All posts tagged: Waste

Waste Of The Day: Seattle’s Homelessness Fiasco

Waste Of The Day: Seattle’s Homelessness Fiasco

Published by Jenni Sidey

Authored by Jeremy Portnoy via RealClear Politics, Topline: The homelessness agency in King County, Wash., has a $45 million deficit, but auditors can’t fully figure out why, according to a state audit publicly released this April. Its accounting records are so poor that it’s impossible to track where portions of its money are being spent. Key facts: The King County Regional Homelessness Authority helps run shelters and outreach to the homeless population in 39 cities. It’s funded jointly by the county and the City of Seattle. Financial records claim that the city and county owe the Homelessness Authority $49.8 million for services already performed, but the Authority could not explain what $8 million of that was for. The Authority also overspent its administrative budget by $4.3 million, auditors found. Officials bought Salesforce, a business analytics platform, in 2024 without approval from the county, the report claims. A budget amendment later allowed them to spend $563,000, but the platform ended up costing more than $2 million. Money was also wasted by hiring contractors from expensive consulting firms …

Kenya cancer cluster sparks ‘environmental genocide’ claims over oil waste | Al Jazeera

Kenya cancer cluster sparks ‘environmental genocide’ claims over oil waste | Al Jazeera

Published by Sam Flores

A group of 298 petitioners from remote villages of Marsabit County in northern Kenya is suing BP and the Kenyan government over oil exploration waste from the 1980s that it says is causing a cancer cluster that has killed hundreds. Residents and local health workers say cancer cases and deaths have risen steadily, with more than 500 people reported dead from cancers affecting the digestive system, particularly the oesophagus and stomach. Many were from villages where access to medical care remains limited. They believe rising cancer cases are linked to toxic waste left behind during oil exploration in the 1980s. Six years ago, doctors diagnosed Maisan Chamuset, 74, with throat cancer and told him he might never speak normally again. Today, Chamuset communicates through a small pipe inserted in his throat, and his voice comes out strained and mechanical, a reminder of the effect the disease had on his life. Chamuset’s experience reflects a growing trend in the desert settlement of Kargi, where death tolls are on the rise, including his wife, who died of …

Contributor: How the waste in healthcare drives the U.S. debt

Contributor: How the waste in healthcare drives the U.S. debt

Published by Sam Flores

Washington treats healthcare spending like a moral obligation and interest payments like an accounting nuisance. They’re linked: Federal spending that is wasted in the healthcare system forces higher taxes or more borrowing, leaving less money for Medicare, defense or anything else. To slow deficit spending and the ballooning costs of the national debt, policymakers should start by eliminating a large preventable expense: waste in U.S. healthcare. That waste isn’t abstract. It builds decision by decision, often when patients are least able to weigh trade-offs. In exam rooms, people ask whether a scan explains their pain or whether surgery is “necessary.” They assume that more intervention is better — and that physicians can decide on their own what approaches are best. Consumers of healthcare need plain-English, evidence-based guidance that links choices to outcomes and costs. Making decisions without that leads to waste. Multiply that gap across millions of encounters, and spending rises, deficits widen and interest costs climb. One of us led the federally sponsored Spine Patient Outcomes Research Trial, the largest study of spine surgery. …

Using sunlight to turn plastic waste into clean fuel has potential for large-scale applications

Using sunlight to turn plastic waste into clean fuel has potential for large-scale applications

Published by skeptic

A research paper by Adelaide University Ph.D. candidate Xiao Lu suggests that the use of sunlight to convert plastic waste into clean energy represents a ‘significant opportunity’- but still faces challenges in transitioning from laboratory success to real-world application. In a paper titled “Opportunities and challenges in sustainable fuel production from plastics,” featured in Chem Catalysis, Ms Lu and senior author Professor Xiaoguang Duan from the School of Chemical Engineering examined how solar-based fuel conversion technologies could help repurpose some of the 450+ million tonnes of plastic waste produced each year, whilst reducing reliance on fossil fuels. Her research found that plastics that are rich in carbon and hydrogen represent an untapped source of clean energy, converted via the process known as solar-driven photoreforming. “Plastic is often seen as a major environmental problem, but it also represents a significant opportunity,” said Ms. Lu. “If we can efficiently convert waste plastics into clean fuels using sunlight, we can address pollution and energy challenges at the same time.” A more efficient way to generate hydrogen Solar-driven photoreforming, …

The Download: storing nuclear waste and orchestrating agents

The Download: storing nuclear waste and orchestrating agents

Published by skeptic

—Casey Crownhart This article is from The Spark, MIT Technology Review’s weekly climate newsletter. Sign up to receive it in your inbox every Wednesday. Orchestrated agents are coming for white-collar work When people say AI will transform industries, what they have in mind—whether they know it or not—are AI agents. ChatGPT showed AI can talk. But to change the world, it needs to do stuff. The real power comes when agents work as teams, coordinating multiple roles to tackle complex tasks. Apps like Codex and Claude Cowork offer a glimpse of this shift, bringing multi-agent general-purpose productivity tools. In theory, networks of AI agents could do to white-collar knowledge work what assembly lines did to manufacturing. That’s the vision. But as agents move into real-world systems, the risks grow too. Read the full story. —Will Douglas Heaven Agent Orchestration is one of the 10 Things That Matter in AI Right Now, MIT Technology Review’s guide to what’s really worth your attention in the busy, buzzy world of AI. We’re unpacking one item from the list …

The Download: storing nuclear waste and orchestrating agents

It’s time to make a plan for nuclear waste

Published by skeptic

Even the long-established US program is seeing growth: Interest in and approval for nuclear energy have spiked, and Big Tech is throwing money around to meet rising electricity demand. Companies are proposing (and beginning to receive regulatory approval for) next-generation reactors, which employ different coolants, fuels, and designs. Given all this new interest, and the impending arrival of new types of nuclear waste, it’s time for nuclear companies, as well as their powerful customers, to push for progress on building geological storage facilities. As the richest country on the planet and home to a large chunk of the activity in next-generation reactors, the US should aim to join the leaders rather than continue to lag behind.  Directing even a small fraction of the recent surge in funding and attention to progress on waste could make a difference. Some experts are calling for a new organization in the US to manage nuclear waste rather than leaving it to the Department of Energy. This organization would mirror programs in Finland, Canada, and France. The process of planning, …

Hungary’s Magyar meets von der Leyen to game-plan unlocking frozen EU funds – POLITICO

Hungary’s Magyar meets von der Leyen to game-plan unlocking frozen EU funds – POLITICO

Published by Sam Flores

Magyar’s team has also been working with some of his predecessor’s ministers and civil servants to advance the technical work required to make the reforms, three other officials with knowledge of the proceedings said. András Kármán, Magyar’s nominee for finance minister, István Kapitány, tapped for economy minister, and Anita Orbán, the incoming foreign minister, met a high-level Commission delegation, including von der Leyen’s Cabinet chief Bjoern Seibert, on Saturday and prepared the ground for the Magyar-von der Leyen meeting. Before that, the teams met in Budapest on April 18 and 19. The first step to unlocking Hungary’s recovery money is complying with 27 EU-mandated “super milestones,” covering procurement, judicial independence and academic freedom. Because Tisza has won more than two-thirds of the seats in parliament, Magyar is expected to be able to get those changes approved quickly. European People’s Party leader Manfred Weber with Ursula Von der Leyen in Brussels in January 2025. Weber said the European Parliament should halt Article 7 proceedings against Hungary. | Frederick Florin/AFP via Getty Images The harder part is …

EU Parliament vs. Germany in the battle of the budget – POLITICO

EU Parliament vs. Germany in the battle of the budget – POLITICO

Published by Sam Flores

“Never underestimate the Parliament,” its president, Roberta Metsola, warned in a press conference after the vote, insisting lawmakers will not simply “rubber-stamp” the budget proposed by the capitals. Parliament’s pro-EU parties — the conservative European People’s Party (EPP), the Socialists & Democrats, the centrist Renew group and the Greens — all backed the call for more money for the EU to grapple with challenges such as defense and competitiveness.  “We believe we cannot do more with less; that is a myth,” said Siegfried Mureșan, a budget negotiator for the EPP. “Obviously the majority of members can only vote in favor if our demands are incorporated into the budget to a satisfactory extent.” But these calls have fallen on deaf ears in fiscally conservative countries such as Germany and the Netherlands, which are pushing for a smaller budget.  “It is sad to see that the European Parliament wants to tackle the geopolitical and geoeconomic challenges of the 21st century with budget priorities deeply rooted in the last century,” said an EU diplomat who, like others quoted in …

Blame Berlin and Paris for red tape, not us  – POLITICO

Blame Berlin and Paris for red tape, not us  – POLITICO

Published by Sam Flores

Since the start of Ursula von der Leyen’s second mandate as Commission president, the EU executive has put forward 10 so-called omnibus proposals that reopen existing laws to get rid of anything deemed overly burdensome.   “We are determined to bring about change so that in Europe and in the member states we can more quickly and effectively create an environment where companies can grow and develop the global competitiveness they need,” von der Leyen said during a meeting with leading conservative politicians in Berlin on Monday. So far, EU decision-makers have agreed to reduce environmental disclosure obligations for companies, make it easier for small-scale farms to access EU money, and delay new requirements forcing companies to track and disclose where they source their raw materials. More omnibus proposals are expected later this year, including on energy and taxation. But the Commission also wants to rethink the lawmaking process itself, including by reducing the length of impact assessments and public consultation periods.   The plan to speed up lawmaking has alarmed civil society groups, trade unions, academics, …