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VIII. (November 30, 2019) As Ice Melts, Russia Choses to Fuel India Instead of Protecting Wildlife.

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VIII. (November 30, 2019) As Ice Melts, Russia Choses to Fuel India Instead of Protecting Wildlife.

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https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-50507539

The arctic’s ice is melting rapidly, allowing easier access to coal mining in Taymyr Russia. One of the many harmful repercussions is that an array of animals are in danger. As India develops an increased need for coal, Russia has been opening up its nature reserves to provide this resource.

As a result of India’s increasing interest in developing Western models into their country, the effects on the environment are not being respected. Coal is money and unfortunately there are leaders like Vladimir Putin who are willing to sacrifice natural life for it. Many organizations such as Greenpeace and World Wide Fund for Nature are continuing efforts to protect vast expanses of nature and animal species.

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Natural riches come in two conflicting types in Russia's Arctic north: valuable minerals and spectacular wildlife.

But sadly for many threatened species, the decline in Arctic sea ice has created a new economic opportunity for Russia in their remote habitat.

In a decree last year President Vladimir Putin ordered Russian firms to boost cargo traffic on the Northern Sea Route to an annual 80m tonnes by 2024.

Ambitious energy co-operation deals were signed with India in Vladivostok, in Russia's far east, in October.

One centres on a big open-cast coal mining project in the Taymyr Peninsula, in the far north of central Siberia.

The area is rich in high-quality coking coal (anthracite), used to make steel and aluminium.

Dharmendra Pradhan, India's Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, said: "We are the second largest coal importer in the world, and we intend to achieve production of 3m tonnes of steel per year by 2030, so we need to increase coal supplies."

But Taymyr is a haven for wildlife. It has Russia's largest nature reserve - Bolshoi Arkticheskiy - covering 4.2m hectares (16,200 sq miles).

On TV President Putin presents himself as a caring conservationist, famously relaxing in Siberia's unspoilt wilderness.

But he is also championing the expansion of fossil fuel projects in that wilderness.

Russia is boosting trade with China, India and other growing Asian markets hungry for raw materials. Coal is to contribute to meeting that 80m-tonne target for Arctic deliveries, which will go via Russia's far east.

But such shipments pose considerable risks.

Despite global warming, icebreakers still play a key role, as winter temperatures plunge below minus 20C. Remote settlements lack equipment to deal with any pollution emergency. And long voyages to India will mean more greenhouse gas emissions from shipping.

Russia floating nuclear power station sets sail

The Arctic is estimated to have 72% of Russia's total gas reserves. Oil and gas mega-projects are far advanced further west, notably on the Yamal Peninsula.

In Taymyr the coastal tundra - marshland with permanently frozen subsoil - is a nesting ground for migratory birds, which fly there for the brief Arctic summer.

Polar bears sometimes come ashore on Taymyr while, inland, vast reindeer herds roam and snowy owls hunt lemmings.

Along with the pollution threat, reindeer are now seriously threatened by poaching, says Alexey Knizhnikov, a conservationist at WWF Russia.

"Developing new projects in such an ecologically sensitive area is madness, in our view," he told the BBC.

There is already pollution with heavy metals and sulphur dioxide (SO2) around the city of Norilsk, from the Norilsk Nickel ore smelter.

Russia firm admits 'red river' spillage

A Greenpeace study published in August said: "In terms of individual hotspots, the Norilsk smelter complex continues to be the largest SO2 emission hotspot in the world."

It also found India to be the world's top SO2 emitter.

Now a bay just south of Dikson - a tiny weather-beaten port and one of the world's remotest settlements - is a new, ecological danger zone.

An anthracite coalfield lies at Medusa Bay, part of the Bolshoi Arkticheskiy nature reserve.

The bay attracts big flocks of birds, including six rare or endangered species: the small swan, peregrine falcon, gyrfalcon, white-headed loon, white-tailed eagle and red-breasted goose.

The open-cast coal company, Vostokugol, is embroiled in a legal battle with the state environmental monitoring agency, Rosprirodnadzor, over mining violations.

Vostokugol is appealing against a ruling that it abused the licensing system: a Moscow court found it had mined and exported coal from Medusa Bay, yet only had permits for prospecting. It was fined 601m roubles (£7.3m; $9.4m).

The company has a joint production deal with Coal India Limited, an industrial giant.

Meanwhile, Greenpeace urged Russia's chief prosecutor in August to intervene, after the Russian Ministry of Natural Resources more than halved the size of a buffer zone protecting Medusa Bay nature reserve.

The zone - where mining and related construction are banned - was reduced to 1,150 hectares (2,842 acres), from 3,020 ha.

That government move in July came despite a 2016 plea from the ministry itself and the Taymyr nature reserve authority to site a planned new coal terminal well away from the reserve.

In line with Mr Putin's Arctic ambitions, Vostokugol is developing - albeit slowly - the Medusa Bay coalfield and two coal terminals for loading on to ships.

Greenpeace says the Chaika terminal is just 1km (0.6 miles) from the nature reserve. "At that distance, when coal is loaded at the terminal, coal dust will pour down on the nature reserve," says the Greenpeace legal complaint against the natural resources ministry.

Vostokugol plans to export 20m tonnes of coal from there by 2024. Another firm, Severnaya Zvezda, also has licences to mine coal in Taymyr.

Vostokugol started mining and building infrastructure at Medusa Bay in 2016, but later suspended operations. The company did not respond to the BBC's questions.

Just 2km from the open-cast coal mine stands an international bird monitoring centre - the Willem Barents Biological Station. It was set up with Dutch government funding in 1994.

Dr Sergey Kharitonov, a biologist, was there last year. Coal dust from the mine had already reached as far as Dikson, he told the BBC.

"The bird populations are in danger, I'm worried about their future," he said. "The place has lots of coal, and it's apparently easy and profitable to mine it."

WWF's Alexey Knizhnikov said "there is little transparency in this project - there is a lack of regulation and they didn't do any public consultations".

Strategic priorities however are driving this mining and energy extraction in the polar wilderness.

Russia is the world's third-largest coal exporter (210m tonnes in 2018), after Indonesia (439mt) and Australia (382mt), the World Coal Association reports.
Read related stories on similar topics:

'Bleak' outlook as carbon emissions gap grows

Quit 'coal addiction', UN boss warns Asia

Will global warming open up Arctic trade?

Russia unveils new Arctic military base

India has become increasingly dependent on imported coking coal for metallurgy, says Rohit Chandra, a coal expert at Delhi's Centre for Policy Research.

Russia aims to boost its coal exports to India six-fold by 2025, to 28m tonnes annually.

Mr Chandra told the BBC such a volume was "realistic - it's not massive by international standards". China consumes vastly more coking coal than that every year.

He noted that even back in the 1970s the then-communist Russian state had been helping India to industrialise.

"India's co-operation with Russia is deeper than with other coal-exporting countries," he said. "It's a reliable partner, and there are lots of other commercial deals [with Russia]."

Moreover, he said, "renewable energy is not replacing traditional power sources any time soon in India".

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Arctic coal passage to India threatens wildlife

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Natural riches come in two conflicting types in Russia's Arctic north: valuable minerals and spectacular wildlife. But sadly for many threatened species, the decline in Arctic sea ice has created a new economic opportunity for Russia in their remote habitat.

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VII. (November 29, 2019) Activists Protest Black Friday In Europe. 

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VII. (November 29, 2019) Activists Protest Black Friday In Europe. 

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https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2019-11-29/la-fi-black-friday

This article discusses the anti-environmental consumerism of Black Friday. This day of discounted shopping has been adopted throughout Europe as well as in South Africa. This article also explains that the advertising of Black Friday tricks people into thinking they are getting a deal when in fact they are not. Luckily there are activists raising these issues to an environmental conversation.

The U.S. model of consumption and consumerism, AKA McDonaldization, drives globalism. Mass consumption resulting in over production, creation of toxic substances and waste is one of the main problems that the planet is facing. These ideals which have been spread worldwide is having enormous environmental and cultural consequences.

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People don't celebrate Thanksgiving in France, or Russia, or South Africa - but they do shop on Black Friday.

The U.S. retail phenomenon has spread around the world in recent years with such force that it's prompting a backlash from some activists, politicians and even consumers.

Near Paris, climate demonstrators blocked a shopping mall and gathered in front of Amazon's headquarters to protest what they say is overproduction that is killing the planet. Workers at Amazon in Germany went on strike for better pay. Some French lawmakers want to ban Black Friday altogether.

Consumer rights groups in Britain and some other countries say retailers use Black Friday as a slogan to lure in shoppers, but it's not always clear how real or big the discounts are. Other critics say it hurts small businesses.

"The planet burns, oceans die, and we still want to consume, consume, and therefore produce, produce - until we eradicate all living things? ... We will not betray our children for a 30% discount!" reads a manifesto by groups holding "Block Friday" protests around Paris.

(TOLGA AKMEN/AFP/Getty Images)

Globalized commerce has brought U.S. consumer tastes to shoppers around the world, from Halloween candy to breakfast cereal and peanut butter, sometimes even supplanting local traditions.

To many activists, Black Friday is the epitome of this shift, a purely commercial event designed to boost U.S. retailers ahead of the Christmas holidays, the symbol of capitalism run amok.

In Britain, where the big winter sales have traditionally been held on the day after Christmas, companies have adopted Black Friday marketing campaigns since about 2010. After a rise in business on the day in the first years, the volume of shopping has leveled off, with most of it happening online over multiple days.

Research by a U.K. consumer association found that 61% of goods advertised in Black Friday deals last year were cheaper or about the same price both before and after the event.

That echoes similar warnings in other countries. Russia's consumer watchdog published detailed tips on how to avoid getting fooled, like checking whether prices were raised before Friday to make deals look good or whether delivery costs are inflated.

The Black Friday push has also extended to Cyber Monday. And retailers in several countries have gone even further by spreading sales across "Black Week."

(MARTIN DIVISEK/EPA/REX/Shutterstock)

In the Czech Republic, one electronics chain encourages shoppers - in English, of course - to "Make Black Friday Great Again," in an ad featuring a suited man wearing the distinctive red cap used by U.S. President Donald Trump's election campaign.

Broadcasters in South Africa, one of the world's most socially and economically unequal nations, showed people waiting in line to shop. The respected weekly Mail & Guardian newspaper decried in a scathing editorial how Black Friday is used to enrich big retailers.

"Like no other day, this Friday shows how broken the world we have built is," it said.

Black Friday has meanwhile had to adapt to cultural norms. Egyptians, for example, have taken on all aspects of the occasion - except the name, because Friday is a sacred day of worship for Muslims. Rather than scrap the event, many retailers decided to rename it White Friday or Yellow Friday.

The term Black Friday comes from an aprocryphal retailers claim that it is the day when, because of the volume of sales concentrated in the period, their balance of accounts for the year shifted from being in deficit, or in the red, to a profit, in the black.

Among other concerns is that Black Friday could hurt small businesses that do not have the vast marketing budgets and online presence of big retail chains or multinationals.

In Italy, for example, Black Friday falls outside the season's strictly defined schedule for when the winter sales can be held. This year, sales cannot be held from Dec. 5 until Jan. 4, when stores are allowed to clear out stock. The fashion industry has warned that can hurt smaller retailers in a country that relies heavily on them.

A French legislative committee passed an amendment Monday that proposes prohibiting Black Friday because it causes "resource waste" and "overconsumption." France's e-commerce union, whose members have been aggressively marketing Black Friday sales throughout November, has condemned the measure.

Dozens of French activists blocked the Amazon warehouse in Bretigny-sur Orge on Thursday, spreading hay and old refrigerators and microwave ovens on the driveway. On Friday, climate activists took aim at Black Friday, blocking shops and setting up heated exchanges with consumers who had been hoping to find a good deal.

"We need to stop telling ourselves that, 'It's Christmas, I need to go shopping,'" says Théophile Pouillot-Chévara, a 17-year-old climate activist in Paris.

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Black Friday frenzy goes global, and not everyone's happy

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People don't celebrate Thanksgiving in France, or Russia, or South Africa - but they do shop on Black Friday. The U.S. retail phenomenon has spread around the world in recent years with such force that it's prompting a backlash from some activists, politicians and even consumers.

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VI. (Novemeber 29, 2019.) 25 Stowaways Found Heading to the U.K.

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VI. (Novemeber 29, 2019.) 25 Stowaways Found Heading to the U.K.

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https://www.npr.org/2019/11/19/780897037/25-stowaways-found-in-refrigerated-container-on-u-k-bound-ship

25 humans were found in a refrigerated cargo container on a ship headed to the U.K. from the Netherlands. The ship had only been underway for a few hours when the possible refugees were discovered and the ship turned around. No one was seriously injured. Not even a month previous, 12 migrants were found alive in a truck in Belgium.

Transnational migration is a result of globalization. Many people leave their home country looking for a better life which they believe is outside their country. To do this either legally or illegally is expensive. In addition to the high cost, migration often requires life threatening scenarios.

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Dutch authorities say that a group of 25 stowaways were found in a refrigerated container onboard a cargo ship bound for the U.K. on Tuesday.

The ship, which according to local media is the Britannia Seaways, has returned to port in Vlaardingen. Local authorities said in a statement that the people are receiving medical assistance.

The local government said it received word from the Denmark-flagged ship that nobody died in the incident. The emergency coordination organization Rjinmond Veilig stated that two people were transported to a hospital for more treatment, and 23 have been transferred to a police location.

Based on information from Marine Traffic, which tracks ships, Britannia Seaways left the port in The Netherlands at 3:43 p.m. local time and returned at 7:29 p.m. It's not clear how the stowaways were discovered or whether that was the reason the ship turned around.

The ship was being searched by dogs looking for anyone who might still be on there, according to Rijnmond Veilig.

A reporter for NOS posted a video showing a steady stream of emergency vehicles rushing to the scene. That reporter, Robert Bas, tweeted that a bus with the apparent stowaways left the port under police supervision. It's unclear where the people are from.

Last month, 12 migrants were found alive in a refrigerated truck in Belgium. According to the German news agency Deutsche Welle, they were 11 Syrian men and one Sudanese man.

In early November, 39 people were found dead inside a truck container in the U.K. They were later identified as Vietnamese nationals, who police said were smuggled into the country.

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25 Stowaways Found In Refrigerated Container On U.K.-Bound Ship

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Dutch authorities say that a group of 25 stowaways were found in a refrigerated container onboard a cargo ship bound for the U.K. on Tuesday. The ship, which according to local media is the Britannia Seaways, has returned to port in Vlaardingen. Local authorities said in a statement that the people are receiving medical assistance.

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V. (November 29, 2019) Malta's Anti-Corruption Blogger's Potential Murderer Will Not Be Pardoned.

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V. (November 29, 2019) Malta's Anti-Corruption Blogger's Potential Murderer Will Not Be Pardoned.

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https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-50598255

Daphne Caruana Galizia was murdered via car bomb in 2017. She was an anti-corruption blogger in Malta. This article ties the murder to government and privatized coordinations including a businessman Mr Fenech who was the owner of a mysterious Dubai registered company. Mr Frenech asked the Maltese government for a pardon which has been rejected.

This is a global concern because the corruption of the elite knows no barriers. Though we did not discuss these concepts in class, it is a problem concerned with stratification. Much like the IMF and their greedy and lawless tactics; elite work together worldwide to benefit themselves while further separating the poor from the rich at much cost to innocents.

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Malta's Prime Minister Joseph Muscat has said a suspect in the murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia will not be granted immunity to reveal what he knows about the case.

Businessman Yorgen Fenech had requested a presidential pardon in exchange for information.

Caruana Galizia, a prominent anti-corruption blogger, was killed by a car bomb in 2017.

Mr Muscat is under increasing pressure to resign over the case.

Last week Mr Fenech was arrested in a dramatic raid on his yacht. He received hospital treatment after his arrest and has been given police bail.

Caruana Galizia had alleged that a company called 17 Black, which Mr Fenech owns, had links to high-level politicians.

What did the cabinet decide overnight?

Mr Muscat called an emergency cabinet meeting to decide whether to grant Mr Fenech's request.

The prime minister said it was the most appropriate course as Mr Fenech had made allegations against the PM's former chief of staff Keith Schembri - who resigned last week and was arrested on Tuesday.

"I left the final decision with my colleagues, who decided that it's not fitting to grant a pardon," Mr Muscat announced at a press conference, flanked by ministers.

He stressed that his cabinet had followed the advice of the chief of police and the attorney general.

Police confirmed on Thursday that Mr Schembri had been released and was no longer of interest to investigators.

The murder that could bring down Malta's government

Resignations spark Malta crisis in murder scandal

The prime minister also reiterated his promise to resign only when those who ordered the killing had been identified.

"I have made a very firm commitment that I want this case to be closed under my watch. I think the authorities have already delivered what many thought could not be delivered, that is major breakthroughs in the investigation. My job is to see this investigation concluded," he said.

Angry protesters gathered outside the government palace in the early hours of Friday morning. One of Caruana Galizia's sons threw fruit at the car of a government minister and shouted insults, the Reuters news agency reports.

Why have events come to a head?

Investigations into Caruana Galizia's murder in a car bombing intensified when a suspected middleman was pardoned on Monday.

The prime minister told parliament the suspect, Melvin Theuma, was being given immunity in return for information about the killing. Maltese reports suggested he had audio recordings linked to the case.

On Tuesday, Mr Muscat's chief aide, Keith Schembri, quit, and Tourism Minister Konrad Mizzi also resigned.

Mr Schembri was previously named in the Panama Papers. Caruana Galizia alleged that he and Mr Mizzi had benefited from secretive "shell companies".

The Economy Minister, Chris Cardona, took the decision to suspend himself on Tuesday.

What do we know about the murder inquiry?

Three men - brothers Alfred and George Degiorgio and their friend Vincent Muscat, all in their 50s - have been charged with triggering the car bomb which killed Caruana Galizia near her home in October 2017. They were arrested in December 2017 and pleaded not guilty in pre-trial proceedings.

Mr Muscat told police the bomb had been placed in Caruana Galizia's car while it was parked outside the walled compound where she lived. The killings earned the trio 150,000 euros (£132,000), Reuters news agency reports.

Police have continued to investigate in the hope of finding out who ordered the killing.

The late journalist's sister, Corinne Vella, told the BBC it was time the truth came out.

"We're finally starting to see some progress in the investigation into Daphne's murder," she said.

"It's welcome, it's important, but it's very far long overdue. To us, Daphne's death has always been linked to her work, and we've maintained all along that justice for Daphne means justice for her murder, but also justice for all her stories, because to us they were connected."

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No immunity for Malta journalist murder suspect

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Malta's Prime Minister Joseph Muscat has said a suspect in the murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia will not be granted immunity to reveal what he knows about the case. Businessman Yorgen Fenech had requested a presidential pardon in exchange for information. Caruana Galizia, a prominent anti-corruption blogger, was killed by a car bomb in 2017.

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Post IV. (September 20, 2019) Youth Worldwide Lead the Conversation about the Future of Our Planet

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Post IV. (September 20, 2019) Youth Worldwide Lead the Conversation about the Future of Our Planet

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Students across the globe united today to bring action to aid our environment. Generations who have put the planet in this position are being encouraged to make efforts to counteract the effects of their apathy. Swedish 16 year old activist Greta Thunberg is bringing attention to our "house that is on fire."

Climate change is a global issue that many skeptics choose to ignore but the rising generations won’t be silenced. Harmful neoliberal bi-products of consumer culture need attention in order to reverse the damage done. It will take a global effort and radical youths are demanding that politicians do something about it.

https://www.npr.org/2019/09/20/762629200/mass-protests-in-australia-kick-off-global-climate-strike-ahead-of-u-n-summit

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Millions of young people raised their voices at protests around the world Friday in a massive display meant to demand urgent action on climate change. Scores of students missed school to take part, some joined by teachers and parents.

Some of the first rallies began in Australia, and then spread from Pacific islands to India and Turkey and across Europe, as students kicked off what organizers were calling a Global Climate Strike.

In the U.S., where more than 800 marches were planned, thousands of young people are absent from classrooms so they can carry signs, march and shout slogans calling for a new approach to energy and emissions.

"I'd rather go protest about the Earth and how something's going wrong than sit in my classroom and act like nothing's happening," high school student Harshita Ray tells member station WOSU in Columbus, Ohio.

Instead of being at Olentangy Liberty High School, Ray joined other students for a demonstration at the Ohio Statehouse, filling the steps in front of the building and spilling out over its plaza.

Greta Thunberg, the 16-year-old Swedish activist who sparked what has become a global movement of Friday school strikes over climate change, is attending a large rally and march in Lower Manhattan.

At a rally in San Francisco, Makayla Neyon, 16, told member station KQED: "I really just hope that we bring attention to the fact that our freakin' Earth is endangered ... so that my generation and my future generation can have a planet to live on."

The protesters are marching to demand that government and businesses commit to a goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2030. On its website, Global Climate Strike calls for a swift transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy.

Thunberg has been in the U.S. for more than a week, urging leaders to take responsibility for the environment and building momentum toward Friday's demonstrations. She recently told NPR that even with the new support, her focus remains on changing the future - for the better.

"Even though this movement has become huge and there have been millions of children and young people who have been school striking for the climate," Thunberg says, "the emission curve is still not reducing ... and of course that is all that matters."

Friday's massive march to New York City's Battery Park included 12-year-old Alexa Keys, who carried a handmade sign of the planet with the message, "Climate Change Needs to Change."

"I've never been to a march before," she told NPR's Jeff Brady. "And I think this is just amazing, that this many people gathered to protest something" on a global level, said Keys, who traveled from Warwick, N.Y., with her mother for the rally.

In Harrisburg, Pa., member station WITF reports that Natasha Sood, a medical student at Penn State, told a crowd on the steps of the Pennsylvania State Capitol: "Act as if your survival is at stake because it is! Act as if your future is at stake because it is! Act as if your kid's life is at stake because it is! Act as if your health is at stake because it is!"

The protests began in the U.S. hours after massive rallies kicked off in many European countries, from Denmark and Poland to France and the U.K.

In Germany, hundreds of thousands of marchers took to the streets in cities such as Munich, Hanover, Hamburg and Freiburg. And on the same day as the protests, Chancellor Angela Merkel's government agreed to a landmark $60 billion package designed to cut Germany's greenhouse gas emissions.

"Chanting, 'The time is now' for action on climate change, thousands of people gathered at Berlin's Brandenburg Gate, forcing police to close access to the monument due to overcrowding," NPR's Rob Schmitz reports from Berlin. "Thousands more gathered in Warsaw and Prague. In Finland, crowds of demonstrators in costumes protested outside Parliament in Helsinki. One man dressed as Santa Claus held a sign declaring, 'My house is on fire.' "

The protests come ahead of the U.N. Climate Action Summit that begins Monday in New York. In March, a similar demonstration inspired by Thunberg drew crowds around the world, including thousands of young students who skipped school to attend.

The global movement has taken root in many countries, as young people reflect on the current condition of the world - and how their lives might be shaped by the consequences of allowing global average temperatures to keep rising. On Friday, the voices included children from Abuja, Nigeria.

In Athens, waves of people gathered outside the Greek Parliament, with some of them holding signs that read, "Raise your voice, not the sea level."

In Islamabad, protesters braved a heat wave to cheer on the minister for climate change, Malik Amin Aslam, who promised to fight for the planet.

"They gathered in the late afternoon, in a nod to already unseasonably hot weather affecting the country, considered one of the world's most vulnerable to climate change impact," NPR's Diaa Hadid reports. "Protesters included teenagers in school uniforms, scouts, Red Cross volunteers and a contingent of transgender women, including a woman who raised a placard reading, 'Make The Planet Green Again.' "

Eman Ghani, 15, said she is protesting because she's angry that political leaders were complacent to the risks of global warming.

"It's mad; the people who should be bringing change in the world are not," she said. "The old people who have power are not using their power, and the young people who don't have it can only speak up."

Organizers say more than 300,000 people gathered at more than 100 rallies in cities around Australia, most notably in Melbourne, where an estimated 100,000 turned out, and Sydney, which reportedly saw 80,000 attend. Tens of thousands more are said to have marched in the capital, Canberra, as well as Perth, Brisbane and Adelaide.

The numbers of participants could not be immediately verified.

In Sydney, 18-year-old Moemoana came from Wollongong to protest on behalf of her native Samoa, one of thousands of low-lying islands around the world that are particularly threatened by rising sea levels due to climate change.

18-year-old Moemoana, (centre) has come from Wollongong to the protest, and her homeland is Samoa.
"It's a real threat and Australia needs to know that Pacifika are neighbours and Australia really needs to help out."#climatestrike pic.twitter.com/67bvwsdnuU
- Helen Davidson (@heldavidson) September 20, 2019

"The Pacific Islands are meters above sea level because of climate change and it's a scary future for our islands," she was quoted by The Guardian Australia as saying. "We want to urge people to take some action."

Australia is the world's largest exporter of coal and liquefied natural gas - both major contributors to greenhouse gas emissions. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who is in the U.S. for a state dinner with President Trump, has been criticized for not including the U.N. Climate Action Summit on his itinerary.

At least 2,000 companies in Australia gave employees time off to attend the rallies, according to The Sydney Morning Herald. Meanwhile, the country's acting prime minister, Michael McCormack, speaking in Melbourne, called the rallies "just a disruption" and expressed displeasure with students attending the protests.

"These sorts of rallies should be held on a weekend where it doesn't actually disrupt business, it doesn't disrupt schools, it doesn't disrupt universities," McCormack told reporters, according to The Associated Press.

In Kirabati, a Pacific island chain that experts fear could be inundated by sea level rise in the next 25 years, protesters carried signs that read: "We are not sinking, we are fighting."

Some 200 young activists marched to the Ministry of Environment in Bangkok, where they dropped to the ground in mock death to demand that the government declare a climate emergency.

"We're young, but we're not dumb. We know it's happening. We need change. We demand better," 11-year-old Ralyn "Lilly" Satidtanasarn told The Bangkok Post.

In India, dozens of students and activists rallied in the capital, New Delhi, outside the country's Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, carrying banners that read "Eco, not ego!" and chanting, "I want to breathe clean."

Thunberg has motivated millions of people to think more deeply about climate change and its future effects. And despite her young age, she makes her argument in blunt terms, seeking to cut through the entropy that has hovered around climate issues for years.

"You are not mature enough to tell it like it is. Even that burden you leave to us children," Thunberg told the grown-ups at a U.N. climate change conference in Poland last year, when she was just 15.
NPR's News Desk intern Paolo Zialcita contributed to this report.

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Young People Lead Millions To Protest Global Inaction On Climate Change

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Millions of young people raised their voices at protests around the world Friday in a massive display meant to demand urgent action on climate change. Scores of students missed school to take part, some joined by teachers and parents.

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Post III. (September 17, 2019) Against California's will, Trump is Backsliding Federal Regulations Regarding the State's Emission Policies 

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Post III. (September 17, 2019) Against California's will, Trump is Backsliding Federal Regulations Regarding the State's Emission Policies 

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California has been a leader in setting standards for environmentally considerate vehicle emissions since the 1960's. Trump is aiming to remove these environmentally beneficial emission laws. Many automakers have signed a pact ignoring this idiotic move and will continue making vehicles with low emissions. Scientists, judges and politicians will not let this happen without a fight.

With more licensed drivers in California than in any other state, the standard of how much emissions a vehicle can emit is a moral and global concern. Trump’s relationships with the oil companies seem to have more precedent over the wellbeing of our planet.

https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2019-09-17/trump-revokes-california-environmental-authority-auto-deal

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President Trump is expected on Wednesday to revoke a decades-old rule that empowers California to set tougher car pollution standards than those required by the federal government - putting the state and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on a path to years of fighting in court.

The move, which has been in the works for much of the last three years, seeks to erase the authority that has provided the foundation for California's role as an environmental leader in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and improving air quality. By revoking a special waiver the state has relied on for years, the administration will be saying that no state can set more ambitious pollution controls than those adopted by the federal government.

The EPA had no official comment on the plan, which is expected to be announced while Trump is in California for a campaign fundraising trip.

The administration's plan to revoke the waiver is likely to set off years of legal battles that could eventually land at the U.S. Supreme Court. The move affects not only California, but also 13 other states and the District of Columbia that follow its emissions regulations have vowed to defend their tougher rules.

Hanging in the balance is whether California will continue to serve as a laboratory for tough new car pollution rules and whether its regulations requiring automakers to sell more zero-emission vehicles and plug-in hybrids will survive. The state's goal is to have more than 1 million of these cars on the road by 2025.

The rule change is expected to be finalized a few months after California spurned the White House by secretly negotiating a deal with four major automakers. As part of the pact, the car manufacturers - Ford, Honda, Volkswagen and BMW - agreed to voluntarily increase fuel efficiency and reduce emissions, essentially ignoring the Trump administration's plans to roll back car pollution standards.

"Crazy!" the president tweeted in response. "The Founders of Ford Motor Company and General Motors, are 'rolling over' at the weakness of current car company executives," he wrote.

Other automakers, such as General Motors, have reportedly been interested in joining the agreement. The administration's move to strip California of its unique authority under the Clean Air Act to set its own tailpipe emissions standards has been viewed by some of the president's critics as retaliatory.

"It's clearly a big slap at California," said Ann Carlson, a professor of environmental law at UCLA. "It does make you wonder whether there's a motivation here that's political rather than legal."

California has embraced its role as chief antagonist to Trump on environmental policies, suing the administration repeatedly over its agenda of dismantling Obama-era environmental and public health regulations. Federal judges have sided with California and environmental groups in cases concerning air pollution, pesticides and the royalties that the government receives from companies that extract oil, gas and coal from public land.

Further escalating tensions between the state and the Trump administration, the Department of Justice has launched an antitrust investigation into whether the automakers violated federal competition law by reaching an agreement with California to reduce emissions.

The EPA and the Department of Transportation also sent a letter to California regulators warning of "legal consequences" if the state did not abandon its agreement with automakers. The letter reiterated the administration's long-held belief that only these agencies have the authority to set fuel economy and greenhouse gas emissions standards for cars.

California's special authority to regulate car pollution dates back to the 1960s, when Los Angeles was enveloped in a thick layer of smog that state officials came to see as a public health crisis. By the time the 1970 Clean Air Act took effect, the state had already enacted its own tailpipe emission controls.

Concerned that each state would pass different regulations, Congress decided that the EPA would set car pollution standards for the nation. But it carved out an exception for California, saying that the EPA would be required to grant the state a waiver to set its own rules, provided they were at least as stringent as the federal ones. Other states could choose whether to follow California's regulations or those set by the federal government.

The planned revocation of the waiver is only one step in the administration's plans to weaken car pollution standards.

Current rules put in place during the Obama administration require automakers to build increasingly efficient vehicles so that by 2025 the nation's cars and trucks would average more than 50 miles per gallon.

Trump's EPA and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration have proposed weakening the standards by freezing mileage targets at about 37 miles per gallon for cars after 2020. While acknowledging their plan would increase oil consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, the federal agencies have argued that the current standards endanger drivers by making new, safer cars unaffordable.

However, the announcement of this rollback has been repeatedly delayed, and it remains unclear whether the administration will be able to complete its plan. Independent scientists have poked holes in the agencies' data, senior political officials tasked with working on the rollback have left the administration, and automakers have revolted in opposition to the president's plans, which they say will hurt their bottom line.

Carlson said that revoking California's waiver would not necessarily harm state regulators' deal with automakers because the agreement is voluntary.

In fact, the move could backfire on the administration, she said.

If California's waiver is revoked and the current Obama-era standards remain in place, automakers could actually be forced to lower emissions levels more than they had agreed to as part of their pact with California.

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Trump plans to revoke key California environmental power after getting spurned over auto deal

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Trump's Environmental Protection Agency plans to revoke a waiver that has empowered California to set tougher car pollution standards than those required by the federal government - putting the state and the EPA on the path to years of fighting in the courts

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Lum Sum, Sai Yok District, Kanchanaburi, Thailand

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Post II. (September 16, 2019) 86 tigers die after being removed from home at monastery 

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Post II. (September 16, 2019) 86 tigers die after being removed from home at monastery 

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147 tigers were removed from a monastery in Thailand where they lived in harmony with monks. As attention for this sacred space gained spectators, so too did the controversy about wild animals living alongside humans. The tigers were removed and within three years 86 have died. The cause is unknown, but it is likely that the tiger’s death is a result of stress related scenarios and illness.

Tourism encouraged through technology with a neoimperialistic influence is a bittersweet product of globalization. How wonderful it is to explore the world, but at what cost when there are clashes in cultural ideologies? In this case tourism cost 147 tigers their home, and 86 of them lost their lives.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-49712765

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More than half of the 147 tigers that were rescued from a controversial Thai Buddhist temple just three years ago have died, officials have said.

A total of 86 tigers have died since they were moved from the Wat Pha Luang Ta Bua temple, a tourist attraction known as Tiger Temple, in 2016.

Thailand's park service said many had died of a virus, having been weakened by the stress of relocation.

Officials also blamed genetic problems linked to inbreeding among the group.

Thai Tiger Temple's long history of controversy

But conservationists have questioned whether authorities were holding the tigers in safe conditions.

The temple's monks, meanwhile, have denied accusations of animal abuse, trafficking and illegal breeding while the tigers were under their care.

The temple has been closed to the public since 2016, and several legal cases are ongoing.

What happened to the tigers?

Since police raids in 2016, the tigers have been held at two breeding stations in nearby Ratchaburi province as it is believed they would have little chance of survival in the wild.

But only 61 of the original 147 have survived in captivity. Thai authorities said some fell ill with Canine Distemper Virus or CDV. Many had difficulty breathing or eating, and died as a result.

Speaking with Reuters news agency, temple caretaker Athithat Srimanee denied the accusations that the tigers died because of inbreeding. He said the government was playing a "blame game".

Edwin Wiek, founder of the Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand (WFFT), told the BBC that the big cats were being kept in small, cramped cages, making it easy for disease to spread.

He added that Canine Distemper is curable with proper food and supplements, access to clean water, and enough space to move around. But a limited government budget made this impossible.

"To be very honest, who would be ready to take in so many tigers at once?" said Mr Wiek. "The authorities should have asked for help from outside, but instead insisted on doing all work themselves."

A lucrative trade
Analysis by Jonathan Head, BBC South-East Asia correspondent
The deaths of so many tigers in two government facilities has refocused attention on the challenges of managing an ever-expanding population of captive tigers, not just in Thailand, but in neighbouring countries like Laos and China.

Despite pledges by both Thailand and Laos to reduce the numbers of tigers held in captivity on so-called "tiger farms", the populations have continued to rise.

There are now around 2,000 captive tigers in Thailand. Many are held by private individuals, not state institutions.

Captive tigers are a lucrative business, popular in particular with Chinese tourists who now make up nearly one third of foreign visitors in Thailand.

They breed easily, and there is always a suspicion that some are diverted into the illegal trade in tiger parts, which then encourages the poaching of South East Asia's dwindling population of wild tigers.

Wildlife campaigners say state institutions in Thailand need better funding to start taking custody of these privately owned tigers, and the tiger industry should be regulated more strictly.

What is the Tiger Temple?

The attraction, run by Buddhist monks, was located in Thailand's Kanchanaburi Province, west of Bangkok.

At its height, visitors were charged 600 Thai Baht ($16, £11) for entry, with additional costs to pet, feed, or take pictures with the tigers.

A National Geographic report alleged that the monks were operating a for-profit breeding business.

The WFFT also alleged there was evidence that wildlife trafficking took place, but has not provided specific examples.

In December 2014, authorities were alerted after three adult male tigers vanished from the temple. They had been micro-chipped, a legal requirement for captive endangered animals in Thailand, which allows them to be tracked.

The temple's veterinarian Somchai Visasmongkolchai later came forward after resigning from his post and said the microchips had been cut out of the three males.

When police raided the site in 2016, 40 dead tiger cubs were found in the temple's kitchen freezer, along with other animal body parts.

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Half of tigers rescued from Thai temple have died

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More than half of the 147 tigers that were rescued from a controversial Thai Buddhist temple just three years ago have died, officials have said. A total of 86 tigers have died since they were moved from the Wat Pha Luang Ta Bua temple, a tourist attraction known as Tiger Temple, in 2016.

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Post I. (September 16, 2019) $22 Million Rejected by Brazil's president's ego

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Post I. (September 16, 2019) $22 Million Rejected by Brazil's president's ego

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The G-7 summit has offered to give Brazil $22 million in efforts to put the Amazonian fires out. However, President Jair Bolsonaro refuses help before a personal apology is issued from French President Emmanuel Macron. Macron claimed that Brazil's president has been lying about efforts to combat these fires.

While Bolsonaro is concerned with an apology instead of receiving assistance from fellow UN members, the health of the planet and the safety of its inhabitants are decreasing rapidly. Brazil is a member of the UN in addition to the WTO and IMF. The nation's are not very united in humanitarian and sustainable efforts if a simple apology gets in the way of what is best internationally for the safety and well being of all.

https://www.npr.org/2019/08/27/754687137/brazil-rejects-g-7s-offer-of-22-million-to-fight-amazon-fires

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Brazil says it will reject an offer of at least $22 million from the rich countries in the Group of Seven to help fight fires sweeping through the Amazon rainforest. Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro says he doesn't want the money - unless it comes with an apology from French President Emmanuel Macron.

Bolsonaro and Macron have engaged in a days-long spat after the French leader used the G-7 summit this week to call for action to protect the Amazon and said the fires are a world environmental crisis that Bolsonaro has allowed to worsen. He also said that Bolsonaro, a climate change skeptic, had lied about his effort to combat deforestation.

Bolsonaro responded angrily, saying Macron had insulted him and was trying to undermine Brazil's sovereignty by intervening in the Amazon.

"This squabble is infuriating Bolsonaro's critics," NPR's Philip Reeves reports from Rio de Janeiro. "They say he should fight the fires - not the French."

On Monday, Bolsonaro said in a tweet that he won't accept what he called Macron's "attacks." He also accused Macron of treating Brazil "as if we were a colony or no man's land."

In an interview on French TV, Macron later referred to the Amazon as "the lungs of the planet" and pledged that the G-7 countries would help Brazil balance its economic development with environmental concerns. In an aside addressed to Bolsonaro, he added, "But we cannot allow you to destroy everything."

On Tuesday morning, Bolsonaro said Macron would have to take back all the things he said about him before he would even consider the offer of monetary aid from members of the G-7: the U.S., Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom.

Bolsonaro made those remarks to reporters in Brasilia shortly after the website G1 reported that the president's chief of staff, Onyx Lorenzoni, had rejected the offer outright.

"Thanks, but perhaps these resources are more relevant to reforesting Europe," Lorenzoni was quoted as saying. Referring to the recent Notre Dame blaze in Paris, he went on to suggest that if Macron cannot "avoid a predictable fire in a church," he might not have much to teach to Brazil.

President Trump came to Bolsonaro's defense on Tuesday, saying via Twitter, "He is working very hard on the Amazon fires and in all respects doing a great job for the people of Brazil - Not easy."

In reply, Bolsonaro thanked Trump and wrote, "The fake news campaign built against our sovereignty will not work."

- Thank you, President @realDonaldTrump. We're fighting the wildfires with great success. Brazil is and will always be an international reference in sustainable development. The fake news campaign built against our sovereignty will not work. The US can always count on Brazil. 👍 https://t.co/ZicUKsYGcx
- Jair M. Bolsonaro (@jairbolsonaro) August 27, 2019

Macron made the devastating fires in the Amazon a key point for the G-7 summit even before meetings began in Biarritz, France. "The ocean and the forest that burns in the Amazon call us. We have to answer them," he said, adding, "The time is no longer for words, but for deeds."

The offer of money from the G-7 nations also has drawn attention over its modest size - because it is coming from some of the world's largest economies and because of the task it is meant to accomplish.

"It's really only symbolic," Nigel Sizer, the chief program officer at the nonprofit Rainforest Alliance, told NPR. "It's less than Americans spend on popcorn in a typical day."

In that light, Sizer said, it's not surprising that Brazil has rejected the offer. And he added that the problem is partly political, as well.

"The fact is that Brazil has the resources and the expertise to address this challenge," Sizer said. "Since the Bolsonaro government came into power at the beginning of this year, they have systematically defunded their environmental protection agencies."

The shocking losses in the Amazon rainforest have prompted intense reactions globally. In addition to the formal G-7 offer, U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has offered to send the affected nations 10 million pounds (around $12.2 million), and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau offered to send CA$15 million (around $11.2 million) and water bomber planes to fight the fires.

As awareness has spread on social media and elsewhere, donations have poured in from all over, Sizer said.

"The people of the world actually are pledging more resources than the G-7 has been committing," he said. "We've seen millions and millions of dollars coming in."

Actor and environmentalist Leonardo DiCaprio has also stepped in, with his Earth Alliance group creating a $5 million emergency Amazon fund to help indigenous communities and others who are working to protect the Amazon's prodigious biodiversity from being destroyed.

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Brazil Rejects G-7's Offer Of $22 Million To Fight Amazon Fires

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Brazil says it will reject an offer of at least $22 million from the rich countries in the Group of Seven to help fight fires sweeping through the Amazon rainforest. Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro says he doesn't want the money - unless it comes with an apology from French President Emmanuel Macron.