Cookies help us run our site more efficiently.

By clicking “Accept”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. View our Privacy Policy for more information or to customize your cookie preferences.

Accept Deny

GoGreenNation news

Mobileye to ship at least 46 million assisted driving chips to customers

News Feed
Wednesday, April 17, 2024

Israeli automotive tech company Mobileye said on Wednesday it had secured orders to ship 46 million of its EyeQ6 Lite assisted-driving chips over the next few years as automakers race to make cars safer and easier to drive. Mobileye is selling the EyeQ6 Lite in all major markets around the world, and cars with the technology will be launched in the middle of this year, according to Mobileye’s Nimrod Nehushtan, executive vice president of business strategy and development. “The 46 million represents the amount of EyeQ6 Lite (business) that we have won to date,” Nehushtan said in an interview with Reuters. “So it will grow, and it will be rolled out over the course of the next few years.” Mobileye did not disclose the names of the customers for EyeQ6 because it was bound by non-disclosure agreements. The company counts Volkswagen and Porsche among its customers. The company’s shares rose more than 6% in early trading on Wednesday. The EyeQ6 Lite system is Mobileye’s mass-market product for vehicles with some assisted driving features, such as automated cruise control and lane-changing, but not designed to power ones with higher levels of automation that allow drivers to take their hands off the wheel and eyes off the road. Launching fully self-driving vehicles, such as robotaxis, or ones that require minimal human intervention, has been tougher than expected with steep investments, high safety risks and strict regulations. But in an effort to differentiate themselves amid rising competition, automakers have been adding an array of more basic driver-assistance features. The EyeQ6 Lite, for example, is capable of reading text phrases on road signage, like a speed limit that is only active on weekday mornings, or a city entrance sign that implies a lower speed limit. The chip offers 4.5 times more computing horsepower compared with its prior generation and is manufactured with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s 7-nanometer process. “It can support all five star ratings globally, but be extremely power efficient and cost efficient,” Nehushtan said. “That’s kind of the mission statement of this chip.” The sensors on EyeQ6L include an 8-megapixel camera that is capable of a 120-degree lateral field of vision that can detect environmental conditions and objects at a greater distance. The company said its more advanced assisted-driving chip, the EyeQ6 High, is set to enter volume production “early next year.” Mobileye is set to report first-quarter results on April 25. —Max A. Cherney and Abhirup Roy, Reuters Yuvraj Malik contributed to this report.

Israeli automotive tech company Mobileye said on Wednesday it had secured orders to ship 46 million of its EyeQ6 Lite assisted-driving chips over the next few years as automakers race to make cars safer and easier to drive. Mobileye is selling the EyeQ6 Lite in all major markets around the world, and cars with the technology will be launched in the middle of this year, according to Mobileye’s Nimrod Nehushtan, executive vice president of business strategy and development. “The 46 million represents the amount of EyeQ6 Lite (business) that we have won to date,” Nehushtan said in an interview with Reuters. “So it will grow, and it will be rolled out over the course of the next few years.” Mobileye did not disclose the names of the customers for EyeQ6 because it was bound by non-disclosure agreements. The company counts Volkswagen and Porsche among its customers. The company’s shares rose more than 6% in early trading on Wednesday. The EyeQ6 Lite system is Mobileye’s mass-market product for vehicles with some assisted driving features, such as automated cruise control and lane-changing, but not designed to power ones with higher levels of automation that allow drivers to take their hands off the wheel and eyes off the road. Launching fully self-driving vehicles, such as robotaxis, or ones that require minimal human intervention, has been tougher than expected with steep investments, high safety risks and strict regulations. But in an effort to differentiate themselves amid rising competition, automakers have been adding an array of more basic driver-assistance features. The EyeQ6 Lite, for example, is capable of reading text phrases on road signage, like a speed limit that is only active on weekday mornings, or a city entrance sign that implies a lower speed limit. The chip offers 4.5 times more computing horsepower compared with its prior generation and is manufactured with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s 7-nanometer process. “It can support all five star ratings globally, but be extremely power efficient and cost efficient,” Nehushtan said. “That’s kind of the mission statement of this chip.” The sensors on EyeQ6L include an 8-megapixel camera that is capable of a 120-degree lateral field of vision that can detect environmental conditions and objects at a greater distance. The company said its more advanced assisted-driving chip, the EyeQ6 High, is set to enter volume production “early next year.” Mobileye is set to report first-quarter results on April 25. —Max A. Cherney and Abhirup Roy, Reuters Yuvraj Malik contributed to this report.

Israeli automotive tech company Mobileye said on Wednesday it had secured orders to ship 46 million of its EyeQ6 Lite assisted-driving chips over the next few years as automakers race to make cars safer and easier to drive.

Mobileye is selling the EyeQ6 Lite in all major markets around the world, and cars with the technology will be launched in the middle of this year, according to Mobileye’s Nimrod Nehushtan, executive vice president of business strategy and development.

“The 46 million represents the amount of EyeQ6 Lite (business) that we have won to date,” Nehushtan said in an interview with Reuters. “So it will grow, and it will be rolled out over the course of the next few years.”

Mobileye did not disclose the names of the customers for EyeQ6 because it was bound by non-disclosure agreements. The company counts Volkswagen and Porsche among its customers.

The company’s shares rose more than 6% in early trading on Wednesday.

The EyeQ6 Lite system is Mobileye’s mass-market product for vehicles with some assisted driving features, such as automated cruise control and lane-changing, but not designed to power ones with higher levels of automation that allow drivers to take their hands off the wheel and eyes off the road.

Launching fully self-driving vehicles, such as robotaxis, or ones that require minimal human intervention, has been tougher than expected with steep investments, high safety risks and strict regulations.

But in an effort to differentiate themselves amid rising competition, automakers have been adding an array of more basic driver-assistance features.

The EyeQ6 Lite, for example, is capable of reading text phrases on road signage, like a speed limit that is only active on weekday mornings, or a city entrance sign that implies a lower speed limit.

The chip offers 4.5 times more computing horsepower compared with its prior generation and is manufactured with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s 7-nanometer process.

“It can support all five star ratings globally, but be extremely power efficient and cost efficient,” Nehushtan said. “That’s kind of the mission statement of this chip.”

The sensors on EyeQ6L include an 8-megapixel camera that is capable of a 120-degree lateral field of vision that can detect environmental conditions and objects at a greater distance.

The company said its more advanced assisted-driving chip, the EyeQ6 High, is set to enter volume production “early next year.”

Mobileye is set to report first-quarter results on April 25.

—Max A. Cherney and Abhirup Roy, Reuters

Yuvraj Malik contributed to this report.

Read the full story here.
Photos courtesy of

Related News

Embattled Clackamas County commissioner Mark Shull makes bid for reelection after controversial term

Shull, whose political career is marred by controversy, faces three challengers for his seat on the Clackamas County board.

A Clackamas County commissioner whose first term has been marked by controversy and a failed recall is running for reelection — but declining to raise any money for his campaign.U.S. Army veteran Mark Shull, who was condemned by his fellow commissioners in 2021 for Islamophobic social media posts and comparing vaccine restrictions to Jim Crow laws, among other things, is being challenged by three local business leaders in the May primary.Commission Chair Tootie Smith, a fellow Republican to Shull on the commission, is also up for reelection. Clackamas County commissioners are elected countywide, as opposed to being elected in separate districts, like in Multnomah County.Shull faces challenges from business professionals Melissa Fireside and Tina Irvine, as well as former county employee Rae Gordon, who worked in tourism for 10 years. Fireside has taken the lead in campaign financing and lists endorsements from U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley and former Clackamas County Chair Charlotte Lehan. Irvine carries the endorsements of Clackamas County District Attorney John Wentworth, the Portland Metro Chamber and the Clackamas County Peace Officer Association.Irvine, former managing partner of Express Employment Professionals’ Oregon City branch, wants to improve public safety, lower the cost of living and expand affordable housing to address homelessness. A daughter of a police officer, Irvine said she is a strong supporter of local law enforcement.Irvine does not have previous government experience, but she has served on the board of Oregon City-based Children’s Center, a nonprofit that offers child abuse and neglect evaluations, and as chair, secretary and treasurer of nonprofit Clackamas Workforce Partnership, which aims to create equitable and inclusive work environments.Tina Irvine, former managing partner at Express Employment Professionals, poses at work site in Clackamas County.Courtesy of campaignShe’s raised $49,700 for her campaign.“I am a well-respected and a trusted leader within the county,” Irvine wrote in response to a questionnaire from The Oregonian/OregonLive. “Over the past 20 years, I haven’t just talked about the issues; I have rolled up my sleeves and done the work to help make families, businesses and nonprofit organizations thrive.”Fireside, endorsed by the Democratic Party of Oregon’s gun owners caucus in the nonpartisan race for Position 4, is the owner of a construction management consulting company and a former member of Clackamas County’s advisory Mental Health & Addictions Council. She also chaired the county’s board that recommends pay levels for elected officials. In 2020, Fireside ran unsuccessfully for the Lake Oswego City Council.“As a small business owner, educator, and working mom, I believe we need leaders that value and champion our workers, families and communities so everyone has an equal opportunity to thrive,” Fireside wrote in a response to an Oregonian/OregonLive questionnaire.Melissa Fireside, owner of a construction consulting business, speaks about her goals if elected.Courtesy of campaignHer campaign focuses on economic development, community health and increasing housing availability. Fireside has raised $67,600 for her campaign and is endorsed by Democratic state Rep. Jules Walters of West Linn as well as the Democratic Party of Clackamas County.Gordon, the third challenger, worked for the county’s tourism and cultural affairs department for a decade. She left that role in 2015, but returned on a one-year contract in 2021 to help manage the county’s COVID-19 response, which included overseeing supplies and working as an analyst for vaccine clinics. She previously owned a marketing company in Oregon City and serves as president of two nonprofits, including the Cascade Blues Association, a low-budget nonprofit that promotes blues music.Gordon’s bid focuses on developing wrap-around mental health and substance use treatment and family mediation services. She also highlighted a need for effective public safety responses and accountability. Her campaign has raised $15,400.“What we need now in Clackamas County and frankly throughout our nation are community-driven leaders who are approachable, bring people together and are advocates for every voice,” Gordon wrote. “I have honed these skills.”Rae Gordon, a blues singer and former Clackamas County employee, hands a flier to a voter.Courtesy of campaignShull, who declined an opportunity to respond to questions from The Oregonian/OregonLive, ran into controversy soon after winning office for the first time in 2020. He defeated incumbent Ken Humberston in a runoff, 50.6% to 48.7%. In January 2021, backlash erupted in the county after residents discovered Shull had posted derogatory comments about Islam and Muslims as well as transgender people and the Black Lives Matter movement on social media.Less than two weeks after he took office, he faced calls to resign.In a commission meeting, Smith, the chair, read aloud a resolution that condemned Shull for “bigoted statements” and called for his resignation.He apologized and voted for the resolution but remained on the board. Legally, the board could not force a resignation.Outrage resurfaced again six months later, when Shull compared COVID-19 vaccine passports to Jim Crow laws that enforced racial segregation. Smith and the other three commissioners at the time voted to strip Shull of all liaison duties and committee assignments.In September 2021, Shull shared a meme on Facebook that appeared to compare COVID-19 health restrictions to the Holocaust. The post, which was quickly taken down, once again drew disapproval from members of the Clackamas County board. Shull defended his actions, saying the post was sent to him by community members who were concerned about potentially losing their jobs if they did not get vaccinated.Although his actions caused rifts with fellow commissioners, his policy stances have not always been so divisive. Like most Clackamas County officials, he was a strong opponent of plans to toll improved Oregon interstates. Gov. Tina Kotek paused those plans last month but tolling is sure to resurface in 2025 as state lawmakers debate how to finance needed transportation improvements.Shull is calling for an audit of the Oregon Department of Transportation to find solutions that don’t involve tolling. He has also vowed to fight any new taxes on Clackamas voters.Shull was a leading force in dismantling the county’s Equity and Inclusion Office last year. He voted to strike the office’s nearly $830,000 budget. Shull did not respond to calls, messages or emails for comment.Due to Shull’s controversial term and his opponents’ inexperience in elected office, the race could go into a run-off. If one candidate does not secure at least 50% of the vote, the top two vote-getters will move on to the November ballot.Below are answers from Fireside, Irvine and Gordon to five key questions posed by The Oregonian/OregonLive. Some responses have been lightly edited for style or to comply with word limits.Tell us three concrete goals you have for Clackamas County in the next two years if elected or reelected.Irvine: Permanently stop tolling: We simply cannot put more financial burden on the backs of our constituents. Even with the governor’s pause to a regional tolling plan, we need to stay diligent on this issue. I do not support tolling now and I will not support tolling in the future. Drive economic development: We must be strategic to attract, retain and grow our employer base. Build stronger community: Working families need quality child care. Developing an early child care business accelerator program will do just that. This program assists aspiring child care providers to build business plans to open neighborhood centers.Fireside: Enhance labor and economic development: Create union (jobs) and living wages across Clackamas County through partnerships with the trades, community colleges and business while enhancing opportunities for career bound youth. Diversify housing options: Get our (Metro homelessness tax) dollars out the door and build to scale supportive and workforce housing. Everyone deserves to have access to the generational wealth, mobility and security homeownership provides. Protect our natural resources: Our workforce must be empowered to get our Climate Action plan off the shelf so our communities see an immediate investment in natural disaster preparedness, infrastructure, and services through a climate change lens.Gordon: Family-homeless relative mediation: We need to be more creative in our approach and utilize existing county mediation services to (help homeless individuals) build bridges to family members. Mental health/illness: More than 50% will be diagnosed with a mental illness or disorder. County leaders need to model open and honest communications regarding mental illness to take the stigma off of pursuing mental health services. I intend to increase access for all citizens and homeless individuals. Public Safety: Citizens deserve to feel safe in their community and to trust and respect their providers. I would hold those who disrespect the badge accountable.Clackamas County has reported significant results in decreasing homelessness — how would you build on that and what additional solutions will you bring to the table?Irvine: Our leadership within the region is unmatched: The board along with county agencies, a wealth of nonprofit partners, and community outreach teams make up our Coordinated Housing Access System. The success we have seen occurs when coordinated access points convene and act quickly using the supportive housing dollars efficiently. As commissioner, I will specifically focus on veterans, youth and those in imminent danger of domestic violence, sexual assault, and human trafficking. Too often these highly vulnerable populations are forgotten but they deserve our full support.Fireside: Clackamas County saw a point in time decrease of 65% in homelessness. We still have, for example, over 300 students in one school district alone facing housing insecurity in Clackamas County. Our constituents must have access to services that bring stability to their lives. This includes opening up paths to homeownership, expanding our rent voucher program, stewarding the redevelopment of our HUD sites and empowering our cities to access the funding they need to meet their unique needs. Local control in this equation is paramount to success so we continue to see a decrease in homelessness.Gordon: It was recently announced that homelessness has decreased 65% since 2019 according to homeless counts. While I applaud that, I know when I was involved in helping conduct those counts, we weren’t able to interview everybody. Thus, we cannot be idle. The additional solutions need to address the individual and their unique circumstances that contributed to their current situation. More foundation needs to be laid to make it possible to step up into permanent housing that addresses family connections and counseling to give them a better chance at self-sufficiency, self-respect and success.What is your view of the closure of the Clackamas County equity office?Irvine: As a business leader and community advocate, I have built my career, family and social network in Clackamas County. The role of local government is not just to provide essential services like infrastructure, public health and safety, and economic development, but to also serve all people with dignity, respect and provide equal opportunity. I have dedicated my life to helping others and I hope that if I win, it is not because I’m a woman of color, but because people see my track record of success, leadership integrity, business acumen and believe I am the best person for the job.Fireside: I do not support the closure of the Equity and Inclusion Office. Good government requires a lens that considers all impacts and seeks to level the playing field. Opportunity must be available to all, which requires a realistic assessment of the roadblocks/barriers many of our fellow Oregonians face. It is incumbent on the county to provide services to all of us and to do so equitably. Many of the office’s services were designed to reach underserved folks in our county but without an equity and inclusion lens, those services will go to waste (or will not be delivered as intended).Gordon: Regardless of your opinion, one thing is clear — voices were heard but not respected. The amount of opposition should have changed the trajectory. It should be a goal to someday not need services, but that time is not now. Vulnerable citizens don’t feel safe by this action. While working for the county, I led a group that worked to build morale and make everyone feel welcome. We coordinated inclusive events and activities with an equity lens. The result was a better workforce and better customer service. When both employees and citizens aren’t seeing proactive steps to inclusivity, we all lose.What investments do you feel the county needs to make to address current and future climate issues, such as extreme weather events?Irvine: How we approach and mitigate extreme weather events such as wildfires is vital. Having more control over forest management at the county level is essential to reducing wildfires in the future. With our growing population and over 1.2 million acres to manage, we have learned that during emergencies our resources are stretched thin. Ensuring our residents know their part in an emergency is essential. I would like to see our county work with city leadership and private citizens to create more Community Emergency Response Teams with increased points of distribution that can be deployed in times of need.Fireside: Our county’s Climate Action Plan must be fully implemented. Our county procurement standards must align with our climate goals so the goods and services we procure and the contracts we enter into for development meet these standards whenever possible. Our cities, rural areas, homeowners associations and community planning organizations must have access to grants to prepare their communities. Our dedicated firefighters and first responders have programs to educate our communities on the plans they need to be safe in extreme weather and natural disasters. These programs must be fully funded to keep our communities safe and also our first responders.Gordon: Vehicles: Model environmental stewardship by increasing their fleet with eco-friendly vehicles. Disaster management: This dedicated department is proactive in developing programs and outreach. When I worked there I saw additional opportunities not taken due to resource development and access. This needs to be made a priority. Volunteer: A volunteer program was recently dissolved. As a community-driven volunteer and leader who has led others in large-scale projects, that was disheartening and a move that will only serve to disconnect citizens. Volunteers are crucial in times of extreme weather events and disasters and the county needs to lean into that source.How do you think Clackamas County should address fentanyl and substance use disorder?Irvine: Having lost a sibling to an overdose last year; I truly understand the vicious cycle of addiction. Fentanyl is a killer, highly addictive and extremely dangerous for medics and first responders to manage. The revision of Measure 110, which recriminalized drugs was a good start, but we must initiate help for those who can no longer help themselves. Law enforcement needs the tools and resources to ensure drug dealers are held accountable and prosecuted. Our criminal justice system is an entry point to supportive services that those in recovery tout as a reason they are alive today.Fireside: Education, prevention, rehabilitation and enforcement. Our populations must know how dangerous drug use is and that one pill can forever change or end their life. Our law enforcement must have a focus on cutting the head off the snake and make sure drugs are not being pumped into our communities. Our first responders need resources to respond effectively to drug overdoses and provide education to our community at large. We need to make sure the experts in the space of prevention, rehabilitation and medical response are empowered to lead and have every resource they need to keep our communities safe.Gordon: Priority is addressing the source and the addict. There should be severe penalties for those who sell and campaigns that share stories and encourage anonymous reporting. We need to continue to work and elevate existing groups and organizations that are currently doing the hard and difficult work to connect with addicts, homeless and people who are struggling with mental illness and susceptible to self-medicating. Easy access to free or low cost mental health services and counseling both on-site and off-site should be addressed.— Austin De Dios covers Multnomah County politics, programs and more. Reach him at 503-319-9744, adedios@oregonian.com or @AustinDeDios.Our journalism needs your support. Subscribe today to OregonLive.com.

Business
Climate
Education

It’s time to strike an environmental grand bargain between businesses, governments and conservationists – and stop doing things the hard way

It shouldn’t take sustained public outrage to stop environmentally destructive projects. Nature positive offers us a way forward.

jenmartin/ShutterstockApril has been a bad month for the Australian environment. The Great Barrier Reef was hit, yet again, by intense coral bleaching. And Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek delayed most of her Nature Positive Plan reforms. True, Plibersek did reject the controversial Toondah Harbour proposal, but only after a near decade-long grassroots campaign to save the wetland from an apartment and retail development deemed clearly unacceptable by her own department. Rather than fall back into old patterns of developers versus conservationists, we have a rare chance to find a compromise. Labor’s embrace of “Nature Positive” – a promising new environmental restoration approach – opens up the possibility of a grand bargain, whereby developers and business get much faster approvals (or rejections) in exchange for ensuring nature as a whole is better off as a result of our activities. Sustainable development was meant to save us First, a quick recap. We were meant to have put the era of saving the environment one place at a time to bed a long time ago. Around 1990, governments worldwide took to the then-novel idea of sustainable development. We even had a special Australian variant, ecologically sustainable development, which our federal and state governments backed unanimously. This led to a national strategy and incorporation into well over 100 laws, including flagship laws like the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act, passed in 1999. The basic idea was, and is, sound: encourage development to improve our quality of life, while maintaining the ecological processes on which life depends. Read more: Australia's long-sought stronger environmental laws just got indefinitely deferred. It's back to business as usual But it’s not what ended up being legislated. The 1990’s laws did not require developers to make their projects sustainable. Typically, sustainable development was watered down into principles ministers only had to “consider”. Meanwhile, our ecosystems have continued to go downhill. And in a 2020 review of the laws, Graeme Samuel pronounced the EPBC Act a failure. Nature, positive? When Labor was elected in 2022, it promised a new goal: “Nature Positive”. This idea is no mere slogan. Nature positive is a serious policy idea. Think of it as the biodiversity counterpart to net zero emissions. The goal is ambitious: stop the decline by 2030 and set about restoring what has been lost for a full recovery of nature by 2050. Rather than ticking boxes on whether principles had been considered, regulators would answer a much more basic question: will this development deliver a net positive outcome for nature? Measuring progress is core to nature positive. We would take an environmental snapshot at the outset and track the gains and losses from there. Like sustainable development before it, nature positive has been adopted with gusto by the Australian government, internationally and domestically. In 2022, Plibersek committed to “stop the slide” and to “bake [the Nature Positive reforms] into law”. Now, suddenly, we have lost momentum. The crucial part of the reforms – embedding nature positive in stronger environment laws – has been kicked down the road. Plibersek has blamed complexity, extensive consultation and the need to get it right. Others see political concerns. Could we strike a grand environmental bargain? By pushing these laws back, Plibersek has effectively turned the already extended consultation process into an open-ended negotiation. Given consultation will keep running indefinitely, we’re now in the realm of regulatory co-design, previously only on offer to First Nations representatives for new cultural heritage protection laws. Co-design implies proceeding by consensus. It would be politically embarrassing to run a consultation over years only to bring down the policy guillotine. Consensus in turn raises the possibility of a grand environmental bargain, built around nature positive. Could this work? Might environment groups settle for a limited form of nature positive? Might business, in return for much faster approvals or rejections, support much stronger legal protection, especially for particularly vulnerable or important ecosystems? Samuel certainly thinks so. At a recent Senate Inquiry, he recounted telling a meeting during his review: If you each stick to your aspirations 100%, you’ll end up getting nothing. If you’re prepared to accept 80%-plus of your aspirations, you’ll get them, and that will be a quantum leap forward from the abysmal failure that we’ve had for two and a half decades What might an 80% agreement look like? If we are to turn decline into recovery, we need to ensure each natural system is intact. That is, it retains the minimum level of environmental stocks (such as animals, plants and insects) and flows (such as water, nutrients) needed to sustain ecological health. If flows of water into wetlands drop below a certain threshold, they’re not wetlands any more. AustralianCamera/Shutterstock Such thresholds for ecological health are everywhere. For example, keeping the platypus off the endangered list would involve maintaining its population close to current levels and working out how much of its riverbank habitat should be conserved. For policymakers, this suggests environmental laws should define minimum viability thresholds. Some thresholds would be absolute; others would be crossable in one location provided equivalent restoration was done in another. Environmental groups could take satisfaction that thresholds would be maintained in most cases. Ecosystems would function, rivers would flow. But governments would still override thresholds for important economic and social reasons, say to approve a critical minerals project. What’s in it for corporate Australia? Business would gain upfront certainty about what can be approved and quicker approvals for projects. Environmental litigation would fall. But development options would be narrowed and offsets would become more expensive. The government would achieve a key goal: major environmental reform. But it would have to say no more often, and be transparent about crossing environmental thresholds. It would have to finance the science and planning needed. And it would need to boost investment in environmental restoration, to compensate for using override powers and for the cumulative impact of smaller-scale activities. A grand bargain along these lines would not deliver nature positive in full. We’d still be losing nature due to climate change. But it might go close enough to offer hope of long-term recovery. Is such a deal feasible? It depends on how players read the incentives for compromise. For example, business will not want to be locked out of prospective development areas, but will also be worried about the possibility of a minority Labor government dependent on the Greens next year. Nature positive in Australia is down – but opportunity remains. Read more: Out of alignment: how clashing policies make for terrible environmental outcomes Peter Burnett is a member of the Biodiversity Council, an independent expert group founded by 11 Australian universities to promote evidence-based solutions to Australia’s biodiversity crisis. This article does not necessarily reflect the Council's views.

Business
Conservation
Government

My Husband And I Went Looking For Pot. It Quickly Turned Into A Nightmare.

"The guy with glazed eyes neglected to tell me that the beginning dose should be no larger than half of a grain of rice."

At every social gathering of middle-aged people I’ve been to recently, almost everyone has an “I tried a THC gummy bear because I couldn’t sleep and found myself in the emergency room or about to call 911” episode to share. The weed from when my friends and I were younger pales in potency to the variants available today. And taking a hit, a slice or a pill can feel like dropping acid during the ’70s did. (At least from my limited experience, this seems to be a fair assessment.)A friend told me that she ate a gummy on vacation to relax and avoid getting seasick on a boat. But instead her teeth felt thick, she couldn’t keep up with the conversation around her, and she thought she was having a stroke. “I had a two-minute delayed response to everything, so I just went to bed and slept for 10 hours,” she said.One man I met told me he was having dinner at a country club with friends during Dry January. When he declined a drink, his waiter insisted that he try the club’s new seltzer, an artisan extract with the tag line “THC for the people” and the quote “Caution is the path to mediocrity” by author Frank Herbert on its website. He was unaware of how high he was — or that he shouldn’t be operating a motor vehicle — until, on the way home, his wife turned to him when he stopped at a green light and asked what he was doing. “I have no idea,” he said.More middle-aged people are using marijuana than in previous years. Meanwhile, poison control centers are receiving more calls and states are seeing increasing numbers of ER visits due to people passing out, hallucinating or experiencing other issues as cannabis (legal or not) becomes more readily available in many parts of the U.S.I had my own misadventure with the drug seven years ago, before it was legalized for recreational use in California, where I was visiting from Alabama for breast cancer treatment. My husband and I went looking for pot, but this hunt wasn’t like the ones I went on as a teenager. I needed cannabis to ease any post-chemo nausea I might experience and to help blunt my anxiety the night before I’d be hooked up to the “red devil” for the first time.Another patient had told us about a medical dispensary in Santa Ana. At the large, slick metal building tucked indiscreetly behind a shiny shopping center, I signed up for a membership with the dispensary’s club under the name “Lanier Insomnia” so a remote doctor would “prescribe” something for me. However, I quickly learned that it was illegal to dispense to anyone who was not a resident of the state.That’s how my husband and I found ourselves in late-afternoon traffic on the six-lane highway headed to a “church” of “cannabis ministries” in a low-slung building next to a motel and a tattoo parlor. There were several doors in the strip center with darkened windows but not one sign.It was getting dark, and as we stood on the sidewalk trying to figure out where the church was, a man appeared from a black SUV, asked us if we needed help, and took us to the right door. Inside a small waiting room with a receptionist behind a glass panel, I filled out a membership form for my new church, where I became a believer in cannabis and pot was a sacrament, and I waited while a TV played a program about waltzing black holes. Once I was buzzed into the next room, a young man behind a glass counter full of pipes and paraphernalia convinced me that all cancer patients needed “Ricky Simpson oil,” or RSO.I now know that Rick Simpson was a skin cancer patient who read about a study in which THC killed cancer cells in mice, so he came up with a process of extracting as many cannabinoids from the cannabis plant as possible, making a substance that was high in THC and extremely potent. The guy with glazed eyes neglected to tell me that the beginning dose should be no larger than half of a grain of rice.That night at the hotel with red curtains and scratchy carpet where we had been staying for several weeks, a weather map of California on the TV blazed wildfire red. My husband gallantly offered to do a test drive of the oil for me, which meant dabbing it on a joint. After a while, when he didn’t feel anything, he added more RSO, and at that point I insisted it was my turn.The next thing I knew, I’d become a thousand raw nerve endings. Everything took on a cartoonish feel. The only thing to do was to try to sleep, but the walls were breathing. I did doze off but woke up to my husband pacing the floor and yelling into the phone, “Hey, Siri, can you overdose on Ricky Simpson oil?” Siri didn’t respond, and I cannot tell you how many times he yelled at Siri while I kept thinking there were men with guns in the parking lot about to invade our room.The following day, we were both jagged. I was in the worst possible state to deal with chemo, but things were going OK until I accidentally ate someone else’s lunch from the refrigerator at the cancer center. When the hungry woman demanded to know why I ate her lunch, I could only sputter some nonsense and thank Ricky for my predicament. Later, when I started crying, all I could say to the bewildered nurse was: “I’m from the South. People cry there.”When I told the doctor what happened, she asked: “Why didn’t you say something? I could have prescribed you something less potent.” Studies have shown that cannabis can ease stress, nausea and pain; decrease inflammation; and help with certain health conditions like epilepsy. But if you’re going to partake — for medical reasons or just a good time — you should know that things are different from the Cheech and Chong days, when it took an entire joint to get high.Now, you don’t even need RSO to be launched into orbit. With just a few hits or a tiny piece of cannabis candy, you can become fully baked because, over the past 50 years, the average amount of THC in cannabis products has increased — sometimes as much as tenfold. Back in the day, smoking a bowl of brown sticks and stems was like eating Kraft cheese, while what’s sold today is more like fancy feta cheese. It’s great to get more bang for your buck, but you want to make sure you’re aware of just how much bang you’re getting.So, if you’re looking to buy some edibles, smoke some weed or drink some cannabis-infused tea from one of the thousands of dispensaries across the country, know your state laws. And when you travel to another state, get up to speed on its laws too. Make sure that the product you buy has a certificate of analysis to ensure quality control and low toxicity. Consider buying from a Black-owned business. (Despite the disproportionate number of weed-related arrests that Black individuals have historically faced, in 2021 under 2% of cannabis businesses were owned by Black entrepreneurs — all the more reason to support them.) Then, do some research to understand potency levels, learn the difference between the types of products, check for other ingredients and additives, and go slow. One of the great things about buying cannabis today is that there’s more variety, and most products list how many grams of THC you’ll be consuming per serving. That means you can slice that gummy in half, just have a few puffs, or devise whatever way feels right to customize your high. Lastly, it’s not a bad idea to talk to your doctor before using cannabis, especially if you’re taking medications that could interact with the drug.Since my disastrous experience in that hotel, I’ve tried weed gummy bears a couple of times for anxiety, but I didn’t like how disoriented I felt. During the teenage wasteland of the ’70s and ’80s, I loved that fun-house feeling and the ritual of smoking pot with my friends. Weed was everywhere, and my brother making hashish from a gadget he ordered from the back of High Times with the pot he grew in a friend’s basement, or our suburban backyard, wasn’t unusual. I now realize that when I smoked in my 20s, I was simply trying to take the edge off my stress. By the time I became a mother, I felt I couldn’t find real relief at the bottom of a bong — it just didn’t do anything positive for me anymore — and I found other ways to cope. Still, for many people, especially those my age, it’s a positive thing. Live and let live, right? But if you’re going to do it, make sure you’re as prepared as possible, and maybe skip the Ricky Simpson oil.Lanier Isom is a journalist and co-author of the award-winning memoir “Grace and Grit: My Fight for Equal Pay and Fairness at Goodyear and Beyond.” The film “Lilly,” based on her book and starring Patricia Clarkson, is in postproduction. Her work has appeared in Al Jazeera, The Los Angeles Times, The Lily, The Bitter Southerner, Scalawag and Salvation South. A frequent contributor to AL.com, she is an Alabama Library Association Nonfiction Award recipient and a 2023 Alabama State Council on the Arts fellow. She has completed a memoir about growing up in the South during the ’70s before #MeToo and is currently working on a project about environmental racism in a small Alabama town. A blue dot in a red state, she lives in Birmingham, Alabama, with her husband and three dogs, and has a college-aged daughter and grown son. She’s a Peloton addict, dog lover and psychic junkie. For more from Lanier, visit lanierisom.com and her Instagram page, @lanierisom.Do you have a compelling personal story you’d like to see published on HuffPost? Find out what we’re looking for here and send us a pitch at pitch@huffpost.com.Support HuffPostOur 2024 Coverage Needs YouYour Loyalty Means The World To UsAt HuffPost, we believe that everyone needs high-quality journalism, but we understand that not everyone can afford to pay for expensive news subscriptions. That is why we are committed to providing deeply reported, carefully fact-checked news that is freely accessible to everyone.Whether you come to HuffPost for updates on the 2024 presidential race, hard-hitting investigations into critical issues facing our country today, or trending stories that make you laugh, we appreciate you. The truth is, news costs money to produce, and we are proud that we have never put our stories behind an expensive paywall.Would you join us to help keep our stories free for all? Your contribution of as little as $2 will go a long way.Can't afford to donate? Support HuffPost by creating a free account and log in while you read.As Americans head to the polls in 2024, the very future of our country is at stake. At HuffPost, we believe that a free press is critical to creating well-informed voters. That's why our journalism is free for everyone, even though other newsrooms retreat behind expensive paywalls.Our journalists will continue to cover the twists and turns during this historic presidential election. With your help, we'll bring you hard-hitting investigations, well-researched analysis and timely takes you can't find elsewhere. Reporting in this current political climate is a responsibility we do not take lightly, and we thank you for your support.Contribute as little as $2 to keep our news free for all.Can't afford to donate? Support HuffPost by creating a free account and log in while you read.Dear HuffPost ReaderThank you for your past contribution to HuffPost. We are sincerely grateful for readers like you who help us ensure that we can keep our journalism free for everyone.The stakes are high this year, and our 2024 coverage could use continued support. Would you consider becoming a regular HuffPost contributor?Dear HuffPost ReaderThank you for your past contribution to HuffPost. We are sincerely grateful for readers like you who help us ensure that we can keep our journalism free for everyone.The stakes are high this year, and our 2024 coverage could use continued support. If circumstances have changed since you last contributed, we hope you’ll consider contributing to HuffPost once more.Support HuffPostAlready contributed? Log in to hide these messages.

Business
Climate
Health

Remote working and whiffy workout wear fuel laundry revolution

Home workers aim to tackle smelly athleisure clothing, save money and be kinder to the environmentFor years, laundry detergents have focused their cleaning power on stain removal and getting whites white but now a new invisible enemy has emerged in the shape of the musty smell that clings to your gym gear.The shift to remote working has fuelled the popularity of “athleisure” clothing such as T-shirts, joggers and leggings which, rather than shirts and dresses, are now the default work wardrobe of many Britons. Continue reading...

For years, laundry detergents have focused their cleaning power on stain removal and getting whites white but now a new invisible enemy has emerged in the shape of the musty smell that clings to your gym gear.The shift to remote working has fuelled the popularity of “athleisure” clothing such as T-shirts, joggers and leggings which, rather than shirts and dresses, are now the default work wardrobe of many Britons.But less commuting means 70% of the clothing we stick in the drum have no visible stains, according to new research. Instead it is impregnated with invisible sweat, dust and smell-causing body oils, with the issue acute for “malodour-retaining” athleisure wear.Eduardo Campanella, the business group president at Unilever Home Care, which owns household names including Persil and Comfort, explains the source of the problem: “Athleisure wear is made from synthetic fibres which have been specifically constructed with a capillary action to wick away wetness from the body.”“In addition to this, synthetic fibres are more hydrophobic [oil-loving] which naturally hold on to body oil and body excretion. As a result, athleisure wear is more prone to malodour.”But because the clothes at least look clean and energy – and in some cases water – bills are so high, Britons want to get rid of any lingering smells but also want to use shorter wash cycles that are better for the environment.‘The Queen of Clean’, AKA Lynsey Crombie. Photograph: Linda Nylind/The GuardianIn response, Unilever has launched the Persil spin-off Wonder Wash which it says does the job in 15 minutes.With some hyperbole Unilever boasts that this new “15-minute laundry detergent”, with its 35 patents pending, will “create a new category of laundry products”.It comes at a time when, under pressure to improve their environmental credentials by removing harsh chemicals and working at lower temperatures, traditional washing powders and liquid-makers face competition from new eco products such as plastic-free washing “sheets” that are becoming a more common sight.The new cleaning elixir contains a blend of fast-acting ingredients, said Campanella, who in layperson’s terms explained the technology “binds to malodour molecules ensuring they don’t stick, as well as pulling the malodour molecules out”.While the company’s scientists used cutting-edge robotics and AI to come up with the formula for the smell-busting detergent, which sells for about £7 a bottle, there are DIY remedies. Store cupboard ingredients such as bicarbonate of soda and white vinegar are among the popular, cleaning hacks suggested.Lynsey Crombie, the TV cleaning expert and influencer known as the “Queen of Clean” uses the tried-and-tested method of pre-soaking gym kit in cold water and white vinegar before washing.skip past newsletter promotionSign up to Business TodayGet set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morningPrivacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.after newsletter promotion“Sports clothing hangs on to sweat and if left in the laundry basket too long before washing can transfer on to other items”, she said. “If I could eliminate this process [pre-soaking] and save myself time, that would be great.”For many households, who still measure the time it takes to do a wash in hours not minutes, being able to get the washing done in 15 minutes is still a long way off.Shorter cycles of 30 to 60 minutes arrived more than a decade ago but more recently new machines with 15-minutewashes have gone on sale. But with the appliances replaced every seven to 12 years such high-speed washes will take a while to reach the mainstream.With extremely high standards as the Queen of Clean to maintain, Crombie says short cycles have their place and “clean everyday clothes well”. But, she adds: “Towels, underwear and bedding I still wash on a higher temperature on a longer cycle.”

Business
Chemicals
Energy

And now for the pinchline: competition crowns world’s funniest crab joke

Inaugural contest at Crab Museum in Margate allows crustaceans to pick the winner, with the help of tinned fish used as baitHow did the crab get out of prison? And why did the crab get bad grades?The answers to these conundrums and other clawsome jokes were among the competitors for the inaugural World’s Funniest Crab Joke competition, held by the Crab Museum in Margate to celebrate International Crab Day.What do you call a red crab piggybacking another red crab all around the town? A double-decapod.A horseshoe crab walks into a bar. “Why the ventral face?” the bartender asks. The crab replies: “Mind your own business and please tip a pint of lager and a packet of crisps on to the pub carpet.”How did the crab get out of prison? It used its escape claws.Why didn’t the crab help the chicken cross the road? Because it was eaten by a pelican crossing.What did the sea urchin say to the crab? Please sir, can I have some claw?What format do you have to save photos of crab soup on to? Floppy bisque.A man walks into a restaurant with a crab under his arm and says: “Do you make crab cakes?” The manager answers: “Yes, we do.” “Good,” says the man, “because it’s his birthday.”How do barnacles get around? A taxi crab.Why did the crab cross the road? It didn’t. It used the sidewalk.Why did the crab get bad grades? Because it was below C level. Continue reading...

How did the crab get out of prison? And why did the crab get bad grades?The answers to these conundrums and other clawsome jokes were among the competitors for the inaugural World’s Funniest Crab Joke competition, held by the Crab Museum in Margate to celebrate International Crab Day.The winning gag, submitted by an anonymous joker, was: “Why did the crab cross the road? It didn’t. It used the sidewalk.”An expert panel of judges, including the comedians Harry Hill, Rose Matafeo, Sally Phillips and Phil Wang, as well as children from Ramsgate Arts primary school, scored their favourite jokes before the totals were tallied and a winner crowned.The only rules of the contest were that the jokes should be kept PG, and that lobsters could be mentioned in the setup of the joke, but not the “pinchline”.Organisers said that, although most of the 700 submissions did abide by the rules, several jokes “were disqualified for scientific inaccuracy, and rather a lot for lewdness”.In an unexpected sideways move, the crabs themselves picked the winner from the four jokes ranked highest by the judges, with the help of some tinned fish in bait bags and rolled-up pieces of paper with the jokes written on them.The twist on the classic road-crossing formula proved triumphant, and was followed in second by another variation on a classic: “Man walks into a restaurant with a crab under his arm and says, ‘Do you make crab cakes?’ Manager answers, ‘Yes, we do.’ ‘Good,’ says the man, ‘because it’s his birthday.’”Third place was awarded jointly to: “Why didn’t the crab help the chicken cross the road? Because it was eaten by a pelican crossing,” and: “What format do you have to save photos of crab soup on to? Floppy bisque.”A Crab Museum spokesperson said the organisers hoped the contest might inspire people into environmental activism: “The quality and quantity of jokes this year has been astounding. We’ve been pinching ourselves since the submissions closed! That said, laughing at jokes, much like learning about crabs, can be a powerful tool to help us reassess our relationship with our environment. You’d be surprised how quickly you can go from chuckling at crab gags to letting down SUV tires. Whilst we may not have made this clear to our judges, it is in this spirit that the World’s Funniest Crab Joke competition has been organised.”The museum, which opened in 2021 and claims to be “Europe’s first and only museum dedicated to the decapod”, aims to raise awareness of the often unheralded but incredibly diverse world of crabs.skip past newsletter promotionThe planet's most important stories. Get all the week's environment news - the good, the bad and the essentialPrivacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.after newsletter promotion“Crabs can teach us about biology, climate change, evolutionary history and much much more. But, with the right frame of mind, they can also teach us about ourselves,” said a spokesperson for the museum, which was founded by Bertie Suesat-Williams, his brother Ned Suesat-Williams and Chase Coley.“This is why we created Crab Museum, to roll science, humour and philosophy into a unique and satisfyingly baffling day out.”The museum’s award-winning social media presence was called “radical and unhinged” by Digital Culture Network.The full shortlist of crab jokesWhat do you call a red crab piggybacking another red crab all around the town? A double-decapod. A horseshoe crab walks into a bar. “Why the ventral face?” the bartender asks. The crab replies: “Mind your own business and please tip a pint of lager and a packet of crisps on to the pub carpet.” How did the crab get out of prison? It used its escape claws. Why didn’t the crab help the chicken cross the road? Because it was eaten by a pelican crossing. What did the sea urchin say to the crab? Please sir, can I have some claw? What format do you have to save photos of crab soup on to? Floppy bisque. A man walks into a restaurant with a crab under his arm and says: “Do you make crab cakes?” The manager answers: “Yes, we do.” “Good,” says the man, “because it’s his birthday.” How do barnacles get around? A taxi crab. Why did the crab cross the road? It didn’t. It used the sidewalk. Why did the crab get bad grades? Because it was below C level.

Business
Activism
Culture

Suggested Viewing

Job 1

A puppet animation about employment.

Animation
Business
Music

Toxic Business

A documentary on the profits international chemical companies are gaining in Africa at cost of the health of small-scaled-farmers and consumers.International chemical companies sell high toxic agro-chemicals in Kenya, which are banned since long in Europe. They are banned because their ingredients cause cancer and have a major negative impact on the nature and environment. Anyhow – in developing countries like Kenya those toxic chemicals are sold without any regulations through small agro-shops all over the country. The small scaled farmers do believe in the promises of better and safer harvest those companies give. Today, the use of pesticides even inside the villages is already a daily business. Furthermore many of them already depend on hybrid seeds, old and resistant seeds supplants. Most of the consumers do not have the knowledge, how dangerous those agro-chemicals are: the WHO announced that annually 346.000 people die, caused by accidentally poisoning with those chemicals, 2/3 of them within developing countries.In the face of world food, industry is trying to push its way into the markets. On the contrary, statistics and alternative farming methods in East Africa show that it no longer needs chemicals and hybrid seeds to feed the world, but a general rethinking.

Agriculture
Chemicals
Business

The Custodians of the Andean Gold

In the Peruvian and Bolivian Andes, more than 3 800 meters above sea level, live alpaca and vicunia breeders. Quechua and Aymara families protect their animals live off of the sale of the animals’ fiber. Gold mining is another activity that predates the Conquest and is widespread among families living in the border area between Peru and Bolivia. The difficult compatibility on the same territory of these two production activities increases the need for environmental protection and workers' rights. It has become indispensable to support producers so that this activity does not disappear with the migration of native peoples, abandoning traditions and animals.

Animals
Indigenous
Business

Market Gardening In The Last Frontier

The path to successful bio-intensive market gardening in the Last Frontier involves an enthusiasm to work in partnership with nature; to steward the soil and the multitude of organisms it contains and supports. As Alaskans contemplate the reality that a staggering 95% of food found in the grocery stores is imported, Emily Garrity and her Twitter Creek Garden operation are chipping away at this food insecurity and providing a roadmap for others to emulate. Aspiring to provide alternatives to the destructive standards of commercial agriculture, life-long Alaskan, Emily Garrity, shares her hard-won secrets in this biopic short film.

Sustainable
Business
Agriculture

Modern Nature

By 2050, 10 billion people may inhabit Earth. Do we need GMOs to Feed the World? Is organic production the answer? Modern Nature takes the viewer on a worldwide odyssey to find answers. Includes perspectives from philosopher Noam Chomsky, physicist Vandana Shiva and street farmer Ron Finley.

Food
Agriculture
Business

Join us to forge
a sustainable future

Our team is always growing.
Become a partner, volunteer, sponsor, or intern today.
Let us know how you would like to get involved!

CONTACT US

sign up for our mailing list to stay informed on the latest films and environmental headlines.

Subscribers receive a free day pass for streaming Cinema Verde.
Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.