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Sicily deserves better than the looming prospect of a giant bridge that will never get built | Jamie Mackay

Troubled waters over the world’s longest suspension bridge are no surprise. The Italian government should be funding public servicesA dozen or so times each day, as Italy’s southbound Intercity rail service arrives in the Calabrian town of Villa San Giovanni, the journey comes to a dramatic halt. The train is decoupled from its tracks, carefully loaded on to the deck of a ferry, and secured in place. The entire cargo then eases out into the Strait of Messina en route to Sicily. Invariably, this 25-minute crossing becomes an impromptu community moment. Passengers abandon their carriages, flocking to the ship’s top-deck snack bar to share freshly fried arancini, trade anecdotes, and admire the vista over Mount Etna’s distant peak, before returning to continue their journey by rail.For tourists and itinerant visitors like myself, the ferry crossing is a charming novelty. For local people, however, it has long been a defining part of their identity. In his 1941 novel, Conversations in Sicily, the writer Elio Vittorini describes a group of fruit pickers congregating on the boat’s deck, feasting on large chunks of local cheese and enjoying the view. As the narrator joins them, he is transported to “being a boy; feeling the wind devouring the sea”, while gazing out at “the ruins along the two coasts”, separated, poetically, across the water.Jamie Mackay is a writer and translator based in Florence Continue reading...

A dozen or so times each day, as Italy’s southbound Intercity rail service arrives in the Calabrian town of Villa San Giovanni, the journey comes to a dramatic halt. The train is decoupled from its tracks, carefully loaded on to the deck of a ferry, and secured in place. The entire cargo then eases out into the Strait of Messina en route to Sicily. Invariably, this 25-minute crossing becomes an impromptu community moment. Passengers abandon their carriages, flocking to the ship’s top-deck snack bar to share freshly fried arancini, trade anecdotes, and admire the vista over Mount Etna’s distant peak, before returning to continue their journey by rail.For tourists and itinerant visitors like myself, the ferry crossing is a charming novelty. For local people, however, it has long been a defining part of their identity. In his 1941 novel, Conversations in Sicily, the writer Elio Vittorini describes a group of fruit pickers congregating on the boat’s deck, feasting on large chunks of local cheese and enjoying the view. As the narrator joins them, he is transported to “being a boy; feeling the wind devouring the sea”, while gazing out at “the ruins along the two coasts”, separated, poetically, across the water.Soon, though, this sentimental voyage may become a relic of the past. For the past few months, Italian officials have been in advanced talks to sign off on a new bridge connecting Sicily to the mainland. In August, the Italian government confirmed it will invest €13.5bn and commission the Webuild Group to begin construction. If it is ever built, it will be the longest single-span bridge in the world.The Sicilians I know are sceptical. After all, this is not the first time the Messina Bridge has been mooted, only to be shelved. While plans for the crossing date back to Roman times, the modern saga truly began in the late 1960s, when successive Italian governments championed the project as crucial for tackling regional inequalities. For the original architects, the bridge offered an obvious solution to the glaring infrastructure gap between the industrial north and the agricultural south. By closing that space, they reasoned, Sicily could finally attract the kind of international investment that other parts of Italy had long enjoyed.But the bridge has never materialised. Over the decades, hurdles such as seismic viability, environmental concerns, and the pervasive risk of mafia fraud have repeatedly halted the plans, making it seem impossible. Even a few months ago, when the government announced its “final” approval, my Sicilian friends told me they’d believe it when they saw it. They were right. Last month, Italy’s court of auditors blocked the project due to concerns about the legality of the financing, and at the time of writing, the project is frozen once again.In the meantime, an old public debate is re-emerging, which reveals a lot about Italian politics today. On one side are the pro-bridge advocates, who see the project as key to the future, pointing out that it would provide as many as 120,000 new local jobs per year and improve prospects for growth. On the other side are the protesters, from across the political spectrum, who dismiss pro-bridge advocates as nefarious opportunists concerned only with profit. For them, the bridge is synonymous with the shortsighted exploitation of the island.If you’ve ever been to Messina, you’ll know these vague ideological stances quickly rub up against reality. While the city’s life and culture are as exciting as anywhere on the island, Messina is unfortunately afflicted by some of the worst social problems in Italy. The local municipality is infamous for its financial mismanagement, characterised by mysterious losses of public funds and active criminal and civil court cases ongoing against various politicians, including two former mayors. Organised crime is prevalent, and cases of infrastructure-related fraud are already common among businesses, including those with interests in the Strait. Poverty is a huge problem. The health service is on its knees, and the school system is on the verge of collapse, suffering from some of the worst drop-out rates in the country.This reality makes the rhetoric of political proponents hard to swallow. Recently, Italy’s transport minister, Matteo Salvini, called the bridge “the most important public work in the world”, but he didn’t always feel this way. A decade ago, in fact, he was arguing the exact opposite. In a 2016 TV interview, which is now being widely reshared online in Italy, he judged the bridge unfeasible from an engineering standpoint and argued that regular closures due to the notoriously strong winds would render it useless. Given the state of public services in Sicily, he argued, spending billions on such a project would be a waste of money, and it would be better to dedicate such limited funds to bolstering local services.Ironically, the very arguments Salvini made in 2016 have only gained greater relevance as the effects of the climate crisis intensify. Over my years of taking the ferry, I’ve witnessed first-hand how the annual wildfires are getting worse. I’ve made small talk with local farmers on the ferry’s top-deck bar, watching flames lick the sky, illuminating the charred hillsides. I’ve heard accounts of the fatal spring and summer of 2024, when the province of Messina experienced its worst drought in decades. Crops failed, livestock died. Reservoirs ran empty and aqueducts began to fail. In some areas, tap water failed to arrive for days on end.Webuild presents the Messina Bridge as a historic opportunity. Residents, though, don’t seem to see it that way, and a recent survey indicates 70% are against the project. And you can see why: if you were living in a drought zone, would the prospect of having an estimated 15-20% of your local water supply diverted towards the project really seem like an opportunity? If you lived near the seafront, would you want years of noise, wildlife destruction and pollution, all for the eventual aim of a giant public work that is not guaranteed to benefit you? If you were one of the 4,000 people on either side of the Strait who would be forced to abandon their homes to demolition, would you be ready to pack your bags?skip past newsletter promotionSign up to This is EuropeThe most pressing stories and debates for Europeans – from identity to economics to the environmentPrivacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. If you do not have an account, we will create a guest account for you on theguardian.com to send you this newsletter. You can complete full registration at any time. For more information about how we use your data see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.after newsletter promotionSalvini has promised to respond to the court’s concerns and claims the government can still get construction started by February 2026. I, for one, hope he backs down. At a moment when the climate crisis is creating new emergencies and worsening an already dire economic situation, the bridge is simply not a priority. Sicilians are desperately in need of political investment in public services, of leaders who can inspire collective action to ensure government funds are properly spent. Until then, Sicilians remain defiant and continue to enjoy one of the world’s most spectacular ferry crossings: preferring conviviality and arancini to a costly steel panacea.

Government
Water
Climate

The world’s carbon emissions continue to rise. But 35 countries show progress in cutting carbon

In 2025 the world has fallen short, again, of peaking and reducing its fossil fuel use. But there are many countries on a path to greener energy.

Global fossil fuel emissions are projected to rise in 2025 to a new all-time high, with all sources – coal, gas, and oil – contributing to the increase. At the same time, our new global snapshot of carbon dioxide emissions and carbon sinks shows at least 35 countries have a plan to decarbonise. Australia, Germany, New Zealand and many others have shown statistically significant declines in fossil carbon emissions during the past decade, while their economies have continued to grow. China’s emissions have also been been growing at a much slower pace than recent trends and might even be flat by year’s end. As world leaders and delegates meet in Brazil for the United Nations’ global climate summit, COP30, many countries that have submitted new emissions commitments to 2035 have shown increased ambition. But unless these efforts are scaled up substantially, current global temperature trends are projected to significantly exceed the Paris Agreement target that aims to keep warming well below 2°C. These 35 countries are now emitting less carbon dioxide even as their economies grow. Global Carbon Project 2025, CC BY-NC-ND Fossil fuel emissions up again in 2025 Together with colleagues from 102 research institutions worldwide, the Global Carbon Project today releases the Global Carbon Budget 2025. This is an annual stocktake of the sources and sinks of carbon dioxide worldwide. We also publish the major scientific advances enabling us to pinpoint the global human and natural sources and sinks of carbon dioxide with higher confidence. Carbon sinks are natural or artificial systems such as forests which absorb more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere than they release. Global CO₂ emissions from the use of fossil fuels continue to increase. They are set to rise by 1.1% in 2025, on top of a similar rise in 2024. All fossil fuels are contributing to the rise. Emissions from natural gas grew 1.3%, followed by oil (up 1.0%) and coal (up 0.8%). Altogether, fossil fuels produced 38.1 billion tonnes of CO₂ in 2025. Not all the news is bad. Our research finds emissions from the top emitter, China (32% of global CO₂ emissions) will increase significantly more slowly below its growth over the past decade, with a modest 0.4% increase. Emissions from India (8% of global) are projected to increase by 1.4%, also below recent trends. However, emissions from the United States (13% of global) and the European Union (6% of global) are expected to grow above recent trends. For the US, a projected growth of 1.9% is driven by a colder start to the year, increased liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports, increased coal use, and higher demand for electricity. EU emissions are expected to grow 0.4%, linked to lower hydropower and wind output due to weather. This led to increased electricity generation from LNG. Uncertainties in currently available data also include the possibility of no growth or a small decline. Fossil fuel emissions hit a new high in 2025, but the growth rate is slowing and there are encouraging signs from countries cutting emissions. Global Carbon Project 2025, CC BY-NC-ND Drop in land use emissions In positive news, net carbon emissions from changes to land use such as deforestation, degradation and reforestation have declined over the past decade. They are expected to produce 4.1 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide in 2025 down from the annual average of 5 billion tonnes over the past decade. Permanent deforestation remains the largest source of emissions. This figure also takes into account the 2.2 billion tonnes of carbon soaked up by human-driven reforestation annually. Three countries – Brazil, Indonesia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo – contribute 57% of global net land-use change CO₂ emissions. When we combine the net emissions from land-use change and fossil fuels, we find total global human-caused emissions will reach 42.2 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide in 2025. This total has grown 0.3% annually over the past decade, compared with 1.9% in the previous one (2005–14). Carbon sinks largely stagnant Natural carbon sinks in the ocean and terrestrial ecosystems remove about half of all human-caused carbon emissions. But our new data suggests these sinks are not growing as we would expect. The ocean carbon sink has been relatively stagnant since 2016, largely because of climate variability and impacts from ocean heatwaves. The land CO₂ sink has been relatively stagnant since 2000, with a significant decline in 2024 due to warmer El Niño conditions on top of record global warming. Preliminary estimates for 2025 show a recovery of this sink to pre-El Niño levels. Since 1960, the negative effects of climate change on the natural carbon sinks, particularly on the land sink, have suppressed a fraction of the full sink potential. This has left more CO₂ in the atmosphere, with an increase in the CO₂ concentration by an additional 8 parts per million. This year, atmospheric CO₂ levels are expected to reach just above 425 ppm. Tracking global progress Despite the continued global rise of carbon emissions, there are clear signs of progress towards lower-carbon energy and land use in our data. There are now 35 countries that have reduced their fossil carbon emissions over the past decade, while still growing their economy. Many more, including China, are shifting to cleaner energy production. This has led to a significant slowdown of emissions growth. Existing policies supporting national emissions cuts under the Paris Agreement are projected to lead to global warming of 2.8°C above preindustrial levels by the end of this century. This is an improvement over the previous assessment of 3.1°C, although methodological changes also contributed to the lower warming projection. New emissions cut commitments to 2035, for those countries that have submitted them, show increased mitigation ambition. This level of expected mitigation falls still far short of what is needed to meet the Paris Agreement goal of keeping warming well below 2°C. At current levels of emissions, we calculate that the remaining global carbon budget – the carbon dioxide still able to be emitted before reaching specific global temperatures (averaged over multiple years) – will be used up in four years for 1.5°C (170 gigatonnes remaining), 12 years for 1.7°C (525 Gt) and 25 years for 2°C (1,055 Gt). Falling short Our improved and updated global carbon budget shows the relentless global increase of fossil fuel CO₂ emissions. But it also shows detectable and measurable progress towards decarbonisation in many countries. The recovery of the natural CO₂ sinks is a positive finding. But large year-to-year variability shows the high sensitivity of these sinks to heat and drought. Overall, this year’s carbon report card shows we have fallen short, again, of reaching a global peak in fossil fuel use. We are yet to begin the rapid decline in carbon emissions needed to stabilise the climate. Pep Canadell receives funding from the Australian National Environmental Science Program - Climate Systems HubClemens Schwingshackl receives funding from the European Union's Horizon Europe research and innovation programme and Schmidt Sciences.Corinne Le Quéré receives funding from the UK Natural Environment Research Council, the UK Royal Society, and the UK Advanced Research + Invention Agency. She was granted a research donation by Schmidt Futures (project CALIPSO – Carbon Loss In Plants, Soils and Oceans). Corinne Le Quéré is a member of the UK Climate Change Committee. Her position here is her own and does not necessarily reflect that of the Committee. Corinne Le Quéré is a member of the Scientific Advisory Council of Societe Generale. Glen Peters receives funding from the European Union's Horizon Europe research and innovation programme.Judith Hauck receives funding from the European Union's Horizon Europe research and innovation programme, the European Research Council and Germany's Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space.Julia Pongratz receives funding from the European Horizon Europe research and innovation programme and Germany's Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space.Mike O'Sullivan receives funding from the European Union's Horizon Europe research and innovation programme, and the European Space Agency.Pierre Friedlingstein receives funding from the European Union's Horizon Europe research and innovation programmeRobbie Andrew receives funding from the European Union's Horizon Europe research and innovation programme and the Norwegian Environment Agency.

Energy
Climate
Forests

MIT senior turns waste from the fishing industry into biodegradable plastic

Jacqueline Prawira’s innovation, featured on CBS’s “The Visioneers,” tackles one of the world’s most pressing environmental challenges.

Sometimes the answers to seemingly intractable environmental problems are found in nature itself. Take the growing challenge of plastic waste. Jacqueline Prawira, an MIT senior in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering (DMSE), has developed biodegradable, plastic-like materials from fish offal, as featured in a recent segment on the CBS show “The Visioneers with Zay Harding.” “We basically made plastics to be too good at their job. That also means the environment doesn’t know what to do with this, because they simply won’t degrade,” Prawira told Harding. “And now we’re literally drowning in plastic. By 2050, plastics are expected to outweigh fish in the ocean.” “The Visioneers” regularly highlights environmental innovators. The episode featuring Prawira premiered during a special screening at Climate Week NYC on Sept. 24.Her inspiration came from the Asian fish market her family visits. Once the fish they buy are butchered, the scales are typically discarded. “But I also started noticing they’re actually fairly strong. They’re thin, somewhat flexible, and pretty lightweight, too, for their strength,” Prawira says. “And that got me thinking: Well, what other material has these properties? Plastics.” She transformed this waste product into a transparent, thin-film material that can be used for disposable products such as grocery bags, packaging, and utensils. Both her fish-scale material and a composite she developed don’t just mimic plastic — they address one of its biggest flaws. “If you put them in composting environments, [they] will degrade on their own naturally without needing much, if any, external help,” Prawira says. This isn’t Prawira’s first environmental innovation. Working in DMSE Professor Yet-Ming Chiang’s lab, she helped develop a low-carbon process for making cement — the world’s most widely used construction material, and a major emitter of carbon dioxide. The process, called silicate subtraction, enables compounds to form at lower temperatures, cutting fossil fuel use. Prawira and her co-inventors in the Chiang lab are also using the method to extract valuable lithium with zero waste. The process is patented and is being commercialized through the startup Rock Zero. For her achievements, Prawira recently received the Barry Goldwater Scholarship, awarded to undergraduates pursuing careers in science, mathematics, or engineering. In her “Visioneers” interview, she shared her hope for more sustainable ways of living. “I’m hoping that we can have daily lives that can be more in sync with the environment,” Prawira said. “So you don’t always have to choose between the convenience of daily life and having to help protect the environment.”

Waste
Climate
Nature

A Flotilla Kicks off the People's Summit for Activists at UN Climate Talks

As United Nation climate talks get underway in Belem, a different kind of conference is kicking off: the People’s Summit, a gathering of activists, organizers, environmentalists and Indigenous groups from around the world

BELEM, Brazil (AP) — As United Nations climate talks rolled on Wednesday at the elaborate new venues built for the summit, many of the activists eager to shape the talks took to the water.Carried by scores of boats large and small, a vast group whooped and laughed, smiled and wept. Some splashed canoe paddles through the bay where a northern section of the Amazon rainforest meets the Atlantic Ocean. Others hugged old friends. They pressed their foreheads together or held hands or stood solemnly in moments of prayer and reflection.They were there to celebrate a community from around the world at a gathering of activists, organizers, environmentalists and Indigenous groups, outside the halls where world leaders are discussing climate change for the next two weeks. Their joy came after a brief but tense moment the night before when protesters broke through security barricades at the main conference venue, slightly injuring two security guards, according to the U.N.Many emphasized the importance of making the voice of the people heard after years of these talks being held in countries where civil society is not free to demonstrate.“The Amazon for us is the space of life,” said Jhajayra Machoa, an A'l Kofan First Nation of Ecuador member of A Wisdom Keepers Delegation, who helped paddle one of the canoes. “We carry the feeling and emotions of everything lived in this place, and what we want is to remember. Remember where we are from and where we’re going and what we want." Pressing world leaders to keep those who suffer most in mind The people who are attending the Conference of the Parties, or COP30, have a wide range of hopes for the outcome. This year is different than in past years, because leaders aren't expected to sign one big agreement at the end of it; instead, organizers and analysts have said it's about getting specifics to execute on past promises to act on climate change. “When we’re bridging what’s happening in the mind, when we talk about policy, we need to bridge to the heart, and touch our spirit when we do the work,” said Whaia, another member of A Wisdom Keepers Delegation, a Ngāti Kahungunu woman from New Zealand. “It takes both arms, both branches of the tree to really be strong, to be able to find our resilience in this space.” Activists welcome greater freedom to speak out The ability to express thoughts and feelings freely is a welcome respite for many arriving in Brazil after several years of these talks being held in countries where governments imposed limitations on free speech and demonstrations. The evolution that needs to happen for the world to take action is "not in the halls of the U.N. COP, but it’s in the streets and it is with our people,” said Jacob Johns, an Akimel O'Otham and Hopi member of A Wisdom Keepers Delegation who witnessed the security breach. Now is the time to come together, respect each other and reevaluate the systems that govern the planet, said Pooven Moodley of the Earthrise Collective, which brings together activists from different traditions. For him, the canoes seen in Wednesday's gathering are a metaphor for the situation the world is in with climate change.“The current canoe we’re in is falling apart, it’s leaking, people are being pushed over, and ultimately we’re heading for a massive waterfall. So the question is, what do we do, because we’re in that reality,” Moodley said. “We have to continue to defend the territories and the ecosystems that we can, but while we do that, we launch a new canoe.”The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Photos You Should See – Oct. 2025

Activism
Climate

How Can Detroit Repair Past Harms? Reparations Recommendations Are In

Detroit’s Reparations Task Force has submitted its long-anticipated report of recommendations to the City Council for programs to repair harms and compensate Black residents for historically unjust city policies

Detroit’s Reparations Task Force, the first of its kind for the city, submitted its long-anticipated report of recommendations to the City Council.The task force, created through a 2021 voter-approved ballot initiative, recommends programs to repair harms and compensate African American residents for historically unjust city policies. Key proposals include cash payments and housing grants for eligible Detroiters, expanding African-centered education, firing “high-risk” police officers and ending water shutoffs for delinquent bills.Details of the report were shared with BridgeDetroit after it was submitted to the City Council at the end of October. The full document is available online here.The task force recommended three criteria to determine who is eligible to receive compensation through reparations programs: 1. A descendant of an African enslaved in the U.S. or in the diaspora3. A current resident of Detroit who has been a Detroit resident for at least 20 yearsThe task force documented “historical atrocities” inflicted on African American residents since before Detroit’s founding. Recommended policies are the culmination of dozens of meetings and hundreds of hours of discussion.“We have been guided as a Task Force by our understanding that the wealth and imperialist power of the United States may be attributed directly to profits generated by the enslavement of our ancestors – through the slave trade, chattel slavery, peonage, and prison labor,” the report states. “In colonial America and the United States, extraction of Black labor and the violence with which this extraction was conducted, ensured the accumulation of wealth by whites, so that their heirs today continue to enjoy economic security and prosperity.” The final product tackles a broad range of issues and suggests a multitude of new investments. Some changes are within the city’s power, like creating grants, while others require changes in state law, like ending qualified immunity for police. It’s unclear how much reparations programs would cost. The task force recommends finding revenue by creating a downtown entertainment tax, an additional fee on casino revenue and a $5 million fund for neighborhood corridor development. It also suggests clawing back tax breaks from developers that fail to meet benchmarks and creating a new fee on city contracts. A reparations administrative office is recommended to ensure accountability and long-term success. It would be overseen by an independent board of appointed residents and charged with administering reparations payments, establishing programs, tracking outcomes and coordinating public feedback. The task force was charged with suggesting policies, not implementing them. The City Council will decide what to do with the recommendations. Project Manager Evan Daugherty said the task force hopes to hold public discussions on the report but can’t take action without the City Council extending the task force. Their business ended Oct. 31, he said, though the council could ask members to stay on longer to roll out the recommendations to residents. Mayor-elect Mary Sheffield introduced legislation that established the reparations effort. Chief of Staff Brian White said Tuesday that her team is still reviewing the report. Detroit’s task force builds on decades of local advocacy from figures like “Reparations Ray” Jenkins and U.S. Rep. John Conyers Jr., who pushed for federal reparations. The report acknowledges reparations were historically paid to other groups, including Japanese Americans who were interred during World War II, Holocaust victims and even former slave owners. The city’s 2021 ballot initiative established a task force to suggest housing and economic development programs that address historic discrimination. Unlike past efforts, the task force is focused on seeking municipal reparations to repair harms caused by the City of Detroit. “The devastating consequence of Detroit municipal policies over the last 50 years has been the handing over of City governance to corporate control,” the report states. “There has been intensive development of the downtown core — to the neglect of traditional neighborhoods, and the concession of the people’s valuable assets, such as the Water and Sewerage Department and Belle Isle, to suburban and State interests.” The task force laments that city policies “reflect the same racial and political biases that characterized policies of previous eras” despite most city leaders being African Americans. It argues city leaders stood by as thousands of residents lost their homes through illegal overassessment and have not held corporations accountable for delivering benefits negotiated in tax abatement agreements.“Our City leaders have surrendered their authority to the corporate establishment and entities like the Detroit Downtown Development Authority, leaving the welfare of neighborhood communities unattended and underfunded,” the report states. “Now Detroit consists of two cities, one thriving, the other neglected and plundered.” Here’s a summary of recommendations: A reparations office would distribute housing grants worth up to $40,000 in down payment assistance and up to $30,000 for home repairs. The task force recommended building at least 1,000 new housing units for African Americans that are affordable for someone making 50% of the area median income ($35,350). It called for creating rent control policies and renovating vacant properties into shelters for unhoused residents. The task force wants to end the transfer of city-owned land to the Detroit Land Bank Authority and establish a new redevelopment program that prioritizes residents. The task force also wants to stop delinquent water bills from becoming a lien on property and eliminate sewage fees. The report recommends refunding African American property owners who lost homes to tax foreclosure with money from auction sales. It recommends freezing property taxes for residents who were overassessed by the city. The task force recommends providing up to $100,000 in grants for businesses displaced by urban renewal projects. It suggests creating other grants for co-ops, start-ups, grocery stores and community-based businesses. It recommends building 10 new commercial strip malls that provide five years of rent-free space for African American–owned businesses. Commercial areas should be designated as tax increment financing zones, according to the task force, allowing tax revenues to be reinvested within the zone. City contracts should give more preference to African American-owned businesses, according to the report. Recommendations call for free post-secondary training for skilled trades careers and online financial literacy courses. The report also calls for giving city-owned land to local farmers to support community food networks. Policing and law enforcement The task force proposed recommendations to address ongoing issues with police misconduct. It includes paying restitution to people injured or killed by police, ending qualified immunity, and firing “high risk” officers identified by the Detroit Police Department and officers who shoot unarmed citizens. The task force recommends hiring more Black residents at DPD and in local courts to better reflect the city’s racial demographics. It calls for adding staff to process citizen complaints against police officers and create a permanent archive for police body camera footage. The report calls for dissolving a DPD command center that monitors school campuses across the city. It also seeks to dismantle the “One Detroit” violent crime initiative, a partnership between local law enforcement and federal agencies like the DEA, AFT and FBI. The task force argued the partnership “represses citizens in an overlay of multiple surveillance and policing operations,” while city leaders credit it for decreasing violent crime. Funding should be increased for community violence intervention, DPD’s mental health co-response unit and other restorative justice programs, according to the report. Unaffordable water bills have caused residents to live in unsanitary conditions and lose their homes, according to the report. The task force calls for a moratorium on residential water shutoffs and a new affordability program that doesn’t charge residents more than 3% of their household income. The task force calls for renegotiating a $50 million annual lease with the Great Lakes Water Authority and the terms of its service agreement to create a more equitable cost-sharing scheme. The report highlights how Detroit pays 83% of sewerage system costs, while suburban residents pay 17%.Decades of disinvestment, state-imposed emergency management and racially biased funding formulas left the Detroit Public Schools Community District unable to meet the needs of its predominantly African American student population, according to the task force. Reparations school grants are recommended to fund STEM fellowships, free high-speed internet for students and other academic, athletic and mental health programs. The task force also suggested finding new uses for shuttered school buildings. The report recommends lobbying the state Legislature for funding to reduce class sizes, upgrade school infrastructure, hire more African American teachers and introduce educators to African-centered education. The task force aims to rebuild the foundations of health, environment and food access in neighborhoods.The report sets a goal for creating 100 acres of community-controlled agricultural land by 2035. It recommends creating a food sovereignty fund to support Black-owned grocers, co-ops, kitchens and food markets. The task force suggests dedicating vacant city land as food distribution centers and offering funding to grocers that open in food deserts. The task force recommends creating “environmental reparations zones” in polluted census tracts to coordinate environmental monitoring and clean up. Detroit’s high rate of asthma hospitalization and toxic air quality poses a major threat to the wellbeing of residents, according to the report. The task force hopes to cut emergency room visits due to asthma in half within a decade. Possible solutions include in-home air filters, ongoing air quality monitoring and creating buffer zones between homes and industrial facilities. The task force recommends creating an Office of African American Cultural Programs to support the arts. This includes historic preservation projects, grants for galleries and studios, plus efforts to rename public sites in honor of significant African American leaders. This story was originally published by BridgeDetroit and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Photos You Should See – Oct. 2025

Business
Education
Food

Michigan environmental groups want EPA to test for microplastics in drinking water

Several Michigan environmental organizations are calling on Governor Gretchen Whitmer to sign a petition urging the EPA to begin nationwide monitoring of drinking water for microplastics, citing growing concern over their presence in the Great Lakes and potential risks to human health.

Several Michigan environmental organizations are calling on Governor Gretchen Whitmer to sign a petition urging the EPA to begin nationwide monitoring of drinking water for microplastics, citing growing concern over their presence in the Great Lakes and potential risks to human health.

Water
Health

Brazil's COP30 Resumes After Security Clashes With Indigenous Protesters

By William James, Leonardo Benassatto and Simon JessopBELEM, Brazil (Reuters) -A day after Indigenous protesters stormed Brazil's COP30 climate...

By William James, Leonardo Benassatto and Simon JessopBELEM, Brazil (Reuters) -A day after Indigenous protesters stormed Brazil's COP30 climate summit, country delegates returned to negotiating actions, policies and financing for tackling climate change with an air of calm.The reopening had been slightly delayed for repairs to damage at the entrance from the previous night's clash, in which the U.N. said two security guards sustained minor injuries, but there were minimal changes to the airport-style baggage checks.Outside, two Brazilian navy vessels escorted a protest flotilla carrying Indigenous leaders and environmental activists around Belem's Guajara Bay. Participants held signs saying "Save the Amazon" or calling for land rights and hundreds of people - including Indigenous leaders, the Amazon city's residents and COP delegates - crowded the waterfront to watch.The talks are taking place behind closed doors, but the Brazilian presidency has scheduled a public 'stocktaking' session later on Wednesday at which delegates can express their concerns around issues such as carbon taxes and finance for countries affected most by warming.AL GORE TO ADDRESS THE SUMMITFormer U.S. Vice President Al Gore delivered his annual climate presentation to the summit - which the United States has snubbed this year, despite being the world's biggest historical polluter since the Industrial Revolution.After listing a string of recent extreme weather events across the world, from flooding to fires, Gore said: "How long are we going to stand by and keep turning the thermostat up so that these kinds of events get even worse?"The brief, dramatic clash on Tuesday night underlined the tension at this year's meeting, where President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has highlighted native peoples as key voices in deciding the world's future and how forests are managed.Indigenous groups from across Latin America sent representatives, with demands for an end to logging, mining, farming and fossil fuel extraction in the forest, which plays a vital role in soaking up carbon emissions.Some delegates were unsurprised by the melee."It's unfortunate that they went too far. But protest is what moves things along, in my mind," said Jack Hurd, head of both the World Economic Forum's Earth System Agenda and the Tropical Forest Alliance.'THE AMAZON IS AT A TIPPING POINT'Among the 195 governments taking part, many have expressed concern about a splintering in global consensus around climate action -- and have taken aim at the United States.Indigenous leaders have said they are aghast at the ongoing industry and development in the Amazon.A group representing Brazil's Indigenous communities said it was not responsible for organizing Tuesday's protest, but supported the "autonomy of all peoples to express themselves freely and democratically, without any form of paternalism - the kind that the State imposed on us for so many years.""We are here to keep demanding real commitments and to reaffirm that the answer is us," the Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil said in a statement.The world's governments have so far failed to do enough to limit global warming increasing beyond 1.5 degrees Celsius above the preindustrial average -- the threshold at which scientists say we could unleash catastrophic extremes.Last month, scientists warned that the Amazon rainforest could begin to die back and transform into a different ecosystem, such as a savannah, if rapid deforestation continues as the global average temperature crosses 1.5C. It is predicted to do so around 2030, earlier than previously estimated.Environmental activists praised the decision to hold COP30 near the rainforest."We are actually bringing climate negotiators and climate leaders to the heart of the forest to experience firsthand what it is to live here, remembering that the Amazon is at tipping point and that the population here are suffering," Greenpeace Brazil's executive director, Carolina Pasquali, told Reuters.(Reporting by William James, Leonardo Benassato and Simon Jessop in Belem, Brazil; Writing by Katy Daigle; Editing by Philippa Fletcher)Copyright 2025 Thomson Reuters.

Indigenous
Climate
Forests

Pennsylvania Lawmakers Look to End Budget Stalemate, Sealed With Concession by Democrats on Climate

Pennsylvania lawmakers are advancing a $50 billion spending package to end a four-month budget stalemate that has held up billions for public schools and social services

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Billions of dollars for Pennsylvania’s public schools and social services could soon start flowing after months of delay, as lawmakers on Wednesday took up a roughly $50 billion spending plan to break the state’s budget impasse.Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro was expected to sign key budget bills by the end of the day.A key concession to help seal a deal meant Democrats agreeing to Republican demands to back off any effort to make Pennsylvania the only major fossil fuel-producing state to force power plant owners to pay for their planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions.Democrats won't get the amount of money that Shapiro originally sought in his initial budget proposal, but the deal — after weeks of closed-door negotiations — is expected to deliver substantial new sums to public schools and an earned income tax credit for lower earners, as Democrats had sought.It will also bring relief that the stalemate is over.“The win is that we’re going to, hopefully before the end of the day, have a funding plan for the commonwealth and that’s a win for everybody who’s been waiting on state resources," said House Appropriations Committee Chairman Jordan Harris, D-Philadelphia, told reporters in a Capitol hallway Wednesday morning.The advancing votes in the politically divided Legislature arrive weeks after counties, school districts and social service agencies are warning of mounting layoffs, borrowing costs and growing damage to the state’s safety net.School districts, rape crisis agencies and county-run social services have gone without state aid since July 1, when the state lost some of its spending authority without a signed state budget in force.The agreement to back off the carbon dioxide cap-and-trade program on power plants comes six years after then-Gov. Tom Wolf made joining the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative the centerpiece of his plan to fight climate change.The plan made Pennsylvania — the nation's second-largest natural gas producer — the only major fossil fuel-producing state to undertake a carbon cap-and-trade program. It has been held up in court and never went into effect.It was popular with environmental groups and renewable energy advocates, but it was opposed by Republicans, fossil fuel interests and the labor unions that work on pipelines, refineries and power plants.Under the $50.1 billion budget deal, new authorized spending would rise by about $2.5 billion, or 5%.Practically all of the overall spending increase would go toward Medicaid and public schools. Billions in surplus cash will be required for the plan to balance, the second straight year that Pennsylvania is running a multibillion-dollar budget deficit. Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Photos You Should See – Oct. 2025

Climate
CO2
Energy

Western US states fail to agree on plan to manage Colorado River before federal deadline

Stakeholders have spent months ironing out disagreements over how to distribute water from the sprawling basinState negotiators embroiled in an impasse over how to manage the imperiled Colorado River were unable to agree on a plan before a federally set deadline on Tuesday, thrusting deliberations deeper into uncertain territory.Stakeholders have spent months working to iron out contentious disagreements over how to distribute water from this sprawling basin – which supplies roughly 40 million people in seven states, 5.5m acres of farmland, dozens of tribes and parts of Mexico – as the resources grow increasingly scarce. Continue reading...

State negotiators embroiled in an impasse over how to manage the imperiled Colorado River were unable to agree on a plan before a federally set deadline on Tuesday, thrusting deliberations deeper into uncertain territory.Stakeholders have spent months working to iron out contentious disagreements over how to distribute water from this sprawling basin – which supplies roughly 40 million people in seven states, 5.5m acres of farmland, dozens of tribes and parts of Mexico – as the resources grow increasingly scarce.Long-term overuse and the rising toll from the climate crisis have served as a one-two punch that’s left the system in crisis.Enough progress was made to warrant an extension, according to a joint statement issued by federal officials and representatives from the seven western states. But the discussions – and the deadline set for them – were set to an urgent timeline; current guidelines are expiring and a new finalized agreement must be put in place by October 2026, the start of the 2027 water year.Time is running short to schedule several steps required to implement a plan, including public engagement and environmental analysis. Final details are due by February 2026.“There are external factors that make this deadline real,” said Anne Castle, a water policy expert and a former chair of the Upper Colorado River Commission. “It’s unfortunate for all the water users in the Colorado River Basin that the states have been unable to come to an agreement on the next set of operating guidelines for the river.”It’s unclear whether a new deadline has been set or how discussions will proceed. If negotiators are unable to create a plan, it’s still possible the federal government will step in, an outcome experts say could lead to litigation and more delays.“The urgency for the seven Colorado River Basin states to reach a consensus agreement has never been clearer,” said Scott Cameron, the Department of the Interior’s acting assistant secretary for water and science, in a statement issued in August, along with a 24-month federal study that highlighted the dire impacts left by unprecedented drought in the basin.“The health of the Colorado River system and the livelihoods that depend on it are relying on our ability to collaborate effectively and craft forward-thinking solutions that prioritize conservation, efficiency, and resilience,” he added.But since they were tasked by federal officials in June to come up with a broad plan by 11 November, the closed-door discussions have been wrought with tension. Key questions, including specifics on the terms of a new agreement, how to measure shortages and conservation efforts, and who would bear the brunt of the badly needed cuts, have stymied consensus. Upper basin states – Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, and New Mexico, were pinned against the lower basin – California, Arizona, and Nevada.“They had to reach an agreement that almost by definition is going to result in hardship to some of those water users,” said Castle. “That was the crux of the problem.”Water from the mighty 1,450-mile river that snakes through the western US has been used to raise thriving cities like Los Angeles, Phoenix and Las Vegas and turn arid desert landscapes into lush breadbaskets. Its flows grow thirsty crops, like alfalfa and hay, used as feed for livestock. Roughly 80% of the supply goes to agriculture.Overuse has totalled roughly 3.5m acre-ft a year – an amount equal to more than a quarter of the river’s annual average flow. One acre-foot, a unit of measurement denoting the amount that can cover a football field in one foot depth and is used for large quantities of water, equals roughly 326,000 gallons – enough to supply roughly three families for a year.The ecosystems on the banks of the river have paid a heavy price. Fourteen native fish species are endangered or threatened. The once-lush wetlands in Mexico’s river delta have been dry for decades. California’s Salton Sea, a saline lake fed by the river, has turned toxic by the drought.Meanwhile, spiking temperatures have baked moisture out of the basin. Shrinking mountain snowpacks offer less melt year after year as increased evaporation takes a greater share. The river has lost more than 10tn gallons of water in the last two decades alone. The two largest reservoirs are projected to reach historic lows in the next two years.“There’s not enough water to supply all the uses we have been making of it.” Castle said. She added that even without an agreement, users will still be forced to take cuts. “We know water use has to be reduced – and reduced substantially. The issue is how.”If it comes down to letting the Bureau of Reclamation decide – or worse, a judge, should the issues be litigated – Castle said the outcome will be worse for everybody. A compromise – one that comes quickly – is paramount.“They all have to hold hands to jump in the pool together.”

Water
Agriculture
Conservation

Grijalva Will Be Sworn in as the House's Newest Member, Paving the Way for an Epstein Files Vote

After weeks of delay, Democrat Adelita Grijalva of Arizona is set to be sworn in as the newest member of the House

WASHINGTON (AP) — As the House returns Wednesday for the first time in months, Democrat Adelita Grijalva will be sworn in as its newest member, nearly seven weeks after winning a special election in Arizona to fill the seat last held by her late father.Grijalva's swearing-in is expected to be among the first actions by House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., who had previously declined to seat her until the chamber reconvened following a deal to end the government shutdown. The official ceremony is set for 4 p.m. EST, shortly before the House is expected to begin voting. For Grijalva, it's the end of a weekslong delay that she and other Democrats said was intended to prevent her signature on a petition to eventually trigger a vote to release files related to Jeffrey Epstein. In an interview with The Associated Press, she said the thought of finally being sworn in was “emotional” and “very much a roller coaster.”“We’ve been waiting for this so long that it’s still surreal,” she added.Grijalva’s arrival will kick off a busy day on Capitol Hill as hundreds of House members return, their trips potentially complicated by travel delays caused by the shutdown. Lawmakers who win special elections typically take the oath of office on days when legislative business is conducted. But with the House out of session since Sept. 19, Johnson had said he would swear her in when everyone returned. He did swear in two Republican members this year when the chamber was not in legislative session. “I don’t think he’s thought of anything that he’s doing, in this case, as anything personal,” Grijalva said. “It feels personal because, literally, my name was attached. I also know that if I were a Republican, I would have been sworn in seven weeks ago.”She will start her House tenure by voting on the Senate-passed legislation to reopen the government. Grijalva and most Democrats are expected to oppose it because it does not extend Affordable Care Act tax credits that expire at the end of the year. Republicans can still pass the bill with their slim majority. The 218th signature on an Epstein file discharge petition Grijalva would be the final necessary signature on a discharge petition linked to legislation that would require the Justice Department to release all unclassified documents and communications related to Epstein and his sex trafficking operation.The Epstein Files Transparency Act, co-sponsored by Reps. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and Ro Khanna, D-Calif., is supported by all Democrats and three Republicans, Reps. Lauren Boebert of Colorado, Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Nancy Mace of South Carolina.Grijalva can add her signature to the petition once she is sworn into office. But her move will not mean a vote right away, due to House rules.Massachusetts Rep. Jim McGovern, the top Democrat con the House Rules Committee, said he expects voting on the Epstein bill to take place in early December. Arizona’s first Latina congresswoman Rep. Raúl Grijalva, Adelita’s father, died in March after more than two decades in the House, where he built a reputation as a staunch progressive.Adelita Grijalva has long been active in local politics. She served on the Tucson Unified School District board before joining the Pima County Board of Supervisors, where she became only the second woman to lead the board.She won the Sept. 23 special election with ease to complete the remainder of her father’s term, representing a mostly Hispanic district in which Democrats enjoy a nearly 2-to-1 voter registration advantage over Republicans. Grijalva said the win was emotional. “I would rather have my dad than have an office,” she said.She told the AP that environmental justice, tribal sovereignty and public education are among her priorities, echoing the work her father championed.“I know that the bar is set very high, and the expectation is high of what we’re going to be able to do once sworn in,” she said.Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Photos You Should See – Oct. 2025

Business
Education
Government

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