What Was in My In-Box

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climate and the environment edition

This week, a number of articles in My In-Box were about climate and the environment. Seeking Alpha was featuring Michael Smith’s “The Future of Farming,” on their site. Recognizing AB authors is not unusual.

Climate and Environment

“The U.S. could see a new ‘extreme heat belt’ by 2053” (nbcnews.com), Denise Chow and Nigel Chiwaya, An “extreme heat belt” reaching as far north as Chicago is taking shape, a corridor that cuts through the middle of the country and would affect more than 107 million people over the next 30 years, according to new data on the country’s heat risks.

“Crops, speculation and starvation” – The one-handed economist (one-handed-economist.com), Farmers are having a hard time in Europe. Production (“yield”) is falling due to drought . . .

“Could the EV boom run out of juice before it really gets going?” | The Economist, Electric vehicles (evs) seem unstoppable. Carmakers are out pledging themselves in terms of production goals. Industry analysts are struggling to keep up. Battery-powered cars could zoom from less than 10% of global vehicle sales in 2021 to 40% by 2030, according to Bloombergnef.

“How Did Fighting Climate Change Become a Partisan Issue?” | The New Yorker, Elizabeth Kolbert, In January, 2000, during the run-up to the New Hampshire primaries, Presidential candidates in the Granite State were confronted by a young man—a recent Dartmouth graduate—wearing a red cape, orange long johns, and yellow-painted galoshes. He called himself Captain Climate, and asked any candidate within shouting distance, “What’s your plan?” All the candidates ignored him, except one.

“The World Will Soon Need More Cooling Than Heating,” (treehugger.com), Llyod Alter, The world has always needed more heating than cooling, which was fortunate because it was always easier to heat than it was to cool. You could just throw another log or lump of coal on the fire, whereas cooling had to wait until the 20th century and Willis Carrier, the inventor of modern-day air conditioning.

“Loire Valley: Intense European heatwave parches France’s ‘garden‘” – BBC News, Mark Lowen, France’s worst drought since records began has turned lush vegetation into arid fields of brown crops, shriveling under what is now the fourth heatwave of the year.

The Unprecedented Green Industrial Policy Wins in the Inflation Reduction Act – Roosevelt Institute, Todd N. Tucker, Sunny Malhotra “the Senate is poised to vote on this landmark legislation as soon as Saturday. In previous posts, Roosevelt Institute scholars have told you how this bill will help bring down prices, improve tax fairness, and give new monies towards environmental justice. Today, we focus on a truly novel aspect of the IRA: its unprecedented levels of support for green industrial policy.”

“Why the Inflation Reduction Act Is a Big Deal” – Roosevelt Institute, Joseph Stiglitz, If it passes, the US Inflation Reduction Act would be a landmark legislative achievement. With provisions to accelerate America’s clean-energy transition, control health-care costs, and restore some sanity to the tax code, it will not only curtail inflation but also bolster America’s long-term competitiveness.

“A Car Ban Will Improve the State of the Climate, But Is It Ableist?” (treehugger.com), Sami Grover, Recently, I sent an appreciative tweet about fellow Treehugger Lloyd Alter’s argument for banning cars from our cities as a means to reduce the urban heat island effect. But a minute after I sent out my tweet, I noticed a Twitter friend of mine discussing some strangely familiar language. Car bans, she said, were ableist and marginalizing, and the environmental movement could probably do better. It was a point worthy of discussion, so I sent it further out into the world.  

Law and Politics

“Giuliani is target of Georgia probe into 2020 U.S. election -New York Times” (msn.com), Kanishka Singh and Joseph Ax Lawyers for Rudy Giuliani, former President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer who helped lead challenges to the 2020 election results, have been told that Giuliani is a target in a criminal probe examining attempts by Trump and his allies to overturn the election, the New York Times reported on Monday.

“Lindsey Graham must testify in Georgia 2020 investigation, judge rules” | CNN Politics, Jason Morris and Nick Valencia A federal judge in Atlanta has denied GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham’s motion to quash a subpoena, ruling that he must testify before a Fulton County grand jury investigating former President Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election in Georgia.

“Inside the War Between Trump and His Generals” | The New Yorker, Susan B. Glasser and Peter Baker, In the summer of 2017, after just half a year in the White House, Donald Trump flew to Paris for Bastille Day celebrations thrown by Emmanuel Macron, the new French President. Macron staged a spectacular martial display to commemorate the hundredth anniversary of the American entrance into the First World War. Vintage tanks rolled down the Champs-Élysées as fighter jets roared overhead. The event seemed to be calculated to appeal to Trump—his sense of showmanship and grandiosity—and he was visibly delighted.

“Trapped in Trump, Trump, Trump” | The New Yorker, Susan B. Glasser, American politics remains trapped in the story of Trump, Trump, Trump. Biden, of course, is not irrelevant. Much of his bad polling can be attributed to the sour mood of Democrats and independents who have been cheering for him to do more. Maybe now they will rally around their leader.

Economics

“The Future of Farming” – Angry Bear (angrybearblog.com), Michael Smith, The world economy is undergoing extreme changes that have been both generational as well as exacerbated by lack of investment, global pandemic and supply chain crunch.

“How the Inflation Reduction Act’s Tax Provisions Will Strengthen Our Economy” – Roosevelt Institute, Emily DiVito, (Original Act) The tax provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) are fundamentally fair and equitable, and help address the economic inequality that stems from our current, biased tax code. Moreover, they enable crucial short- and long-term economic investments—especially around climate and energy—that will spur economic growth and hasten a just transition. 

“Prices of used electric and hybrid cars continue to skyrocket” (consumeraffairs.com), Mark Huffman, The government’s latest inflation report shows that prices of used cars dipped slightly in July after a huge run, thanks in part to a shortage of new cars. But prices of the most fuel-efficient vehicles continue to climb.

“USPS to temporarily raise postage rates for holiday mail” (consumeraffairs.com), Gary Guthrie, If the United States Postal Service (USPS) gets its wish, Americans will be paying a little more for their holiday mail this year. The agency has filed notice with the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) regarding a temporary price adjustment for the 2022 peak holiday season.

“Congress Should Provide Student Debt Relief To Frontline Health Care Workers” | Health Affairs, Michael Losak Vrushab Gowda Christian Rose, As the country moves toward normalcy in some ways, many Americans are less enthusiastic at the prospect of returning to the pre-pandemic status quo of student debt. In fact, a majority of Americans support some form of student debt relief. The issue I have with this commentary is rather than talk about a total impact of student loans, they narrow the impact to a small segment of the population . . . doctors, etc.

“Is the ‘home price correction’ coming for your housing market? These interactive maps show Moody’s 2023 and 2024 forecasts | Fortune,” Lance Lambert, The Pandemic Housing Boom finally met its match this spring: spiked mortgage rates. As the Federal Reserve moved into inflation-fighting mode, financial markets quickly put upward pressure on mortgage rates.

Healthcare

“Seniors Intend to Receive Variant-Specific COVID Booster This Fall” (medscape.com), Eliza Partika, More than 60% of Americans older than age 50, and nearly 70% of those older than 65, say they intend to roll up their sleeves to prevent COVID-19 this fall. That finding comes from a new poll by researchers at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, who also report that when it comes to the shots, people appear to be putting more trust in their healthcare professionals than in public health authorities.

“Congress Should Provide Student Debt Relief To Frontline Health Care Workers” | Health Affairs, “I just cannot think about loans right now,” an emergency physician and colleague reported after we attended a wellness session addressing rising burnout and forecasts for a dwindling health care workforce due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “I work in a setting where I am face-to-face with the sickest patients day-to-day, and yet if I somehow contract the disease by providing care, I will not make the money necessary to pay the loans which allowed me to do this in the first place.” Never mind that they are BS loans,

“We’re Reacting to Medical Errors the Wrong Way” | MedPage Today, Vidya Raju, Medical mistakes are as old as the practice of medicine itself, but it wasn’t until 1999 that the United States started paying more attention to them.

“Georgia’s Women of Reproductive Age Face Many Barriers to Health Care – Center For Children and Families” (georgetown.edu), Largely due to the state’s decision not to expand Medicaid, Georgia has one of the highest rates of uninsured women of reproductive age (18-44) in the country with nearly one in five (19.3 percent) lacking health insurance. Georgia ranks 46th in the country and has the highest uninsured rate for women in this age group in the deep South apart from Mississippi (Florida has a similar rate). 

Substacks

“Scott-Morrisons-most-inspirational-quotes_updated-post-election-edition,” The-Shovel.pdf (theshovel.com.au), There is something uniquely powerful about the spoken word. A great speech can rise above the everyday to convey hope, inspire change or bring optimism for a better future. In times of hardship, a well crafted address can lift the spirits of a nation.

“Friday reflections: ‘Letter to an American'” (substack.com), Steve Schmidt, I read this letter for the first time in the museum behind Utah Beach. Sometimes it helps to see the present by looking back.  Americans should have extraordinary gratitude for the achievements and sacrifices of the generations that gave us the chance to live in peace, prosperity and freedom. (This is not Prof. Heathers version).