Wednesday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Jeremy Hsu discusses how people massively underestimate the disproportionate climate damage done by the uber-wealthy. Mark Fawcett-Atkinson notes that the dirty energy industry is targeting women for a new round of disinformation and greenwashing. And Rebecca Hersher points out the consequences that flow from the climate breakdown - including severe mental health challenges caused as people lose their homes and valuables to extreme weather. 

- But Patrick Greenfield reports on a new analysis showing that governments are continuing to increase their handouts to the cause of environmental destruction. And David Climenhaga notes that after failing to distribute one federal handout that it demanded to put the public on the hook for the oil industry's messes, the UCP is now trying to seize Canadians' pensions to be funneled to its fossil fuel donors. 

- Cory Doctorow points out that the principle of "shareholder supremacy" is both meaningless on its face, and promulgated solely as a matter of self-serving supposition by those seeking to prioritize capital over well-being. 

- Jacky Wong interviews andrea bennett about how food can be made healthier both in terms of nutrition and lifestyle. And Nina Massey discusses how the replacement of ultra-processed foods can help reduce the risk of diabetes and other illnesses, while Sandee LaMotte reports on research showing how toxic chemicals in food preparation can cause substantial harm. 

- Finally, Abraham Fuks, John Bergeron and Stanley Kutcher lament the stagnation of funding for health research in Canada.

Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- David Climenhaga writes that nobody should be surprised by Danielle Smith's determination to privatize Alberta's health system - though her explicit declaration that she wants providers to be motivated by an ethic of fear rather than care lays bare what the UCP has in store. Alexander Quon reports on the patient-pays system for doctor access set up by one Regina medical clinic on the Moe government's watch. And Gretchen Morgenson reports on research showing how private equity involvement in health facilities results in asset stripping and worse service. 

- Nora Loreto calls out the right-wing push to maximize harm and deaths from public health challenges. And Jon Woodward reports on the large number of additional deaths anticipated from Doug Ford's shuttering of safe consumption sites alone. 

- Todd Feathers reports on the illegal denial of hundreds of millions of dollars of medical benefits by a malfunctioning AI system. And Michael Joel-Hansen reports on the known issues with the Saskatchewan Party's new payment processing system which is leaving workers unpaid and supplies unordered. 

- Suzanne Blake reports on the admission by one Kroger executive that it engaged in price gouging (while using inflation as an excuse for profit-taking).

- Finally, Emily Peck discusses how the U.S.' public perception of labour unions is at a multi-decade high.

Monday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Ayesha Tandon discusses a new study showing that the limiting factor in averting a climate breakdown is public policy rather than technological limitations. Aaron Wherry rightly points out that there's no either-or choice between mitigation and adaptation - and that indeed investment in the former can make the latter more manageable. And Natasha Bulowski reports on Danielle Smith's predictable decision to put an oil industry insider in charge of climate policy (and obstruction), while Kyle Bakx notes that the UCP is also actively pushing the construction of fossil fuel-powered data centres.

- Meanwhile, David Climenhaga highlights how the UCP is looking to turn limited addictions treatment into a donor profit centre. And Joel Dryden reports on the its choice to use public money to turn urgent care and other core health services over to private control. 

- Marc Bou Mansour examines how even a "featherlight" wealth tax could produce $2.1 trillion in annual revenue for public purposes. Ann Pettifor writes that the UK (like other countries) can afford to do what it has the will to do - making any focus on austerity in the name of growth an utterly counterproductive impulse. And Richard Murphy warns that the Starmer government seems inclined to pursue "balance" over a single term at the expense of underdevelopment and corporate control in the longer term. 

- Finally, Tory Shepherd discusses how the pathological fixation on growth in the name of perpetual profit generation includes a demand to increase birth rates and population levels on a planet whose resources are already overextended. 

Tuesday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Syris Valentine writes about our severe and chronic environmental overshoot in using far more resources than the Earth can replenish. Clayton Page Aldern discusses how global warming is already having a measurable impact on our health and behaviour. And Kait Parker notes that climate change is making people sick directly as extreme weather diverts sewage and pollution into the waterways we rely on.  

- Ed Struzik reports on the effects of climate change in cutting off the food supply of communities in the Northwest Territories which can no longer be accessed by boat. And the Canadian Press discusses how extreme weather is raising food prices generally. 

- Phillip Inman reports on the growing movement to ensure the uber-rich pay at least some taxes to support the societies which allow them to accumulate their fortunes, rather than being able to play governments against each other in search of special favours. And Colin Bruce Anthes and Nathan Olmstead make the case for a focus on building community wealth as a general principle - not merely as a mechanism to alleviate extreme poverty. 

- Adam King discusses how Canada's measures of unemployment serve to overestimate the number of jobs available while underestimating the number of workers who could fill them (with the effect of providing misleading support for policy which favours employers' interests over workers). And Randy Thanthong-Knight reports on the systematic use of temporary foreign workers in the service sector even as scores of young workers are unable to find jobs. 

- Finally, David Climenhaga writes that Danielle Smith's latest salvo in the war on health is the shuttering of long-COVID clinics without any warning or available alternative for patients. 

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- The Technical University of Munich highlights the uncertainties involved in putting a timeline on particular climate tipping points - even if their arrival is certain if we don't stop spewing carbon pollution. And Meghan Bartels discusses how the climate breakdown is damaging all kinds of infrastructure designed for a temperature range which is entirely in the past. 

- Meanwhile, Alexis Simmerman and Doyle Rice report that an oxygen-depleted "dead zone" in the Gulf of Mexico caused by industrial pollutants has expanded to over 6,700 square miles. 

- Emilia Belliveau and Nola Poirier discuss how oil tycoons are perpetually lobbying to avoid cleaner energy and reduced greenhouse gas emissions. And David Climenhaga points out how the UCP's hostility to renewable energy was able to shut down enough planned projects to power every house in Alberta - making it clear that Canada's right isn't interested in making energy available, but in ensuring that we have to pay off their dirty energy donors to access it. 

- Tom Perkins writes about the connection between increased food prices and blatant corporate profiteering.  

- Finally, Joe Mulhall rightly calls out against any attempt to legitimize racist violence. And Gil Duran warns that Twitter has been weaponized to favour exactly that - meaning that any responsible users need to be developing an exit strategy (if they haven't already). 

Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Bill Henderson writes that the immense temperature increases we've already seen - and the resulting spread of extreme weather events and other catastrophic consequences - should serve as a wake-up call for anybody still trying to hit the snooze button on climate action. But Maya Goodfellow discusses Tad DeLay's concern that we're in denial of how much damage has already been done. Similarly, Paul Abela warns that we may already be past the point where it's possible to reduce emissions in time to stay within tolerable temperature levels - particularly with so much money and power being applied to try to continue the dirty energy business as usual. And on that front, David Climenhaga discusses Danielle Smith's double bet against the future, as she seeks to confiscate Alberta's savings and divert the funds toward fossil fuel projects that are seen as dead losers even by the corporations currently making their money off of oil and gas.  

- But lest anybody think denialism in any way reflects what the public wants as opposed to the complete capture of power by capital, Damian Carrington reports on a UN poll showing that even in petrostates a strong majority of people want to see a rapid transition to clean energy. Justin Worland discusses how consumers want and expect the corporate sector which limits consumer choices to do far more to fight the climate crisis. And Dhitri Gupta points out that developer reticence is making it difficult to convert Toronto's housing stock to carbon neutrality - though it bears mention that the perceived need to cater to those same developers is itself something which could be changed.  

- Steve Genco examines what it means to talk about (and plan for) civilizational collapse, while Nitish Patwa discusses the multiple effects of the climate breakdown in progress. The Energy Mix reports on the move to establish "chief heat officer" positions at the municipal level to help alleviate the dangers at a local level. And Drew Anderson notes that Calgary (among other Canadian cities) can learn from the experiences of other areas which have seen their water supplies dry up due to the climate crisis. 

- Inayat Singh reports on one of the most stark consequences of the current North American heat wave, as monkeys are falling dead out of trees in Mexico due to unprecedented temperatures. 

- Finally, Fiona Harvey reports on new research showing that thousands of children under five are dying every day due to air pollution, making it the second-largest cause of death for young children around the globe. 

[Edit: fixed wording.]

Thursday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Lauren Chadwick reports on the WHO's findings that the COVID-19 pandemic has caused a multi-year drop in life expectancy and undone a decade of health progress. Eric Topol and Ziyad Al-Aly examine the results of a new study showing that long COVID is linked to a large number of adverse health outcomes 3 years after an initial hospitalization. And Dan Luo et al. identify one possible mechanism by which COVID-19 may cause heart problems. 

- Amy Janzwood discusses the immense financial and environmental costs of the TMX pipeline which the Libs have chosen to prioritize over anything which could actually reduce carbon pollution. And Eric Van Rythoven notes that the spread of carbon tariffs among countries who don't share the Cons' denial of climate science would render Pierre Poilievre's anti-pricing sloganeering completely ineffective. 

- Marissa Alexander and Wade Thorhaug discuss how soaring food prices are the result of corporate control over the our food supply. And David Wainer points out that increased private equity involvement in U.S. health care has resulted in further ballooning costs in what was already a grossly unaffordable medical system.  

- Finally, Susan Jane Wright writes about the importance of taking to the streets in response to Danielle Smith's anti-democratic governance. But David Climenhaga notes that the UCP's contempt for voters includes a plan to dictate who's actually allowed to cast a ballot in order to have a say in how they're governed. And Charles Rusnell warns that the Alberta Legislature appears to be going out of its way to hire disgraced violent former police officers to control one of the most important public spaces in the province. 

Thursday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Joan Westenberg discusses how to fight back in the war against knowledge, while Julia Doubleday calls out the lengths to which the New York Times and other outlets are going in avoiding any acknowledgment of the continuing effects of COVID-19. And in case there were any doubt as to the costs of know-nothingism and contrived skepticism, Beth Mole reports on the CDC's warning that the U.S. is in imminent danger of seeing measles become endemic again after having been eradicated. 

- Meanwhile, Blake Murdoch points out that a concerted effort to clean indoor air can help protect against a myriad of diseases, while Joey Fox notes that improved ventilation helps to lessen short-range spread as well as long-range transmission. 

- Georgina Rannard reports on the finding of the European Court of Human Rights that a failure to comply with climate commitments constitutes a human rights violation. And Steve Lorteau highlights how the right-wing fixation on carbon pricing serves only to distract from the real distortion and harm caused by ongoing subsidies for dirty energy. 

- Andrew Nikiforuk discusses how human activity is rapidly draining crucial fresh water resources. 

- Finally, David Climenhaga writes that the UCP is putting ideology over evidence and care in its puritanical drug policy. And Dave Cournoyer notes that Danielle Smith has decided she isn't satisfied with refusing to do anything to help meet public needs, resulting in her now using the power of the province to stifle any attempts by the federal government and municipalities to do anything of the sort. 

Wednesday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Alex Tanzi reports on new research showing how COVID-19 has radically changed the main causes of death globally. And Michael Peluso et al. study how COVID can persist and do damage to the body long after an initial infection. 

- Benjamin Wehrmann reports on new research showing that the pattern of grossly underestimated methane pollution extends to lignite coal mining in Germany. 

- John Timmer reports that the EPA is just now getting around to requiring the monitoring and containment of carcinogenic chemicals emitted by petrochemical production. Ben Collison notes that Canada's insufficient penalties for industrial pollution serve only to encourage severe environmental damage as a publicly-subsidized cost of doing business. And Duncan Kinney discusses how Alberta workers are dying as a result of the UCP's lack of interest in enforcing workplace health and safety rules.  

- David Climenhaga writes that while western separatists are both loud on their own and heavily promoted by right-wing media and politicians for their own purposes, they're entirely out of touch with the vast majority of the people they claim to speak for. And Max Fawcett notes that while the Flu Trux Klan has rebranded to fit into the Cons' hyperfixation on carbon pricing, it doesn't seem to have learned anything else about the system of government it's still seeking to overthrow. But Thomas Zimmer points out that supposedly "respectable conservatives" are ushering in fascism in the U.S. by painting the slightest advocacy for inclusion and equality as a greater threat than violent repression and insurrection - a strategy which is being replicated in Canada. 

- Finally, Cory Doctorow points out the one key upside of the development of immense global monopolies - as it should in theory be easier to coordinate wide-scale, international efforts to counter corporate power when citizens everywhere have a common adversary. 

Thursday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Rachel Fairbank discusses how a patient-led research collaborative is filling in the gaps in long COVID research and treatment. 

- Re.Climate examines (PDF) the state of Canadian public opinion on the climate crisis - which sadly features a stark and growing gap between recognition of the need for action, and support for meaningful policy. David Stanway reports on a new study showing that renewable energy deployment is lagging far behind what's needed to allow for a clean energy transition. Anand Ram and Benjamin Shingler report that Canada's wildfires more than counterbalanced any gains made in global tree cover in 2023. And Max Fawcett notes that the Cons' current excuse for a climate plan is an unfunny joke, while Doug Cuthand points out that the Saskatchewan Party and UCP are determined to make matters worse. 

- The Basic Income Earth Network and other signatories discuss how the security provided by a basic income is necessary to achieve climate justice. 

- Rupert Neate reports on new research showing that not a single one of the world's young billionaires obtained that status other than through gigantic inheritances. 

- Finally, David Climenhaga offers a warning about the UCP's plans to turn massive amounts of health care funding over to the cause of drug harm exacerbation. And Armine Yalnizyan points out that the Ford PCs are going out of their way to throw money at the same corporate care operators who caused mass illness and suffering at the start of the COVID pandemic. 

Monday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Claude Lavoie examines the problems with the far-too-rarely-questioned assumption that public policy needs to be oriented toward top-end economic growth at the expense of human well-being and environmental sustainability. 

- George Monbiot calls out how the wealthiest few have torqued the law to achieve impunity for themselves while punishing anybody who dares to question their dominance. Steven Staples points out that a Canadian public inquiry into foreign interference is conspicuously refusing to even recognize the control over decision-making exercised by Big Foreign Oil. And Ethan Cox exposes how a private surveillance company is spying on journalists with the apparent support of both the Alberta and federal governments, while Amanda Follett Hosgood points out that the RCMP's unit formed to ignore the rules and force through pipelines is now being turned against other activists (including people protesting for Palestinian human rights). 

- Meanwhile, Sharon Lewis offers a reminder that insurance companies aren't buying the climate denial being pushed on the public at large - with the result that people are increasingly unable to get insurance to cover foreseeable disasters. 

- Benjamin Shingler reports on Canada's lack of effective regulation to weed out false greenwashing. And Andrew Hawkins discusses Ian Walker's research as to how vehicles are designed to filter out awareness of their harmful effects (even as they become perpetually more dangerous for everybody else in the vicinity of the road). 

- Finally, David Climenhaga writes about Danielle Smith's choice to declare war on trans kids, while Amnesty International Canada calls it out as a glaring violation of human rights. And Corinne Mason and Leah Hamilton point out the complete absence of any factual basis for the UCP's campaign of hate. 

Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Ian Welsh discusses how COVID-19 is the second-most important story in the world - and how our failure to respond with appropriate regard for human life and well-being mirrors our inability to address any social challenge. And Ruth Link-Gelles et al. find that the latest vaccine update has been highly successful in reducing symptomatic - confirming again that the problem is not a lack of technical expertise to reduce the risks of an ongoing pandemic, but the total absence of will to acknowledge people need to act to protect themselves and others.  

- John Woodside weighs in on the eleven-figure combined cost of federal handouts to fossil fuel companies. And Environmental Defence highlights how continued subsidies to dirty energy operators represent a violation of multiple commitments - both in political promises and international agreements. 

- The Guardian rightly argues that a status quo in which the vast majority of people are squeezed dry in order to enrich the greedy few is utterly unsustainable. And Akielly Hu talks to Kohei Saito about the merits of focusing on degrowth in connection with improved equality and well-being. 

- Tim Querengesser discusses what Canada has lost in abandoning passenger rail as an affordable, low-stress form of transportation (while pouring obscene amounts of money into expanding highways).  

- Finally, David Climenhaga doubts that Albertans are about to accept Danielle Smith's attempt to substitute corporate pharmacies for access to primary health care. 

Tuesday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Tim Murphy discusses the many similarities between Russia's oligarchs and the U.S.' - including how both take advantage of deliberate policy choices to facilitate the concentration of wealth in secret. And Kevin Kharas' interview with Bertrand Monnet includes the recognition that their shared addiction to accumulation is also at the root of Mexico's drug cartels. 

- Linda McQuaig points out the similarities between Pierre Poilievre, Donald Trump and Jair Bolsonaro as strongmen determined to foment hate and rage to distract from the fact they have no plans to improve anybody's well-being (other than that of their cronies). 

- Jeremy Appel reports on the complete contempt for the law shown by Take Back Alberta in its refusal to cooperate with an investigation into its shady donors. And David Climenhaga notes that the most extreme and corrupt branch of the UCP is now trying to make a mockery of any form of democracy by attempting to take over the NDP.  

- Abdul Matin Sarfraz reports on Ian Burton's work to move us toward climate adaptation. But John Woodside highlights how Enbridge is trying to stop any transition to cleaner energy.

- Finally, Anne Rumberger interviews Anne Larson about the corporate media's systematic erasure of workers. And Matthew Stanley et al. find that workers' loyalty to bosses tends to turn into an invitation to increased exploitation. 

Monday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Jamie Ducharme examines the realities of a COVID-19 surge in progress - as well as the reason to worry that avoidable illness and death is being treated as the new normal. Kailin Yin et al. highlight the harm caused by systemic inflammation and immune dysregulation in the course of infection, while Brian Imbiakha et al. find that mice without adaptive immune cells don't experience those effects. And Marti Catala et al. study the evidence showing that vaccination helps to prevent long COVID symptoms. 

- Oxfam's latest briefing paper on inequality highlights how wealth continues to concentrate in the hands of a privileged few - and will continue to do so unless we take drastic steps to challenge our corporate overlords. 

- Rachel Donald reports on new research documenting the human behavioral crisis underlying the climate breakdown. And Marc Fawcett-Atkinson discusses how the fossil gas sector is seeking to exacerbate that problem by locking us into decades of carbon pollution to come, while Stephen Stapczynski, Ruth Liao and Anna Shiryaevskaya point out the real-world effects of that propaganda. 

- Jorg Broschek discusses how reduced speed limits could significantly slash carbon pollution while also making communities far safer. 

- David Climenhaga writes that Danielle Smith's government which is fearmongering about federal policy leaving people to freeze in the dark has actually made that a real risk due to its own corruption and mismanagement. Yet even his list of examples omits the most jarring contrast between energy security as a goal and UCP policy, as it's actively pushed to bring in crypto miners to use as much energy as possible. 

- Finally, Cory Doctorow writes about the need for solidarity among all kinds of workers - including tech and gig workers - to counter the accumulation and abuse of corporate power. 

Friday Afternoon Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Brent Appelman et al. study how mental and physical exertion in the midst of a COVID-19 infection can cause long-term damage. Tom Scocca discusses the devastating health and professional effects of his bout of COVID. And Nathaniel Weixel reports on the tens of thousands of deaths traceable to the use of hydroxychloroquine arising out of the determination to find an easy answer to a complex public health emergency. 

- Angela Grace asks what Albertans want to see in their health care system - though it's well worth noting that it's governed by a party opposed on principle to the concepts of prevention and evidence-based decision-making which would actually leave a legacy worth praising. And Dayne Patterson reports on a closure at Saskatoon City Hospital's emergency room as the latest example of a health care system buckling under the weight of neglect. 

- Jonathan Watts reports on the grim conclusion of some scientists that will mark the year when we lost any plausible prospect of reining in the climate breakdown, while Damien Gayle notes that hostility to climate action and democratic governance are once again being treated as the main qualifications for the of the next COP conference. and Geoff Dembicki exposes how the fossil gas industry is engaging in a secretive propaganda campaign against climate action. 

- Meanwhile, Craig Watts reports on the reality that 2024 figures to be yet another year of previously-unheard-of wildfires. 

- Finally, David Climenhaga offers a warning about the UCP's plans to demolish any pretense of public service in favour of a fully weaponized partisan state apparatus. And Jeremy Appel exposes how the fringe group which has already taken over Alberta's governing party is now plotting to take control of the province's school boards. 

Wednesday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Julia Conley reports that Massachusetts' referendum-approved millionaire tax raised substantially more income than projected, contributing both to greater equality and more funding for public priorities. 

- Charlotte Kukowski and Emma Garnett discuss the need to overcome multiple forms of inequality in order to ensure a just transition to clean energy. Which, needless to say, means that Scott Moe is handing  gobs of public money to the biggest polluters in Saskatchewan in order to keep greenhouse gases spewing, while threatening the modest rebates available to people living in poverty. 

- Gary McWilliams discusses how big oil companies accumulating even more wealth and power through consolidation, while Jack Marley notes that the fossil fuel industry got its way in hijacking global climate talks. Jillian Ambrose reports on the unconscionable dividend payouts and buybacks from the five largest oil companies. And Alex Mell-Taylor calls out Exxon-Mobil's well-funded but grossly dishonest greenwashing campaign as it continues to profit from the harm it does to our living environment. 

- David Climenhaga offers a grim set of expectations for the UCP, while Gillian Steward highlights how Danielle Smith's government is fully in thrall to anti-science loons. And Paula Simons calls out how Moe and other anti-trans right-wingers are using the notwithstanding clause to strip rights away from vulnerable people - while noting that it's the electorate that has the ultimate ability to hold them to account. 

- Finally, Mary Rehman explores the parallels between COVID diaries and Samuel Pepys' writings about the plague in the 17th century. 

Tuesday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Ryan Meili discusses how a blinkered focus on austerian "efficiency" and exit strategies prevents the development of care systems capable of meeting long-term needs. And Dione Wearmouth reports on the fallout from the UCP's insistence on putting performative politics over even those restrictive policy goals. 

- David Climenhaga points out that Danielle Smith's reflexive Trudeau-bashing has reached the point of actively criticizing her own government's actions where they're approved of by a federal department. And Arno Kopecky offers a reminder that it's the greed of the Cons' corporate backers - not a carbon tax which is more than fully rebated for most people - that's made life ever less affordable for Canadians. But Alan Westwood, Manjulika Robertson and Samantha Chu discuss how the experts who could better inform the public about the urgency of the climate crisis and the viability of the available solutions are being muzzled. 

- Dan Zakreski reports that the Moe government's idea of investing in supportive housing is to take over and clear out a building with over a hundred tenants so it can be flipped (presumably for a friendly developer's profit).  

- A.R. Moxom discusses how fascists use denial and both-sidesing to play the victim while avoiding answering for their eliminationism. 

- Finally, Katie Baker rightly questions how a steady stream of prosecutions of previous crypto pitchmen has had little apparent effect on people's willingness to throw money at the concept. And Cory Doctorow notes that the key question in evaluating AI isn't whether it's a bubble at all, but what type of bubble it will prove to be. 

Thursday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Adam King discusses how governments and employers have memory-holed some of the most important lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic as to the need for paid sick leave to ensure workplaces don't exacerbate the spread of dangerous diseases. 

- Debbie Cenziper, Michael Sallah and Michael Korsh examine how the FDA put millions of people at risk by failing to regulate the use of tainted breathing machines. And Carey Gillam reports on new research showing how the use of glyphosate herbicide endangers pregnant women and their children even who merely live near fields which have been sprayed. 

- Joe Vipond discusses how an actual cap on carbon emissions would have massive spillover health benefits, while Arthur Neslen reports on a push to put climate policy in the hands of experts rather than politicians and their donors. But Peter Zimonjic reports that the Libs are instead watering down existing targets for the oil and gas sector (even setting aside their continued blithe ignorance of emissions at the consumer level). 

- Meanwhile, Carl Meyer points out the recognition by the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment and Greenpeace Canada that there's no effective plan to counteract fossil sector greenwashing. And Ani Dasgupta sets out the crucial myths which have been exploited by the oil and gas sector to excuse the continued expansion of an industry which is already the leading cause of an ongoing climate breakdown. 

- Robson Fletcher talks to Trevor Tombe about the distributional impact of the carbon tax currently on the books - with the inescapable conclusion being that the Cons are looking to hand free money to the rich rather than helping those who are less well off. And Tracy Smith-Carrier examines the myths used to perpetuate poverty and block wide-scale implementation of a basic income. 

- Finally, David Climenhaga rightly notes that the Alberta NDP should have far more important things to do than to pursue a name change. (Though I'd raise an additional point on the futility of rebranding: to the extent the UCP's mantra of a "Trudeau-Notley-Singh alliance" carries an ounce of weight, the inclusion of the Trudeau Libs signals that nothing about a different party name or structure will change the messaging one iota.)

Thursday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Bryan Harris, Steve Bernard and Chris Campbell discuss the danger that a drying Amazon rain forest will accelerate the climate breakdown. 

- Jordan Omstead reports on Canada's place of shame as one of the countries looking to increas carbon pollution in the face of the climate emergency. And Hadrian Mertins-Kirkwood writes that the current state of politics around carbon pricing is undermining support for any climate action at all. 

- Meanwhile, Marc Fawcett-Atkinson points out that a group of corporate-friendly MPs are pushing eliminate any requirement that pesticides or GMO seeds be assessed by regulators for safety or environmental risks before they're used in Canada. 

- Drew Anderson exposes how Danielle Smith and the UCP lied about their explanation for banning renewable energy development. And David Climenhaga examines the PR apparatus being assembled to paper over the plan to sell off public health care - even as Emanuel Maiberg reports on the reality that privatized providers operate only by abusing workers and neglecting patients in the name of squeezing out profits. 

- Finally, Cory Doctorow discusses how the Biden administration is making some effort to root out the most unscrupulous investment advisors - but also notes that the greater problem is an "every man for himself" system of retirement income. 

Thursday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Damian Carrington reports on new research showing that the cost of damage caused by extreme weather is already upwards of $16 million per hour (and escalating). And Peter Kalmus writes about the need to wind down the fossil fuel industry rather than accepting the loss of a habitable planet. 

- But Helena Horton reports that the UK Cons are joining other right-wing parties in trying to stop the ongoing transition to clean energy. Matt Simmons reports on the BC Energy Regulator's complete failure to enforce any regulatory requirements for gas pipeline construction, while Julia Simone-Rutgers reports on the systematic defunding of environmental monitoring and enforcement in Manitoba. And Andrew Nikiforuk discusses how the UCP is once again trying to sneak dirty coal projects past courts and the public alike. 

- And while governments are going out of their way to cater to the sociopaths looking to sell off humanity's future to make a quick buck, Nina Lakhari, Damien Gayle and Matthew Taylor report that they're also using the power of the state to criminalize climate activism. 

- David Climenhaga discusses how the UCP's choice of private telehealth providers has gone bankrupt, leaving millions without the health care they were forced to accept through corporate means.

- Finally, Mack DeGeurin does report on the approval of a right-to-repair law in California.