#environmentalregulations — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #environmentalregulations, aggregated by home.social.
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प्रदूषण बढ़ने का बुरा असर ट्रांसपोर्टर्स पर, बॉर्डर पर गाड़ियां बदलने की मजबूरी, ख़र्चा बढ़ा।
https://aliyesha.com/sub/articles/news/display/nd_pollution_transport_vehicle
#delhi #newdelhi #india #news #press #DelhiPollution #TransportCrisis #AirQuality #VehicleBan #BS4 #BS3Vehicles #DelhiTransport #EnvironmentalRegulations #CleanAirDelhi #TruckersIssue #PollutionControl #AirPollution #LogisticsChallenge #TransportCosts #ClimateAction #DelhiTraffic #SustainableTransport
Enjoy tracker free reading with us. #privacy #privacymatters
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प्रदूषण बढ़ने का बुरा असर ट्रांसपोर्टर्स पर, बॉर्डर पर गाड़ियां बदलने की मजबूरी, ख़र्चा बढ़ा।
https://aliyesha.com/sub/articles/news/display/nd_pollution_transport_vehicle
#delhi #newdelhi #india #news #press #DelhiPollution #TransportCrisis #AirQuality #VehicleBan #BS4 #BS3Vehicles #DelhiTransport #EnvironmentalRegulations #CleanAirDelhi #TruckersIssue #PollutionControl #AirPollution #LogisticsChallenge #TransportCosts #ClimateAction #DelhiTraffic #SustainableTransport
Enjoy tracker free reading with us. #privacy #privacymatters
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Call it the 911 presidency.
Despite insisting that the #US is rebounding from calamity under his watch, #Trump is harnessing #EmergencyPowers unlike any of his predecessors.
Whether it’s leveling punishing #tariffs, deploying #troops to the #border or sidelining #EnvironmentalRegulations, Trump has relied on rules & laws intended only for use in extraordinary circumstances like #war & #invasion.
#USpol #law #ExecutivePower #AbuseOfPower
https://apnews.com/article/trump-emergency-powers-tariffs-immigration-5cbe386d8f2cc4a374a5d005e618d76a -
Looks like #KochBrothers got their money's worth!
#ClarenceThomas Secretly Participated in #KochNetwork Donor Events
Thomas has attended at least two Koch donor summits, putting him in the extraordinary position of having helped a political network that has brought multiple cases before the #SupremeCourt.
by Joshua Kaplan, Justin Elliott and Alex Mierjeski
Sept. 22, 2023"The Koch network is among the largest and most influential political organizations of the last half century, and it’s underwritten a far-reaching campaign to influence the course of American law. In a case the Supreme Court will hear this coming term, the justices could give the network a historic victory: limiting federal agencies’ power to issue #regulations in areas ranging from the #environment to labor rights to consumer protection. After shepherding the case to the court, Koch network staff attorneys are now asking the justices to overturn a decades-old precedent. (Thomas used to support the precedent but flipped his position in recent years.)"
Read more:
https://www.propublica.org/article/clarence-thomas-secretly-attended-koch-brothers-donor-events-scotus#ImpeachJusticeThomas
#ScotusIsCorrupt #SCROTUS
#SCOTUS #ImpeachClarenceThomas
#ScrotusSunday #EnvironmentalRegulations #EPA #Chevron -
The #Biden administration is racing to finalize a #slew of major #environmentalregulations to help #safeguard them from potential #reversal should former President Donald #Trump win the 2024 presidential #election.
Agency rules completed and in the Federal Register before May 22, 2024 will not be subject to the Congressional Review Act. -
Sounds like #China has fully embraced #CorporateColonialism! Welcome to the club?
#Africa: #LithiumMining in Africa Reveals Dark Side of #GreenEnergy
By Kate Hairsine
Deutsche Welle (Bonn)
16 November 2023“The new rush for lithium in Africa risks fueling #corruption and harming local communities and the #environment, investigations have shown.
“At a Chinese-run lithium mine in #Namibia, local workers have complained for months about squalid living conditions and #unsafe work practices.
“An August fact-finding mission by the Mineworkers Union of Namibia into the Uis mine -- which is operated by Chinese mining company #XinfengInvestments -- found the the local miners living in tiny and hot corrugated zinc shacks without proper ventilation.
“The union also faulted a lack of privacy in the sanitation blocks where toilets and showers are lined up without partitions between them.
“In contrast, the Chinese workers at the mine have comfortable air-conditioned rooms and decent bathrooms.
“The union also criticized Xinfeng for failing to provide protective clothing and ensure safety measures for local workers.
“This is not the only controversy surrounding Xinfeng Investments. A new investigation into lithium mining in Africa by UK-based nonprofit #GlobalWitness outlines accusations against the firm ranging from acquiring the #Uis industrial mine through #bribery to developing it using permits intended for artisanal miners.
“Developing the mine with small-scale licenses meant the company paid 'a staggering low amount for access' to the lithium deposit and allowed it to skirt some #EnvironmentalRegulations, the investigation says.
Concerning trend of #corruption
“As well as in Namibia, the report also documents human rights abuses, corruption, displacement and unsafe working practices in lithium mines the Democratic Republic of the #Congo and #Zimbabwe.
“Going back decades, the mining sector in Africa has often involved corruption and communities not really getting a share of the profits,' said Global Witness senior investigator Colin Robertson, one of the report's authors. 'What we found in the lithium sector is that this trend is set to continue. ... This is very concerning.'
Race for lithium
“Called the 'white gold' of the renewable energy revolution, lithium is a key component of the rechargeable lithium-ion batteries that power everything from cell phones to electric cars (#EVs). Such #batteries are also vital for storing energy produced by clean energy like solar or wind if the world is to make the break from #FossilFuels.
“Globally, the lithium supply is currently dominated by #Australia, #Chile and China, who together produced 90% of the light metal in 2022. But with about 5% of the world's lithium ore reserves, Africa still holds enormous potential, most of which is untapped. Currently only Zimbabwe and Namibia have exported lithium ore, while projects in nations such as #Congo, #Mali, #Ghana, #Nigeria, #Rwanda and #Ethiopia are under exploration or development.
“With demand for the critical mineral expected to boom -- it could grow 40-fold by 2040, according to International Energy Agency projections -- major economies and international companies are racing to secure access to lithium on the continent.
“And many African nations are embracing the lithium rush.
Mineral of the future
“'Lithium is the mineral of the present and the future,' Zimbabwe's president #Emmerson Mnangagwa said recently.
“Zimbabwe, which has Africa's largest lithium reserves and is ranked sixth globally for lithium exports, earned $209 million (€193) from the mineral in the first nine months of 2023. That's nearly treble last year's earnings.
“The southern African country, along with Namibia and Tanzania, has banned the export of raw, or unprocessed lithium, as it seeks to get added value from the lightweight metal.
“Zimbabwe's ban is far from watertight. Global Witness' research discovered that large amounts of lithium ore are still being trucked out of the country.
“In addition, Zimbabwe Defence Industries, a military-linked company subject to US and EU sanctions, has been granted a special exemption to export lithium ore to China. The director of the Harare-based Centre for Natural Resource Governance, Farai Maguwu, is appalled by this.
“'Even though they don't own a single lithium mine,' he told DW, 'they were given an export permit.'
Lithium is a curse
“Maguwu is pessimistic when asked if lithium mining brings any benefit to Zimbabwe.
“’Not at all,' he answered. 'If anything, this abundance of lithium deposits in the current system of governance is actually a curse to the country.'
“If anything, it will bring the country down because there are no systems in place to ensure that the country can generate revenue for the benefits, first and foremost, of the host communities which must pay the cost of mine, loss of land, loss of #biodiversity and the social intrusion into their space.'
“He gives the example of the #SandawanaMine where a lithium rush saw thousands of locals digging out lithium. In early 2023 though, the mine was reportedly taken over by companies with links to Zimbabwe's ruling ZANU-PF party and military.
“'Even where the local people are able to mine and sell legally, the government sent troops armed to the teeth to stop people from accessing the lithium,' Maguwu said.
“There is 'no silver bullet' to the problem of corruption in Africa's mining sector, he said, but he would like to see more Western mining companies invest in extracting Africa's lithium, as they are often bound by stricter environmental, social and governance standards and practices.
Fear of Chinese monopoly
“China has a virtual monopoly on lithium extraction in Africa. More than four-fifths, or 83%, of Africa's forecast lithium supply this decade will come from projects at least partly owned by Chinese firms, estimates Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, a consultancy.
“Three Chinese mining giants have acquired lithium mines and projects worth $678 million in Zimbabwe in the past year.
“'Domination [of lithium mining] by one country may led to undesirable results such as under-valuation of mineral resources, #TaxAvoidance and #HumanRights abuses in the sector,' according to a recent report by the Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association.
“The Global Witness researcher Robertson calls on the European Union and the United States to ensure increased transparency of lithium mining and more oversight by local activists in order to improve governance and combat corruption.
“'It can't just be about [the EU and US] trying to increase their own supply of minerals,' he said.
“As for Farai Maguwu, he stresses that the proceeds from extractive projects must be plowed back into the community in terms of public goods, such as roads, health clinics and schools.
“’We consider our unmined assets as our natural capital and the local people, even children, should enjoy the benefits of the extraction of their natural capital.’”
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#LabourRights in Special Economic Zones: Between Unilateralism and Transnational Law Diffusion
Journal of International Economic Law, Volume 24, Issue 2, June 2021,
"Special economic zones (#SEZs) have spread rapidly over the past 20 years, including in many low- and middle-income countries keen to attract private investment for industrial development. But while much debate has focused on their economic performance and success factors, SEZ programmes have often formed the object of contestation over land expropriations, poor labour conditions, and lost public revenues. These concerns are often partly rooted in shortcomings of the legal regimes that govern the creation and operation of SEZs—including, and depending on the circumstances, their perceived failure to protect workers and affected people both within and outside the SEZs, their exempting SEZs from national laws, or their weak arrangements to ensure compliance."
https://academic.oup.com/jiel/article/24/2/341/6219919?login=false