#"Some 60 billion paper cups are thrown away every year in the United States." "More than 30 percent of our vegetables and 50 percent of our fruit is now shipped from other nations. Shipping imported produce by air has the biggest carbon footprint because it can require almost 24 times more energy than rail transport and emit 42 times more carbon dioxide than a ship hauling the same cargo." [1]
#"The fossil fuel industry is looking to plastics as a lifeline. Today, 14 percent of oil and 8 percent of gas is used for the manufacture of petrochemicals, an essential feedstock of plastic production. The International Energy Agency predicts that by 2050, 50 percent of the growth in oil demand will be related to petrochemicals, overtaking the oil demand growth related to automobile transportation." [2]
#"Wells Fargo employees, who were under pressure from senior management to meet overly aggressive sales goals, had opened more than two million bank and credit-card accounts for customers who had never asked for them." At a Senate hearing, Senator Elizabeth Warren accused John Stumpf, the C.E.O. of Wells Fargo, of "building a business-model for a huge financial institution that was built on knowingly cheating people." [3]
#A document entitled "Nuclear Operations," published on June 11, states: "Using nuclear weapons could create conditions for decisive results and the restoration of strategic stability." "Specifically, the use of a nuclear weapon will fundamentally change the scope of a battle and create conditions that affect how commanders will prevail in conflict." This document has a dangerous message, as it foresees positive results from the use of nuclear weapons.
#"A report showed that while Asian Americans made up 5.4% of the U.S. population, they represented just 1.4% of lead characters in studio films in 2014. The issue has extended behind the cameras: in 2018, another study found only 12% of showrunner positions to be held by people of color." Yet another study showed that 64% of television writers of color were experiencing bias, discrimination or harassment. [4]
#"Many Californians still live in wooded areas with few ways out. More than half of the state's some 25 million acres is classified as under very or [an] extreme fire threat." "By this time last year, firefighters in California had already dealt with 2,615 fires." "We placed fire-prone houses in fire-prone areas," says Christopher Dicus, a fire ecologist at California Polytechnic State University." [5]
#""Iran's exports have plummeted -- from 3.2 million barrels a day to some half a million." "(Instead of building on the deal with allies), the Administration is scrambling alone militarily in the waters through which thirty per cent of the world's seaborne energy flows. The irony is that the United States no longer needs much oil from the Gulf. The hypocrisy is that Trump vowed to bring American forces from the Middle East, after 18 years of multiple wars. The tragedy is that another war may be on the horizon." [6]
Footnotes:
[1] Bob Schildgen, "Hey Mr. Green! Is there Earth-friendly disposable dishware?" Sierra, July/August 2019.
[2] Antonia Juhasz, "Boom goes the plastics industry," Sierra, July/August 2019.
[3] Sheelah Kolhatkar, "In the Ring," The New Yorker, June 24, 2019.
[4] Andrew R. Chow, "Asians Americans in Hollywood," TIME, July 22, 2019.
[5] Katy Steinmetz, "California is bracing for fire season..." TIME, July 22, 2019.
[6] Robin Wright, "Belligerence," The New Yorker, July 1, 2019.
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