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Airlines face formal complaints over contested sustainability claims

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Thursday, November 30, 2023

Virgin Atlantic and British Airways are facing a formal complaints over their sustainable flight claims after being accused of misleading potential customers about the environmental credentials of aviation.This week, a Virgin plane took off on the first transatlantic flight by a commercial airliner fully powered by “sustainable” jet fuel, largely comprising cooking oil. The flight, partly funded by the UK government, flew to great fanfare from airlines and ministers as a potentially guilt-free way to fly. However, scientists and environmental groups are more sceptical.Now, climate charity Possible and law firm Leigh Day have filed formal complaints against the two major airlines over their claims about reducing emissions from flights.The senior campaigner at Possible, Alethea Warrington, said: “The reality is that technologies for cleaner flight either don’t work, or don’t even exist yet. We think that airlines’ misleading claims about their emissions are unfair on people who want to do the right thing when they travel. It’s time for airlines to start being honest about their sky-high emissions.”The complaints, filed under the National Contact point mechanism run by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), set out that both airlines are misleading consumers over their claims on reducing carbon emissions from flights as the layperson does not have the expertise to discern the limits of decarbonisation technology.Airlines claim they can use biofuels made from crops or green hydrogen made from renewable energy, but recent research from the Royal Society has found the UK would have to devote half its farmland or more than double its total renewable electricity supply to make enough aviation fuel to meet its ambitions for net zero flying.The filing highlights that BA claims to be “driving urgent action towards net-zero emissions” and said it has a “clear roadmap to achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050”. However, analysis has found BA’s emissions from jet fuel have increased year-on-year between 2016 and 2019.Virgin Atlantic features its “mission to net zero” on its promotional materials but fails to mention it is falling short of its emissions targets, which Possible has argued is crucial information for consumers.The charity also points out scientific literature comparing the lifecycle emissions from biofuels compared to conventional jet fuel, “which is clear that these fuels may produce even more emissions and be worse for the climate than kerosene”. Both feedstocks produce fuels with similar tailpipe emissions to kerosene, and the emissions reductions are claimed to be created at a systemic level.“For fuels derived from biomass, land is not available to produce crops for biofuels in sufficient quantities to power aviation without causing hugely damaging deforestation, which increase emissions and makes biofuels just as bad for the climate as kerosene, if not worse,” the charity said.A British Airways spokesperson said: “In 2019, we committed to net-zero emissions by 2050 and, while there is no single solution to this challenge, as part of our BA Better World programme, we have a clear roadmap of initiatives to get there.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“In the short-term, this means improving our operational efficiency, investing in new, more fuel-efficient aircraft and progressively introducing sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) with partnerships in the UK and US, while for the medium to longer term, we’re continuing to invest in the development of SAF – a critical path to decarbonise, and looking at how we can help with the growth of zero-emissions hydrogen-powered aircraft and carbon-removal technology.“We were the first airline to report our carbon footprint more than two decades ago and were the first airline to voluntarily participate in the UK emissions trading scheme.”A Virgin Atlantic spokesperson said: “At Virgin Atlantic, we are committed to achieving Net Zero 2050 and have set interim targets on our pathway to get there, including 10% sustainable aviation fuel by 2030.“There are two levers for delivering in-sector carbon reductions in the short to medium term: the fleet we operate and fuel we burn. We already fly one of the youngest and most efficient fleets across the Atlantic.“Beyond fleet renewals, SAF presents an immediate opportunity to deliver lifecycle carbon reductions of up to 70% and is something we have been pioneering for over 15 years.”

Virgin Atlantic and British Airways are accused of misleading customers about claims on carbon emissions from ‘sustainable’ jet fuelVirgin Atlantic and British Airways are facing formal complaints over their sustainable flight claims after being accused of misleading potential customers about the environmental credentials of aviation.This week, a Virgin plane took off on the first transatlantic flight by a commercial airliner fully powered by “sustainable” jet fuel, largely comprising cooking oil. The flight, partly funded by the UK government, flew to great fanfare from airlines and ministers as a potentially guilt-free way to fly. However, scientists and environmental groups are more sceptical. Continue reading...

Virgin Atlantic and British Airways are facing a formal complaints over their sustainable flight claims after being accused of misleading potential customers about the environmental credentials of aviation.

This week, a Virgin plane took off on the first transatlantic flight by a commercial airliner fully powered by “sustainable” jet fuel, largely comprising cooking oil. The flight, partly funded by the UK government, flew to great fanfare from airlines and ministers as a potentially guilt-free way to fly. However, scientists and environmental groups are more sceptical.

Now, climate charity Possible and law firm Leigh Day have filed formal complaints against the two major airlines over their claims about reducing emissions from flights.

The senior campaigner at Possible, Alethea Warrington, said: “The reality is that technologies for cleaner flight either don’t work, or don’t even exist yet. We think that airlines’ misleading claims about their emissions are unfair on people who want to do the right thing when they travel. It’s time for airlines to start being honest about their sky-high emissions.”

The complaints, filed under the National Contact point mechanism run by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), set out that both airlines are misleading consumers over their claims on reducing carbon emissions from flights as the layperson does not have the expertise to discern the limits of decarbonisation technology.

Airlines claim they can use biofuels made from crops or green hydrogen made from renewable energy, but recent research from the Royal Society has found the UK would have to devote half its farmland or more than double its total renewable electricity supply to make enough aviation fuel to meet its ambitions for net zero flying.

The filing highlights that BA claims to be “driving urgent action towards net-zero emissions” and said it has a “clear roadmap to achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050”. However, analysis has found BA’s emissions from jet fuel have increased year-on-year between 2016 and 2019.

Virgin Atlantic features its “mission to net zero” on its promotional materials but fails to mention it is falling short of its emissions targets, which Possible has argued is crucial information for consumers.

The charity also points out scientific literature comparing the lifecycle emissions from biofuels compared to conventional jet fuel, “which is clear that these fuels may produce even more emissions and be worse for the climate than kerosene”. Both feedstocks produce fuels with similar tailpipe emissions to kerosene, and the emissions reductions are claimed to be created at a systemic level.

“For fuels derived from biomass, land is not available to produce crops for biofuels in sufficient quantities to power aviation without causing hugely damaging deforestation, which increase emissions and makes biofuels just as bad for the climate as kerosene, if not worse,” the charity said.

A British Airways spokesperson said: “In 2019, we committed to net-zero emissions by 2050 and, while there is no single solution to this challenge, as part of our BA Better World programme, we have a clear roadmap of initiatives to get there.

skip past newsletter promotion

“In the short-term, this means improving our operational efficiency, investing in new, more fuel-efficient aircraft and progressively introducing sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) with partnerships in the UK and US, while for the medium to longer term, we’re continuing to invest in the development of SAF – a critical path to decarbonise, and looking at how we can help with the growth of zero-emissions hydrogen-powered aircraft and carbon-removal technology.

“We were the first airline to report our carbon footprint more than two decades ago and were the first airline to voluntarily participate in the UK emissions trading scheme.”

A Virgin Atlantic spokesperson said: “At Virgin Atlantic, we are committed to achieving Net Zero 2050 and have set interim targets on our pathway to get there, including 10% sustainable aviation fuel by 2030.

“There are two levers for delivering in-sector carbon reductions in the short to medium term: the fleet we operate and fuel we burn. We already fly one of the youngest and most efficient fleets across the Atlantic.

“Beyond fleet renewals, SAF presents an immediate opportunity to deliver lifecycle carbon reductions of up to 70% and is something we have been pioneering for over 15 years.”

Read the full story here.
Photos courtesy of

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Explainer-US Government Shutdown: What Closes, What Stays Open?

By Andy SullivanWASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. government services would be disrupted and hundreds of thousands of federal workers would be told not...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. government services would be disrupted and hundreds of thousands of federal workers would be told not to work if Congress fails to extend funding past Oct. 1.Workers deemed essential would remain on the job. All federal employees' pay could be disrupted during a shutdown, though they would receive retroactive pay once government operations resume.Here is a guide to what would stay open and what would shut down, according to agency shutdown plans outlined last year:WHEN AND WHY WOULD THE GOVERNMENT SHUT DOWN?Congress writes detailed spending legislation for most U.S. government agencies each year, but it rarely gets the job done before the fiscal year starts on Oct. 1. Lawmakers typically pass stopgap spending bills to avoid disruption for several weeks or months while they finish their work, but there is often a fair amount of drama involved.This year, Republicans who control the House of Representatives say any stopgap spending bill must include legislation that would tighten voting laws to prevent non-citizens from participating in the Nov. 5 elections. Non-citizens are already prohibited by law from voting, and Democrats who hold the majority in the Senate oppose it as a voter suppression effort.If the two sides do not iron out their differences before Oct. 1, wide swaths of the government would not have the money to continue their operations.DOES THE MAIL GET DELIVERED IF THE GOVERNMENT CLOSES?The U.S. Postal Service would be unaffected because it does not depend on Congress for funding.WHAT HAPPENS TO SOCIAL SECURITY, MEDICARE AND OTHER BENEFITS?The Social Security Administration would continue to issue retirement and disability benefits.Payments would likewise continue under the Medicare and Medicaid healthcare programs.Military veterans' benefits and medical care would also continue.Food benefits through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and other nutrition programs would continue, though they could be disrupted to some extent.WHAT DOES A SHUTDOWN MEAN FOR THE MILITARY?The 2 million U.S. military personnel would remain at their posts, but roughly half of the Pentagon's 800,000 civilian employees would be furloughed — ordered not to work.Contracts awarded before the shutdown would continue, and the Pentagon could place new orders for supplies or services needed to protect national security. Other new contracts, including renewals or extensions, would not be awarded.Payments to defense contractors such as Boeing, Lockheed Martin and RTX, formerly known as Raytheon, could be delayed.The Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration would continue maintaining nuclear weapons.HOW DOES A GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN AFFECT LAW ENFORCEMENT?Agents at the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration and other federal law enforcement agencies would remain on the job, and prison staffers would continue to work.The Secret Service and the Coast Guard would also continue operations, and most employees would continue to work.Most of the Federal Trade Commission's consumer-protection workers would be furloughed, as would half of its antitrust employees.WILL NATIONAL PARKS CLOSE DURING A SHUTDOWN?National parks, monuments and other sites would be closed to the public, though it will be impossible to keep visitors out of many of them. Rangers would be furloughed and restrooms, help desks and other facilities would be shuttered.Some states may use their own money to keep parks and other sites open, as happened in the 2018-2019 shutdown.Wildfire fighting efforts would continue, though timber sales on national forest lands would be curtailed and fewer recreation permits would be issued.WHAT HAPPENS TO BORDERS AND HOMELAND SECURITY?Most Border Patrol and immigration enforcement agents would continue to work, as would most customs officers.Local governments would not get new aid to shelter migrants.The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency would suspend security reviews that help schools, local governments and other institutions defend against ransomware.WILL FEDERAL COURTS STILL BE OPEN DURING A SHUTDOWN?Federal courts could operate for several weeks without congressional funding, relying on fees and other funds, but eventually would have to scale back activity. The Supreme Court would stay open as well.Criminal prosecutions would continue. Most civil litigation would be postponed.DOES CONGRESS STILL GET PAID?Lawmakers would continue to collect paychecks, even as other federal workers do not. Staffers would not get paid, though those deemed essential would be required to work.DOES A SHUTDOWN IMPACT TRANSPORTATION?Airport security screeners and air-traffic-control workers would be required to work, according to recent contingency plans, though absenteeism could be a problem. Some airports had to suspend operations during a shutdown in 2019 when traffic controllers called in sick.The Transportation Security Administration would not be able to hire new airport security screeners during the busy holiday travel season.Some major infrastructure projects could face delays because environmental reviews and permitting would be disrupted, according to the White House.WHAT'S THE IMPACT ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS?U.S. embassies and consulates would remain open. Passport and visa processing would continue as long as there were sufficient fees to cover operations. Nonessential official travel, speeches and other events would be curtailed.Some foreign aid programs could run out of money as well.WOULD A SHUTDOWN DISRUPT SCIENCE?Scientific research would be disrupted as agencies like the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation and the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration would furlough most of their workers once they run out of funding.NASA would continue to support the International Space Station and track satellites, but 17,000 of its 18,300 employees would be furloughed.Weather forecasts and fisheries regulation would continue, as would patent and trademark reviews.The Federal Communications Commission would suspend consumer-protection activities, equipment reviews and licensing of TV and radio stations. It would continue to distribute telecommunications subsidies and its broadband mapping effort.WHAT HAPPENS TO HEALTH PROGRAMS?The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would continue to monitor disease outbreaks, though other public health activities could suffer as more than half of the agency's workers would be furloughed.The National Institutes of Health would furlough most of its staff and delay new clinical trials for medical treatments.Healthcare services for military veterans and Native Americans would continue.Most inspections of hazardous waste sites and drinking water and chemical facilities would stop.Food-safety inspections by the Food and Drug Administration could be delayed. However, the FDA's testing of new drugs and medical devices would continue.WHAT HAPPENS TO THE SEC AND FINANCIAL REGULATION?The Securities and Exchange Commission would furlough roughly 90% of its 4,600 employees and suspend most activities, it said last year, leaving only a skeleton staff to respond to emergencies.Likewise, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission would furlough almost all of its employees and cease most oversight activity.The Federal Reserve, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency would continue as normal because they are funded by industry fees rather than congressional appropriations.The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, an industry-financed brokerage oversight body, would continue to operate.The Treasury Department would continue to issue debt and manage the government's cash position.DOES A SHUTDOWN DELAY KEY ECONOMIC DATA?The publication of major U.S. economic data, including employment and inflation reports of critical importance to policymakers and investors, would be suspended.WILL THE IRS STAY OPEN DURING A SHUTDOWN?The Internal Revenue Service would stop examining and auditing tax returns and responding to taxpayer queries. Automated tax collection would continue, as would processing of green-energy tax credits under the Inflation Reduction Act. Roughly two-thirds of the agency's 90,000 employees would be furloughed.DOES THE SHUTDOWN AFFECT EDUCATION?Pell Grants and student loans would continue to be paid out, but could be disrupted as most Education Department employees would be furloughed.A protracted shutdown could "severely curtail" aid to schools, universities and other educational institutions, the department said last year. It also could delay funds that are due to be awarded later in the year.WHAT HAPPENS TO HEAD START AND CHILD CARE?The White House said last year that 10,000 children from low-income families would lose access to the Head Start preschool program.DOES A GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN AFFECT SMALL BUSINESSES?The Small Business Administration would not be able to issue any new loans, though loans for businesses hurt by natural disasters would continue.HOW DOES A SHUTDOWN AFFECT FARMERS?Meat and egg inspections would continue, but some lab services would be disrupted, making it harder to fight animal diseases. Crop insurance would not be affected, but some loan programs would be. Research, conservation and rural development programs would be shut down.DOES A SHUTDOWN AFFECT WORKPLACE SAFETY?Workplace safety inspections would be limited, and investigations into unfair pay practices would be suspended.The ability of the National Labor Relations Board to mediate labor disputes would be curtailed because almost all of its 1,200 employees would be furloughed, according to a 2022 plan.HOW DOES A SHUTDOWN AFFECT HOUSING?Monthly subsidies for public housing and low-income housing aid would be at risk. The Federal Housing Administration would continue to back insured mortgages, and Ginnie Mae would continue to back the secondary mortgage market. New homebuyers in rural areas would not be able to get loans from the Agriculture Department.HOW WOULD A SHUTDOWN IMPACT THE WHITE HOUSE?In the 2018-2019 shutdown, the White House furloughed 1,100 of 1,800 staff in the Executive Office of the President. Some offices, such as the National Security Council, continued at full strength, while others like the Office of Management and Budget were scaled back sharply.The U.S. Constitution specifies that the president continues to get paid.(Reporting by Andy Sullivan; Editing by Scott Malone and Andrea Ricci)Copyright 2024 Thomson Reuters.

Government
Agriculture
Business

US Halts Plan to Remove Iconic Stray Cats From a Historic Area in Puerto Rico's Capital

The U.S. government has temporarily halted a plan to remove iconic stray cats that live in a historic district in Puerto Rico’s capital until a lawsuit opposing the project is resolved

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — The U.S. government has temporarily halted a plan to remove iconic stray cats that live in a historic district in Puerto Rico’s capital until a lawsuit opposing the project is resolved, a nonprofit announced Monday.The ruling was cheered by those fighting a decision by the U.S. National Park Service to remove an estimated 200 cats that meander a seaside fortress that Spain built in colonial times.“It’s a victory for the short term, but long term, these cats are still at risk,” said Yonaton Arnoff, an attorney for Maryland-based Alley Cat Allies.The cats, which have long been a tourist attraction, are both beloved and reviled by those who visit and live in Old San Juan, where the 16th-century fortress known as “El Morro” is located. It's part of the San Juan National Historic Site that the U.S. National Park Service operates. The federal agency warned in 2022 that the population of cats had surged and that the felines could transmit illnesses to humans, adding that the smell of urine and feces enveloped the area.In late 2023, the agency announced it would contract an animal welfare organization to remove the cats, and if the organization selected failed to do so within six months, officials would hire a removal agency.The U.S. National Park Service didn't immediately respond to a message for comment.The agency held public hearings on the plan that became heated, with critics noting that the organization selected would decide whether the trapped cats would be adopted, fostered, kept in a shelter or face other options.Arnoff said in a phone interview that removing the current cats is an impossible task since new cats would take their place.“They’re going to have to keep doing this forever,” he said.The U.S. National Park Service was scheduled to start removing the cats in October, but it agreed to halt those plans until a judge rules on a lawsuit that Alley Cat Allies filed in March. The nonprofit alleges that the plan violates acts including the National Environmental Protection Act.A ruling isn't expected until the first quarter of 2025, Aronoff said.Meanwhile, cats of all colors and sizes continue to prowl the trails bordering deep turquoise waters that surround El Morro, and they even have a statue honoring them nearby. Some of the felines are believed to be descendants of cats from the colonial era, while others were brought by a former mayor to kill rats in the mid-20th century.A local nonprofit, Save a Gato, feeds, spays and neuters the cats and places them into adoption.But finding homes for so many cats is hard, with the nonprofit previously noting that sanctuaries in the U.S. mainland don't have room for them.Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Photos You Should See - July 2024

Government
Animals
Water

‘Don’t run away’: Labor urged to collaborate with Greens and crossbenchers on environmental reforms

Support for government’s environmental legislation offered in exchange for protections that deliver ‘immediate, tangible impacts’Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastGreens and crossbench senators have told the government not to “hide behind” Peter Dutton and Gina Rinehart and instead work with them on a better deal for the environment.The Greens environment spokesperson, Sarah Hanson-Young, and independent senators David Pocock and Lidia Thorpe offered to support legislation to establish a new environment protection authority (EPA) and a separate new agency to manage environmental information, if the government agreed to a series of proposals to strengthen environmental protections.Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email Continue reading...

Greens and crossbench senators have told the government not to “hide behind” Peter Dutton and Gina Rinehart and instead work with them on a better deal for the environment.The Greens environment spokesperson, Sarah Hanson-Young, and independent senators David Pocock and Lidia Thorpe offered to support legislation to establish a new environment protection authority (EPA) and a separate new agency to manage environmental information, if the government agreed to a series of proposals to strengthen environmental protections.The government has been locked in negotiations with both sides of parliament to try to pass the bills after it delayed a broader package of legislation to fix failing national environmental laws.While travelling in Western Australia last week, Anthony Albanese said the government would consider watering down its proposed EPA model to try to secure the Coalition’s backing.This would involve dropping a plan to allow the regulator to make decisions about development proposals – meaning it would handle compliance and enforcement only, something the mining industry has lobbied for.The Coalition is still seeking a comprehensive set of amendments to the bills. This would include changes to the proposed penalty regime and “most importantly, the introduction of the full overhaul of the EPBC [Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation] Act, as has been outlined in the Coalition’s dissenting report”, the opposition environment spokesperson, Jonno Duniam, said.Hanson-Young said if the government did a deal with the Coalition it would be “nature negative” and “bad for forests, bad for nature, bad for wildlife, bad for the climate”.“Don’t run away and hide behind Peter Dutton and Gina Rinehart,” she said.“Roll up your sleeves, let’s get to work – let’s actually protect Australia’s environment.”In letters to the PM and the environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, the Greens and crossbenchers called on the government to amend the bills to deliver “immediate, tangible impacts for nature protection”.“While we reiterate our disappointment at the government’s broken promise to implement comprehensive environmental law reform in this term of parliament, we consider this legislation an opportunity to work together to begin implementing some of the urgent protections nature needs ahead of the election,” the letter says.A reactor in the backyard? What Latrobe Valley residents think of Dutton’s nuclear plan – videoIn addition to amendments that would strengthen the EPA’s independence, the letter urges a commitment to address native forestry by ending the exemption from Australia’s environment laws for logging covered by a regional forest agreement (RFA).They are also seeking integration of climate considerations into the environmental assessment process – but the letter does not use the term “climate trigger” – and greater inclusion of First Nations knowledge and expertise in environmental governance and decision-making.Plibsersek said the government was talking to all parties. “From the beginning, I have said that delivering improvements to national environment laws would require a bit of common sense, cooperation, and compromise,” she said.skip past newsletter promotionSign up to Breaking News AustraliaGet the most important news as it breaksPrivacy 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“But I think Greens voters would be disappointed if the Greens party delayed a tough new environment watchdog like the EPA with strong new powers,” she said.“Or if they tried to stop fines for serious environmental crimes going up from around $15m to $780m, or if they voted against increasing the frequency of the state of the environment report from every 5 years to every 2 years.”Pocock said it was vital that the EPA was truly independent.After the tabling of a report by a committee examining the bills on Monday, Duniam said “the Coalition’s comments make clear our reservations that the government’s bills are ill thought through”.“We are unable to accept these bills in their current form,” he said.He accused the government of “trying to get what they think is a win in the portfolio this term of parliament … no matter the cost”, and without adequately considering potential risks and benefits to the environment or the broader economy.Independents in the lower house have also called for the exemption granted to RFAs to be removed.At a separate media conference on Monday morning the independent MP for Mackellar, Sophie Scamps, said the exemption should be removed before Australia hosts a global nature positive summit in Sydney in October.She also called for a clean out of the NSW Forestry Corporation board.

Government
Climate
Forests

A Remote Tribe Is Reeling From Widespread Illness and Cancer. What Role Did the US Government Play?

The remote Duck Valley reservation that straddles Nevada and Idaho has battled toxic contaminants on its land for decades

OWYHEE, Nev. (AP) — The family placed flowers by a pair of weathered cowboy boots, as people quietly gathered for the memorial of the soft-spoken tribal chairman who mentored teens in the boxing ring and teased his grandkids on tractor rides.Left unsaid, and what troubled Marvin Cota’s family deep down, was that his story ended like so many others on the remote Duck Valley Indian Reservation. He was healthy for decades. They found the cancer too late.In the area, toxins are embedded in the soil and petroleum is in the groundwater — but no one can say for sure what has caused such widespread illness. Until recently, a now-razed U.S. maintenance building where fuel and herbicides were stored — and where Cota worked — was thought to be the main culprit. But the discovery of a decades-old document with a passing mention of Agent Orange chemicals suggests the government may have been more involved in contaminating the land. “I don’t know if I’m more mad than I am hurt,” Terri Ann Cota said after her father’s service. “Because if this is the case, it took a lot of good men away from us.”Owyhee is the sole town on the reservation, where snow-capped mountains loom over a valley of scattered homes and ranches, nearly 100 miles (161 kms) from any stoplights. The area is bookended by deep Nevada canyons and flat Idaho plains. For generations, the legacy and livelihoods of the Shoshone-Paiute tribes have centered around raising cattle year-round. And many still use the same medicinal plants and practice the same ceremonies as their relatives buried there. First spills, then potential sprays The U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs was an integral part of everyday life in Owyhee. The agency, which oversaw the maintenance building and irrigation shop, told the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in February that it found a revelatory document from 1997.In it, a BIA employee recalled clearing foliage in the irrigation canals at least 20 years earlier, when he sprayed at least one of the herbicides — but possibly both — that make up Agent Orange. The EPA banned one of those chemicals in 1979 because of its cancer risks. A BIA official told the EPA and tribal leaders that it was long believed the herbicides were used for weed control along certain roads — not the canals — before rediscovering the document. The tribes' current leaders said they were unaware of either scenario. What alarms them, they say, is that the canal system has greater reach than the two-lane highway that runs through town.Word cascaded down to tribal members, most of whom live along the canals, swam in them, used the water to farm on the edges, and gathered branches from surrounding willow trees to fashion cradleboards and roast marshmallows. But they know little else.Hundreds of pages of emails, memos and other documents obtained by The Associated Press show federal agencies have promised the tribes that an investigation is coming. Still, the details are scarce because the BIA redacted or withheld most of the contents of the records.The BIA declined interview requests from the AP but said it's evaluating the extent that Agent Orange components might have been used on the reservation. Officials from the BIA and the EPA visited Duck Valley as recently as Aug. 7 to talk about the process of hiring a contractor to clean up contamination from the federal buildings, tribal leaders said. The presentation noted gaps in data analysis, including for the storage and use of herbicides.Action can’t come soon enough for tribal members who say the federal government’s prior cleanup attempts have lacked urgency and direction. They fear inaction could lead to further sickness and death.While tribal Chairman Brian Mason presses federal officials for answers, tribal members are being urged to get annual medical exams and an environmental team is tasked with digging up historical documents.“People are dying. And I don’t know what they’re waiting for,” Mason said. Back then, tribes were unaware of the dangers At Owyhee, most of the environmental dangers have been traced to the two BIA buildings no longer in use or demolished.Back in 1985, at the now-abandoned irrigation shop, some 8,000 gallons of heating oil leaked from a pipeline next to the highway. Samples taken from sump, soil and floor drains around the building revealed a mix of the hazardous chemicals that were stored inside, including waste oil, arsenic, copper, lead and cadmium, along with the two herbicides that make up Agent Orange.Racheal Thacker, a pesticides and solid waste technician with the tribes, said residents at the time were likely unaware of the dangers related to handling the chemicals stored there. Back then, the workers employed by the BIA didn’t have the expertise or resources to identify pollutants in the ground, Thacker said.Sherry Crutcher was always skeptical. Her late husband worked in the BIA maintenance building across from the irrigation shop and wore a uniform that reeked of chemicals after spraying willow trees and cleaning oil wells. The building was home base for dozens of tribal members who plowed snow, fought fires and maintained the vehicle fleet.Crutcher, a teacher and former natural resources director for the tribes, remembers employees in the maintenance building asking for cancer screenings. She said the BIA did the tests, told the workers the results were negative but didn't share the records.She remembered asking her husband, Robert, if he or the other workers had any protection. The answer was always that he had none. He died in 2022 from an aggressive form of brain cancer at age 58, she said.“I never overstepped my husband, I just asked him the questions,” Sherry Crutcher said. “I’d be like ‘why?’ He was just a quiet soul, easygoing, and say ‘well, you know, because it’s our job.’”In 1995, the EPA ordered the BIA to stop discharging gasoline, batteries and other fluids onto the dirt floor of the maintenance building, saying the practice was improper, threatened the groundwater supply and could endanger tribal members’ health. The disposal practice had long-lasting effects and the building has since been demolished with its surroundings fenced off.In its statement to the AP, the BIA said it has extensively studied the soil and groundwater on the reservation since 1999 and cleaned up wells used for drinking water. The agency also said any petroleum in the soil is safe and it’s working with the tribes on other remedial actions. Thacker said there’s no ostensible danger now from drinking water from the tap, since it's drawn from other wells. Still, there's an enduring sense of distrust and uneasiness. Some patches of land can no longer sustain crops. Fences surround contaminated areas. And after tribal officials raised concerns about hydrocarbon plumes under the one school in town, the state committed to building a new school on a different plot of land. Chairman's message reverberates throughout the community Mason stood at a podium in March and declared — without any caveats — that the tribes’ land was further poisoned. Agent Orange chemicals were sprayed extensively by the canals, he said, and demanded the federal government do something — and quick.His broadcast on social media reverberated across the reservation.The editor of the community newspaper, Alexis Smith-Estevan, listened from her couch and cried, saying she was even more certain now the federal government's contamination of the land led to the deaths of her grandfather and uncle. A grant assistant at the health clinic, Michael Hanchor, heard about it while getting signatures for paperwork and sighed.Hanchor wasn't surprised. He said he saw it as yet another government failure in line with forcing his ancestors onto a reservation and sending Shoshone-Paiute children to boarding schools meant to assimilate them into white society. “When you get that sense of defeat your whole life, you just kind of shrug your shoulders and move on,” said Hanchor, who lost his mother and a grandfather figure to cancer.Tanya Smith Beaudoin later walked along a canal where two dirt roads converge off the highway. The canal served as a de-facto swimming pool on hot summer days known to locals as “Floramae's,” named for a sweet elder with a tough exterior who once lived next door.Smith Beaudoin thought of her own father, Dennis Smith Sr., an influential tribal leader who befriended strangers at the market and organized big family dinners. He was diagnosed with late-stage liver cancer that spread to most of his upper body years after working alongside Cota and Robert Crutcher in the BIA maintenance building, she said.“What can you do? If you were to get infected like he was, it was a death sentence. There’s nothing — there’s no treating it,” she said. To many in the community, there is a clear link between past contaminants and the pronounced number of cancer cases and other illnesses. “I’m going to run out of days sooner than I should’ve,” said Julie Manning, a tribal member who was diagnosed with advanced stage ovarian cancer last year. “And my child can pick up the pieces, and she’s been holding them together. And BIA can say ‘whoops, sorry.’”The chairman's announcement validated those beliefs. Still, health experts say it's nearly impossible to say with certainty that the environment factored into cancer diagnoses and deaths — especially without robust data.The tribal health clinic has logged more than 500 illnesses since 1992 that could be cancer, and is trying to break down the reservation's data to determine the most common types. A switch in recent years from paper to electronic filing means the records are likely incomplete.Genetics, lifestyle and other factors often combine to cause cancer. Even if the BIA is able to account for the time, frequency, concentration and volume of herbicides sprayed on the reservation, that wouldn't be enough to prove a cause, experts say. “Bottom line is it’s really, really complicated even to establish among things we already sort of know about,” said Lauren Teras, the senior scientific director of epidemiology research at the American Cancer Society.The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, which compensates some Vietnam War veterans for exposure to Agent Orange, presumes that certain cancers and other illnesses are caused by the chemical herbicide but doesn't make the link definitive.Mason has called for a study that would give tribal members a better idea of the extent chemicals could have been sprayed and the effect on the tribes' land and its residents. He said that might provide tribal members a pathway to seek payment from the federal government.Shoshone and Paiute tribes once separately occupied an expanse of Nevada, Idaho and Oregon before the federal government forced them onto a reservation just under the size of New York City.They've lived together for generations as “Sho-Pais,” connected by a farming and ranching heritage while cheering on youth sports games and gathering for the annual Fourth of July rodeo and powwow. High school graduates who leave often find their way home after going to college or working in trades, in a sort of coming-of-age cycle, said Lynn Manning-John, the school's principal. Of the more than 2,000 tribal members, 1,800 or so live on the reservation — “the only place in the world where being Shoshone-Paiute is normal,” she said.At the school, lessons are tied to being Sho-Pai. Elementary students learn the “Hokey Pokey” in the Paiute language. Other students talk to an elder in their family and bring a picture of them to hang on the classroom walls. “If the whole world shut down, we have everything we need to survive here,” said Manning-John, whose childhood home is now fenced off due to underground contaminants. “We have animals in the mountains, we have trees that we subsist upon for our plant medicines, we have berries, we have roots."“We have our beautiful water” from the mountains, she said. "But not, apparently, our water from the canal.”Mason acknowledged an investigation into Agent Orange components will take time, even as he pushes for expediency. He was elected as chairman two years ago, marking a shift from a long line of ranchers who led the tribes to a Marine Corps veteran who most recently worked as an environmental specialist in mines across Nevada.He likened taking the leadership post to peeling back the layers of an onion, confronting questions deeper and more personal to the tribes than before.He grimaced when asked if the community would move off the land if it's eventually deemed unsafe.“I wouldn't say never,” he said. “But people have five, six, seven generations buried here. And they’re not going to leave their people. I can guarantee that.”Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Photos You Should See - July 2024

Government
Animals
Health

Plot twist: how giving old graveyards new life as parks can improve our cities

There are thousands of disused graveyards that could provide crowded cities with essential public green space.

Camperdown Cemetery in Newtown, Sydney Rose Marinelli/ShutterstockOld graveyards are a forgotten land asset that can find new life as urban parks in crowded cities. As the density of our cities increases, efficient use of urban land becomes paramount. In particular, land for urban parks becomes more important and harder to find. Church graveyards are one of the land assets left behind as dead space in our cities. Most were closed decades ago as the burial industry created cemeteries and memorial gardens away from churches. Large necropolises are now being re‑imagined as urban parks while continuing as active burial grounds. In contrast, dormant graveyards are largely overlooked as urban pocket parks. Yet these sites are often found in some of the most densely populated parts of cities. St John’s Cemetery, Parramatta, is one example of a historic graveyard that has been proposed for use as a public park in New South Wales. Google Earth. This map includes data from David Coleman, CC BY-NC From rest to recreation Many cities have long experience converting burial spaces into urban parks. Famous examples include Washington Square Park in central Manhattan, which was converted from a common burial ground to a public park in 1827. Bunhill Fields was a burial space for non-conformist Christians in London from the 1660s until converted into public gardens in the 1850s. In many instances, cemeteries fulfil the dual role of accommodating new burials while also being public parks. Assistens Cemetery in the Danish capital Copenhagen was founded in the 1750s. Since the early 19th century it has also served the city as a public park. As urban planning emerged as a separate discipline in the early 20th century, city planners sought to identify and separate discrete land uses. Large allotments on the city fringes were set aside as burial spaces styled as urban parks. Their ancillary use as passive open space was implied in their names – “lawn cemeteries” or “memorial gardens”. Urban growth and increasing density has led some cities to examine ways to maximise recreational and community uses of these large institutional burial sites. The untapped potential of urban churchyards The potential for shared use of small church graveyards remains largely overlooked. There are 2,265 cemeteries in New South Wales. Most are small church graveyards, which have not been used for interments for many decades. Across Greater Sydney, the Catholic and Anglican churches own and manage more than 100 cemeteries and columbaria (memorials housing urns of cremated remains). Most are closed to new burials. Many of these sites are located in areas facing a deficit of open space as building densities increase. One example of this is St Anne’s Church graveyard at Ryde. Established in 1826, it was subject to a partial land resumption for road widening and closed to new interments in the 1950s. The graveyard is next to high- and medium-density residential apartments. If converted to open space, this area of more than 4,200 square metres would provide extra open space to complement the Ryde Memorial Park to the east of the site. St Paul’s Anglican Church is about 600 metres from Canterbury Metro station in inner south-western Sydney. The cemetery at St Paul’s was established in the 1860s and measures more than 2,200m². Only the columbarium is still operating. The site does not adjoin the active church buildings. If converted to open space, the St Paul’s cemetery site could supplement Canterbury Park to the north-west. The surrounding areas of housing have been earmarked for high-density residential development. Why aren’t more graveyards being used as parks? Despite the potential of such sites, there are legal, planning and environmental obstacles to converting unused graveyards into public open spaces. Because graveyards are much smaller than cemeteries and are integrated with other land uses, they often face a more complex regulatory environment. Neighbours may oppose change, preferring to live next to a quiet graveyard rather than an activated parkland. Many urban church graveyards are zoned for infrastructure purposes, with conversion to parkland requiring development consent. Social attitudes, such as respect for the dead, or fear of “creepy” places, can also create discomfort at converting graveyards to parkland. As graveyards often include significant heritage items, conversion processes can be complex and costly. Church graveyards may also include habitat for biodiversity. The presence of at-risk species often limits opportunities for greater public use. Decaying monuments, decrepit headstones and crumbling masonry also create public liability concerns for church management. The safety of monuments in areas used by children is of particular concern. The memorial walls in St David’s Park bear many of the original headstones from when the site was Hobart’s first cemetery. Lies Ouwerkerk/Shutterstock From hallowed grounds to playgrounds Despite the complex challenges involved in converting graveyards to parks, there are examples of effective transformations. St David’s Park is the site of the first church in Hobart, Tasmania, and was used as a burial ground from 1810 to 1872. In 1919 the site was converted into a public park. Tombstones were relocated and conserved along park boundaries to create usable public open space. Campderdown Cemetery in Newtown, NSW, was founded in 1848 by the Sydney Church of England Cemetery Company. It was converted into public parkland from 1948, becoming a crucial piece of inner-city public space. Similar conversions have been proposed for other unused urban graveyards. One of these is St John’s Cemetery in central Parramatta, NSW. It was proposed for conversion to a public park in the 1950s. The architectural historian Keith Eggener observed that cemeteries occupy liminal space where life meets death, nature meets city, present meets past. As our growing cities become more dense, church graveyards may provide valuable community open spaces for the next generation alongside resting places for generations past. Rob Stokes is Chair of Faith Housing Australia, the peak body representing faith groups advocating for social and affordable housing. He is also a former Liberal member of the NSW parliament who served as a NSW government minister across a range of portfolios, including cities, planning and public spaces, and heritage.

Government
Land Use
Nature

Suggested Viewing

Sounding the Alarm ~ America's Climate Crisis

"It's really hard being a fire family. Every day it's getting worse." -Brett, wife of Marin County Battalion Chief in California.Every day, Americans who live close to the land and sea face the dangers of climate change—from a firefighter in California, to a beekeeper in Arizona, to a climate refugee losing her home in Florida. The changing climate affects our food systems, water and way of life. These American families are in the trenches sacrificing everything while facing depression, PTSD, and suicide—collateral damage of a crisis unchecked. Award-winning filmmaker, Peter Goetz, captures America's faces and voices, shot in 2020 leading up to the presidential election. Goetz and the Biden campaign made history, producing the first national climate spot to run during a presidential election. But this film dives deeper into the American climate crisis to explore the lives of the people who are sounding the alarm, worried about their grandchildren’s future, asking, "If not us, then who?" This is a story of the resilience, perseverance, and ingenuity of the American people. Ever hopeful, they collectively take on a common enemy. As the young, Navajo solar visionary Brett Issac insists, "We've got to turn this train around before it's too late."

Climate
Crisis
Government

Lake Victoria: An Ecosystem in Turmoil

Decades of mismanagement, environmental changes and a burgeoning population have created tensions for the 40 million people living on the shores of the world's second largest freshwater lake, Lake Victoria. Desperate fishermen use illegal nets and overfish the East African lake's dwindling stocks, while many fishermen have had to turn to other forms of work - much of which has a detrimental impact on the health of the lake and its residents. Lake Victoria: An Ecosystem in Turmoil follows some of those trying to eek out a living on the lake: a Kenyan fisherman who illegally crosses the border into Uganda in the search for fish; a Ugandan who gave up fishing to become a palm oil farmer; and a Tanzanian gold miner using mercury with his bare hands to extract the precious mineral from unregulated mines on the lake's shores. But how well do they comprehend the pressure that they’re putting on the lake, and can the regional governments and communities take action before irreversible damage happens?

Land Use
Water
Government

928 The Threat Continues...

Since the 1950s deadly nuclear fallout has threatened millions of Americans from nuclear fallout carried east in the atmosphere across the United States, from the Nevada Test Site. “928 The Threat Continues...” tells the story of massive contamination from concentrated nuclear fallout that rained down during heavy storms, on communities and major cities for 40 years. Hundreds of thousands of cancer cases and deaths were the result. The Atomic Energy Commission and the Department of Energy knew the truth, but covered it up. Multiple generations may still face the long-term affects. Through current interviews with scientific experts and surviving victims across the country, plus footage from historic interviews with victims, whistle-blower scientists and journalists, we tell the devastating story of those affected by the deadly radioactive fallout. In Act 3, obscure government videos from US government websites reveal that the threat of cancer death to Americans from Nevada Test Site contamination continues even today! NTS has been renamed, the Nevada National Security Site or NNSS. Presidential administrations from Harry Truman to the present day have kept the highly contaminated former Nevada Test Site operating. Donald Trump while in office ordered the Department of Defense and the Department of Energy to start testing newly designed battlefield nuclear weapons at the NNSS despite the existence of The Non-Proliferation Treaty – 1970. Not withstanding the treaty, the extremely reckless aboveground testing area at the NNSS called Big Explosives Experimental Facility or B.E.E.F. tests non-nuclear bombs that send tons of highly contaminated nuclear dirt 10,000 feet into the atmosphere where the winds carry it east. It needs to be stopped now! The film asks viewers to inform their congressman and vote.

Chemicals
Crisis
Government

The Green Amendment: New Mexico, Part One

Join Maya van Rossum, Founder of Green Amendments For The Generations, in her exploration of New Mexico’s biggest environmental issues and the role a NM Green Amendment could play in the fight for environmental justice with: Senator Antoinette Sedillo Lopez, legislative sponsor of the New Mexico Green Amendment; Emma Rose Cohen, CEO/Founder of the sustainable business Final; Beata Tsosie-Peña, Environmental Health and Justice Program Coordinator for Tewa Women United; Artemisio Romero y Carver, founding member of Youth United for Climate Crisis Action (YUCCA); and Dee George and Penny Aucoin, fracking waste accident victims impacted residents of Otis, NM.

Government
Activism
Documentary

THE SPRAYER

In the land occupied with the sprayers army, no one has the right to grow any kind of plants either in public or private. So many of the people and soldiers do not even know how a plant grows or looks like, until one day one of the soldiers finds a seed buried deep down in the dust and his curiosity is just the beginning of something extraordinary, something big, something revolutionary.

Plants
CO2
Animation

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