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Toxic smog in New Delhi way worse than previously thought
13 Nov, 2021 09:10
Air pollution in New Delhi, India, November 5, 2021. © Reuters/Anushree Fadnavis
The Indian Supreme Court has demanded urgent measures to tackle the thick toxic smog that has been covering New Delhi for over a week. It even suggested imposing a brief lockdown.
“Do you know how bad the situation is? People have to wear masks even at home,” Chief Justice N.V. Ramana said, grilling government officials.
The court said central and state officials must make “an emergency decision” and present plans to fight the smog on Monday. Ramana suggested that authorities should consider “a two-day lockdown,” among other measures.
You have to look at this issue beyond politics and government. Something must happen so that in two to three days we feel better.
One official acknowledged in court that breathing the air in the capital was “like smoking 20 cigarettes a day.”
The country’s federal pollution board ordered state and local authorities on Friday to be prepared for emergency measures.
Air quality in New Delhi worsened last week due to several factors, including crop stubble burning and emissions from transport. Indian media noted that the decline also took place after the Diwali festival, when many people violated a ban on fireworks.
Trudeau is doing his bast to raise oil prices to critical levels so as to reduce vehicle emissions. In Canada, where there are hundreds of kilometers between cities, and goods often have to be shipped thousands of kms, our asinine government thinks it's a good thing to make gas more expensive. Of course, it makes everything that moves more expensive which increases poverty. The increase in gas prices in Canada may reduce our greenhouse gas emissions from 2% to 1.95% of global emissions, in a few years if the economy goes full-stop!
GOP senator claims Biden ‘intended’ record gas prices hike
15 Nov, 2021 14:08
Joe Biden’s administration wants Americans to switch from pickup trucks to electric compacts and is letting gas prices run rampant to coerce fans of gallon-guzzlers, Senator Tom Cotton has claimed.
Speaking to conservative outlet Breitbart News, the Republican senator alleged that rising gasoline prices in the US are “the intended effect of Joe Biden’s energy policy,” rather than “some accident.”
“They want gas to cost $4 a gallon because they want all of us to get out of pickup trucks and SUVs and get into small electric compacts or bicycles or scooters or whatever else Pete Buttigieg takes to work,” Cotton claimed, without offering evidence.
President Joe Biden admitted last week that fuel prices in particular and inflation in general were a cause for serious concern, and said his administration had a plan to bring the prices down. Inflation has surged in the US, partially due to the pressure caused by global supply chain disruptions.
But, as in Canada, it is partly due to the increase in gasoline prices.
Previously, US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm exposed herself to much criticism over her seemingly callous attitude to the perils of Americans struggling to fill their tanks. When asked during an interview about a plan to tackle prices at the pump, she burst into laughter, calling the idea that she had power over the situation “hilarious” and blaming the OPEC oil cartel for the rising fuel prices.
Some have called for the White House to take drastic measures to control the situation, like reinstating a ban on the export of crude or at least unsealing the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. It remains unclear if Biden would be willing to tap into the emergency fuel reserve – as suggested by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.
Biden’s Republican critics predict inflation will only worsen as the White House begins implementing its ambitious infrastructure spending agenda, with a $1 trillion Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework expected to be signed into law on Monday.
Thirteen House Republicans who broke party ranks to help pass the bill have been ostracized by many other GOP legislators. The bill was passed in the Senate in an uncommonly bipartisan 69-30 vote in August.
“You cannot print trillions of dollars in money on the one hand and also pay people not to work and not to produce the stuff that we need to buy, and on the other hand not expect the price to increase as fast as it has in 30 years,” Cotton told Breitbart.
The Biden administration says the infrastructure spending and the yet-to-be-finalized $1.75 trillion social and climate spending bill will help alleviate inflation, rather than boost it.
Not when you print that money out of thin air!
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California gas prices hit another record
15 Nov, 2021 18:18
California gas prices have hit a new record high, averaging $4.68 a gallon, as Americans continue to suffer the effects of inflation coupled with ongoing supply chain issues.
Monday marked the second day in a row that America’s most populated state broke its own record on gas prices, according to data from the American Automobile Association (AAA). On Sunday, gas prices were averaging $4.67, besting a previous record set in October 2002.
The national average for gas per gallon stands at $3.41 as of Monday – a figure that continues to rise as Americans face the effects of inflation and supply chain issues in numerous industries.
President Joe Biden has chalked up inflation issues to a rise in demand, as well as Covid-19 pandemic disruptions. In a Sunday tweet, he claimed prices are too high for Americans, but also added without elaborating that the country is also in the middle of a “historic economic recovery.” Biden claimed that his massive spending package, Build Back Better, will help address inflation issues.
Critics have pointed to the administration’s economic shutdowns and moves to limit drilling as factors driving the staggering prices Americans are paying at the pump, like a recent plan to reportedly block drilling in New Mexico near the Chaco Canyon National Historical Park.
AAA has also noted that heavy rainstorms in Northern California have slowed the production capacity of refineries and helped in the recent spikes in prices at the pump. However, spokesperson for AAA Doug Shupe told CNN that the dramatic price hikes are far steeper than people have seen in recent memory.
“The person who has the typical midsize sedan with a 14 gallon size fuel tank, they're paying $21 more to fill up that tank today than last year,” Shupe said, noting that Americans are paying about $1.50 more per gallon, compared to last year before Biden took office.
At a recent press conference, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki claimed higher gas prices are due to “fluctuations” in the industry, as well as companies’ inability to meet consumer demand. This, she added, is all the more reason to “double down” on investments in “clean energy options.”
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