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“Colonialism. The enforced spread of the rule of reason. But who is going to spread it among the colonizers?”

-- Anthony Burgess

News and Opinion

'Microcosm of Everything Wrong With US Foreign Policy': Senate Fails to Override Trump Veto on Yemen

The Republican-controlled Senate on Thursday voted down an effort to override President Donald Trump's veto of the Yemen War Powers resolution. The bill—introduced by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.)—would have ended U.S. support for Saudi Arabia's deadly bombing campaign in Yemen, which has created the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

Trump vetoed the resolution last month. The Senate needed 67 votes to override the president's veto, but the final margin of Thursday's vote was 53-45.

Every "no" vote was cast by a Republican. Seven Republicans joined Democrats in voting in favor of the veto override.

Yemen is a microcosm of everything that is wrong with U.S. foreign policy. It goes to the heart of how the U.S. is conducting dozens of hidden wars around the world without anybody at home noticing.

— Win Without War (@WinWithoutWar) May 2, 2019

In a statement after the veto override failed, Sanders vowed to continue working to end U.S. involvement in Yemen. "The bad news today: we were unable today to override Trump’s veto regarding U.S. intervention in this horrific war in Yemen," said Sanders. "The good news: for the first time in 45 years, Congress used the War Powers Act to reassert its constitutional responsibility over the use of armed forces."

"This is the beginning of a bipartisan process to take back our responsibility over these most important matters," Sanders added. "My likeminded colleagues and I, in a bipartisan fashion, will utilize all of the legislative tools at our disposal—including further use of the War Powers Act."

Senate fails to override Trump's veto of stopping US support of Saudi-led coalition in Yemen

Maduro thanks military and denounces 'senseless coup-mongers and traitors'

Nicolás Maduro has thanked Venezuela’s military for resisting what he branded a treacherous “imperial” plot to topple him this week by sparking a conflict that would justify foreign military intervention. “Loyalty is a value that you either have or you don’t … I know you will not fail the homeland,” Maduro told troops during an early-morning parade in Caracas that was broadcast on state television.

“How many deaths would there be if a civil war started here because of the senselessness of the coup-mongers and traitors? How much physical destruction would there be and how many years of war would we face?” Maduro asked. “Because we will never surrender.”

The parade – which state TV called a “march to reaffirm the absolute loyalty of the armed forces” – was designed to buttress Maduro’s position after Tuesday’s botched pre-dawn attempt to overthrow him. ... US officials claimed that a detailed draft plan had been agreed upon between top Maduro officials, including Venezuela’s head of military intelligence, Iván Rafael Hernández, and defence minister, Vladimir Padrino López and the opposition, by which Maduro would be able to leave, to be replaced by Guaidó as interim president. The supreme court and military command would remain in their positions, and elections would be held within a year.

Padrino López appeared alongside Maduro at Thursday morning’s parade and hinted at those claims, berating what he called the opposition’s attempts to buy Venezuela’s military “as if we were mercenaries”. In a high-profile show of support for Maduro, Padrino López said Venezuela’s “anti-democratic, fascist, extremist and far-right” opposition had nothing to offer the country or the armed forces. ...

At least four people died, more than 230 were injured, and 205 were detained during demonstrations and clashes between protesters and security forces this week, according to Venezuelan human rights groups.

May Day in Caracas, Venezuela. This is for you @marcorubio. pic.twitter.com/M0J5jZ97z7

— Vijay Prashad (@vijayprashad) May 1, 2019

Worth a full read:

Venezuela - Coup Failure Necessitates A New Policy - Bolton The Stache Is Pushing For War

After the failed coup attempt in Venezuela at least some people recognize the reality that its government has significant support. The coups failure necessitates a new policy. Unfortunately John Bolton is the man in charge of it. He is likely to push for a war. ...

The larger Latin America strategy behind the 'regime change' attempt in Venezuela necessitates an escalation:

The removal of Maduro was supposed to be the precursor of a domino effect that would later tumble the dictatorships in Cuba and Nicaragua.

Current and former officials acknowledge that a failed uprising would cripple the opposition and undermine the administration’s top priority in the hemisphere.

“It’s now or never,” a senior administration official said. “Everyone realizes it both on the U.S. side and the Venezuela side. How ugly this gets remains to be seen. But everyone sees this as the final frontier to bring down Maduro.”

The plan to use economic pressure, loud bluster and a hapless crony to unseat the Venezuelan government can no longer be valid:

“The entire episode should lead to a round of reflection within the opposition and their supporters in the U.S. government regarding how to address this crisis,” [David Smilde, a Tulane University professor and expert on Venezuela,] said. “It is clear the pressure-collapse scenario they have been working with has run its course.”

With the situation on the ground still uncertain, Trump’s top national security aides, including Pompeo, national security adviser John Bolton and acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan, who canceled a trip to Europe to work on Venezuela, huddled at the White House to discuss possible options.

The administration is somewhat split about which direction to take. The neoconservative hawks - Bolton, Pompeo, Abrams and Rubio - are looking for war, while their boss and the Pentagon are against launching one. Trump wants the votes of the millions of Cuba hawks in Florida, but he has no interest in launching a long war. The Pentagon knows that an invasion of Venezuela would lead to another decades long struggle:

Trump has shown little willingness to plunge into Venezuela, according to current and former aides, ...

The president has occasionally mused to others that Bolton wants to get him into wars. Two advisers who have discussed Venezuela with him said Trump often brings up Florida politics, and his golf club in Doral, when talking about the subject. Both said Trump was unlikely to authorize any sort of long-term military action there.

At the same time, however, aides said he has given Bolton wide purview over Venezuela.

Giving Bolton purview over anything is a mistake. He is a vicious and ruthless bureaucrat who knows how to get his way. Bolton is pressing the Pentagon for military options.

The Grayzone's Anya Parampil destroys Trump's Venezuela coup on Fox News

Bolton Claims 25,000 Cuban Troops Are in Venezuela

National Security Adviser John Bolton continued to push accusations that Cuba is behind the failed US-backed coup in Venezuela, now claiming that 25,000 Cuban troops are in the country, and Venezuela would fall by midnight if they left. ...

Bolton provided no evidence that the 25,000 troops are there, and there are some serious reasons to doubt it. ... The most recent official estimate is that Cuba’s entire military only has 90,000 active personnel, which would mean that if Bolton’s allegations were true, they are committing around 30% of their entire military to an overseas engagement.

An opposition mob in Venezuela just lynched yet another person.

The right-wing opposition has repeatedly lynched Chavistas and dark-skinned Venezuelans. Several Afro-Venezuelans have been burned alive by the US-backed opposition.https://t.co/XXOkElijQd

— Ben Norton (@BenjaminNorton) May 2, 2019

Just before the Venezuelan opposition lynched a young man, another mob threw a molotov cocktail on a truck, burning alive 2 people inside

This heinous attack took place during opposition demonstrations called for by right-wing US puppet leader Juan Guaidóhttps://t.co/n6rLW08sim

— Ben Norton (@BenjaminNorton) May 2, 2019

Right-wing coup plotters apparently can't believe that they have been punked by a bunch of Chavistas.

Spain will not remove Venezuelan opposition figure from its embassy

Spain has said it will not hand over a leading Venezuelan opposition politician who escaped house arrest to help launch an abortive uprising, then sought refuge at a Spanish diplomatic compound and gave a press conference from its gates. Leopoldo López claimed to have spoken to mid-ranking military officers in recent weeks, who told him they were privately committed to ousting the embattled president, Nicolás Maduro.

He also said on Friday that a military intervention in Venezuela would be “constitutional”, and he considered it an option for the opposition.

His comments, in an interview with the Spanish news agency EFE, came before the opposition leader, Juan Guaidó, announced a new wave of protests for Saturday. “We will continue in the streets” he said, calling for demonstrators to gather “in peace” at all the main military units across the country. ...

López, a former municipal mayor in Caracas, suggested the military’s loyalty was not yet assured. Having been detained in 2014 for leading protests against Maduro’s rule, he said five years surrounded by security forces had given him an insight. “For more than three weeks, I had meetings in my home where I was held under house arrest,” López told reporters on the steps of the Spanish ambassador’s residence on Thursday. I met with commanders, I met with generals, I met with representatives of different units of the armed forces and the different branches of the police, and we agreed to put an end to the usurpation [by Maduro].

“And I can tell you that what began on April 30 is an irreversible process, and it’s irreversible because they themselves, the women and men of the armed forces, realised that they are not alone. They realised that they can work together, and they realised that together we – the people and the armed forces – can end the usurpation.”

The claim has been treated with scepticism, not least because López’s home was under close supervision by the feared intelligence agency.

Venezuela opposition criminal Leopoldo Lopez's wife posted a video of their house after it was allegedly raided, complete with a copy of Mein Kampf in the pile. https://t.co/k2opP6Mbw3

— Down with the U.S.A. (@j_bigboote) May 2, 2019

Pointing to Disastrous History of US Intervention, Sanders Warns Against Military Action in Venezuela

Sen. Bernie Sanders on Thursday condemned the Trump administration's threats to take military action in support of right-wing coup plotters in Venezuela. The Vermont senator joined the chorus of progressive members of Congress and advocacy groups warning that U.S. intervention would only worsen political turmoil in Venezuela—and could potentially spark an all-out civil war.

The Trump administration is threatening a disastrous military intervention in Venezuela. Under our Constitution, only Congress can authorize the use of force. We must make sure the United States does not get involved in yet another war and destabilize another region. https://t.co/UxHLljIyKf

— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) May 2, 2019

Sanders—a 2020 presidential candidate—expanded on his opposition to military action in Venezuela during an interview on "Pod Save America," pointing to the devastating consequences of U.S. intervention throughout Latin America over the past several decades.

“I will do everything I can to see that US troops do not get involved in a civil war in Venezuela.” — @BernieSanders

Full discussion: https://t.co/0ahnflitlj pic.twitter.com/O2UQng9bGa

— Pod Save America (@PodSaveAmerica) May 2, 2019

GOP Lawmaker Gave Pro-War Speech on Yemen — by Reading Saudi Lobbyist’s Talking Points Verbatim

Rep. Ed Royce, a senior Republican who, at the time, chaired the Foreign Affairs Committee, gave a speech on the House floor in November 2017 imploring his fellow lawmakers to maintain support for the Saudi Arabian-led war in Yemen. Royce warned that foreign adversaries — namely, Iran — could gain a foothold in Yemen through the Houthi rebels. “Part of the problem here is the leaders of the Houthi militia were indoctrinated in Qom, in Iran, as part of an Iranian attempt to construct a Hezbollah-like proxy in Yemen,” warned Royce, suggesting that the rebels in Yemen were merely Iranian cutouts, something experts dispute.

The inflammatory line had been scripted by a lobbyist for Saudi Arabia — like much of Royce’s impassioned speech. “During the 1990s, the leaders of the Houthi militia were indoctrinated in the Iranian city of Qom as part of an Iranian attempt to construct a Hezbollah-like proxy in Yemen,” says a set of lobbyist talking points obtained by The Intercept. Royce had received talking points earlier that day from a lobbyist retained by the kingdom of Saudi Arabia, according to federal disclosure forms, in order to undermine congressional opposition to the Yemen war.

Now, that congressional opposition is coming to a head. On Thursday, the Senate is scheduled to attempt to override President Donald Trump’s veto of the War Powers Act resolution calling for an end to U.S. support for the war in Yemen. Saudi Arabia and its chief ally in the war, the United Arab Emirates, have spent tens of millions of dollars to maintain continued military support from policymakers in Washington, D.C. The lobby money is spent on an array of influence-peddling tactics — some of which have been disclosed, but many of which are carried out behind closed doors.

The talking points provided to Royce are among the many hidden ways in which Saudi money has quietly influenced the debate.

New Gaza Documentary "Shocks The Conscience" w/Abby Martin

Jared Kushner says 'two-state' label hinders Middle East talks

Jared Kushner has revealed aspects of the US peace plan for the Middle East, indicating it would pull back from longstanding mentions of a two-state solution with the Palestinians and accept Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Kushner, the son-in-law and senior adviser to President Donald Trump, is expected to present a long-awaited deal next month on behalf of the US administration, which has closely aligned itself with Israel’s rightwing.

“If you say ‘two-state’, it means one thing to the Israelis, it means one thing to the Palestinians,” Kushner said on Thursday at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. “We said, ‘you know, let’s just not say it. Let’s just say, let’s work on the details of what this means’,” he said. Kushner declined to give extensive details about the plan before its release but, asked if it would cover the final status between Israelis and Palestinians, he said: “That’s correct, we will.”

The Palestinian leadership has already said it does not accept mediation by Trump, whose evangelical Christian base is fervently pro-Israel and whose long list of actions in support of the Jewish state includes moving the US embassy to Jerusalem. ...

Netanyahu, campaigning in his successful re-election bid last month, vowed to annex parts of the West Bank, a step that would all but doom a Palestinian state. Netanyahu’s stance has alienated even longtime advocates for Israel within the US Democratic party, who question whether the nation can remain both Jewish and democratic while millions of Palestinians live under occupation. But Kushner promised that Israel would make compromises, too. He said his team had spoken to Palestinian businesspeople and ordinary residents and believed the peace plan would be “very acceptable to them”.

UN calls for Julian Assange's release from UK high-security jail

UN experts have called for Julian Assange to be released from prison and criticised the British government for breaching his human rights. The WikiLeaks publisher was jailed for 50 weeks on Wednesday for breaking bail conditions imposed seven years earlier by seeking asylum in the Ecuadorian embassy in London.

The UN working group on arbitrary detention (WGAD) said it was deeply concerned by the “disproportionate sentence” imposed on Assange for violating the terms of his bail, which it described as a “minor violation”. The group has twice previously called for Assange to be freed, after it judged his confinement to the Ecuadorian embassy by the threat of arrest should he leave amounted to arbitrary detention. ...

“The working group is further concerned that Mr Assange has been detained since 11 April 2019 in Belmarsh prison, a high-security prison, as if he were convicted for a serious criminal offence. This treatment appears to contravene the principles of necessity and proportionality envisaged by the human rights standards.

“The WGAD reiterates its recommendation to the government of the United Kingdom, as expressed in its opinion 54/2015, and its 21 December 2018 statement, that the right of Mr Assange to personal liberty should be restored.”

Theresa May under pressure to quit after local election losses

Conservative councillors have called for Theresa May to step down after the party suffered losses of more than 1,100 seats in local elections dominated by the UK’s Brexit stalemate. After a collapse of the Tory vote across southern England, some MPs urged the party to change its rules so the prime minister can be removed from office as soon as possible.

A former councillor interrupted May as she gave a speech in Wales, saying: “Why don’t you resign? We don’t want you.”

With more than 220 out of 248 councils declared at 5.30pm on Friday, the Tories had lost councillors in at least 151 areas. It was thought to be the worst Tory local election performance in 24 years. In 1995, under John Major, the party lost more than 2,000 seats. However, one cabinet minister warned that the results would be overshadowed by even bigger losses in the European elections this month.

Socially Immobile

Hungary’s PM Viktor Orbán to meet Donald Trump at White House

After years of receiving the cold shoulder from Washington, Hungary’s nationalist prime minister, Viktor Orbán, will visit the White House to meet Donald Trump on 13 May. Hungarian authorities announced the visit on Thursday morning. Orbán’s spokesman Zoltán Kovács wrote on Twitter that “energy security, defense cooperation, bilateral relations and regional security” would be on the agenda.

“Today all I can say is that they have invited us and we have accepted the invitation,” said Orbán, when he was asked about the meeting during a joint press conference with Italy’s interior minister, Matteo Salvini, in Budapest on Thursday.

Prime minister of Hungary since 2010, Orbán was shunned under Barack Obama’s administration, and the state department frequently and vehemently criticised his government for a weakening of democracy and rule of law, as well as concerns over media freedom and corruption. Under the Trump administration, there has been a U-turn in rhetoric, symbolised by the appointment of David Cornstein, an 80-year-old jewellery magnate and long-time friend of Trump, as ambassador. ...

A leaked Hungarian diplomatic cable from December, published by the investigative website Direkt36, suggested there was frustration in Washington over Hungarian intransigence on several issues considered as key to US interests. ... However, the Orbán government signed a bilateral defence cooperation agreement in April, a long-standing US goal, and is also believed to be willing to make defence purchases from the US.

Oh no, they're doing what the U.S. does ...

China will build string of military bases around world, says Pentagon

The US Defense Department expects China to add military bases around the world to protect its investments in it ambitious One Belt One Road global infrastructure program, according to an official report released on Thursday.

Beijing currently has just one overseas military base, in Djibouti, but is believed planning others, including possibly Pakistan, as it seeks to project itself as a global superpower. ...

The report came as the Pentagon also warned that deepening Chinese activities in the Arctic region could also pave the way for a strengthened military presence, including the deployment of submarines to act as deterrents against nuclear attack. ...

The Pentagon report noted that Denmark has expressed concern about China’s interest in Greenland, which has included proposals to establish a research station, establish a satellite ground station, renovate airports and expand mining. ...

“China’s leaders are leveraging China’s growing economic, diplomatic, and military clout to establish regional preeminence and expand the country’s international influence,” the report said. Beijing in particular increasingly see the United States as becoming more confrontational in an effort to contain China’s expanding power, it said.

Mass. Judge Refuses to Halt Pro-Palestinian Event at UMass Featuring Roger Waters & Linda Sarsour

To End Crushing Debt, Warren Introduces Relief Package to Help Storm-Ravaged Puerto Rico 'Recover With Dignity'

A group of Democratic Senators, led by Elizabeth Warren, are again pushing to have Puerto Rico's debt forgiven in the wake of dual hurricanes that hit the island in 2017—an announcement that came as activists from the U.S. territory were on Capitol Hill to find a solution to the island's economic woes.

The United States Territorial Relief Act of 2019, as Warren's bill is known, would offer comprehensive debt relief to the American territory. Warren was joined by fellow Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), Edward Markey (D-Mass.), and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). All but Markey, Warren included, are running for the Democratic nomination for president.

"Our bill gives Puerto Rico and other struggling territories a route to comprehensive debt relief and a chance to recover with dignity," Warren said in a statement. "It's time for Congress to pass this bill."

If passed, according to an overview (pdf) provided by Warren's office, the legislation would forgive the island's debt, establish a fund for those who suffer losses from the debt cancellation, and create an auditing commission on the genesis of the debt and how the crisis got so out of control.

Much of Puerto Rico’s debt is held by Wall Street, which is trying to squeeze out every last penny of profit. Congress had a chance to break Wall Street's grip. Instead, they passed PROMESA, imposing an oversight board which has slashed services, hindering the recovery.

— Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) May 2, 2019

The House version of the legislation is being introduced in the lower chamber by Rep. Nydia Velázquez (D-N.Y.).

The same cohort of senators and Velázquez introduced the legislation in 2018. It was ultimately unsuccessful.

We Can’t Back People Who Hate Our Kids: Kentucky & Minnesota Teachers of Year Boycott Trump Meeting

Baltimore Mayor Resigns Amid Scandal

Baltimore’s mayor resigned under pressure Thursday amid a flurry of investigations into whether she arranged bulk sales of her self-published children’s books to disguise hundreds of thousands of dollars in kickbacks.

Mayor Catherine Pugh’s resignation came exactly a week after her City Hall offices, homes and multiple other locations were raided by FBI and IRS agents. She is the second mayor in less than a decade to step down because of scandal. She came to office contrasting her clean image with her main opponent, ex-mayor Sheila Dixon, who was forced to depart office in 2010 as part of a plea deal for misappropriating about $500 in gift cards meant for needy families. ...

A federal grand jury has been empaneled and state and local inquiries are also underway into the roughly $800,000 Pugh made over the years in exchange for her “Healthy Holly” paperbacks about health and nutrition.

Officer punched Oscar Grant and lied about facts in 2009 killing, records show

A police officer involved in the 2009 killing of Oscar Grant on an Oakland train platform repeatedly lied to investigators and had punched the unarmed 22-year-old without justification, according to newly released records.

The report on the New Year’s Eve killing, which sparked national police accountability protests, was disclosed this week following journalists’ requests under a new California police transparency law. The previously sealed internal file, written 10 years ago, documented how the Bay Area Rapid Transit (Bart) officer Anthony Pirone “started a cascade of events that ultimately led to the shooting”. Pirone called Grant the N-word while detaining him, hit him in the face in an “unprovoked” attack, and later gave a series of false statements contradicted by videos, investigators said.

The death of the young father was one of the first major US police brutality cases in which cellphone footage went viral, prompting widespread outrage years before the Black Lives Matter movement. The killing was later made famous by Ryan Coogler’s 2014 film Fruitvale Station, named after the site of the death. The officer who shot Grant in the back, Johannes Mehserle, was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in a rare criminal trial over a killing by law enforcement. ...

Adante Pointer, one of the civil rights lawyers who represented Grant’s family, told the Guardian on Thursday that the report was further evidence of Bart’s mishandling of the case. “Bart spent a bunch of public money to defend Mehserle’s actions, to defend the actions of the cops,” he said. “They should have just been forthright with the public and released the details … They should’ve done the right thing and admitted that what the officers did on that platform was wrong.” Pointer continued: “They made the family fight for years to prove that what happened to their loved one was unjust … You dragged this family through so much.”

John Burris, another lawyer for Grant’s family, said the report was a further reminder that police might have gotten away with fabrications if the cellphone footage did not exist and make clear Pirone was the “perpetrator”.

Emails Show Trump Administration Lied About Its Ability To Reunite Families Separated At the Border

Days after the Trump administration stopped separating migrant families at the border, it told the public those families would one day be reunited. But emails obtained by NBC News show that the administration didn't have enough information to do that.

On June 23, the Department of Homeland Security released a statement claiming that the administration had “a central database” of information on separated children and parents. The statement said that both DHS and the Department of Health and Human Services which was and remains in charge of caring for separated kids, could access that database. But that same day, an HHS official emailed an Immigration and Customs Enforcement official to say that, in fact, they only had enough info to reunite about 60 kids.

Thomas Fitzgerald, a data analyst at the Department of Health and Human Services, asked Matthew Albence, the former head of ICE's enforcement and removal operations, for information on the parents of 2,219 children, NBC reported. “We have a list of parent alien numbers but no way to link them to children,” Fitzgerald wrote in an email to an individual NBC says is Albence. The federal government uses “alien numbers” to identify migrants apprehended by Border Patrol.

Surprise, surprise - a CIA backed surveillance corporation lies ... ever seen a corporation with its pants on fire?

Peter Thiel’s Palantir Was Used To Bust Relatives of Migrant Children, New Documents Show

Palantir, the CIA-funded data analysis company founded by billionaire Trump adviser Peter Thiel, provided software at the center of a 2017 operation targeting unaccompanied children and their families, newly released Homeland Security documents show. The documents undercut prior statements from Palantir, in which the company tried to draw a clean line between the wing of ICE devoted strictly to deportations and the enforcement of immigration laws, and its $38 million contract with Homeland Security Investigations, or HSI, a component of ICE with a far broader criminal enforcement mandate. Asked about the contract renewal by the New York Times, a Palantir spokesperson stated:

“There are two major divisions of ICE with two distinct mandates: Homeland Security Investigations, or H.S.I., is responsible for cross-border criminal investigations. The other major directorate, Enforcement and Removal Operations, or E.R.O., is responsible for interior civil immigration enforcement, including deportation and detention of undocumented immigrants. We do not work for E.R.O.”

Documents obtained through Freedom of Information Act litigation and provided to The Intercept show that this claim, that Palantir software is strictly involved in criminal investigations as opposed to deportations, is false. The discrepancy between the private intelligence firm’s public assertion and the reality conveyed in the newly-released documents was first identified by Mijente, an advocacy organization that has closely tracked Palantir’s murky role in immigration enforcement. Far from detached support in “cross-border criminal investigations,” the materials released this week confirm the role Palantir technology played in facilitating hundreds of arrests, only a small fraction of which led to criminal prosecutions.

Biodiversity crisis is about to put humanity at risk

The world’s leading scientists will warn the planet’s life-support systems are approaching a danger zone for humanity when they release the results of the most comprehensive study of life on Earth ever undertaken. Up to 1m species are at risk of annihilation, many within decades, according to a leaked draft of the global assessment report, which has been compiled over three years by the UN’s leading research body on nature.

The 1,800-page study will show people living today, as well as wildlife and future generations, are at risk unless urgent action is taken to reverse the loss of plants, insects and other creatures on which humanity depends for food, pollination, clean water and a stable climate.

The final wording of the summary for policymakers is being finalised in Paris by a gathering of experts and government representatives before the launch on Monday, but the overall message is already clear, according to Robert Watson, the chair of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). ...

The report will sketch out possible future scenarios that will vary depending on the decisions taken by governments, businesses and individuals. The next year and a half is likely to be crucial because world leaders will agree rescue plans for nature and the climate at two big conferences at the end of 2020. That is when China will host the UN framework convention on biodiversity gathering in Kunming, which will establish new 20-year targets to replace those agreed in Aichi, Japan, in 2010. Soon after, the UN framework convention on climate change will revise Paris agreement commitments at a meeting in either the UK, Italy, Belgium or Turkey.

Global Warming Was Already Fueling Droughts in Early 1900s, Study Shows

Global warming has been fueling droughts since the early 20th Century, when soils started drying out at the same time across parts of North and Central America, Eurasia, Australia and the Mediterranean, new research shows. The researchers say the surprising early-century findings provide the clearest signal yet that human-caused greenhouse gas emissions have been changing the hydroclimate in ways that can devastate agriculture, health and livelihoods. In a climate unaltered by greenhouse gases, droughts in different parts of the world would be caused by different influences at different times. In the Southwestern United States, for example, the El Niño-La Niña cycle is a big driver of drought, while the Mediterranean region is sensitive to cyclical changes in the Atlantic Ocean's winds and currents. But in the first half of the 20th Century, something different was starting to happen. Soil moisture decreased across all those areas at the same time—a nearly unmistakable sign that it was driven by rising global temperatures, the study's authors said.

The global warming fingerprint on droughts is subtle but unmistakable, said Kate Marvel, the study's lead author and a climate scientist with NASA and Columbia University. "What we're seeing is very suggestive of a role for greenhouse gases, bigger than anything we've seen previously," Marvel said. "We're not arguing here that there is a really large effect. What we're saying is, we're picking out the underlying note against the background of a symphony. That note is faint but it's definitely there. And to find it, you need to look at long-term trends and wide areas." That's why a global warming signal doesn't always show up in short-term regional droughts, like the 1930s Dust Bowl, which was a weirdly anomalous event outside any known pattern, said study co-author Benjamin Cook, also a climate researcher with NASA and Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory.

The distinctive regional patterns of drying linked with global warming disappeared from about 1950 to about 1975, when they likely were masked by another force that can affect the climate: massive emissions of industrial aerosols from coal-burning, cars and trucks, cement production and construction, the scientists said. Aerosols can cool the atmosphere and affect cloud formation, rainfall and temperatures. As industrial countries adopted pollution controls to protect people from the damaging health effects, the aerosol emissions slowed. And around 1981, the fingerprints of global warming on soil moisture were becoming evident again. That global warming signal has been getting stronger, especially since about 2000, with "severe consequences" for humans, the scientists wrote.

The findings, published Wednesday in the journal Nature, reinforce the importance of stopping greenhouse gas emissions in the next few decades, Cook said. They also confirm other research showing that, in general with global warming, dry areas will get drier, while other regions get wetter, including western China, much of central Asia, the Indian subcontinent, Indonesia and central Canada. "The patterns of drying and wetting we see match the patterns we would expect from a global warming signal. It's very hard to come up with something that would cause it other than greenhouse gas forcing," said Jason Smerdon, a co-author of the study and climate scientist at Columbia. Many of the areas expected to dry out as the planet continues to warm are centers of agricultural production, and some could become permanently arid. "The human consequences of this, particularly drying over large parts of North America and Eurasia, will likely be severe," the authors wrote.

The Trump administration today weakened crucial offshore drilling safety standards that were put in place after the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon oil disaster, which killed 11 people and covered the seas with millions of barrels of oil. https://t.co/y9MY87Vuuk

— NRDC (@NRDC) May 2, 2019

Pipeline Protesters Could Face 20 Years in Prison Under Bill in Texas House

Under a proposal being considered in the Texas House this week, activists who engage in civil disobedience to stop or delay construction on pipelines would be charged with the same level of felony as attempted murderers. House Bill 3557, by state Representative Chris Paddie, R-Marshall, would increase the penalties and fees for intentional acts that “impede, inhibit or interfere” with the operations of “critical infrastructure,” including electric power facilities, water treatment plants and oil and gas facilities. The bill would go beyond the state’s definition of critical infrastructure to include equipment and projects under construction.

Alleged violators would be charged with second-degree felonies, which carry up to 20 years in prison, under HB 3557. Additionally, individuals would face a fine of up to $10,000 and organizations accused of violating the law would face a fine of $1 million. Violators would also be liable for damages.

So-called critical infrastructure, specifically at oil and gas pipeline easements, has been the target of protests across the state in the last several years. Environmental activists have delayed construction on pipelines including the southern leg of the Keystone XL in East Texas in 2012 and the Trans-Pecos in far West Texas in 2016 and 2017. Denton protesters also took action to delay operations at a fracking site in 2015 after nearly 60 percent of voters approved a fracking ban that was later invalidated by the Texas Legislature.

State lawmakers around the country are advancing similar legislation developed by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a corporate-backed group that is the most prolific organization in the country at writing model legislation. Similar industry-backed bills have already passed in North Dakota, Louisiana, Iowa and Oklahoma in the aftermath of the high-profile protests at Standing Rock. Other “critical infrastructure” bills have been introduced in at least 10 other statehouses this year.

Supporters Credit 'Relentless' Campaigning of Sunrise Movement as Beto Signs No Fossil Fuel Money Pledge

The youth-led grassroots group Sunrise Movement was praised on Thursday when Beto O'Rourke signed the No Fossil Fuel Money pledge following a sustained campaign by the national organization. O'Rourke announced he was on board with the pledge in an email to supporters and a video posted to social media.

"In accordance with the pledge, we returned any money we've received over $200 from any fossil fuel company executives," O'Rourke said. "We will not take any of that money going forward."

The Sunrise Movement applauded O'Rourke's decision and noted that its actions across the country through local chapters in cities and states across the country had forced the former congressman to sign the pledge.

Some establishment Democratic leaders including Rep. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) have criticized the Sunrise Movement for its tactics as it calls on elected officials to end their relationships with the fossil fuel industry, back a Green New Deal, and fight to end American dependence on carbon-emitting coal, oil, and gas, which have contributed to the warming of the planet.

The Sunrise Movement has occupied the offices Feinstein and other Democrats in recent months, and offered limited praise for O'Rourke this week when he released his climate action plan, saying it represented his retreat from an earlier stated goal of net-zero domestic carbon emissions by 2030. Nearly 150 members were arrested in December on Capitol Hill at a protest where they called for a Green New Deal.

Supporters of the grassroots group argued on Thursday that its commitment to continued pressure is what made its demands impossible for O'Rourke and other candidates to ignore—making it more likely that Democrats will eventually nominate a candidate who owes nothing to fossil fuel donors and can regulate the industry while promoting renewable energy. O'Rourke became the 12th candidate to sign the pledge, which has been promoted by both the Sunrise Movement and Oil Change USA.

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