Tag Archives: california

Gas shortages hit the Southeast after a major pipeline leak in Alabama.

by ramonfitzsimmons Posted on September 20, 2016

Despite the political and market forces arrayed against it, the coal industry is still clinging to life, pushing forward massive new mines, export terminals, railway lines, and power plants.

In a special report this week, Grist examines the struggling industry’s long game, including one company’s efforts to build a $700 million project on the Chuitna River in south-central Alaska. Here are seven other places where the American coal industry is trying to resuscitate itself at the expense of, well, the rest of us:

  1. Millennium Bulk Coal Terminal Longview, Washington

Even after major backer Arch Coal declared bankruptcy and dropped its stake in 2016, the $640 million export terminal won’t die.

  1. Oakland Bulk and Oversized Terminal Oakland, California

The city council and Gov. Jerry Brown oppose the $1.2 billion proposal, but developers are threatening legal action.

  1. Wishbone Hill Coal Mine Matanuska-Susitna Borough, Alaska

The project had cleared most of its regulatory hurdles when members of the the nearby Chickaloon tribe filed a lawsuit.

  1. Coal Hollow Mine Kane County, Utah

A company with a history of cleanup violations wants an expansion that would double the mine’s annual output.

  1. Kayenta Mine Navajo County, Arizona

Located on reservation lands on Arizona’s Black Mesa, the Peabody-owned mine opened in 1973 but faces new opposition.

  1. Dos Republicas Mine Eagle Pass, Texas

Opened for business in November 2015, the mine on the U.S.-Mexico border threatens archaeological sites and burial grounds.

  1. Kemper County Energy Facility Kemper County, Mississippi

Mississippi’s $6.7 billion “clean coal” plant has been criticized as excessively expensive and too carbon-heavy, but officials say it could be operational by October.

Read our special report: Coal’s Last Gamble.

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Gas shortages hit the Southeast after a major pipeline leak in Alabama.

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Sweden plans to give tax breaks for fixing stuff instead of throwing it away.

by BlaineR36kbgn Posted on September 20, 2016

Despite the political and market forces arrayed against it, the coal industry is still clinging to life, pushing forward massive new mines, export terminals, railway lines, and power plants.

In a special report this week, Grist examines the struggling industry’s long game, including one company’s efforts to build a $700 million project on the Chuitna River in south-central Alaska. Here are seven other places where the American coal industry is trying to resuscitate itself at the expense of, well, the rest of us:

  1. Millennium Bulk Coal Terminal Longview, Washington

Even after major backer Arch Coal declared bankruptcy and dropped its stake in 2016, the $640 million export terminal won’t die.

  1. Oakland Bulk and Oversized Terminal Oakland, California

The city council and Gov. Jerry Brown oppose the $1.2 billion proposal, but developers are threatening legal action.

  1. Wishbone Hill Coal Mine Matanuska-Susitna Borough, Alaska

The project had cleared most of its regulatory hurdles when members of the the nearby Chickaloon tribe filed a lawsuit.

  1. Coal Hollow Mine Kane County, Utah

A company with a history of cleanup violations wants an expansion that would double the mine’s annual output.

  1. Kayenta Mine Navajo County, Arizona

Located on reservation lands on Arizona’s Black Mesa, the Peabody-owned mine opened in 1973 but faces new opposition.

  1. Dos Republicas Mine Eagle Pass, Texas

Opened for business in November 2015, the mine on the U.S.-Mexico border threatens archaeological sites and burial grounds.

  1. Kemper County Energy Facility Kemper County, Mississippi

Mississippi’s $6.7 billion “clean coal” plant has been criticized as excessively expensive and too carbon-heavy, but officials say it could be operational by October.

Read our special report: Coal’s Last Gamble.

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Sweden plans to give tax breaks for fixing stuff instead of throwing it away.

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Science Says People Who Take Selfies Are Happier Than People Who Don’t

by RalphIsabel Posted on September 16, 2016

Mother Jones

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Ever start feeling yourself after taking a couple of selfies? Well, you’re not the only one. According to a study recently published in Psychology of Well-Being, selfies can actually make people feel confident and happy—provided they take them when smiling.

“Our research showed that practicing exercises that can promote happiness via smartphone picture taking and sharing can lead to increased positive feelings for those who engage in it,” said lead author and informatics scholar Yu Chen. “This is particularly useful information for returning college students to be aware of, since they face many sources of pressure.”

Using smartphone photo technology, researchers in the Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences at the University of California-Irvine asked 41 students to take selfies over the course of a month. Students were randomly divided into three groups. One group was asked to take daily selfies while smiling; the second group took pictures of something that made them happy; and the third group took pictures of something they thought would make someone else happy, which they then shared with that person.

Researchers collected 2,897 mood measures—comfortable, reflective, and appreciative—and measured students’ emotional states over time. They found that students in all groups experienced increased good feelings. The selfie group was reported to feel more confident and comfortable over the course of the study, and those who took images to make other people happy felt happy themselves, noting the personal connection helped relieve stress.

“You see a lot of reports in the media about the negative impacts of technology use, and we look very carefully at these issues here at UCI,” said Gloria Mark, senior author and informatics professor. “But there have been expanded efforts over the past decade to study what’s become known as ‘positive computing,’ and I think this study shows that sometimes our gadgets can offer benefits to users.”

So go ahead, smile, and selfie away!

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Science Says People Who Take Selfies Are Happier Than People Who Don’t

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Farmworkers just won big in California.

by JocelynChauncy Posted on September 13, 2016

Accusations that Stein is an anti-vaxxer have followed the Green Party candidate throughout the race, even though she’s a Harvard-educated physician and not a graduate of the Jenny McCarthy school of medicine.

In a ScienceDebate.org survey of presidential candidates’ views on science, Stein gave them a somewhat modified answer on vaccines.

“Vaccines prevent serious epidemics that would cause harm to many people,” she said, adding:

To reverse the problem of declining vaccination rates, we need to increase trust in our public health authorities and all scientific agencies. We can do that by removing corporate influence from our regulatory agencies to eliminate apparent conflicts of interest and show skeptics, in this case vaccine-resistant parents, that the motive behind vaccination is protecting their children’s health, not increasing profits for pharmaceutical companies.

Stein’s been accused of pandering to anti-vaxxers before, for saying, “There were concerns among physicians about what the vaccination schedule meant … There were real questions that needed to be addressed.”

While she’s still hitting on her point about corporate influence, she’s sounding less loony these days.

In the same questionnaire, however, Stein didn’t budge on another topic in which she stands at odds with the scientific community: GMOs. She wants to place a moratorium on GMOs until they have been proven safe.

Of course, those persnickety scientists will tell you it’s impossible to prove anything is safe — but that’s not a reason to dismiss new plant varieties or lifesaving shots.

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Farmworkers just won big in California.

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Bay Area Police Sex Scandal Keeps Getting Weirder

by AngleaBozeman Posted on September 13, 2016

Mother Jones

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This past Friday, Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O’Malley announced that she would pursue charges against seven officers for conduct related to a sex scandal that has been roiling Bay Area law enforcement since March. The announcement came days after Oakland mayor Libby Schaaf, who has compared the Oakland Police Department to a “frat house,” said she would recommend that the OPD fire one cop (three others have already resigned), suspend seven, and provide training and counseling to yet another. Officers with at least four other Bay Area agencies have been fired, reassigned, or have resigned over the scandal, which claimed three successive Oakland police chiefs in just nine days in June. Oh, and one other thing: The victim is AWOL. Here are the dirty details:

1. Crimes: Five current and former Oakland police officers, a former Contra Costa County sheriff’s deputy, and a former Livermore cop are to be charged on 16 counts including oral copulation with a minor and engaging in prostitution—both felonies—and engaging in a lewd act in public. Two cops will be charged with unauthorized use of a police database: Celeste Guap, the 18-year-old at the heart of the scandal, alleged that officers gave her confidential information about her friends’ arrest histories—not to mention money, protection, and information about upcoming prostitution stings—in exchange for sex. Another officer will be charged with failure to report a crime. The DA’s investigation—which included interviews with Guap and various officers, and a review of more than 100,000 pages of social media posts and text messages—determined that two of the officers not charged with sex crimes did actually have sexual contact with Guap. But because those alleged contacts occurred outside of Alameda County, O’Malley’s office has no jurisdiction, she said Friday.

2. Punishments: An investigator with the Alameda County DA’s office who formerly worked for the OPD was fired in July. A Contra Costa County sheriff’s deputy and an officer with the Livermore Police Department resigned earlier this year over their alleged connections with Guap. Two Richmond officers who were determined to have had sex with Guap when she was 18 were reassigned from positions where they regularly interacted with youth. The Livermore Police Department said on Saturday that it had concluded a criminal investigation, but several police agencies are still conducting investigations related to the scandal.

3. Complications: O’Malley’s office can’t formally charge or arrest any of the officers yet, because Guap is no longer in California. She’s in a Florida jail cell. Late last month, the alleged victim checked into a Stuart, Florida, sex-and-drug addiction program. Three days later, according to the East Bay Express, the local weekly that broke the scandal, Guap allegedly bit a security guard and was arrested, charged with aggravated battery, and jailed—bail was set at $300,000. The Richmond Police Department used victim’s compensation funds to help pay for Guap’s rehab—the Contra Costa County DA’s office told the Express that it helped process the application for the funds. Guap’s mother and attorney Pamela Price, who represents Guap, suspect a cover-up of some kind: They questioned why Guap wasn’t placed in a local program instead. This latest news has renewed calls by local activists for federal or state authorities to launch an independent investigation. On Friday, O’Malley said the Richmond police did not consult her before paying for Guap’s trip to Florida, and that she would not have approved such a trip. She can understand the public outcry over the decision, she added. The Martin County DA is expected to decide this week whether to pursue the charges against Guap.

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Bay Area Police Sex Scandal Keeps Getting Weirder

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Here’s Where Vaccine Skeptics Live Around the World

by MurrayWakefield Posted on September 12, 2016

Mother Jones

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More than 13 percent of Americans disagree with the statement that “vaccines are safe,” according to a new study by researchers at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. That puts America in the middle of the pack of 67 countries where researchers examined views towards immunizations in what they believe to be the largest survey on vaccine confidence to date.

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Published last week in Ebiomedicine and based on surveys of 66,000 people, the findings show stark variations among countries. France took the lead of vaccine skeptics, with a staggering 41 percent of respondents disagreeing with the statement that vaccines are safe. Authors attribute the country’s “extreme negative sentiment” to controversies over the past two decades around the unproven side effects of a range of vaccines, from hepatitis B to H1N1. (The hesitancy reflects what the French are hearing from their doctors: One in four general practitioners said that vaccines recommended by public health authorities aren’t useful, according to a study last year.)

Meanwhile, in Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia, and Argentina, less than two percent of respondents were skeptical of vaccine safety.

Authors observed a counterintuitive finding: countries with higher education rates were generally more skeptical of vaccine safety, but within countries, more educated citizens were less skeptical. (Clusters of vocal vaccine skeptics in areas with a highly educated population—like California’s Marin County and Boulder, Colordo—appear to be exceptions to this rule.) “Our research thus stresses the emerging shift away from access to vaccines as the primary barrier to vaccination in many countries,” the authors write.

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Here’s Where Vaccine Skeptics Live Around the World

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The Tricky Thing About Labeling Foods as Locally Grown

by ArletteMacdermot Posted on September 4, 2016

Were living in an age of conscious consumption. For many of us, settling for the cheapest, quickest option doesnt cut it; we want to know that our purchases arenot contributingto economic or environmental degradation.

One of the best places to spot this trend? Our food shopping habits. Weve learned about the demise of the small farmer, the incredible distances most ingredients travel to our plates, and the damage industrial farming is doing to our soil and airand we want something different. Recent polling shows that for most Americans, purchasing food from local producers is a high priority. According to a2014 survey by Cone Communications, almost three-quarters of Americans stated that buying locally was a significant factor in determining what they buy, and 77 percent of shoppers consider the sustainability factor of what they purchase.

According to anothersurveyfrom Consumer Reports, two-thirds of shoppers specifically look for a label indicating that a product has been grown locally. In New York, shoppers can now pick up a product and see on the label if its beengrown in-state. The new Empire State label goes beyond just identifying food origins, though. According to New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, it indicates that a product has been inspected for the highest level of food safety and environmental sustainability standards.

New York State Grown & Certified is the first state program in the nation to combine modern food safety standards with environmental stewardship to achieve a premium level of certification, reads theNew York Governorswebsite. By certifying food at this level, New York is providing consumers with an assurance of quality in how and where the food is grown and produced while promoting New York State producers who are meeting a growing market demand for foods that are safely handled and grown in an environmentally responsible manner.

But pinning down what locally grown means can be adifficult task. There is no standardized definition provided by the United States Department of Agriculture, only corporate and state-level definitions. Vermont considers anything grown within its borders or 30miles outside them; a locally grown label in large states like California or Texas could mean a product has traveled as much as 800 miles from its source. Its clear that a local label has its limits, and if it goes unregulated by the USDA could become as meaningless as an all-natural label.

So whats a conscious consumer to do? Get educated about the food youre buying. After all, your local farmer might be cranking out beautiful producethats loaded with pesticides and GMOs. Shop local and organic as often as you can, and meanwhile, support producers that might not be local but use sustainable practices.

Written by Steve Holt. Reposted with permission from Thrive Market.

More from Thrive Market:
The Olympics Are Still Flooded with Junk Food Ads
Test Your Strength and Flexibility with Gymnastics-Inspired Moves
5 Surprising Places You’ll Find Fast Food

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

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The Tricky Thing About Labeling Foods as Locally Grown

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Bears Are on the Loose in California. Here’s How Fox News Is Covering That.

by JadeGribble Posted on September 1, 2016

Mother Jones

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At the moment, there are multiple bears on the loose in sunny Pasadena, California. Naturally, news networks have halted normal programming to broadcast a live-stream of the events, awful bear puns at the ready.

But Fox News’ Shep Smith wasn’t satisfied with just some lame wordplay. Sensing something else was missing from its coverage, the longtime news anchor managed to squeeze in the following jab at Hillary Clinton:

Slow clap for Fox News, reliably misogynistic 24/7.

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Bears Are on the Loose in California. Here’s How Fox News Is Covering That.

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California Considers a "Brock Turner" Bill. Should Progressives Support It?

by EstherSWCxjumqj Posted on August 31, 2016

Mother Jones

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The California legislature has passed a bill that would increase the penalties for raping an unconscious victim. Eric Levitz applauds the motivation for the bill, but takes issue with the overall message it sends. You should really read the whole thing, but here’s an excerpt:

If we accept the premise of California’s law — that combating rape culture requires imposing longer prison terms on rapists — then progressives will be forced to choose between their commitments to achieving gender equality and ending mass incarceration.

….The primary reason for America’s exceptional incarceration rate is that its voters are more comfortable with condemning their fellow citizens to cages for long periods of time than are those in other democracies….The most harmful thing about California’s bill may be the way it encourages this culture of incarceration.

If one focuses narrowly on the law’s immediate effects, a reasonable case can be made for its virtues: A three-year minimum sentence for raping an unconscious person is not wildly out of step with global standards….And, anyway, California’s bill contains a provision allowing judges to exercise discretion in “unusual cases where the interests of justice would best be served if the person is granted probation.”

On the other hand, it is unlikely that many judges would take on the political liability of exercising such discretion. And the specter of a minimum three-year jail sentence has the potential to intimidate innocent defendants into plea agreements — a phenomena that is more likely to disadvantage the most-vulnerable members of our society, who can least afford to mount a compelling defense.

….Nonetheless, the problem with California’s law lies less in its immediate, legal implications than in its cultural and political ones. To end mass incarceration, progressives will need to persuade their fellow citizens that we can reduce penalties for violent crime without reducing our concern for its victims….In calling for Judge Persky’s repeal, the movement fostered social and political stigma against the exercise of judicial leniency. People who look like Brock Turner will not be the ones most affected by such stigmas.

….If there were strong evidence that longer prison sentences make a critical difference in deterring violent crime, then California’s law might still be worthwhile. But there isn’t. According to the 2014 findings of the National Research Council, applying a mandatory minimum to a given offense does not reduce its prevalence.

Progressives have recently taken the position that America operates a prison-industrial complex that vastly oversentences its millions of victims. This cruel and unfair system needs to dialed way back—unless the crime in question happens to be one that progressives are especially concerned about. In those cases, we should show no mercy.

There’s nothing logically contradictory about this. It’s possible that we do vastly oversentence for most crimes but undersentence a few particular crimes. Nonetheless, this is something more people should stop to ponder. Do we believe that locking up criminals for long periods of time is an effective deterrent, or don’t we? Do we believe in mandatory minimums, or don’t we? If we don’t, why are certain crimes an exception?

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California Considers a "Brock Turner" Bill. Should Progressives Support It?

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California Lawmakers Vote to Expand Overtime Pay for Farmworkers

by yiszkj53 Posted on August 30, 2016

Mother Jones

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For the last 80 years, farm workers have toiled for long hours in grueling conditions with little or no overtime pay. On Monday, California lawmakers passed a bill that would change that. If signed by the governor, the law would make the Golden State the first to require the agricultural industry to meet the federal labor standards applied to most other industries.

“The whole world eats the food provided by California farmworkers,” said Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, who introduced the bill, “yet we don’t guarantee fair overtime pay for the backbreaking manual labor they put in to keep us fed…We’re now one step closer to finally providing our hard-working farmworkers the dignity they deserve.” Supporters of the bill, which include Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, argued that farm workers should be granted the same protections as millions of other Californians.

Starting in 2019, the new law would gradually expand overtime pay for California’s estimated 825,000 farm workers. Currently, farmworkers who put in more than 10 hours a day receive overtime. (California is one of the few states that require overtime pay for farmworkers.) By 2022, anyone who works more than 8 hours a day or 40 hours a week would be eligible for overtime pay, bringing the agricultural industry in line with national standards.

California’s economy is fueled in large part by its agricultural output. More than a third of all vegetables and two-thirds of all fruit and nuts sold in the United States come from the state. Its agricultural industry raked in more than $50 billion in 2014. Nationally, farm workers earn an average of less than $18,000 a year, according to Farm Worker Justice. Numerous studies have found that many California farmworkers struggle to afford food for their families.

Industry representatives and their allies in the legislature argued that the added protections could backfire, saddling employers with added costs at a time when they are struggling with the state’s water crisis. Ultimately, they said, employers would simply hire more workers and cut their hours in order to avoid paying overtime. “Agriculture needs greater flexibility in scheduling work than do other industries,” argued Beatris Espericueta Sanders, executive director of the Kern County Farm Bureau, in the Bakersfield Californian. “Supporters of the legislation claim this is about ‘equality,’ but AB 1066 would actually hurt the employees it’s meant to help.”

According to the United Farm Workers, the largest union for farm workers and a key sponsor of the bill, the lack of overtime protection for agricultural laborers has its roots in the Jim Crow era, when most farmworkers were African-American. In 1938, Congress passed the Fair Labor Standards Act, which laid out wage protections and overtime compensation requirements for employees across the nation. However, to appease white Southern lawmakers, an exemption was added for agricultural employers. “Today, 78 years later, when farm workers are mainly Latino, this shameful legacy of racism and discrimination still infects our society,” UFW said in a statement. “Excluding farm workers from overtime after eight hours was wrong in 1938. It’s wrong now.”

As reported by the Los Angeles Times, the 44-32 vote in favor of the overtime bill led to an outbreak of applause among farmworkers who took time off of work to witness its passage.

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California Lawmakers Vote to Expand Overtime Pay for Farmworkers

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