Bits ‘n’ Pieces: June 17, 2021

By Lorraine H. Marie
Reader Columnist

East, west or beyond, sooner or later events elsewhere may have a local impact. A recent sampling, much of it about fossil fuels:

Methane-filled livestock belches are equal to 850 coal plants burning year-round, but there’s a solution, according to Mother Jones. A new study published in PLoS One reported that one cup of a red seaweed used as an additive to livestock feed can reduce the methane releases by a higher-than-expected 82%.

Seattle is the first U.S. city with a 70% vaccination rate, according to Forbes.com.

The International Energy Agency has declared there should be no new fossil fuel exploration projects in order to meet net zero carbon emissions by 2050. The agency’s report called for quadrupling annual growth of solar and wind by the end of the decade.

Atmospheric carbon dioxide levels recently reached an all-time high, The Washington Post reported. To avoid catastrophic climate change, scientists told the Post that CO2 pollution must be reduced to zero at the earliest possible date.

Various media reported the Keystone XL pipeline project has been terminated by its Canadian owners after the U.S. permit was revoked. Objections to the crude oil pipeline that traveled through the U.S. interior included aquifer contamination, climate change, pipeline safety, eminent domain, and damage to Indigenous burial and archaeological sites. Those objecting: Native American tribes, farmers, ranchers and environmentalists. Since much of the pipeline work was completed, job losses are expected to be few. 

ExxonMobil recently took on three new directors who have a reputation for promoting a strong climate strategy while also creating wealth, according to The Guardian.

ProPublica reported last week on the ultra-rich frequently not paying any federal income taxes, according to evaluation of IRS records. When federal taxes were paid, the true tax rate was 3.4%, in contrast to 14% tax paid by most American households. ProPublica noted that in 1918 only 15% of American families owed any tax; the top 1% paid 80% of the revenue raised. ProPublica’s findings, which included how the rich currently accomplish their no- and low-pay tax feat, are expected to inform current congressional decisions about taxing the rich. The IRS opened an investigation into how access was gained to what appear to be leaked IRS documents.

Newly uncovered emails provided to Congress and reviewed by The New York Times show in his last weeks in office ex-President Donald Trump leaned on the Justice Department to investigate election conspiracy theories. One theory was that Italy remotely tampered with U.S. voting machines to switch votes from Trump to current-President Joe Biden. The emails came to light due to the Senate Judiciary Committee investigation of the possibility that the Justice Department aided efforts to reverse the presidential election outcome. The new information “underscores the depths of the White House’s efforts to co-opt the [Justice] Department and influence the electoral vote certification,” said Committee Chairperson Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill. 

House Intelligence Committee Democrats, select reporters and Trump’s former White House counsel were told recently they’d been under investigation during the Trump years for leaking classified information about the former president and Russia. The New York Times reported. The information came to light when Apple, which had been under a gag order, informed those under surveillance after the order ended. No evidence tied lawmakers to the leak. Several involved with the investigation regarded it as politically motivated. So far there is no evidence any Republican lawmakers on the House Committee were investigated, and Democratic leaders are calling the investigation a “weaponization” of law enforcement at the DOJ. Democrats are exploring ways to re-establish independence of the DOJ from the White House.

A 59-1 vote by state lawmakers in Oregon ejected Rep. Mike Nearman for helping a far-right crowd breach the state’s Capitol in December, according to The New York Times. Nearman’s was the “no” vote. Security cameras showed him letting the crowd, described as “violent,” inside the Capitol.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lost the election and will be replaced by Naftali Bennett.

Blast from the past: “You can’t do a kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson.