Saturday Snippets is a regular Daily Kos weekend feature.
• City leaders around the world say there can be no post-virus return to “business as usual”: Mayors of megacities that are members of C40, a network pledged to addressing climate change, are saying that going back to the old normal in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic is not a suitable approach to recovery. The organization represents more than 750 million people and approved a “statement of principles” committing them to ensuring that their recovery plans are driven by a focus on greater equality and climate resilience. Last week, mayors from cities in Europe, the United States, and Africa met for talks of the newly created C40 economic task force to coordinate support for a low-carbon, sustainable recovery. One of them, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, said: “Half-measures that maintain the status quo won’t move the needle or protect us from the next crisis. We need a new deal for these times—a massive transformation that rebuilds lives, promotes equality and prevents the next economic, health or climate crisis.” Among measures already being put into place are hundreds of miles of new bike lanes in Milan and Mexico City and London to encourage “green and sustainable travel” and prevent a return to the pre-pandemic level of car use and pollution after the economic lockdown. Mike Bloomberg, the C40 board president and a former mayor of New York City, said: “This task force is committed to helping city leaders as they work on economic recovery in ways that lead us forward into the future, not back into the past. The principles we’ve outlined will guide our efforts to develop a new normal—one that is greener, healthier, and more prosperous for everyone.”
• Mountain gorilla population is making a clear, if still fragile comeback from the precipice: Several decades ago, at the time famed primatologist Dian Fossey was murdered in 1985, the future for mountain gorillas looked grim. Not a few experts thought there might not be any left by now outside zoos because of habitat loss and rampant poaching. Thanks, however, to what biologists call “extreme conservation,” the gorilla population is recovering in the mist-covered rainforest of Volcanoes National Park where the Congo, Uganda, and Rwanda meet. The effort required monitoring every gorilla in the rainforest, giving them veterinary care, and protecting their range by giving money to communities that might otherwise be resentful of not being able to convert forest into cropland. As a consequence, the mountain gorilla population has risen from 680 a decade ago to 1,000 today. Says renowned biologist George Schaller: “The population of mountain gorillas is still vulnerable. But their numbers are now growing, and that’s remarkable.”
• Drug cartels are facing broken supply chains, shrinking revenues, and shifting markets. Rising violence is just one effect.
MIDDAY TWEET
• RIP Little Richard
• Along with the millions of Thais out of work because of the coronavirus are some 2,000 elephants in the same predicament. And they’re in danger of starving: Commercial elephant camps and sanctuaries are favorites of tourists in Thailand, but there aren’t many travelers now with the virus raging worldwide. As a consequence, their keepers can no longer afford to feed the beasts, who can eat more than 650 pounds of grass and vegetables every day. About 100 of an estimated 2,000 at risk of starving have been sent back to their homes as much as 95 miles away. In the northern province of Chiang Mai, a favorite tourist destination in normal times, the Save Elephant Foundation is promoting the return of other elephants to their homes as well. The foundation is appealing for money to feed animals still housed at tourist parks, but founder Saengduean Chailert believes it’s good for them to return to their natural habitat where they can find food on their own. Said one owner who traveled in a walking caravan of 11 elephants back to their home where a party greeted them: “These elephants have not had a chance to return home for 20 years. They seem to be very happy when arriving home, they make their happy noises, they run to the creek near the village and have fun along with our children.”
• Waitress sues restaurant group for threatening to fire her for wearing a mask to work: Hillstone Restaurant Group has complied with state orders to limit restaurants to 25% capacity when they opened May 1, but the company threatened to fire employees who opted to wear masks to help reduce the spread of the the coronavirus. A waitress at one of Hillstone’s operations—R+D Kitchen—is suing in Dallas County Court. In an interview with the Dallas Observer, another unnamed employee said, “When I said that I was uncomfortable with the policy, I was informed that I would be removed from the schedule. In our working environment, even on the skeleton crew that we have been operating with the past few weeks, it is impossible to maintain the proper 6-foot social distance recommended by the CDC. I feel like the company has shown its true colors in putting the bottom line above the safety of their employees and guests.”