Greenwashing steel in southwest Pennsylvania

benfell

Pennsylvania and surrounding areas

Pittsburgh, the Ohio Valley, and surrounding areas

Pollution


Fig. 1. Photographer unknown, circa 1940-1950, from Smoke Control Lantern Slide Collection, ca. 1940-1950, AIS.1978.22, Archives Service Center, University of Pittsburgh, via Bloomberg,[1] fair use.

When I saw the headline, “‘Green Steel’ would curb carbon emissions, spur economic revival in Southwest Pennsylvania, study says,”[2] my immediate question was, what greenwashing bullshit is this? I didn’t have to read far:

Southwest Pennsylvania, where the industry is concentrated, has the water and wind resources, as well as a long history of steel making, that would enable it to change from emissions-heavy coal as the fuel for making steel, to hydrogen, which can be used to convert iron to crude steel in an electric arc furnace. If the electricity that powers the furnace comes from a renewable source, the resulting steel would be almost free of carbon emissions, the report said.[3]

Around here, they would be extracting hydrogen from natural gas,[4] which is still fossil fuel, non-renewable, and, even worse, fracked.[5]

[Robert W. Howarth and Mark Z. Jacobson] also took into account the natural gas required to power the carbon capture technology. In all, they found that the greenhouse gas footprint of blue hydrogen was more than 20 percent greater than burning natural gas or coal for heat. (Running the analysis at a far lower gas leak rate of 1.54 percent only reduced emissions slightly, and emissions from blue hydrogen still remained higher than from simply burning natural gas.)[6]

This isn’t just greenwashing bullshit. It’s screaming greenwashing bullshit.

Jon Hurdle, “‘Green Steel’ would curb carbon emissions, spur economic revival in Southwest Pennsylvania, study says,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, April 18, 2023, https://www.post-gazette.com/business/powersource/2023/04/18/green-steel-curb-carbon-emissions-renewables/stories/202304170092

So-called ‘ridesharing’

Drivers


Fig. 1. Yeah, this is me. The sign says, “If you’re whining about a labor shortage, STOP ignoring my job applications!” And the QR-code leads here. Photograph by author, January 16, 2023.

Uber was about to fire Alexandru Iftimie, a driver in the United Kingdom for alleged fraudulent activity:[7]

With the help of his union, the App Drivers and Couriers Union, he went on to request the data Uber held about him; but what came back left him little wiser about what he was meant to have done wrong.

With the help of Worker Info Exchange and his union, Iftimie pursued Uber – and another ride-sharing app for which he worked, Ola – all the way to the court of appeal in Amsterdam, where Uber’s European headquarters is based. . . .

An Uber spokesperson said: “We are disappointed that the court did not recognise the robust processes we have in place, including meaningful human review, when making a decision to deactivate a driver’s account due to suspected fraud.”[8]

There are no unions for gig workers in the United States and many (including me) are covered by binding arbitration. Anyone who has dealt with Uber’s so-called “customer service” knows that their “meaningful human review” is meaningless.

Heather Stewart, “‘Stop or I’ll fire you’: the driver who defied Uber’s automated HR,” Guardian, April 16, 2023, https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/apr/16/stop-or-ill-fire-you-the-driver-who-defied-ubers-automated-hr

Imperialism

China


Fig. 1. “Map of Qing Empire filled with the flag.” Graphic by Daniel222potato [pseud.], via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Perry Stein and Joseph Menn, “U.S. alleges secret Chinese police post in NYC, online tracking of dissidents,” Washington Post, April 17, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/04/17/chinese-police-new-york-social-media/

Gilead

Academic repression

Adjuncts

Jonathan Zimmerman, “Adjunct professors often don’t ‘earn enough to eat.’ The rest of us need to speak up,” Philadelphia Inquirer, April 17, 2023, https://www.inquirer.com/opinion/rutgers-strike-adjunct-faculty-wages-benefits-20230417.html

Gilead

Donald Trump

Coup attempt


Fig. 1. “Jake Angeli (Qanon Shaman), seen holding a Qanon sign at the intersection of Bell Rd and 75th Ave in Peoria, Arizona, on 2020 October 15.” Photography by TheUnseen011101 [pseud.], October 15, 2020, via Wikimedia Commons, public domain.

Looks like last-minute settlement talks[9] failed.[10] Apparently, this should not be surprising:

However, three people directly involved in the case said they did not expect the parties to settle. Lawyers for Dominion Voting Systems, which brought the suit against Fox [News], were filing requests with the court on Monday morning, an indication that they expected the case to go to trial on Tuesday. . . .

The reason a settlement has been elusive so far is not just monetary. Fox, one of the most profitable media companies, would have to issue an apology to Dominion under the terms Dominion would accept, according to several people familiar with the limited settlement discussions that had taken place in previous months.

But doing so would come at a significant reputational cost to Fox News, which has continued to air programs casting doubt on the culpability of Trump supporters in the riots of Jan. 6, 2021.[11]

All I can say is that Fox News would not, by any means, and certainly not in this case, be the hill I would choose to die on for “free press” rights.

Erin Mulvaney, Isabella Simonetti, and Joe Flint, “Fox News Defamation Trial Delayed Amid Network’s Push to Settle Dispute,” Wall Street Journal, April 17, 2023, https://www.wsj.com/articles/fox-news-dominion-prepare-for-battle-in-1-6-billion-defamation-trial-fad2e9a6

Jeremy W. Peters and Katie Robertson, “Fox Disputes Possible Damages as Judge Delays Defamation Trial,” New York Times, April 17, 2023, https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/17/business/fox-dominion-trial-delay.html

David Bauder, Randall Chase, and Geoff Mulvihill, “Lawsuit against Fox for false election claims heads to trial,” Associated Press, April 18, 2023, https://apnews.com/article/fox-news-dominion-lawsuit-trial-trump-2020-0ac71f75acfacc52ea80b3e747fb0afe

  1. [1]Mark Byrnes, “What Pittsburgh Looked Like When It Decided It Had a Pollution Problem,” Bloomberg, June 5, 2012, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2012-06-05/what-pittsburgh-looked-like-when-it-decided-it-had-a-pollution-problem↩
  2. [2]Jon Hurdle, “‘Green Steel’ would curb carbon emissions, spur economic revival in Southwest Pennsylvania, study says,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, April 18, 2023, https://www.post-gazette.com/business/powersource/2023/04/18/green-steel-curb-carbon-emissions-renewables/stories/202304170092↩
  3. [3]Jon Hurdle, “‘Green Steel’ would curb carbon emissions, spur economic revival in Southwest Pennsylvania, study says,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, April 18, 2023, https://www.post-gazette.com/business/powersource/2023/04/18/green-steel-curb-carbon-emissions-renewables/stories/202304170092↩
  4. [4]Hiroko Tabuchi, “For Many, Hydrogen Is the Fuel of the Future. New Research Raises Doubts,” New York Times, August 16, 2021, https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/12/climate/hydrogen-fuel-natural-gas-pollution.html↩
  5. [5]Stuart Braun, “The true cost of fracked US ‘freedom gas,’” Deutsche Welle, March 28, 2022, https://www.dw.com/en/the-true-cost-of-fracked-us-freedom-gas/a-61283540↩
  6. [6]Hiroko Tabuchi, “For Many, Hydrogen Is the Fuel of the Future. New Research Raises Doubts,” New York Times, August 16, 2021, https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/12/climate/hydrogen-fuel-natural-gas-pollution.html↩
  7. [7]Heather Stewart, “‘Stop or I’ll fire you’: the driver who defied Uber’s automated HR,” Guardian, April 16, 2023, https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/apr/16/stop-or-ill-fire-you-the-driver-who-defied-ubers-automated-hr↩
  8. [8]Heather Stewart, “‘Stop or I’ll fire you’: the driver who defied Uber’s automated HR,” Guardian, April 16, 2023, https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/apr/16/stop-or-ill-fire-you-the-driver-who-defied-ubers-automated-hr↩
  9. [9]Erin Mulvaney, Isabella Simonetti, and Joe Flint, “Fox News Defamation Trial Delayed Amid Network’s Push to Settle Dispute,” Wall Street Journal, April 17, 2023, https://www.wsj.com/articles/fox-news-dominion-prepare-for-battle-in-1-6-billion-defamation-trial-fad2e9a6; Jeremy W. Peters and Katie Robertson, “Fox Disputes Possible Damages as Judge Delays Defamation Trial,” New York Times, April 17, 2023, https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/17/business/fox-dominion-trial-delay.html↩
  10. [10]David Bauder, Randall Chase, and Geoff Mulvihill, “Lawsuit against Fox for false election claims heads to trial,” Associated Press, April 18, 2023, https://apnews.com/article/fox-news-dominion-lawsuit-trial-trump-2020-0ac71f75acfacc52ea80b3e747fb0afe↩
  11. [11]Jeremy W. Peters and Katie Robertson, “Fox Disputes Possible Damages as Judge Delays Defamation Trial,” New York Times, April 17, 2023, https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/17/business/fox-dominion-trial-delay.html↩

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