An informative but not comforting article--recent studies from Spain showing that a) the transition to "green" energy will be much more problematic than most expect, b) the possibility for a future for humanity will require an end to "growth", and c) what is required cannot be accomplished under capitalism.
The country's finance minister said that looming changes are bound to make the tax code "more progressive, efficient, fair, and also enough to guarantee social justice and economic efficiency."
Spain's leftist coalition government on Thursday announced a series of downwardly redistributive fiscal reforms—including a temporary "solidarity" tax on the nation's 23,000 wealthiest residents—that lawmakers hope will ease the cost-of-living crisis hurting millions of working people.
As the likely new premier, David Eby will have a golden opportunity to curb the influence of insiders. Here’s why he probably won’t.
When David Eby takes over as the leader of the BC NDP and becomes premier later this year, as he almost certainly will, one item he likely won’t be revisiting is lobbyist registration.
Webpage Editor: Apart from the concerns mentioned in the article I wonder about the energy that would be necessary to operate these systems and their large scale and the high cost of the technology. And what about their vulnerability to extreme environmental conditions?
"People's misery makes capitalists' superprofit," said one critic as commodity traders make a killing off worldwide food and energy chaos.
Russia's war on Ukraine has wreaked havoc on global commodity markets, driving up energy and food prices and exacerbating hunger emergencies around the world.
"We're in a market where speculators are driving prices up."
"A big concern in climate circles is that the ripple effect of converting food crops to fuel makes it hard to calculate the true greenhouse gas emissions of biofuels. Increased demand for food crops for fuel can cause deforestation in other parts of the world, which, in turn, creates more emissions, John Reilly, former co-director of the MIT Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change, told Canada’s National Observer."
The federal government is developing Clean Energy Regulations (CER) to help move the electrical grid to net-zero emissions. The regulations, among other measures, will encourage adding more renewable energy to the grid, which will eventually replace coal and natural gas electricity generation in Canada.
On Wednesday, July 27th, 2022, representatives of unions and social movements met in Johannesburg to discuss the country’s energy crisis. The representatives agreed to form a united front to resist privatisation of the power sector and to propose alternative ways to address both the immediate crisis and the longer-term challenges posed by the decarbonisation of South Africa’s energy system. What follows is a work-in-progress statement that captures the discussion and conclusions reached at the end of the meeting.
France vs. Inflation--Pension Hikes, Rent Caps, Renationalize Hydro
Aug. 4, 2022
Cost of living measures include pension rises, a cap on rent increases and a civil service pay rise
French lawmakers are to definitively adopt a range of new measures to help struggling households cope with rising energy and food prices, as well as an updated budget that will pay for France to renationalise the electricity company EDF.
