Taking Local Action on the Ides of March
Throughout history, people have taken action on March 15 – from the 1917 abdication of the Russian throne by Tsar Nicholas II, to a global strike by 1.4 million students to protest inaction around climate change in 2019, to an 1848 revolution in Hungary that brought reforms by the Habsburg rulers. This year on the Ides of March, 50,000 members of the Hungarian public revisited that successful uprising to protest the autocratic leadership of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
What turning points might be upon us in the journey to a sustainable, just world? In the U.S., we are seeing signs that action at the local level could counteract anti-environmental policies by the recently inaugurated federal government.
Our top story this week is an analysis from Reuters about the growing importance of such action and the power of sub-national actors to bring about real change. In recent years, state-level leadership has come prominently from California (CA), where certain large businesses are required to publicly disclose their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and climate-related risks beginning in 2026. Given the size of California's economy, this legislation will have impacts that are nearly national in scale.
Building on this legislative precedent, CA State Senator Catherine Blakespear introduced in February a first-of-its-kind state bill, SB 755, to require the largest state contractors to report their GHG emissions and climate-related financial risks starting in 2027. The increase in transparency is aimed at enabling the state to reduce the emissions within its supply chain, supporting the state's goal of carbon neutrality by 2045.
'At G&A, we know that transparency ultimately drives action. The introduction of SB 755 is an important first step towards spotlighting the climate-related risks present in California's supply chain, and it will encourage suppliers to take ownership of measuring and managing their GHG emissions.' - Annie Roberts, Senior Vice President, Climate Consulting, G&A Institute
In other areas of legislation like electric transport and clean air, California is joined by ten other U.S. states in banning the sale of gas-only vehicles by 2035. And Vermont, New York, and California have linked corporate polluters to environmental and health impacts by requiring fossil fuel companies to fund projects that build communities' climate resilience – a state-level version of the U.S. Superfund act of 1980.
The authors argue that even without federal action, cities and states could cut U.S. emissions by 54-62%, which is needed to achieve the U.S.' nationally determined contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement. This is 'a lot of heavy lifting' for sub-national actors, but according to Nate Hultman, Centre for Global Sustainability at the University of Maryland, it is possible and indeed was what the Biden administration planned for in the absence of national leadership.
The Reuters story highlights an alliance of 24 state governments that have committed to continue taking climate action. It also notes an 11-state Regional Greenhouse Gas initiative (RGGI, pronounced 'Reggie'), a cap-and-trade system for the power sector.
From a business perspective, a strong case remains for states to enact ambitious climate policies – from operational continuity for businesses in each state facing climate impacts, to controlling climate-related financial risk as a good business model.
At G&A, we are ready to support companies in responding to climate and sustainability requirements in the states and local municipalities where they do business, such as California's nation-leading climate disclosure rules. We can also support municipalities in developing or updating climate action plans and reaching their targets. Find us here.
This is just the introduction of G&A's Sustainability Highlights newsletter this week. Click here to view the full issue.
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New York Post
3 hours ago
- New York Post
US military preparing to surge National Guard troops to Washington DC to fight local crime and youth violence: report
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Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Exclusive-Fistful of dollars and rice for Vietnam farmers displaced for $1.5 billion Trump golf club
By Khanh Vu and Francesco Guarascio HUNG YEN, August 11 (Reuters) -Vietnamese farmer Nguyen Thi Huong has slept poorly since authorities told her to vacate her farm for a Trump family-backed golf resort, offering just $3,200 and rice provisions in return. The golf resort, for which construction is scheduled to begin next month, is offering thousands of villagers such compensation packages to leave the land that has provided their livelihood for years or decades, according to six people with direct knowledge and documents seen by Reuters. Shop Top Mortgage Rates Personalized rates in minutes A quicker path to financial freedom Your Path to Homeownership The project is the first partnership for the family business of U.S. President Donald Trump in Vietnam, which fast-tracked approvals as it negotiated a crucial trade deal with Washington. Developers are now cutting compensation forecasts from an initial estimate exceeding $500 million, said one person familiar with the plans who declined to elaborate on reasons for the reduction. The 990-hectare site designated for the golf course currently supports fruit farms growing bananas, longan, and other crops. While some see opportunity, many farmers are elderly and fear they will struggle to find alternative livelihoods in Vietnam's vibrant economy with its largely young demographic. "The whole village is worried about this project because it will take our land and leave us jobless," said 50-year-old Huong, who was told to leave her 200-square-metre (2152.78 square-feet) plot in Hung Yen province near capital Hanoi for less than the average pay for one year in Vietnam. Vietnamese real estate company Kinhbac City and its partners will develop the luxury golf club after paying the Trump Organization $5 million for brand licensing rights, according to regulatory filings and a source familiar with the deal. Trump's family business will run the club once completed, but is not involved in the investment and in compensation to farmers. Trump has said his assets in the businesses are held in a trust managed by his children, but disclosures in June showed income from those sources ultimately accrues to the president. Vietnam's agriculture ministry, Hung Yen authorities, the Trump Organization and Kinhbac City did not reply to questions on compensation rates. Authorities will determine final compensation rates based on land size and location, with formal approval expected next month. Five farmers facing dispossessions said authorities flagged reimbursements worth between $12 and $30 per square metre of farmland. They also offered additional payments for uprooted plants and provisions of rice for some months, roughly in line with one document seen by Reuters. The person familiar with the compensation plan said the range was accurate, declining to be named because the information was not public. A local official declined to talk about the compensation but said rates for farmland in the area have usually not exceeded $14 per square metre. They are often higher in other provinces. In Communist-run Vietnam, farmland is managed by the state. Farmers are assigned small plots for long-term use but have little say when authorities decide to take the land back. Protests are common but usually fruitless. Compensation is paid by the state but developers foot the bill. Four of the farmers contacted by Reuters were not happy with the proposed rates because their small plots would produce low payments. Thousands of villagers will be affected, according to a second document from local authorities seen by Reuters, which stated final payment decisions were expected next month. Huong leases a larger plot from other villagers, but can claim land compensation only for the small one assigned to her and for the plants she grows. "What can someone like me do after that?" RICE FOR LAND Vietnam's Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said farmers would be reimbursed fairly when he spoke in May at the groundbreaking ceremony for the golf project to an audience that included Trump's son Eric, a senior vice president of the Trump Organization. "We have no right to negotiate. That's a shame," said Do Dinh Huong, another farmer who was told his plot would be compensated at roughly $12 per square metre. He said he would have accepted what he believed was a low rate if the land were to be used to build roads or other public infrastructure. "But this is a business project. I don't know how that would contribute to people's life." Authorities have also offered rice as compensation, with provisions varying from two to twelve months, according to one of the documents seen by Reuters. Nguyen Thi Chuc, a 54-year-old farmer who grows bananas in what will become the Trump golf club, was told by authorities she might receive roughly $30 per square metre for her 200-square-metre plot. "I'm getting old and can't do anything else other than working on the farm," she said. Conversely, lawyers and investors in the province said the golf club would create better jobs and enrich villagers. Le Van Tu, a 65-year-old local who will be compensated for his small plot and owns an eatery in a village that the golf club will abut, said he will upgrade his diner into a restaurant to cater to wealthier clients. Land prices in the village have risen fivefold since the project was announced in October, he said. He was also happy a nearby pig farm will be gone: "It won't be stinky anymore." 登入存取你的投資組合
Yahoo
4 hours ago
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China state media says Nvidia H20 GPUs are unsafe and outdated, urges Chinese companies to avoid them — says chip is ‘neither environmentally friendly, nor advanced, nor safe'
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. A social media account linked to Chinese state media wrote an article on WeChat asserting that Nvidia's H20 chips are neither technologically advanced nor environmentally friendly. According to Reuters, the account, Yuyuan Tantian, is connected to China Central Television, which is a key organization in the country's state media (propaganda) apparatus. 'When a type of chip is neither environmentally friendly, nor advanced, nor safe, as consumers, we certainly have the option not to buy it,' Yuyuan Tantian said in the article (a translation, we assume). The H20 chip is Nvidia's answer to Washington's ban on high-end AI GPU exports to China. Although its performance is only a fraction of what the top-of-the-line H200 can accomplish, it still sold surprisingly well, resulting in Nvidia posting a record revenue despite temporarily falling under export control between April and July 2025. Aside from its reduced horsepower, Chinese authorities are also concerned with possible hidden geo-tracking and backdoors in the Green Team silicon. The U.S. Congress introduced a bill to enforce location tracking of high-end gaming and AI GPUs in mid-May, with the White House mulling doing the same earlier this month. Because of this, China has raised concerns about the security of the H20 chips that Nvidia sells in the country, even going as far as summoning the AI chip giant to explain if it had any backdoor security risks. This isn't the only criticism of Nvidia in Chinese media in recent times. People's Daily, the official newspaper of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, said that Nvidia should convince the Chinese people that its chips do not have security risks. However, the company has firmly denied any such risk, emphasizing that its GPUs have no kill switches, no backdoors, and no spyware. Although the headlining statement is not from a government source, China often uses state-linked social media accounts to shape its agenda and signal changes in its official stance without making a direct commitment. So, the criticism may be part of a broader campaign to steer domestic firms away from foreign AI hardware and toward homegrown alternatives like Huawei's Ascend chips. Despite all these issues, many Chinese organizations and entities still purchase Nvidia products. Aside from the massive demand for H20 AI GPUs, there's also a burgeoning black market for banned AI chips. It's been estimated that a billion dollars' worth of these GPUs have been sold in the past quarter, with some companies already advertising the upcoming B300, which is expected to arrive later this year. The WeChat post is likely the central government signaling its people to slowly move away from Nvidia's products and use alternative homegrown AI GPUs instead. However, the ecosystem that the company delivers makes its local competitors a much less compelling alternative. Follow Tom's Hardware on Google News to get our up-to-date news, analysis, and reviews in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button.
