]]>In the generation since apartheid ended in 1994, tens of billions of dollars in public funds -- intended to develop the economy and improve the lives of black South Africans -- have been siphoned off by leaders of the A.N.C., the very organization that had promised them a new, equal and just nation.
Corruption has enriched A.N.C. leaders and their business allies -- black and white South Africans, as well as foreigners. But the supposed beneficiaries of many government projects, in whose names the money was spent, have been left with little but seething anger and deepening disillusionment with the state of post-apartheid South Africa.
This week's lead story features one of the pressing issues of our time - the impacts of chocolate on climate change, now revealed for the first time in an exhaustive study from the University of Manchester. We follow with the usual mix: A long-term Saudi/Russia oil deal; Germany approves Nordstream 2; more US nuclear plants to close; reactor restarts in Japan; RTZ out of the coal industry; EDF goes big into energy storage; carbon taxes in Canada; repowering old UK wind turbines; the ongoing round of climate lawsuits; China's huge rainmaking project; UK energy prices; holes in Siberia; a seasonal solar storage system and a novel way of counteracting rising seas - raise the island.]]>
It may go well, it may go... badly. In all likelihood the old content of SDA will be archived, and we'll start anew with a clean database. But, I don't know.
At any rate, cross your fingers all goes well. If the blog goes dark, it's because we're working on it. If it's unreachable for a few days, it's because we broke something. If that happens, I'll keep you all updated through my twitter account
Thanks to everyone who's contributed their time and donations towards SDA over the past few months -- your support is appreciated, and it's long past time we provided you a site with cleaner functionality.
Wish us luck, because we're going to need it.