Nothing I am about to write should be read as diminishing in any way my sympathy for Salman Rushdie, or my outrage at the appalling attack on him. Those who more than 30 years ago put a fatwa on his head after he wrote the novel, “The Satanic Verses,” made this assault possible. They deserve contempt. I wish him a speedy recovery.
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.
Nationwide alert issued with south-west especially badly hit, as major companies forced to suspend work
A record-breaking drought has caused some rivers in China – including parts of the Yangtze – to dry up, affecting hydropower, halting shipping, and forcing major companies to suspend operations.
The Inflation Reduction Act is being hailed by the mainstream climate movement, Congress members, and the media as the most important climate bill in U.S. history. That's a pretty low bar, and it says more about our government's long record of failure on climate than it does about whether this law can prevent dangerous temperature increases in coming decades.
In many regards, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 is a story of contradictions. Narrowly passed over unanimous Republican opposition in the Senate last week, the bill is expected to pass the House of Representatives soon. The IRA bill devotes $369 billion to accelerate the transition to green energy, making it by far the biggest climate change legislation in US history. But the price of West Virginia senator Joe Manchin’s support was the inclusion of measures intended to boost fossil fuel production.
