Monday, January 8, 2024

News roundup, 8 Jan 2024

- The Biden administration plans to add new restrictions on logging in old-growth forests. Such a move is sorely needed in this country; a huge amount of damage has been done to the boreal forest in Ontario and Quebec in recent decades.

- The water crisis in the American southwest is being exacerbated by corporate farms that are exporting water-intensive crops such as alfalfa. In 2022, exports of alfalfa from Arizona consumed as much water as 241,500 residents.

- The Great Lakes are seeing far less ice than usual for this time of year. The total ice cover as of 1 January was less than 1% of the lakes' surface, compared to the 50 year average of 9.45%. Lake Erie and Lake Ontario have no ice at all.

- The fossil fuel industry in the US is playing the freedom card to ensure that they're able to keep misleading the masses about climate change. They argue that their messaging constitutes First Amendment-protected "political speech" - even as they ruthlessly fight people's right to protest their operations.

- The City of Winnipeg has projected a deficit of $7.1 million for 2023. Causes include higher-than-expected costs for snow clearing, road construction and street cleaning, as well as other factors; this may lend support to the concerns raised by Coun. Russ Wyatt about budget cuts, unless council can agree on a tax increase.

- A total of 14 MPs, 10 of them Liberals, have announced that they will not be running again in the next election. This is not a surprise given the Liberals' poor standing in the polls.

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