Tag: pollution

Major Oil Spill From Attacked Tanker Forces Closure Of UAE Beaches

Amid the record pace in Iranian attacks on crude tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, many have been wondering: where does all that oil end up when it comes to severely damaged or sunken tankers?

On Friday the UAE has confirmed a deeply alarming event: some of its beaches are being shuttered as a major spill is washing up after a tanker was struck by a projectile off the UAE coast, resulting in a fire aboard the vessel and apparent major spillage. The attack incident happened earlier in October.

Authorities have “detected a tanker oil spill affecting Umm Al Quwain’s beaches,” the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment announced in a statement.

It confirmed that the emirate in question was forced to close its beaches, and that “teams immediately began containment, cordoning, clean-up and remediation… to limit environmental impacts.”

International reports have identified that the leak resulted from the Oct.9 incident involving the GEM NO.2 tanker, which had been detailed by the UKMTO

“Gem No. 2, was hit by a projectile Friday off the coast of the UAE resulting in a fire onboard. The ship departed Ras Tanura, Saudi Arabia, in March and has remained in the Persian Gulf since the war began,” as reported at the time.

The last week saw increasing complaints by beach area residents of unusual smells – reports that were initially brushed off by local authorities. One regional Gulf outlet documents the following timeline:

October 19: Unusual smells reported

Reports of unusual odours emerged on Monday, October 19, in Sharjah and other parts of the UAE.

The reports prompted authorities to begin monitoring the situation in coordination with federal and local government agencies.

Authorities conducted inspections and assessments to identify the source of the smells and determine whether they posed any risk to residents.

October 20: Sharjah Police reassure residents

Lieutenant General Abdullah Mubarak bin Amer, Commander-in-Chief of Sharjah Police, addressed public concerns during the Direct Line programme broadcast on Sharjah TV and Radio.

He said the situation was safe and stable, with no indication of a threat to public health or safety.

October 21: Environment ministry provides initial findings

The Ministry of Climate Change and Environment confirmed that it was coordinating with local authorities to investigate unusual odours detected in several areas.

The ministry said its assessments found no cause for concern.

Field monitoring and response efforts were continuing to reduce the odours and help them dissipate.

But then by Friday the oil spill impacting beaches was belatedly confirmed. This came long after oil-like smells began to inundate local social media, and government office call centers.

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World’s Worst Polluter, China, Vows Strong Presence at U.N. Climate Alarmism Summit

China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment said on Wednesday that it will send a delegation to the COP31 climate conference in Antalya, Turkey in November, to “actively promote the international climate negotiations.”

China is, by far, the worst polluter in the world and it rakes in considerable profits from its near-monopoly on the materials for green energy products like solar panels and electric vehicles (EVs). Yet it presents itself as a humble, concerned citizen of the Earth at conferences like COP31 and the climate movement seems generally inclined to go along with the routine.

“China supports COP31 in prioritizing implementation and addressing both longstanding issues, such as insufficient emissions reductions and inadequate financial support from developed countries, and emerging challenges, including unilateralism and protectionism that undermine collective climate action,” said Vice Minister of Ecology and the Environment Li Gao at a press conference on Wednesday.

Li expressed China’s support for the Paris climate agreement and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and said “progress should also be made on climate finance,” including “in-depth discussions on a roadmap for developed countries to deliver the $300 billion climate finance goal by 2035 and to triple adaptation finance.”

Li also called for “the establishment of international mechanisms for a just transition, helping countries, particularly developing countries, address transition-related challenges and narrow the gap between the Global North and the Global South.”

China is not expected to be paying any of these bills because it does not consider itself to be a “developed country,” even though it is currently the second-largest economy in the world and a voracious consumer of fossil fuel energy.

China postures as a developing nation, as Li said at his press conference, so it would not be on the business end of climate-themed wealth redistribution from the “Global North” to the “Global South.” These are conceptual designations, not statements of geographic reality, so China is not part of the “Global North” even though it also claims to be an Arctic power.

Li made much of China’s surging green energy production, saying China’s solar power capacity exceeded its coal power capacity for the first time this year, and it has become the world’s top producer of EVs. He also boasted that China now leads the world in nuclear power, combining installed capacity with power plants under construction.

Li forgot to mention that China’s coal fired power generation is still increasing, with consumption forecast to increase by over three percent this year. This increase was partly due to reduced shipments of liquified natural gas (LNG) from the Middle East due to the Iran war – and also due to surging demand for electricity to power data centers, EVs, and air conditioning.

In a June 2026 analysis, Reuters noted that China’s “renewable energy” generation did surpass coal power in 2025, but this was partly due to sharply reduced demand in the wake of the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic.

Renewable power construction beat some of China’s early projections for the “transition” to green energy, but actual electricity generation is lagging behind demand, in part due to unpredictable weather fluctuations – poor wind conditions for wind turbines, drought or floods plaguing hydropower plants, and so forth. China still needs fossil fuels – oil, gas, and coal – to meet peak demand, and it is still building new coal-fired power plants.

One of the big concerns among energy analysts is that China might not have enough coal for the winter of 2026, as coal production is down and imports have declined. Demand for coal power rose when LNG imports declined, cleaning out inventories. Production also declined in May due to a major disaster at the Liushyenyu Coal Mine, which killed at least 82 people.

Even with its reduced production and imports over the summer, China remains the world’s largest consumer of coal, accounting for more than half of worldwide demand, and China is still the world’s largest emitter of “greenhouse gases.” According to the World Health Organization (W.H.O.), air pollution causes about two million deaths in China every year.

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Retired Air Force Colonel Warns Data Centers Could Put Nearby Residents at Risk

Living near an artificial intelligence (AI) data center already comes with several potential drawbacks [1].

Some facilities produce constant, high-pitched noise, while others rely on large diesel generators that release air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. Nearby residents may also face higher electricity bills as the demand for power increases [1].

Recently, a retired Air Force colonel has warned that people living near artificial intelligence data centers could be targeted if a rogue artificial intelligence (AI) system attempts to protect itself and its infrastructure, according to a report by the Texas-based Collapse Survival Institute [1].

The report, written by retired Col. Drew Miller, states that data centers may become ground zero if a malicious or “misaligned” AI breaks out, and that residents living near those facilities could be treated as proxies for human control and resistance [1].

Similar warnings have been issued by other researchers, including Anthropic alignment science lead Evan Hubinger, who stated that AI could kill all humans within the next decade [2].

Report Details Potential Data Center and AI Risks

The Collapse Survival Institute report, described in an article by Futurism.com, states that data centers could become ground zero if a malicious or misaligned AI breaks out [1].

Broader concerns about AI control have also been raised by researchers and industry figures who say capabilities are advancing at a pace that could lead to systems surpassing human intelligence within the next few years [3].

The report’s recommendations reflect a broader pattern of concern about the rapid data center buildout, which has drawn opposition from residents across the country over noise, emissions, and electricity costs [4].

Calls for Stronger AI Safeguards

To address these concerns, Miller urges Congress to halt construction of new AI data centers temporarily. He also calls for mandatory emergency shutdown systems for advanced AI models and greater transparency from leading AI laboratories [1].

The report additionally considers the possibility of military strikes against AI facilities if governments believe a system poses an immediate danger. It proposes international cooperation as one possible response to such a crisis [1].

Miller’s recommendations extend to personal preparedness. The report encourages people to live farther from major AI infrastructure and suggests that rural residents could reduce their exposure by maintaining self-sufficient lifestyles [1].

Its accompanying recommendations even discuss using firearms against drones or robots that a rogue AI might deploy.

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Massive Smoke Plume As Tanker Erupts In Flames, Spills Oil Off Russia’s Sochi Coast

The Black Sea tanker wars have continued Tuesday. In the latest tit-for-tat episode, a large so-called ‘shadow fleet’ tanker is ablaze close to the Russian Black Sea port of Sochi.

The vessel, identified in reports as likely being the Aframax Rio, which was previously sanctioned by Ukraine for alleged involvement in Russian oil exports, is producing a massive smoke plume and has been photographed and filmed by shocked onlookers at Sochi’s shores. Images like the below are widely circulating on Russian Telegram channels.

Russian regional authorities in nearby Sirius have since confirmed in a public announcement that a tanker had caught fire in the Black Sea.

Reuters writes that “The beaches in the settlement in Russia’s south Krasnodar region are closed to the public, the authorities said, without giving any details of the cause of the fire.”

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Democrat Congressional Candidate Accused In Sworn Police Statement Of Dumping Waste In Waterway, Polluting District And State

Democrat Blake Gendebien wants to go to Washington and lecture New Yorkers about protecting the environment.

According to a sworn statement filed with the New York State Police, he can’t even keep his own backyard from turning into a landfill, and the garbage is spilling toward a waterway where North Country families swim, fish, and draw their water.

On Monday, Gendebien’s opponent, Republican congressional candidate Anthony Constantino, held a press conference to reveal the findings of a private investigation into Gendebien’s farm, and demanded the appropriate authorities launch their own investigation immediately.

The investigation produced a supporting deposition, filed with the State Police on October 1 by investigator Nathan Couture of Brooks Investigations, that relays the account of a confidential witness who worked on Gendebien’s farm.

According to the sworn statement, Gendebien directed his own workers to haul garbage into a wooded creek area behind his property, which feeds the St. Lawrence River.

According to testimony, this was routine, and it was done for one reason: to dodge waste disposal fees. Gendebien kept the money, and Upstate New York got his trash.

In late July, investigators flew a drone over the woods and the creek. The images show a dumpsite nearly the size of two basketball courts, choked with garbage, with debris thrown straight into the water. This isn’t a stray bag blown off a truck. It’s an operation.

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US-Israeli Bombing Has Harmed Iran’s Wildlife, Farms, and Water Supply

ust a few days before Tehran and Washington signed a now-defunct ceasefire agreement, local media in Iran reported that 25 goitered gazelles were killed in U.S. airstrikes on Kharg Island in the northern Persian Gulf. The small coral island is a key terminal for Iran’s oil exports and its unique wildlife includes white-headed seagulls, hawksbill sea turtles, and ospreys. It also hosts the ruins of a Dutch fort built in 1753. On multiple occasions, U.S. President Donald Trump has brandished the possibility of invading the island of 8,000 people.

The U.S.-Israeli war on Iran opened with the most intensive bombing campaign in modern history. Some 23,800 airstrikes were carried out in a span of 39 days, and one of its most consequential impacts was the environmental damage inflicted on Iran’s ecosystems. A June 17 memorandum of understanding halted the hostilities, but Trump notified Congress last week that he was resuming military action. Bombings are becoming a new norm, damaging Iran’s land, air, and water.

From toxic acid rain blanketing the Tehran metro area after Israel bombed the Iranian capital’s oil depots on March 7, to the emission of a substantial volume of greenhouse gases in the early phases of the campaign, the war has caused serious environmental degradation in a country reeling from a range of climate-related crises, water stress, and air quality issues. While international media have failed to consistently cover the negative environmental impacts of the war, environmental nonprofits, academic institutions, and climate advocates have documented extensive damage, only a portion of which has been understood to date.

According to a study by the Climate and Community Institute, 5 million metric tonnes of greenhouse gases were emitted due to the attacks on Iran in first 14 days of the war, which the nonprofit estimated exceeded Iceland’s carbon pollution over an entire year.

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Why the Left Hates Idling Cars

There’s nothing that bugs the anti-petroleum Left more than seeing hundreds of non-moving cars with their engines running. They call it a waste of gasoline.

Of course, it’s not actually a waste of gasoline at all; it’s just part of driving. We need cars to stop at red lights; that’s what red lights are for, so that traffic is managed safely. Cars stop for a moment at a stop sign, a little longer at a red light, sometimes going back and forth from stop to start on a highway or other major road during rush hour, or when sitting in the intersection awaiting a right or left turn.

You can’t look at each segment of a road trip separately; the issue is driving from point A to point B, not studying each individual step along the way. Stopping at stop signs and red lights is just part of the process of safe driving; it allows a huge number of cars to share the road network in all directions with a minimum of accidents.

But somewhere along the way, the Left came up with the idea of an automatic stop-start mechanism (also known as micro hybrid, idling stop, or other names). It’s an automatic way for the car to shut down its engine whenever it detects that the vehicle has come to a stop, without the driver switching it off.

I’m sure this idea sounds wonderful to the Leftists who dreamed it up; you are no longer burning up gasoline for the 10 seconds at the stop sign, or the 30 to 120 seconds at the red light, or the 15 or 30 seconds while waiting to turn left, or the minute while waiting for a police car, ambulance, or funeral procession to pass by, and so forth.

It sounds to the Left like a fabulous savings of gasoline. This must be wonderful for the environment, right?

That’s as far as the Left goes with it. They don’t dig any deeper. So the EPA started offering a tax credit to auto manufacturers who would add this tool, and before you knew it, 18 separate manufacturers were taking advantage of this tax credit, installing stop-start mechanisms in cars and SUVs and minivans. It’s almost unavoidable now.

The Trump administration is removing this foolhardy tax credit this year, in hopes that automakers will stop installing this alleged “feature” as soon as possible.

Why?

Not because the Right doesn’t like conserving gasoline. We pay the same price at the pump that the Left does; everyone wants to save money.

But because the Right dug deeper into the issue, and recognized that this allegedly environmental improvement was actually a net cost — to the driver, to the economy, maybe even to the cause of safety.

Is there a tiny savings in fuel consumption alone? Perhaps. It takes fuel to stop and start, and it takes fuel to idle. How long you idle will affect the net result in actual mpg.

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Pollution from Musk’s unpermitted xAI power project hits hardest in Black communities

Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company xAI has installed 59 natural gas turbines for its Colossus 2 data center project in Tennessee without securing federal clean air permits, according to communications between regulators and xAI representatives.

Potential emissions from the turbines are far beyond the threshold that would require a federal permit, and would be released near predominantly Black communities already estimated to be suffering disproportionately high rates of lung disease, according to a Reuters analysis based on government data and information in the correspondence with regulators.

The findings, which have not been previously reported, reflect how exploding electricity demand from AI data centers is driving companies to build off-grid power plants at a pace outstripping environmental oversight, with potentially big risks to public health.

The number of unpermitted turbines identified by Reuters is about double what xAI has publicly acknowledged. The company previously said it was running 27 unpermitted turbines for Colossus 2 as of January and has argued the permits are not required. At least 57 of the 59 turbines are located in Mississippi, just over the state line from Tennessee where the data center is located.

The xAI turbines are among scores of off-grid power plants for data centers proposed or under construction around the country. Local authorities often fast-track approvals in just weeks or months, without the years of environmental studies and public hearings typically required for such power generation projects that connect to the grid, Reuters has reported.

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Good Grief. Politico Laughably Kvetches About America 250 Fireworks Pollution – Fears Americans Won’t Mask Up for Show!

Do you remember when the media pretended to love America and the Fourth of July?

Those days are long gone.

The far-left crew over at Politico decided that the America 250 celebration — a record-setting fireworks show over the nation’s capital — was the perfect moment to whine about the environment.

And they did it with a straight face.

The tell is right there in the first word of the headline: “Trump plans record fireworks show, internal docs warn of smoky skies.”

Trump.

That’s the whole story.

NewsBusters nailed exactly what this is really about:

Substitute the name of any Democrat president such as Clinton or Obama or Autopen and the silly story by the Politico troika of Alex Guillen, Miranda Willson, and Ariel Wittenberg would have been nonexistent. Yes, they just can’t allow President Donald Trump to enjoy along with thousands of spectators what they consider to be a triumphal moment without raining on the parade. TDS is just that powerful, especially at Politico.

Then comes the thin veneer of concern.

Here is how the Politico team framed it, as quoted by NewsBusters:

Scientists have well documented the soot and heavy metal pollution that can spike severely in the wake of pyrotechnic displays, and the world-record-setting number of fireworks lined up for July 4 will mean an equally large jump in pollution, according to experts and internal NPS documents reviewed by POLITICO.

Soot. Heavy metals. Smoky skies.

Over fireworks.

On the Fourth of July.

It gets better. According to the same report, Politico frets that no one is telling Americans to mask up before watching the show…

There are no indications that the administration plans to suggest masking or other personal protection for revelers viewing the fireworks from the nation’s front lawn. And the Environmental Protection Agency said tracking the air quality impacts of the fireworks isn’t their jurisdiction.

Mask up… for fireworks.

As NewsBusters put it, any government warning to mask up — after the useless Covid mask warnings — would be rightly ignored and/or laughed at.

And here’s the punchline the Politico kvetch-fest was forced to admit itself. The scary pollution doesn’t even stick around.

The good news is that the dirty air doesn’t linger too long. One study found that particulate matter from July Fourth fireworks remained elevated for about 24 hours across 315 different monitoring sites. On average, the fireworks displays increased pollution by 42 percent. But after a day,

About 24 hours. Then it’s gone.

So the crisis is over before the leftover hot dogs are.

Face it. This was never about the air.

It was about Trump celebrating America’s 250th, with hundreds of thousands of Americans cheering along the National Mall, and a media that simply cannot stand the sight of it.

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JPMorgan DEI Executive FIRED After Dumping Garbage on Street, Stealing Knicks Trashcan in Viral Video

The woman seen in a viral video dumping garbage on the street and then stealing the Knicks trashcan is a JPMorgan DEI executive.

The executive, Angie Baez, 40, was fired after the video went viral and the New York Post contacted JPMorgan about her actions.

Baez reportedly skipped work to attend the Knicks parade after the New York-based team won its first NBA Championship in more than five decades.

The New York Post reported:

A woman caught on video emptying a public trash can on the street, then stealing it during New York City’s Knicks championship parade, was a director at JPMorgan Chase — who was fired Tuesday over the incident, The Post has learned.

Angie Báez, 40, was promoted to executive director of community and industry engagement for card and connected commerce at JPMorgan Chase more than a year ago, according to her LinkedIn profile.

She previously served as executive director of diversity, equity, and inclusion at New York-based review website the Infatuation, which Chase acquired as part of its broader push into lifestyle and experiential content.

Sources say the bank looked into the incident after the video surfaced and a JPMorgan Chase spokesperson told The Post, “This employee is no longer with the company.”

Báez could not be reached by The Post for comment Tuesday. Sources noted she had attended the parade in her personal capacity.

The Knicks-themed trashcan was eventually returned to the Department of Sanitation.

“First, we would reiterate previous comments that dumping trash onto the street and stealing public property for your own personal use are both illegal, antisocial behaviors, and not what New Yorkers do,” the department said in a statement to NBC News.. “On top of all that, doing both on camera is incredibly stupid.”

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