How Did Coal-Rich India End Up With Power Blackouts? | The Nation

Theft and corruption have played a role in India’s power failures for decades. At every step in the supply chain, money is siphoned off via direct bribes or shortcuts. There is the theft of the politically connected—like Yadav. And there are special deals cut with farmers, large hotels and others who collect favors in the form of free or guaranteed electricity in exchange for bribes of powerful officials. Then there is theft of the Adivasis, or tribals, the untouchables and other disenfranchised people of India. More than a third of India’s households do not have enough electricity to power a light bulb, according to last year’s census. And so they steal it. In fact, as much as 40 percent of India’s electrical power is stolen.

Twitter / SteveTheQuip: So we have health sec who doesn't ...

So we have health sec who doesn't believe in NHS, a transport sec who doesn't like flying & climate change Sceptic in charge of environment.

The Democratic Convention kicks off, its greenness in the eye of the beholder | Grist

And thus is the American political divide on climate and the environment laid bare. Despite the fact that the party’s actual platform has become more lenient since 2008, the Democrats are being mocked as a bunch of dumb donkey hippies who are zealots about composting. And it’s the latter argument (“argument”) that wins the day.

Climate Number: 20 Fewer Hours | Earth Gauge

The time it takes storms in the North Atlantic to accelerate from a 74 mile per hour Category 1 storm to a Category 3 storm with 138 mile per hour winds has been reduced by 20 hours.