Industrial air pollution causes nearly 3.5 million deaths a year, and international trade is shifting some of the harmful effects from consuming nations to producing nations, according to a study in the journal Nature.  

The authors say high consumption in the United States and Western Europe harms health in manufacturing countries such as China, and the pattern is continuing among developing nations in Asia.

“Take an example of a toy,” says Steve Davis, an Earth system scientist with the University of California, Irvine, and one of the report’s authors.  He explains that toys sold in America are most often made in China, displacing the emissions that would otherwise be released in the United States.  

“We’re effectively outsourcing the pollution that comes from the manufacture of that product,” he said.

750,000 premature deaths

Worldwide, the scientists estimate air pollution produced by exported goods and services caused more than 750,000 premature deaths in the baseline year of the study, 2007.

The report by Davis and his colleagues at Beijing’s Tsinghua University and other institutions found the cross-border effects of trade-related pollution is greater than the cross-boundary impact of industrial pollution caused by weather patterns.

Particulate matter from China was linked to 65,000 premature deaths outside of China, largely in Japan and the Korean peninsula, and including 3,100 deaths in the United States and Western Europe.  But U.S. and European consumption of goods produced in China was linked to nearly 110,000 premature deaths in China.

The researchers say that as China becomes a consuming society, its manufacturing is shifting, but the pattern is similar, as production and pollution are “outsourced by China into other up-and-coming industrialized countries like Cambodia, Vietnam, India,” said Davis.

Those countries are bearing the health costs.

The study examined 13 regions of the world and Davis said researchers were surprised levels of harm from emissions that were displaced from one country to another by outsourcing.

Trump order criticized

Davis notes that China’s industrial cities are plagued with pollution, and the country is working to clean up its air.  Yet as China expands its use of “scrubbers” that remove fine particulate matter from industrial emissions, environmentalist are accusing President Donald Trump of reversing the U.S. commitment to clean air.  On March 28, Trump signed a sweeping executive order to increase America’s energy independence and boost American jobs by reducing the federal government’s role in controlling emissions.

“There’s a concern that in the pursuit of economic gains, we’re maybe willing to now sacrifice our environmental quality,” Davis said, noting the United States has long “pointed a finger at China” for its emissions.

The study’s authors say environmental pollution caused by manufacturing, and by worldwide trade, requires a global response that balances the need for clean air and economic growth.
…

Several minutes after a passenger recorded a video watched around the world that showed security officers dragging another passenger off an overbooked United Express flight at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, a smaller snippet of video showed an even more troubling scene.

There stood the passenger who had been dragged on his back to the front of the plane, appearing dazed as he spoke through bloody lips and blood that had spilled onto his chin.

“I want to go home, I want to go home,” he said.

The treatment of the passenger on Sunday night prompted outrage and scorn on social media, and anger among some of the passengers on the flight as the unidentified man was evicted.

The incident risks a backlash against United from passengers who could boycott the airline as the busy summer travel season is about to begin. For Chicago, it is another public relations nightmare, adding to its reputation as a city unable to curb a crime wave in some neighborhoods, which President Donald Trump has highlighted with critical tweets.

The embarrassing incident spiraled out of control from a common air travel issue – an overbooked flight. United was trying to make room for four employees of a partner airline, meaning four people had to get off the flight to Louisville.

At first, the airline asked for volunteers, offering $400 and then when that didn’t work, $800 per passenger to relinquish a seat. When no one voluntarily came forward, United selected four passengers at random.

Three deplaned but the fourth, a man who said he was a doctor and needed to get home to treat patients on Monday, refused.

Three men, identified later as city aviation department security officers, got on the plane. Two officers tried to reason with the man before a third came aboard and pointed at the man “basically saying, ‘Sir, you have to get off the plane,’ ” said Tyler Bridges, a passenger whose wife, Audra D. Bridges, posted a video on Facebook.

One of the security officers could be seen grabbing the screaming man from his window seat, across the armrest and dragging him down the aisle by his arms.

Other passengers on Flight 3411 are heard saying, “Please, my God,” “What are you doing?” “This is wrong,” “Look at what you did to him” and “Busted his lip.”

“We almost felt like we were being taken hostage,” said Tyler Bridges. “We were stuck there. You can’t do anything as a traveler. You’re relying on the airline.”

United Airlines’ parent company CEO Oscar Munoz late Monday issued a letter defending his employees, saying the passenger was being “disruptive and belligerent.”

While Munoz said he was “upset” to see and hear what happened, “our employees followed established procedures for dealing with situations like this.”

Chicago’s aviation department said the security officer who grabbed the passenger had been placed on leave.

“The incidence on United Flight 3411 was not in accordance with our standard operating procedure and the actions of the aviation security officer are obviously not condoned by the Department,” the department said in a statement.

After a three-hour delay, United Express Flight 3411 took off without the man aboard.

Airlines are allowed to sell more tickets than seats on the plane, and they routinely overbook flights because some people do not show up.

It’s not unusual for airlines to offer travel vouchers to encourage people to give up their seats, and there are no rules for the process. When an airline demands that a passenger give up a seat, the airline is required to pay double the passenger’s one-way fare, up to $675 provided the passenger is put on a flight that arrives within one to two hours of the original. The compensation rises to four times the ticket price, up to $1,350, for longer delays.

When they bump passengers, airlines are required to give those passengers a written description of their compensation rights.

Last year, United forced 3,765 people off oversold flights and another 62,895 United passengers volunteered to give up their seats, probably in exchange for travel vouchers. That’s out of more than 86 million people who boarded a United flight in 2016, according to government figures. United ranks in the middle of U.S. carriers when it comes to bumping passengers.

ExpressJet, which operates flights under the United Express, American Eagle and Delta Connection names, had the highest rate of bumping passengers last year. Among the largest carriers, Southwest Airlines had the highest rate, followed by JetBlue Airways.

___

Associated Press Writer David Koenig contributed to this report.

AP-WF-04-11-17 1128GMT
…

President Donald Trump’s relentless push for more manufacturing jobs has forced the auto industry into a delicate dance of contradictions in order to keep him happy, tell the truth, and avoid alienating customers in both red and blue states.

Toyota did the waltz with Monday’s announcement that it would spend $1.33 billion to retool its gigantic factory in Georgetown, Kentucky, an investment in the heart of Trump country that has been planned for years.

Trump wasn’t included in a company statement sent on Friday in advance of the announcement, but Kentucky’s governor and both of the state’s U.S. senators were quoted. In a paragraph added Sunday evening, Trump claimed credit for the investment, saying it is “further evidence that manufacturers are now confident that the economic climate has greatly improved under my administration.”

The company said the Trump quote was added at the administration’s request, but the White House said Toyota requested it and pointed to a poll of manufacturers showing record optimism. Later Monday, Toyota said that it had asked the White House for a Trump quote.

Either way, an investment of that size takes years to plan, and Toyota confirmed that it’s been in the works four or five years, long before Trump was elected. The company is switching its midsize Camry sedan, long the top-selling car in America, to new underpinnings that make it more modern and fun to drive. Although the investment doesn’t add jobs, it sustains 8,200 workers at the plant, which also manufactures the Toyota Avalon and Lexus ES 350 cars.

The dealings with Toyota show how businesses — especially automakers whose brands cater to both ends of the political spectrum — must tread carefully when dealing with Trump or other politicians. Depending on their response, they run the risk of angering a president who has authority to regulate their industry or alienating customers who are on both sides of the political divide.

“That’s kind of the reality of the situation you’re operating in,” said Joseph Holt, a University of Notre Dame associate professor who specializes in business ethics and leadership. “I think it’s a shame that they have to do this dance, but I understand why they’re doing it.”

All politicians play the same game as Trump, taking credit for accomplishments they had nothing to do with, said Erik Gordon, a business professor at the University of Michigan. What makes Trump unique is the demand for jobs announcements was done publicly rather than in private conversations, Gordon said.

Many CEOs grudgingly supported President Barack Obama’s health care plan even though they disagreed with it, Gordon said.

“With President Trump, the difference is the volume is up to 11 or 12 instead of at 10,” he said. “I don’t find him to be that different in terms of what he wants credit for, and putting the arm on people to get on his program, other than he does it publicly.”

Detroit automakers are in the most precarious position, Gordon said, because they are perceived as more American. Take General Motors. Its Chevrolet brand, with the top-selling Silverado pickup truck, caters largely to America’s mid-section, which largely voted for Trump. But GM’s Cadillac luxury brand wanted so much to distance itself from the Midwest that it moved its offices to Manhattan, which supported Democrat Hillary Clinton.

If GM either confronts Trump or is continually in his Twitter sights, that could upset the automaker’s lucrative customer base in the Midwest. If the company is too supportive, it could hurt GM’s efforts to grow Cadillac sales on the mostly blue coasts.

That’s why with few exceptions, GM, Ford and Fiat Chrysler have made jobs announcements that largely were in the works long ago, Gordon said.

Because the country is so politically polarized, a social-media fueled PR mistake for or against an issue could touch off a boycott that can quickly hurt a company, Gordon said.

“Now the companies are really under the magnifying glass,” he said. “Many customers want to know who you are and what you stand for before they even think about your product.”

Holt and others say companies shouldn’t allow such deception and would be better off in the long run by not playing politics.

While the Trump administration was showing a commitment to manufacturing with the announcement, it may send a different message to government regulators such as the Environmental Protection Agency or the Occupational Safety and Health Administration should there be any problems with a factory, said Robert Weissman, president of the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen.

“Do those agencies feel constrained from enforcing the law because the president has just associated himself with that company or investment?” Weissman asked. “It’s just on its face inappropriate.”

 
…

Кабінет міністрів України запропонує Верховній Раді скасувати оподаткування пенсій для пенсіонерів, які працюють, з 1 жовтня поточного року. Про це заявив у вівторок прем’єр-міністр України Володимир Гройсман на прес-конференції за підсумками року діяльності уряду.

«Наша реформа передбачає, що з 1 жовтня ми запропонуємо скасувати оподаткування пенсій для працюючих пенсіонерів», – сказав Гройсман.

За його словами, також із 1 жовтня буде збільшено пенсії для 5,6 мільйона громадян. Для різних категорій підвищення складе від 200 до 1000 гривень.

Працюючі пенсіонери в Україні отримують 85% пенсії. Крім того, діє тимчасове обмеження виплати пенсій деяким групам пенсіонерів, які працюють. Так, позбавлення пенсійних виплат стосується держслужбовців, прокурорів, депутатів та деяких інших груп працюючих пенсіонерів. В уряді пояснили необхідність таких обмежень дефіцитом бюджету Пенсійного фонду.
…

When they are not tending to international affairs, diplomats based in Havana can be found these days stewing in interminable queues at gas stations and concocting ways to increase the octane in fuel as Cuba’s premium gasoline shortage takes its toll.

Cuba sent around an internal memo last week advising that it would restrict sales of high-octane, so-called “special fuel” in April. That is not an issue for most Cuban drivers, whose vintage American cars and Soviet-era Ladas use regular fuel.

But it is for the embassies that use modern cars whose engines could be damaged by the fuel at most Havana gas stations. So the diplomats are taking a leaf out of the book of Cubans, used to such shortages, and becoming resourceful.

Given the U.S. trade embargo, Cubans have for decades had to invent new ways to keep their cars on the road, replacing original engines with Russian ones and using homemade parts.

“I bought octane booster, and the embassy has bought lubricants, meant to help the motor deal with rubbish gasoline,” said one north European diplomat, who got a relative to bring the booster in his luggage given it is unavailable in Cuba.

“At the moment we are using the car that runs on diesel, so we can ‘survive’,” said an Eastern European diplomat.

Cuba has not announced the measure officially yet. According to the memo, “the special fuel remaining in stock at gas stations from April will only be sold in cash and to tourists until the inventory is depleted.”

“It’s very serious. I have already suspended a trip to Santiago de Cuba for fear of lack of gas,” said one Latin American diplomat, adding that it seemed like the problem would last. “Diplomats are very worried.”

Some embassies in Havana have people scouting out which stations still have some higher-octane fuel and are sending around regular updates to staff. One gas station worker said they were getting small deliveries of fuel each day still.

The embassies are also advising people to carpool or use the diplomatic shuttle.

Meanwhile the European Union has requested from the ministry of foreign affairs that one or more service centers be set aside for diplomats with special gas, according to a European diplomat.

Cuba has become increasingly reliant on its socialist ally Venezuela for refined oil products but the latter has faced its own fuel shortage in recent weeks.

Meanwhile, the Communist-ruled island cannot easily replace subsidized Venezuelan supplies as it is strapped for cash.

Although the memo referred to April, it is not clear how long the shortage will last. Cubans joke that once something disappears in Cuba, it is never to return, referring to products that have disappeared from their ration book like cigarettes, beef and condensed milk.

The Peugeot dealership in Havana has sent its clients lists of technical tips how to protect their motors while using lower-grade gasoline, including more frequent maintenance and ensuring vehicles at running at optimum temperature before driving.

The shortage is also impacting others using modern cars such as taxi drivers, tourists and workers at joint ventures.
…

Голова Національного банку України Валерія Гонтарєва заявила, що власники збанкрутілих банків винні НБУ мільярди гривень, які мають бути повернуті. Про це Гонтарєва оголосила 10 квітня на прес-конференції після оприлюднення заяви про відставку.

«Банк «Надра», Дмитро Фірташ, винен Національному банку 9,8 мільярда гривень; Олег Бахматюк за кредитами двох своїх банків – «Фінансової ініціативи» та «Ві-Ей-Бі-банку» – понад 10 мільярдів гривень. Наступний герой – це Микола Лагун, винен за кредитами «Дельта-банку» 8 мільярдів гривень. Костянтин Жеваго та його банк «Фінанси та кредит» винні Національному банку 6,3 мільярда гривень. Леонід Клімов, він досі сидить нашим народним депутатом і навіть входить до комітету з фінансів і банківської діяльності, – 3,4 мільярда гривень за кредитами «Імекс-банку», – вказала голова НБУ.

«Наголошую: банкрутство банку не означає, що тепер ці горе-власники повністю вільні від боргів своїх банків. Державні кошти потрібно повертати – і крапка!» – додала Гонтарєва.

Перераховані головою НБУ бізнесмени наразі не коментували звинувачень Валерії Гонтарєвої.

Раніше на цій же прес-конференції голова Національного банку України Валерія Гонтарева підтвердила, що подала заяву про відставку президентові України. За її словами, у відставку за власним бажанням вона йде з 10 травня.

Гонтарєва очолює НБУ з 2014 року. Під її керівництвом відбулося значне зменшення кількості банків у фінансовій системі України, оскільки регулятор збільшив вимоги до статутного капіталу та інших показників діяльності фінансових установ. Також Гонтарєва причетна до встановлення гнучкого обмінного курсу гривні, що дозволяє не витрачати валютні ресурси в разі зростання попиту на долар США чи інші провідні валюти.
…

Національна комісія, що здійснює регулювання енергетики й комунальних послуг (НКРЕКП), скасувала 10 квітня своє рішення про встановлення з 1 квітня для населення й промислових споживачів тарифів за розподіл природного газу як плату за приєднану потужність.

Ми сьогодні повинні ухвалити рішення щодо того, щоб скасувати це рішення (про абонплату), провести додаткові консультації, забезпечити, щоб для жодного українця не було жодного підвищення в результаті цього рішення. Ми хочемо всім повідомити, що наше рішення приймалося відповідно до законодавства, прозоро й привселюдно», – заявив голова регулятора Дмитро Вовк.

4 квітня комісія оголосила про призупинення свого попереднього рішення про запровадження абонплати за газ.

Активісти кількох партій правого спрямування та профспілок пікетували 10 квітня зранку офіс Національної комісії, що здійснює державне регулювання у сферах енергетики і комунальних послуг (НКРЕКП). Біля входу до будівлі регулятора зібралися до 300 осіб. Активісти тримали партійні прапори і плакати з вимогами зниження тарифів на послуги ЖКГ. На засідання комісії прибули представники Радикальної партії на чолі з лідером партії Олегом Ляшком.

Раніше до НКРЕКП із пропозицією припинити рішення щодо абонплати за газ звернулися президент України Петро Порошенко та голова уряду Володимир Гройсман, а члени фракції Радикальної партії на чолі з головою фракції Олегом Ляшком зранку 4 квітня блокували трибуну Верховної Ради.

Національна комісія, що здійснює державне регулювання у сферах енергетики та комунальних послуг (НКРЕКП), наприкінці березня затвердила щомісячну абонплату за газ, яка мала стягуватися з 1 квітня.

Комісія планувала, що українці щомісяця платитимуть певну суму, яка не залежатиме від споживання газу. Абонплата вираховуватиметься залежно від приєднаної потужності (газового лічильника) кожного споживача.

У НКРЕКП стверджували, що «методологія, за якою визначено тарифи, розроблена з урахуванням досвіду країн ЄС та погоджена з усіма зацікавленими органами виконавчої влади».
…

Національна акціонерна компанія «Нафтогаз України» повідомила 10 квітня, що Україна не імпортує природний газ із Росії вже 500 днів. Про це йдеться в повідомленні компанії на офіційній сторінці компанії в соціальній мережі Facebook.

Імпорт газу з Росії за контрактом «Нафтогазу» і «Газпрому» припинений 25 листопада 2015 року. Як стверджують у «Нафтогазі», купівля газу за цим контрактом не відновиться до рішення Арбітражного інституту Торговельної палати Стокгольма (Швеція), що очікується до травня.

Офіційно відмова купувати газ у «Газпрому» аргументувалася неприйнятно високою ціною.

За опалювальний сезон 2016 – 2017 років Україна спожила близько 6,7 мільярда кубометрів газу. Станом на момент завершення відбору в підземних сховищах газу залишилося понад 8 мільярдів кубометрів палива.

На початку квітня 2016 року Президент Петро Порошенко, виступаючи в Японії, назвав відмову України від імпорту газу з Росії доказом енергетичної незалежності України.
…

The airlines are getting better at sticking to their schedules and are losing fewer bags. Their customers seem to be complaining less often.

Those are the findings of an annual report on airline quality being released Monday by researchers at Wichita State University and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.

The researchers use information compiled by the U.S. Department of Transportation to rate the airlines for on-time performance, baggage handling, bumping passengers off oversold flights, and complaints filed with the government.

They planned to release their list of the best airlines later Monday.

The report’s general observations:

On time performance: The percentage of flights that arrived on time or close enough rose to 81.4 percent in 2016 from 79.9 percent in 2015. Of 12 leading U.S. carriers, only American, JetBlue and Virgin America got worse.

Lost bags: The rate of bags being lost, stolen or delayed fell 17 percent.

Bumping passengers: Your chances of getting bumped by the airline dropped 18 percent, which doesn’t include people who voluntarily gave up their seat for money or a travel voucher.

Fewer complaints: The rate of complaints filed with the government dropped about one-fifth, with complaints rising only for Hawaiian and Virgin America.

The official complaint rates don’t include the larger number of complaints that passengers file directly with the airline. The airlines are not required to report those figures.

Clearly, however, airlines still have a perception problem. It’s not hard to find passengers who complain about a miserable flight, a missed connection, or shabby treatment by airline employees. Comments like that abound on Twitter.

“People don’t look at the numbers,” said Dean Headley, a marketing professor at Wichita State and co-author of Monday’s report. “They just know what happened to them, or they hear what happened to other people.”

The Wichita State and Embry-Riddle researchers have been doing their report for more than 25 years, making it useful for comparing airlines. But some observers of the airline industry dismiss their number-crunching approach, and there are many other surveys that purport to rank the airlines.

The Transportation Department counts a flight as being on time even if it arrives up to 14 minutes late. “Airlines are happy with that (grace period) because it makes them look better and misleads the passenger,” said aviation consultant Michael Baiada. He said airlines can do better, and besides, travelers pay to be on time — not 14 minutes late.

TripAdvisor releases rankings

More broadly, a statistical analysis of government data “really doesn’t take into consideration how the customer is treated,” said Bryan Saltzburg, an executive with travel site TripAdvisor LLC. “`How comfortable are they on the plane? How helpful is the staff? What’s the value for what the customer paid?”

TripAdvisor released its own airline rankings Monday, which it said were based on analysis of “hundreds of thousands” of reviews posted by users. It placed JetBlue and Alaska Airlines among the top 10 in the world, and it rated Delta ahead of American and United among the largest U.S. carriers.

Other outfits including J.D. Power and Skytrax also put out ratings. Airlines boast when they win. Recently, American Airlines started putting stickers on all 968 of its planes to note that a trade publication, Air Transport World, named it airline of the year.

 
…

Показник інфляції в березні свідчить про відсутність впливу росту мінімальної зарплати на загальний ріст цін. Про це повідомляє прес-служба Міністерства соціальної політики.

За цим повідомленням, ціни на споживчому ринку в березні 2017 року порівняно з попереднім місяцем зросли на 1,8%, з початку року – на 3,9%. 

«Березневий показник більший за попередні місяці, проте очікуваний і в межах прогнозних розрахунків. За даними Державної служби статистики України, ключові причини загального росту цін – в сезонному рості цін нахліб, мясну і молочну групи продовольства, а також рості тарифів (на електроенергію) і збільшенні акцизів на алкоголь і тютюн», – ідеться у повідомленні. 

Разом з тим, знизились ціни на овочі (на 19,2%), суттєво (на 7,3%) подешевшали яйця.

«Звертаємо увагу, що ініціатива Кабінету міністрів України з підвищення мінімальної заробітньої плати, яка вступила в силу з 1 січня 2017 року, не має істотного впливу на ріст цін», – вказує прес-служба Мінсоцполітики.

«Гроші, які сьогодні виплескуються у готівковий обіг у вигляді виплати зарплати,вже й так потрапляли в економіку, але через виплати в «конверті». Тобто додатковий тиск готівки на ціни безпосередньо через підвищення мінімальної зарплати не створюється», – стверджують фахівці.

З 2017 року в Україні вдвічі зросла мінімальна зарплата. Тепер де-юре роботодавці не можуть платити своїм працівникам менш ніж 3200 гривень.
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