NewzIntel.com

Category: Environment

  • MIL-OSI Australia: World-first fire aviation simulator launched

    Source: Victoria Country Fire Authority

    CFA has created a world-first mixed reality fire aviation simulator which will improve the training and skills of hundreds of the state’s eyes in the sky.

    The aviation simulator has state-of-the-art mixed reality goggles with a 280-degree view of the surrounding landscape which provides real-world training and skill testing in a safe, controlled environment.

    The simulator was officially launched today (9 October) at the Victorian Emergency Management Training Centre (VEMTC) at Bangholme by Emergency Services Minister Jaclyn Symes alongside CFA Chief Officer Jason Heffernan, FFMVic Deputy Chief Fire Officer Fiona Dunstan and aviation specialists.

    The $640,000 project was jointly funded by CFA and the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (DEECA).

    A prototype trailer of the aviation simulator was originally designed and developed by CFA Aviation Commander John Katakouzinos AFSM, who started the project in his garage during the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020.

    This trailer-based prototype is still being utilised by aviation members across the state.

    CFA Aviation Commander John Katakouzinos AFSM said due to the success of the prototype, the need for a permanent aviation simulator became evident.

    “The simulator allows aviation volunteers and staff to undertake mapping, air attack missions, direct aircraft and practise communication and radio skills in a simulated environment,” John said.

    “It replicates the interior of an aircraft and uses photorealistic mapping software and communication technology to immerse pilots and students in the flight experience.

    “It’s also designed to be programmed to train students in any scenario in any of the aircraft used for aerial firefighting in Australia, including re-enacting past operations for pre-season training.”

    Both the prototype and new permanent aviation simulators have achieved successful training outcomes with over 300 Air Attack Supervisors, Air Observers and Airborne Mission Commanders trained or reaccredited over the past few years.

    CFA Chief Officer Jason Heffernan commends John and everyone who worked hard to develop this world-first technology.

    “The new aviation simulator at Bangholme as well as the existing simulator trailer are vital assets for aviation training across Victoria,” said Jason.

    “Aviation is important for providing intelligence and support to our crews on the ground during a fire and we’re excited to be able to share this simulator with our partner agencies.”

    There has already been further interest from our airborne partners with a portable aviation trailer being built for NSW Parks and Wildlife.

    • From L-R: CFA Chief Officer Jason Heffernan, CFA Board Chair Jo Plummer, Minister Jaclyn Symes, CFA Aviation Commander John Katakouzinos , FFMVic Deputy Chief Fire Officer Fiona Dunstan
    Submitted by CFA Media

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: Environmental education programs funded by NSW Government

    Source: New South Wales Environment and Heritage

    Educating young people on how to preserve Western Sydney woodland habitat, care for marine animals and help threatened species are among the 7 projects sharing an investment of almost $1 million.

    The educational projects, which are designed to develop skills, encourage and inspire involvement in environmental protection, have been awarded funding under the 2023–24 round of the NSW Environmental Trust’s Environmental Education Grants Program.

    The Environmental Education grants program supports projects that broaden the community’s knowledge, skills and participation in the protection of the environment.

    The funded projects include:

    • Coffs Coast Wildlife Sanctuary – awarded $59,775 for the Eco Rangers program to engage young people in conservation activities including marine animal care, habitat clean-up and animal rescue and release events.
    • Murrumbidgee Landcare Incorporated – awarded $60,000 for the Linking Generations for Threatened Species Conservation project which teaches students about local species and links them with experts and older community members, including Wiradjuri Elders.
    • Cumberland Council – awarded $60,000 for Creating change one seed at a time which will protect native endemic species for future generations by encouraging private landowners and residents to become stewards of threatened species and communities.
    • Tweed Shire Council – awarded $60,000 for Cultivating Tomorrow which will empower farmers to adopt regenerative agriculture practices.
    • Western Sydney Parklands Trust – awarded $249,960 for Guardians of the Park, which will educate young people by providing hands-on learning experiences in restoring, connecting and monitoring threatened habitats.
    • Mid Coast 2 Tops Landcare Connection – awarded $247,583 to deliver on-ground ecological fire management workshops to landholders via the Eco Burn Education project.
    • Hunter Region Landcare Network – awarded $243,220 for the Dry Rainforest Revival project which will engage the community in learning and restoring large areas of Hunter region Dry Rainforest.

    Quotes attributed to Laura Purcell, Contestable Grants Manager, NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water

    ‘It is encouraging to see a wide variety of grantees and projects awarded funding under one of the Environmental Trust’s flagship annual contestable grant programs.

    ‘The Environmental Trust looks forward to working with the grantees to support them in pursuing their unique environmental education opportunities.’

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: LNY fair stalls to be auctioned

    Source: Hong Kong Information Services

    The Food & Environmental Hygiene Department will auction stalls at next year’s Lunar New Year fairs from October 22.

    The fairs will be held at 15 locations from January 23 to 29.

    A total of 910 wet goods stalls, 633 dry goods stalls and 27 fast food stalls will be hosted at the venues.

    Opening prices range from $380 to $6,530 for wet goods stalls, $450 to $8,540 for dry goods stalls of regular size, $680 to $12,810 for large-size dry goods stalls, and $2,290 to $120,470 for fast food stalls.

    Of the 15 fairs, six, hosting a total of 812 stalls, will be on Hong Kong Island, Kowloon, or Islands District. The remaining nine fairs will be held in the New Territories and will provide 521 wet goods stalls, 230 dry goods stalls and seven fast food stalls.

    The fair in Victoria Park on Hong Kong Island will house 395 stalls.

    Click here for details.

    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

  • MIL-OSI Submissions: Universities – Swinburne Chancellor to call for bold leadership to tackle climate crisis at 2024 Swinburne Oration

    Source: Swinburne University of Technology

    Swinburne University of Technology Chancellor Professor John Pollaers OAM will use an address tonight to urge Australia’s business, government and academic sectors to step up and lead the charge in addressing the global climate emergency.

    Speaking at the 2024 Swinburne Chancellor’s Oration, Professor Pollaers will underscore that the time for incremental adjustments has passed and that Australia needs transformative leadership that prioritises long-term, strategic alignment of economic, societal and environmental goals.

    “This moment demands more than just managing the status quo. Leaders must rise to the challenge, setting aside short-term gains for a vision that secures not only Australia’s future but also our planet’s,” Professor Pollaers said.

    “Our research and education sector is a national asset, a strategic lever that, when fully harnessed, can propel Australia into a leadership position on the global stage. Becoming a renewable energy superpower is important, but our true potential lies in becoming a brainpower superpower.”

    “The opportunity for clean economic growth is within our reach, but only if we are bold enough to seize it.”

    “It will take every home, every business and every industry working together towards a more sustainable future. The scale of the response required is unprecedented.”

    The Chancellor will use his address at Swinburne’s Hawthorn campus to call on leaders across a range of sectors to act.

    “There’s a false narrative out there that somehow Australia is a powerless victim of this transformation, or too minor a player to make a difference, and there are even some who still question whether we need to act at all. We have to reject this. We have to make the choice to lead.”

    Moderated by esteemed journalist Beverley O’Connor, the Oration will feature a panel of international experts:

    Nicky Sparshott: Global Chief of Transformation, Unilever

    Julian Critchlow: Advisory Partner, Bain and Company and former UK Government Director General, Energy Transformation and Clean Growth

    Dan Cass: Co-Founder and Executive Director, Rewiring Australia

    Paul Gliding: Sustainability advocate and former Greenpeace International Executive Director.

    MIL OSI – Submitted News –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: A house will appear next to the Botanichesky Sad metro station under the renovation program

    MILES AXLE Translation. Region: Russian Federation –

    Source: Moscow Government – Government of Moscow –

    The Moscow Committee for Architecture has issued an urban development plan for a land plot for the construction of a residential building under the renovation program near the Botanichesky Sad metro station. The project will be implemented as part of a block development at the address: 1st Botanichesky Proezd, land plot No. 1. This was reported by the Chairperson of the Moscow Committee for Architecture and Urban Development (Moskomarkhitektura) Juliana Knyazhevskaya.

    “A new building with a maximum area of 15 thousand square meters will appear on a land plot of 0.36 hectares. Within walking distance from the future building there is a park complex, where participants in the renovation program will be able to take walks with children, jog and have a quiet rest surrounded by green areas of the Main Botanical Garden named after N.V. Tsitsin of the Russian Academy of Sciences,” Yuliana Knyazhevskaya specified.

    The Botanichesky Sad metro station and the Moscow Central Circle (MCC) platform of the same name are located 700 meters from the planned new building.

    Previously The Mayor of Moscow told, that since the beginning of the year, 23 buildings have been put into operation under the renovation program and 44 residential complexes have been handed over for occupancy.

    All information about the renovation program is presented on the mos.ru portal. You can find out more about apartments and houses under the program by link.

    The renovation program was approved in August 2017. It concerns about a million Muscovites and provides for the resettlement of 5,176 houses. Last year alone, 59 new buildings were handed over for settlement in the capital and the resettlement of over 47 thousand people was ensured.

    Moscow is one of the leaders among regions in terms of construction rates and volumes. In recent years, within the framework of the federal project “Housing” of the national project “Housing and Urban Environment” the volume of construction and commissioning of residential properties in the capital has doubled – from three to five to seven million square meters per year. More information about this and other national projects being implemented in Moscow can be found on this page.

    Please note: This information is raw content directly from the source of the information. It is exactly what the source states and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

    Please note; This information is raw content directly from the information source. It is accurate to what the source is stating and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

    http://vvv.mos.ru/nevs/item/145009073/

    EDITOR’S NOTE: This article is a translation. Apologies should the grammar and or sentence structure not be perfect.

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Bank “ROSSIYA” acted as a partner of the X All-Russian Conference “Priorities of Market Electric Power Industry in Russia”

    MILES AXLE Translation. Region: Russian Federation –

    Source: Bank “RUSSIA” Russia Bank – 09.10.2024

    Bank “ROSSIYA” acted as a partner of the X All-Russian Conference “Priorities of Market Electric Power Industry in Russia”

    Bank “ROSSIYA” took part in and became a partner of the jubilee 10th All-Russian conference “Priorities of the market electric power industry in Russia: (un)limited possibilities”, which was held on October 2-4 in Sochi.

    At the initiative of Bank “ROSSIYA”, a business breakfast was held as part of the conference, dedicated to the problems of developing digital services and financial infrastructure for “green” electric power industry.

    It was attended by the Chairman of the Board of the Association “NP Market Council” M.S. Bystrov and the Director of the Department of Competition, Energy Efficiency and Ecology of the Ministry of Economic Development of Russia I.A. Petrunina. The Bank was represented at the event by Deputy Chairman of the Board A.V. Shalenkov, Senior Vice President E.V. Svitova, Vice President – Head of the Department for Work with Electric Power Enterprises R.I. Tugushev and other managers.

    A.V. Shalenkov addressed the event participants with a welcoming speech. In his speech, he noted the importance of supporting initiatives aimed at preserving the climate: “In our country, as in the rest of the world, there is a growing demand for financial instruments that ensure the “greening” of business and confirm its commitment to ESG principles. Bank “ROSSIYA” has experience working with projects related to “green” energy – they are valuable to us not only because of their economic efficiency, but also in terms of the climate goals that our country and society face. We have the necessary infrastructure to implement new services in this area and are confident that our numerous clients will respond to such initiatives.”

    The prospects of new instruments were outlined by M.S. Bystrov: “The interests of the state in the sphere of “green” electric power coincide with the goals of business and ordinary consumers. The “green” agenda remains among the priorities of petrochemical, metallurgical and other industrial companies. Ordinary people, mainly young people, also want to make their consumption more responsible and environmentally friendly. The certification system allows both to move in this direction, opening up new “green” opportunities.”

    I.A. Petrunina in her speech emphasized the importance of the climate agenda in the country’s economic development: “The Ministry of Economic Development is working in two key areas – low-carbon regulation and energy efficiency. Over the past two years, noticeable shifts have been observed in this area, the necessary regulatory and legal architecture of public administration is being created. We are also creating infrastructure for the implementation of climate projects by businesses. Carbon units, like “green” certificates, are already actively used by market participants.”

    Member of the Board of the Association “NP Market Council”, General Director of the Center for Energy Certification LLC O.G. Barkin told the participants about the development of the “green” certification system in Russia. With the help of certificates, consumers can confirm the use of energy obtained from clean sources. Given the growing awareness of society and the overall growth in demand for products with a low carbon footprint, energy certification can also be considered a promising area.

    The Director of Energy and Resource Provision of PJSC SIBUR V.V. Tupikin, the Director of Work with Natural Monopolies of JSC RUSAL Management M.G. Balashov, the Managing Director of JSC Energosbyt Plus Yu.B. Chernyavskaya and other participants of the event also presented their vision of the problems of “green” electric power industry.

    The Bank’s retail employees took an active part in the conference. Participants and guests were given consultations on mortgages in the primary market, refinancing, consumer lending, and applications for credit cards were accepted. Agreements were also reached on holding retail events on the premises of enterprises in the electric power sector.

    For ten years, Bank “ROSSIYA” has been an authorized credit organization of the Wholesale Electricity and Capacity Market (WECM). During this time, the Bank managed to create an effective technological structure for settlements between enterprises in the electric power industry.

    Participation in the conference contributed to the development of mutually beneficial cooperation and strengthening the image of Bank “ROSSIYA” among players in the electric power market.

    Please note: This information is raw content directly from the source of the information. It is exactly what the source states and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

    Please note; This information is raw content directly from the information source. It is accurate to what the source is stating and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

    http://abr.ru/about/nevs/13713/

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: Solutions for a Triple Planetary Crisis in Cities – Forum of Mayors

    Source: United Nations Economic Commission for Europe

    As part of the Forum of Mayors, the side event “Solutions for a Triple Planetary Crisis in Cities” was organized by UNECE, Global Cities Hub, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The event addressed the urgent challenges posed by climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution, especially as cities grow at an unprecedented rate. It specifically featured a range of discussions on how nature-based solutions can enhance resilience and reduce the effects of urbanization. Presentations from various experts highlighted the importance of local and subnational governments in these efforts.

    The UNECE’s Trees in Cities Challenge, for instance, encourages mayors to commit to tree planting and sustainable urban forestry, providing a meaningful way to confront the triple planetary crisis while boosting public health, creating green jobs, and securing access to vital ecosystem services.

    UNECE’s urban forestry initiatives aim to harness the potential of trees and green spaces to meet global targets related to climate action, biodiversity, and sustainable development. During an interactive session, mayors were invited to reflect on their own urban forestry efforts, answering questions about the number of trees planted, the costs involved, and the broader cost-benefit impact. In the face of a rapidly urbanizing future, one key factor will determine whether cities thrive or fail, how effectively they integrate nature into their development plans. UNECE’s initiatives provide the tools, guidance, and support needed to help cities achieve this and contribute to the goals of the Rio Conventions.

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: Special meeting of Pest Control Steering Committee convened to enhance interdepartmental collaboration in preventing spread of dengue fever and rat Hepatitis E virus (with photo)

    Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

         The interdepartmental Pest Control Steering Committee (PCSC) convened a special meeting today (October 9) to discuss the response measures for preventing the local transmission of dengue fever (DF) through imported cases, the work plan for mosquito control in the coming year, as well as follow-up actions in response to the recent human infection of rat Hepatitis E virus (HEV).
         
    Preventing the spread of DF

         In the meeting, the Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health explained to the attendees the details of the latest imported DF cases and the CHP’s risk assessment. As of October 3, the CHP has recorded a total of 77 DF cases this year, including 73 imported cases (12 from the Mainland) and four local cases. The number of imported DF cases this year has surpassed the 62 cases recorded last year, with 13 cases recorded within the two-week period from September 20 to October 3. The patients had traveled to Guangdong Province (Foshan (nine cases) and Shenzhen (one case)), India (two cases), and Nepal (one case) during the incubation periods. According to the Guangdong Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Guangdong Province recorded over 3 000 local DF cases in September, 1 764 local DF cases within the past week from September 30 to October 6, with the highest numbers of cases reported in Foshan, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Jiangmen and Zhongshan. The continued occurrence of DF cases outside Hong Kong, coupled with the frequent travel by residents to and from Guangdong, Hong Kong and other areas, resulted in an increased risk of importing DF cases into Hong Kong, posing a risk of local transmission.

         While the local gravidtrap index has shown a downward trend with the passing of the rainy season, in view of the DF situation in other areas, the Government not only instructed various bureaux and departments, as well as trade stakeholders, to strengthen territory-wide mosquito prevention and control work to prevent the local spread of DF in early October, but also discussed response measures with the bureaux and departments in today’s meeting.
         
    Mosquito control

         The representative from the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) reported to the PCSC that the mosquito infestation this year continues to be under control, and the overall trend of the gravidtrap index for Aedes albopictus this year is similar to that of last year. The FEHD has also conducted site inspections with relevant departments, and provided them with professional advice and technical support to assist them in formulating and implementing effective anti-mosquito measures swiftly, as well as strengthening publicity and education in parallel. The departments will pay special attention to environments prone to mosquito breeding under their purviews, and proactively strengthen their mosquito preventive and control measures at places under their management, including carrying out regular inspections of the surrounding environment, eliminating potential mosquito breeding places, removing stagnant water, applying larvicides at appropriate locations, aptly placing more mosquito trapping devices and applying ultra-low volume foggers, etc. Looking ahead, the FEHD will continue to work closely with other departments and proactively take mosquito control actions, including eliminating potential mosquito breeding places, as well as the timely conducting of fogging operations in a concerted manner until the end of the rainy season. The departments will closely monitor the situation of mosquito infestation as reflected by the surveillance indices, and constantly update the list of mosquito infestation hotspots to adjust and plan their work based on the actual situation to ensure rapid and effective mosquito prevention and control efforts.

    Investigation of human infection of HEV
     
         Regarding the recent case of human infection of HEV, the CHP’s epidemiological investigations revealed that the patient resides in Hung Hom. She claimed that she did not have direct contact with rodents or rats, and had no travel history during the incubation period, indicating that this is a locally acquired infection.
          
         The CHP and the FEHD reported to the PCSC that in response to the above-mentioned HEV case, the FEHD has carried out follow-up work over the past two weeks, including visiting the patient’s residence and surrounding areas to conduct rodent infestation investigations, providing advice on rodent control measures to property management personnel; as well as inspecting the patient’s residence, the places she visited before onset of the disease and the surrounding public areas, and stepping up street washing, rodent prevention and control work.
          
         In the meeting, the FEHD reminded all bureaux and departments to diligently implement various rodent prevention and control measures in areas under their purview. Anti-rodent work requires co-operation from all sectors. The PCSC appealed to members of the public and all sectors to strengthen rodent prevention and control measures in their respective areas and tie in with the rodent prevention and control work of the Government to reduce the risk of HEV transmission.
          
         The Environment and Ecology Bureau will also meet with the trade later to gather the collective efforts of different sectors, promoting cross-sector, multidisciplinary and public participation in preventing the spread of DF and HEV.
          
         The meeting today was chaired by the Under Secretary for Environment and Ecology, Miss Diane Wong. Government bureaux, departments and organisations attending the meeting were the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department; the Architectural Services Department; the Buildings Department; the Civil Engineering and Development Department; the Development Bureau; the Department of Health; the Drainage Services Department; the Education Bureau; the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department; the Environmental Protection Department; the FEHD; the Government Property Agency; the Hospital Authority; the Home Affairs Department; the Housing Department; the Highways Department; the Information Services Department; the Lands Department; the Leisure and Cultural Services Department; the Marine Department; the Social Welfare Department; and the Water Supplies Department.   

    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Proving the value of the Royal Navy’s AI roadmap 

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    The Royal Navy came to ACE to explore how groundbreaking artificial and machine-learning solutions could enhance maintenance and defence capabilities.

    The Naval AI Cell (NAIC) is helping the Royal Navy (RN) embrace the transformative power of artificial intelligence (AI) and the benefits it can bring, and an initial phase highlighted six priority challenge areas/capabilities that could confirm the value and impact of an aligned transformative roadmap. 

    The Accelerated Capability Environment (ACE) was asked to carry out focused discovery into two of these capabilities – increased platform availability through predictive maintenance and Counter-uncrewed Air Systems (CuAS) – to prove a set of use cases and suggested next steps in terms of proposed development and data requirements for each. 

    The predictive maintenance challenge involved the wear and debris team at a naval air squadron. This team contains many experienced engineers who test oil and debris samples from helicopter engines and gear boxes to check for any flight safety or airworthiness issues.

    Most samples pass at the first stage but still take a long time to process, and there is also a potential knowledge transfer issue as engineers retire or leave. ACE was asked to explore whether AI or machine learning (ML) could be applied to mark the test data or carry out any part of its analysis, which is largely manual. 

    A four-week study carried out by Vivace suppliers Mind Foundry and Frazer-Nash across five use cases found that AI/ML techniques including computer vision algorithms, automatic classification of debris imagery and natural language processing could be used for condition assessment of wear debris, bringing time savings. A brief proof of concept was developed to automatically identify the volume of iron particles in oil, which showed how the process of fragment identification and collection could be streamlined.

    Overall, the discovery phase found clear potential for innovative use of AI to support airworthiness and increased aircraft availability. Other data, including vibration monitor data, was also identified which could be used to provide additional insights. 

    Inferring greater meaning from data

    A second challenge undertaken by supplier Roke explored how greater meaning can be inferred from signals data from legacy capabilities, and how additional and alternative approaches to combining, processing and making data more accessible can improve the RN’s capability to detect, classify and track Uncrewed Aerial Systems (UASs). This would increase the exploitation potential and extract more meaningful insights. 

    Reengineering these platforms can be hugely expensive and so the RN wanted to see if AI could be used to enhance existing processes, making better use of data that is already collected. This work resulted in the development of a framework to combine and process data from complex platforms using additional and alternative approaches, which will improve the RN’s capability to counter threats posed by UASs. 

    Both discovery workstreams proved the value of having the AI roadmap and associated investment in place, that it is robust, and determined a set of next steps which can take each use case forward, building the foundations for future operational capabilities. 

    Updates to this page

    Published 9 October 2024

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Exploring new and innovative forensic approaches

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    Understanding how the state of the art in current science could help further revolutionise solving crime.

    Advances in digital forensics using artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning and better data science have not been matched by those adopted in ‘wet’ forensics.  There is a hypothesis that using digital approaches can further techniques used and explored for wet. 

    The Accelerated Capability Environment (ACE) was asked to help build a better understanding of what the state of the art is in current science research and how that could impact and drive increased analytic insight on scene samples. 

    Three initial areas of interest were identified that could enhance sample assessment; these were: 

    • Develop advanced proteomics techniques for trace evidence identification: harness the power of proteomics to analyse complex biological samples, enabling the detection and identification of trace evidence that may be missed by traditional methods 
    • Employ epigenetics to assess individual exposure and health status: utilise epigenetic markers to assess individual exposure to environmental toxins or illicit substances, providing valuable insights into the context of crime scenes and potential suspects
    • Introduce innovative sample detection methods for rapid and accurate analysis: explore emerging enabling capabilities that can be leveraged to detect and identify a broader range of specimens, beyond the traditional five to six 

    Working with our academic ACE Research Network (ARN), industry and the wider Vivace community, ACE pulled together an internationally curated response demonstrating current and future capabilities against these three challenge areas. 

    This identified experts in all three topics, which are at the forefront of scientific research. It also identified areas for further research with a qualitative assessment against feasibility, threat, opportunity and affordability for each, which the customer is now considering. 

    Updates to this page

    Published 9 October 2024

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Fines of £660 for Nottinghamshire anglers found fishing illegally

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    Three men have been found guilty at Northampton Magistrates Court in cases brought by the Environment Agency on Monday 23 September 2024.

    Fisheries enforcement officers on patrol

    • Fishing in the close season has cost an angler from Nottingham £220 plus costs and victim surcharge
    • Two Nottinghamshire anglers found guilty of fishing without a licence receive fines of £220 each plus costs and victim surcharge
    • Fisheries enforcement officers clamp down on illegal angling to protect fish stocks and make fishing sustainable

    Stelica Serban, 47, of Exeter Road was found guilty in absence of fishing in the close season at Embankment, River Trent, Nottingham on 20 April 2024. He was fined £220 and ordered to pay costs of £135 and a victim surcharge of £88. 

    Close season

    The annual close season (from 15 March – 15 June) prevents fishing for coarse fish in rivers and streams across England, helping to protect fish when they are spawning and supporting vulnerable stocks.

    Fishing without a licence

    Troy Stevenson, 34, of Belsay Road, Nottingham, was found guilty in absence of fishing without a licence at Hallcroft, Retford on 31 March 2024.  He was fined £220 and ordered to pay costs of £135 and a victim surcharge of £88. 

    David Thompson, 45, of Laurel Avenue, Forest Town, Mansfield, was found guilty in absence of fishing without a licence at A1 Fishery (South Muskham), Newark on 29 March 2024. He was fined £220 and ordered to pay costs of £135 and a victim surcharge of £88. 

    A spokesperson for the Environment Agency said: 

    We hope the penalties these illegal anglers have received will act as a deterrent to anyone who is thinking of breaking the laws and byelaws we have in place across England. 

    Fishing illegally can incur a fine of up to £2,500 and offenders can also have their fishing equipment seized. We inspect rod licences 24/7, seven days a week to check on cases of illegal fishing and for those caught cheating the system, we will always prosecute. 

    We urge anglers to respect the close season to help reduce pressures on our fisheries, benefitting fish and the wider environment.

    Illegal fishing undermines the Environment Agency’s efforts to protect fish stocks and make fishing sustainable.  Money raised from fishing licence sales is used to protect and improve fish stocks and fisheries for the benefit of legal anglers.  

    Fishing licences

    Any angler aged 13 or over, fishing on a river, canal or still water needs a licence to fish. A 1-day licence costs from just £7.10, and an annual licence costs from £35.80 (concessions available). Junior licences are free for 13 – 16-year-olds.  

    Licences are available from http://www.gov.uk/get-a-fishing-licence or by calling the Environment Agency on 0344 800 5386 between 8am and 6pm, Monday to Friday. 

    Fisheries enforcement

    The Environment Agency carries out enforcement work all year round and is supported by partners including the police and the Angling Trust. Fisheries enforcement work is intelligence-led, targeting known hot-spots and where illegal fishing is reported. 

    Anyone with information about illegal fishing activities can contact the Environment Agency incident hotline 24/7 on 0800 807060 or anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.  

    The charges  

    Stelica Serban was charged with the following offence: 

    On the 20th day of April 2024 at Embankment, River Trent, Nottingham fished for freshwater fish in the close season contrary National Byelaw 2 of the Environment Agency Byelaws made on the 12th July 2010 and contrary to National Byelaw 6 confirmed 23rd March 2010 made pursuant to sections 210 and 211 Schedule 25 of the Water Resources Act 1991.

    Troy Stevenson was charged with the following offence:

    On the 31st day of March 2024 at Hallcroft, Retford in a place where fishing is regulated, fished for freshwater fish or eels by means of an unlicensed fishing instrument, namely rod and line.  Contrary to Section 27(1)(a) of the Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries Act 1975. 

    David Thompson was charged with the following offence:

    On the 29th day of March 2024 at A1 Fishery (South Muskham), Newark in a place where fishing is regulated, fished for freshwater fish or eels by means of an unlicensed fishing instrument, namely rod and line.  Contrary to Section 27(1)(a) of the Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries Act 1975.

    Updates to this page

    Published 9 October 2024

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Turkey’s plan to recycle more has made life hard for its informal waste pickers

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Tulin Dzhengiz, Lecturer in Sustainability, Manchester Metropolitan University

    A waste picker towing his cart through a street in Antalya, Turkey. Evgeny Haritonov/Shutterstock

    Turkey’s 500,000 or so informal waste pickers carry out around 80% of the recycling in the country. These workers, who are also known as çekçekçi, are essential for separating out waste in a country where this is rarely done at source.

    But their lives are precarious. Most of them are unregistered, lack social security, and have no access to basic services such as healthcare. And now they find themselves affected by efforts that formalise Turkey’s waste management system.

    Many of the workers are migrants. But large-scale immigration over recent years, particularly from conflict zones such as Afghanistan and Syria, has contributed to a rise in nationalistic sentiment throughout the country.

    This has seen immigrants – and particularly waste pickers – portrayed in a negative fashion. Waste pickers have, for instance, been labelled “şehir eşkıyası” (urban bandits) by the media. And many people have argued that Turkiye’s informal waste-picking practices should come to an end.

    Yavuz Eroğlu, the president of a non-profit organisation called PAGÇEV that promotes plastic recycling in Turkey, pointed out recently that the country’s “real problem” is its informal waste collection system. In Eroğlu’s view, informal waste picking impedes the effective scaling of recycling initiatives and prevents Turkey from improving its position in the global recycling market.

    Recycling facilities in Turkey require a steady and substantial supply of raw waste materials to function efficiently. But, according to the Turkish Statistics Institution, a mere 12% of the country’s municipal waste was recovered in 2018 – and it is not clear how much of this was actually recycled. This is not nearly enough to keep recycling companies afloat.

    So, in an effort to improve Turkey’s domestic waste management, the Turkish government launched an initiative in 2022 to regulate and formalise waste collection. The legislation requires that local authorities work exclusively with licensed recyclers and registered pickers to sort through and sell waste.

    Resistance movements have subsequently emerged within the çekçekçi community that advocate for the rights and recognition of informal waste pickers in Turkey. These movements have either reinforced the importance of existing waste picker collectives, or led to the creation of new non-profit organisations and cooperatives.

    In Istanbul, for example, the Şişli municipality launched an environmental waste collectors cooperative in 2023 in an attempt to formally integrate informal waste pickers into the municipal waste management system.

    This has involved registering waste pickers, issuing official identification cards, and providing them with access to designated waste collection zones. Similar models have also emerged in different parts of the country. But many of Turkey’s waste pickers remain locked out of the new formal system.

    The framing of informality as the problem is not new, nor is it limited to representatives of Turkey’s plastic recycling industry. In August 2021, the governor of Istanbul’s office ordered a crackdown on informal waste collection activities.

    Police carried out raids on nearly 100 waste collection depots and seized 650 collection carts. More than 200 people were detained in the raids, including 145 Afghan migrants who were sent to a deportation centre.

    The governor’s office justified the action by citing environmental and public health concerns, as well as the unregulated nature of employment in informal waste picking. In a statement, the office argued that unauthorised waste collection leads to unfair profits and announced that inspections would continue.

    Waste workers responded by criticising the governor’s claims and expressed frustration over being labelled as benefiting from unfair profits while living in precarious conditions without social security or a stable income.

    Importing more waste

    In fieldwork carried out between March and April 2024, I spoke with representatives of waste collectors, junk shop owners and waste traders in Istanbul.

    Some reported that there had been a decline in waste-picking rates since the crackdown of 2021. Waste collectors and their representatives expressed concerns that this decline could lead to a further reduction in domestic recycling rates and increase the reliance of recycling facilities on imported waste.

    Turkey is already one of the largest importers of waste from Europe. In 2022, for example, Turkey accounted for 39% of Europe’s waste exports, which included around 400,000 tonnes of plastic.

    Turkiye is a major importer of waste from Europe.
    Sahan Nuhoglu / Shutterstock

    This waste has serious consequences for the environment and human health. A Greenpeace report published in 2022 found that toxins released from Turkey’s plastic waste end up in the fruit and vegetables produced in the Çukurova valley, one of the most fertile valleys in the world.

    A continued decline in domestic waste collection in Turkey would create a vicious cycle. The value of Turkey’s own waste will decrease, further impoverishing informal waste pickers, all while the country’s reliance on imported waste grows to sustain its recycling infrastructure.

    The future of informal waste picking in Turkey remains uncertain. But as the country continues to formalise its waste management system, the challenges facing the sector’s informal workers must not be ignored.

    Tulin Dzhengiz receives funding from Manchester Metropolitan University’s Research Accelarator Grant to carry out this research.

    – ref. Turkey’s plan to recycle more has made life hard for its informal waste pickers – https://theconversation.com/turkeys-plan-to-recycle-more-has-made-life-hard-for-its-informal-waste-pickers-238661

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Have your say about new Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    Natural England is seeking views on a new Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in the Yorkshire Wolds

    An image of mist on the Yorkshire Wolds.

    Natural England has today (8th October) launched a statutory and public consultation for proposed plans to designate part of the Yorkshire Wolds as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).  

    This will be the formal consultation phase and will remain open for 14 weeks (closing midnight on the 13th January 2025). Local authorities and all interested parties can comment on the proposed AONB and the evidence which supports it.   

    AONBs were recently rebranded as National Landscapes however, in legal terms, Natural England would designate an AONB.

    To avoid confusion, Natural England will use the term AONB throughout the consultation process. If an AONB is subsequently designated, it would then be known as a National Landscape.    

    Plans to designate a Yorkshire Wolds AONB are part of an ambitious programme of landscape designation and is one of four new projects to help deliver on the Government’s commitment to safeguard more of England’s beautiful and iconic landscapes for future generations.  

    The Yorkshire Wolds is a tranquil, beautiful landscape, known for dramatic steep sided dry valleys, high but gentle escarpments, dramatic coastal cliffs, and open, rolling agricultural plateaus.

    Natural and cultural heritage in the area includes ancient woodland, species rich grasslands, chalk streams, Iron Age settlements, abandoned Medieval villages and Georgian manors and parkland. The Wolds also include a prominent chalk cliff and foothills rising from the Vale of York to the west and the Vale of Pickering to the north.  

    Designating this precious landscape as an AONB could bring many benefits including conserving and enhancing the area’s natural beauty and cultural heritage, as well as the magnificent views and tranquillity of the area.

    It could give improved access to nature for the benefit of people’s health and wellbeing, whilst safeguarding an important landscape for future generations. AONBs can also boost economic growth and sustainable local tourism.   

    Paul Duncan, Deputy Director for Natural England, said:  

    The Yorkshire Wolds is a truly special area, and it is important that everyone, including people who live in and around the community, has their say in this national designation project.     

    We’re inviting anyone interested in this fantastic landscape to take the time to examine the proposals and provide their views and comments about the natural beauty of the Yorkshire Wolds, its condition, natural and cultural heritage, and scenic qualities. You can also comment on the desirability of the designation and the proposed boundary. Evidence that you provide could be vital in helping us refine our proposals.  

    Cllr Anne Handley East Riding of Yorkshire Council Leader, said:  

    I’m delighted that the Yorkshire Wolds, a large part of which is situated in East Riding, are being considered for national level designation.

    We are very lucky to have a range of fabulous natural assets from the Wolds to the coast, which attracts millions of visitors each year. It is fantastic to see the area, with its outstanding natural beauty, considered for such a significant status. 

    Shaun Berry Head of Environment & Sustainability of North Yorkshire County Council said:   

    We know how important North Yorkshire’s beautiful natural landscape is, to the people who live and work in and around it, those who visit from across the UK and the world and the businesses that serve those visitors.

    We already see these benefits in the county’s two National Parks and other areas of outstanding natural beauty in Nidderdale, the Howardian Hills and the Forest of Bowland, so I urge local people to have their say about this opportunity.    

    There will be a number of drop-in events and webinars to show the proposals and explain how people can have their say.

    Details of these events, along with copies of the consultation documents, information about the designation process and what an AONB means are available to view and download on the consultation website here.  

    People will also have the chance to view the documents at the drop in events and in a small number of local libraries and local authority offices, details of which are on the website. 

    Paper copies of the consultation pack can be requested by emailing the Natural England designation team on YorksWoldsDesignationProject@naturalengland.org.uk  or telephoning 0300 060 3900.

    Updates to this page

    Published 8 October 2024

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Swing state voters along the Great Lakes love cleaner water and beaches − and candidates from both parties have long fished for support there

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Mike Shriberg, Professor of Practice & Engagement, School for Environment & Sustainability, University of Michigan

    The Great Lakes account for 20% of the world’s freshwater supply.
     Creative Touch Imaging Ltd./NurPhoto via Getty Images

    If history holds true to form, I expect the presidential campaigns of Donald Trump and Kamala Harris to begin touting their support for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative as Election Day approaches.

    The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, or GLRI, is a federal program that funds water and habitat protection and restoration for the Great Lakes, which contain over 20% of the world’s surface freshwater. While voters in some parts of the country may have never heard of it, it is a big deal in the eight states that border these inland seas.

    A 2021 poll by the Great Lakes Water Quality Board found that 90% of U.S. and Canadian residents in the region support the lakes’ protection.

    But the popularity of the Great Lakes would not have blossomed into such an ambitious and bipartisan conservation effort without another critical fact. Three of those eight surrounding states – Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania – are critical swing states in 2024. And Ohio, although no longer considered a swing state, had been one until 2016.

    As a scholar of water policy and politics at the University of Michigan’s School for Environment & Sustainability, and a former leader in the Great Lakes advocacy community, I have championed Great Lakes protection and studied the impact of advocacy on policy and funding.

    I have seen how politicians and conservationists deftly use the region’s political battleground status to draw support for Great Lakes restoration from presidential candidates from both major parties. And I believe this is unlikely to change in 2024 and beyond.

    Fighting ‘Everglades envy’

    The Great Lakes are considered a uniting force among residents of the region, thanks to their iconic nature, recreational value and the drinking water they provide to over 40 million people.

    This broad and deep regard, however, was not enough to protect the Great Lakes from extreme degradation throughout the 20th century.

    Time magazine declared Lake Erie “dead” in a 1970 article that included an iconic cover photo of a fire burning on the surface of Cleveland’s Cuyahoga River. This media coverage, following decades of pollution of the Great Lakes, helped to both kick-start the U.S. environmental movement and pave the way for passage of the Clean Water Act in 1972.

    But in 2000, when the Florida Everglades ecosystem – which sits in what was a key swing state at the time – received over US$4 billion in federal funding for a massive cleanup, the Great Lakes still didn’t have the resources for even basic remediation of toxic sites.

    This led many in the region to suffer from what I heard many lawmakers and others describe as “Everglades envy.” They shared maps of how the entire Everglades ecosystem could fit into one corner of the Great Lakes. More importantly, they plotted how to get funding to clean up toxic hot spots, restore degraded habitats, expand recreational access and educate the next generation of Great Lakes leaders.

    George W. Bush’s executive order

    When President George W. Bush’s 2004 reelection team wanted to secure the electoral college votes of Ohio, Michigan and Wisconsin, regional lawmakers and advocates helped them craft an executive order. It declared the lakes a “national treasure” and required federal agencies to work together on a “regional collaboration of national significance for the Great Lakes.”

    That same year, philanthropist Peter Wege gave $2.5 million to launch the Healing Our Waters – Great Lakes Coalition. The coalition brought together nonprofits in the region to collectively advocate for cleaning up the lakes.

    After Bush’s reelection, his executive order was used to organize over 1,500 diverse stakeholders into eight strategy teams. These teams created a $20 billion plan for restoring the Great Lakes.

    However, the plan existed only on paper – until the presidential campaigns of 2008, when advocates and political leaders leveraged the swing state status of Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin to garner support for funding the cleanup plan.

    As a result, Sen. Barack Obama’s and Sen. John McCain’s presidential campaigns declared their commitment to Great Lakes restoration.

    Obama launches GLRI

    After winning all eight Great Lakes states in 2008, Obama used stimulus funds to launch the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative in 2010.

    With an initial congressional appropriation of $475 million in 2010, and nearly $300 million in each of the following two years, it was one of the rare times Obama’s proposed budget aligned with Republican priorities in Congress.

    In the run-up to the 2012 presidential election, both Obama and Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, the Republican presidential nominee whose father was a former governor of Michigan, declared their support for Great Lakes restoration. This came after the Healing Our Waters coalition pressed both campaigns to pledge to fund GLRI and to stop invasive species from reaching the Great Lakes via the Chicago River.

    When President Obama proposed cutting Great Lakes funding from $300 million to $250 million per year, Congress rebuffed him.
    Mark Wilson via Getty Images

    After the 2012 election, the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative continued to receive approximately $300 million per year and strong support in Congress. When Obama proposed modest cuts to the program during his second term, Republicans and Democrats united to restore the funding. The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative inspired “rare bipartisanship,” as The Associated Press reported at the time.

    Trump moves to eliminate funding

    In the 2016 election, representatives for both Trump and his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton, pledged support for Great Lakes restoration during the annual meeting of the Healing Our Waters coalition in Sandusky, Ohio. The Trump team, however, was ambiguous about the funding level it supported.

    Once in office, Trump reversed course and proposed eliminating all funding for the initiative.

    Congress, led by bipartisan members of the Great Lakes Congressional Task Force – including U.S. Rep. David Joyce and U.S. Sen. Rob Portman, Ohio Republicans who held powerful appropriations positions – fought back fiercely and restored the funding.

    In 2018 and 2019, Trump’s budgets proposed cutting funding for the initiative by 90%. But again, with strong bipartisan support, it was restored to levels nearing $300 million per year.

    By 2020, concerns tied to his reelection prospects changed Trump’s approach.

    Trump supporters join a boat parade in 2020 on Lake Erie in Sandusky, Ohio.
    Dustin Franz for The Washington Post via Getty Images

    Trump’s turning point

    The famous turning point allegedly came during a car ride to a West Michigan campaign rally in 2019 when Republican U.S. Rep. Bill Huizenga emphasized the importance of the Great Lakes to Michigan politics.

    At the rally, Trump reversed his previous position and announced that he would fully fund the GLRI at $300 million per year.

    He went further: “I support the Great Lakes. Always have. They’re beautiful. They’re big. Very deep. Record deepness, right? … We’re going to make the Great Lakes great again.”

    In response, Michigan Democratic U.S. Rep. Dan Kildee quipped, “The President claiming to support the Great Lakes is like an arsonist congratulating themselves for putting out a fire they started.”

    Regardless, Trump’s shift helped the restoration initiative reach $320 million in funding in the 2021 budget – the first time it topped $300 million since its first year.

    On the campaign trail in 2020, both Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden highlighted their support for GLRI during swing state stops in the upper Midwest. Biden ultimately won all three of the current Great Lakes swing states and strongly supported the GLRI while in office too.

    In 2021, he signed into law the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which included $1 billion in additional GLRI funding over five years. With this boost, funding for the initiative reached nearly $550 million in 2022, its highest ever.

    Bipartisan litmus test

    Since its launch in 2010, the GLRI has funded over 7,500 projects to clean up polluted waterways, restore habitats, control invasive species, reduce polluted runoff, improve recreational access and educate the public.

    Great Lakes pollution remains a complex problem, however, and climate change further complicates cleanup efforts.

    The Biden administration has repeatedly emphasized and implemented its commitment to the Great Lakes specifically and water infrastructure generally.

    And in the current race, both vice presidential candidates are from the region. In 2023, U.S. Sen. JD Vance of Ohio became the Republican co-chair of the Great Lakes Congressional Task Force. He has supported legislation to increase funding for the GLRI.

    Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Harris’ running mate on the Democratic ticket, briefly referenced the Great Lakes’ freshwater supply during the Oct. 1, 2024, vice presidential debate. He too has strongly supported efforts to restore them during his time in office.

    Although Great Lakes restoration has not yet played a major public role in either Trump’s or Harris’ 2024 campaign, history tells us that the issue plays well politically in key swing states in the upper Midwest. In fact, it has become a rare bipartisan litmus test of allegiance to this politically divided and critically important region.

    Mike Shriberg was previously the Great Lakes Regional Executive Director of the National Wildlife Federation, which entailed being a co-chair (and, for part of the time, Director) of the Healing Our Waters – Great Lakes Coalition that is referenced in the article.

    – ref. Swing state voters along the Great Lakes love cleaner water and beaches − and candidates from both parties have long fished for support there – https://theconversation.com/swing-state-voters-along-the-great-lakes-love-cleaner-water-and-beaches-and-candidates-from-both-parties-have-long-fished-for-support-there-237946

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Canada: The State of Canada’s Birds 2024 report shows deliberate conservation efforts are having a positive impact  

    Source: Government of Canada News (2)

    News release

    October 8, 2024 – Gatineau, Quebec

    Birds are the most accessible and effective indicators of the health of the air, water, and land. When bird populations and their habitats are thriving, we know that people also benefit.

    Today, Environment and Climate Change Canada and Birds Canada released The State of Canada’s Birds 2024 report. Findings indicate that while many of Canada’s bird populations continue to decline, others have increased due to deliberate and informed conservation efforts. Specifically, the report shows how 463 bird species that regularly occur in Canada have changed since 1970. For each species, the report includes population status, distribution, trends, goals, threats, and conservation actions to protect them.

    For the first time, the report includes long-term population goals for all native bird species found in Canada that have sufficient data. These goals will help measure progress in maintaining and restoring bird species across the country, and in halting and reversing biodiversity loss.

    The State of Canada’s Birds 2024 report is a key tool for Canada to report on Target 21 of the Kunming–Montréal Global Biodiversity Framework, which aims to ensure that the best available biodiversity data, information, and knowledge are accessible to decision-makers, practitioners, and the public. In a few weeks, Canada and thousands of delegates from around the world will be gathered to take action on protecting nature during the 16th Conference of the Parties (COP16) at the 2024 United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity, which will be held in Columbia from October 21 to November 1, 2024.

    Quotes

    “Birds are at the heart of Canada’s biodiversity. Open-access data supports scientific decision-making and leads to a deeper understanding of our environment. Where deliberate conservation action has been taken, birds have recovered. Together with communities, citizen scientists, and organizations such as Birds Canada, we are working to build a nature-positive future. Canada is committed to halting and reversing nature loss by 2030 and achieving full recovery for nature by 2050.”
    – The Honourable Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Environment and Climate Change

    “Through birds, we find beauty and solace in the natural world. Birds are also an important indicator of the health of our planet. And what they are telling us is that humans are having an impact on bird populations. Both positively, through the conservation of wetlands and the resulting impact on wetland birds, but also negatively, through the drastic decline of grassland birds from habitat loss. For our imperiled grassland birds, the time to act is now.”
    – Patrick Nadeau, President and Chief Executive Officer, Birds Canada

    Quick facts

    • The State of Canada’s Birds 2024 report is hosted on the NatureCounts website by Birds Canada. This user-friendly, authoritative, and dynamic platform is frequently updated to incorporate the best available data, offering detailed overviews of each bird species regularly occurring in Canada. NatureCounts is one of the world’s largest biodiversity databases and helps inform many conservation efforts in Canada.

    • The report focuses on 10 groups of birds: waterfowl, birds of prey, wetland birds, marine birds, forest birds, Arctic birds, long-distance migrants, shorebirds, aerial insectivores, and grassland birds.

    • The main threats to birds include habitat loss, climate change, outdoor cats, window collisions, and pollution.

    • Overall results of the report indicate that 36 percent of species has decreased in population, while 31 percent of Canada’s bird species has increased since 1970, with some of strongest recoveries seen in waterfowl, birds of prey, and wetland birds. The data shows us that when deliberate and informed action for conservation is taken, declines in bird populations can be halted and reversed.

    • This is the third comprehensive assessment of the population status of all bird species that occur in Canada. Previous reports were published in 2019 and 2012, and since then, data has been added and the methods for analysis and assessment have improved. Two new groups have also been analyzed for the first time: long-distance migrants and Arctic birds.

    Related products

    Associated links

    Contacts

    Hermine Landry  
    Press Secretary 
    Office of the Minister of Environment and Climate Change 
    873-455-3714 
    Hermine.Landry@ec.gc.ca

    Media Relations
    Environment and Climate Change Canada
    819-938-3338 or 1-844-836-7799 (toll-free)
    media@ec.gc.ca

    Jody Allair
    Director of Communications
    Birds Canada
    519-586-3531 ext. 197
    jallair@birdscanada.org

    Environment and Climate Change Canada’s X (Twitter) page

    Environment and Climate Change Canada’s Facebook page

    MIL OSI Canada News –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Manchester Carbon Literate City: Climate change training goal unveiled

    Source: City of Manchester

    Manchester has launched an initiative to become the UK’s first Carbon Literate City as part of the drive to become zero carbon by 2038.

    The effort, co-ordinated by Manchester City Council working with The Carbon Literacy Project, aims to achieve the status by getting the equivalent of 15% of the city’s population – 85,349 people – trained and certified as Carbon Literate.

    Carbon Literacy® is defined as “an awareness of the carbon costs and impacts of everyday activities, and the ability and motivation to reduce emissions, on an individual, community and organisational basis.” It describes an awareness of climate change and the impacts which our everyday actions, whether as individuals or organisations, have. Being Carbon Literate enables people to take informed decisions, whether in their personal or work lives. Becoming a Carbon Literate City will help in the collective effort to dramatically cut harmful carbon emissions across Manchester.

    Manchester City Council is already committed to Carbon Literacy and is the first local authority to achieve The Carbon Literacy Project’s Silver organisational designation and is working towards Gold status. By December this year the Council aims to have 50% of its staff, around 3,500 people, trained and certified in Carbon Literacy. Other founding partners of the Manchester initiative include Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester Museum, Auto Trader, Manchester Digital and GMAST (a network of arts and cultural organisations working to contribute to the city’s climate ambitions.)

    Councillor Tracey Rawlins, Executive Member for Environment, said: “Earning recognition as the country’s first Carbon Literate City is going to require a step change in the number of organisations getting on board and spreading the word in their own sectors.“This has never been a city to shy away from challenges and we hope that this title will become the latest in a long line of Manchester firsts.

    “What really matters here is not the title itself but what it will mean in terms of the number of individuals and organisations who are aware of the issues and the positive actions they can take to help address them.

    “The city can only reach its zero carbon goals through collective local, regional and national effort. Having a more informed and engaged population is an important step.”

    Dave Coleman, Co-founder and Managing Director of The Carbon Literacy Project, said: “Given our origins and our deep roots in the city, it comes as no surprise that it is Manchester that has stepped up, built on all its existing hard work, and publicly declared it’s ambition to be the very first certified Carbon Literate Locality.
    “Globally more than 100,000 citizens are already certified as being Carbon Literate, but of these, more than 10,000 live, work and study in Manchester.

    “The Manchester Carbon Literate City initiative brings together people and organisations already acting on climate in the city, to further help and support each  other, and bring others along with them. Working together in this way makes our collective action on climate easier, faster and cheaper, and in Manchester at least, demonstrates that truly “the whole is far greater than the sum of its parts”. 

    More information about the Manchester Carbon Literate City initiative is available at carbonliteracy.com/mclc and about Carbon Literacy itself at carbonliteracy.com. The latest public Carbon Literacy courses are available at the Project’s events page.

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Man ordered to clear illegal waste site

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    A man has been ordered to clear illegally dumped waste from a site near Saltburn in a prosecution brought by the Environment Agency. 

    Images shows dumped waste on the site.

    Martin Booker, 60, of Woodside in Brotton, operated an illegal waste site on unregistered land, burnt it and ignored warnings from the Environment Agency to stop.

    He appeared at Teesside Magistrates’ Court last month for sentencing and having previously denied the allegations, changed his plea to guilty to three offences of operating a waste site without an environmental permit.

    The court heard the land, which is at the end of Gladstone Street in Brotton, is next to council-owned allotments and does not have an environmental permit or a registered exemption, which are required by law to manage waste operations.

    Booker was fined £648 and will pay a victim surcharge of £259. A remediation order was made against Brooker for him to clear the site of all waste. If he fails to comply he could be subject to further action.

    Booker ‘largely ignored’ warnings

    Gary Wallace, Area Environment Manager for the Environment Agency, said:

    Environmental permits are in place to protect the public and environment and we told Booker a number of times that he must stop his activities and clear the waste from the site.

    He largely ignored these warnings, showing a disregard for law.

    Illegal activity such as this undermines legitimate businesses that work hard to operate within the regulations, as well as putting the environment at risk and impacting on the local community.

    In February 2022 an Environment Agency officer visited the land and saw waste including scrap electricals such as fridges and washing machines, as well as shopping trollies and scrap vehicle parts. There were clear signs of burning.

    Enquiries led the officers to Booker, and a letter was sent instructing him to cease all activity and clear the site.

    By May 2022 most of the waste had been cleared, but Boooker resumed waste activity on the land. By October the same year waste was again strewn across the site and the pathway access to the allotments – including a pram, a three piece suite and a TV.

    In January 2023 the Environment Agency gave Booker one month to clear the site, but a month later it was still full of waste – again with evidence of burning.

    When he was interviewed in May 2023 Booker said he’d owned two garages on the land that he knocked down.

    He said he’d brought rubble to the land to develop it, but that people fly tipped the plot and he cleared it by putting it into residents’ bins or throwing it in the allotments.

    He denied being responsible for disposing and burning waste. He also claimed not to have a vehicle but evidence from the council confirmed he was seen in a scrap van in Saltburn in October 2023.

    A final visit on 19 March 2024 saw the site still had waste present, with evidence of burning.

    Law is there to protect communities

    Cllr Adam Brook, Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods and Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council, said:

    Our officers work closely with colleagues in the Environment Agency and other partner agencies every day to protect the public.

    The decision to go to court is never taken lightly. However, if the law which is clearly there to protect our residents, visitors, businesses and the environment we all share is disregarded in this way this action must be taken and I fully support the EA.

    I would like to thank the Environment Agency and everyone else involved for their hard work on this case.

    Illegal waste activity can be reported to the Environment Agency on 0800 807060.

    Updates to this page

    Published 8 October 2024

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI USA: NEWS: Casar Leads 46 Members of Congress to Demand EPA Bans Use of Paraquat to Protect Public Health

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Greg Casar (D-Texas)

    WASHINGTON – Today, Congressman Greg Casar (D-Texas) and 46 other Members of Congress are calling on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to ban the use of an herbicide, Paraquat, in the U.S. to protect public health. Paraquat is already banned in over 70 countries.

    The Members of Congress released a letter today urging EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan to protect farm workers, rural Americans, and the environment from the harmful effects of Paraquat and ban the use of the herbicide in the U.S. Exposure to the herbicide is linked to life threatening diseases like Parkinson’s disease and thyroid cancer, and linked to an increase in soil and water pollution.

    “Paraquat is a toxic substance linked to life threatening diseases and grave impacts on the environment — it has been banned in dozens of countries and should be banned in the United States,” the members wrote. “We urge the EPA to change course and deliver critical protections for farmworkers, agricultural communities, and the environment by banning Paraquat.” 

    The EPA has already banned Paraquat for areas such as golf courses and recreational areas. If Paraquat is too dangerous for golfers, it is too dangerous for farm workers and rural Americans. Nearly 70 countries have banned or discontinued the use of Paraquat, including China, Brazil, the European Union, and Canada.

    The letter is led by U.S. Representative Greg Casar (TX-35), and signed by U.S. RepresentativesAlma Adams (NC-12), Nanette Barragán (CA-44), Earl Blumenauer (OR-03), Suzanne Bonamici (OR-01), Jamaal Bowman (NY-16), Cori Bush (MO-01), Joaquin Castro (TX-20), Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (FL-20), Judy Chu (CA-28), Yvette Clarke (NY-09), Steve Cohen (TN-09), Adriano Espaillat (NY-13), Dwight Evans (PA-03), Jesús G. “Chuy” García (IL-04), Robert Garcia (CA-42), Al Green (TX-09), Raúl Grijalva (AZ-07), Sara Jacobs (CA-51), Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), Henry C. “Hank” Johnson (GA-04), Sydney Kamlager-Dove (CA-37), Ro Khanna (CA-17), Barbara Lee (CA-12), James P. McGovern (MA-02), Jerrold Nadler (NY-12), Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC), Chellie Pingree (ME-01), Katie Porter (CA-47), Mike Quigley (IL-05), Delia Ramirez (IL-03), Jamie Raskin (MD-08), Deborah Ross (NC-02), Raul Ruiz (CA-25), C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger (MD-02), Linda T. Sánchez (CA-38), Jan Schakowsky (IL-09), Mark Takano (CA-39), Shri Thanedar (MI-13), Bennie Thompson (MS-02), Rashida Tlaib (MI-12), Paul Tonko (NY-20), Nydia Velázquez (NY-07), Maxine Waters (CA-43), Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12), Jennifer Wexton (VA-10), and Frederica S. Wilson (FL-24).

    It is endorsed by the Alianza Nacional de Campesinas, American Sustainable Business Network, Beyond Pesticides, the Brian Grant Foundation, Center for Biological Diversity, Center for Food Safety, the Davis Phinney Foundation, Earthjustice, Ecological Landscape Alliance, Environmental Working Group, Friends of the Earth, Green New Deal Network, HEAL (Health, Environment, Agriculture, Labor) Food Alliance, GreenLatinos, Laborers’ Health & Safety Fund of North America, Laborers’ International Union of North America (LiUNA!), League of Conservation Voters, the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, Parkinson Association of Alabama, Parkinson Association of Northern California, PD Avengers (Global Alliance to End Parkinson’s Disease Assn.), Pesticide Action and Agroecology Network (PAN), Pesticide Action Network, Power for Parkinson’s, Power Over Parkinson’s, the Rachel Carson Council, Re:wild Your Campus, Rural Coalition, United Farm Workers (UFW), and the United Farm Workers Foundation (UFWF).

    “The people who feed us should not face twice the risk of developing Parkinson’s disease,” said Geoff Horsfield, policy director for the Environmental Working Group (EWG). “President Biden’s EPA should put the people who feed us ahead of the profits of a pesticide company that hid the risks of paraquat for decades. Seventy countries have banned paraquat, so we know that farmers have plenty of safer options. We are grateful to Rep. Casar for his leadership in protecting farmers and farmworkers.” 

    “More than 1 million people in the U.S. live with Parkinson’s disease, the second most common and fastest growing neurodegenerative disease in the world,” said Ted Thompson, senior vice president of public policy at The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research. “With only about 30 percent of Parkinson’s risk explained by genetics, we know that other factors — including environmental risks like exposure to toxic chemicals — can play a role in the development of the disease. We appreciate Representative Casar’s efforts to ensure that the Environmental Protection Agency is doing all it can to protect Americans from the harms associated with exposure to these toxins.”

    “Every day across America, farm workers, as well as their families and communities, are exposed to Paraquat – a dangerous chemical known to cause severe health impacts,” said Teresa Romero, president of UFW. “We commend Congressman Casar for fighting to ensure that every worker is safe on the job and we call on the EPA to listen to the concerns of the people who put food on all of our tables.”

    “The UFW Foundation supports the banning of Paraquat, a chemical whose exposure puts the lives of hundreds of thousands of farm workers at risk,” said Erica Lomeli, interim chief executive officer of the UFW Foundation. “Farm workers deserve a safe environment free from harmful substances that can impact not only their health but also the well-being of their families. Not only is Paraquat dangerous for farm workers, but it also poses significant risks to consumers who may ingest produce treated with this pesticide.” 

    “We thank Rep. Casar and his colleagues for their leadership in urging the EPA to finally remove this dangerous chemical from the market,” said Lorette Picciano, executive director of the Rural Coalition. “We have heard from far too many farmers, ranchers and workers in communities we serve who have developed Parkinsons and other diseases. The devastating cost to their lives and health, families and communities far outweigh any possible benefit of Paraquat’s continued use.” 

    The full letter can be viewed here. 

    Learn more at banparaquat.org 

    ###

    Congressman Greg Casar represents Texas’s 35th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives, which runs down I-35 from East Austin to Hays County to the West Side of San Antonio.  A labor organizer and son of Mexican immigrants, Casar serves as the Whip of the Congressional Progressive Caucus for the 118th Congress. He also serves on the Committee on Oversight and Accountability and the Committee on Agriculture.

     

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Rep. Neguse, Colorado Delegation Announce Support for Colorado River District’s Application for Funding to Complete Shoshone Water Rights Purchase

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Joe Neguse (D-Co 2)

    Lafayette, CO — Today, House Assistant Minority Leader Joe Neguse joined Colorado Senators Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper, and members of the state’s congressional delegation in writing to the Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) in support of the Colorado River Water Conservation District’s (CRWCD) application for federal funding to purchase two of the oldest water rights on the Colorado River mainstem in Colorado, known as the Shoshone Permanency Project. The lawmakers offered their support as part of an ongoing BOR funding opportunity to provide environmental benefits in response to drought, which remains open for additional projects in Colorado and the rest of the Upper Colorado River Basin.

    “The Colorado River District’s mission is to promote the protection, conservation, use, and development of the water resources of the Colorado River water basin for the welfare of the state of Colorado. Preserving the Colorado River’s historical flow regime as intended by the Shoshone Permanency Project will benefit the Colorado River ecosystem every year, and especially in dry years,” wrote the lawmakers.

    The letter continues: “This strong show of funding reflects the local recognition of the Shoshone Water Rights’ importance to the health of western Colorado’s environment and local economies. We recognize the Shoshone Permanency Project’s complex nature and ongoing technical review, but believe the opportunity to protect historical Colorado River flows deserves your attention.”

     The full text of the letter is available HERE. 

    “For the future of water, agriculture, outdoor recreation, and our way of life on the Western Slope and for the entire state of Colorado, the time to permanently secure the Shoshone water rights is now. At the state legislature this year, we made a $20 million investment in this effort, our local partners have offered over $36 million and I am so grateful for our federal partners, Congressman Joe Neguse and Senators Bennet and Hickenlooper, for doing everything they can to ensure the federal government becomes a key partner in this effort, ” said Dylan Roberts, State Senator, Chair of the Senate Agriculture & Natural Resources Committee.  

    The 1902 Senior and the 1929 Junior Shoshone Water Rights currently held by Xcel Energy are used to generate power at the Shoshone Power Plant and then return it to the river. Communities across Western Colorado have already committed over $55 million, and are applying to BOR for funding from the Upper Colorado River Basin Environmental Drought Mitigation program to help complete the purchase and create stability for communities, water and recreational users, and the environment. The Upper Colorado River Basin Environmental Drought Mitigation program funding opportunity is open for application through November 22, 2024, and the lawmakers welcome other applicants to contact their offices on the opportunity to provide support. 

    As part of the Shoshone Permanency Project, CRWCD will seek a change in these rights to include an alternate beneficial use and preserve the historical flow regime. The state process for changing these decreed water rights is distinct from any federal funding review or outcome, and will proceed separately. As acknowledged in the letter, data collection and analysis related to the Shoshone water rights’ historic use is ongoing and important to the state of Colorado’s formal review. 

    ###

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Canada: Release of The State of Canada’s Birds 2024 report

    Source: Government of Canada News

    Backgrounder

    Developed by Environment and Climate Change Canada and Birds Canada, The State of Canada’s Birds 2024 report provides accessible, scientific insight into the population status of 463 bird species that occur regularly in Canada.

    Population changes in Canada’s bird species since 1970

    • 168 species (36 percent) have decreased in population
    • 143 species (31 percent) have increased in population
    • 98 species (21 percent) have experienced little change in population
    • 54 species (12 percent) are data deficient (not enough information to determine a trend)
    Long Description

    A spaghetti chart showing the population change in Canada’s birds from 1970 to 2020. The graph shows Waterfowl increase by 46%, Birds of Prey increase by 35%, Wetland Birds increase by 21%, Marine Birds increase by 0%, Forest Birds decrease by 1%, Arctic Birds decrease by 28%, Long-Distance Migrants decrease by 29%, Shorebirds decrease by 42%, Aerial Insectivores decrease by 43%, and Grassland Birds decrease by 67%.

    Key findings from the report

    • Three bird groups have increased in population since 1970: waterfowl (46 percent), birds of prey (35 percent), and wetland birds (21 percent). From banning DDT (dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane) to save the Peregrine Falcon campaign to conserving wetlands for birds like the Least Bittern, conservation action is having positive impacts on bird populations.
    • A crisis is unfolding in the Prairies. Grassland birds have declined by 67 percent since 1970, with no sign of levelling off. The destruction and degradation of native grasslands is the single greatest threat to this group of birds and biodiversity in general. Without urgent action to conserve their habitat, species like the Chestnut-collared Longspur and the Burrowing Owl may be lost from Canada, along with the ecosystem services that healthy habitats provide.
    • Shorebirds are continuing to decline, with a drop of 42 percent since 1970. The populations of some species, like the Hudsonian Godwit, have fallen by over 90 percent. Shorebirds face many threats, as many make perilous, long-distance migrations and breed in vulnerable habitats, like the Arctic and the Prairies.
    • Aerial insectivores—birds that hunt for insects in flight—have declined by 43 percent since 1970. Although the decline has subsided recently, populations are far lower than they were in the 1970s. Declines in insect populations have likely been one of the major causes, and reversing these declines could help save threatened birds like the Bank Swallow and the Chimney Swift.

    The threats birds face in Canada

    • Habitat loss threatens birds across Canada and affects migratory birds throughout their annual journeys. The destruction and degradation of habitats is driven by agricultural practices, urban development, natural resource extraction, and infrastructure.
    • Climate change is a significant and growing threat to birds in Canada. Northern birds are likely to be most affected, as the changing climate alters the timing of events like insect and plant emergence. An increase in extreme weather events like storms, floods, droughts, and wildfires also puts birds at risk.
    • Outdoor and feral cats kill more than 100 million birds in Canada annually.
    • Collisions with windows are estimated to kill more than 25 million birds in Canada every year, especially when migration brings many species into urban and suburban areas. Millions of birds are also killed annually through collisions with vehicles and power lines.
    • Contaminants and waste affect birds in all environments. Pesticides and other contaminants from agriculture and industry threaten both birds and their habitats. Ingestion of plastics also causes mortality, especially in marine birds.

    How Canadians can help protect birds

    • Create and protect habitats for birds. Plant native plants, reduce pesticide use, and make windows safer for birds.
    • Keep cats indoors or provide outside time with a leash or catio. Leash dogs in sensitive natural areas.
    • Help fight climate change. Use less fossil fuel, waste less food, use less energy at home, and eat less meat.
    • Volunteer for conservation. Take part in citizen science and support local, regional, and national organizations that work to conserve birds and their habitats. Participate in tree plantings, invasive species control, habitat creation, and restoration projects.
    • Choose bird-friendly products. If you are able, choose organic produce, bird-friendly coffee, certified paper products, sustainable seafood, and grass-fed beef.
    • Buy less and produce less waste. Use fewer single-use plastics, dispose of garbage and recycling properly, and help with clean-ups.
    • Learn more about birds, contribute to an inclusive and accessible birding community, and advocate for bird-friendly initiatives, policies, and conservation action.

    MIL OSI Canada News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: ***MEDIA ADVISORY*** Cassidy Releases Agenda for Upcoming Energy Security Summit in Baton Rouge

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Louisiana Bill Cassidy

    Louisiana Energy Security Summit: Unleashing American Abundance in a Changing Global Landscape

    9:00 AM – 9:10 AM
    Opening Remarks   Welcome by Sen. Bill Cassidy, setting the stage for the day’s discussions on leveraging our state’s energy and other resources to enhance U.S. economic security. 
    Sen. Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA)

    9:10 AM – 9:30 AM 
    Fireside Chat: Louisiana’s Role in Strengthening America’s National Interests in a Changing Global Landscape   A conversation between Sen. Bill Cassidy and Hon. Mark W. Menezes on the indispensable role Louisiana plays in promoting U.S. economic security.
    Sen. CassidyHon. Mark W. Menezes, Former Deputy Secretary, U.S. Department of Energy

    9:30 AM – 10:00 AM
    Protecting U.S. Interests Against Unfair Trade Practices   This panel exposes how overseas adversaries exploit weak environmental and labor standards to create a competitive advantage in trade and suggests potential solutions to hold foreign polluters accountable. 
    Maureen Hinman, Co-Founder and Chairman, Silverado Policy AcceleratorCatrina Rorke, Senior Vice President, Policy and Research, Climate Leadership Council Hon. James Connaughton, Former Chairman of the White House Council on Environmental Quality and Director of the White House Office of Environmental PolicyModerated by: George David Banks, Former Special Assistant for International Energy and Environment at the National Economic and National Security Councils, the White House

    10:00 AM – 10:45 AM 
    Executive Insights: Overcoming Competitive Challenges in Global Markets   CEOs discuss Louisiana’s potential in advancing American interests, highlighting key investments and policy solutions needed to level the playing field against unfair global competition.
    Massimo Toso, President and CEO, Buzzi UnicemUSADavid Hardy, President of North America, Orsted Caroline Reily, Co-Founder & CEO, Aluminum TechnologiesDrew Marsh, Chairman of the board and CEO, EntergyMark Widmar, CEO, First Solar Moderated by: Sen. Cassidy

    10:45 AM – 11:30 AM
    Trade, Energy & Manufacturing: Implications for U.S. Industries and Competitiveness    Further explores the challenges posed by unfair competition and what can be done to level the playing field for Louisiana’s industry at home and abroad. 
    Kevin Gundersen, Vice President of Global Corporate Communications and Government Affairs, Huntsman CorporationCalvin Hart, Vice President and General Manager, Nucor Steel LouisianaJerae Carlson, Sr. Vice President, CemexScott Nielson, Vice President of Environmental, Sustainability & Innovation, Ash Grove Cement CompanyLinda Dempsey, Vice President, Public Affairs, CF IndustriesModerated by: Sarah Stewart, CEO and Executive Director, Silverado Policy Accelerator

    11:30 AM – 12:00 PM
    Louisiana Spotlight:  State-Level Solutions   Industry leaders discuss the key role of Louisiana’s oil, gas, and chemical industries in fostering a secure energy future. This panel will also highlight opportunities for innovation and job creation in Louisiana’s key manufacturing sectors.
    Tommy Faucheux, President, Louisiana Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Association (LMOGA)Greg Bowser, President and CEO, Louisiana Chemical Association (LCA)Will Green, CEO, Louisiana Association of Business and Industry (LABI)Mike Moncla, President, Louisiana Oil and Gas Association (LOGA)Moderated by: Desiree Lemoine, Director of Governmental Affairs, TJC group 

    12:00 PM – 1:00 PM
    Load Growth and Energy Demand: Higher future demand for energy will bring a host of opportunities, risks and challenges
    Nate Hill, Head of Energy Policy, Amazon Tom Neyhart, founder and executive chairman, PosigenBenjamin T. Reinke, Ph.D., Vice President of Global Business Development, X EnergyAndrey Shuvalov, Vice President U.S. Energy Transition, ShellModerated by: Tom Hassenboehler, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, CO2EFFICIENT

    Carbon Capture: Cutting-edge technologies for reducing carbon footprints
    Vikrum Aiyer, Global Head of Public Policy, HeirloomDouglas Chan, Chief Operating Officer, ClimeworksMichael Manteris, Co-President, Blue Sky InfrastructurePatrice Lahlum, Vice President of Carbon Management, Great Plains InstituteBradley Ives, Executive Director, Institute for Energy Innovation, Louisiana State UniversityColleen Moss, Managing Director, ClearPathModerated by: Lynn Abramson, President, Clean Energy Business Network 

    Critical Minerals, Mining, and Processing: Regional to global policies
    Hon. Aurelia S. Giacometto, Secretary, Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ) Marcio Paes Barreto, Frontiers Initiative & EverCore EnergyJohn Flake, PhD., Louisiana State UniversityChris Young, Chief Strategy Officer, ElementUSAModerated by: Philip Reichert, Southern Regional Director, American Conservation Coalition

    1:00 PM – 1:45 PM
    Louisiana’s Competitive Advantage: Leading the Globe in Low-Emissions Manufacturing   Louisiana’s energy sector boasts a rich history and a bright future. Industry experts discuss how Louisiana is transforming its manufacturing sector to lead in low-emissions production, creating jobs, and driving economic growth.
    Christen Campbell, North America Energy & Sustainable Technologies and Site Development Director, BASFAndrew Connolly, vice president and general manager, Low-Carbon Hydrogen Large Projects, Hydrogen Large Projects, Air ProductsGreg Upton, PhD, Executive Director & Associate Professor-Research, Center for Energy Studies Louisiana State UniversityVanessa Martin, Driftwood LNG Project Director, WoodsideFrank J. Macchiarola, Chief Policy Officer, American Clean PowerModerated by: Xan Fishman, Senior Director, Energy Program, Bipartisan Policy Center

    1:45 PM – 2:30 PM
    The Bayou and Beyond: Enhancing U.S. Competitiveness through Exports   Louisiana industries can advance U.S. leadership in the global marketplace through exports.
    Dr. Paul Schubert, CEO, Strategic Biofuels LLCDr. Robert R. Twilley, Vice President, Office of Research & Economic Development,  Louisiana State University Will Latta, Vice President, Babcock & WilcoxMatt Barr, Vice President of State Government & Community Affairs, Cheniere EnergyHon. Kimberly A. Reed, Former Chairman, U.S. Export Import Bank, 2019-2021 Moderated by:Anna Johnson, Executive Director, West Baton Rouge Chamber of Commerce

    2:30 PM – 3:15 PM
    Louisiana’s Liquid Gold: Strengthening U.S. Geopolitical Influence through Energy Leadership   This panel explores the critical role of Louisiana’s natural gas industry in strengthening U.S. geopolitical influence and securing a prosperous energy future. Experts will cover how increased domestic natural gas production can foster stability amid geopolitical uncertainties and drive economic growth. 
    Bob Pender, Executive Co-chairman and Founder, Venture Global LNGT. Lane Wilson, Senior Vice President and General Counsel, WilliamsHon. Mark W. Menezes, Former Deputy Secretary, U.S. Department of Energy, 2018-2021Hon. Neil Chatterjee, Former Chairman, US. Federal Energy Regulatory CommissionModerated by: Bob Stout, Senior Fellow, Duke Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment & Sustainability

    3:15 PM – 3:25 PM 
    Closing Remarks
    Sen. Cassidy

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: LaMalfa, Thompson Introduce Pacific Flyway Habitat Enhancement Act

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Doug LaMalfa 1st District of California

    Washington, D.C.— Congressman Doug LaMalfa (R-Richvale) issued the following statement after introducing the Pacific Flyway Habitat Enhancement Act with Congressman Mike Thompson (CA-04). This bill allows the Secretary of Agriculture to enroll additional agricultural lands in the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program as long as it is necessary to address wetland habitat concerns. Additionally, it encourages farmers to manage their working croplands in ways that support wetland-dependent species by permitting seasonal flooding of these fields.

    LaMalfa said: “The next drought is around the corner, and we need to use the water resources we get to the best mutual benefit of farms, people, and the environment. Even this year with better water availability the California Department of Fish and Wildlife estimated that breeding duck populations have dropped by 30 percent, highlighting the ongoing struggles faced by both farmers and wildlife due to poor water management policies. This bill seeks to protect both the farmers and the hundreds of species along the Pacific Flyway. I’m proud to support this bipartisan solution, bringing waterfowl and agriculture together to protect these habitats and keep land productive.”

    Thompson said: “Many wildlife species rely on wetland habitat created by California’s farmers, including our rice growers. With the Pacific Flyway Habitat Enhancement Act, we can expand USDA support for our local growers, offering resources so qualified farmers can flood their fields in the off-season to both improve soil conditions and support the Pacific Flyway ecosystem. Thank you to Rep. LaMalfa for his partnership on this legislation.”

    “We’re happy to see Rep. LaMalfa and Rep. Thompson introduce the Pacific Flyway Enhancement Act,” said Julia Peebles, Ducks Unlimited Director of Agriculture and Sustainability Policy. “This bipartisan legislation will allow producers to enroll more working lands in the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program, which will benefit producers, waterfowl, and other wildlife who rely on seasonally flooded croplands.”

    “We appreciate Rep. LaMalfa and Rep. Thompson’s Pacific Flyway Habitat Enhancement Act as an additional tool in the toolbox to reward the stewardship of producers to conserve and enhance waterfowl habitat on their working lands,” notes John Devney, Chief Policy Officer at Delta Waterfowl. “We look forward to this being part of the conversation as Congress presses forward with continuing work on the Farm Bill and the myriad of ways we can work with private landowners to conserve, restore, and enhance duck habitat.”

    Congressman Doug LaMalfa is a lifelong farmer representing California’s First Congressional District, including Butte, Colusa, Glenn, Lassen, Modoc, Shasta, Siskiyou, Sutter, Tehama and Yuba Counties.

    ###

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Randolph Man Pleads Guilty to Fraud Schemes Involving Sober Home Client, Mass Save Program, and Mortgage Fraud

    Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime Alerts (b)

    BOSTON – A Randolph man pleaded guilty today in federal court in Boston to his involvement in numerous fraud schemes involving sober homes in the Greater Boston area, the Mass Save Program and mortgage fraud. 

    Nicholas Espinosa, 38, pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud conspiracy; one count of conspiracy to make false statements to a mortgage lending business (mortgage fraud conspiracy); 16 counts of wire fraud; six counts of unlawful monetary transactions (money laundering); and one count of making false statements to a mortgage lending business. U.S. Senior District Court Judge William G. Young scheduled sentencing for March 11, 2025. Espinosa was arrested and charged in March 2023 along with alleged co-conspirator Daniel Cleggett.

    According to the charging documents, Cleggett was the founder of the sober home business, A Vision From God LLC (AVFG), with locations in in Boston, Wakefield, Quincy and Weymouth under trade names including Brady’s Place, Lakeshore Retreat and Lambert House. Espinosa managed the day-to-day affairs of Cleggett’s business. 

    Espinosa, and allegedly Cleggett, along with a sober home client entered into a conspiracy to defraud a New York-based family trust that was paying for the client’s room and board at Brady’s Place in Quincy. Specifically, Espinosa, and allegedly Cleggett, overcharged the family trust for room and board by up to $12,500 per month by submitting false and fraudulent invoices to the family trust. Espinosa, and allegedly Cleggett, would then issue “refund” checks to the client in furtherance of the fraud scheme. 

    According to the charging documents, from approximately October 2019 to December 2021, Cleggett personally, and through straw purchasers including Espinosa, purchased the three residential properties in Weymouth and Boston to use as sober homes. Espinosa falsely represented that one of these properties was intended to be purchased as a primary residence for himself when, in reality, it was intended to be a sober home. 

    In addition to the sober home business, Cleggett operated numerous insulation contracting companies that participated in the Mass Save Program: Green Save Energy Corporation; Environmental Construction Objective Inc. (ECO); Green Giants, LLC; and Insulation Situation, LLC. Mass Save is a Massachusetts public/private partnership sponsored by gas and electric utility companies that funds energy conservation projects and improvements via energy efficiency funds charged to Massachusetts residents’ utility bills. 

    Specifically, Green Save and ECO received millions of dollars for residential insulation work from a lead vendor company under the Mass Save program. It is alleged that, from 2018 through mid-2021, Green Save and ECO fraudulently billed the vendor company for required permits that were not actually obtained. Green Save and ECO were ultimately terminated from participating in the company’s program in June 2021, and Cleggett was banned from participating in the Mass Save program. In response to this, Espinosa, and allegedly Cleggett and others, formed Green Giants as a new lead vendor with the same company under a straw owner. As a result, Espinosa, and allegedly Cleggett, obtained a total of $509,326 in payments from the company to Green Giants, despite a ban from participating in the Mass Save program.

    The charges of wire fraud and wire fraud conspiracy provide for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. The charge of making false statements to a mortgage lending business provides for a sentence of up to 30 years in prison, five years of supervised release and a fine of up to $1 million. The charge of unlawful monetary transactions provides for a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.

    Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy; Jodi Cohen, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division; and Harry Chavis, Jr., Special Agent in Charge of Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigations in Boston made the announcement today. Valuable assistance was provided by the Kingston, Randolph and Quincy Police Departments. Assistant U.S. Attorneys John T. Mulcahy and Dustin Chao of the Public Corruption & Special Prosecutions Unit are prosecuting the case.

    The details contained in the charging documents are allegations. The remaining defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Congresswoman Sylvia Garcia Applauds Biden-Harris Administration Final Rule to Replace Lead Pipes Within 10 Years, New Funding to Deliver Clean Drinking Water

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Sylvia Garcia (TX-29)

    HOUSTON, TX – Today, Congresswoman Sylvia R. Garcia (D-TX-29) released the following statement in response to the Biden-Harris Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) final rule requiring drinking water systems across the country to identify and replace lead pipes over the next decade:

    “I commend the Biden-Harris Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency for heeding the call of my colleagues and I urging them to finalize the Lead and Copper Rule Improvements (LCRI). This decisive action will help tackle the serious issue of lead contamination in our drinking water and will help protect the health and safety of our communities, especially in my district and across Texas.

    “Lead in drinking water irreparably harms the health of children and adults and disproportionately impacts lower-income communities. This rule requires that lead pipes be located and replaced within the next 10 years, which is a crucial step toward making sure that every family, regardless of where they live, has access to clean, safe drinking water. It will also strengthen testing requirements to help prevent future harm and ensure families are informed about both the risks they face, and the steps being taken to address them. Safe drinking water should never be in question—it’s a basic human right,” said Congresswoman Garcia.

    Alongside the LCRI, EPA announced $2.6 billion in newly available drinking water infrastructure funding through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which Congresswoman Garcia proudly voted for. Additionally, 49% of the funding must be provided to disadvantaged communities as grant funding or principal forgiveness that does not have to be repaid.

    The LCRI will also require more rigorous testing of drinking water and a lower threshold for communities to take action on lead in drinking water to protect people from lead exposure.

    In September, Congresswoman Garcia signed onto a letter with her colleagues calling on the Biden-Harris Administration to finalize the LCRI to immediately and urgently remove the estimated nine million service lines across the country that contain lead. 

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Pallone Announces Over $44 Million in Federal Funding to Replace Lead Pipes in New Jersey

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Frank Pallone (6th District of New Jersey)

    Washington, D.C. – Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. (NJ-06), Ranking Member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, announced today that New Jersey will receive more than $44 million in federal funding from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to replace lead pipes. This funding, which Pallone secured through Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, will help modernize aging water systems and tackle the critical issue of lead contamination in the state.

    Lead exposure, particularly for children, has been linked to developmental delays and cognitive issues. This new federal funding will prioritize the removal of hazardous lead service lines, supporting ongoing efforts to protect the health and safety of families in schools, homes, and communities throughout New Jersey.

    “As part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, I led the charge to include substantial investments in clean water infrastructure, like the funding being announced today,” said Pallone. “Safe drinking water is a basic human right, yet right now, millions of American families cannot trust the water coming out of their taps. This funding is a major win for New Jersey and a crucial step toward ensuring every community has access to clean, safe drinking water. We’re delivering real results to protect families and improve water quality across the state.”

    As part of this initiative, the EPA also announced today the new Lead and Copper Rule Improvements (LCRI) rule, which requires water systems across the country to identify and replace all lead service lines within 10 years. Additionally, the EPA announced $2.6 billion in funding for drinking water infrastructure projects nationwide. The $44 million investment for New Jersey will strengthen the state’s ability to remove lead service lines, ensuring that communities statewide—especially those most affected by outdated infrastructure—can rely on safe, clean drinking water.

    For more information on the EPA’s Lead and Copper Rule Improvements and funding opportunities available through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, visit www.epa.gov/lead-copper-rule.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Hickenlooper, Bennet, Neguse, Crow, Pettersen, DeGette Announce Support for Colorado River District’s Bid for Funding to Complete Shoshone Water Rights Purchase

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Colorado John Hickenlooper

    Lawmakers call for Bureau of Reclamation to help Colorado’s Western Slope priorities through program created by Inflation Reduction Act

    WASHINGTON  – U.S. Senators John Hickenlooper and Michael Bennet, and U.S. Representatives Joe Neguse, Jason Crow, Brittany Pettersen, and Diana DeGette, wrote the Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) in support of Colorado River Water Conservation District’s (CRWCD) application for federal funding to purchase two of the oldest water rights on the Colorado River mainstem in Colorado, known as the Shoshone Permanency Project.

    “Preserving the Colorado River’s historical flow regime as intended by the Shoshone Permanency Project will benefit the Colorado River ecosystem every year, and especially in dry years,” wrote the lawmakers. “We recognize the Shoshone Permanency Project’s complex nature and ongoing technical review, but believe the opportunity to protect historical Colorado River flows deserves your attention.”

    The lawmakers offered their support as part of an ongoing BOR funding opportunity to provide environmental benefits in response to drought, which remains open for additional projects in Colorado and the rest of the Upper Colorado River Basin.

    Currently, the 1902 Senior and the 1929 Junior Shoshone Water Rights are used by Xcel Energy to generate power at the Shoshone Power Plant and then returned to the river. As part of the Shoshone Permanency Project, CRWCD will seek a change in these rights to include an alternate beneficial use and preserve the historical flow regime. Communities across Western Colorado have already committed over $55 million, and are applying to BOR for funding from the Upper Colorado River Basin Environmental Drought Mitigation program to help complete the purchase and create stability for communities, water and recreational users, and the environment.

    The Upper Colorado River Basin Environmental Drought Mitigation program is an ongoing BOR funding opportunity to provide environmental benefits in response to drought, which remains open for additional projects in Colorado and the rest of the Upper Colorado River Basin. The lawmakers welcome other applicants to contact their offices on the opportunity to provide support.

    The state process for changing these decreed water rights is distinct from any federal funding review or outcome, and will proceed separately. As acknowledged in the letter, data collection and analysis related to the Shoshone water rights’ historic use is ongoing and important to the State of Colorado’s formal review.

    Hickenlooper and Bennet fought to include $8 billion for western water infrastructure, $10 billion for forests, $19 billion for agricultural conservation, and $4 billion for drought in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

    The text of the letter is available HERE and below.

    Dear Commissioner Touton:

    We write in support of the Colorado River Water Conservation District’s (the River District) application to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation’s (USBR) Upper Colorado River Basin Environmental Drought Mitigation funding opportunity, referred to as Bucket 2E. As you know, the Inflation Reduction Act provided a historic $4 billion to address issues caused by drought, including activities to support environmental benefits, and ecosystem and habitat restoration. If selected, the River District will leverage Bucket 2E funding alongside significant state and local investment to purchase two of the oldest water rights on the Colorado River mainstem in the State of Colorado – the Shoshone Water Rights – to preserve their historical flow regime in perpetuity.

    The River District was established in 1937 as a local governing entity to represent water users across 15 counties in Western Colorado – including the headwaters of the Yampa, White, Gunnison, and Colorado Rivers. The Colorado River District’s mission is to promote the protection, conservation, use, and development of the water resources of the Colorado River water basin for the welfare of the State of Colorado.

    Now, the River District is pursuing the Shoshone Permanency Project, which aims to preserve the historical Colorado River flow regime created by the 1902 Senior Shoshone Water Right and the 1929 Junior Shoshone Water Right (the “Shoshone Water Rights”). The River District has signed an agreement to purchase the Shoshone Water Rights from Xcel Energy, which currently holds the rights for its Shoshone hydropower plant. Today, the Shoshone Water Rights are decreed as non-consumptive water rights: the water is used to generate hydropower at the Shoshone Power Plant and is returned to the stream. The Shoshone Water Rights’ senior status “pulls” water to Glenwood Canyon, which ensures that water continues to flow and benefits the downstream environment. Preserving the Colorado River’s historical flow regime as intended by the Shoshone Permanency Project will benefit the Colorado River ecosystem every year, and especially in dry years.

    Data collection and analysis of Shoshone Water Rights’ historic use is not yet completed, and ongoing–a key step for understanding the historic flow regime on the Colorado River. The Shoshone Permanency Project seeks to change the water rights to include an alternate beneficial use for instream flow purposes, a legally recognized beneficial use in Colorado, to preserve the historical Shoshone flow regime. The proposed decree associated with these flows is still under technical review by the State of Colorado. The River District is actively discussing the proposal with other water users across the state. The Colorado Water Conservation Board and the State of Colorado Water Court will conduct a formal review in the coming months. Ongoing modeling will also help quantify the environmental benefits of the Shoshone Water Rights flows. One potential benefit is to the critical habitat of four fish in the Colorado River listed under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), known as the 15-Mile Reach, located near Palisade, Colorado.

    The State of Colorado and our water users are making their own significant investments to ensure that the historical Shoshone flows can continue in perpetuity. The Colorado River District has allocated $20 million, the State of Colorado has appropriated another $20 million for the acquisition, provided the State’s instream flow requirements are met, and a coalition of Western Slope water users and local governments have formally committed over $15 million. This strong show of funding reflects the local recognition of the Shoshone Water Rights’ importance to the health of western Colorado’s environment and local economies.

    We recognize the Shoshone Permanency Project’s complex nature and ongoing technical review, but believe the opportunity to protect historical Colorado River flows deserves your attention. We encourage you to give the River District’s proposal your full and fair consideration consistent with all applicable rules and regulations. Thank you for your review, and please notify our offices of any funds awarded.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Lankford Urges EPA to Rescind Costly Waste Management Rule Hurting Oklahoma Businesses

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Oklahoma James Lankford

    OKLAHOMA CITY, OK – Senators James Lankford (R-OK) and Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) sent a letter to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Michael Regan to express concern over a proposed rule regarding waste-to-energy (WTE) facilities.

    The EPA’s proposed rule would further tighten Maximum Achievable Control Technology (MACT) standards for existing WTE facilities while simultaneously removing compliance exceptions, leading to dramatic and unnecessary increases in compliance costs across Oklahoma without significant benefit. The Senators urged the EPA to reexamine its proposal prior to issuing a final rule to ensure that new standards are set consistent with actual data provided.

    “Municipal waste combustors, waste-to-energy (WTE) facilities, are a vital waste management technology that communities and businesses in Oklahoma use to divert waste from landfills, recycle metal, and generate renewable energy. Communities and businesses in Oklahoma, and across the country have invested billions of dollars to ensure these facilities are meeting the already stringent environmental standards set by your agency and by states,” wrote the Senators.

    “The EPA should be mindful of the fact that imposing standards that WTE facilities will never meet is well beyond EPA’s statutory authority,” the Senators continued.

    The proposed rule refers to the Standards of Performance for New Stationary Sources and Emission Guidelines for Existing Sources: Large Municipal Waste Combustors, Voluntary Remand Response and 5 Year Review (89 FR 4243), which includes a re-evaluation of the MACT floor determinations issued on January 23rd, 2024.

    The Clean Air Act (CAA) Amendments of 1990 established the MACT standards to ensure that all facilities in an industry sector meet the same standards as the top 12 percent of performing facilities. The EPA set these attainable standards, known as ‘MACT floors,’ for WTE facilities twice, in 1995 and 2006.

    Read the full letter here or below. 

    Dear Administrator Regan,

    We write to express concern about the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) proposed rule,

    Standards of Performance for New Stationary Sources and Emission Guidelines for Existing Sources: Large Municipal Waste Combustors, Voluntary Remand Response and 5-Year Review (89 FR 4243), which includes a re-evaluation of the Maximum Achievable Control Technology (MACT) floor determinations issued on January 23, 2024.

    Municipal waste combustors, waste-to-energy (WTE) facilities, are a vital waste management technology that communities and businesses in Oklahoma use to divert waste from landfills, recycle metal, and generate renewable energy. Communities and businesses in Oklahoma, and across the country have invested billions of dollars to ensure these facilities are meeting the already stringent environmental standards set by your agency and by states. In January of 2023, the Tulsa Authority for the Recovery of Energy (TARE) and Covanta (now Reworld), a leader in the sustainable materials management industry, established a 15-year agreement with a 5-year renewable option for the continuance of waste-to-energy operations in the city of Tulsa. Consequently, the majority of Tulsan’s household trash is now taken to a facility to be combusted and used for energy as opposed to immediately landfilled.

    As you know, the Clean Air Act (CAA) Amendments of 1990 established the MACT standards to ensure that all facilities in an industry sector meet the same standards as the top 12% of performing facilities. The EPA set these attainable standards, known as ‘MACT floors’, for WTE facilities twice, in 1995 and 2006.

    Now, your agency is proposing to further tighten the MACT standards for existing WTE facilities, while simultaneously removing startup, shutdown, and malfunction compliance exceptions. We are concerned that the expected result of this proposed rule runs afoul of Sec. 112(d)(2) of the CAA. By imposing dramatically stricter requirements without compliance flexibility, the new standards are likely to impose hundreds of millions of dollars of increased compliance costs without significant benefit. The EPA should be mindful of the fact that imposing standards that WTE facilities will never meet is well beyond EPA’s statutory authority. Any final rule that contains these standards is certain to be litigated aggressively. The EPA is wholly aware that it can no longer rely upon the Chevron doctrine to defend overly burdensome regulations in court. Moving forward in this fashion will only waste the government resources to defend a final rule that cannot survive judicial scrutiny. Furthermore, expecting our local governments and businesses to achieve standards that are prohibitively expensive or are scientific outliers is unreasonable. If standards are unachievable, or too expensive to achieve, communities may have no choice but to close WTE facilities. This will result in increased landfilling, forgoing millions of dollars of investment in WTE technology and energy production, making it more difficult to maintain sustainable initiatives in Oklahoma and across the country.

    We urge the EPA to reexamine its proposal to ensure that the new standards are set consistent with the actual data provided during the comment period by the industry to the agency.

    Thank you for your attention to this important matter for Oklahoma. We look forward to your response and the opportunity to engage further on this critical issue.

    Sincerely, 

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI: KraneShares Man Buyout Beta Index ETF (BUYO) Lists on NYSE: Applying Private Equity Selection Criteria To Public Equities

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    NEW YORK, Oct. 08, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Krane Funds Advisors, LLC (“KraneShares”), a global asset management firm known for its innovative exchange-traded funds (ETFs), today announced the launch of the KraneShares Man Buyout Beta Index ETF (Ticker: BUYO) on the New York Stock Exchange.

    BUYO seeks to track the performance of the Man Buyout Beta Index, which is designed to apply the key return drivers of PE/buyout funds to public equities. The fund employs a systematic approach to select a portfolio of small to mid-cap stocks from the Russell 2500 Index, targeting industries favored by PE firms and companies that are similar in size and display similar company-specific characteristics as those in traditional PE funds. The BUYO ETF targets companies with the following characteristics:

    1. Belong to sectors favored by PE funds, including Information Technology, Consumer Discretionary, Industrials, and Health Care
    2. Filters for companies with characteristics favored by PE funds, including strong free cash flow yield, higher operating margins, cash discipline (lower CapEx, ability to repay debt), and top-line growth among dozens of other signals

    As a starting point, the Russell 2500 Index without filtering holdings for PE-like return drivers is already highly correlated to the Preqin Private Equity ex-Venture Capital Index, with a 75.3% historical total return correlation since 2008.1 BUYO is designed to potentially have an even greater correlation and deliver a return profile similar to that of traditional buyout funds longer term.

    “BUYO offers investors a unique way to access companies with characteristics that private equity firms find attractive, but with the liquidity and transparency of an ETF,” said Kevin Orr, Managing Director and Head of Strategic Partnerships at KraneShares. “By leveraging Man Group’s research and expertise on buyout target attributes, BUYO aims to capture the potential value creation associated with private equity strategies while remaining fully invested in public equities.”

    “Our research indicates that many of the same methodologies that buyout funds use to target private takeover candidates can be applied to the public equity market to achieve similar results,” said John Lidington, who is a Co-Portfolio Manager covering liquid private equity at Man Numeric, which is acting as sub-advisor to BUYO. “We developed the approach underlying the Man Buyout Beta Index to provide an opportunity to harness the key return drivers powering PE funds, which are typically expensive and have historically been difficult to access for many investors. The approach helps identify potentially undervalued companies that in many cases may become public to private takeout targets in the future.”

    Major endowments typically allocate 20-40% of their portfolios to private equity, with some top institutions like Ivy League Universities reaching as high as 36.7% of their total investment.2 However, historically, there have been high barriers to entry to traditional PE funds, such as long placement and lockup periods and high investment minimums and fees.

    “We believe BUYO offers a compelling solution for various investor profiles,” said Jonathan Shelon, Chief Operating Officer of KraneShares. “BUYO may be appropriate for institutional investors seeking potential liquid beta to the PE buyout asset class while awaiting placement in traditional PE funds. It may also be attractive to investors seeking highly correlated liquid alternative exposure to the PE market or investors looking to diversify their portfolios by implementing a more endowment-like asset allocation that includes a healthy weighting to PE-like strategies.”

    “We are excited to combine Man Numeric’s investment expertise – by acting as a sub-advisor to BUYO – with KraneShares’ ETF product development, marketing, and distribution capabilities,” said Gregory Bond, CEO of Man Numeric.

    KraneShares will host a webinar with John Lidington introducing the KraneShares Man Buyout Beta ETF (Ticker: BUYO) on Tuesday, November 12, 2024. Investors interested in attending the webinar can register here.

    About Man Group

    Man Group is a global alternative investment management firm focused on pursuing outperformance for sophisticated clients via our Systematic, Discretionary and Solutions offerings. Powered by talent and advanced technology, our single and multi-manager investment strategies are underpinned by deep research and span public and private markets, across all major asset classes, with a significant focus on alternatives. Man Group takes a partnership approach to working with clients, establishing deep connections and creating tailored solutions to meet their investment goals and those of the millions of retirees and savers they represent. Headquartered in London, we manage $178.2 billion* and operate across multiple offices globally. Man Group plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange under the ticker EMG.LN and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. Further information can be found at http://www.man.com.

    *As of 30 June 2024

    About KraneShares

    KraneShares is a specialist investment manager focused on China, Climate, and Alternatives. KraneShares seeks to provide innovative, high-conviction, and first-to-market strategies based on the firm and its partners’ deep investing knowledge. KraneShares identifies and delivers groundbreaking capital market opportunities and believes investors should have cost-effective and transparent tools for attaining exposure to various asset classes. The firm was founded in 2013 and serves institutions and financial professionals globally. The firm is a signatory of the United Nations-supported Principles for Responsible Investment (UN PRI).

    Citations:

    1. Source: Preqin Ltd and analysis by Man Group as of 8/31/2024, correlation calculated from 1/1/2008 to 3/31/2024.
    2. Data from the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, “What a Tough Private Equity Environment Could Mean for University Endowments,” as of 7/17/2024.

    Definitions:

    Beta: Beta measures an investment’s volatility relative to the market and is used to quantify its risk. It’s calculated as the slope of a security’s returns regressed against a benchmark market index.

    Index Definitions:

    Preqin Private Equity ex-Venture Capital Index: The Preqin Private Equity ex-Venture Capital Index represents the returns on committed capital in private equity partnerships. It includes the amount of money invested in these partnerships and the returns that outstanding commitments would generate if invested risk-free.

    Carefully consider the Funds’ investment objectives, risk factors, charges and expenses before investing. This and additional information can be found in the Funds’ full and summary prospectus, which may be obtained by visiting: https://kraneshares.com/buyo/. Read the prospectus carefully before investing.

    Risk Disclosures: 

    Investing involves risk, including possible loss of principal. There can be no assurance that a Fund will achieve its stated objectives. Indices are unmanaged and do not include the effect of fees. One cannot invest directly in an index.

    This information should not be relied upon as research, investment advice, or a recommendation regarding any products, strategies, or any security in particular. This material is strictly for illustrative, educational, or informational purposes and is subject to change. Certain content represents an assessment of the market environment at a specific time and is not intended to be a forecast of future events or a guarantee of future results; material is as of the dates noted and is subject to change without notice.

    The Underlying Index uses Numeric models in its methodology, which depend on various data sources that may be inaccurate or incomplete, rendering the models potentially unreliable. Historical market data may not predict future price movements, and unusual market events can lead to unexpected outcomes. Models may also have hidden biases and could incur losses if actual events diverge from their assumptions. Additionally, performance may be affected by software issues or programming errors. While the Underlying Index aims to reflect private equity performance and risk like private equity buyout funds, there is no guarantee that public equities will achieve this exposure or that the models will effectively provide it.

    The Fund may invest in derivatives, which are often more volatile than other investments and may magnify the Fund’s gains or losses. A derivative (i.e., futures/forward contracts, swaps, and options) is a contract that derives its value from the performance of an underlying asset. The primary risk of derivatives is that changes in the asset’s market value and the derivative may not be proportionate, and some derivatives can have the potential for unlimited losses. Derivatives are also subject to liquidity and counterparty risk. The Fund is subject to liquidity risk, meaning that certain investments may become difficult to purchase or sell at a reasonable time and price. If a transaction for these securities is large, it may not be possible to initiate, which may cause the Fund to suffer losses. Counterparty risk is the risk of loss in the event that the counterparty to an agreement fails to make required payments or otherwise comply with the terms of the derivative.

    The Fund is new and does not yet have a significant number of shares outstanding. If the Fund does not grow in size, it will be at greater risk than larger funds of wider bid-ask spreads for its shares, trading at a greater premium or discount to NAV, liquidation and/or a trading halt. Narrowly focused investments typically exhibit higher volatility. The Fund’s assets are expected to be concentrated in a sector, industry, market, or group of concentrations to the extent that the Underlying Index has such concentrations. The securities or futures in that concentration could react similarly to market developments. Thus, the Fund is subject to loss due to adverse occurrences that affect that concentration. In addition to the normal risks associated with investing, investments in smaller companies typically exhibit higher volatility. BUYO is non-diversified.

    ETF shares are bought and sold on an exchange at market price (not NAV) and are not individually redeemed from the Fund. However, shares may be redeemed at NAV directly by certain authorized broker-dealers (Authorized Participants) in very large creation/redemption units. The returns shown do not represent the returns you would receive if you traded shares at other times. Shares may trade at a premium or discount to their NAV in the secondary market. Brokerage commissions will reduce returns. Beginning 12/23/2020, market price returns are based on the official closing price of an ETF share or, if the official closing price isn’t available, the midpoint between the national best bid and national best offer (“NBBO”) as of the time the ETF calculates the current NAV per share. Prior to that date, market price returns were based on the midpoint between the Bid and Ask price. NAVs are calculated using prices as of 4:00 PM Eastern Time.

    The KraneShares ETFs and KFA Funds ETFs are distributed by SEI Investments Distribution Company (SIDCO), 1 Freedom Valley Drive, Oaks, PA 19456, which is not affiliated with Krane Funds Advisors, LLC, the Investment Adviser for the Funds, or any sub-advisers for the Funds.

    For media inquiries, please contact: info@kraneshares.com 

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Governor Kelly Announces Virtual, On-Demand Meeting as Part of Water Local Consult Outreach – Governor of the State of Kansas

    Source: US State of Kansas

    TOPEKA – Governor Laura Kelly announced today that a virtual, on-demand meeting is now available for Kansans who want to provide input on water issues in the state. The virtual meeting is part of a second round of local consult meetings to gather input on strategies to implement the 2022 Kansas Water Plan.

    “These local consult meetings are critical to finding and implementing sustainable solutions to address our state’s water concerns,” Governor Laura Kelly said. “By hearing directly from Kansans, we can make further progress on the goals of the 2022 Kansas Water Plan.”

    The recent in-person and new virtual meetings build on the first round of local consult meetings held this summer, as well as Regional Advisory Committee meetings. The virtual meeting mirrors the content from the eight in-person meetings held across the state in September.

    The virtual meeting is available here. The content is offered on demand, so people can participate at any time they’d like.

    Through the virtual meeting, Kansans will have the opportunity to provide feedback on:

    • Updated investment scenarios based on feedback heard in round one;
    • What criteria are most important as investment strategies are evaluated to achieve the Plan’s long-term goals around aquifers, reservoirs, and water quality;
    • Setting objectives and identifying what Kansans think are reasonable actions to achieve them; and
    • Preferred revenue sources to meet the objectives.

    The meeting will be available online until Nov. 8. Input collected from the virtual meeting will be summarized alongside the input gathered from the more than 500 people who attended the in-person meetings held in September.

    Click here for more information about the Water Plan implementation effort and materials from both the first and second rounds of local consult meetings.

    The local consult meetings are being held by the Kansas Water Office, Kansas Department of Agriculture, and Kansas Department of Health and Environment.

    Questions can be emailed to kwo-info@kwo.ks.gov.

    ###

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Connected Learning Ecosystems: Educators Learning and Growing Together

    Source: NASA

    3 min read

    On August 19-20, 53 educators from a diverse set of learning contexts (libraries, K-12 classrooms, 4-H afterschool clubs, outdoor education centers, and more) gathered in Orono, Maine for the Learning Ecosystems Northeast (LENE) biannual Connect, Reflect, & Plan Connected Learning Ecosystems (CLEs) Gathering. These gatherings are meant to foster meaningful connections and collaborations and shared knowledge and confidence building amongst educators within the LENE network.

    NASA Science Activation’s Learning Ecosystems Northeast (LENE) is a network of education partners across the Northeastern United States, led by the Gulf of Maine Research Institute. These partners are dedicated to creating and linking communities of in and out of school educators, Connected Learning Ecosystems (CLEs), who are committed to empowering the next generation of climate stewards.

    The focus of this gathering was to provide educators the time, experiences, connections, and space to explore ways they can prepare the youth and communities they work with to build resilience in the face of climate change. Educators participated in sessions around local asset mapping, climate mental health, positive youth development, building STEM skills through games and fieldwork, and planning forward around coastal flooding and sea level rise. Each session was followed by time to debrief, reflect, and plan both in their regional CLEs as well as with statewide partners. The value of NASA assets and connection to local issues was woven throughout many experiences during this gathering. LENE’s CLE Resource Drive has a growing list of phenomena-based NASA assets that has been curated based on the interests of their network over time. The Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) program’s GLOBE Observer tree height app was part of the Ash Protection community science protocol and many NASA assets enhance the educator-guided planning forward experience guide that youth practice the difficult, real-life conversations about theconsequences of sea level rise as they think about ways they can plan for a resilient future in the face of rising seas and coastal flooding.

    Sara King from the Rural Aspirations Project (Hancock/Midcoast CLE) had this to say: “Before I first joined the CLE, I viewed STEM professionals to be separate from myself for the most part because I did not feel very confident in my abilities in all parts of STEM. I feel more comfortable with data and technology, engineering, and science practices now.”

    One educator said that their highlight from the gathering was, “[o]pportunities to meet with other teachers and educators and librarians to share ideas about how we can pool our resources and reach more students.” These educators left with draft learning projects ready for refinement and review, renewed dedication and motivation for the school year, and new perspectives to lead them into continued conversations and partnership with their CLE peers as they meet throughout the year.

    Learn more about Learning Ecosystem Northeast’s efforts to empower the next generation of environmental stewards at https://www.learningecosystemsnortheast.org. The Learning Ecosystems Northeast project is supported by NASA under cooperative agreement award number NNX16AB94A and is part of NASA’s Science Activation Portfolio. Learn more about how Science Activation connects NASA science experts, real content, and experiences with community leaders to do science in ways that activate minds and promote deeper understanding of our world and beyond: https://science.nasa.gov/learn

    The August 2024 Connect, Reflect & Plan Connected Learning Ecosystem Gathering crew (educators and project partners from across Maine and even one California partner).

    MIL OSI USA News –