke and soot that have covered much of the Southeast and even the South of the country. Reducing deforestation, responsible for 46% of greenhouse gas emissions in Brazil, is the main priority of our climate agenda.

For measures to combat deforestation to have lasting effects, they cannot be limited to the enforcement of environmental laws through command-and-control operations. It will be necessary, above all, to ensure that maintaining the forest standing provides better living conditions for the local population than those offered by its destruction, such as illegal mining, land grabbing, and agriculture on illegally deforested lands.

Continue reading.

[gsenvs3000w25]

Unit 9: Earth's Biggest, Oldest, and Most Mysterious Tree

Imagine walking through a peaceful forest in Utah's Fishlake National Forest—golden leaves fluttering, sunlight flickering between slender trunks. You breathe in the crisp mountain air, feeling miles away from civilization. But here's the mind-blowing part: every single tree around you is actually the same organism.

Meet Pando, the Trembling Giant, a forest-sized tree that's been quietly thriving for thousands of years. This botanical marvel isn’t just big—it’s the biggest living thing on Earth by weight and area. Stretching across 106 acres with an estimated 47,000 identical tree trunks, Pando weighs over 6,600 tons.

At first glance, Pando looks like a typical aspen grove. But beneath the surface lies a sprawling network of interconnected roots—one single organism sending up thousands of identical stems. These trunks are like fingers on the same hand, each sprouting from a mighty, ancient root system. While individual stems live about 100-130 years before dying off and being replaced, Pando's root system is a time traveler from the distant past. Some estimates suggest Pando could be as old as 16,000 years! This tree was alive before the pyramids were built, before written language, before entire civilizations rose and fell. The exact age of the root system is difficult to calculate, but it is estimated to have started at the end of the last ice age. 

Each stem is genetically identical (Strong, 2023).

Pando's species, the Quaking Aspen (Populus tremuloides), gets its name from its leaves' mesmerizing shimmer. Even the slightest breeze sends them trembling, or quaking, turning sunlight into a golden dance across the forest floor. It's like nature's version of a disco ball, and in the fall, Pando glows with vibrant gold that feels almost otherworldly.

But despite its ancient resilience, Pando faces a modern crisis. Pando is dying. Disease, blight, climate change, and wildfire suppression have all taken their toll on Pando, but the root cause of decline is a surprising one: too many herbivores, namely mule deer. The deer feast on the aspen, eating away the young before they can mature. Overgrazing by mule deer and elk has stopped new trunks from sprouting. Without fresh growth, this massive organism is slowly dying at the edges. Conservationists are racing to protect it, building fences to shield young shoots and studying ways to support its natural regeneration.

Scientists enclosed a section of Pando's forest with a protective fence to test its effectiveness against overgrazing. The fenced area is showing signs of recovery (Ketcham, 2018).

Pando’s story isn’t just about survival; it’s about endurance. This sprawling giant has weathered ice ages, droughts, and wildfires. Yet now, it's the quiet pressures of modern life that threaten to unravel this ancient being. Each trunk thrives because it's part of something larger. Just like in a healthy forest (or a healthy society), the strength of the whole depends on the well-being of every part.

Visiting Pando isn’t just a chance to witness a natural wonder; it’s an opportunity to see the forest through a different lens. Tourism plays a vital role in this. As our textbook suggests, incorporating an interpretative approach can deepen the experience, revealing layers of meaning that even locals may overlook. When done thoughtfully, tourism not only educates visitors but also fosters a sense of connection and responsibility. This kind of engagement can directly support conservation efforts by raising awareness and funding for protected areas like Fishlake National Forest. In this way, tourism becomes more than just sightseeing—it becomes a force for preserving landscapes and the stories they hold. If I ever find myself in central Utah, I would definitely make time to visit Fishlake National Forest and walk among the Trembling Giant. Fall is the best season, when Pando’s golden leaves create a shimmering canopy unlike anything else on Earth. 

References

Christou, S. (2017, October 19) Pando —The Largest Living Organism in the World. Nova https://www.novausawood.com/pando-largest-living-organism

Ketcham, C. (2018, October 18). The Life and Death of Pando. Discover Magazine. https://www.discovermagazine.com/planet-earth/the-life-and-death-of-pando

Strong, R. (2023, June 6). Hydrophone recordings of Pando tree root system. Business Insider. https://www.businessinsider.com/hydrophone-recordings-of-pando-tree-root-system-2023-5

Gardner, J. (2021, February 3). Pando - The Trembling Giant. Pando Coffee. https://pandocoffee.com/blogs/news/pando-the-trembling-giant

[earthvitalsignimpact]

The AMOC Collapse Threat and Its Global Implications

by UEVS and the power of AI

What is the AMOC?

The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) is one of Earth’s most crucial climate regulators. Acting like a global conveyor belt, it moves warm water from the tropics toward the poles and returns cold, deep water southward. This system plays a vital role in moderating global temperatures, stabilizing weather patterns, and sustaining marine ecosystems.

How It Works:

The Gulf Stream, part of the AMOC, carries warm, salty water from the Caribbean toward Europe.

As this warm water cools and sinks near Greenland, it drives a deep ocean current that moves cold water back southward.

This cycle distributes heat globally, stabilizes weather systems, and supports ocean biodiversity.

The AMOC Is Slowing—Why?

Recent research suggests that the AMOC has weakened by approximately 15% since the mid-20th century due to rapid climate changes. A key driver of this decline is the accelerated melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet, which dumps massive amounts of freshwater into the North Atlantic, disrupting the delicate balance of ocean circulation. (Carbon Brief, 2021)

🔬 The Science Behind the Slowdown:

Melting ice adds freshwater → This dilutes seawater salinity, making it less dense.

Less dense water doesn’t sink → This weakens the AMOC, slowing the transport of warm water northward and cold water southward.

A Tipping Point?

A 2023 study in Nature Communications suggests that if current trends continue, the AMOC could collapse between 2037 and 2064, with a central estimate of around 2050. (Ditlevsen & Ditlevsen, 2023, Nature Communications)

Why Does This Matter?

A collapse of the AMOC would lead to catastrophic climate disruptions worldwide, triggering temperature shifts, extreme weather, and ecosystem collapses.

🌍 1. Europe’s Climate Shift: A Possible Mini Ice Age

The AMOC keeps Northern Europe much warmer than its latitude suggests. If it collapses:

European temperatures could plummet, leading to colder winters and shorter growing seasons.

Agriculture, energy grids, and infrastructure could face severe disruption.

Historical warning: The last AMOC shutdown—during the Younger Dryas (~12,000 years ago)—plunged Europe into a deep freeze lasting nearly 1,000 years. (Columbia University, 2020)

🌀 2. Intensified Hurricanes & Heatwaves in North America

A weaker AMOC traps warm waters in the tropical Atlantic, fueling stronger hurricanes along the U.S. East Coast.

A weakened jet stream could cause more heatwaves and prolonged droughts in the U.S. (NOAA, 2023)

🌧️ 3. Monsoon Disruptions in Africa and Asia

The AMOC regulates monsoons across West Africa and South Asia.

Slower circulation → Weaker monsoons → Failed rains → Widespread drought & food shortages.

Already vulnerable regions could experience famine and mass displacement. (IPCC Report, 2021)

🩸 4. Accelerated Ice Melt & Rising Sea Levels

A weaker AMOC significantly contributes to global sea-level rise in multiple ways:

Greenland & Antarctic Ice Sheet Destabilization

The AMOC plays a key role in moving heat away from polar regions.

As it weakens, more heat accumulates in the Southern Ocean, accelerating the melting of the Antarctic Ice Sheet. (NASA, 2023)

This leads to massive ice loss, contributing directly to rising sea levels.

Thermal Expansion of Water

Warmer oceans expand, causing sea-level rise.

A weaker AMOC leads to higher ocean temperatures, worsening thermal expansion effects. (IPCC, 2021)

Redistribution of Ocean Mass

The AMOC normally pulls water away from the U.S. East Coast, keeping local sea levels lower.

As it weakens, this effect diminishes, causing rapid sea-level rise along the U.S. East Coast. (NOAA, 2023)

Local Sea-Level Rise Effects

Studies show that regions along the Atlantic coasts of the U.S. and Europe experience faster-than-average sea-level rise due to AMOC weakening. (Rahmstorf et al., 2015, Nature Climate Change)

🔬 References

Ditlevsen, P. D., & Ditlevsen, S. (2023). Nature Communications. "Warning of AMOC collapse between 2037 and 2064." Link

Carbon Brief (2021). "The Atlantic Ocean circulation has weakened by 15% since the mid-20th century." Link

Inside Climate News (2024). "Climate Impacts from Collapse of AMOC Could be Worse than Expected." Link

Geophysical Research Letters (2023). "AMOC weakening linked to cooling in the North Atlantic and Arctic regions." Link

Paul Nobre et al, AMOC decline and recovery in a warmer climate Link

📚 Quiz: Test Your Knowledge on the AMOC Collapse

1. What is the AMOC?

A) A type of ocean current that circulates warm and cold water B) A weather pattern affecting the Pacific Ocean C) A new climate change mitigation strategy D) A human-made irrigation system

2. What causes the AMOC to slow down?

A) Increasing ocean salinity B) Melting ice adding freshwater to the North Atlantic C) Earth's rotation slowing down D) Volcanic activity in the Arctic

3. How much has the AMOC weakened since the mid-20th century?

A) 5% B) 10% C) 15% D) 25%

4. What historical event is linked to a past AMOC shutdown?

A) The Younger Dryas period (~12,000 years ago) B) The Medieval Warm Period (~1,000 years ago) C) The Industrial Revolution (~200 years ago) D) The Great Ice Age (~100,000 years ago)

5. How does AMOC slowdown affect global sea levels?

A) It has no impact on sea levels B) It causes rapid sea-level rise by destabilizing ice sheets C) It lowers sea levels worldwide D) It only affects Europe’s sea levels

6. What is a major consequence of AMOC weakening for North America?

A) Increased hurricane activity along the U.S. East Coast B) A permanent drought in the Midwest C) No significant changes D) Year-round snowfall in Florida

7. What historical event is linked to a past AMOC shutdown?

A) The Younger Dryas period (~12,000 years ago) B) The Medieval Warm Period (~1,000 years ago) C) The Industrial Revolution (~200 years ago) D) The Great Ice Age (~100,000 years ago)

8. What role does the AMOC play in African and Asian monsoons?

A) It strengthens monsoons B) It regulates monsoon rainfall patterns C) It has no impact on monsoons D) It increases desertification in Europe

9. Which organization has warned that the AMOC is one of the most pressing climate threats?

A) NASA B) IPCC C) WHO D) UN

10. What can be done to slow AMOC weakening?

A) Increase fossil fuel emissions B) Reduce greenhouse gas emissions C) Dump more freshwater into the Atlantic D) Nothing, it's inevitable

📚 Quiz: Test Your Knowledge on the AMOC Collapse

1. What is the AMOC?

Answer: A - The AMOC is a major ocean current system that moves warm and cold water across the Atlantic.

2. What causes the AMOC to slow down?

Answer: B - Melting ice from Greenland introduces freshwater, reducing salinity and weakening the AMOC.

3. How much has the AMOC weakened since the mid-20th century?

Answer: C - Studies estimate the AMOC has weakened by about 15% since the mid-20th century.

4. What historical event is linked to a past AMOC shutdown?

Answer: A - The Younger Dryas period, caused by AMOC shutdown, led to a sharp cooling event in Europe.

5. How does AMOC slowdown affect global sea levels?

Answer: B - A weaker AMOC contributes to rising sea levels by destabilizing ice sheets and warming the oceans.

6. What is a major consequence of AMOC weakening for North America?

Answer: A - The accumulation of warm water due to AMOC slowdown fuels stronger hurricanes along the U.S. East Coast.

7. What historical event is linked to a past AMOC shutdown?

Answer: A - The Younger Dryas period (~12,000 years ago) was a significant climate event linked to AMOC disruption.

8. What role does the AMOC play in African and Asian monsoons?

Answer: B - The AMOC helps regulate rainfall patterns in Africa and South Asia, influencing monsoon systems.

9. Which organization has warned that the AMOC is one of the most pressing climate threats?

Answer: B - The IPCC has identified AMOC weakening as a major climate threat in its latest reports.

10. What can be done to slow AMOC weakening?

Answer: B - Reducing greenhouse gas emissions is crucial for slowing AMOC weakening and preventing collapse.

🔬 References

Ditlevsen, P. D., & Ditlevsen, S. (2023). Nature Communications. "Warning of AMOC collapse between 2037 and 2064." Link

Carbon Brief (2021). "The Atlantic Ocean circulation has weakened by 15% since the mid-20th century." Link

Inside Climate News (2024). "Climate Impacts from Collapse of AMOC Could be Worse than Expected." Link

Geophysical Research Letters (2023). "AMOC weakening linked to cooling in the North Atlantic and Arctic regions." Link

NASA (2023). "AMOC Decline and Its Impact on Global Climate Systems." Link

[marta-bee]

News of the Week 2/13/25

Fair warning, the news has been a bit dark even by recent standards, especially if you're focusing on the international piece. It's still worth knowing what's going on, but make sure you're in as good a place as you can manage before clicking through.

Immigration

Birthright citizenship:

How a senator from the 1860s argued birthright citizenship applied to all races and groups born here, not just to African-descended former slaves. (RP)

How Trump's birthright citizenship EO could apply to Native Americans.

Mass Deportations and Guantanamo Detention:

Trump had promised to send only "the worst" to Guantanamo. Surprise: many sent there lack criminal record or only nonviolent crimes. (RP)

Several Guantanamo detainees are being guarded by military personnel, not ICE, which is potentially illegal. (RP)

The ACLU is suing over detainees not being allowed to speak to lawyers.

The history of immigrant detention at Guantanamo, pre-Trump. It wasn't pretty.

The pope rebukes Trump over migrant deportations, corrects Vance on Catholic theology.

Religious groups sue Trump administration over arresting immigrants in churches. (RP)

NY state court reconsiders letting undocumented immigrants vote in state and local elections. (RP)

DEI, Race and Gender

DEI: Companies navigate a legal minefield after Trump's anti-DEI EO's (RP)

Trans issues:

Trans and nonbinary people sue Trump over passport policy.

Specific stories of people affected by the new passport policy. (RP)

US military will no longer accept trans recruits (RP) or provide gender-affirming care for active-duty servicemembers.

A Space Force colonel on what the military loses by pushing out people like her. (RP)

Science

The NIH recently cut how much of grants could be used for "indirect costs" (support staff, buildings, equipment, etc.) to 15%, much below what's allowed by other funding sources.

A federal judge blocked the funding change.

How the funding change would affect specific research projects. (12ft.io)

Sen. Susan Collins argues the move would be illegal. (RP)

After a Trump EO's on gender-based language and climate change, several health-related government webpages were taken down.

A judge ordered them restored. (RP)

Predictably, the administration's compliance is less than 100%. (12ft.io)

How health officials are trying to back up and re-share the data the Trump administration took down. (RP)

How the disappearance of a paper on suicide prevention shows the overreach involved. (RP)

Foreign Relations

Ukraine:

Trump demands $500bn in rare earth minerals from Ukraine, in exchange for continued US support of Ukraine. (RP)

Trump says Ukraine may one day be part of Russia.

Trump spoke directly with Putin and said Putin agreed to talks to end the war against Ukraine.

The Guardian criticizes Trump's offer as a betrayal of Ukraine and bad deal-making generally (correctly, in my opinion).

Former Trump security advisor Bolton also criticized Trump, saying he'd "effectively surrendered" to Putin ahead of peace negotiations.

Europe wants to be involved in any peace talks. (12ft.io)

Sec. Defense Hegseth said it was unreasonable for Ukraine to retain its pre-invasion territory, or be admitted to EU as part of the peace deal.

Gaza:

Trump pushed Jordanians to accept resettled Gazans.  They weren't convinced. (12ft.io) Trump threats to cut aid to Jordan if they don't. (RP)

Trump family's past dealings in Middle East. (RP)

The ceasefire was threatened when Gazans claimed Israel had resumed bombing. It's back on track, for now. (RP)

Haaretz argues Trump's Gaza plans are not in Israel's Interests. (RP)

MSNBC anchor Ayman Mohyeldin comments on US complicity in Israeli bombings against Palestinians. (VIDEO)

Autocracy & Oligarchy

Federal Funding Freeze:

A federal judge had ordered Trump admin to distribute grants he'd previously paused. Pro Publica found they were withholding the funds anyway. (RP)

The federal judge has now found Trump has defied the order (RP), the first time the Trump administration defied a court order.

An appeals court also denied Trump's request to lift the order.

Elon Musk and DOGE:

Trump (RP) and Vance question if courts have authority to challenge executive-branch activities like Musk's access to government systems.

Democrats want to use budget shutdown to demand Trump stop his assault on federal government agencies. (RP)

Musk cuts nearly $1bn in Department of Education contracts, including $100mil in alleged DEI training grants. (12ft.io)

Trump halts enforcement of anti-bribery law criminalizing Americans' bribing foreign officials.

Trump dismisses advisory boards at several military academies, claiming they were too "woke" (RP)

Eric Adams:

Trump instructed DoJ to stop prosecution (RP) after months of avoiding months of public criticism of Trump.

Eric Adams's mayor declares victory.

Politico discusses the political risk to Adams aligning himself with Trump (RP), especially given the DOJ is requesting dismissal without prejudice which means the charges could be reinstated.

He's considering switching parties to the GOP (RP)

Donald Trump and the Art of the Quid Pro Quo (RP) (Great headline, but a worthwhile read aside from that)

Counterpoint: De Blasio says the charges against Adams were flimsy and should have been dismissed anyway. (12ft.io)

Other NYC Shenanigans

NY received federal funding to assist migrants. Then Elon was scandalized by it on Twitter.

The Trump administration seized the money back from NY's bank accounts. (RP)

FEMA CFO and three others fired for authorizing the payment. (12ft.io)

The DOJ also filed suit against NY governor and others, over allowing undocumented immigrants to obtain driver's licenses and not releasing the database to immigration officials. (12ft.io)

USAID:

As USAID programs stop operation, China gains influence in those regions. (RP)

Sec. Defense Rubio had promised USAID funding freeze would allow waivers for humanitarian relief. They were always criticized as being hard to obtain. Now the program is entirely on hold. (RP)

How the USAID freeze is harming women and girls around the world.

US farmers also hurt by USAID spending halt, as USAID is no longer buying their food to send overseas. (12ft.io)

With Musk and Trump labeling USAID work as "criminal," foreign partners who worked with USAID are now at risk for persecution in their countries. (VIDEO)

[thatscarletflycatcher]

I have seen a few posts trying to explain what tariffs are and what they do, and because I'm full of hubris I'm gonna attempt an explanation myself that I think could be simpler and clearer.

Disclaimer: no, I'm not an economist, my understanding of the matter derives from a HS course on economics, a relative of mine who is an economist, and living in a country that did in the 50s an industrialization experiment that relied heavily on tariffs. Adjust the way you read this post accordingly.

A tariff is an importation tax. Like all taxes, it's paid by the people living and doing economic transactions in the specific country where the tax exists. The Peruvian government cannot tax Australian citizens or companies unless they are tourists or directly operating in Peru by having a Peruvian branch.

The main direct effect of a tariff, then, is to raise the prices of the goods affected by a tariff for the final consumer, e.g. Joe and Joan buying at the grocery store.

When people talk about competitiveness in this context, what is meant is that, all things equal, by raising the price of the imported product, you make the local product (usually more expensive because of wages and labor laws, or less efficient machinery or production) more attractive. That still means a raise in the COL. There are, of course, two obvious problems for this when a blanket tariff is applied:

a) there are some goods that are not and cannot be reasonably produced in a specific country. For example, Uruguay's climate would never allow for producing bananas, coffee, or yerba mate. Putting a tariff on these products would not stimulate their local production.

b) there are some goods that could be reasonably produced in a specific country, but there isn't at present an industry for it or the industry is way too small. Building an industry of even medium size, locally, takes years and a lot of capital. If Genovia has no car factories and it wanted to start making cars, it would need to create one or more car manufacturing companies, which would need to buy land, build the factories, hire professionals, some of which only exist abroad, do all the legal and administrative paperwork, sourcing the raw materials, etc, all before they can sell a single car. That's millions and years of investment before you have ANY product at all to compete with the now-more-expensive import. This applies to a smaller scale to pre-existing industries. If the Republic of Tangamandapio has one glass bottle factory that produces 3 different types of bottle at a rate of 100 bottles a day, it won't be able to ramp up production to 400 bottles a day overnight without, again, heavy investment and the time required for the expansion to start yielding results.

This all has as a consequence that employment and wages do not raise at the same time frame and rate as the raise in the COL caused by tariffs, even when assuming good faith and fairness from all involved.

Usually this scheme of Import Substitution Industrialization involved heavy government subsidies to industry. Even then its results wherever it was applied post-industrial revolution (extensively in LATAM and in Africa in the last century) are controversial (it would be way too long and digressive to discuss if and how it failed and different sides have different arguments for it). The Wikipedia article on ISI seems pretty thorough and relatively easy to follow.

[bokchoybabybitch]

happy earth day you beautiful humans!

on this sunniest and warmest of the april 22nds, thank you climate change, id like to rant a lil bit about how important local action is for environmental change

first of all, climate doomerism is scientifically inaccurate. things are bad, and they will get worse, that’s absolutely proven and true. but the social trend of believing that the world is already doomed and nothing can be done to save it is demonstrably false.

in fact, that’s been traced to a propaganda media campaign that’s being funded directly by some of the biggest and most powerful non renewable energy corporations in the world! their thinking is likely that if everyone believes the world can’t be saved, then there’s no point in forcing the corporations to change their ways for the better, and they can keep making record profits at the expense of the natural world.

so no matter what anyone tells you, the world can be saved, and humans can save it!

and be extra wary of anyone who says something to the effect of “we need to get overpopulation under control” or “humans are an invasive species”

chances are, if they’re saying the problem is overpopulation and not wasteful consumption, then their “solution” will probably involve removing Indigenous people from their land!

and the idea that humans are an invasive species ignores the tens of thousands of years that human society has existed in harmony with nature all over the world!

all this to say, one individual person isn’t likely going to change the world on their own. and usually when one person has an impact that large, it’s at least 50/50 positive/negative, if not more negative.

but what one individual can do is change their community, their town, wherever they’re from. if you take good care of a garden just for the sake of doing some good, it might not matter to every other garden in the world, but those plants you grew will be healthy and alive, and that matters a whole lot to them

and if everyone does their little part for their little garden, or forest, or park, or any little bit of good you can bring out, then the whole world changes for the better!

be informed, be brave, and go touch some grass today ❤️

also enjoy these cake pops my mother made :)