579 lines
67 KiB
HTML
579 lines
67 KiB
HTML
<!DOCTYPE html>
|
||
<html lang="" xml:lang="" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head>
|
||
<meta charset="utf-8"/>
|
||
<meta content="pandoc" name="generator"/>
|
||
<meta content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0, user-scalable=yes" name="viewport"/>
|
||
<title>27 March, 2022</title>
|
||
<style type="text/css">
|
||
code{white-space: pre-wrap;}
|
||
span.smallcaps{font-variant: small-caps;}
|
||
span.underline{text-decoration: underline;}
|
||
div.column{display: inline-block; vertical-align: top; width: 50%;}
|
||
</style>
|
||
<title>Daily-Dose</title><meta content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" name="viewport"/><link href="styles/simple.css" rel="stylesheet"/><link href="../styles/simple.css" rel="stylesheet"/><style>*{overflow-x:hidden;}</style><link href="https://unpkg.com/aos@2.3.1/dist/aos.css" rel="stylesheet"/><script src="https://unpkg.com/aos@2.3.1/dist/aos.js"></script></head>
|
||
<body>
|
||
<h1 data-aos="fade-down" id="daily-dose">Daily-Dose</h1>
|
||
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" data-aos-anchor-placement="top-bottom" id="contents">Contents</h1>
|
||
<ul>
|
||
<li><a href="#from-new-yorker">From New Yorker</a></li>
|
||
<li><a href="#from-vox">From Vox</a></li>
|
||
<li><a href="#from-the-hindu-sports">From The Hindu: Sports</a></li>
|
||
<li><a href="#from-the-hindu-national-news">From The Hindu: National News</a></li>
|
||
<li><a href="#from-bbc-europe">From BBC: Europe</a></li>
|
||
<li><a href="#from-ars-technica">From Ars Technica</a></li>
|
||
<li><a href="#from-jokes-subreddit">From Jokes Subreddit</a></li>
|
||
</ul>
|
||
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-new-yorker">From New Yorker</h1>
|
||
<ul>
|
||
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Complexities of the Ukraine Dilemma</strong> - The aid offered by the West may help, but it cannot relieve Volodymyr Zelensky of the terrible predicaments he must manage in the weeks ahead. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/03/28/the-complexities-of-the-ukraine-dilemma">link</a></p></li>
|
||
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Radio Ukraine</strong> - A visit to Kraina FM, Ukraine’s “radio station of national resistance.” Plus, how some Black workers feel about returning to the office. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/podcast/the-new-yorker-radio-hour/radio-ukraine">link</a></p></li>
|
||
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>In a World on Fire, Stop Burning Things</strong> - The truth is new and counterintuitive: we have the technology necessary to rapidly ditch fossil fuels. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/essay/in-a-world-on-fire-stop-burning-things">link</a></p></li>
|
||
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Beatle Who Got Away</strong> - Revisiting Stuart Sutcliffe’s role in the band’s breakthrough. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/culture/essay/the-beatle-who-got-away">link</a></p></li>
|
||
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Sunday Reading: The 2022 Academy Awards</strong> - A slate of pieces about some of this year’s nominated films and the artists behind them. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/books/double-take/sunday-reading-the-2022-academy-awards">link</a></p></li>
|
||
</ul>
|
||
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-vox">From Vox</h1>
|
||
<ul>
|
||
<li><strong>Teachers across the country are demanding better pay and support</strong> -
|
||
<figure>
|
||
<img alt="Teachers on strike rally while wearing face masks and holding signs." src="https://cdn.vox-
|
||
cdn.com/thumbor/A5ng5QRui3FYQSZVh__blJtbI8M=/0x0:4800x3600/1310x983/cdn.vox-
|
||
cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/70676060/1385208086.0.jpg"/>
|
||
<figcaption>
|
||
Minneapolis teachers on strike rally at the Minnesota state capitol for lawmakers to put some of the state’s projected $9.3 billion budget surplus toward education funding, a living wage, and safer schools. | Michael Siluk/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
|
||
</figcaption>
|
||
</figure>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
Underfunded schools aren’t because of a shortage of government money, unions say.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="wZ7oXS">
|
||
After weeks-long walkout, a <a href="https://www.mprnews.org/story/2022/03/25/tentative-
|
||
agreement-reached-to-end-minneapolis-educators-strike">major teachers’ strike</a> in Minneapolis has ended — at least for now — with a deal between the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers (MFT) and the Minneapolis school district.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="yq7I3X">
|
||
As the Minneapolis strike ends, however, another is starting: Public school teachers and support staff in <a href="https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/education/article259781710.html#storylink=cpy">Sacramento</a> began their own walk-out on Wednesday, which has shuttered schools for 40,000 students across the K-12 district. Other teacher strikes in Sonoma County, California, and Illinois also took place earlier this year as part of a wave of protest against underfunded classrooms, low wages, and Covid-19 protocols.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="HicsvU">
|
||
Much of the fighting between educators and district officials have been squarely rooted in the issue of funding. Teachers and school support staff, like those who’ve been striking in Minneapolis, are demanding better salaries, mental health support, and safer in-school pandemic protocols. In response, district officials tend to argue they don’t have enough money to make those kinds of investments.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="IBVBwp">
|
||
Some educators and advocates say those statements are just an excuse.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="lLM6da">
|
||
“We’ve been talking about this for years. This is not new,” said Becky Pringle, president of the National Education Association, the country’s largest teacher’s union. “And here’s the reality. When you consistently underfund our public schools, it compounds.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="fWmI9Y">
|
||
According to Pringle, the underfunding of the country’s schools became even more profound in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic. As with other school districts across the country, Minneapolis has struggled with school reopenings during the pandemic, with educators bearing the brunt in class as they encounter a lack of support from school administrators with implementing Covid-19 health protocols and providing mental health support for both staff and students.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="VkDoo8">
|
||
“I think if you ask anyone, it has been the hardest two years in education that anyone has experienced,” said Sara Anderson, a teacher at Whittier International Elementary School who has been on strike in Minneapolis.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<figure class="e-image">
|
||
<img alt="School teachers holding
|
||
placards walk in line." src="https://cdn.vox-
|
||
cdn.com/thumbor/T1W1sGIjsVz16R50YHqypSKa11M=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-
|
||
cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23347535/1239026312.jpg"/> <cite>Kerem Yucel/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images</cite>
|
||
<figcaption>
|
||
Minneapolis school teachers hold placards during the strike in front of the Justice Page Middle school in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on March 8, 2022.
|
||
</figcaption>
|
||
</figure>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="4GKgg4">
|
||
To help schools revitalize and rebuild, the federal government allotted $122 billion to school districts across the country as part of the American Rescue Plan. But a lack of collaboration and transparency at the local district level in how these funds were being distributed and invested has kept schools and teachers struggling, prompting strikes by educators.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="9K32Ch">
|
||
Still, these teachers’ strikes are more than a symptom of the country’s growing labor movement <a href="https://fortune.com/2022/02/24/the-us-labor-movement-is-growing-and-corporations-are-not-embracing-
|
||
unions/">spawned</a> from the inequities wrought by the pandemic. They may be a sign of a education system in dire need, and educators across the US are raising their voices to be heard.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<h3 id="yFrxMJ">
|
||
The Minneapolis teachers’ strike is over, for now
|
||
</h3>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Xz665c">
|
||
On Friday, after 14 days of school closures, the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers announced it had <a href="https://www.mprnews.org/story/2022/03/25/tentative-agreement-reached-to-end-
|
||
minneapolis-educators-strike">reached a deal</a> with the school district which could reopen schools as Monday and see classes resume for the district’s more than 30,000 students on Tuesday.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="DI06Jr">
|
||
The strike — the first in more than 50 years in Minneapolis — is among the longest recent labor actions by teachers in a major city, including the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/31/us/chicago-cps-teachers-strike.html">Chicago teachers’ strike</a> that made headlines in 2019.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="uKTKN7">
|
||
The tentative agreement announced Friday covers the district’s teachers and education support professionals, or ESPs, which includes support staff like guidance counselors and school nurses.
|
||
</p></li>
|
||
</ul>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="CSFXJI">
|
||
“We sat at the table with these folks for hundreds of hours to hammer out this deal and we are very pleased with the outcomes of what we’ve seen,” Shaun Laden, president of the education support professionals chapter of the union, said at a <a href="https://twitter.com/MFT59/status/1507419521640202240">press conference</a> following the announcement of the agreement.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="tQzDYr">
|
||
<a href="https://twitter.com/MFT59/status/1507575886899466251">Provisions</a> in the union’s tentative deal for ESPs include increased work hours and workdays, and increased pay rates of $2 to $4 per hour — bringing the annual salary for many ESPs closer to the union’s original ask of $35,000 per year as a starting salary. The agreement also secured seniority and placement rights for associate educators, who are largely people of color, according to Laden.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="P2PwMZ">
|
||
Beyond that, the new agreement provides more mental health support for students and outlines a return-to- work agreement, which would replace the 14 missed school days during the strike by extending school days starting next month.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="0WBXVy">
|
||
However, how things will play out in Minneapolis remains uncertain. According to Anderson, significant parts of the tentative agreements have not been well received.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="lKpqNB">
|
||
“The contract is not at all what we hoped for,” Anderson said, referring to both the return-to-work terms and the union agreement.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="NuOgwM">
|
||
“I do believe this is the best our negotiation team could get. I do think they worked very hard, and I am happy the ESPs got closer to what they deserve. It was just silly to think we wouldn’t be punished for our action,” Anderson added, calling the return-to-work deal “punitive.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<div id="2BScYD">
|
||
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" dir="ltr" lang="en">
|
||
Tentative Agreement voting now open at MFT. We are EXTENDING VOTING HOURS until 9:30 p.m. tonight, Saturday, March 26! <a href="https://t.co/cInG5PtPsK">pic.twitter.com/cInG5PtPsK</a>
|
||
</p>
|
||
— MFT 59 (<span class="citation" data-cites="MFT59">@MFT59</span>) <a href="https://twitter.com/MFT59/status/1507802943180972034?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 26, 2022</a>
|
||
</blockquote>
|
||
</div>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="HAlvCo">
|
||
Anderson said many of her colleagues hadn’t expected the strike to go on for as long as it did, nor had they expected the cavalier attitude they saw from school district officials once the strike had commenced, which only prolonged the strike.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="5T1HXh">
|
||
“They actually refused to come to the negotiating table, I think four or five out of the 13 days, 14 days that we’ve been out,” she recalled. Anderson plans to discuss the agreement terms with her colleagues before making her decision on the union vote.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="RZw0o0">
|
||
Minneapolis union members will vote on the tentative agreements through the weekend. If a simple majority is not reached to accept the deals, the teachers’ strike will likely resume.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<h3 id="S0IFsK">
|
||
Covid-19 exposed a broken education system in the US
|
||
</h3>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="qEyiyK">
|
||
The Minneapolis teachers’ strike isn’t the only walkout by educators this year. California and Illinois have both seen similar protests, including a January walkout by the Chicago Teachers Union over <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/10/us/chicago-schools-reopen-covid.html">Covid-19 protocols in classrooms</a>.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="BB9WsV">
|
||
As educators striking in Minneapolis vote on the tentative agreements reached this weekend, school teachers in Sacramento are just getting started on negotiations with district officials. On Saturday, after four days of strikes, district officials <a href="https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/sacramento/district-agrees-meeting-seiu-
|
||
officials/103-9af39de1-2416-4674-bba5-01e3b11c3ed5">agreed</a> to meet with the teacher’s union.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="oThPxl">
|
||
According to Pringle, the issues raised in the Sacramento strike are similar to those that were pushed by educators in Minneapolis.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="AIZogU">
|
||
“The school district has the resources to address the concerns and issues that educators have raised around the same kinds of things,” Pringle said. “We hope certainly that the [Sacramento] district will bargain in good faith and see what the teachers and other educators are asking for are things that we have been talking about for years that our students need.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="4iLE5L">
|
||
Sacramento also has a particularly acute problem with labor shortages. “On some days, at some schools, it’s hard to even run the schools because there are so few adults on campus,” David Fisher, the president of the Sacramento City Teachers Association, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/25/us/minneapolis-teachers-strike.html">told the New York Times on Friday</a>.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="35Ntme">
|
||
These overlapping teachers’ strikes follow a surge of teacher activism in 2018 and 2019, which resulted in a number of walkouts around the country as part of the <a href="https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/02/red-for-ed-
|
||
continues-where-teachers-are-set-to-strike-next.html">Red for Ed movement</a>.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Qdtumc">
|
||
They also reflect a wider trend of growing labor movement activism that has gripped the country and spans various professions, from teachers and <a href="https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/03/24/business/nurses-beth-israel-lahey-health-sites-take-step-closer-
|
||
strike/">health care professionals</a> to <a href="https://www.vice.com/en/article/88gb5p/amazon-warehouse-workers-
|
||
stage-coordinated-strikes-demanding-dollar3-raises">factory workers</a> and <a href="https://www.kshb.com/news/local-
|
||
news/overland-park-starbucks-workers-go-on-strike-saturday">retail employees</a>.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="moGkuS">
|
||
But an increasingly disenchanted workforce, particularly among educators, could spell disaster for the country’s public education system in the long run. A February <a href="https://www.nea.org/advocating-for-change/new-from-nea/survey-
|
||
alarming-number-educators-may-soon-leave-profession">survey</a> by the NEA found 55 percent of responding members are considering leaving the teaching profession earlier than they had planned, representing an increase from 37 percent of educators saying the same thing in August.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="XdG7xv">
|
||
Moreover, a disproportionate percentage of Black (62 percent) and Hispanic or Latino (59 percent) educators — groups already underrepresented in the teaching sector — were considering early exits, according to the NEA survey.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="IggxSG">
|
||
According to union leadership, however, Friday’s Minneapolis teachers deal shows it’s possible for school districts to prioritize their staff.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="rPOPmo">
|
||
“What we’ve said all along is that we don’t have a budget crisis, we have a values and priorities crisis,” Laden said in his Friday press conference. “I think what our members have proven is that is the case.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Ac6mbU">
|
||
Pringle agrees. She points to historic funding from the American Rescue Plan for the country’s schools, which has been distributed to all 50 states, as well as the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="nNmuiH">
|
||
“It was a historic investment, and then we ran into roadblocks as it was being distributed and being implemented,” Pringle said of the federal funding boost. “It’s unacceptable that we were able to at least fight and get that money, and then we’re having these conversations at district levels about ‘oh, we can’t spend it to hire more mental health professionals.’ … Our kids need that [support] now.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="h3Vr6i">
|
||
A lack of funding, Pringle said, “is not an excuse that we are willing to tolerate.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<ul>
|
||
<li><strong>Europe can lead the way through an energy crisis without more fossil fuels</strong> -
|
||
<figure>
|
||
<img alt="Long lines of solar panels follow the curve of a hillside, with snowcapped mountains in the
|
||
distance." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/_aYa3wQPHOwLuhitWc05Vauuoqg=/310x0:5259x3712/1310x983/cdn.vox-
|
||
cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/70675495/GettyImages_1137858759.0.jpg"/>
|
||
<figcaption>
|
||
Europe can increase capacity for solar and wind by fast-tracking renewable permitting, but a lot of its energy progress will come from cutting demand. | Gerard Julien/AFP via Getty Images
|
||
</figcaption>
|
||
</figure>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
Europe’s plans to get more gas from the US is at odds with its climate commitments.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="356UJz">
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ueSz94">
|
||
In five years, European countries hope to <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/11/energy/europe-russia-energy-end-date/index.html">end dependence</a> on Russian fossil fuels, and by the end of the year, they look to slash reliance on Russian gas by two- thirds. If Europe follows through on these pledges, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine could propel one of the swiftest energy transitions in history.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ppnCdV">
|
||
The biggest question now is whether it’s a transition off oil and gas — or just off Russian<em> </em>oil and gas.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="mFxm9D">
|
||
Right now, it seems fossil fuels are winning. Oil companies in the United States <a href="https://www.vox.com/22959903/russia-ukraine-oil-gas-price-europe-us-exports-climate-
|
||
change">are eager</a> for Europe to swap one fossil fuel for another and build out more infrastructure on both sides of the Atlantic to carry oil and gas to Europe. And despite their climate pledges, world leaders have shown early support for <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us/biden-will-announce-joint-action-reducing-european-reliance-russia-oil-
|
||
gas-white-2022-03-22/">ramping up fossil fuel infrastructure</a>.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="QeIV5w">
|
||
On Friday, during President Joe Biden’s trip to Europe for meetings of the G7 and NATO, the US announced a new joint agreement with Europe that promises <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2022/03/25/remarks-by-president-biden-and-european-
|
||
commission-president-ursula-von-der-leyen-in-joint-press-statement/">15 billion cubic meters</a> in new shipments of liquified natural gas (LNG) this year. That will be on top of the shipments already going to Europe, and will replace about a <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/business-60871601">quarter</a> of the gas imported from Russia.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="NromJG">
|
||
But the United States is not in the driver’s seat. European countries are the ones that face the real choice between building new fossil fuel infrastructure or speeding up their timeline on clean energy investments. And they could hasten their transition off of fossil fuels by prioritizing climate-friendly solutions, like incentivizing energy efficiency, installing heat pumps, and speeding up renewable permitting. Two new reports from independent think tanks this week outline a viable path that <a href="https://www.e3g.org/publications/eu-can-stop-russian-gas-imports-
|
||
by-2025/">doesn’t replace</a> Russian oil and gas <a href="https://www.agora-energiewende.de/en/press/news-
|
||
archive/investments-in-energy-efficiency-and-renewables-to-deliver-energy-sovereignty-for-europe-by-2027-1/">with other fossil fuels</a>.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="cfYrs4">
|
||
One month into Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the European Union’s messaging has been a mixed bag. Earlier this month, the executive branch for the European Union, the European Commission, included new LNG terminals and pipelines to import other countries’ fossil fuels in its options for meeting energy demand. Even so, it reaffirmed its commitment to slashing greenhouse gas pollution 55 percent over 1990 levels in just eight years.
|
||
</p></li>
|
||
</ul>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ILWW9S">
|
||
It would be decidedly short-term thinking to fast-track LNG terminals in Europe. United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has called it “madness” to ignore the need to reduce fossil fuel reliance when it has become abundantly clear the world needs to stop building new infrastructure. “<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/03/24/ukraines-top-climate-scientist-on-russias-war-and-life-in-kyiv.html">Addiction to fossil fuels</a> is mutually assured destruction,” he said on March 21. “Countries could become so consumed by the immediate fossil fuel supply gap that they neglect or knee-cap policies to cut fossil fuel use.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="USjdYV">
|
||
The European Union is second only to the United States in having the largest impact on climate change since the Industrial Revolution, and the next few weeks can reshape global energy politics permanently. It’s far from a given,<strong> </strong>though. EU members now have a choice: They can boost oil and gas from elsewhere, or they can undertake the most ambitious transition to renewables and energy efficiency in history.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<h3 id="0C6v49">
|
||
There’s a real chance Europe chooses fossil fuels
|
||
</h3>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ADcUhv">
|
||
Energy prices may have been steadily climbing in the last year, but for now there aren’t immediate gas shortages in Europe. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/25/business/energy-
|
||
environment/biden-eu-liquefied-natural-gas-deal-russia.html">Next winter will be the true test</a> of whether Europe can survive without Russian gas because that’s when heating for buildings drives up gas demand. No country is in for more of a roller coaster than Germany, which relies on Russia for more than half of its gas imports, followed by Italy.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="fPDW75">
|
||
The European Commission released an initial plan, dubbed RePowerEU, on how to get through the immediate crisis. One of the first steps the European Commission advised was to increase storage of gas ahead of next winter to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/25/business/european-union-gas-russia.html">80 percent of capacity</a>. The EU’s looking to other countries to stock up on that gas.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="xRkDxS">
|
||
But the EU needs infrastructure to process and transport all this gas, and the existing infrastructure isn’t going to cut it. According to the German newspaper <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/does-germany-really-need-lng-
|
||
terminals/a-61005220#:~:text=Across%20the%20continent%2C%20there%20are,Belgium%2C%20France%20and%20the%20Netherlands.">Deutsche Welle</a>, there are 37 LNG terminals in EU member states, and none in Germany. Countries like Germany are planning new terminals, but those already in the works won’t be completed for several years. One proposed LNG terminal in northwestern German cities wouldn’t be built until 2026, and would meet up to 10 percent of the country’s gas demand. Now there are talks of two new terminals planned in Germany in response to Russia’s war with Ukraine, a sign that countries are increasing their investments in fossil fuels in response to this crisis.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="cmJBea">
|
||
This is hardly an energy revolution. Europe’s energy supply would still look largely the same in response to the crisis; it would just come from other parts of the world, at a higher cost.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="MQKpH4">
|
||
Defenders of the plan to boost LNG imports to Europe say it is the only way to make up the gap left by Russian gas. As one White House senior administration official <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/press-briefings/2022/03/25/background-press-
|
||
call-on-the-u-s-and-the-european-commissions-task-force-to-reduce-europes-dependence-on-russian-fossil-fuels/">said</a> in a press call Friday, the LNG deal is needed “in the very near term to avoid people getting cold this winter and next winter before clean energy is deployed at scale.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="8JplXr">
|
||
That approach has its critics. “The necessary measures to permanently reduce fossil gas consumption go hand in hand with what’s needed to meet the EU’s climate targets,” Matthias Buck, director of the German think tank Agora Energiewende, said. “The EU now needs to make sure that RePowerEU accelerates energy efficiency and renewables expansion to achieve energy sovereignty by 2027.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="JlLHIS">
|
||
Natural Resources Defense Council’s international program director Jake Schmidt argues building new infrastructure for fossil fuels would be foolish. “There’s a lot of skepticism about whether or not Germany can actually build the import facilities as fast as they’re claiming,” Schmidt said. “The gas facilities will come online at a time where they won’t need that gas. And so you’re looking at a 30-year investment facility that has five to 10 years of life, max. That’s not great economics.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<h3 id="WWrqWS">
|
||
Europe can get through this crisis without latching on to more fossil fuels. Seriously.
|
||
</h3>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="XqNDKf">
|
||
Two reports out this week from European think tanks argue that almost all of Europe’s gas needs can be met with energy efficiency and exploring underutilized clean energy options. It would require the EU to make a concerted effort to slash energy consumption. One report from <a href="https://www.agora-
|
||
energiewende.de/en/press/news-archive/investments-in-energy-efficiency-and-renewables-to-deliver-energy-sovereignty-for-
|
||
europe-by-2027-1/">Agora Energiewende</a>, which advocates for Germany’s clean energy transition, suggests it’s possible to cut the EU’s overall gas usage by 32 percent by 2027.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="gKnPzj">
|
||
A second <a href="https://www.e3g.org/publications/eu-can-stop-russian-gas-imports-by-2025/">report</a> from environmental NGOs Bellona, Ember, E3G, and Regulatory Assistance Project concludes that combining a clean energy expansion with accelerated energy efficiency efforts would replace about two-thirds of the demand for Russian gas as soon as 2025.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="vEXnyb">
|
||
Importantly, the report argues that “security of supply and reduction of Russian gas dependence do not require the construction of new EU gas import infrastructure such as LNG terminals.” The NGOs argue this can even be done without extending the life of nuclear power or increasing coal use in the next few years.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="MIm371">
|
||
Some reforms that the report suggests require more accountability and oversight for the oil and gas industry, namely by doing more to <a href="https://www.vox.com/2022/2/17/22933671/climate-change-methane-emissions-satellites-permian-
|
||
basin">prevent methane leaks</a> throughout their operations, since that is wasted fuel could be conserved and used. Other solutions are fairly simple but do require collective action. These are relatively small changes to behavior, like consumers reducing their heating by a degree or two, installing smart thermostats, sealing drafty windows, and installing LED bulbs.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Z5ekQr">
|
||
These measures sound small, but add up to a lot, according to <a href="https://static.agora-energiewende.de/fileadmin/Projekte/2021/2021_07_EU_GEXIT/253_Regaining-Europes-Energy-
|
||
Sovereignty_WEB.pdf">Agora Energiewende</a>.<strong> </strong>For example, the report says energy efficiency and replacing gas boilers in buildings that run on fossil fuels could slash reliance on gas by more than a third by 2027, by 480 terawatt hours. <a href="https://www.vox.com/videos/2021/9/24/22691392/heat-pumps-cooling-air-conditioner-
|
||
heating">Heat pumps </a>— a technology that can be used to heat or cool buildings — are one of the modern alternatives to the inefficient gas boiler.<strong> </strong>Industrial operations could also stand to become more efficient, so some similar energy-saving measures could net even greater gains.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="v0I2Xq">
|
||
Added up, the report claims that of the 3,800 terawatt hours of gas that the EU consumed in 2020, about a third could be displaced in five years. <strong> </strong>
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="o1O4jv">
|
||
Then there are the policy levers. Governments can fast-track permitting for proposed clean energy projects offshore and on land. Meanwhile, the European Commission has already announced a plan to double the rate of heat pump installations by this winter. There are other policies in the works that can ensure the EU is less reliant on fossil fuels. France, for example, announced it will <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/france-ends-gas-
|
||
heaters-subsidies-boosts-heat-pumps-bid-cut-russia-reliance-2022-03-16/">end subsidies</a> for new gas heaters, and ramp up subsidies instead for heat pumps.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="fylDpV">
|
||
Beyond energy efficiency, there are other policies that work to speed up a transition to clean energy. The European Union is considering a proposed regulation that places a fee on imports from countries with lagging climate policies, constituting the world’s first carbon border tax. The idea behind the tax is to discourage companies from relocating to countries with more lax climate policies.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="FdiGbE">
|
||
The common thread of many of these solutions is that there needs to be more emphasis on energy efficiency. Leadership on many of these measures won’t come from the United States. The US has yet to pass any comprehensive law to tackle climate change, and Biden’s hopes for clean energy investments have stalled in Congress. The US won’t lead, but Europe still can.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<ul>
|
||
<li><strong>Animal welfare in wartime</strong> -
|
||
<figure>
|
||
<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-
|
||
cdn.com/thumbor/w4BT9o4JKV8e4G2AXv2F1LF4A0E=/108x0:1812x1278/1310x983/cdn.vox-
|
||
cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/70674826/WAM22221.0.jpg"/>
|
||
<figcaption>
|
||
Ukrainian refugee Anastasia sits with her dog after fleeing Kyiv and crossing the border in Medyka, Poland. | Milos Bicanski/We Animals Media
|
||
</figcaption>
|
||
</figure>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
The Russian invasion of Ukraine has demonstrated our deep connection to other species — and the need to better protect them in conflict and disaster.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="A77aT8">
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="yq8OX2">
|
||
Since Russia began its invasion of Ukraine one month ago, at least <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/03/24/russia-troops-
|
||
casualties-nato-ukraine/">977 Ukrainian civilians</a> have been killed and at least <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-60555472">3.6 million</a> have fled to other countries, though the true numbers could be far higher. But the war has also upended life for Ukraine’s animals.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="mjyj89">
|
||
By one estimate, Ukraine was home to some <a href="https://www.petfoodindustry.com/articles/4496-ukraine-petfood-market-young-but-
|
||
growing">750,000 dogs and 5.5 million cats</a> as of 2014. In the desperate rush to flee war, many of those animals were left behind by their owners, especially larger dogs.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="aI2hNU">
|
||
“We cannot judge because we don’t know how people feel when there is a real risk that you can be killed,” Olga Chevganiuk of UAnimals, a Ukrainian animal welfare organization, told me. (She is currently working in Indonesia, where she was staying when the war broke out.)
|
||
</p></li>
|
||
</ul>
|
||
<figure class="e-image">
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-
|
||
cdn.com/thumbor/lvx2mQotdt4ssmaLaeTbmz-U1lU=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-
|
||
cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23345880/WAM22272.jpg"/> <cite>Andrew Skowron/We Animals Media</cite></p>
|
||
<figcaption>
|
||
A Ukrainian boy and his dog sit on a cot that has been set up in a makeshift refugee shelter at the Katowice train station in Poland. The family is resting here before continuing their journey.
|
||
</figcaption>
|
||
</figure>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="V5520L">
|
||
Animal welfare groups like UAnimals, as well as activists around Ukraine who have stayed amid the chaos of war, are working around the clock to rescue stray animals and keep shelters running. That devotion can come with a cost: An animal shelter in Kharkiv was <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/russias-war-is-hell-on-the-pets-of-ukraine-and-
|
||
their-rescuers">bombed</a>, and <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ukraine-pets-shelter-poland-border-stranded-
|
||
war/">three animal rescue volunteers</a> were killed in fighting earlier this month while attempting to deliver dog food.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="iedlit">
|
||
Chevganiuk says UAnimals is focused on providing feed and other supplies to animal shelters and street animals, as well as evacuating animals to safety in neighboring Poland.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="2UhvKI">
|
||
“The most horrible part is when you’re not able to reach a place and you know animals are suffering there,” she said. “It’s not possible to reach all the areas, or it’s pretty difficult because of the danger, so you have to find real brave people who will agree to go near these areas in danger.” The organization is also operating a support hotline, fielding questions around animal rescue and connecting fellow Ukrainians to resources for animal care.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="PkOqxJ">
|
||
Zoos are also under threat. The Feldman Ecopark zoo in Kharkiv was <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/03/06/ukraine-kyiv-
|
||
russia-zoo/">damaged</a> amid fighting and there are reports that animals at Park XII Months zoo, north of Kyiv, have begun to <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/kyiv-petting-zoo-ukraine-war-b2039501.html">die from starvation and cold</a>. Animals in zoos already <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/11/opinion/zoos-animal-
|
||
cruelty.html">suffer psychological stress</a> from captivity; the disruption and chaos of war only exacerbates it.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<figure class="e-image">
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-
|
||
cdn.com/thumbor/tHZsQI0L5YpwBcRmeNm8RSqVH84=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-
|
||
cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23346251/GettyImages_1239430629.jpg"/> <cite>AFP via Getty Images</cite></p>
|
||
<figcaption>
|
||
Elephants at the Mykolaiv zoo in southern Ukraine on March 22, 2022.
|
||
</figcaption>
|
||
</figure>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="23EUsL">
|
||
Farmed animals are victims of war too. According to the Netherlands-based trade publication <a href="https://www.poultryworld.net/the-industrymarkets/market-trends-analysis-the-industrymarkets-2/russia-destroys-
|
||
ukraines-poultry-
|
||
industry/?utm_source=Maileon&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=PW_REG_2022-03-21&utm_content=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.poultryworld.net%2Fthe-
|
||
industrymarkets%2Fmarket-trends-analysis-the-industrymarkets-2%2Frussia-destroys-ukraines-poultry-
|
||
industry%2F&mlnt=5twwBboDsKya9AsGlyJ_SoaL2BgcL_mu1trhNTKe53QxKxfsevHrJQ&mlnm=kI9VGokCRKE&mlnl=P8yBLxLcWrM&mlnc=TtcevdblNCc&mlnch=plo9kBotZSAlY-6ZOdDieA&mlnmsg=oWukXyuWnNkFuDG3TbBJ7g">Poultry World</a>, Avangard — the largest egg producer in Ukraine — says several of its farms have been shut down and destroyed due to Russian aggression. One farm had to suspend production due to loss of power, and most of its flock had to be slaughtered due to lack of feed.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="iCt8Dy">
|
||
MHP, the country’s largest chicken meat producer, suffered losses of $8 million when Russian shelling hit a large frozen food warehouse in the Kyiv region. According to international humanitarian law, intentional attacks on civilian infrastructure in armed conflict zones, like farms, could be considered <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/russian-attacks-on-syrian-water-stations-and-farms-deliberate/a-60747405">war crimes</a>.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="qQDfDM">
|
||
The situation for animals in Ukraine is disturbing, though sadly unsurprising. For most of human history, animals were not just indirectly harmed by war but were drafted into war efforts, whether as transport or to carry a knight or later a cavalry fighter onto the battlefield — where they were <a href="https://militaryhistoryblog.wordpress.com/2013/04/02/they-shoot-horses-dont-they/">often targets themselves</a>.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<figure class="e-image">
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/f0oolLjl-
|
||
lNSEeTyAtgClTLGgrw=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23345871/WAM22277.jpg"/></p>
|
||
<cite>Andrew Skowron/We Animals Media</cite>
|
||
<figcaption>
|
||
Cats accompanying war refugees from Ukraine rest at the train station in Katowice.
|
||
</figcaption>
|
||
</figure>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="OtiRvY">
|
||
Technological advances in warfare have largely rendered animal labor unnecessary. But with animals now woven into our economy and our daily lives — whether as beloved pets in the home, entertainment in circuses and zoos, or as food in industrial farms — they have become victims of war alongside the humans that keep them for companionship or profit.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="wKfYnI">
|
||
The valiant efforts by Ukrainians who’ve stayed behind in a war zone to save animals is perhaps the best demonstration of humanity’s deep connection to other species, but it has also underscored the dearth of animal welfare protections, whether humans are at war or not. As the legal status of animals slowly improves, however, their legal status in armed conflict might too — that is, if animal welfare and environmental advocates can include them in international humanitarian law and national disaster planning.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<h3 id="rImAf4">
|
||
A brief history of animals’ role in war
|
||
</h3>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Q219lJ">
|
||
Before war became highly mechanized and technological, <a href="https://ceobs.org/how-animals-are-harmed-by-armed-conflicts-and-military-
|
||
activities/">animals were enlisted</a> to shoulder much of the burden of war alongside human soldiers. Larger mammals like horses, donkeys, oxen, and elephants were used to transport soldiers and supplies, fighters charged into battle on horseback, and carrier pigeons reliably delivered messages when telegraph and telephone lines were cut off.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="CtZGN2">
|
||
Pigeons were so critical to Britain’s efforts in World War I that shooting them was <a href="https://blogs.mhs.ox.ac.uk/innovatingincombat/files/2013/03/IoC-carrier-pigeons.pdf">criminalized under the Defence of the Realm Act</a> in 1914 since any pigeon may have been carrying a critical message. Horses were still used by some armies during that war in the midst of machine guns and chemical weapons, as the play and 2011 film <em>War Horse</em> <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1568911/?ref_=ttqt_qt_tt">demonstrated</a>. “Mercy dogs” were used to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/nov/07/animal-victims-first-world-war">comfort dying British soldiers</a> and donkeys were used to console soldiers suffering from PTSD.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="e9neoZ">
|
||
Animals are still employed in war today, though in much smaller numbers. Dogs are trained to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/meet-the-war-dogs-saving-lives-on-the-front-lines-2020-5">sniff out bombs</a> and rats are trained to <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/watch-these-giant-rats-sniff-out-
|
||
landmines-180956899/">detect landmines</a>, while <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/navy-sea-lions-dolphins-find-
|
||
mines/story?id=13693585">dolphins and sea lions</a> are trained to protect harbors from sea mines. Pigs, monkeys, mice, and guinea pigs, among other species, have been used in grisly weapons testing, such as <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/the-truth-about-porton-down">biological and chemical agents</a> and explosives tests.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="QxweXq">
|
||
As is the case with <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2021.765261/full">human beings</a>, animals in wartime are now mostly harmed indirectly, as we’ve seen in Ukraine: Pets are abandoned by fleeing owners, zoos are put under siege, livestock are left to starve or are seemingly targeted to damage a country’s food supply, and wild animals are inadvertently killed from shelling.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="5oALLw">
|
||
A paper <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nature25194">published in <em>Nature</em></a> found that from 1946 to 2010, “conflict frequency predicts the occurrence and severity of population declines among wild large herbivores in African protected areas” and that conflict frequency was the most important predictor of wildlife population trends among the variables researchers studied. This is caused, in part, by the <a href="https://ceobs.org/conflicts-and-conservation-
|
||
the-promise-and-perils-of-protected-zones/">poaching and wildlife trafficking</a> that can increase during conflict.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="GJ8RJu">
|
||
In the midst of war, animal protection is often ignored by everyone involved, from policymakers to generals to civilians. But some organizations and conflict scholars have ideas, and even some plans in motion, to incorporate animal welfare into war and other emergency situations.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<h3 id="cdV3Vm">
|
||
How to protect animals in war
|
||
</h3>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Lm3AV0">
|
||
According to <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/american-journal-of-international-
|
||
law/article/protection-of-animals-during-warfare/DA9EA3AF4F252F1DC0ECAFD8016B6406#fn6">research</a> by Jerome de Hemptinne, an expert on international humanitarian law (IHL), animals are largely excluded from wartime treaties like the Geneva and Hague conventions. There are some exceptions, such as multilateral pacts that <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/transnational-environmental-law/article/global-animal-law-what-it-is-and-
|
||
why-we-need-it/DE1520873B97DC23B93C39497C6839EB">protect endangered species</a>, but even as the legal status of animals has <a href="https://www.humanesociety.org/sites/default/files/archive/assets/pdfs/hsp/soa_ii_chap07.pdf">evolved in recent decades</a>, incorporating animal protections into IHL remains challenging.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="NdhCA1">
|
||
Beyond protecting civilians themselves, IHL in general protects “civilian objects,” such as schools, homes, and places of worship, but it’s unclear whether a civilian object must be an inanimate object to merit protection, <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/american-journal-of-international-law/article/protection-of-animals-
|
||
during-warfare/DA9EA3AF4F252F1DC0ECAFD8016B6406">Hemptinne writes</a>. If so, it would by definition exclude animals. But IHL conventions wouldn’t place animals in the protected category of “civilian,” either. As they do so <a href="https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2022/3/9/22967328/animal-cruelty-laws-state-federal-exemptions-pennsylvania-
|
||
martin-farms-dairy-calves-dehorning">often in peacetime</a>, animals in wartime exist in a legal gray zone.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Lrummu">
|
||
But in his 2017 paper “<a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/american-journal-of-international-
|
||
law/article/protection-of-animals-during-warfare/DA9EA3AF4F252F1DC0ECAFD8016B6406">The Protection of Animals During Warfare</a>,” Hemptinne details some paths forward for animal protection in warfare.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="By1kZ0">
|
||
First, in 1977, additional protocols were added to the Geneva Conventions that grant protection to demilitarized zones between belligerents. “The protection of areas of high global species diversity could be enhanced if belligerents were to agree to formally classifying them as ‘demilitarized zones,’” Hemptinne wrote.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="VVg0Ii">
|
||
Second, Article 53 of Geneva Convention IV <a href="https://ihl-
|
||
databases.icrc.org/applic/ihl/ihl.nsf/ART/380-600060?OpenDocument">prohibits</a> the occupying power from destroying private and public property unless it’s absolutely necessary for military operations. “This provision could provide minimum protection to certain animals when considered to be items of private or public property,” Hemptinne added.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="sVM8fn">
|
||
There are also broader efforts underway to protect animals in emergency situations, like wars, as well as natural disasters. “Animals need to be included in the consideration when we speak about humanitarian aid,” Jackson Zee, director of global affairs and disaster resilience for the animal welfare organization Four Paws, told me.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ehSyv7">
|
||
To that aim, Four Paws collaborated with European Union member states to include animal welfare in the <a href="https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/c94e146a-4aee-11e9-a8ed-01aa75ed71a1/language-en/format-
|
||
PDF">EU Civil Protection Mechanism</a>, a framework created to improve disaster preparedness and response in the region. The animal welfare language is largely symbolic, but Zee said it’s a first step. His organization is now using it to lobby EU member states to include animals in their national disaster planning and set aside resources to operationalize animal protection in disaster response.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="4XuP5f">
|
||
Four Paws has taken a similar approach with the United Nations. In 2018, the organization helped to secure animal welfare language at an <a href="https://www.preventionweb.net/files/57664_romedeclaration2018.pdf">EU/UN summit</a> on disaster risk reduction.<br/>
|
||
“It was mostly in spirit because there was no monetary tag to it,” Zee says. “We will be pushing that forward so that it’s adopted on a national basis across every country [in the EU]. Currently, Italy is the only country that’s adopted that fully.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="g4X7ma">
|
||
These policy efforts are only at the beginning of a long, uncertain slog, and even if animal protections were adopted into the laws of war, enforcing those rules in conflict would be as difficult, if not more so, than enforcing the laws meant to protect the tens of thousands of humans who <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2021.765261/full">die in war each year</a>. For now, Zee and many of his colleagues are focused on Ukraine, as Four Paws has staff on the ground aiding in rescue efforts and watching over animals at the organization’s <a href="https://www.fourpawsusa.org/campaigns-topics/sanctuaries/bear-
|
||
sanctuary-domazhyr">bear sanctuary in Domazhyr</a>.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<figure class="e-image">
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/34SRNJ4gGBdoDtU9NxUpmkMXbCY=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-
|
||
cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23345846/WAM17242.jpg"/> <cite>Thomas Machowicz/We Animals Media</cite></p>
|
||
<figcaption>
|
||
A brown bear at the White Rock Bear Shelter in the Kyiv region of Ukraine.
|
||
</figcaption>
|
||
</figure>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="8Oq8kC">
|
||
Zee also has his eye on the future. “The effort will last a long time,” he told me. “This is only the beginning … so the efforts that we do now need to continue to be facilitated months from now, and eventually, hopefully for the recovery.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="6stwQR">
|
||
The Russian invasion of Ukraine has exposed, as have so many past wars, the critical roles animals play in human life. When we’re separated from our pets, we’ll go to great lengths to find them because the companionship they provide can be just as meaningful, and sometimes more so, than that provided by fellow humans. When conflict kills wildlife, it also harms ecosystems that humans rely on. When farms are destroyed, so too are sources of food and people’s livelihoods.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="xkAJYA">
|
||
Animal welfare and human prosperity are often pitted against one another, as though well-being were a zero-sum game. But human health and animal health, in wartime and peacetime, are inextricably linked.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="aFZDZO">
|
||
<em>A version of this story was initially published in the </em>Future Perfect<em> newsletter. </em><a href="https://confirmsubscription.com/h/d/A2BA26698741513A"><em><strong>Sign up here to subscribe!</strong></em></a>
|
||
</p>
|
||
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-the-hindu-sports">From The Hindu: Sports</h1>
|
||
<ul>
|
||
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>I've not really thought about my future: Mithali on retirement call</strong> - “Honestly, right now I don't have any emotions. I'm just trying to get a hang of how the match has gone through,” Mithali Raj said</p></li>
|
||
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Swiss Open badminton | Sindhu clinches title; wins second singles title in 2022</strong> - Sindhu had won the Syed Modi International Super 300 in Lucknow in January this year.</p></li>
|
||
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>ICC Women’s World Cup | England crushes Bangladesh by 100 runs to book semifinal berth</strong> - England have now won four matches on the trot</p></li>
|
||
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Indian Premier League 2022: DC vs MI | Ishan Kishan’s brisk knock takes Mumbai to competitive total</strong> - For Delhi Capitals, Kuldeep Yadav picked up three wickets for 18 runs</p></li>
|
||
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Gujarat Titans, Lucknow Super Giants aim for winning start on IPL debut</strong> - Gujarat Titans captain Hardik Pandya and Lucknow Super Giants captain K.L. Rahul will have their work cut out for them when their teams, armed with hard-hitting all-rounders, make their IPL debut</p></li>
|
||
</ul>
|
||
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-the-hindu-national-news">From The Hindu: National News</h1>
|
||
<ul>
|
||
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Tirunelveli Reader’s Mail</strong> -</p></li>
|
||
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Bhadradri Prachara Ratham to hog limelight during Srirama Navami fete</strong> - Srirama Navami festival to be celebrated on April 10</p></li>
|
||
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Palaniswami dubs Stalin’s Dubai trip a family tour</strong> - ‘It is not meant to attract investment to Tamil Nadu’</p></li>
|
||
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Flight operations resume in Puducherry</strong> - T.N. government should consider providing land to expand airport: Lt. Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan</p></li>
|
||
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Parliament panel seeks views of Govt, EC on Regional Commissioners for 2024 Lok Sabha polls</strong> -</p></li>
|
||
</ul>
|
||
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-bbc-europe">From BBC: Europe</h1>
|
||
<ul>
|
||
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Ukraine: No Russia regime change plans, says Blinken</strong> - The US secretary of state spoke after President Biden said Vladimir Putin should not remain in power.</p></li>
|
||
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Simon Coveney: Man and woman arrested over Coveney security alert</strong> - The Irish foreign affairs minister had to leave a peace-building talk in north Belfast on Friday.</p></li>
|
||
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Ukraine defence: Red lights and painted arrows fuel fear of Russian agents</strong> - Fear of Russian saboteurs operating in Ukraine has soared, but is it based on intelligence and arrests?</p></li>
|
||
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Malmo stabbing prompts soul-searching in Sweden</strong> - A string of violent attacks in Sweden’s schools has a country not used to such tragedies looking for answers.</p></li>
|
||
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Marble Ass: The pioneering LGBT film made during the Balkans war</strong> - The pioneering LGBT film made during the Balkans conflict</p></li>
|
||
</ul>
|
||
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-ars-technica">From Ars Technica</h1>
|
||
<ul>
|
||
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Leica’s new camera puts skill back into focus</strong> - Technology has all but removed human ability from the process of taking a picture. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1843684">link</a></p></li>
|
||
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Feds allege destructive Russian hackers targeted US oil refineries</strong> - Unsealed indictments: Hackers targeted US energy infrastructure for nearly a decade. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1843669">link</a></p></li>
|
||
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The weekend’s best deals: New Apple iPad Air, tons of PC games, and more</strong> - Dealmaster also includes AirPods, LG OLED TVs, and the latest <em>Kirby</em> game. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1843672">link</a></p></li>
|
||
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Secret to keeping ice cream creamy (not crunchy) might be plant-based nanocrystals</strong> - New research could also help preserve other frozen foods, donated organs, and tissues. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1842492">link</a></p></li>
|
||
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>FCC puts Kaspersky on security threat list, says it poses “unacceptable risk“</strong> - Moscow-based firm joins Huawei and ZTE on the same US security threat list. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1843772">link</a></p></li>
|
||
</ul>
|
||
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-jokes-subreddit">From Jokes Subreddit</h1>
|
||
<ul>
|
||
<li><strong>A man boarded an airplane and took his seat. As he settled in, he glanced up and saw the most beautiful woman boarding the plane. He soon realized She was heading straight towards his seat. As fate would have it, she took the seat right beside his:</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
|
||
<div class="md">
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
Eager to strike up a conversation he blurted out. “Business trip or pleasure?”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
She turned, smiled and said. “Business. I’m going to the Annual Nymphomaniacs of America Convention in Boston.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
He swallowed hard. Here was the most gorgeous woman he had ever seen Sitting next to him and she was going to a meeting of nymphomaniacs!
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
Struggling to maintain his composure, he calmly asked. “What’s your Business at this convention?”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
“Lecturer.” She responded. “I use information that I have learned from my Personal experiences to debunk some of the popular myths about sexuality.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
“Really?” He said. “And what kind of myths are there?”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
“Well.” She explained. “One popular myth is that African-American men are The most well-endowed of all men, when in fact it is the Native American Indian who is most likely to possess that trait. Another popular myth is That Frenchmen are the best lovers, when actually it is men of Mexican Descent who are the best. I have also discovered that the lover with Absolutely the best stamina is the Southern Redneck.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
Suddenly the woman became a little uncomfortable and blushed.. “I’m Sorry.” She said, “I shouldn’t really be discussing all of this with you. I don’t even know your name.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
“Tonto.” The man said. “Tonto Gonzales, but my friends call me Bubba.” ………..
|
||
</p>
|
||
</div>
|
||
<!-- SC_ON -->
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Informal-Talk9487"> /u/Informal-Talk9487 </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/tpgwaj/a_man_boarded_an_airplane_and_took_his_seat_as_he/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/tpgwaj/a_man_boarded_an_airplane_and_took_his_seat_as_he/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
||
<li><strong>Remember when Putin said he didn’t have any plans to invade Ukraine?</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
|
||
<div class="md">
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
I’m starting to think he was telling the truth.
|
||
</p>
|
||
</div>
|
||
<!-- SC_ON -->
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/ClimateChangeC"> /u/ClimateChangeC </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/tp9ycn/remember_when_putin_said_he_didnt_have_any_plans/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/tp9ycn/remember_when_putin_said_he_didnt_have_any_plans/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
||
<li><strong>Why the head on a man’s penis is larger than the shaft?</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
|
||
<div class="md">
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
Several years ago, Great Britain funded a study to determine why the head on a man’s penis is larger than the shaft.<br/> The study took two years and cost over 1.2 million pounds. The study concluded that the reason the head of a man’s penis is larger than the shaft is to provide the man with more pleasure during sex.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
After the results were published, France decided to conduct their own study on the same subject. They were convinced that the results of the British study were incorrect.<br/> After three years of research at a cost of in excess of 2 million Euros, the French researchers concluded that the head of a man’s penis is larger than the shaft to provide the woman with more pleasure during sex.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
When the results of the French study were released, Australia decided to conduct their own study.<br/> The Aussies didn’t really trust British or French studies.<br/> So, after nearly three hours of intensive research and a cost of right around 75 dollars (three cases of beer), the Aussie study was complete.<br/> They concluded that the reason the head on a man’s penis is larger than the shaft is to prevent your hand from flying off and hitting you in the forehead.
|
||
</p>
|
||
</div>
|
||
<!-- SC_ON -->
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/CyberSecPwner"> /u/CyberSecPwner </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/tp73uv/why_the_head_on_a_mans_penis_is_larger_than_the/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/tp73uv/why_the_head_on_a_mans_penis_is_larger_than_the/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
||
<li><strong>My wife left a note on the fridge that said, “It’s not working. I can’t take it any more. I’m going to my mom’s.” Confused and extremely worried, I slowly opened the fridge door. The light came on, the beer was cold.</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
|
||
<div class="md">
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
What the hell did she mean?
|
||
</p>
|
||
</div>
|
||
<!-- SC_ON -->
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/808gecko808"> /u/808gecko808 </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/tpgz6c/my_wife_left_a_note_on_the_fridge_that_said_its/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/tpgz6c/my_wife_left_a_note_on_the_fridge_that_said_its/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
||
<li><strong>A man had three beautiful girlfriends but didn’t know which one to marry. As a test, he decided to give each woman $5,000 to see how they would spend it.</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
|
||
<div class="md">
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
The first girlfriend went out and got herself a complete makeover, She told him, “I spent the money so I could look pretty for you because I love you so much.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
The second went shopping and bought the man new golf clubs, an iPad and an 80-inch flatscreen television. She said,"I bought these gifts for you because I love you so much.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
The third woman took the $5,000 and invested it in the stock market, doubled her investment, returned $5,000 to the man and reinvested the rest. She said,"I am investing the rest of the money for our future because I love you so much,
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
The man thought long and hard about how each of his girlfriends had spent the money, and then he decided to marry the one with the biggest tits.
|
||
</p>
|
||
</div>
|
||
<!-- SC_ON -->
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Revolutionary-Pay130"> /u/Revolutionary-Pay130 </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/tosqok/a_man_had_three_beautiful_girlfriends_but_didnt/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/tosqok/a_man_had_three_beautiful_girlfriends_but_didnt/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
||
</ul>
|
||
|
||
|
||
<script>AOS.init();</script></body></html> |