Latest news with #environmentalimpact
Bloomberg
9 hours ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
Banks Are Financing Their Own Multitrillion-Dollar Nightmare
Financial companies are basically abetting theft from themselves by supporting new projects to extract and burn fossil fuels. Save If you come home early from vacation and find robbers ransacking your house, you could call the police and try to stop the crime. But the true alpha move would be to help the robbers load your valuables onto the truck and then tell them which of your neighbors are also on vacation in exchange for a cut of the profits. Banks are choosing the alpha option, basically abetting theft from themselves by backing new projects to extract and burn fossil fuels, thus stoking the planetary heating that stunts economic growth and their own insurance and mortgage businesses. Of course, these financial companies do get a cut of the short-term profits from this environmental sabotage. And by abandoning the pretense of siding with the climate, they avoid political blowback from a US government that has declared war on it. But the long-term result will be a global economy trillions of dollars poorer and far less stable, impoverishing just about everyone, including the banks.
Yahoo
14 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Buc-ee's flap: See why NC activists are speaking out against state's 1st Buc-ee's location
Despite the cult following travel center chain Buc-ee's has amassed across the country, not everyone is excited about the construction of North Carolina's first location. NC activist group 7 Directions of Service has spoken out against the new location with demonstrations, statements and a 40-page report published May 27, 2025, titled "Buc-ee's Burden: How Mega Gas Stations Hurt Community Health and Wealth." The nonprofit, which focuses on cultural and land reclamation and indigenous leadership, among other things, lists four major issues the organization takes with Buc-ee's on a webpage devoted to NC's Occaneechi Path: Environmental impact - The 7 Directions website states that emissions from the concentration of just 200 running vehicles can create harmful conditions for breathing. With 25,000 estimated daily visitors, 7 Directions warns that the new Buc-ee's travel center will result in an "air pollution hot-spot" in a location that is home to schools and low-income neighborhoods. Threats to a historical indigenous site - "The entirety of the great Occaneechi Trading Path ran from Virginia to Alabama, and a significant section of the path in Mebane, NC is threatened by Buc-ee's," the 7 Directions website states. Unethical workplace practices - 7 Directions cites a Texas court's 2017 ruling against Buc-ee's, in which repayment provisions in employment agreements were likened to "indentured servitude." The website also references employee ratings on job websites including Indeed and Glassdor, which rank the chain "lower than most major corporations, even worse than Amazon." Fossil fuels - "An economy tied to fossil fuels is unpredictable and makes us vulnerable to foreign supply chain disruptions and conflicts," 7 Directions stated in its report. "Renewable sources like solar and wind are more reliable and cheaper, and transitioning to them will help us avoid the worst of the climate crisis." More information on the subject, including the 40-page report, can be found on the 7 Directions website at The Mebane Buc-ee's opening is planned for late 2026 or early 2027. The NC Buc-ee's site is located at 1425 Trollingwood-Hawfields Road, Mebane, NC 27302, near the merger of Interstates 85 and 40. Southern Living reported that the new location will measure in at a sprawling 75,000 square feet, with 120 fueling stations and more than 600 parking spaces planned. Mebane is about 200 miles east of Asheville on I-40. According to Google Maps, it will take about three hours to drive to the new Buc-ee's. The Mebane Buc-ee's will be the state's first location. Currently, the chain has stores in Alabama, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Missouri, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas. The Mebane Buc-ee's is one of a list of locations set to open across the country. USA TODAY Network reported that stores will open soon in the following locations: Goodyear, Arizona: June 2026 Benton, Arkansas: September 2026 Ocala, Florida: 2026 Brunswick, Georgia: July 2025 Monroe County, Georgia: Early 2026 Harrison County, Mississippi: 2025 Mebane, North Carolina: Late 2026 or early 2027 Huber Heights, Ohio: April 2026 Boerne, Texas: 2026 San Marcos, Texas: May 2026 Rockingham County, Virginia: 2025 Iris Seaton is the trending news reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach her at iseaton@ This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: When does the NC Buc-ee's open? Activists protest NC's first location
Daily Mail
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Stella McCartney hits back at 'false' objections to plans for £5million Scottish retreat
She is renowned worldwide for her commitment to animal welfare in the fashion industry. But Stella McCartney has been forced to hit back at 'false' objections to plans for her £5million Scottish retreat - after being accused of threatening wildlife. The fashion designer and her husband Alasdhair Wills have faced backlash to their plans to build a modern glass-fronted home on the Moidart Peninsula, Lochaber, with more than 60 objections lodged with Highland Council so far. Claims that their four-bedroom Commando Rock home would destroy a wildlife haven, however, has promoted the celebrity couple to hit back saying the proposed home was carefully designed to have 'minimal environmental impact' and would be 'barely visible'. Their statement to the Daily Record read: 'The latest allegations sadly, continue to reflect falsehoods and factual inaccuracies relating to the planning application. 'What seems to have been largely overlooked is that there is already planning permission for a dwelling on the site dating from 2000 through a previous owner. This already consented scheme, unlike the proposed home, does not take into account environmental sensitivities.' It added: 'Allegations have been made that the proposed house will be visible from all directions. In fact, the proposed house has been sympathetically designed and will be secluded and barely visible due to the site's contours, including views from the water. 'This highly sustainable home in terms of visual impact will therefore be considerably better than the existing permission.' The daughter of The Beatles singer Paul McCartney and her husband made the comments following the latest objection from Professor Calum Sutherland who claimed the development would impact on seals, porpoises, otters and birds, which 'will most likely not cope with the proposed escalation in noise and light pollution.' He wrote: 'It is a shame that the ability of so many individuals to experience such an idyllic wildlife area will be adversely affected by the habitat damaging intentions of a celebrity. 'The size and design of the buildings, extending out to be clearly visible from almost every direction across the bay, with significant upgrading of transport access near to quiet wildlife havens is highly likely to have a significant impact on wildlife habitat and visitor experience. 'Wildlife tourists will be forced away from what has until now been a scenic and peaceful vacation area.' A previous complaint - thought to be from a birdwatcher - had earlier claimed the presence of Ring Ouzel, Wood Warbler and Redstart mean further studies should be done later in the year. That would set the project back a further six months. The objector wrote: 'Because a field survey has only been carried out on a single day in a single month - December - the ecological appraisal is incomplete. 'It fails to acknowledge that a corresponding survey between June and September would reveal butterflies and other insect life plus summer-visiting birds which may include declining species such as Ring Ouzel, Wood Warbler and Redstart, all of which would be vulnerable to human disturbance. 'It would thus be remiss of the planning authority to determine this application in advance of a further field survey which should be carried out on at least one day between June 1 and September 15.' The backlash prompted Mr Willis earlier this year to publicly defend the plans when he said: 'We want a house that is in tune with the landscape, not working against it.' Highland Council has yet to make a decision.
CBC
a day ago
- General
- CBC
Thousands of fish could be killed at Whitehorse dam, new study suggests
Social Sharing Thousands of fish may be killed as they swim downstream through the hydroelectric dam in Whitehorse, a new study suggests — and that's something one environmentalist is calling "unacceptable." Prepared by the B.C.-based environmental consulting firm EcoFish under contract for Yukon Energy, the research is linked to the relicensing process for the dam, now in front of the Yukon Water Board. EcoFish has studied fish mortality associated with the dam before. Its latest research, though, estimates the number of fish that could be killed. The research, based on two years of field work as well as data going back several years, suggests that many fish are being unwittingly sucked into intakes such as the dam's four turbines — a phenomenon called entrainment. An estimated 25,063 resident fish, which include whitefish, grayling and Northern pike, are entrained each year, the study states. More than half of those — about 15,470 — could be killed. Then there are imperilled chinook salmon, with an estimated 43,000 to 203,000 juveniles entering the intakes annually, the study states. Between 13,000 and 62,000 of those will be killed, it says, representing about 30 per cent of all migrating juvenile salmon in the Yukon River. This would mean that if 200,000 juvenile salmon were to move downstream, it's likely that less than one per cent of those would return as adults to the Yukon-Alaska border or the dam because of all the other ways in which salmon could be killed during their lifecycles. Built in 1958, Yukon Energy's dam on the Yukon River is a crucial piece of infrastructure, generating enough power to supply on-grid residents with roughly 80 per cent of their electricity during the summer — equivalent to lighting up roughly one million 40 watt light bulbs. The dam has four turbines, a spillway and, at roughly 366 metres, what the company boasts is the "longest wooden fish ladder in the world." Fish entrained at the Whitehorse dam can be killed in different ways. "Overall, it was found that the greatest mortality risk to fish was due to strikes/collisions … followed by barotrauma, and shear stress," the study states. Barotrauma refers to injuries brought on by sudden changes in air or water pressure. The dam has four turbines, with the last one installed in 1985. The study says nearly 12,000 resident fish enter that route alone, and it's one of the more dangerous. The mortality rate for grayling swimming through the newest turbine is 85 per cent; for Northern pike, it's 99 per cent. Juvenile salmon were studied separately. The research suggests the larger they are, the higher the likelihood they are killed. For wild, one-year-old chinook, the mortality rate is 58 per cent. The study states fish are more likely to be sucked into the dam during spring and summer nights. With that, it recommends considering adjusting flows during sensitive migration periods. The study also suggests more research into fish ecology in Schwatka Lake, the dam's reservoir, and taking a hard look at the turbines. "Fish behaviour can also be influenced to try and guide fish away from potentially harmful passage routes," the study states. "This has been attempted using screens, flow deflectors, lights, electricity, and bubble curtains with some success." Researchers used discharge data between 2013 and 2024. They also took fish samples, hydroacoustic scans and deployed sensors down intakes at the dam, including the turbines and spillway. Researchers employed similar methods in a 2023 study. This time they were expanded. 'It's just insane how many' Sebastian Jones, a wildlife analyst with the Yukon Conservation Society, told CBC News the new research not only shows but confirms how perilous the dam can be for fish. "Some of these turbines are killing almost every freshwater fish that comes through them," he said. "It's just insane how many. That's unacceptable, I think that's a fairly reasonable conclusion." While mortality rates for juvenile chinook salmon are lower compared to freshwater fish like grayling, Jones said it's no surprise salmon upstream of the dam are "winking out." "There's no wonder there's no salmon left in the McClintock River that used to support fish camps." Roughly 88 per cent of the territory's electricity comes from renewable sources, primarily hydroelectricity. The territory has for years been aspiring to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions, with ministers saying the Yukon is on firm footing already because of its three dams. But Jones said dams aren't "green" — they come with significant environmental impacts. "So when we are contemplating expanding or building new hydro [dams] we need to bear that in mind, you know, are we prepared to wipe out fish runs?" he said. "They're very hard on rivers. "The research is valuable. It is important, and it will help us design a generating system that reduces the number of fish killed."
Zawya
2 days ago
- Business
- Zawya
Kuwait eyes eco-friendly parking standards in new urban plan
KUWAIT CITY - Municipal Council member Alia Al-Farsi has submitted a proposal to create a comprehensive and sustainable parking code in the State of Kuwait, in line with the latest global developments in sustainable parking design. The proposed code aims to establish sustainable urban standards for the design and establishment of parking spaces in the country (surface, underground and multistorey); reduce the environmental impact of parking spaces in terms of urban expansion, carbon emissions and the encroachment of urban spaces; promote the use of sustainable transportation alternatives by providing infrastructure that supports other modes of transportation; increase land use efficiency by guiding the use of parking spaces in an integrated and multifunctional manner; and improve the quality of life by integrating environmental components like afforestation and natural canopies with smart technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI). Al-Farsi pointed out in the introduction to her proposal that Kuwait relies heavily on the use of private vehicles as the primary means of transportation; which has been refl ected in the urban fabric through the significant expansion of parking spaces -- both surface and multi-storey -- without a unified framework, clear specifications, and standards that take into account the principles of environmental sustainability and efficient land use. She specified seven basic criteria for establishing a sustainable code for parking design in the country as follows: 1. Urban and engineering design 2. Environmental sustainability 3. Energy and smart technologies 4. Mixed use and urban connectivity 5. Materials and construction 6. Maintenance and operation 7. Achieving sustainable development goals Meanwhile, the Technical Committee at the Municipal Council, chaired by Munira Al-Amir, held its first meeting for the fourth legislative term on Tuesday. During the meeting, the council approved only one out of three items on its agenda -- the request of the Tripartite General Trading and Contracting Company to amend the subdivision project represented by survey plan M/37868 located in Dasman for plot 55, which belongs to the company. The committee retained on its agenda the final version of the proposed amendment to Table No. Two regarding the requirements and specifications for investment housing buildings in and outside Kuwait City. It decided to refer this item to the executive branch to conduct a detailed study, while considering the item related to the site plans for the Ministry of Communications sites an urgent matter Arab Times | © Copyright 2024, All Rights Reserved Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (
