Friday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material to end your week.

- Greg Sargent highlights how Donald Trump's pretense of concern for working-class people has given way to the largest transfer of wealth to plutocrats in U.S. history. Harold Meyerson discusses how Trump's repressive police state is keeping communities from celebrating the Fourth of July or otherwise participating in public life. Jeremy Brecher writes about the importance of ensuring that people with the means and privilege to engage in protest make sure Trump knows there's widespread opposition. And Yanis Varoufakis writes about the lessons from Karl Marx which are as vital to today's populist movements as those of the 1800s. 

- Meanwhile, Rick Salutin points out that Mark Carney's caving to Trump on a digital services tax represents an absolute failure to understand what Canadians expect from him. 

- Greg Silsbe et al. study the decline in ocean nutrients and photosynthesis caused by a warming climate. Isabella Kaminski reports on the ruling of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights that states have a legal duty to protect people from the effects of a climate breakdown. And Ayesha Tandon discusses a new analysis showing that the research we have into the effects of the climate crisis fails to take into account the particular impacts on fast-growing cities in developing countries. 

- Franziska Mager writes that there's no lack of resources available to fund a just transition if governments recognize and exercise their ability to tax extreme wealth. Reuters reports on new research showing that Germany could make substantial progress toward its carbon pollution targets just by cutting fossil fuel subsidies. And Juan Moreno-Cruz notes that methane mitigation can both create jobs and significantly cut harmful emissions - but that it won't work without effective emission regulation. 

- Simon Enoch discusses the importance of rural media outlets to build community connections on a foundation of facts and basic principles. And Gillian Steward calls out Danielle Smith for spending her summer on a separatist road show rather than anything that could actually help Albertans, while Leanna Sanders reports on the UCP's joint attempt with the Ford PCs to officially torpedo any commitment to clean drinking water for First Nations. 

- Finally, Bruce Campbell offers a reminder as to how corporate greed and deregulatory zeal led to the Lac-Megantic rail disaster - and how people are still suffering from its aftereffects.