The government of New Zealand has just enshrined their commitments to the Paris Agreement by approving a new piece of legislation which will require the nation to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.
In a historic show of bipartisan agreement, the Climate Change Response (Zero Carbon) Amendment Bill was passed last week in a 119-1 vote.
The legislation will now provide a framework for the nation’s citizens and governments to fight—and adapt—to the effects of the climate crisis during the coming decades. It reportedly also makes New Zealand one of the few countries in the world to approve legislation solidifying their commitment to the Paris Agreement.
“This is a historic piece of legislation and is the centerpiece for meaningful climate change action in New Zealand,” said NZ Minister for Climate Change James Shaw in a statement. “Climate change is the defining long-term issue of our generation that successive Governments have failed to address. Today we take a significant step forward in our plan to reduce New Zealand’s emissions.
“We as the elected representatives of New Zealanders must take the opportunity to act on climate change before the window closes. We’ve led the world before in nuclear disarmament and in votes for women, now we are leading again.
“The Bill had nearly eleven thousand written and oral submissions. The Committee heard from parents, students, scientists, farmers, academics, health professionals, activists, iwi, local government, and many more,” he continued. “This bill belongs to New Zealand, and together we have ensured that we shift towards a low emissions country that keeps us all safe.
“The budgets provide the pathway towards the 2050 target, and confidence for New Zealanders that we are moving towards a more climate-resilient future.”
(WATCH the inspiring speech below)
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When a young man with autism experienced too much sensory overload to fulfill his dream of riding on the Polar Express, the train staffers went above and beyond to make his wish come true.
18-year-old Ty Swartout is non-verbal and autistic—and he also loves “The Polar Express”. In addition to reading the book hundreds of times, he makes sure to watch the movie every month.
So when his parents discovered that there was a real-life version of the magic holiday train at the Grand Canyon Railway and Hotel’s Polar Express in Williams, Arizona, they knew they had to orchestrate a visit for Ty.
Ty handled the 4-hour drive to the railway hotel with ease; he and his service dog even wore matching plaid pajamas to ensure that they would be granted passage as described in the book.
As he and his parents ate dinner and prepared to board the train, however, Ty became more and more overstimulated by the excitement of the visit. After experiencing two minor meltdowns leading up to the platform, Ty was too overwhelmed to board the train.
The train staffers refused to leave without Ty, but his parents told them to go ahead without them.
“The staff of the Grand Canyon Railway tried so hard to help,” Ty’s mother Angie wrote in a Facebook post. “They even held the train. Finally, I had to say let’s go back to the room.
“I cried all the way back. My heart was shattered,” she added. “I wanted this so badly for my son.”
Thankfully, she did not have long to weep. After they got back to their hotel room, they heard a knock at the door from a hotel staffer and police officer who had stopped by to make sure that Ty was okay. Not only that, they said that they wanted to do something to make it up to Ty.
As hotel staffers helped Ty’s father Lloyd reschedule their visit on the Grand Canyon Expressway with free special needs accommodations, Ty and Angie curled up to read “The Polar Express” only to be visited by the real-life railway train conductor.
“I had just finished when my husband came back in and he said that there was someone special that wanted to visit,” wrote Angie. “Ty and I shook our head yes and in walks the train conductor.
“He sat next to Ty’s bed and chatted with him. Ty was star struck. He was so excited and happy. Then the conductor gave Ty his pocket watch!
“After the conductor, left my husband told me that the hotel and railway offered to reschedule our visit special accommodations! They said that they wanted everyone to experience something special and magical.
“They succeeded,” she continued. “We may not have gotten to ride a train but we got something even more magical… We got the gift of human kindness!”
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Quote of the Day: “Don’t be satisfied with stories, how things have gone with others. Unfold your own myth.” – Rumi
Photo: by Quinn Dombrowski – CC license on Flickr, cropped
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For the first time ever, a human patient with sickle cell disease has been treated with genetically-modified cells that have been edited by CRISPR technology—and new data says that the experimental treatment is working.
Up until now, the genetic blood disorder has been incurable. Sickle cell patients such as Victoria Gray—the patient who underwent the treatment in mid-2019—experience frequent bouts of physical pain and are often forced to get blood transfusions in order to ensure that their body has enough healthy red blood cells to carry oxygen throughout their body.
Since Gray was treated with a CTX001 infusion of edited cells, however, the 34-year-old is already experiencing noticeable health improvements. Not only have clinical followups shown that the treatment is safe, but it has also dramatically reduced the amount of pain Gray experienced as a result of the disease.
“It’s a miracle,” Gray told NPR. “When you pray for something for so long, all you can have is hope. It’s amazing.”
Dr. Haydar Frangoul of the Sarah Cannon Research Institute in Nashville, Tennessee, who is treating one of the the patients, also told the news outlet: “We are very, very excited. This preliminary data shows for the first time that gene editing has actually helped a patient with sickle cell disease. This is definitely a huge deal.”
The companies are now recruiting additional patients to continue their research on the treatment’s efficacy against sickle cell disease, beta thalassemia, and other chronic diseases.
“The data we announced today are remarkable and demonstrate that CTX001 has the potential to be a curative CRISPR/Cas9-based gene-editing therapy for people with sickle cell disease and beta thalassemia,” said Dr. Jeffrey Leiden, Chairman, President and CEO of Vertex.
“While the data is exciting, we are still in the early phase of this clinical program. We look forward to continuing to work with physicians, patients, caregivers and families over the coming months and years to bring forward the best possible therapy for these two serious diseases and to continue to accelerate our gene-editing programs for other serious diseases such as Duchenne muscular dystrophy and myotonic dystrophy type 1.”
(LISTEN to the NPR report below)
Cure Your Friends Of Negativity By Sharing The Good News To Social Media — Photo by Libertas Academica, CC
Despite how Kayla Arqueta was born without a left forearm or hand, she was determined to play the cello in her middle school orchestra.
After Kayla approached the Austin Middle School orchestra director Carly Addison about her dreams of being a cellist, Addison knew she had to help the youngster.
“I couldn’t look at Kayla and say no,” says Addison. “When you see a kid advocate for themselves, you just have to do it. Then, it was like all the doors just opened up.”
Upon researching similar stories of amputee musicians on the internet, she found a free set of online blueprints for a prosthetic arm that had helped a high school student learn to play the cello. Addison then reached out to Dwight Davison, who is the engineering teacher at the nearby Nimitz High School.
As luck would have it, the school had recently acquired several 3D-printing for their engineering department—and Davison was more than happy to assemble a team of volunteer high school students to build the prosthetic.
After customizing the designs to Kayla’s measurements, the teens successfully built a prosthetic for her to play the cello—and it has had a dramatic impact on the youngster’s confidence.
“You can see how empowered she’s been by being accepted and encouraged by all of the other musicians in her classroom,” Addison said in a video produced by the school district.
Kayla—who says that the prosthetic has helped her to “feel normal”—now hopes that her story will inspire other students to pursue their dreams regardless of their disabilities.
“I learned that people are willing to help, and that it’s okay to be different,” she said. “I would like other students to know that life is challenging, but everyone is going to love you for who you are.”
(WATCH the school district video below) – Photo by Dennis Palacios
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A secret clean energy startup backed by Bill Gates has just gone public with the announcement of its new technology that uses concentrated solar energy to exceed temperatures greater than 1,000 degrees Celsius (1,800 degrees Fahrenheit)—and it could be a game-changer in the fight against the climate crisis.
For perspective, that kind of heat is about one-quarter of the temperatures found on the surface of the sun. At that temperature, the energy company—Heliogen—can replace the use of fossil fuels in critical industrial processes, including the production of cement, steel, and petrochemicals, dramatically reducing greenhouse gas emissions from these activities.
This singular scientific achievement was accomplished at Heliogen’s commercial facility in Lancaster, California.
Heliogen’s mission is to create the world’s first technology that can commercially replace fossil fuels with carbon-free, ultra-high temperature heat from the sun and to transform sunlight into fuels at scale—taking a major step towards solving climate change.
Its heat technology represents a key technical breakthrough for concentrated solar thermal. Previous commercial concentrating solar thermal systems have been designed to reach temperatures of up to only 565 degrees Celsius—useful for power generation, but insufficient for many industrial processes. Many of these processes require much higher temperatures, which have traditionally been reached through the burning of fossil fuels.
The potential impact of Heliogen’s patented technology is massive. With temperatures from its concentrating solar thermal technology exceeding 1,000 degrees Celsius, Heliogen will be able to replace the fuel that generates greenhouse gas emissions from industrial processes with solar energy for the first time. For instance, cement production—one of the industrial processes well suited to Heliogen’s technology—alone accounts for more than 7% of global CO2 emissions.
Photo by Heliogen
“Today, industrial processes like those used to make cement, steel, and other materials are responsible for more than a fifth of all emissions,” said Bill Gates. “These materials are everywhere in our lives but we don’t have any proven breakthroughs that will give us affordable, zero-carbon versions of them. If we’re going to get to zero-carbon emissions overall, we have a lot of inventing to do. I’m pleased to have been an early backer of [this] novel solar concentration technology. Its capacity to achieve the high temperatures required for these processes is a promising development in the quest to one day replace fossil fuel.”
In addition to industrial process heat, Heliogen’s technology roadmap calls for temperatures up to 1,500 degrees Celsius. At that temperature, Heliogen can perform CO2-splitting and water-splitting to make 100% fossil-free fuels such as hydrogen or syngas.
Heliogen is able to achieve these breakthrough temperatures as a result of its technology that uniquely uses advanced computer vision software to hyper-accurately align a large array of mirrors to reflect sunlight to a single target.
The firm’s founder and chief executive officer is Bill Gross, a lifelong entrepreneur and founder of Idealab. The Heliogen team includes scientists and engineers from Caltech, MIT, and other leading institutions and is based in Pasadena, California.
“The world has a limited window to dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions,” said Heliogen CEO and founder Bill Gross, who is also the founder and chairman of Idealab.
“We’ve made great strides in deploying clean energy in our electricity system. But electricity accounts for less than a quarter of global energy demand. Heliogen represents a technological leap forward in addressing the other 75% of energy demand: the use of fossil fuels for industrial processes and transportation. With low-cost, ultra-high temperature process heat, we have an opportunity to make meaningful contributions to solving the climate crisis.”
(WATCH the explanatory video below)
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It’s not uncommon for doting pet owners to show off pictures of their pups on the internet—but this community of dog lovers has been going one step further in order to include a blind man who was missing out on the pictures.
The Dogspotting Society is a public Facebook group for people to post photos of dogs, discuss different breeds, swap stories, and share in the general joy of canines.
Earlier this week, a blind man named Stephen William Dale Shkuratoff posted in the group asking people to describe their dogs so he could picture them in his mind.
“I love being a member of this group!” wrote Shkuratoff. “I am blind and was hoping to ask for more dog descriptions. Personality traits are more helpful than colors. Like how soft the dog is, for example. Bonus as always for dogs full of kisses and snuggles.
“Thanks for making me feel included,” he concluded. “Hope no one minds me asking for descriptions a lot recently.”
To his delight, thousands of people answered his request and left detailed descriptions of their mutts.
One comment reads: “Billy is a chocolate lab. He’s silly and funny, and so loving. He knows when you’re sad, or tired. He’ll put his super soft snoot, that feels like velvet on your lap, and when you start petting his smooth, silky head and back you can feel his whole body sigh, and relax. Something about that just pulls all the sad out of you and helps you feel better almost instantly.”
Another comment reads: “I have a Boston terrier named Elma. Her name means Apple in Turkish because she is the apple of my eye. She is a very sweet and quiet dog and rarely barks. We have to be careful she does not get shut in a bathroom by accident because she is so so quiet. She makes up for no loud barks with the loudest snores you’ve ever heard from a 18-pound animal. She is also an expert blanket hog and particularly likes faux fur blanket throws.”
Shkuratoff is not the only one who has appreciated the comments. Some users have used the post to express their gratitude for such a wholesome comment thread; others have thanked Shkuratoff for helping to make the group more inclusive for users with disabilities.
After the post had racked up roughly 2,000 comments, Shkuratoff simply said: “All these descriptions are so lovely and I am very thankful.”
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Quote of the Day: “Spiritual awareness unfolds when you’re flexible, when you’re spontaneous, when you’re detached, when you’re easy on yourself and easy on others.” – Deepak Chopra
Photo: by Charles Dyer – CC license on Flickr, cropped
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Hau Thai-Tang, Ford Motor Company’s chief product development officer, discusses the all-electric Ford Mustang Mach-E at Jet Center Los Angeles in Hawthorne, California on Sunday.
Photo by Ford
For decades, the words “Ford Mustang” have conjured up images of one of America’s most iconic muscle cars.
While you might think of the Fastback, the Shelby, the Cobra, or the GT500 as some of the most prolific sons of the Detroit motoring giant, the next generation may picture something completely different.
Enter the Ford Mustang Mach-E: a Mustang SUV that is entirely electric.
Mach-E for electronic
Be warned—this is NOT your father’s Mustang. Between boasting an emission-free 0 to 60 time of 3.5 seconds on the GT model, a targeted EPA-estimated range of at least 300 miles, and a crossover design with trunk space both in the back and under the hood of the car, it’s a far cry from the rear-wheel drive V8 bellowers of decades past.
The high-tech doesn’t stop there, either; the Mach-E features handle-less, latch-less doors that sense when you are near and illuminate a button that will allow you to enter the vehicle.
However, what is undoubtedly the most interesting aspect of the Mach-E is the fact that this will be the first entirely electric version of one of the most successful sports cars in history—and while even modern descendants of its gas-guzzling predecessors can manage as little as 19 miles per gallon (9 kpl), a brand new Mach-E with the extended-range 98.9 kilowatt hour battery pack requires half the energy to travel just as far.
Mach-E for efficiency
For decades, the idea of what a sports car is and should be has been different depending on which side of the Atlantic Ocean you found yourself. However, as the methods of modern automotive engineering advance, more and more manufacturers are moving towards electric vehicles. Mercedes, Porsche, Audi, Jaguar, and other luxury brands have all released electric models.
Ford Motor Company Executive Chairman Bill Ford and actor Idris Elba next to Ford Motor Co.’s all-electric Mustang Mach-E GT SUV at Jet Center Los Angeles in Hawthorne, California on Sunday.
The advantage Ford has gained from waiting this long to turn their iconic “pony” into a battery-powered beast is that the advancements made in battery-powered automotive technology have developed much further since the release of the first Toyota Prius.
For example, while electric cars in the first decade of the new millennium became famous for taking whole days and nights to fully charge, the Mach-E can charge up to 47 miles in just ten minutes at a charging station. In your garage, this can fall to around 22 miles per hour of charge, which is pretty standard for electric vehicles.
A perfect medium
Starting at $43,000 for the base model and climbing to $60,000 for the GT and First Edition models, the Mach-E represents a significantly more affordable bill of entry for those looking for an electric SUV. The Tesla SUV released last year requires at least $80,000, with the electric Porsche Cayenne coming in at not much less. The Volvo XC40 costs a few thousand less, but doesn’t equal the power and torque of the Mach-E.
Hau Thai-Tang, Ford Motor Company’s chief product development officer, discusses the all-electric Ford Mustang Mach-E at Jet Center Los Angeles in Hawthorne, California on Sunday.
The 6 versions of the Mach-E will be released in a trickle, with two coming at the end of 2020, two more following in early 2021, and the final two in the spring. This early public release and prolonged deployment will allow Ford plenty of time to adjust to concerns and feedback from testers.
Will the 2021 Ford Mustang Mach-E be the bedroom wall pinup poster car of Generation Z? As battery power catches up to petrol in both convenience and performance there’s a chance that if they ever remake Bullet, Steve McQueen will be driving a Mach-E rather than a Fastback.
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Listen to this amusing tale of a little girl’s accidental acting mishap in this week’s edition of MOTH Monday, a partnership with Good News Network that features inspiring videos from The MOTH, a nonprofit group showcasing the art of storytelling.
When Ally Mason was auditioning for her school’s third grade play about Paul Bunyan, she took on the role of “Babe” with the hopes that her theatrical skills would help her achieve school-wide popularity—and win the heart of her crush.
Ally was dismayed, however, when she eventually discovered that her role as Babe would require her to dress up as a fat blue ox who sang about craving pancakes.
Since her teacher would not allow Ally to switch roles, she became determined to sabotage herself so she would not be forced onto the stage.
In an amusing and fortuitous twist of events, Ally was indeed forced to play Babe the ox—but to her surprise, her attempts to ruin her own performance ended up getting her the exact attention and adoration she had hoped for.
(LISTEN to the hilarious 5-minute story below)
The Moth gives people an opportunity to tell a true story in front of a live audience, and sometimes their stories are chosen to air on the radio show, now celebrating its tenth year, and broadcasting on 485+ public radio stations—and on The Moth podcast, which is downloaded over 52 million times a year. The Moth’s third book, Occasional Magic: True Stories About Defying the Impossible is now available for purchase through your favorite booksellers.
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After record-breaking wildfires tore through northern California last year, this art therapist and counselor began collecting the keys to homes and buildings that had been lost in the blaze so she could transform them into a symbol of hope.
34-year-old Jessie Mercer is just one of the longtime Paradise residents who was left heartbroken by last year’s Camp Fire. In addition to her father losing his home, they also lost their shared art studio.
After Mercer watched her father pull out the keys to his destroyed home, she decided to build something meaningful out of other people’s keys.
Over the course of the last year, Mercer has been collecting keys to destroyed churches, schools, classrooms, homes, businesses, and even diaries. Though her unique mission involved listening to the stories of people’s heartbreak and loss, she says that the experience helped her come to terms with her own grief.
“I needed to make something to put us back together, and the keys were the only thing we still had in common since we lost everything else,” Mercer told CNN. “I just told people, you don’t have to carry around this totem of sorrow that makes you sad every time you look at it. Let me transform it into something comforting.”
Mercer learned to weld and began crafting a phoenix made entirely out of the donated keys. She did not have any sketches or plans for the sculpture—she says that she simply followed her heart for the final design.
Last week—exactly one year after the wildfires destroyed the town—Mercer unveiled the results of her labor to thousands of awestruck Californians: an 800-pound metal phoenix made from 14,000 keys donated by wildfire victims.
Mercer gifted the Phoenix Key Project to Paradise’s Butte Resiliency Center—a new facility that will help to rebuild the community and help its residents to heal.
As a thank you for her gift, Mercer was presented with a key to the city—and she was incredibly moved by the gesture.
“It’s the first ever time they’ve ever given the key to anyone,” Mercer told CNN. “It’s so cool. I don’t care about anything else. I have the key to Paradise.”
If you want to buy a print of the Phoenix Key Project, all of the proceeds from the sale will be donated to Mercer’s art therapy nonprofit Butte County Art on Wheels.
(WATCH the news coverage below)
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An Australian university has been using a 3-story “water battery” to power their air conditioning—and it has already slashed their overall electrical usage by 40%.
The first-of-its-kind battery, which was switched on at the University of the Sunshine Coast (USC) in September, stores energy generated by 6,000 solar panels that have been installed across campus rooftops.
Over the course of the next 25 years, the thermal energy tank is expected to save $100 million in air conditioning costs and dramatically reduce the school’s greenhouse gas emissions, according to school representatives.
The innovative cooling system was launched in partnership with resource management company Veolia as just one of the ways that the school is working towards their goal of being carbon neutral by 2025.
“USC has a plan to be completely carbon neutral by 2025, which is a challenge to any budget because it requires significant changes to the way energy is captured and consumed,” said USC Chief Operating Officer Dr. Scott Snyder. “So, we really did have to think out of the box, and by forming a partnership with Veolia, we were able to negotiate a 10-year plan that suited us both and delivered major energy savings to the University.”
“The system was switched on in September and is now delivering 2.1 megawatts of power and we estimate that we will save more than $100 million in energy costs over the next 25 years,” he added. “Another benefit is that we are able to take our students to visit the system and teach them about innovation and finding cleaner energy solutions for the future.”
Last week, the ingenious system was recognized by the prestigious Global District Energy Climate Awards after the school was declared the winner of the “Out of the Box” category for innovative eco-solutions.
Veolia Regional Energy Services Manager Andrew Darr said the win reflected nearly four years of hard work and a successful ongoing partnership with USC.
“The innovation displayed throughout this project is a testament to both organizations and could only be achieved through an open and collaborative partnership” he said.
(WATCH the university’s March 2019 video below)
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Move over, Steve McQueen—this adorable brother-sister duo has just pulled off a pretty great escape from the comfort of their own bedroom.
According to nanny cam footage from a home in Santa Monica, California, a little girl identified only as Vivi was having trouble sleeping in her crib last month.
The little girl can be heard calling to her brother Levi from across the room and asking if she could sleep in his bed with her security blanket and baby doll.
After taking a moment to consider his sister’s proposal, Levi accepts her offer and fetches a stool so she can safely climb out of her crib.
Vivi manages to climb over the railing only to realize that she forgot her baby doll. Luckily, her doting older brother was happy to assist.
(WATCH the video below) – Photo by RM Videos
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Quote of the Day: “In life you need either inspiration or desperation.” – Tony Robbins
Photo: by momo – CC license on Flickr, cropped
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In 1969, there were only 100 South American fur seals and sea lions making their homes along the coastline of the capitol of Lima, Peru. They were hunted almost entirely to extinction here, because of the value of their skins—but also because of the perceived threat they posed as fish hunters.
Today, around the island of Palomino, as well as the isles of San Lorenzo and Carazcas, alone, there are over 8000 of these charismatic marine animals making their homes.
Much of the success of restoring the fur seal and sea lion populations came from local fishermen in the coastal areas of Peru. The private sector stepped up to support these endangered species even more so than local governments, after the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) sounded their alarm bell.
The world’s leading conservation organization maintains a “Red List” database of species and the degree to which they are threatened with extinction.
In a recent news bulletin, the IUCN detailed how local fisheries along Peru’s coastline have become efficient managers, doling out to each trawler assigned areas for guarding over.
“The Fishermen’s Union defines an area where each local fishing collective is dependent economically and assigns responsibility for these marine resources,” explains the IUCN. “In this manner, the fishermen themselves have slowed economic migration from the Peruvian highlands to lucrative uncontrolled and illegal marine activities, thus ensuring that the protected area flourishes”.
Photo by Laucky, via CC license on Flickr
Much of their motivation for marine protection has come from seeing their livelihood through new eyes, recognizing the rise of artisanal fisheries and tourism.
IUCN also runs a “Green List” to recognize global best practices for area-based conservation, and the program is already working with marine reserves along the Pacific coast, and—along with Chile, Ecuador and Colombia—Peru will promote investment and improved governance of its marine treasures and seek to raise the standard of performance along the coastline.
“There is strong commitment from the fisher and tourism sectors, so the ingredients are there for success in Peruvian marine conservation,” reports the IUCN.
Hat-Tip to World At Large, the news website of nature, science, health, politics, and travel.
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A young recycling phenom named Ryan Hickman visited Capitol Hill last month to give a significant push to a society-wide standardized labeling system designed to eliminate recycling confusion and contamination—and he was delighted by the bipartisan support for the bill, which would require the U.S. EPA to adopt the labels at a federal level by February.
The Greta Thunberg of recycling, Ryan established his own recycling company when he was just three-years-old—and since then, Ryan’s Recycling has properly diverted over a half million cans and bottles.
An international advocate who has appeared on Ellen and many news outlets, the boy from Los Angles became a spokesperson this year for the standardized label initiative, a solution that was introduced by Recycle Across America (RAA) to solve the most serious and costly issue for the industry.
The partnership comes at a time when U.S. recycling is facing crippling challenges that can be directly traced to public confusion at the bin, and the subsequent ‘garbage’ thrown in with recyclables.
That’s why Ryan went to DC, backing congressional efforts to rescue recycling from life-support and get it back on its feet.
There are nine million of these standardized recycling labels already in use in national parks, airports, stadiums, schools, businesses, and on residential bins, thanks to Michelle (Mitch) Hedlund, the founder and CEO of RAA, who designed the labels herself ten years ago using the same common-sense approach that was used to create the road signs Americans rely on daily.
These labels have proven to increase recycling levels between 50-100%, while significantly reducing the contamination of trash. RAA, a nonprofit based in Minneapolis, is already funding a ‘Ryan Hickman Grant’ so that free labels can be donated to K-12 public schools across the country.
Labels in use at the Minneapolis football stadium – RAA
Rhode Island became the first state to adopt a society-wide standardized labeling solution in 2016. Today, with 85,000 labels displayed on bins around the state, the state’s recycling facility has already experienced an 18% reduction of rejected truckloads, and America’s smallest state continues to experience strong demand for its plastics, cans, and bottles.
The Appropriation bill that passed the U.S. House of Representatives in June, included language supported by both Democrats and Republicans that requires the EPA to submit a national recycling strategy and budget for using the labels to the appropriations committee by the end of February.
Republicans backers in the Senate, Senators Rob Portman, Lisa Murkowski, and Dan Sullivan, have already joined Democrats—Sen. Tom Udall and Congressman Rep. Alan Lowenthal—who are all on record as supporting the initiative. The EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) already held a Recycling Summit last November, and a followup meeting this week that RAA hopes included discussions about the labeling.
Ryan with Rep. Rep. Alan Lowenthal (D-CA)
In February 2020, Rep. Betty McCollum, chair of the House Appropriations Committee, will take the EPA’s proposed strategy and budget to the Committee Members for their approval.
“The national recycling strategy is an absolute priority, said McCollum (DFL), who represents St. Paul, Minnesota. “It is environmental and economic madness to fill landfills and incinerators with recyclable materials because of confusion at the bin. Every household, business, school and institution should be using a standardized system to eliminate contamination and increase effective recycling.”
A perfect example of the scheme’s success was seen two years ago when the NFL World Championship was held in Minneapolis and RAA labels were plastered on every bin—it became the first ZERO waste game in Super Bowl in history.
As for the ten-year-old activist, Ryan is saving all his earnings for college (maybe, rethink that) and to buy a recycling truck. He recently went to NBC to be interviewed and the most exciting moment was discovering the RAA labels already on the Los Angeles studio’s trash bins.
Ryan Hickman in NBC, submitted by RAA
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Quote of the Day: “Hope is definitely not the same thing as optimism. It is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it turns out.” – Václav Havel
(His country’s Velvet Revolution began 30 years ago today—and the playwright became Czechoslovakia’s new democratically-elected president… See GNN’s On This Day in History column for more details…)
Photo: by Erich Ferdinand– CC license on Flickr, cropped
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Ever felt the sudden urge to get in your car and just drive? You’re not alone—64% of Americans agree they want to hop in the car with their friends and take a spontaneous road trip.
A new survey asked 2,000 Americans which regions of the United States they were most itching to travel to, and where they would most like to stop on a road trip.
The Southwest came out on top, with destinations in the Northeast coming in second—narrowly edging out the South.
The Grand Canyon, Yosemite National Park, and Yellowstone National Park were the most sought-after stops on a ‘bucket list’ road trip. Indeed, most of the top 30 spots on the wish list were among the nation’s majestic national parks.
TOP 30 PLACES AMERICANS WANT TO VISIT ON A ROAD TRIP
1. Grand Canyon, Arizona, 44%
2. Yosemite National Park, California, 32%
3. Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, 32%
4. Niagara Falls, New York, 31%
5. Florida Keys, Florida, 31%
6. Las Vegas, Nevada, 28%
7. Lake Tahoe, on the Nevada–California border, 28%
8. Mount Rushmore, South Dakota, 25%
9. The Great Smoky Mountains, Tennessee, 24%
10. Glacier National Park, Montana, 23%
11. Cape Cod, Massachusetts, 22%
12. Nashville, Tennessee 22%
13. French Quarter/New Orleans, Louisiana, 21%
14. Zion National Park, Utah, 21%
15. Monument Valley, Utah and Arizona, 21%
16. Mount Rainier National Park, Washington, 21%
17. Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah, 20%
18. Death Valley National Park, California, 20%
19. Crater Lake, Oregon, 20%
20. The Alamo, Texas, 19%
21. Great Sand Dunes National Park, Colorado, 18%
22. Carlsbad Caverns, New Mexico, 18%
23. Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky, 17%
24. Black Hills, South Dakota, 16%
25. White Sands National Park, New Mexico, 16%
26. The Finger Lakes, New York, 15%
27. Teddy Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota, 13%
28. Rosewell, New Mexico, 13%
29. Cadillac Ranch, Texas, 11%
30. Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve, Kansas, 9%
Conducted by OnePoll on behalf of Sixt, the survey also examined what makes the ideal road trip—from the company we keep to essentials we bring to what makes the ideal road trip car.
Family road trips are still in fashion with 4 in 10 preferring to spend time with their family, but Americans have a strict three-day limit when it comes to those. This might be related to the average potential of six “car-guments” (arguments while driving) that a family will have in that time, an average of two a day.
The top essential for Americans on the road isn’t water—or even a first aid kit—but rather snacks, with the average person chowing down on at least four snacks during a 5-6-hour drive…
More than 3 in 10 respondents would actually prefer to choose a longer route so they can enjoy the scenery, and 48% opt for local or country roads rather than major highways.
When asked about their preference of cars on either a one-day road trip or a week-long adventure, three quarters answered they would like to tool around in a convertible or sports car for the day, but 62% prefer an SUV or truck for longer hauls.
When planning your next trip, don’t forget these top 10 road essentials:
1. Snacks
2. Phone chargers
3. Water or sports drinks
4. Cameras
5. Blankets
6. First aid kits
7. Flashlights
8. Tissues
9. Travel pillows, and
10. Hand sanitizers
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Fourteen of the largest hospitals and health systems in the United States are working to reduce income-based health disparities by investing over $700 million in place-based improvements for stronger and healthier communities.
The national and regional health systems participating in the commitment are some of the largest private sector employers in California, Utah, and Wisconsin and also among the top 20 largest employers in their respective states. Together, they form the Healthcare Alliance Network (HAN)—a coalition that rallies health systems to implement local economic inclusion strategies.
Health systems are uniquely positioned as employers and economic engines in their communities. In addition to providing healthcare, they can leverage institutional resources to help address the economic, racial, and environmental resource disparities that impact community health outcomes.
While the bulk of the financial commitment will be dedicated to funding affordable housing, HAN will also be investing in things like building new grocery stores in food deserts, childcare centers, federally qualified health centers, and funding Minority- and Women-Owned Business Enterprises (MWBEs) and local businesses.
This is because—despite record low unemployment and an overall strong economy—the U.S. is experiencing systematically deepening disparities in its economic, health, and well-being outcomes; a person’s zip code could mean a lifespan that is one decade shorter than someone in a neighboring wealthier area. A recent NYU study showed that 56 of some of the biggest U.S. cities have very large life expectancy gaps, where on average people in one neighborhood can expect to live 20 to 30 years longer than their neighbors a few miles away.
Factors outside hospital walls—social, economic, environmental, and behavior-related—account for up to 80% of the health outcomes a community experiences, so HAN is trying to create a local economic eco-system to support economic and health wellness.
HAN hospitals and health systems together employ more than 1.5 million people, purchase over $50 billion annually, and have been working on these issues over the last two-and-a-half years.
The descendants of slaves and slave owners have been finding friendship, reconciliation, and wisdom by meeting with each other for weekend-long reunions at the South Carolina plantation where they share a painful past.
Every five years, the ancestors of slaves who toiled away at the Middleton Place plantation in Charleston, South Carolina gather together with the relatives of the plantation’s slave-owning family for a two-day stay.
Together, the guests share meals, tour the house and gardens, and listen to lectures about their ancestors’ lives on the plantation.
Over 3,500 slaves worked on the Middleton family’s 19 plantations in South Carolina during the 18th and 19th centuries. The plantation is now a national historic landmark, home to the oldest landscape gardens in America and attracts around 120,000 tourists a year.
The first reunion was held in 2006 after an African-American plantation descendant proposed that the separate reunions held for white and black descendants should be united into one event. The second reunion took place in 2011 and the third in 2016 was attended by 300 descendants.
66-year-old Rose Morton, who is a retired post office worker, attended the first reunion after discovering that her ancestors had been enslaved at the plantation.
Group photo of guests at the 2006 reunion. Photo by SWNS.
“When my mother died in 2000, that’s when I wanted to find family. I started doing research online, visiting the Alabama archives and looking up public records. I found out that we were from Middleton Place,” said Morton.
Morton’s great-grandfather Ceasar was born at Middleton Place in 1793. She said returning to Middleton Place and meeting with the descendants of those who enslaved her ancestors was an emotional experience.
“I could feel the earth move under my feet. I felt that they were there,” said the mother-of-two from Southfield, Michigan. “I thought I would be scared the first night, that I would have nightmares, but I slept like a baby.
“I would meet people and at first I was just a black person visiting, but after they knew I was a descendant, they would shake my hand as though they wanted to feel something.
“It felt so natural to me,” she added. “It was like I was at home.”
Guests at the reunion in 2016. Photo by SWNS.
She added that there were awkward moments during the reunion, but by the time she attended the third reunion in 2016, all her nerves were gone.
“At the first reunion, no one knew what to do,” she said. “We were on edge. The descendants of the slave owners had to carry that pain, but it wasn’t them. They don’t want to carry it, but they do.
“By the third reunion, we felt like: ‘what the heck?’ We were hugging each other,” continued Morton. “We accepted it as a family reunion.”
54-year-old Lee Pringle, who is a music festival organizer, has also attended the reunions since his great-great-grandfather, Isom Pringle, was a slave at Middleton Place.
Pringle is now a board member at Middleton Place where he helps the foundation interpret the plantation’s history from an African-American perspective.
“It is a magical thing,” Pringle said about the reunions. “It gives us the opportunity every five years to put things in check.
Group photo of the reunion in 2016. Photo licensed by SWNS.
“Friendships have developed and because of social media, we keep in touch,” he added. ”We have a sense of family and we refer to ourselves as ‘cousinry’.”
Thus far, there have been more descendants of slave owners than of slaves attending the gatherings—approximately 60% European to 40% African-American.
“I’ve always been intrigued by the interconnection of white and African-American history. Our history is so interwoven, although it’s so ugly that the country was built on slave labor—(but) it is a fact and you can’t get away from it.” says Pringle. “We have to understand our history to understand why there is an angst and ill-feeling when you start to think about enslavement.”
SWNS
74-year-old Anne Tinker, who is a direct descendant of the Middleton family, and has attended all three reunions, said, “At the first reunion we were all strangers and not quite comfortable with knowing how to express our past and our future. By the end of the next reunion, we were all friends.
“One of the things that is beneficial is we can talk to each other about race,” added Tinker. “We can acknowledge that slavery was evil, but also what we have in common and how we can move forward to make things better.”
Tinker has understandably conflicting emotions about her ancestor Arthur Middleton, an immensely wealthy slave owner, because he was also one of the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence in 1776.
“I feel very proud that he was a signer of the Declaration of Independence and these beautiful gardens and houses that he left behind,” she said.
“But what makes me sad is that the family’s contributions to US history would never have been possible without the contributions of African Americans who provided the labour, looked after the children, and shared their knowledge on how to grow rice. Slaves made the Middleton wealth possible.
“I think the Middleton Place Foundation has taken a very important leadership role in trying to improve communication and an exchange of ideas,” she concluded. “We are learning what we can do today to make it a better country and a better world.”
The next reunion is planned for 2021.
Rose Morton has written a book, “Our Family’s Keepers”, about her ancestors’ lives on the plantation. The story of slavery and its 21st century impact at Middleton Place was also the subject of the 2017 documentary Beyond The Fields.
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