Study Warns of ‘Irreversible Impacts’ From Overshooting 1.5°C, Even Temporarily

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“Only by doing much more in this critical decade to bring emissions down and peak temperatures as low as possible, can we effectively limit damages.”

By Jessica Corbett. Published 10-9-2024 by Common Dreams

One prediction of where rising sea levels will end up at Cottesloe Beach, Perth Western Australia.. Photo: go_greener_oz/flickr/CC

Just over a month away from the next United Nations climate summit, a study out Wednesday warns that heating the planet beyond a key temperature threshold of the Paris agreement—even temporarily—could cause “irreversible impacts.”

The 2015 agreement aims to limit global temperature rise this century to 1.5ºC, relative to preindustrial levels.

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Airlines and Hotels Price Gouge Floridians Fleeing Milton

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“Sky-high prices to escape Florida before a deadly hurricane—and Republicans still criticize price gouging bans,” said one outraged resident.

By Julia Conley. Published 10-8-2024 by Common Dreams

I-75 in Tampa on October 8, 2024. Photo: Matos Zuly/X

U.S. President Joe Biden called on Floridians in evacuation zones to leave their homes “now, now, now” on Tuesday, and the mayor of Tampa issued a stark warning that those who “choose to stay” are “going to die” from the expected impact of Hurricane Milton—but desperate residents are grappling with the fact that hotels and airlines may make evacuating impossible for many.

Florida bars companies from price gouging during an emergency like Milton, but as thousands of people began evacuating the state’s western coast on Monday, accusations poured in about sky-high airline ticket prices and hotels in neighboring states that are charging exorbitant rates.

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As US Election Looms, 3 of 4 Voters Fear Political Violence

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“This most recent poll shows that voters want to vote more than ever despite, or perhaps because, our democracy is threatened with the dark cloud of election denial and violence.”

By Jessica Corbett. Published 10-7-2024 by Common Dreams

A man wearing a “Proud Boys” shirt waves a flag at a pro-Trump rally outside the Minnesota Governor’s mansion on November 14th, 2020.. Photo: Chad Davis/flickr/CC

Polling released Monday, less than a month away from the November 5 election, shows that nearly three-quarters of U.S. voters are worried about political violence and believe it is likely because some people will not accept the results.

The latest Civil Rights Monitor Poll, commissioned by the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, is based on responses from 1,000 likely voters across the country, who were surveyed September 3-8.

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Nations Urged to Bolster Biodiversity Plans by Enshrining Rights of Nature

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“Just as the Human Rights Declaration paved the way for peace after WWII, we must now make nature’s rights a global priority.”

By Jessica Corbett. Published 10-3-2024 by Common Dreams

A family on the Marañón river, between Nauta and the confluent with the Ucayali river (where those two rivers form the Amazon). Photo Pierre Pouliquin/flickr/CC

A report released Thursday, ahead of a summit in Colombia, argues that “recognition of the Rights of Nature and national implementation of Mother Earth-centric actions are critical for meeting the 2030 and 2050 goals of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.”

Finalized in late 2022, the framework aims to protect 30% of all land and water vital to species and ecosystems by 2030. The new publication urges governments to include ecocentric commitments in their National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs), which are each country’s proposal to meet the goals of the agreement.

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Concerns Raised About Toxic Exposure in Aftermath of Helene Floodwaters

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“All of these rivers should be treated as hazmat sites,” a local official in western North Carolina said.

By Edward Carver. Published 10-5-2024 by Common Dreams

Flooded area resulting from Hurricane Helene. Photo: Florida Fish and Wildlife/flickr/CC

Local officials, academic researchers, and volunteer responders have raised concerns about chemical and biological contamination brought by the floodwaters of Hurricane Helene in the southeastern U.S. last week, which potentially threaten the safety not only of drinking water but also the quality of soil—leading experts to call for tighter regulations on stored pollutants.

Helene struck Florida as a Category 4 hurricane on September 26 and swept through a number of states in the days that followed. Most of the damage came from extreme rainfall that triggered flooding. The storm killed at least 232 people.

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Supreme Court Issues Rare—Temporary—Wins for EPA With Methane, Mercury Rulings

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“The Supreme Court has sensibly rejected two efforts by industry to halt critical safeguards,” an advocate said.

By Edward Carver. Published 10-4-2024 by Common Dreams

Gas flare in La Porte TX. Photo: Roy Luck/flickr/CC

The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday rejected two industry-backed petitions to issue injunctions on new Biden administration rules for methane and mercury in a rare, if temporary, victory for the environment at the nation’s top court, which normally rules in favor of industry interests.

The two cases deal with rules issued by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)—one to limit methane gas emitted by oil and gas companies, and the other to limit mercury emissions at coal-fired power plants.

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80+ Groups Have Message for Biden: ‘No War With Iran!’

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“It is not in the national interest for the U.S. to be led into a war with Iran,” the groups stressed.

By Brett Wilkins. Published 10-3-2024 by Common Dreams

Anti-war demonstrators gathered at The White House in a National Day of Action on January 4, 2020. Photo: Susan Melkisethian/flickr/CC

On the same day that President Joe Biden said his administration and Israeli leaders are “discussing” an attack on Iranian oil infrastructure, a coalition of over 80 advocacy groups on Thursday implored the U.S. leader to “halt Israel’s march toward regional war.”

The National Iranian-American Council (NIAC) led the groups in a letter to Biden asserting that “it is not in the national interest for the U.S. to be led into a war with Iran” by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyhu’s far-right government.

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Barred From Israel, UN Chief Warns Middle East ‘Fast Becoming an Inferno’

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“This deadly cycle of tit-for-tat violence must stop. Time is running out,” said United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres.

By Jake Johnson. Published 10-2-2024 by Common Dreams

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres. Photo: Faces Of The World/flickr/CC

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres on Wednesday reiterated his urgent call for an end to violence and a diplomatic resolution in the Middle East shortly after Israel’s foreign minister declared that the U.N. chief was barred from entering the country, a move that drew international condemnation.

“The raging fires in the Middle East are fast becoming an inferno,” Guterres told a meeting of the U.N. Security Council, denouncing Israel’s “relentless airstrikes across Lebanon,” devastation of the Gaza Strip, and obstruction of a cease-fire agreement that could pull the region back from the brink of all-out war.

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‘Why We Need Medicare for All’: Boeing Revokes Health Benefits for Striking Workers

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“Like other wealthy countries we must guarantee healthcare to every man, woman, and child as a human right, not a job benefit. Whether you’re on strike or not, everyone is entitled to healthcare,” said Bernie Sanders.

By Edward Carver. Published 10-1-2024 by Common Dreams

Photo: @grrrrbs/X

Boeing revoked the company-sponsored healthcare benefits of about 33,000 striking workers starting Tuesday, drawing condemnation from progressives, who said it showed the need for a universal healthcare system in the United States.

The workers, who are mostly in Washington state and are represented by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM), went on strike on September 13, and the corporation announced on its website that their healthcare benefits would expire at the end of the day on September 30.

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Judge Strikes Down Georgia’s Six-Week Abortion Ban in ‘Absolutely Epic Ruling’

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“Forcing a woman to carry an unwanted, not-yet-viable fetus to term violates her constitutional rights to liberty and privacy,” Fulton County Judge Robert McBurney wrote in his decision.

By Brett Wilkins. Published 9-30-2024 by Common Dreams

Protesters march in an October 2, 2021 abortion rights demonstration in Atlanta, Georgia. Photo: John Ramspott/flickr/cc

Reproductive rights defenders cheered Monday’s ruling by a Georgia judge striking down the state’s six-week abortion ban as a violation of “a woman’s right to control what happens to and within her body,” a decision that means the medical procedure will be legal up to approximately 22 weeks of pregnancy.

Fulton County Judge Robert McBurney excoriated the LIFE Act, which was signed into law in 2019 by Republican Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and prohibits abortion care after fetal cardiac activity can be detected. The so-called “fetal heartbeat” law—a medically misleading term—is applicable before many people even know they’re pregnant.

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