Exclusive: Roark Capital and Silver Lake Management showed to have a web of connections to the Atlanta police foundation
A new investigation has uncovered connections between private equity firms and the contentious development of a sprawling police and fire service training complex in Atlanta known as “Cop City” and the police force which fatally shot an environmental activist.
Private equity refers to an opaque form of financing away from public markets in which funds and investors manage money for wealthy individuals and institutional investors such as university endowments and state employee pension funds.
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Breaking Waves: Ocean News
03/22/2023 - 05:00
03/22/2023 - 05:00
Authors of paper accepted for publication in Harvard Environmental Law Review argue firms are ‘killing members of the public at an accelerating rate’
Oil companies have come under increasing legal scrutiny and face allegations of defrauding investors, racketeering, and a wave of other lawsuits. But a new paper argues there’s another way to hold big oil accountable for climate damage: trying companies for homicide.
The striking and seemingly radical legal theory is laid out in a paper accepted for publication in the Harvard Environmental Law Review. In it, the authors argue fossil fuel companies “have not simply been lying to the public, they have been killing members of the public at an accelerating rate, and prosecutors should bring that crime to the public’s attention”.
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03/22/2023 - 02:00
The Vjosa River in Albania teems with more than 1,000 species, while rare vultures and Balkan lynx visit its banks. It has seen off the threat of a surge in barriers, but the shadow of development persists
The fast-moving Vjosa River in Albania curves and braids, sweeping our raft away from the floodplain towards the opposite bank, and back again. The islands that split the waterway in two are temporary, forming, growing, then dissipating so that this truly wild river, one of the last in Europe, never looks the same.
“There’s a saying, ‘you can’t step in the same river twice’,” says Ulrich Eichelmann, the head of Riverwatch, a Vienna-based NGO for river protection, who is paraphrasing the Greek philosopher Heraclitus. “A river is a living, dynamic thing, an architect of its surroundings. It changes all the time. That’s its beauty.”
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03/22/2023 - 01:00
Lords committee criticises Ofwat for failing to ensure firms invested enough in sewage network
Water companies have been too focused on maximising financial returns at the expense of the environment, a House of Lords committee has found.
The investigation by peers into the regulation of the privatised water industry found Ofwat, the regulator, had chosen to keep bills low for customers at the expense of investment in the industry, which is now sorely lacking.
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03/22/2023 - 01:00
Study shows more than 2,500 sq km added to coastlines, mostly port expansion in global south
Land reclamation is nothing new, but during this century there has been a significant rise in the creation of artificial land by humans, with a recent study showing that developers have added more than 2,500 sq km – an area equivalent to the size of Luxembourg – to coastlines since 2000.
Using satellite imagery, Dhritiraj Sengupta, from the University of Southampton, and his colleagues analysed land changes in 135 large cities. Their results, published in the journal Earth’s Future, show that much of the recent land reclamation has occurred in the global south, with China, Indonesia and the United Arab Emirates leading the way. Shanghai alone has added about 350 sq km of land. Most of the projects were driven by port expansion, a need for urban space and industrialisation, while a small handful were “prestige” projects such as the palm tree-shaped islands of Dubai.
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03/22/2023 - 01:00
Some species of insect no longer being seen in areas that are becoming drier and hotter
Drought is threatening some British moth species with local extinction, a study has found, as the insects are no longer being seen in areas which are becoming drier and hotter.
The new research, published today by wildlife charity Butterfly Conservation and Northumbria University, looked at data gathered over a 40-year period by volunteers of Butterfly Conservation’s National Moth Recording Scheme.
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03/21/2023 - 21:13
Study finds males, who can command a harem of up to 100 females, driven to gain weight as quickly as possible by foraging in areas full of predators
Extreme polygamy may be driving male southern elephant seals to early deaths, new research suggests.
A study of 14,000 southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina) at Macquarie Island in the south-western Pacific, has found that while survival rates for males and females are roughly comparable for juveniles, male survival rapidly decreased after eight years of age, dropping to around a 50% survival rate, while female survival remained constant at 80%.
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03/21/2023 - 20:00
In this month's episode of The American Blue Economy Podcast, our host Rear Admiral, Tim Gallaudet, PhD, US Navy (ret) examines how marine autonomy - or drone technology - contributes to our ocean and coastal economy. It is the 3rd in a series on technology in the American Blue Economy, building on previous episodes where he Explored the Wonders of Biotechnology and Artificial Intelligence in the Blue Economy. All 3 areas were described in his October 2022 article 7 Technologies Revolutionizing Our Understanding of the Ocean in RealClearScience. He is joined by four guests who are world-class leaders in operating uncrewed (unmanned) systems for ocean understanding, conservation, and sustainable use: Alex Ligon, Program Specialist at the Uncrewed Maritime Systems (UMS) Division of NOAA’s UxS Operations Center in Gulfport Mississippi; Chelsea Parrish, a newly minted NOAA Twin Otter pilot, but formerly an Uncrewed Aerial Vehicle (UAV) pilot and cetacean photogrammetry specialist at NOAA’s Southwest Fisheries Science Center (SWFSC) in LaJolla California; Jen Walsh, a research biologist and glider uncrewed underwater vehicle (UUV) pilot also at NOAA SWFSC; and rounding it out, Grant Rawson, physical scientist and another glider UUV pilot at NOAA's Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (AOML). Check it out if you are interested in learning how robots are revolutionizing the American Blue Economy!
03/21/2023 - 19:01
Officials at a heated town meeting in Menindee, outback New South Wales, are challenged to drink a mug of town water in front of the crowd after assuring the community that it meets Australian drinking water standards. The request is issued by Jan Fennell, a resident who says the town is tired of being given instructions by authorities without being granted meaningful involvement or reassurances
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Menindee residents ask officials to drink town’s water as reassurance after massive fish kill
‘All this here will kill this river’: traditional owners grieve for the Darling-Baaka after mass fish death
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03/21/2023 - 19:01
UN report predicts water demand will increase by 80% as crisis threatens to get out of control
The number of people lacking access to safe drinking water in cities around the world will double by 2050, research has found, amid warnings of an imminent water crisis that is likely to “spiral out of control”.
Nearly 1 billion people in cities around the world face water scarcity today and the number is likely to reach between 1.7 billion and 2.4 billion within the next three decades, according to the UN World Water Development Report, published on Tuesday ahead of a vital UN summit. Urban water demand is predicted to increase by 80% by 2050.
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