I am the FIRST!!!
regular 4 post ff
infinite scroll 4 pff
Advocates turn attention on bugs, birds, fish, and plants with racists names
Bugs, birds, fish and plants with names linked to white supremacists may be renamed, as science confronts its own ties to systemic racism.
Why it matters: The national reckoning was inevitably going to pass this way. The sciences have long underrepresented and erected barriers of entry to people of color and there’s a concerted effort for a reset under way in academia, research and hiring.
Driving the news: The Entomological Society of America announced this month insects known as Aphaenogaster araneoides and Lymantria dispar will no longer be called "gypsy ants" and "gypsy moths." Gypsy is a racial slur for Romani people.
- The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and other state agencies recently halted the use of "Asian carp" to describe some invasive species of fish in the wake of rising anti-Asian violence, The Associated Press reports.
- Bird Names for Birds has launched a campaign to change bird names, including the Hammond’s Flycatcher. That bird was named after former U.S. Surgeon General William Alexander Hammond, who once collected the brains of killed Indigenous people.
The intrigue: The American Ornithological Society announced in May its commitment to changing “exclusionary or harmful bird names.”
- The American Ornithological Society’s North American Classification Committee said last year the McCown’s Longspur would change to the Thick-billed Longspur following complaints about Confederate general John Porter McCown, an amateur ornithologist whose name is on the bird.
- Conservation activists say the Erythrina caffra, commonly known as the "African Coral Tree," should see a name change since it has roots in a slur used for South Africa's Black communities.
- California's Pinus sabiniana, or the “Digger Pine,” which is a pejorative term used to reference the Paiute and other Indigenous groups, also is seeing calls for renaming.
The National Audubon Society, the nation’s well-known bird conservation group, is debating whether to change its name. The group is named after John James Audubon, a bird enthusiast who also enslaved Black people.
Flashback: The reexamination comes as scientific institutions and biological diversity organizations publicly pledged their commitment to inclusion in the wake of George Floyd's death.
- Institutions and organizations also are confronting a past where science was largely defined and practiced by white men, who sometimes gave species problematic names with racial slurs.
- Science organizations say they want to make fields more welcoming for people of color. Doctoral degrees in science and engineering are still overwhelmingly conferred on white students, according to an analysis from the National Science Foundation.
- U.S. Rep. Al Green (D-Texas) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) introduced legislation to create a board to help rename more than 1,000 towns, lakes, streams, creeks and mountain peaks across the U.S. that are still named with racist slurs.
What they're saying: "We know that changing bird names is not going to fix racism as much as I wish it would. But we're working on removing this one brick, that is part of this huge thing we need to deal with," Jordan Rutter, a co-founder of Bird Names for Birds, told Axios.
- "You have these names that really just represent white colonialism and the perspectives that they had when they decided these are the names," said Gabriel Foley, a group co-founder.
- Rutter and Foley said the movement to change names also is about the process where people can engage in social justice and science.
The other side: Bird names are one of the treasures of the English language and not all bird names are derived from old white men, wrote Helen Andrews, a senior editor at The American Conservative.
- "Some are just very, very old. Our Anglo-Saxon ancestors were talking about swans, sparrows, and ravens when William the Conqueror was a boy," Andrews wrote.
- "To preserve the richness of American bird names for future generations, today’s politically correct literalists deserve (a) brushoff."
Exxon lobbyists' unfiltered climate remarks caught on video by Greenpeace, prompting CEO apology
An Exxon government affairs official compared lobbying to catching lawmakers like fish and acknowledged that the company's carbon tax support is mainly for show, unlikely to produce results in a video captured by a Greenpeace UK activist posing as a corporate recruiter.
Why it matters: The comments Greenpeace published Wednesday — while offered under false pretenses — provide an unfiltered look at two Exxon lobbyists' views. They also prompted a remarkable public apology from Exxon CEO Darren Woods, who insisted they don't reflect Exxon's positions.
- But it's nonetheless a fresh problem for the oil giant already under pressure to act more aggressively on climate change.
- It also poses risks for the White House, which is working to keep a bipartisan infrastructure package intact while also satisfying progressives who want more aggressive action on climate change.
Driving the news: In the videos, aired by the British broadcaster Channel 4, senior director of federal relations Keith McCoy told the Greenpeace activist who recorded the discussion that backing a carbon tax gives Exxon a "talking point," but that it's "not going to happen."
- "[N]obody is going to, to propose a tax on all Americans...and the cynical side of me says yeah we kind of know that, but it gives us a talking point that we can say well what is ExxonMobil for, well we’re for a carbon tax," he said.
- McCoy says Exxon wants to work with lawmakers to push for a tax, noting: "Put forth a bill and we’ll show you that we’ll support that bill, we’ll help you work on that bill," but adds: "Nobody wants to do that because it’s not political expedient to put forth a tax for people, it just isn’t."
Elsewhere, he discusses efforts to "reel them in" — referring to members of Congress — in ways that benefit both the company and the lawmakers.
- McCoy refers to Exxon's interactions with senators, including Joe Manchin (D) and Shelley Moore Capito (R), both from West Virginia, to try to influence ongoing infrastructure talks. He also mentions targeting other lawmakers for meetings, including Democratic Sens. Jon Tester (Mont.), Maggie Hassan (N.H.), Scott Kelly (Ariz.) and Chris Coons (Del.).
- Per a transcript provided by Greenpeace UK, McCoy also cites his ease of access to Cedric Richmond, director of the White House office of public engagement, and Gina McCarthy, Biden's top climate adviser.
- In a separate interview with the Greenpeace activist who posed as a recruiter, former Exxon lobbyist Dan Easley discussed various Trump-era policy "wins" on trade, permits and the corporate tax reduction "probably worth billions to Exxon."
Of note: McCoy also addresses the company's history of funding organizations that work to portray climate science as unsettled.
- “Did we aggressively fight against some of the science? Yes. Did we hide our science? Absolutely not,” McCoy said. “Did we join some of these shadow groups to work against some of the early efforts? Yes, that’s true.”
What they're saying: Woods' statement said the two lobbyists were not involved in developing Exxon's policy positions discussed in the wide-ranging interviews.
- "Comments made by the individuals in no way represent the company’s position on a variety of issues, including climate policy and our firm commitment that carbon pricing is important to addressing climate change," he said.
- But Woods added, "We condemn the statements and are deeply apologetic for them, including comments regarding interactions with elected officials."
- "We were shocked by these interviews and stand by our commitments to working on finding solutions to climate change," he said.
- McCoy apologized in a statement on LinkedIn. "I am deeply embarrassed by my comments and that I allowed myself to fall for Greenpeace’s deception. My statements clearly do not represent ExxonMobil’s positions on important public policy issues."
What we're watching: The fallout from the Greenpeace operation on Exxon's image and climate policy, and any repercussions for the White House. The comments are already attracting criticism.
- "Today’s tape only proves our knowledge that the industry’s disinformation campaign is alive and well," said Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna in a statement.
- “They lie about climate science and their products’ role in the climate crisis. They lie about their commitment to climate solutions. And they lie to protect their bottom line, with no regard for the catastrophic damage their products continue to cause to our planet and everyone on it," said Richard Wiles, executive director of the Center for Climate Integrity.
Catch up fast: Exxon has for years supported a carbon tax. They're a member of the Climate Leadership Council, a coalition of companies and environmental groups that backs a tax that would see the revenues returned to the public.
- "We believe ExxonMobil’s commitment to addressing climate change is genuine," said Alex Flint, head of the Alliance for Market Solutions, another pro-tax group that's supported by Exxon.
Latinos in the U.S. earn less, die earlier in segregated areas, report says
U.S. Latinos have a higher life expectancy and earn more yearly income when they live in racially mixed neighborhoods compared to areas that are predominantly Black or Latino, an analysis finds.
Why it matters: The study by the University of California Berkeley’s Othering and Belonging Institute released this week shows the physical and economic toll onLatinos as cities become more segregated.
By the numbers: Latino children raised in integrated neighborhoods earn $844 more per year as adults than Latino children raised in highly segregated communities of color, the report found from analyzing data from 1990 to 2019.
- They earn $5,000 more as an adult annually when raised in predominantlywhite neighborhoods than those raised in highly segregated communities of color.
- "Segregation remains one of the principal causes of group-based inequality, by separating people from life-enhancing resources, such as good schools, healthy environments, and access to jobs," the report concludes.
- The nation’s largest cities and metropolitan areas remain highly segregated, but the mid-Atlantic, the Midwest, and the West Coast — places where Latinos live — disproportionately make up the most segregated regions.
The intrigue: "The Roots of Structural Racism: Twenty-First Century Racial Residential Segregation in the United States" found that the segregation of Latinos skyrocketed in both small and large metro regions since 1990.
Between the line: A report from The Civil Rights Project at UCLA in December found that school segregation between Black and white students has returned to 1968 levels, even as the nation grows more diverse.
Yes, but: The resegregation of U.S. schools often doesn't produce all-Black enrollmentas the declining contact with whites has been replaced by growing contact with Latinos, an issue that has received little research.
- This has created majority-Black-Latino school systems with small white student populations like Boston Public Schools and Aldine Independent School District in Houston.
Racial segregation also was linked to disparities in life outcomes in some places. Highly segregated white neighborhoods had a life expectancy of 81 years compared to 77 years in highly segregated areas where Latinos live.
- Life expectancy is more than five years greater in San Francisco white neighborhoods (84 years) than in segregated Black/Latino enclaves (79 years).
Don't forget: Feeling stigmatized, threatened, or discriminated against correlates with structural heart abnormalities in Latinos, according to a preliminary study by the American Medical Association.
- The study measured the left ventricle and atrial health of over 1,800 Latinos—including Hispanics born outside the U.S. or who predominantly speak Spanish—living in the Bronx, Chicago, Miami, and San Diego.
- People with an enlarged left atrium or ventricle usually suffer from conditions like high blood pressure and are more prone to have strokes.
Inside a crowded border patrol tent for migrants in Texas
Exclusive photos from inside a U.S. Customs and Border Protection temporary overflow facility in Donna, Texas, reveal the crowded, makeshift conditions at the border as the government's longer term child shelters and family detention centers fill up.
Why it matters: Each of eight "pods" in the so-called soft-sided facility has a 260-person occupancy, said Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas), who provided the photos to Axios to raise awareness about the situation. But as of Sunday, he said, one pod held more than 400 unaccompanied male minors.
- Because the Biden administration has restricted media coverage at housing facilities, images like these offer a rare window into conditions.
- Cuellar, who recently visited a shelter for children, did not tour the Donna facility or take the photos himself. He said the photos were taken over the weekend.
What they're saying: Cuellar described the setting as "terrible conditions for the children" and said they need to be moved more rapidly into the care of the Department of Health and Human Services.
- Border Patrol agents are "doing the best they can under the circumstances" but are "not equipped to care for kids" and "need help from the administration," he said.
- "We have to stop kids and families from making the dangerous trek across Mexico to come to the United States. We have to work with Mexico and Central American countries to have them apply for asylum in their countries."
“I have said repeatedly from the very outset a Border Patrol station is no place for a child," DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told CNN on Sunday. "That is why we are working around the clock to move these children out of the Border Patrol facilities into the care and custody of the Department of Health and Human Services that shelters them.”
- On MSNBC, he compared the administration's actions to those of the Trump administration,"We are not expelling children, girls, 5, 7, 9 years old back into the desert of Mexico, back into the hands of traffickers.”
The bottom line: Facilities are at capacity under coronavirus protocols, and the Rio Grande Valley sector — which includes Donna — has far exceeded even its non-pandemic limits.
- As of Saturday, there were 10,000 migrants in CBP custody overall, nearly half were unaccompanied minors — thousands of whom had been waiting for more than 3 days in border patrol facilities, according to government data provided to Axios by another source.



