The forward-leaning morning newsletter for those
who love all things green
June 25, 2024
Topics: Environment, Port of Hueneme, zero emissions, AI, tech, plant-based, microplastics, cannabis, Maryland
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🌏Zero emissions port Going green has been supported by the U.S.government and the state of California and the results are showing. Port Hueneme, in southern California was the recipient of funding from the California Energy Commission in 2021 to develop the Blueprint to Zero Emissions. The Port of Hueneme has a joint-use agreement with the United States Navy, whereby commerce, community, and national defense are bound together.
In 2022, the port received funding from the federal government to further develop the Port of Hueneme, Reducing Emissions, Supporting Health (PHRESH) program. While the port was the first port in the state to be voted the Greenest Port in the U.S., it was also the first in the state to attain Green Marine certification in 2017. The port recently announced the historic goal of being zero emission by 2030. This is what going green truly means.
Image: Markus Winkler on Unsplash
😡Kill switch for AI Leading scientists and employees of OpenAI and other companies signed an open letter on June 4, titled: A Right to Warn about Advanced Artificial Intelligence:
We are current and former employees at frontier AI companies, and we believe in the potential of AI technology to deliver unprecedented benefits to humanity.
We also understand the serious risks posed by these technologies. These risks range from the further entrenchment of existing inequalities, to manipulation and misinformation, to the loss of control of autonomous AI systems potentially resulting in human extinction. AI companies themselves have acknowledged these risks [1, 2, 3], as have governments across the world [4, 5, 6] and other AI experts [7, 8, 9].
We are hopeful that these risks can be adequately mitigated with sufficient guidance from the scientific community, policymakers, and the public. However, AI companies have strong financial incentives to avoid effective oversight, and we do not believe bespoke structures of corporate governance are sufficient to change this.
AI companies possess substantial non-public information about the capabilities and limitations of their systems, the adequacy of their protective measures, and the risk levels of different kinds of harm. However, they currently have only weak obligations to share some of this information with governments, and none with civil society. We do not think they can all be relied upon to share it voluntarily.
So long as there is no effective government oversight of these corporations, current and former employees are among the few people who can hold them accountable to the public. Yet broad confidentiality agreements block us from voicing our concerns, except to the very companies that may be failing to address these issues. Ordinary whistleblower protections are insufficient because they focus on illegal activity, whereas many of the risks we are concerned about are not yet regulated. Some of us reasonably fear various forms of retaliation, given the history of such cases across the industry. We are not the first to encounter or speak about these issues.
We therefore call upon advanced AI companies to commit to these principles:
1. That the company will not enter into or enforce any agreement that prohibits “disparagement” or criticism of the company for risk-related concerns, nor retaliate for risk-related criticism by hindering any vested economic benefit;
2. That the company will facilitate a verifiably anonymous process for current and former employees to raise risk-related concerns to the company’s board, to regulators, and to an appropriate independent organization with relevant expertise;
3. That the company will support a culture of open criticism and allow its current and former employees to raise risk-related concerns about its technologies to the public, to the company’s board, to regulators, or to an appropriate independent organization with relevant expertise, so long as trade secrets and other intellectual property interests are appropriately protected;
4. That the company will not retaliate against current and former employees who publicly share risk-related confidential information after other processes have failed. We accept that any effort to report risk-related concerns should avoid releasing confidential information unnecessarily. Therefore, once an adequate process for anonymously raising concerns to the company’s board, to regulators, and to an appropriate independent organization with relevant expertise exists, we accept that concerns should be raised through such a process initially. However, as long as such a process does not exist, current and former employees should retain their freedom to report their concerns to the public.
Image: onlymyhealth.com
👍Greens for gut health Bacteria in the human gut is essential. When looking for ways to keep your immunity strong and digestive track happy, think plant-based protein snacks on a daily basis, according to Dr. Janese Laster. She suggests that the best balance of fiber and protein can be found in nuts. She also recommends fruit, hummus, dried edamame and protein smoothies.
☠️Microplastics in penis Erectile dysfunction (ED) has been on the rise. Now scientists have found microplastic (MP) in testes of cadavers of males who were 16-88 years old when they died. A study was conducted of living males and 80% of the tissue samples had microplastic contamination. The study was published this month in International Journal of Impotence.
Study Conclusion: Our study presents a groundbreaking investigation into the presence of MPs in penile tissue. We have identified MPs, primarily PET and PP, in the majority of the penile tissue samples examined. By shedding light on the presence of MPs in human tissues, our research adds a crucial dimension to the ongoing discourse about the effects of environmental pollutants on human health, with a specific focus on male sexual health.
🍁Maryland cleans the record With a population of just over 6 million, the state of Maryland aligned justice for 175,000 residents. Governor Moore pardoned as many residents who had prior marijuana convictions on their records, which blemished their records that prevented them from many education and job opportunities.
Adult use cannabis has been legal in Maryland for almost a year, and now the state's highest official made sure that residents were made whole.
Stay Curious... Who are we?
Fun question of the day:
Do you have a happy tummy?
Who are we?
Do you feel in control of yourself?
33% of respondents said YES
Thanks again for being you. Until the next issue, be sure to add more green to your life!
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