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POSSIBLE TOPICS: VOTETEXAS.GOV—Voter Information; Primary Runoff Elections’ Info, Scheduled For May 28^th; Disaster property tax exemptions, permitting fee waivers available for Montgomery County residents; League City residents oppose battery storage facility; City Council vote postponed; Whitmire says it’s the dawn of a new era with Texas Land Commissioner as hurricane season nears; Survey: Nearly half of Houston-area residents with low-to-moderate incomes consider electricity bills unaffordable; Mangroves, expanding with the warming climate, are re-shaping the Texas coast; Exxon to take 18-24 months to hit full stride with Pioneer purchase; ‘The world has changed’: WeChat, snakeheads and the new era of global migration; Russia warns Britain and plans nuclear drills over the West’s possible deepening role in Ukraine; Israel raids Al Jazeera office as Netanyahu government votes to shut channel down; Hamas attacks Israel-Gaza border crossing as cease-fire talks appear to fizzle; Former Hamas terrorist: Hamas ceasefire proposal is a trap; US sends land-attack missile system to Philippines for exercises in apparent message to China; 

Welcome to Thinkwing Radio with Mike Honig where we discuss local, state, national, and international stories. My co-host, assistant producer and show editor is Andrew Ferguson.

Thinkwing Radio with Mike Honig (@ThinkwingRadio) is now on Wednesdays at 11AM (CT) or Thursdays at 6PM on KPFT 90.1 FM-HD2, Houston’s Community Media. You can also hear the show:

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Except for timely election info, the extensive list of voting resources will now be at the end.

1. First, as a complete non sequitur but relevant to me: HISD absolutely needs to add “UNSUBSCRIBE” links to their emails. Once you’re on an HISD email list, it’s like a roach motel: You can get on, but you can’t get off.
2. On a more important note — In our recent May 5^th election, about 2-3% of eligible voters participated, so if you were one of those folks, your vote did the work of up to 50 other people who did not vote. Congratulations!
   1. But for all eligible voters out there, if you thought your work (or efforts to ignore) voting in elections was over, I have unfortunate news. There are still primary runoff elections scheduled for May 28^th.
   2. You may have thought to yourself, “Didn’t we already do one of those?”, the answer is, “No, unfortunately not.”
   3. You may not recall, but we had Primary Elections on March 5^th of this year, and now it’s time for the runoffs from those primaries.
   4. I actually received my mail-in ballot for the May 28^th runoff before the May 5^th election, so you may already have yours. If not, DO apply for one ASAP if eligible. If you should have gotten one, check with your election clerk’s or country clerk’s office and check on it.
   5. If you live in Harris County, visit the “What’s on my Ballot?” page and enter your name and address to see all the contests and candidates you are eligible to vote on! (You can bring handwritten notes or printed sample ballots to the voting booth; just be sure to take them with you when you leave.)
   6. If you live in a county adjacent to Harris, you can go to the very bottom of this show post at ThinkwingRadio[dot]Com for the clerk office link for your county. If that link is broken, please let me know.
   7. In Harris County, Early Vote Centers will be open from Monday, May 20, through Friday, May 24. (7 a.m. – 7 p.m.)
   8. Vote Centers will accept voters from 7 a.m. – 7 p.m. on Election Day, Tuesday, May 28.
   9. The deadline to apply for a mail ballot is May 17. Click here for the application. Please fill it out, print it, and mail it to our office before the deadline.
   10. Harris County election information is available at HarrisVotes(dot)com.
   11. In Harris County, you can check on the status of your mail-in ballot at Mail Ballot Tracking. I’ve provided a link.
   12. A list of election day polling places can be found at the link I’m providing.
   13. Links to county election sites for Harris and adjacent counties can be found at the bottom of this week’s show post.
3. Disaster property tax exemptions, permitting fee waivers available for Montgomery County residents; By Jessica Shorten | COMMUNITYIMPACT.COM | 5:30 PM May 7, 2024 CDT / Updated 5:30 PM May 7, 2024 CDT. TAGS: Montgomery County [TX], Federal Emergency Management Agency [FEMA], Federal Disaster Declaration,
   1. MIKE: I’m reading this story in its entirety.
   2. While Montgomery County and state officials are working to obtain a federal disaster declaration as well as individual Federal Emergency Management Agency assistance for homeowners affected by water damage, two other county programs were made available on May 7 to help with disaster recovery.
   3. During the Montgomery County Commissioners Court meeting May 7, commissioners approved waiving permitting fees for residents to rebuild homes damaged by the severe storms that moved through southeast Texas in early May.
   4. [Said John McKinney, floodplain administrator for Montgomery County,] “We’ve waived the fees simply as an incentive for property owners to be in contact with the county and go through that permitting process to make sure that [homeowners] do complete those permits appropriately. But also I think this is kind of just a goodwill gesture by the county.”
   5. The waiver applies exclusively to permits for rebuilding structures damaged by the early May storms and associated flooding.
   6. A disaster property tax exemption was also approved for homes that were damaged by the flooding.
   7. “Property Tax Code Section 11.35 allows a qualified property with at least 15% damage by a disaster to receive a temporary exemption of a portion of the appraised value,” Montgomery County Tax Assessor-Collector Tammy McRae said.
   8. Residents can apply for a disaster-based property tax exemption, and it will be available to any homeowner who sustained a minimum of 15% damage from the floods in their homes.
   9. The deadline to apply is Aug. 13, and applications must be filed through the Montgomery County Appraisal District.
   10. MIKE: The link to the Montgomery County Appraisal district is included at the bottom of this story.
   11. MIKE: I’m also including a link here to FEMA, which probably should have been included in the story.
   12. MIKE: If someone you know lives in Montgomery County, please let them know about these links.
4. League City residents oppose battery storage facility; City Council vote postponed; By Rachel Leland | 3:49 PM May 6, 2024 CDT | COMMUNITYIMPACT.COM | Updated 3:49 PM May 6, 2024 CDT. TAGS: Battery Storage Facility, League City (TX), Lithium-Ion Batteries,
   1. As talks continue about building a new battery storage facility in League City, residents expressed concern about potential environmental and health risks, prompting City Council to postpone voting on whether to approve rezoning the proposed location and granting a Special Use Permit, or SUP, to the developer.
   2. On April 23, League City City Council held a public comment session for residents to share feedback about granting a SUP request to Stella Energy Solutions to build a battery storage facility along the east side of Caroline Street and south of FM 646.
   3. The battery energy storage system, or B.E.S.S., would receive energy from the electrical grid when there is a surplus and then return it to the grid when there is a higher demand, according to a city staff presentation. …
   4. The area surrounding the site is primarily commercial. However, there are 129 homes, primarily in the Hidden Lakes and Whispering Ranch subdivisions, within 2,000 feet of the proposed site, according to a city staff presentation.
   5. As part of the conditions of the SUP, the city will require the developer to pay for the decommissioning of the facility at the end of its life cycle. As part of that, a professional engineer will need to give an estimate on the cost of decommissioning, which includes bringing the land back to the state it was in before the facility was built.
   6. Mayor Nick Long said he felt it was important for the city to fully understand the impact of the proposed facility so the city could create a set of ordinances specific to the site, similar to how the city managed drilling for projects such as the Tidwell gas well in 2020. …
   7. Long added that while he did see some benefits to the proposed facility, he wanted to make sure the city was adequately prepared to respond to worst-case scenarios.
   8. “Unlike drilling, I see more of a benefit to the city of League City for having these, but they have to be done right,” Long said. “We also need to spend time educating our first responders. They are not currently up to speed on what to do with these.”
   9. Several League City residents expressed strong opposition to the development, citing safety concerns. …
   10. City Council member Chad Tressler made a motion to postpone voting on whether to rezone the area in question and grant the permit until after city staff had fleshed out city guidelines with regards to lithium-ion battery storage facilities and conduct a risk assessment for worst-case scenarios. …
   11. [MIKE: The story then goes into a number of potential emergency response scenarios specific to utility-level battery storage generally and Lithium-Ion batteries specifically, as well as tax and aesthetic questions.]
   12. City Council did not give a timeline for pursuing these guidelines at the meeting.
   13. MIKE: As I discussed on last week’s show, utility-level battery storage is essential for the full transition to renewable power. There are a number of storage technologies either available, being built as pilot projects, or in the pipeline (no pun intended), but Lithium-Ion is the one that is a known quantity, and thus may be more favored for relatively rapid implementation.
   14. MIKE: Lithium-Ion does have disadvantages, though, both on its own and compared to other technologies. It has a shorter life expectancy than might be preferred, in the range of 10 years. It is prone to fire from overheating, to such a degree that owners of EV cars are often told to park their cars outside rather than in a garage.
   15. MIKE: Down the line, there may be better, cheaper, and safer battery energy storage systems available, but in the meantime, and given the long lead times necessary for these kinds of projects, we can’t allow the perfect to be the enemy of the good.
   16. MIKE: But we need to plan for them and start build them.
5. Whitmire says it’s the dawn of a new era with Texas Land Commissioner as hurricane season nears; By Abby Church, Staff writer | HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM | May 7, 2024. TAGS: Mayor John Whitmire, Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham, hurricane season, General Land Office [GLO],
   1. On Mayor John Whitmire’s first day in office, he got a call from Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham.
   2. Her message? “We want to work with the City of Houston,” Whitmire recounted at an April 17 council meeting.
   3. Whitmire shared the contents of the call at the start of Buckingham’s visit to City Hall – a trip largely framed as a relationship reset, and one the land commissioner was quick to note herself. …
   4. After years of verbal and legal battles between the former mayor and the former land commissioner, Whitmire and Buckingham seem poised to usher in a new era of cooperation between their new offices. …
   5. Whenever disaster strikes in Texas – whether it be wildfire, winter storm or hurricane – it’s the state’s General Land Office [GLO] that has primarily retained responsibility for divvying out the federal funds to cities and counties that apply for relief across the state. The agency is also in charge of making sure the cities and counties they grant funds to are spending it correctly.
   6. But despite the rhetorical reset, Houston remains on the outs when it comes to the Hurricane Harvey funds. The city still is not set to see a single dollar from $4.3 billion in federal funds approved for flood mitigation after the 2017 storm.
   7. Houston’s history with the GLO has been rocky since Harvey. After the storm, the GLO, then led by George P. Bush, was charged with distributing federal funds for home repair and flood mitigation. 
   8. Bush’s office, at the time, argued that Mayor Sylvester Turner’s administration was mishandling the housing funds it had been given and determined not to provide the city with any funds for flood mitigation. The city argued the GLO made the process of applying for and receiving funds difficult and called the state agency an overbearing partner.
   9. Since then, Buckingham has taken over the GLO office and Whitmire has taken over the mayor’s office. The two have a longstanding relationship as former colleagues who worked together in the Texas Senate, and the new mayor said that will only continue in the days to come.
   10. “There will be strong collaboration with the GLO and our state partners,” Whitmire told the Chronicle.
   11. Federal relief funds for hurricanes are usually reserved for two issues – recovery efforts to cover the cost of rebuilding and flood mitigation projects, meant to make communities more resilient for future storms. 
   12. Houston received a total of $1.3 billion to build back and remodel housing destroyed by Hurricane Harvey in 2017, with $427 million set aside for rebuilding homes damaged in the hurricane and $350 million to build affordable apartments.
   13. But those housing recovery funds quickly became mired in controversy. The GLO sued the city in 2020 to retake control of the city’s entire $1.3 billion portfolio, and both parties ultimately agreed to cut most of the city’s program responsible for rebuilding and remodeling homes. 
   14. The GLO then came back and took away more money from the city, claiming it had missed spending benchmarks, and the city argued the state agency had failed to see the progress it made. Houston was left with $664 million – about half of its initial allotment.
   15. And the dispute wasn’t just limited to housing funds. Even though the GLO received over $4 billion for federal mitigation relief to prepare cities and counties for future storms, the state agency decided to not give Harris County or Houston – which expected $1 billion each – any of the cash. 
   16. Regional leaders like Commissioner Adrian Garcia speculated the move was politically driven. The GLO, however, maintained the application process had been fair.
   17. Harris County later received $750 million from the GLO after bipartisan outcry and a federal finding that the decision violated the Civil Rights Act. Houston, though, still is not set to receive funds.  
   18. As Buckingham entered office in 2023, she made clear that she had no plans to deviate from the post-Harvey plan that denied Houston mitigation funds, and she would continue with the effort that took away half of the city’s housing recovery funds.
   19. But once Whitmire was sworn in, Buckingham penned a letter to the new administration offering to help the city spend the rest of its recovery aid for building more housing. The city has about $151 million left in federal grants.
   20. In a sign of good faith, Buckingham’s office conceded on a small portion of recovery funds for a property where 120 single family homes are planned on the site of a former business park near NRG Stadium.
   21. During the April 17 council meeting, Buckingham said the GLO was prepared to extend the timeline the city had to build on the lot, just as the city was getting ready to abandon the program ahead of the deadline.
   22. With the GLO grant of a HUD extension to use the funds on April 17, the city may be able to build single family homes on the Stella Link Road property. The city started with a $60 million budget for its single-family home program and has put $44 million toward other housing projects so far. Housing Director Mike Nichols told the Chronicle the project’s price tag has yet to be fully determined, but that he anticipates federal dollars will be able to cover the cost.
   23. But the GLO’s extension does not guarantee the program’s viability. The city will have to prove it will build and sell the homes on the property before the GLO sets a new deadline to spend the cash. The rest of the city’s recovery portfolio, including efforts to build apartment complexes and buy out flood-prone properties, will need to be spent by the original August 2024 and February 2025 deadlines. …
   24. MIKE: There are some other bits that I’ve excluded. You can go to the article and see for yourself.
   25. MIKE: I think that this is certainly a step forward for cooperation between the City and the State. And we’ll see how meaningful it actually is when the time comes.
   26. MIKE: Now that Mayor Whitmire has had his meet-and-greet with GLO Commissioner Buckingham, maybe he can get around to doing one with Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo.
   27. REFERENCE: The Mayor and the Land Commissioner are buds; Posted on May 8, 2024 by Charles Kuffner.
6. Survey: Nearly half of Houston-area residents with low-to-moderate incomes consider electricity bills unaffordable; The Texas Energy Poverty Research Institute found that 64% of survey respondents in the Gulf Coast region reported struggling to pay their power bills most months, compared to about 50% statewide. By Adam Zuvanich | HOUSTONPUBLICMEDIA.ORG | Posted on April 15, 2024, 7:16 AM. TAGS: Business Energy & Environment, Finances, Houston, Infrastructure, Texas, Electricity Bills, Electricity Costs, Electricity Prices, Gulf Coast, Low Income, Texas Energy Poverty Research Institute (TEPRI),
   1. About 47% of Houston-area residents with low to moderate incomes say they consider their electricity bills to be unaffordable – a percentage that is significantly higher than the statewide average – according to the results of a survey released this month by the Texas Energy Poverty Research Institute (TEPRI).
   2. The Austin-based nonprofit, which focuses on finding equitable energy solutions, also found that 64% of survey respondents in the Gulf Coast region reported struggling to pay their power bills most months. Many Houston-area respondents also said they cut back on clothing, food and entertainment expenses in order to pay those bills, and those sacrifices are especially common among people of color, with 35% of those respondents saying they cut back on at least one essential household need, compared to 14% of white respondents.
   3. Statewide, TEPRI’s Community Voices in Energy Survey found that 40% of Texans with low to moderate incomes consider their energy bills to be unaffordable, while nearly 50% said they struggle to meet their monthly electricity expenses.
   4. “The report also uncovers a troubling lack of awareness about available assistance programs, leaving 90% of households who may be income-eligible for energy assistance, grappling with unaffordable electricity bills,” TEPRI wrote in its report. “It is a stark reminder of the urgent need for increased support, targeted outreach campaigns, and streamlined application processes to ensure that support reaches those who need it most.” …
   5. That income group represents about 96% of the 2.5 million households in the Gulf Coast region, according to the study, which includes 540 respondents from the Houston area. Nearly half of those respondents lacked awareness of energy assistance programs.
   6. About 86% of Houston-area respondents expressed concerns about weather-related blackouts, while 59% said they were open to reducing electricity use in order to help prevent a blackout.
   7. The survey also found that 14% of Houston-area respondents reported being enrolled in clean energy programs, compared to 10% statewide. About 55% of Gulf Coast respondents said they were unwilling to pay a monthly premium for clean energy, with urban residents being more receptive to that idea than rural residents.
   8. “At its core, this report is a rallying cry for action,” TEPRI wrote. “It is a reminder that the transition to a more equitable and sustainable energy future is within reach – but only if stakeholders come together to confront the systemic challenges that keep affordable and reliable energy out of reach for many. By prioritizing affordable, reliable, and clean energy initiatives, Texas can chart a course toward a brighter, more inclusive future.”
   9. MIKE: I think that aside from earning insufficient income, there can be other reasons for electric bills being more than a household can afford, and that is insufficient knowledge of how to find and sign up for the lowest rates.
   10. MIKE: What I personally do is go to PowerToChoose[dot]org. It defaults to English, but there is a Spanish option. You can choose very short-term contracts of 3-months, or maximum contracts of 36-months. For those with bad credit, I found a single 12-month prepaid contract with a reference rate of 15.2¢ for 1000 kWh per month. For comparison, Reliant has a 12-month prepaid plan currently at 16.3¢ at the same reference rate. A simple month-to-month rate is at this moment 17.2¢ per kWh, but that will change unpredictably every month, making it the worst and riskiest deal.
   11. MIKE: On the other hand, at the moment I’m writing this, I’m looking at POWERTOCHOOSE, and the lowest 36-month fixed rate contract was 13.2¢. (The next day, a different provider was lower at 12.8¢, so it pays to familiarize yourself with trends.)
   12. MIKE: Also, it is essential that you look at the rates and terms on the Facts Sheet link. That tells you the actual vendor price per kWh, whether there’s any base charge (never accept a vendor with a base charge; base charge on the Fact Sheet should always be $0), and other terms and conditions such as cancellation charges, TDSP Delivery charge (which is passed through at cost and is charged to deliver electricity though your utility’s wires), and other terms and conditions.
   13. MIKE: Also, always be wary of promotional charges that expire after a time and then leave you locked into a higher rate.
   14. MIKE: Some of this may sound complicated, but it’s not. It requires the same effort as shopping for retail sales and can save you hundreds of dollars per year. Once you familiarize yourself with the web site, it becomes second nature. The important thing here is to get the lowest electric rate with a contract that suits your needs.
   15. MIKE: Again, that site is POWERTOCHOOSE[dot]ORG.
   16. MIKE: You can find some utility payment and other assistance at the Baker-Ripley website at this link. There is information for a number of assistance programs there, so it will pay to browse around. To download an application for utility assistance, you can click here for English or aquí para Español. There is also a number you can dial for
   17. REFERENCE: Utility Assistance – Financial assistance to help pay your utility bills. — BAKERRIPLEY.ORG ( To request an application by mail, please call the Utility Assistance Hotline at 713-590-2327 or United Way of Greater Houston Helpline at 2-1-1 or 713-957-4357. · To download the Utility Assistance application, please click here for English or aquí para Español.)
   18. REFERENCE: CenterPoint, City of Houston reach agreement on delivery rate increase slated to take effect March 1 — FEB 06 2024 | HOUSTONPUBLICMEDIA.ORG
7. Mangroves, expanding with the warming climate, are re-shaping the Texas coast; The tropical shrubs have been spreading north and growing more abundantly as climate change makes temperatures warmer. Scientists are unravelling what that means for coastal habitats. By Emily Foxhall | TEXASTRIBUNE.ORG | May 6, 20245 AM Central. TAGS: PORT ARANSAS, Harbor Island, Mangroves, Black Mangrove, A&M-Corpus Christi, Texas A&M University at Galveston, Texas Parks And Wildlife Department, Whooping Cranes, Salt Marsh,
   1. Dead mangroves cover Harbor Island near this coastal city, creating a bleak landscape that contrasts with the calm, blue water that laps at the shore. The intense 2021 winter freeze killed these plants, which can tolerate some cold but not for that long. A few leafy, green saplings now sprout among them.
   2. Black mangroves like these were expanding along the Texas coast for years before the freeze. The shrubs are native to the state, but, as climate change pushed temperatures generally higher, scientists saw them growing in greater numbers and spreading farther north than their typical range.
   3. Biologists who study mangroves say little can be done about the plant’s expansion. Instead, they are analyzing what changes the mangroves bring as they spread to new areas — good and bad. …
   4. The way mangroves are re-making the Texas coastline is one more example of how human-caused climate change is already altering our environment. Like other animals and plants, mangroves can now live farther north because temperatures are warming. …
   5. Anna Armitage, a professor at Texas A&M University at Galveston and a leading Texas mangrove researcher, said scientists have been evaluating how mangroves affect different species and the environment along the coast.
   6. “Mangroves do some things better, and marshes do some things better,” she said. “But they’re not the same.”
   7. Why mangroves can be good: They could help protect against sea level rise because their stick-like roots help build up the soil height and their falling leaves decompose into soil. One study determined that they were better than salt marsh succulent plants at protecting against erosion. They offer habitat for migratory songbirds.
   8. Why mangroves can be bad: They displace the marsh habitat that acts as a nursery for some fish and shrimp and where endangered whooping cranes spend winters. And when mangroves die during a freeze, they form a skeleton forest, as one scientist described it, leaving the shoreline vulnerable to the erosion they once helped prevent. …
   9. Black mangroves have been in Texas forever, said Alejandro Fierro-Cabo, an associate professor at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, who specializes in restoration ecology. They don’t stretch as continuously along the Texas coastline as they do farther south in Tamaulipas, Mexico, but grow in patches.
   10. Fierro-Cabo said it’s possible that the Texas coast may begin to look more like Mexico’s mangrove-covered shore as temperatures continue to warm.
   11. Last year, the state’s average temperature was the hottest ever recorded: 68.1 degrees. And last winter was the mildest ever recorded based on the coldest minimum temperature on average, according to research by Texas State Climatologist John Nielsen-Gammon.
   12. By 2036, Nielsen-Gammon’s latest study predicts, the average annual surface temperature in Texas will be 3 degrees warmer than the 1950-1999 average. …
   13. The plant transition can clearly be seen in the middle portion of the Texas coast. Katie Swanson, who is the Mission-Aransas National Estuarine Research Reserve’s stewardship coordinator and acting manager, has been monitoring the transition of a study site on Mud Island from a mix of marsh and mangrove to mangrove-dominated. She said they were seeing a lot of that pattern on the mid-Texas coast. …
   14. Portmann sees the mangrove’s expansion as just one piece of a changing coastline: “With climate change, the marsh isn’t going to stay the same way it is regardless,” he said, as the duo walked back to the parking lot.
   15. And some animals here like the mangroves. When Texas Parks and Wildlife researchers used nets to collect species in the bays along the central coast, they found that spotted seatrout and brown and white shrimp preferred marsh. Red drum and blue crabs preferred the mangroves.
   16. “It’s not something that we can necessarily control — or should we be even controlling?” said Harris, [the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) ecologist,] adding, “There’s a lot of mixed emotions with it because mangroves do provide very useful habitat. … But is it a good thing that some salt marsh is being converted into mangroves?” …
   17. One species in particular that advocates worry about when it comes to mangroves is whooping cranes, which have been a success story after being pushed to the brink of extinction.
   18. Carter Crouch, director of Gulf Coast Programs for the International Crane Foundation and Katie Fernald, an ecologist with the foundation, told the story as Crouch drove on a recent afternoon to get gas for the foundation’s boat, “Crane Seeker.”
   19. During the winter of 1941 into 1942, the number of whooping cranes in Texas dwindled to 15 or 16. Six other whooping cranes lived in Louisiana.
   20. How did their numbers get so small? There probably weren’t too many of the birds to begin with, maybe 10,000 before their decline. And people hunted the large birds, which stand around five feet tall, for their meat and feathers. They also snatched up their eggs.
   21. Intense conservation efforts focused on teaching people why they needed to stop shooting the creatures — it was illegal. As it happened, land at the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge where the cranes spent the winter was also federally protected in 1937.
   22. The cranes in Louisiana died, but the number of endangered whoopers in Texas rose from near extinction to around 550 in Texas. They make up the last wild population in the world. …
   23. [Said Andy Stetter, the refuge’s supervisory wildlife biologist,] “We’re managing the habitat for the benefit of not only whooping cranes but other wildlife, of course. We just don’t understand the relationship between mangroves and how it’s going to impact whooping cranes, and that’s something we’re trying to understand.”
   24. MIKE: This is a severely excerpted version of the much longer Texas Tribune story, which has a lot more detail environmental, a temperature graph, and some nice nature photography. I recommend clicking on the link I’ve provided and going to the full story.
   25. MIKE: In many parts of the world, Mangrove forests provide important flood and storm surge protection, and where human encroachment or environmental change has diminished them, flooding has become a bigger problem.
   26. MIKE: As the story makes clear, black mangroves are native to Texas, but not the more northerly areas where they are now encroaching, so their not exactly an alien species, but expanding their range is new.
   27. MIKE: This is nature. Species will adapt, move, grow, shrink, and otherwise acclimate to changes where they live. There may be some species that become endangered by these changes that humans may wish to intervene for and preserve in some ways, perhaps by transplanting them to areas where they might better thrive. But in most cases, there will be little we can do to prevent these changes.
   28. MIKE: Humans have been said to be the most adaptive species in the history of this planet, but planetary history is long and human history is short. Humans, which are also the most invasive species in the history of this planet, will now have their adaptability tested more than in any era since the Ice Ages.
   29. MIKE: Adaptation will require financial resources and political will, and a fair amount of collective wisdom. Hope springs eternal.
   30. MIKE: In the context of climate change, I’m including a reference link from a recently updated Texas Tribune article: How Texans can prepare for extreme weather; Natural disasters — including winter storms, hurricanes, extreme heat, wildfires and droughts — can happen at any time. Preparation is key to staying safe during an emergency. By Julia Guilbeau | TEXASTRIBUNE.ORG | Dec. 11, 2023 Updated: May 3, 2024
8. In other energy- and environment-related news — Exxon to take 18-24 months to hit full stride with Pioneer purchase; By Sabrina Valle | REUTERS.COM | May 3, 2024 @ 4:59 PM CDT / Updated a day ago. TAGS: Exxon Mobil, Pioneer Natural Resources, Oil Shale, Permian Basin,
   1. Exxon Mobil (XOM.N) will take 18 to 24 months to achieve its full production synergies from its $60 billion purchase of U.S. shale oil producer Pioneer Natural Resources, the company’s top shale executive said on Friday. …
   2. “You will see (oil production) grow pretty rapidly, year over year,” said Bart Cahir, Exxon’s senior vice president of shale, as Exxon applies its current growth strategy to the resources incorporated from Pioneer.
   3. The purchase more than doubles Exxon’s output in the Permian, the top U.S. shale field, to about 1.3 million barrels per day of oil and gas.
   4. An additional 700,000 barrels per day is predicted by 2027 as Exxon combines its proprietary technologies to Pioneer’s inventory – a merge that Exxon’s CEO Darren Woods previously said would “create magic.”
   5. Those new wells should come on stream in 12-18 months, with typically another six months to develop production, he said. …
   6. Exxon also will move Pioneer’s oil into Exxon’s pipeline and logistics, connecting the volumes to U.S. Gulf Coast plants that produce fuels and plastics, he said.
   7. MIKE: While oil and gas production are profitable, they will continue, and will even grow. The challenge for humanity is for renewable energy to become sufficiently prevalent and ubiquitously utilized so that fossil fuels will become an increasingly niche source of energy and feed stocks.
   8. MIKE: As I mentioned earlier in the show, rapid expansion of utility-level battery energy storage systems, as well as more capable long-haul transmission networks, will be essential to this transition.
9. In domestic and international news — ‘The world has changed’: WeChat, snakeheads and the new era of global migration; “This is not a U.S.-Mexico border problem. This is now a worldwide issue,” a former Homeland Security official said. By David Noriega, Aarne Heikkila and Adiel Kaplan | NBCNEWS.COM | May 4, 2024, 5:00 AM CDT
   1. Shortly after dawn, in the desert east of San Diego, a group of migrants huddled around a campfire. They had come together on this desolate stretch of the U.S.-Mexico border from four different continents: Young men from India shared snacks with women from Nicaragua, while a man from [the nation of] Georgia stood next to a family from Brazil.
   2. A volunteer with a local humanitarian group hauled over a beverage cooler filled with papers: legal information printed in 22 different languages. As he handed them out — in Gujarati, Spanish, Portuguese and Russian — he said, “Welcome to the United States.”
   3. This is the new normal of migration to the southern border: What was once mostly a regional phenomenon has become truly global, with the share of migrants coming from the four closest countries dropping and the number from elsewhere around the world increasing.
   4. An NBC News analysis of newly released data from the Department of Homeland Security shows a fundamental shift. Before the pandemic, roughly 9 in 10 migrants crossing the border illegally (that is, between ports of entry) came from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador — the four countries closest to the border. Those countries no longer hold the majority: As of 2023, for the first time since the U.S. has collected such data, half of all migrants who cross the border now come from elsewhere globally.
   5. The greatest numbers have come from countries farther away in the Americas that have never before sent migrants to the border at this scale. In the 2019 fiscal year, for example, the number of Colombians apprehended illegally crossing the border was 400. In fiscal 2023, it exploded to 154,080 — a nearly 400-fold increase.
   6. But they come, too, from countries in Africa, Eastern Europe and every region in Asia. … [S]ome countries that previously sent negligible numbers of migrants to the U.S. border have seen staggering increases. In fiscal 2019, the total number of people from the northwest African nation of Mauritania apprehended at the border was 20. Four years later, that number was 15,260. For migrants from Turkey, the number went from 60 to 15,430. The list goes on: More than 50 nationalities saw apprehensions multiplied by a hundred or more. …
   7. [A] major factor is the massive expansion of transcontinental smuggling networks, itself fueled by widespread digital technology. …
   8. “Fundamentally, our system is not equipped to deal with migration as it exists now, not just this year and last year and the year before, but for years preceding us,” Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in an interview with NBC News. “We have a system that was last modified in 1996. We’re in 2024 now. The world has changed.” …
   9. MIKE: The article then goes into more detail about how the human smuggling networks work, the risks involved to the would-be émigrés, how much the gangs charge to people who are trying to reach the United States, and how these varied smuggling groups — based in different countries, sometimes gangs that otherwise fight each other for turf — manage to interface and work together to systematize and standardize smuggling routes.
   10. MIKE: It also delves into the reasons why people coming from all over the world take these risks to get to the US.
   11. MIKE: The upshot of the story is that illegal immigration into the US has become a much bigger, more diverse, and more complex problem to manage and combat than it used to be when it was mainly Mexican nationals and people from Central America, and our federal government has to start looking at new policies and technologies to combat it.
10. Russia warns Britain and plans nuclear drills over the West’s possible deepening role in Ukraine; By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS | APNEWS.COM | Updated 1:28 PM CDT, May 6, 2024. TAGS: Russia, Strategic Weapons, Ukraine, Battlefield Nuclear Weapons, U.K.-Supplied Weapons,
    1. Russia on Monday threatened to strike British military facilities and said it would hold drills simulating the use of battlefield nuclear weapons amid sharply rising tensions over comments by senior Western officials about possibly deeper involvement in the war in Ukraine.
    2. [MIKE: This is clarified in another AP article: “K. Foreign Secretary David Cameron … said during a visit to Kyiv … that Ukraine will be able to use British long-range weapons to strike targets inside Russia — a possibility that some other NATO countries providing weapons have balked at. …” Continuing on …]
    3. After summoning the British ambassador to the Foreign Ministry, Moscow warned that Ukrainian strikes on Russian territory with U.K.-supplied weapons could bring retaliatory strikes on British military facilities and equipment on Ukrainian soil or elsewhere. …
    4. The drills are a response to “provocative statements and threats of certain Western officials regarding the Russian Federation,” the Defense Ministry said in a statement.
    5. It was the first time Russia has publicly announced drills involving tactical nuclear weapons, although its strategic nuclear forces regularly hold exercises. Tactical nuclear weapons include air bombs, warheads for short-range missiles and artillery munitions and are meant for use on a battlefield. They are less powerful than the strategic weapons — massive warheads that arm intercontinental ballistic missiles and are intended to obliterate entire cities. …
    6. The Russian announcement was a warning to Ukraine’s Western allies about becoming more deeply engaged in the 2-year-old war, where the Kremlin’s forces have gained an upper hand amid Ukraine’s shortage of manpower and weapons. Some of Ukraine’s Western partners have previously expressed concern that the conflict could spill beyond Ukraine into a war between NATO and Russia.
    7. French President Emmanuel Macron repeated last week that he doesn’t exclude sending troops to Ukraine, and U.K. Foreign Secretary David Cameron said Kyiv’s forces will be able to use British long-range weapons to strike targets inside Russia. Some other NATO countries providing weapons to Kyiv have balked at that possibility. …
    8. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday that Macron’s recent statement and other remarks by British and U.S. officials had prompted the nuclear drills. …
    9. Russia’s Foreign Ministry summoned both the French and British ambassadors. It urged the British ambassador “to think about the inevitable catastrophic consequences of such hostile steps from London.”
    10. Sweden’s Foreign Minister Tobias Billström said the nuclear exercises “contribute to increasing instability.” …
    11. It wasn’t the first time Europe’s military support for Ukraine has prompted nuclear saber-rattling. In March 2023, after the U.K.’s decision to provide Ukraine with armor-piercing shells containing depleted uranium, Putin said he intends to deploy tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of Ukraine neighbor Belarus.
    12. The ministry said the exercise is intended to “increase the readiness of non-strategic nuclear forces to fulfill combat tasks” and will be held on Putin’s orders. The maneuvers will involve missile units of the Southern Military District along with the air force and the navy, it said. …
    13. Western officials have blamed Russia for threatening a wider war through provocative acts. NATO countries said last week they are deeply concerned by a campaign of hybrid activities on the military alliance’s soil, accusing Moscow of being behind them and saying they represent a security threat. …
    14. While Ukraine’s army is largely pinned down on the 1,000-kilometer (600-mile) front line due to a shortage of troops and ammunition after more than two years of fighting, it has used its long-range firepower to hit targets deep inside Russia.
    15. In what has largely been a war of attrition, Russia also has relied heavily on long-range missile, artillery and drones to wreak damage on Ukraine. …
    16. MIKE: Under the heading of criticizing while living in a glass house, it should be noted that Russia is firing North Korean artillery shells into Ukraine while employing Iranian drones against Ukraine and using Chinese electronics in their military equipment being used in Ukraine. It should also be noted that Russia has already, I believe, stationed tactical nukes in Belarus while complaining about Poland’s expressed willingness to allow US nukes to be stationed in Poland if that should be desired by NATO.
    17. MIKE: This is not to minimize the risks of NATO’s support of Ukraine against the unprovoked and revanchist invasion of Ukraine by Russia in 2022 and Russia’s unhappiness about that support. But it is important to see these diplomatic Russian crocodile tears in context.
11. Israel raids Al Jazeera office as Netanyahu government votes to shut channel down; By Vincent Ni & Michele Kelemen | NPR.ORG | Updated May 5, 2024 @ 4:24 PM ET. TAGS: Israel, Al Jazeera, Benjamin Netanyahu, prime minister
    1. Israel’s cabinet has voted to shut down the offices of the Al Jazeera network operating in the country with immediate effect.
    2. Writing on X, formerly known as Twitter, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his government had decided “unanimously” to close Al Jazeera in Israel. He accused the Doha-headquartered network of being an “incitement channel” against Israel. …
    3. On Sunday afternoon, Israeli police raided the Qatari broadcaster’s office in Jerusalem. According to a video posted on Karai’s X account, several Israeli inspectors entered the network’s office and took photos.
    4. Al Jazeera, which broadcasts in both English and Arabic, condemned Israel’s move, calling it a “criminal act that violates human rights and the basic right to access of information.” The network said it will pursue “all available legal channels.”
    5. Israel’s decision raised concerns among human rights and press groups. In a statement, the Foreign Press Association in Israel said that with this decision, Israel joins a “dubious club of authoritarian governments to ban the station.” “This is a dark day for the media. This is a dark day for democracy,” the statement added. …
    6. … In April, the Israeli parliament [MIKE: Which I must you remind is controlled by Netanyahu’s rightwing coalition] passed a law that would give the government the power to shut down foreign news networks that are viewed as harming national security. Some lawmakers accuse Al Jazeera of being “a mouthpiece of Hamas.”
    7. Israel’s decision on Sunday comes as Qatar, which along with Egypt, plays a key diplomatic role in hostage talks between Hamas and Israel. In November, negotiations mediated by Qatar had led to a temporary cease-fire and a number of hostages being released.
    8. MIKE: First. Let me go on the record as being against this move as being antithetical to a democracy. I’m sure all of us have media outlets that, in our heart of hearts, we would love to see go off the air. That’s why most democracies have free speech laws.
    9. MIKE: There’s also the question of whether the Netanyahu government is using Al Jazeera’s alleged inciteful broadcasting to throw a wrench into cease-fire negotiations hosted by Qatar and Egypt.
    10. But it’s also important to recognize that a media outlet like Al Jazeera-America — which I often follow and sometimes cite — is very different in tone and content from what Al Jazeera-Arabic broadcasts.
    11. MIKE: I’m providing a link to a Google translation of the Al Jazeera-Arabic home page which I hope will work for you so you can formulate your own opinions.
    12. MIKE: I don’t know what the rightwing government of Benjamin Netanyahu considers sufficiently inciteful for it to close Al Jazeera in Israel, but whether there’s any legal justification at all or not, it’s a bad look for Israel at a time when Israel might benefit from avoiding bad looks.
12. That brings us to our next story — Hamas attacks Israel-Gaza border crossing as cease-fire talks appear to fizzle; COM/AP | Updated on: May 5, 2024 / 7:06 PM CDT. TAGS: Hamas, Israel, Gaza Strip, Egypt, Benjamin Neta​nyahu
    1. Hamas militants attacked Israel’s main crossing point for delivering humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip on Sunday, dealing a blow to the ongoing [cease]-fire efforts that appear at an impasse with both sides blaming each other.
    2. The attack on Israel’s Kerem Shalom crossing killed three Israeli soldiers and wounded several others, three of whom were critically wounded, a spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces said Sunday. The attack prompted officials to close the terminal, disrupting critical shipments of food and other humanitarian aid into Gaza. …
    3. The IDF launched counter-strikes on the launch site and other locations in Gaza, Lerner said.
    4. The military said the crossing was immediately closed, halting deliveries of aid from there into hard-hit Gaza. It was unclear how long the closure would remain in effect.
    5. The incident came at a time when Gaza is facing a humanitarian crisis with shortages of food, medicine and other humanitarian items.
    6. The attack threatened to complicate the ongoing cease-fire talks in Egypt, which on Sunday appeared to be on the verge of collapse. Egyptian and Hamas officials have said the deal under discussion calls for an extended pause in fighting in exchange for the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas. But the sides remain at odds over whether the deal would include an end to the war and a complete withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza.
    7. Saturday’s cease-fire negotiations ended with no developments, a senior Hamas source close to the Cairo talks told CBS News. The source added that “tomorrow, a new round will begin.” …
    8. The latest cease-fire deal, set to last several weeks, proposed by mediators hinges on a swap for hostages. In the proposed deal, for every one hostage Hamas releases, Israel would have to release a larger number of Palestinians held in Israeli jails. …
    9. MIKE: There’s much more to the story, discussing terms and positions put forward by both Israel and Hamas, and discussing military activity being undertaken by all sides.
    10. MIKE: As I read it, both sides want what amounts to surrender by the other side. Israel wants what amounts to unconditional surrender or total defeat of Hamas (equivalent to what the Allies sought during WW2), whereas Hamas wants what amounts to a negotiated permanent ceasefire that can be spun as a victory for their side (more or less equivalent to what the Axis powers hoped for in WW2).
    11. MIKE: As regards the Hamas attack on the Kerem Shalom crossing, nothing can show more clearly that Hamas has no interest in the misery that this conflict has caused Gazans, other than their use as public relations props, more than an attack that reduces aid going to Gazan civilians.
    12. MIKE: Top of Form
    13. As for Israel, while closing the crossing and a retaliatory strike was entirely predictable, the smarter move geopolitically would have been for Israel to very publicly condemn Hamas for attacking a border crossing essential for sending aid to Gaza.
    14. MIKE: But there’s really only one conclusion that can be drawn from the actions of both sides: Regardless of the hardships on their respective peoples and international pressure to agree to some pause that would allow aid to reach Gazan civilians, neither side has any real interest in an agreement at this time, each for their own reasons.
    15. Bottom of Form
13. And there’s this interesting bit from the Jerusalem Post, which some Israelis consider leftwing and others consider rightwing — Former Hamas terrorist: Hamas ceasefire proposal is a trap; Mosab Hassan Yousef, a former Hamas member turned informant, warns against Hamas’ ceasefire offer, advising Israel to demand hostages’ release before agreeing. By JERUSALEM POST STAFF | The Jerusalem Post, JPOST.COM | MAY 6, 2024 @ 23:25, Updated: MAY 6, 2024 @ 23:47. Tags: Israel, Egypt, Hamas, Cairo, Qatar, Mosab Hassan Yousef, Hostages, Israel-Hamas War,
    1. “Hamas’s last-minute ceasefire proposal is a trap,” declared Mosab Hassan Yousef on social media platform X.
    2. The former Hamas terrorist, who later became an undercover agent for Israel’s Shin Bet, advised that Israel should not accept the ceasefire unless it includes the unconditional release of all hostages and the resignation of Hamas from power.
    3. He urged Israel to outsmart Hamas by demanding the release of all hostages in exchange for the cessation of the Rafah operation.
    4. This warning comes against the backdrop of intense negotiations in Cairo, where Egyptian and Qatari delegations are engaged despite Hamas’ acceptance of a ceasefire deal.
    5. The Israeli government remains cautious, having sent a delegation to Cairo to explore all potential agreements thoroughly.
    6. In a conversation between President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, both leaders emphasized the urgency of resolving the situation to secure the release and safety of hostages. 
    7. MIKE: This is a short article, so I read it in its entirety. There are too many layers of potential reverse psychology here for me to attempt to dissect. I include it only for your consideration simply because I think it’s interesting.
14. This next story is from a couple of weeks ago, but I think it’s still relevant to the Asia-Pacific Great Power chest thumping there — US sends land-attack missile system to Philippines for exercises in apparent message to China; By Brad Lendon, CNN | Updated 5:19 AM EDT, Mon April 22, 2024. TAGS: Philippines, China, South China Sea, Nine-Dash Line, United States, US Army’s Mid-Range Capability (MRC), Indo-Pacific Theater,
    1. China has accused the United States of “stoking military confrontation” with the recent deployment of a powerful missile launcher capable of firing weapons with a range of up to 1,600 kilometers to exercises in the Philippines.
    2. The US Army’s Mid-Range Capability (MRC) ground-based missile system arrives in a region on edge following a series of dangerous Chinese-Philippine face-offs in the South China Sea, during which Philippine ships have been targeted with water cannons, injuring several Filipino sailors.
    3. It’s the first-ever deployment of the MRC missile system, also known as the Typhon system, to the Indo-Pacific theater, and it comes amid a series of US-Philippine military exercises, including the largest-ever edition of the annual bilateral Balikatan drills beginning Monday.
    4. The US Army has not said how long the Typhon system will remain in the Philippines, but its involvement in the series of joint exercises between the two treaty allies, the first of which began on April 8, sends a signal the US can put offensive weaponry well within striking distance of Chinese installations in the South China Sea, the southern Chinese mainland and along the Taiwan Strait, analysts say. …
    5. According to Beijing its presence in the region increases the risks of “misjudgment and miscalculation.” …
    6. The apparent diplomatic fallout comes as attendees from 29 countries, including the commander of the US Pacific Fleet, attend a two-day Western Pacific Naval Symposium, which began in the eastern Chinese port city of Qingdao on Sunday. …
    7. The attendees will discuss “maritime peace, maritime order based on maritime security cooperation and international laws, and global maritime governance,” according to Chinese state-run Xinhua news agency.
    8. Those are the same rules Washington and Manila accuse Beijing of ignoring with aggressive Chinese actions that have injured Filipino sailors and damaged vessels around disputed features in the South China Sea.
    9. The 1951 mutual defense treaty between the US and the Philippines – the oldest such US pact in Asia-Pacific – stipulates both sides would help defend each other if either were attacked by a third party. …
    10. Analysts say the deployment of the Typhon missile battery is the first signal of US plans to address what has long been an advantage for Beijing in the region.
    11. “This in some way ‘equalizes’ the prior situation where (Chinese) missiles have threatened US forces along the First Island Chain (which includes the northern Philippines, Japan and Taiwan), and even further eastward along the Second Island Chain centering on Guam,” said Collin Koh, research fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore. …
    12. In announcing the Typhon deployment, the US military noted how the system was delivered to the Philippines via an 8,000-mile, 15-hour flight from Washington state by a US Air Force C-17 cargo jet.
    13. MIKE: About 3-5 years ago, I was saying that I felt like the world was in a pre-war era. The Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 sort of proved I was correct, but that was not the flashpoint I was thinking of.
    14. MIKE: My expectation was that if a serious military confrontation occurred, it would begin in the area of the South China Sea, triggered either by Chinese actions around the Philippines or action involving Taiwan.
    15. MIKE: As China has built up its military capabilities and militarized the islands that it built in the South China Sea, it has become increasingly bellicose and assertive in its claims and goals.
    16. MIKE: Nations such as Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Brunei have no hope of resisting Chinese claims that most of the South China Sea is Chinese Territorial waters, even though they have their own legitimate claims. In fact, the only Pacific nation with the potential strength to resist China, complicate their geopolitical planning, and potentially deter Chinese military assertiveness, is the United States.
    17. MIKE: It has been my contention since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 that the World is already effectively fighting a global war. There is hardly a country in the northern hemisphere that isn’t in someway involved in the Ukraine war in terms of supplying money and materiel to Ukraine or in various ways supporting and aiding Russia.
    18. MIKE: The Israel-Hamas War, which has now directly or indirectly engaged Yemen, Iran, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and Jordan in various ways just adds to the sense of world conflict.
    19. MIKE: Consider that as late as 1941, the Asia-Pacific and European wars were still more or less separate and distinct, at least so far as the United States was concerned. It wasn’t until Japan attacked Pearl Harbor that the two main theaters of conflict became strategically and militarily united.
    20. MIKE: Today, while the main belligerents are Russia and Ukraine, you effectively have one bloc consisting of Russia, China, Iran and North Korea versus another opposing bloc consisting of the European Union, the United States, Canada, and in some limited ways South Korea and Japan.
    21. MIKE: The US, with its wealth and military potential, is the linchpin of the pro-Ukraine bloc. It’s also the linchpin of Indo-Pacific resistance to Chinese territorial and military assertiveness. This bloc includes Japan, South Korea, India, Australia, the Philippines, Taiwan, and the nations of southeast Asia.
    22. MIKE: I’ve wondered if at some point, a group of national leaders got together and came up with a strategy of trying to over-extend the United States, assuming that the US can’t be strong everywhere at once, thus preventing the US from being able to apply decisive power anywhere at once.
    23. MIKE: To be continued …
    24. REFERENCE: US and Philippine forces launch combat drills in the disputed South China Sea — By JIM GOMEZ | APNEWS.COM | Updated 2:28 AM CDT, April 22, 2024
    25. REFERENCE: US Commander Warns China Is Fast Becoming More Aggressive in Region — By Isabel Reynolds | BLOOMBERG.COM | April 23, 2024 at 2:24 AM CDT (NOTE: You can avoid their paywall by signing up for their newsletters.)

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