Category: In the media

The First Dormant Black Hole Discovered Outside Of The Milky Way

New research based on observations from the Very Large Telescope of the European Southern Observatory (ESO) has found an elusive type of black hole for the first time in a nearby galaxy.

Massive stars that die and produce dormant stellar-mass black holes are particularly difficult to find since they barely interact with their surroundings. This is due to the fact that dormant black holes, in contrast to most black holes, don’t release a lot of X-ray radiation.

This kind of black hole has not yet been “unambiguously discovered beyond our galaxy,” despite being thought to be a reasonably common cosmic phenomenon, according to the team of US and European experts who worked on the study.

The recently discovered black hole, known as VFTS 243, is at least nine times as massive as our sun and is one of two black holes that make up a binary system. It circles a bright, blue star that is 25 times as massive as our sun.

Given how prevalent scientists think dormant black holes to be, it is astounding that we scarcely know of any, according to research co-author Pablo Marchant, an astronomer at KU Leuven, a university in Belgium.

On Monday, the study was released in the scholarly journal Nature Astronomy.

Process of Elimination

The astronomers examined 1,000 enormous stars (each weighing at least eight times the mass of the sun) in the Tarantula Nebula region of the Large Magellanic Cloud, a galaxy close to the Milky Way, to locate the black hole, which cannot be directly viewed.

According to coauthor Tomer Shenar, who was working at KU Leuven in Belgium when the project started and is currently a Marie-Curie Fellow at Amsterdam University in the Netherlands, the discovery was made through an exclusion procedure.

The stars that were a part of binary systems, or stars orbiting a cosmic companion, were first recognized by the astronomers. The companion was not observable in binary systems, so they turned their attention to those. Careful examination ultimately revealed that VFTS 243 was a hibernating black hole, he added via email.

“What we observe here is a star moving around something ‘invisible’ that we cannot see in the data frequently (every 10 days or so),” Shenar said. This star has a mass that is roughly 25 times that of our Sun.

“According to the study, this other “object” must be at least nine times as huge as our Sun. What may weigh nine solar masses and not emit any light? This is the key component of the analysis. We are left with only one option: a black hole (or a large, invisible alien).”

There may be others, but Shenar stated, “Only for this one could we prove the presence of a black hole unambiguously.”
The Fibre Large Array Multi Element Spectrograph (FLAMES) instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope used six years of observations to discover the black hole. Astronomers may view more than a hundred objects simultaneously with FLAMES.

Black Holes Police

According to a news release, several of the study’s 40 authors are referred to as the “black hole police” in astronomy circles since they have disproved numerous earlier black hole discoveries.

According to the paper, more than ten black hole binary system findings made in the last two years have been called into question. They were certain, though, that their finding was not a “false alarm.”

We took every step possible to eliminate any other possibilities because we are aware of the difficulties, according to Shenar.

The study group claimed that they welcomed critique of their most recent findings.

Tomer Shenar stated, “In science, you’re never wrong unless someone shows you right, and I cannot know that this would never happen — I just know that none of us can identify a problem in the study.

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Flights Halted Due to Extreme UK Weather: Runways Melt As Temperatures Soar Past 38 C In Some Areas of England

Flights were halted on Monday at one of the biggest airports in the UK because a runway was damaged by the high temperatures. In certain areas of the nation, temperatures climbed to as high as 37 degrees Celsius (or 99 degrees Fahrenheit).

When the airport reopened on Monday evening, London Luton Airport tweeted about the incident and provided an update.
The airport posted on Twitter that “high surface temperatures forced a tiny section to lift,” necessitating an “important runway repair.”

Just after six o’clock, full activities were resumed in London.

After a report from Sky News stated that the runway had “melted,” the Royal Air Force (RAF) halted all flights to and from Brize Norton, its largest air base, in Oxfordshire. Luton Airport then made its announcement shortly after that.

On Monday afternoon, the UK Ministry of Defense published a message regarding flights at Brize Norton.

“The RAF’s top priority during this period of severe warmth is flight safety, so aircraft are utilizing alternative airfields in accordance with a long-established protocol. This indicates that RAF operations are unaffected “The declaration read.

Due to the heat, passengers are not encouraged to travel on Monday or Tuesday, unless they are making “necessary journeys,” according to Network Rail and Transport for London (TfL). To safeguard railway rails, train speed restrictions have also been implemented.

With temperatures expected to hit 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) in some areas of the nation on Monday and Tuesday, the UK’s Met Office issued its first-ever “red” warning for excessive heat on Friday.

The closure of Luton Airport is the most recent event in a stressful summer for travel in the UK, which has seen tens of thousands of flights canceled, lengthy security lines, and innumerable claims of missing or delayed baggage.

In an effort to manage the high demand and staffing shortages, Heathrow Airport this week urged airlines to halt selling tickets for travel this summer and established a 100,000 per day passenger cap until September 11.

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How The Papers Covered The UK’s Scorching Heat: ‘Earth Sends A Warning’

The most prominent image on Tuesday’s top pages, as the heatwave brought the climate catastrophe into sharper relief, is of a sentry from the Queen’s Guard being offered a drink of water outside Buckingham Palace.

The guardsman wearing his bearskin hat and seeking much-needed relief from the heat, which on Monday reached a high of 38.1C nationally in Santon Downham, Suffolk, and reached 37.4C in west London, is featured on all but a few of the front pages.

There are numerous cautions on the top pages due to the possibility of a hotter day on Tuesday.

  • With a prominent photograph of the sentry from the Irish Guards on the front, THE TELEGRAPH declares: “Record highs, traffic havoc, schools close… and it’s going to get hotter.” The record-breaking heat has confirmed Prince Charles’ claims about the “emergency” of climate change, according to a second piece on the front.

 

  • The Met Office heatmap of Britain and the heading “Earth sends a warning” make for an eye-catching front page of THE I

 

  • THE SUN published a close-up photo of an Irish guardsman wearing the fabled headgear who appeared to be perspiring. The main headline reads, “Britain is melting,” with the subheads, “Record 41C ‘to hit today'” and “Runways KO’d by sun.”

 

  • Johnson is accused of “checking out” as Britain swelters in blistering heat, according to THE GUARDIAN, which has a collage of several photographs from throughout the nation.

 

  • The subhead “Hottest day today with more to come” appears beneath the headline “Record baker” in THE MIRROR above a photo of beachgoers in sunny North Tyneside.

 

  • After Liz Truss narrowed the gap with Penny Mordaunt on the most recent leadership ballot, THE TIMES declares that the “Tory race has been blown wide open.” A meteorological report with the headline “Crazy heat slows trains and melts runways” is also included.

 

  • THE DAILY MAIL also Takes the Lead in The Tory Contest, Reporting that “Mordaunt’s No. 10 Bid Strikes Barriers.” Page’s Heading, “sunny Day Snowflake Britain Had a Meltdown,” Features a Photo of A Guardsman and Directs the Reader to Internal Reporting that Seems to Slant in The Skeptic Direction.

 

  • THE DAILY EXPRESS Uses the Same Headline, Cleverly Referencing the Weather: “can Truss Dial-up The Heat to Beat Rishi in The Run-Off?”

 

  • With Temperatures Expected to Reach 41 C in Certain Areas on Tuesday, THE METRO Advises the nation to “get Ready For… the Hottest Day Ever.”

 

  • The Guardsman Is Featured in THE FINANCIAL TIMES‘ Front-Page Image Story with The Heading “Drop guard: Britain ready for more heat.” The headline reads, “Arm’s London IPO plan on hold as Johnson’s fall spurs chaos,” and it concerns the Cambridge-based tech company Arm.

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UK Pledges On Deforestation May Be Threatened By Post-Brexit Trade Deals

Conflicts over trade policy may be putting the UK government’s efforts to stop deforestation abroad in jeopardy, the Guardian has found.

The administration is engaged in a verbal battle over commerce and deforestation, and environmental activists have warned that a planned policy may seriously harm attempts to end illicit logging.

The international trade secretary, Anne-Marie Trevelyan, is rumoured to favour lowering tariffs on products like palm oil from Malaysia, a nation where deforestation is a major concern. The easing would be a component of a larger government initiative to pursue trade agreements with developing nations in the wake of Brexit.

By removing general trade tariffs, the UK hopes to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), which also includes Malaysia. The former trade secretary Liz Truss, who is vying for the Tory leadership, started the negotiations.

The UK’s parallel efforts to stop unlawful deforestation abroad, one of the cornerstones of the agreement that ministers negotiated at the UN Cop26 climate summit in Glasgow last year, would be undermined by the removal of tariffs without any environmental conditions.

“This proposal to slash tariffs on Malaysian palm oil without any conditions regarding the devastating deforestation those imports are known to cause is utter madness,” said Sam Lawson, the director of the UK advocacy group Earthsight, who has spent years researching deforestation for palm oil in Malaysia. This government is ignoring the cost-of-living issue in favour of exploiting it as a pretext to abandon its own climate targets in an uncaring attempt to seal another trade deal.

The UK’s Environment Act, which was approved last year, stipulates that businesses must use caution when importing products, like palm oil, from other nations where deforestation is rampant. The precise form that this due diligence will take in practice is currently being discussed by the Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs.

Without adequate due diligence safeguards, loosening import regulations for Malaysia might allow nations engaged in deforestation hope of evading any of the penalties outlined in the Environment Act, effectively nullifying the government’s environmental commitments. According to activists, nations like Indonesia and Brazil would probably push for comparable agreements.

The environment minister and House of Lords member Zac Goldsmith questioned Trevelyan’s views in a letter that was aggressively worded and obtained by The Guardian. He referenced studies that showed trade liberalisation in Malaysia, as the Department for International Trade (DIT) is considering, would only help the UK’s economy by around £1.38 million.

The fundamental essence of our Cop26 discourse on the value of trees would be reversed if we went for full liberalisation, he wrote. We cannot continue to lead efforts at the international level to sever the relationship between commodities and deforestation if our own trade policy promotes it.

He continued, “It is evident that this isn’t an authentic ‘cost of living’ decision; it is a values decision,” in the letter dated June 28. And I’m having trouble understanding who we’re attempting to reach with these abhorrent ideas. Or how are we going to argue for this completely untenable position, say in Lib Dem target districts?”

DIT stated that it was unable to comment on ongoing negotiations. We are steadfastly dedicated to upholding our nation’s high standards of environmental protection in trade agreements, and the CPTPP includes environmental safeguards to support these goals, a spokesperson told the Guardian.

The UK is moving forward with measures under the Environment Act to make it illegal for businesses to use key commodities if they have not been produced in accordance with local laws protecting forests and other natural ecosystems. The UK has brought together over 25 major trading nations to agree on action to protect forests through the forest, agriculture, and commodity trade dialogue.

In many countries in south-east Asia, the extraction of palm oil—which is extensively used in everything from bread to cosmetics—is a major contributor to deforestation. There hasn’t been much success with efforts to promote palm oil production that is more environmentally friendly.

According to Lawson, UK customers don’t want to be connected to the destruction of orangutan habitats or international violations of human rights. The massive grocery chains and agricultural conglomerates involved in the import of goods from Malaysia can easily cover the minimal expense of insuring this out of their own revenues.

Malaysian palm oil is currently subject to tariffs in the UK that range from 2% for crude palm oil to 12% for variants that have undergone additional processing.

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A Bad Day For The Environment In Australia

Nearly all signs show that Australia’s natural environment is rapidly deteriorating as native creatures and ecosystems are destroyed by alien species, habitat loss, and climate change. Indicators of Australia’s ecological health showed no improvement since 2016, according to the government’s 2021 State of the Environment report, which also reported an 8% increase in the number of fragile and endangered species.

Today’s Reserve Bank of Australia minutes will be extensively scrutinized following a huge New Zealand inflation reading on Monday. Unexpectedly rising consumer prices in the second quarter, which reached a new 32-year high, fueled predictions that the central bank would need to keep rapidly hiking interest rates.

Prepare for some somber economic news, Australians. Jim Chalmers, the treasurer, issued a warning that his first budget report the next week will include some “confronting” information regarding inflation, interest rates, and wages. There was little room for additional spending when the new Labor administration took office because the budget forecasted combined deficits of A$224.7 billion ($153.1 billion) for the following four years.

the nighttime events

Quit Hiring.

To prepare for a potential economic slowdown, Apple plans to reduce personnel and spending growth in several departments next year. All teams won’t be impacted by the adjustments, and the iPhone manufacturer still has ambitious product launch plans for 2023. Even still, the company’s shift toward caution is significant given that it consistently outperformed Wall Street expectations throughout the epidemic and fared better than many of its competitors in previous economic downturns.

 the Situation Is Different on Wall Street.

Banks continue to grow despite the tightest labor market in fifty years and concerns of a downturn. In comparison to a year ago, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan, and Citigroup all reported having a much greater workforce in the second quarter. In an effort to reduce costs, Goldman Sachs aims to restrict recruiting and bring back annual performance assessments.

Grace in Mortgage.

As authorities strive to avert a crisis of confidence in the housing market from upending the second-largest economy in the world, China may permit homeowners to temporarily cease mortgage payments on stalled property projects without suffering fines. Following the recent snowball effect of boycotts of mortgage payments, China is attempting to stabilize the real estate market.

Anybody Can Get a Tattoo.

According to new research, Gen Z and millennials do not believe that tattoos should be a major concern in the job. According to research from LinkedIn that was shared with Bloomberg News, Gen Z is least likely to believe in the “traditionally professional” style in the office.

Less than 40% believe you need to maintain a “conservative” appearance, which includes having tattoos concealed. These numbers are consistent with a rise in the number of young people getting tattoos. According to Ipsos’s research, more than 40% of millennials and barely 13% of baby boomers both have tattoos.

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An Avalanche Of Fires: What’s on The Front Pages Around The World

The recent wildfires that have raged across North America, Europe, and Africa have made for some dramatic front pages in newspapers all over the world.

 

  • Portugal has seen some of the worst flames, as evidenced by the CORREIO DE MANH‘s front-page headline, “Panic and despair.”

 

  •  THE ABC newspaper reports an “Avalanche of fires out of control” in neighboring Spain.

 

  • The threat was published in THE OBSERVER. Alok Sharma, the Tory cabinet member who oversaw the historic Cop26 UN climate meeting last year, has issued a warning that he may leave if the new prime minister does not commit to net zero plans.

  • THE DAILY MIRROR‘s title, “Boris’ heatrave,” claims that the British prime minister is attending another party as the UK swelters.

  • The generally lovely Dalmatian shoreline is depicted in a stark photograph on the front of the Croatian newspaper 24SATA, along with the word “hell” in capital letters.

  • Simon Evans, the deputy editor of CARBON BRIEF, noticed how many publications had made the topic the focus of their primary coverage and tweeted out a number of the front pages.

I knew the current record-breaking heat was widespread since we spend a lot of time monitoring global media coverage, he said.

But even I was surprised by how many publications all around the world have recently drawn attention to the recent global problem of heatwaves and wildfires caused by climate change.

  • The newspaper KATHIMERINI in Greece has been reporting on wildfires that have once again engulfed the nation in flames.
  • The public is also warned by the French publication LIBÈRATION about the ominous consequences of climate change and rapidly rising temperatures.https://twitter.com/libe/status/1546929010764038144?s=20&t=zZUbkzIGo5nirqlWeYNmNQ
  • Readers are presented with the “Red nightmare” that terrorizes the nation in the Turkish MILLIYET.

  • THE VANCOUVER SUN claims that a sizable fire is currently raging close to the village of Lytton, which was completely devastated in the disaster of 2021. Last year, Canada had some of its worst-ever fires, and they are back this year.

  • Alarm over rising temperatures is also being expressed in Asia, according to the front page of THE GLOBAL TIMES.

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Airshow To Focus On Cleaner Flying, Possible Fighter Jet Deal

At this week’s annual Farnborough airshow, low-emission air travel and a prospective agreement for Japan to assist in the production of the UK’s next-generation Tempest fighter jet will take center stage.

After a four-year break, executives from major international aerospace firms and airlines will congregate at the Hampshire airport. The event, which kicks off on Monday, is typically held every two years but was postponed in 2020 due to the coronavirus epidemic as the aviation sector was in danger of collapsing.

People Watch An Airbus A380 that Is Being Displayed At Farnborough.

Although manufacturers have emphasized efforts to lessen planes’ environmental impact, analysts estimate hundreds of orders for new Airbus and Boeing planes during the show as airline passenger numbers rebound. Analysts also expect sales of commercial jets powered by fossil fuels to pick up again.

The FTSE 100 jet engine manufacturer Rolls-Royce announced plans to test hydrogen-fueled engines “to demonstrate the fuel can safely and efficiently deliver power for small- to mid-size aircraft starting in the mid-2030s.”

A €112 million investment plan to work on high-voltage, high-power wiring needed to drive entirely electric engines was announced by GKN Aerospace, owned by FTSE 100 buyout firm Melrose.

A partnership to increase the production of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), or kerosene generated from non-fossil sources, was announced on Sunday by Brazil’s Embraer, a producer of smaller passenger aircraft for regional travel. Although supply is still scarce, the aviation industry is placing a lot of faith in SAF to offer net-zero flights for larger jets.

On the military front, BAE Systems, a member of the FTSE 100, will provide an update on the Tempest fighter jet on Monday. According to Reuters, this update may include a declaration that Japan will collaborate on the project.

Together, BAE, Sweden’s Saab, and Italy’s Leonardo are operating Tempest. After France and Germany ignored the UK during the previous Farnborough air show in 2018, it was first disclosed. The F-X fighter plane being developed by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in Japan may be open to collaboration, according to the defense ministry.

According to Justin Bronk, an economist at the think tank Rusi, including a second partner nation might spread development expenses that are expected to total £25 billion. The Typhoon’s predecessor will receive a £2.4 billion radar upgrade, the UK government said last week.

Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng cited “enormous prospects for growth that exist as the world moves to cleaner forms of flight” in saying that the airshow’s comeback highlighted the sector’s resurgence.

The government revealed on Monday that it has set aside £273 million in industry and public money for aerospace initiatives, including drones and more effective wings. The money is a part of the previously announced support for the Aerospace Technology Institute, cooperation between government and business that receives funds jointly.

A “drone ambition statement” outlining the government’s goals for the industry will also be released. This document will outline how rules will alter to allow drones to connect to 5G mobile networks and “improve public messaging to highlight the potential benefits of commercial drones.”

Drones will be used to carry medical supplies to the Isles of Scilly and isolated areas of Scotland as well as to assess infrastructure including ports and highways as part of the government-funded projects.

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The Future Is Held Hostage By Manchin

Sen. Joe Manchin, the maverick Democrat from West Virginia who drives a Maserati, must be feeling the effects of the current barrage of insults. Democrats, climate scientists, proponents of climate action, and the rest of the chattering classes are criticizing him for his most recent rejection of President Biden’s strategy to combat global warming.

The majority of a year has been squandered attempting to reach an agreement with Manchin on Biden’s Build Back Better plan, according to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY). It looked until a few days ago that Manchin had finally decided to support a version that had been severely cut at his request. Manchin has since stated that he will not support the plan if it includes additional funding for the battle against climate change.

Recap: There are 50 seats in the Senate, 50 each for Republicans and Democrats. Votes that are tied can be broken by Vice President Kamala Harris, who chairs the upper chamber. This gives Democrats the majority if all 50 senators vote in agreement.

Manchin has positioned himself as the Democrats’ swing vote, able to make or break both the climate-action pledges that helped Biden win the president and his party’s success in Congress, thanks to his contrarian stance.

Manchin agrees to back his party’s legislation on the environment and other concerns but later retracts his support. His erratic behavior is particularly concerning in view of a recent Supreme Court decision. On climate change, Congress has been deadlocked for years.

The Environmental Protection Agency’s restrictions on greenhouse gas pollution have served as a backup (EPA). But the court determined that the EPA lacks express jurisdiction to control emissions unless Congress grants them such authority. That seems unlikely given Manchin’s vacillation and the resistance from the Republic.

Global Repercussions

Manchin’s flip-flops have repercussions that reach across the globe and well into the future. More than 200 years of pollution that has changed the climate can be attributed to the US. Next to all-out nuclear war, we continue to be the second-largest source of the gases that pose the greatest threat to civilization.

Manchin is certainly a contributing factor to the president’s low approval rating and the public’s belief that Democrats in Congress, even when in the majority, are unable to pass legislation because they are blocking Biden from upholding America’s commitment to the world and his pledges to voters.

Manchin Is Not Alone Himself.

With the exception of Joe Manchin, the Republican Party and its representatives in Congress have been united for decades in their denial of climate change’s existence, undermining the public’s trust in climate science, and obstruction of climate legislation. They effectively stopped earlier attempts to address climate change, even with market-based strategies, by filibustering the Build Back Better bill.

States have aided in filling the hole in federal leadership over the years. However, it is improbable that the United States will be able to fulfill its commitments to the world community, and without the United States government, the international community will be able to fulfill its obligations to future generations.

Manchin’s Apparent Disagreement

As the decisive swing vote in the Senate, it would be one thing if Manchin had the best interests of the United States in mind, but there is no more egregious case of a congressman with a conflict of interest.

He is the chairman of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, which is particularly significant given the climate issue. His objectivity is questionable, though. The second-largest coal producer in the nation and one of the states with the greatest oil and gas production rates in West Virginia.

The expansion of the coal industry is also in Manchin’s own financial interest. From 2010 to 2020, a coal mining and support company paid him $5.6 million. According to the New York Times, he collected about $492,000 from the business in just 2020, which is nearly three times his Senate salary.

Despite not being up for reelection for three more years, he has received more campaign funding from the oil, gas, mining, and coal industries than any other member of Congress, totaling more than $1 million so far in 2021–2022.

Manchin has exhausted the legislative clock with his backtracking on the Build Back Better legislation in light of the upcoming midterm elections and the August recess. He will have succeeded in delaying the country’s switch to clean energy if he keeps the Senate in a state of climate uncertainty and Republicans win in November.

Democratic Allies?

Schumer’s time may have been better spent on the other side of the aisle, one wonders. A bipartisan Climate Solutions Caucus has been in existence since 2019 and includes a number of Senate Republicans who “argue for Congress to play a central role in tackling the (climate) challenge.”

The Caucus website states, “We acknowledge the necessity of American leadership in tackling our changing climate. Democrats and Republicans must cooperate, make concessions, and find common ground.

Republicans Mitt Romney (R-Utah), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), and Rob Portman are all members of the caucus (R-Ohio). Would they have been open to negotiating a climate change law separately from Build Back Better’s other components?

Or are they only trying to appear more environmentally friendly to the 58 percent of Americans who believe that the federal government isn’t doing enough to address this issue?

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‘Gas Prices Could Soon Fall Below $4 a Gallon,’ Says Biden’s Energy Advisor

In the upcoming weeks, Amos Hochstein anticipates that national average prices will continue to decline from record highs.

U.S. gas prices should continue to decline in the upcoming weeks after reaching a record high of $5 per gallon in June, a top White House energy adviser predicted on Sunday, with the average price hovering around $4.

Amos Hochstein, the special presidential coordinator for international energy issues, claimed in an interview airing on CBS News’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday that the Biden administration’s initiatives under “exceptional circumstances” are effective.

According to a transcript, Hockstein said of gas prices, “It’s not $5 anymore, it’s now $4.55.” “And I anticipate it to drop closer to $4. Additionally, there are currently a lot of gas stations across the nation with prices under $4. Since one of the parties to the conflict is the third-largest producer in the world, this is the fastest rate of decline against a significant increase in oil prices that has occurred during a war in Europe.

Therefore, they are exceptional circumstances. To address them immediately, both for the American consumer and truly for [the] world economy, we have taken some pretty strict measures.”

According to AAA, the average gas price in the United States as of Sunday was $4.532 per gallon, down from $5 a month earlier and about 14 cents from a week ago. Even still, that is a considerable increase above the $3.167 per gallon gas prices of a year ago.

One of the most obvious signs of inflation is gas prices, which in June reached a 41-year high of 9.1 percent year over year.

Hockstein credited Biden with lowering oil prices by releasing a million barrels of oil per day from the U.S. strategic reserve.

The Biden administration is convinced that oil companies will have raised output by the time the emergency releases cease, according to Hockstein, who noted that they are expected to do so around the end of the year.

He told host Margaret Brennan, “I anticipate the private sector in the United States will have those increases coming, so we don’t need to have the emergency from the United States government.”

Hockstein supported a plan to control the price of Russian oil and pointed out that OPEC still has the ability to produce much more oil.

He stated, “What we want to be able to do is mitigate such that the price of oil on the global market actually has no influence at all on Russia. Therefore, even if prices rise, Putin still won’t receive that price.

Michael Murphy-

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Federal Government Advisers Warn That Flood Plain Harvesting Rules In NSW Won’t Protect The Environment

The proposed flood plain harvesting regulations won’t effectively safeguard the environment or the requirements of people in the Murray Darling Basin downstream, according to the Perrottet government’s own advisors.

According to documents obtained by independent MLC Justin Field through the legislative process, the government was advised that suggested targets intended to protect river health were too low.

The environment and heritage divisions of the department’s officials expressed worry that the aims were in odds with the goals of the state’s water regulations, which demand that vital human and environmental demands be given priority.

Farmland With Irrigation

More than 100 NSW houses are taking too much water, according to the most recent audit.
Before the New South Wales environment minister, James Griffin, approves any modifications to water sharing plans, field experts, scientists, conservationists, and traditional owner groups are urging for stronger standards to be set.

Will the administration defend river communities and the environment or will it cave into Nationalist demands and the interests of vested corporate irrigators? stated Field.

Kevin Anderson, the water minister for NSW, reintroduced laws on July 1 to allow the issuance of flood plain harvesting licenses.

The Legislative Council has rejected the legislation three times, mostly out of concern for the need to safeguard downstream water consumers and the environment.

The harvesting of flood plains should be regulated, as is generally agreed upon, but detractors have advocated for regulations to ensure harvesting can only take place once water needs for places like Menindee Lakes and Ramsar wetland sites, such as the Macquarie Marshes, have been satisfied.

In response to a parliamentary inquiry, Anderson published a set of goals to prevent irrigators from taking advantage of “first flush” incidents.

They include a goal that would forbid water extraction when the Menindee Lakes system’s storage capacity is below 195 gigaliters.

Griffin must approve changes to the northern basin water sharing plans in order for flood plain harvesting to take place.

The environment and heritage group “considers the proposed in-catchment targets to be too low to maintain key environmental assets outside of extreme dry times,” according to a document prepared by Griffin’s department in June.

The aims, it was claimed, did not “support the water management principles of the WM [Water Management] Act” and did not take the environment’s long-term health into account.

The environment and heritage organization claimed that in order to solve this, it had established substitute targets that were based on environmental water requirements.

The briefing refers to an earlier email James Griffin‘s office received in May that said the targets were “low.”

On February 11, another communication between officials revealed that they were debating the possibility of downstream objectives that would forbid extraction during times of urgent human and environmental demands.

The officials noted that a legal challenge on these grounds was “likely,” but that such goals would “strengthen the case that the minister is taking all reasonable steps” to comply with the Water Management Act.

The planned standards, according to the Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists, are so low that they “won’t ever significantly restrict floodplain harvesting and won’t ensure that water for river health and community needs is prioritized above agriculture.”

They said that because the 195 gigalitre objective for Menindee Lakes, which was the location of massive fish mortality in 2018 and 2019, was so low, the volume stored there had only ever reached that level six times in the previous 43 years, all of which occurred during extreme drought.

A member of the panel, Prof. Richard Kingsford, stated that while the idea of setting targets is “to be welcomed,” they must be higher in order to satisfy the demands of communities and traditional owners downstream and to help Ramsar sites like the Macquarie Marshes or the Gwydir wetlands.

He said that they are essentially the targets you have when you don’t want targets.

“We need to ensure that these ecosystems and the downstream populations that depend on water receive enough, and we need to prevent situations like these significant fish kills.”

The government “should go back to the drawing board, consult widely, and come up with a more sustainable approach,” according to the Nature Conservation Council of NSW.

The aim for his region, according to farmer and water campaigner Graeme McCrabb, was “insulting.” He raised awareness about the Menindee fish deaths.

The laws governing water distribution are still being discussed within the government.

Griffin stated that in order to preserve sustainable water levels and restore water to the ecosystem, the government was committed to regulating flood plain harvesting.

“I am carefully examining every detail of the proposed guidelines that will permit harvesting of flood plains.”

The government’s policy on harvesting floodplains, according to Anderson, is “the biggest environmental change the profession has ever seen.”

They would greatly increase downstream protections, he claimed and were the first limits of this kind to be placed anywhere in the basin.

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