Climate Conundrums, Venezuela Takes Guyana, & Ganges River Clean-Up
December 4, 2023
COPius Talks At COP28
Over the weekend, over 100 countries met at the COP28 climate summit in Dubai, one of the oil-richest nations in the world, to discuss what humanity is going to do about global warming – a problem brought about in no small part by burning massive amounts of oil.
At the summit, the U.S., now the world’s biggest oil and gas producer (and also the second-biggest greenhouse gas emitter) touted its progress in fighting climate change. Vice President Kamala Harris lauded how “the United States has turned ambition into action.” She then went on to talk about the U.S.’s billions of dollars in green energy subsidies, leadership in green energy investment, and a new $3 billion pledge to the Green Climate Pledge, a global fund that helps developing countries deal with climate change.
Aside from the usual diplomatic preening, a large group of governments made multiple commitments to transition away from fossil fuel usage in order to fight global warming. 118 countries signed a pledge to triple our planet’s renewable energy by 2030, and over 20 countries signed a more binding agreement to triple their nuclear power capacity by 2050. “We are not making the argument that this is absolutely going to be the sweeping alternative to every other energy source,” said U.S. climate envoy John Kerry about the pivot to nuclear during the summit. ”But … you can’t get to net-zero 2050 without some nuclear, just as you can’t get there without some use of carbon capture, utilization, and storage.”
Other highlights of the conference include efforts by the U.S. and other countries to reduce methane emissions (which are more effective at heating the Earth than carbon). Over a hundred countries, including the U.S., have also backed a phase-out of unabated fossil fuel use, though countries including Saudi Arabia, Russia, and China oppose the move.
Want To Know More?
- How food and agriculture contribute to climate change (Reuters)
- Nelson Mandela’s granddaughter slams “climate apartheid” by rich nations (BBC)
- As host of UN COP28 climate talks, the autocratic UAE is now allowing in critics it once kept out (AP)
- Cop28 president says there is ‘no science’ behind demands for phase-out of fossil fuels (Guardian)
- Pope urges world religions to unite against environmental devastation (Reuters)
Some Good News
- It’s Kennedy Center Honors time for Queen Latifah, Billy Crystal and Dionne Warwick (AP)
- Brazil launches $204 million drive to restore Amazon rainforest (Reuters)
I See It, I Like It, I Want It, I Got It
- On Sunday, Venezuelans approved a referendum claiming sovereignty over an oil-rich area of neighboring Guyana. The referendum, put before the people by the government of President Nicolás Maduro, claims the land was stolen from Venezuela a century ago when the border between the two South American countries was drawn by the U.S., Britain, and Russia.
- Venezuela’s move to take over the Essequibo region of Guyana, which makes up two-thirds of the country and is very rich in minerals, runs directly opposite decisions by a decision by the U.N.’s International Court of Justice. On Friday, the court ordered Venezuela not to take action in the area, but didn’t officially block the government from holding the referendum.
- The government says the measure was approved by a majority of the 10.5 million Venezuelans who cast ballots on Sunday, though observers say that the number of voters they saw on the streets didn’t indicate such a large turnout – when 2.4 million people allegedly voted in the last presidential primaries, voting lines filled the streets and lasted for hours. Guyana has said it will use diplomacy as its first line of defense, but neighboring Brazil has begun building up troops in its territory bordering the disputed region. We’ll all find out if saying, “Hey, that’s mine now,” works on the world stage.
All Good Things Must Come To An End
- On Friday, the temporary ceasefire between Israel and Hamas came to an end when Hamas refused to hand over five female hostages to Israel. Israel used the end of the hostage exchange as a sign to commence its bombing campaign in Gaza once more, while Hamas claimed that its failure to release more hostages was because Israel requested the group release five female IDF soldiers. Hamas said it had offered to send Israel two other detainees and the bodies of three members of an Israeli family that the militant group says were killed by IDF air strikes.
- Over the weekend, Israel also began using a new grid system for targeted evacuation warnings in southern Gaza. The system divides the area into over 600 tiny territories – when the IDF plans to bomb a zone, it says it will post a warning for that area onto its online map to warn residents to flee. Unfortunately, electricity and cell service are not consistently available to Palestinians in Gaza, meaning residents might not be able to access the map in time to escape the airstrikes. Aid workers say the system has turned the area, which is full of refugees fleeing northern Gaza, into a “macabre game of Battleships.”
Additional World News
- One dead, two injured in Paris knife and hammer attack near Eiffel Tower (CNN)
- More than 700 flights cancelled as Munich sees heavy snowfall (CNN)
- Heavy snow in northern England causes havoc on highways and knocks out power (ABC)
- ‘Justice being served’: ex-soldier’s extradition signals hope for reckoning of Pinochet-era crimes (Guardian)
- Strong earthquake that sparked a tsunami warning leaves 1 dead amid widespread panic in Philippines (AP)
- Philippines accuses China of swarming reef in South China Sea (BBC)
- Police raid Moscow gay bars after a Supreme Court ruling labeled LGBTQ+ movement ‘extremist’ (NBC)
Middle East Reads
- US and Israeli officials react to blockbuster report that Israel knew Hamas was planning attack (ABC)
- What the resumption of Israel-Hamas fighting means for Palestinians in Israeli jails (NPR)
- An Israeli raced to confront Palestinian attackers. He was then killed by an Israeli soldier (AP)
- Dozens attend protest in Tel Aviv against Israeli bombardment of Gaza (Guardian)
- After visiting Israel and Ramallah, the ICC prosecutor says he will intensify investigations (AP)
- I’ve lost confidence in Lloyd Austin, Lindsey Graham says (Politico)
“We are all here on earth to help others; what on earth the others are here for I don’t know.” – W.H. Auden
The Impeach Boys
- Amid seemingly-countless other issues that lawmakers could be focusing on, Speaker Mike Johnson told Fox News that he believes Republicans have the votes to launch a formal impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden. “I suspect no Democrats will assist in this effort,” he added, “but they should.”
- Despite Johnson’s confidence, not all his fellow Republicans are on board. Florida Governor (and, for now, GOP presidential candidate) Ron DeSantis said on Sunday he thinks the probe is “justifiable.” He cautioned, however, that his fellow party members “run the risk of doing an inquiry that doesn’t necessarily lead anywhere while they’ve been ignoring a lot of the problems that our voters are talking about.”
Maritime Melees
- The U.S. military said that Yemen’s Houthi rebels fired at – and struck – three commercial ships Sunday in the Red Sea. The U.S. also shot down three drones during the attack, which the military says is part of a ramp-up in maritime violence linked to the war in the Middle East.
- The U.S. vowed to “consider all appropriate responses” in the wake of the attack, calling it “a direct threat to international commerce and maritime security” that has “jeopardized the lives of international crews representing multiple countries around the world.” They also called out Iran for having a hand in the attacks.
Additional USA Reads
- Suspect in custody in killings of 3 homeless men in Los Angeles (NBC)
- DeSantis reaches Iowa campaign milestone as Trump turns his focus to Biden (CBS)
- Palestinian student shot in Vermont paralyzed from the chest down from lodged bullet, mother says (CNN)
- Trump calls on supporters to ‘guard the vote’ in Democratic-run US cities (Reuters)
- Strong atmospheric rivers are expected to wallop the Northwest with heavy rain and snow (CNN)
- George Santos’ expulsion is just the latest act in a tumultuous year for the House (NBC)
- Purdue Pharma bankruptcy plan that shields Sackler family faces Supreme Court review (CBS)
Cry Me A Much Cleaner River
- The Ganges River in India supplies water to over 600 million people, and every inch of the waterway is sacred to the Hindu religion – so holy, in fact that many Hindus drink or bathe in its waters. Unfortunately, the Ganges is also one of the most polluted major rivers on our planet, playing host to tons of industrial waste, agricultural runoff, and too much human waste to quantify.
- India’s government has, of course, taken a variety of different measures to clean up the holy river. Between 2014 (when Prime Minister Narendra Modi came into power) and 2019, the government has provided Indians with 110 million toilets, providing sanitation services to over half a billion people nationwide. At the same time, the government has rolled out the Namami Gange (“Obeisance to the Ganges”), spending $3.77 billion to clean up the river by setting up over 170 new sanitation plants and 5,211 kilometers of sewage lines nationwide.
- However, experts say that all that government spending isn’t making much of a dent in the Ganges’ grime. The river is still filled with islands of plastic waste, and parts of the Ganges contain over 20 times the government-recommended limits for fecal coliform and fecal streptococci bacteria. New treatment plants advertised to process over 140 million liters per day are actually only able to handle 60 million liters. Modi’s government has ignored most of these failures, and appears to be ignoring the issues ahead of the 2024 presidential elections.
Additional Reads
- Pope says he’s doing better but skips his window appearance facing St. Peter’s Square (ABC)
- SpaceX launches South Korea’s first spy satellite (CNN)
- The Plan to Save California’s Catalina Island? Shoot the Deer. (NYT, $)
- What happens when nature and cities collide (CNN)
- ‘Medical Freedom’ Activists Take Aim at New Target: Childhood Vaccine Mandates (NYT, $)
- Police charge director of Miss Nicaragua pageant with running ‘beauty queen coup’ plot (NBC)
- Italian officials secure 12th Century leaning tower in Bologna to prevent collapse (ABC)