Watch 1PM Weekly News - December 04, 2023
This week Shelby covers seven breaking news stories--from BMW Ceases Manufacturing Combustion Engines in Germany to this year's COP28 Beginning in Dubai.
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European Union to Criminalize Environmental Damage
The Guardian reports that the European Union has updated environmental legislation to criminalize wide-scale environmental damage in “cases comparable to ecocide”. The law now covers the destruction to ecosystems, habitat loss and long-lasting damage to air, soil or water. More specific examples include the unauthorized extraction of water from natural resources such as lakes and aquifers, the introduction of invasive species, and large-scale deforestation. Notably missing from the legislation is the export of toxic waste to developing countries and abuses associated with the fishing industry. The new law is expected to be passed in spring of 2024, which will then give EU member countries two years to incorporate the legislation into their national laws.
BMW Ceases Manufacturing Combustion Engines in Germany
The German car manufacturer BMW is officially ending its production of combustion engines in Germany. Announced three years ago in 2020, BMW is making more room for the production of electric cars at its Bavarian plant, and moving what remains of its fossil fuel-burning engine production to Austria and the UK. Considered to be a global pioneer in the transition of its energy systems towards renewable energy, 40% of Germany’s current energy consumption is from renewable energy sources. Also given that the EU is planning to ban the sale of new combustion engine cars by 2035, the discontinuation of gas-powered engines soon could be a sign of things to come from Germany’s other global car brands such as Volkswagen, Audi, Porsch, Mercedes-Benz and Opel among others.
- https://cleantechnica.com/2023/11/20/bmw-ends-combustion-engine-production-in-germany/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=wp_climatecoach&wpisrc=nl_climatecoach
- https://insideevs.com/news/631022/germany-1000000-electric-cars-roads/
1 Million Gallon Oil Spill Discovered Off Gulf of Mexico
A large oil spill was discovered two weeks ago off the Louisiana coast in the Gulf of Mexico. The contamination is estimated by the US Coast Guard to be 1.1 million gallons of oil. The source of the spill is still under review, but the commanding officer for the Coast Guard’s New Orleans sector, Captain Kelly Denning has said that a nearby 67-mile pipeline called the Main Pass is suspected. Other incidents in the Gulf of Mexico in the past 20 years include the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig in 2010 that spilled 130 million gallons of crude oil, and the Taylor Energy spill in 2004 that saw 30 million gallons of crude oil leaked. Kristen Monsell, of the Center for Biological Diversity’s oceans program, said in a statement about the recent oil spill: “Ocean wildlife will almost certainly pay a terrible price for this huge pipeline spill, which is less an accident than an entirely predictable consequence of offshore oil operations.”
COP28 Begins, Are We On Track With Climate Goals?
The global climate conference COP28 began last Thursday, November 30 in Dubai, and runs through December 12. The name COP stands for the Conference of the Parties, and represents the 200 countries that originally agreed to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in 1992. This annual conference rotates each year through five regions that include Africa, Asia-Pacific, Eastern Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Western Europe. Scheduled agenda items this year include a new fund to compensate poor countries for “loss and damage”, an assessment called the “global stocktake,” which will determine whether the world is on track to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement, and whether or not fossil fuels will be phased out in the final COP28 deal. Major oil-producing countries like the United Arab Emirates, who are also hosting the conference, are expected to resist language about fossil fuel phase-out.
New Regulations on US Cosmetics Industry
The FDA introduced a new law in 2022 that adds regulations to the cosmetics industry. The legislation is called the Modernization of Cosmetics Regulation Act, or MoCRA, and is the first meaningful update since 1938 when the Food, Drug and Cosmetic act was introduced. Even with expanded regulatory powers, MoCRA lacks the authority to require cosmetics companies to prove their products are safe before they go to market. The European Union has outlawed the use of 2,400 chemicals in cosmetics, while the U.S. has banned only 11 substances. An advocacy group called the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics tested 32 products in 2018 and found a number of harmful chemicals that were linked to cancer, asthma and other ailments.
Cultivated Meat Companies Popping Up Around the World
Startups in the cultivated meat sector are scaling production facilities throughout the world to produce cell-cultured alternatives to conventional meat products. Examples include a company called Meatable, a dutch cultivated pork producer that raised $35 million dollars in a Series B round this past August, bringing the total investment in the company to $95 million dollars. In South Africa, Newform Foods has already introduced its cultivated beef burger and lamb meatballs, and looks to create cell-cultured sausage, steak and chicken among other meats in the future. The first cultured lamb producer in Australia, Magic Valley introduced lamb last year and cultivated pork earlier in 2023. The company claims that its cultivated meat products reduce emissions by 92%, land use by 95%, and water use by 78% in comparison to conventional meat products that require the farming and slaughter of animals.
Endangered Wolverines Finally Protected by Federal Government
The federal U.S. government announced last Tuesday that wolverines are now listed under the Endangered Species Act. It is estimated that only 300 wolverines remain in the lower 48 states. They exist primarily in the Northern Rocky Mountains and the Northern Cascades of the western United States. According to new research, federal officials say that the wolverine population must maintain its connection to southern Canada to remain viable, but roads and highways are preventing females from migrating into the U.S. By 1920, most of the wolverines in the West had died because of poisoning, trapping and starvation, though the numbers have grown since that time.The Trump administration ruled that the wolverine population should not be protected, but a judge vacated that decision last year, and required that the Fish and Wildlife Service reconsider its decision. The fossil fuel industry, farm bureaus and snowmobile associations have also opposed protections for wolverines.