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Scoop
a day ago
- General
- Scoop
The Right Questions For A Planet On Fire
Four years ago the 'Dixie Fire' burned nearly a million acres (half a million hectares) over a huge wilderness area extending into Lassen Volcanic National Park. It's the second largest wildfire in California history, and it turned the national park from a pristine sanctuary into a multi-generational burn scar. Lassen is one of the least visited national parks in the United States. Yet beyond seeing the aftermath of the fire, the future of the Earth, without a revolution in human consciousness, was painfully present driving through the park. Gazing down upon the devastation from the highpoint of 2500 meters felt funereal. Forests for as far as you could see looked like matchsticks stuck in brown dirt. By the end of the day, the contrast between moments of shocking devastation and overwhelming beauty was almost too much to bear. The moments of ineffable beauty included a magnificent, slender-winged hawk flying down a powerful mountain stream, and then returning and circling a half dozen times directly overhead. Or the sight of snow-streaked Lassen, with the few cumulus clouds casting fleeting shadows on its gray, bare face. The bad signs outnumbered the good however. Such as a dozen souped-up road-racing cars, replete with numbers and insignias, roaring by repeatedly after stopping in large parking areas like Bumpass Hell before continuing their egregious road rally. Or dozens of Chinese tourists in rented vans stopping on the highway, or crossing it oblivious to everything but their chatter and photos. Advertisement - scroll to continue reading The misnomer of the Camp Fire two years before the Dixie Fire, which was also started by a faulty Pacific Gas and Electric power line, killed 85 people and incinerated the ironically named foothill town of Paradise in a single day. There's now a distinction with little difference between a wildfire that destroys lives and property and one that burns up forests. Both result from and contribute to an accelerating planetary climate crisis that is devastating localities around the world. Superficial diagnoses and prescriptions like Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson's 'Abundance,' which 'forensically examines the ways the overlay of bureaucracy and compliance have hindered development in the United States,' sweep across porous and increasingly irrelevant borders in declining democracies. To applaud America-focused wonks like Klein and Thompson, while lauding 'in an Australian context' what 'some of the wisest policy brains in the country have been saying in relation to the energy transition,' is to remain fixed in orbit around a Trumpian America, which is incrementally replicating a Putinesque putsch. Clearly, 'first there is a need to better define the core purpose.' But it's myopic to then insist 'crafting an agenda and an idea of the nation that is forward-looking is now the challenge.' Though the phrase 'existential crisis' has become a cliché when applied to America, Australia, New Zealand or any other national context, it's apt when applied to humankind as a whole. From that perspective, which must be the first perspective, it seems rather absurd to ask questions like, 'What is scarce that should be abundant? What is difficult to build that should be easy? What inventions do we need that we do not yet have?' Such questions have little to do with the core purpose of a nation, much less a global society and economy. Even somewhat deeper questions like, 'What sort of economy do we want? What comparative advantages do we have? How can we maximise our human capital and improve quality of life?' miss the mark by seeing the core purpose in terms of a single nation. Besides, there is an insurmountable contradiction between 'what kind of economy do we want?' and 'how can we improve our quality of life,' and the profit and progress-driven mindset of 'comparative advantages' and 'human capital.' Right questions seamlessly and non-separatively yield insight, understanding and right action. And insight doesn't just lead to transformation. When allowed to be, and not applied to extending knowledge, insight is transformation. So what are the right questions? What does it mean to be a human being when traditions have eroded into irrelevance and the billionaire bros openly pursue 'AI singularity,' when computers plus robots cognitively and manually perform every job better than humans? Does changing the basic, disastrous course of man require creating new authentically global (as contrasted with international) institutions, or will a non-organised psychological revolution percolate and transform national governments and international institutions? And given that all people now irreversibly live in a global society, what will a true global civilisation look like? One thing is certain – the polycrisis cannot be addressed, much less remedied within national contexts or international/multilateral conferences and agreements that are worth less than the paper they're written on. National frameworks have their place, but if 'my country' continues to be psychologically, philosophically and politically primary, the fragmentation of the Earth, humanity and our diminishing nations will continue unabated. Martin LeFevre - Meditations Scoop Contributor Martin LeFevre is a contemplative and philosopher. His sui generis 'Meditations' explore spiritual, philosophical and political questions relating to the polycrisis facing humanity. lefevremartin77@gmail
Politico
18-06-2025
- Business
- Politico
Tech-savvy California is still figuring out data centers
SACRAMENTO, California — For a state that considers itself a leader in both tech and climate, California is falling behind in both building data centers and putting guardrails around their environmental impacts. Democrats in Sacramento are taking cues from lawmakers in Indiana, Ohio and West Virginia as they explore special electricity rates for data centers aimed at controlling costs for other customers. They're also weighing new energy reporting standards to better understand the supercomputers' impacts on California's electric grid. Those proposals come as electric utilities are embracing data centers as a potential business savior that promises to increase electrical demand several fold after an era of energy efficiency. 'This trend is absolutely real for us,' Pacific Gas and Electric CEO Patti Poppe said during the utility's most recent quarterly earnings call in April. 'This will be so beneficial for our customers.' The handful of bills this year are a reaction to PG&E's November 2024 application to energy regulators for a special tariff for all the new data centers it anticipates connecting to its grid in Northern California — enough to require the power of roughly 6.5 million new homes in the next ten years and four times the output of its Diablo Canyon nuclear plant. Tentatively planned projects would add an additional 1.5 million homes worth of power. 'It's a big change, and not expected,' said Hunter Stern, assistant business manager with IBEW 1245, which represents PG&E electrical workers. 'For years, California's goal was to reduce emissions through efficiency and load growth was an indication that emissions would be going up, and we've changed that.' But for ratepayer and environmental advocates, it could go either way: Data centers could, if managed properly, bring down the per-customer grid costs that have been dominating the political conversation for months — or they could leave ratepayers with costly stranded assets and even outpace the growth of renewable energy on the grid. Another concern is pollution from data center power sources. The NAACP announced Tuesday it intends to sue Elon Musk's xAI over public health risks posed by 35 unpermitted natural gas turbines it says are polluting minority communities in Memphis, Tennessee. 'Will [data centers] use clean generation and battery storage?' Matt Freedman, a staff attorney at The Utility Reform Network, asked at a Senate hearing in April. 'The requirements established by the Legislature will largely determine what type of on-site generation is used by these data centers.' Enter state Sen. Steve Padilla and Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan. Both Democratic lawmakers are carrying bills designed to protect ratepayers from cost spikes as data centers come online. Padilla's SB 57 would direct the California Public Utilities Commission to set a special tariff for all power customers with at least 50 megawatts of load, while Bauer-Kahan's AB 222 broadly requires commissioners to minimize ratepayer cost-shifting that might stem from an uptick in data centers joining the grid. Each contains added sustainability components. Padilla's measure would allow the CPUC to set zero-carbon procurement targets for data centers. Bauer-Kahan's plan targets transparency by requiring data center operators to report how much energy is used to power AI models and assigns the California Energy Commission to track supercomputer energy consumption trends. Tech players like the Data Center Coalition and the business-aligned Silicon Valley Leadership Group have balked at the bills, arguing Padilla's special tariffs are ill-defined and that Bauer-Kahan's measure will force companies to reveal trade secrets. 'We're all kind of left to throw up our hands and kind of speculate as to what the economic impact of all of this may be,' said Peter Leroe-Munoz, Silicon Valley Leadership Group's general counsel. 'It could have a very real chilling effect on the development of needed data centers here in California.' But Bauer-Kahan thinks the real issue is cost. 'They won't say it out loud because you can't say we should be shifting these to ratepayers,' she said. 'It's a ridiculous thing to say.' Yet if lawmakers don't find a way forward soon, they risk losing the advanced infrastructure fueling Silicon Valley's artificial intelligence boom to other states while simultaneously failing to align in-state data centers with California's ambitious climate goals. 'Data centers are the can of spinach for the AI Popeye,' Leroe-Munoz said. 'Clearly, we're putting ourselves at a competitive disadvantage by making it more difficult [to build] while other states are actively working to make themselves more attractive.' Like this content? Consider signing up for POLITICO's California Climate newsletter.
Politico
18-06-2025
- Business
- Politico
Enviros, utilities and tech bros walk into a data center
With help from Eric He, Blake Jones and Annie Snider ASK CHATGPT: For a state that considers itself a leader in both tech and climate, California is falling behind in both building data centers and putting guardrails around their environmental impacts. Democrats in Sacramento are taking cues from lawmakers in Indiana, Ohio and West Virginia as they explore special electricity rates for data centers aimed at controlling costs for other customers. They're also weighing new energy reporting standards to better understand the supercomputers' impacts on California's electric grid. Those proposals come as electric utilities are embracing data centers as a potential business savior that promises to increase electrical demand several fold after an era of energy efficiency. 'This trend is absolutely real for us,' Pacific Gas and Electric CEO Patti Poppe said during the utility's most recent quarterly earnings call in April. 'This will be so beneficial for our customers.' The handful of bills this year are a reaction to PG&E's November 2024 application to energy regulators for a special tariff for all the new data centers it anticipates connecting to its grid in Northern California — enough to require the power of roughly 6.5 million new homes in the next 10 years and four times the output of its Diablo Canyon nuclear plant. Tentatively planned projects would add an additional 1.5 million homes worth of power. 'It's a big change, and not expected,' said Hunter Stern, assistant business manager with IBEW 1245, which represents PG&E electrical workers. 'For years, California's goal was to reduce emissions through efficiency and load growth was an indication that emissions would be going up, and we've changed that.' But for ratepayer and environmental advocates, it could go either way: Data centers could, if managed properly, bring down the per-customer grid costs that have been dominating the political conversation for months — or they could leave ratepayers with costly stranded assets and even outpace the growth of renewable energy on the grid. Another concern is pollution from data center power sources. The NAACP announced Tuesday it intends to sue Elon Musk's xAI over public health risks posed by 35 unpermitted natural gas turbines it says are polluting minority communities in Memphis, Tennessee. 'Will [data centers] use clean generation and battery storage?' Matt Freedman, a staff attorney at The Utility Reform Network, asked at a Senate hearing in April. 'The requirements established by the Legislature will largely determine what type of on-site generation is used by these data centers.' Enter state Sen. Steve Padilla and Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan. Both Democratic lawmakers are carrying bills designed to protect ratepayers from cost spikes as data centers come online. Padilla's SB 57 would direct the California Public Utilities Commission to set a special tariff for all power customers with at least 50 megawatts of load, while Bauer-Kahan's AB 222 broadly requires commissioners to minimize ratepayer cost-shifting that might stem from an uptick in data centers joining the grid. Each contains added sustainability components. Padilla's measure would allow the CPUC to set zero-carbon procurement targets for data centers. Bauer-Kahan's plan targets transparency by requiring data center operators to report how much energy is used to power AI models and assigns the California Energy Commission to track supercomputer energy consumption trends. Tech players like the Data Center Coalition and the business-aligned Silicon Valley Leadership Group have balked at the bills, arguing Padilla's special tariffs are ill-defined and that Bauer-Kahan's measure will force companies to reveal trade secrets. 'We're all kind of left to throw up our hands and kind of speculate as to what the economic impact of all of this may be,' said Peter Leroe-Munoz, Silicon Valley Leadership Group's general counsel. 'It could have a very real chilling effect on the development of needed data centers here in California.' But Bauer-Kahan thinks the real issue is cost. 'They won't say it out loud because you can't say we should be shifting these to ratepayers,' she said. 'It's a ridiculous thing to say.' Yet if lawmakers don't find a way forward soon, they risk losing the advanced infrastructure fueling Silicon Valley's artificial intelligence boom to other states while simultaneously failing to align in-state data centers with California's ambitious climate goals. 'Data centers are the can of spinach for the AI Popeye,' Leroe-Munoz said. 'Clearly, we're putting ourselves at a competitive disadvantage by making it more difficult [to build] while other states are actively working to make themselves more attractive.' — CvK, TK Did someone forward you this newsletter? Sign up here! STILL GOT SOME JUICE?: State Sen. Ben Allen's latest bid to require recycling of electric vehicle batteries advanced this afternoon, but he said 'intense conversation' with the Newsom administration lies ahead after the governor vetoed a similar bill last year. Gov. Gavin Newsom in his 2024 veto message bemoaned the administrative burden that would be placed on the Department of Toxic Substances Control — which would have been charged with regulating battery repurposing and recycling. Newsom suggested that Allen consider using a producer responsibility organization, in which battery-makers would take on more of the work, instead. For now, Allen's SB 615 looks much the same as last year's version, forgoing the PRO model and requiring the DTSC to set rules for how batteries are repurposed, refurbished and eventually recycled at the end of their useful life. 'We're still a little stuck on how to … read the most we can' out of the producer responsibility organization portion of Newsom's message, Allen — the author of another producer responsibility law for plastic packaging that Newsom delayed enforcement of in March — told the Assembly Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials Committee today. 'It's funny, because their folks have not been as positive about producer responsibility organizations in other contexts,' he said. Nevertheless, Allen said he was 'feeling good' about negotiations with the administration so far as his bill cleared the Assembly committee. It now heads to the lower house's natural resources panel. — BJ 'LIVES AT RISK': Seven California prisons have halted work on how to protect prisoners from extreme heat after U.S. EPA canceled an Inflation Reduction Act grant last month, Ariel Wittenberg reports for POLITICO'S E&E News. The nonprofit Land Together's $1.7 million grant was intended to last three years and benefit more than 90,000 incarcerated people in the state. The group's executive director is warning that the cancellation could prove deadly. 'The cancellation of Land Together's EPA grant puts lives at risk,' Andrew Winn, the group's executive director, wrote in an email to the affected communities. 'Incarcerated people have very little agency over most aspects of their lives, including their exposure to harmful and even potentially lethal conditions.' Prisons are exempt from state rules that went into effect last year requiring employers to provide cooling areas and other alleviating measures at certain temperatures, leaving many of those employed in prisons — including incarcerated workers — without air conditioning. Many of California's prisons are located in the desert, and 60 percent of respondents in a 2023 survey of more than 2,000 incarcerated people by the Ella Baker Center of Human Rights said they had no access to air-conditioned rooms during extremely hot days. — EH AND THE WINNER IS…: After months of speculation, President Donald Trump has finally named his pick for Bureau of Reclamation commissioner: longtime Arizona water manager Theodore 'Ted' Cooke. The Arizonan's selection suggests that the high-stakes negotiations over the Colorado River — which supplies 40 million people across seven states, including one out of every two Californians, as well as 5.5 million acres of irrigated agriculture — may trump the president's fascination with California's intramural water wars. The seven states that share the West's most important river have been divided for more than a year over how to rein in use along the drought-stricken waterway. The current battle lines pit the Lower Basin states of California, Arizona and Nevada against the Upper Basin states of Colorado, Utah, New Mexico and Wyoming. Cooke's selection appears to be a win for the Lower Basin states — but those battle lines could get redrawn at any time. Cooke's pick also indicates that the administration is carefully attuned to the political salience of Arizona in those negotiations. The state, which is the most closely divided politically, is the most vulnerable to cuts under the century-old legal system governing the river. Its legislature must also approve any new deal to govern the drought-stricken waterway. — AS JUMPING RIGHT IN: The environmental law nonprofit Earthjustice has tapped Los Angeles-based attorney Adrian Martinez as the new head of its Right to Zero campaign aimed at increasing electrification. Martinez previously was a deputy managing attorney for the group's California office where he worked on air pollution cases. He replaces the retiring Paul Cort, who oversaw the campaign's launch, at a time when the Trump administration is threatening to repeal clean air regulations. 'There's never been a more pressing time for cities and states to step up to the plate and protect their health, their air quality, and their future,' Martinez said in a statement. — EH — Offshore wind opponents are targeting a federal grant to upgrade a Humboldt County port for turbine construction. — Tesla plans to shut down production of two of its models the week of July Fourth, and investors look skittish. — San Clemente is shipping in sand — and considering more creative methods — to slow shoreline erosion.
Yahoo
13-06-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
RV fire in Oakland extinguished by firefighters
OAKLAND, Calif. - An RV fire in Oakland on Thursday has been extinguished by firefighters. What we know SkyFOX flew over the vehicle on the 4900 block of Coliseum Way as it was fully engulfed in flames. A power pole was burned in the fire. Pacific Gas and Electric was called in for the safety of the crews. The call of the fire came in at 4:38 p.m. Firefighters made quick work of the fire and appeared to gain the upper hand at around 4:45 p.m. It is not clear if anyone was injured by the fire. We do not know how the fire started. We will update this story with details as we learn more.
Business Insider
04-06-2025
- Business
- Business Insider
The estranged husband of a 'Real Housewives' star was sentenced for embezzling tens of millions from clients of his law firm
A lawyer and estranged husband of a "Real Housewives" star was sentenced on Tuesday for leading a yearslong scheme that involved embezzling tens of millions of dollars in settlement payments from the clients of his law firm. Thomas Girardi, 86, was sentenced to seven years and three months in federal prison and ordered to pay about $2.3 million in restitution and a $35,000 fine by US District Judge Josephine L. Staton. She ordered Girardi to surrender to federal authorities by July 17. Girardi was charged in federal court last year in Chicago with eight counts of wire fraud and four counts of contempt of court for embezzling millions in settlement money. He was found guilty by a jury in August 2024 of four counts of wire fraud. Girardi, who has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's, was a personal injury attorney and ran the now-defunct law firm, Girardi Keese, in Los Angeles. The US Attorney's office for the Central District of California said in a statement that Girardi stole millions of dollars in client settlement funds and failed to make payments to the firm's clients, some of whom had suffered serious injuries in accidents. United States Attorney Bill Essayli said: "This self-proclaimed 'champion of justice' was nothing more than a thief and a liar who conned his vulnerable clients out of millions of dollars." Girardi was known for taking on powerful corporations in high-profile cases. One lawsuit against California's Pacific Gas and Electric utility led to a $333 million settlement and was depicted in the 2000 film "Erin Brockovich" that starred Julia Roberts. The US Attorney's office said one client who suffered severe burns all over his body when a natural gas pipeline exploded in California in 2010 received just $2.5 million of a $53 million settlement. The US Attorney's office said Girardi diverted more than $25 million to cover expenses for EJ Global, his estranged wife Erika Jayne 's performance and entertainment company. Jayne, who appears in Bravo's "Real Housewives of Beverly Hills," has denied any involvement and was not charged. Girardi Keese was forced into involuntary bankruptcy in late 2020 and the State Bar of California disbarred Girardi in July 2022. Christopher Kamon, the former head of Girardi Keese's accounting department, was sentenced in April to 10 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to two counts of wire fraud. He was a co-conspirator in facilitating the embezzlement and falsifying financial records and was ordered to repay nearly $9 million.
