Here's a rather perverse irony. Amid all the war hysteria over Iran's nuclear ambitions, a US utility has ordered a new nuclear plant for the first time since the 1979 Three Mile Island accident. Of course this time they are promising that "innovations" will avoid the cost overruns that plagued the industry in its last big thrust of development in the '70s. (They are not even particularly talking about the health and safety concerns, alarmingly.) But note that this time it is a utility in New Jersey which wants to build the reactors in Texas—a fruit of the deregulation regime imposed in the last 20 years, which effectively bars utilities from generating electricity for local consumption. As we argued after the 2006 Queens blackout, this new regime exaggerates the dangers of the system by eroding public accountability. And with all the horrors in the headlines these days, this summer's radiation leak at a commercial reactor in Niigata, Japan, barely registered a blip—although reporter Matthew Wald does, to his credit, at least work in a parenthetical reference to the Niigata accident in this New York Times account, Sept. 25:

From the New York Times, Sept. 19:

World's Languages Dying Off Rapidly
Of the estimated 7,000 languages spoken in the world today, linguists say, nearly half are in danger of extinction and are likely to disappear in this century. In fact, they are now falling out of use at a rate of about one every two weeks.

Some endangered languages vanish in an instant, at the death of the sole surviving speaker. Others are lost gradually in bilingual cultures, as indigenous tongues are overwhelmed by the dominant language at school, in the marketplace and on television.

No comment. From Reuters, Sept. 17:

DUVANNY YAR, Russia — Sergei Zimov bends down, picks up a handful of treacly mud and holds it up to his nose. It smells like a cow pat, but he knows better. "It smells like mammoth dung," he says.

Valerie Taliman of the Indian Law Resource Center writes for Indian Country Today, Sept. 14:

NEW YORK - After three decades of drafts, deliberations and delays, the United Nations General Assembly voted Sept. 13 to adopt the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The majority, 143 countries, voted in favor. As expected, the only countries opposing the adoption were the United States, Canada, New Zealand and Australia. The main objections of these countries centered on indigenous peoples' control over land and resources, their right to self-determination, and that the declaration might give indigenous peoples veto authority over development on their lands and territories.

Talk about a vicious cycle. Global warming opens the long-sought Northwest Passage, which will mean easier access to the Arctic and its resources (including oil), thereby exacerbating...global warming. It should also exacerbate the geopolitical struggle over the far north. Russian authorities have already announced they will open new ports on the Arctic Sea as major petroleum hubs for the 21st century. (Barents Observer, Sept. 11) From Science Daily, Sept. 14:

In a blow to the auto industry, US Judge William K. Sessions III ruled Sept. 12 that the state of Vermont can set limits on car emissions that contribute to global warming, rejecting arguments that only the federal government can regulate the industry. The EPA has so far refused to demand a curb in emissions linked to global warming. In 2002, California passed a law requiring automakers to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 22% by 2012, and 30% by 2016. Vermont followed suit with its own such law in 2005, as have a handful of other states. Automakers took the individual states to court, arguing that the laws usurpsed federal authority. But Sessions wrote: "The regulation does not impermissibly intrude upon the foreign affairs prerogatives of the president and Congress of the United States."

Decades of negotiations between Ottawa and the Cree First Nation of northern Quebec ended July 16 with the unveiling of a $1.4-billion agreement to settle outstanding lawsuits and finally enact a 1975 treaty that stalled shortly after it was signed. The agreement, running through 2027, will give the Cree control over millions of dollars to improve local services. It will also open a new set of negotiations to finalize the structure of the Cree Nation's local government. The agreement is subject to ratification on both sides, including a vote by the 16,500 Cree that is expected to be complete by the fall.

Boy does this sum up everything which is wrong with the USA. Apart from the charming touch of cops brutalizing a woman old enough to be their grandma, is the absurdity of mandatory water-profligance in the middle of a desert. From the Worcester Telegram & Gazette, July 5:

Woman, 70, shackled for dry lawn
OREM, Utah — A 70-year-old woman who said she couldn’t afford to water her brown, sickly lawn was briefly jailed Friday after refusing to accept a ticket for violating a city ordinance.