Author: ajohnstone

Pandemic – Permission to Pollute

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The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has suspended its enforcement of environmental laws during the ongoing coronavirus outbreak, signaling to companies they will not face any sanction for polluting the air or water of Americans.



In an extraordinary move that has stunned former EPA officials, the Trump administration said it will not expect compliance with the routine monitoring and reporting of pollution and won’t pursue penalties for breaking these rules.



Polluters will be able to ignore environmental laws as long as they can claim in some way these violations were caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. In the event of an imminent threat to public health, the EPA will defer to the states and “consider the circumstances” over whether it should intervene. There is no end date set for this dropping of enforcement.

“EPA should never relinquish its right and its obligation to act immediately and decisively when there is threat to public health, no matter what the reason is,” said Cynthia Giles, who was head of EPA enforcement during the Obama administration. “I am not aware of any instance when EPA ever relinquished this fundamental authority as it does in this memo. This memo amounts to a nationwide moratorium on enforcing the nation’s environmental laws and is an abdication of EPA’s responsibility to protect the public.”



The blanket waiver of environmental requirements poses a danger to the American public. There is particular concern over air pollution emitted by industrial facilities, which are predominantly located in communities with large numbers of low-income people and people of color. Covid-19 attacks the respiratory system, with its spread causing states to scramble for more ventilators to prevent thousands of infected people from dying. The air pollution that industrial plants will not have to monitor damages the respiratory system, which is especially dangerous for already at-risk populations who may also become infected with Covid-19, which attacks the lungs. oil refineries will not be compelled to report on and reduce their carcinogenic benzene emissions. Ten refineries, most of them in Texas, have already been exceeding limits.



Meanwhile, the car industry has been accused of trying to use the coronavirus crisis to avert stricter environmental regulation, after correspondence showed carmakers had lobbied the EU to defer impending laws.  The European carmakers’ association, ACEA, and other groups representing the supply chain called on the EU to delay implementing regulations because the pandemic had affected its “plans to comply”. Laws due to come into effect include tougher targets on vehicle CO2 emissions. In a letter to the EU commission president the groups said production and sales of cars had stalled in many countries and companies were facing a cash crisis.

Campaigners described the call as shameless. Greenpeace UK’s executive director, John Sauven, said: “Many industries are facing difficulties during this challenging period that require governments and corporations to protect their workers. But it would be a mistake to use this crisis as a reason to roll back on environmental regulations. One, it won’t suddenly restart car sales, and two, tackling one crisis can’t be done at the expense of another one.”

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/mar/27/trump-pollution-laws-epa-allows-companies-pollute-without-penalty-during-coronavirus



https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/mar/27/carmakers-accused-of-using-covid-19-weaken-environmental-laws

Pandemic – Permission to Pollute

Uncategorised No Comments
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has suspended its enforcement of environmental laws during the ongoing coronavirus outbreak, signaling to companies they will not face any sanction for polluting the air or water of Americans.



In an extraordinary move that has stunned former EPA officials, the Trump administration said it will not expect compliance with the routine monitoring and reporting of pollution and won’t pursue penalties for breaking these rules.



Polluters will be able to ignore environmental laws as long as they can claim in some way these violations were caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. In the event of an imminent threat to public health, the EPA will defer to the states and “consider the circumstances” over whether it should intervene. There is no end date set for this dropping of enforcement.

“EPA should never relinquish its right and its obligation to act immediately and decisively when there is threat to public health, no matter what the reason is,” said Cynthia Giles, who was head of EPA enforcement during the Obama administration. “I am not aware of any instance when EPA ever relinquished this fundamental authority as it does in this memo. This memo amounts to a nationwide moratorium on enforcing the nation’s environmental laws and is an abdication of EPA’s responsibility to protect the public.”



The blanket waiver of environmental requirements poses a danger to the American public. There is particular concern over air pollution emitted by industrial facilities, which are predominantly located in communities with large numbers of low-income people and people of color. Covid-19 attacks the respiratory system, with its spread causing states to scramble for more ventilators to prevent thousands of infected people from dying. The air pollution that industrial plants will not have to monitor damages the respiratory system, which is especially dangerous for already at-risk populations who may also become infected with Covid-19, which attacks the lungs. oil refineries will not be compelled to report on and reduce their carcinogenic benzene emissions. Ten refineries, most of them in Texas, have already been exceeding limits.



Meanwhile, the car industry has been accused of trying to use the coronavirus crisis to avert stricter environmental regulation, after correspondence showed carmakers had lobbied the EU to defer impending laws.  The European carmakers’ association, ACEA, and other groups representing the supply chain called on the EU to delay implementing regulations because the pandemic had affected its “plans to comply”. Laws due to come into effect include tougher targets on vehicle CO2 emissions. In a letter to the EU commission president the groups said production and sales of cars had stalled in many countries and companies were facing a cash crisis.

Campaigners described the call as shameless. Greenpeace UK’s executive director, John Sauven, said: “Many industries are facing difficulties during this challenging period that require governments and corporations to protect their workers. But it would be a mistake to use this crisis as a reason to roll back on environmental regulations. One, it won’t suddenly restart car sales, and two, tackling one crisis can’t be done at the expense of another one.”

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/mar/27/trump-pollution-laws-epa-allows-companies-pollute-without-penalty-during-coronavirus



https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/mar/27/carmakers-accused-of-using-covid-19-weaken-environmental-laws

Pandemic Populism

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 Stephen Walt, professor of international relations at Harvard University, wrote in Foreign Policy magazine.  “The pandemic will strengthen the state and reinforce nationalism. Governments of all types will adopt emergency measures to manage the crisis, and many will be loath to relinquish these new powers when the crisis is over.” He continued: “Covid-19 will also accelerate the shift in power and influence from west to east. The response in Europe and America has been slow and haphazard by comparison [with China, South Korea and Singapore], further tarnishing the aura of the western ‘brand’… We will see a further retreat from hyper-globalisation, as citizens look to national governments to protect them and as states and firms seek to reduce future vulnerabilities. In short, Covid-19 will create a world that is less open, less prosperous and less free.”

Most people may support such measures in the short term. But what if the crisis is protracted, with a “second wave” running into next year? And what if the new controls are not relaxed or withdrawn after it ends? This is what Harvard’s Stephen Walt meant about the danger of “less free” post-pandemic societies.



China’s government is working hard to turn Covid-19, first detected in Wuhan in November, into a national success story. It claims draconian measures to suppress the disease have largely worked. Now, by offering assistance to Italy and other badly affected countries, China is reinforcing its credentials as a global leader. 



“A critical part of this narrative is Beijing’s supposed success in battling the virus. A steady stream of propaganda articles, tweets and public messaging, in a wide variety of languages, touts China’s achievements and highlights the effectiveness of its model of domestic governance,” wrote commentators Kurt Campbell and Rush Doshi in Foreign Affairs magazine.



Mira Rapp-Hooper of the US Council on Foreign Relations explained, “This domestic and international governance crisis could change the nature of the international order in several ways … If the US remains absent without leave, China may take the crisis as an opportunity to start setting new rules according to its own global governance vision.”

The trend towards centralised, authoritarian rule evident in countries such as India, Brazil and Turkey, and typified by China and Russia, has coincided with the rise of right-wing nationalist-populist governments and parties in Europe. Some are now following China’s lead in attempting to weaponise the virus for political ends.



The International Crisis Group, warned last week. “Unscrupulous leaders may exploit the pandemic to advance their objectives in ways that exacerbate domestic or international crises – cracking down on dissent at home or escalating conflicts with rival states – on the assumption that they will get away with it while the world is otherwise occupied.”



 One example cited by the report was Vladimir Putin’s recent attempt to indefinitely extend his presidency in Russia and another was a bid by Viktor Orbán, Hungary’s nationalist leader, to renew a state of emergency.

The ICG report is blunt: “The global outbreak has the potential to wreak havoc in fragile states [and] trigger widespread unrest …. If the disease spreads in densely packed urban centres, it may be virtually impossible to control.” This is precisely the fear stalking South Africa’s townships right now. The report said the dramatic global economic slowdown would disrupt trade flows and create unemployment in commodity-exporting poorer countries. “Its implications are especially serious for those caught in the midst of conflict if, as seems likely, the disease disrupts humanitarian aid flows, limits peace operations, and postpones diplomacy.”

Robert Kaplan of the Eurasia Group, describes, “coronavirus is the historical marker between the first phase of globalisation and the second … Globalisation 2.0 is about separating the globe into great-power blocs with their own burgeoning militaries and separate supply chains, about the rise of autocracies, and about social and class divides that have engendered nativism and populism … In sum, it is a story about new and re-emerging global divisions.” 



 Support for Kaplan’s theory may be found in increased post-pandemic protectionism if, as some predict, countries attempt to limit future exposure to global threats. The UN warned last week of worldwide food shortages caused by lack of workers, tougher immigration controls, sanctions and tariffs.



“The pandemic is a powerful reminder of two things: the shared challenges of our global village, and the deep inequalities we must grapple with to fight them,” said David Miliband, who heads the International Rescue Committee. 



The crisis has exposed the  chronically under-resourced healthcare systems in even better-off countries. The decision of many governments to call in the armed forces to help with logistics and manpower partly reflects fears that weakening social cohesion may lead to disorder on the streets.



“If governments have to resort to using paramilitary or military forces to quell, for example, riots or attacks on property, societies could begin to disintegrate. Thus the main, perhaps even the sole objective of economic policy today [rather than supporting financial markets] should be to prevent social breakdown,” wrote Branko Milanović, a professor at the London School of Economics.



Yet, looked at differently, we can see a positive development.  In Britain and elsewhere, the call to arms has created new legions of NHS volunteers. This renewed sense of national sharing and identity is a much-needed antidote to the regressive nationalism of recent years. Rather than a threat to civil liberties there has been more beneficial use of military power. 



 While there is concern the pandemic could deepen divisions between countries and, for example, exacerbate anti-migrant sentiment, there is a chance it will boost international cooperation, support for UN agencies, and a willingness to pursue dialogue rather than military and economic confrontation.



https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/28/power-equality-nationalism-how-the-pandemic-will-reshape-the-world

Pandemic Profiteering

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A frenetic international market in ventilators and medical supplies has gathered pace in recent weeks as governments scramble to purchase equipment.
Prices for equipment have been rocketing – often changing by the hour.
The equipment is usually made in China and is then purchased by middlemen who offer it on. An array of fixers and consultants are often involved along the supply chain and some are adding huge price mark-ups on equipment they say they can get hold of in the current crisis.
“There are going to be some multi-millionaires made,” said one person who works in this world.



The market price for one particular type of ventilator increased in a week from $27,000 (£21,700) to $96,000 (£77,100) – a sign of just how intense the demand is. 

It is thought there have been cases where offers have been made of equipment which turn out not to exist, or where multiple agents were offering the same items. There is also the concern that items might not meet the correct standards. Some testing kits purchased by countries, including Spain, have shown low levels of accuracy, making them unusable.
Middle Eastern and North African countries have been purchasing from the Middle East-based supplier and the US has been offering to buy up large amounts of stocks at a premium over what others will pay. An Eastern European country recently upped the stakes by offering cash in advance. Some of the companies and individuals involved in this trade operate in the arms and defence industry, acting as intermediaries between manufacturers and militaries, others are new arrivals seeking to leverage contacts in China or elsewhere. 

Pandemic Refugees

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Thousands flee New Delhi as the 21-day lockdown effectively puts workers living off daily earnings out of work.  After Prime Minister Modi announced the lockdown, construction projects, taxi services, housekeeping and other informal sector employment came to a sudden halt.



India’s most vulnerable fear dying not of the COVID-19 virus but rather of starvation and are fleeing the capital to return to their home towns and villages.



 “Many migrant workers feel they have no choice but to walk home. They are walking along highways, along train tracks with no access to food, no access to basic sanitation,” said Al Jazeera’s Elizabeth Puranam.



Ram Bhajan Nisar, a painter, his wife and two children – aged five and six – were part of a group of 15 who set off by foot from New Delhi to Gorakhpur, a village in Uttar Pradesh state on the border with Nepal some 650km (400 miles) away.

“How can we eat if we don’t earn?” Nisar asked, adding that his family had enough to make it four or five days without work, but not the full three weeks of the stay-at-home order.

Regional governments were advised  to set up tented accommodation along highways for migrant workers and establish relief camps in cities.Authorities sent a fleet of buses to the outskirts of New Delhi on Saturday to meet an exodus of migrant workers desperately trying to reach their native villages. Delhi’s homeless shelters are overflowing with people and the state government has decided to convert public schools into shelters from Sunday.



The government of Uttar Pradesh, which borders New Delhi, sent a fleet of public and private buses with room for 52,000 people to a highway overpass area on the Delhi border where thousands were stranded

Poverty and COVID-19

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Millions of British people are already struggling to get the food they need and are falling into debt because of the coronavirus pandemic.



The Food Foundation said the outbreak would lead rapidly to a hunger crisis unless the government acted immediately to get food aid and money to the most vulnerable and isolated people.



 Anna Taylor, director of the Food Foundation, said, “Our poll results suggest people are already going hungry.”



More than 1.5 million adults in Britain say they cannot obtain enough food.



53% of NHS workers were worried about getting food.



Half of parents on low incomes with children eligible for free school meals said they had not yet received any substitute meals to keep their children fed, despite government promises to provide food vouchers or parcels. Around 830,000 children are therefore likely to be going without daily sustenance.



12% – representative of 6.1 million adults – said they were struggling to follow the government order to stay at home because they had to keep earning to survive.



On 21 March the government instructed people at greater risk of Covid-19 to stay in their homes and self-isolate for 12 weeks. It said it would contact 1.5 million people in this category and set up a system with local authorities, voluntary organisations and business to deliver food parcels to the homes of those who lacked family support.



Military planners have been assigned to work with councils, but the Guardian understands that the scheme is not yet running and will take a few weeks to scale up to supplying food to 400,000 people. The Food Foundation has calculated that more than twice that number – 860,000 people who fall into the medically vulnerable category – were suffering from food insecurity even before the crisis.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/mar/28/families-borrowing-buy-food-week-of-lockdown

The Rich Get Richer

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THE BAIL-OUTS Millions of people across the world have lost their job and businesses.



But not everyone has lost out. Jeff Bezos, the world’s wealthiest person, is $5.5bn (£4.3bn) richer today than he was at the start of the year. His paper fortune, held mostly in Amazon shares, rose by $3.9bn on Thursday alone to $120bn – enough to buy 188,000 standard gold bars (even taking into account the soaring price of gold).



Bezos benefited this week from the best three-day stock market rally since 1933 helping Amazon’s share price to recover almost all of its losses this month to trade at about $1,920, though that was slightly down on their peak of $2,170 in February.

Other US executives that have been either lucky or smart by selling large chunks of their shareholdings in February include Larry Fink, the chief executive of fund manager BlackRock, who saved potential losses of $9m.



  Lance Uggla, CEO of data firm IHS Markit, who sold $47m of shares on 19 February that would have dropped to $19m if he had held on to them.



 In total US executives sold about $9.2bn in shares of the companies they run in the five weeks before the start of the stock market rout. Selling before the 30% collapse in the market saved them from paper loses of $1.9bn.



 https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/mar/27/jeff-bezos-sold-34bn-of-amazon-stock-just-before-covid-19-collapse

There is Always Money for War

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The government has quietly drawn up proposals to lend other countries £1bn of public money so that they can buy British-made bombs and surveillance technology.



The plan was revealed in a single sentence slipped into this month’s budget. Unveiling a new £2bn lending facility for projects supporting clean growth, the government also announced the creation of “a new £1bn fund to support overseas buyers of UK defence and security goods and services”.  The fund will be overseen by UK Export Finance, which gives loans to help foreign countries, especially those with developing economies, buy British goods and services.



“Even in times of crisis, the government is showing that it will go to any length to sell as many weapons as possible,” said Andrew Smith of Campaign Against Arms Trade. “The arms deals being supported with this money could be used in enabling atrocities and abuses for years to come. Government should be regulating and controlling arms sales, not using public money and doing everything it can to promote them.”



In 2018, the latest figures available, the UK won arms contracts worth £14bn. Between 2008 and 2018 the UK was the second biggest arms exporter in the world, with 19% of the market share. Three-fifths of arms sales over the period went to the Middle East. £5.3bn of arms have been licensed to Saudi Arabia since the war in Yemen began. 



https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/28/revealed-1bn-of-taxpayers-cash-to-help-foreign-countries-buy-british-arms

Farmers need foreign workers

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Charter flights to bring in agricultural workers from eastern Europe are needed as a matter of urgency, otherwise fruit and vegetables will be left unpicked in Britain’s fields. Some large farms have already been chartering planes to bring in labour from eastern Europe. British growers have been contacting companies in the hospitality sector to recruit laid-off staff.
90,000 workers are needed, many in just a few weeks’ time. One leading supplier, Concordia, was looking to bring in around 10,000 labourers – half from the EU and the rest from Russia, Moldova, Ukraine, Belarus, Georgia and Barbados. But all of the non-EU countries are closed. In a big setback, Ukraine extended its lockdown from 2 April until 23 April.

Stephanie Maurel, Concordia’s chief executive, said: “Our recruitment outside the EU is stalled which leaves us with Lithuania, which has closed borders, Romania with no airplanes, and Bulgaria which is our little beacon.”



Nick Marston, the chairman of British Summer Fruits, said. “They may be people from eastern Europe who were working here in the hospitality sector, who are relatively young and don’t have that many ties and want a job paying reasonable pay in reasonable conditions.”

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/mar/28/fruit-and-veg-will-run-out-unless-britain-charters-planes-to-fly-in-farm-workers-from-eastern-europe

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