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<title>Cops Can Force Suspects to Unlock Phone With Thumbprint, US Court Rules</title>
<link>https://whowhatwhy.org/editors-picks/cops-can-force-suspects-to-unlock-phone-with-thumbprint-us-court-rules/</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Whowhatwhy Editors]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Fri, 19 Apr 2024 17:00:57 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Editors' Picks]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://whowhatwhy.org/?p=89852</guid>
<description><![CDATA[PICKS are stories from many sources, selected by our editors or recommended by our readers because they are important, surprising, troubling, enlightening, inspiring, or amusing. They appear on our site and in our daily newsletter. Please send suggested articles, videos, podcasts, etc. to picks@whowhatwhy.org.]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<h3>Cops Can Force Suspects to Unlock Phone With Thumbprint, US Court Rules (Maria)</h3>
The author <a href="https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2024/04/cops-can-force-suspect-to-unlock-phone-with-thumbprint-us-court-rules/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">writes</a>, “The US Constitution’s Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination does not prohibit police officers from forcing a suspect to unlock a phone with a thumbprint scan, a federal appeals court ruled yesterday. The ruling does not apply to all cases in which biometrics are used to unlock an electronic device but is a significant decision in an unsettled area of the law. The US Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit had to grapple with the question of ‘whether the compelled use of Payne’s thumb to unlock his phone was testimonial,’ the ruling in United States v. Jeremy Travis Payne said. … A three-judge panel at the 9th Circuit ruled unanimously against Payne, affirming a US District Court’s denial of Payne’s motion to suppress evidence.”
<h3>Doing ‘The Right Thing’ May Cost Johnson His Speaker’s Gavel (Sean)</h3>
From <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/17/politics/mike-johnson-foreign-aid-analysis/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CNN</a>: “Now, as Johnson tries to pass billions of dollars in aid to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan — vital to protecting US allies from Russian, Iranian, and Chinese totalitarianism and preserving US power and prestige – he’s having to put his own job on the line to confront GOP extremists who accuse him of betraying the party’s base. ‘When you do the right thing, you let the chips fall where they may,’ Johnson said in an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper on Wednesday ahead of three critical days that could decide whether he can cling to his gavel.”
<h3>Dubai’s Record Rainfall Floods Homes, Halts Flights (Reader Jim)</h3>
From <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-04-17/dubai-s-record-rainfall-forces-flight-diversions-and-floods-city" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bloomberg</a>: “The United Arab Emirates experienced its heaviest downpour since records began in 1949, Dubai’s media office said in a statement. It caused chaos for residents as water entered the city’s expensive homes and underground car parks, left some buildings without power, and resulted in widespread flooding even a day later. One person died after being swept away by flash floods in the north of the country, the National newspaper reported. In neighboring Oman, at least 18 people have died in recent days as the heavy rains caused flooding, AP reported, citing a statement from the country’s National Committee for Emergency Management.”
<h3>Boeing Whistleblowers Describe ‘Criminal Cover-Up,’ Safety Risks to Senate (Reader Steve)</h3>
From <a href="https://www.seattletimes.com/business/boeing-aerospace/boeing-hid-safety-risks-in-criminal-cover-up-whistleblowers-tell-senate/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Seattle Times</a>: “In sworn testimony before a Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs subcommittee, Boeing engineer Sam Salehpour reiterated his accusation that Boeing has hidden safety risks on the 787 Dreamliner and the 777 widebody jets, rejecting the account Boeing offered Monday in an effort to reassure the public. He provided a trove of Boeing documents to the subcommittee. These included his own internal technical presentations, data, and emails detailing for managers how the gaps at major joints of the 787 fuselage sections exceeded specification.”
<h3>Mexico’s Likely Next President Is a Scientist. Politics Has Her Mostly Quiet on Climate Threats (Laura)</h3>
The author <a href="https://apnews.com/article/climate-change-mexico-elections-water-4f85af6048a79a007658998976a6096c" target="_blank" rel="noopener">writes</a>, “Sheinbaum is often seen as the mentee of López Obrador, who is restricted by law to one term. As president, he has pumped billions of dollars into Mexico’s indebted state oil company and has been pushing an overhaul of the country’s energy sector that has boosted fossil fuel production and stymied investment in renewable energy projects. That has resulted in Sheinbaum, who until last June was Mexico City’s mayor, having largely gone quiet on global warming in Mexico, the world’s 11th-largest oil producer.”
<h3>The AI Revolution Is Already Here (Sean)</h3>
From <a href="https://www.defenseone.com/ideas/2024/04/ai-revolution-already-here/395722/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Defense One</a>: “In just the last few months, the battlefield has undergone a transformation like never before, with visions from science fiction finally coming true. Robotic systems have been set free, authorized to destroy targets on their own. Artificial intelligence systems are determining which individual humans are to be killed in war, and even how many civilians are to die along with them. And making all this the more challenging, this frontier has been crossed by America’s allies.”
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<item>
<title>Trump Overlooks Key Fact in Weird Plea for Presidential Immunity</title>
<link>https://whowhatwhy.org/justice/courts/trump-overlooks-key-fact-in-weird-plea-for-presidential-immunity/</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Klaus Marre]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Fri, 19 Apr 2024 17:00:32 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Courts]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[US Politics]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://whowhatwhy.org/?p=89863</guid>
<description><![CDATA[It was another fun day over at Truth Social, where noted legal scholar Donald Trump made the case to be granted COMPLETE IMMUNITY for anything he did while in office.
]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[— OPINION —
A glimpse into Donald Trump’s mind (aka his posts on Truth Social) always reveals what is occupying the former president at any point in time, and today, that was apparently whether the Supreme Court would grant him immunity for all of the things he did as president. 
Even though he appointed three of the judges, and conservative justices currently hold a decisive 6-3 edge, that seems unlikely because it would create a precedent that would, as various legal scholars have pointed out, allow presidents to commit any crime or authorize any unconstitutional act while in office. 
However, Trump is clearly still clinging to the hope that the high court will grant him such a blanket immunity, which would allow him to escape accountability in a couple of his criminal trials, i.e., the ones related to his coup attempt. 
Because, obviously, according to the brilliant legal mind of Donald J. Trump, Esq., staging coups would somehow be legal in that case. 
He may not have thought this all the way through since that would allow current incumbent Joe Biden to do whatever he wants in the next nine months… including illegal acts such as ordering the military to arrest or shoot anybody wearing MAGA attire on or before Election Day. 
In any case, on Friday morning, Trump fired off five posts (three of them in ALL CAPS) on his social media site dealing with the subject. 
Needless to say, none of them made a whole lot of sense. 
For example, Trump <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/112298099795296351">argued</a> that anything short of full presidential immunity (or “IMMUNITY,” as it was frequently referred to in his posts), would somehow open an incumbent president to blackmail from the opposition party, which would threaten to indict him (or, in the far future, her) once out of office “even if everything done was totally Legal and Appropriate” (Editor’s Note: Staging coups is neither “totally legal” nor “appropriate”).
In his funniest post, Trump <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/112298098854411457">suggested</a>:
IF IMMUNITY IS NOT GRANTED TO A PRESIDENT, EVERY PRESIDENT THAT LEAVES OFFICE WILL BE IMMEDIATELY INDICTED BY THE OPPOSING PARTY. WITHOUT COMPLETE IMMUNITY, A PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO PROPERLY FUNCTION!
There is just one problem with that “logic.” The only former president who has ever been indicted (in four different jurisdictions for a variety of alleged crimes) is Trump himself (Another Editor’s Note: It wasn’t “the opposition party” that indicted Trump but rather grand juries).
All 44 of his predecessors have somehow escaped this fate (Final Editor’s Note: And none of them ever had to claim that they deserved TOTAL IMMUNITY because, as mentioned before, none of them has ever faced criminal charges). 
In any case, something to look forward to will be Trump’s Truth Social posts on the day when the Supreme Court rules against him.
Of course, if the justices vote in his favor, that would be a lot less funny… because then it would be the day on which the Supreme Court completely abdicated its responsibility to the Constitution. 
 
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<title>Innovation Interrupted: ‘Technocapitalism’ and the Fight for Tech’s Soul</title>
<link>https://whowhatwhy.org/podcast/innovation-interrupted-technocapitalism-and-the-fight-for-techs-soul/</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Jeff Schechtman]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Fri, 19 Apr 2024 11:00:22 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Podcast]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://whowhatwhy.org/?p=89857</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Tech has been hijacked by a select few, abandoning the common good for "Technocapitalism."
]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[Has technology been permanently hijacked by a select few? Have profits, fear, and consumerism driven tech to abandon the common good and become a destroyer of societal values?
 
On this week’s WhoWhatWhy podcast, I talk with Loretta Napoleoni, the acclaimed Italian economist and author, to discuss her thought-provoking new book, Technocapitalism: The Rise of the New Robber Barons and the Fight for the Common Good. 
 
Napoleoni argues that the rapid advancement of technology, once heralded as a democratizing force, has instead concentrated wealth and power in the hands of a select few. We examine the high barriers to entry in today’s tech industry, which have allowed mostly the early fortune-makers to dominate the landscape, perpetuating social inequality.
 
We explore why the EU has been more successful than the US in regulating tech giants and the surprising potential of cryptocurrencies to level the playing field.
 
Napoleoni also addresses the double-edged sword of technology in problem-solving, as market forces often dictate which issues receive attention. We examine the complex relationship between innovation, regulation, and the “greater good.”
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<hr />
Full Text Transcript:
(As a service to our readers, we provide transcripts with our podcasts. We try to ensure that these transcripts do not include errors. However, due to a constraint of resources, we are not always able to proofread them as closely as we would like and hope that you will excuse any errors that slipped through.)
Transcript Coming Soon…
<hr />
 
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<item>
<title>Ethics Group Files Criminal Complaint Against Trump for Lying About Loan</title>
<link>https://whowhatwhy.org/politics/us-politics/ethics-group-files-criminal-complaint-against-trump-for-lying-about-loan/</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Klaus Marre]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Thu, 18 Apr 2024 21:39:17 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[US Politics]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://whowhatwhy.org/?p=89849</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Donald Trump's legal problems continue. On Thursday, an ethics group filed a criminal complaint with the FBI and DOJ alleging that the former president lied on financial disclosure forms. ]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[An ethics watchdog filed a criminal complaint against Donald Trump on Thursday that alleges the former president lied on his financial disclosure reports.
At issue is whether Trump “knowingly and willfully” made false statements about a $50 million debt he owed to one of his businesses in Chicago. For years, he listed it as a liability on his disclosure forms.
However, a court-appointed monitor in a civil fraud case said she was told this loan “never existed,” according to the complaint filed by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) with the FBI and the Department of Justice (DOJ). 
Since Trump signed the disclosure forms saying that the information they contained was “true, complete and correct to the best of [his] knowledge,” this would constitute a violation of the Ethics in Government Act that carries a civil penalty of up to $50,000 and imprisonment up to a year. 
“Donald Trump has a long history of lying about his finances, but there’s a big difference between lying about them in the press and lying about them on a government disclosure,” said CREW President Noah Bookbinder. “This isn’t his normal puffery. This is another potential violation of criminal law.”
In its <a href="https://www.citizensforethics.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Complaint-Trump-Chicago-Loan-FBI-OGE.pdf">complaint</a>, the group states that the loan may have been part of a debt-restructuring deal that Trump undertook in 2012. 
“It is not clear why Mr. Trump would have reported a non-existent loan as a liability owed to one of his own companies, but some reporting suggests that the deal could be part of a tax-avoidance scheme, known as debt parking, that has been used by taxpayers to purchase debt and then leave it in a separately-owned entity rather than incur tax liability on debt which has been forgiven, while others theorize that the loan may be owed to a secret third party,” the complaint said.
Noting that the court-appointed monitor in the civil fraud case said the Trump Organization told her that this loan never existed, CREW suggests this could be the case here.
The creditor listed on the disclosure forms is the “Chicago Acquisition Unit LLC,” which is wholly owned by Trump. 
Therefore, the group noted, even though the loan is listed as a liability on one part of the form, it is not included as an asset in another part. 
The only other time Chicago Acquisition Unit LLC appeared on one of Trump’s forms is in 2015, when it was valued at no more than $15,000. 
Because of these inconsistencies, CREW is urging the federal government to look into the matter. 
“No one is above the law. The rules that apply to everyone else in the executive branch must also apply to Donald Trump,” Bookbinder said. “The FBI and DOJ must investigate.”
]]></content:encoded>
</item>
<item>
<title>As Gun Violence Looms Over Pennsylvania Youth, Local Groups Offer Safe Spaces</title>
<link>https://whowhatwhy.org/editors-picks/as-gun-violence-looms-over-pennsylvania-youth-local-groups-offer-safe-spaces/</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Whowhatwhy Editors]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Thu, 18 Apr 2024 17:00:51 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Editors' Picks]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://whowhatwhy.org/?p=89841</guid>
<description><![CDATA[PICKS are stories from many sources, selected by our editors or recommended by our readers because they are important, surprising, troubling, enlightening, inspiring, or amusing. They appear on our site and in our daily newsletter. Please send suggested articles, videos, podcasts, etc. to picks@whowhatwhy.org.]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<h3>As Gun Violence Looms Over Pennsylvania Youth, Local Groups Offer Safe Spaces (Maria)</h3>
The author <a href="https://www.npr.org/2024/04/17/1243924444/youth-gun-violence-prevention-pennsylvania-organizations" target="_blank" rel="noopener">writes</a>, “A month after his 14th birthday, Trevor was arrested for gun possession. ‘I felt threatened, so I just had to do what I thought I had to do at the time,’ Trevor said. Firearms, including homicides, suicides, and unintentional injuries, are the leading cause of death for American children and teens. … After his arrest, [Trevor] spent time at a detention center and has since been released. That is where Trevor met Will Kiefer, the founder of the Bench Mark Program, a group that helps vulnerable and at-risk youth.”
<h3>Meet the People Spending $800,000 or More To Make Trump the Next President (DonkeyHotey)</h3>
From <a href="https://popular.info/p/meet-the-people-spending-800000-or" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Popular Information</a>: “Donald Trump tried to overturn the 2020 presidential election, was recently found liable for sexual assault, and has been charged with 88 felonies. Trump is currently spending four days a week at the Manhattan Criminal Courthouse. And yet, there are still a lot of rich people who choose to spend massive sums of money to help Trump become the next president. Trump’s biggest supporters are directing their largess to a newly-formed joint fundraising committee called Trump 47. The new committee can accept donations in excess of $800,000. The first $6,600 goes to Trump’s campaign, the next $5,000 goes to Trump’s Save America PAC (which has been paying Trump’s legal bills), the next $413,000 goes to the Republican National Committee, and the remaining amount is distributed to the local Republican Party in 39 states. The state Republican Parties often send the money right back to the national party, sometimes on the same day. Almost all of the money will be used to benefit Trump.”
 
<h3>Europe Is Already Planning for What Happens if Ukraine Loses. It’s Ugly (Sean)</h3>
From <a href="https://www.defenseone.com/threats/2024/04/europe-already-planning-what-happens-if-ukraine-loses-its-ugly/395715/?" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Defense One</a>: “A Ukrainian loss, which could happen very soon if U.S. weapons don’t arrive, would ramp up Russian efforts to destabilize the governments of NATO countries and increase defense spending across the alliance, among other disastrous effects, Hanno Pevkur, Estonia’s Defense Minister, told reporters Friday. When U.S. officials like President Joe Biden talk about why Ukraine matters, they rely on broad notions of democracy and the continuation of the international order — without specifically explaining what a Ukraine loss would mean for ordinary Americans. Perhaps because of this, Americans are evenly split on the question of whether the United States is doing too much for Ukraine.”
 
<h3>Trove of Documents Details Decades of Allegations of Discrimination, Misconduct at Nike (Reader Steve)</h3>
The author <a href="https://www.seattletimes.com/business/trove-of-documents-details-decades-of-allegations-of-discrimination-misconduct-at-nike/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">writes</a>, “A federal judge [earlier this month] ruled The Oregonian/OregonLive can report on a trove of documents it obtained while examining Nike’s workplace culture after a sweeping sex discrimination lawsuit was filed against the company. The news organization obtained the documents in January from an attorney who has said she inadvertently disclosed them. The attorney and Nike fought to get The Oregonian/OregonLive to return or destroy the documents, but Judge Marco Hernández affirmed an earlier ruling that said the First Amendment protects the news organization’s right to report on them. The documents provide the most comprehensive look yet into decades of alleged discrimination, harassment, and hostile behavior at Nike, including by executives. They describe alleged inappropriate behavior that includes repeated accounts of unwanted sexual contact and advances.”
 
<h3>New Study Identifies A Predictor For Teens’ Future Happiness (Reader Jim)</h3>
The author <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/transcendent-thinking-teens-happiness_l_661001f5e4b083254eabf12a" target="_blank" rel="noopener">writes</a>, “Every parent’s wish is for their child to grow up and live a fulfilled, happy life. During the teen years, this desire often leads to a laser-like focus on grades, test scores, and the chances of college admission. After all, happiness is hard to come by without the economic security of a steady paycheck. But what if it isn’t a young person’s grades, but the kind of thinking they’re doing — in and outside of school — that sets them up for a happy adulthood?”
 
<h3>‘Greenest Ever Games’: How the Paris Olympics Hopes To Inspire a New Era of Global Sporting Events (Laura)</h3>
From <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2024/apr/07/paris-olympics-greenest-games-low-carbon" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Guardian</a>: “Beneath the undulating wooden roof of the Paris Olympics’ new aquatics centre, the architect Laure Mériaud hoped the groundbreaking low carbon building would bring a kind of calm to the intersection of motorways near the Stade de France stadium in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis. ‘It’s not just about technical innovation,’ she said. ‘It’s about creating a more pleasant, greener space for local people’s daily lives here after the Games.’ The organisers of the Paris Olympics – which begin in July – have vowed they will be the ‘greenest ever Games,’ halving the carbon footprint of London 2012 and Rio 2016 from their average of 3.5m tonnes of CO2 to about 1.75m tonnes.”
]]></content:encoded>
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<item>
<title>Climate Change to Blame for Recent African Heatwave, Scientists Say</title>
<link>https://whowhatwhy.org/science/environment/climate-change-to-blame-for-recent-african-heatwave-scientists-say/</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[WhoWhatWhy Staff]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Thu, 18 Apr 2024 16:41:08 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Environment]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[International]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://whowhatwhy.org/?p=89846</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Two weeks ago, parts of Africa were hit by a deadly heatwave that would have been impossible without climate change, according to a group of scientists. ]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[The deadly heatwave that hit Africa in recent weeks “would not have occurred without climate change,” according to a new <a href="https://www.worldweatherattribution.org/extreme-sahel-heatwave-that-hit-highly-vulnerable-population-at-the-end-of-ramadan-would-not-have-occurred-without-climate-change/">analysis</a> from the World Weather Attribution initiative.
The group is working with scientists to quickly assess whether and how much climate change has contributed to extreme weather events across the globe, such as the scorching temperatures that hit western and central Africa at the end of March and in early April. 
For example, temperatures in Mali reached nearly 120 degrees Fahrenheit. 
This extreme heat resulted in a significant increase of deaths above normal. 
The group stated that one hospital in Mali alone recorded 102 deaths over the four-day period from April 1-4. Last year, the same hospital recorded a total of 130 deaths in the entire month of April. 
“While statistics for the cause of death have not been reported, around half were over the age of 60, and the hospital reports that heat likely played a role in many of the deaths,” the World Weather Attribution initiative announced in its analysis, which was made public Thursday.
One benefit of providing such an analysis so quickly following an extreme weather event — in this case two weeks after it ended — is that they are then still very much in the public’s mind. In addition, the group also works with climate scientists from the affected regions. In this case, that means that it got input from experts from Mali, Burkina Faso, and Mozambique. 
However, it also means that the documents the group provides have some limitations. For example, its studies are initially not peer reviewed. 
Climate critics may argue that high heat is nothing unusual in this part of the world. However, according to the analysis, such an extreme heat event would have been “impossible” without global warming.
And, while the recent heatwave was a once-in-a-century event (based on the temperature increase of 2.2 degrees Fahrenheit since the beginning of the industrial age), it will become much more common in the future if the planet continues to warm.
If the planet warms another 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit, as is expected if humanity does not act more decisively to curb global temperatures, then this part of Africa could expect such a deadly heatwave every 20 years. 
The impact of the recent event was magnified because it occurred during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan (during which people fast from sunrise to sunset) and because many of the countries affected experienced power cuts at the same time. 
This “compounded the risk for vulnerable groups and even those not traditionally considered vulnerable,” the group said. 
Furthermore, temperatures also remained high at night, which means people did not get a break from the heat.
Higher regular temperatures and a lack of coping mechanisms, such as air conditioning, are among the reasons why poorer regions of the planet will be especially hard-hit by climate change, which experts believe could lead to increased migration and strife.
To prevent that, other efforts to reduce global warming have to be taken.
“Critical infrastructure such as electricity, water, and healthcare systems needs to be strengthened to adapt to the increasing frequency and intensity of extreme heat, requiring increased investment to ensure reliable access and service delivery,” the group said in its analysis. 
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<title>The Transatlantic Battle to Stop Methane Gas Exports From South Texas</title>
<link>https://whowhatwhy.org/science/environment/the-transatlantic-battle-to-stop-methane-gas-exports-from-south-texas/</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Aaron Cantú]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Thu, 18 Apr 2024 11:00:41 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Environment]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://whowhatwhy.org/?p=89829</guid>
<description><![CDATA[As legal efforts fall short, residents are pursuing a novel strategy to halt the building of export terminals on unspoiled wetlands: Lobby Europeans to reject gas from the US.]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[This story by <a href="https://capitalandmain.com/author/aaron-cantu" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Aaron Cantú</a> was originally published by <a href="https://capitalandmain.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Capital & Main</a> and is part of <a href="https://coveringclimatenow.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Covering Climate Now</a>, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story.
<h4 style="text-align: center;">•</h4>
In the Rio Grande Valley along the US-Mexico border, residents are battling to preserve some of the last pristine wetlands on the Texas coast. They had won some victories against businesses building terminals to ship millions of tons of liquefied natural gas (LNG), an atmosphere-heating fossil fuel, to Europe and Asia from Brownsville.
 
A scrappy group of activists whose families have lived in the area for centuries delayed construction as locals urged regulators to reject the terminals. Following legal action brought by the Sierra Club and other South Texas groups, a federal agency reassessed the potential environmental impacts of the projects. And the activists, through a sophisticated strategy of teaming up with European allies, persuaded key financial backers to withdraw support.
 
But the terminal projects are moving forward, picking up momentum as the US and Europe seek energy security following the disruption to gas supplies caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. One terminal received permission from federal regulators to construct a levee and an offloading facility. The other has all state and federal permits, but has yet to break ground. 
 
As the prospects that US regulators will stop the building of the gas export terminals dim, residents are doubling down on lobbying in Europe. The Texans and their European allies have held rallies and news conferences in countries including Germany, Spain, and France.
 
Their message: Export terminals in the US exploit Latino and Black communities, exacerbate the climate crisis, and worsen air pollution in Europe. Why not double down on solar and wind instead? Their hope is that Europeans will persuade their governments to speed up the buildout of renewable energy sources. Doing so, they believe, would cut off the demand for liquefied natural gas from Texas.
 
“We’re going to try everything we can, and yell at any company, bank or investor who is involved,” said Bekah Hinojosa, co-founder of South Texas Environmental Justice Network, who has been leading these efforts.
 
The gas, the same kind used for stoves and to produce electricity in power plants, will be shot hundreds of miles through pipelines from fracking fields in West and East-Central Texas. Once it reaches Brownsville, companies will cool the gas until it turns to liquid, decreasing the volume and allowing more of it to be loaded onto tankers.
 
The Sierra Club estimates the terminals will create as many greenhouse gas emissions as 46 million cars a year. That is about 21 times the companies’ claims. The Sierra Club accounts for the leakiness of methane, the primary ingredient in gas. Methane molecules trap more of the sun’s heat in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide, the primary greenhouse gas emitted by the burning of fossil fuels.
 
<div id="attachment_89836" style="width: 910px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="https://whowhatwhy.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/image5-1.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-89836" class="size-featured-single@2x wp-image-89836" src="https://whowhatwhy.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/image5-1-900x609.jpg" alt="Brown pelicans, Brownsville Ship Channel" width="900" height="609" /></a>Brown pelicans near the Brownsville Ship Channel connecting the Port of Brownsville to the Gulf of Mexico. Photo credit: <a href="https://capitalandmain.com/the-transatlantic-battle-to-stop-methane-gas-exports-from-south-texas" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Aaron Cantú</a></div>
 
The gas industry <a href="https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/story/natural-gas-really-bridge-fuel-world-needs" target="_blank" rel="noopener">argues</a> that their product is essential for reducing emissions from coal, which releases more carbon when it is burned. But <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-solutions/2024/03/04/methane-satellite-public-data/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">advances</a> in <a href="https://news.stanford.edu/2022/03/24/methane-leaks-much-worse-estimates-fix-available/">satellite</a> <a href="https://capitalandmain.com/sporadic-monitoring-of-emissions-in-california-oil-country-adds-to-air-pollution-concerns" target="_blank" rel="noopener">methane detection</a> are showing that leaks at pipelines and gas fields are worse than previously believed. Recent <a href="https://www.research.howarthlab.org/publications/Howarth_LNG_assessment_preprint_archived_2023-1103.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">research, still under peer review</a>, found methane leaks in gas supply chains make it cumulatively on par with coal — prompting the Biden administration to <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2024-02-29/biden-lng-approval-pause-influenced-by-cornell-methane-scientist?embedded-checkout=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">review</a> how it assesses climate impacts of liquefied natural gas terminals.
 
Worldwide emissions are on track to eclipse the limit set by the 2016 Paris Agreement ratified by nearly all members of the United Nations. That limit is what scientists say is necessary to stop the most catastrophic effects of a warming planet. The only hope of slowing that temperature rise, according to the UN, is to stop building new fossil fuel facilities and phase out existing ones by 2050. 
 
The UN’s warning, as part of its Sixth Assessment Report, coincided with the outbreak of war in Ukraine. In order to isolate Russia, President Biden pursued a ramp up of gas exports, transforming the US into the biggest liquefied natural gas supplier in the world. When regulators approved the Brownsville terminals even after a lawsuit, fighting them looked like a lost cause. But opponents dug in their heels. Now it is no longer inconceivable to think they might win.

<h2>Locals Have Put Companies on the Ropes</h2>
On much of the Texas coast, wetlands were paved over to build oil and gas refineries. But the coastline of the Rio Grande Valley remains untouched. Just south of the resorts at South Padre Island, brown pelicans waddle in the mud alongside the channel of the port of Brownsville. Soon it could be dredged to accommodate tankers, each nearly as long as a track field. They would pass through sensitive habitats in estuaries and salt marshes to take the gas on its voyage.
 
Crews are clearing brush for the larger of the terminals, Rio Grande LNG, which is owned by the company NextDecade. A smaller proposed terminal called Texas LNG, owned by Glenfarne Group, will be adjacent and has no facilities yet. The combined acreage of the two sites spans 2.5 square miles, almost the size of the city of South Padre Island.
 
The steel complexes will be illuminated by the orange glow of flared gas. The gas will flow there in pipelines 3.5 feet in diameter. Turbines powering compressors will pressurize the gas in the presence of refrigerants until the methane condenses into liquid at -260 degrees Fahrenheit. Machines called thermal oxidizers will strip the gas of unprofitable compounds like carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulfide, a toxin, and vent them into the sky. 
 
The companies were welcomed by regional economic interests as a boost for employment and industries in the valley, where a quarter of 1.4 million people live in poverty. But they also encountered backlash. Fearing impacts to shrimping and tourism businesses, and to rare ground animals, birds and plantlife, local town councils passed <a href="https://www.portisabelsouthpadre.com/2015/09/04/laguna-madre-towns-oppose-lng/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">resolutions</a> opposing the terminals. Although NextDecade secured a $373 million tax break from Cameron County, a school district denied both Rio Grande LNG and Texas LNG similar incentives — <a href="https://capitalandmain.com/a-colossal-giveaway-a-tax-break-for-big-polluters-is-also-starving-public-schools-in-texas" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a rare outcome in Texas</a>.
 
<div id="attachment_89832" style="width: 910px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="https://whowhatwhy.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/image1-19.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-89832" class="size-featured-single@2x wp-image-89832" src="https://whowhatwhy.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/image1-19-900x601.jpg" alt="The Port of Brownsville Shrimp Basin" width="900" height="601" /></a>The Port of Brownsville Shrimp Basin, about 4.8 miles away from the Rio Grande LNG terminal. Photo credit: <a href="https://capitalandmain.com/the-transatlantic-battle-to-stop-methane-gas-exports-from-south-texas" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Aaron Cantú</a></div>
 
Among the locals resisting is Juan Mancias, chairman of the Carrizo/Comecrudo Tribe of Texas (Esto’k Gna). Built like a linebacker with long silver hair, Mancias has become a fixture in South Texas, as the tribe has protested major developments over the last decade, including the LNG terminals; a rocket production facility and launch pad as well as land acquisition for Elon Musk’s company SpaceX; and eminent domain <a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/03/31/border-wall-rio-grande-valley/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">fights</a> to build the US-Mexico border wall.
 
Amid prickly pear cactus and <a href="https://www.inaturalist.org/places/cameron-county-us-tx#taxon=47126" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Spanish dagger</a> set to be cleared for the terminals, shards of pottery and other remnants of ancient people are buried in clay dunes. A portion of the area includes the Garcia Pasture, a sacred site for the Carrizo/Comecrudo. It was the grounds of a pre-Columbian village and is now listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
 
Rio Grande LNG says its terminal will be built 1,000 feet away from Garcia Pasture, which they claim will not be disturbed. In a legal filing, Texas LNG said that it examined state records and investigated the site, and found that “occupations at the Garcia Pasture site [were] not as extensive as previously suggested.” In a response to Texas LNG, the National Park Service said it was concerned the company “did not do a thorough enough job” researching the site. It warned the pasture’s remaining archeological treasures could be “lost” if the terminal moves forward.
 
Companies are using the poorly documented history of the land to justify desecrating it, said Mancias. The nomadic people who lived there moved frequently along the coastline — something he knows because of oral history passed on to him through relatives. “It doesn’t take an idiot to recognize the fact that you are walking on the bones of people who live there in those fishing villages,” Mancias said. The Carrizo/Comecrudo bought land nearby to block access for gas company Enbridge, which wants to survey the land to build two pipelines to Rio Grande LNG. (None of the companies consented to an interview.)
 
<blockquote>The shipping terminals will emit thousands of tons of pollutants, some carcinogenic, that inflame the lungs and disrupt the flow of blood through the heart.</blockquote>
 
Many in the valley have ancestors native to South Texas and Mexico, but did not retain knowledge of their personal family histories through waves of European and American subjugation. Bekah Hinojosa, 33, confirmed her native ancestry through a DNA test taken by her father. She is organizing against the terminals as a way of reconnecting with her roots. “That is what I’m fighting for,” Hinojosa said, “preserving that ancestral heritage and that connection to land.”
 
In 2017, Hinojosa and Mancias kicked off the international campaign to divest from the terminals. With the backing of well-connected international groups like the Rainforest Action Network, they traveled to France, where they successfully lobbied the banks BNP Paribas and Société Générale to stop acting as financial advisors for the projects. The banks cited climate and human rights concerns as reasons they pulled out.
 
That effort drove more momentum abroad. Irish campaigners asked Hinojosa to help them stop an import terminal planned for Ireland’s southern coast. She traveled there and lobbied Port of Cork authorities to let the contract expire — which they did. In 2020, France blocked a deal for Rio Grande LNG to export gas to French utility company Engie, also out of concern for the climate.
 
Companies initially hoped to start exporting gas by the early 2020s. That proved impossible in the face of local pushback and plunging gas prices during the pandemic. A third company, Annova LNG, later scrapped plans altogether for another Brownsville terminal. But the other two got a boost from regulators and war in Europe.

<h2>Regulators OK Terminals After Biden Liquefied Natural Gas Order</h2>
The terminals will emit thousands of tons of nitrogen oxides and carbon monoxide, and hundreds of tons of particulate matter and volatile organic compounds. All are pollutants, some carcinogenic, that inflame the lungs and disrupt the flow of blood through the heart. Residents are also wary of the planet-warming effects of millions of tons of greenhouse gas emissions. The valley’s saturating heat is becoming stormier and more unbearable, while South Padre’s sea level rose 7 inches since the 1950s, higher than the national average.
 
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), when approving the terminals, did not consider the effects of greenhouse gas emissions. Their Final Environmental Impact Statements, issued in 2019, said because “there is no universally accepted methodology” to measure the impact of climate emissions, “we are not able to assess potential [greenhouse gases] related impacts attributable to this project.”
 
<div id="attachment_89833" style="width: 910px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="https://whowhatwhy.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/image2-2.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-89833" class="size-featured-single@2x wp-image-89833" src="https://whowhatwhy.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/image2-2-900x558.jpg" alt="Fishing, Brownsville Ship Channel" width="900" height="558" /></a>People fish in water connected to the Brownsville Ship Channel. Photo credit: <a href="https://capitalandmain.com/the-transatlantic-battle-to-stop-methane-gas-exports-from-south-texas" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Aaron Cantú</a></div>
 
The FERC reports also included an unusual interpretation of the projects’ “disproportionate” impacts on low-income, minority communities. All but one of the communities within 2 miles of the terminals are majority Latino and have poverty rates greater than 20 percent. FERC’s conclusion was that because Cameron County, where the projects are located, is 90 percent Latino and has a 23 percent poverty rate, residents of the immediate area are not disproportionately affected. One of the FERC commissioners, Richard Glick, expressed astonishment at his colleagues’ findings, calling them “hard to fathom” in a dissenting opinion.
 
The Sierra Club and a local community organization, Vecinos para el Bienestar de la Comunidad Costera, filed a lawsuit in September 2020 claiming the assessments incorrectly found the terminals to be in the public interest. The following August, three federal appeals court judges unanimously agreed, writing that FERC did not follow a law directing it to use methods “generally accepted in the scientific community” when assessing climate emissions. The judges also ruled that FERC needed to clarify why it chose to analyze only a 2-mile radius if the projects’ effects would actually span 31 miles.
 
Six months after the ruling, Biden called for increasing liquefied natural gas exports to Europe following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In April 2023, FERC issued an order reauthorizing the projects after conducting an additional environmental assessment. In a legal filing, it estimated the “social cost” of greenhouse gas emissions from Rio Grande LNG and the associated Rio Bravo Pipeline system would be up to $18.04 billion and $2.06 billion, respectively, and Texas LNG’s at $2.02 billion. The commission also determined the facilities would impact low-income minority residents within 31 miles but still comply with the Clean Air Act.
 
<blockquote>Many European nations that prohibit fracking have become top destinations for Gulf Coast gas.</blockquote>
 
A dissenting commissioner, Allison Clements, noted that FERC held no public hearings, despite a federal law that says communities should be consulted when an agency is identifying environmental justice concerns. Clements also wrote that the public did not have a chance to assess the modeling information FERC used to determine the air pollution levels would be legal. In sum, she wrote, FERC had published “a fundamentally flawed record that cannot support a public interest determination for either project.”
 
The Sierra Club asked the appeals court to review FERC’s decision. It has not yet ruled. In the meantime, FERC has allowed Rio Grande LNG to pour a concrete foundation and build a deck for tankers to berth. It is also moving soil to raise the embankment around the shipping channel. The Sierra Club is asking the court to halt this activity while litigation is active.

<h2>Bypassing Courts and Regulators, Activists Look Outside Texas</h2>
Shortly after the outbreak of the Ukraine war, Rio Grande LNG finalized its contract with Engie, the French utility. A purchase agreement with another importer, TotalEnergies, makes French companies the terminal’s biggest customers. Others include Portuguese, Chinese, and Japanese importers — though buyers can receive the shipments anywhere that abides US export laws. 
 
To allay climate concerns, Rio Grande LNG owner NextDecade pledged to capture carbon emissions from the liquefaction process and gas turbines. That would address only a portion of the total pollution linked to the project, leaving out fracking in the <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07117-5.epdf?sharing_token=ijbog_NpbgMDTyRdlOFiEdRgN0jAjWel9jnR3ZoTv0OG-aLaQDkYFvre5Flei_ikYuEYlQ6CJ8itXbSxbFRFsyPk4iXLg0vHbPUfN5mv3-fqLlYlXXFYX4M3c3jYm4CMgmQzyUXSeEW_VuqVuIhpdmoS3-DrFDWWhYDPrVDtcIclWqB7MZv5izrA7BKaYe5s7hveEzn8ZW61iOF71SzVVGM6EAPxhh1b3lz1TaC5qV0%3D&tracking_referrer=www.latimes.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">methane-emitting</a> Permian Basin, leaks during transport, and the end use of the gas by consumers.
 
<blockquote>Last year Germany, Portugal, and Spain generated more electricity from solar and wind than from gas for the first time.</blockquote>
 
In response to companies regrouping, activists deepened their relationships in Europe. Many of those nations that prohibit fracking have become top destinations for Gulf Coast gas. Germany leads the way in fast-tracking import terminals, but expansions and reboots of old ones are happening in Portugal, the Netherlands, Greece, and Spain. 
 
At the invitation of anti-coal alliance Ende Gelände, Carrizo/Comecrudo member Christopher Basaldú traveled to northern Germany with Elida Castillo, from the liquefied natural gas-exporting Texas city of Corpus Christi. The gathering culminated in a blockade of oil and gas shipments along the Kiel Canal, where Dutch company Gasunie is building an import terminal.
 
Listening to the Americans speak about pollution back home, Andy Gheorghiu, a German anti-LNG campaigner, realized he needed “to start working on the transatlantic perspective to understand the fuller story of the fracked gas supply chain.” Europeans and Americans began meeting virtually to plan a delegation of Gulf Coast activists to cities in Europe with import terminals. Last October, at a press conference in Wilhelmshaven, a port town along the North Sea where Germany and company Uniper operate an import terminal, women from the Texas and Louisiana coastlines spoke of living in the shadow of industry. Hinojosa criticized plans to turn Brownsville into a “colony for the extraction of fossil fuels” shipped to Europe.
 
Despite a bump in demand following the start of the war, last year Germany, Portugal, and Spain generated more electricity from solar and wind than from gas for the first time. Long-term forecasts show Europe needing less gas, a reality that the industry acknowledges. “In Europe gas demand will keep on decreasing, there is no doubt about this,” said Laurent David, a former gas executive in France who now serves as the General Delegate for the International Group of Liquefied Natural Gas Importers.
 
With economic headwinds in their favor, activists are protesting in multiple nations against liquefied natural gas financers. Hinojosa and anti-gas activists in Madrid blocked an entranceway at the headquarters of investor Banco Santander. They <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KFION4KWlv9i6hX7_gNIEF-GD747v3oA/view" target="_blank" rel="noopener">condemned</a> the “cancer factories” in Brownsville and Huelva, a city in southern Spain with an import terminal. Banco Santander is backing Rio Grande LNG with a billion-dollar loan. Activists have referenced its membership in the UN’s Net-Zero Banking Alliance to highlight what they say is a contradiction between words and actions. Eight other banks that signed the pledge are <a href="https://www.bankingonclimatechaos.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">invested</a> in Rio Grande LNG.
 
In the US, they are pressing pension funds in Washington state and Oregon to move $750 million out of Global Infrastructure Partners, a private equity firm invested in Rio Grande LNG. The firm is owned by BlackRock, a signatory of the UN’s Net Zero Asset Managers initiative. 
 
And they are taking aim at Rio Grande LNG insurers Sompo, Chubb, and Liberty Mutual — which together saw revenues fall by more than $1 billion last year due in part to natural catastrophes, a fact opponents say highlights the illogic of insuring fossil fuel projects. For years, the international climate movement protested at the offices of coal insurers, calling and emailing them and publicly shaming them. Many insurers have since <a href="https://www.citizen.org/article/covering-coal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">adopted policies</a> against selling policies to coal mines and power plants, and activists hope to do the same for liquefied natural gas <a href="https://global.insure-our-future.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Risk-Exposure_FINAL.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">exports</a> by lobbying companies not to insure terminals.
 
<blockquote>“By putting pressure now, it’s more likely the next round of infrastructure won’t get financed.”
~ Clark Williams-Derry, energy finance analyst, Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis</blockquote>
 
In February, Rio Grande Valley residents flew to New York to protest outside of Global Infrastructure Partners and major liquefied natural gas insurers. They were joined by peers from across the Gulf Coast and dozens of climate campaigners. In a video of the protests, Juan Mancias’ daughter, Carrizo/Comecrudo Executive Director Christa Mancias, shared a bullhorn with Hinojosa as they marched in front of corporate offices on Sixth Avenue. “We’re no longer wanting to be a checked box” for corporate compliance, the younger Mancias declared.
 
They continued down the block toward the skyscraper housing AIG, a major fossil fuel insurer. At the front of the march, Juan Mancias held a white banner demanding an end to Rio Grande LNG. A breakaway group of protesters tried rushing through the building’s doorway. In a knot of elbows and grimaces, guards wearing black ties repelled the charge. One of them wrapped his arm around a protester’s neck. After police showed up, a cop briefly detained another guard in the chaos. Protests against fossil fuel insurers took place in 31 countries that week as part of Insure Our Future coalition’s Global Week of Action.

<h2>Terminals in Progress but Remain Vulnerable </h2>
Time is running out to stop the Texas LNG terminal before crews start clearing land. In March the company secured a sales and purchase agreement with Switzerland-based Gunvor Group. Those agreements are critical for companies to reach a final investment decision on whether to start a major project. By comparison, Rio Grande LNG already has several future buyers under contract, and last summer reached a final investment decision for the first phase of the terminal. Even if the activists can force owner NextDecade to go bankrupt, its lenders or other investors could take over the operations.
 
Still, delays can be damaging. Maybe an insurer quits, halting construction. Or the terminal only gets partially built and loses money. As of Dec. 31, NextDecade had $38.2 million on hand, creating “substantial doubt” about its future, it said in financial records. By the time Rio Grande LNG is supposed to start exporting gas in 2028, the world will have an oversupply from too many export terminals in the US and other countries, including Qatar, some analysts predict.
 
“By putting pressure now,” said Clark Williams-Derry, an energy finance analyst at the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, a think tank focused on accelerating the transition from fossil fuels, “it’s more likely the next round of infrastructure won’t get financed.” Liquefied natural gas industry representatives respond that predictions of a glut are overblown. They say importers in Asia, including China, Indonesia, and Malaysia, can absorb the increase in supply.
 
<div id="attachment_89835" style="width: 910px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="https://whowhatwhy.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/image4-1.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-89835" class="size-featured-single@2x wp-image-89835" src="https://whowhatwhy.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/image4-1-900x597.jpg" alt="Rio Grande LNG, site construction" width="900" height="597" /></a>Crews at the Rio Grande LNG site prepare to construct a levee and an offloading facility in the Brownsville Ship Channel. Photo credit: <a href="https://capitalandmain.com/the-transatlantic-battle-to-stop-methane-gas-exports-from-south-texas" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Aaron Cantú</a></div>
 
Juan Mancias has kept an eye on that horizon. He is planning a trip to Japan, where the company Itochu is slated to receive gas from Brownsville, to network with allies. The liquefied natural gas fight is still galvanizing residents in the valley. On a recent evening, Mancias met with community members to discuss elections at the Brownsville Navigation District, which holds the lease with Rio Grande LNG. A candidate for its board of commissioners, Josette Cruz Hinojosa — no relation to Bekah — traveled to Germany as part of the campaign against the terminals.
 
Mancias said, “We are not going to take anything anymore like in the past. We are not intimidated.” He is demanding reparations for the land clearing Rio Grande LNG has already done.
 
The gas export contracts span into the 2040s. The average world temperature is on track to rise 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit above pre-industrial levels during that time. At that temperature, the North Pole will likely be ice-free in summer, which has not happened in 2.6 million years. That will contribute to rising sea levels and, with a hotter ocean, make Katrina-level hurricanes two to seven times more likely, according to a Department of Energy report examining the exposure of coastal fossil fuel facilities to storm surges.
 
Climate change underscores “the importance of limiting investments in new critical infrastructure” in the path of storm-driven waves, said the report. It was published in 2015, a year before the US had any seaside liquefied natural gas export terminals. Today, 13 are in <a href="https://www.ferc.gov/media/us-lng-export-terminals-existing-approved-not-yet-built-and-proposed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">operation</a> or under construction, and eight more were approved by regulators. But at least four were halted in January, following President Biden’s pause of approvals for LNG exports to countries without <a href="https://ustr.gov/trade-agreements/free-trade-agreements" target="_blank" rel="noopener">free trade</a> agreements, which includes China and all of Europe. The Brownsville terminals were not affected because they already had approval.
 
The announcement said the government’s <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2024/01/26/fact-sheet-biden-harris-administration-announces-temporary-pause-on-pending-approvals-of-liquefied-natural-gas-exports/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">analyses</a> underpinning export terminals “no longer adequately account” for their greenhouse gases and effects on domestic natural gas prices. “The pause,” it said, “will provide the time to integrate these critical considerations.”
 
<a href="https://whowhatwhy.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/ccnow_logo_192x192.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-58065" src="https://whowhatwhy.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/ccnow_logo_192x192.jpg" alt="Covering Climate Now logo" width="192" height="192" /></a>
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<title>California Hits ‘Historical’ Renewable Energy Milestone</title>
<link>https://whowhatwhy.org/editors-picks/california-hits-historical-renewable-energy-milestone/</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Whowhatwhy Editors]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Wed, 17 Apr 2024 17:00:51 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Editors' Picks]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://whowhatwhy.org/?p=89817</guid>
<description><![CDATA[PICKS are stories from many sources, selected by our editors or recommended by our readers because they are important, surprising, troubling, enlightening, inspiring, or amusing. They appear on our site and in our daily newsletter. Please send suggested articles, videos, podcasts, etc. to picks@whowhatwhy.org.]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<h3>California Hits ‘Historical’ Renewable Energy Milestone (Maria)</h3>
The author <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/california-milestone-renewable-energy-1890345" target="_blank" rel="noopener">writes</a>, “Renewable energy has supplied 100 percent of California’s energy demand for between 15 minutes and six hours in 30 of the last 38 days — a historic first for the Golden State. Wind, solar, and hydro energy is now exceeding demand across the state, producing more energy than Californians require on an almost daily basis. California has previously seen great success with its renewable energy supply, but this is the first time that wind, solar, and hydro energy have performed so consistently over a sustained period of several weeks.”
 
<h3>This Might Be Trump’s Most Inflationary, Economically Destructive Idea Yet (Russ)</h3>
The author <a href="https://wapo.st/4aXyzi6" target="_blank" rel="noopener">writes</a>, “Remind me again why Americans think Donald Trump would be so much better on inflation and the economy? Trump’s policy team is reportedly scheming to devalue the U.S. dollar. This might well be Trump’s most inflationary and economically destructive idea yet. That’s quite an achievement, considering everything else he and his advisers have cooked up (universal tariff hikes, deficit-financed tax cuts, huge reductions in the labor force, etc). Trump’s objective, Politico reports, is to boost U.S. exports and reduce imports. Basically, if a dollar buys, say, fewer euros or Japanese yen than it currently does, that makes U.S.-made products look a little cheaper and potentially more attractive to European and Japanese customers.”
 
<h3>The Vicious Things Republicans Have Said About Palestinians Since October 7 (Laura)</h3>
From <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/04/04/republicans-congress-palestine-israel-double-standard/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Intercept</a>: “Michigan Republican Rep. Tim Walberg recently declared at a town hall that the U.S. ‘shouldn’t be spending a dime on humanitarian aid’ in Gaza. Instead, he posed, ‘it should be like Nagasaki and Hiroshima. Get it over quick.’ After the shocking statement went viral, his office tried to soften the blow. It provided a full transcript of Walberg’s comments to CNN, which reported that Walberg had also said that a similar logic could be applied to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. ‘Defeat Putin quick. Instead [of] 80% in Ukraine being used for humanitarian purposes, it should be 80-100% to wipe out Russia, if that’s what we want to do.’ Walberg then attempted to walk the comment back in a statement, in which he said he was not suggesting that nukes be used to end either war. Yet there’s no denying that he invoked horrifying instances of the U.S. dropping atomic bombs in reference to Gaza.”
 
<h3>Members of Self-Proclaimed Anti-Government Group ‘God’s Misfits’ Held in Killings of Kansas Women (DonkeyHotey)</h3>
From <a href="https://apnews.com/article/bodies-found-missing-kansas-women-search-oklahoma-1ff215d35d65fec498c232fd85c85087?" target="_blank" rel="noopener">AP News</a>: “Two Kansas women who vanished as they tried to pick up children for a birthday party two weeks ago were killed over a custody dispute involving a group of anti-government Oklahomans calling themselves ‘God’s Misfits,’ authorities said Monday. Their vehicle was found March 30 along a rural Oklahoma highway with ample evidence of a bloody confrontation, setting off a multi-agency effort to secure the children’s safety while searching for the women and avoiding more violence. Veronica Butler, 27, and Jilian Kelley, 39, of Hugoton, Kansas, had arranged with the grandmother of Butler’s two children to meet at a highway intersection on the morning of March 30 and pick up the 6- and 8-year-old.”
 
<h3>This Nonprofit Has Newsrooms in All 50 State Capitals. Is It the Future of State Journalism? (Gerry)</h3>
From <a href="https://www.cjr.org/the_media_today/states-newsroom-local-politics-policy-model.php" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Columbia Journalism Review</a>: “In late January, after wrapping up his annual State of the State speech, North Dakota governor Doug Burgum (R) headed out to meet the press. Only two reporters awaited him: the North Dakota Monitor’s Amy Dalrymple and Michael Achterling. ‘Michael and I were the only ones that were there to ask him questions,’ Dalrymple, a veteran reporter previously at the Bismarck Tribune, told CJR. ‘Because our priority is covering government, we prioritized staying there and asking the governor some questions after his speech.’ The Monitor is one of the latest outlets launched by States Newsroom, a nonprofit operation whose publications on policy and politics have quickly turned it into one of the biggest players in state-level coverage.”
 
<h3>220 Million Tonnes of Plastic Waste Will Be Created in 2024 (Sean)</h3>
The author <a href="https://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/waste/220-million-tonnes-of-plastic-waste-will-be-created-in-2024-ea-earth-action-95521" target="_blank" rel="noopener">writes</a>, “A whopping 220 million tonnes of plastic waste are set to be generated in 2024, a new study has shown. There has been a steady rise in plastic waste of nearly 10 percent since 2021. The global average plastic waste per person this year will rise to 28 kilograms. ‘Just 12 countries are responsible for 60 percent of the world’s mismanaged plastic waste, the top five being China, USA, India, Brazil, and Mexico,’ [according to] the Plastic Overshoot Day report.”
 
<h3> 
‘Hey Jude’ Is Out; ‘Anti-Hero’ Is Just Right: Chechnya Bans Songs Deemed Too Fast or Too Slow (Dana)</h3>
From <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/taylor-swift-beyonce-beatles-chechnya-ban-pop-music-tempo-limits-rcna146960" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NBC News</a>: “The beat goes on, but much of Taylor Swift’s, Beyoncé’s and even the Beatles’ back catalogs could be off playlists in Chechnya after the Russian republic instituted limits on musical tempo. From now on, ‘all musical, vocal and choreographic works’ will be subject to the new limits, the region’s Culture Ministry said in a Telegram post. Culture Minister Musa Dadaev was quoted in the post as saying they should be 80 to 116 beats per minute, or BPM. It was unclear how the limits would be enforced, but they could rule out much of the modern pop pantheon, most of which would be too fast.”
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<title>Senator, Governor, Saudi Arabia Foe Bob Graham Dies</title>
<link>https://whowhatwhy.org/politics/us-politics/senator-governor-saudi-arabia-foe-bob-graham-dies/</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[WhoWhatWhy Staff]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Wed, 17 Apr 2024 16:14:57 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[US Politics]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://whowhatwhy.org/?p=89820</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Former Florida senator and governor Bob Graham was a true champion when it came to shedding light on Saudi Arabia’s involvement in 9/11. ]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[Saudi Arabia can breathe a bit easier Wednesday following the announcement of the death of former Florida senator and governor Bob Graham. While long out of politics, Graham had remained one of the highest-ranking critics of the Arab kingdom… especially pertaining to its role in the 9/11 terrorist attack. 
And he was certainly in a position to know a bit about that. 
Graham served as chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee before and after 9/11 and co-chaired the joint congressional investigation into intelligence failures ahead of and following the attack. 
As such, he had access to information that was kept from the public … for example, the infamous “28 pages” that were withheld for years before a redacted version was declassified in 2016.
These 28 pages describe financial ties between the terrorists and people connected to the government of Saudi Arabia. Fifteen of the 19 terrorists, as well as al Qaeda head Osama bin Laden, came from the kingdom. 
WhoWhatWhy has been at the forefront of covering this issue. For example, Editor-in-Chief Russ Baker <a href="https://whowhatwhy.org/politics/government-integrity/out-of-control-fbi-to-former-head-of-911-investigation-butt-out/">spoke to Graham in 2015</a>, when the former senator told him that a “very senior” FBI official had asked him to stop pursuing connections between the attacks and Saudi Arabia’s royal family.
He did not.
After the declassification of the 28 pages, Graham continued to call on the federal government to release all information regarding the link between the terrorists and Saudi Arabia that its various investigations had turned up (for more on this, see this WhoWhatWhy <a href="https://whowhatwhy.org/politics/government-integrity/coverup-saudi-911-connection-continues-charges-graham/">story</a> from 2016).
The three-term senator, who sought the Democratic presidential nomination in 2004 as a critic of the Iraq war, even took his concerns to the world of fiction. 
In 2011, his novel, Keys to the Kingdom, was published. It is a thriller about a retired US senator who was murdered after writing an op-ed about the 9/11 investigation. His daughter and an ex-Special Forces investigator then team up to stop a plot involving the detonation of a nuclear weapon in the US that Saudi Arabia had supplied to al-Qaeda.
Take all of Graham’s efforts and it is as though he kept screaming to the world: “Look at Saudi Arabia!”
Few other than WhoWhatWhy listened.
Following news of the former senator’s death, Baker said, 
The term “great American” is a cliche, but I can honestly say that in my experience, Bob was indeed a great American. Although head of a senate committee that often had to kowtow to the intelligence establishment, he showed considerable bravery and worked hard to hold it accountable — and to dig deep into mysteries where the answers were not forthcoming. Wish there were more like him.
Graham passed away in Gainesville, FL, on Tuesday. He was 87 years old. 
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<title>Clarence Thomas Continues to Dismantle Supreme Court’s Credibility</title>
<link>https://whowhatwhy.org/justice/courts/clarence-thomas-continues-to-dismantle-supreme-courts-credibility/</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Klaus Marre]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Tue, 16 Apr 2024 20:50:41 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Courts]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://whowhatwhy.org/?p=89813</guid>
<description><![CDATA[After missing a day on the bench without explanation, Clarence Thomas was back on Tuesday for oral arguments in a case from which he should have recused himself.]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[Clarence Thomas is a man on a mission. Well, multiple missions, actually. The one that has been apparent since he joined the Supreme Court is that he would use his position to advance conservative causes. That in itself does not make him an outlier on the bench. Ideology often factors into how both conservative and liberal justices rule.
Last year, we learned that what does set him apart (at least hopefully) is the way in which he accepted lavish gifts from rich right-wing benefactors, including some who had business before the court, without reporting them. 
On Tuesday, during the oral arguments in a case involving whether January 6 insurrectionists can be charged with obstruction, he demonstrated that his latest mission seems to be the destruction of whatever credibility the high court has left.
That’s because he shouldn’t have been anywhere near that courtroom. 
If there has ever been a case in which a justice should have recused himself but didn’t, this would be it. 
The reason is that Thomas’s wife, Ginny, participated in the January 6 rally that led to the insurrection and was also <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/2022/06/10/ginni-thomas-election-arizona-lawmakers/">involved</a> in other parts of Donald Trump’s coup attempt, e.g., by sending emails to multiple lawmakers in states the former president lost to urge them to come up with alternate slates of electors.
In a world in which the law is applied evenly, that means she could also be charged with obstruction.
Now, those defending Thomas might argue that his wife didn’t assault any policy officers or storm Congress. That’s true.
However, what is at stake in the case is not just whether some charges brought against more than 300 insurrectionists would have to be dropped, but also whether Trump himself can be charged with obstruction for trying to overturn the results of the 2020 election — an effort Ginni Thomas was involved in.
During the oral arguments, her husband tried to compare the insurrection to other types of “protest” even though it was unique in the history of the United States. 
“There have been many violent protests that have interfered with proceedings,” Thomas <a href="https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-capitol-riot-obstruction-charge-trump-d4b01cb32cdbd2065e802902a90bd9f1">said</a> during the hearing. “Has the government applied this provision to other protests in the past?”
Well, no, but no other president (and likely no other spouse of a Supreme Court justice) has ever been involved in an attempted coup, so this is uncharted territory. 
Some ethics groups called out Thomas but were muted in their criticism. 
“There’s a case to be made that Justice Thomas should have recused given his wife, Ginni Thomas’s, role pushing the Big Lie which led to the insurrection,” <a href="https://x.com/CREWcrew/status/1780292256001397003">tweeted</a> the group Citizens for Ethics. “At the least, it raises questions about his impartiality.”
Others were less shy about calling out Thomas. 
“Ginni Thomas was directly involved in efforts to overturn the 2020 election,” tweeted former Labor Secretary Robert Reich. “Yet Clarence Thomas didn’t recuse himself from arguments today in a case about the January 6 insurrection. How is this not a scandal of epic proportions?”
That’s a good question. Too bad that neither of the Thomases will ever provide an answer. 
]]></content:encoded>
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