Wednesday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- The University of Oxford has released new research showing that politicians underestimate the public's demand for climate action. Adam Morton discusses how Australia's Labor party has both an opportunity and a political incentive to break free from petropolitics, while Michael Barnard weighs in on how the ICJ's ruling on climate liability should spur Canada to stop subsidizing dirty energy. And Dharna Noor and Oliver Milman report on scientists' duly scathing response to denialist propaganda from the Trump regime. 

- Ben Shread-Hewitt notes that any plans to reach net zero in the distant future can be undermined by the effects of a climate breakdown today, including in wiping out the trees which are being counted on to offset carbon pollution. And Kiley Bense reports on research showing that children are far healthier after the closure of a nearby coal plant - even as the Trump regime and its Canadian cousins look to keep coal plants spewing out of spite. 

- Meanwhile, Matthew Scace reports on a new study showing that Alberta's coal mine reclamation standards fall far short of protecting affected water and fish - and it's again worth noting that the Moe government's response has uniformly been to criticize anybody seeking to preserve clean water rather than to object to poison being dumped into Saskatchewan's water sources. And Damien Gayle weighs in on Deep Science Ventures' research into the dangers of chemical pollution. 

- Julia Musto discusses a new report on the harms caused by plastic pollution. And the Guardian's editorial board implores world leaders to dedicate themselves to a treaty to stop the damage.

- Polly Toynbee rightly questions why Keir Starmer is obsessed with expanding the use of polluting air travel, rather than investing in rail and other clean transportation. And David Climenhaga calls out the UCP for declaring war on bike lanes to ensure nobody can get anywhere other than in a massive polluting SUV or truck. 

- Finally, Craig Lord reports on the resilience of Canada's economy in the face of the Trump regime's tariffs and threats - which makes for a particularly noteworthy contrast against Paul Wells' choice to declare the fight for sovereignty lost since a few corporate bigwigs might make more money in the short term through appeasement.

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Jessica Wildfire discusses the eugenic mindset behind the Trump regime (and particularly Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s plans for public health). Jill Lawrence writes that Donald Trump is managing to deform an already wealth-obsessed country with his singular focus on using the power of the presidency to feed his unquenchable greed. Greg Sargent talks to Jamie Raskin about the corruption behind Trump's acceptance of a luxury jet from Qatar. And Timothy Noah takes note of the use of magical supply side theory as an excuse for gigantic tax cuts for those who already have more concentrated wealth than any healthy person could spend in a lifetime. 

- Adrienne Buller and Geoff Mann write that we should treat a polycrisis as a moment where concerted action can have the most positive effect on future outcomes, rather than a basis for despondency and inaction. Jeremy Wallace warns against applying cynical "realism" to the work to be done in preserving a habitable living environment. And Jeff Masters discusses how climate denialists are spinning and mischaracterizing the IPCC's work to try to excuse climate neglect. 

- Meanwhile, Andrea Thompson points out how the Trump regime's slashing of weather forecasting will have a toll in human life. And Nidhi Sharma and Jacob Soboroff report on its decision to squelch the reporting the known cost of wildfires and other climate-related disasters. 

- Amber Rolt reports that a majority of British respondents favour banning short-haul flights in favour of real. And Mili Roy discusses how the fight against climate change fits neatly with the steps Canada needs to take to reduce our dependence on the U.S. 

- Finally, Robert Farley highlights the absolute idiocy of Trump's fight against Canada. And Paul Kahnert argues that any conservatives with an interest in Canada's well-being should be distancing themselves from MAGA - though whether such a thing exists remains in serious doubt. 

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. 

Monday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Geoffrey Johnston examines how the latest wave of COVID-19 is swamping Ontario's health care system while its cumulative effect is reducing life expectancies. Philip Moscovitch discusses the dangers of repeat COVID infections. And Zaki Arshad, Joshua Nazareth and Manish Pareek offer a reminder that the same vaccination, masking, and testing which have been vital to limiting the spread of COVID for the past three years remain so now even if they're being treated solely as individual choices rather than ongoing public health necessities. 

- Martin Lukacs interviews Eriel Deranger about what happened at COP28, with fossil fuel interests and their fully-owned politicians looking to block progress at every turn. And Binoy Kampmark points out that the end product is both non-binding, and ineffective even to the extent it were treated as having any effect (as also noted by the experts surveyed by Carolyn Gramling).

- Topher Sanders et al. expose the combination of bullying and bribery used by major rail companies to prevent the accurate reporting of worker injuries so they can avoid safety regulation and keep dangerous conditions in place. 

- Finally, Kenan Malik discusses how the hesitancy to challenge the class power of the wealthy has sapped politics of any meaningful effect. And while Rachel Cohen's interview with Brent Cebul rightly challenges the neoliberal view that the sole focus of policy development should be to gesture toward a given problem as cheaply and profitably as possible, it's worth noting the problem with trying to co-opt business interests by handing them even more money and power. 

Monday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Apoora Mandavilli writes that cleaner air is essential to avoid the spread of COVID-19 in schools. Elizabeth Hlavinka discusses the severe impact of long COVID on children and the lack of resources to treat it. And Helen McArdle reports that hundreds of Scottish hospital wards have been forced to close due to COVID-19 so far in 2023, while Sissi De Flaviis reports on yet another surge in COVID hospitalizations in Canada. 

- Oliver Milman reports on the likelihood that next year (and all foreseeable future years) will be even worse than this year for extreme heat, wildfires and other calamitous climate impacts. Matthew Rozsa writes about the uber-wealthy and connected "super-emitters" who are contributing disproportionately to a climate breakdown while seeking to cast blame on everybody else. Kaamil Ahmed discusses how rich countries are trying to trap poorer ones into using dirty energy. And the Yale School of the Environment points out the Canadian oil sector's plans to increase how much pollution gets dumped into an already-precarious atmosphere, while Sarah Cox investigates how Canadian taxpayers are subsidizing both fossil fuel expansion and obscene corporate profits.  

- Meanwhile, Colin McCarter and Mike Waddington discuss how wetlands are already becoming carbon time bombs, while Daniel Grossman writes about the similar effect in the Amazon rainforest. 

- Josh Funk reports on the demand by U.S. railroads that a safety hotline serve primarily to allow them to punish workers who dare to report issues. 

- Colette Derworiz writes about the lack of available housing for university students. And Sawdah Bhaimiya reports on New York City's initiative to turn empty office space into homes, rather than pretending that the construction of expensive, sprawling suburbs is any solution to a housing crisis. 

- Finally, the Canadian Press examines how under Pierre Poilievre, the Cons have abandoned even the slightest nod to reality and become a vessel for the most deranged of conspiracy theories. 

Friday Afternoon Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Al Shaw, Irena Hwang and Caroline Chen discuss how forest loss and changing interactions between people and wildlife could be the trigger for a future pandemic. Christian Elliott points out that thawing permafrost is likely to release neurotoxic methylmercury in addition to a carbon bomb. And Dyani Lewis reports on research showing that wildfires in Australia caused a breakdown in the ozone layer - indicating that even our greatest environmental successes are in danger of being lost due to other forms of damage. 

- Howard Lee offers a helpful list of the many ways in which any attempt to treat climate change as a natural phenomenon is indefensible. Andrew MacLeod fact-checks the fossil fuel sector's attempt to brand fossil gas as "green". And Nicola Jones notes that the environmental fallout from microplastics may include direct contribution to a climate breakdown, while Tom Perkins reports on the EPA's steps to set limits on PFAs in drinking water. 

- Sharon Lerner reports on the rightful outrage that the only testing for aftereffects of the East Palestine toxic explosion and burnoff has been done in the service of Norfolk Southern. 

- Finally, Whizy Kim discusses how in the U.S. as in Canada, food conglomerates have used inflation as an opportunity to goose their own profits while falsely pointing the finger at outside forces. 

Monday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Tarun Sai Lomte discusses new research on the connection between structural brain changes and fatigue associated with long COVID. And Eric Topol examines the growing body of evidence on the increased risk of heart attacks and strokes after COVID infection. 

- Robert Reich writes about the problems with corporate capitalism which tries to cut all values other than immediate exploitation out of decision-making processes. David Sirota writes that the prospect of increased rail regulation in the wake of reporting about the East Palestine toxic release offers at least some example of how responsive governance is supposed to work. And Joe Mayall points out the importance of talking about wage theft - and combating it at every possible level of government. 

- Jim Stanford writes that Bank of Canada's choice to strangle growth is only ensuring that we don't produce more goods to help counteract inflation and push prices down. And David Moscrop points out that the most important source of affordable homes needs to be the public sector - which is currently falling far short of replacing housing which is becoming unaffordable in private hands. 

- Jim Bronskill reports on CSIS' assessment of the multiple security threats posed by a climate breakdown, while Owen Jones offers a reminder that anti-refugee rhetoric is being used to try to deny a massive wage of climate migrants any place to go. And Graham Readfearn reports on new findings showing Antarctica's sea ice at the lowest level ever. 

- Finally, David Climenhaga discusses how Danielle Smith is determined to break Alberta beyond repair, both in ensuring the collapse of systems of public services and in setting up the worst fossil fuel bust cycle the province has ever seen. And Jonathan Thompson writes about the public subsidy to oil barons as U.S. states pick up the tab for neglected and abandoned well sites. 

Thursday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Chris Stanford responds to the alt-right's demonization of liveable communities by pointing out what a 15-minute city actually means. And Monika Korzun and Farzaneh Barak discuss how to ensure more equitable and sustainable access to food. 

- Tyler Buchana points out the long history of train derailments around East Palestine prior to last month's catastrophic chemical spill and fire - as well as the pleas for safety measures which were dismissed in order to cater to corporate owners. And Cory Doctorow discusses how corporate recycling programs can be found on the plausibility scale between greenwashing and outright fraud. 

- Andrew Nikiforuk calls out the use of plastic words to gloss over the government infrastructure devoted to promoting oil and gas - a point which is all the more clear when petrostates are deliberately leaving anybody outside of the fossil fuel sector from "energy" advising. 

- Ian Bailey reports on the Calgary Petroleum Club's belated and mealy-mouthed expression of regret for providing a venue to Christine Anderson and her convoy reunion. And Luke LeBrun highlights a few details from the Emergency Act inquiry which have otherwise been largely overlooked - including how #FluTruxKlan drivers were handed cash-stuffed envelopes from as-yet-undisclosed sources as they occupied Ottawa.

- Finally, Charles Rusnell follows up on Calgary's funneling of money to a con man to deliver quack PTSD services - and the ensuing "investigation" which seems to have been little more than a coverup even after the swindle has become public knowledge.  

Monday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Michael Kempa discusses Justice Paul Rouleau's findings on federalism in his report on the use of the Emergencies Act - though the hope for province to provide better governance within their jurisdiction seems rather empty when so many of them are focused on stoking alt-right hate rather than caring for the well-being of their citizens. And on that front, Peter Prebble and Glenn Wright highlight how the Moe government's talking points about federalism and sovereignty are primarily oriented at stifling any effective climate policy. 

- Barry Saxifrage examines how electric vehicles reduce carbon pollution compared to gasoline cars - though he also rightly notes that an upswing in sales of the former hasn't done anything to stop an overall increase in vehicular emissions. And Catherine McKenna discusses the need for corporations to stop favouring greenwashing over actual steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. 

- Julia Conley reports on the entirely justified public perception that the East Palestine train toxic train crash is the fault of the rapacious corporate operator profiting from the erosion of safety standards. 

- Henry Grabar points out how the shredding of the civil service and consequent outsourcing of project decision-making to self-interested consultants has made it more costly and difficult to build major transit projects. 

- Finally, Naomi Fowler discusses how financial secrecy serves to enable both what's already recognized as organized financial crime, and the general ethic of greed and entitlement which results in "legitimate" businesses profiting from it as well. 

Thursday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Kimberly Atkins Stohr discusses her experience with long COVID - along with the reality that others have suffered far worse when they've lost employment as a result of it. Jasleen Gosal writes about the "silent pandemic" on and around Stanford's campus. And CanCOVID examines (PDF) the communications used to inform people about COVID - including the effect of delay and uncertainty in official communication which enabled conspiracy theories to spread. 

- David Suzuki writes that the East Palestine rail disaster offers an important reminder of the risks of valuing profit over human lives and health. Branko Marcetic discusses the connection between corporate and executive windfalls and increased numbers of train derailments. And Topher Sanders and Dan Schwartz report on the Norfolk Southern corporate policy allowing desk workers to tell rail crews to disregard safety alerts. 

- Jenna Benchetrit reports on yet another quarter of blatant profiteering by Loblaws, while Dan Guadagnolo notes that the public isn't buying its attempts to cast blame elsewhere for its inflated prices. And Jon Keegan discusses how beyond price-gouging for the necessities of life, grocery stores are also turning into massive brokerages for personal information about consumers. 

- Greg Jericho highlights how wages are failing to keep up with price increases in Australia (like in many other countries). And Emmanuel Saez finds (PDF) that the income distribution in the U.S. is more top-heavy now than ever before.  

- Finally, Kelly Crowe exposes how the Libs have given in to lobbying by the pharmaceutical sector and put off a process to develop more fair pricing for the medication people need. 

Sunday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Sunday reading.

- Maura Hohman discusses how COVID-19 has been found to cause increased heart problems in young people (among other harm to health) - even as it's being allowed to inflict that damage population-wide. And Lidia Morawska et al. examine how warnings about the airborne transmission of COVID were ignored by the people responsible for assessing the threat and protecting the public.

- David Sirota, Julia Rock, Rebecca Burns and Matthew Cunningham-Cook report that the East Palestine, OH train derailment (with associated fires, explosions and toxic chemical releases) was traceable directly to corporate lobbying for deregulation of safety standards. And Tom Perkins writes that the disaster should be a wake-up call as to the need for protection - though there were obvious recent precedents which would have alerted any halfway competent regulator as to the dangers of undermining rail safety.

- Paris Marx writes that a series of developments in artificial intelligence don't figure to eliminate the need for human labour - though they do figure to be used as an excuse to make work more precarious. And Marietje Schaake rightly notes that large-scale layoffs in the tech sector should be treated as an opportunity to recruit well-trained workers into the public service.

- Finally, Rumneek Johal reports on the connections between the puritanical and for-profit "recovery" sector trumpeted as an alternative to harm reduction and concern for people's health, and the right-wing politicians pouring public money into the former over the latter.

Monday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Zhenguo Nie, Yunzhi Chen and Meifeng Deng study the relative merits of COVID precautions, finding upward ventilation and masking to be the most effective combination in reducing the concentration of infectious particles. And Pascal Irrgang et al. find an altered immune response after multiple vaccinations which consists increasingly of a non-inflammatory antibodies.

- Peter Armstrong writes about the reasons for concern that 2023 will be an even more grim year than 2022 from an economic standpoint, with most people having to face continually-increasing prices amidst declines in employment and real wages. And Sam Meredith reports on the efforts of the Wellbeing Economy Governments partnership to work on a more meaningful definition of well-being to measure policy choices - while noting that the background to that work is a "polycrisis" which has largely been ignored in favour of GDP-only measurement.

- Charley Adams reports on the increasing recognition among health care providers in the UK that its national health service is under intolerable (if deliberately-chosen) stress. And Simon Jenkins writes that anybody interested in saving public health care would approach the crisis with a war footing - making the minimization and denial from the Cons a clear indication that they're willing and eager to see the system fail so its spoils can be handed out to donors. 

- Finally, Philip Drost and Craig Desson discuss what the history of rail transportation in Canada can tell us about its future prospects - with past decisions to privatize passenger rail service and tie its operation to other railways' operations making rail travel less desirable than heavily-subsidized highway use.

Saturday Afternoon Links

Assorted content for your Saturday reading.

- Jennifer Lee reports on the newly-released documents confirming that Alberta's lifting of COVID protections was purely a matter of political oneupmanship rather than reflecting any expectation that people's health wouldn't be harmed. And Andrew Dansby writes about Peter Hotez' recognition that the fallout from COVID-19 will be felt for years even after the ongoing pandemic finally recedes, while Emily Elpert Reyes discusses warnings from health providers about the dangers of working through COVID.  

- Andre Picard writes about the British Columbia Court of Appeal's affirmation of the validity of a universal public medical care system, while noting that we have plenty of work to do to ensure we have one that keeps us healthy.

- Ian James writes about the depletion of the Colorado River as a painful example of people's refusal to take even modest precautions in the face of readily-foreseeable catastrophe. And David Cooper makes what's all too likely to be a futile case for a dirty oil industry swimming in windfall profits to take responsibility for cleaning up its own environmental destruction.

- Drew Anderson examines the realities of a Lake Diefenbaker irrigation expansion scheme - including the risks which have been ignored as the Moe government barges ahead with plans from half a century ago. And Easton Hamm reports on the increasing wildfire risk in Saskatchewan due to the climate breakdown which the Sask Party is so determined to fuel.

- Finally, Christopher Nardi reports on the embarrassment of federal Environment Minister Stephen Guilbeault trying to use passenger rail for a promotional tour, only to learn that service is no longer available for much of the country.

Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Glenn McConnell reports on New Zealand's continued leadership in acknowledging and fighting the avoidable spread of COVID-19. Arwa Mahdawi discusses why nobody should be bragging about continuing to work through a disease which requires rest to maximize one's recovery. 

- Peter Zimonjic reports on Statistics Canada's temporary drop in inequality when COVID benefits were relatively widely available - which surely explains the determination of the Cons and their provincial cousins to make sure nothing of the sort is ever put in place again. 

- Lijing Cheng et al. study historical trends in ocean heat content and find that our planet is in fact warming faster than previously known. Andres Picon writes about the deadly combination of heat and air pollution. And John Woodside discusses the connection between the oil and banking sectors which continues to result in money being funneled toward climate breakdown.

- David Dayen weighs in on the harm being done to the public by profiteering railroad operators. And Robin Shaban and Yunuz Emre Bozkurt discuss the importance of more public ownership - in substance as well as form - to ensure people's telecommunications needs are met. 

- Finally, Andrew Coyne writes that premiers can't expect to be handed gobs of new health care money without some commitment to ensure it gets put to its intended use. 

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Alexander Quon reports on the politicization of Saskatchewan's COVID policy in the summer of 2021, with political staffers and commercial interests winning out over public health recommendations surrounding Saskatchewan Roughrider games. Zak Vescera reports on Scott Moe's deliberate dishonesty as an excuse to scrap what few protections remain in place. And Hilary Brown, Yona Lunsky, Sandi Bell, Fahad Razak and Amol Verma highlight the need to start taking into account the people with disabilities who are being told they should self-isolate without supports in order to allow those in power to avoid the slightest inconvenience. 

- Brandi Morin discusses how the #FluTruxKlan is based entirely in white supremacy, while Max Fawcett calls out the double standard involved in allowing a mob of bigots who had expressly threatened violence far more leeway than any other type of protest. And Ariel Troster points out how that choice resulted in residents of Ottawa being held captive at the behest of the extremists.  

- David Dayen and Rakeen Mabud examine how the U.S.' corporatist policy laid the groundwork for its current supply chain failures. And Rebecca Graff-McRae points out the dangers of the UCP's plans to turn labs and other parts of Alberta's health care system into corporate profit centres rather than public services. 

- Unifor makes the case for Canada to reinvest in national passenger rail service.

- Finally, Emily Chung reports on the emergence of new oil and gas heating bans in jurisdictions with even a modicum of foresight - while also recognizing how fossil fuel interests are lobbying to stand in te way.  

Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Duncan Cameron makes the case for a transition to a more fair and democratic economy. And Paris Marx proposes the development of publicly-owned options - including the increased use of passenger trains along with more accessible transit - as part of an improved transportation network.

- Rick Smith discusses how COVID-19 has been used as an implausible excuse to eliminate environmental protections. Guy Quenneville, Dave Seglins and Joseph Loiero highlight the continued pattern of rail disasters following . And Graham Thomson writes that Alberta's associate minister responsible for "red tape reduction" has no reasonable explanation for any of the regulatory destruction being imposed by his government.

- Emily Eaton, Andrea Olive and Angela Carter write about Saskatchewan's importance in the fight to avoid climate catastrophe.

- Karen-Marie Elah Perry and Jennifer Whiteside examine the failings of privatized assisted living care in British Columbia. And Marc Lee writes about the need to push back against short-term rental operators who are making needed housing unavailable to residents.

- Finally, Denise Balkisoon writes about her experience trying to call out racism in both staffing and coverage at the Globe and Mail.

Wednesday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Geoff Dembicki interviews Leah Gazan about the need to put people over corporate profits in our political system.

- Dale Eisler writes about the need for our conversation around climate change to focus on an honest appraisal as to how we can rein in carbon emissions. But Jason Markusoff points out how petro-jingoism is drowning out any willingness to consider the massive costs of continued fossil fuel extraction. And Paul Willcocks highlights the glaring partisan divide which has seen conservative parties tamp down any interest in acting to avert a climate crisis.

- Meanwhile, Andrew Leach observes that the right-wing strategy of opposing consumer-level pricing and incentives only figures to ensure that more of the cost of any action will be incurred by the extraction industry and other major emitters.

- Ian Austen looks back at the causes of the Lac-Mégantic explosion - and the minimal regulatory response so far.

- Finally, Ricardo Tranjan calls out the Ford government's stinginess in slashing funding for a seniors' transit tax credit. And Leyland Cecco discusses Innisfil's disastrous experiment replacing public transit with ride-sharing which has increased both costs and pollution.

Saturday Afternoon Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- Lana Payne comments on the war being waged by Canada's right-wing governments against workers.

- Dion Rabouin writes about the product of decades of giveaways to the rich - as the obscenely wealthy literally can't find any use for massive amounts of money other than to hoard it, even while refusing to pass any of it along. And Elizabeth Capelle discusses both how housing has become financialized, and how to reorient our view of it to serve the interests of people beyond the 1%.

- Frederick Hewitt points out how some of the most several long-term dangers of a climate breakdown involve the types of food supply disruptions which proved the undoing of past civilizations. Christopher Flavelle notes that the increasing recognition of the dangers of climate change is leading to higher costs and lower use of insurance to guard against foreseeable risks. And while Susan Delacourt wonders whether the climate crisis will lead to full social mobilization, the most telling part of her column is the thoroughly uninspired (and uninspiring) response from the Lib government:

My colleague here in the Star’s Ottawa bureau, Alex Ballingall, asked Environment Minister Catherine McKenna this week about whether wartime examples could inspire more collective public action on climate change.

“Look, I mean, I am very supportive of more ambition on climate change. I hear good ideas every single day. I mean I think the idea that you need to link climate action with people and making sure that you are focused on how do you improve lives is critical,” McKenna told Ballingall. But the minister also said that any ambition has to be tempered with, yes, affordability. “People want action on climate change but they want life to be affordable and at the same time creating good jobs.”

So, not exactly Dunkirk or D-Day, at least not yet. Bill Nye may need a bigger blowtorch.

- Finally, Bruce Campbell comments on the need for a public inquiry into the Lac-Mégantic disaster and points out some of the questions which remain unanswered to this day. And Penelope Simons notes that the Libs' distaste for corporate accountability is endangering Canada's global reputation.

Wednesday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Patricia Cohen and Maggie Astor discuss what they perceive as the boldness of the emerging debate about taxing the wealthiest in the U.S. But John Nichols points out that even the most "radical" progressive tax plans under discussion would only restore the principles that applied through some of the country's most prosperous eras.

- Jonathan Watts reports on a new study from the Institute for Public Policy Research on the systemic environmental and economic threats posed by a climate breakdown, while Roger Harrabin emphasizes the multiple crises we're facing. And Damian Carrington takes note of the impending collapse of insect populations in particular. 

- Owen Jones highlights the need for UK Labour (among other progressive parties) to lead the charge in fighting to protect our planet from those clear and present threats. And Avi Lewis makes the case for a Canadian equivalent of the Green New Deal.

- Sharon Riley reports on the rapidly-increasing bills being foisted on the public as the Alberta oil sector abandons its responsibilities. And Justin Mikulka notes that the recent rail accident in Field, B.C. resulted from many of the same factors as the Lac-Mégantic explosion - signalling how much work still needs to be done to address threats that we know all too well. But Dawn Wolfe points out the lengths corporatist parties are going to in preventing the public interest from being considered by pointing out how Michigan Republicans have given corporate polluters a veto over any environmental regulations. 

- Finally, Anita Huberman and Hassan Yussuff offer a reminder as to how families and small businesses stand to gain from universal pharmacare. But Kelly Crowe reports on big pharma's lobbying efforts to ensure Canadians keep paying exorbitant prices out of pocket.

Wednesday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Ben Steverman examines the unfairness of the U.S.' tax system - which, like Canada's, offers gratuitous giveaways to wealthy investors which force workers to pay more:

Politicians have intentionally set tax rates on wages much higher than those on long-term investment returns. The U.S. has a progressive tax system in the sense that well-paid workers sacrifice much more than poor workers on their “ordinary income.” But Americans with so-called unearned income—qualified dividends and long-term capital gains—get a break. A billionaire investor can pay about the same marginal rate as a $40,000-a-year worker, a fact Warren Buffett has famously lamented.
 ...
There’s a big flaw, though, in the argument that lower taxes on the rich stimulate longer-term investment, and thus jobs, famously labeled as “trickle-down economics.” While tax rates might affect the timing of some investor decisions in the medium term, it’s much harder to see how they affect long-term behavior. No matter the tax rate, investors ultimately look for opportunities to get richer.

“There is little empirical evidence showing that taxing investors less stimulates savings and growth,” said Emmanuel Saez, an economist at the University of California at Berkeley.

Supply-side economists disagree, and can point to tax cuts in the 1980s that seemed to spur the U.S. and U.K. economies. But there’s little evidence of a relationship between economic growth and investment taxes over the long term.

- Annette Alstadsæter, Niels Johannesen and Gabriel Zucman connect (PDF) the wealth hidden away in tax havens to its national sources - and then to develop a more accurate estimate of top-end wealth which has been siphoned off. And the Equality Trust offers a set of policy proposals for Labour to reduce inequality in the UK - with both regional imbalances and social ownership among the key economic priorities.

- Meanwhile, Brent Patterson examines how the oil industry - with the assistance of Lib insiders - is trying to limit public regulation of pipelines through NAFTA.

- Kevin Quigley notes that while a trial of the conductor involved in the Lac-Mégantic rail explosion will offer some testing of the causes of the disaster, more important systemic issues are going unaddressed in the absence of a broader inquiry.

- Finally, Don Pittis examines the social benefits of post-secondary education which are being lost in an effort to extract money from students. And Erika Shaker points out that Statistics Canada is making it more difficult to compare tuition across provinces.