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Tag: John Lewis

  • Renewable energy offset global rise in fossil fuel use in first half of 2022

    The increase in renewable energy in the first half of 2022 prevented a possible 4% increase in fossil fuel generation, saving $40bn (£35bn) and 230 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions worldwide.

    Renewable energy offset global increases in fossil fuel use in the first half of this year – preventing an overall rise in coal and gas emissions.

    According to the energy think tank Ember, increases in wind and solar power met more than three-quarters of the demand in electricity growth during that period – with hydropower making up the rest.

    his prevented a possible 4% increase in fossil fuel generation, saving $40bn (£35bn) and 230 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions worldwide.

    “Wind and solar are proving themselves during the energy crisis,” Malgorzata Wiatros-Motyka, senior analyst at Ember, said.

    “The first step to ending the grip of expensive and polluting fossil fuels is to build enough clean power to meet the world’s growing appetite for electricity.”

    Ember’s study used electricity data from 75 countries, which make up 90% of global electricity demand, comparing data from the first six months of 2021 to the same period in 2022.

    It showed that globally we used 389 terawatt hours (TWh) more energy than the previous year – but we generated an extra 415 TWh.

    John Lewis to roll out a ‘buy back’ or ‘take back’ scheme in all product categories by 2025

    Wind and solar power met 92% of China’s electricity growth, 81% of the US’s, but just 23% of India’s.

    Coal use increased 15% across the EU – to make up for a shortfall in a nuclear and hydro generation – but this was offset by a reduction in coal use in China (3%) and the US (7%).

    However, beyond the first six months of 2022 in July and August, coal and gas generation increased again.

    Ember said governments and energy companies need to continue investment in renewables to ensure the energy and climate crisis are not exacerbated further.

  • John Lewis: Former presidents join tributes to civil rights icon

    Former US presidents and foreign leaders have joined the tributes to civil rights icon John Lewis, who has died aged 80.

    Lewis was one of the “Big Six” civil rights leaders, which included Martin Luther King Jr, and helped organise the historic 1963 March on Washington.

    Barack Obama is among those who have praised Lewis’ legacy.

    US presidential candidate Joe Biden, meanwhile, described Lewis as “truly one-of-a-kind, a moral compass”.

    Mr Biden said he had spoken to the former congressman, who had been suffering from pancreatic cancer, in the days before his death.

    “His voice still commanded respect and his laugh was still full of joy. Instead of answering our concerns for him, he asked about us. He asked us to stay focused on the work left undone to heal this nation.”

    “Not many of us get to live to see our own legacy play out in such a meaningful, remarkable way. John Lewis did,” President Barack Obama said. “And thanks to him, we now all have our marching orders — to keep believing in the possibility of remaking this country we love until it lives up to its full promise.”

    His predecessor George W Bush said Lewis had “worked to make our country a more perfect union”, while Bill Clinton described him as “the conscience of the nation”.

    Former US presidential candidate Hillary Clinton praised Lewis, whom she described as “the truest kind of Patriot”.

    Martin Luther King III, the eldest son of the civil rights activist, told CNN: “From a historical standpoint, there are few who are able to become giants… John Lewis really became a giant through his examples that he set for all of us.”

    Current US President Donald Trump, whom Lewis had publicly criticised, has not commented on his death so far, although Vice-President Mike Pence called Lewis “a great man whose courage and decades of public service changed America forever”.

    Flags were flown at half-mast on Saturday morning and White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany described Lewis as “an icon of the civil rights movement, and he leaves an enduring legacy that will never be forgotten”.

    A number of foreign leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron, have also mourned Lewis’ death.

    Source: bbc.com

  • John Lewis: Civil rights icon and congressman dies aged 80

    Rep John Lewis, a leader in the civil rights movement and later US congressman, has died at the age of 80.

    Lewis was one of the “Big Six” civil rights leaders, which included Martin Luther King Jr, and helped organise the historic 1963 March on Washington.

    As a congressman he was a Georgia Democrat, and represented an area which covered most of its capital Atlanta.

    In December 2019 Lewis announced that he had been diagnosed with Stage 4 pancreatic cancer.

    “I have been in some kind of fight – for freedom, equality, basic human rights – for nearly my entire life,” he said in a statement released at the time. “I have never faced a fight quite like the one I have now.”

     

    During the civil rights movement, Lewis was one of the founders of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), and then became its chairman from 1963 to 1966.

    He co-organised and spoke at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, the rally at which Dr King delivered his historic I Have a Dream speech.

    Lewis was the last surviving speaker from the march.

    John Lewis speaking at the March on WashingtonImage copyrightGETTY IMAGES
    Image captionJohn Lewis addressing the crowd at the historic March on Washington in 1963

    Democratic Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi confirmed Lewis’s death in a statement posted on her website and on social media.

    She wrote that Lewis “was a titan of the civil rights movement whose goodness, faith and bravery transformed our nation”, and that as a congressman he was “revered and beloved on both sides of the aisle and both sides of the Capitol”.

    “Every day of John Lewis’s life was dedicated to bringing freedom and justice to all,” she said. “As he declared 57 years ago during the March on Washington, standing in the shadow of the Lincoln Memorial: ‘Our minds, souls, and hearts cannot rest until freedom and justice exist for all the people.’

    “How fitting it is that even in the last weeks of his battle with cancer, John summoned the strength to visit the peaceful protests where the newest generation of Americans had poured into the streets to take up the unfinished work of racial justice.”

    Upon news of his death, civil rights group the NAACP tweeted that they were “deeply saddened”.

    “His life-long mission for justice, equality and freedom left a permanent impression on our nation and world,” the organisation said. “The NAACP extends our sincerest condolences to his family, and we send prayers of comfort and strength to all.”

    In a statement, former President Barack Obama said he had spoken with Lewis after a virtual town hall with a group of activists following the death of George Floyd. Obama said Lewis could not have been prouder of their efforts – “a new generation standing up for freedom and equality”.

    “Not many of us get to live to see our own legacy play out in such a meaningful, remarkable way. John Lewis did,” he said.

    “And thanks to him, we now all have our marching orders — to keep believing in the possibility of remaking this country we love until it lives up to its full promise.”

    Former presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren tweeted that Lewis “was a true American hero and the moral compass of our nation”.

    Lewis’s death comes on the same day as the death of fellow civil rights leader C T Vivian at the age of 95. Vivian helped organise the Freedom Rides – a protest to integrate buses in the south – and later went on to lead the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC).

     

    Source: BBCÂ