The grinding two-plus years of the pandemic have yielded outsize benefits for one company — Pfizer — making it both highly influential and hugely profitable as COVID-19 continues to infect tens of thousands of people and kill hundreds each day. Its success in developing COVID medicines has given the drugmaker unusual weight in determining U.S. health policy. Based on internal research, the company’s executives have frequently announced the next stage in the fight against the pandemic before government officials have had time to study the issue, annoying many experts in the medical field and leaving some patients unsure whom to…
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A supernova looms: world debt reaches critical mass
Aggressive interest rate hikes portend a global recession. The question is, how bad will it be? Source: OpenDemocracy: A supernova looms: world debt reaches critical mass
Voices from Vanuatu: life on the climate crisis frontline
South Pacific country is one of the most at risk from climate change, and is fighting for climate justice Source: OpenDemocracy: Voices from Vanuatu: life on the climate crisis frontline
How the birds and the bees help coffee plants
Shutterstock Sipping a coffee on your way to work is a ritual most people take for granted without thinking about how the delicious coffee beans reached their cup. You probably know it comes from tropical regions. But what is less well-known is that coffee is the product of an incredible partnership between the birds and the bees. A recent study researched how birds helped control pests and how bees helped pollinate coffee farms. The research showed how working with wildlife can help farmers make more money. But it is just one example of the benefits nature gives us that we…
The UK urgently needs to cut its methane emissions by 2030: cows and sheep hold the key to success
The UK urgently needs to cut its methane emissions by 2030: cows and sheep hold the key to success Cow burps are a major contributor to methane emissions. Shutterstock When it comes to climate change, the focus tends to be on carbon dioxide. But hot on its heels is methane (CH₄), the second most important greenhouse gas contributing to the climate emergency. The UK, along with more than 100 other countries, made a pledge at the 2021 COP26 meeting in Glasgow to cut global methane emissions by at least 30% from their 2020 level by 2030. If achieved, that would…
Extinction Rebellion targets Vanguard – and wins!
June was a huge success for Extinction Rebellion groups standing up to corporate lies and greenwash in the investment industry. On the first day of Vanguard Asset Managements UK ‘Sustainable Life’ roadshow, XR disrupted the conference in Glasgow, resulting in Vanguard cancelling the whole UK tour and moving it online. Concerned over further humiliation, company heads even admitted in an online meeting after the action that XR was the reason they had decided to move online. Result! For those that don’t know Vanguard, the company is one of the world’s biggest funders of climate destruction. Its investments in climate misery…
I led the US lawsuit against big tobacco for its harmful lies. Big oil is next | Sharon Y Eubanks
We may be approaching a legal tipping point for fossil fuel companies and the spin masters that work for themIn 2005, I was the lead counsel on behalf of the US in one of the biggest corporate accountability legal actions ever filed. That trial proved that the tobacco industry knew it was selling and marketing a harmful product, that it had funded denial of public health science, and had used deceptive advertising and PR to protect assets instead of protecting consumers.Today, the fossil fuel industry finds itself in the same precarious legal position as the tobacco industry did in the……
Democrats have a month to revive the climate deal our planet needs | Daniel Sherrell
In the glare of history, failure on climate will overshadow any other fact about their tenure. Let’s hope they feel the heat as much as we doOn Thursday, the supreme court of the United States struck down the EPA’s Clean Power Plan, sharply limiting the federal government’s ability to fight climate change.With Earth’s temperature rising steadily, with the scientific community shouting at the top of its lungs for more aggressive action, with fires and hurricanes pushing entire regions beyond the bounds of human habitability, the court’s Republican-appointed supermajority has chosen to actively inhibit our ability to respond to the crisis.……
How the birds and the bees help coffee plants
Many people can’t get by without the buzz from their daily coffee habit.
Brexit: The Power-Grab And The Corruption Green Light
TruePublica Editor: There are two stories in The Times and Financial Times over the weekend that really should make the hairs on the back of our necks stand up in fear of what is coming down the road with this government. The first from The Times is a piece about how it is when the […] The post Brexit: The Power-Grab And The Corruption Green Light appeared first on TruePublica. Source: Read More: Brexit: The Power-Grab And The Corruption Green Light
Dangerous strain of salmonella becoming more common in UK meat
Unpublished government records show rise in poultry products testing positive for salmonella infantisPotentially deadly superbug found in British supermarket porkA dangerous strain of salmonella is becoming more common in meat in the UK, unpublished government records show.Test results obtained by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism (BIJ) and the Guardian reveal a rise in poultry products contaminated with salmonella infantis, with raw and processed meat found to be affected. Beef, pork and animal feed have also tested positive for the bacteria, which can cause serious illness that sometimes proves fatal. Continue reading… Source – Full Article Dangerous strain of salmonella becoming…
Australia is woefully unprepared for this climate reality of consecutive disasters | Greg Mullins
We lost a critical decade of preparation under the Coalition. As floods hit NSW again, we cannot afford to lose a minute moreAlmost unbelievably, communities in New South Wales are once again having to flee the fourth major flooding event in the state in just 18 months.It’s a bitter pill to swallow, but there’s no avoiding it: this is our new climate reality of consecutive, compounding disasters. Continue reading… Source – Full Article Australia is woefully unprepared for this climate reality of consecutive disasters | Greg Mullins